Posts Tagged ‘women’
Poker News in Brief: Aug. 30- Sep. 5, 2010
A few stories slipped through the cracks, but we caught them all and neatly organized them into our regular Poker News in Brief feature below.
This week we’ll take a look at the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame nominees, a new WPT TV deal, WSOPE qualifiers on UB, WCOOP kicking off and more.
Hall of Fame nominees announced
Ten nominees have been named for the 2010 class of the Poker Hall of Fame after a two-month voting process on WSOP.com.
The ten players under consideration include Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Jennifer Harman-Traniello, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Linda Johnson, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, Scotty Nguyen and Erik Seidel.
These names will be vetted by the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council, who will then select the final list of candidates.
The 16 living Hall of Fame members and a 17-person media panel will then determine who will enter the Hall at an induction ceremony held as part of the World Series of Poker Main Event final table festivities in November.
The Poker Hall of Fame, established in 1979, traditionally elects one or two members annually.
High Heels Heads South
The High Heels Poker Tour, the first all women’s poker tour on the U.S. East Coast, is planning a big Fall all over Florida.
The HHPT 2010 Fall schedule will stops at Mardi Gras in Hallandale, Ebro Greyhound Park in Ebro, Orange Park Kennel Club in Jacksonville, The Isle in Pompano, and The Silks Poker Room in Tampa.
For additional information, including dates, times and buy-ins go to www.highheelspokertour.com.
WPT Inks TV Deal
The World Poker Tour and Fox Sports Net announced a multi-season broadcast and promotional agreement for the distribution of WPT Seasons 9, 10, and 11 this week.
The new agreement features prime time national premiere airtimes on Sunday nights, as well as repeat airings throughout the week. Plus, the two have agreed to extensive promotional advertising that will keep viewers up-to-date on new airings.
WPT’s Season 9 will premiere with its 179th episode in January 2011.
"This season promises to be unlike any previous incarnations of the WPT," said Steve Heller, CEO of WPT.
"The shows will be faster-paced and edgier, featuring the biggest names in poker mixing it up with more up-and-coming stars, pre-final table action and, as always, poker’s greatest and most recognizable play-by-play commentary team of Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten."
Have Your Cake
Cake Poker is running a number of promotions this September, including the debut of a Monday Night Football tournament series.
Debuting Sep. 13 and running for four weeks, Cake Poker will offer Money Night Football tournaments during the NFL broadcasts.
Plus, players who change their screen name to reference their favorite NFL team and cash in one of the tournaments will be entered into a weekly $500 Kamikaze tournament.
WSOPE Qualifiers on UB.com
The World Series of Poker Europe main event is returning to London’s Casino at The Empire Sep. 23-28 and UB wants to send you there. From Sep. 1-12 UB is offering players the chance to earn a seat for as little as $10.
Players can qualify through $10 Ultra Turbo Rebuy and $55 Freezeout feeders, or buy-in directly to the $500+$30 3-Seat Guaranteed WSOPE Super Satellite scheduled for Sep. 12 at 2:30 p.m. ET.
PKR Offers New Poker Fest
PKR and The Fox Poker Club are teaming up to present a new breed of poker festival with dealer dealt tournaments at affordable buy-ins in London this fall. Running for a full 28 days between Oct. 11 and Nov. 7, the PKR.com 'London Calling' festival will consist of 57 tournaments with buy-ins ranging from £20 to £300.
The festival will conclude with a £300 buy-in main event.
“With regular buy-ins ranging from £20 'London Calling' is for the huge number of people who'd love to play a high-quality, dealer-dealt tournament but find most poker tours and festivals are too high for their bankroll," said PKR Marketing Director Simon Prodger.
Further details can be found at www.pkr.com/londoncalling.
William Hill Revamps Software
William Hill Poker has made a few improvements aimed at making the player experience more enjoyable.
The poker tables on the site now have a new look. Players can adjust table-sizing to tile and cascade multiple tables and now have the ability to play on more than one monitor at a time. The site has also introduced flashing avatars to indicate when a player is on the clock, new backgrounds, borders and shading.
The player's chat functionality has been improved and incorporated in a side toolbar to access the chat commentary, player's notes, relevant statistics, hand history and settings. Check out PokerListings’ William Hill Poker review for more.
WCOOP Kicks Off
PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker begins today.
The richest online poker series in the world, WCOOP will consist of 62 events over 23 days, with tournaments in every poker discipline and $50 million in guaranteed cash.
Last year, 43,973 players from 140 countries took part in WCOOP with Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko winning the main event and more than $1.7 million.
PokerStars is offering a 20% WCOOP Reload Bonus to help bankroll your run at a WCOOP title.
Make a deposit before 11:59 p.m. ET on Sep. 11 using the code WCOOP to take advantage.
For more details, go to the WCOOP website.
Titan Poker Stages Big Cash Out
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2010, 2011, aced, Barry Greenstein, buy-ins, cake poker, Daniel Negreanu, Jennifer Harman, Online Poker, Phil Ivey, pokerstars, titan poker, tournament, women, WSOP
PokerNews Op-Ed: Pinups, Porn Stars, and Playmates- the New Faces of Poker Marketing
Bikini poker game in California bar shut down
World Team Poker Adds New Countries
In preparation for its forthcoming Championship Event, World Team Poker has added 19 countries to its lineup, including Canada, Pakistan, and Spain. World Team Poker will even receive face time on Fox Sports Net when its tournaments begin debuting in January on Sunday nights for 13 weeks.
Team Canada promises to be among the fiercest in the 30-team field. Shawn Buchanan, Kyle Wilson, Eric Cloutier, Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Daniel Idema, and Terrence “Unassigned” Chan will comprise the group, which features two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Greg “FBT” Mueller as its captain. Buchanan finished as the runner-up to new DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Dan “djk123” Kelly in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event at the 2010 WSOP, banking $813,000.
Hasan Habib and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka will co-captain Team Pakistan. A press release distributed by World Team Poker delicately explains, “Pakistan, which is known more for its cricket than poker players, has formed a formidable team of excellent poker talent.” Jaka is the reigning World Poker Tour (WPT) Player of the Year after recording two final tables and four top 20 finishes last season. Also on Team Pakistan are Ayaz Mahmood, Ozzy Sheikh, Owais Ahmed, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania, and former Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) Main Event winner Hafiz Khan.
Carlos Mortensen, the WPT’s all-time money leader, will captain Team Spain. Mortensen was the only announced player for the Spanish World Team Poker contingent, but the former WSOP Main Event champ has four WPT final tables to his credit along with three titles. Mortensen has $5.7 million in career WPT earnings along with $2.4 million from the WSOP felts, where he’s a two-time bracelet winner.
Team Caribbean Islands is also taking form, with three players having signed up to be part of the fun. Jean-Robert Bellande, a former Bodog pro and “Survivor: China” castaway, will compete for the island nation team alongside Jean “Prince” Gaspard and Amnon Filippi. Among their competition will be Team Germany, which consists of Dan Heimiller, John Galbraith, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, and Cyndy Violette. Liebert is being inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame this evening, while Violette is already a member.
Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari will captain Team Iran. Backing him up is an eclectic group of players that includes Reza Golestani, Mojgan Stringham, Shawn “Sheiky” Sheikhan, and Soheil Shamseddin.
Team USA has largely already been determined, with Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allen Cunningham, Annie Duke, Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel taking the floor for the North American nation. Three online poker sites – DoylesRoom, UB.com, and Full Tilt Poker – will be represented.
The 30-team Championship Event will likely occur next month from Las Vegas, although the dates, times, and a location have not yet been announced. The inaugural World Team Poker tournament took place at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas earlier this year and was won by Team China, whose impressive roster of pros includes former WPT Championship winner David Chiu, 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan, Winfred Yu, former “Amazing Race” contestant Maria Ho, Chau Giang, Rich Zhu, and Derek Cheung.
Here are the new team captains along with the countries they represent as announced by World Team Poker on Friday:
Greg Mueller: Canada
Hasan Habib and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka: Pakistan
Jean-Robert Bellande: Caribbean Islands
Peter Costa: Cyprus
Max Stern: Costa Rica
Chris Bjorin: Sweden
Martin Pollak: Austria
Dan Heimiller: Germany
Bruno Fitoussi: France
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar: India
Toto Leonidas: Philippines
Antonio Esfandiari: Iran
Kevin Song: Korea
Marco Traniello: Italy
Lenny Martin: Russia
Carlos Mortensen: Spain
Roberto Rominelli: Wales
Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea: Ireland
Vladimir Shchemelev: Ukraine
Visit WorldTeamPoker.com for more details.
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, bodog, Canada, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, Russia, spain, tournament, UBOC, usa, vegas, women, WSOP
Poker Hall of Fame 2010 nominees
Now, after a two-month of open voting the list of nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame is ready. There was no women in the last year’s final 10, but this year there’s two, which is really great.
Ivey on the road to Hall of Fame?
As you could have guessed, all the nominees are familiar names. The actual inductees will be chosen by the 16 alive Hall of Fame Members and 17 media delegates. The chosen inductees will be presented at the November Nine weekend, just before the closing moments of WSOP Main Event.
Hall of Fame 2010 nominees are:
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstein
Jennifer Harman
Dan Harrington
Phil Ivey
Linda Johnson
Tom McEvoy
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Erik Seidel
Source: PokerNewsDaily
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Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 Nominees Revealed
After a two-month long public voting period, Harrah’s officials unveiled the top 10 vote getters for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 on Wednesday. Now, the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council will review the list and axe anyone deemed not eligible to enter.
Four criteria are required for a person to be considered for the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame: “A player must have 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.”
Each of the 10 finalists appears to foot the bill. Last year, no women were among the final ten. This year, two are up for consideration, Linda Johnson and Jennifer Harman. Johnson, a Guest Columnist here on Poker News Daily, was an inaugural inductee of the Women in Poker Hall of Fame. Harman, meanwhile, will be enshrined on Friday as part of its Class of 2010. Johnson and Harman have taken up a considerable amount of charitable work and been responsible for the growth of the game among women.
Four former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champions will be considered as well. Full Tilt Poker’s Chris Ferguson (2000), Dan Harrington (1995), Tom McEvoy (1983), and Scotty Nguyen (1998) may find themselves as the center of attention at the Poker Hall of Fame’s induction during the November Nine weekend at the Rio in Las Vegas.
ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman, who will join this author on the 17-member media panel that will vote for the Class of 2010, told Poker News Daily, “The nominees this year show the amazing diversity that we have in the industry and there are definitely some names that stick out above the rest. Every player on the list will definitely deserve some credit.”
Several younger players also grace the top 10, including Daniel Negreanu and Phil Ivey. The two are a combined 70 years old, nearly the same age as both McEvoy and Harrington. Ivey has eight WSOP bracelets, tied for the fifth most overall with fellow nominee Erik Seidel. Rounding out the list of 10 finalists for the Poker Hall of Fame is Barry Greenstein, whose generosity off the felts has not gone unnoticed.
WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla shared many of Feldman’s sentiments, telling Poker News Daily on Wednesday, “I can’t imagine a better or more qualified group of 10 nominees than this. The only question I see on each of these names is not if they will make it into the Poker Hall of Fame because in the long-run most of them will inevitably be inducted. The real question is which one or two candidates will be inducted this year. The best thing about this list is there’s no question that he or she will be most deserving.”
A total of 102 “valid unique names” received nominations, 44 of which garnered multiple votes. On September 13th, the 16 living Hall of Fame members and 17 members of the media will receive a final ballot. The group of 33 will rank who they deem worthy of admission and the top two vote getters will be inducted in November. Each of the two finalists must have received at least 50% of the vote. Last year, World Poker Tour host Mike Sexton was the Poker Hall of Fame’s lone inductee; the threshold for enshrinement in 2009 was 75% of the vote.
Here are the 10 nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 following the two-month public voting period:
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstein
Jennifer Harman
Dan Harrington
Phil Ivey
Linda Johnson
Tom McEvoy
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Erik Seidel
Visit WSOP.com for more details. I look forward to being part of the voting process once again this year.
August 30th – Daily Deal
Happy Monday to everyone! On today’s Daily Deal, the Commerce Casino receives support from several of its competitors, Daniel Negreanu fires insults at Annie Duke, and an important figure in the Senate comes out in favor of online poker legislation. It’s all ahead… right now!
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
Let the battle lines be drawn. Several days after the Poker Players Alliance issued a petition to reverse the Commerce Casino’s stance against pro-internet gambling legislation in the United States, more casinos have come onboard to strike down the bill. In a letter issued to the press late Friday night from Commerce Casino Board members, it was revealed that the Bicycle Casino, Hawaiian Gardens, and Hollywood Park casinos also oppose Congressman Barney Frank’s HR 2267.
The press release claimed, “Californians wager an estimated thirteen point four billion dollars annually. That makes California the largest internet gaming market in the world, and without state legislation to protect it, critically-needed billions will be captured by offshore and out-of-state operators never to return.”
Why the Commerce Casino, Bike, or any other California casino wouldn’t just apply for a license under HR Two-Two-Six-Seven remains to be seen. PPA Executive Director John Pappas speculated in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily, “They don’t want to compete with existing online operators or Harrah’s or Wynn or Google or anyone else who may get involved in internet gambling. They prefer to have their own fiefdom in California… A lot of lawmakers went out of their way to address their concerns via amendments, yet they still continue to oppose the bill.”
Moving over to another bitter dispute, in an interview with PokerPlayer, PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu fired off what many have deemed inappropriate comments against Annie Duke. In an article entitled “The Evolution of Daniel Negreanu,” he was asked about the two-thousand ten World Series of Poker Ladies Event in which more than a dozen men played.
Negreanu voiced his disgust at the whole situation and then went on a tirade about Duke, who has never been an advocate of the tournament:
“What irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world.’ So I’m like ‘how offensive are you, you f***ing c***? You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over all of them.’”
Wow. Well … after afterwards Duke issued an open letter to PokerStars about the use of the c-word and the site ultimately responded, “PokerStars does not support the use of derogatory or hurtful language directed at any other player. While this was a personal matter between two players, we wish that better judgment had been used in the choice of words.”
Duke’s brother Howard Lederer and Tony G have been among those pros weighing in on the spat.
Finally, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid claimed he would support the legalization of online poker in the United States. Reid also stated he would not support any other form of online gaming, including sports betting.
Reid also won’t support anything that hurts Nevada jobs, but the Senate Majority Leader will play a huge role in whether online poker is legalized. No progress has been made on legalizing internet gambling or online poker in the Senate, so having Reid as an ally could go a long way.
That does it for today’s Daily Deal, be sure to check back every weekday for a new episode of this show. Also be sure to check back with Poker News Daily throughout your day to find out the latest in poker news. I’m Sean Gibson hoping you have an amazing week at the tables!
Daniel Negreanu Fires Insults at Annie Duke
Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu‘s hurtful remarks about UB.com‘s Annie Duke during interview with PokerPlayer.co.uk have sent the poker community taking sides between the two superstars. Negreanu called Duke a “f***ing c***” during what Negreanu thought to be an “off the record” conversation with writer Mark Stuart last week. His comments were published, however, and a verbal spat between the two sides followed.
In the article, titled “The Evolution of Daniel Negreanu,” Negreanu was asked what irked him about the 2010 World Series of Poker Ladies Event in which more than a dozen men played. Negreanu voiced his disgust at the whole situation and then went on a tirade about Duke, who has never been an advocate of the Ladies Event as a believer of sexual equality at the poker table. “What irked me is that this woman has the audacity on her website to call herself ‘the best female poker player in the world.’ So I’m like ‘how offensive are you, you f***ing c***? You want to say you’re speaking for women, yet you claim superiority over all of them.’”
The article was quickly passed through forums and other social media networks and eventually made its way to Duke, who was astounded by the comments made about her. Responding to the verbal assault, Duke wrote on Twitter, “Thank you for the support. I was certainly shocked at the language myself. I welcome criticism, but not abuse.”
PokerStars received word of the remarks made by Negreanu, the site’s most famous spokesperson, and one member of the PokerStars support team replied to an e-mail sent by a player on the site: “Although Daniel Negreanu is a Team PokerStars Pro, he is an entity to himself and as such will always be encouraged to express his views and speak his mind as he would otherwise do so, PokerStars Pro or not.”
Needless to say, Duke wasn’t satisfied with that response. She fired back with an “Open Letter to PokerStars” on her website demanding some sort of reprimand: “I am not offended by Daniel’s opinion. He has a right to disagree with me and dislike me. And I, just like PokerStars, would encourage him to express his views and opinions. This is not about his views. It is about a particular word he chose to express those views. The word “c**t” is not an opinion, it is an abusive epithet, and PokerStars is completely ignoring the use of that term in their response.”
Duke continues, “But more distressing is the use of the word ‘encouraged’ here. So, PokerStars, you are encouraging Daniel to continue to express views in this manner, to conduct these public attacks using offensive slurs and inappropriate language? I am more than dismayed that PokerStars is making a statement here that they encourage this kind of behavior, this kind of language use. According to PokerStars, this kind of behavior enriches our community.”
PokerStars then answered with an official statement in response to Duke’s letter, saying that the first e-mail was not PokerStars’ official statement on the issue: “PokerStars does not support the use of derogatory or hurtful language directed at any other player. While this was a personal matter between two players, we wish that better judgment had been used in the choice of words.”
Several high profile poker players have weighed in on the conflict, including Duke’s brother and Full Tilt Poker pro Howard Lederer, who came to her defense with a Twitter update shortly after the article was posted. “Hey Daniel, nice job representing poker and reinforcing that our attitude towards women is still Neanderthal,” Lederer said. “I understand some agree w DN on the ladies poker event issue. Many do. But abusing those you disagree with is never cool.”
Even the brazen Tony G offered to act as a mediator. “Let’s smooth over this situation, let’s try and forget that it ever happened. I know this fantastic place in Utah where you can get away from the world and I will pay for you to both go there and relax and chill out,” the PartyPoker pro said in his blog Wednesday. “You are both important ambassadors for the game we love – please let’s resolve this in a diplomatic manner otherwise someone is going to get really hurt.”
Negreanu has yet to offer an apology to Duke, which will certainly cause even more tension at the tables in the future. It’s public knowledge that the two haven’t gotten along since even before the poker boom of 2003 and it’s certainly keeping the community talking. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for more high-stakes drama.
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, Daniel Negreanu, interview, ladies, poker player, pokerstars, woman, women, WSOP
Poker Gives Hosting National Poker Month in September
In September, the fundraising engine Poker Gives will hold the first ever National Poker Month. Card rooms across the United States will host tournaments in which half of the prize pool will be donated to charity, while the other half will be distributed to players. Poker Gives benefits the Paralyzed Veterans of America, Special Olympics of Nevada, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and the Step by Step Foundation.
Poker News Daily Guest Columnist and Poker Gives co-founder Mike Sexton commented in a press release distributed last week, “In addition to all the goodwill it will bring to poker when we are able to present such large checks to charity, the participating card rooms will be listed in Bluff Magazine and we will conduct a drawing from that list. Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher, and I will visit the winning card room and host a meet-and-greet and a free poker seminar.”
A total of 25 card rooms are holding events as part of National Poker Month at the time of writing including Harrah’s Tunica, Poker Nation Social Club in Phoenix, Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Washington State, Venetian Las Vegas, Win River Casino in California, Golden Nugget Las Vegas, Seminole Casino Immokalee in Florida, Oceans Eleven Casino in California, Prairie’s Edge Casino and Resort in Minnesota, River Rock Casino in California, The Bike in Los Angeles, Binion’s Las Vegas, and the Canterbury Park Racetrack and Card Club in Minnesota.
Other National Poker Month events can be found at Aria Las Vegas, Hollywood Park in California, Jacksonville Greyhound Racing and Poker in Florida, Eureka in Mesquite, El Dorado in Reno, Northern Quest Resort and Casino in Washington State, Peppermill Reno, Wildhorse in Oregon, Paradise Cove Social Club in Arizona, Casino Marysville in California, and Isle Casino at Pompano Park in Florida. Full Tilt and Poker Nations are also teaming up for an online event on September 19th at 1:00pm PT.
Winners of each card room tournament and the names of each card room manager will be thrown into a hat and entered into drawings for prizes on October 4th. The loot up for grabs includes two seats into the World Poker Tour (WPT) Invitational at the Commerce Casino in California, a WPT Boot Camp seat, a Card Player Cruises vacation, and hour poker lessons with Sexton and Johnson.
Price tags for the various casino events range from $20 to $225. The online event is $20, half of which will go to Poker Gives, a 501(c)(3) non-profit charity organization. Poker Gives was founded two years ago and announced National Poker Month in a press release back in April. Its mission is to use poker, a popular social game, as a vehicle to raise money for charity.
Back in March, Full Tilt Poker hosted a $5+$5 charity tournament benefiting Poker Gives. The organization is the charity of choice for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, which will host an induction ceremony for its 2010 class of Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Harman, and Billie Brown on September 3rd. $75 pre-event tickets are on sale through the Women in Poker Hall of Fame website along with $25 ceremony only passes. Brown will be recognized posthumously.
Card rooms interested in participating in September’s National Poker Month should contact Poker Gives via e-mail or phone at sassy@pokergives.org or 702-860-7413. Visit the official website of Poker Gives for more information.
Liebert A Legend At Legends
The 2002 WPT Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens was the place Kathy Liebert sat down at a WPT table for the first time.
And it was also the site of her first of six WPT final tables.
Now, eight years and $1,727,443 in career WPT winnings later, she joined Erik Seidel as the only player to hit the century mark in WPT's played at the 2010 Legemds main event outside of L.A. Saturday.
But for Liebert, this wasn't necessarily the kind of record she was looking to set.
"Being number one for the most tournaments played is not really the goal," she laughed. "Being number one for money or most final tables is really what we're after.
"But I've done well on the WPT, so why not play them when I can."
Plus, she's proven them profitable.
"I mean, at least I'm ahead," she said. "I'd hate to have 100 tournaments played and be behind. That'd be embarrassing."
Just after the 2010 incarnation of WPT Legends wraps at the Bike, Liebert will head back to her Las Vegas home to be inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame alongside Jennifer Harman and Billie Brown.
But while she appreciates the accolades, again, Liebert said this wasn't the honor she's after.
"It's the Woman's Hall of Fame, and not be conceited or anything, but I kind of expected to get in to that one," she said. "The regular Hall of Fame would be more of an accomplishment, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet. I'm still young. Maybe one day."
That one day is clearly on its way.
Not only do Liebert's 15 WPT cashes make her 49th in all-time WPT earnings, her six final sixes tie her for sixth in career WPT final tables.
Plus, all told, her $5,717,426 in career earnings put her 41st on poker's all time earners list and the top female player in the game's history.
But once again, Liebert said being the top female player on the planet was never her plan.
"There haven't been that many women playing tournaments over the last 15 years," she said. "I'm sure 15 years from now we'll see a lot more successful women than we've seen in the last 15 years."
Looking forward, as she maneuvered her way through the Day 1b field at WPT Legends Saturday, with six final tables and no WPT titles, Liebert says she's got her eye on the ultimate prize.
"It would be nice to actually get a win," she said. "Maybe if I get one of these, somebody will actually want to sponsor me."
But if another final table appearance without victory is in the cards, she'll take it.
"To get that close and not win it is disappointing, but hey, I'll take it anytime if it's $500k plus."
And, she says it's great to be back at the Bike where it all began.
"Any tournament you do well in is a good tournament," she smiled. "I'd love to do well again."
Visit PokerListings.com
ESPN Inside Deal Welcomes Scotty Nguyen, Baby
On its one-year anniversary, the ESPN.com poker news program “Inside Deal” welcomed “The Prince of Poker,” 1998 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Scotty Nguyen. In celebration, a special “Baby-O-Meter” ran in the corner of the screen, counting the number of times Nguyen dropped his trademark word.
The rumored sale of the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas took center stage to open this week’s episode of “Inside Deal.” WSOP Vice President Ty Stewart joined the set via phone and explained, “We can’t predict the future, but I can tell you that the November Nine will definitely be played at the Penn and Teller Theater and big, large organizational meetings are already underway to host the 2011 WSOP at the Rio.” The action in the Main Event resumes on November 6th.
Meanwhile, the 2010 WSOP Europe schedule begins on September 14th. Stewart was looking forward to the five-event series: “We’re back at the Empire, which has really been a solid home for the WSOP in London. It seems that special things just happen there. It’s where Annette Obrestad broke out. It’s where we set the record for the longest final table when John Juanda won. It’s where we’ve had November Niners do so well and Daniel Negreanu make the final three in back-to-back years.” The £10,350 buy-in WSOP Europe Main Event begins on September 23rd.
Also discussed on this week’s cycle of “Inside Deal” was the departure of Liv Boeree from UB.com. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee explained the background to Boeree becoming a free agent: “This situation has been brewing a while, basically since the Main Event. A lot of people were very surprised when she was not wearing a UB.com logo as she did during the previous bracelet events.” Lee added that Boeree could sign with PokerStars or DoylesRoom, the latter of which is searching for two women to flank its Brunson 10.
Meanwhile, Nguyen is preparing to publish his life story and turning to a fan to write it. Nguyen told Lee and fellow “Inside Deal” host Laura Lane, “The people of the United States of America allowed me to become who I am, so I want to give back. I want to give one of the fans an opportunity to make it big in life, the same way they gave me a chance to make it big. That’s what happened, baby.”
Nguyen revealed that he was on a boat for 23 days fleeing from Vietnam to Thailand and ran out of oil and food after two days. Now, he may become a member of the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010. Nguyen was nominated last year, but did not make the final cut potentially due to character issues. Nguyen explained, “Everything happens for a reason. I would never be disappointed if I don’t get nominated because everything – you have to earn it – you have to work hard for it. If this year, I don’t get in, it’s going to be next year and I’ll work harder and harder.”
Nguyen’s overzealous use of the word “baby” began in 1997, when the phrase made it easier to interact with his poker tablemates. In 2008, Nguyen took down the $50,000 HORSE Championship while allegedly inebriated, spouting off a tidal wave of expletives on national television. On the incident, Nguyen asserted, “I apologized to the fans all over the world, wherever I go and wherever I play. Wherever I go, the media always ask me the same question, so I tell them there are no excuses about my behavior. Sometimes winning is not everything; you have to win in a pretty way, not an ugly way.”
Throughout his career, Nguyen’s focus has remained the fans, which have largely stood by him despite episodes like the HORSE Championship. “The fans are everything,” Nguyen remarked. “A lot of poker players forget how they got there. Without the fans recognizing you, you would never become who you are right now. They give you support, they give you love, and they point out what you do wrong and what you do right. All they do is make you become a better person and a better poker player.”
Nguyen dropped 44 “baby” bombs during the course of the 10-minute interview. Catch new episodes of “Inside Deal” every Tuesday on ESPN.com.
Jennifer Harman to join women in Poker Hall of Fame
The Nightly Turbo: WSOP Main Event on ESPN, Women in Poker Hall of Fame, and More
New Copenhagen club targets stripping and poker lovers
Tags: women
New Entries to Women in Poker Hall of Fame and Phil Laak Returns Home from Poker in Twitter
The Twitterverse was abuzz this morning with the announcements of the two most recent nominees for the Women In Poker Hall of Fame, with poker professional Kathy Liebert breaking the news to her followers over Twitter.
“Was nominated in to the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame along with Jennifer Harman,” Liebert Tweeted to her followers before being flooded with congratulations from across the poker community. “Both well deserving. Congrats,” Matthew Glantz Tweeted following the announcement, with Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh adding her congratulations in through Twitter. Kara Scott summed up Liebert’s achievements, chirping, “Congratulations! Having long term poker success with so little site support – who else has accomplished close to that?! Incredible!”
As previously reported by Poker News Daily, Phil Laak suffered a serious accident involving an ATV while on vacation in Oregon. Laak Tweeted throughout the incident, the resulting trip to the hospital, and on his way home to Los Angeles on Friday, sending a Twitpic of a badly bruised eye and broken arm: “This one is in Vegas airport two days into my recovery. Will be in my bed in LA in a few hrs.” Sure enough, “The Unabomber” was in the City of Angels a few hours later with a great remedy for his injuries: “Jennifer is the best. Cuddling w/her is better for the pain than even my Percocet pain medicine.”
Several players took time to Tweet about Laak’s injuries and wish him well. 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Niner Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi was among those: “Hey Phil, Stay strong man and fast recovery!! Very sorry to hear the news. If you can stay up for days playing poker u can handle anything!” Chad Brown (“I want to wish my friend Phil Laak a speedy recovery”) and Jeff Madsen (“A moment of silence for unabomber’s elbow”) also Tweeted their good wishes.
One player looking to get into better shape is Daniel Negreanu. The PokerStars sponsored pro tweeted to his followers on Sunday, “Withering away! Lost 4 lbs in the last two days and I’m at 146. Haven’t been that low in like 12 years. No carbs no booze=no tummy.” Later on during the day, Negreanu noted the down side of weight loss when he said, “Wow I’m officially unable to digest alcohol. One glass of wine and I’m done. Losing 11 lbs and not drinking for months will do that I guess.” Liebert offered her suggestion for countering the effects of alcohol on Daniel by simply tweeting, “Eat meat be a real man.”
Several of the top players were taking part in the newly unveiled tournaments through the French sites that have recently been licensed by the French gaming authority ARJEL. Greg “FBT” Mueller Tweeted prior to a tournament, “It’s time to play my first tourney on FULL TILT POKER.FR. Come and sign up late or just sweat me and check out FTP.FR style.” PokerStars’ Victoria Coren took the opportunity to step to the French felt as well, Tweeting, “Playing the Sunday Special on PokerStars.fr. There’s a bounty on the pros, but I’m chip leader now so I can’t help greedily wanting to win.” No word on Mueller’s day, but Coren was able to Tweet after a five-hour run, “Grrr. All in with 66, out in 19th place. Won €480. Very unlucky at the end, so close to the final, but never mind.”
Amit “amak316″ Makhija and Shannon Shorr entered into a Twitter discussion on how successful people remain that way. “I read a study that it takes 10k hrs of hard work to master any field, it broke down the hrs of many of the great successful people,” Makhija, a DoylesRoom pro, Tweeted. Shorr asked, “Very interesting. Have a link to the study?” In his reply, Makhija Tweeted, “It was in the book ‘Outliers,’ very interesting read. Breaks down the common traits of super successful people.”
The best Tweets of the weekend ran the gamut from philosophical to funny. “If you don’t plan for a rainy day you end up drenched,” Daniel Negreanu opined from the philosophical side. “Spontaneity makes life fun, but certain things need to be planned ahead or its chaos.” Maria Ho went for psychologically therapeutic and funny when she Tweeted, “Lost $$ playing poker online and now trying to make myself feel better with some retail therapy (shopping). Somehow I think this is counter productive.” Finally, Tatjana Pasalic went for the outright funny when she Tweeted, “Summer sure is my favorite week in Scotland. Bring on the 15 degrees and rain.”
Stringfellows to host Baller Strip Poker championship
Tags: women
Aussie Millions Main Event Final Table Kicks Off on GSN
On Saturday night, the final table of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event began airing on GSN. The one hour Full Tilt Poker-sponsored show hit the airwaves at 9:00pm ET featuring eight players, including chip leader Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, who had three times the stack of the next closest combatant. Mizzi, now with Titan Poker, rocked a Betfair logo during the broadcast of the January tournament.
The blinds kicked off at 10,000/20,000 and Paul Khoury and Grub Smith provided the call of the action. Kosta Varoxis made waves early, doubling up at the expense of Mizzi with pocket nines against A-J suited. The money went in on a flop of A-9-2, all spades, with neither player holding a spade. Varoxis 3bet all-in and Mizzi insta-called despite being just 4% to win the hand. The turn and river both bricked out and Varoxis doubled through to stave off an early exit.
Then, Steve Shelley check-raised all-in with pocket sevens on a flop of 5-8-3. Tyron Krost, who entered the final table as the second largest stack, made the call with pocket jacks and had Shelley dominated. The turn and river came an eight and a deuce, respectively, and Shelley was the first casualty of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event final table, picking up $115,000 for his efforts. He told GSN officials following his exit, “I don’t know if I went in with much of a strategy. I just played my natural game and had a few tips along the way.”
Annette Obrestad open-shoved all-in pre-flop with A-J offsuit and picked up a caller in Krost, who showed a wired pair of sevens. The flop of K-Q-7 gave “The Huntress” a straight draw and Krost a set, which became a boat when another king hit on the river. Obrestad earned $161,000 and explained to viewers, “I’m a little bit disappointed, but I just didn’t get any cards at the final table and I kind of felt like people were picking on me a little bit.”
Canadian Peter Jetten called a raise from Krost pre-flop with Q-10 of spades and Steve Friedlander came along with 7-5 from the blinds. The flop came 9-8-8 and the trio checked around to a jack on the turn. Krost held K-J for top pair, while Jetten had turned a straight. The Canadian bet 150,000 and Krost called to bring a five on the river. Jetten fired out a bet of 350,000 and Krost, showing restraint, just called to ship a pot of 1.3 million to Jetten. Tom “durrrr” Dwan and two women were shown in the stands cheering Jetten on.
After a raise and two calls pre-flop, Friedlander moved all-in over-the-top with pocket sevens. Varoxis, who began chugging a bottle of water while contemplating a call, looked him up with A-K to set up a race. The board filled out K-9-2-K-J, giving Varoxis trips and the win in the hand. Friedlander hit the rails in sixth place for $230,000 and told GSN officials, “I was happy that a couple of people busted in front of me because it put me in a better spot. I was just waiting for a hand to shove.” Friedlander had been nursing a short stack throughout the evening.
Entering next week’s finale of the 2010 Aussie Millions Main Event on GSN, Mizzi remains the chip leader. The conclusion of the high-stakes tournament, which emanates from the Crown Casino in Melbourne, will air on Saturday, August 7th at 9:00pm ET. Check your local listings for full details.
PokerStars launches new Women’s Poker League
The Nightly Turbo: PokerStars Launches Women’s Poker League, WPT’s Search for the Next Simon Cowell, and More
PokerStars Launches Ladies-Only League
The brand new Women's Poker League aims to give female players the chance to have a little fun and compete against players from all over the world in an exclusive female-only online poker community with cash prizes on the line.
The league will run until the end of this year, awarding points for results in tournaments with buy-ins as low as $5.50.
The players with the most points at the end of each month and at the end of the year will win cash and PokerStars Ladies Luxury Event packages.
Tournaments will run daily at 1:10 p.m. ET and 8:10 p.m. ET with points available for all final tablists and those in the money.
PokerStars is also introducing weekly Women's Special tournaments starting this Sunday.
At the end of the month, prizes will be awarded in both US Dollars and Euros for the top 50 players.
The end of the year even winner will earn either $1,500 or €1,000, plus a Ladies Luxury Event package.
Players will be able to keep track of their points on a special rankings page on PokerStars.
Visit PokerListings.com
Interview with Leo Margets
Poker News Daily: Talk about your run as Last Woman Standing in the 2009 WSOP Main Event. How has that experience changed your career?
Leo Margets: My run was amazing, but I was not aware of it until this year. At the time of playing I was completely focused on winning one hand and then the next one, not of my standing in the race.
Placing 27th has definitely changed things in the table: other players act differently, and I have gotten more attention from my sponsor 888.
PND: Your title defense came up short in 2010. Walk us through your run in this year’s Main Event.
LM: I didn’t really feel a lot of extra pressure. I went out with a very polemic hand: I had 98 in the hole and was 3-bet by a very aggressive player whom I knew well from before. There were about 60 Big Blinds on the table, and my options were 4-betting him back or playing after the flop. I decided to flat call and play aggressively post flop, which was 8-9-Q rainbow. I decided to lead out in case he raised, but he shoved with 45 Big Blinds. He had Kings and spiked a Q on the river.
I was very sad to be left with only 5 big blinds, because I was looking forward to a big comeback, but ultimately it’s better to bust in Day 2 than in the bubble!
PND: You’re signed by 888. How did that sponsorship opportunity come up?
LM: Good timing! A few months after I started playing poker I went to the Casino in Barcelona to play a University Tournament, and I won it. 888 spotted me and offered to sponsor me for Spanish tournaments with buy-ins between 100 and 1000 Euros. Then the WSOP was approaching and many friends of mine were going, so I asked 888 if they would sponsor me, even though it was not part of my deal. I was very insistent until they finally said yes, and I promised I would not disappoint them!
PND: How are you treated differently at the poker table now compared to before your Main Event run in 2009?
LM: I get a lot more attention from the media and the crowd – it is so cool to hear nice things and support from the crowd! But sometimes I would prefer to be anonymous at the table,because others like to bluff me more when they know who I am.
PND: How did you get started in poker?
LM: It was completely weird. I was out on a first date, and at the time I didn’t know anything about cards. I invited him for a drink and he declined because he had a poker game. I was intrigued – what was this poker thing that was more important than a date? So I asked him if I could come along and see. This relationship really got me into poker; he was a great teacher and really helped me understand what poker is about. I got crazy about poker and started playing lots online, and the rest is history.
PND:We saw you walking down the red carpet at the Ante Up for Africa event at the WSOP this year. Talk about playing alongside major celebrities and other high-caliber poker pros.
LM: I respect everyone at the tables, but I’m not more nervous when I’m playing with pros. At this year’s Ante Up For Africa I got to sit next to Phil Gordon and Matt Damon. It was nice: I had never met Matt Damon. But he didn’t affect my game. What really affected it was multi-tabling live for the first time in my life – I was playing the $2,500 event at the same time, so I probably gambled a lot more at Ante Up for Africa.
PND: What upcoming photo shoots or other non-poker related projects do you have coming up?
LM: I already did a photo shoot for the Sunday magazine of El Pais [N.Ed.:one of the largest Spanish newspapers] and a couple of women’s magazines. I was also recently approached by either Elle or Vogue – can’t quite remember – but that won’t happen till September because I am taking a little holiday. I also contributed to two books.
PND: We know you’re talented at No Limit Hold’em. Have you tried to learn other poker games? How has that been going?
LM: Before this World Series I was taking Razz lessons with a friend, hoping to be able to play H.O.R.S.E., but I decided to give myself another year so I wouldn’t feel like I was improvising. I was doing a lot better in Omaha, but I missed my event this year because I was still playing another. Next year I will play other variants besides Hold’Em for sure.
PND: Quick quiz: Hottest male poker player is ___ (and why)?
LM: It would not be very original to say Antonius, right? Let’s say my ex who taught me to play poker 5 years ago. He is cute, sexy and smart.
Tiffany Michelle Video Interview
Tiffany Michelle joined us at the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event, a day after she had concluded her Day 1A. A sponsored pro at UB.com, Michelle was a reporter doing on the floor interviews for a news site before she made her own splash at the tables. Her main claim to poker fame was her historic run at the 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event, as she finished in 17th place. She did not participate in the Main Event in 2009 because she was part of the cast of the CBS reality hit show, The Amazing Race. Her partner was her long time friend and fellow poker pro, Maria Ho.
In this interview Michelle talks about what went on during Day 1A of the Main Event and how thing may not have gone smoothly but she survived the day. She is then asked about how all the young women in poker always bring her up in interviews and if she is actually the president of a secret poker sorority. She admitted that she was, or at the very least, wanted that bit of rumor to be true. Another topic that came up during the interview was some of the events that occurred at the UB WSOP Party which was at the Sky Lounge at the Mandarin Hotel which is part of the Aria / CityCenter complex. She talked about how Trichelle Cannatella professed her undying love for Michelle and was so wasted, planted a “big one” on Michelle before the night was over. They also talked about the famed proposal between a UB prop bet winner and one of the UB Suite booth models.
Unfortunately for Tiffany Michelle, she did not go on the cash at the Main Event, but she had plenty of followers and was extremely courteous to fans for photos and autograph.
ESPN Airs World Series of Poker Preview Special
On Tuesday night at 8:00pm ET, ESPN kicked off its coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), which just wrapped up its midyear action from the Rio in Las Vegas. One of the many features in the preview special was a roundtable discussion with former Main Event champs Chris Moneymaker, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, and Dan Harrington. Moneymaker urged, “If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
Ferguson told the story about how Moneymaker parlayed a $40 satellite into the most prestigious title in poker. Then, Harrington conveyed to ESPN poker analyst Lon McEachern what he missed most about the “good old days” of the game: “The camaraderie. You knew most of the players in the tournament. It was a social gathering.” Ferguson retorted, “You can be nostalgic about the old days, but I don’t miss it at all.”
Ferguson was asked what he thought the greatest WSOP feat was. The 2000 Main Event champion answered that Johnny Chan’s wins in the 1987 and 1988 installments before falling heads-up to Phil Hellmuth in 1989 took the cake: “It’s safe to say that’ll never happen again.”
Many have dubbed 2010 the Year of the Woman, with Annie Duke, Liv Boeree, and Vanessa Selbst all winning major titles. On whether a woman taking down this year’s Main Event would ignite another poker boom, Ferguson forecasted, “I think it would make an enormous impact if a woman won the Main Event. More and more women are getting into poker already.” While Ferguson spoke, b-roll of Nichoel Peppe, Maria Ho, and Tiffany Michelle appeared on screen.
ESPN host Norman Chad doled out the annual Flushy Awards. WSOP Tournament of Champions qualifier Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier received honors for his “unique head of hair and Bedazzled attire.” Also receiving a Flushy was Prahlad Friedman for his rap war with Jeff Madsen. Ninety-six year old Jack Ury claimed a Flushy for “Best Reaction” after scooping a pot during last year’s Main Event.
Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari claimed a Flushy for “Best Begging” after telling a dealer that he’d wash his car if clubs hit the board. Chad awarded himself a Flushy for “Best Fan” for his unyielding support of 2009 WSOP Main Event November Niner Phil Ivey and a “Lifetime Achievement Award” went to Hellmuth, who commented, “No Poker Brat this year… in theory.”
A special ESPN “Inside Deal” segment aired with host Bernard Lee profiling several changes for the 2010 WSOP Main Event, including expanded tournament space, new bracelets designed by Steve Soffa, and new events like the $50,000 Player’s Championship, $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max, and the rekindled Tournament of Champions. The $50,000 contest will take center stage next Tuesday on ESPN.
Also featured during Tuesday’s kickoff broadcast were reigning Main Event titleholder Joe Cada, DoylesRoom’s Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Scott Seiver, and Isaac Haxton. Chad rounded out the broadcast by explaining what he’s eyeing the most when coverage of the 2010 WSOP Main Event begins next Tuesday on ESPN: “I always look forward to the unknown, the unexpected, the unbelievable.”
In case you missed it, the WSOP Preview will replay from 1:00am to 2:00am ET early Sunday morning on ESPN2. As first reported by Poker News Daily, here is ESPN’s Tuesday air schedule for the 2010 WSOP. All times are Eastern:
July 27th at 8:00pm: $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship
July 27th at 9:00pm: $50,000 Poker Player’s Championship Final
August 3rd at 8:00pm: Tournament of Champions
August 3rd at 9:00pm: Tournament of Champions
August 10th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 1A
August 10th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 1A
August 17th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 1B
August 17th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 1B
August 24th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 1C
August 24th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 1C
August 31st at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 1D
August 31st at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 1D
September 7th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 2A
September 7th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 2A
September 14th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 2B
September 14th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 2B
September 21st at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 3
September 21st at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 3
September 28th at 8:00pm: Main Event Day 4
September 28th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 4
October 5th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 5
October 5th at 10:00pm: Main Event Day 5
October 12th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 6
October 12th at 10:00pm: Main Event Day 6
October 19th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 7
October 19th at 10:00pm: Main Event Day 7
October 26th at 9:00pm: Main Event Day 8
October 26th at 10:00pm: Main Event Day 8
November 2nd at 9:00pm: Main Event Final 27
November 2nd at 10:00pm: Main Event Final 18
November 9th at 9:00pm: Main Event Final Table
Tags: 2009, 2010, Annie Duke, Doyle Brunson, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, poker player, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, vegas, woman, women, WSOP
Maria Ho – Poker Player Profile
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Maria Ho moved to the United States with her family when she was four years old. As she grew up in Arcadia, California, it looked as if her future career would be in music, as she played piano and violin and sang. At the University of California, San Diego she sang in an a capella group, performed in musicals, and even performed with her sister’s band around Los Angeles.
But she got bitten by the poker bug while in college and once she graduated with a degree in Communications and a minor in Law and Society, there was no looking back.
She first caught the attention of the poker public in 2007 when she was the last woman standing in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 38th and winning $237,865. That was actually her third of eight career WSOP cashes; her next best performance came in 2009 when she placed 11th in the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Event. After three small cashes in the 2010 WSOP, she once again turned heads while the Main Event was going on by placing 10th in the $10,000 Championship at the World Poker Tour‘s Bellagio Cup VI.
All told, Maria Ho has won $400,000 on the live tournament circuit, ranking her 38th on the women’s all-time money list.
Already a poker celebrity, Maria became a crossover celebrity in 2009 as she teamed up with friend and fellow poker pro, Tiffany Michelle, to compete on the 15th season of the hit CBS reality show, “The Amazing Race.” The poker duo placed 6th out of 12 teams.
Away from poker, Maria enjoys working in her family’s real estate business. She is also involved with several charitable organizations, including the Ronald McDonald House, the One Step Closer Foundation, and the National Kidney Foundation.
Magnificent Seven Discusses Poker Endurance Record Attempt
Last month, word that a group in Austria dubbed the Magnificent Seven broke Phil Laak’s poker endurance record spread like wildfire through the industry. Purportedly, pent up in a hotel in Kufstein, the group played poker for a record 137 straight hours. Poker News Daily sat down with Magnificent Seven member Rudi Teichmann to discuss the attempt.
Poker News Daily: Talk about the decision to break Phil Laak’s record.
Rudi Teichmann: The official Guinness claim was made by us in January of this year. Originally, it had never been the point to break Laak’s record. Our original aim was to break the record of the Amberg Poker Club set at 102.7 hours. We had started two months before our official attempt with training units (a camp of about 85 hours) to evaluate where eventual problems could arise. Just before we started, we read about Phil Laak’s new record. I must admit, however, that this then constituted an additional challenge for us.
PND: What were the parameters of the record attempt? Was it a cash game, tournament, or play money game? Were Guinness officials present?
Rudi Teichmann: We strictly adhered to the requirements of Guinness. When registering for the poker world record, there was, however, no official guideline about the way of playing: whether it was cash or play money did therefore not play any role. An official Guinness observer was not present, as this is not absolutely necessary.
PND: How do the Magnificent Seven know each other?
Rudi Teichmann: We are all longstanding friends and play a lot of poker together. At some point during a crazy hour, we hit on the idea that we could set a new world record and thus reach the Guinness Book of Records.
PND: Give us the lay of the land as Laak’s record time of 115 hours approached. What did the scene look like?
Rudi Teichmann: A doctor took the first player away from the table at 70 hours. The only woman we had finished the record attempt at 107 hours (new women’s world record). Another player and I stopped at 116 hours (a new record). The remaining three managed to get through 137 hours before the doctor finally put his veto. The whole story was incredibly exhausting, but I can only speak for myself. I could not recognize what I was playing and I was emotional at the end. At some point, I just could not concentrate anymore.
PND: What reaction have you received from the poker world for the feat? Have people been skeptical of it?
Rudi Teichmann: Many laughed at us. Most critics even claimed that without real money, it wasn’t real. Personally, these statements have hurt me very much after all we’ve been through.
PND: We’ve heard people question the legitimacy of your record attempt given that the video feed went out for a while and the stakes weren’t publicized. Would you consider doing it again?
Rudi Teichmann: I can say only one thing: the whole Guinness world record was 100% recorded. The records have already been submitted to Guinness along with the logbook. The thing with the live stream was a spontaneous idea of ours and, accordingly, came with a few problems.
It is also, in this country, very difficult to find sponsors; we paid for everything out of our own pockets. I claim that we could have managed 150 hours with professional support and assistance. Our team is ready to meet this challenge again, in Las Vegas or anywhere else, to prove to everyone that our record was won honestly.
PND: What’s the hardest part about playing poker for so long? How were you able to overcome that?
Rudi Teichmann: The most difficult thing was to keep our emotions under control. The fact that we are really good friends allowed us however to push each other. The worst thing in the whole affair for me was when the doctor took me off the table. The coordination of my movements was no longer smooth and I began to hallucinate. But in view of our diet, this had to be expected. I think with a regular and professional diet, we could have gone even further.
PND: What’s next for the Magnificent Seven?
Rudi Teichmann: We want to prove to the world that we are legitimate people and that even more is possible. I believe that together with Phil Laak, we could set a new world record on the basis of the obtained results and the gained experience, even if we play a cash game – but this would only be possible with sponsors…
PND: Give us your own background in the poker world.
Rudi Teichmann: I just wanted to prove that with willpower, you can play for more than 100 straight hours. I also tried to market this attempt, which, however, proved to be more than difficult. The gambling laws of Austria made it very difficult to get a permit for such an event. I don’t event dare to talk about sponsors. I was ready to cancel everything, but then my boys told me they wanted to do it. We funded more or less everything out of our own pockets and that was a significant five-digit Euro amount.
I am 46 years old. I studied marketing and work in a larger company as Director of Sales. In January of this year, I became dad for the first time. Otherwise, I love playing poker! In summary, I can only say that I would be happy to do it again, but this time in a more professional environment.
July 13th – Daily Deal
Topics: WSOP Main Event Update, Poker Hall of Fame Voting and the Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship.
On today’s Daily Deal, the public vote is open for the two-thousand ten Poker Hall of Fame, the Aussie Millions continues airing on GSN, and we bring you the latest news from the WSOP Main Event.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
Well – Are you ready to vote? Harrah’s and WSOP officials have opened up the process of public voting for the 2010 Poker Hall of Fame. The public will vote on who they think is most deserving and the top ten players will be evaluated by a panel including the sixteen living Poker Hall of Fame members and a similar number of respected members of the media. Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra was part of the panel last year, and explained that this year he would like to see Tom McEvoy, Erik Seidel, Barry Greenstein, Huck Seed, and Carlos Mortensen inducted. Only two players will be voted this year so head over to wsop.com to vote today.
The Heads-Up Championship at the Aussie Millions aired on GSN on Saturday night. Each match-up was played in a best of three format. Celebrating the Year of Women in Poker, the event featured many female pros, including newly signed PokerStars proVanessa Selbst along with Leo Margets and Women in Poker Hall of Famer Marsha Waggoner. In the finals of the Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship, Barry Woods faced off against Canadian Kyle McMurphy – and McMurphy took the $69,000 first prize.
The World Series of Poker‘s Main Event rolls on and yesterday saw the first time that both fields of play were put together into one room at the same time. Day 3, which saw four levels of play, is now concluded and is led by PokerStars qualifier James Carroll who has just over eight hundred thousand in chips. In the top ten we have Andrew Brown, Johnny Lodden and legendary bracelet winner Johnny Chan.
Players that didn’t survive day three included Phil Laak, Jen Harman, Chris Moneymaker and David Williams. Others that went busto include Kara Scott, Daniel Negreanu, Vanessa Russo and Erik Seidel. Also, Joe Cada‘s run in the Main Event has officially ended as he too busted on Day 3.
The Mizrachi brothers – all FOUR of them – are still in the hunt, with Robert enjoying a healthy stack at just over 342,000. Other players still alive include Vanessa Selbst, Jason Mercier and Barry Greenstein. You might remember that both Phil Ivey and Doyle Brunson were sent to the rail back on Day 2B.
Today play will resume for Day four which is a huge day for the field as the money bubble will be burst TODAY. Obviously much of the buzz has been around Johnny Chan, but we’ll make sure to give you a complete recap of today’s play on tomorrow’s Daily Deal.
Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. This is Sean Gibson, and we’ll see you back here tomorrow for another edition of The Daily Deal!
Tags: 2010, aced, Barry Greenstein, canadian, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, kara scott, Phil Ivey, pokerstars, usa, women, WSOP
Hail to the 2010 WSOP by Linda Johnson
If you are a poker player and you didn’t make it to the Rio to be part of or even witness the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP), you definitely missed out! As one friend of mine said, the WSOP has definitely matured. Kudos to Jack Effel and his entire staff for the many, many hours of planning they put in to make it run so smoothly.
When it comes to details, they seem to have thought of everything. The food problems of the past were settled by the creation of the Poker Kitchen, where players could grab food during dinner breaks without having to walk all the way into the casino. By the way, the fresh, custom, “more than you could eat” salads they served this year were incredible and the $10 food comp players got when they entered an event was sufficient to pay for a meal there. They had extra “executive” bathrooms outside the Amazon Room that were actually so deluxe that one would never know they were there temporarily.
They had plenty of stages for final tables. The bracelet ceremony was held each afternoon at a large center stage in the Pavilion, providing the bracelet winners an opportunity to be honored by their peers. I had the incredible opportunity to deliver the “Shuffle Up and Deal” speech from the center stage to kick off the Ladies Event. Here is a copy of the speech I wrote:
“I’m honored to be part of the opening ceremonies for the 2010 WSOP Ladies Event. 2010 is my 30-year anniversary of playing in the WSOP.
When I entered my first Ladies Event in 1980, I had no idea that it would be life-changing. I had decided that if I did well in that event, I would quit my job and become a poker pro. That year – 1980 – I came in fifth place. I went home to California and gave notice at work. Two weeks later, I moved to Las Vegas and began my new life as professional poker player.
I’ve never regretted that decision. The past 30 years in poker have been incredible. Many things have changed in poker over the past 30 years.
Instead of starting with $400 in tournament chips, today we’re starting with $3,000 in chips. Instead of 65 entries, today there are more than 1,000 participants. Instead of paying three places, more than 100 will be paid. Instead of Seven Card Stud, the game has changed to No Limit Hold’em. Instead of playing downstairs in the Mexican restaurant at Binion’s that was converted to the World Series poker room for two weeks a year, we are here at the Rio in the biggest poker room in the world. Isn’t this setting spectacular? Instead of it being rare to see women in poker rooms, women have become an integral part of poker.
Women are accomplished players! There are now 15 women with gold bracelets in open events. You can’t open a poker magazine these days without seeing the picture of a woman who just won a big poker tournament.
Despite the changes in poker from 1980 to 2010, one thing has remained the same: the excitement that we, as poker players, feel every year at the WSOP.
As I look out today, I see excitement on your faces. I hope the 2010 Ladies Event changes many of your lives like it changed mine! I remember it like it was yesterday – the thrill I felt 30 years ago as I heard the tournament director say… Shuffle up and deal!”
At the time I gave the speech, I wasn’t aware that approximately 12 men had entered the Ladies Event. Of course had I known, I could have added the line, “Instead of only women playing in the Ladies Event, today we have men and women playing.”
There have been many articles and blogs written about whether or not men should be allowed to play in the Ladies Event and even whether or not there should be a Ladies Event. Here’s the bottom line as far as I am concerned: There is no reason to have a Ladies Event because women can’t compete with the men… they can! The reason to have a Ladies Event is because of the atmosphere at the event, which is different from an open event. It is pleasant and provides a great opportunity for women poker players to play with their peers. More than 1,000 women showed up to play, so they obviously support Ladies tournaments.
In the five open events I played in, I was almost always the only woman at the tables. Therefore, the conversation was mostly about sports, the cocktail waitress, and things that didn’t interest me. I witnessed at least two very vocal arguments between players in each of the open events I played in.
It really was a treat to get to play with ladies in a congenial atmosphere and to have conversations that interested me. In fact, the two penalties I saw given during the Ladies Event were given to men.
I would never dream of crashing a man’s bachelor party, hunting trip, or fishing trip, so why should they play in a Ladies Event? However, that doesn’t make it right for the women to cheer when the men get knocked out. They should just be ignored, in my opinion.
I hate to see the 2010 WSOP come to an end. It was a great Series for me, with three cashes in the five tournaments I entered and success in live games as well. Could we make it last a little longer next year?
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Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship Airs on GSN
On Saturday night, the Heads-Up Championship at the Aussie Millions aired on GSN. Only one hour of coverage was devoted to the event, which attracted 50 players. Once again, Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call.
Each match-up was played in a best of three format and GSN producers displayed the final hands made by players on the screen. Because of the short time devoted to the event, many of the hands that made it to air were all-ins and the action began with Barry Woods facing off against Vanessa Selbst, who was rocking a Full Tilt Poker logo. Selbst doubled Woods up with pocket sevens against pocket nines and then again after flopping trips against Woods’ boat.
Women like Amanda da Cesare, Jessica Dowley, Leo Margets, and Marsha Waggoner were profiled at the Aussie Millions. Then, Selbst 4bet all-in with 7-6 of hearts on a flop of 2-K-8, all hearts. Woods held K-7 and watched in glee as a king hit on the turn and a deuce hit on the river, giving him a runner-runner full house. Selbst hit the rails after the bad beat and Woods moved on to face Norway’s Martin Gudvangen.
Woods continued to receive the blessings of the poker gods, making a runner-runner straight against Gudvangen, leaving Khoury to remark, “Sometimes raising at the wrong time really pays off.” Then, Woods’ 10-8 held against Gudvangen’s 9-5 to ship him the title in the first match.
Gudvangen struck back in match #2, however, doubling up with A-J against A-8 before finally putting his opponent away with A-3 against J-9 all-in pre-flop. In the rubber match and holding Q-3, Woods moved all-in over the top of a bet by Gudvangen, who had pocket nines on a board of 5-8-5. Gudvangen made the call as an 87% favorite only to watch Woods spike a queen on the river to double up. Khoury exclaimed, “Barry is nodding his head, but he knows he’s run well in this tournament.” Gudvangen was eliminated shortly thereafter.
In the finals of the Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship, Woods faced off against Canadian Kyle McMurphy. Woods whiffed on a straight draw on the river to give McMurphy the edge in round #1. Then, on a board of 9-Q-7-J, McMurphy checked with pocket jacks for a set and Woods bet 3,200 holding 10-8 for the second nuts. McMurphy check-raised all-in and Woods happily called. The river failed to pair the board and Woods claimed round #2.
In the deciding match of the event, McMurphy open-shoved all-in pre-flop with K-10 and Woods made the call with A-9 of hearts. The situation was looking grim for McMurphy until a nine hit on the river to give him a straight and a critical double up. McMurphy doubled one more time after coming out on the winning end of a race with A-10 against pocket deuces before finally putting Woods away with J-7 against K-2 all-in pre-flop. McMurphy banked $69,000 for the win, while Woods earned $46,000.
New episodes of Aussie Millions coverage on GSN air at 9:00pm ET on Saturdays as part of Power Poker Weekends on the cable station. You can catch poker on GSN according to the following schedule each week:
Saturdays on GSN
9:00pm ET: Aussie Millions
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 5
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: World Poker Tour Season 6
Sundays on GSN
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
2:00am ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
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Independence Day Weekend In Las Vegas From Poker In Twitter
Whether it was for the various parties going on, the fireworks or the start of the World Series of Poker Championship Event on Monday, the Independence Day weekend brought all the pros to Las Vegas. The Twitterverse was abuzz with their activities as they worked towards the biggest day of the poker year.
One of the big events over the weekend was the Doyle’s Room party held at the Blush nightclub. UB.com’s Bryan Devonshire had an adventure prior to arriving at the Blush bash, tweeting, “Last night on my way to Doyle’s party I set my phone in a margarita. It doesn’t work anymore.” The Brunson family turned out to be great hosts for the party as Pamela Brunson chirped Sunday morning, “Got in @ 6am from Doyle’s room Blush party and after party @Surrender. I don’t remember WHY I used to enjoy doing that! I’m POOPED!” Even Doyle was stung by the party atmosphere when he recounted his night: “I’m trying to recover from the Doyle’s Room party at Blush. I’m not going to drink anymore except for an occasional beer until New Years Eve!”
The Fourth of July celebrations saw many of the players hitting various spots around Sin City. “Happy Fourth of July,” Justin “BoostedJ” Smith tweeted on Sunday. “Steak dinner at aria then going to club bank at Bellagio. Should be awesome night…Vegas is packed for the weekend!” Allen Kessler seemingly made a tour of the city when he Tweeted his schedule for the day: “3 parties tonite. First @fkassela bbq, then @twoplustwoforum forum party at aria, now at bluff party at sapphire.”
Some went for a more low-key Independence Day celebration. Tiffany Michelle included a Twitpic of her activities, adding, “What better way to spend the 4th than in the pool with your girlfriends?” Lacey Jones was reflective when she tweeted her thoughts to her followers, “If there is anything I love w my whole heart it’s our Troops. Thank you to all the men & women who have served our country proud. Happy 4th!” Finally, Kara Scott missed some of the action when she tweeted, “Watching fireworks in a cab. Can juuuuust about see through the gaps in the buildings as we drive past.”
For some over the Independence Day weekend, poker took center stage over the parties and fireworks. The “Ante Up For Africa” charity poker tournament at the WSOP had many on Twitter talking, including eventual champion Phil Gordon. “129,000 in prize money going to a worthy cause,” Phil tweeted after his win and his donation of the first place bounty. “That and a big hug from runner up Shannon Elizabeth made this a great day!” For her part, Shannon Elizabeth was pleased with her performance when she chirped, “So happy! I just got 2nd in Ante Up For Africa! I had lots of lucky hands today-& was so fun!” Annie Duke issued her heartfelt thanks to those who participated when she tweeted, “Great day for @Anteupforafrica. Raised nearly $300K. Thank you so much to everyone who played.”
In one of the more comical exchanges following Gordon’s win in the charity event, fellow Full Tilt Poker members Rafe Furst and Andy Bloch took turns razzing Gordon. After Furst offered his congratulations (“Congrats @PhilNoLimits in your first WSOP tournament win at Ante Up for Africa!”), Bloch jabbed at Gordon’s WSOP record by tweeting, “Does it count as a bracelet?” Furst stuck the knife in a bit deeper when he replied, “I think we should make him an honorary one.”
The WSOP Tournament of Champions wrapped up play on Sunday night and the Twitterscape was buzzing with activity. “Gave it my best in the TOC,” Duke tweeted upon finishing ninth. “Short stacked all day and got my money in as good as I could hope for. Thanks @WSOP for the freeroll.” Jennifer Harman was playful with her exit Tweet, saying, “I’m out 7th. The last hour I feel like I played like a goof ball. Next tourney Main Event.” Daniel Negreanu enjoyed his stay at the TOC final table, although he reported, “Just busted to Hachem. AA vs 55 flop came 652. Oh well, it was a fun tournament but in the end my cards ran out of gas.”
Once Huck Seed and Howard Lederer reached heads up play, Duke began to pay more attention to the play. Although she tried to stick with the action (“Still rooting @HowardHLederer on in TOC. No sleep till he wins!”), Duke eventually gave up, tweeting, “I’m giving up. I need to sleep. Hoping I wake up to find that @HowardHLederer won the TOC. If not Huck is a great back up! Go Bub and Huck!”
Lederer was quite prolific with his tweets as he reported the action. “Just got head up with Huck,” tweeted Howard. “I have 468 to his 342. Given his HU record, I feel like a small dog.” Howard did well for himself, forcing the action for almost two hours before busting out in second place. “Disappointed,” Lederer tweeted at the conclusion. “Huck played great and deserved to win. Thanks much to Harrah’s for the freeroll and the voters for opportunity.”
One of the things that was going on outside of the tables was players noticing the structure of this year’s Championship Event. Andy Bloch was on the case when he chirped, “Warning: when choosing main event starting day, day 1b plays on 2b and day 1c plays on 2a. WSOP has done an appalling job getting word out.” After reviewing the structure of play for the early part of the Main Event, Bloch noted, “Just looked at the main event structure sheet. Playing only 4 levels days 1-5 with a 90 minute dinner break after level 2? Seriously? To the people who decided to have dinner breaks at 4:20: what were you smoking?”
This launched further discussion from Allen Kessler and Pamela Brunson. “Wow I just found out day1a main event players can be in the event 10 days and still not cash,” Kessler tweeted. “Only playing 4 levels/day should be looked at.” Brunson thanked Bloch for his warning, tweeting, “Wow…..that’s stupid! Thanks for tweeting to let us know. I need to recheck my appointments!”
On the lighter side of poker in Twitter, it seems that Joe Reitman might need to start wearing a name tag around the Rio. “Guy on a rascal said ‘Jeff can u sign my hat?,” Reitman tweeted after once again being confused with Jeff Shulman. “Had to tell him ‘I’m not Jeff.’ He was disappointed. Could have lied. But he was on a rascal.” The always endearing Vicky Coren noted upon her arrival in Las Vegas, “Passing the blackjack area, I’d know I was in Vegas with my eyes shut. ‘Please translate for Mr. Wong: the cards must STAY ON THE TABLE.’” Finally, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin reminisced about his Fourth of July memories: “Next year I want lawn chairs, coolers, and fireworks in the front yard. Some of my best memories are running around trees with sparklers.”
Actors, Athletes and Amateurs Unite For Africa at WSOP
All facetiousness aside, today's $5k Ante Up For Africa tournament supports the admirable non-profit organization bearing the same name that is dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need.
The tournament marks the second to last event on the 2010 WSOP calendar and has predictably drawn a crowd of celebrities, pro poker players and curious railbirds.
Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Shannon Elizabeth, David Alan Grier, Evander Holyfield and Montel Williams headline the list of celebrities who've made an appearance.
Brad Garrett, best known for his role on the TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, is keeping the Pavillion Room lively with his play-by-play and one-liners.
"Phil Gordon everyone," Garrett said introducing the poker player and announcer. "Only one person clapped for you, Phil, I think it might be your mom."
"Shannon Elizabeth, who looks great in women's clothing, is playing today," Garrett deadpanned.
Much of the buzz in the room involved Phil Ivey's early exit for the tournament. David Alan Grier took credit for the knockout. "I gave it to him right on the chin!" Grier said. "All in and all out, baby." Then Grier admitted he wasn't actually in the hand at all and has a tendency to embellish.
Crowd favorite Matt Damon has managed to stick around and double up a couple of times. One of those double ups found Damon coming from behind in the hand and rivering a full house on his opponent. "That's what happens when you're Matt Damon, ladies and gentleman," Garrett quipped. "If you're Brad Garrett, then you're in a cab by now."
Players can donate whatever portion of their earnings they choose to charity, but at least 50% is standard. Last year John Hennigan won the tournament and donated all of his winnings to charity. Upon recognizing Hennigan for last year's donation, Garrett was overcome with kindness. "I'm going to kiss Howard Lederer because of your generosity," Garrett said before making good on his act of man love.
There were 80 players who put up the $5k buy in for today's event. Annie Duke, Phil Ivey and Montel Williams were some of the first players to be knocked out.
More information on the charity led by Cheadle and Duke is available at http://anteupforafrica.org.
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