Poker News

Dario Minieri Dominates PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller Event

Italian poker pro Dario Minieri leads the pack for the second straight day in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament. Minieri is a member of Team PokerStars Pro.

After two days of play, there are 24 players remaining out of the 84 who entered. Minieri was on top of the leaderboard after Day 1 and turned in another strong outing on Tuesday for Day 2. Minieri holds a stack of 430,700 chips entering Day 3 on Wednesday, edging out Michiel Brummelhuis’ second place tally of 403,800. Minieri and Brummelhuis are the only players to cross the 400,000-chip threshold and own a comfortable lead over former World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open champ Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar’s third place total of 301,700. Minieri won the High Roller event at the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Warsaw stop in October.

One of the final eliminations of the evening at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas was Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. He was all-in pre-flop with A-Q against Carter “bdybldngpkr” Phillips’ K-8. Phillips struck lightning in a bottle when the flop came K-8-4 and a running 9-J left Matusow scratching his head. William Thorson also exited at the end of the day when his 7-8 ran into pocket sevens. Thorson has made three EPT final tables.

2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Greg Raymer sent fellow PokerStars-backed pro Andre Akkari out on Tuesday. Akkari pushed with A-9 of diamonds pre-flop and received a call from Raymer, who had A-Q of clubs. The flop contained a queen, keeping Raymer out in front for good. Meanwhile, Chad Brown hit the rails when his A-9 couldn’t draw out on former WPT Invitational winner Alex Brenes’ wired pair of eights.

Brummelhuis helped his cause by casting off Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, who appeared on several episodes of the G4 online poker reality series “2 Months, $2 Million.” Lichtenberger committed his chips pre-flop with K-Q, but Brummelhuis picked up aces. The flop came ace-high and that was all she wrote for the young American.

Here are the chip counts of the 24 players remaining in the 2010 PCA High Roller event:

1. Dario Minieri - 430,700
2. Michiel Brummelhuis - 403,800
3. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar - 301,700
4. Tobias Reinkemeier - 279,900
5. Dmitry Stelmak - 264,000
6. Alex Brenes - 253,600
7. Greg Raymer - 206,600
8. Bijan Zahmat - 198,200
9. Sandra Naujoks - 180,500
10. Shawn Buchanan - 171,100
11. Lisa Hamilton - 153,900
12. Nick Schulman - 143,400
13. Carter “bdybldngpkr” Phillips - 139,400
14. Joe Cada - 135,700
15. Matt Marafioti - 121,000
16. Brett Richey - 106,400
17. Paul Berende - 104,400
18. Christian Kruel - 103,800
19. Bill Edler - 94,700
20. Adolfo Vaeza - 92,600
21. William Reynolds - 89,100
22. James Calderaro - 89,100
23. Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron - 76,200
24. Will Molson - 60,000

The winner of the $25,000 buy-in poker tournament will earn $576,000 and the top 16 players will finish in the money. Cada and Raymer are former winners of the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Phillips won the EPT Barcelona stop during Season 6, while Naujoks, one of only two women ever to win an EPT tournament, took down the Dortmund event during Season 5. Schulman made the final table of the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals twice in a three-year span, recording a win and a runner-up showing for $3 million combined. Many consider Baron to be one of the top poker players on the planet. Needless to say, it’s anybody’s game.

The High Roller event will play down to its final table this afternoon from the Bahamas and crown a champion on Thursday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from paradise. Pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight.

PokerStars amfAR Charity Poker Tournament Attracts Star-Studded Lineup

On Friday night during the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA), a charity poker tournament benefiting amfAR, a foundation for AIDS research, will play out. The field is capped at 39 entrants.

Since 1985, amfAR has invested nearly $290 million and has awarded grants to more than 2,000 research teams worldwide. Now, poker players will have a chance to give to the cause as part of a star-studded $5,250 buy-in charity tournament that will be filmed for television and beamed across cyberspace via EPTlive. The PCA is in the midst of Day 3 of its $10,000 buy-in Main Event, which attracted a starting field of 1,529 players, a new European Poker Tour (EPT) record.

Unlike a traditional poker tournament, the amfAR benefit takes on a shootout format. A total of 39 players will assemble across four tables. The last two standing at each table will move onto the final round. At the first table, each player is awarded 50,000 starting chips and the price of poker goes up every 20 minutes. At the final table, combatants will receive the same 50,000 chips, but blind levels will instead last a half-hour. Fifty percent of the prize pool will go straight to amfAR and all players are encouraged to donate 1% of their winnings to the charity. One television table and three outer tables can be found at the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas tonight.

On Saturday night, former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland will be performing at a PokerStars-sponsored party at the resort. Tonight, Rowland will put her poker skills to the test in the amfAR charity event. Other celebrity poker players who will take to the felts this evening include Entourage actor Adrian "Vince" Grenier, former Guns and Roses guitarist Slash, “24” star Carlos Bernard, and former Playboy Playmate of the Year and “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” personality Jayde Nicole. New PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) television hostess Joanna Krupa can also be found among the personalities in attendance in the charity poker event.

Professionals taking to the felts include reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Joe Cada, a card-carrying member of Team PokerStars Pro. Cada is fresh off mainstream media appearances on programs like the “Late Show with David Letterman” and “ESPN SportsCenter” and he recently toured Capitol Hill on behalf of the Poker Players Alliance (PPA). Also, look for tennis stud Boris Becker, former hockey star Mats Sundin, and former soccer player Teddy Sheringham. All are members of Team PokerStars SportsStars and will be in attendance raising money for amfAR.

Several PokerStars-sponsored pros besides Cada and the world’s sports heroes will make their way to the tournament area tonight, including Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes, Brazil’s Alexandre Gomes and Andre Akkari, Swedish pro William Thorson, and the Netherlands’ Pieter de Korver. Also taking part are five online qualifiers, who will almost certainly be overwhelmed by the amount of celebrity and poker firepower in attendance.

Members of the media were advised to show up no later than 5:45pm local time in order to snap pictures of players as they arrived. No interviews were available, as PokerStars will hold a formal red carpet outside of the Aura Nightclub at 7:00pm on Saturday prior to Rowland’s performance.

At the time of writing, Bryce Yockey from the United States paced the field in the 2010 PCA Main Event with a chip stack of one million. Others in the top ten included 2009 WSOP Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, UB.com pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and two-time bracelet winner Eric “EFro” Froehlich. A total of 190 players remain and blinds are 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 PCA.

EPT Adds Poker Tournament in Berlin

The European Poker Tour (EPT) recently decided to change up the back half of its Season Six schedule and in lieu of the stop in Dortmund will instead be traveling to Berlin.  The upcoming event promises to be the biggest poker tournament ever held on German soil and has a guaranteed first place prize of €1 million.

The tournament is set to run from March 2nd to 7th following EPT Copenhagen and preceding the new EPT Snowfest stop.  The event will take place at the Spielbank Casino and the EPT’s new home appears eager to pull out all of the stops for its new addition.  Play will be held in a two-story glass palace that will be situated adjacent to the casino in Marlene Dietrich Plaza.  The palace will have more than 6,000 feet of space, which is more than enough space to accommodate the 1,000-plus players expected to take part.  In addition to the Main Event, there will also be a number of side events that will get underway on the third day of play.

The buy-in for the Main Event will be €5,000 + €300.  With the guaranteed first place prize of €1 million, there is potential for an overlay, but even without one, the stop is poised to offer one of the biggest prize pools on the tour.  The entirety of Team PokerStars Germany will be attendance, including Sandra Naujoks, who won the Season Five stop in Dortmund last year, earning €917,000 for her efforts.  Other players scheduled to play in the event include tennis star Boris Becker and Jan Heitmann.

Dortmund was a regular stop on the EPT starting in Season Three and last year it drew a rather large field of 667 players, putting it behind only San Remo and the Grand Final in Monte Carlo in terms of attendance.  EPT staff is confident the new location in Germany is going to be even more popular than Dortmund, so Naujoks will likely have to contend with a larger field in order to defend her title.  Last year, she bested a tough final table lineup that included online poker pro Michael “Timex” McDonald, William Thorson, Johan Storakers, and Luca Pagano.

Pagano already has an incredible six EPT final tables to his credit, including two in the most recent season.  He logged a fourth place showing at EPT Warsaw and then picked up a sixth place finish at EPT Prague just over one month later.  He is the current leader on the EPT Tournament Leaderboard with 3,419 points, but Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier is hot on his heels with 3,354.

The Berlin stop is the third new location on the EPT Season Six schedule.  The other two cities, Vilamoura, Portugal and Kiev, Ukraine, already held events earlier in the season, drawing 322 and 296 players, respectively.  The upcoming EPT Snowfest is also a new addition to the schedule and will get underway shortly after Berlin wraps up.

EPT Snowfest will be held at the Alpine Palace Hotel in the Saalbach-Hinterglemm area of the Austrian Alps.  That series of events will run from March 21st to 26th.

Antonio Matias Wins EPT Vilamoura

Travel agency owner Antonio Matias took down the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Vilamoura Main Event in the roving tournament series’ first ever trip to Portugal. Matias took home a €404,793 top prize.

The EPT Vilamoura stop had a buy-in of €5,300 and marked the richest tournament ever held in Portugal, according to PokerStars officials. Matias, a Portuguese businessman, was playing in his backyard and became the first native to take down an EPT tournament since Sandra Naujoks tasted victory in Dortmund last season. On his accomplishment, Matias told tournament staff following his win, “I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world, but it is very satisfying to win an EPT in my home country. I wasn’t intimidated by the competition because I play a lot of very good players in cash games. I just decided to play the way I play and hope that luck didn’t turn its back on me. When I got the chip lead yesterday, the only thing I had on my mind was winning.”

In the final hand of EPT Vilamoura, Pierre Neuville raised pre-flop holding J-10. Matias called with 8-7 and watched the action flop come J-8-7. Matias checked bottom two pair, Neuville bet with top pair, Matias put in a raise, and Neuville shoved. Matias called, having his opponent covered. Another seven on the turn gave Matias a full house, which held to scoop the EPT title. Neuville earned €257,681 for his runner-up showing.

Jeff Sarwer, a Canadian, called all-in for his tournament life with 9-5 on a flop of 9-7-3. Holding top pair, Sarwer watched as Matias flipped up pocket tens for an overpair. However, the turn came a five and, in a massive change of fate, gave Sarwer two pair, nines and fives, against Matias’ pair of tens. In heartbreaking fashion, the river came a three, shattering Sarwer’s EPT hopes and giving Matias a better two pair. The roller coaster of a hand ended with Sarwer seeking solace from Shaun Deeb, Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy, and Jonathan “FatalError” Aguiar, who were on the rail to support him.

Jan Skampa was eliminated in fourth place from the Portuguese tournament. He ran K-9 into Sarwer’s pocket queens in a pre-flop raising war to cripple his stack, departing a few hands later and earning €117,000. Skampa was one of four players to claim a six-figure payday.

Here were the final results from EPT Vilamoura. A total of 322 players turned out, creating a €1.5 million prize pool:

1. Antonio Matias (Portugal) -  €404,793
2. Pierre Neuville (Belgium) – €257,681
3. Jeff Sarwer (Canada) – €156,170
4. Jan Skampa (Czech Republic) – €117,128
5. João Silva (Portugal) – €78,085
6. Michel Abecassis (France) – €62,468
7. Ryan Franklin (United States) – €46,851
8. Andrei Vlasenko (Russia) – €31,234

Next up for the EPT is a trip to Prague from December 1st to 6th. The €5,250 buy-in tournament saw Salvatore Bonavena claim a massive €774,000 payday last time out. The marathon Season 5 EPT Prague final table lasted 264 hands and spanned 12 hours. A bevy of Team PokerStars Pro personalities are expected, as last year, Noah Boeken, Dario Minieri, Marcin Horecki, Luca Pagano, William Thorson, Alex Kravchenko, and Katja Thater all threw their hats into the ring.

EPT Prague will be held at the Hilton Prague Hotel and will include a variety of side tournaments. In addition, cash games will kick off at Noon each day. The Main Event features two starting days (December 1st and 2nd) and registration opened today on PokerStars for interested players.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest live tournament news.

PokerStars Baltic Festival crowns a champion

The two players are friends and actually travelled to Tallinn, Estonia together, where the €1,100 event was held.

"I haven't played many live tournaments, apart from in Las Vegas, and that didn't go very well," explained Partridge.

"But our friend qualified and encouraged us to come along as well. The heads-up at the end went pretty quickly. I had a good run of cards and got the momentum going. I'm very pleased with the way it went."

A total of 307 players descended on the luxurious Swissôtel in Tallinn for the event, making it the biggest poker tournament ever held in the Baltic States with a total prize pool of more than 4.5 million Estonian Crowns or approximately €290,000.

Partridge won a first-place prize of 1.2 million Estonian Crowns or approximately €76,750 and a trip to the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January.

Among the 32 players who cashed were Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate and PokerStars-sponsored Lithuanian TV presenter Andrius Tapinas.

Team PokerStars Pros Katja Thater, J.C. Alvarado, Johnny Lodden and William Thorson also played, along with Team PokerStars SportStars Mats Sundin, the National Hockey League legend, and Sami Selio, the Formula 1 Powerboat champion.

The Festival also included a €10,600 High Roller event won by the Finn Ville Wahlbeck, who made four World Championship final tables at the 2009 World Series of Poker, including a bracelet win in the $10k Mixed Event.

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Stars headed to PokerStars Baltic Festival

Team PokerStars Pros Johnny Lodden, William Thorson, and Peter Eastgate are all confirmed for the €1,100 main event, set for Oct. 28-31 inside the brand new casino at the Swissôtel in Tallinn, Estonia.

Plus, recently retired National Hockey League great Mats Sundin, a Team PokerStars SportStar, will also be joining the more than 100 PokerStars players who have already qualified for a seat online.

The festival will feature 24-hour cash games, sit and go's and a number of side events, including a €10,600 High Roller tournament.

Eastgate, Tony G and Theo Jorgensen are among the players already registered for the High Rollers, scheduled to begin Oct. 30.

On the shores of the Baltic Sea, Tallin is considered one of Europe's most beautiful cities, prized for its stunning architecture and vibrant nightlife.

For more information on the festival and the full schedule of events, click here.

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Katchalov, Jaffe strike WCOOP gold

Both 2008 WPT Five Diamond winner Eugene "MyRabbiFoo" Katchalov and WPT and WSOP final tablist Jonathan "Iftarii" Jaffe managed to win heads-up events this weekend.

Katchalov had to go through 11 players to win the $530 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event and grabbed $140,000 for his efforts.

The event offered a significant overlay from PokerStars, which originally offered a guaranteed prize pool of $1 million, but came short when only 1,564 players registered. Undaunted PokerStars threw in the extra $218,000 and the players who cashed picked up some extra value.

Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson came painfully close to winning the event, but was eventually sent to the rail in fifth place during the ninth round.

Instead Katchalov dispatched online player JakusKhan in last match of the tournament. In the final hand JakusKhan made an ill-timed all-in shove and Katchalov called him down with two-pair.

In the meantime, Jaffe won the epic $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up event and taking a tidy sum of $415,000 with the victory.

The event drew 36 players including big-name pros like Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Daniel Negreanu, Peter Eastgate, Sorel Mizzi, Brian Hastings, Barry Greenstein, Ashton Griffin, Bertrand Grospellier and many others.

Eastgate outlasted all of his Team PokerStars peers before eventually crashing out during the quarterfinal round against Adonis112.

Adonis112 would go on to lose to Sifosis in the final four while Jaffe beat Mizzi to guarantee his spot in the final round.

Heads up for the title, Sifosis quickly jumped to a 2.5 to 1 chip lead, but Jaffe managed to battle back and eventually take charge.

In the deciding hand of the tournament Jaffe flopped a trip fives while Sifosis nailed two-pair. All the chips went in the middle and Jaffe's hand held giving him the prestigious $25,000 WCOOP Heads-Up title.

This is the final week of WCOOP action and it's all leading up to the $10 million guaranteed two-day Main Event, which will take place this coming Sunday Sept. 20 at 4:30 ET.

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Sumpas Claims WCOOP High Roller Title; ternoplayer Wins Event #9

It was a busier Sunday than normal on the virtual poker felts as the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) recommenced with three events, two of which played down to a champion early Monday morning. The $215 No Limit Hold ‘em (Event #9) drew a field of 11,131 players, while the $10,300 No Limit Hold ‘em High Roller (Event #10) attracted nearly 300 of the wealthiest and most respected poker players in the world.

The $10,300 High Roller Event easily surpassed its $2 million guarantee as 299 entrants produced a prize pool of $2,990,000. A first-place prize of $611,455 of was on the line as well as the coveted WCOOP gold bracelet, which was won by Scott “dorinvandy” Dorin in the High Rollers event in 2008.

Several Team PokerStars Pro members participated in the tournament, including Chris Moneymaker, Joe Hachem, Peter Eastgate, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Ylon Schwartz, Steve Paul-Ambrose, J.C. Alvarado, Katja Thater, William Thorson, Dennis Phillips, Alexandre Gomes, and Hevad Khan. Fellow team member John Duthie made the final table, taking eighth place for $74,750.

The final table was loaded with big names as it formed late into the night. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul entered with the chip lead, while Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman, Peter “Belabacsi” Traply, Mike “Sowerss” Sowers and Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman were among the others vying for the title.

Sumpas, hailing from Sweden, took the chip lead into three-handed play and eliminated Saul shortly after Saul declined a three-way chip chop of the remaining prize money. With the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 1,250 ante, Sumpas raised to 21,400 on the button and Saul re-raised to 56,530 from the small blind. Sowers folded his big blind and Sumpas called to see a flop of Ad-Qs-3h. Saul checked, Sumpas fired 46,500 into the pot and Saul called. The 3d fell on the turn and Saul check-called again, this time a bet of 125,000. The river brought the 10h and Saul checked to Sumpas for a third time. The Swede moved all in, putting Saul to a decision for his remaining 453,000 chips. Saul took some time before deciding to call with Ac-8s for aces up, but Sumpas tabled Kd-Jd for a rivered straight to scoop the pot and send Saul on his way with $337,870.

Sumpas had a 5-1 chip lead over Sowers going into heads up play but the short stack battled for nearly an hour before ending his tournament on a bluff. On a board of Ks-4s-4d Sumpas bet 30,000 and Sowers check-raised to 90,000. Sumpas re-raised to 165,000 and Sowers moved all in for 748,250. Sumpas called with Kd-Tc, which had the Jh-10d of Sowers drawing nearly dead. The 7s turn and 3d river sealed the deal for Sumpas, who earned a WCOOP bracelet and $611,455 for his victory. Sowers walked away with $448,500.

The massive score was the biggest ever online for Sumpas, who also made the final table of last year’s WCOOP Main Event, taking sixth place for $415,150. Here’s a look at the final results of WCOOP Event #10:

1. Sumpas - $611,455
2. Mike “Sowerss” Sowers - $448,500
3. Kevin “BeL0WaB0Ve” Saul - $337,870
4. Scott “SCTrojans” Freeman - $254,150
5. Peter “Belabacsi” Trapley - $173,420
6. Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani - $134,550
7. Matias “Festivuss” Gabrenja - $104,650
8. John Duthie - $74,750
9. Dustin “DDBeast” Dorrance-Bowman - $56,810

Event #9 more than doubled its guarantee as an astounding number of players took part in the $215 No Limit Hold ‘em tournament on Sunday. The 11,131 generated a prize pool of $2,260,200, with the winner collecting $303,876.

It was a long, protracted day for the nine players that reached the final table. The tournament began at 1:00 ET Sunday afternoon and play didn’t conclude until after 8:00 a.m. The final table lacked the power punch of the High Rollers Event but high-stakes tournament specialist Grayson “graybone” Nichols managed to take fifth place for $89,048.

When heads-up play began Slovakia’s ternoplayer was at a considerable chip disadvantage to France’s maxisou, but the tables turned quickly. Ternoplayer doubled up holding As-Qc against maxisou’s Ah-3s and then gained the chip lead by winning a few small pots. On the final hand, maxisou raised in position preflop and ternoplayer called. The two saw a flop of Qs-Js-5h and ternoplayer checked to maxisou, who led out for 1.6 million. Ternoplayer raised to 4 million and maxisou moved all in for around 18 million. Ternoplayer called with Kc-Qd and had his opponent’s Jc-8h in bad shape. The 8d landed on to turn to give maxisou the lead but the river brought the Kd, giving ternoplayer the pot, the WCOOP title and the first-place payday of $303,876.

WCOOP Event #9 Results:

1. ternoplayer - $303,876
2. maxisou - $214,828
3. micha88 - $155,834
4. r&g2007 - $111,310
5. Grayson “graybone” Nichols - $89,048
6. akilam77 - $66,786
7. PanjoDeLuxe - $44,524
8. masterpice - $22,262
9. SoulMaster7 - $13,913

Score one for Swedes at 2009 WSOP

The Uppsala resident outlasted 643 players and a tough final table that included Rep Porter to win Event 26, $1,500 Limit Hold'em, and record his fifth career WSOP cash.

"It's very nice actually," said Alenius, at his bracelet ceremony the next day. "There are a lot of players out there that want to win a bracelet, and I'm both happy and proud that I was able to do it."

Alenius joins Mats Rahmn, Chris Bjorin and Anders Henriksson as the only Swedish players to ever win a WSOP gold bracelet, but both Alenius and close friend William Thorson downplayed the significance.

"It was important for him personally to win a bracelet," said Thorson. "I think he's one of the few Swedish players who is actually capable of winning at the WSOP."

Alenius has been playing poker for roughly seven years, working as a dealer before he became a full-time pro. Thorson and Alenius met at the tables several years ago and have been close friends since.

The Team PokerStars Pro said he had an immense amount of respect for Alenius' skills as a poker player.

"He's a very good player," said Thorson. "He's pretty tight, but he can also mix it up. He can play most of the games, but he's best at Hold'em.

"It doesn't surprise me at all that he won a bracelet. I'm happy for him."

Despite its reputation for producing skilled poker players like Thorson, Erik Friberg and Bjorin, Sweden is currently in 10th place, with $278,000, in the overall breakdown of 2009 WSOP winnings by country.

Italy, Canada, Mexico, Germany, Finland and the Netherlands all rank higher. Russia is second so far with $2.2 million, although the bulk of that ($1.9 million) came from Vitaly Lunkin's win in the $40k No-Limit Hold'em anniversary event.

The U.S. is the overwhelming leader with nearly $40 million already awarded to players from the States.

Fortunately for Sweden, there are some talented young players waiting in the wings for their shot at WSOP glory. Alenius mentioned several players that had the potential to be successful tournament players.

"I like William (Thorson) of course," he said. "A lot of the young guys in Stockholm are really good as well.

"Jonas Molander, Michael Tureniec, Ramzi Jelassi and Patrik Martenson are all super good in my opinion."

The last Swedish player before Alenius to win a bracelet was Anders Henriksson in 2006. Henriksson won a $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em event for $202,291.

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Vilandos and Ivey headline WSOP June 13

Vilandos outlasted a field of 2,506 players in Event 24, $1.500 No-Limit Hold'em, snatching the bracelet after taking out youngster Andy Seth heads-up.

The two players got all-in with very deep stacks early in the heads-up match, with Vilandos's A-5 besting Seth's A-J thanks to a gutshot wheel draw that got there.

"I played my best poker today," Vilandos said." I played very carefully and I knew how they played."

"The entire time I was watching how they play. I got lucky at the end of course."

Seth brings in $372,855 for second, while Vilandos goes home with the first-place prize of $607,256.

Event 25 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo Eight or Better

The name on everyone's lips today is Phil Ivey. He defeated a stacked final table in this event, earning his seventh career bracelet, his second of 2009. Click here for our full story.

Event 26 - $1,500 Limit Hold'em - Day 2

124 began the day but just 15 remained when play was suspended.

Al 'Sugar Bear' Barbieri is the chip leader going into Day 3, which begins at 2 p.m. Notable contenders include Rep Porter and Richard Brodie.

Event 27 -$5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split Eight or Better

The final table is set in this event, and it is absolutely stacked.

Omaha expert Scott Clements is in the lead with Antony Lellouche, Roland De Wolfe, Alex Kravchenko, Brett Richey, Andy Black and John Racener all within striking distance.

Event 28 - $1,500 No Limit Hold'em

Another massive field turned out for this low buy-in event. After 13 hours of play the original 2,638 was pared down to just 327.

PokerListings fave Liv Boeree is still in it, albeit shortstacked with well under the average. Action begins at 2 p.m.

Event 29 - $10,000 World Championship Heads Up No Limit Hold'em

The $10k Heads-Up Championship never ceases to impress and this year is no different.

Alec Torelli, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson, Cory Carroll, Dario Minieri, David Pham, Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Mike Caro, William Thorson and many other big names are through to Day 2.

Our live reporting team is covering this event from start to finish and you can follow all the action on our live updates page.

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Vanessa Rousso wins the EPT High Roller Championship

After a really long heads-up marathon match Vanessa Rousso managed to win over the second place finisher Randy Dorfman in the EPT High Roller Championship. Vanessa, who is a Team PokerStars member and a GoDaddy Girl is sure take down some nice tournaments this year.

In the final hand Vanessa made a straight on the turn holding 67 and when the river gave Dorfan two pair the all-in situation was hard to avoid and Vanessa Rousso took down the tournament and the €570 000 first price.

When the tournament was down to three players there was a deal made on the final table which left the second and third place finisher with €420 000 and the winner would get an additional €150K.

Here are the final results from the 2009 EPT High Roller Championship:

1. Vanessa Rousso - €570.000
2. Randy Dorfman - €420.000
3. Tony G - €420.000
4. Florian Langmann - €188.000
5. David Eldar – 138.000
6. William Thorson - €99.000
7. Andrew Feldman - €79.000
8. David Steicke - €60.000

Rousso books EPT High Roller win

"As long as I got my money in good I thought I had a chance," she told PokerStars. "I'm probably going to go and have a good cry after this."

The field included 79 of the best poker players on the planet leading up to Sunday's final table.

There, Rousso faced no less than Aussie Millions High Roller champ David Steicke, Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson, PokerStars.de Shooting Star Florian Langmann, the venerable Tony "G" Guoga, Full Tilt Pro Andrew Feldman and the solid David Eldar and Randy Dorfman.

Steicke went out eighth when his pocket pair of kings couldn't hold against Dorfman's big slick. Feldman was the next to go after running ace-ten into Tony G's queens.

A double elimination came after that as Dorfman made a spade flush to bounce both Eldar and Thorson.

Play then went three-handed when Rousso eliminated Langmann and his unconnected ace-king.

Rousso, Dorfman and Guoga traded the lead back and forth before deciding on a chop that left €150k for first.

Soon after, Guoga pushed with a weak ace and got out-turned by Dorfman's Q 9.

Rousso started heads-up behind, but doubled up making two pair. She gave away the lead, but eventually doubled again when Dorfman shoved into her trip aces drawing dead.

In the end, Rousso made a straight against Dorfman's two pair to book the €570,000 win.

"I have given 110% over the last three days," the Team PokerStars Pro said.

"A few weeks ago I finished second in the NBC Heads-Up Championships and I was happy, but at the end of the day second places are no good. You want to win."

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PokerListings.com News Wrap-Up: March 22-29

As part of a weekly series we've compiled a list of stories that didn't quite make it into the main news roster but were worth mentioning.

This week saw a certain Norwegian poker player get a deal from the world's largest poker room, while yet another study found poker to be a game of skill.

Johnny Lodden signs with Team PokerStars Pro

Team PokerStars Pro was already home to a number of well-known pros in Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem and Greg Raymer but surprisingly it didn't have a lot of Scandinavian content.

That seems to be changing as Norwegian pro Johnny Lodden was signed by the team this week. Lodden is an accomplished live and online player who used to wreak havoc back in the day as "bad_ip."

Lodden will join fellow European players William Thorson (Swedish) and Noah Boeken (Dutch) on the team.

http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/team_pokerstars_pro/2009/team-pokerstars-pro-signs-johnny-lodden-037861.html

Bodog sets the line on Nguyen's $4 million promise

Bodog is now taking bets on Scotty Nguyen's promise to PokerListings.com that he will retire if he makes less than $4 million at the 2009 World Series of Poker.

The outlandish promise, which Nguyen made in an interview with PokerListings TV, started a wave of forum chatter, with a multitude of players claiming they are willing to take the Prince of Poker's action.

As result, Bodog oddsmakers have stepped up and set the line at +2500 that Nguyen will reach the magic $4 million mark.

"Bodog's annual WSOP prop bets are a staple leading up to the main event," Bodog Sportsbook Manager Richard Gardner said.

"So when we came across the PokerListings.com video of Scotty Nguyen saying that if he doesn't win at least $4 million at this year's WSOP he'd quit the game, we knew this would be the kind of action our players would like to get in on."

To place your bets head over to the Bodog Sportsbook and check out all of the 2009 WSOP prop bets.

EU claims U.S. Internet gambling laws violate WTO

The European Union says U.S. laws on Internet gambling are in violation of World Trade Organization rules.

Following an investigation into U.S. measures affecting foreign suppliers of Internet gambling services, the European Commission released a draft report Thursday concluding U.S. laws deny access and discriminate against foreign suppliers of gambling and betting services.

The report says U.S. Internet gambling regulations effectively create a trade barrier which has adverse effects on EU economic interests.

Although the report claims WTO proceedings against the U.S. would be justified, it does not include any recommendation for actions, suggesting only that the issue should be addressed with the current U.S. administration.

New study finds poker is a game of skill

Once again a study has found that poker is a skill game. The latest study was released by Cigital Inc. in conjunction with PokerStars.

The study used data acquired from 103 million hands of hand No-Limit Hold'em and found that in 75% of those cases an outcome was decided without a showdown.

Learn more about the study and the Poker Players Alliance's thoughts about it in the link below:

http://pokerplayersalliance.org

Ultimate Fighting Championship shuts door on Full Tilt Poker

Full Tilt Poker and the Ultimate Fighting Championship seemed like a match made in heaven, with fighters like Forrest Griffin and Mike Swick having donned the FTP badge to play in tournaments.

Instead, according to mmapayout.com, the UFC has placed FTP on the banned list, which means no fighter can don Full Tilt gear. The unconfirmed rumor is that Ultimate Bet or Absolute Poker may be taking over as a key sponsor.

http://mmapayout.com/2009/03/on-tilt-poker-company-full-tilt-on-no-no-list/

Poker in Texas?

Legal poker in Texas seems to be getting closer and closer to reality and the folks over at Pokerati have been following the issue closely. The bill for poker in Texas is titled HB 222 and it is scheduled to be voted on this week.

http://pokerati.com/2009/03/27/re-texas-poker-bill-up-for-committee-vote-today-6/

Duke returns to WSOP Academy Ladies Only Event

It was announced earlier this week that the WSOP Academy Ladies Only Event hosted by Annie Duke will once again be back this summer.

It's somewhat ironic given that Duke is vehemently against playing ladies events, but apparently she feels differently about women-only training workshops.

The Celebrity Apprentice star will host the event at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas June 5-6. Check out the Web site for more details.

http://www.wsopacademy.com/

 

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