Maxim Lykov Joins Team PokerStars Pro

Russian poker player Maxim Lykov is the newest member of Team PokerStars Pro. Officials from the world’s largest online poker site announced Lykov’s membership on Friday, noting that it took just two deposits of $40 for the Russian to become a global poker superstar.



Lykov got his start in poker five years ago as an engineering student in Moscow. Text found on the PokerStars Blog recreates his journey from there: “It was only a year later that his two $40 deposits had become a big bankroll, one that is now – even by a conservative estimation – huge. He is listed as one of the highest-earning Russian live tourney players of all-time.”



Lykov has manhandled the live poker scene in Russia and around the world. In 2009, he recorded his first major brick-and-mortar poker score after winning the Red Sea Poker Cup in Egypt for nearly $70,000. One month later and halfway around the world, Lykov finished third in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas for $145,000. Peter “Belabasci” Traply ultimately took down that bracelet in a final table that also featured Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger, David “The Dragon” Pham, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey, and Peter “Nordberg” Feldman.




In August 2009, Lykov continued his breakout year by winning the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in Kiev for $468,000. Lykov defeated a field of nearly 300 players en route to his first EPT title. According to the Hendon Mob database, Lykov has recorded one six-figure score since then, taking down a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em preliminary event during January’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas for $100,000.



Lykov’s most recent major in the money finish came in September, when he won a short-handed event during the Partouche Poker Tour’s stop in Cannes for $51,000, defeating online poker pro David “Davidp18” Peters heads-up. You can catch Lykov on PokerStars playing under the handle “Maxim Lykov.”



Team PokerStars Pro consists of a number of former WSOP Main Event champions, including Tom McEvoy (1983), Chris Moneymaker (2003), Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), and Joe Cada (2009). PokerStars formerly boasted 2008 champ Peter Eastgate on its Pro team, but the youngster ultimately sought a temporary reprieve from the game and he no longer appears on its roster.



Lykov’s signing comes on the heels of PokerStars inking a deal with Liv Boeree, who parted ways with the CEREUS Network site UB.com just before this year’s WSOP Main Event. Also signing on in recent months were 2010 World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship winner David Williams and PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Mohegan Sun Main Event champ Vanessa Selbst. Williams was formerly a sponsored pro of Bodog, while Selbst attended law school at Yale.



Other PokerStars pros include Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Johnny Lodden, Lee Nelson, and Dario Minieri. The world’s largest online poker site features Pro team members from around the world, including Austria, Costa Rica, Mexico, and the Ukraine. Lykov joins the Russian contingent, which also includes 2008 WSOP Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov, bracelet winner Alexander Kravchenko, and Vadim Markushevski.



Visit PokerStars for more details. The site accepts players from Russia, the United States, and around the world.




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Isildur1 loses $402k in just a week's time - News

Isildur1 loses $402k in just a week's time - News -

Isildur1, who is rumored to be Viktor Blom from Sweden, has been quite active at the $100/$200 No-Limit tables at Full Tilt lately. We have seen him battle against, for example, Tom "durrr" Dwan, Dan "jungleman12" Cates and an unknown player called KTPOKP in the past couple of days (all sessions with very mixed results). Isildur1 has been doing well against Tom Dwan but not so well against many other players. In just one week's time, Isildur1 has lost a total of $402,000. However, he's not alone when it comes to losing huge amounts of money....

Gus Hansen, who won the WSOPE High Roller Event last month, has lost 420k in the past week and in total he's down $3.5 million this year. We can only hope that Isildur1 starts winning soon again and that he doesn't lose as much as Hansen, because I'm sure that Isildur1's bankroll is nowhere close to Hansen's. Well, Hansen has lost many millions in the past couple of years, but on the other hand he has been around in the poker scene for a long time and he will probably never have any problem whatsoever to find a staker. 

Doyle Brunson Comments on Poker Hall of Fame Balloting

Doyle Brunson Comments on Poker Hall of Fame Balloting :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News
One of the many activities during the upcoming World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table is the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony. Who makes it in this year remains to be seen, but one of the most valued members of the poker community, Poker Hall of Fame member Doyle Brunson, has given his thoughts on the matter.



Coming back after a long hiatus from his blog, Doyle opined this week about who he felt would be the best players to elect into the Hall. “I’m primarily a cash game player and perhaps I put too much emphasis on the cash games, but I don’t see how it can’t be the most important landmark,” Brunson states when it comes to the considerations. “I consider all of the nominees to be friends and, for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.”



Brunson reiterates the criteria for election to the Poker Hall of Fame quite succinctly, which every poker fan knows by heart: “The criteria for being in the Hall are simple. A player must have played against top competition, played for high stakes and played consistently well, gaining the respect of their peers. (The player must have) stood the test of time and contributed to the overall growth and success to the game of poker.”




Brunson views a few players as not quite ready for their entry into the Hall. For the two female nominees, Jennifer Harman and Linda Johnson, Brunson feels that both are qualified, but not quite yet worthy of entry. For Harman, Brunson states, “Jen meets all the requirements. I’ve always considered her to be the all-time best female player. However, her sex doesn’t matter here and she will probably need a few more years before she goes in.” For Johnson, Brunson says, “Loved by everyone, but probably isn’t a strong candidate this year.”



Two former Main Event champions in the mix, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Scotty Nguyen, also have their issues, according to Brunson. “Chris is a worthy candidate even though he doesn’t meet (the first two) criteria for entry,” Brunson notes. “Even though he hasn’t played much outside tournaments, he is so strong in the other three that he has to be considered. Probably not yet though.” For Nguyen, Brunson says, “(He) needs to live up to his nickname, ‘The Prince of Poker.’ He meets all five criteria, but is going to have to wait until his behavior in his win in the $50K H.O.R.S.E tournament fades from people’s memory.”



Of the six remaining nominees – Barry Greenstein, Dan Harrington, Phil Ivey, Tom McEvoy, Daniel Negreanu, and Erik Seidel – Brunson leans in favor of the induction of Seidel to the Poker Hall of Fame. “I gave almost all of my votes to Erik,” Brunson says in his blog. “Most people don’t remember his cash game play, but he was in all of the games in his early career. He meets all the requirements and his exemplary conduct deserves a special accolade.” Perhaps the greatest accolade that Brunson could lay out is in his final comment about Seidel: “He reminds me of Chip Reese.”



As to his second choice, Brunson seems torn between Greenstein and Ivey. “You can’t find a criteria Barry doesn’t meet,” he writes. “If not this year, next year for sure.” As for Ivey, Doyle simply says, “Who,” jovially indicating his approval of one of the most feared players in the game.



In the end, Brunson says that Seidel should be inducted a few weeks from now. “If Seidel isn’t one of the inductees, I’ll be very surprised,” Brunson says. “I think the second choice will be Greenstein or Ivey. I feel it should be Barry but, if Phil is the one, I’ll have no objection, even though I feel he should wait until he is older.”



The 17 living members of the Hall and a selected committee of poker journalists, which includes Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, vote for the Poker Hall of Fame finalists. Each voter is given 10 points to hand out in any way they deem appropriate; the top two vote getters will earn induction into the Hall. This is a change from past voting, where a nominee had to be selected on 75% of the ballots to be enshrined.




On November 7th, as a part of the 2010 WSOP November Nine festivities, the top two in the voting will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in a special ceremony.



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Durrrr Challenge Returns for Short Session

If only for a few minutes, the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge returned on Monday night. A brief 258-hand session was played over the course of 20 minutes, with Dwan cutting into the lead of Dan “JungleMan12” Cates by $31,000. Dwan and Cates have now played 7,660 hands of the 50,000 required for completion and Cates owns a $657,000 lead.



The second incarnation of the Durrrr Challenge is taking place across $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em tables at Full Tilt Poker. A total of six sessions have been played so far and the pair has bet over $46 million combined. Cates has won about 60% of the hands played and has largely dominated his fellow young gun in the high-stakes prop bet.



In one of the largest pots of Monday’s brief session, Dwan raised to $1,200 before the flop with 8-2 of hearts and Cates 3bet to $4,000. Dwan called behind and the flop came 6-A-Q rainbow. Cates led out for $4,400 and Dwan popped it to $11,700. Cates called the extra $7,300 and the turn was the three of hearts, putting two of the suit on the board. Both players hit the brakes and checked and the river was the king of hearts, filling Dwan’s flush. Dwan shoved all-in after Cates checked and “JungleMan12” called. The pot of $90,000 was pushed to Dwan and Cates’ cards were not exposed during the hand.




In another major hand, Dwan raised to $1,200 pre-flop with K-8 of spades and Cates made the price of poker $3,600. Dwan called and the flop fell 10-9-J, giving Dwan an open-ended straight draw. Cates bet $4,200 and Dwan just called behind to bring the four of diamonds on the turn. Cates fired out a bet of about two-thirds of the pot, or $9,600, and Dwan called. The river brought in Dwan’s king-high straight when a queen hit and Cates checked. Dwan shoved for $17,000 and Cates called. The pot was worth $69,000.



We’d be amiss if we didn’t recap a hand in which Cates called “Time” and, in the process, seemingly slow-played the nuts. There’s never a dull moment in the Durrrr Challenge. In the hand, we saw our usual raises pre-flop and the first three cards came 5-8-10. Cates, holding 6-7 for a two-way straight draw, led out for $4,400 and Dwan called. A four on the turn filled Cates’ straight and both players clicked “Check.”



On the river, Cates requested time when a king hit before finally electing to bet $12,400. Whether requesting time was a slow-roll or was genuinely due to needing a few extra seconds is not known, but Dwan called Cates’ river bet and promptly mucked. Cates raked in the $41,000 pot, but ended the session down $31,000 after 20 minutes and 258 hands.



If you’re not familiar with the Durrrr Challenge, Dwan and Cates are facing off in 50,000 hands of $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em (and you thought your local $2/$5 game was big). After the 50,000th hand, if Dwan is up by $1 or more, Cates will hand over $500,000. If Cates is up by at least $1, Dwan will fork over $1.5 million after giving any challenger 3:1 odds. In either case, the victor keeps the spoils of the 50,000 hands, potentially resulting in a rich payday.



Dwan has been sparring with fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius since early 2009 in $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha. Dwan is up over $2 million in that challenge, with about 10,000 hands required for completion. The play between Dwan and Antonius has been spotty at best and, in fact, no action has occurred in two months.



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$60000 Rake Race in October - Cake Poker - CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News :: forum

$60000 Rake Race in October - Cake Poker - CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News :: forum

Tom Dwan Drops $413,000 Pot on Poker After Dark: The Cash Game

This week, new episodes of NBC’s “Poker After Dark” returned to airwaves featuring a high-stakes cash game. Over $1 million was spread across the table and the blinds stood at $300/$600 with a $100 ante. Ali Nejad had the call from the action, which emanated from the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas and airs nightly at 2:05am ET. The action will air this week and next week.



Tom “durrrr” Dwan was abused for most of Monday’s kickoff episode. In the largest hand of the show, which weighed in at well over $400,000, Dwan straddled pre-flop to $1,200 and record executive Alan Meltzer inadvertently min-raised to $2,400 with pocket tens. Meltzer didn’t know that Dwan had straddled in the hand and when he announced a raise and consequently just bet the minimum.



Dwan came over the top to $8,000 with K-Q, including the king of hearts, and Meltzer responded by making it $24,400. Dwan called and the action flop came Q-J-9, all hearts. Dwan checked, Meltzer bet $28,000, and Dwan looked at his cards before shoving all-in for $181,000 with top pair and a flush draw. Meltzer, holding flush and straight draws of his own, called all-in to create a healthy $412,900 pot.




Meltzer told Dwan that he wanted to run it once despite being a sizable underdog and Dwan obliged, only to watch a king on the turn fill Meltzer’s straight. The river was a black eight and Meltzer scooped over $400,000. Dwan asked tablemate and fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Patrik Antonius for a reload and bought back in for $100,000.



Meltzer promptly shipped a portion of his newfound net worth to Eli Elezra, seated two to his right. Meltzer raised to $2,800 before the flop with A-J of spades and Elezra just called with Big Slick. The A-Q-5 flop gave both players top pair and each checked to a six on the turn. Elezra led out for $9,000 and Meltzer called behind to see a deuce on the river. Elezra bet $15,000 and Meltzer called, giving Elezra a $54,500 pot.



In the second largest pot of Monday’s episode of “Poker After Dark,” Elezra called pre-flop with 7-4 and “High Stakes Poker” host Gabe Kaplan raised to $2,800 with 9-6 of hearts. Then, Dwan popped it to $10,300 with 3-2 of spades. Elezra got out of the way and Kaplan called to see a flop of 7-3-A. Dwan continued his aggression by betting $14,300 with bottom pair and Kaplan raised to $38,000 with just nine-high.



Dwan called and the turn put a second ace on the board. Both players hit the brakes and checked and the river was a deuce, giving Dwan two pair. Dwan checked, Kaplan fired out two bricks of cash worth $50,000, and Dwan mumbled, “Such a weird line.” “Durrrr” tanked for about a minute before sending his hand into the muck and Kaplan immediately showed the bluff to scoop the $148,000 pot.



Antonius played his first pot at the tail end of the episode, raising to $3,700 with J-10. Elezra, who had limped pre-flop, came along with A-9 and the flop was J-5-5. Elezra check-called a $5,000 bet from Antonius, who held jacks-up, and the turn was a four. Both players knocked the table and the river was a six. Elezra checked, Antonius counted out $13,000 and fired it into the middle, and Elezra called with ace-high to give Antonius a pot of $44,300.



You can catch new episodes of “Poker After Dark: The Cash Game” nightly at 2:05am ET on NBC




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Filippo Candio Chips Up, Gets Penalized on ESPN WSOP Coverage

Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi entered Day 6 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event second in chips and took his seat at the feature table alongside poker pro Peter Jetten. A total of 122 players remained including Mizrachi’s brother, Robert.



Breeze Zuckerman exited in 121st place for $57,000 as this year’s Last Woman Standing. In her final hand, Zuckerman ran K-10 into UB.com pro Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin’s pocket aces. Then, Tony “Bond18” Dunst, fresh off being hired as the host of the “Raw Deal” segment on World Poker Tour (WPT) broadcasts, had his aces cracked by A-Q. In an interview with ESPN, Dunst admitted that he’d consider wearing a tuxedo if he made the Main Event final table.



Pocket aces were everywhere on Day 6. Filippo Candio doubled up with them against pocket queens and began screaming hysterically in one corner of the Amazon Room. Harrah’s officials issued Candio a one-round penalty for his outburst and he was all but mute for the rest of the broadcast. Before being assessed his punishment, Candio told WSOP floor staff, “I didn’t know this rule.”




Also surviving to see Day 6 was Jean-Robert Bellande. The former Bodog pro and “Survivor: China” contestant unsuccessfully tried to knock out a player with J-5 of spades. He was up against Big Slick, but his opponent, Jose Nadal, promptly flopped trips to take down the pot.



Robert Mizrachi’s miraculous run through the 2010 WSOP Main Event came to an end when he was all-in with A-10 for eight big blinds and up against A-K. ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad noted, “They have set a sibling standard for all future large families to shoot for.” Robert took 116th place for the same $57,000.



Ben Straate was eliminated as part of a three-way all-in that saw Theo Tran nearly triple up to over one million in chips. Rob Pisano, who was also in the hand, then exchanged words with Tran at Table 2. In the final hand of the first one-hour episode, Michael Mizrachi, now the Last Mizrachi Standing, picked up J-10 of spades and sent a player with A-7 of diamonds to the rail to become the new chip leader at 5.6 million.



The second episode, which began at 10:00pm ET, also featured action from Day 6. Candio made his way to Table 2, while former tennis pro and assistant to Patrik Antonius Nick Rainey was ousted in 106th place. Tran was then sent packing after running two pair into a straight and, at the feature table, Jetten dumped more than half of his stack. Jetten called the all-in of Brock Bourne with A-K on a board of Q-J-K-8-K only to see Bourne table pocket jacks for a full house.



Theo Jorgensen, who once defeated Full Tilt Poker pro Gus Hansen in a boxing match, won a pot of 5.6 million to become the new chip leader with over eight million. Then, Baldwin doubled up with K-J of clubs against A-4 of diamonds to keep his run towards the 2010 WSOP November Nine alive. Also chipping up was Alexander Kostritsyn, who held one of the top stacks in the Amazon Room at the Rio in Las Vegas.



Jorgensen headed to the feature table, putting all three of the largest stacks together. Then, Gary Kostiuk, who was recently diagnosed with MS, was eliminated in 85th place for $79,000 after running pocket tens into the cowboys of eventual 10th place finisher Brandon Steven. Moving in the other direction was Jerry Payne, who doubled up courtesy of Michal Wywrot after cracking pocket queens with K-J. Payne turned a king and no lady came on the river.




In the last major action of Day 6, Candio 5bet all-in before the flop with A-K and received a call from Manuel Davidian, who held pocket tens. With a pot worth 5.4 million up for grabs, the dealer spread out 2-K-6-8-3 and Candio pressed on. In lieu of celebrating loudly, Candio chose to sing to himself softly.



Next Tuesday, the action from Day 7 will air starting at 9:30pm ET on ESPN.



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Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship Playoff Field Se

On Saturday, the 16-person playoff field was determined in the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship on GSN. The show airs new episodes every Saturday at 9:00pm ET. Over the weekend, the final two qualifying matches for the playoffs were held.



Teammates alternate action by street on Doubles Poker and cannot talk strategy at the table if they have cards. Instead, each team is given one 30-second time out to banter about a hand. Each player bought into the made-for-television tournament for $50,000 and David Tuchman and Full Tilt Poker pro Brandon Adams have the call of the action.



In the first match, Tony G teamed with Phil Gordon, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar teamed with Phil Hellmuth, Gus Hansen paired with Johnny Chan, and Carlos Mortensen teamed with Erik Seidel. The group consisted of three former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champs. Chan was a perfect 3-0 in preliminary matches and players jockeyed to get to 35 regular season points, which would likely be needed to make the playoffs.




Mortensen folded pocket jacks pre-flop to try to allow Seidel to climb up the points ladder and avoid a fourth place finish, but it wasn’t meant to be, as they were eliminated first after flopping top pair with 9-4 on a board of 8-2-9. Tony G and Gordon held pocket tens for an overpair and Seidel and Mortensen were sent packing with zero regular season points.



Then, Hansen 3bet all-in pre-flop with A-4 and Tony G, a PartyPoker pro, made the call with a wired pair of queens. Chan and Hansen could not improve and they were eliminated in third place. As a result of the four-point boost, Chan secured his position atop the overall leaderboard at 64 points.



To end the first match of the one-hour show, Rajkumar and Hellmuth took down the title after their pocket sevens held against Gordon and Tony G’s 5-4 on a flop of 3-J-4. The turn was an ace and the river was a ten, giving each of the winners 20 points towards the regular season standings. As a result, Rajkumar, Tony G, Gordon, and Chan all eclipsed the 35-point plateau and earned a playoff birth.



In the second qualifying match, Andy Bloch teamed with Nick “The Takeover” Schulman, David Chiu paired with Phil Laak, Howard Lederer teamed with Greg Mueller, and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond teamed with Victory Poker’s Antonio Esfandiari.



In just the second hand of the match, Bloch and Schulman elected to gamble with A-Q all-in pre-flop and ran into Chiu and Laak’s Big Slick. However, Bloch and Schulman flopped a queen and no king came for “The Unabomber” and Chiu on the turn or river to save the day. They busted in fourth place, leaving Laak to lament that he hadn’t even played a hand.



Galfond and Esfandiari got it in with 9-7 on a board of 10-10-8 with two clubs. After some deliberation, Bloch and Schulman called with J-9 for an open-ended straight draw of their own. The turn was another club and, with Bloch and Schulman holding the only club, the card left Galfond and Esfandiari drawing thin to the river. The final card was a blank and Galfond and Esfandiari hit the rail in third place.




Mueller and Lederer ultimately won the match and Bloch came up short of his must-win bid for a playoff spot. Now, the post-season field is set in the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship on GSN. Here are the pairings:



Johnny Chan and Erick Lindgren

Howard Lederer and Phil Gordon

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad

Greg Mueller and Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar

Nick Schulman and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger

Tony G and David Benyamine

Huck Seed and Allen Cunningham




In addition, Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, and Toto Leonidas, who are all knotted at 35 points, will play a match to break the tie and two of them will move on to form the final playoff team.



You can catch new episodes of the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship every Saturday at 9:00pm ET on GSN.



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Carlos Mortensen to Captain Spanish World Team Poker Squad

Inside sources at World Team Poker tell Poker News Daily that Team Spain, which did not participate in the first tournament back in May, has filed its roster. The captain of the squad will be former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champ Carlos Mortensen, who has banded together a team that brings great skills in all aspects of poker. Joining Mortensen on the roster will be the highly underrated Raul Paez, Santiago Terrazas, Oscar Blanco, Cayetano Garcia, and Leo Margets.



Mortensen has spent the last decade at the forefront of the poker world. Since his first cash in a tournament back in 1999, Mortensen has traveled the world as a player, with results that any top pro would be proud to own. At the WSOP in 2000, Mortensen cashed in his first event and, one year later, would become (at the time) only the sixth foreign-born player to win the Main Event. He has added a second bracelet by winning a $5,000 Limit Hold’em event in 2003.



Mortensen’s success hasn’t been limited to just his 21 cashes at the WSOP. He has won three tournaments on the World Poker Tour (WPT), including the 2007 WPT Championship. This win was a significant achievement, as it made Mortensen the only man to win both the WSOP Main Event and the WPT Championship. His victory at the Hollywood Poker Open earlier this year pushed Mortensen to the top of the heap in all-time money winnings on the WPT, passing Daniel Negreanu. For his career, Mortensen has almost $10 million in earnings with his wealth of championships.




Raul Paez has battled on poker tables around the world while establishing himself as one of the most underrated players in the game. His first tournament cash was in 2003 and, since that point, he has cashed in tournaments in the United States, Spain, France, Germany, Poland, England, and the Bahamas. While he hasn’t won on the major tours, Paez has been able to garner six WSOP cashes, two cashes on the European Poker Tour (EPT), and a final table finish in 2006 on the WPT.



Santiago Tarrazas has been in the game just as long as Mortensen and Paez, with a great deal of success in his own right. Although he lacks a major title, Tarrazas has earned a cash in the WSOP Main Event in 2007 and, just last year, finished in third place at the EPT Barcelona Championship Event. Tarrazas has over $650,000 in career tournament earnings from his travels across Europe.



Oscar Blanco has been a terror on the Spanish poker circuit since coming to the felt in 2006. He was the best All-Around Player during the 2006 Campeonato de Espana and, later that year, took a title during the L.A. Poker Classic’s preliminary schedule. Most recently, Blanco was the runner-up at the Partouche Poker Tour’s stop in Madrid, earning slightly over $65,000 for that cash in July. Blanco’s career earnings pass the $400,000 mark and signify that he may be the “wild card” of the Spanish team, as opponents may not have any prior history with him.



Cayetano Garcia is the oldest player on the squad, but his years on the tables have provided him with excellent skills. Although his tournament results only date back to 2007, Garcia has made the most of his time with a championship on the Spanish Poker Tour in 2008 and a seventh place finish in 2009 at the WPT Spanish Championship. 2010 has been the best year of Cayetano’s short tournament poker career, with roughly $82,000 in cashes as a part of his $250,000-plus career earnings.



Since making her mark as the “Last Woman Standing” in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, 888 Poker’s Leo Margets has continued to impress fans and opponents with her success on the tables. She made the final table of this year’s Aussie Millions $2,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em tournament and earned another cash in a similar tournament at the WSOP. Margets has over $476,000 in tournament earnings and continues to be in the hunt for her first major title.



This month, the latest World Team Poker event is expected to run, although a location and date have yet to be determined. Team Spain will face an uphill battle against teams from the United States, Australia, and Canada. In the inaugural World Team Poker event, Team China, led by captains Johnny Chan and David Chiu, took down the title.




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PokerStars UKIPT Season 2 Schedule Announced

Nine cities will play hosts to tournaments as part of Season 2 of the PokerStars U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour, more commonly called the UKIPT. The first cycle of the tour is wrapping up now in London in conjunction with the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) stop in the British capital.



Newly minted PokerStars pro Liv Boeree, who parted ways with UB.com before the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in Las Vegas, will play a major role promoting and participating in the second season of the UKIPT when it gets underway in December. Boeree commented in a press release distributed by PokerStars on Friday, “I can’t wait to play the UKIPT this year as a Team PokerStars Pro. The first stop in Galway is sure to have a stellar field and a huge prize pool, so it would be great to kick off the season with a win there!”



The €1,000 + 100 UKIPT Galway poker tournament begins on December 2nd and will crown a champion three days later. The prize pool is guaranteed to be €250,000 and the field is capped at 400 entrants. If a trip to Galway sounds like a winning weekend, then head to the Radisson Hotel in the Irish city and take your spot.




Two new venues will be featured as part of Season 2. The first is actually the fourth stop on the UKIPT, Cork, Ireland. The host casino has not yet been determined for the UKIPT Cork stop, which will take place from May 19th to 22nd of next year. The tournament is slated to have a buy-in of €500 + 60 along with a €100,000 guaranteed prize pool. If you’re unfamiliar with Cork, it’s the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island’s third most populous city.



One month following UKIPT Cork, the tournament series will come to Newcastle for the first time. The Aspers Casino will play host to the event, which comes with a price tag of £500 + 50. UKIPT Newcastle will take place from June 16th to 20th and is capped at 400 runners.



Enough with the suspense! It’s time to unveil the Season 2 schedule for the PokerStars-backed UKIPT:



UKIPT Galway

Radisson Hotel

€1,000 + 100 buy-in

December 2nd to 5th, 2010


€250,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Nottingham

Dusk Till Dawn

£500 + 60 buy-in

February 11th to 14th, 2011

£200,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Manchester

G Casino


£500 + 50 buy-in

March 10th to 14th, 2011

£200,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Cork

Venue TBD

€500 + 60 buy-in

May 19th to 22nd, 2011

€100,000 Guaranteed




UKIPT Newcastle

Aspers Casino

£500 + 50 buy-in

June 16th to 20th, 2011

£100,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Brighton

Rendezvous Casino

£500 + 50 buy-in


July 14th to 18th, 2011

£100,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Edinburgh

The Corn Exchange

£500 + 50 buy-in

August 11th to 15th, 2011

£200,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT Dublin


Venue TBD

€500 + 60 buy-in

September 8th to 11th, 2011

€250,000 Guaranteed



UKIPT/EPT London

Metropole

Dates, Buy-In, and Guarantee TBD



In addition to the UKIPT and EPT, PokerStars also puts on events as part of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), Russian Poker Tour (RPT), and Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT), among others. Visit PokerStars for full details and to qualify for UKIPT Season 2 events.




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PokerStars UKIPT Season 2 Schedule Announced :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

James Bord Wins World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

What started as a field of 346 entrants in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event played down to a winner on Tuesday night. When the smoke cleared, Britain’s James Bord took down the title on his home turf at the Casino at the Empire in London. The £10,000 buy-in event marked just the second WSOP Europe tournament he had ever entered.



Bord started the final table in fifth place on the leaderboard and, after the field was whittled down to six players, Daniel Steinberg hit the rail. In his final hand, Steinberg called the 4bet of Ronald Lee with A-J of clubs for his tournament life. Lee flipped over pocket fours, setting up a race situation. The board ran out Q-9-6-3-8 and Steinberg was relegated to the rails, albeit with his bank account growing by £156,000.



Nicolas Levi was the next to depart. Seven hands after Steinberg was eliminated, Levi followed suit after calling all-in before the flop with a wired pair of nines. Lee was once again the executioner and showed K-Q, including the queen of hearts, for another coin flip. The flop came 8-5-4, all hearts, giving Lee additional outs if a fourth heart were to hit. Instead, the turn was a king and, down to his last out, Levi watched as the 10 of spades hit on the river. Levi collected £208,000.




Live poker Triple Crown winner Roland de Wolfe was ousted in fourth place from the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event. The WSOP bracelet winner, European Poker Tour event champ, and World Poker Tour victor hit the skids in a blind-versus-blind situation. In the small blind, de Wolfe moved all-in and tabled K-Q; he was up against Fabrizio Baldassari’s A-8. Baldassari flopped two pair and de Wolfe was eliminated with £278,000 to show for his efforts.



Bord moved all-in with A-3 and received a call from Lee, who showed K-Q. Lee bricked out and Bord doubled up as a result. The Brit’s rail, which included fellow poker pros Andrew Feldman and Sam Trickett, erupted in celebration. Baldassari then drew out on Lee’s A-K with A-4 to lodge a double up of his own.



After the pair of courtesy double ups, Lee found the exit after 3betting all-in with pocket fives. Bord insta-called with A-K and hit a king on the flop. Another cowboy came on the river and coverage found on WSOP.com detailed the scene: “Bord was jumping up and down with them while they crowded the rail, going nuts for their mate.”



Heads-up, Bord doubled with A-K against Q-8 and, in the tournament’s final hand, pocket fives once again went down in flames. This time, Baldassari 4bet all-in with “presto” and Bord called with a wired pair of tens. The better pre-flop hand held and the 29 year-old Bord took down the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event title.



Bord made the final table of a $1,500 2-7 Draw Lowball tournament in Las Vegas during this year’s WSOP for $13,000 to come within inches of his first bracelet. On finally breaking through, he told WSOP officials on Tuesday night, “I never thought I would win a bracelet. Being so close, you just never know when it’s going to come again. And it’s even more special to win it in my hometown. It’s just something very special.”



Here’s how the final nine players cashed out in the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event in London:




1. James Bord – £830,401

2. Fabrizio Baldassari – £513,049

3. Ronald Lee – £376,829

4. Roland De Wolfe – £278,945

5. Nicolas Levi – £208,119

6. Daniel Steinberg – £156,530

7. Dan Fleyshman – £118,643

8. Brian Powell – £90,617


9. Marc Inizan – £69,754



Bord joined Phil Laak, Jeffrey Lisandro, Scott Shelley, and Gus Hansen as bracelet winners in London this year. Visit WSOP.com for more information.



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James Bord Wins World Series of Poker Europe Main Event :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

Ronald Lee Leads WSOP Europe Main Event with Six Left

The Main Event of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule is in progress from the Casino at the Empire in London. With six players remaining, Ronald Lee leads the way with a stack of 3.4 million.



The pace has been fast and furious so far. In fact, it took just 25 hands for a rare double elimination to occur. Marc Inizan shoved all-in for his last 313,000 and Brian Powell re-shoved over the top. Lee made the call, having both of his opponents covered, and the cards were turned up. Lee held A-K, while both Inizan and Powell tabled pocket eights.



The flop came J-6-10, potentially leading to double ups for both all-in players, but Lee spiked a king on the turn to put the hand away. With no eights left in the deck, Inizan and Powell were drawing dead to the river, which was a meaningless four. Lee catapulted to over three million in chips following the double execution, while Inizan banked £54,000 for his ninth place finish and Powell collected £69,000 for eighth. Lee owned the second largest stack coming into the day.




Nicolas Levi then put a dent in Lee’s chip stack after doubling up with K-Q of spades against pocket fives. The action flop came 6-3-4 with two spades, giving Levi a flush draw in addition to his two overcards. Lee held an open-ended straight draw and the best hand with a pair of fives and the turn paired the board. However, Levi struck lightning in a bottle on the river when a red king hit to give him the critical double up. Levi shot up to one million in chips following the hand.



Danny Steinberg also doubled up on Tuesday after getting it all-in with pocket kings pre-flop. Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman made the call with A-Q and the flop came 10-10-10, giving Steinberg a boat. A running 8-6 sealed Steinberg’s double up and crippled Fleyshman.



The Victory Poker front man found the exit in seventh place after getting it in with J-10 of diamonds before the flop on the 76th hand of final table play. Lee called, turned over K-5 offsuit, and promptly hit a king on the flop to claim a stranglehold in the hand. The turn was an eight, giving Fleyshman a straight draw to a nine, but an ace on the river sent him packing with a £118,000 payday in tow.



Steinberg now sits in second in chips with 2.2 million. However, he still falls short of Lee’s stack by over one million. Here’s how the leaderboard looks with six players remaining:



1. Ronald Lee – 3,465,000

2. Danny Steinberg – 2,171,000

3. Nicolas Levi – 1,660,000


4. Roland de Wolfe – 1,500,000

5. Fabrizio Baldassari – 895,000

6. James Bord – 800,000



Lee has just one WSOP cash to his name, a $3,600 haul for finishing 108th in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event in Las Vegas this year. The student and poker player from New York is in prime position to make a run at the £830,000 first place payday.



Roland de Wolfe has completed the live poker Triple Crown, winning a WSOP bracelet to go along with World Poker Tour and European Poker Tour titles. He became the just second person ever to accomplish the feat (Gavin Griffin is the other) after taking down a bracelet in 2009 in a $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better event. De Wolfe also finished fifth in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em contest last year for $113,000.



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Ronald Lee Leads WSOP Europe Main Event with Six Left :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

Phil Ivey, Viktor Blom Ousted from WSOP Europe Main Event

At the time of writing, 15 players remain in the £10,000 buy-in World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe Main Event. Arguably the two biggest names in the field, Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey and Viktor Blom, the person many believe to be behind the “Isildur1” moniker, both found the rail on Monday.



Blom 3bet all-in before the flop with pocket eights and received a call from Brian Powell, who held K-Q to set up a race situation. The flop came 7-7-Q, giving Powell queens-up and the lead in the hand, and no help came for Blom on the turn or river.



Blom refused to chat with the media following his elimination. Coverage found on WSOP.com detailed, “Blom was whisked away to the interview booth where, true to form, he declined to speak. The production crew insisted, but Blom fought back, basically telling them he ‘didn’t want to talk about it.’ The crew told him to simply say that, as any tidbit of an interview would be viral gold. Blom simply walked off, though, relegated to the rail with 15 players left.”




Before he was eliminated, Blom busted Thomas Bichon from the WSOP Europe Main Event. Bichon departed in 20th place after Blom’s K-Q drew out on his A-Q. Blom hit a king on the flop to leave Bichon drawing to three outs and moved to 900,000 in chips.



Ivey, who is also reluctant to speak with the media, found the exit in 19th place to pick up £26,000. Ivey ran A-10 into Ronald Lee’s A-K in his final hand and, when a king hit on the turn, Ivey was drawing dead to the river. Ivey came within 18 players of his ninth WSOP bracelet and second of 2010. His latest piece of hardware came in June in a $3,000 HORSE event in Las Vegas. That tournament saw Ivey best Bill Chen heads-up in a final table that also included former WSOP Europe Main Event champ John Juanda, Jeffrey Lisandro, and PokerStars pro Chad Brown.



Two-time bracelet winner Greg “FBT” Mueller busted in 22nd place to pick up the same £26,000. He ran A-Q into Powell’s A-K on his final hand. The dealer put four cards to a straight on the board to give Mueller some hope for a chop, but the river paired the board to send the accomplished Canadian packing. Both of Mueller’s bracelets came last year, one in a $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout and one in the World Championship of Limit Hold’em.



Here is the field that remains in the 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event midway through Day 4:



1. Ronald Lee – 1,727,000

2. Dan Fleyshman – 1,460,000

3. James Bord – 1,359,000


4. David Peters – 835,000

5. Nicolas Levi – 729,000

6. Daniel Steinberg – 702,000

7. Brian Powell – 675,000

8. Fabrizio Baldassari – 602,000

9. Andrew Pantling – 397,000

10. Hoyt Corkins – 384,000

11. Roland de Wolfe – 345,000

12. Clint Coffee – 330,000


13. Barny Boatman – 310,000

14. Marc Inizan – 244,000

15. Arnaud Mattern – 225,000



David Peters final tabled Event #1 of WSOP Europe, a £2,650 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed tournament. Also gunning for his second final table in London this year is Andrew Pantling, who finished second to Phil Laak in the same Six-Handed event for £105,000. Dan Fleyshman is the CEO of the Cake Poker Network site Victory Poker.



Each of the 15 players left standing is assured £42,000 and the winner will walk away with £830,000.



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Phil Ivey, Viktor Blom Ousted from WSOP Europe Main Event :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

Gus Hansen Wins First Bracelet in WSOP Europe Heads-Up Event

On Thursday, action in Event #4 of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe schedule, a £10,000 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Heads-Up tournament, ground to a screeching halt after Gus Hansen and Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy were deadlocked at one match apiece. With both combatants taking to the felt in the WSOP Europe Main Event on Friday for Day 1B, the question of when the duo would resume their best-of-three final loomed large. Yesterday, it was revealed that the two would take to the felts on Sunday at 6:00pm local time.



Three hours later, Hansen walked away with his first WSOP bracelet after edging out Collopy in the event’s rubber match to earn a bounty of ₤288,000. The Main Stage at the Casino at the Empire played host to the final match. On the tournament’s last hand, Collopy 3bet all-in with K-4 of spades and Hansen called with a wired pair of fours. Collopy picked up a flush draw on the turn, but no king or spade fell, giving Hansen his first WSOP victory and, more importantly, a sleek gold bracelet.



In one of the key hands of the final battle between Hansen and Collopy, the former shoved all-in on a board reading 8-J-J-5-2. Collopy made the call in a heartbeat and showed Q-J for trip jacks, while Hansen tabled ducks for a rivered full house. Hansen pulled out to a 2:1 lead in chips following the two-outer, forcing Collopy to battle back for his tournament life.




Hansen ultimately let Collopy draw back to even, but the veteran pulled out the win in fashionable style. En route to his dramatic showdown with Collopy, Hansen bested a minefield of poker talent by winning heads-up matches against Max Steinburg, Mark Everett, 2009 WSOP November Niner and fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey, Neil Channing, and Andrew Feldman.



Collopy jumped out to an early lead against Hansen in match #3 after leading out for 450,000 on a board of 6-5-3-9-J. Hansen tanked before making the call and Collopy turned over pocket aces. Hansen mucked and Collopy shot up to 2.8 million in chips for a 2:1 lead. However, he could not fend off the three-time World Poker Tour champion.



Hansen now owns nearly $1 million in WSOP cashes. His two claims to fame on the WSOP felts prior to Sunday’s bracelet win were a $123,000 haul for final tabling the $50,000 HORSE Championship at last year’s WSOP and a 61st place showing in the 2007 Main Event in Las Vegas for $154,000. Collopy had never made a final table in a WSOP tournament prior to Event #4 in London.



The tournament received love from ESPN cameras in attendance covering the Main Event. The network is in the midst of airing the Las Vegas Main Event every Tuesday night. This week, Day 6 of the $10,000 buy-in tournament will play out, with a feature table headlined by Matt “mcmatto” Affleck. The online poker pro took 80th in last year’s WSOP Main Event and made a strong run once again in 2010. You can catch all of the action beginning at 9:00pm ET.



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Gus Hansen Wins First Bracelet in WSOP Europe Heads-Up Event :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

PokerStars Announces Schedule for APPT Cebu

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room and sponsor of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), has announced the return of a stop in Cebu, Philippines for its fourth season. The series will take place at Shangri-La’s Mactan Resort and Spa for a five-day Main Event from November 12 to 16, along with a string of side events.



“We’re delighted to be taking the APPT back to the Philippines, and Cebu in particular,” said Jeffrey Haas, President of the APPT. “The Tour has gone from strength to strength in its relatively short life and fields are growing all the time. Last year’s event in Cebu was a definite highlight and offered further evidence of the continued passion for poker in the Asia Pacific region.”



The tour had a hugely successful debut in Cebu last year, drawing 319 players for the 100,000 Pesos (approximately $2,165 USD) Main Event to create a prize pool of more than $630,000. The tournament was won by Korea’s Dong-bin Han, who collected $156,722 and became only the second Asia-based player to win an APPT Main Event. The 37-year-old bested a tough field that included PokerStars Team Pros Bryan Huang, Tae Jun Noh, Raymond Wu, Tony Hachem, and Celina Lin.



Lin, who won the Red Dragon event at the Macau Poker Cup in July 2009, is excited to return to Cebu for another year: “The five-star resort, with wonderful beaches, spas, and restaurants, is one of the most idyllic places I’ve ever played poker. Cebu is a beautiful destination and the poker tournament itself was also fierce and fun. It will be even better this time!”




The APPT has already held the first three legs of Season 4. APPT Manila took place in the Philippines in March and was followed by APPT Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa in May. APPT Auckland in New Zealand panned out earlier this month. The APPT Grand Final in Sydney, Australia will take place at the Star City Casino from December 7 to 12.



APPT Cebu kicks off Wednesday, November 11 with a PHP 5,000 No Limit Hold’em event. Here’s a look at the full 2010 PokerStars APPT Cebu Cup Schedule (buy-ins in Philippine Pesos):



Wednesday, November 11: PHP 5,000 Cebu Cup Day 1A (PHP 1,000,000 Guarantee)

Thursday, November 12: PHP 5,000 Cebu Cup Day 1B

Friday, November 12: PHP 100,000 APPT Main Event Day 1A

Friday, November 12: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em

Saturday, November 13: PHP 100,000 APPT Main Event Day 1B


Saturday, November 13: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em KO Bounty

Saturday, November 13: PHP 5,000 Ladies No Limit Hold’em

Sunday, November 14: PHP 10,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed

Sunday, November 14: PHP 30,000 Pot Limit Omaha

Monday, November 15: PHP 40,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed

Monday, November 15: PHP 200,000 High Roller Event (Two-Day)

Tuesday, November 16: PHP 20,000 No Limit Hold’em Deep Stack



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PokerStars Announces Schedule for APPT Cebu :: CHILLOUT-POKER.COM - Poker Streaming - Poker Videos - Poker News

Dwyte Pilgrim Wins WPT Borgata Poker Open

We have a winner! Late Thursday night, Dwyte Pilgrim cemented his legacy by taking down the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City. The man who was widely considered to be one of the top players in poker never to have won a major pulled one out of his hat in monumental fashion. Pilgrim banked $733,000, but we’re certain that the money played second fiddle to validation from his peers.



We can’t even put into our own words the moments following Pilgrim’s win. So, rather than try, we’ll fill you in on what the coverage found on WorldPokerTour.com had to say: “Pilgrim runs off the stage, drops to his knees near Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten, and then falls to the floor face down – we think he is crying with joy. After about two minutes, Pilgrim slowly stands up and wipes tears from his eyes as the audience gives him a standing ovation.” Wow.



In a special moment, Pilgrim’s heads-up opponent, Kia Mohajeri, joined in on the applause even though he had fallen just inches short of the title. In the pairing’s final hand, Mohajeri moved all-in on a board showing K-10-9-7 with K-9 for top pair. Pilgrim insta-called with Q-J for the nuts and Mohajeri failed to hit his full house on the river.




Pilgrim owns not one, not two, but three World Series of Poker (WSOP) Circuit gold rings, yet many have contended that he’s only been able to win in smaller tournaments. In his three WSOP Circuit titles, Pilgrim bested fields of 169, 106, and 579. The WPT Borgata Poker Open marked the largest WPT event in history, clocking in at 1,042 players, so we’re confident that Pilgrim’s victory will finally silence the critics.



Not everyone was sold on Pilgrim, however. Lee Childs, who was knocked out on the tournament’s play down day, Tweeted during heads-up play, “Watching the WPT final table. The crowd is increasingly getting on Kia’s side as Dwight continues to be rude and insult him.” Childs later added, “Congratulations Dwight! So proud of u bro! Don’t really love the talk, but soooo much respect! Awesome job Kia as well!”



According to coverage found on the WPT’s website, Pilgrim’s shots at his opponents included “Yo, if I can’t beat them standing up, I’m gonna take them to the floor” and “Gracie Jujitsu! Think I don’t know where I’m at? Think I don’t understand every facet of this game?” The latter comment came after Pilgrim took the chip lead from Mohajeri after spiking a king on the river against a failed flush draw. As the final hand was being dealt, Pilgrim boasted, “I don’t care what happens. I showed these guys how to play from beginning to end.”



Despite the choice of words for his opponents, Pilgrim will likely be strongly considered for ESPN.com’s October edition of “The Nuts” poker rankings, which have seen him fluctuate in and out of consideration for the top 10. The newest WPT champion is third on CardPlayer’s Player of the Year leaderboard behind Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Tom Marchese. On the Bluff Player of the Year leaderboard, Pilgrim can be found at #24.



Here’s how the final table cashed out at the 2010 WPT Borgata Poker Open in Atlantic City:



1. Dwyte Pilgrim – $733,802


2. Kia Mohajeri – $440,945

3. Ofir Mor – $266,835

4. Brandon Novena – $223,475

5. Daniel Makowsky – $183,449

6. Ben Klier – $148,427



Next up for the WPT is the Festa al Lago, which kicks off on October 15th from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The televised event comes with a $10,300 price tag.



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WSOP Main Event on ESPN Features Phil Galfond

Whereas past installments of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) on ESPN have featured the “old guard of poker,” this week’s two-hour block highlighted one of the game’s young stars, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond. The Bluefire Poker instructor took his seat at the feature table on Day 5 of the Main Event, which featured 574 players remaining and two former champs, Scotty Nguyen and Johnny Chan.



Galfond won a pot of 618,000 to become the chip leader in the first hand shown after flopping a set of fives. Then, the action panned out to the field, where Tony “Bond18” Dunst and Matt “mcmatto” Affleck, two of the chip leaders, were seated side-by-side. At Table 2, PokerStars pro Vanessa Selbst doubled up an opponent after her pocket kings could not hold up against pocket tens. Selbst lost 60% of her stack in the process.



Back at the feature table, Galfond hit a gutshot straight draw on the turn, leaving ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad to remark, “Galfond is running better than Forrest Gump.” Then, the young gun knocked out an opponent with A-K of diamonds against J-10. This time, Chad quipped, “A four-leaf clover would run bad against Phil Galfond today.”




Robert Mizrachi doubled up through recent PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) event winner Jason Mercier with pocket kings against pocket fives. Selbst then bit the dust after her A-2 could not hold up against an opponent’s K-J and Mercier followed her out the door by running A-10 into pocket aces. Mercier and Selbst each picked up $27,000.



Galfond held 1.9 million in chips, while the rest of his table held 2.1 million combined. Out in the field, November Niner Soi Nguyen doubled up with sixes-full to move to fourth in chips. Then, Scotty Nguyen dropped 40% of his stack after his pocket queens could not hold against an all-in player’s A-K. Poker pro Alex Jacob was ousted at the hands of Robert Mizrachi and Adam Schoenfeld also found the rail. Chad added, “They’ll have to point Adam Schoenfeld to the cashier. He’s only seen it in pictures.” Ouch. The cash marked Schoenfeld’s third in the money finish in a WSOP event.



To close out the first one-hour episode, Scotty Nguyen doubled up after flopping a set of sevens. Then, Donny Mizrachi became the second Mizrachi brother to fall by the wayside in the Main Event after Theo Jorgensen hit a straight on the river. Donny’s elimination meant that Michael Mizrachi and Robert Mizrachi were the last two family members standing.



Jonathan Duhamel doubled up an opponent to drop to less than 15 big blinds and was seemingly destined for the rail. However, he committed his chips with A-5 against A-10 all-in pre-flop and hit a five to move to 352,000. Then, Affleck became the first player in the Amazon Room to eclipse three million in chips after busting a player by making top pair, top kicker. Affleck was also the chip leader on Day 5 of the Main Event last year.



Juha Helppi sent Steve Sanders away, while former “Survivor: China” castaway Jean-Robert Bellande doubled up an opponent who hit two pair. Jorgensen sent two players packing in the same hand after flopping a pair of sixes with A-6 against J-6 and A-10. Jorgensen did a little jig in celebration, much to the delight of ESPN cameras. Remember, this is the same Jorgensen that knocked out Gus Hansen in a boxing match last year.



Scotty Nguyen lost half of his stack to James “croll103” Carroll after the latter called all-in on a board of 10-3-9-3 holding pocket tens for a boat. Nguyen tabled pocket jacks for two pair and a seven hit on the river. The Poker Hall of Fame nominee committed the rest of his chips pre-flop with A-J of spades, but ran into pocket kings to bust in 209th. Galfond, meanwhile, fell to less than one million in chips, but nevertheless survived the day thanks to his strong start.




In other late action during the second hour of WSOP on ESPN coverage, Robert Mizrachi doubled up with pocket kings and Peter Jetten continued his ascent up the leaderboard by knocking out a player with pocket queens. You can catch the 2010 WSOP Main Event unfold on ESPN every Tuesday at 9:00pm ET.



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Goldwater Bank Forfeits Funds Tied to Online Gambling

Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona has agreed to forfeit $734,000 in assets tied to money laundering and illegal online gambling operations, the FBI said on Friday. The one-branch bank was accused of transferring funds for several online gambling sites, including PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room. At least $13 million was transferred in the first half of 2009 according to federal reports.



Ahmad Khawaja, together with his two firms, Allied Systems and Allied Wallet, had reportedly been actively involved in the transfer of funds to players from sites such as PokerStars and deposited funds into an account at Goldwater. The companies reportedly transferred money from outside of the U.S. through wire transfers from people who understood that the money was being exchanged as part of the gambling operation.



Following a civil forfeiture complaint by the U.S. Government, Goldwater Bank agreed to hand over the funds to resolve claims that the money was traceable to assets involved in money laundering and proceeds of an illegal online gambling business. Under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), financial institutions aren’t permitted to process transactions associated with illegal online gambling. Goldwater Bank, however, denied any knowledge that the transactions had ties to offshore gambling sites.




“Although Goldwater Bank denies guilty knowledge of its role in facilitating an illegal online gambling business, it was paid to execute transactions that were essential to the operation of this criminal enterprise,” said Janice Fedarcyk, the FBI’s Assistant Director in charge, in a statement. “The forfeiture settlement means the bank won’t profit by providing this service.”



Goldwater was among a handful of Arizona-based banks that received Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding. The program, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in October 2008, invested federal money into banks in order to ultimately strengthen the financial sector. Should an investigation reveal that the bank was conscious of the gambling-related transactions, it could be in danger of losing funding in the future.



“Today’s charges and settlement should send a powerful message to TARP recipients that they will be held strictly accountable for any misdeeds while they stand as custodians of taxpayer dollars,” said TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky. “SIGTARP commends the leadership of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for his continued use of both civil and criminal remedies to protect taxpayer interests.”



In August, Khawaja and his two companies reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Government, agreeing to forfeit $13.3 million that was deposited between January 2009 and May 2009 at Goldwater Bank. The FBI confiscated all $13.3 million at the bank in June 2009 and Khawaja settled to keep himself and his companies out of further legal trouble.



Payment processors like Khawaja’s are being watched even more closely since the UIGEA’s regulations went into effect in June. The law, passed in 2006, aims to stop online gambling by preventing credit card companies and banks from processing funds transfers for unlawful internet gambling. The fight to regulate online poker in the U.S. took a big step in July with the passage of Barney Frank’s HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. However, there’s still a long climb ahead in order to turn the bill into a law, leaving sites like PokerStars alarmed in the interim.



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PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge Returns To Fox Television This Sunday

One of the most popular made for television poker shows, the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge, will return with new episodes this Sunday, according to an announcement from the number one site in the online poker industry.



Fox Television will once again air the Million Dollar Challenge as companion programming to its coverage of the National Football League (NFL). On weeks that Fox does not have the doubleheader coverage of the NFL for its viewers (the weekly doubleheader is shared between Fox and CBS on alternating weekends), the PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge will either be seen prior to or at the conclusion of the Fox NFL football game in a viewer’s area. Several amateur players – who have qualified for the program through special tournaments at PokerStars.net – will attempt to take down the $1 million top prize.



Seven weeks of broadcasting are planned. The show will premiere this Sunday and will have its second broadcast the next Sunday (September 26th). The show will then fall into its two week plan in October (10th and 24th) and November (7th and 21st). The grand finale, where one contestant will face poker pro Daniel Negreanu heads-up for the chance at the $1 million grand prize, will air on Sunday, December 12th.




For this year’s version of the program, PokerStars has lined up several celebrities to take part in the Round One action against the amateurs. These “celebrity defenders” include “Dancing With The Stars” hostess Brooke Burke, former two-time Super Bowl champion and Pro Football Hall of Famer John Elway, legendary Detroit Lions running back and member of the Hall of Fame Barry Sanders, Playboy Magazine 2007 Playmate of the Year Sara Jean Underwood, and future National Basketball Association Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton.



The format for the Million Dollar Challenge is the same as in its first season. The amateur faces one of the “celebrity defenders” in an attempt to move onto Round Two. For the first round of competition, Negreanu sits at the table with the player offering advice and reading their opponent.



In Round Two, Negreanu is sent to an “isolation booth,” where only the amateur can hear his advice. The competence of the opponents picks up as well, with members of Team PokerStars stepping to the felt. Such Team PokerStars pros as World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker, Barry Greenstein, Jason Mercier, and Vanessa Rousso are the potential combatants for Round Two.



If the amateur is able to defeat one of the Team PokerStars pros in Round Two, they then face a difficult choice: walk away from the game with $25,000 or take on Negreanu – who has been helping them to this point – with $100,000 and a seat at the Tournament of Champions on the line. By defeating “Kid Poker,” the amateur player moves on to the Tournament of Champions and, if they win that, will once again face Negreanu for a shot at $1 million.



The show has proven to be quite successful for Fox and PokerStars. Hosted by Fox’s Chris Rose and reporter Michelle Nunes, the first season of the PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge was the highest rated network broadcast poker program in U.S. history, averaging nearly four million viewers per episode. For those that may not remember last year’s conclusion, retired NYPD officer and 9/11 first responder Mike Kosowski shockingly beat Negreanu to take home the $1 million grand prize.



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Former Full Tilt Poker Employee Jason Newitt Subpoenaed by Feds

According to Wicked Chops Poker, former Full Tilt Poker employee Jason “JDN” Newitt has been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and is scheduled to appear today. The reason for his subpoena was not disclosed. Read the article here.



In September 2009, word came to pass that Newitt was filing suit against Full Tilt Poker, Pocket Kings, and Tiltware alleging that “he was unfairly fired and that his distribution payments were unfairly ceased. Defendants then took control of his ownership.” He parted ways with Full Tilt Poker following a well-publicized e-mail leak involving Full Tilt front man Howard Lederer and Newitt discussing Jimmy “gobboboy” Fricke, who finished second in the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event.



Whether Newitt’s rumored appearance at the Southern District of New York involves his Full Tilt Poker lawsuit or the online poker room in any way remains to be seen. The involvement of the Southern District with the internet gambling industry has primarily been on the payment processing front. In April, Intrabill head Daniel Tzvetkoff was arrested and charged with money laundering, gambling conspiracy, and bank fraud in Las Vegas. A Dow Jones Newswire report indicated that the Southern District brought on the arrest of the Aussie and was focusing on “hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions with U.S. gamblers between February 2008 and March 2009.”




Last September, word broke that government officials had seized six bank accounts in Maryland related to the internet gambling payment processor Forshay Enterprises. The legal action followed similar seizures of funds belonging to Electracash and HMD, two other intermediaries.



Perhaps the most famous case involving the Southern District involves its investigation of Account Services, which was linked to providing payment processing for Full Tilt and PokerStars, the two largest online poker sites in the industry. Account Services front man Douglas Rennick, a Canadian, was hit with a potpourri of charges including bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling.



The Account Services sting was part of a larger assault on the internet gambling industry by the Southern District in which $30 million was seized. The money in question was destined for over 20,000 online poker players and, as a result of the disruption, sites like PokerStars gave cash bonuses to players who were affected when their checks bounced. The Poker Players Alliance, one of the main lobbying voices of the poker industry, filed an amicus brief on behalf of Account Services.



Wicked Chops’ namesake Steve “Chops” Preiss told Poker News Daily on Tuesday, “In general, subpoenas are not overly specific in nature. It’s no secret the DoJ has been investigating the online poker industry, and when J.D. Newitt sued Full Tilt Poker, he certainly opened himself up for some follow-up from the government. We simply won’t know if the subpoena is specifically targeting Full Tilt Poker or part of a larger and broader investigation of online poker until after the fact.” Newitt’s appearance could also be wholly unrelated to the industry.



Preiss speculated as to what the subpoena could mean for the online poker community: “This certainly isn’t ‘good for poker.’ But it might not necessarily be bad either. The DoJ has been consistent in their efforts in going after payment processors instead of site operators, and this is potentially just an exploratory measure on their part.”



A rumored grand jury investigation of Full Tilt Poker may be in the works as well. The Financial Times reported the investigation in April, although no further action has occurred.




Other recent lawsuits involving Full Tilt Poker include Brandon McSmith suing for the rights to the poker television series “Face the Ace” and Clonie Gowen suing for her own monetary distributions. The latter suit was dismissed in February, while McSmith’s legal squabble is ongoing. McSmith told Poker News Daily that officials from the FBI have contacted him.



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Sam Trickett Wins PartyPoker World Open VI

Chalk up one for the young guns of poker. Twenty-four year-old Sam Trickett of the United Kingdom took down the sixth PartyPoker World Open, banking $200,000. The tournament played out last week from the Palm Beach Casino in London.



Trickett has been on a tear in 2010. In June, he was the runner-up to Jason DeWitt in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event held during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $505,000. That tournament saw Jeff “yellowsub” Williams finish in third and DoylesRoom Brunson 10 member Amit “amak316” Makhija take fifth for $328,000 and $179,000, respectively.



Then, Trickett bubbled the final table of the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event at the WSOP for $141,000. In August, Trickett was up to his winning ways once again, this time finishing fourth in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event in Vilamoura, Portugal. That showing was worth $177,000 and, when combined with Friday’s PartyPoker World Open VI win, gives him four six-figure cashes in the last three months.




On the final hand of the tournament, Trickett moved all-in on a board of A-5-10-2-9 with 10-9 for two pair and Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko called all-in with A-4. Trickett told PartyPoker officials following the tournament’s conclusion, “To finally win a big tournament is brilliant. It is great to hear people saying congratulations rather than commiserations. After doubling up very early, I felt I was always in control, but had a feeling that if I got heads-up it would be against Yevgeniy Timoshenko.”



Trickett doubled up with pocket kings against Dale Hoy’s pocket eights early on and Hoy was sent packing shortly thereafter at the hands of Victory Poker’s Andrew “good2cu” Robl. Hoy’s seventh place showing was worth $15,000. Then, Robl was eliminated in particularly stunning fashion. He pushed all-in with pocket nines on a board of Q-9-Q-5-9 for quads and Toby Lewis made the call with pocket queens to have him crushed. In any cash game, this would have triggered a bad beat jackpot.



EPT founder John Duthie was bounced in fifth place after an untimely shove with 9-5, as Trickett woke up with pocket queens to send the veteran packing. Then, it was Juha Helppi’s witching hour after his Q-6 could not draw out on Lewis’ A-7. Helppi flopped a queen to take a temporary lead in the hand, but Lewis turned an ace to move ahead for good.



In his final hand, Lewis 5bet all-in pre-flop with A-7 of spades and Timoshenko made the call with A-J. The flop came 2-4-3, potentially setting up a split pot, and a second spade on the turn gave Lewis additional outs to a flush. However, a red ace hit on the river to give Timoshenko the win in the hand and set up heads-up play. Lewis received $75,000 for third place; Trickett had a 3:2 edge in chips to start heads-up action and never looked back.



Here were the results from the seven-handed final table of the PartyPoker World Open VI:



1. Sam Trickett – $200,000


2. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko – $110,000

3. Toby Lewis – $75,000

4. Juha Helppi – $35,000

5. John Duthie – $25,000

6. Andrew “good2cu” Robl – $20,000

7. Dale Hoy – $15,000



For Timoshenko, the runner-up showing in the PartyPoker World Open VI marked the latest feather in his cap in what has already been a tremendously successful career. Timoshenko won the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau Main Event in 2008 for $500,000. Last year, he took down the World Poker Tour Championship for $2.1 million and followed that up with a win in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Main Event for another $1.7 million.



Visit PartyPoker to relive all of the action from the latest cycle of the World Open.




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Poker Hall of Fame Voting Committee Receives 2010 Ballots

On Friday, members of the Poker Hall of Fame voting committee received their ballots in an e-mail from Harrah’s officials. Noticeably different this year is a “10-point must system” that asks each member of the 33-person panel to allocate 10 points apiece among the candidates of their choosing. Then, when the final points are tabulated, the top two players who have received the majority of the votes will be enshrined as part of the Class of 2010. This author has the privilege of being on the panel for the second straight year.



Each of the 33 voters can select no more than three of the 10 finalists on the ballot, meaning that we can opt for zero, one, two, or three players. Text found on the ballot explains this year’s election procedures: “This year, we are using a 10-point must system in the voting. You must cast your vote(s) and ensure the total of those votes equals 10, and exactly 10.” If the points don’t add to 10, the ballot is voided.



Two examples of how to vote are given in the ballot. In the first, if we believe two players are equally qualified to become part of the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010, then we’d allocate five points to each. If we felt that Dan Harrington, for example, was especially worthy of enshrinement, then we could toss seven points his way. However, in each case, the total number of points allotted must equal 10 and no more than three finalists can be selected.




Last year, World Poker Tour (WPT) host and World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Mike Sexton was the lone entrant into the Poker Hall of Fame after 75% of the vote was needed. This year, it’s possible that two players could get in considering only 50% is required. The votes from the 16 living Poker Hall of Fame members and 17 members of the media will not be publicly disclosed.



This year, the Poker Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place on Sunday, November 7th from Las Vegas. Further details other than a date were not available at press time. Among the members of the media who have publicly acknowledged that they are part of the voting committee are ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman and the International Federation of Poker’s Anthony Holden.



The 10 finalists from the public vote received the green light from the Poker Hall of Fame Nominating Committee to be considered for the Hall. The group consists of Full Tilt Poker software developer Chris Ferguson, charity worker extraordinaire Barry Greenstein, top female pro Jennifer Harman, and the man who quite literally wrote the book on poker, “Action” Dan Harrington.



Other nominees for the Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2010 include eight-time bracelet winners Phil Ivey and Erik Seidel, Tournament Directors Association co-founder Linda Johnson, 1983 WSOP Main Event champ Tom McEvoy, PokerStars front man Daniel Negreanu, and Scotty Nguyen, the only player ever to win the WSOP Main Event and $50,000 HORSE Championship.



Last year, Harrington, Greenstein, Ivey, McEvoy, Nguyen, Negreanu, and Seidel all made the ballot along with Men “The Master” Nguyen, who is not among the top 10 finalists in 2010. The induction ceremony took place on the first day of November Nine play at the Rio and featured comments from Sexton’s brother Tom Sexton, 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson, gaming legend Jack Binion, Poker Hall of Famer T.J. Cloutier, and McEvoy. Sexton received a hearty 30-second standing ovation upon being introduced to the crowd in a touching moment.



Thirty-seven players have been inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame since 1979 and the ballots from the voting panel are due back on October 1st.






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knecht_poker, Kro-kodill Win PokerStars WCOOP Events

The 2010 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) has rolled on in recent days. Fifteen events are now in the books out of the 62 on the docket, with the Main Event set to play out on September 26th. The feature tournament boasts a $5,200 buy-in and will shell out at least $10 million in prize money. As announced by PokerStars this week, the winner of the Main Event is assured at least $2 million.



PokerStars player “knecht_poker” came out on top of the field in Event #14, a $265 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Knockout. The victory was worth $104,000, the lone six-figure payday awarded on Thursday, and he defeated “a365551” heads-up. “knecht_poker” hails from Ohio and is a former winner of the PokerStars $100 rebuy for $33,000. In April, “knecht_poker” trumped the field of a $109 tournament on PokerStars for another $20,000. One month ago, he made the final table of the high-stakes PokerStars Sunday Million, bowing out in ninth place for $12,000.



Others who made the final table of the $265 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Knockout included “SCAINS2” (third place for $55,860), “Mrazeg” (fourth place for $36,243), “LazersNUTS” (fifth place for $23,155), and “VM47” (sixth place for $11,804). A field of 3,325 players turned out to create a prize pool of $665,000, about 50% larger than the guarantee.




“Kroko-dill” emerged on top of the field in Event #13 on Thursday, a $215 Pot Limit Omaha High-Low Six-Max tournament. “Kroko-dill” collected $63,000 for his first place finish and defeated “SiiliSuhonen” heads-up. “SiiliSuhonen” pulled down $46,000 for second place and the top 108 players finished in the money.



Longtime industry staple Nick Niergarth, better known in the online poker world as “gbmantis,” took fifth in Event #13 for $17,000. The Wisconsin native has been highly successful both online and live and owns $126,000 in career World Series of Poker (WSOP) earnings. Two years ago, Niergarth made waves in the WCOOP by final tabling a $10,300 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event for $179,000.



Here’s how the final table of Event #13 cashed out on Thursday:



1. Kroko-dill – $63,080

2. SiiliSuhonen – $46,514

3. DynamiteDraw – $35,780 (DynamiteDraw)

4. Fabahaba – $25,046


5. gbmantis – $17,890 (gbmantis)

6. chico134 – $10,734 (chico134)



Also playing out on Thursday was Event #15, a $215 Limit Razz tournament. The tournament boasted an overlay of nearly $43,000 and “TDT07” walked away with the WCOOP bracelet and $41,000 following a two-way deal. Receiving $36,000 following the chop was “MadisonAce29” and the top five players each took home five-figure paydays.



Joining “TDT07” and “MadisonAce29” at the final table of the Razz event yesterday were “STUDMANRONN” (third place for $25,000), “cpfactor” (fourth place for $18,750), “mddgfc” (fifth place for $12,500), “Unibasjoe” (sixth place for $8,750), “solody” (seventh place for $5,625), and “cal42688” (eighth place for $3,750).



Three more WCOOP events are on tap for Friday, traditionally one of the slower days in the online poker community. A $215 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max event gets underway at 2:00pm ET and will offer up a guaranteed prize pool of $500,000. Three hours later, look for a $215 No Limit Single Draw 2-7 tournament with a $50,000 guarantee. The nightcap is a $109 Eight-Game contest that will distribute at least $100,000 and starts at 8:00pm ET. All told, $650,000 in guaranteed prize money will be up for grabs today on PokerStars.



Visit PokerStars to sign up for any of the upcoming 2010 WCOOP tournaments. The site, the largest in the industry, happily takes action from the United States and features a fleet of sponsored pros that includes Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, and reigning WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada.




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2010 WSOP Main Event Day 3 Airs on ESPN

“The Prince of Poker” Scotty Nguyen received airtime-a-plenty, baby, as part of ESPN’s continued coverage of the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. On Tuesday night, Day 3 of the $10,000 buy-in tournament aired with a feature table that included Nguyen, Adam Schoenfeld, David Sklansky, and Deuces Cracked founder Chuck Danielsson.



Seated at Table 2 were PokerStars pro Jason Mercier, Allied Network Solutions CEO Ted Bort, and November Niner Filippo Candio. After scooping a major pot, Bort once again began barking like a dog, leading Nguyen, who was seated nearby, to ponder, “Who let the dogs out, baby?” WSOP floor officials ultimately told Bort to stop being disruptive: “You can’t be yelling at the top of your lungs in the middle of a poker tournament.” Bort received a warning; his next infraction would result in a penalty.



Sklansky quickly departed after running 10-9 into A-9, while elsewhere in the room, back-to-back WSOP Main Event champ Johnny Chan claimed the chip lead. 2003 WSOP Main Event winner Chris Moneymaker was not as fortunate, as the Tennessee native was all-in pre-flop with 10-5 of spades and received a call from a player with K-8 of clubs. Neither player improved and “The Man Who Started it All” headed for the exit.



Following his run-in with Bort on Day 2B, Prahlad Friedman found the rail after running top two pair into a flush. Also busting was Full Tilt’s Erik Seidel, whose J-3 of spades could not draw out on A-8 of clubs. Godsmack’s Sully Erna, a staple of the Main Event, called all-in pre-flop with pocket queens, but ran smack dab into pocket kings and could not improve.




Former European Poker Tour (EPT) champ Sandra Naujoks doubled up through Michael Mizrachi. Despite the setback, all four Mizrachi brothers remained in the field as Day 3 drew to a close. To round out the first of two one-hour episodes, defending Main Event victor Joe Cada was all-in with A-Q, including the queen of spades, and up against pocket tens. Cada added a flush draw when the flop came all spades, but the turn and river blanked out and Cada, consoled by his agent Dan Frank, fled the Amazon Room.



The second episode got underway at 10:00pm ET and began with Michael Mizrachi once again doubling up an opponent. Then, Robert Mizrachi folded to an all-in from Lauren Kling, who may be ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad’s newest crush. At Table 2, Candio made waves by 5betting all-in with pocket sixes and getting Bill Melvin and Mercier to lay down A-K. The Italian showed his cards and earned props from the rest of the table.



Daniel Negreanu departed after flopping two pair and watching an opponent turn a straight. He’s made just two cashes in the Main Event in the new millennium (2001 and 2006). Negreanu, however, has dominated across “The Pond” in London, where he reached the final table of the WSOP Europe Main Event in 2008 and 2009.



Heather Sue Mercer was eliminated after running pocket fives into pocket kings, while Danielsson followed suit in similar fashion after running pocket jacks into pocket kings. Jean-Robert Bellande doubled up an opponent who drew out on his pocket queens by making a royal flush.



Candio’s road to the November Nine continued after a raising war pre-flop with Jordan Cristos, who held pocket aces. Candio held pocket kings and by the time the money went into the middle, a pile of 685,000 chips was up for grabs. The board blanked out until a king hit on the river, giving Candio a set and the largest pot of the night. Candio celebrated by rattling off a string of Italian words.



Others who received face time on Tuesday night included Robert Varkonyi, Vanessa Selbst, WSOP Player of the Year leader Frank Kassela, defending WSOP Europe Main Event winner Barry Shulman, “The Simpsons” voice Hank Azaria, 2009 WSOP November Niner Eric Buchman, and James Carroll.




Catch the WSOP Main Event on ESPN every Tuesday at 9:00pm ET.



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