PokerListings.com - Blog

Sandwich To-Go Earns FullFlush UK Ban

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:22:05 +0100

It appears nosebleed-stakes loudmouth Luke "__FullFlush1__" Schwartz is on the outs with the Grosvenor Casinos again, following a rather unsightly incident at PokerStars EPT London.

The durrrr-obsessed Brit told PokerListings last week he had been banned from Grosvenor's flagship property The Vic after refusing to take his hat off inside the casino.

After well-known London bookmaker Eddie Hearn vouched for Schwartz, the ban was lifted, allowing him to hit the felt at the London Metropole for EPT London, being run by staff at the Vic.

However, moments after busting out on Day 2, Schwartz reportedly refused to pay for a pickle and cheese sandwich at the food stand outside the tournament area, angrily claiming he was a VIP and should be treated as such.

He walked off with the sandwich, security was called and after a bit of arguing back and forth, an unrepentant Schwartz was banned from Grosvenor Casinos across the UK once again.

Word is he will also be given a warning from PokerStars and the EPT.

It's time to lock your doors America! With FullFlush losing options for high-stakes tournament action in Europe, he could be headed across the pond.

- Martin Derbyshire

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It's Tough At The Top

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 23:59:54 +0100

When he hoisted stacks of cash and the WSOP Main Event gold bracelet over his head this past November at just 22 years old, Peter Eastgate showed a world of promise.

He followed up his Main Event triumph with a win at a 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prelim, but although he's already played a handful of events at the WSOP this summer, Eastgate has yet to even cash - never mind getting a sniff at more WSOP gold.

Claus Nielsen, a former poker pro turned Eastgate's business manager and President and COO of his charitable organization Friends of Eastgate, told PokerListings there's a good reason for that.

"I don't think Peter is playing his game," he said, walking through the hallways at the Rio. "It happens to a lot of players that find success. They change their game and try to prove to everybody they are a champion on every hand they play."

Nielsen thinks Eastgate needs to tighten up his game a little, stop trying to outplay everybody and just let the chips fall where they may.

"I think if he starts playing his game, Peter will be successful again," he said. "Right now he's just not doing that."

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The Studs

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 23:59:30 +0100

One might be tempted to think the final table of the $1,500 Seven Card Stud event was a dud, considering the buy-in.

But full of studs it is. Jeff Lisandro, who won a bracelet in a $2k Stud event back in 2007, is the chip leader seven handed.

Plus, the man he beat for the title, Nick Frangos, is right there as well.

Add in John Juanda and this final table looks pretty sick.

In fact, the only place you'll find more excitement in the Amazon Room today is over in the $1k Ladies event.

They just made the money in that one and the high pitched screams of some happy ladies were heard all the way up at Buzio's Seafood Restaurant.

Keep it locked on PL.com to see how it all shakes down.

Update: Juanda and Frangos are out and Lisandro has twice as many chips as the other two donks combined! Ship the second Stud bracelet to the Aussie Gangsta!

Update #2 (5:06 p.m. PT): It's heads up now and Lisandro has many chips to Rodney Pardey's few. It should be over any minute.

Update #3 (5:23 p.m. PT): Lisandro wins second Stud bracelet.

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Lindgren likes the Lakers

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 23:59:39 +0100

Erick Lindgren may have won his first bracelet and the Player of the Year race at the 2008 WSOP, but he still lost a bundle of money betting on the Lakers in the NBA finals.

The Boston Celtics beat Los Angeles in six games last year and Lindgren joined several players who took a bath on that one, including Phil Ivey.

This year, however, the Lakers are back in The Finals and are the clear favorite over the Orlando Magic.

At the break of the $10k Mixed Championship, where he's nursing a short stack, Lindgren told PokerListings.com he's betting on the Lakers again.

They have a 1-0 lead and Lindgren is feeling quite confident the series is theirs for the taking.

But when PL.com suggested the Lakers are the kind of team that often has a letdown after a big win, Lindgren agreed, saying Kobe Bryant's boys may even lose two in Orlando.

"This is the NBA Finals," he said. "You never know what might happen."

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PL.com pro bloggers storm the $1,500 PLO

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 23:33:53 +0100

At the dinner break of the WSOP's $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event, both PL.com pro bloggers Matt Stout and Jason Mercier are running like gods.

In fact, after getting it in with a flush draw and a gutshot against two different players with sets, Mercier hit both draws on the river and is now in the chip lead with over $78k.

Considering Mercier took down the FTOPS PLO event on Full Tilt Poker just a few weeks ago and made the final table of the PLO event at the WSOPE a little less than a year ago, this is quickly becoming his favorite game.

"It's because I'm so nasty at it," he joked.

Speaking of nasty, Mercier will have to play the last half of the day soaked in sauce after spilling most of his dinner all over his shirt.

Stout said he went for a low-variance dinner and is wearing none of it as a result, but he returns to the action with a healthy $40k stack.

He flopped an open ender with the nut flush draw in the third level tonight and ended up going runner-runner to snatch a $24k pot.

However, Stout's knowledge of the game might be lacking slightly. He hasn't played much PLO and admitted to flipping through Jeff Wang's book Pot Limit Omaha Poker: The Big Play Strategy throughout the day.

"I'm clueless when it comes to PLO," he said, but we're pretty sure he's lying.

UPDATE: Jason Mercier added to that chip lead throughout the night.

He crushed the bubble as they moved into the money and went to bed with 227,000 in chips - nearly 90k more than anyone else.

He really is nasty!

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8-Ball One Time: Omaha Hi-Lo Continues

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sun, 31 May 2009 23:01:29 +0100

They split pots until the wee hours of the morning yesterday, but still couldn't get the Omaha 8 final table set.

Eventually, Eli Elezra busted 20th, and at around 3 a.m. PT the 19 players still in contention hit the sack.

Now they're back with plans to play all the way down to a bracelet winner.

Things got rolling a few minutes after 2 p.m. with a player by the name of Ed Smith leading the pack.

However, Thang Luu, who won this thing last year, still has a chance to repeat, sitting second in chips.

Freddy Deeb, Jordan Rich and Sebastian Ruthenberg are the most recognizable players left in the mix and this thing is far from over.

A $263,135 first-place prize hangs in the balance and PokerListings will let you know who grabs it up a little later in the day.

Check back soon!

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No Need to Ship It: The Aussie Millions Title Stays Here

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 15:47:06 +0100

For the first time in the Aussie Millions' short but illustrious history, the title will stay Down Under.

What started five days ago with 681 ended with just one in Melbourne early Sunday morning when Adelaide chef-turned-poker player Stewart Scott went wire-to-wire at the final table to grab the $2 million AUD first-place prize.

When play began eight-handed just after 1 p.m., short-stacked Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman got off to a fast start, picking up a few chips to jump back into the fray.

But Barny was still the first to go, losing a sizable pot when Stewart rivered a boat against the man, then shipping the last of his stack in with his A 2 dominated by Zach Gruneberg's A Q.

Boatman took home $100k from his second appearance at an Aussie Millions final table, and although we were then down to seven, seven-handed play didn't last very long. Just a few hands after Boatman's exit, Full Tilt pro Richard Ashby pushed in facing a Rajkumar Ramakrishnan raise and a call from Elliot Smith.

Both players made the call and checked down a board of bricks, but in the end, Ramakrishnan's big slick had the ace-queen in both Ashby and Smith's hands outpipped, and Ashby was dusted off seventh.

It was about that time Canadian Elliot Smith began to make his move. He doubled up, turning a flush against Ramakrishnan, then shoved into a Raj reraise with jacks a little later. Although Ramakrishan's A Q spiked an ace on the flop, Smith found a miracle in one of the two remaining jacks on the turn and doubled up again, this time to $3 million in chips.

The players took a short dinner break and returned to see the exit of sixth-place finisher Zach Gruneberg, who must have had a rather sick feeling in the pit of his stomach after shoving with top pair on the turn, only to find out rather quickly that Raj had flopped quads.

It wasn't long before a short-stacked Sam Capra said goodbye next, open-shoving with tens and finding Peter Rho in the small blind with pocket aces.

It was still all about Stewart Scott four-handed, as he maintained a stack more than twice the size of anyone close to him. However, things evened up a little and play tightened in between several discussions regarding a possible prize-pool chop.

When the deal finally got done, things looked like they might loosen up a bit before a massive cooler presented itself. Ramakrishnan limped aces, Rho woke up with kings in the big blind and all the money found itself in the middle before long.

It appeared Raj would double and jump back into contention, but he was sadly sent home fourth when Rho flopped a king.

The sick suck-out suddenly put the Californian in a dead heat with Scott for the lead, with Elliot Smith not that far off the pace, but the Aussie moved back into control, turning broadway against Rho and getting paid off big time.

He followed that up by pushing both Rho and Smith around over the next hour, turning his lead into an almost-insurmountable one.

Three-handed play continued until Scott made a rather loose call with queen-high against Smith's weak ace to double him up, then donk-shoved with a weak ace only to get called by Smith's strong one. It looked like Scott was handing Smith an opportunity to get right back in it before he managed to suck out, pairing his kicker and sending the Canadian out third.

Heads-up was almost over before it started and it took just a few hands to make it all official. In the end, Rho shoved with A J and of course, the best-running Aussie since Joe Hachem looked down at A A and made the call to win it all.

It was all Aussie, Aussie, Aussie with a side of Oi, Oi, Oi from there as Scott hoisted the trophy and the decidedly homer crowd went completely nuts.

The cash was shipped to Scott, the boys from the PL.com TV crew performed the interview and PokerListings was out.

The crew is headed up and over now, but we're already counting the days until we're back Down Under again.

With the most player-friendly structure in any hemisphere and an eye on the small but important details that make everyone feel welcome here in Oz, Jonno Pittock and the Crown Casino staff run a fabulous show, and our newly purchased Akubra hats are off to them.

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Chasing the Crown: Aussie Millions Day 3

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 16:20:38 +0100

It was chip up or move out day Thursday at the Aussie Millions Poker Championship Main Event as 85 was turned into just 28 and we inched ever closer to crowning a 2009 champ Down Under.

Betfair Poker qualifier Annica Ivert came in with the chip lead, and although it wasn't as big a day as yesterday, she still managed to chew up and spit out enough of the competition to stay near the top of the leaderboard when five two-hour levels were finally through.

However, much of the star power that came to the Crown Casino almost as stacked didn't fare nearly as well.

The hopes of a nation sat on the shoulders of 2005 Main Event champ Joe Hachem after a late double propelled him into this Day 3 with a shot at a deep run.

Unfortunately, the Melbournian Team PokerStars Pro member bounced before the 64-player money bubble burst, getting crippled when he failed to catch with two overs against a pair of nines and finally packing it in after his ladies got turned out by a weak ace.

When we got to 65 players, a man by the name of William Zemljaric attempted to bluff his way out of a bad spot, finding it impossible to push Richard Ashby off top set with ace-queen high and exactly zero fold equity - funny how that works.

Zemljaric went home broke, with just the PokerListings.com Single Worst Poker Play Ever award from our own Owen Laukkanen to console him, and the bubble was popped.

With all those shenanigans out of the way, we returned to our regularly scheduled programming, which included almost every big name player in the tournament going broke.

1998 Main Event champ Scotty Nguyen said goodbye getting sucked out on the river by trip fours against his pocket kings. Patrik Antonius flopped trip jacks, but lost all his chips when the aforementioned Ashby rivered a boat.

Full Tilt pro Matt Vengrin couldn't suck out with an underpair, Mike "Timex" McDonald failed to fade a three-outer, Raymond Rahme ran into a rivered flush and Clonie Gowen was victimized by an old fashioned suck-resuck scenario.

Fortunately, the news wasn't all bad for poker's elite. Noah Schwartz ran aces up into a set to bust, but not before he shipped most of his chips over to November Niner Kelly Kim in a set-over-set debacle with a third player holding the best pre-flop hand all-in as well.

Kim walked away with a $600k+ pot and retains a legitimate shot at the Millions when play gets going on Day 4 tomorrow sometime after 12:30 p.m. in Melbourne.

Betfair Poker pros Annette Obrestad and Sorel Mizzi came into the day with big stacks, but this was an up-and-down affair for them. Both stayed in the hunt, with the former keeping up with the big-stack Joneses by getting some poor sucker to shove drawing dead against her flopped flush and the latter recovering from chip-and-a-chair status in the late goings to amass a mid-sized stack.

With most of the top names railed early and often, EPT 5 London runner-up Michael Tureniec saw a clear path to the chip lead and took it.

Sydneysider Rajkumar Ramakrishnan and $1,100 No-Limit Prelim winner Christian Heich are close; an Aussie chef by the name of Stewart Scott managed to find a spot up there with him, as did fashion designer Christopher Chronis and the incredibly busy Ashby.

Antonio Casale made the final table here last year, and back-to-back appearances are not out of the realm of possibilities yet, as he sits in the top 10 overnight.

2007 APPT Grand Final champ Grant Levy is right in the thick of things and although EPT final tablist Andrew Chen and Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman are short, they should not be counted out just yet.

They'll play down to the final table tomorrow and PokerListings will follow all the action live from the Crown Casino all day long.

With a shot at the $2 million AUD first-place prize hanging in the balance, Day 4 will feature the kind of desperate drama, chilling thrills and fever-pitch excitement usually reserved for a Hollywood blockbuster.

But you can save a trip to the multiplex and the 30 bucks for popcorn and a ticket by following our Aussie Millions coverage right here and checking out all the Pokerlistings TV video interviews over here.

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How Ya Going Mate: Day 1c at the Aussie Millions

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 15:30:06 +0100

On a sweltering summer day in Melbourne, the third and final Day 1 flight of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championships main event got going Tuesday inside the cool air-conditioned confines of the classy Crown Casino.

A massive total of 288 players came to the banks of the Yarra River to try their luck today, bringing the total number of entrants in this year's Aussie Millions up to 681.

Although that number pales in comparison to the 780 rounders here in 2008, the tournament staff still managed to work a little prize pool magic, ensuring first place will pay a whopping $2 million AUD, beating last year's take by $350k.

The top-heavy structure will pay just 64 places and although it really isn't, they managed to make this Aussie Millions at least appear to be the biggest one ever. That's good enough for us.

Big is what the Aussie Millions is about, and the names on the roster today included some of the biggest in the game.

There's no larger figure in Australian poker than Team PokerStars Pro's Joe Hachem. The 2005 WSOP Main Event champ took the felt today with the hopes of an entire country resting on his shoulders.

Publicly stating a title here at Crown was his sole focus this year before the Championships began, Hachem looked as determined as ever when play started. Joe didn't exactly put a big stack together today, but the hometown hero still collected enough clay to ensure his dream of keeping the Aussie Millions crown here in Oz for the first time is far from over.

Much like the Main Event at the World Series of Poker, the Southern Hemisphere's biggest poker tournaments attracts stars from other walks of life, and three Aussie sporting legends made a run at the Millions today.

Cricketer Shane Warne, tennis star Mark Philippoussis and jockey Shane Dye traded in their respective wickets, racquets and whips for $20k in chips, but unfortunately, not a one managed to make it through the day.

Former Aussie Millions champs Lee Nelson and Gus Hansen didn't fare much better either, the latter strangely showing up in the fourth level of play and busting unceremoniously soon after.

As the six planned levels of play marched on, that group was joined on the rail by no less than Full Tilt's John Juanda, WSOP and WPT winners J.C. Tran and Nenad Medic, PokerStars APPT title holders Nam Le, Van Marcus and Edward Sabat, nosebleed online cash-game stud Tom Dwan and a list of lesser-knowns a mile long.

Those who booked a seat in Wednesday's day 2 with decent stacks included 2006 WSOP Main Event finalist Michael Binger, 2008 WSOP Main Event Final tablist Kelly Kim, 1998 WSOP Main Event winner Scotty Nguyen and a host of locals looking to make names for themselves as this tournament moves forward.

When play wrapped just after midnight Melbourne time it appeared 143 players survived the day, meaning Day 2 will begin with approximately 320 players still in the hunt.

Play will start around 12:30 p.m. Down Under tomorrow and PokerListings.com will be on the scene throughout as the serious contenders for the Aussie Millions title begin to separate themselves from the pack.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to click right here and follow along as we inch ever closer to crowning a 2009 Aussie Millions champ.

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Where Women Glow and Men Plunder: Aussie Millions Day 1b

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:47:20 +0100

The second Day 1 of the Southern Hemisphere's biggest poker tournament went off today inside Melbourne's Crown Casino.

A total of 202 rounders took to the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championships main event felt, and some of the best players on God's green earth were among them.

Names like Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Annette Obrestad, Mike "Timex" McDonald and Jeff Madsen highlighted the opening roster, but it was 2008 WSOP Pot-Limit Omaha World Champion Marty Smyth who really got things cracking Down Under today.

In just the first few hands of play, Smyth managed to flop two pair to bust one unlucky player and his pocket aces, foreshadowing the Day 1 carnage to come.

Both 2008 Aussie Millions champ Alexander Kostritsyn and the man he beat heads-up to win the title, Full Tilt's Erik Seidel, began their runs at back-to-back final-table appearances today, but neither had much luck.

Kostritsyn put his tournament life on the line with pocket kings in just the second level and a rivered flush ended his hopes for a second Aussie Millions crown. Seidel lasted a little longer, but he eventually rode pocket tens to his demise when one rather lucky foe caught one of three aces in the deck against him.

While top pros like Jeffrey Lisandro, the aforementioned Chris Ferguson, 2004 Aussie Millions winner Tony Bloom and 2008 PokerStars APPT Grand Final runner-up Jason Gray hit the rail today, other big names were making big stacks.

2008 WSOP Main Event runner-up and WSOPE third-place finisher Ivan Demidov put on a show of strength, forcing his opponents to make big decisions throughout the day, and will come into Day 2 Wednesday among the early tournament leaders.

Meanwhile, EPT Dortmund champ Mike McDonald had players handing him chips all day long to follow up his three final tables at the prelims here last year with a solid start in the 2009 main event.

Betfair Poker's Annette Obrestad doubled early in a set-over-set situation and held onto those chips, while Marty Smyth's incredibly early double was just a start, as he amassed enough chips to get within shouting distance of the top of the leaderboard when play wrapped a little after midnight tonight.

Of course, the Aussies were well represented with 2007 PokerStars APPT Grand Final winner Grant Levy and 2007 APPT Macau High Roller champ Eric Assadourian headlining a massive list of locals. However, Levy's up-and-down day left him with just a little above the $20k starting stack when it was all over, and the never-say-die Assadourian found himself on the bottom of the list with little more than a chip and a chair.

Brit Neil Channing and Full Tilt Pro Matt Vengrin were among the notables who also built sizable clumps of clay today, but the top of the leaderboard was really dotted with the names most of you poker fans have never heard before.

PL.com will let you know who they are if they manage to go much further here in Oz.

The 102-odd Aussie Millions dreamers who survived this second Day 1 will get back at it in two days' time with big stacks Noah "4UHaters" Schwartz, Betfair Poker's Sorel Mizzi, Full Tilt Pro Patrik Antonius and the other 73 players who came through the first flight.

However, PL.com will be back at the Crown tomorrow for the third and final Day 1 to capture all the action as a whole new crop of card players attempt to join them.

With guys like Team PokerStars Pro's Joe Hachem and Team Full Tilt pros Phil Ivey and Gus Hansen already on the list, it's expected to be a star-studded affair, so make sure you hit us up right here starting at 12:30 p.m. Melbourne time to ensure you don't miss a thing.

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Ballers Only: Day 1 at the Aussie Millions $100k

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 16:34:18 +0100

With 23 of the best poker players on the planet sitting down on the Crown Casino felt here in Melbourne, Day 1 of the 2009 Aussie Millions Poker Championship $100k No-Limit Hold'em Challenge kicked off Saturday.

A buy-in this big is bound to attract the game's elite, and the strictly ballers-only roster did not disappoint one bit.

Among those dropping the $100,500 AUD to take part were former Aussie Millions champs Alexander Kostritsyn, Gus Hansen and Tony Bloom.

Team Full Tilt pros Erik Seidel, John Juanda and Chris Ferguson also jumped in the fray, and names like J.C. Tran, Nam Le and John Hennigan rounded out the stellar field.

When play got going a little after the scheduled 2:15 p.m. start time, things started slow for most, but "most" did not include the aforementioned Gus Hansen, who played like money ain't a thing.

By the time the first couple of 60-minute levels were done, he was down to less than half the $100k starting stack and seemed destined for an early exit, with the rather strange 30-second time limit rule pushing him further and faster toward the brink of disaster.

Hansen would follow soon after, but it was actually 2008 Aussie Millions champ Alexander Kostritsyn who got the gate first, running into the relatively unknown Sandor Demjan's trip queens, then failing to connect with A J.

Just as Hansen and Kostritsyn hit the exit, Full Tilt's Phil Ivey made his grand entrance. Showing up almost a full two levels late didn't seem to hurt Ivey's stack too much, but playing a hand with J.C. Tran soon after sitting down certainly did.

After flopping quad deuces, Tran managed to get Ivey to pay off a huge river bet, vaulting him into the chip lead and knocking Ivey's stack down to half its original size.

When the third level of the day started, Phil got dinged with a five-minute penalty for using his cell phone at the table, and the rest of his stack was soon gone unceremoniously.

Tran flopped a set of jacks to crack Aussie Jamie Pickering's kings, sending him to the rail as well, and while he was off and running up to $300k and into the massive early lead, players like Sergey Rybachenko and Samdor Demjan were headed to the rail to join Pickering soon after.

Tony G and Michael Sampoerna, who finished third here last year, were not far behind and before the fourth level of play was through, they were down to just 15 players and two tables.

Just minutes before the fourth level ended and a 90-minute dinner break ensued, Tran actually found quads again, only this time they weren't his.

PokerStars APPT Macau main event bubble boy and two-time high roller final tablist David Steicke managed to catch the good fortune this time around, and was only too happy to take the chip lead when Tran shoved into his quad nines on the river.

In what has to be determined a slight etiquette breach, Steicke asked to see Tran's mucked pocket threes when the hand was through. The bad blood between the two was evident throughout the rest of the night.

The level following dinner was filled with exactly five double-ups from the short stacks in the room and zero eliminations, but the sixth level of play more than made up for it as John Hennigan got his aces cracked, Andrew "good2cu" Robl found his king outkicked and Patrik Antonius sucked out huge in a $400k pot with jacks against Chris Ferguson's queens to send them all packing.

Antonius gave away half of those chips when David Steicke flopped a straight against his own pocket queens a few hands later and after Masaaki Kagawa, Erik Seidel and Nam Le all said goodnight, Steicke went into the final nine with the chip lead.

The decision was made to play a couple more levels before bagging and tagging, and Antonius quickly became the first casualty of the final nine, shoving into a J.C. Tran flopped set with top pair, top kicker.

Jason Gray shoved next with a flush draw that never materialized against David Steicke's big slick and while he said goodbye eighth, Steicke and Tran found themselves neck and neck for the lead, setting up a battle for the ages considering the early personality clash.

A short-stacked Jeffrey Lisandro doubled through Tran minutes later, but got his aces cracked by Steicke's turned trips to bow out seventh.

Play was halted as the eighth level of the day ended with just six players remaining.

Action will resume at 4 p.m. Melbourne time Sunday with six finalists jockeying for spots in a payout structure that will reward just four. First pays $1.2 million AUD, second $600k, third is worth $300,000 and the fourth-place finisher will cash $200,000.

When they get going again, Steicke will have the lead on $631,000 and Tran is next on $528,000. A steady day from John Juanda will see him return to the action with $480k, and the surprising Dan Shak will be back on $356,000.

2004 Aussie Millions champ Tony Bloom will bring $181,000 to the party, and unknown wild card Bill Jourdano will be the shortest on $139,000.

PL.com will have all the action from the final six right here and we politely suggest you join us from start to finish.

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King of the Caribbean: Poorya Nazari Wins the PCA

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:34:55 +0100

Canadian Poorya Nazari was crowned the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure champion Saturday, taking home the massive $3 million first-place prize from the Atlantis Hotel & Casino on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The 22-year-old landed his seat at the PCA during a $33 Triple-Turbo Rebuy Tournament on PokerStars that in the end cost him just $700. We won't bother doing the math on this one, except to say his return on investment is a staggering stat.

Final-table action began just after 1 p.m. with a couple of quick double-ups from 2008 WSOP final tablist Dustin Dirksen.

Left as one of the shorter stacks, Kevin Saul then became the eighth-place finisher here, running K J into Nazari's two red queens to end it all.

However, the whole world knows he lost his real shot at this tournament on Day 4 when he handed the chip lead over to Alexandre Gomes in the late stages.

Dan Heimiller shipped it next, taking seventh-place money in a huge hand that ended with him exiting and American Anthony Gregg tripling up. It was a tale of three small pocket pairs with Heimiller on the bottom holding fives, Nazari sandwiched in the middle with eights and Gregg's pocket nines on top.

The nines held, Heimiller was gone and Gregg found himself right back in it.

Dirksen's run of doubles ended next when he raced A K against Benny Spindler's pocket tens and his PCA came to a quick close with a sixth-place finish.

Fifth was reserved for Dutch PokerStars qualifier Pieter Tielen, who shipped it with A Q into a Benny Spindler raise. The German made the call with pocket eights, the snowmen stood up and while Tielen headed home, Spindler found himself on top.

Team PokerStars Pro's Alexandre Gomes was the next to go in the biggest hand of the tournament to that point, with Benny Spindler flopping quads to crack his pocket aces.

Gomes shipped it in on the turn drawing dead, and Spindler suddenly looked like a lock to win the title on close to $17 million in chips.

They played it out anyway and before long Spindler handed that chip lead over to Nazari, turning two pair and paying off a Nazari shove when he rivered a better pair of pairs.

The lead was traded back and forth between the two before Gregg got himself back in the mix, doubling twice to make it a three-way dead heat. Three-handed play then continued for an epic five hours before Gregg sucked out on Spindler with a dominated ace and the young German was left with the short stack.

He shipped it soon after with Q J and found himself all-in and dominated by Poorya's A J to bow out third, cashing $1.1 million.

Heads-up began with Nazari on $17,685,000 and Anthony Gregg holding $9,210,000, but in just the fourth hand Gregg shipped it in with Q 7, Nazari called with A T and after Gregg bricked out, taking $1.7 million for second, the title was his.

It was a monumental week in the Bahamas that saw the European Poker Tour set a record for entrants at a poker tournament outside of Las Vegas. The $3 million first-place prize was also second in the tour's history to Glen Chorny's $3.1 million win at the 2008 Grand Final and overall, the entire PCA was a massive success.

In the end, Canadian Poorya Nazari was the one in 1,347 who happily took down the Caribbean booty. With that, PL.com once again leaves Paradise behind and heads out on the tournament trail.

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Pirate's Plunder: Day 3 at the 2009 PCA

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:36:28 +0100

The playdown from 102 to 32 was a quick and dirty affair at the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure today.

It took just three levels and the start of a fourth for it to happen, but the biggest PCA in the six-year history of this event really started to take shape here on Day 3.

While the majority of the group saw their luck run out and headed quickly to the cashier's cage, a player who started the day with just $80k began the kind of zero-to-hero odyssey that will make him a Bahamian legend should he hold on and win this thing in two days' time.

We watched 2007 WPT Bellagio Cup winner Kevin Saul do this kind of thing at WPT Foxwoods last year. He was among the chip leaders there before gambling it all away. Left with just a chip and a chair in Connecticut, Kevin turned on the jets to amazingly propel himself back on top in just a level and a half.

He fell short of the WPT title on offer there, but starting with that $80k today, he began another rags-to-riches story. Kevin picked up a few of his chips early before running kings into aces in an $800k pot that would have sent him packing were it not for a miracle king on the river.

Then a little later, Saul turned the nut flush against Max Pescatori's flopped set of kings, sending the Italian Pirate down the plank and making him the first player past the $2 million post.

By the time this short day was all over, he'd put together a $2.675 million stack and was headed to bed with the chip lead.

Hafiz Khan also made a move today. PokerListings.com fans may remember him from the 2008 PCA, where he grabbed second-place money, falling to Team PokerStars Pro's Bertrand Grospellier heads-up for the title.

"Hoffa" Khan, who made back-to-back-to-back final tables at the Bellagio Five Diamond prelims last month, sucked out huge with ace-queen, turning a gut-shot straight against a pair of kings to get up and over $750k midway through the day. Then he rode the wave up and over $1 million in chips to take a spot near the top.

The good Caribbean vibes didn't last all day for Khan, however, as he dipped to a little over $600k and will have a lot of work to do to make back-to-back final tables here at Atlantis on Day 4.

Young German Benny Spindler proved he belongs with the big boys in the Bahamas today, turning trips against two pair to grab $1.2 million, then building it up to $2.2 million by the end of play by picking off more than his fair share of shorter stacks along the way.

When play gets going around noon tomorrow, Spindler and Saul will be the only two over $2 million, with Canadian Benny Chen just behind on $1.9 million.

After they treaded the Caribbean water for most of the day, Day 2 chip leader, 2008 WSOP final tablist David Baker, and 2008 WPT and WSOP finalist Dan Heimiller headline a group of eight more players over $1 million who put it to rest today with more than an outside shot at the massive $3 million first-place prize.

The list of familiar names still stacked also includes Kathy "Purple People Eater" Liebert, 2008 WSOP $5k Mixed Hold 'em runner-up Dustin Dirksen and Team PokerStars Pro's Vickie Coren and Alexandre Gomez.

While the playdown to 32 in the main event was going down, the $25k High Roller final table also played out across the room here at the PCA, and it was an amazing spectacle featuring some of the best players on the planet.

In the end, Team PokerStars Pro's Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier proved you can bust out of the main event and still become a back-to-back PCA champ of sorts, winning the $433k first-place prize after an eight-hour final table.

A short-stacked Nick Schulman was the first to go from the final, taking eighth-place money when his A J failed to catch against ElkY's pocket tens. Daniel Alaei took a sick beat to go out seventh when Liya Gerasimova spiked an ace on the river against his pair of kings.

Sixth place was reserved for Eli Elezra after he ran fives into Gerasimova's queens, and fifth went to Humberto Brenes, who looked like he'd sucked out on Scott Seiver before getting resucked by a Seiver rivered flush.

They went three-handed when Gerasimova, WSOP Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov's girlfriend, couldn't crack Seiver's aces. But Seiver was actually the next to go, running garbage into Grospellier's ace-high and failing to suck out.

It took just one hand heads-up for ElkY to take care of Canadian Will Molson and amazingly, the Caribbean booty was his once again.

You'll find an interview with ElkY up here before the night is through, but back in the main event they'll play down to the final table of eight on Day 4 tomorrow and PL.com's comprehensive Caribbean coverage will begin at noon with live updates, sweet photos and awesome videos all right here.

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The Caribbean Booty: Day 1b at the 2009 PCA

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:03:49 +0100

On a crystal-clear day here at Paradise Island, the poker world headed inside instead to warm up the Atlantis Conference Center and Day 1b of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, all the while proving poker and its stars are truly the hottest thing in the Bahamas.

A rather robust 676 of poker's best and brightest hit the felt today, barely inching over the 660 from yesterday, but still making the total field an EPT record 1,347.

As big as that sounds, the real proof is in the massive Caribbean booty these pirates are pining to pillage.

The total prize pool is over $12 million, with a $3 million first-place prize making this the largest chunk of EPT loot ever - outside of Glen Chorny's $3.1 million take from last year's Grand Final.

The Europeans meeting the North Americans somewhere closer to their turf and PokerStars running enough qualifiers to get the entire poker world here has churned out a 2009 PCA that is so huge, it sneaks into the bottom spot on the "Top 10 Tournaments of All Time" list.

It will make millionaires of the final three and pay 199, and even getting a sniff of the final table will get about 30 other players a decent score.

Chris Moneymaker just missed that list, but every WSOP Main Event since has taken spots near the top. The Team PokerStars pro was one of the masses taking a shot at Caribbean gold today. He had a stack before blowing it up late, but wasn't the only former Main Event champ to try and start a run for the Bahamian bounty on the felt today, and the others are still here.

Despite doing his best to be invisible most of the day, like he always does, Carlos Mortensen showed up with a rather sizable and neatly columned stack of clay after dinner, finishing the day near the top on a respectable $140k.

2008 Champ Peter Eastgate won more than his fair share of pots and will come back stacked for Day 2 tomorrow at 12 p.m. with the almost 200 players who lasted all eight levels of play today and the 182 survivors from Day 1a.

There are too many big names both in and out to list in this space, but we can tell you last year's PCA champ didn't make the cut. Team PokerStars Pro's Bertrand Grospellier fell out in the middle levels and will likely slide into the $25k high roller event starting tomorrow, unless the rest of the week on a Paradise Island beach sounds more appealing to ElkY. PokerListing.com's bonus coverage of all that will be found right here.

While all-world pros like Full Tilt's Phil Ivey, Gus Hansen and Robert Mizrachi joined all-time athletes Boris Becker and Orel Hershiser in being sent off the plank, a 25-year-old from Dubai named Chris Fernandez was on the other end of the sword, getting it up to $285k before the last level and letting $70k slip away.

Fernandez still grabbed the Day 1b chip lead and will come into Day 2 in the top five with almost $220k.

CardRunners master Eric Liu, 2008 WSOP and WPT final tablist Daniel Heimiller and WSOP bracelet holder Mark Seif will all come back with well over $100k, being chased by a fairly large group of solid players that could go on forever, also ready for a run at the island's riches.

Just like on most WPT stops these days, we can say that list includes tough North American talents like Nenad Medic, Jon Friedberg and Kevin Saul. Plus, a ton of those Stateside kids smoking people all over the place online and traveling around the planet stealing the live donks' blinds also have chips.

Great Euro hopes like Dario Minieri, Ivan Demidov, Katja Thater and Johnny Lodden all went broke and it looks like the Europeans have a little catching up to do.

When PL.com's baller coverage begins around noon tomorrow right here, all 380 men and women from all over the globe will be looking up at Day 1a chip leader Felipe Ramos from Brazil and his massive $360k stack.

Nobody else is really close right now, but with 380 left, this booty is definitely still up for grabs.

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Rheem Job: Chino Wins the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 11:42:53 +0100

It took a few lucky breaks and an epic heads-up battle to get it done, but David "Chino" Rheem took down the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic and its $1.5 million first-place prize in Las Vegas tonight.

Things started out at Bellagio relatively slowly, with the heavyweight final-table participants trading jabs before Hoyt Corkins found himself a little shorter than he'd like.

It didn't take long for Hoyt put most of his chips in pre-flop against Justin Young, and the rest followed on a K Q 6 flop.

Corkins had A Q, but Young held A K, and Hoyt was history.

No more than a few hands later, both start-of-day chip leader Steve Sung and Amnon Filippi found themselves in a massive cooler with Justin Young, and suddenly they were headed for the door as well.

Amnon shoved short with nines, Sung called with two kings and Young reshipped.

Steve made the call for his tournament life, but Justin had aces and the rockets held to send Filippi home fifth and Sung fourth in the third WPT final-table appearance without a win for both of them.

With Justin Young the newly minted chip leader, three-handed play lasted just a few minutes before Chino Rheem got frisky, shoving into an Evan McNiff raise with A 9.

McNiff picked him off, making the call with A J, but the poker gods had other plans. Rheem sucked out, spiking a nine on the turn to leave Evan crippled and wondering what he did to deserve it.

He shipped it with garbage a few hands later and Chino had him dominated, ending his Five Diamond dreams in third place.

Heads-up started with Young still holding the lead, but it quickly became an epic affair with the chip lead handed back and forth too many times to count.

The hours and the levels flew by with small pots and very careful play until Rheem pushed Young off a rather large pot, shoving and showing a flush draw to suddenly find himself with an $18 million to $4 million chip lead.

Young doubled up by winning a race, then took the lead catching a pair on Chino holding big slick with a gut-shot. But Rheem got the massive lead back when he pushed with a club-flush draw into Young's flopped two pair and managed to catch the club.

Then, after five hours heads-up, Chino woke up with two kings, let Justin Young catch top pair on a Q 8 3 flop and when the money went in, and the turn and river bricked, it was all over.

Young took $936,760 for second, but Chino Rheem grabbed the $1,538,730 first place prize and all the Five Diamond glory.

What started six days ago with 497 dreamers was down to one, and a month after his 2008 WSOP Main Event seventh-place finish, Chino Rheem had made good here in Vegas on the World Poker Tour.

With that, PL.com is out, but you can still catch Lacey Jones' interview with Rheem on PL.com TV right here. Plus, we'll have a more in-depth interview with Chino up here in a few days.

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Sick Six: The WPT Five Diamond Final Table Is Set

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 05:01:24 +0100

Very little time was wasted today as they went from 18 to six in less than three levels and the final table was set on Day 5 of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic.

The final two tables took flight just after 12 p.m. in Las Vegas and a series of massive hands sent the first five also-rans to the rail immediately.

First Bill Klein got his jacks cracked by Evan McNiff's big slick. Then, after a short-stacked Benjamin Tollerene said goodbye and Hoyt Corkins three-outed Tom Pniak to send him packing, Clonie Gowen busted both Martin de Knijff and Jack Wu when her two queens held against big aces for both.

After doubling up Joe McGowan when his big ace failed to connect against Joe's boxcars, Nick Schulman was left crippled. He himself doubled up twice to get back in it, but his run at a second WPT title ended soon after when Justin Young's big slick flopped top two against his pair of jacks.

Brett Richey got cooled next when he woke up with A-K under the gun and shoved when David "Chino" Rheem repopped from the big blind. Chino had aces and the hand was practically over before it started, taking Richey's tournament life with it.

Chino began putting together his very serious run at the Five Diamond riches right there and then, sickly semi-bluffing newfound chip leader McNiff off a $1.5 million pot with a gutter and a flush draw that he was only too proud to show.

But McNiff grabbed more than that back, busting Robert Mizrachi minutes later when his queens held against Bro Grinder's A J.

With Mizrachi out of the way they went to a 10-handed final table to play down to six, and the action did not slow down one bit.

Clonie Gowen rode sixes to her demise, failing to win a pre-flop all-in race with Steve Sung and his A Q. Coming off a sixth-place finish at Foxwoods, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow's attempt at back-to-back WPT final tables ended next when he got it in dominated with A-Q against Justin Young's A-K.

With two WPT titles under his belt already, Steve Sung is truly playing for the win this time around and grabbed the chip lead soon after, convincing Evan McNiff to pay him off in a $5 million pot where Sung flopped quads and bet every street strong.

Overnight chip leader Ben Straate went nowhere but down today and eventually handed his chips to Sung as well, going out eighth when his A T swung and missed against Sung's sixes.

Literally seconds later, Joe McGowan pushed in with fours, Chino called him down with nines and the final six was set.

When the cameras start rolling sometime around 4 p.m. Friday, Sung will come in with the chip lead sitting on $5.8 million in chips. Coming off three cashes at the 2008 WSOP, Evan McNiff will be next with $4.8 million.

November was a month to remember for Chino Rheem. But he'll be looking to better his seventh-place finish at the 2008 WSOP Main Event with a win here at Bellagio, coming into the final table with $4.2 million in chips.

Amnon Filippi is next with $2.75 million, and he'll be desperately trying to get over the hump in this, his third WPT final-table appearance.

Justin Young placed 11th here at the WPT Bellagio Cup last season, and his steady play throughout the tournament has been impressive. The North Carolinian will bring $2.4 million worth of chips to the party.

The short stack, if you can call him that on $2.295 million, is Hoyt Corkins. Having a WPT title and two runner-up finishes on his resume makes Corkins the most experienced player at this final table and perhaps the scariest.

As usual the WPT has an epic battle between veteran pros and hot-shot Internet phenoms on the menu tomorrow, and PL.com will be first in line at the buffet.

From the call to shuffle up and deal to the moment the $1.5 million first-place prize is handed out, you are welcome to join us as always. Just click right here.

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A Bellagio Blizzard: Day 4 at the Five Diamond

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:11:11 +0100

The snow came down hard on the Las Vegas Strip again today, but the flakes weren't the only thing falling on Day 4 of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, as 55 was turned into just 18 by the time five levels of poker were through.

Tim "Tiny Dancer" Vance was the first to fall, committing the majority of his stack with jacks facing a raise and reraise. When the reraiser shipped, the EPT Copenhagen champ made his second mistake by calling all-in and was quickly plowed down by pocket rockets.

Two-time WPT winner Tuan Le was the next to be salted away, but he was quickly followed by a gang of top pros including Nam Le and Allen Cunningham, who ran pocket kings into Ben Straate's aces.

That wasn't the first piece of good fortune Straate would find, however. Ben reportedly crushes the $25/$50 games online and treated the field at the Five Diamond much the same way today.

While players like Hunter Frey and WPT title holder Nick Schulman grabbed chip leads that would not last, Straate waited patiently for his opportunity.

Eventually it came in the second-last level of play as a battle of the blinds with Steven Landfish played out and Straate was able to snatch a $1.5 million pot pushing all-in on the river on a board holding four spades. Without showing down the hand, he was suddenly on $2.8 million in chips and on his way to the overnight chip lead.

In fact, Stratte will start the final 18 tomorrow with $3,197,000 and only Brett Richey even close as the one other player over $2 million in chips.

As the TD was announcing airport and road closures due to the rare Las Vegas snowfall and Full Tilt pros like Andy Bloch and David Oppenheim were falling short of their Five Diamond dreams today, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow found a way to get his going.

His wild ride really started when he ended up in a three-way all-in with Jacobo Fernandez and Mohsin Charania. It was a massive cooler of a hand that saw Matusow get crippled with queens against Fernandez's aces. Charania had kings and said goodbye when it was all said and done, but Mike was lucky enough to be left with a few hundred thousand.

Lucky doesn't even begin to describe what happened next, however. First he shoved face-first into Robert Mizrachi's aces with J-Ko only to flop three kings. Then he doubled up again, winning a race with nines.

Before the day was through, Matusow would double up a third time with kings over Fernandez' nines, and suddenly the Mouth found himself with a realistic shot at back-to-back final tables coming off a sixth-place finish at Foxwoods last month.

He'll come into Day 5 over $1.4 million, behind the guys on top and in a pack with previous tournament chip leaders Jack Wu, Evan McNiff and Justin Young.

John Hennigan and Chuck Kelley, the player he beat heads-up to win 2007 WPT Borgata Winter Open, both looked good for deep runs here, but fell short of the mark today. As did Team PokerStars Pro's Barry Greenstein, who ran sevens into queens and will tell you bluntly that's never a good idea.

Coming off a win at Foxwoods last month, Jonathan Little was in the mix today, but never got big stacked in his attempt at back-to-back WPT titles, and that's now over.

However, when things do get going Thursday, just after 12 p.m. PT, two-time WPT final tablist Amnon Fillipi will be right there on $1.3 million. Two-time WPT final tablist Steve Sung is equally as stacked, and the WSOP bracelet-adorned Robert Mizrachi is not far off the pace.

Having been here and done that before, WPT Title holder and two-time runner-up Hoyt Corkins is also over $1.2 million and right in the thick of this thing, while November Niner Chino Rheem, newfound tournament circuit cash machine Clonie Gowen and successful poker vet Tom Pniak are the only other players over $1 million in chips. Although William Klein is right there on $999,000.

The shorter stacks include Martin de Knijff, Joe McGowan, Benjamin Tollerene and the aforementioned Nick Schulman, who actually looked like he was ready to take this whole tournament over before self-proclaimed donkey Evan McNiff called his push with A-Q and three-outed Schulman's kings.

A good mix of young talent and proven players fills the roster here in the final 18 and they'll play down to what should be an excellent final table of six tomorrow.

Unless the forecast calls for a few more feet of the white stuff, PL.com will be on the scene and you're welcome to join us. Just take a snow day, cozy up in front of the computer and click right here.

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Criminal Minded: Day 3 at the WPT Five Diamond

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 09:42:18 +0100

A gang of thieves and murderers filled the Bellagio's Fontana Room Tuesday for the third day of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, with 84 people falling victim to a poker crime spree perpetrated by the 55 who now remain in contention for the crown.

Some went quietly, like Kevin Saul, who led here at Bellagio yesterday for one brief shining moment. His chips were stolen early on, getting ripped off by a jack on the river to leave his pocket queens penniless.

Others, like Phil Hellmuth, did not leave without making some noise. When this whole mess started this past Saturday, Phil showed up three levels late and still managed to grab the end of Day 1a chip lead. Then he stayed in the top 10 after only missing one level to start Day 2.

He showed up on time today though, and lost just about every pot he played. Eventually he was shot down on the river when trip aces turned into a full house to crush his flush. With no one to blame but the poker gods, he berated them on his way, saving the rest of the table the headache.

Coming off three cashes, including the Main Event at the 2008 WSOP, Evan McNiff played like a contract killer today, showing no remorse as he built his way up past the magic $1 million mark.

He'll come in with the chip lead and David "Chino" Rheem ready to stick the shiv in right behind on $905,000 in chips.

They popped the money bubble today in the third level, and it was Chino who did the dirty deed then.

With both a WSOP and WSOPC final table under his belt this year, Jason DeWitt looked good for a deep run here as the bubble neared. But just as the TD announced they were going hand-for-hand, he got into a $150k pot with Chino staring down a J T T A 9 board.

Dewitt bet $62k, Chino bet enough to cover his $200k and Jason just froze. Slowly but surely, as half the room began to crowd around the table, Dewitt went through the possibilities and somehow came up with a call.

It was bubble suicide as Chino rolled rockets, DeWitt was dead and Rheem was suddenly the chip boss, on his way to the second spot on the leaderboard at the end of the day.

Jack Wu has a couple of small California cashes this year and after winning his seat in a satellite, he was cutthroat today, sneaking up behind anyone who misjudged him and slaying his way to $847,000 in chips and third place right now.

Right behind him will be mad killer Steve Sung, who, it appears, is not satisfied with just the two WPT finals and two near misses he has on his sheet. Much the same way he wasn't happy just taking one player's tournament life when he flopped a set of jacks to crack his aces. This one was a multiple kill, as he took another short stack holding two picture cards on the way to building a $787,000 wall of clay when play finished.

Nick Schulman started out the day willing to take on anyone and everyone, getting it up over $400k after flopping a boat. This criminal mastermind is now prime shape to take over the whole operation, heading into Day 4 with $720,000 in his effort to add another title to his first-place and runner-up finishes here on the World Poker Tour.

Coming off deep runs at WPT Foxwoods the past two years, Arthur Azen is right there. As are WPT Title holder and two-time runner up Hoyt Corkins, two-time WPT final tablist and high-stakes tournament cash machine Amnon Fillipi, WSOP bracelet winner Robert Mizrachi, high-stakes cash-game stud Abe Mosseri, and WPT Borgata winner Johnny "World" Hennigan, all between $500,000 and $700,000 in chips.

Clonie Gowen's made over $600k on the tournament circuit this year, winning both a $5k here at Bellagio and another in Tunica, so it's no longer a shock that she's in that group as well.

Because he still had chips, French degenerate gambler David Benyamine spent the day away from the nosebleed cash games on Full Tilt, choosing instead to play props, betting $500 a point on the outcome of a series of flops with anyone who would take his action.

We can't say if he came out ahead, but he's still in it here on a healthy $500k stack and the prop game should be just as juicy tomorrow.

It was fitting that the name on the marquee made it to the money, but unfortunately that's pretty much all Doyle Brunson would do in this tournament. Antonio Esfandiari just cashed, then busted as well after entertaining us all with his prop bets the last two days - still lol at the Phil Laak J-Ko thing.

Victor Ramdin, Michael Binger, Dutch Boyd, Kristy Gazes and Annie Duke were also among the notables who cashed, but are no longer.

Team PokerStars Pro's Barry Greenstein found aces to cool off Minh Ly's kings and Jon Turner's big slick after the bubble burst on his way to becoming the biggest name in the group, sitting below Benyamine and near the average stack of $400k-plus.

Day 2 chip leaders Justin Young and Kido Pham took a few licks today, but are right there as well, along with Full Tilt pros Allen Cunningham and David Oppenheim.

As usual, Dupo donkey Tim Vance assaulted just about everyone he came into contact with today and is just under there as well, with short stacks like Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Jonathan Little and the ever-present Nam Le below him. Although everyone in the room expects Nam to double up with aces or kings any minute now and get right back in it.

The 55 criminals still in the joint will be given yard time around 12 p.m., with plans to play down to at least the final 27 and PL.com watching their every move.

You let these types out of your sight for one minute and the silverware goes missing. Click here to see how it all shakes down Wednesday.

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Let It Snow: Day 2 at the WPT Five Diamond

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 08:28:44 +0100

It was a bloodbath at Bellagio on a strangely snowy Day 2 in Las Vegas at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic, as a field of 376 was cut down to 139 by the time five levels were through.

While there were many, Team Full Tilt pro Phil Ivey was the first big name to say goodbye early, shipping it in with top pair only to find Ryan Young on a big overpair. Young jumped up among the leaders, but was gunned down himself soon after.

Having finished 14th at the Five Diamond in 2007, the very same tournament he's both won and finished runner-up in previously, Team PokerStars Pro's Daniel Negreanu had high hopes this time around.

Those hopes were crushed in the first level of play, however, in much the same way his big stack was morphed into a small one at WPT Festa al Lago here at Bellagio a little less than two months ago.

This time it was Full Tilt pro Jon Turner who did the dirty to Daniel, flopping top set against Kid Poker's bottom two pair and obliging with the easy call when Negreanu shoved into his raise.

Among the more than 200 who also hit the rail today were WPT Bellagio Cup champ Mike Watson, WPT Borgata winner Vivek Rajkumar, WPT Championship winner David Chiu and a whole host of top pros disappointed they couldn't make a deeper run at the Five Diamond riches.

With that group and two of the biggest names in the game already out of the way, a third decided to show up as the second level of play on the day began.

Phil Hellmuth and his monster ego grabbed the Day 1a chip lead, playing just two of five levels that day, and although he slept in again, it was more of the same today as he berated and belittled his way into a place the top 10 in chips by the end of the day.

But even The Poker Brat was outshined by North Carolina's Justin Young on Day 2. Young has a little history here at Bellagio, having made 11th place at the 2007 WPT Bellagio Cup, and looked more than comfortable on the feature table sitting right beside Doyle in the Fontana Room today, becoming the first player past the $500k post and ending with a whopping $552,900 in chips.

While most of the people in the room were focused on big-stacked stars like Clonie Gowen, Tuan Le and Kido Pham, who will all head into Day 3 among the leaders, Young has the overnight lead.

Hellmuth, Le, Gowen and the relatively unknown Evan McNiff are three of the only other four players over $400k at this point.

But Chuck Kelley, the man who finished second to John Hennigan at the 2007 WPT Borgata Poker Classic, losing heads-up after strangely revealing his hole cards on fourth street only to call when Johnny World shoved on the end, is also there.

He'll waltz into Day 3 with $540,900, and the whole world outside of Johnny is hoping he waits until the river to show this time around.

Sitting in the threatening group just below are a huge list of scary hungry pros including Hennigan, Amit Makhija, David "Chino" Rheem, Team PokerStars Pro's Victor Ramdin and Barry Greenstein, and former WPT Player of the Year Tuan Le.

The aforementioned Jon Turner is also there, with Robert Mizrachi, Allen Cunningham, Dutch Boyd, who's looking to follow up a prelim win here at the Five Diamond earlier this month and Antonio Esfandiari, who spent the day building a stack and betting on whether Phil Laak's favorite hand is J-Ko.

With just 139 players left in the mix, the 100-person money bubble is just around the corner and although the list of players above is clearly hunting for a big score, there are a bunch of shorter stacks looking to squeeze in and make some noise as well.

That team includes Tim "Tiny Dancer" Vance, Gabe "Welcome Back" Kaplan, November Niner Dennis Phillips, Johnny "What-Have-You-Done-For-Me-Lately" Chan, Liz "The Poker Diva" Lieu, Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, and the name on the marquee himself, Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson.

The Five Diamond is beginning to take shape and the real poker starts Tuesday after 12 p.m. PST when Day 3 begins. As always, you're welcome to follow along. It's as simple as clicking your mouse right here. Now wasn't that easy.

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Shine On: Day 1b at the WPT Five Diamond

info@www.Pokerlistings.com — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 10:10:22 +0100

The second of two first days at the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic went off inside the Bellagio Hotel & Casino today with some of the best in the game taking to the Fontana Room felt.

A total of 294 put down the $15k for a shot at Five Diamond riches, bringing the grand total of entrants to a respectable 497.

What that means is they're all playing for a piece of a $7,231,350 prize pool and a sweet-sounding $1,538,730 first-place prize. The top 100 get paid, starting with $21,620 for the first 29 in the money.

With a more robust (yet equally deep-stacked) field than Day 1a getting things going just after 12 p.m. PST today, play started a little slowly for some.

But online nosebleed god David Benyamine and WSOP Main Event and WPT title holder Carlos Mortensen were not among them.

After showing up a few minutes late, Benyamine pushed around some chips before shoving Antonio Esfandiari off a rather large pot in the first level on his way to a spot near the top of the early leader board. Then Mortensen did everything in his power to grab the chip lead, snatching up every bit of dead money on his table to become the first player up and over the $100k mark.

Benyamine ended the day reportedly on a respectabl $100,000-plus, while it looked like Mortensen went to bed with close to $140k, keeping him among the leaders headed into Day 2.

Although stars like Full Tilt's Chris Ferguson, Andy Bloch, Scott Clements, Erik Seidel and WPT Season 6 Player of the Year Jonathan Little did little more than tread water today and are happy to come into Day 2 still having some play, a few lesser-knowns rose to the top of the heap.

Las Vegas resident Paul Niemela has about $119k in career tournament earnings consisting of a series of deep finishes at smaller preliminary events, but he made a big splash at Bellagio today, raking in pot after pot to build a $260k+ stack and grab the end-of-Day-1b and overall Day 1 chip lead.

Team PokerStars Pro's Daniel Negreanu played the usual small-ball style, grinding it up to a high-water mark of $70k telling everyone how he was doing it the whole way.

But Negreanu couldn't match the kind of day players like the rarely heard-from Evan McNiff, Scott Bohlman, Kevin Schaffel and Lex Veldhuis had, taking them near the top of the leaderboard.

Howard Lederer, Team PokerStars Pro's Victor Ramdin and Gavin Griffin, WSOPC Tahoe king Michael Binger and the Godfather of Norwegian poker, Thor Hansen, all had decent days, setting them up for a deep run here at the Five Diamond as well.

Annie Duke spent part of the afternoon letting Benyamine and Esfandiari bet on an innocent bystander's opinion regarding how many notches are on her belt on the way to reserving her seat in the Day 2 fun, and some of poker's loveliest ladies had decent enough days to join her.

Erica Schoenberg busted, but Beth Shak, Evelyn Ng and Team PokerStars Pro Isabelle Mercier are definitely a part of that group. Plus, PokerListings fans will be happy to see killer pro blogger Liz Lieu topped them all.

The Poker Diva looked good, played good and ran good all the way to a place among the big stacks. After sucking out huge on Chad Batista in the late stages, Liz will strut into Day 2 with around $115k in her lady-baller Fendi bag.

But while Ms. Chilipoker and the like were all making hay, Mark Seif, Gavin Smith, Scotty Nguyen, Sammy Farha and whiny run-bad king Allen Kessler found themselves among the 60-plus making for the door, the latter in typical Kessler-like fashion, getting sadly crushed again holding big slick.

In all, some 225 survived the day and they will join the 150 left from Day 1a when Day 2 starts just after 12 p.m. PST Monday.

Outside of Niemela, the entire group will still be looking up at Day 1a chip leader Phil Hellmuth as he pompously looks down on everyone else.

But as deep stacked as the group remains, it's far from over yet and things should be exciting right from the time the gun goes off on Day 2. As always, you can catch all the action live on PL.com starting at noon, just by clicking right here.

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