Sin City Series: Suite at the Cosmopolitan

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.

WSOP Circuit Invades Dallas

The WSOP Circuit heads to the Dallas and Ft. Worth area for the first time today when the Choctaw Casino Resort hosts the tour's first stop of 2011.

The resort, one hour north of Dallas in Durant, Oklahoma, will host a total of 51 events over 18 days, including a $1,600 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em main event beginning Jan. 22.

“This is a huge poker market that has clamored for high stakes tournament poker and we’re ecstatic to be hosting a WSOP Circuit in this gorgeous property in Durant,” said WSOP vice president Ty Stewart.

The schedule features a broad selection of games, including PLO, PLO/2-7 triple draw mixed, H.O.R.S.E., Omaha 8 and Hold’em.

There is both a senior's and ladies event as well.

WSOP Circuit leader board points will be awarded, with the player earning the most points and the main event winner earning entry to the $1 million WSOPC National Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas this May.

The Showdown with Jon Friedberg Debuts on Poker News Daily

The very first episode of “The Showdown” with Jon Friedberg debuted today on Poker News Daily. The weekly web-based series welcomed former “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande to discuss a variety of topics ranging from bankroll management to the Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas.

Friedberg is a former World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner who was an original ranked player on PocketFives.com. His former ventures include a radio show and television show on CardPlayer and he brings a considerable amount of media experience to Poker News Daily. The USA-friendly site UB.com sponsors “The Showdown” and new episodes will be released every Tuesday.

In a recent Guest Column here on Poker News Daily, World Poker Tour (WPT) front man Mike Sexton gave several suggestions to improve attendance on the live tournament circuit, among them lowering buy-ins and shortening each tournament’s length. Friedberg responded, “I absolutely agree with Mike on this. It would be really great if we could lower the buy-ins a little bit and maybe shorten the time period of a tournament. $10,000 is a lot of money.” What do you think? Give us your take on how to increase tournament turnout by posting a Tweet at @JonFriedberg.

Also making news in recent days was WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel asking for suggestions for the 2011 Series, which kicks off on the last day of May. Friedberg gave his take on the responses that poured in via Twitter: “I saw a lot of great suggestions on Twitter, but I have to say the best suggestion I saw… is changing the structures to where the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em events and the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em events have the exact same structure… I don’t think you should ever have a smaller buy-in event in the World Series have a better starting structure than a bigger buy-in event.”

Then, Friedberg welcomed Bellande to the Las Vegas set. Bellande has opened up his life via Twitter, discussing his bankroll’s wild swings, among other topics. Bellande noted, “I just am not mindful of bankroll management. I just get on the table, am not afraid to put it all on the line, and I go for it. There is an appreciation in the poker community because a lot of us have the desire to do that, but after you’ve gone broke a couple of times and can’t stand being broke, nobody wants to do it.”

Bellande revealed that he has a wealth of backers to help him get back on his feet should his fortunes at the tables turn sour. On whether he prefers playing with the help of backers, Bellande told “The Showdown” viewers, “I’d much prefer to play on my own money. I’ve built up some credit with some people and always pay back… but I’d much rather be playing on my own stakes. Tournaments are different because the buy-ins are so enormous. A tournament player can spend $250,000 or $350,000 a year on buy-ins.”

Bellande serves as an ambassador of Aria Las Vegas and commented to Friedberg that the idea of Re-Tweeting insults came after seeing a popular porn star do the same: “My idea of Re-Tweeting the hater stuff – I actually got it from Jenna Jameson. She Re-Tweeted all of her hater stuff and I thought that was hilarious. People are going to think what they’re going to think anyway.”

If you follow Bellande’s Twitter feed, then you’ll also hear about his exploits at the Spearmint Rhino, a renowned strip club in Sin City. “I’ve spent $1,000 or $1,200 in there, but it’s never more,” Bellande admitted. “It’s usually around a couple hundred or $400. They actually don’t make me buy the bottle because I’m more of a local, regular guy. I have not gone into the Rhino very often recently.” Bellande added that visiting the Rhino serves as a way to help him wind down from a day at the tables.

With many poker players making resolutions, Bellande vowed not to go broke in 2011: “I really don’t want to go broke. My goal is not to go broke in 2011… You’ll see me go from $100,000 to $200,000 in the next month or two and then I’ll try to shoot it up so I have a decent bankroll going into the World Series.” The former Bodog pro added that he wants to hit the $1 million mark by the end of the year.

Check out the inaugural episode of “The Showdown” with Jon Friedberg, brought to you by UB.com. Use bonus code UBPND when signing up!

The Showdown – Episode 1

Pro poker player Jon Friedberg debuts his new show The Showdown. Jean-Robert Bellande is the guest in this first episode.

Friedberg is a successful business entrepreneur who moved to Las Vegas in 2004 but gained fame in the world of poker online under the names PokerTrip and Reactrix. During his peak, Friedberg was ranked as one of the top tournament players in the world according to PocketFives.com. In 2006 he won a World Series of Poker Bracelet by besting 2,890 players to win the 2006 WSOP Event #17 bracelet, in No Limit Hold’em. Since then he has placed at several other final tables and has accumulated over $2 million in live and online winnings.

In his debut episode of “The Showdown” Friedberg talks about what he will bring to the Poker News Daily audience. “I’m very happy to be here on Poker News Daily … and I’m really looking forward to a really fun run here. My goals and intentions for the show are to entertain, to inform and to educate. I plan to do that by having a really good group of guests on my show. I’m really not kidding when I say that my guests will vary anywhere from poker players to porn stars. There’s going to be a lot of interesting topics and a lot of fun discussions we’re going to have on this show.”

Friedberg’s first guest in The Showdown history is none other than reality TV star and pro poker player Jean-Robert Bellande, who has gained fame for wild bankroll swings and for his Twitter banter. However, before Bellande came out to talk the Vegas lifestyle and poker, Friedberg gives an interesting take on the current state of live tournament buy-ins and getting fish back into the player pools.

“If you think about it,” Friedberg explains, “If we could lower the buy-ins to maybe $3,500 or $5,000 or something, maybe shorten the structures a little bit, I think that would really bring a lot more amateurs back into the poker world.”

Topics that Friedberg and Bellande discuss include his sponsorship deal with the Aria poker room, improper bankroll management and getting a backer, which Bellande candidly speaks about. It’s a rare look into a player that likes to play big cash games with his entire roll on the line while at the same time tries to pay off his backers immediately and play with his own roll. By Bellande’s own admission he’s already gone bust a few times in just the last six months. In addition to that subject, Bellande also talks about the Vegas lifestyle and how he likes to party, but not too much, at the most famous Las Vegas Strip Club, Spearmint Rhino.

The interview with Bellande ends with a discussion of how he plans to build his bankroll and move into 2011 with enough to play through the entire World Series of Poker slate of events.

The Showdown with Jon Friedberg is exclusively seen on Poker News Daily with new episodes airing every Tuesday. For those of you that want to give feedback, Friedberg welcomes all tweets on Twitter on his account @JonFriedberg.

The Showdown is sponsored by UB.com, and is offering a 111% deposit bonus for first time depositors.

Dates are Set for 2011 WSOP

2010 Poker Memories by Linda Johnson

Time is passing too quickly. We just said goodbye to 2010, but memories of my favorite (and not so favorite) poker moments from the year are still vivid in my mind. I’d like to share a few of my personal 2010 poker memories with you.

Proudest 2010 Poker Memory

Without a doubt, being nominated for the Poker Hall of Fame is the answer to this category. What a thrill it was to learn that I had been nominated along with such a prestigious group as Erik Seidel, Dan Harrington, Tom McEvoy, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Barry Greenstein. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington.

Favorite Poker News Story

I loved the coverage given to the Mizrachi family during the WSOP. It seemed like every poker magazine had Michael Mizrachi on the cover. Even mainstream Las Vegas entertainment magazines featured Michael and his family.

Favorite Poker Vacation

The 12-night Card Player Cruises poker trip to the Mediterranean wins in this category. The poker room was a lot of fun as usual, but the highlight was seeing all of the magnificent European ports. We stopped at Cannes/Monte Carlo, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Corfu, Dubrovnik, and Barcelona and had great weather in each.

Favorite Charity Event

Of all of the charity events I was fortunate to participate in during 2010, the fundraiser for MickeysCamp.org was my favorite. Mickey’s Camp was started by Mickey Maurer and is held in Indianapolis, Indiana every August. There is a three-day camp for men and a three-day camp for women. The participants sleep in the same cabins the kids stay at during summer and participate in a variety of activities including fishing, camping, wine tasting, cooking, self-defense, magic, and swimming.

I had the honor of teaching the poker sessions and running the poker tournaments for both camps. Mickey’s Camp has raised more than $1 million dollars for charity since its inception 10 years ago. Honorable mention in this category goes to fundraising events for Poker Gives and Child Rescue.

Most Disappointing Poker News

I am still angry and annoyed that we haven’t been able to overturn the UIGEA, although I think we are getting close. The news that the Washington State courts upheld the ruling making online poker illegal is just plain gross! After the ruling, Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars shut down service to Washington residents, a move that should have been met with much more fury and protest from the state’s players.

Favorite Whirlwind Trip

My quick trip to Golden, Colorado for a Poker Players Alliance event qualifies in this category. In less than 24 hours, I flew in and out of Denver and participated in a poker tournament to help Senator Michael Bennett’s campaign. Bennett was elected by a very small margin and I believe he was the victor due to the support of Colorado poker players.

Most Prestigious Poker Event

The winner in this category was easily the Women in Poker Hall of Fame banquet held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. The Grand Ballroom, decorated by a group of volunteers headed by Lupe Soto and her Board of Directors, took on the look of an elegant bistro/nightclub. Jan Fisher did a great job as the emcee and Jeffrey Pollack and Nolan Dalla delivered passionate speeches. After a delicious dinner, awards were presented, followed by a dance. Congratulations to the 2010 inductees Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, and Billie Brown.

Favorite New Poker Procedure

I love the new rule established at the Commerce Casino that penalizes players who are gone too long from the table. Players who miss several rounds in $20-$40 and higher Hold’em games have $5 taken from their stacks and put into the pot.  Note that this rule was just about to go into effect the last time I played there and so may have been refined since.

Favorite New Poker Social Media Source

I admit it… I am a Twitter addict! I read it as often as I can and follow many of the top poker celebrities’ Tweets. I hate that it takes up so much of my time and makes me feel like a voyeur, but I can’t seem to give it up. Perhaps they will start a Twitters Anonymous in 2011 and I will be a charter member.

Favorite Tournament Series

Few would argue that the World Series of Poker wins in this category. The series expanded into even more square footage at the Rio and saw an increase in total participants. I had three deep runs (16th, 29th, and 31st) out of the five tournaments I entered, yet am not sporting a new bracelet. Congratulations to all of the bracelet winners, but especially to Gavin Smith, who won his first bracelet after many close efforts.

The runner-up award in this category goes to Wild Horse Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. Roland Waters directs a great tournament series with huge player fields. Entrants get rewarded with $75,000 in added money and free dinner buffets every night.

Other favorite poker memories from 2010 include delivering the “Shuffle Up and Deal” opening speech for the WSOP Ladies Event, teaching WPT Boot Camp at many locations around the country, playing in the WPT Celebrity Invitational at the Commerce, and hosting tournaments at the Eureka Open in Mesquite, Nevada, the Rainbow Spectrum of Poker at the Rainbow Hotel in Wendover, Nevada, and the Wild Horse Resort Casino Poker Roundup in Pendleton, Oregon.

I am extremely blessed to be part of this wonderful poker world and am grateful for the opportunities it has provided me. In 2010, I met many wonderful people who share my passion for poker and was thrilled to have so many chances to give back to our community.

Our country is facing tough economic times ahead. I hope 2011 is a prosperous and happy year for Poker News Daily readers.  In closing, I am happy to offer our readers a discount on any 2011 Card Player Cruises trip. Mention Poker News Daily when you book your cabin by January 15th and you will get a $50 per person discount. For more information, go to CardPlayerCruises.com.

Editor’s Note: Linda Johnson is available for poker functions, seminars, corporate events, and charity fundraisers. You can contact her through her website at CardPlayerCruises.com.

Sorel Mizzi Wins 2010 Bluff Player of the Year Title

Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi is the 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year, officials announced on Friday. Mizzi entered the top spot in the Player of the Year rankings in March and never relinquished his lead.

The 2010 CardPlayer Player of the Year, Tom Marchese, finished in second place in the Bluff standings. Mizzi ended the 2010 calendar year with a whopping 1,777 points, the highest score ever turned in, while Marchese racked up just 1,257 during the stanza. Others in the top 10 included PokerStars pro Vanessa Selbst, recent World Poker Tour (WPT) event winner Dwyte Pilgrim, and UB.com pro and former CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin.

Mizzi got the 2010 calendar year started off on the right foot by taking third place in the Aussie Millions Main Event for $659,000. Tyron Krost took down the marquee poker tournament and Mizzi quickly ratcheted his first six-figure score of 2010. Mizzi then won two preliminary events during the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Snowfest stop in March for nearly $150,000 total.

In April, Mizzi’s victory parade stopped off in Atlantic City, where he won the East Coast Championship Event during the Borgata Spring Poker Open for $170,000. That tournament drew 62 players and featured a top nine that included Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki, David “Davidp18” Peters, and former Full Tilt Poker pro Lee Markholt.

At the end of April, Mizzi final tabled the High Roller Event during the EPT’s Monte Carlo Grand Final for $190,000. Two weeks later, he ran deep in another High Roller Event, this time at WPT Paris. Just footsteps from the Eiffel Tower, Mizzi played second fiddle to Absolute Poker pro Freddy Deeb and walked away with $159,000.

In August, Mizzi placed second in the EPT Tallinn High Roller Event for $98,000. He concluded 2010 by bubbling a pair of WPT final tables, taking seventh in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals for $88,000 and grabbing ninth in the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio for $59,000. Remember, televised WPT final tables are played six-handed.

All told, Mizzi racked up nearly $1.9 million in earnings from live tournaments tracked by the Hendon Mob database last year. Along the way, he provided poker coaching to November Niner Matt Jarvis, a fellow Canadian. Jarvis ultimately bowed out in eighth place in the $10,000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas for over $1 million.

Mizzi, who has been linked to several incidents on online poker sites in the past, has nevertheless remained a central figurehead in the industry. He told Poker News Daily in an interview in November that surrounding himself with talented poker friends has been critical: “I think it’s one of the most important things… That is how I got my start. I found players and tried to pick their brains. You know, it’s like anything in life, that’s the best way of learning, you find mentors. At least, for me, [it’s been] finding people where you want to be and trying to pick their brains as much as possible.”

Here were the top 10 players in the 2010 Bluff Player of the Year standings:

1. Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi – 1,777.77 points
2. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 1,257.30 points
3. Fernando Brito – 1,060.53 points
4. David Peters – 1,009.26 points
5. Vanessa Selbst – 986.77 points
6. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 943.92 points
7. Dwyte Pilgrim – 896.23 points
8. Chris Bjorin – 889.25 points
9. Jason Mercier – 882.40 points
10. Chris Bell – 879.63 points

Jason Mercier took down the 2009 Bluff Player of the Year title. Other past winners have included John “The Razor” Phan (2008), Bill Edler (2007), Chad Brown (2006), and Phil Ivey (2005).

Poker News in Brief: Dec. 27, 2010- Jan. 2, 2011

That meant a few of poker's smaller stories may have slipped through the cracks.

Fortunately, we caught them and compiled them in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature below.

This week, Poker After Dark returns, the World Cup captains are named, UB goes back to Montreal and more.

Poker After Dark Returns

The new season of POKER PROductions' Poker After Dark returns to NBC this week.

POKER PROductions inked an agreement with NBC Universal extending the late-night poker show through 2014 in 2010 and the seventh season, filmed at the new Aria Resort and Casino at the City Center complex in Las Vegas, begins airing Jan. 3.

This season will feature more cash games than ever before. Most will be no-limit hold'em, but two weeks will also be devoted to Pot-Limit Omaha with a lineup that should impress fans.

Names like Mike Matusow, Chris Ferguson, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Annette Obrestad, Eli Elezra, Phil Galfond, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and David Oppenheim will all appear this season.

There will only be three weeks following the traditional Freezout format this season, including this week's "Big Heat," a $100,000 buy-in event featuring John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Huckleberry Seed, Ivey, Dwan, and Galfond.

Leeann Tweeden will once again serve as the show's host with Ali Nejad providing commentary.

Fifty50 Sit & Go's

PokerStars has launched a new online poker Sit & Go format called Fifty50.

Although the tournaments end when half of the entrants have been eliminated, Fifty50's differ from the Double or Nothing format in that half of the prize pool gets split between the winning players equally and the other half is awarded based on chip counts.

Fifty50 events are currently running at the $10 level, but will soon be available at many different stakes.

World Cup of Poker Captains Named

The identities of the team captains for the seventh annual World Cup of Poker have been announced.

Last year, Chinese Taipei took the title. This year it will be Argentina, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Spain, Slovakia, Italy, France, Ukraine and the United States battling it out for a $100,000 first prize at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Slovakia’s team will be led by Team PokerStars Pro’s newest member Dag Palovic. EPT San Remo winner Liv Boeree will lead the UK team while Argentina’s captain is back-to-back LAPT champ Nacho Barbero.

2009 APT champion Neil Arce will lead the team from the Philippines while the Spain squad will be headed up by Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor.

Luca Pagano leads Italy and Arnaud Mattern will captain the team from France.

And Finally, Vanessa Selbst will lead the USA while EPT Kiev runner-up Alexander Dovzhenko captains the Ukrainian side.

The action gets underway in the Bahamas Jan 14.

UB Returns to Poker Pro Canada Classic

For the second straight year, UB will be sending over twenty players to compete in the running of Montreal's biggest poker event, the Poker Pro Canada Classic.

The $1500+150 buy-in No Limit Hold 'em event runs Jan. 27-30, 2011 at the Four Aces Poker Club.

UB is running a series of super satellites and freerolls Jan. 2-16 giving players a chance to win a $2500 prize package that includes a seat plus $850 for travel expenses.

300-plus players and prize pool of $500,000 is expected in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Poker Players Ring in the New Year

Over the past few days, poker’s most prolific Tweeters have been actively preparing for the New Year. Whether they were traveling or reflecting on the year that passed, it provided a great deal of entertainment.

The New Year’s celebrations got off to a start as early as Wednesday, with model and poker player Christina Lindley Tweeting, “Beginning an absurdly fun Vegas week w some troublemakers right… now.” As New Year’s Eve came, Lindley sent out a Twitpic of a shiny silver mini and Tweeted, “Picking up the NYE dress from the tailor.” Also journeying to Las Vegas was PokerStars “Big Game” hostess Amanda Leatherman, who fired off, “Goodbye North Carolina! It’s time to go to Vegas and forget about all the things I did here.”

Other poker players had not quite decided what to do to celebrate the New Year. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit Makhija admitted to his followers, “Last minute before New Year’s and I’ve been slacking on making plans. Anyone less lazy than me have New Year’s plans that Tara & I can crash?” For their part, both Antonio Esfandiari (“Gearing up for my annual NY Eve party. It’s going to b a madhouse.”) and Alec Torelli (“Off to Atlanta for New Year’s.”) seemed a little better prepared to usher in 2011.

Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, and Marco Traniello were celebrating New Year’s with each other. After Traniello Tweeted at the others, “r u guys ready to party ?,” Negreanu responded, “the house is full and we all got spray tans, so yeah, we are ready.” Fresh off of his departure from UB.com, Phil Hellmuth’s plans for New Year’s Eve included, “sit(ting) in Jerry Buss’ box for Lakers game, then we hit Drai’s!”

The last few days of 2010 also led to some experimentation by “High Stakes Poker” hostess and PartyPoker pro Kara Scott. She Tweeted, “Bleurgh. Spent much of tonight trying to perfect a rum/coconut drink for tomorrow and am now completely sick of it. Margaritas for everyone!” Tiffany Michelle will be celebrating New Year’s Eve in Hawaii, but took time to chirp, “Counting my blessings today. Some people are stuck in snow storms, rain, & freezing weather while I’m surfing in the warm waters of Hawaii.”

The New Year brings those pesky resolutions along with it and poker players were no different in putting their thoughts for 2011 on Twitter. “This year I wish @philnolimits places 2nd to me in WSOP Main Event,” Rafe Furst jabbed at his buddy Phil Gordon. Allen Bari took the New Year as a chance to change his table demeanor, Tweeting on Friday, “This time tomorrow I will be a really nice and respectful guy at the poker table, I will smile and not berate at the table.” This prompted World Poker Tour Tour Director Matt Savage to fire back, “@allenbari it is January 1st not April 1st. You know that right?”

Adam “Roothlus” Levy vowed through Twitter, “My 2011 resolution is to get more Main Event coverage by doing far worse.” Meanwhile, Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis was not feeling well as the New Year approached, Tweeting, “Is this really the day to get sick? Woke up sneezing and I feel cold and weak. Hope it’s gonna be better during the day.”

Some poker players were also glad to see the previous year fade to the past. “Oh, 2010, you crafty little bitch,” UB.com’s Joe Sebok Tweeted. “You’re good, I’ll give you that. Quite good. Only 14 more hours of you though and then poof, gone.” Full Tilt’s Justin “Boosted J” Smith also took time to look at the year gone by: “I want everyone to think about all the great things that happened to them in 2010… even if it was a rough year… small laughs to big things.”

Perhaps the venerable Kevin “Kevmath” Mathers summed up everyone’s thoughts for the New Year: “This year had its share of good and bad times. Hoping 2011 will have more of those good times for myself and everyone else!”

With 2011 off to a roaring start, Poker News Daily would like to take the time to wish all of our readers a happy and prosperous New Year.

Bellagio Removing $25,000 Denomination Chips Following Robbery

The thief who stole $1.5 million in casino chips from the Bellagio has been given a deadline to try to redeem the $25,000 denomination ones he took from a craps table on December 14th. MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, gave public notice that it will be discontinuing the large denomination chip and called for all gamblers to cash them in by April 22nd.

MGM Resorts first posted notice of the redemption last week in the classifieds of the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper. The ad came one week after a man wearing a black jumpsuit and full-faced motorcycle helmet walked into the Bellagio, pulled a gun on a croupier, and escaped with around $1.5 million in chips ranging from $100 to $25,000. The incident took less than three minutes and the robber fled the casino on his motorcycle that he left parked outside the valet. He remains at large.

Las Vegas police and casino officials have been working diligently to find the robber, reviewing surveillance videos and camera images to get an idea of who carried out the heist. Investigators have also been keeping an eye on any unusual chip redemptions since the robbery took place.

“Obviously, anyone walking with one of the old series (chips) is going to be subject to a certain amount of questioning as to how they obtained them – assuming it isn’t someone we know,” MGM Resorts spokesman Alan Feldman told the Associated Press. “It’s pretty unusual for someone we don’t know to come strolling up with a handful of $25,000 chips.”

Feldman also told the Associated Press that the chips were switched out at the tables within an hour of the robbery and the Bellagio immediately filed to discontinue them. The $25,000 chip, which is red with a gray inlay, will be worthless after the April 22nd deadline. The question then becomes whether it will be replaced with a new chip of the same denomination or if the casino will produce a new chip of a different denomination.

By law, a casino must give public notice that it is discontinuing specific chips to allow gamblers enough time to redeem them – in this case four months. The deadline could have a major effect on high-stakes poker players who leave large denomination chips at the Bellagio to use as a bankroll. Although the Nevada Gaming Control Board has stated that poker chips aren’t money, many poker players treat chips as currency when trading for other casino chips or paying off debts. It’s assumed that several $25,000 chips are currently being stored in the lock boxes of poker players at the Bellagio, which houses the famous “Big Game” in Bobby’s Room.

While it’s unknown exactly how many $25,000 denomination chips were stolen on December 14th, the redemption notice tactic could be very effective once the regular high-stakes gamblers begin cashing them in. If the casino spots a person who wouldn’t normally be in possession of the chip, it will raise a red flag.

“If they have people that they know are players redeem the ones that they know they have, pretty much it’s process of elimination. You’re left with people who aren’t supposed to have the chips,” said David Schwartz, a former casino security guard and Director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Authorities are suggesting that the same man from the Bellagio robbery may have been behind an earlier theft on December 9th at the Suncoast Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In that heist, the robber managed to take around $20,000 in cash from a poker room cashier.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily as more information on this story unfolds.

Biggest Poker Surprises of 2010

Last week, Poker News Daily ran an article recapping the top poker news stories of 2010.  This, we were charged with the task of coming up with the top ten surprises of the past year.  As fate would have it, the biggest shocker of 2010 came on December 30th, making the top surprise a no-brainer.  Read on to find out.

10) Hip-Hop Hellmuth – Normally, I wouldn’t put an attention grab by Phil Hellmuth on a list of the year’s biggest surprises, but this one was phenomenal.  The “Poker Brat” made a cameo appearance in a hip-hop music video by Ludacris donned in UB.net garb and raking in UB.net chips.  Filmed at the Palms in Las Vegas, the video’s plot was supposed to be similar to that of the hit movie “The Hangover.”  The song is called “Sex Room.”  I’ll just leave it at that.

9) No Rest for the Weary – A crazy record not many people knew about before this year was broken not once, but twice.  In June, Phil Laak set the poker endurance record by playing $10/$20 Hold’em at the Bellagio for a staggering 115 consecutive hours, breaking Paul Zimbler’s 72-hour mark from late 2009.  Nobody would ever be silly enough to try to top Laak, would they?  Of course they would.  In November, Christie Teki-Reu and man who goes by the nickname “Chopper” played for 117 hours in the casino at the Grand Hotel in New Zealand as part of an organized effort to set the record in a special charity tournament.  Afterwards, Teki-Reu slept for five hours, was up for two hours, then slept for another ten hours.  Well deserved.

Kessler Max-Cashes – Well, almost.  Allen “Chainsaw” Kessler is a very good poker player, but he is known to play to make the money in tournaments.  He has definitely gone deep in tournaments and made a couple of WPT televised final tables, but for the most part, the poker community jokes about Kessler taking the conservative route and always looking to “min-cash.”

At the 2010 WSOP, poker players and fans lived vicariously through “Chainsaw” as he not only made the money in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo event, but also continued to move up in the standings, making the final table and then finally reaching heads-up.  He eventually lost, but the $276,485 payday was far from a min-cash.  He finished with eight cashes, tied for most at this year’s WSOP.  Sure, some were min-cashes, but his second place run was one of the most memorable and surprising moments of the 2010 WSOP.

7) Security Fail – In May, it was discovered that the CEREUS Network had a major security hole.  The network did not have SSL encryption implemented, resulting in a vulnerability that made it possible to intercept network traffic and see an opponent’s hole cards.  In July, the same flaw was found on the Cake Poker Network.  It is unbelievable enough that one poker network could fail so miserably at something that should be so basic, but two networks dropping the ball?  Sad.

6) WSOP is Healthy – With the down economy and the struggles of online poker in the United States, it would have been reasonable to expect WSOP attendance figures to decline.  Not so.  2010 saw 72,966 players participate, the most in WSOP history by a wide margin and besting last year’s record by 20%.  The total prize money was the highest of all-time as well, reaching $187,109,850 and beating 2008′s high mark by 3.5%.  The Main Event was the second largest of all-time with 7,319 players, second only to 2006, which was the last WSOP Main Event before the UIGEA was passed.

5) Isildur1 is a Star – Isildur1, the nameless online nosebleed-stakes phenom, signed with PokerStars in December.  His signing with an online poker room isn’t all that surprising, considering that whenever he plays, he attracts scores of railbirds who love watching his million-dollar swings.  The shocker is that all of his high-stakes play has been at Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars’ closest rival.  Stars must have given him a sweet deal.

4) Resurgence of “The Grinder“ – While Michael Mizrachi had a few strong performances on the live tournament circuit in 2008 and 2009, his cachet had appeared to have worn off since he made his mark on the WPT in 2005 and 2006.  He also ran into major financial troubles this year.  But then the 2010 WSOP came along and he exploded back onto the poker map.

“The Grinder” won the $50,000 Player’s Championship for over $1.5 million, placed fifth in the Main Event for more than $2.3 million, and along the way became one of the biggest rooting interests of the summer.  To top it off, his three brothers – Daniel, Robert, and Eric – all cashed in the Main Event.  Robert also placed fifth in the Player’s Championship and made two other final tables.

3) Partying Has its Limits – In February, PartyPoker suddenly placed a cap on the number of play money chips members could have in their accounts.  Overnight, players with millions of chips had their accounts reset to the 250,000-chip maximum.  Party cited the sale of play chips as the main reason for the decision as well as instances of players with overwhelming numbers of chips making enormous bets and disrupting games.  The reaction was one of almost unanimous outrage by play money customers, many of whom had taken great pride in building up their accounts over several years.

2) Peter Eastgate Takes a Break – Nowadays, we have come to expect WSOP champions to serve as faces of the game and continue playing live tournaments around the world.  Not so with the 2008 champ Peter Eastgate.  Eastgate, who just turned 25, announced this year that he was taking an indefinite break from live tournament poker.  So far, it appears that it has been a break from poker in general.  His WSOP win set him up financially, which was enough for him.  To top it off, he auctioned off his WSOP bracelet in November and donated the proceeds to charity.

1) Duke and Hellmuth Leave UB – Annie Duke leaving UB, to me, was easily the most surprising moment in poker this year… until Phil Hellmuth did the same a few hours later.  Two of the biggest names in poker, the faces of UB since it was founded in 2001, left their online home on the same day.  Through all of UB’s controversy over the last few years, Duke and Hellmuth stood by the poker room and took tons of heat within the online poker community.  For better or for worse, they seemed like they were going to be with UB for life.

Las Vegas Life with Kristy Arnett: Goodbye 2010

Phil Hellmuth Leaves UB.com in Major Shakeup

It’s been a busy day for all of us in the online poker community. Just hours after Annie Duke announced her exit from UB.com to pursue non-poker business interests, site icon Phil Hellmuth departed as well. A statement posted on UB.com reveals that the two sides “mutually parted ways.”

Hellmuth was recently seen on ESPN’s coverage of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour’s (NAPT) Los Angeles Bounty Shootout wearing patches for the Aria Casino in Las Vegas and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Academy. Curiously absent were any logos for his home poker site, UB.com. Hellmuth also appeared on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” devoid of UB.com logos, leading many to believe that he was on the outs with the USA-friendly CEREUS Network room.

Duke left UB.com earlier today in order to extend her foothold in the business world. She commented in a statement posted on UB.com, “I have nothing but positive things to say about UB and my experiences with the brand, management, and the incredible people who work hard daily to deliver a terrific online poker experience.” Duke and Hellmuth had been with UB.com since 2001, the year the online poker site was launched as Ultimate Bet and two years before the modern poker boom.

Duke told Poker News Daily that she does not plan to sign with a competing online poker site; whether Hellmuth feels the same way is not yet known. Duke’s brother, Howard Lederer, is one of the main faces of Full Tilt Poker, which also accepts action from the United States. Hellmuth, who is widely regarded as one of the top tournament players on the planet, could also head to a site like PokerStars or Victory Poker.

Hellmuth owns the record for the number of WSOP bracelets won at 11 and number of WSOP cashes at 79. Along the way, he’s racked up $6.2 million in WSOP earnings alone and is a rumored contestant on the 2011 installment of the ABC reality series “Dancing with the Stars.” He’s one of the top marketable faces in the poker industry and has coined several memorable phrases including “I can dodge bullets, baby” and “Idiot from Northern Europe.”

Hellmuth won the 1989 WSOP Main Event at age 24 and, for the next 20 years, held the record as the youngest champ ever of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Before anyone knew who Chris Moneymaker was, Hellmuth had already amassed seven bracelets; in fact, he racked up three pieces of hardware in 1993 alone.

In 2009, November Niner Jeff Shulman asked Hellmuth to help him with his short-handed game in preparation for the Main Event final table. As a result, Shulman took fifth place for $1.9 million.

Today’s two high-profile departures leave UB.com stocked with a pro roster that includes PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, bracelet winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and Tiffany Michelle and Maria Ho, the Last Women Standing in the 2008 and 2007 WSOP Main Events, respectively. Also remaining on the Team UB roster are Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, and Anthrax’s Scott Ian, among others. The group appears to have become noticeably younger sans Hellmuth and Duke.

Prior to announcing his exit from UB.com, Hellmuth Tweeted the prices of several sports tickets he was monitoring: “New Years Eve L.A. Lakers/Sixers tix, Row 5, center court trading for $460 apiece. Tix for once a year Rose Bowl on 40 yard line, 44 rows up: $350 apiece!”

Earlier this week, Lee Jones announced his resignation from Cake Poker as its Card Room Manager, citing “strategic decisions with which I’m not comfortable” made by Cake management. Cake Poker Tournament Director Serge “andanthar” Ravitch followed suit in what is traditionally a slow week for poker news.

Poker News Daily has heard rumblings that UB.com may add another pro to its roster early next week. Who that could be remains to be seen, but rumors seem to indicate that it’s Prahlad Friedman. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest on this developing story.

The Showdown with Jon Friedberg Debuts on Poker News Daily in January

We’ll be ringing in the New Year in a big way here at Poker News Daily, as bracelet winner Jon Friedberg will be debuting “The Showdown” during the first week of January on our site. Friedberg will interview several of the game’s most prolific names in the weekly video series; in fact, the inaugural episode will feature a no-holds-barred discussion with former “Survivor” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande. The show is sponsored by UB.com.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. We are looking forward to seeing “The Showdown” come to life next week. Tell us how you became interested in hosting poker talk shows.

Jon Friedberg: It was something I accidentally stumbled across back in 2007. I was invited to be a guest on “The Circuit” and one of the hosts didn’t show up. I came on and it was just Rich Belsky and I. We had good chemistry and he thought I did well, so he asked me if I wanted to be a host of the show, so I accepted and did that for a while.

During the 2007 WSOP, CardPlayer was launching CardPlayer TV. I was asked if I wanted to have a segment on a new show where I would be interviewing players. The first episode I did, my interview lasted eight minutes and they said it was a little long to use as a segment, so asked if I wanted my own show. It sort of happened and I ended up having my own show on CardPlayer TV during the 2007 WSOP.

I enjoyed talking to players and detailing their thoughts and lifestyles to poker fans. The only thing I didn’t like was coordinating schedules with poker players. They’re tough to pin down and not good about scheduling.

After that, I took a hiatus. There was a little bit of a transition in my poker career where I wasn’t having results on the tournament circuit and didn’t feel there was much value in it anymore. I was looking to get into some ventures and continue playing, but not traveling as much. I started to think back to how much fun I was having when I was hosting my own show. I decided to talk to a few sites and sponsors to see if I could pull something together.

I see myself not as a member of the media, but rather a fellow poker player who sees eye-to-eye with players I interview. I don’t have any problems asking questions that other poker media might be scared to address. My passion is to share the lifestyles, strategies, and thought processes of poker players.

PND: What can we expect from your interview with Jean-Robert Bellande?

Jon Friedberg: We all know he loves to play beyond his bankroll. He’s very open and honest about what he Tweets and doesn’t hide losses or winnings that we know of. He mentions certain things that we don’t know much about like the “Rhino tax,” which means he’s going to Spearmint Rhino in Las Vegas and spending money on dances and such. I want to ask what a typical night at the Rhino is like for him, how much he spends, and whether the girls flock to him because he’s a baller.

He also Re-Tweets insults that people send him. I’m going to address a lot of questions about Twitter, what his philosophy is about bankroll management, and what would happen if he does go broke.

PND: You won a WSOP bracelet in 2006 in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Did your legitimacy in the poker world noticeably increase after the victory?

Jon Friedberg: Back then, Scott Clements and I were the only two ranked online players to come out and win bracelets. At that time, a lot of guys who are now superstars gave me respect like Steve “gboro780” Gross and Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul. I definitely got a ton of respect because of the bracelet win back then.

Now, people don’t have the same level of respect for my game because I don’t play as much as before, so I don’t have the same results. They respect my knowledge of the lifestyle of the game and my candidness of putting people on the spot and asking them questions that other members of the poker media don’t have the courage to ask.

PND: Who is the top poker talk show host right now?

Jon Friedberg: Joe Sebok. I enjoyed “Poker2Nite.” I think he’s also done a great job on PokerRoad.

PND: What future guests can we expect to see on “The Showdown” with Jon Friedberg on PND?

Jon Friedberg: Shaun Deeb, Antonio Esfandiari, Dwyte Pilgrim, and Tom Marchese. Dwyte came out of nowhere and a lot of people don’t know anything about him. The #1 question I’d want to ask him is, “Why there aren’t more African-American poker players? Does poker not appeal to them?” I also want to ask about his shit talking.

Visit UB.com today.

Time Magazine Tackles Poker in Florida

Ever since the Florida legislature adjusted the state’s poker laws earlier this year, people have been flooding the Sunshine State like never before. The influx of action has left a leading magazine to pose the question, “Is Florida the Next Las Vegas?”

A recent article in Time Magazine posed the question due to the increase in not only players in the state’s casinos, but also attention from major gaming outlets. The rise in interest in poker is due to the change in Florida’s gaming laws that allowed for higher stakes cash game play, richer tournaments, and more poker rooms. While players are flooding to cash games, poker’s biggest organizations are taking the opportunity to move into fertile ground.

In August, as a result of the change in Florida’s laws, the World Poker Tour (WPT) announced a $10,000 buy-in Season 9 tournament scheduled for April at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood. In November, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit found its opportunity to move into the state, announcing a stop at the Palm Beach Kennel Club in February.

According to the author of the Time article, Thomas Collins, the growth of poker throughout Florida isn’t limited to just the big name casinos like the Seminole Indian operation. Florida has many thoroughbred horse racing tracks, greyhound tracks, and jai alai arenas that are also taking advantage of the new laws to open or expand their poker room offerings. The new outlets for poker are expected to bring in over $1 billion to the coffers of the state.

Collins reports in his article that, although there have been overtures from Las Vegas casino operations to create a “Vegas in the Everglades,” it may be a bit early to expect such an expansion. Collins points out the many family-friendly attractions in Florida such as Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, where gaming isn’t a major part of the draw.

Collins quoted two Florida politicians whose views on the subject concur with his observations. State Representative Bill Galvano, a Bradenton Republican who was at the head of negotiations with the Seminoles regarding the change in gaming laws, is quoted by Collins as stating, “The state’s just so diverse, so a Vegas-style scenario is not a natural progression.” Democrat Jim Waldman from Coconut Creek agreed with his fellow Florida representative: “I don’t think you’re going to have another Vegas. What you’re going to have are more options for people who want to gamble in Florida.”

Players have been quite pleased with the state of poker in Florida. 2010 WSOP $50,000 Player’s Championship winner and Main Event final tablist Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is quoted in Collins’ article as saying, “ (The new laws are) a dream come true. There’s nothing better than playing poker with beaches.” Mizrachi is a sponsored pro of Full Tilt Poker.

Message boards have also been buzzing with the changes in Florida’s poker scene. On the TwoPlusTwo forum, players have touted the higher stakes and new games that have been offered. Poster “DELUXER1” wrote, “Omaha continues to expand at Naples. When I left on Sat at about 4pm, they had two full tables of 2-5 PLO going. Also, the Sat 4-8 HK and the Fri 3-6 Omaha8 games continue to go strong.” “bocablkr” reported in the same thread, “On Wed nights, there is a 15-30 LHE game at the Isle Casino in Pompano. I played Thanksgiving Eve and it was a Mixed game of 15-30 LHE and 15-30 Omaha H/L. It was a lot of fun.”

With the one-year anniversary of the Florida poker law changes coming up in April, the full story has yet to be told. However, with the arrival of high-stakes card players and the WPT and the WSOPC in the coming year, Florida appears to be the new hotspot for poker in the Southeastern United States.

NAPT LA Coverage Concludes on ESPN

On Sunday night, while many poker players were grinding online or traveling for the holidays, ESPN2’s coverage of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Bounty Shootout and Main Event came to a close. The two-hour finale featured Lon McEachern and Norman Chad bringing the action to life.

The first hour was devoted to the final table of the NAPT LA Bounty Shootout, whose two preliminary flights were shown last week. A winner-take-all top prize of $135,000 was up for grabs and every player who made the final table earned $20,000. Each person started with a stack of 100,000 in chips and all bounties accumulated were worth $1,000 apiece.

UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin doubled up early on at the expense of November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi to take the chip lead. Baldwin flopped a set of aces and then dodged a flush draw to vault to the top of the leaderboard. Meanwhile, Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee, who took down the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Berlin earlier this year, was the final table’s first casualty and earned $23,000.

Mizrachi doubled up through PokerStars Canadian pro Pat Pezzin after coming out on the winning end of a race with A-J against pocket tens. Then, pocket tens would prove to be his demise, as “The Grinder” moved his chips in with pocket fives, but ran into the superior wired pair and couldn’t improve to depart in eighth place. Pezzin followed him out the door in seventh after his A-J could not overcome Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania’s pocket sixes. Charania flopped a boat and never looked back.

Justin Young eliminated Clint Coffee in sixth place to record his fifth bounty of the tournament and was tied with Charania for the lead in that department. The player with the largest number of bounties would receive a buy-in to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Bounty Shootout in January. After Tom Marchese was ousted in fifth place, Charania’s bid for the Shootout title came to an end after being eliminated in fourth place at the hands of PokerStars pro David Williams.

“DW” was bumped in third place and picked up $24,000. He ran A-Q into the pocket tens of Young on his final hand, as yet another player had shown down two tens. His exit gave Young his sixth elimination to secure the bounty title and Young went heads-up against his good friend and Henderson, Nevada neighbor Baldwin. On the final hand, Young committed his chips with A-Q before the flop and Baldwin woke up with cowboys. The board ran out 9-5-8-5-2 and Baldwin took down the NAPT LA Bounty Shootout title.

Following Baldwin’s win, Chad observed, “Two class acts. I wanted them both to win.”

The second hour of coverage was devoted to the NAPT LA Main Event, which featured a final table of eight players and a massive $725,000 first place prize. Joe Tehan doubled up early on through chip leader Chris DeMaci and then went on the tear of a lifetime, eliminating every single member of the final table.

ESPN’s coverage focused heavily on Jason Mercier, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner and champion of the PokerStars NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout. Mercier’s run in the NAPT LA Main Event came to an end in seventh place after running A-K into Tehan’s pocket jacks. The board ran out 6-5-9-3-8 and Mercier, whose parents came from Florida to rail him at the Crystal Casino in Compton, was eliminated.

In the final hand of the NAPT LA Main Event, DeMaci committed his chips with K-4 on a flop of K-5-3, but Tehan held K-10 for top pair with a better kicker. The turn was a five and the river was a four, giving Tehan the Main Event title with kings-up. The tournament marked a historic run for Tehan, who ousted all seven of his opponents. In 2006, he took down the Mandalay Bay Poker Championship in Las Vegas, a stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT), for over $1 million.

That concludes ESPN’s coverage of NAPT LA. Check out encore presentations of WSOP events all this week on ESPN’s family of networks.

Pennsylvania Gaming Board Revokes Foxwoods Casino License

Pennsylvania gaming authorities revoked the gaming license of a Foxwoods casino project in Philadelphia late last week, leaving lawmakers distressed over a potential blow to the city’s financial plan. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, fed up after countless delays on the project, voted 6-1 to revoke a $50 million license for the South Philadelphia casino, which has yet to break ground. It marks the first time the state has revoked a multi-million dollar license for a major gaming casino and could leave Philadelphia without a second casino for a long time. The city’s first casino, SugarHouse, opened in September in Fishtown.

The original plans for the new Foxwoods casino had it being built along the Delaware River in South Philadelphia, but the site was changed after opposition from neighborhood groups. The original diagram called for a casino with 3,000 slot machines, a 1,800-seat showroom, and a 4,500-space parking garage built on 16.5 acres. However, a revised plan presented to the gaming board last month called for a two-story, 57,463-square-foot casino with 1,500 slot machines, 70 table games, and 1,376 parking spaces.

The board had set a deadline of December 10th for a signed, finalized deal on what the investors would build, how they would pay for it, who would own it, and who would manage it. According to the head of the Office of Enforcement Counsel, investors submitted letters from two banks that said they were confident but not yet committed in funding $200 million for the $275 million first phase of construction. However, changes were made to an original pledge of 42% of the casino profits going to local charities for children, leaving the board understandably dissatisfied.

Foxwoods Development, an affiliate of the Connecticut-based casino, is reviewing the decision and considering options. “PEDP (Philadelphia Entertainment and Development Partners) has worked diligently to negotiate a development agreement beneficial to all parties, including the city of Philadelphia,” the company said in a prepared statement.

Las Vegas-based Caesars Entertainment, the world’s largest casino company, agreed in October to buy a one-third stake and run the casino once the project was finished. Caesars would have managed the casino under its Horseshoe brand.

“We believe the Caesars transaction would have provided the most advantageous outcome, creating jobs and providing much needed tax revenue for the local community,” a spokesperson from Foxwoods Development said.

The board’s decision to revoke Foxwoods’ license leaves everyone wondering what will happen next. Lawmakers have already proposed ideas for legislation that would allow open competition for gambling licenses reserved for casino projects in Philadelphia and Lawrence County. When the State Legislature voted to legalize gambling in 2004, five of the 14 licenses were labeled “Category 2″ stand-alone casino licenses. Two of those were committed to Philadelphia, one to Pittsburgh, and two to “tourism-enhanced” locations.

Foxwoods’ main location in Ledyard Center, Connecticut holds the largest poker room on the East Coast with more than 100 tables and offers two major tournament series every year: the Foxwoods Poker Classic and the World Poker Tour (WPT) Foxwoods World Poker Finals.

Poker Community Celebrates Christmas

Much like the rest of the world, poker players have their plans for Christmas. For some, that involved traveling to celebrate with family and friends. A few of poker’s top professionals had some trouble making their destinations, however.

England, in the grips of one of the snowiest winters in some time, held up poker duo Lex Veldhuis and Evelyn Ng. “Lex & I got caught in the British Airways mess at Heathrow yesterday en route to Las Vegas,” Ng Tweeted on Tuesday about the delays at the airport. “Hopefully we’ll be sorted out for today.”

Both Veldhuis and Ng kept a good attitude about the delays, with the former Tweeting, “Heathrow might be chaotic airport but the people there are nicest anywhere. Waiting in lounge now. Hope to fly in 2 hours.” Ng countered, “Looks like we’re good to go. It’s almost serene at LHR compared to the chaos yesterday. Just chillin in the lounge until our flight.” The poker pros were able to make it back to Las Vegas safely, with Ng Tweeting late on Tuesday, “After one 10 hour flight from London, it took a total of 5 minutes to exit the plane, pick up our luggage, and go through U.S. Customs.”

Another player having some drama as he returned home for Christmas was UB.com’s Scott Ian. The poker player and guitar shredder also was involved with the Heathrow debacle, Tweeting, “Made it to Heathrow even though the Dublin airport staff did everything wrong including checking our bags onto our canceled London-L.A. flight.” Ian had a much longer trip than Veldhuis and Ng did: “23 1/2 hours since we left Belfast. At O’Hare now. Flight to L.A. delayed 2 hours. Looking for Goose Island.”

Heading north for the holidays, Full Tilt Poker’s Greg “FBT” Mueller was in the middle of another emergency: “Just landed in Vancouver, but we were told paramedics are rushing onto our plane and we must stay seated… Will soon find out what’s wrong.” It turns out that it was a medical emergency, as Mueller Tweeted, “4 meds rushed on way to the back! I was in row 2 obv so I couldn’t see anything 3 mins later we were allowed to leave, no details! Home!”

Christian “charder30” Harder sounded as if he needed a trip home to recharge his batteries. “Pretty sucky ending to a pretty average year of poker for me,” Harder Tweeted on Tuesday after busting from the Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Regional Championship. “Home for the Holidays and then PCA.” After a couple of days relaxing at home, a much more reflective Harder detailed his Christmas plans to his followers on Thursday: “Chillin’ at my Dad’s in Virginia for a few days then back to Annapolis for Christmas. No idea what I’m doing for New Years Eve. Annapolis? NYC? AC? Baltimore?”

A couple of players were traveling for the Christmas holiday, but not heading home. Recent UB.com addition Maria Ho chirped about her destination: “Docked on my favorite island today… Kauai! This is one of many reasons why,” and included a Twitpic of the island. “Hollywood” Dave Stann, for his part, was looking to work during the holidays when he Tweeted, “Atlantic City-bound… I’m thinking Stud at the Taj. Come get you some old school action, bitches!”

Two of poker’s philanthropists, Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, kept up their charitable sides by helping those less fortunate. “Anyone have coats or warm clothes to giveaway,” Fisher Tweeted during the run-up to Christmas. “We’re going to the LV mission 6am Xmas day to hand out…. join us or donate?” Johnson also was extending her charitable hand when she Tweeted on Wednesday, “Thanks to everyone who helped make the party a success tonight. 21 happy kids and their parents. Loved seeing the smiles.”

As always, the world of poker players delivers, even around Christmastime, with thoughts of wisdom and hilarity. PokerRoad’s Court Harrington Tweeted, “Life is about memories and moments, not about gifts. I’ve been lucky enough to have a lot of great moments already.” Family surrounded Gavin Smith, as he Tweeted, “My wife, son, sister, mother and niece are here! Life is great!”

“Can’t wait for Christmas! I’m as bad as my kids,” Jennifer Harman Tweeted late Wednesday night, apparently up late preparing for the holidays. Annie Duke’s schedule was pretty packed, as she Tweeted early Thursday morning from her home, “Finished a huge portion of the Xmas wrapping just now. About two hours more tomorrow plus the cooking starts for dinner for 18 on Friday!”

Tiffany Michelle sent out early wishes when she Tweeted, “In case I go MIA over the next two days from eggnog, Christmas carols, & present coma… Merry Christmas everyone,” and included a Twitpic of her dog. Finally, DoylesRoom captain Doyle Brunson capped off the year with a news flash: “Warning: Christmas Cancelled… @MandaLeatherman told Santa she had been a good girl in 2010. He died laughing.”

Chris Bell Wins Atlantic City WSOP Circuit Regional Championship

Chris Bell already owns a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet. Now, you can add a win in the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship in Atlantic City to his list of accolades. Bell took down the title on Wednesday night after outlasting a field of 136 players to scoop a grand prize of $358,000.

It took four levels of play before anyone was eliminated from the final table. Right after the dinner break on the Boardwalk, Seth Fischer 3bet all-in before the flop with A-8 of clubs and ran into the pocket jacks belonging to Jason Burt. No ace came when a king-high board fell and Fischer departed the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship in ninth place, banking $32,000.

Nick Mitchell, known in online circles as “agriffrod,” fell in eighth place. On a 10-6-2-3-J board, Mitchell committed his chips with A-J for top pair, top kicker. Micah Raskin called and tabled the “Doyle Brunson,” 10-2, for two pair and that was all she wrote for Mitchell, the 38th ranked player on PocketFives.com. Mitchell picked up $40,000.

Burt ran A-8 of clubs into Bell’s pocket queens in his final hand to exit in seventh place for $51,000. Following him out the door from the $10,000 buy-in tournament’s final table was recent World Poker Tour (WPT) champ Andy Frankenberger, who shoved all-in with A-2 on a flop of 5-4-A. However, Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki had him dominated with A-K and promptly spiked a king on the turn for top two pair. Frankenberger banked $66,000.

Todd Terry was the next to go. About 30 minutes after Frankenberger met his demise, Terry followed suit by open-shoving before the flop with Q-3 of hearts and receiving a call from Klodnicki, who held A-8. Klodnicki hit two pair on the flop and never looked back; in fact, Terry was drawing dead by the river. His fifth place finish in the Regional Championship, which was filmed for television, was good for $87,000.

Raskin held K-10 offsuit in his final hand and was in a race against Klodnicki’s pocket sixes. The board filled out A-9-8-4-9, missing Raskin entirely and sending him to the rail. Fourth place meant a payday of $117,000.

After gaining momentum by doubling up through Bell, Ketan Pandya went busto in third place. Pandya picked up pocket tens in his final hand, but ran into Bell’s wired pair of queens. Bell had improved to a full house by the river and Pandya pulled down a $159,000 payday.

Klodnicki’s remaining chips hit the middle of the table with 6-4 on a flop of 5-3-6 for top pair and a two-way straight draw. Bell tabled pocket threes for bottom set, which held when the turn and river came a nine and a queen, respectively. The stacks were counted down after the river card to ensure that Klodnicki had in fact been eliminated and the former gold ring winner earned $221,000 for second place.

Here were the final results from the WSOP Circuit Regional Championship in Atlantic City:

1. Chris Bell – $358,295
2. Chris “SLOPPYKLOD” Klodnicki – $221,452
3. Ketan Pandya – $159,851
4. Micah Raskin – $117,457
5. Todd Terry – $87,808
6. Andy Frankenberger – $66,758
7. Jason Burt – $51,607
8. Nick “agriffrod” Mitchell – $40,538
9. Seth Fischer – $32,362

Every member of the final table qualified for the WSOP Circuit National Championship, a $1 million freeroll that will be held in Las Vegas in May. All told, 30 players have qualified for the freebie thus far, including Poker News Daily’s very own Bernard Lee, who made the final table in the Chicago Regional Championship. The Regional and National Championships are brand new additions to the WSOP Circuit for the 2010-2011 season.

2011 World Series of Poker Begins May 31st

According to a press release sent on Wednesday afternoon, the 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will begin on May 31st, one day after the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, and run for 50 days. The final table of the Main Event will be determined on July 19th, at which point the $10,000 buy-in tournament will once again be paused until November.

Despite constant rumors to the contrary, the 2011 WSOP will be held at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. If you don’t believe me, I’ll go ahead and quote the press release for you: “The event, as has been its norm since 2005, will continue to be held in the Convention Center of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.” Caesars Entertainment has been rumored to be shopping the Rio, located on Flamingo Boulevard off the famed Las Vegas Strip, but so far no deals have come to fruition.

The only tournament whose dates were laid out this week was the Main Event, which will begin on July 7th and include four starting days. In 2010, Jonathan Duhamel became its first Canadian Main Event champ ever after defeating John Racener heads-up. Three-handed, Duhamel was gifted 80% of the chips in play after Joseph Cheong 6bet all-in before the flop with A-7 when Duhamel held pocket queens. The pocket pair held, Duhamel doubled up, and Cheong was ousted several hands later.

The dates for the preliminary events have not yet been announced, but a full schedule will likely come to life in January. The 2010 version played out at the Rio between May 28th and July 17th, with heads-up play in the Main Event beginning on November 8th. The slate contained 57 tournaments including an all-new $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship won by Full Tilt Poker pro Michael Mizrachi.

Other 2010 bracelet winners included British pro Praz Bansi, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Tex Barch, Dutch Boyd, Gavin Smith, WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kassela, and Phil Ivey, who collected bracelet number eight. Ivey took down a $3,000 buy-in HORSE event for $329,000, outlasting a final table that included math whiz Bill Chen, John Juanda, Jeffrey Lisandro, David Baker, and PokerStars pro Chad Brown.

One of the highlights from last year for Poker News Daily was following the high-stakes bracelet bets of Tom Dwan, who nearly won a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, but fell heads-up to Australian Simon Watt. Dwan reportedly had millions of dollars in bracelet bets on the line, but ultimately came up short. Consequently, Mike Matusow told Watt following his win, “Thank you for saving us all millions of dollars! How does it feel to be every high-stakes gambler’s hero? They’re gonna, like, put you on the wall in Bobby’s Room.” Dwan took home $381,000.

In an important change from 2010, the 2011 WSOP will feature “hard stop times.” After 10 levels of play on any given day, the action will automatically come to a halt. The same WSOP press release explained that the number of players remaining in the tournament when 10 levels were completed was irrelevant: “Once 10 levels have been completed, remaining players will have their chips bagged and tagged and return the next day to continue on in the tournament. Regardless of how many players remain in a tournament, hard stop times will be enforced after 10 levels of play.”

We’ll have the latest WSOP headlines for you right here on Poker News Daily.

2011 WSOP Dates Released, Schedule Coming

The 2011 WSOP will begin Tuesday, May 31, 2011, just one day after the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, and run 50 days straight through Tuesday, July 19.

As it has since 2005, the Convention Center of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada will play host to all the action.

The WSOP Main Event itself will begin Thursday, July 7 with the first of four starting days and conclude July 19 after reaching a final table of nine players.

This year, the WSOP is implimenting a hard stop time policy for all bracelet events.

Players will play a maximum of 10 levels per day and have their chips bagged and tagged to return the following day regardless of how many players remain in a tournament.

The entire WSOP schedule, with individual tournaments, dates, times and buy-ins will be released in January.

2011 WSOP Dates Released, Schedule Coming

The 2011 WSOP will begin Tuesday, May 31, 2011, just one day after the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, and run 50 days straight through Tuesday, July 19.

As it has since 2005, the Convention Center of the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada will play host to all the action.

The WSOP Main Event itself will begin Thursday, July 7 with the first of four starting days and conclude July 19 after reaching a final table of nine players.

This year, the WSOP is implimenting a hard stop time policy for all bracelet events.

Players will play a maximum of 10 levels per day and have their chips bagged and tagged to return the following day regardless of how many players remain in a tournament.

The entire WSOP schedule, with individual tournaments, dates, times and buy-ins will be released in January.

Bell Battles Back to Book WSOPC AC Win

The veteran pro, a former real estate developer from Raleigh, North Carolina, added $358,295 to his more than $2.5 million in career tournament earnings with the win.

Bell, who also won his first WSOP bracelet in 2010, took the lead on the event's second day and although he entered the final table second in chips, he stayed patient as it took almost six hours of play before the first player busted from the final.

Eventually Bell managed to get heads-up with chip leader Chris Klodnicki almost even in chips.

He fell behind early before clawing his way back into the match and getting Klodnicki all in with a pair and a straight draw against his flopped set of threes.

The turn and river bricked, Bell's set held and after the chips were counted and it became clear he had Klodnicki covered, the title was his.

The second of four WSOPC Regional Championships drew 136 players to Atlantic City this week, creating a $1,279,624 prize pool.

All nine finalists won seats into the $1 million-dollar freeroll WSOP Circuit National Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas May 27-29.

Coverage of the final table will will air on the VERSUS Network in mid-2011.

Next up for the WSOPC is a stop at the Choctaw Casino Resort in Durant, Oklahoma, just one hour north of Dallas, Texas. The ten ring-event series runs Jan. 6-25.

The next Regional Championship is set to take place at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego March 27-30.

Here's how the final table finished up in Atlantic City:

1 Chris Bell $358,295

2 Chris Klodnicki $221,452

3 Ketan Pandya $159,851

4 Micah Raskin $117,457

5 Todd Terry $87,808

6 Andy Frankenberger $66,758

7 Jason Burt $51,607

8 Nick Mitchell $40,538

9 Seth Fischer $32,362

Klodnicki Leads Solid Final at WSOPC AC

A bevvy of big names finished just outside the final nine, including Victor Ramdin (12th), Beth Shak (11th), and newly crowned WSOPC Atlantic City Main Event champion Matt Waxman (10th).

However, a solid line-up still awaits two-time WSOP final tablist Klodnicki in the final.

Sitting right behind him on the leaderboard is the venerable Chris Bell, who won his first WSOP bracelet this past summer and will be looking to add to his more than $2.5 million in career earnings with a win Wednesday.

New York amateur Micah Raskin and California pro Jason Burt are also close, looking to book their first big scores.

New Jersey poker hobbyist Ketan Pandya and 2010 WSOP final tablist Nicholas Mitchell are next down the leaderboard, while two-time WSOP and WPT finalist Todd Terry is right behind them.

But next up is perhaps the hottest player in the group.

After winning WPT Legends this past August, Andy Frankenbegrer went on to final table the WPT Festa al Lago main event in October and is coming off a 16th place finish at the WPT Five Diamond in Las Vegas earlier this month.

The current leader in the WPT's Player of the Year race, Frankenberger has over $1.1 million in career earnings, all in 2010.

Finally, 2008 WSOP finalist Seth Fischer comes in with the short stack.

The second of four WSOPC Regional Championships drew 136 players to Atlantic City this week, creating a $1,279,624 prize pool with $358,295 reserved for first.

The final nine have all already booked seats into the $1 million-dollar freeroll WSOP Circuit National Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas May 27-29.

The final table will go off Wednesday afternoon in Atlantic City and will be televised on VERSUS Network in 2011.

Here's how the nine finalists stack up coming in:

1 Chris Klodnicki 759,000

2 Chris Bell 706,000

3 Micah Raskin 594,000

4 Jason Burt 579,000

5 Ketan Pandya 377,000

6 Nick Mitchell 332,000

7 Todd Terry 307,000

8 Andy Frankenberger 230,000

9 Seth Fischer 219,000

WPT Venice qualifiers up and running

Bell Rings In The Lead at WSOPC AC

The event played down to its final three tables shortly before midnight Monday with several big names busting before the day’s end, including Day 1 chip leader Vanessa Selbst, Jordan Morgan, “Miami” John Cernuto, Brock Parker, Bernard Lee, Dwyte Pilgrim, Nick Schulman, TJ Cloutier and online poker star Isaac Baron.

Chris Klodnicki, Victor Ramdin, Beth Shak, Sorel Mizzi, Jonathan Little and WSOP Circuit Atlantic City main event winner Matthew Waxman are still in contention headed into Day 3 Tuesday.

Bell has more than $2.3 million in career live tournament earnings including a win in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8 event at the 2010 WSOP this past summer.

The second of four WSOPC Regional Championships drew 136 players to Atlantic City this week, creating a $1,279,624 prize pool with $358,295 reserved for first.

The final nine will all win seats into the $1 million-dollar freeroll WSOP Circuit National Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas May 27-29.

The WSOPC Eastern Regional Championship will play down to a final table Tuesday and a winner will be crowned Dec. 22.

The final table will be televised on VERSUS Network.

Jonathan Duhamel and Scotty Nguyen have their debut on High Stakes Poker

There has been lots of talk about the lineup for High Stakes Poker Season 7 and now the players are slowly revealed as the filming is underway.

The filming will end today and after going through some players who use twitter, it is clear who have been playing:

Barry Greenstein: “Getting ready to film High Stakes Poker at Bellagio. They gave me old chips from the cage due to a recent robbery!”

Antonio Esfandiari: “Today is High Stakes Poker. Oatmeal. Protein shake. Feeeeling good. One (moore) time!”

Jonathan Duhamel (WSOP 2010 Main Event winner): “@TheGrinder44 Some shooting for PStars and then high stakes poker!”

Andrew Robl: “On set for high stakes poker. Going to be quite a season!”

Jason Mercier: “Off to Vegas today … Goin to try my luck again at season 7 of high stakes poker”

And also Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Doyle “Texas dolly” Brunson, David “Viffer” Peat, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Scotty “Scotty baby” Nguyen are going to play.

Full Tilt Poker haven’t changed their politics, they won’t allow their Team players to play on HSP. Also Daniel Negreanu told that he is busy doing other things, so he is not able to play.

Let’s hope that the new players will bring some life to HSP as the Season 6 was a bit of a letdown.

Source: Pokerista.net, PokerKingBlog

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Jonathan Duhamel and Scotty Nguyen have their debut on High Stakes Poker

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Final Table to Air Live on ESPN

Poker News Daily has learned that the upcoming PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) final table in January will air live on the ESPN family of networks.

The PCA is set to begin its 48-tournament schedule on January 6th at the Atlantis Hotel and Resort in the Bahamas, with the $10,000 Main Event set to begin on January 8th. As a part of the festivities, ESPN will cover the final table of the PCA Main Event in its entirety over its family of networks. At the moment, ESPN is dedicating a minimum of five hours of programming time on ESPN3.com and ESPN2.

At 5:00pm ET on Saturday, January 15th, ESPN3.com will open up its coverage of the final table. According to Kimberly Jessup, a spokesperson for ESPN Communications, “The broadcasts on our outlets will be delayed for an hour. By doing this, we will be able to provide hole card camera viewpoints for our audience, enhancing the poker experience.” At 10:00pm, the web broadcast will continue, but ESPN2 will join in to provide a simulcast.

At this moment, it is unknown who will be the commentators for the tournament. For previous ESPN poker broadcasts, Lon McEachern and Norman Chad have provided play-by-play and color. McEachern and Chad have been the voices of the World Series of Poker since 2003.

“For the first time, viewers at home will see a poker telecast from start to finish, with all of the strategy of world-class poker players playing in real-time and completely unedited,” Matt Volk, the ESPN’s Manager of Programming and Acquisitions, stated during the announcement.

PokerStars.net North America Regional Marketing Director, Joe Versaci, is also looking forward to a groundbreaking moment in poker. “This is one of the most exciting announcements ever in televised poker,” Versaci said. “This is the first time people watching online or on TV will be able to see everything that happens at a poker table. So much happens in poker that never makes it to the final television edit, but this will show exactly how top-level players go about winning a massive tournament. There’s so much money on the line… it’s going to be gripping.”

With this broadcast of the PCA, ESPN’s production will become only the second live tournament final table to be broadcast on television in the United States. Although ESPN provided delayed coverage of the final table of the 2010 WSOP Main Event final table through ESPN3.com, it has not attempted to show a tournament in almost real-time.

For the first broadcast of a live poker tournament’s final table, we have to go back to 2004. Fox Sports Net featured live coverage of “Championship Poker at Turning Stone,” which saw such players like John Juanda, Phil Ivey, Paul Phillips, Robert Williamson III, Randy Jensen, and a then-unknown John D’Agostino on the felt. Fox Sports Net used a special scanner to show viewers the hole cards on a five-second delay.

Two other made-for-television events have also been featured live on Fox Sports Net. In 2005, the Full Tilt Poker Invitational was played out live from Monaco and the Full Tilt Poker Championship was shown live from the Wynn in Las Vegas. These tournaments, however, were invitational events, not an open multi-player tournament like the Turning Stone or PCA events.

Shane Warne Interview with Poker News Daily

Former cricket star Shane Warne has taken his competitive edge to the poker felts recently and is a sponsored pro of 888. He was the life of the party during this year’s World Series of Poker and sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss his newfound passion.

Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. How did you get into poker originally?

Shane Warne: I played with friends and teammates. It’s a great way to socialize with friends.

PND: Are there any aspects of cricket that carry over into poker?

Shane Warne: The strategy of setting someone up for a play for their wicket and taking all of their chips are very similar.

PND: Who or what has been most influential on your growth as a poker player?

Shane Warne: I get some great advice from 2005 WSOP Main Event champion and good friend Joe Hachem.

PND: Talk about how you became involved with 888.

Shane Warne: I really enjoy the fun and social part of poker.  I have a social game with my friends every couple of weeks. I felt 888 represented the fun and social aspects of the game of poker the best. I have been with 888 since early 2007 and it has been a great experience. They are a great organization and a group of people I am more than happy to represent.

PND: You’re known for being a car aficionado. What is the next major car purchase you’re looking to make?

Shane Warne: I think I would like to buy a classic such as a 1966 Fastback Mustang.

PND: You’ve played poker across the world. What place is your favorite and why?

Shane Warne: I enjoy going to Las Vegas. No one knows me, which is great. When I’m walking with Joe Hachem, someone will interrupt and ask me to take a picture of them with Joe. I say, “No worries mate” and I find it all quite amusing.

PND: Tell us how you got started in cricket originally.

Shane Warne: I have enjoyed the game since I was young. During the 1983/1984 season, I played for the University of Melbourne Cricket Club in then the Victorian Cricket Association under 16 Dowling Shield competition. The following season, I joined the St. Kilda Cricket Club near my home of Black Rock. I played in the lower elevens and over a number of seasons progressed to the first eleven. I was then chosen to train at the Australian Cricket Academy in Adelaide.

PND: What was the highlight of your cricket career?

Shane Warne: While there have been many deliveries and wickets over the years that have meant a lot to me for different reasons, it is impossible to go past the “Gatting Ball” back in 1993, as it literally changed my life.

PND: What has been the highlight of your poker career?

Shane Warne: I played in the High Roller event in Melbourne at the Crown Casino a couple of months ago and came in third for $40,000. The winner got $150,000 and I should have won. I got all of my chips in with pocket 10s against pocket eights and the guy hit an eight on the river. I was unlucky.

PND: What advice do you have for aspiring cricket players?

Shane Warne: Work hard and have fun.

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