Poker News

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.

Face the Ace Lawsuit Dismissed in Nevada’s Eighth District Court

On Monday, Poker News Daily learned that the Eighth District Court in Nevada dismissed a lawsuit filed by Brandon McSmith, who claimed ownership of the idea for the NBC poker game show “Face the Ace.”

McSmith can now file an appeal or seek the intervention of a federal court. McSmith told Poker News Daily that while he was disappointed in the decision, he’s optimistic an appeal will be successful: “Judge Michelle Leavitt dismissed the case on the basis that I didn't state a claim. Leavitt has her fair share of appeals that have gone against her.”

McSmith purportedly created a show dubbed the “All Star Poker Challenge” in which five pros would take on contestants in a series of heads-up matches similar to the structure of “Face the Ace.” Each match was worth $2,000 in prize money and players who fought through all five pros would take home a trip to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On “Face the Ace,” the top prize was $1 million and only three matches were held.

On why Leavitt may have dismissed his case, McSmith told Poker News Daily, “She didn't want to listen to any of the evidence before her. Under Nevada procedures, you state a claim that's plausible. I'm trying not to be negative, but it looked like it was stacked against me. I will either appeal it or file in federal court. It gives the FBI a little more time to investigate.”

The FBI became involved in the copyright infringement case late last week, when McSmith successfully contacted Arlo Devlin-Brown of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. Devlin-Brown was one of the primary forces behind a $30 million online poker funds seizure last July that affected more than 24,000 players. It’s speculated that Devlin-Brown’s interest in the case may stem from the involvement of Full Tilt Poker, which sponsored “Face the Ace” and lent its pros to the program. 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey was the series’ very first pro challenger.

Poker PROductions brought “Face the Ace” to life. The production company also creates new episodes of GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” and NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and is headed by Mori Eskandani. On a timeline for his next move, McSmith forecasted, “I have my people working on it right now. It’ll be less than three weeks. We’re pulling everything together. I won't sit back and wait, but I want to make sure to cross my T’s and dot my I’s first. I'm not too worried about going to federal court. The big decision is if I want to get [Judge Leavitt's] decision overturned.”

McSmith sent a package to an FBI Special Agent containing hard copies of e-mails and other correspondence related to his claims to “Face the Ace.” The agent actually asked him why he didn’t file his copyright infringement case in federal court in the first place, an avenue that McSmith may now take. The plaintiff is a security worker at a casino in Las Vegas by trade.

“Face the Ace” debuted with a paltry 0.4 rating and a 2 share, equating to nearly 1.6 million viewers. It squared off against “America’s Most Wanted” on FOX, the Rachel McAdams movie “Red Eye” on ABC, and a re-run of “Numb3rs” on CBS, falling short in the ratings against all three programs. The series, which featured host Steve Schirripa of “The Sopranos” fame, has not yet been renewed for a second season. McSmith noted that despite the relative failure of the show, its worldwide syndication and being its creator make a lawsuit worthwhile.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest developments in the “Face the Ace” lawsuit.

Poker In Twitter: The EPT Berlin Robbery, The Oscars, and Annie Duke Wins the NHUPC

It was quite a weekend in the world of poker and some of the best in the game kept their fans up to date through their Twitter accounts. Whether across the Atlantic taking part in the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Berlin or the National Heads Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas, there was action not only on the felt, but also away from the tables.

In Berlin, a field of 945 players came to the tables for battle in the latest EPT championship, with defending champion Sandra Naujoks attempting back-to-back wins. What made worldwide news, however, was the attempted robbery on Saturday when play was down to 24 players. The reports zoomed around the globe, with accompanying footage, and the players tried to let their fans know through Twitter what was occurring.

Noted online and live player Shaun Deeb found a report from a German outlet that showed some of the attempted robbery in progress. While he wasn’t in Berlin for the event, the video Deeb found showed that security at the event was vigilant in repelling the audacious attack. “Most badass security guy taking the money back from robbers,” Deeb Tweeted along with the Tweetvid he provided of the incident.

One of the players who was in Berlin for the tournament was English poker professional Vicky Coren. At first, she apologized to her followers for a lack of an article in The Observer (the English newspaper she writes for) by tweeting, “No Observer column from me today, I was away in Berlin and nothing much happened there to write about.” Scant moments later, Coren chirped again, “- apart from the million-dollar armed raid. It only just occurred to me today that might be news. I'm such a bad journalist.”

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the money taken was far less than some media outlets’ estimates. The United States’ Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee went on to capture the title on Sunday, defeating Finland’s Ilari Tahkokallio for the €1 million first place prize.

While the poker world was keeping up on the happenings in Berlin, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was in full swing throughout the weekend. The 64 player invitational tournament was the main focus of several of the poker players on Twitter and they kept their fans fully updated throughout the run of the tournament.

Playing injured for the first round of the event was last year’s runner-up in the tournament, Vanessa Rousso. What she thought was a sprained foot was much worse. “I went for x-ray just now and turns out my foot is broken, right fourth metatarsal... bummer,” “Lady Maverick” Tweeted to her followers. As of yet, Rousso hasn’t stated if the injury will affect her poker schedule.

Another player who was playing at less than 100% was the legendary Doyle Brunson. Originally, it was believed that the two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner would have to bypass the event due to recent dental surgery, but the longtime Texas road gambler felt strong enough to compete. He went on for one of the best runs he has had in the history of the tournament and was followed on Twitter by many in the poker community.

“Down to the sweet 16 in the NBC heads up tourney. Going to play Annette, I hate playing against women. Hope she doesn’t bat her eyes at me,” Brunson jokingly Tweeted prior to meeting up with the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Annette Obrestad. After vanquishing the young phenom, the Brunson clan erupted with Tweets. Son Todd, who was in attendance for the tournament, chirped, “Doyle beats Annette 15 for a third time!,” while daughter Pamela responded with, “My Dad @texdolly is final 8 in the NBC heads up! Go Dad Go!” Unfortunately, the Elite Eight was as far as “Texas Dolly” would go, falling to Dennis Phillips in that round.

The final match of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was a dream for those who follow Twitter. On one side was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who uses Twitter constantly, versus eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, whose Twitter account is one of the most notable in the industry. The battle over the Twitterverse started off with a jewel from Seidel about the Caesars Palace tournament room as he Tweeted, “Temps so cold in room… guessing this event is part of NBCs extended Winter Olympics coverage.”

Other players in the Twitterscape provided their thoughts to the event as it unfolded, with Alex Outhred commenting, “There are few combinations of 2 players that have a greater mutual respect for each others poker minds than @Erik_Seidel and @RealAnnieDuke.” Seidel’s Full Tilt Poker stable mate, Andy Bloch, noted in his Tweet, “Whether he finishes 1st or 2nd, @Erik_Seidel will have earned over $10M in tournament poker, the 9th player to do so.”

As the battle wore on, Bloch was able to note a way for Duke to gain an edge over the unflappable Seidel. “Annie takes a 1-0 lead over Erik Seidel. If she wants to put Erik on full tilt she should get an orange,” Bloch Tweeted in reference to Seidel’s famous battle with Johnny Chan during the 1988 WSOP Main Event. After tying up the match, Seidel would eventually fall to Duke, but he was gracious in defeat. “Ended 2nd to Annie Duke in the NBC Heads Up. She played an outstanding match. Easiest loss of my career, very happy for her,” Seidel Tweeted at the conclusion of the tournament.

Following the activities on the poker tables this weekend, many players sat back to watch the festivities surrounding the Academy Awards. With the expanded Best Picture category and a battle between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep for the Best Actress Oscar among the intriguing stories, the television program captured poker players’ attention. Most remarkable in the opinion of poker player Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, however, was the appearance of 47-year-old actress Demi Moore. “"Demi Moore... what a spectacle!,” Mayrinck admired via a Tweet. “She has drank from the fountain or made a pact with the devil. I want too!” High roller Patrik Antonius also weighed in on his Oscar preferences: “rough weekend overall, but at least avatar didn't win the awards that counted at the oscars.”

The world of poker through Twitter has become one of the best ways for fans to keep up with their favorites. Poker News Daily also is a part of the action on Twitter, so be sure to sign up to follow us at @pokernewsdaily.

National Heads-Up Poker Championship: Elite Eight Set

Eight players remain in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will begin airing on NBC on April 18th at Noon ET. Among the survivors are poker veterans Doyle Brunson and Annie Duke.

Duke faced off against 2007 National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner Paul Wasicka in the round of 16. The seesaw match featured the short stack doubling up time after time. Finally, Duke shoved with A-10 pre-flop and Wasicka made the call with pocket aces. The flop came A-2-J, giving Wasicka what seemed like an insurmountable lead. However, Duke spiked a queen on the turn and king on the river to make a runner-runner Broadway straight and double through.

Coverage found on PokerNews described the scene during Duke’s miracle double-up: “The gallery went absolutely berserk. Duke, standing over the table, held her hands up to her face in utter disbelief. She then walked to Wasicka's side of the table and whispered something in his ear before re-taking her seat.” Wasicka was the runner-up to Jamie Gold in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, earning $6.1 million.

The hand crippled Wasicka, who promptly doubled with A-9 against Duke’s K-10. In the final hand of the match, Wasicka committed his chips with pocket jacks and Duke made the call with a meager 8-5 of diamonds. The flop came 8-2-7, giving Duke top pair, and a five on the turn improved the UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist to two pair. Wasicka needed a two, seven, or jack on the river to stave off elimination, but a nine fell and Wasicka was ousted. Next up for Duke is 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Jerry Yang, whose supporters had a less-than-cordial run-in with Jennifer Harman earlier in the day.

Brunson’s miracle run continued. In 2008, Brunson defeated Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad two matches to none in a prelude to the WSOP Europe Main Event. In the Sweet 16, the two Caesars Cup participants squared off once again. They sat at the feature table and Brunson shoved all-in on a flop reading 7-5-J. Obrestad held 6-4 for an open-ended straight draw, while Brunson flipped up J-5 for two pair. The turn was a king, leaving Obrestad needing to hit a straight on the river to avoid doubling up the 10-time bracelet winner. However, a jack hit, giving Brunson a boat and a critical double-up.

Obrestad, the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champion, then shoved pre-flop with Q-5 of hearts for her remaining stack. Brunson, who underwent extensive dental surgery two days after the Super Bowl, woke up with A-8, which held on for the win. Brunson’s Elite Eight opponent is 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who bested high-stakes cash game pro Eli Elezra in the round of 16. Phillips’ National Heads-Up Poker Championship opponents have included Chris Ferguson and Kara Scott.

Eight-time bracelet winner Erik Seidel will face off against 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate in the round of eight. Seidel bested another former World Champion to punch his ticket to the Elite Eight, Chris Moneymaker. Seidel doubled up after flopping a straight with Q-J against Moneymaker’s K-2. The flop came 9-10-K, giving Seidel the nuts, and a running 6-9 didn’t help matters for Moneymaker. The former Tennessee accountant was then all-in with 10-8 of diamonds against Seidel’s A-Q. The board came 3-5-7-3-7 and Seidel’s two pair with an ace kicker scooped the pot and sent Moneymaker packing.

The winners of the clubs and spades brackets will face off against each other in the Final Four. Similarly, the survivors of the hearts and diamonds brackets will play each other. Here is how the field shapes up:

Clubs Bracket
Erik Seidel vs Peter Eastgate

Spades Bracket
Scotty Nguyen vs Jason Mercier

Hearts Bracket
Dennis Phillips vs Doyle Brunson

Diamonds Bracket
Jerry Yang vs Annie Duke

A winner will be determined today. The action kicks off at 11:00am PT from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest National Heads-Up Poker Championship coverage.

Doyle Brunson Advances to Round 2 of National Heads-Up Poker Championship

Round 2 of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship plays out today from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and will see the field trimmed from 32 to 16. Among those players still in contention is Doyle Brunson.

There was a question as to whether Brunson would even be able to play in the unique heads-up tournament after undergoing extensive dental surgery shortly after the Super Bowl last month. However, the DoylesRoom front man did more than just show up to the event in his backyard, he advanced to the second round. After an upset by GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso in the opening round in 2009, Brunson defeated Brock “t soprano” Parker to advance in 2010.

In the pairing’s final hand. Parker was all-in with a wired pair of eights and Brunson showed A-Q of diamonds, setting up a race situation. The queen came as the window card and Brunson never looked back. Now, he’ll play actor and Ante Up for Africa co-founder Don Cheadle in the round of 32. Cheadle bested J.P. Kelly in the first round. Kelly won bracelets on both sides of the Atlantic last year after taking down a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event in Las Vegas and a £1,000 No Limit Hold’em event in London.

In a clash of the titans in the first round, Full Tilt Poker’s Howard Lederer faced off against UB.com troublemaker Phil Hellmuth. Like the match-up between Parker and Brunson, this one came down to a race. Lederer moved all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and Hellmuth made the call with A-K of hearts. The flop came K-5-2, giving Hellmuth top pair, top kicker and a running 9-K sealed Lederer’s exit. This was Lederer’s fourth straight first round elimination in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Next up for Hellmuth is another industry giant, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. The winner of the 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event, Obrestad outlasted former baseball great Orel Hershiser in first round action on Friday. The 2010 cycle of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship is Obrestad’s first appearance on the program, which will air on NBC. Obrestad Twittered on her next foe: “Won my match. Guess who im playing tomorrow.... Thats right... @philhellmuth. Sigh lol.”

Also advancing to the second round is 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon. Coverage found on PokerNews noted that the table featuring Moon and Caesars qualifier Bill Huntress was “the quietest table on set.” Huntress was all-in after a flop of Q-4-A with three clubs and showed J-8 of spades for what ESPN poker announcer Norman Chad would dub “nuclear squadoosh.” Moon showed K-10, including the ten of clubs, for straight and flush draws. He also, rather amazingly, held the best hand. The turn and river fell a nine and seven, respectively, ending any hopes of the qualifier making it through to the next round. Moon’s second round opponent is Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke.

All but one qualifier of the seven who entered was eliminated in first round play, as Stephen Quinn upset Ted Forrest yesterday. Here are the second round match-ups for the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:

Clubs Bracket
Chris Moneymaker vs Leo Wolpert
David Williams vs Erik Seidel
Erick Lindgren vs Peter Eastgate
Stephen Quinn vs Jamie Gold

Spades Bracket
Phil Ivey vs Scotty Nguyen
Joe Hachem vs Gabe Kaplan
Jason Mercier vs Pieter de Korver
Phil Gordon vs Phil Laak

Hearts Bracket
Allen Cunningham vs Eli Elezra
Chris Ferguson vs Dennis Phillips
Doyle Brunson vs Don Cheadle
Phil Hellmuth vs Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad

Diamonds Bracket
Barry Greenstein vs Sammy Farha
Jennifer Harman vs Jerry Yang
Darvin Moon vs Annie Duke
Paul Wasicka vs Gus Hansen

The action resumes inside Caesars Palace in Las Vegas at 1:00pm PT and will play down to a field of 16. The winner of the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship will be determined on Sunday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest.

Andras Koroknai Wins WPT L.A. Poker Classic

After a one-day delay, the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic resumed on Thursday with its six-handed final table. After 94 hands, Andras Koroknai emerged victorious and banked $1.8 million.

Koroknai earned the largest first place payday awarded so far during Season 8 of the WPT. His prize package included $1.8 million in cash, a WPT bracelet and watch, a Commerce Casino trophy, and a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship, which will play out next month from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Koroknai had a rowdy Hungarian rail during the L.A. Poker Classic’s final table and told WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque that his plan was to spend his newfound riches.

Koroknai edged out Raymond Dolan heads-up. Michael Kamran, the short stack entering the final table, was the first person sent packing. Kamran moved all-in pre-flop with 10-7 of diamonds for eight big blinds and George Kasabyan made the call with A-J. Kamran picked up a straight draw when the flop came 9-8-5 and turned a seven to take the lead in the hand with a pair. However, Kasabyan hit an ace on the river to end Kamran’s heroics. He picked up $246,000 for his run through the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.

The second player eliminated was J.C. Moussa, who picked up $321,000 for his fifth place showing. Moussa shoved over the top of a re-raise by Tri Huynh with A-9. Huynh flipped up A-Q and the board ran out 10-6-2-K-5. Huynh made a flush by the time all was said and done and sat with the second largest stack at the table.

Dolan scooped a 2.6 million chip pot shortly thereafter to take the chip lead before a long battle ensued to see who would become the tournament’s fourth place finisher. Kasabyan called all-in with A-7 on a board of A-9-8, but ran into Huynh’s A-9 for top two pair. Kasabyan hit a seven on the turn for one of his outs needed to win the hand, but a river nine gave Huynh a full house. Kasabyan, who hails from Armenia and was rooted on by Chris "The Amenian Express" Grigorian throughout the final table, collected $450,000.

The trio remaining was fairly even in stack sizes following Kasabyan’s exit, but Koroknai doubled through Dolan to claim 60% of the chips in play. On the 93rd hand of final table play, Huynh was bounced after calling all-in with pocket jacks against Koroknai’s A-K. I bet you can guess how this hand ends. A king hit on the flop to send the tournament’s eventual winner out in front and no help came on the turn or river. Entering heads-up play, Koroknai held a 10:1 edge in chips.

Heads-up action lasted all of one hand, as Dolan called off his remaining chips with Q-4 and found himself up against Koroknai’s Q-8 of hearts. The action flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts, giving Dolan bottom pair and Koroknai a flush draw. The turn was a seven, adding even more drama and giving Koroknai even more outs. Sure enough, the king of hearts hit as the jackpot card on the river and Koroknai took down the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic. Here were the final payouts:

1. Andras Koroknai - $1,788,040
2. Raymond Dolan - $1,002,710
3. Tri Huynh - $665,140
4. Gevork Kasabyan - $450,580
5. Jean-Claude Moussa - $321,840
6. Michael Kamran - $246,740

Next on tap for the WPT is the Bay 101 Shooting Star event from San Jose, California. The unique bounty tournament kicks off next Monday, March 8th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Bracket Set

The field of 64 is set in the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. One of the highlights of the opening round is a titanic showdown between PokerStars pros Jason Mercier and Daniel Negreanu, who have both been on a hot streak.

Mercier and Negreanu made the final table of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event last year. Mercier finished fourth in the £10,000 buy-in poker tournament, while Negreanu fell heads-up to CardPlayer Magazine owner Barry Shulman after entering as the short stack. Mercier and Negreanu collected £267,000 and £495,000 for their efforts, respectively. Both are bracelet winners and members of Team PokerStars Pro.

Mercier enters the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which is emanating from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, on a high note. Last week, the Florida native took third in the L.A. Poker Classic’s High-Roller event for $141,000. In December, Mercier won a $5,000 HORSE event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $100,000. Negreanu made waves during the recent PartyPoker Premier League, finishing fourth at the final table. Heading into Thursday’s draw party, Negreanu Tweeted his desired first round opponent: “Headed down to Pure for the NBC HU draw party and I'm hoping to NOT draw one of the 7 qualifiers or a woman. Record going into #6 is 7-5.”

Meanwhile, two titans of the online poker industry will tangle, as 13 bracelets will meet when Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer takes on UB.com bad boy Phil Hellmuth. Lederer was fourth on Bluff Magazine’s recent Power 20 list, while Hellmuth leads the all-time bracelet count with 11. Both have crafty nicknames, as “The Professor” will take on “The Poker Brat” in a high-stakes first round encounter.

In an all-female first round showdown, Full Tilt Poker’s Jennifer Harman is paired up with actress Jennifer Tilly. A total of seven women will make their way to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas today for first round action. Joining Harman and Tilly to add estrogen to the field are Annie Duke, Annette Dworski, Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, Vanessa Rousso, and Kara Scott. Six women took to the field in 2009, including Rousso, who finished as the runner-up to Huck Seed.

Those in the hunt for the title range between 21 (Obrestad) and 76 years-old (Doyle Brunson). The tournament hits television airwaves on NBC beginning on April 18th and will run for six consecutive Sundays. The ultimate survivor of the single elimination heads-up tournament pockets $500,000, while its runner-up takes home a cool $250,000. Here’s a look at the first round match-ups in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship:

Clubs Bracket – Top Half
Patrik Antonius vs Chris Moneymaker
Leo Wolpert vs Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin
David Williams vs Joe Cada
Erik Seidel vs Huck Seed

Clubs Bracket – Bottom Half
Dan Ramirez vs Erick Lindgren
Peter Eastgate vs Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
Stephen Quinn vs Ted Forrest
Dario Minieri vs Jamie Gold

Spades Bracket – Top Half
Gavin Smith vs Phil Ivey
Richard Edwards vs Scotty Nguyen
Shawn “westtexasman” Rice vs Joe Hachem
Gabe Kaplan vs Johnny Chan

Spades Bracket – Bottom Half
Daniel Negreanu vs Jason Mercier
Pieter de Korver vs Mike Sexton
Phil Gordon vs Tom “durrrr” Dwan
Phil Laak vs John Juanda

Hearts Bracket – Top Half
Jesper Hougaard vs Allen Cunningham
Eli Elezra vs Greg “FBT” Mueller
Annette Dworski vs Chris Ferguson
Kara Scott vs Dennis Phillips

Hearts Bracket – Bottom Half
Brock “t soprano” Parker vs Doyle Brunson
J.P. Kelly vs Don Cheadle
Howard Lederer vs Phil Hellmuth
Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad vs Orel Hershiser

Diamonds Bracket – Top Half
Barry Greenstein vs Vanessa Rousso
Sammy Farha vs Antonio Esfandiari
Jennifer Harman vs Jennifer Tilly
Jerry Yang vs Mike Matusow

Diamonds Bracket – Bottom Half
Darvin Moon vs Bill Huntress
Andy Bloch vs Annie Duke
Andrew Wilson vs Paul Wasicka
Gus Hansen vs Greg Raymer

Rice and Huntress both qualified for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship at the host casino, while Dworski, Edwards, Quinn, Ramirez, and Wilson all won online satellites. The tournament’s first round will play out today, while the second round will take place on Saturday. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship match will all pan out on Sunday. Here are today's start times:

Clubs Bracket - 1:30pm PT
Diamonds Bracket - 4:00pm PT
Spades Bracket - 7:00pm PT
Hearts Bracket - 9:30pm PT

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from Caesars Palace.

WSOP May Hold All Star Game

In a Tweet posted on Wednesday by officials from the World Series of Poker (WSOP), it was revealed that a special All Star Game may be in the works. Its format and players involved are currently unclear.

A Tweet from the WSOP cryptically questioned, “Which 20 WSOP Bracelet-Holders would you like to see compete in an All-Star game? Stay tuned... #WSOP.” Last year, the WSOP held its first ever Champions Invitational, which featured 20 former Main Event winners vying in a made-for-television tournament for a vintage car. 1983 WSOP Main Event winner Tom McEvoy, a PokerStars sponsored pro, ultimately came out on top and drove home in a classic 1970 Corvette.

The tournament aired on ESPN, which owns the exclusive rights to the annual Las Vegas spectacle. Others who participated in the grand event included WSOP Main Event champs Amarillo Slim, Berry Johnston, Jim Bechtel, Huck Seed, Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jamie Gold, and Jerry Yang.

When prompted for comment by Poker News Daily, Harrah’s officials were equally vague, saying about the Tweet, “It was cryptic for a reason. I’m intrigued, are you?” In December, Harrah’s released the 2010 WSOP schedule, which kicks off with the annual $500 Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em event on May 28th. On the same day, a brand new $50,000 buy-in Player’s Championship will begin. The event will be televised by ESPN and take on an eight-game format: Limit Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better, Seven Card Razz, Seven Card Stud, Seven Card Stud High-Low Split Eight or Better, No Limit Hold’em, Pot Limit Omaha, and 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball.

Although no word has been handed down, it appears that 20 players, according to a fan vote, will compete for a grand prize during the 2010 WSOP. Given the internet vote, many posters on TwoPlusTwo questioned the makeup of the field. TwoPlusTwo member “Kevmath” explained, “If they allow voting on the internet, I'm sure someone not as deserving could sneak their way into the field.”

For example, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, born in 1986, was nominated by the general public through an online vote to become a nominee for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009. A nominating committee was quick to squash his bid, charging that Dwan had not yet stood the test of time, one of the criteria required for entry. Instead, names tossed out by TwoPlusTwo members as possible participants in a WSOP All Star Game include 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and popular female pro Jennifer Tilly.

Others called for several side events during the All Star Game, similar to the Slam Dunk Contest and Three-Point Shootout held during basketball’s All Star Weekend. “TheCanoe” explained some possible diversions: “Chip Stacking with Carlos Mortensen, Beer drinking with Scotty, [and] Scooter races with Doyle.”

One poster even tossed out an idea whereby players could rebuy according to the number of bracelets they own, meaning that Hellmuth could buy back in 11 times. Players who would be well off under this setup include Doyle Brunson (10 bracelets), Johnny Chan (10 bracelets), Erik Seidel (eight bracelets), Phil Ivey (seven bracelets), and Billy Baxter (seven bracelets).

TwoPlusTwo posters also clamored for the women of poker to join the All-Star fray like GoDaddy Girl Vanessa Rousso, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, and Tilly, who has long been associated with Unabomber Poker namesake Phil Laak. Other possibilities include Annie Duke, Linda Johnson, Kara Scott, Tiffany Michelle, Isabelle Mercier, and Maria Ho.

Not everyone was optimistic about the end product. TwoPlusTwo poster “ptartaglio” explained the mindset of some in the online poker community: “These types of tournaments are always horrible. They never have the better players, only the recognized players, and they always turn them into crapshoots. The Tournament of Champions that Mike Sexton won wasn't too bad for TV, but other than that they [are] horrible.” The first Tournament of Champions was held in 2004 and featured Duke earning the winner-take-all $2 million prize. Sexton won the event in 2006.

We’ll keep you posted on the latest WSOP news on Poker News Daily. Who would you like to see in a Poker All Star Game? Leave us a comment here and let us know.

Poker2Nite Debuts on Versus, Welcomes Trishelle Cannatella

On Wednesday, the UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” kicked off Season 2 on its new home, Versus. The series airs at 11:00pm ET and this week welcomed Absolute Poker pro and former “Real World: Las Vegas” star Trishelle Cannatella.

Season 2 featured “Poker2Nite” moving to Versus, complete with plenty of on-screen graphics during each segment. The show began with hosts Scott Huff and Joe Sebok recapping the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational. As luck would have it, the two were seated directly next to each other in the field. Then, attention turned to the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event and High-Roller Bounty Shootout. Sebok played in the latter event, but did not make the final table.

Playing out this weekend in Las Vegas is the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will air on NBC. Sebok claimed that notable omissions from the field of 64 included J.C. Tran and top female poker pro Kathy Liebert, both World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners. Huff and Sebok questioned the invitations extended to Kara Scott, Phil Gordon, and past WSOP Main Event champions. The National Heads-Up Poker Championship draw party takes place tonight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

For Season 2 of “Poker2Nite,” the “Weekly Misdeal” is no more. Instead, Dana Workman hosted a segment dubbed “Girls of Poker” and welcomed Lauren Kling into the Los Angeles studios. On being one of the last women standing in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Kling told Workman, “I don’t really care about being the last woman standing. As long as I’m the last person standing, that’s all that matters. I play to win.” Kling is dating fellow poker pro Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers and told “Poker2Nite” viewers that she does Pilates several times per week.

Sebok and Huff then interviewed Cannatella, who finished third in the WPT Celebrity Invitational. Cannatella broke down her strategy in the unique invite-only tournament: “The first day, I wanted to play pretty tight. The first day is fun anyway. Day 2 was straight playing.” 2010 marked Cannatella’s fourth appearance in the Celebrity Invitational; she had never made it past Day 1.

Cannatella became a household name after a rambunctious appearance on MTV’s “Real World: Las Vegas.” Then in her early 20s, Cannatella put herself on the map through the reality franchise and told “Poker2Nite” viewers, “I have a special place for Las Vegas because of that. I had never been west of Texas. We had a good time. There are definitely things I could have done differently, but do I regret it? No.” Huff pointed out that Cannatella has one more WPT final table than Sebok.

A new segment called “On the Clock” debuted during the Season 2 kickoff episode. In-studio guests are asked a series of rapid-fire questions and whoever answers the most number right at the end of 60 seconds during the course of the season will receive a championship trophy. Cannatella’s arsenal of questions included her favorite poker player, whether she was single or taken, her favorite city to go out in, the capital of Norway, and what eight times seven was. Cannatella answered eight questions correctly.

Finally, Workman returned for the “Online Roundup.” Show producers scoured social media outlets like Twitter as well as poker blogs and forums to bring viewers the top quotes of the week. Topics included the Celebrity Invitational and the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Sebok sported a beard after being clean-shaven for the “Poker2Nite” Season 1 finale on Fox Sports Net. He’ll now ink tattoos of fellow pros Gavin Smith and Jeff Madsen after losing a last longer bet at the L.A. Poker Classic.

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Versus. Check your local listings for station information.

Leron Washington Wins WPT Celebrity Invitational

ClubWPT qualifier Leron Washington took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational, defeating a field of 567 players from all walks of life. He earned $100,000 for the win.

Washington hails from Huntington, West Virginia and is a boxer by trade. If the WPT is looking for a spokesperson for its subscription-based online poker room that Washington qualified through, he may be their man. Washington told new WPT Live Updates hostess Jacque following his win on Wednesday night, “It’s a dream come true. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. It’s really being able to get out and try to showcase my talent and sit alongside some of the pros and celebs.”

Washington became the first ClubWPT qualifier to make a final table on the roving tournament series and entered the finale third on the leaderboard. Steve Elliott was the first elimination of the night. He called all-in after a raise pre-flop by Neev Baram and turned over K-Q. Baram showed K-10 and the flop came J-J-8, leaving Elliott in prime position for a double up. The turn was a queen, giving Baram extra outs. Sure enough, a bullet hit on the river to improve Baram to a Broadway straight, sending Elliott home in sixth place for $5,000.

Two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Thor Hansen was sent packing in fifth place after moving all-in before the flop with A-6. Washington made the call with just 8-6 and spiked an eight on the flop. No help came for Hansen on the turn or river and the most decorated player at the final table was bumped in fifth place for $10,000. The Season 8 Celebrity Invitational marked Hansen’s first WPT final table.

Five hands later, Baram moved all-in under-the-gun with Q-10 and received a call from Sean Urban, who held A-K of diamonds. The flop fell 10-5-2 with two diamonds, pushing Baram out in front with top pair, but giving Urban a flush draw in addition to his two overcards. The turn was the nine of clubs and Urban spiked an ace on the river to send Baram home. Fourth place in the invite-only WPT tournament was worth $15,000.

Absolute Poker pro and former “Real World: Las Vegas” star Trishelle Cannatella committed her chips with pocket queens on a board reading 8-7-5-5. Washington thought for several seconds before making the call with 6-7 for a pair of sevens and an open-ended straight draw. The river was a four, a dagger for Cannatella, as the card improved Washington to an eight-high straight. Cannatella took home $20,000 in her first WPT cash. She was a guest on the UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” on Wednesday as well. The series airs on Versus.

Entering heads-up play, Washington held a massive 9:1 chip lead over Urban. However, putting him away was anything but easy. Urban doubled up twice in the first five hands to be down just 2:1 in chips. By hand #85 of the night, the two were nearly dead even and 15 pots later, Urban had taken the chip lead over the amateur. Washington finally broke through after calling all-in with K-5 on a board of K-J-10-J-2. Urban sheepishly showed Q-5 for a busted straight draw and, just like that, Washington was a 60:1 chip leader. The ClubWPT qualifier won the tournament on the very next hand.

Here were the payouts from the 2010 WPT Celebrity Invitational:

1st Place: Leron Washington - $100,000
2nd Place: Sean Urban - $50,000
3rd Place: Trishelle Cannatella - $20,000
4th Place: Neev Baram - $15,000
5th Place: Thor Hansen - $10,000
6th Place: Steven Elliott - $5,000

Today, the final table of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic will play out from the Commerce Casino. Andras Koroknai holds a commanding chip lead over the rest of the table, which includes Raymond Dolan, Tri Huynh, Gevork Kasabyan, Jean-Claude Moussa, and Michael Kamran. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.

New Poker Pair: Erick Lindgren and Erica Schoenberg

Not all the interesting news in the world of poker occurs at the tables or in the halls of government.  Sometimes, it is simply people themselves that catch our attention.  Case in point: the budding romance between Team Full Tilt member Erick Lindgren and fellow pro Erica Schoenberg.

Our friends over at PokerListings.com were the first to provide the evidence to the general poker public.  At the WPT L.A. Poker Classic, Lindgren was spotted "railing Erica as she played deep in the LAPC main event," was the first to console her after she busted out, and most notably, they were seen kissing.

Schoenberg, a model turned poker pro, had previously formed half of one of poker's power couples, as she was once engaged to recent PartyPoker Premier League IV champion and "High Stakes Poker" fixture David Benyamine.  Their relationship was one of the central themes of the September 6th, 2009 episode of G4TV's "2 Months, 2 Million," a show in which four online poker pros - Dani Stern, Jay Rosenkrantz, Brian Roberts, and Emil Patel - lived together in Las Vegas and attempted to win $2 million playing poker in two months.  Rosenkrantz, one of the founders of the poker coaching site DeucesCracked.com, had once played Benyamine online when, to his disappointment, Benyamine left for a higher stakes table.  Upset about the apparent "hit and run," Rosenkrantz berated Benyamine in the chat box, calling him a "fish."  Schoenberg then proceeded to stand by her man, calling Rosenkrantz "just a typical NL a**-clown" in her blog.

In the "2 Months, 2 Million" episode, Rosenkrantz saw Schoenberg at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Pool and reached out to mend fences.  The two let bygones be bygones and Schoenberg set up a time for the two men to play heads-up online.  Benyamine ended up winning $60,000 from Rosenkrantz.

The details behind the Schoenberg/Benyamine break-up are not known, but their relationship was rumored to have ended in October.

Schoenberg's new companion is no step down at the poker tables.  Lindgren has won two World Poker Tour (WPT) titles and was named WPT Player of the Year in 2004.  In 2008, he finally earned his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, capping a fantastic WSOP in which he made three final tables, cashed five times, and was named 2008 Player of the Year.  On the live tournament circuit, Lindgren ranks 22nd on the all-time money list.

Schoenberg, while perhaps best known for being one of the most attractive poker players in the industry, is no slouch on the felts, either.  Even though she is relatively new to the game, she has three six-figure tournament cashes.  The first was for a 16th place at the 2006 $25,000 WPT Championship ($117,165) followed by a victory in the $2,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2007 Mandalay Bay Poker Championship ($105,875).  Her largest cash to date is $261,646, earned by placing third in a $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event at the 2007 WSOP.

A.J. Benza Levels About High Stakes Poker

“High Stakes Poker” Season 6 is currently underway on cable station GSN. One notable difference from the first five seasons is the absence of commentator A.J. Benza, who was let go in favor of bringing on floor reporter Kara Scott. Poker News Daily sat down with Benza to get his take on the show’s sixth cycle, which airs on Sundays at 8:00pm ET.

Poker News Daily: What are your thoughts on the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker,” which kicked off on February 14th on GSN?

A.J. Benza: I saw the premiere. When Gabe Kaplan was speaking, I was sitting on my couch and making the same comments I would have if we were taping it. I called Gabe and said it was different. He’s one of the best commentators of our time and I’m lucky to have been with him for five seasons. I missed that most of all - we had a lot of chemistry from being from the same neighborhood in Brooklyn.

I wish I could speak to GSN about why they did what they did. When I got the call that they were going another direction, I was more than mildly upset, not to mention financially upset. I knew it wasn’t a money thing and you can’t help but take it to heart. I said the show wouldn’t be the same. Nothing against Kara Scott, but you fall into the mold of the other shows.

I know that the ratings [for “High Stakes Poker” Season 6] aren’t what they were. It doesn’t mean that I’m the best guy to have in your poker studio, but it means that Gabe and I had a chemistry that worked. The only problem with having a floor reporter is that it’s like having a sideline reporter in a football game. It’s hard to stick a microphone in someone’s face and ask them how they feel after they’ve gotten felted or lost $200,000. GSN knew they were doing something controversial, but I don’t think they understood how controversial it was until the show aired.

PND: How did “High Stakes Poker” change your broadcasting and media career?

A.J. Benza: When I was a journalist in New York, I was always doing television appearances. I came out to L.A. for a show on the E! Network called “Mysteries and Scandals” and that put me on the map in Hollywood as an on-air personality. I hosted a few other shows in Hollywood and was fortunate in that respect. By the same token, network executives step in and try to do things different ways. It taught me a lesson – that’s showbiz. It’s like the phrase “That’s poker.”

PND: What about the first five seasons of “High Stakes Poker” stands out the most and why?

A.J. Benza: I’ve gambled all my life on football and go to Las Vegas a lot. I never saw men and women that could be down a few hundred thousand dollars without any perspiration at all. I have a huge amount of respect for them. They’re all immensely talented. There is so much to learn about poker. It’s brutal, it’s messy, it’s very mathematical, and it’s a nasty game, but you have to be a gentleman about it.

PND: What’s next on your agenda?

A.J. Benza: I’m writing a screenplay. This all happened in the middle of me writing a book, so now I am balancing that as well. There are a few radio personalities doing things with me and I’m doing a play out in Hollywood. I’ve been busy.

PND: We’ve had a tidal wave of comments from PND readers calling for your return to “High Stakes Poker.” Is it flattering to see that kind of support from the poker community?

A.J. Benza: It’s beyond words. I didn’t know anything about high-stakes poker when I started. From reading TwoPlusTwo and other forums, poker players hated me at first. Gabe was off and running and I didn’t know much more than flop, turn, and river. Once I knew the game to an extent, I wanted to stay true to the guy at home who doesn’t know everything about poker. I wanted to be the armchair quarterback who asked the questions and let Gabe take it from there.

Andras Koroknai Leads WPT L.A. Poker Classic Final Table

Hungarian poker player Andras Koroknai leads the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic. Koroknai has nearly five million in chips and the final table will play out on Thursday.

Jim Casement was bestowed the title of Final Table Bubble Boy on Tuesday. He shoved pre-flop with A-4 of clubs for 14 big blinds and received a call from Koroknai, who held A-9. The flop came Q-10-5 with one club, leaving Casement drawing to a runner-runner flush or straight. He’d also win if a four hit. However, the board filled out A-2 and the final table of the 2010 WPT L.A. Poker Classic was determined. Casement earned $185,000 for his efforts.

On the 160th hand of the day, about 30 hands prior to his elimination, Casement doubled up Jean-Claude Moussa. The race situation featured Moussa’s pocket eights against Casement’s A-Q of hearts. The board fell 9-5-4-4-J and Moussa doubled up. The Canadian ended the day with a stack of 1.36 million, the fifth largest overall entering the final table. Moussa finished 503rd in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, collecting $25,000 for his efforts.

WSOP bracelet winner Steve Sung was bounced in eighth place from the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. Sung moved all-in over the top of a bet by Koroknai on a flop of 8-2-2. Sung flipped up pocket queens, only to see Koroknai turn over kings. After one of the two remaining queens in the deck failed to hit on the turn or river, Sung was sent packing from the tournament. Eighth place was worth $135,000.

Another big gun was ousted just before the final table bubble, as 2001 WSOP Main Event champion Carlos Mortensen hit the rails in ninth. Mortensen committed his final seven big blinds with A-4 of clubs and received a call from Casement, who held a wired pair of tens. The flop came 9-6-5, all red, and no ace came on the turn or river. “The Matador,” who owns two WPT titles and two WSOP bracelets, earned $100,000 for his five-day run.

UB.com pro and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke was eliminated in 19th place from the $10,000 buy-in WPT tournament. Short-stacked, Duke picked up A-8 and pushed. Timothy Begley made the call from the big blind with pocket fours, which held. Duke, who has never made a WPT final table, earned $45,000. Begley, who turned in a strong run through the L.A. Poker Classic, ended up in 10th place for $67,000.

Who is left, you ask? Here are the chip stacks of the six players remaining in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic:

1. Andras Koroknai - 4,995,000
2. Raymond Dolan - 3,300,000
3. Tri Huynh - 2,565,000
4. Gevork Kasabyan - 2,000,000
5. Jean-Claude Moussa - 1,360,000
6. Michael Kamran - 680,000

In a tournament dominated by American poker players, two Canadians and a Hungarian will head to the final table. Moussa hails from Toronto, while Huynh resides in the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vancouver. Koroknai calls Debrecen, Hungary home. The three American poker players are all from California.

The six-handed televised final table of the L.A. Poker Classic won’t play out until Thursday. Today, the six survivors of the WPT Celebrity Invitational will take to the felts to play down to a champion. The eclectic group of players features former “Real World: Las Vegas” star and current Absolute Poker pro Trishelle Cannatella along with ClubWPT qualifier LeRon Washington. The veteran of the table is Thor Hansen, a dual WSOP bracelet winner. The final table stacks up as follows:

1. Sean Urban - 2,090,000
2. Neev Baram - 1,900,000
3. LeRon Washington - 1,790,000
4. Trishelle Cannatella - 1,540,000
5. Steven Elliott - 1,520,000
6. Thor Hansen - 1,480,000

Thursday’s conclusion of the WPT L.A. Poker Classic gets underway at 4:00pm PT.

G4 Won’t Renew Online Poker Show 2 Months, $2 Million

Cable station G4 has elected not to renew the online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million,” according to show personality Jay “Krantz” Rosenkrantz. The future of the franchise is now up in the air.

Rosenkrantz recently learned of G4’s decision not to renew the show, which ran for 10 half-hour episodes beginning last August. “2 Months, $2 Million” featured four online poker players – Dani Stern, Emil Patel, Brian Roberts, and Rosenkrantz – trying to earn $2 million collectively over a two-month period. Ultimately, the quartet banked $676,000 during the 10 episodes, falling well short of the goal. However, the program appeared to be well received by the poker community, whose members could relate to the trials and tribulations that the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast experienced.

Rosenkrantz told Poker News Daily that the cast members are currently weighing their alternatives: “We're exploring our options. I learned a lot doing ‘2 Months, $2 Million,’ not the least of which was what people really liked about it and what didn't work. Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to let that experience work for us.” Rosenkrantz and company rented a posh house in Las Vegas for the duration of the series, whose finale aired in mid-October.

G4 Vice President of Development, Laura Civiello, explained to Poker News Daily in a previous interview why “2 Months, $2 Million” was a perfect fit for the network: “There was something there that represented a lifestyle our audience is fascinated with. Every young guy wishes they could have this lifestyle, so it was very appealing to men ages 18 to 34, which is the majority of our demographic.” G4 does not currently air any gambling-related programming, instead opting for original series like “Attack of the Show” and “X-Play.”

The four “2 Months, $2 Million” cast members earned $35,000 in the first week before climbing to nearly $200,000 by the end of Week 2. In Week 3, the wheels fell off the proverbial bus, as the team suffered an $84,000 setback and were up just $114,000 overall. Rosenkrantz then battled poker pro David Benyamine in an epic heads-up match, dropping $60,000 to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner.

After four weeks in a Sunday nighttime slot, G4 shipped “2 Months, $2 Million” to Wednesdays. On Sundays, the program squared off against stiff competition that included HBO’s “True Blood” and “Entourage” as well as NFL football. On Wednesdays, its opposition appeared to be much softer.

After five episodes, the cast was up only $35,000 before rebounding by offering a boot camp at their Las Vegas house. Prodigies that turned out for the boot camp included Harry “UgotaBanana” Kaczka, Dave “NLsoldier” Schnettler, Wladimir “insyder19” Taschner, and Ben “pokiethepanda” Middleton.

A DeucesCracked fundraiser benefiting the Lili Claire Foundation took center stage on the September 30th installment of “2 Months, $2 Million.” After seven episodes, the team needed to average a colossal $625,000 in profit for each of the final three weeks in order to reach its $2 million goal. They promptly raked in $371,000 after Rosenkrantz battled David “Viffer” Peat online. Rosenkrantz exploited a betting tell to move from a $248,000 initial loss against Peat to a win of $351,000 on the week.

Perhaps the most memorable episode was a high-stakes home game featuring Peat, Team PokerStars Pro member Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, David Williams, Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, and Victory Poker’s Andrew “good2cu” Robl. The team profited $108,000 on the week to move to $615,000 overall. Entering the final week of the show, the “2 Months, $2 Million” cast adjusted their goal down to $1 million, which would have still been quite a feat.

In the season finale, the foursome ended up $676,000 over the ten-week show. Calls and e-mails placed to G4 for comment were not returned as of press time.

WSOP Europe Main Event Coverage Wraps Up on ESPN2

On Sunday night, ESPN2’s coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event wrapped up with Barry Shulman defeating Daniel Negreanu heads-up to claim the top prize of ?801,000.

Negreanu entered as the short stack at the table, but quickly ascended the chip counts. He flopped top pair against Markus Ristola to move to eighth in chips and then flopped a set of aces against Jason Mercier’s turned set of threes to double up and move to third in chips. His run at the beginning of the WSOP Europe Main Event final table was proof that all you need in poker is a chip and a chair. Negreanu told ESPN’s Kara Scott in a segment called “Cab Chat” that he feels at home in London because of the city’s abundance of vegan-friendly foods.

Sitting in third in chips, Negreanu called a raise to 62,000 from WSOP Main Event November Niner James Akenhead, who held pocket eights. The flop came 6-4-9, giving Negreanu top pair with 10-9, and Akenhead check-called a bet of 100,000. The turn was a six and Akenhead once again check-called a bet, this time of 162,000. The action went check-check when a five struck on the river and the dealer pushed the 711,000-chip pot to Negreanu, boosting him to second on the leaderboard.

Akenhead was eliminated in ninth place after running A-Q into Negreanu’s pocket kings. The board came J-6-4-9-Q, giving Akenhead ninth place finishes in the WSOP Las Vegas and London Main Events. Matt Hawrilenko was ousted in eighth place after trying to steal the blinds and antes with J-7. Shulman made the call with A-Q and Hawrilenko could not catch up.

Frenchman Antoine Saout, another November Niner, exited in seventh place after coming out on the short end of a race against Negreanu with pocket fives against A-Q of spades. Negreanu flopped a flush draw, which hit on the river to give the PokerStars pro both eliminations of the November Nine members. Shortly thereafter, poker veteran and two-time bracelet winner Chris Bjorin finished in sixth after running A-J into Negreanu’s A-Q. Negreanu ultimately moved from ninth place to first in an awe-inspiring comeback.

The first of two one-hour episodes on ESPN2 ended with Ristola departing in fifth place. Negreanu was his executioner, leading to four-handed action at the Casino at the Empire in London featuring four bracelet winners. To begin the second episode, local poker pro Praz Bansi called Shulman’s all-in with pocket kings on a flop of 6-8-4 with two spades. Shulman held A-9 of the suit and spiked an ace on the turn to double up.

Mercier, who held over 30% of the chips in play heading into the final table, was the tournament’s fourth place finisher. Mercier was all-in with a wired pair of sevens and up against Negreanu’s pocket nines. Mercier could not overcome being a 4:1 underdog and was eliminated. Negreanu had knocked out his fifth player at the final table.

Shulman doubled up again, this time after flopping top pair with K-J on a 4-K-9 board. Shulman check-raised all-in and Bansi called, turning over K-8 for top pair with a weaker kicker. The board filled out 6-10 and Shulman moved to 3.9 million in chips. Bansi was knocked out after reluctantly committing his chips with Q-2 of hearts. Negreanu called with A-Q and claimed his fifth straight victim and sixth overall at the final table of the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Negreanu held a 3:2 chip lead entering heads-up play, but doubled up Shulman after the CardPlayer Magazine owner was all-in with A-5 of hearts on a flop of 6-8-K with two hearts. Negreanu called with pocket aces, but another heart on the turn gave Shulman a flush.

Negreanu battled back and was one card away from claiming his fifth bracelet. Shulman was all-in with pocket aces against Negreanu’s Q-J on a board of 5-8-J. The turn brought another jack, leaving Shulman drawing to one of two remaining aces in the deck otherwise Negreanu would win the title. Sure enough, a bullet pierced the river and Shulman doubled up.

In the final hand, Negreanu was all-in pre-flop with pocket fours against Shulman’s pocket tens and could not draw out. Shulman won his second WSOP bracelet and Negreanu took home a £495,000 consolation prize. Former WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack presented Shulman with his championship trophy as the credits rolled.

ESPN2 will air the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event and High-Roller tournament beginning on April 19th. Re-runs of the WSOP Europe Main Event will air on ESPN2 in the coming days, so check your local listings for more information.

Seiver Books LAPC High Roller Win

"It feels really great," Seiver told PokerListings. "It sounds silly to say how good it feels to win, but it feels really good. It's such a rush, it's just so exciting."

Seiver came into the six-man final table with a slight chip lead over respected pro Daniel Alaei.

But Alaei immediately chipped up when the final table started at Commerce Casino just after 1 p.m. Tuesday.

First he sent short stack Will Molson home sixth before his tens held against Tommy Vedes' K♣ 3♣ to rail him fifth.

Soon after, Alaei doubled through Seiver to take a commanding lead when he got it all in and turned a full house to crack Seiver's flopped trips.

Alaei's grip on the title looked even tighter when he busted Lee Markholt fourth, but Seiver soon picked up a few more chips and a little bit of momentum.

Seiver busted Jason Mercier third and when heads-up began, he had moved into the chip lead once again.

Despite being deep-stacked compared to the blinds, Alaei lost a massive pot when Seiver made a full house against him just a few hands into the match and soon shoved in with Q♦ J♦ facing a Seiver three-bet with A♠ J♠.

Seiver made the call and although the flop gave Alaei both a gutshot and a flush draw, he bricked out handing Seiver the title and $425,334 first-place prize.

"I don't know if I can stand up here and say I'm the best at these, but I like to think of myself as one of the better players," Seiver said, explaining his recent success in High Roller events. "It's always about walking a fine line between confidence and hubris.

"It's very tough in the poker world to know where you stand compared to other people. I try to accurately gage how good, or not, I am and I feel like I'm good enough to play in these events.

"Clearly these are some of the best players in the world, but I like to think I at least rank somewhere up there with them."

The event began Sunday with 41 of the biggest names in poker, including Season 7 WPT Player of the Year Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, 2008 World Series of Poker Player of the Year Erick Lindgren and Ashton Griffin, who won the NAPT's $25k Bounty Shootout in Las Vegas last week.

Seiver, who moved up to just under $2 million in career tournament winnings with the victory, said it was a particular thrill to take on an esteemed player like Alaei heads-up.

"Daniel Alaei is my hero," he said. "He's one of the best in the world and to beat him heads up just felt so great."

The World Poker Tour's L.A. Poker Classic continues through March 4. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.

Antonio Esfandiari Interview with Poker News Daily

Poker News Daily: You’ve had a couple of sponsorship deals in the past, but you are generally known as one of the top unsigned players. What prompted you to settle down with Victory Poker?

Antonio Esfandiari: Well, there was no right fit for me.  I was with Ultimate Bet many years ago.  That was cool, but I’m glad that I wasn’t with them when the whole [cheating scandal] went down.  I had nothing to do with that.

Then I was with World Poker Tour (WPT) because I was their one and only main guy. I didn’t want to be on a team with a bunch of other pros.  Like Full Tilt has a gazillion pros and I didn’t want to be just another guy.  So I was kind of holding out for another opportunity and then Victory came along and it was a perfect fit.  It’s all my buddies.  Dan [Fleyshman] and I have known each other for years and he is a great businessman; when he told me about it I was super interested and here we are.  We’ll see where it goes.

PND: What do you think sets Victory Poker apart from the other online poker rooms out there?

Esfandiari: Our software is really good, our artwork is great.  The guys in operations who are behind it know what they’re doing, so I think we’re going to stand out on that front.  We’re not trying to be Full Tilt or Poker Stars.  We’re just trying to get in there and make some sort of a splash.  I think we have a certain draw to us that other sites don’t.

PND: The site is really big on the lifestyle of pro poker players.  Do you think that is part of the draw?

Esfandiari: Sure.  My lifestyle is basically living in Vegas, going out, being social.  Now they want to just film all that and create traffic to the site and I’m okay with that.  If you want to put a camera on my life, go ahead.

PND: What kind of stuff have they filmed so far?

Esfandiari: Us going out, us betting on everything.  A lot of random stuff.  The other day I put on a bulletproof vest and got shot with a real gun.  We blew up an RV.

PND: Let’s go back to you getting shot.  How did that end up happening?

Esfandiari: My friend Dan “Blitz” Bilzerian, a sponsored pro as well, is a sicko.  At his house, he had a bulletproof vest on the ground and he took a gun and shot it.  I was like “I can’t believe you just shot that thing in your house.”  He’s like, “it’s bulletproof.”  I said, “So, if I wear it, it’s ok right?”  He’s like, “Absolutely!”  He’s a former Navy SEAL so he’d love to shoot me.  I’m like, “Alright.” So I put on the bulletproof vest and he shot me.

PND: Was this part of a bet or just curiosity on your part?

Esfandiari: It was just curiosity.  I didn’t always want to get shot, but I was like, “Hey, may as well get shot.”

PND: You took part in Victory’s high stakes cash game at the Hard Rock Casino.  How did that go for you?

Esfandiari: Not so well.  I got punished.

PND: Who were the big winners?

Esfandiari: Alan Meltzer and Bob Wright.

PND: We’ve been asking the other Victory Poker Pros what kind of car they’re going to buy off Craig’s List for your upcoming demolition derby in the desert.  Have you picked out a car yet?

Esfandiari: No, I’ve actually never been on Craig’s List, so I don’t even know where to start.  I’m not very internet-friendly.  I did do a demolition derby before with Phil Laak for “I Bet You” though.

PND:  Do you think that you’ll have the advantage come derby-time then?

Esfandiari: I think I’m going to win anything I do.  Always positive thinking.

Poker2Nite Moves to Versus for Season 2

The UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” has seen its final new episode air on cable station Fox Sports Net. Season 2 of the franchise will appear on Versus, according to a post on PokerRoad.

The new season will hit television airwaves on Wednesday, March 3rd, where it will appear in the 11:00pm ET time slot. The show stars poker pro Joe Sebok and PokerRoad personality Scott Huff, who break down the latest news and events from the industry. In addition, Dana Workman offers up a satirical look at the latest poker headlines in the Weekly Misdeal. The program runs for 30 minutes and aired an original season that lasted for 13 episodes.

Now, it’s on to Versus, although no official statement has been made by show sponsor UB.com on its future. Text found in an article posted on PokerRoad explains what viewers can expect on the show’s new home: “Versus, formerly OLN, is already a regular cable stop for fans of NHL hockey, cycling, and outdoor sports like hunting and fishing, but thus far hasn’t ventured far into the world of poker. However, with Poker2Nite now in their rotation, that may all change for the better.” OLN stands for the Outdoor Life Network.

Versus is owned by cable goliath Comcast and airs over 50 National Hockey League (NHL) games every season. In addition to smash mouth hockey, Versus airs cycling, hunting, fishing, Mixed Martial Arts, Indy Car racing, bull riding, and college football. According to the network’s schedule posted on its website, two episodes of “Sports Jobs with Junior Seau” will serve as the lead-in to “Poker2Nite” next Wednesday. Following the poker show is a 30-minute program called “Whacked Out Sports.” The channel airs in stunning high-definition.

November 18th marked the first episode of “Poker2Nite” on Fox Sports Net. The show welcomed ESPN World Series of Poker (WSOP) announcer Lon McEachern to the stage. McEachern, who was fresh off a trip to watch the WSOP Main Event final table unfold in Las Vegas, told Huff and Sebok, “It’s an event now. To have that many people watching nine guys sit and play cards was incredible. To come from the obscure beginnings to where it is now has been the ride of a lifetime.”

Initial reviews of the poker news series were favorable, although many critiqued Sebok’s nervousness in front of the cameras. By the time the show welcomed UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth on December 9th during its fourth episode, Sebok was in full stride. Hellmuth announced that he had taken a break for the remainder of a rough 2009 calendar year and noted, “There is some luck. That’s what people at home don’t understand. I just have to find a way to come back in 2010 and win one or two. That’s what it’s all about.” Hellmuth is an 11-time WSOP bracelet winner, which leads all players.

Besides Hellmuth and McEachern, other “Poker2Nite” guests have included 2009 Poker Hall of Fame inductee Mike Sexton, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas, prop better extraordinaire Gavin Smith, 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, and tournament director Matt Savage. Its final new episode, which aired on February 3rd, featured “Seinfeld” star Jason Alexander, who previewed the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Recurring contributors on “Poker2Nite” included Mike Matusow, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones.

Fox Sports Net continues to air Seasons 7 and 8 of the World Poker Tour (WPT) on Sunday nights. The network often sees its original programming preempted due to local sporting events, including college hoops, college football, and pro contests.

We’ll have a full recap of “Poker2Nite” Season 2’s kickoff episode right here on Poker News Daily.

Ashton Griffin Wins NAPT Venetian High-Roller Bounty Shootout

Poker pro Ashton Griffin edged out DoylesRoom personality Hoyt Corkins heads-up to win the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) High-Roller Bounty Shootout at the Venetian. The $25,000 buy-in tournament awarded a top prize of $460,000.

The final table was stacked with a mix of veterans and young guns of the industry, with one former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion, Peter Eastgate, who became the youngest winner ever of the $10,000 buy-in tournament in 2008 at the tender age of 22. Joe Cada would shatter Eastgate’s record one year later. Eastgate was the first casualty of the seven-handed High-Roller Bounty Shootout final table after pushing pre-flop with pocket eights and running into Scott Seiver’s pocket jacks. Eastgate could not catch up, but he collected $75,000 for reaching the final table plus a $5,000 bounty for any player knocked out along the way.

The next to go was Brett Richey, who first doubled up with A-K against A-8. On the following hand, he looked down at A-Q and pushed again. Griffin made the call and showed K-Q of clubs, giving Richey a commanding lead pre-flop and a tantalizing opportunity for another double up. The board read 4-4-4-7, setting Richey up for success, but a king on the river gave Griffin the win.

Young gun Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who earned his online moniker after playing an inordinate number of suited cards as a beginner in poker, pushed all-in from the small blind with Q-10 and was up against Seiver’s A-J of clubs. The flop gave Seiver top pair and a flush draw to boot; Seiver won the pot with a boat. Jaka landed in fifth place in the made-for-television tournament.

Seiver then pushed with Q-10 and ran into Corkins’s A-K. Corkins turned two pair to seal the win in the hand and Seiver, a WSOP bracelet winner, was eliminated from contention. Corkins had doubled through Seiver just prior to the latter’s final hand with pocket jacks against Seiver’s wired pair of fives. Corkins turned a set to send Seiver’s chip stack plummeting.

Joe Cassidy was eliminated from the NAPT Venetian High-Roller Bounty Shootout after moving all-in from the small blind with A-2 of diamonds. Griffin, sitting in the big blind, woke up with A-9 and made the call. A nine came on the flop and Cassidy was ousted. Entering heads-up play in Las Vegas, Griffin held a 2:1 chip lead over Corkins, who is fresh off a win in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship.

Two hands into heads-up play, a winner was determined. Corkins called all-in with 9-3 on a flop of 4-5-9. However, Griffin held 9-8, out-kicking Corkins and handing him the final table’s winner-take-all $460,000 grand prize. He cashed in a Pot Limit Omaha preliminary event during the 2009 WSOP Europe for £15,000. One year prior, Griffin landed in seventh in the Latin American Poker Tour’s (LAPT) San Jose, Costa Rica stop for $29,000.

All was not lost for Seiver, however, who collected a $100,000 bonus courtesy of PokerStars for knocking out the most number of players. Seiver single-handedly sent all six of his opponents at his first round table to the rails and two more at the finale for a total of eight.

Four hours of coverage on ESPN2 will be dedicated to the NAPT Venetian High-Roller Bounty Shootout and Main Event. The action kicks off on April 19th and will air according to the following schedule:

April 19th: Venetian $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout: 9:00pm to 11:00pm ET
April 26th: Venetian $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout: 9:00pm ET
April 26th: Venetian $5,000 Main Event: 10:00pm ET

Next up for the NAPT is a trip to Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut. The $5,000 buy-in NAPT Mohegan Sun Main Event kicks off on April 7th and runs through the 11th.

Ashton Griffin wins NAPT Venetian $25k High Roller

Ashman Wins NAPT $25k

Playing under the handle Ashman103, he takes on the best in the world at the highest stakes almost nightly on Full Tilt.

While he has a history of going from boom to bust online, over the past year Griffin hasn't just been staying in the game, he's been winning.

So when 49 of the top names in the game got together for the PokerStars.net NAPT $25k Bounty Shootout in Las Vegas over the past few days, it's to no one's surprise that winning continued.

The event began at the Venetian Hotel and Casino Wednesday with seven seven-handed heats. In addition to collecting $75k and a $5,000 bounty for every player they knocked out, the winners of each heat went on to Friday's final.

Scott Seiver busted every player in his preliminary heat and started out the final table with a bang, doubling through Peter Eastgate with aces and sending the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champ to the rail seventh soon after.

Griffin actually spent the day off before playing high stake online and came into the final without benefit of a night's sleep.

He was seen taking power naps on the break, but had no trouble waking up to get in to the bounty collecting business when he called a Brett Richey shove with king-queen, three-outing Richey's ace-queen with a king on the river.

Faraz Jaka was sent to the rail next, running queen-ten into Seiver's ace-jack and with another $5k bounty collected, Seiver guaranteed himself at least a chop of the $100k put up by PokerStars for the event's top bounty hunter.

Seiver was actually the next player out when Hoyt Corkins doubled through him with jacks over fives, then eliminated him with ace-king over queen-ten.

But when Griffin sent Joe Cassidy home with a dominating ace-nine over ace-deuce after three-hours three-handed, Seiver locked up the $100k.

Cassidy's exit also sent Griffin and Corkins into a heads-up match that would last just a few brief moments.

On just the second hand the two got it in on a nine-high flop holding top pair. Griffin had Corkins outkicked, it played and the title was his.

In addition to a $455,000 first-place-prize, Griffin grabbed $75,000 for winning his first table and $30,000 in bounties for a total win of $560k.

Poker In Twitter: NAPT Bounty Shootout, Matusow Versus Bellande, and Hellmuth in Playgirl

For many in the poker world, the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) stop at the Venetian has been their home base for the past week. While the Main Event wrapped up last night with Tom Marchese taking the championship, the $25,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout was in full swing and many top pros were a part of the action. The Tweets from those involved let the poker community know how they were doing while the tournament was in play.

Two UB.com pros let their fans know who they would be facing during the Shootout tournament. “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok seemed ready for action when he Tweeted, “my tbl for 25k tomorrow: Phil Laak/Justin Bonomo/David Williams/Joe Cassidy/Yevgeny Timoshenko/Tommy Vedes. lots of potential for fireworks.” Unfortunately for Sebok, he was unable to make a run at the Shootout table, where the eventual winner has to defeat his or her entire table to move on, and was knocked out early by Bonomo. “ZeeJustin” was eventually busted by Cassidy, who moved on to the final table by eliminating four of his six opponents.

Annie Duke was at the felt for the $25,000 Bounty Shootout and found it strange that all the ladies in the event were on the same table. “Of the 3 women entered into tomorrow's $25K event 3 are at the same table. Weird,” Duke said in her Tweet. “I am playing with Jennifer Tilly and Vanessa Rousso.” Duke would have a strong run at the table, battling with Bellagio Cup V runner up Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka for quite some time before succumbing. “The-Toilet” was responsible for knocking out all three ladies and top pro J.C. Tran on his way to the final table.

One player who tweeted his way to victory was 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) Southern Poker Championship winner Hoyt Corkins. Corkins has been on a roll as of late and Tweeted on his opponents, “Phil Hellmuth and Greg Raymer at my table.” While Corkins didn’t tweet during the event, Hellmuth picked up the slack with running reports. “Doubled up to average stack blinds 300-600,” informed the “Poker Brat.” “I open 1700 on button w/ A-K, Hoyt shoves w/ 6-4 in BB for my last 13k, K-9-3-5, then 6, whew!” Hellmuth was quite critical of his play later in the event, however, Tweeting, “Bad laydown!! Bad reads 2day! JDuthie had 10h-9h when I mucked A-K pre-flop! I let them steal my blinds & made a stand w KJ when JD had AK.” Duthie would make a run at winning the table, but Corkins defeated him to move on to the final table.

Away from the Shootout, players were on the cash game tables, with Mike Matusow and Jean-Robert Bellande going to battle. Matusow sought out Bellande, Tweeting, “How is it that idiot @brokelivingjrb seems to be winning everyday? I have to go see what kind of SUPER IDIOTS he's playing against.” Apparently “The Mouth” found Bellande and had a tough night on the felt. Bellande Tweeted later in the night, “@themouthmatusow is lecturing Eli after a brutal beat. Lol. "You play so f'n bad!" Eli giggling. He he. Poker is great.”

While not participating in any of the action in Las Vegas, Lacey Jones and “Hollywood” Dave Stann made notable Tweets this week. In a personal note to her Tweeps, Lacey commented, “Lacey fact: 1 year in Girl Scouts I sold more cookies than any other girl in Texas. I got 3 badges and bragging rights! Girl Scouts rock!” Stann made his way home from playing, but wasn’t particularly pleased.  “Hollywood” noted in his Tweet, “Thanks, 4 am Hollywood Park valet guy, for smoking so much g**d**n weed b4 getting my car that I'm driving home getting a contact high.”

Finally, offering up their knowledge in Tweet form was Poker Royalty’s top poker agent Brian Balsbaugh. Apparently in response to critiques of this year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship lineup, Balsbaugh gave the poker community insight into the selection process when he Tweeted, “If U R wondering how players with razor thin poker achievements make NBC Head's Up, it's b/c their sponsor's buy commercials.” Balsbaugh also had perhaps the scariest Tweet of the Week when he let his Tweeps know, “@Phil_Hellmuth told me he’d listen to a Playgirl offer “I’d get in best shape of my life, it might be fun.”

With the L.A. Poker Classic starting on Friday, the poker world should be hopping this weekend and the Tweets should be flowing. Poker News Daily continues to watch out for the top names in the game and gather their various thoughts. Poker News Daily is a part of the world of Twitter also, so be sure to add @pokernewsdaily for the latest information on the world of poker and the Twitter scene.

Marchese Crowned King at NAPT Venetian

"It's really hard to describe, but it feels really good," said Marchese, a Seton Hall drop out turned online poker pro who has moved his way up to some off the biggest games on the Internet since leaving school.

"It hasn't really set in yet in terms of the money and the accomplishment. I'm kind of just letting it all sink in."

Eric Blair, who actually finished eighth at Borgata, was the first player to exit Wednesday's final table in Las Vegas when he shoved with sevens facing a Marchese raise.

Start-of-day chipleader Sam Stein pushed in over the top with ace-king and after Marchese folded, a king on the flop sent Blair out eighth again.

A veteran of 26 World Series of Poker final tables, including three wins, Full Tilt pro John Cernuto can now add a PokerStars NAPT seventh place finish to his resume.

Cernuto moved up from his short stack position to start the final table, but after getting all his chips in the middle pre flop with ace-five, he was outdrawn by Stein's jack-ten.

Soon after, 2007 EPT Baden fourth-place finisher Tom Fuller saw his stack dwindle and shipped it in with jacks against a Daniel Clemente raise.

Clemente called with queens to send Fuller out sixth.

With more than a 2:1 chip lead on the nearest player to him and a little less than half of the chips in play, Stein appeared to be running away with the NAPT Vegas title.

His domination even continued when he five-bet shoved with jacks into David Paredes aces and hit a jack to rail him fifth.

Four-handed play went quite long with Stein finally losing the odd pot, but not the lead.

However, Marchese got healthy when Clemente shoved into his turned full house and the New Jersey native said it was then he felt winning was a distinct possibility for the first time.

After doubling once to stay alive, Yunus Jamal was sent packing fourth losing a race with tens versus Marchese's ace-queen.

A few hands later, Marchese shoved with queens, Clemente called with ace-eight and missed to bow out third.

'It all went well for me and fell apart for (Stein).'

 

Marchese went into heads-up just three million chips shy of Stein's 13 million and although Stein won the first few hands heads-up, his grip on the title slipped away when he made a river call with third pair against Marchese's top pair.

Just a few hands later, with Marchese suddenly in the lead, he shoved the river again and Stein called with second to the bottom pair.

This time Marchese had a set of tens and, just like that, the NAPT title and $827,648 first-place prize was his.

"When you get heads up you never know whats going to happen," said Marchese. "I was fortunate enough to make some hands and I got called pretty light.

"I know that it's frustrating to go from a pretty dominate chip lead to suddenly being dominated yourself, so people tend to almost spite call. The tide really turned in the space of about five hands were it all went well for me and fell apart for him."

Having beaten a massive field of 872 players to take the first NAPT title contested on North American soil and cement his status as one of the hottest young talents in the game, Marchese said he's going to do what any self respecting poker player would do - Play more poker.

"I'm definitely feeling super confident in my tournament game right now and hopefully this run continues," he said, claiming his next move was to hop a flight to Los Angeles for the World Poker Tour's LA Poker Classic beginning Friday.

Full Tilt Poker Sponsors Kandy Masquerade Charity Event at the Playboy Mansion

FullTiltPoker.net will be one of the sponsors of the Kandy Masquerade, a sexy costume ball whose proceeds will benefit the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA). This will be the second annual production of the Kandy Masquerade, which will be held at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, February 27th at 8:00pm. The gala is presented by the Karma Foundation.

The timing will work perfectly for poker players at the World Poker Tour's (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, whose six-day $10,000 Main Event begins on Friday. In an effort to allow any competitor who wishes to attend, L.A. Poker Classic tournament director Matt Savage has scheduled an 8:00pm break in the tournament that day, the second day of the event.

Entrance to an extravagant charity ball is, of course, not free. Kandy Masquerade tickets cost $1,000 apiece in advance. Organizers make no promises of ticket availability on the day of the event and have warned of a "very premium price." For the four-figure sum, attendees will receive admission into the Masquerade, free parking at the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a shuttle to the party, heavy hors d'oeuvres, an open bar, dinner, dessert, and entertainment. Celebrity DJ Paul Oakenfold and DJ Mister E will be on-hand to keep the festivities hopping.

All party goers are required to wear masks. Women are asked to wear "sexy, masquerade themed clothing," while men must wear all black. Anyone who has seen pictures or video of a Playboy Mansion party should have an idea of what to expect. It's not for children. Personal cameras are allowed for those who wish to share the sights with their friends.

The Karma Foundation is a social networking membership-only club best known for throwing extravagant, outrageous themed events like the Kandy Masquerade. Past events include the Kandyland and Kandy Halloween parties, both held at the Playboy Mansion, as well as the Kandy Kruise and Kandy Vegas, which was held at the Palms Casino Resort last year. Proceeds from the events go to charity. The Karma Foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for such organizations as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, March of Dimes, Children's Hospital of Orange County, and AIDS Walk Los Angeles. Membership dues for the Karma Foundation are $5,000 annually.

The NSPCA is a non-profit, no-kill animal sanctuary in Las Vegas. It is no stranger to the generosity of poker players. Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman has hosted three charity poker tournaments, two of which benefited the NSPCA to the tune of $450,000.

Sam Stein Leads NAPT Venetian Main Event Final Table

Sam Stein will bring a commanding chip lead to the final table of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event. The eight-handed feature table will play down to a winner today from Las Vegas and air on ESPN2.

Stein owns a stack of 6.1 million chips entering final table play, comfortably in front of Thomas Fuller’s second place tally of 4.7 million. Stein is 22 years-old and hails from Henderson, Nevada. He was the runner-up to Stefan Huber in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event held during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas and can be found playing online under the moniker “KingKobeMVP.” In November, Stein won the PokerStars Super Tuesday for $64,000 and took fifth in the UB.com $150,000 Guaranteed one week ago.

Kyle Zartman was the final elimination on Tuesday to set up today’s eight-handed feature table. Zartman was crippled at the hands of David Paredes when he pushed with A-Q on a board of 3-3-2-Q for top pair, top kicker. Much to Zartman's chagrin, Paredes turned over pocket deuces for a flopped full house and never looked back. Shortly thereafter, Zartman committed his remaining chips with Q-3, but ran into “Miami” John Cernuto’s A-K. Ninth place in the $5,000 buy-in poker tournament was worth $44,000.

Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who has become a household name in the poker world after several memorable cameos on the G4 online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million,” busted in 10th place in the NAPT Venetian Main Event. Lichtenberger was all-in on the river on a board of J-3-7-7-3 and turned over K-Q for two pair with a king kicker. However, Stein flipped up pocket tens for a better two pair and scooped the pot. Lichtenberger also collected $44,000 for his efforts.

Landing in 11th place was John Franciosi, who pushed all-in pre-flop with A-8 and was up against Eric Blair’s A-K. Both players hit top pair on a flop of J-6-A, but a running 4-2 sent Franciosi into the Las Vegas night. The first elimination of the day belonged to Christina Lindley, who came out on the losing end of a race with pocket sixes against Daniele Nestola’s A-K. An ace hit on the flop, eliminating Lindley in 24th place. Right before her exit, she had doubled up with pocket sixes against Q-10 after making a flush.

When the smoke cleared, here’s how the chip stacks look entering today’s finale at the Venetian:

1. Sam Stein - 6,145,000
2. Thomas Fuller - 4,735,000
3. David Paredes - 4,700,000
4. Yunus Jamal - 3,940,000
5. Tom Marchese - 2,370,000
6. Eric Blair - 1,690,000
7. Daniel Clemente - 1,345,000
8. “Miami” John Cernuto - 1,300,000

For a tournament with a bevy of online qualifiers, the final table of the NAPT Venetian Main Event has a wide variety of ages represented. Cernuto is the elder statesman of the group at 66 years-old, while Clemente is 37 and hails from just outside of Tunica, Mississippi. Paredes and Jamal are both 30 years-old. The latter is a German transplant whose payday in the NAPT Venetian Main Event will be the largest of his poker career. The other four players are all in their 20s and will seek to win one for the young guns of poker.

Each player remaining is assured a payout of at least $60,000, with a top prize of $827,000 going to the winner. Here’s a look at the amounts at stake:

1st Place: $827,648
2nd Place: $522,306
3rd Place: $309,366
4th Place: $241,064
5th Place: $184,816
6th Place: $144,639
7th Place: $104,461
8th Place: $60,266

The cards hit the air at 2:00pm PT on Wednesday and play will continue until a winner is determined. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT coverage.

Youth and Experience Make Up NAPT Final Table Mix

And while it is hardly chock full of big names, the final eight is an interesting mix of youthful talent on the rise and at least one veteran player who seen it all before.

The event began four short days ago with a whopping 872 players and all the fanfare live PokerStars tournaments have built a reputation for.

But as a field of top pros, Internet qualifiers and Las Vegas rounders taking a shot at the big time fell by the wayside, 22-year-old Sam Stein pushed his way into the chip lead.

Stein, who made the final table at the World Poker Tour's Legends of Poker event this past August, will carry that chip lead into Wednesday's final eight.

Now he's hoping the experience of playing in front of the WPT cameras will pay dividends here at Venetian.

"I think there's only one player that's even been under the TV lights before and that's 'Miami' John Cernuto," said Stein.

"He's an older guy and he's been around the block, but he's a short stack, so that's good.

"The other guys are mostly online guys, they're all good players and everyone is playing really well, but the experience of playing under the lights and how they'll react to that, we'll have to see. It'll be a different game."

As Stein mentioned, Cernuto is the most venerable player to earn a spot on the NAPT's first final table.

Short stacked almost all day, Cernuto said the experience of an amazing 26 World Series of Poker final tables, three WSOP bracelet wins and a WPT final table certainly helped him stay patient.

"Experience has already paid off," he said. "I've watched players with way better shots to win the tournament just give their shot away. They just gamble, gamble, gamble. I don't know if it's an ego thing, a testosterone thing or a youth thing."

Regardless, Cernuto is the still the short stack going into the final and understands that these days, being the oldest player at the table doesn't necessarily make you the most experienced.

"Experience does give you an edge, but I'm not necessarily more experienced than these kids," he said.

"Every five years I've played poker they've done in three months on the Internet. So they may even have more experience than I do."

Thomas Fuller will come into the final table third in chips and with a fourth place finish at EPT Baden in 2007 and more than $600k in career tournament earnings over five years as a pro, he'll bring some experience with him as well.

Sitting third is law school grad and hedge fund employee turned cash game pro David Paredes, while Yunas Jamal, a Software engineer from nearby Henderson, Nevada with a few decent cashes on his part-time poker playing resume will come in fourth in chips.

Lurking dangerously under Jamal is 22-year-old Tom "Kingsofcards" Marchese, a regular at the $25/$50 cash games online who has played as high as $500/$1,000 with some the biggest names in the game.

Marchese, who hadn't had much success in live tournaments before making the final table of the Borgata Winter Open Championship earlier this month, believes his nosebleed cash game experience is key.

"I think it really plays to my advantage," he said. "A lot of people are concerned about the money. I don't even know what I'd get paid now. All I know is that first is like $870,000. I thinks that's a huge advantage when play tightens up."

Rounding out the final eight is Eric Blair, who just missed a WPT final table making eighth at Borgata in last year and 37-year-old live pro Dan Clemente, who has earned almost $200k from live tournaments with buy-ins $1k an under throughout his eight-year career.

The final table will play out beginning at 2 p.m. PST and PokerListings will have comprehensive coverage on our Live Updates page throughout.

Eric Blair Leads NAPT Venetian Main Event Entering Day 4

What started as a mammoth field of 872 players in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event has now shrunk to just 24. Eric Blair leads the pack with a mountain of 3.7 million chips; two days remain.

Blair leads fellow poker pro Sam Stein, who finished second in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for $168,000, falling to Swiss star Stefan Huber heads-up. Stein has 3.4 million chips after three days of play at the Venetian in Las Vegas and all players are in hot pursuit of the $827,000 top prize. The tournament will play down to its final table today in Sin City and the survivors will return to determine a winner on Wednesday.

Team PokerStars Pro member Vanessa Rousso, a GoDaddy Girl, was the final casualty of Day 3. Rousso open-shoved with K-6 and received a call from Tom Marchese, who was seated in the big blind and showed pocket sevens. The board fell 10-3-J-A-J and Rousso headed to the exit. She’ll be one of 64 players to hit the felts of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will play out at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas beginning on March 5th. The tournament will air on NBC, which is currently carrying the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer hit the rails in 28th place in the NAPT Venetian Main Event. O’Dwyer finished sixth in December’s World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $202,000 and committed his chips on Monday with a wired pair of jacks. However, Blair picked up pocket aces and sent O’Dwyer out. O’Dwyer just edged out UB.com pro Michael Binger, who dropped in 29th place.

The money bubble burst in the $5,000 buy-in event on Monday when Daniel Schreiber was eliminated in 129th place. Schreiber shoved with queen-high, but ran into Kyle Zartman’s pocket rockets. Shortly thereafter, pros began dropping like flies from the inaugural NAPT event on U.S. soil, with Jon “PearlJammer” Turner and Greg Raymer soon sent out. Raymer ran pocket sevens into pocket nines and, just like that, the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ was knocked out in 102nd place.

Who is left in the NAPT Venetian Main Event, you ask? Here are the 24 players remaining and their chip counts:

1. Eric Blair – 3,700,000
2. Sam Stein – 3,409,000
3. Steve “MrSmokey1” Billirakis – 2,372,000
4. David Miscikowski – 1,839,000
5. Tom Marchese – 1,795,000
6. Thomas Fuller – 1,540,000
7. Kyle Zartman – 1,483,000
8. Yunus Jamal – 1,074,000
9. Daniel Cossette – 1,033,000
10. Daniele Nestola – 872,000
11. Daniel Clemente – 805,000
12. Joseph Cutler – 742,000
13. David Paredes – 706,000
14. Jason “TheMasterJ33” Dewitt – 622,000
15. Blair Hinkle – 614,000
16. Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar – 567,000
17. Andrew Chen – 539,000
18. Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger – 539,000
19. “Miami” John Cernuto – 473,000
20. Mark Ketteringham – 470,000
21. Michael De Gilio – 385,000
22. Steve Stolzmann – 365,000
23. John Franciosi – 286,000
24. Christina Lindley – 103,000

Each one of the 24 Day 4 starters is assured at least $20,000, with members of the eight-handed final table collecting $60,000 or more. Besides the tail end of the NAPT Venetian Main Event, Tuesday marks the start of the $25,000 High-Roller Bounty Shootout. The tournament, as expected, features 48 of the game’s greats, including Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, 2008 WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate, reigning champ Joe Cada, Victory Poker front man Andrew “good2cu” Robl, UB.com’s Annie Duke, and DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins. One qualifier will join the stacked field of 48 sharks.

Both the High-Roller Bounty Shootout and Venetian Main Event will air as part of ESPN2’s coverage of the NAPT, which begins in April. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT results.

Sean Urban Leads WPT Celebrity Invitational Final Table

The six-handed final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Celebrity Invitational was determined on Sunday and Sean Urban leads the pack. The tournament won’t play down to a winner until March 3rd.

As you’d expect in an invitational tournament, the final table is rather eclectic. Headlining the group is Thor Hansen, who holds two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and is considered to be one of the top Norwegian players in the game. Hansen finished eighth in the $50,000 HORSE Championship during the 2007 WSOP for $188,000. His first bracelet win came in 1998, when Hansen took down a $5,000 Limit Seven Card Stud event for $158,000. Four years later, he was up to his winning ways yet again, this time coming out on top in a $1,500 No Limit Deuce to Seven Lowball tournament for $62,000.

Also seated at the final table is Absolute Poker personality Trishelle Cannatella, who was a former cast member of the “Real World: Las Vegas.” Cannatella sent Michael Heslov packing in tenth place from the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, the site of the WPT Celebrity Invitational, when Heslov ran Q-J into A-J. The board came 9-9-2-4-2 and that was all she wrote for Heslov, who walked away empty-handed. Cannatella amassed a stack of 1.5 million chips, which will be good for fourth place when play resumes next month.

Also at the final table is LeRon Washington, who won his way into the invite-only tournament after taking down a satellite through ClubWPT, the WPT’s subscription-based online poker site. Washington tripled up on Sunday to stamp his ticket to the final table. He held A-K of clubs against A-Q and pocket fours and the board ran out 7-5-3-K-8 with three clubs, giving him the nut flush and the win in the hand. His chip stack grew to 250,000 as a result and he finished with 1.8 million, the third largest total overall.

"Dexter" Actor David Zayas was the tournament’s bubble boy, hitting the rails in seventh place to set up the final table. Urban and Hansen checked the action down to the river against Zayas, who flipped up Q-8 for a pair of eights on a J-8-7-5-K board. Hansen turned over 6-4 for a straight and scooped the pot, sending Zayas to the rails. Zayas also appeared in the show “Oz.”

Here are the chip stacks entering the final table in the WPT Celebrity Invitational:

1. Sean Urban - 2,090,000
2. Neev Baram - 1,900,000
3. LeRon Washington - 1,790,000
4. Trishelle Cannatella - 1,540,000
5. Steven Elliott - 1,520,000
6. Thor Hansen - 1,480,000

Actor and comedian Marlon Wayans was knocked out on Sunday when he pushed all-in on the river only to see his opponent table A-K for trip kings. Meanwhile, Cannatella sent talk show host Ricki Lake packing when Cannatella drew out on A-Q with A-J. The flop gave Cannatella two pair and the Absolute Poker pro never looked back. Cannatella was also the executioner of William Fay, the Executive Producer of the blockbuster hit “The Hangover.” Fay was all-in with pocket fives up against Cannatella’s pocket sevens and the flop of Q-5-4 gave him a set. However, his elation was short-lived, as a seven on the turn gave Cannatella a set of her own. The river blanked out and Fay was eliminated to begin work on his next Bradley Cooper film.

Also ousted during the play down day were L.A. Lakers owner Jerry Buss, poker pro Jeff Madsen, and “The Notebook” director Nick Cassavetes. Next up for the WPT is the $10,000 L.A. Poker Classic, which kicks off on Friday from the Commerce Casino.

RichieRichZH Wins Largest PokerStars Sunday Million Ever

The PokerStars Sunday Million regularly boasts a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million. On Sunday, that sum was lifted to $4 million. However, the total purse ultimately swelled to well over $7.2 million after a field of 36,169 players turned out.

Just two days after dealing its 40 billionth hand, the world’s largest online poker site continued to set records. This time, PokerStars hosted the largest Sunday Million in history, surpassing the field of 19,377 players that turned out in January for a special $2 million installment of the popular weekly tournament. This time, over 36,000 players either coughed up the $215 buy-in or won a satellite to get in, creating an online tournament with a larger top prize than the ongoing PokerStars-backed North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event.

RichieRichZH banked $1.1 million for the win. To put that figure in perspective, the winner of the NAPT Venetian Main Event will earn $827,000, while DoylesRoom pro Hoyt Corkins took home $739,000 for winning the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Southern Poker Championship in January. RichieRichZH’s prize is greater than the first place payouts of all but three tournaments held during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. RichieRichZH hails from Switzerland and won the Full Tilt Poker $100 Cubed in December for $9,200. Two days ago, he placed third in the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $7,700.

In the final hand on Sunday in the record-setting PokerStars tournament, RichieRichZH called lankeshwar’s all-in with pocket threes, while lankeshwar flipped up A-4 for a classic race situation. The flop came 5-2-10, giving lankeshwar a wheel draw in addition to two overcards, but the turn fell a nine. Drawing to an ace, three, or four on the river to double up and stay alive, lankeshwar watched as a five hit. He took home a $754,000 consolation prize.

Earning $506,000 for third place in the enormous Sunday Million was petinvest7. He held 10-9 of clubs on a board of 7-J-8-8 for the nut straight, but RichieRichZH showed 7-8 for a full house. Then, petinvest7 committed his remaining stack with Q-4 of hearts, but lost out to lankeshwar’s A-J. The board ran out 3-6-9-J-3, sending him to the virtual rails and setting up the heads-up showdown.

Fourth place went to well-known pro Erik "lirarerik" Friberg. He doubled up RichieRichZH when his pocket nines could not draw out on pocket jacks. Then, Friberg pushed with K-5 of spades pre-flop and RichieRichZH made the call with A-10. Friberg lost the hand, but took home $282,000 in the process. His big claim to fame is finishing eighth in the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $1.9 million. Jamie Gold came out on top in that event for $12 million, besting Paul Wasicka heads-up.

Here’s how the final table shook out in the historic online poker tournament:

1. RichieRichZH - $1,141,510
2. lankeshwar - $754,775
3. petinvest7 - $506,366
4. lirarerik - $282,118
5. WNYCEC - $151,910
6. DerHenker666 - $86,806
7. Jaggy42 - $57,870
8. highplaya - $43,403
9. Amoneymagnet - $28,935

On the online poker forum PocketFives.com, a 14-page thread developed about the $7.2 million prize pool tournament. Poster “bcdrmr” candidly calculated, “RichieRich made ~$84,556/hr this fine Sunday night... I'm SO fired up to go into work today where I made a little less than that all year long.” The $1.1 million first place prize is one of the largest ever awarded in the history of online poker.

Back in 2008, RichieRichZH represented his home country of Switzerland during the PokerStars World Cup of Poker. He was paired up with 88778877 in the 34-nation field and can now add a victory in the largest Sunday Million ever held to his tournament resume. PokerStars happily accepts players from the United States and around the world. Next week, the prize pool will return to its customary $1.5 million.

Poker In Twitter: The Tiger Woods Apology and WPT Invitational

With plenty of action on the felt and away from the tables, the crème of the poker world’s Twitter accounts were buzzing about their activities. Poker News Daily has gleaned the best of these Tweets to let you know what is going on in many poker players’ lives.

On Friday, the poker community was gripped – much like the rest of the world – by the live statement from professional golfer Tiger Woods. After an auto accident on Thanksgiving, Woods disappeared for three months with no comments on the allegations of marital infidelity and any details on what happened on that night. Friday brought Woods’ 13 minute speech in which he earnestly apologized to many in the golf and business worlds; his act of contrition brought out comments from the poker community as to his sincerity.

Former FBI agent Joe Navarro, who has made tremendous inroads in the world of poker tells through his book with Phil Hellmuth called “Read ‘Em And Reap,” used his analytical skills in reading Woods’ body language during the speech. Navarro noted in his Tweet, “In re woods, yes he looked honest, contrite, pained, genuinely sorry. He just took too long. Should have done this weeks ago, bad advisers.” Poker pro Alex Outhred had a warning for those who backed away from Woods during this time, Tweeting, “In the golf world, there are those that had Tigers back through his ordeal, and those that didn't. The latter are gonna get their comeuppins.” Poker2Nite’s Scott Huff brought a different look at the Woods apology when he Tweeted, “It would really be something if Tiger just came out and said, “f*** y’all.”

After the Woods press conference, attention of many poker players in the Twitterverse turned to what they do best – play poker. The L.A. Poker Classic opened the doors for the World Poker Tour (WPT) Celebrity Invitational and drew in 567 players, vastly outpacing last year’s 433 runners. The invitational drew in many participants from the music, movie, and television arenas and it seemed that the professional poker players in attendance were star struck by who they were playing against.

Prior to the start of the festivities on Saturday, Full Tilt Poker’s Mike Matusow indicated that he was ready for action when he Tweeted, “About to relax for a bit before I bust all these celebrity idiots in the invitational tonight.” Fellow Full Tilt pro Andy Bloch noted that he had a familiar adversary at the tables in his Tweet, saying “Playing WPT Inv with naked guy from Borat (actor Ken Davitian) who busted me at charity event at Hard Rock a few months ago.” Perhaps noted poker player/tournament director Linda Johnson was joking when she pointed out in her Tweet that she “(had) Shannon Elizabeth seated next to me. I'm probably the only one in the room who didn't know who she was.:)”

Poker pro Yuval Bronshtein Tweeted, “Just jumped in the celeb tourney. Jenny McCarthy and Toto Leonidas at my table. Pretty fun last few days for me!” Matthew Glantz had two celebrities who he recognized by their characters on television, although he did not know their real names. Glantz opened his Tweet saying, “Dr Hunt from Grey's Anatomy (actor Kevin McKidd) and Carlton Banks from Bel Air (actor Antonio Ribero) at the table now.”

As the play in the WPT Celebrity Invitational moved into action on Sunday, many of the top pros Tweeted about their departure from the event. Joe Reitman reported his demise by Tweeting, “Just got knocked out....clearly Teri Hatcher is a better player than me.” Perhaps poking some fun at his opponent’s television appearance, Jeff Madsen related through the Twitterscape, “Well, that was fast. All my chips belong to Tiffany Michelle now. She won an amazing race. Haha.” Michelle would drop out during play on Sunday also, Tweeting, “Out in 60th-ish of 500+ players. Ricki Lake called my all in with A7 & busted my AK. Nice. I deserve that when playing a CELEB tourney!” The final table of the WPT Celebrity Invitational will play out on March 3rd, with celebrity Trishelle Cannatella and Scandinavian poker legend Thor Hansen chasing chip leader Steve Elliott.

The top Tweets over the weekend were by female players this week. In a rarity from her, top poker player Kathy Liebert pointed out some of the idiosyncrasies in the online poker world when she Tweeted, “Who wouldn't want a playboy model endorsing their site? Why are women chosen on sex appeal and men chosen on ability?” As she prepared to leave Las Vegas after her work on the PartyPoker Premier League IV was completed, Kara Scott happily tweeted, “After almost 2 weeks in killer heels/makeup for work, I'm off to the airport with hair scraped back and wearing my fuzzy slippers.”

The poker world continues to provide detailed reports of its activities through its Twitter posts. Poker News Daily not only continues to bring you the best of those thoughts, but is also involved in the Twitterverse. Be sure to add @pokernewsdaily for the latest on the world of poker in Twitter.