2010 Poker Memories by Linda Johnson

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

Proudest 2010 Poker Memory

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

Favorite Poker News Story

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

Favorite Poker Vacation

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

Favorite Charity Event

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

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

Most Disappointing Poker News

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

Favorite Whirlwind Trip

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

Most Prestigious Poker Event

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

Favorite New Poker Procedure

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

Favorite New Poker Social Media Source

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

Favorite Tournament Series

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phil Hellmuth Leaves UB.com in Major Shakeup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Poker Pros Annie Duke, Joe Reitman Engaged

A prolific tweeter, the Team UB.com pro Annie Duke made the following announcement on her Twitter account on December 25th: “I said yes!”

In case her more than 25,000 followers were confused as to exactly what she was talking about, Duke posted a picture of herself showing off her new diamond engagement ring to the camera while sitting in her fiancé Joe Reitman‘s lap.

Shortly thereafter, the well wishes started streaming in from every corner of the Twitterverse.  Most were from fans, but several fellow poker pros sent their best as well.  Fellow Team UB.com member Tiffany Michelle Tweeted, “Huge congrats to @AnnieDuke and @JoeUgly on a Christmas engagement. Love it! It’s about freakin’ time!”

“Hollywood” Dave Stann, another UB.com pro, weighed in, making a statement with which most people would agree: “Best Xmas present ever!”

Other poker players Tweeting their regards included Eric Froehlich, Rafe Furst, Alex Outhred, Liv Boeree, Andy Bloch, and Prahlad Friedman, along with Team UB.com members Joe Sebok and Samantha Ryan.

One person who non-poker players might recognize was actor Kevin Pollak, who Tweeted, “Congrats to a very surprised @AnnieDuke on her engagement today to her very wise fella, @joeugly.” Pollak is in the midst of hosting FOX’s “Million Dollar Money Drop.”

For you gossip hounds, Duke has not divulged how Reitman proposed and no wedding date has been announced.

Duke and Reitman met in 2005 when a mutual friend in Los Angeles introduced them to each other.  The two started the same year as Reitman separated from his first wife, fellow actor and poker enthusiast Shannon Elizabeth.  Duke had also been previously married.  She wed long-time friend Ben Duke in 1991, a marriage that lasted 13 years and produced four children: Maud, Leo, Lucy, and Nell.

Reitman is an actor, writer, and producer who has had supporting roles in many films and television shows.  Movie buffs may recognize him from “Lady in the Water,” “Drop Dead Sexy,” “American Pie II,” “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” and “Clueless.”  His numerous guest appearances on television include “CSI,” “The Drew Carey Show,” “Monk,” and “Judging Amy.”  He has also had recurring roles on “Charmed,” “Townies,” “Blood Ties,” “Married with Children,” and “Jack and Jill.”  In addition to his acting roles, Reitman has produced and directed several episodes of “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” and wrote and directed “Survivin’ the Island” and “Leo.”

On the poker front, Reitman has had three minor World Series of Poker (WSOP) cashes, but he caught the attention of the poker world when he won UB.com’s $1 million Guarantee in early 2006.

Duke is one of the most prolific live tournament players in poker history and currently ranks second on the women’s all-time money list with over $4.2 million in career earnings.  She has 37 lifetime WSOP cashes, the most significant of which came in 2004 when she won her first and only bracelet in a $2,000 Omaha Hi-Lo Split event.  During the same WSOP, she won the inaugural Tournament of Champions, taking home a $2 million check.  Her most recent career highlight came this March, when she bested good friend Erik Seidel in the finals to win the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship and $500,000.

Top Poker News Story of 2010

We’re nearing the end of the 2010 calendar year and, as such, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past 365 days. There were plenty of headlines in 2010, but which one stole the show for our esteemed panel of writers? Poker News Daily asked our staff which poker headline of 2010 stood out.

Dan Cypra: Splintering of Online Poker

2010 saw the continued splintering of the online poker market worldwide. France and Italy now have their very own online poker fiefdoms, while legislation in New Jersey to create the very first intrastate internet gambling framework in the United States is gaining steam. In fact, the measure will be one of the first topics that the New Jersey Assembly tackles in the New Year.

Whether the division of the online poker market is detrimental to the player experience remains to be seen. Many of the FR and IT sites tracked by PokerScout.com hold strong in the top 20 worldwide in terms of cash game volume, but players cannot compete as part of the worldwide pool. Expect this trend to continue in 2011 and beyond, especially in the United States, where a state-by-state legalization of internet gambling appears to be in the cards.

Annie Duke: Year of the Woman

I think the biggest news story of 2010 is the breakout of women in poker, and that is not just because I am one of them. Vanessa Selbst winning two majors was a huge step forward for women in poker and, of course, an incredible accomplishment for her. Leading into that, Liv Boeree’s stellar performance in San Remo was a breakout for her and for women in poker. I guess my win has to get a mention here, too. Women have had a hard time getting true traction in this game and 2010 put an exclamation point on the quality of the women who play.

Linda Johnson: Washington Online Poker Law Upheld

I think the biggest poker news story involved the Washington State courts upholding the 2006 state law saying that playing online poker is a Class C felony, a crime on the same level as child molestation. This prompted Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars to pull out of that market. What a travesty it is for people in that state, many of whom will have to relocate. I think it is also very hypocritical of the government; after all, Washington State residents still can buy lottery tickets online.

Lee Jones: Year of the Near Miss

2010 will be remembered as the “Year of the Near Miss”. We will probably never know how close we got to overt legalization of online poker in the United States towards the end of 2010. Harry Reid tried every possible maneuver to get his bill passed that would have legalized and regulated online poker in the USA. Had it not been for Jon Kyl, the bill almost certainly would have passed and been signed by President Obama.

Despite poker pros’ concerns about the 15-month blackout prior to actual regulated play, I believe that legalization would have (and will eventually) produce a second renaissance of poker that will completely overshadow 2003, the year of Chris Moneymaker and the WPT. It will only be in the light of that second renaissance that we realize how unfortunate the “Near Miss” of 2010 was.

John “JimmyLegs” Wray: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill

Certainly the biggest almost-story was the Harry Reid online poker bill. But it looks like regulated online poker in the States will have to wait. Maybe it’ll be the biggest news story of 2011? Fingers crossed!

Chris “Fox” Wallace: Full Tilt Rush Poker Mobile

I think we will eventually realize that Rush Poker Mobile is the biggest poker news story of 2010. It might not be the biggest story right now, but it will probably bring about some significant legal changes. Seeing people playing poker on the bus, in the halls at work, at the bar, or anywhere that people congregate – and seeing all of those people playing online poker for real money on their phones – will change public perception.

What direction the public perception goes and how the legal aspects work out will have a huge effect on the future of our freedom to play our favorite game. I think Michael Mizrachi‘s trip to the WSOP final table was talked about a lot more at the tables, but Rush Poker Mobile will have a bigger splash in the long-run.

Brett Collson: WSOP Ladies Event

When I first saw Shaun Deeb seated wearing lipstick, makeup, and a cowboy hat at the WSOP Ladies Event, I knew the poker world was about to erupt. Deeb and more than a dozen male players crashed what was supposed to be an enjoyable tournament for female poker players. Instead, it turned into a media circus.

Some of the men claimed they were taking a “gender equality” stance by playing in the $1,000 event; others had lost prop bets. Regardless, all of the women were upset by it, as evident by the standing ovation that occurred each time a male player was eliminated. The unfortunate episode also fueled one of the biggest feuds of the year between Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu, which is another of the most memorable stories of 2010.

Bernard Lee: Michael Mizrachi

For me, it would be Michael Mizrachi. At the beginning of 2010, not many people put Michael Mizrachi in the forefront of poker, but as he arrived at the WSOP, he definitely wanted to make his mark. Mizrachi came out of the gates winning the $50,000 Player’s Championship. In addition to that, he made two other final tables and, of course, who could forget him almost winning the improbable double-double of the $10,000 Main Event as well? Michael Mizrachi had a phenomenal year and has put himself back in the forefront of the world of poker.

Sean Gibson: Michael Mizrachi

For me, the biggest news story of 2010 was the resurrection of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s poker career. Count me in as one of the guys who wrote him off for good, especially when all of the financial trouble started cropping up. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s one of the world’s best players; his run to the November Nine was every bit as magical as Phil Ivey‘s in 2009. Mizrachi is a player we can respect for his past accomplishments and track as one of the big names in the poker industry.

Earl Burton: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill and Jonathan Duhamel

As far as the biggest stories of the year in poker, I am torn between two. The four-year-long battle to overturn the UIGEA, which heated up even more over the past 12 months, seemed to get the hopes up of many of us in the poker community. I was always pessimistic about the passage of any legislation that would allow Americans to play poker online and, in the end, my pessimism proved to be correct.

The second story is Jonathan Duhamel’s victory in the WSOP Main Event. He became the first ever Canadian World Champion, capturing the attention of his country and the world. He was even nominated for Canadian Athlete of the Year alongside such big names as Sidney Crosby and Joey Votto. When you think of players from Canada who came before Duhamel, such as Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith, for him to become the first Canadian champion of the Main Event was a truly significant feat.

Top Poker News Story of 2010

We’re nearing the end of the 2010 calendar year and, as such, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past 365 days. There were plenty of headlines in 2010, but which one stole the show for our esteemed panel of writers? Poker News Daily asked our staff which poker headline of 2010 stood out.

Dan Cypra: Splintering of Online Poker

2010 saw the continued splintering of the online poker market worldwide. France and Italy now have their very own online poker fiefdoms, while legislation in New Jersey to create the very first intrastate internet gambling framework in the United States is gaining steam. In fact, the measure will be one of the first topics that the New Jersey Assembly tackles in the New Year.

Whether the division of the online poker market is detrimental to the player experience remains to be seen. Many of the FR and IT sites tracked by PokerScout.com hold strong in the top 20 worldwide in terms of cash game volume, but players cannot compete as part of the worldwide pool. Expect this trend to continue in 2011 and beyond, especially in the United States, where a state-by-state legalization of internet gambling appears to be in the cards.

Annie Duke: Year of the Woman

I think the biggest news story of 2010 is the breakout of women in poker, and that is not just because I am one of them. Vanessa Selbst winning two majors was a huge step forward for women in poker and, of course, an incredible accomplishment for her. Leading into that, Liv Boeree’s stellar performance in San Remo was a breakout for her and for women in poker. I guess my win has to get a mention here, too. Women have had a hard time getting true traction in this game and 2010 put an exclamation point on the quality of the women who play.

Linda Johnson: Washington Online Poker Law Upheld

I think the biggest poker news story involved the Washington State courts upholding the 2006 state law saying that playing online poker is a Class C felony, a crime on the same level as child molestation. This prompted Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars to pull out of that market. What a travesty it is for people in that state, many of whom will have to relocate. I think it is also very hypocritical of the government; after all, Washington State residents still can buy lottery tickets online.

Lee Jones: Year of the Near Miss

2010 will be remembered as the “Year of the Near Miss”. We will probably never know how close we got to overt legalization of online poker in the United States towards the end of 2010. Harry Reid tried every possible maneuver to get his bill passed that would have legalized and regulated online poker in the USA. Had it not been for Jon Kyl, the bill almost certainly would have passed and been signed by President Obama.

Despite poker pros’ concerns about the 15-month blackout prior to actual regulated play, I believe that legalization would have (and will eventually) produce a second renaissance of poker that will completely overshadow 2003, the year of Chris Moneymaker and the WPT. It will only be in the light of that second renaissance that we realize how unfortunate the “Near Miss” of 2010 was.

John “JimmyLegs” Wray: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill

Certainly the biggest almost-story was the Harry Reid online poker bill. But it looks like regulated online poker in the States will have to wait. Maybe it’ll be the biggest news story of 2011? Fingers crossed!

Chris “Fox” Wallace: Full Tilt Rush Poker Mobile

I think we will eventually realize that Rush Poker Mobile is the biggest poker news story of 2010. It might not be the biggest story right now, but it will probably bring about some significant legal changes. Seeing people playing poker on the bus, in the halls at work, at the bar, or anywhere that people congregate – and seeing all of those people playing online poker for real money on their phones – will change public perception.

What direction the public perception goes and how the legal aspects work out will have a huge effect on the future of our freedom to play our favorite game. I think Michael Mizrachi‘s trip to the WSOP final table was talked about a lot more at the tables, but Rush Poker Mobile will have a bigger splash in the long-run.

Brett Collson: WSOP Ladies Event

When I first saw Shaun Deeb seated wearing lipstick, makeup, and a cowboy hat at the WSOP Ladies Event, I knew the poker world was about to erupt. Deeb and more than a dozen male players crashed what was supposed to be an enjoyable tournament for female poker players. Instead, it turned into a media circus.

Some of the men claimed they were taking a “gender equality” stance by playing in the $1,000 event; others had lost prop bets. Regardless, all of the women were upset by it, as evident by the standing ovation that occurred each time a male player was eliminated. The unfortunate episode also fueled one of the biggest feuds of the year between Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu, which is another of the most memorable stories of 2010.

Bernard Lee: Michael Mizrachi

For me, it would be Michael Mizrachi. At the beginning of 2010, not many people put Michael Mizrachi in the forefront of poker, but as he arrived at the WSOP, he definitely wanted to make his mark. Mizrachi came out of the gates winning the $50,000 Player’s Championship. In addition to that, he made two other final tables and, of course, who could forget him almost winning the improbable double-double of the $10,000 Main Event as well? Michael Mizrachi had a phenomenal year and has put himself back in the forefront of the world of poker.

Sean Gibson: Michael Mizrachi

For me, the biggest news story of 2010 was the resurrection of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s poker career. Count me in as one of the guys who wrote him off for good, especially when all of the financial trouble started cropping up. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s one of the world’s best players; his run to the November Nine was every bit as magical as Phil Ivey‘s in 2009. Mizrachi is a player we can respect for his past accomplishments and track as one of the big names in the poker industry.

Earl Burton: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill and Jonathan Duhamel

As far as the biggest stories of the year in poker, I am torn between two. The four-year-long battle to overturn the UIGEA, which heated up even more over the past 12 months, seemed to get the hopes up of many of us in the poker community. I was always pessimistic about the passage of any legislation that would allow Americans to play poker online and, in the end, my pessimism proved to be correct.

The second story is Jonathan Duhamel’s victory in the WSOP Main Event. He became the first ever Canadian World Champion, capturing the attention of his country and the world. He was even nominated for Canadian Athlete of the Year alongside such big names as Sidney Crosby and Joey Votto. When you think of players from Canada who came before Duhamel, such as Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith, for him to become the first Canadian champion of the Main Event was a truly significant feat.

Top Poker News Story of 2010

We’re nearing the end of the 2010 calendar year and, as such, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the past 365 days. There were plenty of headlines in 2010, but which one stole the show for our esteemed panel of writers? Poker News Daily asked our staff which poker headline of 2010 stood out.

Dan Cypra: Splintering of Online Poker

2010 saw the continued splintering of the online poker market worldwide. France and Italy now have their very own online poker fiefdoms, while legislation in New Jersey to create the very first intrastate internet gambling framework in the United States is gaining steam. In fact, the measure will be one of the first topics that the New Jersey Assembly tackles in the New Year.

Whether the division of the online poker market is detrimental to the player experience remains to be seen. Many of the FR and IT sites tracked by PokerScout.com hold strong in the top 20 worldwide in terms of cash game volume, but players cannot compete as part of the worldwide pool. Expect this trend to continue in 2011 and beyond, especially in the United States, where a state-by-state legalization of internet gambling appears to be in the cards.

Annie Duke: Year of the Woman

I think the biggest news story of 2010 is the breakout of women in poker, and that is not just because I am one of them. Vanessa Selbst winning two majors was a huge step forward for women in poker and, of course, an incredible accomplishment for her. Leading into that, Liv Boeree’s stellar performance in San Remo was a breakout for her and for women in poker. I guess my win has to get a mention here, too. Women have had a hard time getting true traction in this game and 2010 put an exclamation point on the quality of the women who play.

Linda Johnson: Washington Online Poker Law Upheld

I think the biggest poker news story involved the Washington State courts upholding the 2006 state law saying that playing online poker is a Class C felony, a crime on the same level as child molestation. This prompted Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars to pull out of that market. What a travesty it is for people in that state, many of whom will have to relocate. I think it is also very hypocritical of the government; after all, Washington State residents still can buy lottery tickets online.

Lee Jones: Year of the Near Miss

2010 will be remembered as the “Year of the Near Miss”. We will probably never know how close we got to overt legalization of online poker in the United States towards the end of 2010. Harry Reid tried every possible maneuver to get his bill passed that would have legalized and regulated online poker in the USA. Had it not been for Jon Kyl, the bill almost certainly would have passed and been signed by President Obama.

Despite poker pros’ concerns about the 15-month blackout prior to actual regulated play, I believe that legalization would have (and will eventually) produce a second renaissance of poker that will completely overshadow 2003, the year of Chris Moneymaker and the WPT. It will only be in the light of that second renaissance that we realize how unfortunate the “Near Miss” of 2010 was.

John “JimmyLegs” Wray: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill

Certainly the biggest almost-story was the Harry Reid online poker bill. But it looks like regulated online poker in the States will have to wait. Maybe it’ll be the biggest news story of 2011? Fingers crossed!

Chris “Fox” Wallace: Full Tilt Rush Poker Mobile

I think we will eventually realize that Rush Poker Mobile is the biggest poker news story of 2010. It might not be the biggest story right now, but it will probably bring about some significant legal changes. Seeing people playing poker on the bus, in the halls at work, at the bar, or anywhere that people congregate – and seeing all of those people playing online poker for real money on their phones – will change public perception.

What direction the public perception goes and how the legal aspects work out will have a huge effect on the future of our freedom to play our favorite game. I think Michael Mizrachi‘s trip to the WSOP final table was talked about a lot more at the tables, but Rush Poker Mobile will have a bigger splash in the long-run.

Brett Collson: WSOP Ladies Event

When I first saw Shaun Deeb seated wearing lipstick, makeup, and a cowboy hat at the WSOP Ladies Event, I knew the poker world was about to erupt. Deeb and more than a dozen male players crashed what was supposed to be an enjoyable tournament for female poker players. Instead, it turned into a media circus.

Some of the men claimed they were taking a “gender equality” stance by playing in the $1,000 event; others had lost prop bets. Regardless, all of the women were upset by it, as evident by the standing ovation that occurred each time a male player was eliminated. The unfortunate episode also fueled one of the biggest feuds of the year between Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu, which is another of the most memorable stories of 2010.

Bernard Lee: Michael Mizrachi

For me, it would be Michael Mizrachi. At the beginning of 2010, not many people put Michael Mizrachi in the forefront of poker, but as he arrived at the WSOP, he definitely wanted to make his mark. Mizrachi came out of the gates winning the $50,000 Player’s Championship. In addition to that, he made two other final tables and, of course, who could forget him almost winning the improbable double-double of the $10,000 Main Event as well? Michael Mizrachi had a phenomenal year and has put himself back in the forefront of the world of poker.

Sean Gibson: Michael Mizrachi

For me, the biggest news story of 2010 was the resurrection of Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi’s poker career. Count me in as one of the guys who wrote him off for good, especially when all of the financial trouble started cropping up. He proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’s one of the world’s best players; his run to the November Nine was every bit as magical as Phil Ivey‘s in 2009. Mizrachi is a player we can respect for his past accomplishments and track as one of the big names in the poker industry.

Earl Burton: Harry Reid Online Poker Bill and Jonathan Duhamel

As far as the biggest stories of the year in poker, I am torn between two. The four-year-long battle to overturn the UIGEA, which heated up even more over the past 12 months, seemed to get the hopes up of many of us in the poker community. I was always pessimistic about the passage of any legislation that would allow Americans to play poker online and, in the end, my pessimism proved to be correct.

The second story is Jonathan Duhamel’s victory in the WSOP Main Event. He became the first ever Canadian World Champion, capturing the attention of his country and the world. He was even nominated for Canadian Athlete of the Year alongside such big names as Sidney Crosby and Joey Votto. When you think of players from Canada who came before Duhamel, such as Daniel Negreanu and Gavin Smith, for him to become the first Canadian champion of the Main Event was a truly significant feat.

Rainbow Casino in Wendover Hosts Spectrum of Poker

Poker is alive and well in Wendover, Nevada, about 110 miles from Salt Lake City on the Nevada border. The Rainbow Spectrum of Poker is going on through December 19th. Jan Fisher and I, two members of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, are hosting the tournament series and giving entrants a complimentary seminar on December 18th at Noon local time prior to the start of the $500 buy-in Main Event. The casino is adding money to each tournament, including $5,000 for the Main Event. A list of the schedule of events can be found at WendoverFun.com.

Jody Russell is the Poker Manager for the Wendover Rainbow and Montego Bay Casino Resorts and has been in Wendover since June, having come from the Peppermill in Reno. I interviewed Jody about poker in Wendover.

Linda Johnson: Tell us about some of the special promotions available at the Rainbow and Montego Bay card rooms.

Jody Russell, We have lots of promotions for our players including Football Squares on Sunday and Monday nights, with a $100 winner for every score made. Squares are awarded to players who make any full house of jacks or better. The Quadzilla promotion awards $25 to anyone who gets quads and an additional $500 is given if the same player gets quads twice in 24 hours.

Thursday nights feature a Nifty 50 bonus from 2:00pm to 6:00pm. With two hours of play, players who bought in for at least $50 receive an extra bonus dollar for every year they are older than 50. The Set Cracked Jackpot awards $100 from 1:00am to 4:00am to anyone who flops a set using a pocket pair and gets beat.

Linda Johnson: Who is your major clientele?

Jody Russell: The bulk of our players drive from Salt Lake City. Local players consist mainly of gold miners, casino workers, and retirees. We also have flyaway packages from many cities in the United States that include roundtrip air and a three-night stay in a deluxe room at the Rainbow, Peppermill, or Montego Bay Resorts.

Linda Johnson: Why would someone come play poker in Wendover?

Jody Russell: We have a very player-friendly atmosphere and great poker action. We track players and give room and food comps based on the amount of their play. In addition to the promotions above, we also add money to many of our tournaments and have Royal Flush, Bad Beat, and Full House Jackpots. I think our players enjoy the fun and games they get here. For the Rainbow Spectrum of Poker, we are offering a $25 room rate on weekdays and a $65 room rate on the weekends. Everyone who enters one of the events also receives a free buffet ticket.

Linda Johnson: Thanks for taking time to talk with me Jody and congratulations on getting 215 players in your first event. I’ve only been here 24 hours, but I’m having a great time and you’re definitely right about the great action in the games!

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 29- Dec. 5

Fortunately, we've found a place for them in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature.

This week the WSOPC heads to Atlantic City, Fernando Brito takes a big lead in the EPT's POY race, the LAPC schedule is released and a whole lot more.

WSOPC Hits AC

The World Series of Poker Circuit series kicked off at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City Dec. 4.

The full schedule, running through Dec. 22, includes ten official ring events.

The three-day $1,650 main event begins Dec. 12 and the second of four nationally-televised $10k WSOPC Regional Championships is scheduled for four days beginning Dec. 19.

Ladies Love The Big Easy

The High Heels Poker Tour is winding down it's 2010 schedule at Harrah's New Orleans.

The first all women’s poker tour is hosting a $175 Ladies event at the annual 2010 Bayou Poker Challenge Dec. 12.

January is also full of HHPT events with from the PCA to the Southern Poker Championship and the Chad Brown Poker Invitational Ladies Event.

For additional information, including dates, times and buy-in’s, go to www.highheelspokertour.com.

Brito Leads EPT POY Race

Fernando Brito, the 51-year-old businessman from Portugal who made the final of the EPT London Main Event, has a massive lead in the PokerStars EPT Player of the Year race.

After winning a €10,000 event at EPT Barcelona, Brito is now 660 points ahead of his nearest rivals.

So far this season, Brito has won €466,000 on the EPT.

EPT Vilamoura winner Toby Lewis is currently tied for second place with EPT Barcelona winner Kent Lundmark.

LAPC Schedule Released

The Commerce Casino in Los Angeles has unveiled its lineup of tournaments for the 2011 LA Poker Classic with $2 million in guarantees.

The schedule features 53 events running Jan. 19- Mar. 3 including the $10k WPT LA Poker Classic main event beginning Feb. 25 and the hugely popular WPT Celebrity Invitational starting Feb. 19.

There will also be a $25,100 High Roller tournament and $5,100 heads-up and 8-game events.

The full event schedule can be found at www.CommerceCasino.com.

UB, AP Launch Security Token

UB and Absolute Poker have launched a new Security Token program.

Players can now add an extra layer of user authentication preventing unauthorized account use.

The token is a small electronic device require to be at hand when a player logs in to their account.

Visit http://www.ub.com/support/security/additional-authentication for further information and to opt in to the Security Token program.

All-In Winter at Titan

Titan Poker is offering $220,000 in total prizes during the months of December and January as a part of its All-In Winter Poker Promotion.

Cash game, MTT, and Sit & Go players on the site will be eligible for different weekly and monthly prizes during December and January.

Plus, all Titan players can qualify for two All-In Winter $10,000 Freeroll tournaments by generating 100 Titan Poker Points each month.

PKR Wins E-Gaming Award

PKR picked up Poker Operator of the Year honors at the 2010 E-Gaming Review Awards in London this week.

Judges praised PKR for demonstrating how originality and constant innovation could build a successful business in the face of liquidity challenges.

"It is a fantastic achievement for PKR to have won this prestigious award," said PKR CEO Malcolm Graham. "2010 has been an astounding year for us."

Tom Dwan loses $740k to cadillac1944 in huge PLO match

UB.com, Global Poker League Join Forces

Recently, it was announced that UB.com will join forces with the Global Poker League (GPL). The GPL and UB.com have established the “three C’s” of poker – camaraderie, competition, and cash. Through special GPL tables on UB.com, the organizations are looking to build on these premises with a range of sit and gos. The cost for these varies from $1 to $11 and feature six-handed, nine-handed, and 18-handed sit and gos.

Players can sign up for one or both of the GPL Singles Masters or GPL Team Masters and earn points for playing on special UB.com GPL tables. These points will be important over the span of the six-month competition.

When a player enters one of the special sit and gos at the GPL tables, they will not only be earning leaderboard points for themselves. but UB will also donate $0.10 of their rake to the end-of-season Masters Prize Pool, so the more players involved, the higher the prize pool will grow.

The six-month season is divided into three periods of 50 days, with prizes to be won at the end of each in both league categories. At the completion of every 50-day period, the top ten points-earners on the singles and teams ladders can receive some killer UB merchandise.

The top 50% of points-earners for each period make it to the playoffs at the end of the six-month season where they will compete for a sizeable prize pool in the Masters tournament. UB will award the top three in the Single Masters and each member of the winning team in the Team Masters a $3,000 ticket to a 2011 World Series of Poker (WSOP) side event. In addition, 70% of the cash built over the previous six months in the  Masters Prize Pool will be allocated to the Players Masters and 30% will go to the Team Masters.

Although the program was set to begin today, there has already been a great deal of interest. There are 43 teams that have been created prior to the November 15th start of the GPL from such nations as Afghanistan, Spain, Germany, Canada, Russia, and the United States. Although only nine teams have been fully completed, it’s expected that all teams will be filled as competition continues.

Almost 9,200 players have signed up for the Singles competition. The GPL breaks down the numbers by gender (men heavily outnumber women), age (over one-third of the players are 21 to 29), and country. These numbers also should only grow as the competition heats up.

Another key feature of the GPL is a special forum for players. This forum allows GPL participants to talk smack against other players or teams, discuss the competition on the leaderboards, or just talk about poker. The forums are available in five different languages: English, German, Russian, Spanish, and Croatian.

Visit UB.com for more details.

Jimmie Guinther Leads NAPT LA After Day 2

We’re entering the home stretch in the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Los Angeles Main Event. A field of 81 players remains after two days of play and Jimmie Guinther leads the way with a stack of 894,000. Guinther and Travis Pearson hold a commanding lead over the survivors and are the only two players with over 800,000 in chips.

Every tournament has a Bubble Boy; the title in NAPT LA went to online poker stud Carter “ckingusc” King. The Carolina native moved his chips into the middle with 10-9 of spades on a flop of 8-6-5 with two of the suit for a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw. Micah Raskin had King covered and showed A-10 for ace-high, which held when King fired blanks on the turn and river. He was ousted in 105th place, as the top 104 players in NAPT LA made the money.

Former UB.com pro Michael Binger chipped up in earnest on Sunday. He held pocket fives and doubled up against the A-K belonging to Jason Lee to stack over 400,000 in chips. He finished the day by bagging up 474,000, good for the 10th largest tally at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles.

Women in Poker Hall of Famer Kathy Liebert was all-in with K-J of hearts just before the money bubble burst and picked up a caller with a wired pair of queens. No king fell and Liebert was bounced just short of the money. Also coming away empty-handed from Los Angeles was Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, whose A-J could not draw out on Bryn Kenney’s A-Q. Kenney was involved in a spitting incident with Jeff “ActionJeff” Garza in January and finished 28th in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.

George Lind, a member of Team PokerStars Online who goes by the handle “Jorj95,” sent Hafiz Khan to the rail on Sunday. Lind finished with the 17th largest stack in the room at 407,000. He’s fresh off recording four in the money finishes at the 2010 WSOP for over $10,000, but according to the Hendon Mob database, Lind has yet to notch a top nine finish in a major live event.

Adam Junglen’s pair of eights could not hold against Jonathan Gagnon-Villeneuve’s Big Slick, crippling Junglen’s stack. Five minutes later, Junglen was out the door after running into queens, but he picked up the $7,500 minimum payout. There are a bevy of online poker players remaining. Here’s how the top 10 in chips look after two days of play in NAPT LA:

1. Jimmie Guinther – 894,000
2. Travis Pearson – 835,000
3. Anh Van Nguyen – 614,000
4. Bryn Kenney – 586,000
5. Tom “hitthehole” Middleton – 519,000
6. Micah Raskin – 515,500
7. Tom Lee – 509,000
8. Nicholas Verkaik – 495,500
9. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers – 481,000
10. Michael Binger – 474,000

Other players who survived two grueling days of poker include:

17. George Lind – 407,000
19. Phil Laak – 377,000
25. Rep Porter – 316,000
26. Matt Affleck – 307,500
34. Joe Tehan – 267,500
39. Eric “sheets” Haber – 246,500
51. Jason Mercier – 158,000
57. Gavin Griffin – 143,500
62. Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman – 125,500
65. Alex “assassinato” Fitzgerald – 119,500
73. Christina Lindley – 76,000
79. Tom “Kingsofcards” Marchese – 54,000
80. Shane “shaniac” Schleger – 49,000

When play picks back up today, the blinds will stand at 3,000-6,000 with an ante of 500. Nine tables of nine will issue their “Shuffle up and deal” command at 1:00pm PT today and the tournament will crown a champion on Wednesday. Keep it tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest NAPT coverage.

ESPN Coverage of the 2010 WSOP Main Event by Linda Johnson

I’ll admit it. I’m mesmerized by ESPN’s coverage of the 2010 WSOP Main Event. As I watched the Tuesday night episodes, I jotted down some thoughts on scrap paper so I could discuss my observations with some of my poker friends. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep the scraps of paper in any type of order, so here are some random thoughts and observations about the 2010 Main Event in no particular order.

The Staff

The WSOP staff did an incredible job of running the event. In fact, it was probably the best series ever. Tournament officials have a difficult job, but sometimes I have to scratch my head and say, “Really?”

For example, why was it not until day three that Ted Bort got a penalty for distracting and annoying his opponents by barking like a dog? Why did one of the Tournament Directors allow rabbit hunting several times when it is clearly against the rules? In fact, at one point, the Tournament Director even reached across the table and turned up a card after a player had folded. Really?

The Commentators

Norman Chad comes up with some good comments at times, such as these gems:

In response to Scotty Nguyen asking, “Where’s the closet bathroom?” Chad joked, “You’ve been playing here for years and you don’t know where the bathroom is?”

At one point, Bort got up and went to the corner of the room and let out a muffled bark. Chad’s response was, “His water bowl must be over there.”

After Chris Ferguson was eliminated, he stopped to say goodbye to one of his opponents. “Jesus just blessed seat five,” said Chad.

Chad said, “Johnny Chan has given each of his six children one of his bracelets and still has enough left for each of the Mizrachi brothers.”

Chad’s best line: “Under the gun is the new hijack.”

The Players

Kudos to WSOP Player of the Year Frank Kasella, who won two bracelets, made three final tables, and cashed five times. I believe it was Kasella who, during an interview about a particular hand, said, “I almost threw up in my shoe having to call that one. I bet $10,000 on the river holding pocket jacks on a board of 3-Q-9-7-Q and got raised $33,000. I made the call and beat my opponent’s 8-8.”

Phil Laak made a bet that wasn’t called and the players asked him what he had. He offered to show the hand for $20. Two opponents immediately put up $10 each and got to see the hand.

I love Tom Schneider’s outfits. Can you say loud?

Josh Arieh was all-in with A-K versus Dan Harrington‘s A-Q. Arieh was still in the lead on the turn and asked Harrington if he wanted to run it twice.

Jean-Robert Bellande has gotten unlucky the past few years at the feature table. This year fairly late in the tournament, his pocket aces got cracked by his opponent’s pocket kings when a king came on the river.

Nick Rainey reportedly played 16,000 sit and gos in one month.

Congratulations to Gavin Smith for cashing in four out of the last seven Main Events. That’s no easy feat with the size of the fields.

Johnny Chan made an amazing run at the title again this year. On day six, he was one of the chip leaders, got moved to a new table, and was dealt pocket kings against one of the other chip leaders, who was dealt pocket aces. Soon after, he was dealt pocket jacks against pocket aces.

I loved the story about Gary Kostiuk, who suffers with MS. In his interview feature, he said that playing in the Main Event was on his bucket list. He was living the dream and loving his experience. At one point when he was all-in with A-9 versus his opponent’s A-10, he said, “I don’t want to stop playing; I’m having too much fun.” He survived the all-in. After he got knocked out, he said it had been the best week of his life.

At one point, a statistic appeared that Matt Affleck had played 33% of the hands dealt (19% was average). I’m sure we all felt his pain when he got his aces cracked just short of the final table.

Fukke Beukers was my favorite name of any player in the Main Event.

The advice from Johnny Chan should be remembered: “Never underestimate your opponents.”

Sometimes poker can be so cruel. For instance, with only 120 players left, Tony Dunst got his aces cracked by A-Q. Joseph Cheong took a horrible beat in a $25 million pot with pocket aces against Filippo Candio‘s 7-5 after all the money went all-in on a 6-6-5 flop. Candio made a straight on the river. Neither of the players whined or complained about their beats.

Scotty Nguyen is a great player. He made another deep run, but got eliminated with pocket jacks by an opponent holding pocket tens.

Andy Bloch gave some great poker advice in his featured interview. He said, “You can’t lose focus. Don’t let all the chips in the middle cause you to make a mistake.” He talked about a hand he played against Mike Sexton in which a queen came on the end to give him two pair. He made a value bet and was facing a huge raise by Sexton. He thought a long time before folding and said, “The chances that he could be bluffing were worse than the odds that the pot was laying me.”

Congratulations to the four Mizrachi brothers who cashed in the Main Event. I enjoyed seeing how they sweat each other and cheered for each other.

General Observations

The young players are scary. They keep the pressure on and aren’t afraid to 3bet and 4bet with nothing.

3% of the Main Event entrants were women in 1990, the same percentage as this year.

I hate it when a player knocks someone out and then says, “I’m sorry.” If you put a bad beat on someone, my first suggestion is that you stay quiet. If you must say something, a comment like “Tough beat” is more appropriate than “I’m sorry.”

The Main Event really is a young person’s game. Out of the final 366 players, 205 were in their 20s and only 25 were over 50.

I liked the Full Tilt ads that were shown on one episode highlighting the November Nine players. Apparently the ads were pulled because there were a lot of complaints from viewers that they were “spoilers.”

Some of the players are wearing so many patches that they look like NASCAR drivers. Being on the Board of Directors of the Poker Players Alliance, I was particularly happy to see so many players wearing the PokerPlayersAlliance.org patch.

Many players are superstitious. For instance, Filippo Candio wore the same shirt every day. He said his routine was to get up at 11:20, have coffee, and take a cab to the Rio at 11:30 (Hmmm, when did he take a shower?).

I hate that television rewards players who behave badly by featuring some of them in breakout interviews.

In closing, ESPN and the media deserve kudos for doing a great job of recording the events of the 2010 World Series of Poker. I’m sure this year’s stellar coverage will encourage more attendance next year.

Poker News in Brief: Nov. 1-7

But as the November Nine played down to heads-up in Las Vegas this weekend, there were a few other stories happening in the poker world.

Since we didn't have the time or space to put many of them on the front page, we've compiled them below in our weekly Poker News in Brief feature.

This week the PCA sets a date for its Ladies Event, the USPC kicks off, a German wins in Macau and more.

PKR Reaches 4 Million

Four-year-old poker site PKR reached the 4 million customer milestone this week.

"This is a great accomplishment for us and a real achievement considering we don't take players from America," Marketing Director Simon Prodger said. "2010 has been a great year for PKR and we look forward to many more milestones in the future."

PokerStars Women's Caribbean Adventure

PokerStars is hosting another $1,100 Women's event at the 2011 PokerStars Carinbbean Adventure Jan. 14-15.

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso won the event in January 2010 for $25,000, besting a field of 91 players that created an $88,270 prize pool.

Online satellite buy-ins start from as little as $2 or 500 Frequent Player Points on PokerStars.

German Wins Macau Poker Cup

Germany's Julian Hasse took down the Macau Poker Cup Championship at Casino Grand Lisboa this weekend.

Hasse bested a record field of 254 players to book the win and HKD $1,064,000 first prize.

"I still can't believe it, I'm speechless!" Hasse said.

Here's how the final table finished up:

1 Julian Hasse HKD $1,064,000

2 Kelly Flynn HKD $729,000

3 Wee Yee Tan HKD $440,000

4 Chi Chen HKD $347,000

5 Takashi Ogura HKD $278,000

6 Nathanael Seet HKD $231,000

7 Kristian Lunardi HKD $185,000

8 Renyong "Richard" Hu HKD $139,000

9 William Pastout HKD $116,000

Jack Links Inks WSOP Sponsor Deal

Jack Link’s Beef Jerky and the WSOP have signed a new multi-year sponsorship agreement that will keep the jerky king as presenting sponsor of the event.

The tournament will continue to be known as the World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s Beef Jerky.

The deal begins at the 42nd Annual World Series of Poker Presented by Jack Link’s slated to get underway at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas May 30, 2011.

“This remains a great fit between two category-leading brands,” said WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart. “We couldn’t ask for a better organization to be our lead sponsor. We love being with a market dominator that shares our sense of fun and irreverence.”

U.S. Poker Championship Kicks Off

The 2010 United States Poker Championship began at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino and Resort in Atlantic City Nov. 1.

The tournament series runs through Nov. 22 and the USPC main event will be filmed for television.

Betfair Goes Canadian

Beginning Monday Betfair Poker will be localized for all Canadians.

Customers visiting the site from Canada will see global promotions but also have exclusive visibility to Canadian specific poker promotions.

To celebrate the launch of the Canadian poker website, Betfair Poker has planned a week of promotions, featuring freerolls, guaranteed tournaments, U.S Sports merchandise giveaways, and sports events packages.

The O Canada Series will consist of 16 freerolls and small buy-in tournaments.

Poker Players Alliance Welcomes New Board Member

On Monday, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA), the 1.2 million member strong lobbying voice for poker players in the United States, welcomed a new Board member into its ranks. Patrick “Skallagrim” Fleming, who manages the PPA’s Litigation Network, will bring insight to the Board as the organization heads into 2011.

PPA Chairman Alfonse D’Amato commented in a press release sent by the lobbying organization on Monday, “Patrick is one of the poker community’s staunchest champions, donating his time and legal expertise to help PPA members navigate the often murky waters regarding poker’s legal status. I am so pleased that he will be joining the Board of Directors as we work together to guide the organization’s efforts to provide a safe, regulated environment for poker players in the U.S.”

Fleming is an attorney by trade and, according to the same press release, got his start in the organization following the passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006: “Dismayed at the government’s effort to restrict his right to play online poker by passing the UIGEA, Fleming joined the PPA and began leveraging his legal expertise to post about legal challenges on various poker forums.” Two years ago, Fleming pitched the idea of a Litigation Network, which matches online poker players needing legal assistance with pre-screened local counsel.

PPA Executive Director John Pappas is also looking forward to welcoming Fleming into the fold: “Without Patrick’s guidance and expertise, the PPA would not be nearly as well positioned from a legal perspective to provide support and testimony in the legal cases impacting poker across the nation… It is a true pleasure to work with Patrick and I look forward to the ideas and insights I am certain he will bring in his role on the Board of Directors.”

Fleming’s compatriots on the PPA’s Board of Directors include D’Amato, Pappas, former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Chris Ferguson, Women in Poker Hall of Famer Linda Johnson, Full Tilt Poker front man Howard Lederer, 2004 Main Event champ Greg Raymer, and PPA Kentucky State Director Rich “TheEngineer” Muny.

Fleming hails from New Hampshire and will join the Board of an organization that continues to press for licensed and regulated online poker in the United States. The PPA is in the midst of pushing Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act, which was marked up by the House Financial Services Committee in July. HR 2267 sports 70 co-sponsors on both sides of the aisle, but will be deemed “dead” if not acted on by the end of the current Congress in January.

The PPA’s Litigation Network has been instrumental in arguing poker cases in states like South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Pappas posted on TwoPlusTwo that Fleming was in the midst of attending a charity event in his home state of New Hampshire: “I actually have the privilege of being with Skall at this very moment. We are in Plaistow, NH at the Granite State Poker room for a charity event. New Hampshire native Howard Lederer will be here too, as well as special guest Congressman Paul Hodes, who is running for the U.S. Senate.” Hodes is running against former New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte, who signed a letter opposing internet gambling legislation in 2007.

The PPA recently released its 2010 Congressional Ratings Guide in advance of next week’s general elections in the United States. The organization assigned letter grades to each Congressman running to give players guidance on who to vote for. In addition, Poker PAC, the PPA’s political action committee, recently announced endorsements of 58 lawmakers. Visit ThePPA.org for more information.

MMA Fighter Randy Couture to Host Charity Poker Event

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) legend Randy Couture will host the third annual “Operation All In” charity poker tournament and auction fundraiser at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas on Saturday, October 30th. The tournament and auction will benefit the Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation, which honors the veterans of America’s armed forces.

The event is open to the public and will include a celebrity charity poker tournament featuring professional players and MMA and Hollywood celebrities. There will also be live and silent auctions offering MMA memorabilia, dinner and a one-hour personal MMA lesson with Couture, autograph sessions with photo opportunities, and a Halloween after party inside Gold Diggers.

The buy-in for the tournament is $225 with $100 rebuys. Tournament participants will also receive free entry to the first annual Randy Couture Halloween Bash starting at 8:00pm inside Gold Diggers nightclub overlooking the Fremont Street Experience. For those not wishing to participate in the poker tournament, general admission tickets to the Halloween bash will be available for $25 at the door.

The winner of the tournament will take home $10,000 in cash and top finishers will win valuable prizes from a handful of sponsors. “Operation All In” is sponsored and supported by Deepstacks, the Poker Players Alliance, Full Tilt Poker, Xtreme Couture MMA, Lord Griffon, Godard Art, and the Golden Nugget.

Confirmed participants for the event include MMA fighters Couture, Tyson Griffin, Ryan Couture, Martin Kampmann, Gray Maynard, Jason Ron, Ray Sefo, Mike Pyle, and John Alessio. Professional poker players taking part include Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Layne Flack, Gavin Smith, Perry Friedman, Antonio Esfandiari, Todd Brunson, Nick and Michael Binger, Dutch Boyd, Lacey Jones, Matt Savage, and “Donk Down Radio” personality Bryan Micon.

Couture is an army veteran himself, having served in the 101st Airborne Division. Together with his wife, Couture started the Xtreme Couture G.I. Foundation to raise money and awareness for troops wounded in action and their families. The Foundation’s goal is to help these brave men and women fulfill any of their unmet needs as they return to civilian life.

Couture has been involved in poker for years now. He first hit the tables during the inaugural “Operation All In” charity tournament, which was emceed by Jamie Gold in 2008. He began getting more involved with Full Tilt, holding charity tournaments on the site to support his foundation, and then during his fight against Brock Lesnar in November 2008, Couture switched brand of clothing from Affliction gear to Full Tilt Poker. The MMA legend has since been regularly linked to the site, even making an appearance on NBC’s “Poker After Dark” decked out in Full Tilt Poker logos during the show’s airing in August.

David Sesso Discusses WCOOP Win, Life After WSOP Ladies Event

In the 60th event of the recently completed PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), David “Blue Knight1” Sesso came away with the bracelet and a massive $299,000 bankroll boost following a four-way deal. In June, Sesso entered the Ladies Event of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) after a prop bet much to the ire of the women in attendance. Now, he’s in the spotlight for a completely different reason.

Just before a trip to Hammond, Indiana for the WSOP Circuit stop at the Horseshoe Casino, Sesso, a member of Team Bustout Poker, sat down with Poker News Daily to recap his latest accomplishment.

Poker News Daily: Congratulations on pulling down nearly $300,000 following the four-way chop in the $215 No Limit Hold’em WCOOP event. Tell us how you’re feeling.

David Sesso: It’s an amazing feeling. When it first happened, it was so unreal and rewarding after everything I’ve gone through this year. A lot of things fell apart this year for me and then this happened after I had been on my own for a month. I’ve worked hard, but the luck involved in winning this just as I got started on my own is huge. Now, I just hope I can take this gift and turn it into more.

PND: How has the $300,000 cash windfall affected your life since you earned it in late September?

David Sesso: It’s definitely had a big impact. Career-wise, it’s given me a chance to play high-stakes online MTTs on my own dime, which is not what I was expecting to have happen this soon. I’ve actually come back to Chicago for a bit to re-asses what’s next for me. I think as far as my image goes, I’ll just say that some players who doubted me before seem to be giving me a second look.

My confidence is through the roof now. During my heater in 2009, however, I let my ego take control and I think I got way too cocky, which wound up costing me in the end. This win came only after I put my ego in check and really took a closer look at my game. I found so many things I needed to improve upon. I’m actually very happy that I nearly went broke. I’m glad I was humbled because I think that’s what is going to make me stronger. I’m going to try to stay humble and realize that this is only the beginning.

PND: Did entering the WSOP Ladies Event change how others viewed you or acted towards you?

David Sesso: I’m not really sure what people think. I can only hope that people will see that I felt badly about it and admitted that I was wrong. While I meant no disrespect, it was an act of immaturity and I just hope people can forgive me for it. Maybe the fact that I have a WCOOP title will help with that, but maybe not. I guess it really just comes down to whether or not people believe I can change and grow as a person. Either way, my plan is to just keep working and getting better at this great game, whether people want to be behind me or not.

PND: You’re an ambassador for Bustout Poker, a popular line of poker gear. Can you remind us how you became involved with the company?

David Sesso: At Mohegan Sun, I was playing a $2,000 side event and happened to notice Jeff Griffith (the founder of Bustout) showing some t-shirts to a poker agent who was at my table. I liked the shirts and struck up a conversation with him. He told me about how he really loves MMA fighting and poker, which is what inspired him to build the company. The shirts have the look of many popular MMA clothing brands with a poker twist that I, along with many other top pros, find to be very cool.

I told Jeff a little about myself and I think he liked what he saw. Jeff is assembling a team of top players to represent Bustout Poker and I am quite impressed with the lineup so far, which includes internet stars such as Ben “Kid Cardiff” Warrington, Matt “All In At 420″ Stout, and Chris “Big_Huni” Hunichen. We also have accomplished PokerStars pro Chad Brown and more big names in the works. Don’t be surprised to see a lot of Team Bustout members reaching final tables both online and live. I really believe that these players are going to put a sting on the competition.

Annie Duke Comments on CEREUS Sale, Poker Hall of Fame

Poker News Daily: The CEREUS Network was recently acquired by Blanca Games, which is managed by Stuart Gordon. What were your thoughts when you heard about the transaction?

Annie Duke: It’s a very positive thing for the brand. The cheating was purportedly under the auspices of Excapsa in terms of software development and the person developing it was able to get into the group through his involvement with them. I’m happy that the brand is making a clean break from that and that’s part of being able to move on. I’ve always felt like the full brunt of what happened was really put on the current UB.com management.

PND: What personnel changes do you anticipate with the new ownership regime?

Annie Duke: I have tremendous faith in Paul Leggett. My understanding is that there won’t be any change in terms of his role. I think perhaps this will be an opportunity to do some house cleaning, but I don’t really know. Paul staying is a good thing because in every aspect of what’s happened, when you look around and see who has behaved, he’s been the most forthright and the most forthcoming. He’s had the most integrity and he’s taken a lot of blame. He’s gone above and beyond and I’ve been very impressed with how he’s handled everything that’s happened.

PND: What can you tell us about Stuart Gordon?

Annie Duke: I don’t know much about him. He owns BingoMania.com and has a lot of experience in the space. He won’t be involved in day-to-day operations as far as I know. He’s more of an investor.

PND: Are you happy that the war of words with Daniel Negreanu is behind you?

Annie Duke: I was satisfied with PokerStars’ accountability and still continue to believe that Daniel can express whatever views he wants to with whatever language he wants to use.

PND: The list of 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 was released in recent weeks. What are your thoughts on the group?

Annie Duke: My vote is for Erik Seidel. He has eight bracelets and been under-appreciated. I Tweeted for people to go and vote for him. Doyle Brunson was also throwing his hat into the ring for Erik.

PND: Should Phil Ivey and Negreanu, both in their 30s, be seriously considered by the voting panel?

Annie Duke: No one under 40 should get in. I could see an argument for Ivey just because he’s accomplished so much at the age he is, but at the same time, it’s so easy to say that it doesn’t matter because they’ll be just as deserving when they’re over 40. This should be about career accomplishments.

Poker is interesting because in other sports, if you’re active, you’re not eligible. That’s because most sports require a physical aspect where you’d be retiring before you can be considered for a Hall of Fame.

While Ivey certainly has the credentials to get in, he’s going to be a shoo-in in five years. At the moment, Chip Reese is the youngest person inducted at 40. I would work very hard to keep it that way. Chip really represented something in poker that was so amazing and did such amazing things. Preserving that sort of honor of being the youngest member in the Hall of Fame is something we should be striving for.

PND: Convince the voting panel of living Hall of Fame members and members of the media to vote for Seidel.

Annie Duke: Erik Seidel should be in there. He has eight bracelets. He has so many titles. This is someone who has done amazing things year in and year out. The guy behaves with such grace in a sport where grace is really needed. He’s always so graceful and so sportsmanlike. He’s deeply thoughtful, deeply intelligent, and has massive integrity. This guy should be held up as the standard for what we should be doing. I feel strongly that he should be honored.

PND: Is there anyone else you’d consider?

Annie Duke: Linda Johnson would be my second choice in terms of what she’s contributed in terms of her vision, what she did with the WPT at the beginning, and what she’s done for women in poker. In terms of looking at someone as an innovator and bringing poker into the spotlight, she really deserves it.

PND: Are you bummed out that we’re not talking about the Aruba Poker Classic this year?

Annie Duke: Aruba was the thing that in a lot of ways defined UB in terms of setting it off from other brands and the thing that allowed UB to weather a very significant storm. We had a strong sense of community. The players who were really loyal to UB felt like they were a family and a large part of that was Aruba. Every year, you’d go to this event and see the same faces and new faces and all of that community building was import to the brand and the survival of the brand.

From that standpoint, it’s important for them to have it. It’s something that’s key to the identity of UB. I was very sad that it was canceled this year and I hope they’ll bring it back or bring something that will create a strong sense of community. I don’t want to see a situation where people on UB are anonymous.

PND: Talk about watching the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship unfold on GSN every Saturday night. What did you think about Annette Obrestad critiquing Huck Seed’s play a few weeks back?

Annie Duke: It has actually been extremely interesting to watch. When I was paired with Huck, I wanted him to think I played well. Given Huck’s record and the brilliance of his poker game, if I disagreed with something Huck did, I would assume he did something that I didn’t understand. I would actually ask Huck to explain the play.

When I first came around poker and had just started to play big limits in 1998, I was playing with Ted Forrest. We can agree that Ted has a very unconventional style, but he is obviously a successful player. When I first started playing with him, I thought he was terrible. Pretty quickly, I figured out that he was pretty successful, so maybe there was something I was missing. What I realized was that he wasn’t playing badly, but most of the time, he was doing things I truly didn’t understand.

My game drastically improved because I took a step back from what my initial reaction was. That’s a lesson that every young poker player has to learn. When you realize that what you don’t understand isn’t necessarily bad, it’s a huge step in your development as a player. Maybe Annette will take a look back and learn from that. Annette is an excellent player and extremely talented and when she becomes a more mature player, she’ll be great. This is just an issue of opening up your mind instead of immediately shutting someone off and dismissing them.

Las Vegas Life with Kristy Arnett: Pick-Up as an Art

BLOG – MyPokerLab journalist challenge

Sin City Series: Picking Up Women

Beth Shak Hosting Charity Poker, Bowling Event on October 12th

On October 12th, poker pro Beth Shak will be hosting a fundraising event in conjunction with AOL at the Luxe Lounge at Lucky Strike in Manhattan. The gala will benefit the charity of the winner’s choice and several affordable ticket options are available.

Billiards, a hip DJ, a one-hour open bar featuring ZYR Vodka, numerous poker tables, and a massive HD projection screen atop the bowling lanes are just a few of the attractions that will bring charity dollars in. Shak told Poker News Daily in an exclusive interview, “We’re charging for ticket sales and all of the money will go to the winner’s charity of choice. Even if you don’t play poker, you can go there and pay a $40 general admission. You can bowl, play pool, and have a good time.” The open bar will become a cash bar after the one-hour mark.

Unlike other events, the Luxe Lounge fundraiser does not have a designated beneficiary for the money raised. Instead, the winner of the charity poker tournament will be able to donate funds to an organization near and dear to their heart. Shak explained the reasoning behind the decision: “I thought it was better to let people play for what they care about. Most people have a charity that they care about, so whoever wins will get money for it.”

Four AOL blogs are funneling readers to Shak’s fundraising effort: Asylum, Lemon Drop, Luxist, and Gadlin. Poker seats are available for $100 per person and prizes surrounding the theme of the “ultimate bachelor pad” will be given away. Instructor tables will also be available for those who aren’t versed in the game of poker. You can purchase tickets to the charity gala on October 12th in New York City by clicking here.

Shak has been a staple of the fundraising world, sinking a considerable amount of time and energy into raising money for a variety of worthwhile causes, including the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Shak explained why she continues to be actively involved in the charity scene after so many years: “A big thing that drives me is giving back to the world. As much as I like pretty things, I give back as much as I possibly can. As long as I have time, I go to any fundraiser I can. Unlike other poker players out there, I don’t charge anyone or take first class tickets. I don’t take anything. I’m there because I think it’s a good cause.”

On Shak’s horizon is a trip to Gauteng, South Africa for the World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) first ever Circuit stop on the continent. On the reason for taking the trans-Atlantic trip, Shak told Poker News Daily, “I thought a change of scenery might help. For whatever reason, I haven’t been doing well around here.” According to the Hendon Mob database, Shak has not cashed for five-figures in a major live poker tournament since late 2008.

Shak is one of the top female poker players in the industry. Accordingly, we asked her to give us the names of the top two women in poker, in her opinion. Her response: “I think it has to be Kathy Liebert and then Vanessa Selbst. Kathy has about $6 million in tournament winnings and completely flies under the radar. She is one of the most patient and amazing players out there. Vanessa won an open World Series of Poker bracelet. That’s big. Otherwise, you’re known for winning a women’s event. If I could emulate either of them, I’d be happy.”

Visit the Asylum, Lemon Drop, Luxist, and Gadlin AOL blogs for more information.

PokerStars Picks Up Liv Boeree

Boeree was officially announced as a member of Team PokerStars Pro at the launch of the EPT London festival this week.

The 26-year-old will join poker superstars like Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker and Vanessa Rousso in representing the brand around the world.

“It’s what I’ve been working towards for the last five years,” said Boeree.

“When I decided I wanted to become a pro poker player I wanted to become as well-known and successful as I could be. One of my goals was to become a member of Team PokerStars Pro – and now I’ve done it.”

Before getting into poker Boeree studied physics and astrophysics at the University of Manchester before moving to London.

Since then Boeree has taken the poker world by storm, initially working as a TV presenter and journalist for various poker media outlets.

Boeree started to raise eyebrows as a player when she won the Ladbrokes Ladies Championship for $42,000 in 2008.

After winning that event Boeree was able to put together a string of wins at the WSOP but it was in 2010 that she would score he first major tournament win.

Boeree outlasted 1,239 players to win EPT San Remo and take down a first-place prize of $1.6 million. She joined fellow Brit Vicky Coren and German Sandra Naujoks as the only women with EPT titles.

“Liv is the whole package,” said Daniel Negreanu.

“She has a great résumé after winning EPT San Remo, is likeable, well spoken, attractive and hard-working. There is no question she was the top free agent and I’m ecstatic that she is now part of the team.”

WPT Borgata Poker Open Begins Saturday

In Season 2, the Borgata Poker Open became a regular stop on the World Poker Tour (WPT). Today, the first of two starting days in the $3,500 buy-in East Coast poker tournament will begin at 11:00am ET. Tomorrow, it’ll be Groundhog Day for Borgata and WPT officials, who will see Day 1B play out.

Last year, the buy-in for the Borgata Poker Open was slashed from $10,000 to just $3,500 and, as a result, a record crowd of 1,018 convened. Olivier Busquet edged out Jeremy Brown in the 2009 running of this tournament to pick up $925,000. The total prize pool was just over $3.3 million and Brown earned $453,000 for his efforts. Also reaching the six-handed televised final table of the Borgata Poker Open last year were Ivan Mamuzic (third place for $251,955), Yanick Brodeur (fourth place for $216,681), Keith Crowder (fifth place for $188,126), and Kenny Nguyen (sixth place for $156,212).

In Season 7 of the WPT, the last time the buy-in for the Borgata Poker Open was $10,000, online poker pro Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar took down the title and a $1.4 million top prize. Sang Kim landed as the runner-up and banked $750,000. Bracelet winner Dan Heimiller took third place for $387,500, Jason Strochak finished fourth for $337,500, Mark Seif claimed fifth place for $287,500, and Andrew Knee banked $237,500 for sixth place.

Perhaps the most memorable Borgata Poker Open final table occurred in 2004, when Canadian PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu outlasted David Williams heads-up. Negreanu banked $1.1 million, while Williams, now also a PokerStars pro, collected $573,000. Did we mention that Phil Ivey was at the final table? He was. Ivey, widely considered to be the top poker player in the business, finished in sixth place for $105,000.

Working against the Borgata Poker Open is the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule ongoing from London. Among those still holding strong in WSOP Europe preliminary events, and so consequently won’t be making the trip to Atlantic City on Saturday, are November Niner John Racener, Jeffrey Lisandro, Jeff Madsen, Chris Bjorin, Erik Friberg, Scott Fischman, Ivey, Huck Seed, Tom Dwan, and Liv Boeree.

Among those who will be in attendance is Women in Poker Hall of Fame member Kathy Liebert, who Tweeted late Friday night, “Just arrived at Borgata. Two starting days so will play WPT tomorrow or Sunday.” Liebert has a plane ticket booked for London for the start of the WSOP Europe Main Event on Thursday.

Also in the house in Atlantic City will be Thuy Doan, who trumpeted her extensive travel plans via Twitter earlier this week: “East coast for a bit. NY to coach @royalflushgirls at their model house, AC for the WPT Borgata, then VA to visit family/Wahoos!” The WPT website also states that Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith, Chris Bell, Maria Ho, Christian “charder30” Harder, UB.com’s Tiffany Michelle, Roy Winston, Jason “TheMasterJ33” DeWitt, Brian Lemke, and Busquet will all be in attendance.

Borgata was formerly the home of two WPT events annually, as the Borgata Winter Open played out each January. 2008 marked the last time the tournament was held as part of the WPT and that year, Gavin Griffin lodged one-third of his live poker Triple Crown by besting a final table that included Lee Watkinson.

Want a behind-the-scenes look at the WPT? Poker News Daily’s Sean Gibson recently traveled to the Bicycle Casino’s Legends of Poker and followed WPT host Mike Sexton as he prepared for a final table broadcast. Check out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT Borgata Poker Open coverage.

WSOP Europe Begins, Laak Gets Bracelet, and Negreanu’s Rental Woes from Poker in Twitter

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe is in full swing this week, with poker players keeping their fans in touch with the action through their Twitter accounts. The biggest news of the tournament schedule has been Phil Laak taking down his first bracelet on Thursday evening.

Laak was quite prolific with his Tweets as play got short. “This is what 468k looks like,” as he posted a picture of his stack with four players remaining. “Minimum cheeze my way is 75,352 dollars!” Laak continued to keep a running account for his fans, including the beat he put on third place finisher Chris Bjorin, Tweeting, “KK vs QQ! All in w Chris and to sew it up I flop a King! Hds up w Andrew! Avg is 900k. I have 750k!” About an hour later, Laak included a Twitpic holding the bracelet and chirped, “Maximum cheeze shippage. £170,802 ($267,010). Plus some gold!”

Following his victory, congratulatory Tweets flooded in from around the poker community. “I better get to London ASAP,” Greg “FBT” Mueller fired off. “I hear they are giving bracelets away! Congrats @RealPhilLaak well done sir!” Howard Lederer, in London for the WSOP Europe, figured out what he needed to do to win: “I’m renting an ATV and driving it off a cliff tomorrow. I’ll do anything to get that third bracelet! Congrats @RealPhilLaak!” Finally, Full Tilt‘s Mike Matusow couldn’t resist a little jab at Laak when he Tweeted, “Congrats Phil you a really great guy u deserve it. Just think if you learn how to play poker how good you can be lol.”

Laak’s win in the first event of the WSOP Europe didn’t keep him away from the second tournament on the schedule, the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event. Looking for his second bracelet, Laak Tweeted on Friday, “Still in the 5k plo. 35 left. Paying 18. Currently at 50% chip avg.” Others who joined Laak in the second tournament included recent World Poker Tour (WPT) High Roller champion Justin “Boosted J” Smith (“Day 2 of WSOP-E 5k Pound Buy-in PLO tournament… 43,900 in chips… above average… 53 people left”).

While many players are in London for the preliminary events of the WSOP Europe, some are still making their trek to the United Kingdom. “Going to London tomorrow, playing in WSOPE and EPT,” Durrrr Challenge combatant Daniel “JungleMan12” Cates reported to his followers on Thursday morning. “Have heard good things about London, should be a lot of fun.” Another player who is on the way is Kathy Liebert, but she Tweeted her hopes for a change of plans: “Booked flight to London for WSOPE Main Event. Hope I have to miss it because I’m at the final table WPT Borgata.”

Another player delayed in getting to London was Daniel Negreanu, who is doing some promotional work for the upcoming second season of the PokerStars “Million Dollar Challenge,” which begins airing on Sunday on Fox. Flying to New York on Thursday, Negreanu had an amusing moment when he Tweeted, “Lady at airport security stopped me and asked, ‘Were you in American History X?’ I told her no, that’s my older brother Ed.” After arriving in the Big Apple, Negreanu headed to work: “Just landed in NY headed straight to the studio. 21 interviews scheduled over 3 hours on various FOX affiliates all back to back- then sleep.”

Although it seemed his trip was without problems, Negreanu did have to get something off his chest: “I hate credit cards and I hate that you need one to rent a car. I don’t need to borrow money from VISA. Take my debit you ***** so dumb.” For his part, DoylesRoom front man Doyle Brunson agreed with Negreanu when he Tweeted, “Sailor Roberts did the same thing at Hertz 30years ago. He popped 20K down as collateral and they wouldn’t take it.”

For the best Tweets of the past few days, we have to start with Liv Boeree, who Tweeted some of the shenanigans at the WSOP Europe. “Hilarious night of WSOPE partying, a wheelbarrow, and a traffic cone,” Boeree Tweeted, although she provided no details. Former WPT hostess Layla Kayleigh opined, “I have to think about what I did before the internet was born… and then try it.”

Brunson also pondered over the Twitterverse on Thursday, “Watching my daughter put her makeup on, I had to wonder… Why can’t women put mascara on with their mouth closed?”

Online Gambling Traffic Up 40% in UK

Global information giant Nielsen Media Research recently published a study that showed that despite the global economic downturn, online gambling traffic in the United Kingdom was up 40% year over year.

While online poker has without a doubt been popular, it is actually online lottery sales that have been driving the growth.  Topping Nielsen’s list of online gambling sites in the UK was national lottery operator Camelot, which saw its number of unique visitors explode from 4.4 million to 9.4 million between July 2009 and July 2010, an increase of 114%.  According to the Camelot website, national lottery sales were £5.149 billion during the 2008/2009 fiscal year, which ended on March 31, 2009.  This represented an increase of 3.6% over the previous year.

Party Gaming sits in the eighth spot on Nielsen’s list.  PartyPoker, the company’s renowned poker arm, drew 870,000 more unique visitors than the previous year, an increase of 174%.  PartyCasino saw a similar growth rate, 186%, which translated to 1.2 million new visitors.

Despite these positive figures, having more visitors doesn’t necessarily mean more players.  PartyPoker reported a 12% increase in new real money player signups in 2009 (496,100), but a decrease of 12% in active player days.  The average number of players each day also fell 12%, while the yield per active player day dropped 18%.  The combined dip in active players and yield per player resulted in PartyPoker’s average daily net revenue sinking 28%.

PartyCasino’s figures were better, with active player days and daily average number of players dropping just 6%.  But with the average yield per player climbing by 20%, the average daily net revenue for the casino was up 12%.  PartyCasino turned a much smaller percent of its new visitors into real money customers than PartyPoker, with 103,000 testing their luck with real money.

PartyPoker currently ranks as the third largest online poker room/network in terms of cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com.  With a seven-day average of 3,750 players, PartyPoker is just ahead of the iPoker Network, which has a seven-day average of 3,500 cash game players.  Neither site accepts customers from the United States.

Some of the more interesting facts that Nielsen uncovered were about the demographics of the UK’s online gambling population.  Almost half of online gamblers make a good living, earning at least £30,000 ($49,717) per year.  Women also make up almost half – 46% – of the online gambling population and many sites are taking greater strides in catering to the fairer sex.

Despite the strong female presence, they are not the ones fueling the gambling sites.  Nielsen’s Neil Beston said, “While the phenomenal growth in gambling sites over the last two years has been driven by men and women of all ages, it appears to be powered particularly by middle-aged men, the well-educated, and high-earning households.”  Beston added that this is a change from historical norms, which had senior citizens and lower income households contributing more to the online gambling economy.

While the gambling firms are likely happy about Nielsen’s findings, not everyone is jumping for joy.  Problem gambling support charity GamCare still has the same concerns that critics of online gambling have always had.  Adrian Scarfe, GamCare’s Clinical Training Director, told Australia’s Herald Sun newspaper, “The internet is readily available, it’s 24/7 and it’s right in the heart of a home. The vulnerable groups are those who are less risk-averse – young people and women, and no one knows if you’re drunk.”

Many online poker rooms, including PartyPoker and PokerStars, have links to GamCare on their websites.

2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame Induction by Linda Johnson

I’ve been traveling constantly for the past six weeks. First, I went on an exploratory two-week cruise on the biggest ship in the world. Next, I hosted a week-long poker tournament at the Eureka Casino in Mesquite, Nevada. After stopping home overnight to watch some TIVO and do laundry, I flew to Indianapolis for one of my favorite charity events, the annual benefit for Mickey’s Camp (Mickeyscamp.com), to teach poker and run two poker tournaments.

When camp was over, I actually got to spend two days at home before leaving for the Card Player Cruises Alaska poker trip. I got back from the Alaska cruise just three hours prior to the start of the third annual Women in Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which will be the focus of this blog.

The voters did a great job with the choice of inductees for the 2010 Women in Poker Hall of Fame class: Jennifer Harman, Kathy Liebert, and Billie Brown. The Golden Nugget was the venue for year three and they did it right! The tournament pavilion was transformed into a supper club/bistro environment through the hard work of the committee spearheaded by Suzie Lederer and Suzanne Carter along with some awesome volunteers.

Lupe Soto, creator of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and founder of the Ladies International Poker Series, brought in NASA special events coordinator Gyla Whitlow to produce the induction ceremony. Gyla composed an amazing video montage that played throughout the evening featuring the history in pictures of each of the present and past inductees.

Throughout the evening, there was a silent auction to benefit Poker Gives, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization started by Mike Sexton, Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and me as a way for poker players to give back to charity. The evening’s emcee was Jan, who should consider becoming a standup comedian. She did an amazing job of keeping everyone on schedule and coming up with some very funny adlibbed lines. After opening the evening, Jan brought Lupe up to the stage to thank the event sponsors: Lord Griffon Jewelry, Full Tilt Poker, Ocean’s 11 Casino, the Golden Nugget, GreasieWheels.com, and Legacy Alliance.

The keynote speaker was Jeffrey Pollack, the former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Commissioner who now serves as the Executive Chairman of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and a member of its Board of Directors. He spoke about the similarities between the PBR and the poker world and the importance of women’s-only events in poker. Next, the WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla took the stage and gave an impassioned speech about the WSOP’s commitment to women in poker. He reminded us of its history with the Ladies Event and assured the crowd that the Ladies Event shall remain a prominent part of their schedule going forward.

The ceremony began with Helen Hartley, marketing director at Oceans 11 Casino, and Bob Moyer, managing partner of Oceans 11, paying tribute to the first inductee, Billie Brown. Many of today’s players have never heard of Billie Brown since she passed away in 2004, but her contributions to poker live on.

She was an innovator and created exciting tournaments and promotions that changed the face of poker. In the early 80s, Billie was the first person to create a guaranteed purse in a major poker tournament. She committed a major casino, the Riviera Hotel, to be the tournament venue. The “Draw for the Gold Tournament” guaranteed $350,000 in its first year. The second and third years guaranteed $450,000 and the fourth year had the first $1,000,000 guarantee. That promotion built a player base of 2,500, which was unheard of in those days.

She liked being a host and started a business of bringing players from New York and Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Other poker-related work included creating promotions with Commerce Casino, including “Play for the Gold,” and working with several of the Indian casinos in San Diego assisting them in building their poker rooms and Asian games.

She served as the marketing director for Ocean’s 11 Casino during the last decade of her life. It was there that she created and hosted the beloved California State Ladies Poker Championship, an event that still draws women from all over the country. Billie always made sure that the ladies had a good time and that everything was perfect for them, from the gifts she personally chose and meticulously wrapped to the banquet decorations and the entertainment. Her tournament wasn’t just about poker; it was an opportunity for women in the industry to bond.

I had the good fortune of being Billie’s friend for 25 years and am pleased to see her get recognition for her achievements in poker. Her daughter, Kelley O’Hara, who is the marketing director for the Bicycle Casino, gave an eloquent acceptance speech on Billie’s behalf.

Next, Jan Fisher introduced Jennifer Harman and talked about her many poker achievements, including winning two gold bracelets in open events at the WSOP. Jennifer has more than $2.2 million in career tournament winnings and plays in the highest limit cash games in the world. She also wrote the Limit Hold’em section in “Super System 2.” Jennifer took the stage and graciously congratulated Kathy Liebert on her induction and thanked everyone for attending the ceremony.

Last but not least, Fisher introduced Kathy Liebert to the crowd. Kathy has more than $5.7 million in career tournament winnings and a gold WSOP bracelet. She was the first person to win a $1,000,000 guaranteed first place prize tournament and ranks in the top 40 in winnings among all poker players. She has played in 100 WPT events and made a WPT final table six times.

Kathy gave a great speech and told us about how she had been a business executive with Dun and Bradstreet and decided that she would not be happy in the business world, so she moved to Colorado and took a job as a prop and played $5 Limit poker while she perfected her skills. She also talked about how she likes seeing more women at the poker tables in these times than ever in the past.

Congratulation Kathy, Jennifer, and Billie! You are all deserving members of the prestigious Women in Poker Hall of Fame. The evening ended with a dance, which meant that I was the last one to leave and turn out the lights.

Poker News in Brief: Sep. 6-12

Add in some high stakes action, the UKIPT heading to Ireland and the Partouche Poker Tour setting its own November Nine and it was a busy week in the PokerListings news room.

A few stories may have slipped through the cracks, but we've gathered them below in our regular Poker News in Brief feature.

This week, the WCOOP main event gets the biggest guarantee ever, Boxing legend Evander Holyfield hits the felt, UB's bad beat jackpot is claimed and more.

$2 Million for WCOOP Champ

PokerStars is now offering a record-breaking guaranteed payout to the winner of this year’s World Championship of Online Poker main event.

The 2010 WCOOP main event champion will walk away with a guaranteed $2 million payday, the largest first-place prize for an online poker tournament in history.

The $5,200 two-day main event begins Sep. 26.

Last year Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko won the title and $1,715,200 first-place prize.

High Heels Heads West

The first all women’s poker tour launched on the East Coast, is headed west.

The High Heels Poker Tour will hit the Wildhorse Resort Casino in Pendleton, Oregon. The Nov. 8 for its $165 Fall Round Up Ladies No-Limit Hold’em event.

For more information, including dates, times and buy-ins go to www.highheelspokertour.com.

Still The Champ

Evander Holyfield won the celebrity 'Beat the Champ' poker tournament live at Poker in the Park in London this week.

London's Leicester Square played host to thousands of fans attending Europe's largest poker festival including one Midlands man who got the chance to take on the former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World on the felt.

"It's like fighting," Holyfield explained. "If you want to win you have to focus and prepare and that's exactly what I did for this tournament, just like I do for any challenge." Leif G. won his way into the tournament through RealDealPoker.com.

Bad Beat?

A Ferris, Texas woman lost with quads, but won $218,115 in Bad Beat Jackpot money on UB this week.

KAPPIT saw her four nines crushed by CJBV’s quad queens at a $0.25/0.50 table, triggering the payday.

For his part, CJBV picked up $109,057.85 while the seven other players banked at least $1,000 just for being there.

Plus 610 others grabbed $89.36 because they were playing the same limit.

"I've been playing Poker for 45 years now, mostly live poker, and I hit a jackpot once in a land-based Casino, but this is the biggest prize I've ever got,” she said. “Keep those jackpots coming UB... Dreams do come true."

Full Tilt Sponsors MMA Series

Full Tilt Poker is putting its name on the Bellator Fighting Championships.

Now in its third season, the Bellator Fighting Championships is a continuing series of televised World Class Mixed Martial Arts presented in a tournament format.

This week marked the first of eight nationally and internationally televised Bellator events sponsored by Full Tilt.

Helppi Captures World Open VI Final Seat

Juha Helppi, Finland’s all-time leading money winner with over $3 million in career tournament earnings, pushed past a heat that included PartyPoker spokesman Mike Sexton, French legend Bruno Fitoussi and red-hot Canadian Sorel Mizzi inside London’s Palm Beach Casino Thursday.

However, the toughest test came from the two women in the heat, Jennifer Tilly and Sandra Naujoks, who finished second and third.

Helppi will join Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dale Hoy, Sam Trickett, Andrew Robl and John Duthie in Friday's final.

Plus, the winner of a runner-up heat that includes Tilly, Frank Kassela, Marty Smyth, Brandon Cantu, Toby Lewis and MB Mahmoud.

The $480,000 prize pool will be shared amongst the finalists with $200,000 going to the winner.

My 2010 Poker Hall of Fame Vote

For the second straight year, I’ll have the privilege of voting for the Poker Hall of Fame. This prestigious award is given to deserving candidates who meet four criteria: “Played poker against acknowledged top competition; played for high stakes; played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers; stood the test of time; or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.”

The 33-member panel, which consists of the 16 living Poker Hall of Fame members and 17 media representatives, can select as many of the 10 final candidates as they deem worthy of admission. Here are my thoughts on each of the 10 finalists as they appear in alphabetical order:

Chris Ferguson: There’s something to be said for a man who was influential in developing the software for one of the world’s largest online poker sites, Full Tilt. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ has five bracelets and over $5 million in career WSOP earnings. He’s one of the game’s most recognizable faces due to his “Jesus” persona and, at 47, also has a National Heads-Up Poker Championship title under his belt. He’s worthy of consideration to the Poker Hall of Fame and would be my fourth favorite selection among the finalists.

Barry Greenstein: Despite having more than $2 million in WSOP earnings and three bracelets, Greenstein may best be known for igniting the move for generosity away from the felts. Greenstein has become known as the “Robin Hood of Poker,” but lacks the sparkling poker resume that the other nine Poker Hall of Fame candidates hold. However, I have little doubt that Greenstein, like Ferguson, will be inducted as part of a future class.

Jennifer Harman: Fresh off an induction into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, Harman owns two WSOP bracelets, neither of which came in a Ladies event. She’s made two World Poker Tour (WPT) final tables and is approaching the $1 million mark in earnings on the WPT. Harman is a perfect fit for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame and her charity work will undoubtedly earn her a nod in the future, but she is not among my top choices for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010.

Dan Harrington: The man who quite literally wrote the book on poker, Harrington’s “Hold’em” series can be found on the bookshelves of serious players around the world. Despite massive fields, Harrington made the final table of the Main Event in back-to-back years in 2003 and 2004 and won it all in 1995. He’s my top pick for this year’s Poker Hall of Fame class and was a nominee last year.

Phil Ivey: He’s pretty good at poker. Millions upon millions of dollars earned in cash games, eight WSOP bracelets, and a final table in last year’s Main Event are just a few of the reasons that Ivey will eventually receive a Poker Hall of Fame nod. However, “No Home Jerome,” at 34, isn’t yet old enough to run for President of the United States and didn’t record a WSOP in the money finish prior to 2000. While he’ll be a favorite of many members of the voting panel, Ivey has not yet “stood the test of time.”

Linda Johnson: How do you not elect “The First Lady of Poker” to the Poker Hall of Fame? A founding member of the Tournament Directors Association and inaugural inductee to the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, Johnson has made an indelible impact on the game in several different areas. From encouraging more women to play to co-founding Poker Gives and urging players to give back, Johnson epitomizes what a Poker Hall of Fame inductee should be. She’ll be receiving my vote this year as my second favorite candidate.

Tom McEvoy: In my opinion, McEvoy is the poster child for standing the test of time. In his third career WSOP in the money finish, he won the Main Event in 1983. He’s racked up a total of four bracelets and then promptly took down last year’s Champions Invitational, a made-for-television event that awarded a sleek new ride to its winner. McEvoy has authored a bounty of poker books including his “Championship” series and “How to Win No Limit Hold’em Tournaments.” McEvoy also lacks any character questions and will be marked on my ballot.

Daniel Negreanu: The same argument I used as to why Ivey does not warrant a nod for the Poker Hall of Fame this year holds water for Negreanu, who is 36 years old. “Kid Poker” has become one of the main faces of the entire industry through his marketable persona and owns the second largest earnings total in WPT history. He also has four bracelets, but a recent high-profile run-in with Annie Duke that included the use of the “C” word has me questioning whether he’s worthy of being an ambassador for the game.

Scotty Nguyen: Sadly, I can’t bring myself to vote for Nguyen. The only player to have won the $50,000 HORSE Championship and WSOP Main Event, Nguyen’s expertise on the felt is in a league of its own. He has eight WPT final tables and one title, but his demeanor at the HORSE Championship in 2008 remains a major black eye for the industry given the game’s precarious online legality in the United States and the tournament’s national exposure on ESPN. The fact that Nguyen still orders beer at tournaments, albeit non-alcoholic brands like O’Doul’s, continues to confound me after what happened in 2008. If Nguyen wants anyone’s vote, he’ll need to shape up.

Erik Seidel: Duke’s choice for the Poker Hall of Fame, Seidel has been the epitome of class. As she told Poker News Daily, “The guy behaves with such grace in a sport where grace is really needed. He’s always so graceful and so sportsmanlike.” I’m on the fence about Seidel’s accomplishments away from the game, as his dominance on the felts is obvious.

WCOOP Begins and “Boosted J” Wins WPT High Roller from Poker in Twitter

This weekend marked the beginning of the PokerStars World Championships Of Online Poker (WCOOP). Plenty of top poker pros were on hand for the beginning of festivities. “WCOOP starts today,” Tweeted J.C. Alvarado prior to the start of action. “Instead of the typical vape and movie Sundays, today will be serious with the comfy chair, dual monitors, and Pandora.” New PokerStars sponsored pro David Williams was also a part of the action, Tweeting, “Playing the first event of the PokerStars WCOOP now! Gonna be a full day of online tournaments on PokerStars.”

A good example of the dedication of the pros to the WCOOP, Jon “PearlJammer” Turner summed it up with his Tweet:  “Huge 3 week online grind starts tomorrow, and I feel very good about my game right now-hope it proves to be more than a feeling!” UB.com‘s Adam “Roothlus” Levy echoed Turner’s thoughts in evoking “The Jersey Shore” in a humorous manner when he Tweeted, “Good to be back in LA! Now, time to GTL for the next month! Grind. Tan. Laundry. Grind. Tan. Laundry.”

As Sunday’s trio of tournaments began (including a $10,000 High Roller event), various players kept their followers updated on Twitter. “9001 players for #wcoop event 1 and a 1st prize of 270k,” reported Daniel Negreanu. “About 6700 players left and the High Roller starts in 20 min on PokerStars.” Almost immediately following that Tweet, Negreanu had disappointing news for his fans:  “Played 40k pot board was J234 I had 56 vs J3 all in on the turn in a limped pot. 3 on the river I have 1300 left yuk.”

Negreanu wasn’t the only one lamenting his run as the WCOOP started. “Out of event #1,” Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh Tweeted about her start. “(I) couldn’t win a race. 03 starts in a few minutes, hope I got the run bad out of my system!” Lex Veldhuis seemed to be in the same situation, but he also Tweeted how he was going to handle the remaining tournaments on Sunday:  “Running ridic bad today. Just busted highroller and 6-max WCOOP. Gonna finish the rest of them drunk.”

Several of the top pros in the WCOOP tournaments had at least a little success to show for their hours on the virtual felt. “Cashed in WCOOP event one (six max) for a lil cash, and still in the other two WCOOPS for today!,” Vanessa Rousso Tweeted to her fans. “Finished 27th in the 10k high roller #wcoop and min cashed the 1k 2nd chance. Frustrating end to the night,” Jason Mercier Tweeted reluctantly. Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck joined in on the misery by chirping, “LOL min cash w/ not even $200 profit after busting 11K people. waste of a gorgeous day. And thus begins another WCOOP.”

For those that weren’t on the virtual tables of PokerStars, many were sweating the final table of the World Poker Tour’s High Roller tournament on Sunday. Justin “Boosted J” Smith was at a stacked final table that included PartyPoker sponsored pro Antanas “Tony G” Guoga, former WSOP $50,000 HORSE champion Freddy Deeb, and French poker legend Bruno Fitoussi. “At casino now for WPT High Roller televised Final Table,” Smith Tweeted on Sunday prior to the start of the final table. “8 people left. Let’s see if I can start off my London trip this year great and win!”

As he battled through the difficult final table, “Boosted J” was fairly quiet. Once play was down to three, however, Smith decided to let his followers know what was going on: “3 people left. Tony G, Freddy Deeb and myself… bluffed off 200k and I have about 420k.” Over the next two hours, however, Smith was able to defeat the two veterans to win the WPT London High Roller tournament, Tweeting, “Feels sooooo good to have finally won a tournament… especially a WPT.”

As a finale to the WPT tournament (and perhaps the best Twitter story of the week), Smith recounted a conversation he had during the dinner break, when none of the eight remaining players had been eliminated. “Random tidbit from last night. During dinner break at about 8:30 p.m. I was eating at a table in the restaurant next to Mike Sexton,” Justin began. “I told him I thought the line on the Final Table ending was 4:19 a.m. and he could lay 20 cents and take either side, which he declined.” Smith finished the story and the celebration of his WPT championship by tweeting, “I won at 4:19 a.m. lol.”

Finally, the Women in Poker Hall of Fame dinner was held on Saturday night, inducting Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Harman, and Billie Brown into the exclusive club. The party went deep into the night, with fellow Hall of Fame member Jan Fisher Tweeting to welcome her fellow members as the party wrapped up, “WIPHOF-amazing…. congrats to Jen, Kathy, and Kelley. Thanks to Jeffrey Pollack and Nolan for sharing their thoughts from the stage. FUN!”

Harman was humbled by the attention from the gala, Tweeting simply, “I had a great time last night. Thanks for everyone’s support.” Liebert honored her fellow nominee by Tweeting, “I enjoyed the WIPHOF induction last night. I really liked @jenharman speech. She was very sweet and of course a great role model.”