Poker News

L.A. Poker Classic Unique Opening Event Draws Sizeable Field

Poker tournament participation has recently been holding steady or, in some cases, even showing a decline in many American casinos. The opening event of this year’s L.A. Poker Classic has bucked this trend.

The L.A. Poker Classic, held annually at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, is recognized as one of the preeminent tournament events on the yearly schedule. It opened up play on January 20th with one of the more unusual events on its 51 tournament slate. The $300 buy in No Limit Hold’em event featured a guaranteed $1 million prize pool, which automatically ensures that a deep field will contend for the championship.  Tournament director Matt Savage, who has been lauded for his tweaking of tournaments since he took over as the main man at the Commerce last year, had another surprise in store for the Commerce contestants.

For the opening tournament, Savage scheduled four Day Ones and. Players who were eliminated on any of the first three Day Ones could enter again. With the ability to reenter the tournament, players were highly aggressive over the first three days of competition. Savage’s innovation for the first event on the L.A. Poker Classic schedule led to one of the largest tournament fields outside of a World Series of Poker (WSOP) event in history.

After the carnage of the first four days was completed, a total of 3,791 “unique” players had entered the event, according to a Tweet from Savage. Of those original entries, another 2,083 buy ins were received from players who had been eliminated, but felt they still had a chance at taking down the tournament. When Day Two of the tournament began on Sunday, 5,847 buy ins were recorded, eclipsing the guarantee by over $754,000.

With 3,791 players into the tournament, 540 took away at least $600 for their troubles; however, the majority of the prize pool was divvied up on Day Two. The 72 players who survived the first four days would earn a minimum of $1,980 for their efforts. Leading the way was Tim Telesio of Moreno Valley, California, but he was hotly pursued by several top Los Angeles pros such as Michael Woo, Cuong Nguyen, and Gevork Kasabyan.

The battle for the final table raged well into Monday morning. Nguyen and Kasabyan were victims of the early action on Sunday, but Woo was able to drive to the final table and finished in sixth place. Taking the championship early on Monday was Darrell Cain, who started the day in 25th place. Cain, who calls Sacramento home, was able to defeat Rocky River, Ohio’s Michael Blocksidge in heads-up action to win the “Bronco Buster” trophy (based on the Frederic Remington bronze statue of the same name) and the first place prize of $363,936.

Savage’s innovative tournaments will not be limited to just the opening event of this year’s L.A. Poker Classic. In an attempt to cater to players of all disciplines of poker, Savage has brought such games as Badugi, Chinese Poker, and an Eight-Game Mixed event to center stage at the Commerce during the L.A. Poker Classic. Perhaps Savage’s best innovation, however, is the Ironman Tournament.

The Ironman Tournament, which will be played on February 21st, is a creation from what some would say is the more sadistic side of Savage’s mind. In the $2,000 event, there are no breaks, whether for personal reasons or meals. A player can leave the table at any time, but the player continues to be dealt and blinds are posted appropriately. Play continues until a champion is determined, with the winner taking 50% of the prize pool and a seat into the World Poker Tour (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic Championship Event. No deals are allowed and a security guard stationed outside of the restroom ensures that everyone washes their hands.

The innovative Ironman Tournament was a success when it was unveiled last September. Savage debuted the concept during last year’s Commerce Casino Hold’em Series and 64 players took to the felt for the tournament. After over 19 hours of play, Brett Radin walked away with the $51,160 first prize, defeating a field that included 2009 CardPlayer Player of the Year Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Gavin Griffin, Matt “mattg1983” Graham, and defending WPT L.A. Poker Championship winner Cornel Andrew Cimpan.

Savage’s reputation for staging the best poker tournaments in the game today, as well as his innovative game creations, should have the L.A. Poker Classic on the minds of anyone connected to the poker world. The tournament schedule currently in action continues play through the month of February and will end the first week of March with the completion of the WPT Championship Event.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. A Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now sitting with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

WPT Season 8 Debuts on Fox Sports Net

On Sunday night at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net, the eighth season of the World Poker Tour (WPT) kicked off. Part one of the WPT Bellagio Cup V aired, featuring a talented final table headlined by Full Tilt Poker pro Erik Seidel.

The show can be seen in high-definition where available and Full Tilt Poker sponsors the eighth season of the WPT. To close out 2009, Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker, purchased the rights to the roving tournament series. Nevertheless, a Full Tilt Poker logo once again was superimposed onto the center of the felt and numerous ads for the site and its main competitor, PokerStars, aired during the Fox Sports Net broadcast. Logos for WPT Boot Camp and WPT Mobile appeared on the inner rung of the table.

The flag of each player’s home country appeared in a graphic during player introductions and, as has been a staple of the WPT since it debuted in 2003, tournament facts, hand updates, and player nuggets appeared on the lower third of the screen. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka came into the Bellagio Cup V final table as the chip leader, with a $1.2 million grand prize on the line plus a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship. The Bellagio Cup V marked the 21st consecutive WPT tournament with a $1 million-plus first place prize at the famed Las Vegas casino.

Brazilian Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro, was quick to build his chip stack at the six-handed final table. Jaka raised it up to 65,000 pre-flop with 9-8 and Gomes made the call with 10-6 of diamonds from the big blind. The flop came Q-9-3, giving Jaka middle pair, and the action went check-check to a jack on the turn. Now with an open-ended straight draw, Gomes bet 90,000 and Jaka called. The river was a deuce and, despite holding a busted draw, Gomes bet 110,000 and Jaka folded.

Seidel is the only player ever to cash in all eight seasons of the WPT and the Bellagio Cup marked his 18th in the money finish overall. Jaka, meanwhile, earned his moniker “The-Toilet” by commonly playing suited cards early on his career and making an inordinate number of flushes.

In a major hand, the two tangled with former DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli, who made it 75,000 pre-flop with A-5. Jaka called with A-J and Seidel came along with 10-9. The flop came 8-A-J, giving Jaka top two pair, but the action checked around. The turn was an eight, pairing the board, and Torelli led out for 100,000. Jaka and Seidel both called to see a seven hit on the river, giving Seidel a miracle straight. Jaka bet 200,000, Seidel made it 500,000, and everyone got out of the way.

Poker Hall of Fame member Mike Sexton, co-host of the WPT along with Vince Van Patten since Season 1, was once again able to interject strategy into the broadcast. Torelli flopped a set and checked, while Swedish pro Christoffer Sonesson bet 115,000 with top pair. Torelli raised to 305,000 and Sonesson promptly mucked, leaving Sexton to comment, “This hand is an example of why many top pros would say that when you flop a set, in the long-run, you’ll make more money by leading out and betting.”

In a key hand, Justin “Boosted J” Smith raised to 80,000 pre-flop with A-J and Seidel made the call with J-8 from the big blind. The flop came 8-K-A, giving each player a pair, and Seidel check-called a bet of 110,000. Both players checked a three on the turn to bring a king on the river. Seidel checked and Smith pushed all-in for 950,000 into a pot of just over 400,000. Seidel tanked for quite a while, Sexton pointed out the overbet, and Seidel finally folded.

Seidel bled even more chips after calling a raise by Jaka to 100,000 holding pocket nines. Jaka had K-10 and the flop came 3-10-K, giving him top two pair. Seidel checked, Jaka bet 135,000, Seidel raised it up to 375,000, and Jaka called after asking for a count. The turn was a four. Seidel fired again, this time 700,000, and Jaka called. Sexton noted, “The reason Erik is betting here is because his opponent didn’t re-raise him.” The river was a deuce. Seidel check-called a value bet of 500,000 and the 3.4 million chip pot was pushed towards Jaka.

WPT Season 8 can be seen on Sundays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for details.

Scott Starts Aussie Millions Defense

But being AUD$2 million wealthier isn’t the only thing that’s different for Scott. In fact, his life has changed almost completely.

“Coming to a place like Crown or any casino in Australia, pretty much everybody recognizes me,” he told PokerListings as he began the defense of his Aussie Millions title Monday. “I get asked for autographs, which is pretty cool.”

Scott said walking into Crown to take a run at back-to-back titles also feels a lot different than it did walking into the poker room an unknown in 2009.

“It’s completely different obviously,” he said. “Now you’ve got posters of me everywhere and stuff. I get to wear the bracelet this time and I come in as a totally new guy. I’m a poker professional this time. I mean, I’ve been playing for a long time, but now I really feel like I’m part of the whole tournament.”

Since winning the title, Scott has also picked up a sponsorship contract with PartyPoker and has been representing the brand at big-time tournaments all over the globe over the past 12 months, including booking a six-figure score when he made the final table of a $5k prelim at the WPT Championship in Las Vegas this past April.

Add that experience to the win in Melbourne last year and he feels like he’s coming into the 2010 Aussie Millions more prepared than ever.

“I’ve gathered a lot of experience this year playing around the world in a lot of big tournaments and that’s valuable coming into a tournament like this,” he said. “It’s a huge stage again, but I’ve been through it so many times this year, the nerves are gone and you are just here to play and do your best.

“That’s all you can ask for, is to just do your best, and I think I’m going to do that this year.”

But while doing his best is all anyone can ask of Scott, there’s no doubt he’s here do more than just show up.

“I’m not here to fuck spiders,” he said. “I’m here for one thing. I’m here for the bracelet and I’m totally focused on that.”

That said, Scott said he understands a tournament like the Aussie Millions can’t be won on Day 1 and he’s prepared to play patiently.

“When you play Day 1, you just focus on getting through Day 1, one thing at a time,” he said. “The ultimate goal is obviously to ship it again, but for now I’m just trying to stay out a trouble and see if I can build a stack by the end of the day.”

To follow Stewart Scott’s title defense and all the action from the 2010 Aussie Millions, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates throughout the week.

Timoshenko Added to Premier League Roster

“It is fantastic to be invited and I'm very happy to be competing in this tournament against the world’s best,” said Timoshenko, who joins an elite list of competing players that includes 2008 winner J.C. Tran and PartyPoker spokesperson Mike Sexton.

“He has completely taken the poker world by storm,” Sexton said of the Washington State resident who won the WPT Championship in Season 7. “I think he is an excellent addition to the Premier League line-up.”

The chance for one PartyPoker qualifier to join Timoshenko at the $1.5 million event in Las Vegas this February still exists, with PartyPoker moving its final main $450+$30 online qualifier ahead one week to this Sunday Jan. 10 at 3:20 ET.

A total of 16 qualifiers will all fly out to Las Vegas to play in a Premier League Poker play-off to see which one of the 16 will join the line-up of 11 pros at Premier League Poker IV.

One of those players will also be chosen by PartyPoker to receive a $100,000 Team Party sponsorship within two weeks of the event. Some country specific satellites also remain available Sunday Jan. 17 under the “specials” tab in the PartyPoker lobby.

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
  

Grand Prix de Paris Returns to World Poker Tour

From May 8th to 13th, the World Poker Tour (WPT) will return to the Aviation Club for the Grand Prix de Paris. The €10,000 buy-in tournament will be filmed for television and beamed around the world.

The Aviation Club opened back in 1907 and makes its home on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, the city’s famous boulevard. The cozy club’s poker consultant, Bruno Fitoussi, commented in a press release distributed by the WPT, "The Aviation Club de France is delighted to welcome back a WPT event in Paris. The WPT Grand Prix de Paris is guaranteed to be a high-class tournament in the highlights of the international poker scene and will, for sure, attract players from all around the world."

The 2010 visit to the Aviation Club marks the first WPT event in Paris since 2006. That year, Christian Grundtvig defeated Finnish poker player Jani Sointula to take home the Grand Prix de Paris title and its corresponding €712,500 first place prize. Sointula earned a €356,250 consolation prize and others at the final table included Thomas Wahlroos (third place for €243,750), Henrik Witt (fourth place for €168,750), Phil Yeh (fifth place for €131,250), and Pat Schuhl (sixth place for €93,750). A total of 232 players entered and the top 27 finished in the money.

Land-based satellites for the 2010 WPT Grand Prix de Paris will kick off on May 1st at the Aviation Club. Adam Pliska, President of the WPT, told Poker News Daily, "France is an important part of WPT's world and will continue to be key for WPT as it expands across Europe and beyond. While WPT's television shows continue to expand their global reach, the introduction of non-televised events will also provide WPT and its partners with even more opportunities to connect with its consumers.” Earlier this year, the WPT was sold to Party Gaming, the parent company of the popular site PartyPoker.

In 2005, Roland de Wolfe bested Juha Helppi in the Grand Prix de Paris, outlasting a field of 160 players. That year, Alan Goehring also made the final table, taking sixth place for €74,950. The 2004 installment was perhaps the most memorable, as it featured runner-up Tony G lambasting eventual winner Surinder Sunar. The Club’s layout was unique in that the assembled audience watched the action from the final table in an adjacent area via television monitors.

Lyndsay Lagree, Senior Public Relations Manager for the WPT, added, “We're thrilled to be back in France for the WPT Grand Prix de Paris. WPT looks forward to building on its longstanding relationship with Aviation Club de France and to welcoming many poker fans through its doors.” The first WPT Grand Prix de Paris took place in 2003 and saw David Benyamine best Jan Boubli for the title. Also at the final table was Full Tilt Poker pro Erick Lindgren, then a relative unknown. Lindgren recorded his second WPT cash at the Paris poker tournament, earning €53,600 during the Season 2 stop.

The Grand Prix de Paris comes one month after the WPT Championship at the Bellagio, the $25,000 buy-in end-of-season event, and the French feature tournament includes two starting days. In March, WPT staff will head to Bucharest for an event at the Regent Casino. The WPT Bucharest Main Event boasts a €3,300 buy-in and begins on March 27th.

Also to be held during the Grand Prix de Paris is a €20,000 buy-in High Roller event that begins on May 15th and runs for three days. WPT representatives noted that French gaming regulations were to blame for the tournament series’ absence from the Aviation Club for the last three years.

Daniel Alaei Wins WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic

Poker pro Daniel Alaei took down the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic on Saturday night, earning $1.4 million and a $25,000 seat into the end-of-season WPT Championship.

On the 47th hand of final table play, online poker pro Stephen “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer was sent packing from the Bellagio, the site of the WPT Five Diamond. O’Dwyer shoved his 19 big blind stack in with A-6 of diamonds, but ran into poker pro Scotty Nguyen’s wired pair of jacks. The flop came jack-high, giving Nguyen top set and O’Dwyer bottom pair. An ace on the turn left the at-risk O’Dwyer calling for another ace on the river, but a four fell to send him to the exits. O’Dwyer earned $202,000 for his efforts.

Sixty hands later, Nguyen departed after shoving over the top of a raise by Josh Arieh. Online poker star Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, who had entered the final table as the chip leader, moved all-in over the top of Nguyen and Arieh folded. At risk, Nguyen showed pocket nines, but Jaka turned over pocket kings for a 4:1 edge pre-flop. The board ran out A-J-8-2-8 and Jaka scooped the pot with kings-up. The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic marked Nguyen’s eighth WPT final table and he earned $249,000.

The next to go was Shawn Buchanan, who pushed his 10 big blind stack into the middle with K-8, but Alaei’s A-K left him drawing thin. The board came 9-7-3-9-J, which was no help to Buchanan, and Alaei scooped the pot. Three-handed, Arieh held a commanding chip lead with an arsenal of 10.6 million, while Alaei’s second place stack totaled 5.4 million. Jaka, meanwhile, had a stack of 3.7 million entering three-handed play.

Jaka busted in third place after committing his chips pre-flop with A-6 and running into the pocket kings of Alaei. The flop came K-10-5, leaving Jaka calling for running straight cards, but an eight on the turn and four on the river sealed his fate. Jaka was the runner-up in the Bellagio Cup V in July, where he earned $774,000. On Saturday, he added another $571,000 to his bankroll.

Heading into heads-up play, Arieh held a 2:1 chip lead, but quickly doubled up Alaei after coming out on the short end of a race with A-K against Alaei’s pocket queens. The board came jack-high, giving Alaei the pot and a 3:1 chip lead just two hands into heads-up play. Arieh then doubled after sucking out on A-Q with A-7 when a seven hit on the turn. The two poker veterans were nearly even in chips at that point.

However, Alaei ultimately emerged victorious in the final WPT tournament of 2009. Arieh pushed all-in with pocket sevens on a flop of 10-5-2 and Alaei made the call with 10-8 for top pair. The turn came a six and Arieh needed one of two remaining sevens in the deck to stave off elimination. However, the river came an eight, giving Alaei two pair and his first WPT title. Arieh earned a $952,000 consolation prize, while Alaei boosted his bankroll by $1.4 in his first WPT final table appearance.

Here were the final table results from the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic:

1. Daniel Alaei - $1,428,430
2. Josh Arieh - $952,290
3. Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka - $571,374
4. Shawn Buchanan - $333,302
5. Scotty Nguyen - $249,976
6. Stephen “MrTimCaum” O'Dwyer - $202,362

The first tournament for the WPT in 2010 is the Southern Poker Championship, which will emanate from the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. The event kicks off on January 24th and crowns a champion three days later.

Nguyen on Winning

But it’s more than money that motivates him.

“It’s not the money,” he told PokerListings. “When you win tournaments, fame and money come with it. For me it’s so important to bring home the title. You want to show the world you still have it, you can come out and compete.”

Competing is exactly what Nguyen has done this week at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

From a field filled with 329 of the biggest names in poker, just 16 players are still in the hunt for an almost $1.5 million first-place prize headed into Day 5 Friday.

Nguyen was among the leaders before a late fall from grace that has him short stacked.

However, he still retains a shot at making the final table and booking the win.

Nguyen’s $10,705,581 in career earnings has him sixth on poker’s all-time money winners’ list and a win at Bellagio this week would push him up to fourth all-time above Phil Hellmuth and only below Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey and 2006 Main Event champion Jamie Gold.

Nguyen has five World Series of Poker bracelets and this past April he finished sixth at the WPT Championship, marking his sixth WPT final table.

However, the 1998 WSOP Main Event champion still feels like he has to fight for respect.

“I get older and people lose respect,” the 48-year-old Las Vegas resident said. “They say I don’t have my game no more, I’m scared. All those young guns, 21 or 22 years old, they have big hearts, but Scotty has a bigger one, baby.

“They got nothing to lose. They’re bluffing you, they try to embarrass you and laugh at you. They say I’m too old and I should retire, but I don’t let that bother me. I let my game show them, baby. You can laugh all you want, but I am the one laughing all the way to the bank.”

Things haven’t always been roses for Nguyen. There was public scorn over a rather embarrassing finish to the 2008 WSOP $50k H.O.R.S.E. event where he has admitted his emotions and alcohol got the best of him.

Plus, like all poker players, he’s had downswings and periods when it felt like he would never win again.

But the man they call the Prince of Poker, who fled his native Vietnam in 1978 for the United States, says it’s the tough times that have made him a better poker player, and a better person.

“When you hit hard times and things don’t go your way, it can only make you become stronger,” he explained. “When my back is against the wall and I look around and say ‘what am I doing, I can’t win, what happened to me?’ I just rewind and think about what I’ve been doing wrong and know that I have to change it.

“Hard times, that’s what you learn from.”

When the cards hit the air at Bellagio Friday at 12 p.m. PT and the play down to the final six commences, Nguyen will have just one thing on his mind – Winning.

“I’ve seen it all in poker: Good times, bad times, happiness, sadness,” he said. “I just want to let everybody know, Scotty still has it. I have to go out there and show them. Not just talk about, anybody can say it, I want to show the people.

“I just have to trust myself and go out there and show it.”

To follow Nguyen and all the action from the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, tune into PokerListings’ Live Updates.

Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic begins

2009 World Poker Tour Year in Review

For the World Poker Tour (WPT), 2009 was a year of incredible highs, but the organization was also faced with issues away from the felt that had to be overcome for the company to remain viable in other arenas.

Without a doubt, the biggest news of 2009 for the WPT was the sale of the popular poker tour. In what turned out to be a frenetic bidding war, WPTE, the tour’s parent company, received an offer in August from Gamynia Limited for around $9 million. Officials from the WPT’s parent company accepted the offer from Gamynia, but the battle was just beginning. A second offer from Party Gaming, which upped the ante to $12.3 million, eclipsed Gamynia and made it appear that the former online gaming giant would be the one to take over ownership of the WPT. As a part of this deal, there a $1 million cash advance would allow WPT to opt out of its deal with Gamynia.

As the deal with Party Gaming was moving towards completion, a third bid for the WPT came to light. As stockholders prepared to approve the agreed upon sale to Party Gaming in October, Mandalay Entertainment (not a part of the Mandalay Bay hotel ownership) stunned the poker world by issuing a bid for the WPT to the tune of $36.5 million. After reviewing the respective bids, the stockholders bypassed the Mandalay Entertainment offer and approved the sale of the WPT to Party Gaming. As of the end of 2009, it isn’t known how Party Gaming will utilize its ownership of the WPT.

In news away from the felt, the WPT was looking for an outlet to continue to air its popular tournament schedule. The one-year deal with Fox Sports Net was renegotiated in February and ensured that the WPT would continue to be on television for Season 8. In addition to the deal with Fox Sports Net, the WPT was also able to bring on Full Tilt Poker as a major sponsor of its broadcasts, marking the first time that the tour had aligned itself directly with an online poker room. Previously, sites had been sponsors of individual stops on the WPT, but never the entirety of the tour itself.

At the start of 2009, WPTE was facing a de-listing from the NASDAQ Stock Exchange in New York because its shares were not trading above the required $1 level. WPTE was given an extension due to the travails of the financial world in late 2008 and, by the middle of 2009, it had returned its stock to the required levels to maintain the seat on the NASDAQ. It was officially removed upon the sale to Party Gaming.

On the tables, the WPT continued to provide quality events, albeit with a drop in actual tournament attendance. Numbers for WPT events were down as much as 25%, but this was attributed to the global economic recession for the most part. The smaller numbers ensured that there were quality fields that took part in each stop of the WPT through the end of Season 7 and the beginning of Season 8.

Veterans of the poker world such as Freddy Deeb (WPT Invitational), Steve Brecher (Bay 101 Shooting Star), and Vadim Trincher (Foxwoods Poker Classic), all earned championships as Season 7 began to wind down. In April, the WPT Championship crowned up and coming poker superstar Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko as its latest winner and also bestowed the title of WPT Player of the Year to Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

After taking its traditional summer break, the WPT came back for Season Eight, with players such as Alexandre Gomes (Bellagio Cup) and Prahlad Friedman (Legends of Poker) taking down titles. After a stirring run at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, Tommy Vedes demonstrated why he is considered to be one of the most underrated players in the game when he captured the title at the Festa al Lago in October. In perhaps the best calendar year run on the WPT, Cornel Andrew Cimpan claimed two WPT titles, the L.A. Poker Classic during Season 7 in February and the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season 8 in November.

Finally, the WPT put the “World” back into its moniker by hosting several tournaments in Europe. WPT Europe crossed the continent, ranging from such traditional gaming areas as Barcelona and Venice to exotic locales like Cyprus and Marrakech. These tournaments were warmly received, with strong European contingents filling out the fields alongside many of the best in poker from the United States.

With the new ownership of Party Gaming in its pocket, the future for the WPT is definitely bright.

WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Kicks off Monday

The 2009 installment of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic will kick off on Monday from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The tournament’s namesake told UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” that a field of 400 players is expected.

Only one Day 1 in the $15,000 buy-in WPT event will occur, with the six-handed final table taking place on the 19th. In 2008, original World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member David “Chino” Rheem took down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, besting Justin Young heads-up and earning $1.5 million. Young took $936,000 for his runner-up performance. Others who reached the feature table, which played out on cable station Fox Sports Net, included Evan McNiff (third place for $540,000), Steve Sung (fourth place for $396,000), Amnon Filippi (fifth place for $288,000), and DoylesRoom poker pro Hoyt Corkins (sixth place for $216,000).

The Five Diamond has been a staple of the WPT circuit and served as the series’ very first event back in May of 2002. That year, Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen outlasted John Juanda heads-up in a talented final table that also featured Freddy Deeb, John “World” Hennigan, Chris Bigler, and Scotty Nguyen. A quaint field of 146 players turned out for the inaugural WPT tournament, creating a prize pool of $1.4 million.

In Season II of the WPT, Paul Phillips took down the Five Diamond in Las Vegas, besting Poker Hall of Fame member Dewey Tomko heads-up and banking $1.1 million. Hansen once again made the final table of the tournament and finished third this time around, while Mel Judah took sixth place and earned $101,000. The next season, a battle of PokerStars sponsored pros took place, as Daniel Negreanu trumped Costa Rican sensation Humberto Brenes heads-up in the event’s finale. The number of entrants jumped to 376 from 314.

In Season IV of the WPT, Rehne Pedersen earned over $2 million for his Five Diamond win and beat Patrik Antonius heads-up. Brunson made the final table of the event and finished third, while J.J. Liu took fourth place for $362,000. Also making waves were Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken and Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, who finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively.

In the December Bellagio tournament during Season V, Joe Hachem, winner of the 2005 WSOP Main Event, took down the title and its corresponding $2.2 million grand prize. Hachem and Negreanu made PokerStars proud by reaching the final table and the Aussie’s win solidified his name as one of the tops in the industry. In 2007, Eugene Katchalov banked $2.5 million for his WPT victory, outlasting a colossal field of 626 players. Also reaching the final table were Devilfish Poker namesake David Ulliott and former PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Ryan “Daut44” Daut.

After its annual Las Vegas stop, the WPT crew will break for the holidays and resume action in late January for the Southern Poker Championship. December’s Bellagio stop will mark the tournament series’ last trip to Sin City before the annual WPT Championship in April. Here’s a look at the remaining events in Season VIII:

Southern Poker Championship: January 24th to 27th
Beau Rivage (Biloxi, Mississippi)

WPT Celebrity Invitational: February 20th to 21st
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

L.A. Poker Classic: February 26th to March 4th
Commerce Casino (Commerce, California)

Bay 101 Shooting Star: March 8th to 12th
Bay 101 (San Jose, California)

Hollywood Poker Open: March 20th to 24th
Hollywood Casino (Lawrenceburg, Indiana)

WPT Championship: April 17th to 24th
Bellagio (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Becker Getting Better With Each Stroke

And while his teaming with PokerStars was widely criticized for being more of a publicity stunt than a legitimate move into the poker world when he first sat down to play at the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final in Monte Carlo in 2008, it’s obvious now he’s taking the game seriously.

“I have a better feel for the game and understanding at the table,” Becker told PokerListings at EPT Prague. “It naturally comes with the territory. The more you play, the better you get and I think I’m much better than I was last year.”

Becker fizzled out fast in that first appearance on the felt, but did manage a final table finish at a €500 side event in Monte Carlo that year.

However, his first real sniff at poker success came at the $25,000 WPT Championship in April of this year when he made the money finishing 40^th for $40,855.

While he’s enlisted the aid of several Team PokerStars Pros to help him learn the intricacies of the game, there are certain things the former World No. 1 tennis player and six-time Grand Slam champion already brought to the table.

“The mental game is very similar to tennis,” he explained. “You shouldn’t be afraid of big table or the big stage. For me it’s more about learning the details of the game, not so much about overcoming a fear of being on a big table or playing for a lot of money. That’s not something I worry about. It’s more about understanding the game better.”

Learning the game is one thing - having a passion for it another. But if there were ever any doubts Becker has a love for poker, one need only look inside his London home.

This past summer, Becker moved into a $9 million shrine to the game that brought him worldwide recognition.

The seven-bedroom home sits about 100 steps from Centre Court at Wimbledon, where Becker rose to tennis prominence winning the game’s most coveted title at age 17.

Wimbledon’s indoor practice courts are visible from the yard, but tennis isn’t the only game being played there.

Becker has built a room dedicated to poker inside, complete with a classic table, plush chairs and enough chips to get a serious game going.

“It’s really coming along,” he said. “My wife is a great player and we have many games together with friends. It’s nice because we are at home and it’s a bit more of a relaxed atmosphere. We have a lot of fun and some pretty good cash games there too.”

Becker’s home games are played mostly for fun, but with EPT founder John Duthie and fellow German Team PokerStars Pros Sandra Naujoks, Sebastian Ruthenberg and Florian Langmann having already stopped by to play, he’s been able to pick up a few tricks along the way.

Becker and his wife Lilly Kerssenberg are expecting a baby this February, but the New Year has even more for him to be excited about.

For the past two years, illness has kept Becker from playing the EPT’s annual trek to Germany.

But this year, with rumors the tour will be stopping in Berlin in March instead of Dortmund, he’s hoping to have the chance to show his native country a little bit of what he’s learned.

“I really hope to be willing and able to play,” he said. “I want to show the German fans that there is more to Boris Becker than tennis.”

Becker busted from EPT Prague before the money bubble burst, but the event continues with just 24 players left and Israeli Eyal Avitan holding a massive chip lead. For comprehensive coverage click through to PokerListings' Live Updates.

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

LA Poker Classic to smash records in 2010

Jean-Robert Bellande Out as Bodog Sponsored Pro

Former “Survivor: China” contestant Jean-Robert Bellande is no longer a sponsored pro of Bodog, according to a representative from the online poker room. His current agreement expired at the end of October and was not renewed.

Only three sponsored pros currently appear on Bodog’s website: Evelyn Ng, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, and David Williams. The runner-up in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Ladies Night Event in 2003, Ng also took 11th in the Season IV Borgata Poker Open for $64,000. That same season, Ng grabbed 39th in the WPT Championship for $73,000.

Bonomo is one of the industry’s top online poker players, but has also dominated on the brick-and-mortar felts. Bonomo won the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit Event Championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas in April for $227,000. One month later, he final tabled the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP for a colossal $413,000.

Rounding out the shrunken crop of Bodog pros is Williams, who boasts the only bracelet of the trio. Williams captured his piece of hardware in 2006 by virtue of taking down a $1,500 buy-in Seven Card Stud tournament for $163,000, defeating a talented final table that also included “Miami” John Cernuto and 10-time bracelet winner Johnny Chan. Text found on Bodog’s website still refers to “four pros,” but only three profiles appear.

“Jean-Robert Bellande’s deal with Bodog Poker expired at the end of October and the decision was made not to renew the deal. It has been an absolute pleasure having Jean-Robert as one of Bodog.com’s Poker pros and we wish him all the best,” the room’s Poker Manager told Poker News Daily. In February, Poker Royalty, which represents Bellande, boasted that the pro had renewed his sponsorship agreement with the USA-facing site. At the time, Bellande commented, “I am thrilled to continue my relationship with Team Bodog. Bodog is a fantastic organization and I am excited to continue with such a select team of world-class poker players.”

During the 2008 WSOP, Bellande finished as the runner-up to Matt “mattg1983” Graham in a $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout for $173,000. The final table of the marathon tournament wrapped up after 7:00am at the Rio in Las Vegas. In 2005, Bellande grabbed third in the Rio’s WSOP Circuit Event Championship for $210,000 in a contest that saw Doug Lee and Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman battle heads-up.

Bellande was one of 16 contestants to head to China for the 15th cycle of the CBS reality series “Survivor.” Bellande was the eighth player voted out of the popular program and became the second member of its jury, the group of seven castaways who selected flight attendant Todd Herzog as the show’s $1 million winner. Bellande was on the Fei Long tribe both before and after a tribal switch-up; the group then merged to become Hae Da Fung.

In 2006, Bellande made waves by competing in the WPT’s Bad Boys of Poker against the likes of Tony G, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Gus Hansen. In the end, Tony G triumphed over the invite-only six-handed table and earned $25,000. All told, Bellande owns over $75,000 from WPT felts.

According to the tracking site PokerScout.com, Bodog is the 14th largest site or network worldwide with a seven-day running average of 930 real money ring game players. It features a 24-hour peak of 1,411 cash game players and, at the time of writing, which is around 8:30pm ET on a Sunday night, 1,359 combatants have taken to its ring game felts. Bodog is the fifth largest site or network that accepts U.S. action, trailing PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, CEREUS, and the Cake Poker Network.

Tommy Vedes Wins WPT Festa al Lago

The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) $15,000 buy-in Festa al Lago wrapped up on Monday with Tommy Vedes mounting a furious comeback heads-up against Jason “StatusUp” Lavallee. Vedes earned $1.2 million from the Bellagio poker tournament.

Vedes entered the 115th hand of final table play down nearly 4:1 in chips and committed his remaining stack with A-10. Lavallee made the call with A-J and had him dominated. However, the flop came 10-high and Vedes never looked back, doubling up to nearly even with his opponent. Lavallee won the next two hands to widen the gap before Vedes doubled up once again, this time with pocket fives against pocket fours. When the smoke cleared, Vedes was a 6:1 chip leader.

Six hands after doubling up for the first time, Vedes took down the WPT Festa al Lago title. Lavallee shoved with 8-6 of hearts and Vedes called, turning over K-Q of diamonds. Lavallee held live cards, but watched as the board ran out A-9-5-Q-Q. Vedes picked up $1.2 million and a $25,000 seat to the end-of-season WPT Championship, which is also held at the Bellagio. All was not lost for Lavallee, who nabbed a $795,000 consolation prize.

Shawn Cunix was eliminated from the Festa al Lago in sixth place and was the first person sent packing from the final table. Cunix suffered a similar fate as Lavallee in his final hand, pushing with 8-6 and getting a call from Craig Crivello, who had A-Q, including the ace of diamonds. Cunix spiked a six on a K-10-6 (all diamonds) flop to take the lead and the turn was a three of hearts. Needing to stave off an ace, queen, jack, or diamond on the river, Cunix watched as a diamond hit, giving Crivello a flush. Cunix earned $168,000 for his sixth place showing.

Jason Burt hit the exit in fifth place, banking $208,000. Burt shoved pre-flop with A-J, but ran into Freddy Deeb’s A-Q. Burt flopped a straight draw, but could never catch up. Deeb ultimately hit the rail in fourth place on the 62nd hand of final table play. He shoved pre-flop with A-4 and Vedes made the call with pocket sixes. The board came 8-7-2-10-Q and Deeb was eliminated in fourth place. He was seeking his record-tying third WPT title and would have become only the second player to accomplish the feat, joining Gus Hansen.

Crivello hit the skids in third place after pushing with K-J pre-flop and getting a call from Lavallee, who held pocket tens. The two were off to the races and the board bricked out for Crivello, eliminating him from contention. Vedes held a slight chip lead entering heads-up play against Lavallee, which lasted for over 50 hands. Here’s how the final table shook out at the 2009 running of the WPT Festa al Lago:

1st Place: Tommy Vedes – $1,218,225
2nd Place: Jason Lavallee – $795,150
3rd Place: Craig Crivello – $477,090
4th Place: Freddy Deeb – $278,300
5th Place: Jason Burt – $208,725
6th Place: Shawn Cunix – $168,970

WPT tournament officials will now head to Foxwoods for the annual World Poker Finals. The $10,000 buy-in tournament kicks off on November 5th and concludes five days later. Last year, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little took down the title in Connecticut for $1.1 million, defeating Jonathan Jaffe heads-up. The tournament will compete head-to-head with the conclusion of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas.

The “Battle of the Jonathans” in 2008 at Foxwoods featured a final table that also included Charles Marchese, David “The Dragon” Pham, Jack Schanbacher, and Mike Matusow. A total of 412 entrants took to the felts last year in one of the largest casinos in the world, creating a prize pool of nearly $4 million. The top 50 players made the money.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the WPT circuit.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Antoine Saout Added to PartyPoker World Open V

The PartyPoker World Open V action gets underway on Sunday and some last-minute additions to the lineup have made the event even more of a star-studded affair.  The roster of players, which already included the likes of World Poker Tour (WPT) host Mike Sexton, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, J.C. Tran, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Luke “Full_Flush1″ Schwartz, added new names to the fold, including several players who have been on some serious hot streaks as of late.

The newly confirmed players include World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Layne Flack, Andrew Feldman, Bruno Fitoussi, Teddy Sheringham, Roland de Wolfe, Sammy “Any Two” George, and recently-crowned poker endurance world record holder Paul Zimbler.

Three other players recently agreed to participate in the event and may be ones to watch considering their string of recent results.  November Nine member Antoine Saout will be playing in the World Open V.  The Frenchman appears to be squeezing in as many tournaments as he can between now and the WSOP Main Event final table in November.  He is fresh off a final table showing at the WSOP Europe, where he finished in seventh place.

World Open V participant J.P. Kelly also had a successful run at the WSOP Europe, winning a bracelet in the first preliminary event.  With his win in London, Kelly became the first British player in the three-year history of the WSOP Europe to win a bracelet at the London-based event.  In addition to his WSOP Europe victory, Kelly won a bracelet earlier this year at the WSOP in a $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event.

Online poker pro Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko also signed on to play in the World Open V.  Timoshenko has had an amazing run in 2009.  He took down the WPT Championship back in April, won the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event last month, and made a deep run in the WSOP Europe Main Event.  At 21-years old, Timoshenko already has tournament poker winnings in excess of $6 million.

PartyBets set odds on all 48 of the participants and Dwan is currently the favorite, with odds currently going off at 11-1.  Even PartyPoker is inclined to agree with that assessment, as a spokesperson for the site noted, “The early money is for Durrrr, which isn’t really a surprise, but favorites do not have a good record in this competition.”  The spokesperson continued,  “We’re delighted with the field. Every heat features a super strong line-up. For example, two online qualifiers have to deal with the likes of Yevgeniy Timoshenko, James Akenhead, [Schwartz], and Ian Frazer, and that is only in heat one!”

As the spokesperson noted, online cash game player Schwartz is scheduled to play in Heat One, while his self-proclaimed nemesis durrrr will be playing in Heat Six along with Fitoussi, Felipe “Mojave” Ramos, J.C. Tran, and others.  Though Schwartz and Dwan will not meet in the preliminary heats, there are still a couple of scenarios that could pair the two at the same table.  Should both players win their heats, they will advance to play each other at the final table.  If one or both of them finishes as the runner-up in their heat, they will advance to the second chance heat, where the six runners-up will vie for a spot at the final table.

Action will take place at the Palm Beach Casino in London, England and PartyPoker says spectators are welcome to come by and watch the action.  The event will be taped and televised on the Five network in Britain later this year and will feature commentary from Jesse May.

Olivier Busquet Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open Final Table

The six-handed final table of the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open is set. Leading the way is Olivier Busquet, who holds 10.3 million chips. His stack is double that of the next closest competitor, Yanick Brodeur.

Michael Brown was the final table bubble boy in the $3,500 buy-in tournament, falling in seventh place and earning $117,000. Brown shoved with pocket eights from middle position, but was met with Jeremy Brown’s A-K. In a classic race situation, the board ran out Q-10-7-J-6, giving Jeremy Brown a straight and sending Michael Brown to the rails. The former told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman when play concluded, “I like to run my mouth a little bit. I try to get under their skin and see if I can get them on tilt a little bit.”

Michael Brown served as the executioner of Steve Brecher, who won the WPT’s Bay 101 Shooting Star event in March for $1 million. Brecher shoved with 9-4 after a flop of J-9-2, but Brown called and showed J-6 for top pair. The turn and river both came kings and Brecher was ousted from the Borgata Poker Open. He earned $39,000 for his efforts and missed out on his third WPT final table. Many longtime poker players remember Brecher’s sixth place finish during the Season II WPT Championship, which earned him $232,000.

The field became a little quieter when Maurice Hawkins departed in 13th place. Hawkins pushed pre-flop with A-Q for 50 big blinds, but ran into Busquet’s pocket aces. The board ran out five cards 10 or lower, providing no help to Hawkins, who banked $28,000 for his efforts. After the chips were counted to ensure that Hawkins was indeed eliminated, he exited the Borgata poker room. WPT coverage noted that Hawkins “rose to prominence in this tournament late in Day 3 as he took the chip lead and busted quite a few players in the process. He was lively at the table and very talkative, but it just wasn’t meant to be today.”

While Busquet’s aces held up, some players at the Borgata Poker Open were not as fortunate, including Jason Warriner, who saw his pocket rockets go down in flames against J-8. Warriner shoved on a board of 10-9-5-7 and Hawkins happily called, turning over the nuts. Warriner was drawing dead to the river and found himself on the outside looking in. He earned $12,000 for his 21st place showing.

Busquet helped his cause by cracking aces with A-K. The flop came A-10-4, leaving Busquet calling for a running Q-J, which promptly hit. Eric Blair was eliminated in eighth place in the hand, which boosted Busquet’s chip stack to 4.5 million, double his total entering it. The day began with 27 players taking to the felts. When the smoke cleared, just six remained:

1. Olivier Busquet - 10,350,000
2. Yanick Brodeur - 5,780,000
3. Ivan Mamuzic - 5,655,000
4. Jeremy Brown - 5,480,000
5. Keith Crowder - 2,750,000
6. Kenny Nguyen - 600,000

The following prizes are up for grabs, including a $925,000 first place payday and a seat into the 2010 WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas:

1st Place: $925,514
2nd Place: $453,519
3rd Place: $251,955
4th Place: $216,681
5th Place: $188,126
6th Place: $156,212

The action resumes at 4:00pm ET and is open to the general public. When play ended for the night on Wednesday, blinds were 60,000-120,000 with a 10,000 chip ante. The tournament will air as part of Season VIII of the WPT on Fox Sports Net.

Yanick Brodeur Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open Entering Day 4

The play down day is upon us at the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open. A total of 27 players remain, led by Yanick Brodeur, who holds 3.0 million chips, well ahead of Frank Calo’s second place stack of 2.1 million.

Play begins at 11:00am ET from the Borgata and will continue until the six-handed final table is determined. The survivors will take to the felts tomorrow in front of Fox Sports Net television cameras and the tournament’s finale will be featured as part of Season VIII of the WPT. One of the late eliminations of the day was poker pro Kathy Liebert, who shoved with 9-2 on a flop of 3-3-2. However, she picked an inopportune time to commit her remaining chips, as Mike Summers called and revealed 4-3 for trips. The turn and river came a 10 and six, respectively, and Liebert was sent home in 29th place for $10,750.

Joseph “JOEYTHEB” Brooks was sent packing in 49th place from the Borgata Poker Open. He shoved with A-10, but ran into Maurice Hawkins’ A-K. The board ran out 8-6-5-9-6 and Brooks hit the rails, $8,062 richer for his wear. Brooks finished 37th in the Season III WPT Championship and owns $86,000 in lifetime earnings from the roving tournament series. Jason “TheMasterJ33” Dewitt hit the skids in 81st place. Dewitt made deep runs in the Borgata Poker Open and PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event concurrently, playing in the latter for two hours on Monday after boosting his stack to tops in the room at the Borgata.

Hawkins told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman what it was like playing with his future brother-in-law, Antuan Bunkley: “He was in my big blind. We just keep fighting in this field and hopefully both of us make it to the final table. That would be a good story.” Hawkins is set to wed Bunkley’s sister in one month.

The top 100 players finished in the money at the Atlantic City casino. The unfortunate title of Bubble Boy went to Paul Georges, who was sent packing in 101st place. Just before his elimination, Ray Henson scooped one of the largest pots of the Borgata Poker Open holding pocket fives for a flopped set. A player was eliminated with Q-J on the eventual board of J-5-2-K-4, while Jeremy Brown’s A-J fell short of Henson’s set. Henson sits in third place entering the play down day with a stack of 1.9 million.

Play will begin in Level 24 when the action resumes and blinds will be 10,000-20,000 with a 2,000 ante. Here’s how the field stacks up:

1. Yanick Brodeur - 3,016,000
2. Frank Calo - 2,146,000
3. Ray Henson - 1,915,000
4. Maurice Hawkins - 1,907,000
5. Jeremy Brown - 1,750,000
6. Ivan Mamuzic - 1,737,000
7. Olivier Busquet - 1,561,000
8. Gabriel Morin - 1,460,000
9. Billy Campbell - 1,370,000
10. Kenny Nguyen - 1,259,000
11. Keith Crowder - 1,174,000
12. Wooyan Lin - 1,150,000
13. Michael Brown - 1,106,000
14. Mike Summers - 1,087,000
15. Chris Reslock - 896,000
16. Steve Brecher - 847,000
17. Bart Mikulski - 781,000
18. Matt Brown - 692,000
19. Jason Warriner - 665,000
20. Antuan Bunkley - 628,000
21. Joshua Lawson - 612,000
22. Ron McGinnity - 592,000
23. Eric Blair - 573,000
24. Chris Mitchell - 469,000
25. Bobby Suer - 446,000
26. Ofir Mor - 405,000
27. Matthew Shepsky - 340,000

Those who finished in the money included:

29. Kathy Liebert - $10,750
49. Joseph Brooks - $8,062
66. Matt Brady - $6,719
71. Soheil Shamseddin - $6,719
81. Jason Dewitt - $6,047

Timoshenko ships WCOOP main event title

The first day ended with 178 players remaining and Jason "TheMasterJ33" Dewitt holding the overnight lead.

However, in the middle of the tournament's final day Monday, he gave almost all of his chips to Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton through a series of coolers.

Haxton busted 31st and Daniel "djk123" Kelly, who had already won two 2009 WCOOP events, rolled into the final table with the chip lead.

Kelly continued to hold the lead four-handed before doubling up one of the shorter stack and busting when he ran tens into Timoshenko's kings in a massive 20 million chip pot.

The fourth-place finish ensured Kelly would take home Player of the Series honors and $643,200 in fourth-place money.

The Ukrainian born and U.S. raised Timoshenko then busted reddeevil third taking a better than 3:1 chip lead into heads-up.

He made quick work of second place finisher Udon Wannit to ship the $1,715,200 first place prize.

At just 21-years-old Timoshenko already has more than $3 million in career live tournament earnings including $2,149,960 from the 2009 WPT Championship and $500,000 from his APT Macau win in 2008.

Other notable players running deep in the WCOOP main event included CardRunners blogger PeachyMer (9th) Shawn "buck21" Buchanan (15th) and Layne "reloadthis" Flack (55th).

Olivier Busquet Leads WPT Borgata Poker Open Entering Day 3

A total of 167 players remain in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Borgata Poker Open. However, many of the tournament’s big names, including Gavin Smith and 2007 Borgata Poker Open Champion Roy Winston, were sent packing.

The story of the day was Jason “TheMasterJ33″ Dewitt, who was also in the final day of play of the 2009 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) and, according to WPT coverage, “took an extended two-level break before dinner and returned to a still-healthy stack that was well above average.” Dewitt was the chip leader late in the day at the Atlantic City Casino and ended play with the 15th largest tally at 357,500.

Dewitt told WPT Live Updates Hostess Amanda Leatherman after play had concluded for the evening, “I basically had to build a big stack or bust. I got my big stack, so I could afford to sit out and miss my two hours of blinds. I came back and got the chip lead, although I did lose it at the end. I guess I can’t be too sad about it.” Dewitt battled in the WCOOP Main Event during the two hour period. WPT Championship winner Yevgeniy “atimos” Timoshenko ultimately took down the high-stakes online poker tournament and earned $1.7 million.

Many of poker’s greats were in London for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe festivities. However, among those remaining in the United States for the Borgata Poker Open were Smith and Winston. The former tangoed with Bill Gazes late yesterday, losing his final hand with pocket aces against pocket sixes when a six hit the flop. The hand boosted Gazes to 140,000 in chips and he ended with 298,000, good for 26th place overall. Gazes has made a pair of WPT final tables during his career, including a fourth place effort during the Season II L.A. Poker Classic and a third place showing in the Foxwoods World Poker Finals during Season IV. All told, the poker pro has $1.2 million in career WPT earnings.

Earlier in the day, Ultimate Bet’s Michael Binger boosted his chip stack to 308,000 by flopping a set of deuces. Binger called his opponent’s all-in with A-J on a board of A-9-2-Q, securing the win in the hand. Binger’s stack dwindled from that point and he finished the day with 74,000 chips, good for 146th. Binger has never registered better than 10th place in a WPT event. His claim to fame is taking third in the 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $4.1 million in a tournament ultimately won by Jamie Gold.

Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Bernard Lee was sent packing on Monday. The host of ESPN.com’s “Inside Deal” also had aces cracked for his tournament life, this time by pocket fives. Lee’s opponent flopped a five and, despite picking up a flush draw on the turn, he was ousted from the WPT Borgata Poker Open. Also hitting the skids yesterday were Theo Tran and 2002 WSOP Main Event Champion Robert Varkonyi. Here’s a look at the Top 10 survivors who will take to the felts today for Day 3:

1. Olivier Busquet - 524,600
2. Tony Moussa - 488,300
3. Danny Illingworth - 480,600
4. Ofir Mor - 452,800
5. Mike Summers - 450,500
6. Bartholomew Mikulski - 441,100
7. Mike Leah - 431,600
8. Barry Tremebetzky - 412,000
9. Allen Bari - 401,500
10. Ben Lin - 385,700

Other notable names remaining in the WPT Borgata Poker Open include:

15. Jason Dewitt – 357,500
26. Bill Gazes – 298,000
36. Kathy Liebert – 260,700
38. Gabriel Aminov – 258,700
50. Jonathan Little – 229,800
58. Steve Brecher – 220,300
72. David Chicotsky – 187,800
75. Chris Reslock – 179,400
146. Michael Binger – 74,000

ElkY ships WCOOP bracelet

PokerStars pros came out in force with Chad Brown, Humberto Brenes and Grant Levy all finishing in the money.

Baseball legend and PokerStars sponsored player Orel Hershiser also made a deep run to finish 49th.

With play down to two tables, the field in the WCOOP event was still thick with world-class pros, including James "mig.com" Mackey, who eventually went on to finish in 11th place.

After the elimination of Mackey it only took a few hands to play down to the nine-handed final table.

Perhaps the greatest threat to ElkY at the final table was Hafiz "hafizzle" Khan who finished runner up to Grospellier in his 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure win.

Khan managed to double up through cashryders22, only to double up Grospellier a couple hands later, eventually finishing in fourth for $93,092.

It was Ginsash who took on ElkY heads-up and although he managed to grind himself into the chip lead, ElkY's unrelenting aggression saw the French pro turn things around.

ElkY's first place finish earned him $232,730, and one more impressive poker victory to add to his resume.

Since 2008, ElkY has been one of the hottest poker players in the world.

He started the year by shipping the PCA for $2 million.

He then took first at the WPT's Festa Al Lago for $1.4 million, third in the NBC Heads-Up Championships, and third in the $25k WPT Championship earning him WPT Player of the Year honors.

The 2009 WCOOP is into its final weekend with the $5,200 2-day main event beginning Sunday.

FullFlush, durrrr set to clash at PKR Heads Up

While each has his work cut out to get there, Dwan and Schwartz will finally meet face to face should each make the semifinals at the Slam.

But first, Schwartz will have to take on WPT Championship winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko and Dwan is matched up with 2009 WSOP Heads-Up runner-up John Duthie in the first round.

Other first round match-ups include 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate taking on fellow Team PokerStars Pro and first lady of British poker Vicky Coren, while Academy Award nominated actress and WSOP bracelet winner Jennifer Tilly takes on the always entertaining Tony G.

In the meantime, should John Tabatabai beat Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott and Annette Obrestad defeat Ian Frazer in the first round, the two will meet in a rematch of the 2007 WSOPE main event final.

"There are some really exciting clashes lined up for the first round of the PKR Heads Up Grand Slam, but it's also interesting to see what could happen as the tournament develops," said Matchroom Poker's managing director Eddie Hearn.

"The connotations are endless but each match will carry plenty of drama."

The $10k buy-in event will feature just 32 players, including four PKR qualifiers.

The PKR Heads Up Grand Slam will take place from Oct. 8-10 in London's 3 Mills Studios. It will air in eight two-hour episodes on Sky Sports in the UK and be distributed to various International broadcasters.

Scotty Nguyen comes back

This summer, Nguyen added just $33,668 to his $10,705,581 in career tournament earnings with an 11th-place finish at the $10k Stud World Championship, falling far short of his $4 million goal.

However, the Prince of Poker was back on the felt at the WPT Legends of Poker event last week.

"People retire and then they come back right," the 1998 WSOP Main Event champ laughed.

"Legends is my comeback, baby. It's the first tournament I've played since the World Series."

Nguyen currently sits 12th on the all time World Series of Poker money list with $4,727,717 collected from 37 WSOP cashes, and actually considers the 2009 Series his least successful.

"This was the worst World Series I've ever had just because of that statement - the $4 million," he said. "It was always stuck in my head, I was always thinking 'I got to get there, I got to get there.'

"You see baby, when you have to do something, there's more pressure on you and that's the wrong thing. It was stressful. In poker you can't have that stress."

Prior to the 2009 WSOP, Nguyen's bold statement actually morphed into a prop bet with fellow pro Mike Matusow at the WPT Championship.

Getting 3:1 on $5,000, Nguyen is attempting to collect $3 million in tournament earnings over the next three years.

With a win in the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic's $9,900 H.O.R.S.E. event and a sixth-place finish at the $25k WPT Championship, he's earned almost $700k this year so far and seems well on his way to making the bet quite interesting.

And despite not coming through on his $4 million promise, Nguyen is not apologizing for believing in himself.

"You know baby, if you ask me again, I will tell you again," he said. "Before the World Series if you ask me how much I'm going to make I'm going to tell you $4 million.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm going to lose, baby."

Nguyen busted on Day 3 of Legends, falling just short of the money.

Prahlad Friedman Wins WPT Legends of Poker

Poker pro Prahlad Friedman took down the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker, banking just over $1 million for his efforts. He defeated 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Kevin Schaffel heads-up.

It took 127 hands of final table play in the Legends of Poker for Friedman to emerge victorious. After entering with the third largest chip stack behind Schaffel and Todd Terry, Friedman battled back, winning two out of the first three pots. Five hands into final table play, Mike Krescanko hit the exits in sixth place, earning $89,000 for his few minutes’ worth of work. Krescanko shoved pre-flop with A-Q, but ran into Friedman’s wired pair of kings. The flop came king-high, keeping Friedman in the lead, and Krescanko was drawing dead on the turn when a queen fell.

Schaffel busted Sam Stein in fifth place after coming out on the winning end of a race holding pocket sevens against Stein’s K-Q. Schaffel flopped a third seven and made a boat on the river, sending Stein to the exits as the second casualty of the final table. He earned $116,000 for his efforts. The hand gave Schaffel a comfortable chip lead over the pack holding 3.5 million against Freidman’s second place stack of 2.5 million.

After doubling up at the expense of Schaffel, Toto Leonidas promptly hit the rails in fourth place. After Friedman raised pre-flop, the board fell K-6-2 with two clubs. Friedman put in a continuation bet and Leonidas shoved. Friedman snap-called with A-K for top pair, while Leonidas flipped up A-9 of clubs for the nut flush draw. The jack of spades on the turn and deuce of spades on the river were no help to Leonidas, who earned $144,000. Friedman catapulted into the chip lead as a result.

Terry was the next to go. Friedman put in a raise pre-flop and Terry promptly shoved over the top with a wired pair of fours. Friedman made the call with A-Q and the two were off to the races. The flop came Q-J-6, giving Friedman the lead with top pair; running kings did not fuel Terry’s WPT title hopes. Terry, who finished as the runner-up to William Durkee in a $2,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the 2007 WSOP, pocketed $231,000 for his third place showing in the hallmark WPT event.

Friedman’s eliminations of Krescanko, Leonidas, and Terry left him with a sizable chip lead heads-up. Friedman held a mountain of 6.6 million, while Schaffel was a 7:2 underdog with just 1.8 million. Both have experienced success in the WSOP Main Event, as Friedman, a bracelet holder, took 20th in 2006 for $494,000. Schaffel will return to the Rio in November to play down to a winner in the $10,000 buy-in tournament this year, where he holds the sixth largest stack.

On the 113th hand of final table play, Schaffel doubled up through Friedman to narrow the gap. On a flop of A-Q-3 with two clubs, Schaffel moved all-in over the top of a bet by Friedman, who called with J-4 of clubs for a flush draw. Schaffel turned over Q-3 for two pair. The board bricked out for Friedman and the two were nearly even in chips. At the end of the day, Schaffel pushed all-in with K-J, but ran into Friedman’s A-Q. The board featured five cards 10 or lower, handing Freidman his first WPT title, the $1 million payday, and a $25,000 entry into the Season VIII WPT Championship at the Bellagio.

Here were the final payouts from the final table of the Legends of Poker:

1st Place: Prahlad Friedman - $1,009,000
2nd Place: Kevin Schaffel - $471,670
3rd Place: Todd Terry - $231,300
4th Place: Toto Leonidas - $144,600
5th Place: Sam Stein - $116,225
6th Place: Mike Krescanko - $89,220

Next up for the WPT is a cross-country trip to Atlantic City for the Borgata Poker Open. The Main Event features a discounted $3,500 buy-in and kicks off on September 19th.

Adrien Allain Wins 2009 APT Macau Main Event

In the Far East, it was a Frenchman from halfway around the world who emerged victorious. Adrien Allain, who hails from Rennes, France, won this year’s running of the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau Main Event. Allain banked HK $3.035 million for his efforts.

Allain qualified for the APT Macau festivities by winning a $5 tournament on PKR. In the online world, he’s known as zlatan35 and his largest poker cash prior to Macau weighed in at $8,000. His HK $3.035 million payday equates to nearly USD $400,000 at current exchange ranges. In the final hand in Macau, Allain drew out with A-3 against Korean poker player Inwook Choi’s A-Q after spiking a three on the flop. Entering heads-up play, Choi was a 2:1 underdog. Here’s how the final table shook out:

1st Place: Adrien Allain (France) - HK$3,035,000
2nd Place: Inwook Choi (Korea) - HK$1,660,000
3rd Place: J.C. Tran (United States) - HK$910,510
4th Place: David Steicke (Hong Kong) - HK$708,300
5th Place: Chris Chau (Hong Kong) - HK$506,000
6th Place: Michael Woo (Hong Kong) - HK$404,800
7th Place: Christer Hallberg (Sweden) - HK$303,600
8th Place: Winfred Yu (Hong Kong) - HK$202,400
9th Place: Casey Kastle (Slovenia) - HK$131,500

J.C. Tran holds two World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and was arguably the most successful player at the final table. After scoring his first piece of hardware in 2008, Tran won another bracelet this year by virtue of winning a $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha event for $235,000. Tran won the 2006 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $670,000.

Tran, a member of the APT’s Poker Pack, commented in a press release distributed by tournament officials, “It has been a great 12-day festival for the Poker Pack. It is disappointing not to take down the Main Event, but congratulations to Allain. He played good poker and is a deserving champion. To take down such a major tournament for just $5 is quite something – there’s no doubt he has great potential.”

Day 1B of the APT Macau Main Event featured filming of the Chinese language poker film “Poker King.” Ten-time WSOP bracelet winner Johnny Chan predicted that the movie would be bigger than “Rounders,” which helped spur the growth of No Limit Texas Hold’em in the United States. Yu, who finished in eighth place, came to the Macau event as part of the crew of “Poker King.”

Tran was eliminated from the tournament when Choi and Allain checked the action down on a board of A-J-10-9-8. Tran showed the Dead Man’s Hand, aces and eights, but was trumped by Allain’s A-Q for a straight. David Steicke was ousted from the final table after running his pocket nines into Choi’s pocket kings. The board ran out 3-3-A-3-K, giving Choi a better full house and sending Steicke packing.

WSOP November Nine member James Akenhead made the trek to Macau. Also appearing in the field were 2008 WSOP Europe Main Event winner John Juanda, Chan, Liz Lieu, Season VI World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner David Chiu, new Team Ultimate Bet member Liv Boeree, Amnon Filippi, and reigning WPT Championship victor Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Matt Savage served as the APT Macau’s Tournament Director, a role he will reprise in October for the annual Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic.

In addition to finishing third in the Main Event, Tran won the Poker Pack Headhunter tournament in Macau. Other highlights included Team Korea (featuring Steve Sung, David “Chino” Rheem, and Brandon Wong) winning the inaugural JBET Battle of the Nations. A “Poker King” charity tournament was also held, with Poker Pack member Quinn Do emerging victorious.

WPT Legends of Poker Attendance Drops 25%

Saturday marked the lone Day 1 of the 2009 World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker, which emanates from the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. This year, 279 runners turned out for the $10,000 buy-in tournament, a 25% decline in attendance.

In 2008, 373 players were on-hand for the festivities, which ended with John “The Razor” Phan besting online poker pro Amit “amak316” Makhija. As a result, Phan earned his first WPT title and boosted his bankroll by $1.1 million. Phan is a two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. This year, the champion of the WPT Legends of Poker will take home just over $1 million, with the following payouts up for grabs:

1st Place: $1,009,000
2nd Place: $471,670
3rd Place: $231,300
4th Place: $144,600
5th Place: $116,225
6th Place: $89,220
7th Place: $64,400
8th Place: $52,320
9th Place: $39,240
10th to 12th Places: $32,700
13th to 15th Places: $26,160
16th to 18th Places: $22,240
19th to 27th Places: $18,285

A total of 38.4% of the prize pool is earmarked for the winner, who will also take home a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship at the Bellagio. The 2009 attendance number is the second smallest for the Legends of Poker, which drew just 134 players in 2002, one year before the monumental win by Chris Moneymaker changed the game forever. In 2002, the buy-in to the event was just $5,000.

Six levels lasting 90 minutes each were scheduled to pan out on Saturday. However, given the lower attendance, only five will occur. Early eliminations in the Bike’s new Events Center included Beth Shak, Carlos Mortensen, and Joe Sebok. Mortensen shoved with 10-8 after a flop of J-9-5, but was called by a player holding A-10. A nine on the turn and deuce on the river sealed the former WSOP Main Event Champion’s exit. He became short-stacked after being five-outed with pocket tens.

Sebok was bumped after pushing with A-Q on a flop of A-8-5 with two hearts. His opponent flipped up J-9 for a flush draw, which promptly hit on the turn. Among those who excelled on Day 1 of the Legends of Poker was Alexandre Gomes, a member of Team PokerStars Pro who recently took down the WPT’s Bellagio Cup. Gomes called an all-in holding 5-6 on a board of A-Q-7-4-3. His opponent revealed 7-4 for two pair, but Gomes had the stone cold nuts and took down the pot. At the time of writing, Gomes is the chip leader.

Court Harrington, who is on-site at the Bicycle Casino reporting on the action for PocketFivesLive.com, told Poker News Daily, “I don’t think anyone expected the field to be huge, but dropping almost 100 players from last year surprised a lot of people. Not long ago, a WPT field under 300 was unheard of.” Harrington added that, despite the smaller crowd, the mood remains universally upbeat, as players have their sights set on the seven-figure payday for first place.

Just 268 players turned out for the WPT’s Bellagio Cup V in July, a drop of 40% from the 2008 figure. Last season on the WPT circuit, two North American events had fields of fewer than 300, the Southern Poker Championship (283) and Foxwoods Poker Classic (259).

Stay tuned for the latest from the 2009 WPT Legends of Poker right here on Poker News Daily.

durrrr finds million dollar challenger

"With Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius, you are talking about guys I rate quite highly," George said. "Guys like durrrr to me are normal, you know, they're nothing special.

"I'm stepping up to the plate and putting my money where my mouth is."

While Dwan is highly regarded as one of the best high-stakes online players in the game right now, George has yet to make any major mark on the poker world.

He has become a familiar face on televised poker in the UK after appearing on The Big Game and Poker Million, where he made the semi-final.

His biggest live tournament cash to date was a 21st place finish at the 2009 WPT Championship in Las Vegas this past April for a little over $21k, although George has built a reputation for himself in London's biggest cash games.

Dwan and George will square off over 500 hands in a live heads-up match playing either Pot-Limit Omaha or No-Limit Hold'em up with a $500k buy in. The blinds will be set at $500/$1000 and once the match starts, neither can leave until the 500 hands or up or they go broke.

"Sammy is one of the few players in the game who is willing to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk and although many will see him as underdog in this match, he has plenty of heart and should not be underestimated," said Eddie Hearn, Managing Director of Matchroom Sport.

Dates, a location and three other challengers willing to take on durrrr are expected to be named in the near future.

"I'm buzzing," said George. "What could be sweeter than playing in the world's biggest heads-up match against durrrr?"

The much hyped online durrrr Challenge, with Dwan putting up $1.5 million to any challenger's $500,000, four-tabling heads-up with minimum $200/$400 stakes over 50,000 hands, is still ongoing.

Dwan is is in the midst of taking on his first challenger, Antonius, although progress has been slowed by scheduling conflicts, the 2009 WSOP and the allure of other high-stakes action online.

Boeree joins Team UB

She went on to become a brand ambassador for Absolute Poker and has now moved over to Team UB.

"It's an honor to play with the two people who helped launch my poker career," Boeree said.

"Annie and Phil are two of my favorite players so to sit on the same team as them is a bit of a surreal experience, but one I'm definitely proud of."

Boeree took down the Ladbrokes European Ladies Championship in May 2008, and recently made two side-event final tables at Bellagio in Las Vegas before finishing 37th in the 2009 WPT Championship.

She has also worked as a TV presenter, writer and interviewer on several poker broadcasts including UltimatePoker.com Showdown, Gutshot TV, Daily Express, Challenge TV, Gala ((UK Poker)) Tour, Sky Poker TV, Poker Verdict, Ladies' World Poker Open and the WSOPE.

Other members of Team UB include Adam "Roothlus" Levy, Brandon Cantu, Hollywood Dave Stann, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, Scott Ian and Tiffany Michelle.

In related news, Ultimate Bet is celebrating its 10th Anniversary by offering a $10 Million cash bonus to any player who qualifies online for the Aruba Poker Classic starting with a 10 cent Step 1 satellite and goes on to win the event.

The 8th annual Aruba Poker Classic is set for October 3-10 at the Radisson Aruba Resort, Casino & Spa, and Boeree is expected to play.

PokerListings also made Boeree one of the site's Best Bets at the 2009 ((WSOP)).