Poker News

UBOC Event #8 Features Largest Prize Pool in UB.com History

The $2,600 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament (Event #8) held as part of the ongoing Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) featured a $1.57 million prize pool, the largest in the 10-year history of UB.com.

Newly minted UB.com pro Joe Sebok gave his take on the record-shattering prize pool in a press release distributed by the USA-friendly online poker site on Tuesday: "Despite going out just before the money in UBOC Event #8, the tournament still left me with an incredible feeling as we ended up building the richest prize pool in the history of UB. I think it sets the tone for what I think will be the best UBOC ever for our players. 2010 is just the beginning of great things to come for UB and our community." A total of 628 players competed in the $2,600 buy-in affair, which easily surpassed its $1 million guaranteed purse.

When the smoke cleared, it was a battle between two Germans heads-up, as SEBBAU bested PHILBORT to scoop a $331,000 first place prize after a heads-up chop. As part of the deal, PHILBORT took home $250,000, more than a traditional chip chop would have given him, and SEBBAU banked $291,000. Then, the duo played on for $40,000 in prize money. In the final hand of UBOC event #8, PHILBORT was all-in with pocket fives against SEBBAU’s A-7. The flop came 2-7-K, giving SEBBAU a pair; he never looked back, earning $331,000.

UB.com pro Liv Boeree bumped Sebok from the $2,600 buy-in Six-Max event to claim Sebok’s $2,500 bounty. Boeree was the only UB.com sponsored pro to make the money. Here’s how the final table shook out in the richest tournament in the history of UB.com:

1st Place: SEBBAU - $330,900
2nd Place: PHILBORT - $250,000
3rd Place: GROENGRAS - $146,010
4th Place: GIT PAPER - $102,050
5th Place: DOOSHDOTCOM1 - $86,350
6th Place: UPAY4RHINOS - $70,650

In UBOC Event $10, a $150,000 Guaranteed Mixed Pot Limit tournament, a total of 422 players threw their hats into the ring. Although the tournament fell short of its guarantee, Jack “011POKERDR” Pan banked a healthy $40,500 for the win. Pan final tabled an event held during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September for $23,000 and finished second in the Full Tilt $200 rebuy last May for $43,000. Heads-up, Pan defeated KANYEKWELI, who earned $23,000.

Other UB.com members who made the final table of Event #10 included ALL_DAY_DHI3 (third place for $16,125), SAILORLOBELL (fourth place for $11,625), Scott “SCOTTYTHEFISH” Sitron (fifth place for $8,625), JOES2828 (sixth place for $6,150), Justin “TRUESYALOSE” Truesdell (seventh place for $4,650), and ROCKRAINES (eighth place for $3,150). Sitron finished 32nd in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $253,000, while Truesell won a Circuit gold ring in Tunica one year ago in a $1,080 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event.

The UBOC and its corresponding MiniUBOC series continue through Sunday, January 31st. On that day, the $1,050 buy-in UBOC Championship Event will kick off. The two-day tournament begins at 4:00pm ET and will likely see some of the top names in poker take to UB.com’s virtual felts.

Two UBOC events will play out today. Event #11 is a $215 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Cubed tournament (one rebuy plus one add-on). At least $100,000 will be up for grabs and accomplished pro Matt “mattg1983” Graham will serve as its host. Event #12 is a $215 buy-in HORSE tournament with at least $50,000 up for grabs. UB.com blackjack guru “Hollywood” Dave Stann will host the contest, which kicks off at 8:05pm ET concurrently with Event #11.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UBOC results.

T.J. Cloutier WSOP Bracelet Sells for $4,006 on eBay

After 10 days and a competitive auction featuring five separate bidders, T.J. Cloutier's World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet sold for $4,006 on the popular online auction site eBay. The Plano Pawn Shop put up the bracelet, which Cloutier won in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event in 2005.

With the starting price at $2,999, the following bidding history during the 10-day process was listed as on eBay's website:

Bid #1: Jan. 22 - $2,999
Bid #2: Jan. 22 - $3,200
Bid #3: Jan. 22 - $3,250
Bid #4: Jan. 22 - $3,500
Bid #5: Jan. 22 - $3,550
Bid #6: Jan. 23 - $3,700
Bid #7: Jan. 24 - $3,750
Bid #8: Jan. 24 - $3,800
Bid #9: Jan. 24 - $3,850
Bid #10: Jan. 24 - $3,900
Bid #11: Jan. 24 - $3,956
Bid #12: Jan. 24 - $4,006

The highest bid stood at $3,956 with just moments remaining in the auction, but in the final minute, another bidder made an offer of $4,006, which ultimately was enough to claim the item. The winning bidder is unknown at this time due to the privacy policies of eBay.

Meanwhile, the reasons behind Cloutier's willingness to pawn off his WSOP bracelet are under speculation. The 71-year-old pro is one of the most successful tournament players in the history of the game, collecting six WSOP bracelets, a total of 39 titles around the world, and career earnings of $9,413,236. However, some suggest that Cloutier has lost more money playing craps than he ever made from playing poker; this reputation seems to follow him where he travels.

Professional poker player Terrance “Unassigned” Chan wrote in his blog in 2006 about a losing craps session in which Cloutier was the shooter. Chan and his friends lost $3,000 on one Cloutier roll and, afterward, he wrote, "T.J. has lost more money at craps than possibly any human being alive. Obviously he's just a poor craps player and one should bet against him, not with him."

Since then, rumors circled that Cloutier's poker earnings have dried up, as he's been seen borrowing money for tournament buy-ins on multiple occasions. Online poker pro Grayson "the_dean22" Nichols recalled an occurrence involving Cloutier on the poker forum PocketFives.com: "I remember a couple years ago, going to play in a $100 rebuy at the Orleans Hotel with Steve ‘gboro780’ Gross and Ari Engel. We get registered for the maybe 60 person field and we see Cloutier just hanging around, bumming the free hot dogs asking for a stake in the tournament. (It) looks like this isn't a new development."

The monetary value of a WSOP bracelet has been a source of debate since Cloutier's bracelet went up on eBay. Following the conclusion of the auction, Poker News Daily caught up with Matt "mattg1983" Graham and asked the two-time WSOP bracelet winner the minimum amount he'd sell either of his bracelets for. "It totally depends on finances, but right now I'd take like $30,000," said Graham, who won the $1,500 Limit Hold'em Shootout in 2008 and the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship in 2009. Asked if he were hypothetically broke and in need of money, Graham told us that he'd accept a $10,000 offer.

Dozens of others on the forums commented about the value of a bracelet, in particular one belonging to Cloutier. "I would definitely buy a WSOP bracelet if it belonged to Phil Ivey or Stu Ungar or Doyle Brunson," said TwoPlusTwo poster TexCortez. "They are just straight up legends. T.J. on the other hand... well, it kind of ranks up there with buying an old pair of Richard Simmons exercise shorts from eBay."

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Donates $200,000 to UW-Whitewater Baseball

UB.com sponsored pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin has made a generous $200,000 donation to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s baseball team. Baldwin helped guide the squad to a national championship in 2005.

The six-figure donation, equal to the amount of money Baldwin won by taking down a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event during April’s Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza, will be used to add lights to Prucha Field. In turn, the university will be able to host the Midwest Regional portion of the 2010 NCAA Division III baseball playoffs. The last time that the school hosted the post-season competition was in 2005, when Baldwin started in right field.

On his donation, Baldwin told Wisconsin-Whitewater officials, "It feels awesome to be in a position to help UW-Whitewater host the regional again. UW-Whitewater has an amazing baseball program and hopefully the team will be playing in this year's regional in front of its hometown crowd." Baldwin graduated from Whitewater in 2006. The Warhawks, as the school’s mascot is known, finished third in the Division III baseball playoffs in 2004 before winning it all one year later.

Baldwin was a team captain in his final year at the school and explained that how hard work in anything from baseball to poker will ultimately pay off: "I learned that if you put a lot of hard work into something and fight through the hard times, things will work out. Preparation leads to success." Baldwin was the CardPlayer Player of the Year in 2009. The stanza saw him win the aforementioned Venetian tournament for $198,000 and then claim his first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for $521,000. One week later, he finished third in the $10,000 World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em for another $259,000.

In October, Baldwin was up to his winning ways again, this time making the final table of the UB.com Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. The fourth place finish most likely pushed talks about joining UB.com along and Baldwin signed with the site just before Christmas. Back on the tournament trail, he won a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000. Online, he was the runner-up in both the PokerStars Sunday Second Chance and Nightly Hundred Grand for a combined take of $57,000. He banked $1.5 million in tournaments in 2009.

Wisconsin-Whitewater Athletic Director Paul Plinske spoke volumes about Baldwin’s contribution to his alma mater: "Eric was instrumental in leading UW-Whitewater to its first national title in baseball. His recent gift will ensure that more great things are on the horizon for the Warhawks. He has definitely left his mark on our campus and we are very grateful to him for leaving us his legacy." The Midwest Regional will take place from May 19th to 23rd at Jim Miller Stadium at Prucha Field. Last year, the team was 30-19 and sported a 12-6 home record. In the Warhawks’ final game of the season, the team was upended by Carthage, who won by a score of 8-3 in Regional play.

The university’s press release revealed that Baldwin would be one of the competitors on the upcoming National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which will purportedly film in March and be shown on NBC in April. In 2009, the Heads-Up event began airing in mid-April and played out over the course of six straight Sundays. A total purse of $1.5 million was up for grabs in the invitation-only event. Automatic bids to the field of 64 players are include the reigning CardPlayer Player of the Year. The automatic invites were created in 2008.

Check out the official Wisconsin-Whitewater press release outlining Baldwin’s donation to the school.

Jeff Garza Spits On Bryn Kenney at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure

Harrison Gimbel was crowned the champion of the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event in the Bahamas more than a week ago, but the event is still stirring up chatter due to an incident involving two of the game's high-stakes online players that occurred during a $5,000 side tournament. According to sources that were close by, Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza spat on Bryn Kenney while Kenney was still playing in the tournament at the luxurious Atlantis resort.

News of the skirmish first broke in a thread on popular online forum PocketFives.com. Jordan "scarface_79" Smith began the topic, posting, "How is there not a thread on this?" Several others then stepped in and described what they saw and heard relating to the conflict.

"I was sitting at the next table over I think," said Jon “xxjondxx" Delong, who placed 22nd in a $1,500 event at the PCA. "Wasn't too exciting, just heard the dealer yell security and saying that someone spit in someone's face and saw someone who I guess was [Action Jeff] walking out of the room."

Shawn "jordankickz" Busse was also in the Bahamas while the conflict took place. "I didn't really see what provoked this nor did anybody else that I talked to," Busse said, "but Jeff just walked up to him and spit in his face then they started shoving each other before Jeff just quickly walked away once security was called."

The incident was merely speculation until Garza posted his side of the story on PocketFives.com and TwoPlusTwo.com.

"Bryn and I have personal issues unrelated to him multi-accounting dealing with large amounts of money," Garza said. "I was just ready to drop it and take the hit for making the mistake of dealing with a scumbag. My hate was reignited real strong when I kept hearing about him talking behind my back."

"I walked away after busting the $5K and Bryn was in my path," he continued. "He made eye contact with me as I was walking away, I gave him a [expletive] you and he smirks at me. I walked up to him and said something along the lines of 'don't look at me you thieving piece of [expletive]' and nudge him with my shoulder. At this point security gets called. He said something along the lines of, 'if I wasn't playing poker, give me one good reason...'

"So I gave him that good reason. And let's be clear here: No, it didn't miss, and yeah, it was right in his face, and it was a lot because I'd been putting down some water at the table."

Kenney was under fire following the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event after suspicions arose about Kenney multi-accounting under the name "Udon Wannit," who took second place in the tournament for $1,286,400.00. Kenney later confirmed that the account belonged to his brother, who was normally a low-stakes tournament player, which sparked debate among high-stakes regulars.

Garza's issues with Kenney date to a backing arrangement that they had in which Kenney ended the deal and owed Garza money. The two exchanged words in the thread on TwoPlusTwo, with Kenney backing up both the spitting incident and the money he owed to Garza.

"The only thing I did wrong was when he was in like $60K makeup I was losing a lot during the series and the $12K or whatever I owed him I couldn't give him right then since I was getting killed. Nothing else I have ever done to him was even close to in the wrong," Kenney wrote.

Garza concluded his take on the subject with the following post on PocketFives: "Bryn's my enemy and I have no respect for [him] and wanted to show it. I shoulda just knocked his ass out, but he refuses to fight and attacking someone when they turn their back is a bitch move."

Vanessa Rousso Bests Tough Field in 2010 PCA $1,000 Ladies Event

Harrison "gibler123" Gimbel may have garnered the headlines at the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) by winning the Main Event and a $2.2 million paycheck, but he wasn't the only one having a good time at the Atlantis Resort and Casino in the Bahamas.  One of the biggest hits of the Caribbean poker festival was the $1,000 + $100 Ladies No Limit Hold'em tournament.

A total of 91 women competed in the event, 33 of whom won their seats online at PokerStars via satellites with buy-ins starting as low as $2.20.  They won more than just their entry and spending money; the online qualifiers were also pampered at the resort's Mandara Spa and received instruction at a High Heels Poker Tour Ladies Boot Camp session from Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso.

As it turned out, the Boot Camp attendees probably should have listened to their instructor more closely, as Rousso went on to win the event, scoring a $24,725 cash.  Rousso burst onto the poker scene in 2006 when she placed 7th in the $25,000 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship and then won a $5,000 No Limit Hold'em event at the WPT Borgata Poker Open a few months later.  In 2007, she finished second in PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), winning over $700,000, and became known to a broad television audience when she was the runner-up in the 2009 National Heads-Up Poker Championship.  The GoDaddy.com girl has also won two tournaments on NBC's "Poker After Dark."

Other members of Team PokerStars Pro in the tournament who were not as fortunate were Katja Thater, Veronica Dabul, Sandra Naujoks, and Maria "Maridu" Mayrinck.  Other known pros in attendance included J.J. Liu, 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event champ Annette Obrestad, European Poker Tour (EPT) London Ladies champ Dagmara Aleksandrowicz, and Shirley Rosario, who placed fourth.

Another player of note was Elizabeth Bennett-Martin, who qualified for the Main Event via a PokerStars satellite for the second year in a row.  A portion of her winnings was earmarked for the charitable organization Cambodian Legal Education for Women (CLEW).  Created by her Toronto law firm, Bennett Gastle P.C., CLEW raises money to help impoverished women in Cambodia attend law school.  The goal of these women is to provide legal help to those who would not normally be able to access any in Cambodia, where the population of more than 14 million has only 538 lawyers.  Unfortunately, Bennett-Martin did not make the money in any event this year.

Sixteen women did cash, though, each getting a piece of the $88,270 prize pool.  Runner-up Halli Pinson was impressed with the field, telling PokerStars, "This event was a lot more serious than most ladies tournaments. I didn't recognize that many faces, but the field seemed a lot more experienced than usual. These women had come to play, and they had come to win! Vanessa Rousso dominated the event though – she had good cards and she's an experienced player: the combination was lethal."

Those who did not want to pony up $1,100, but still wanted to compete in a women-only tournament, or those who just wanted another shot at a title, had the chance to play in another Ladies Event the next day for just $300.  The field of 73 produced a prize pool of $19,119 and Diana Linke took home the top cash of $6,504.

PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,000 + $100 Ladies Event Final Standings

1. Vanessa Rousso - $24,275
2. Halli Pinson - $13,815
3. Ann-Margaret Johnston - $9,335
4. Shirley Rosario - $6,620
5. Jamie Kerstetter - $5,740
6. Pastora Sorenson - $4,635
7. Lisa Adams - $3,750
8. Vanessa Caldeira - $2,870
9. Irene Baroni - $2,425
10. Sarah Wasch - $2,425
11. Violetta Szczerba - $2,205
12. Nesrine Kourdourli - $2,205
13. Muriel Allard - $1,985
14. Anna Yamshchikova - $1,985
15. Alina Salnikova - $1,765
16. Hai Nguyen - $1,765

Harrison Gimbel Becomes Youngest PCA Main Event Champ Ever

Harrison "gibler321" Gimbel outlasted a talented final table in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event to become the youngest winner ever of the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. He earned a $2.2 million first place prize.

Gimbel is just 19 years-old and unable to play in a casino on U.S. soil legally. Accordingly, he qualified for the PCA in the Bahamas and outlasted the record-setting 1,529-player field that turned out. In the final hand, Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman was all-in pre-flop holding a wired pair of eights and up against Gimbel’s pocket tens. The flop came 10-6-2, giving Gimbel top set and a veritable stranglehold in the hand. However, an eight on the turn left Reiman drawing to one out with the title of 2010 PCA Main Event Champion on the line. The river was a jack, shipping the $2.2 million prize to Gimbel and crowning the tournament’s youngest champion in history.

Thomas Koral was sent packing in eighth place when his pocket queens could not draw out on Reiman’s pocket aces. The board of 6-10-6-J-K ensured that the better hand held and Koral earned a healthy $201,300 for his troubles. Then, Zachary Goldberg pushed all-in with pocket tens and received a re-shove from Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn. The Euro showed A-Q, setting up a coin flip, and an ace on the turn sealed Goldberg’s demise. He earned an even $300,000 for his seventh place performance.

Ravn was bumped from the 2010 PCA Main Event in sixth place as part of a three-way all-in. Ravn and Ben Zamani both committed their chips pre-flop against Gimbel. The best hand pre-flop went to Gimbel, who had jacks and both players covered, while Zamani showed pocket eights. Ravn held A-Q of clubs and would be rooting for paint that wasn’t a jack to come. However, the flop fell 5-8-7, giving Zamani top set, and he never looked back. Ravn’s sixth place finish was worth $450,000.

Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo, one of just three players to win multiple PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) events in the same year, fell in fifth place. Seeking vindication for an earlier loss with pocket jacks, D’Angelo committed his chips with the hand and was up against Reiman’s Big Slick. However, a king hit on the river to send D’Angelo home, $700,000 richer for his wear.

Four-handed, Zamani put his tournament life on the line with A-10 against Gimbel’s pocket eights. Once again, pocket eights found top set and the hand was good enough to scoop the pot and send another player into the Bahamian night. Zamani, the last PokerStars qualifier standing, earned $1 million for fourth place in the flat pay structure.

2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, in a stirring run through the PCA tournament, was eliminated in third place for $1.35 million. He shoved from the button with Q-10, but ran into Gimbel’s A-9. PokerStars’ coverage accurately noted that the 2010 PCA Main Event marked the second time in four months that Shulman has banked seven-figures in a major poker tournament. He’s the father of 2009 WSOP November Nine member Jeff Shulman, who took fifth in the Las Vegas spectacle for nearly $2 million.

Gimbel scooped a healthy pot about a half-hour into heads-up play to claim the chip lead. Gimbel raised to 600,000 pre-flop and Reiman made the price of poker 1.675 million. His opponent obliged and the flop came 2-A-8. Both players slowed down, as the action went check-check to a seven on the turn. Reiman checked, Gimbel bet 2.2 million, and Reiman called to bring a three on the river. Reiman once again checked, Gimbel fired out a bet of 4.7 million, and Reiman came along, watching as Gimbel turned over A-5 for top pair. Gimbel pumped his chip stack to 28 million, while Reiman fell to 17 million, reversing the totals entering heads-up play.

The battle between Gimbel and Reiman lasted less than hour. Here were the final results from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas:

1. Harrison Gimbel - $2,200,000
2. Tyler Reiman - $1,750,000
3. Barry Shulman - $1,350,000
4. Benjamin Zamani - $1,000,000
5. Ryan D'Angelo - $700,000
6. Aage Ravn - $450,000
7. Zachary Goldberg - $300,000
8. Tom Koral - $201,300

Elsewhere at the 2010 PCA, Dario Minieri leads a star-studded field of 52 players left in the $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament. His stack of 218,600 chips paces the field entering Day 2, with Lex Veldhuis hot on his tail with 214,500. In fourth place after one day of play is none other than reigning WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada, who will come armed to Tuesday’s action with a stack of 164,400.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest 2010 PCA coverage.

Ryan D’Angelo, Tyler Reiman Lead PCA Entering Final Table

Eight players remain in the 2010 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Online poker pros Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo and Tyler “puffinmypurp” Reiman lead the eight-handed final table by a comfortable margin.

For Reiman, a massive pot against European Poker Tour (EPT) founder John Duthie gave him the ammunition to nip at D’Angelo’s heels entering Monday’s final table. Duthie was all-in pre-flop holding pocket aces, the best starting hand in Texas Hold’em, and held a 4:1 advantage over Reiman’s pocket queens. The flop, however, contained a queen and propelled Reiman into the lead in the hand for good. Duthie was out two hands later, finishing in 12th place for $130,000. Reiman owned a stack of 9.35 million entering the final table, trailing only D’Angelo’s 10.09 million.

D’Angelo comes to the 2010 PCA Main Event with top-tier credentials. He was one of only two dual winners during the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), taking down a $320 buy-in Eight-Game event and a $320 buy-in Mixed tournament. The only other player to accomplish the feat in the September tournament series was Team PokerStars Pro member and former PCA winner Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier, who took down two No Limit Hold’em events.

In third place on the 2010 PCA Main Event leaderboard is Barry Shulman, who is fresh off a victory in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event for £801,000. He defeated PokerStars sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu in the finale of that tournament, which also saw Jason Mercier, Praz Bansi, and WSOP Main Event November Nine members Antoine Saout and James Akenhead reach the final table. Shulman owns a stack of 6.81 million entering Monday’s play.

Benjamin “xthesteinx” Zamani sent longtime PCA Main Event chip leader Wayne Bentley packing on Sunday. The 23 year-old called Zamani’s all-in on a flop of 3-8-2, showing pocket deuces for a flopped set. In a scene reminiscent of Joe Cada in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, Bentley turned over pocket jacks and watched in agony as the board ran out 6-7. Bentley, a Brit, took home an even $100,000 consolation prize for his 16th place showing.

Poker pro Jeff Madsen hit the rails in 19th place, pocketing $87,500 from the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament. Norwegian poker player Aage Ravn called Madsen’s all-in with pocket fours and Madsen flipped up A-J for an old fashioned race. The board ran out K-7-9-5-9 and that was all she wrote for the poker rapper.

Who will join D’Angelo, Reiman, Ravn, and Shulman at the eight-handed final table of the 2010 PCA, a stop on the EPT and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT)? Here’s a look at the leaderboard:

1. Ryan D'Angelo – 10,090,000
2. Tyler Reiman – 9,350,000
3. Barry Shulman – 6,805,000
4. Harrison Gimbel – 6,000,000
5. Thomas Koral – 5,370,000
6. Benjamin Zamani – 3,700,000
7. Zachary Goldberg – 2,340,000
8. Aage Floenes Ravn – 1,690,000

Ravn is the only non-American at the final table. A total of 57 countries were represented among the 1,529 players who entered the 2010 PCA Main Event. About half of those players were from the United States. Now, seven out of eight finalists, or a hefty 88%, hail from the North American nation. Similarly, Shulman, who is 63 years-old, is the only member of the final table older than 26. Gimbel is the baby of the group at 19, while Reiman and Goldberg weigh in at the tender age of 21.

Regardless of a player’s age, life-changing money is on the line when play kicks off this afternoon from the Atlantis Resort and Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Each player remaining is guaranteed to earn at least $201,000:

1st Place: $2,200,000
2nd Place: $1,750,000
3rd Place: $1,350,000
4th Place: $1,000,000
5th Place: $700,000
6th Place: $450,000
7th Place: $300,000
8th Place: $201,300

The final table kicks off at Noon ET from Atlantis and will continue until a champion is crowned. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest PCA coverage.

Online Rounders Dominate PCA Final

The chip leader going in will be the same man who led the final 24, Ryan “g0lfa” D’Angelo.

An online pro for the past six years, D’Angelo has two PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker titles on his resume, but his live experience also includes a third-place finish at a World Series of Poker $2k event in 2008.

Considering the more than 750 online qualifiers at the event and the wealth of online players in the field, D’Angelo said the 2010 PCA has played a lot more like an online MTT than your typical live tournament.

“In a lot of other tournaments you can’t get away with raise sizes like you would online,” he said. “Here it plays pretty much like an online tournament. A lot of three-betting and cold four-betting. I really haven’t taken part in that though. I guess I’m not as crazy as some of these younger Internet kids here who just spit fire and get in there with nothing.”

Thanks to the flopped queen he used to crack EPT Founder John Duthie’s aces and rake a ten-million-chip pot, another online pro will come into Monday’s final eight second in chips.

Morton, Illinois’ Ty Reiman has almost $1 million in online earnings and actually won the first live tournament he ever played at the Heartland Poker Tour’s Turning Stone $1k in 2007.

Like D’Angelo, he feels the PCA has played much like an online tournament so far.

“I really don’t feel like it’s that different from any other online tournament,” he said. “Maybe it’s just because that queen hasn’t really set in yet.”

Fellow U.S. online regulars Tom Koral, Harrison Gimbel, Benjamin Zamani and Zachary Goldberg join PokerStars qualifier Aage Floenes Ravn from Norway in rounding out the final eight.

But it’s 2009 WSOPE champ and CardPlayer publisher Barry Shulman who will come into the final table third in chips and on the hottest streak of his poker career.

The suddenly resurgent Shulman won a WSOP bracelet in 2001 before most of these players had even heard of poker.

Now, despite being the least experienced player when it comes to the online style, he appears to have adapted.

“Historically I play better against better players,” he explained. “(The WSOPE) was the toughest field I’ve ever played with. It was impossible to find people just dumping off chips. Here is a whole different story, because it’s such an aggressive situation.

“My own play was actually the same, but this was different because they just play so differently. There is so much action versus what I saw in London.”

The action could slow down when the final table begins, however, as the online players adapt a strategy similar to playing Sit & Go’s.

“I tend to play final tables like a Sit & Go,” said D’Angelo. “I just like to see what everyone is doing, try and feel everybody out and play a solid game. Once the blinds get higher that’s when we start moving chips.”

“The table is really good,” added Reiman. “There are a lot of online players who I’ve played with. I’m just going to try and play my game, not get into too many big pots and let the smaller stacks dwindle out. Then, once we’re four-handed or five handed, we go to battle.”

To follow all the action and see who takes down the 2010 PCA and its $2.2 million first-place prize, tune in to PokerListings’ Live Updates beginning at 12 p.m ET Monday.

2010 PCA: Island Vibe Perfect for Poker

“I don’t know what it is,” said the 35-year-old software analyst turned poker pro from Stockton, California.  “I guess I really like this place.”

After finishing runner-up to Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier at the 2008 PCA, Khan went deep at Atlantis again last year, making 21^st place.

This year, he managed another strong finish, busting out 37^th on Day 4 Saturday.

“The fact that I’ve been here before and gone through such a big field, I feel that it helps me,” he explained. “It helps me remain calm and patient.”

Calm and patient is the exact same vibe Floridian poker pro Robert Mizrachi said he feels while playing in the Caribbean, and the results have followed.

Mizrachi managed a fourth place finish at the 2007 PCA and in late 2009, he finished runner-up at Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic.

“I guess it’s more relaxing,” he said of playing on the islands. “You’ve got nothing on your mind and it’s easy to focus on poker.”

Just 24 players remain in the hunt for the title and $2.2 million first-place prize headed into Day 5 Sunday and Mizrachi is still deep-stacked and in the hunt.

The 1,529 entrants this year have made the 2010 PCA the largest tournament ever held outside the United States.

Like Aruba, the PCA sees more people win their seats online than the average big buy-in tournament.

In fact, with a total of 756 online qualifiers, almost half of the field won their way into the 2010 PCA on the virtual felt.

A fact Mizrachi said sets up well for his game.

“They are actually very aggressive players and I just know how to pick my spots against them,” he said. “I guess I play better against more aggressive players. My style of play is very effective against 18-21-year-old Internet players. With their style of play, I just know how to beat them.

“I play sometimes more aggressive than them, and other times I just try to trap them - Mixing it up works very well.”

No matter how calm and relaxed the island vibe is, wading your way through such a massive field is no easy task, even for a man who seems to do it every year.

“It’s a huge tournament so you are dodging land mines every day,” said Khan. “I really don’t know what it is for me here. I guess it’s a matter of running good and playing good.”

Joining Mizrachi among the leaders heading into Day 5 are two-time PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker event winner Ryan D’Angelo, Team PokerStars Pro and EPT founder John Duthie and WSOPE main event champion and CardPlayer publisher Barry Shulman.

To catch all the island poker action at the 2010 PCA as the remaining 24 play down to a final table of eight Sunday, tune in to PokerListings’ Live Updates.

Steve “gboro780? Gross Wins CardPlayer Online Player of the Year

As 2009 came to a close, popular poker publication CardPlayer announced its Online Player of the Year (OPOY) award. The winner was New Jersey pro Steve "gboro780" Gross, who became the third honoree of the prestigious award, joining Alex "AJKHoosier1" Kamberis (2008) and Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron (2007).

Gross earned $1,216,413 playing online across the major sites in 2009 to accrue 10,188 points, the highest total since the CardPlayer OPOY rankings began in 2007. He started the year off strong, with a second-place finish in a $500 event on Full Tilt for $126,506 on January 18. In February, Gross won a $300 Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) event for $275,000.

Then in April, during the first-ever PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), Gross found himself heads up in the $3,000 Mixed Hold’em event with Aussie superstar James "Andy McLeod" Obst. The confrontation was one of the most memorable of 2009, with McLeod coming out on top to claim the $184,000 first prize; Gross walked away with $128,000 for his runner-up finish.

Gross won 21 tournaments in 2009, but it was a fourth-place finish on Wednesday, December 30 that clinched the OPOY award. The result came in the $100 rebuy on Full Tilt, earning him more than $12,000 in his final cash of the year. Without any qualifying tournaments left on the schedule for the rest of the field to catch him, Gross wrapped up the title.

The OPOY runner-up was David "SirSands" Sands (9,420 points), who made a valiant push toward the top of the leaderboard in December. He won the Full Tilt $100 rebuy for $47,275 on December 20th and then a week later took down the $200 rebuy on PokerStars for $43,952. Sands' biggest score of the year came in May, when he claimed victory of FTOPS Event #10, a $300 No Limit Hold 'em tournament, for $259,440. While he came up short in the CardPlayer race, Sands' fantastic December helped him vault all the way up to number two on the PocketFives.com Tournament Rankings in the site's first update of 2010. DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Chris "moorman1" Moorman holds the number one spot.

Thayer "THAY3R" Rasmussen (9,100 points), Moorman (8,464), Shaun "TedsFishFry" Deeb (8,290), Joe "hoodini10" Udine (8,052), Jeremiah "Believer82" Vinsant (7,994), Jonathan "shipitobv" DeLong (7,926), Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek (7,776), and Dan "djk123" Kelly (7,724) rounded out the top 10 of the OPOY rankings. Kelly's $1,409,090 in earnings was the second most of 2009, trailing only Yevgeniy "Jovial Gent" Timoshenko, who won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $1,715,200. Kelly took fourth place in that tournament for $643,200.00.

In order to qualify for the CardPlayer OPOY rankings, players must enter tournaments with an average buy-in of at least $100, have a field of at least 100 players, and a prize pool of at least $100,000.

Five Star World Poker Classic Goes All Rebuy

All 24 preliminary events of the eighth annual Five Star World Poker Classic will carry a $1,000 buy-in with rebuys available.

The schedule includes 16 No-Limit Hold’em events, six No-Limit Hold’em Super Satellites and two Pot-Limit Omaha events.

It’s a marked change from last year’s side event schedule, which included four $5,000 buy-in events, three $3,000 events and three $2,000 events.

The $5,000 tournaments were some of the least attended events and the first one drew only 27 players.

Meanwhile the rebuy tournaments at the recently completed Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio were a huge hit with the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em event generating a prize pool of $747,870.

The Five Star World Poker Classic runs March 30 to April 24 with the $25,000 Word Poker Tour World Championship scheduled to start April 18.

Jonathan Little, Praz Bansi and Lee Markholt were just a few of the notable players to win side events at the Five Star World Poker Classic last year while up and coming star Yevgeniy Timoshenko outlasted 337 players to win the WPT World Championship for $2.1 million.

For the complete 2010 Five Star World Poker Classic schedule check the Bellagio website.

Poker Community Reacts to New TSA Airline Regulations

The events aboard Northwest Flight 253 disrupted many people’s holiday celebrations, as the attempted bombing by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria left many wondering just how safe their impending flights home will be.  The poker community is also left to wonder just how much their hectic travel schedules will be impacted by the aftermath of the incident.

In the days following the attempted bombing, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) issued a number of new security measures intended to prevent anything like the Northwest Flight 253 incident from happening again.  The official directive from TSA Acting Administrator Gale Rossides issued a number of new changes, including added security measures at the boarding gate.  While travelers have grown accustomed to being home-free once going through the security checkpoint, the directive states that passengers must be patted down at the gate and attendants must inspect personal items prior to boarding.

There are new rules in place once passengers are on board the plane as well.  As has been widely reported by television news networks, passengers must remain seated for the final hour of a flight.  Passengers are also not allowed to have anything on their laps during the final hour, including pillows and blankets.  The airlines will also be suspending in-flight internet and pilots will not be able to point out landmarks or make passengers aware of their approximate location on the flight path.  Finally, passengers will not be allowed to access their carry-on bags during the final hour of a flight.

With these new rules and regulations, there will be inevitable delays in travel.  Those taking to the skies in the coming weeks have been advised to allot extra time to pass through security.  While this is the occasional inconvenience for many travelers, for poker players traveling the tournament trail, it adds up to countless extra hours in transit.

Many players find traveling to be one of the downsides of their chosen career and the new TSA regulations have them even more frustrated.  “More reasons not to fly,” 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) winner Carter “ckingusc” King told Poker News Daily.  Poker pro and spokeswoman Christina Lindley summed up her growing impatience with traveling with a simple, “Meh.”

Team PokerStars Pro member Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck vented her frustrations in a thread on popular poker forum PocketFives.com: “This + airport security is inf tilting. It really drives me insane I travel a lot, I get so doped on xanax to not YELL at them, and don't get me started on the humiliation of taking shoes off OMG, there is a study on man hours/cost of this per year it's TILT FROM HELL.”

One such study Mayrinck references is a 2007 effort by a team at the Harvard School of Public Health that concluded that there was no substantial evidence that the oft-lamented shoe removal at the security checkpoint prevented security incidents.  Team Full Tilt member Andy Bloch also questioned just how beneficial these security measures are:  “Where's the cost-benefit analysis of all these security measures? Irrational fears of rare terrorist acts lead to excessive spending.”

Though Bloch and Mayrinck are making relevant points, it doesn’t change the fact that as players return home after their respective holiday adventures, they will have to contend with these new changes.  Moreover, in less than a week, a couple of thousand players will be boarding international flights to Nassau to take part in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.  Those headed to the Bahamas for the event should be advised that even more time should be allotted to pass through security on international flights.

Poker2Nite Welcomes CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric Baldwin (basebaldy)

Poker players traveling home on Sunday night could finally catch the latest episode of the Fox Sports Net poker news show “Poker2Nite,” sponsored by UB.com. Poker News Daily fired up our DVR to watch last week’s installment.

Coverage of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic kicked off “Poker2Nite,” featuring interviews with Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, Scotty Nguyen, Josh Arieh, and eventual champion Daniel Alaei. The latter earned $1.4 million for his victory, but “Poker2Nite” focused on the allegedly inappropriate behavior of Nguyen.

In a hand where Chad “lilholdem954” Batista was eliminated after not hearing an all-in and a call before he acted because he had headphones on, Nguyen began to laugh. According to Jaka, Nguyen “laugh[ed] in his face,” but the former Expekt Poker pro defended himself: “He’s the one who made the mistake, not me. I laugh because he say all-in, but I didn’t know that he didn’t know.” “Poker2Nite” host Joe Sebok responded, “I’m not buying this from Scotty anymore. He’s out of line.” Nguyen famously berated Rio floor staff and fellow players on national television during the 2008 World Series of Poker’s (WSOP) $50,000 HORSE Championship.

Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, the winner of the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year title, then joined the show. On whether luck or skill played a bigger part in his run during the calendar year, Baldwin told Sebok and “Poker2Nite” co-host Scott Huff, “Obviously, I ran above expectations, but you have to play well and have luck on your side.” Down the stretch, Baldwin admitted that he focused on the factors he could control: “I tried my best not to look at what the people behind me were doing because it’s not going to help me play my hand better.”

Baldwin inked a sponsorship agreement with UB.com last week and explained that his strengths include being a good judge of people, he takes a situation for what it is, and he is able to adapt with ease. On the importance of the latter trait, Baldwin remarked, “Adaptability is just huge in poker. The game has evolved so much and you have to stay on top of it and continue trying to learn.” Baldwin won a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2009 WSOP for his first bracelet. A week later, he took third in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em. The two cashes were worth $780,000 combined.

A segment called “All-In Blind” pitted Sebok and Huff against each other in a debate over three unknown news topics. The first focused on Darvin Moon’s tournament series at the Wheeling Island Casino. The second dealt with the 2010 WSOP schedule, which was released in recent days. The final banter was whether Isildur1 or the XFL represented the bigger flash in the pan. After being taken for more than $4 million by Brian Hastings, Isildur1 has largely disappeared.

Dana Workman doled out the “Weekly Misdeal,” offering a satirical look at the biggest poker news headlines of the week. Then, attention turned to a variety of pros shaving their heads in support of Thuy Doan, who is in the midst of a health care crisis resulting from her battle with cancer. Those who went bald included Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, and Doan’s boyfriend. Huff summed up the segment by saying, “We are all proud of you, Thuy.”

“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesday nights at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Because the show is often pre-empted for local sports and other programming, check your local listings for more information.

Top 5 of 2009: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top 5 Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we continue today with No. 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko started playing poker online when he was just 15 years old.

With wins in the PokerStars Sunday Million, the daily $100 rebuy and the Sunday $200 rebuy online, plus solid live results in prelims at the Irish Poker Open, Paris Open, the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker Europe, EPT Barcelona and a win in the 2008 APPT Macau main event, he was a poker-made millionaire even before his 21st birthday.

But it’s the feats he accomplished soon after turning 21 that suddenly has the entire world convinced he is one of poker’s brightest new stars.

With the smell of spring in the Las Vegas air, the Ukranian-born and Washington State raised Timoshenko proved he was a force to be reckoned with this past April, winning more than $2.1 million and one of poker’s most prestigious crowns at the Season 7 WPT Championship.

This one win would have been enough to cement his status as one of the game’s young greats, but Timoshenko’s year had just begun.

His summer was spent collecting close to $100k in cashes from the 2009 World Series of Poker, but another massive score was right around the corner.

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event is by far the most coveted online title in the game and this September, Timoshenko booked the win, adding $1.7 million to his online MTT winnings.

PokerListings caught up with the budding superstar just weeks later as he found himself among the leaders in the final 36 of the WSOPE main event.

At the time, he explained how his game was designed for both the virtual felt and the kind you can touch and feel.

"I think my game is very adaptable to both online and live play," he said. "If you are just good at reading people you are not going to have as much success online and if you're only good at the math and playing ABC, you might do well online, but you're probably not going to do well live."

Winning two of poker’s biggest tournaments in a single year has obviously helped Timoshenko earn a few fans, especially among his peers.

“Yevgeniy is one of, if not the best tournament player around,” said EPT San Remo and WSOP Bracelet winner Jason Mercier. “I really like his game. I got the chance to play against him for the first time live deep in a 1k event at Bellagio a few weeks ago. I was pretty much plowing through the entire field until he showed up at my table. We have similar styles, which makes him tough to play against.

“One of the things that makes him so good is that he is almost always one level above everyone else at the table. In my opinion, there is no one better at No-Limit Hold’em tournaments.”

With more than $2.2 million in live tournament earnings this year, and another $2.2 million won online, including two of the most prestigious titles on either stage, Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s year was an easy choice for No. 4 on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

PokerListings' Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009:

• No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz
  

Team PokerStars Online Announced

After 2,000 online poker players sent in applications to become members of Team PokerStars Online, the group’s 23 inaugural players were announced on Wednesday, just in time for the holidays.

Eighteen countries are represented among the 23 founding members of Team PokerStars Online. Those on the list include Steve Jacobs, known in online poker circles simply as “stevesbets.” The poker player is perhaps best known for winning the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) $25,000 buy-in Heads-Up event for a staggering $560,000. Also in the mix is Thomas “Boku87” Boekhoff, who was involved in a challenge of his own on the world’s largest online poker site to turn a $5 bankroll into $100,000. Boekhoff is one of the world’s premier grinders, but he’s also had success in the brick-and-mortar poker scene, including a 14th place at the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final in 2008.

Grayson “spacegravy” Physioc is another member of Team PokerStars Online. He’s a former winner of the site’s high-stakes $200 rebuy and recently finished as the runner-up in the PokerStars $10,000 Guaranteed for $11,000. Many will remember Nichoel Peppe from her deep run in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, where she took 75th place for $69,000. Known in the online world as “NicP,” the favorite of ESPN’s Main Event coverage now takes per place among the team of PokerStars-backed online poker pros.

Anders “Donald” Berg finished 37th in the 2008 EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final and took down an event held as part of the Irish Winter Festival of Poker in 2005. In November, he won the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $26,000 and, one month prior, took down the site’s $50,000 Guaranteed for $15,000. Berg hails from Norway and is a veteran of the poker industry. You can find him roving the virtual felts of PokerStars as an online team member.

To say that Team PokerStars Online constitutes an eclectic group would be an understatement. Here are its inaugural members, listed alphabetically: Andres Alisievicz (lobojiji), Jorge Arias (JorgeArias), Boumaaza Bachir (Chiren80), Anders Berg (Donald), Alvaro Blanco (VARICO), Thomas Boekhoff (Boku87), Diego Brunelli (vgreen22), Andre Coimbra (acoimbra), Mathew Didlick (chipstar1), Ta-Chih Geeng (socutiesf), Andrew Goetsch (Kid Nebraska), Martha Gonzalez (marene), Keiran Harris (K_Man2307), Steve Jacobs (stevesbets), Randy Lew (nanonoko), Karlo Lopez (elmagopr), Alexey Makarov (LuckyGump), Kristian Martin (CharismA3), Grzegorz Mikielewicz (DaWarsaw), Nichoel Peppe (NicP), Grayson Physioc (spacegravy), Sebastien Sabic (Seb86), and Amanda Thomas (ROXY24).

A press release distributed by PokerStars on Wednesday reveals that Team PokerStars Online will receive new members in 2010. In addition, modifications to the software client’s lobby will allow easier location of PokerStars-sponsored pros when they hop online. A range of games and stakes are represented in the Team PokerStars Online roster.

This weekend, just two days after Christmas, PokerStars is hosting a Guinness World Record attempt for the largest online poker tournament in history. The standing mark is 65,000, set by PokerStars in July, and the site has upped the ante this time around. The record-setting $1 buy-in tournament will kick off at 14:45 ET on Sunday and feature $300,000 in the prize pool. The event will take on a turbo format and first place may see as much as $50,000 come their way for their $1 investment.

PokerStars is the world’s largest online poker site, with a seven-day running average of 28,400 real money ring game players, according to PokerScout.com. During its peak hours, which occur in the evening throughout North America, nearly 50,000 cash game players call the site home. PokerStars happily accepts real money wagers from the United States and is based in the Isle of Man.

Eric Baldwin (basebaldy) Signs with UB, Wins Player of the Year

On Tuesday, 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year winner Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin became a sponsored pro of the USA-friendly online poker site UB.com. He defeated Cornel Andrew Cimpan and Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko in the Player of the Year race.

In April, Baldwin came out on top of the field in a $2,500 No Limit Hold’em event held during the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza and earned $198,000. The colossal six-figure score set up a monumental run at this year’s World Series of Poker (WSOP). Baldwin won his first bracelet by besting Danish pro Jonas Klausen in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em event to the tune of $521,000. About a week later, he grabbed third in the $10,000 buy-in World Championship of Pot Limit Hold’em, boosting his bankroll by another $259,000.

After the 2009 WSOP, Baldwin’s quest to take down the CardPlayer Player of the Year title hit full stride. He told Poker News Daily, “"At the start of the year at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, my friends and I were talking about how much fun it would be to chase after that award. I like the structure of a competition like that. It’s so much fun to me. It gives me a goal and something to work with. At the end of the WSOP, I thought it could be my year." In October, Baldwin final tabled the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic for $126,000. This month, he padded his resume by winning a $1,000 buy-in preliminary event held during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $256,000.

He was rewarded for his efforts with a contract from UB.com, where he’ll play under the moniker “eric_baldwin,” abandoning his “basebaldy” nickname for the time being. On the November re-launch of UB.com, Baldwin told Poker News Daily, “I thought everything looked slick. I like the new logo and everything runs smoothly. I like the new website and the new features with videos of the pros. We’re going to get into some strategy things on the site that will help people a lot. Everything looks slick, runs slick, and it’s exciting.” UB.com makes its home on the CEREUS Network along with Absolute Poker. Both online poker rooms are owned by Tokwiro Enterprises.

Baldwin is a former baseball player from Wisconsin and will appear on this week’s installment of the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite.” He joins a cast of characters at UB.com that already includes Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, PokerRoad’s Joe Sebok, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, Michael Binger, and “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle.

The site’s marquee poker tournament is the $200,000 Guaranteed, a $215 buy-in event that takes place every Sunday at 4:00pm ET. Over the weekend, JohnnyCashGame earned $45,000 for outlasting the 1,014-player field, defeating Bonezee heads-up. All was not lost for Bonezee, however, as the UB.com member received a $27,000 consolation prize. The top 99 players finished in the money and the tournament is also open to customers of Absolute Poker.

In a press release announcing Baldwin’s signing, Duke commented, "Eric Baldwin isn't just a new UB pro, he is UB. Eric loves this game more than anything in the world, he plays to win, and he's respected for his passion at the tables. We really couldn't be more ecstatic to have the Player of the Year on our team." Besides Baldwin, Cimpan, and Timoshenko, others in the top ten on the 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year leaderboard include Vitaly Lunkin, World Poker Tour Five Diamond Champion Daniel Alaei, Jason Mercier, and 2009 WSOP Main Event winner Joe Cada.

According to CardPlayer, Baldwin earned nearly 7,000 Player of the Year Points in 2009 and piled up $1.5 million in earnings.

Scotty Nguyen, Faraz Jaka Lead WPT Five Diamond Final Table

Poker pros Scotty Nguyen and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka lead the final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic playing out from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The six-handed finale will begin at 4:00pm PT today.

Nguyen holds a stack of 4.9 million entering the six-handed televised final table, which will air as part of Season 8 of the WPT on Fox Sports Net. The Five Diamond will mark Nguyen’s eighth WPT final table. His only win of the seven previous appearances came during Season 4, when the pro took down the World Poker Open for $969,000. All told, Nguyen owns $2.1 million in WPT earnings and has been a staple of the tour ever since its first season. Jaka, an acclaimed online poker pro, leads the way at the Bellagio with 5.4 million chips.

Joe Cassidy was the final table bubble boy at the Bellagio. He shoved under the gun for 715,000 and Josh Arieh pushed over the top. Nguyen, in typical dramatic fashion, held his cards (A-Q) high in the air and, according to coverage found on WPT’s website, commented, “Oh baby, I would have called you if he didn't." Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer grew frustrated with the situation, as players were still left to act in the hand, and stated, "How hard is it to keep your cards on the felt? And why am I the only one concerned about it?" Shawn Buchanan called as well, setting up a three-way all-in to determine the six-handed final table.

Arieh flipped over pocket tens, while Buchanan had him dominated with pocket queens. Cassidy, meanwhile, held live cards with K-J and watched as the flop came J-5-4. Buchanan’s wired pair of queens remained in the lead and a running 7-5 sent Cassidy to the rails. Buchanan scooped the massive pot, resulting in a stack of 2.8 million entering the final table. Here’s a look at the chip stacks of the members of the final table in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - 5,385,000
2. Scotty Nguyen - 4,900,000
3. Daniel Alaei - 3,925,000
4. Shawn Buchanan - 2,800,000
5. Josh Arieh - 1,710,000
6. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer - 1,050,000

Others eliminated on Friday included Chad “lilholdem954” Batista, who was sent to the rails in 10th place for $57,000. Batista open-shoved pre-flop with pocket fives and Nguyen made the call with K-J. The flop came king-high and Nguyen turned a third king for trips, sending Batista into the Las Vegas night. Batista recorded his second WPT cash in the process; he took 23rd in the Festa al Lago earlier this year for $24,000.

Carter “ckingusc” King, who chopped the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, was ousted from the WPT Five Diamond in 14th place. King pushed all-in over the top of a raise by 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event Champion John Juanda, who made the call. King showed A-9 and Juanda flipped over pocket sixes, setting up a race situation. The board ran out J-8-4-4-3 and that was all she wrote for King, who earned $47,000 for his troubles.

Friday’s action saw the field trimmed from 16 players to six. Those who fell by the wayside over the course of the day, along with their paydays, were as follows:

7. Joe Cassidy - $154,747
8. Eric Hershler - $107,133
9. Curt Kohlberg - $76,183
10. Chad “lilholdem954” Batista - $57,137
11. John Juanda - $57,137
12. Lee Salem - $57,137
13. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers - $47,615
14. Carter “ckingusc” King - $47,615
15. Matt Waxman - $47,615
16. Joe “BigEgypt” Elpayaa - $38,092

When play paused for the night on Friday, the blinds were 30,000-60,000 with a 5,000-chip ante. The action kicks off at 4:00pm PT today from Las Vegas. We’ll have full WPT results right here on Poker News Daily.

Harrah’s Releases 2010 WSOP Schedule

The 41^st edition of the prestigious series will run May 27-July 17, 2010, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The number of events remains unchanged from last year with buy-ins ranging from $1,000 all the way up to $50,000 for the Player’s Championship.

“Whatever your game and whatever your bankroll, the 2010 WSOP schedule offers something for everyone,” said WSOP tournament director Jack Effel. “We are planning for the largest WSOP ever and look forward to welcoming all players to the Rio in Las Vegas this summer.”

The 2010 WSOP will culminate with the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Championship, which begins July 5 and will reach a final table on July 17.

For the third consecutive year, the final nine players will take a four month long break before reconvening as the November Nine on Nov. 6-9 to play out the final table.

The series will begin with the $50k Player’s Championship on Friday, May 28^th, although players will also have the option of a two-day $1,000 Hold’em tournament that also begins that weekend. There will be a $1,000 two-day Hold’em event in every one of the series’ first five weekends and one more on July 1-2.

The $50K Player’s Championship will effectively replace the $50K H.O.R.S.E. event by adding 2-7 Triple Draw, No-Limit Hold’em and Pot-Limit Hold’em to the mix of games.

The winner will still receive the Chip Reese memorial trophy.

Meanwhile H.O.R.S.E. lovers will benefit from the addition of $10,000 Championship H.O.R.S.E. event in lieu of the former $50k event.

Also new for the year is a $25,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max event, which should draw elite rounders from around the globe.

The rest of the schedule remains largely unchanged with notable tournaments like the Ladies event, Seniors event and Ante Up for Africa all returning.

For the first time ever, the entire convention center at the Rio will be used exclusively for the World Series of Poker with tournaments tables in the 58,000 square foot Pavilion and 38,000 square foot Amazon Room.

The food tent will also see changes as it now becomes an indoor food court in the Miranda Room.

In 2009, the WSOP drew 60,875 players from 115 different counties with $175 million up for grabs.

Pre-registration for the 2010 WSOP is now available on-site at the Main Cage in the Rio and online at WSOP.com.

Click here to see the complete 2010 WSOP schedule.

Online Poker Star Darryll Fish Leads WPT Five Diamond After Day 1

After a month-long hiatus, the World Poker Tour (WPT) returned to action on Monday with the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic. A total of 292 players entered, with registration still open on Day 2, and all but 57 survived the day.

Darryll “DFish” Fish leads the pack after one day of play in Las Vegas, holding a stack of 236,000, a slight lead over the second place total of Jon “PearlJammer” Turner, one of the top minds in poker. Turner holds 227,000 chips and will headline Table 45 on Tuesday, where a cast that includes Chad “lilholdem954” Batista, Absolute Poker pro Mark Seif, and Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby will join him.

Fish made waves on Monday by knocking out defending WPT Five Diamond champion David “Chino” Rheem. Rheem found himself all-in on a flop of 7-5-3 with two hearts holding 6-4 for the stone cold nuts. Fish had pocket threes for bottom set and, rooting for the board to pair to make a full house, watched as the turn came another seven. Fish’s stack grew to over 150,000 after all was said and done in the hand and Rheem hit the rails. Rheem was a member of the inaugural World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine in a final table won by Danish poker pro Peter Eastgate.

Fish has been on a tear online, winning an event held during the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September for well over $200,000. In April, he won the challenging Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday to the tune of $81,000 and three months later found the winner’s circle in the Daily Eighty Grand on PokerStars. Another online poker sensation, Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp, sits in fourth place at the Bellagio with a chip stack of 201,000. Here’s a look at the rather eclectic top ten in the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic after Day 1:

1. Darryl “DFish” Fish - 236,625
2. Jon “PearlJammer” Turner - 227,325
3. David Woo - 205,000
4. Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp - 201,325
5. Carlos Mortensen - 194,525
6. Antonio Esfandiari - 184,225
7. Cory “UGOTPZD” Carroll - 184,025
8. Justin Tazelaar - 169,200
9. Nashaat Antonious - 164,100
10. David “Viffer” Peat - 160,000

Players can register through the midway point on Day 2, so the final attendance figure remains up in the air. As it stands now, however, the field size is off by a staggering 41% from last year’s tally of 497, which ended with Rheem defeating Justin Young for the title in the $15,000 buy-in tournament for $1.5 million. Coverage found on the official website of the WPT adds, “This tournament has more late registrants than most.”

Kopp sent crowd favorite Daniel Negreanu to the rails with pocket jacks against pocket tens. The flop fell J-9-8, giving Kopp top set and Negreanu an open-ended straight draw, but the turn and river bricked out for the PokerStars pro and sent him packing. Also eliminated on Monday was Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, a former Player of the Year on the WPT circuit. Little flopped top two pair on a board of 9-7-3 with two hearts, but Soheil Shamseddin’s K-9 of hearts found a flush. The hand bumped Shamseddin’s stack to 95,000 and he ended the day with 120,000, good for 26th place. Other notable names in the top 50 on the leaderboard after Day 1 include:

11. David Benyamine – 157,000
12. Eric “Rizen” Lynch – 154,000
16. Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke – 145,000
24. Kenna James – 121,000
30. “Miami” John Cernuto – 117,000
33. Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin – 112,000
41. Cornel Andrew Cimpan – 107,000
44. Gavin Smith – 106,000
45. Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire – 105,000

When play concluded on Day 1, blinds were 300-600 with a 50 chip ante. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage from the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

ESPN Ranks Top Poker Players; Phil Ivey Number One

Who is the top all-around poker player in the world? Online or live, cash games or tournaments, whose game reigns supreme over the rest of the industry? According to a panel of experts organized by ESPN.com, the answer is Phil Ivey.

The voting block consisted of ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, along with Bluff’s Lance Bradley and Michael Friedman, Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, and PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington. Each of us was asked to name our top ten players in the poker world irrespective of whether we were talking about online or live play, tournaments, cash games, or game type. In the end, the first ever list of “The Nuts” was compiled.

Topping the chart was Ivey, the seventh place finisher in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Ivey won two bracelets in preliminary tournaments leading up to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, one in Deuce to Seven Lowball and one in Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low. He owns seven bracelets and over $5 million in career WSOP earnings. Coupled with nearly $3 million in high-stakes cash game winnings off Swedish poker pro Isildur1 alone, Ivey makes a strong case as the top name in the business. Out of the seven pollsters, six chose Ivey as their top dog. The lone exception was yours truly.

My pick for best poker player today was Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. While players like Ivey have been successful, Timoshenko has dominated high-profile events. In April, Timoshenko took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million, one year after winning the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau Main Event. He finished 25th in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event and proved his online prowess by winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $1.7 million in September. He followed that performance up with a victory in the Full Tilt $1K Monday. His stakes aren’t as high in cash games as Ivey’s, but he’s also not a member of Team Full Tilt.

Second overall on “The Nuts” was Patrik Antonius. Another participant in the high-stakes games against Isildur1, Antonius lays claim to winning the largest pot in online poker history, $1.3 million, set last month. Friedman noted, “I know this may be controversial, but I think Antonius may be the best online cash game player out there at the moment.” Going against Antonius is his lackluster performance in tournaments; he has not turned in a live score of over $20,000 since May of 2008, according to HendonMob.com.

Rounding out the top three was Daniel Negreanu, who was not ranked by Poker News Daily. Negreanu has final tabled the Main Event of WSOP Europe in back-to-back years and recorded eight in the money finishes in the Las Vegas series in 2009. Negreanu has been actively involved on televised poker programs like “High Stakes Poker” and the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” serving as one of the game’s top ambassadors. His cash game accolades seem less obvious than Ivey’s and Antonius’, who Poker News Daily ranked as #3 and #6, respectively.

So who did the seven pollsters rank in the first ever edition of ESPN’s “The Nuts”? Here is the illustrious list of today’s top poker players:

1. Phil Ivey
2. Patrik Antonius
3. Daniel Negreanu
4. Tom “durrrr” Dwan
5. Barry Greenstein
6. Jason Mercier
7. Jeffrey Lisandro
8. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
9. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
10. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko

Others who received votes included Tommy Vedes, Isildur1, J.C. Tran, Allen Cunningham, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Michael Binger, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, David “The Dragon” Pham, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Antoine Saout, Brian Townsend, Brock “t soprano” Parker, and Matt Hawrilenko. Check out the full ESPN list for more details on each player selected.

What do you think? Should Ivey have been number one? Leave a comment here and let us know!

Top 10 Poker Players Right Now

When it comes to listing top 10 of poker players, I’m sure that if 100 person would make the list, there would be 100 different lists of players. Still, there are some players that almost everybody would put in their list.

So this list is not the top 10 of all time, but the top 10 of players who have achieved great success recently. From bottom to top, espn top 10 list looks like this:

10. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. Timoshenko has been on a tear recently, winning both live and online tournaments, WPT Championship tournament, WCOOP main event and $1K Monday win among them.

9. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. One of the best online cash game players in the world, who consistently wins in nosebleed games at Full Tilt Poker. Has been having a rough year in 2009 though and there for he shouldn’t be listed here.

8. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Former Starcraft professional, who won Two World Championship of Online Poker titles in September 2009. Has won over 2 millions in tournaments this year live and online.

7. Jeffrey Lisandro. Won three WSOP bracelets this year and the POY rankings of WSOP 2009. Master of seven card games of poker.

6. Jason Mercier. A tournament poker powerhouse who had another great year in 2009. Nine final tables in 2009, which resulted in four wins and two runner-up finishes.

5. Barry Greenstein. “The Bear” is a familiar figure playing the biggest cash games in the world at Bobby’s Room, but he can also put together good results in tournaments. Greenstein managed to cash 13 in 2009 including seven at the 2009 WSOP.

4. Tom “durrrr” Dwan. One of the most creative poker players in the world. Dwan is an online poker legend, but after losing over six million dollars in November, he shouldn’t really be on this list.

3. Daniel Negreanu. The all-time tournament winnings leader and the master of small ball poker. Managed to make it to the final table of the WSOP Europe Main event second year in a row, finishing in second place after couple tough bad beats.

2. Patrik Antonius. Antonius is a no-brainer on this list. Antonius is a player who Andrew Feldman thinks is “maybe the best online cash game player out there at the moment”. I agree.

1. Phil Ivey. If Antonius was an obvious pick, Phil Ivey is even more. Ivey is the player who everybody who knew anything about poker would pick in their top 10 list. Didn’t win the WSOP Main Event, but managed take few millions out of Isildur1 in last weeks. The best poker player in the world overall.

Ivey is the number one.

As I said in the beginning, it is hard to list poker players, but I thinks this list has couple obvious flaws. It is not fair to have Galfond and Dwan listed in a “who’s hot” list when they obviously are not hot. Why Joe Cada is not listed, he just won the most coveted title in the poker world?

In my opinion, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies should be on this list instead of Galfond and Brian Townsend instead of Dwan, but not necessarily on same places on the list. Both made huge profit in November and arguably are the players who are hot right now in online poker world.

Source

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Top 10 Poker Players Right Now

Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin to Judge Miss California Teen USA

First, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso signs up to be a judge on the E! reality competition show “Bank of Hollywood.” Now, Absolute Poker Pro Matt Vengrin is following suit and branching out, serving as a judge in the upcoming Miss California Teen USA pageant.  The event, which wraps up Sunday, will determine who will succeed reigning Miss California Teen USA Chelsea Gilligan of Beaumont.

“As a poker player, I know how fierce competition can be,” said Vengrin in a statement from Absolute Poker.  “Just like playing in the World Series of Poker (WSOP), these girls are in for a grueling, but fun weekend, and I’m excited to be an integral part of the experience.”

Fittingly for Vengrin, the event is taking place at the Agua Caliente Casino in Rancho Mirage.  The casino’s theater, called “The Show,” played host to the preliminary rounds of the competition on Saturday and the finals are taking place Sunday afternoon.  Though the completion did not get underway until this weekend, the pageant contestants have been preparing for the event for months, including an October orientation in Palm Springs and preliminary interviews at the Riviera Resort this past Friday.

According to the Miss California organization’s official website, Vengrin and the other judges will be evaluating the contestants based on their performance in the interview, evening gown, and swimsuit competitions.  The site lists judging criteria as “character, poise, confidence, and personality.”  The winner will represent the Golden State at the Miss Teen USA pageant, which will take place in the summer of 2010.  The current Miss Teen USA crown holder is Stormi Henley of Tennessee.

This latest appearance is another boon for Vengrin in what has been a landmark year for the online poker pro.  Earlier this year, he parted ways with Full Tilt Poker, which signed him to a Red Pro sponsorship agreement.  In June, news broke that Vengrin was a new spokesperson for Absolute Poker.  Other sponsored pros on the Absolute Poker roster include Lacey Jones and recently-signed “Real World: Las Vegas” alum Trishelle Cannatella.

In September, Vengrin, who plays online under the screen names “plattsburgh” and “vengmoney,” made waves in this year’s PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) by making three final tables, which was enough to tie him with WCOOP Player of the Series Dan “djk123” Kelly for most in that department.  Over the course of 2009, Vengrin has racked up more than $250,000 in online tournament winnings and recently had a deep run in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic, where he finished in 27th place and won $21,327.

The New York native has had his fair share of live poker success as well, most notably a third place finish in a $3,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Event at the 2008 WSOP.  Vengrin netted $167,973 for his finish and his lifetime live poker tournament winnings are at almost a half-million dollars.

Vengrin’s participation with the pageant is not the first time poker and beauty queens have crossed paths.  Poker players like Clonie Gowen and Tiffany Michelle are both former pageant contestants; Gowen held the title of Miss Teen McAlester, Oklahoma in her youth.

2010 WSOP Schedule Leaked, Features Eight $1,000 Events

In posts that appeared on the online poker forums PocketFives.com and TwoPlusTwo.com, a preliminary 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) schedule may have been leaked. The link to the schedule has since been removed.

A total of 57 events are on the docket for the festivities at the Rio in Las Vegas in 2010, the same number that panned out this year. In 2009, one open $1,000 buy-in event was held, the so-called “Stimulus Special.” The schedule leaked this week, however, includes six $1,000 buy-in open events, which, when combined with the Ladies’ and Seniors’ Championships, bring the grand total to eight.

Absent from the leaked schedule is the $50,000 buy-in HORSE Championship, which may instead come with a $10,000 price in 2010. Last year, David Bach defeated a field of 95 players in the $50,000 buy-in version to the tune of $1.2 million. The year before, Scotty Nguyen barreled through a 148 player field to come out on top in dubious fashion, as he was allegedly inebriated at the final table. The 2010 schedule instead features a yet-to-be-described $50,000 buy-in event called “The Player’s World Championship.” Some posters have speculated that this would take on the form of a seven or eight-game mix.

Following a trend that has appeared in events like the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) and PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), a high-stakes six-handed tournament may be on the docket for this year’s WSOP. The leaked schedule includes a $25,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event beginning on June 30th that would likely produce one of the most competitive fields of all-time.

Here is the schedule leaked to major online poker forums. Note that WSOP officials have released no official information; the 2009 slate of events was divulged in January:

Friday, May 28th
Event #1: Casino Employees No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $500

Friday, May 28th
Event #2: The Player’s World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $50,000

Saturday, May 29th
Event #3: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Sunday, May 30th
Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, May 31st
Event #5: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 1st
Event #7: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 1st
Event #6: No Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wednesday, June 2nd
Event #8: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 3rd
Event #9: Pot Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 3rd
Event #10: World Championship Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Friday, June 4th
Event #11: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 4th
Event #12: Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Saturday, June 5th
Event #13: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 5th
Event #14: 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Sunday, June 6th
Event #15: World Championship Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 7th
Event #16: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 8th
Event #17: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Wednesday, June 9th
Event #18: Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,000

Wednesday, June 9th
Event #19: World Championship 2-7 Draw Lowball
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thursday, June 10th
Event #20: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 10th
Event #21: Seven Card Stud
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 11th
Event #22: Ladies No Limit Hold’em World Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Friday, June 11th
Event #23: Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Saturday, June 12th
Event #24: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 12th
Event #25: World Championship Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 14th
Event #26: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, June 14th
Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Tuesday, June 15th
Event #28: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 15th
Event #29: World Championship Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Wednesday, June 16th
Event #30: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 16th
Event #31: H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, June 17th
Event #32: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Thursday, June 17th
Event #33: Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Friday, June 18th
Event #34: Seniors No Limit Hold’em Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Friday, June 18th
Event #35: World Championship Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Saturday, June 19th
Event #36: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 19th
Event #37: H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Sunday, June 20th
Event #38: World Championship Pot Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Monday, June 21st
Event #39: No Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, June 21st
Event #40: Seven Card Razz
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Tuesday, June 22nd
Event #41: Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 23rd
Event #42: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Wednesday, June 23rd
Event #43: World Championship H.O.R.S.E.
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Thursday, June 24th
Event #44: Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No Limit)
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Friday, June 25th
Event #45: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Friday, June 25th
Event #46: Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Saturday, June 26th
Event #47: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Saturday, June 26th
Event #48: Mixed Event
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, June 28th
Event #49: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Monday, June 28th
Event #50: Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000

Tuesday, June 29th
Event #51: Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000

Wednesday, June 30th
Event #52: No Limit Hold’em/Six-Handed
No Rebuy/Add-ons $25,000

Wednesday, June 30th
Event #53: Limit Hold’em Shootout
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500

Thursday, July 1st
Event #54: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,000

Thursday, July 1st
Event #55: World Championship Pot Limit Omaha
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Friday, July 2nd
Event #56: No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500

Monday, July 5th
Event #57: World Championship No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $10,000

Zhivago2, Obiedman Win FTOPS XIV Poker Titles

Full Tilt Poker’s 14th installment of its Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) came to a close Monday morning when a champion was crowned in the $535 buy-in Main Event. Austria’s “zhivago2” outlasted a record-setting field to earn a payday of $418,839 and the gold FTOPS jersey.

Full Tilt’s newest team member, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, hosted what would ultimately be the largest Main Event in FTOPS history, attracting 5,471 players for a prize pool of $2,735,500. Nearly 70 Full Tilt Red Pros took part in the historic event, with Dave Colclough’s 250th place finish topping them all. Brandon Adams, Jeff Madsen, Gary Jones, and Soren Kongsgaard were the other Red Pros to make the money.

Former Full Tilt Red Pro Adam Junglen was the biggest name to reach the final table, which got underway at around 7:00am ET after an exhausting 11 hours of play. Junglen entered the final table third in chips, trailing “kinheim” and eventual champion zhivago2. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette was fourth in chips as the final nine was formed, but the online pro was sent to the rail in sixth place when he got all of his chips in on a 9s-8d-6s board with 9d-3d against the 9h-7h of “ItsTime2Win.” The better kicker held up and Touchette exited with $90,271.50.

After kinheim (fifth place, $131,167) and “dfunks222” (fourth place, $175,072) were eliminated, the final three players agreed to a deal that would secure a payout of at least $290,000 for each of them. With some extra money set aside for the winner, Junglen and zhivago2 got tangled up in a pre-flop raising war that would end the pro’s tournament life. ItsTime2Win raised from the button, zhivago2 called, and Junglen three-bet to 1.4 million from the big blind. ItsTime2Win folded and zhivago2 put the pressure on Junglen by moving all-in. Junglen called with pocket sixes and was in a race against zhivago2’s Qs-Jh. The Jd-8h-5d flop left Junglen needing help, but the turn and river were of no assistance and he collected $290,418 for his third place finish.

zhivago2 took a sizable lead into heads-up play and was able to finish off ItsTime2Win after a lengthy match. On the final hand, zhivago2 bet two million on a 9h-5c-2d board and ItsTime2Win moved all-in for around 11 million. zhivago2 called with pocket jacks and was in great shape against the Ac-3c of ItsTime2Win. The 6c and 3h came on the turn and river, respectively, and zhivago2 was the new FTOPS Main Event champion. ItsTime2Win earned $316,554 as the runner-up.

Here’s a look at the final results from the FTOPS XIV Main Event:

1. zhivago2 – $418,839.16
2. ItsTime2Win – $316,554.40
3. Adam Junglen – $290,418.94
4. dfunks222 – $175,072
5. kinheim – $131,167.23
6. Andrew “bankrollme87″ Touchette – $90,271.50
7. nuts7878 – $58,813.25
8. Valuechecking – $41,032.50
9. Dr Fill Good – $28,722.75

The biggest prize of the FTOPS XIV series went to “obiedman,” who won the Two-Day $2,500+$120 No Limit Hold’em Event #22 on Sunday. A 938-player field of the best online tournament players in the world participated to create a prize pool of $2,345,000.

Full Tilt Red Pro Gary Jones had the chip lead late into the tournament and earned a seat at the final table, but found himself short with four players remaining and moved his remaining stack in with Ad-3c. “Timvd20” called with pocket fours and the pair held up to eliminate Jones in fourth place for $193,463. Timvd20 was the next player to hit the rail after losing much of his stack to obiedman and then running pocket threes into the pocket aces of “Supa4real.”

An entertaining heads-up ended with each player holding trip queens on a Qc-Qd-9d board. However, obiedman’s Js kicker bested the 10s kicker of his opponent and obiedman made a full house with the Jc on the river to win the Event #22 title and $539,350. Supa4real, who also final tabled the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Two-Day Main Event in September, earned his largest online cash to date of $340,025.

Here are the results from FTOPS XIV Event #22:

1. obiedman – $539,350
2. Supa4real – $340,025
3. Timvd20 – $252,088
4. Gary Jones – $193,463
5. the_real_magic – $146,563
6. TheAlligatorNo1 – $105,525
7. Ahvall – $70,350
8. DanOBrien – $54,873
9. Rabbit_hunterSA – $39,865

Thorsson wins 2009 Amsterdam Master Classics

To book the win, Thorsson had to get by former Dutch field hockey player Fatima Moreira de Melo, a PokerStars SportStars, consistent Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Thierry van den Berg and English Full Tilt Pro Ben Roberts.

Moreira de Melo came to the final table as one of the medium stacks, but wasted no time trying to chip up.

The Olympic gold medalist got unlucky when her pocket kings failed to get past an opponent's A-Q and shortly after, she made an ill-timed shove for the last of her chips to end up the first elimination at the final table.

Moreira de Melo took home €32,832 for coming in ninth place, her first cash on the International poker circuit.

The next  to bust was Roberts, who made a move with Q-3 and got called down. Van den Berg would soon follow after losing a race with pocket jacks versus A-Q.

Thorsson had entered the final table second in chips and never let up in his journey to the title.

He busted Tim van de Riet, Nicklas Saarisilta and Andras Nemeth on his way to a heads-up match against Turkish player Saydam Ozgur.

Although the Master Classics of Poker was his first major live tournament score, Thorsson has racked up hundreds of thousands in online winnings.

Playing under the screen name Sumpas, Thorsson won a World Championship of Online Poker title in September taking down the $10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Rollers event for $600,000.

The 2009 Amsterdam Master Classics of Poker took place Nov. 10-13 at the Holland Casino. The €6,000 buy-in event drew 342 players creating an overall prize pool of just over €2 million.

Here are the complete final table payouts:

1. Kristoffer Thorsson - €636,120
2. Saydam Ozgur - €365,256
3. Nicklas Saarisilta - €211,356
4. Andras Nemeth - €135,432
5. Tim van de Riet - €108,756
6. Kenny Hallaert - €86,184
7. Theirry van den Berg - €65,664
8. Ben Roberts - €45,144
9. Fatima Moreira de Melo - €32,832

Rousso to appear on E! reality show

Bank of Hollywood, set to premier on the E! network this December, will feature a panel of celebrities taking pitches from Americans who are in need of cash.

Every week the show will give money to the contestant they feel is most deserving.

Rousso will appear as a panel member on the show, which is being produced by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.

Other panel members include Pussy Cat Dolls singer Melody Thornton, author and wife of TV producer aaron Spelling, Candy Spelling and Wilhelmina Models president Sean Patterson. Each panelist will give away their own money with amounts starting at $2,000.

Vanessa Rousso burst onto the poker scene with a deep run in the 2006 World Poker Tour World Championship eventually bubbling the final table for $263,625.

Since then Rousso has become one of the most prominent members of Team PokerStars Pro and has appeared in ads for the site across the globe.

Her largest score to date came after winning the 2009 Monte Carlo High Rollers Event for $749,467.

The eight-episode Bank of Hollywood will debut at 10 p.m. ET on Dec. 14, 2009.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Cast Released, Kara Scott Confirmed as Co-Host

In a press release distributed by cable station GSN on Thursday, Kara Scott was confirmed to be the new co-host of “High Stakes Poker,” replacing A.J. Benza. In addition, a list of 17 players was revealed.

Scott replaced Benza, who had flanked “Welcome Back, Kotter” star Gabe Kaplan in the “High Stakes Poker” announcing booth for the first five seasons. Scott’s role will not be play-by-play; instead, the television personality and expert poker player will “report from the High Stakes Poker suite, interviewing poker players about poker strategy, big hands, and the table dynamics,” according to network officials. The show will take on the same feel as NBC’s “Poker After Dark” for its sixth season. The two franchises are produced by the same company, Poker PROductions.

Season 6 of “High Stakes Poker” will begin airing on Valentine’s Day – Sunday, February 14th, 2010 – at 8:00pm ET. Encore presentations will air at 11:00pm ET and 2:00am ET on Sunday nights, meaning that poker fans have three chances to catch new episodes every week. Each of its contestants coughed up $200,000 of their own money as a minimum buy-in.

Five players are making their first appearance on “High Stakes Poker,” including Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. The youngster has been on a tear on the live poker circuit despite only weighing in at 21 years of age. Timoshenko was born in the Ukraine and won the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million. In September, Timoshenko took down the Main Event of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) for another $1.7 million and is a former winner of the Asian Poker Tour’s (APT) Macau feature tournament.

Also making his debut on GSN’s “High Stakes Poker” is Dennis Phillips, who gained notoriety by making back-to-back deep runs in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Last year, Phillips finished third in the $10,000 buy-in gala for $4.5 million after entering the final table as the chip leader. Phillips came armed to the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio with a throng of followers donning red St. Louis Cardinals baseball caps and white button up shirts. This year, Phillips finished 45th for $178,000 after being sent to the rails when an opponent made a flush with A-K suited; Phillips also held A-K.

High-stakes cash game player Sammy George will be right at home in the Golden Nugget when filming of the GSN poker franchise kicks off next week. George, who has earned the nickname “Any Two,” was scheduled to face off against Tom Dwan in the live version of the Durrrr Challenge in London back in September. However, the festivities never took place, although organizer Eddie Hearn noted that the mano-a-mano live contest may occur in December in Las Vegas. Dwan will take to the felts once again as part of “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 after making his debut last season.

Returning to “High Stakes Poker” after a two season hiatus is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who currently appears on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.” Ivey last appeared on the GSN series back in Season 3 and is seeking his third WSOP bracelet of 2009 when the Main Event resumes on Saturday from the Rio. Ivey has career tournament winnings in excess of $12 million and is the horse of many pros in this weekend’s Main Event final table.

Andreas Hoivold and Lex Veldhuis will both be appearing on “High Stakes Poker” for the first time during Season 6. Returning to the program are Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Allan Meltzer, and Daniel Negreanu. The season will once again be taped at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas from November 11th to 13th.

PokerStars Baltic Festival crowns a champion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Absolute Poker sponsoring 7 Deadly Sins party

The party is scheduled to take place this Saturday at exclusive new Spanish-style club Marbella in Hollywood.

The night will be composed of seven different elements, each one meant to emulate the biblical seven deadly sins.

Absolute Poker will take care of the Greed aspect by transforming the Marbello Bank into the “Royal Casino.”

Vengrin will act as the host while guests try their luck at craps, blackjack and poker to win prizes.

Vengrin, who used to be known by the online alias Plattsburg, has amassed over two million in his poker career playing both live and online. He most recently went deep in the 2009 WSOP $10,000 World Championship PLO event to cash for $25,816.

The other six sins will include Gluttony sponsored by Hooters, Lust by Bangtime Clothing, Wrath by MMA Worldwide, Vanity by Runway Magazine, Envy by the feature film Farm House and Sloth by BAMMA USA.

The 7 Deadly Sins Halloween Spectacular is produced by the Artist Movement’s Andreas Counnas and expected to sell out. Tickets are available here.

Visit PokerListings.com

Absolute Poker sponsoring 7 Deadly Sins party

The party is scheduled to take place this Saturday at exclusive new Spanish-style club Marbella in Hollywood.

The night will be composed of seven different elements, each one meant to emulate the biblical seven deadly sins.

Absolute Poker will take care of the Greed aspect by transforming the Marbello Bank into the “Royal Casino.”

Vengrin will act as the host while guests try their luck at craps, blackjack and poker to win prizes.

Vengrin, who used to be known by the online alias Plattsburg, has amassed over two million in his poker career playing both live and online. He most recently went deep in the 2009 WSOP $10,000 World Championship PLO event to cash for $25,816.

The other six sins will include Gluttony sponsored by Hooters, Lust by Bangtime Clothing, Wrath by MMA Worldwide, Vanity by Runway Magazine, Envy by the feature film Farm House and Sloth by BAMMA USA.

The 7 Deadly Sins Halloween Spectacular is produced by the Artist Movement’s Andreas Counnas and expected to sell out. Tickets are available here.

Visit PokerListings.com