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Candio, Tony G Among Leaders at WPT Venice Grand Prix

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:30:00 -0800

155 in total turned up to play the latest WPT main event at the Casino di Venezia Ca Vendramin Calergi in Venice and after eight levels of play just 88 were left.

Candio leads with 227,900, well ahead of his nearest competition Andrea Dato who bagged 121,700.

Those two are joined at the top of the leaderboard by fellow Italian, and WSOP bracelet winner, Dario Alioto who finished with 84,000, and fellow former November Niner James Akenhead who finished with 78,000.

Also in the top ten is accomplished French pro Nicolas Levi who is sitting in fifth with 96,300, and Team PartyPoker pro Tony G with 78,800.

Here are the top ten counts heading into Day 2, courtesy of WPT.com:

1. Filippo Candio – 227,900 2. Andrea Dato – 121,700 3. Andrey Gulyy – 107,600 4. Mustapah Kanit – 99,600 5. Nicolas Levi – 96,300 6. Matteo Amore – 89,900 7. Dario Alioto – 84,000 8. Simon Ravnsbaek – 82,400 9. Tony G – 78,800 10. James Akenhead – 78,000

Rettenmaier’s Quads Win Massive 3-Way All-In

German pro Marvin Rettenmaier made it through to Day 2, thanks in part to winning a big three-way all-in that involved WPT commentator Mike Sexton.

Mike Sexton battled through some bad luck to earn a seat on Day 2.

From what we know the money went in preflop with Rettenmaier holding pocket eights, Sexton with Kings, and a third player with A-Q.

By the time the river was out Sexton’s kings were unimproved, the A-Q had turned into a nut flush and Rettenmaier’s eights had flopped then rivered quads.

Sexton managed to rally back, however, and finished one spot above Rettenmaier on the chip counts with 24,200.

Down But Not Out

Plenty of big names are advancing to Day 2, albeit with fewer chips than they would have liked.

Recent Team LockPRO ELITE addition Melanie Weisner is near the bottom of the list with 31,300, one spot ahead of 2010 WPT Bratislava champion Roberto Romanello.

WSOP bracelet runner-up finisher Jason Wheeler was able to finish with just over the average with 62,000 and Party Poker’s Kara Scott is also through, finishing with 35,700.

Former WPT Champ Among Busted

WPT winner James Dempsey was among the 67 players sent to the exit today in Venice.

Dempsey won the WPT Five Diamond in 2011 but was sent to the rail today when he lost an all-in race with pocket eights against Benjamin Pollack’s A-K. Dempsey is one of a growing number of players with a shot at poker’s Triple Crown, since he’s also won a WSOP bracelet.

Also eliminated was EPT Prague winner Arnaud Mattern, who was on fumes when he got it in with 5♥ 6♥ against James Akenhead’s pocket sixes.

And speaking of the World Poker Tour, we just published a brand-spanking new Infographic putting the WPT side by side with it's biggest rival, the EPT to see once and for all which is the best.

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Kursevich Crushes EPT Deauville Final Table

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:00 -0800

The 24-year-old Kursevich dominated much of the play and, despite a challenge from Paul Guichard heads-up, ultimately pocketed the prestigious title after a 12-hour battle at the final table.

Kursevich also pocketed a healthy €875,000 for the win.

Guichard, the Frenchman who held a slight chip lead over Kursevich coming into the day, came very close to a title of his own.

Facing a 23 million-3 million chip disadvantage to start heads-up, Guichard fought back to almost even but couldn’t bring it home when his flopped set fell to Kursevich’s straight on the river on the last hand.

Still, Guichard takes home €557,000 for his runner-up finish.

Kursevich, who chopped the 2011 WCOOP Main Event and final tabled EPT Berlin last year, earns his biggest career score and his first EPT title.

Pagano Falls Early, Trong Makes Run

Veteran Italian pro Luca Pagano made his record seventh EPT final table in Deauville this year but couldn’t get much going with his relatively short stack and busted early in the day in seventh spot.

Irishman Mick Graydon was the only player to beat him to the rail as the true short stack coming in busted eighth.

21-year-old Parisian computer science student Vuong Than Trong held the chip lead four-handed but was crippled by Kursevich shortly after the dinner break (his four-bet shove with AQ failing to catch Kursevich’s KK) and he departed in third.

No go for Pagano.

Frenchmen Yorane Kerignard, Bruno Jais and Olivier Rogez all performed well in front of the home crowd but ultimately fell in 4th, 5th and 6th place respectively.

Jais in particular can take solace in his finish as he accidentally bought into a €500 satellite for Deauville online when he meant to play a €10 MTT.

The mistake left him with just €1 in his account, but after winning the satellite and taking home €200,000 for fifth he's now flush again.

Below find the full list of final-table players and their payouts:

1. Vadzim Kursevich, Belarus, €875,0002. Paul Guichard, France, €557,0003. Vuong Than Trong, France, €328,0004. Yorane Kerignard, France, €260,0005. Bruno Jais, France, €200,0006. Olivier Rogez, France, €155,0007. Luca Pagano, Italy €110,0008. Mick Graydon, Ireland, €67,200

For a recap of all the day’s action, visit the PokerStars blog.

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Daily 3-Bet: Phil Flops, Moorman Drops, Esfandiari “Has Been”

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Phil Hellmuth taking a bath on his Super Bowl bets, Chris Moorman kindly dropping some poker knowledge and a new contender bumping Antonio Esfandiari for best magician in poker.

1) Hellmuth Thumped on Super Bowl Bets

To understate the matter among the gambling crowd, Super Bowl Sunday is kind of a big deal.

Tough Sunday.

Everyone has action, of course, from $100 “pick-a-square” bets to dozens of props on the winner of the coin toss to the last penalty.

Lord knows how much some of the real high-rollers put up for the Super Bowl, but one notable poker icon burned away at least $21k (including juice).

Tweeted Phil Hellmuth shortly after the Giants came back to beat the Patriots 21-17 yesterday:

Lost EVERY Super Bowl bet: 8 out of 8. set my personal record for biggest loss on one game: $21k plus juice

Among Hellmuth’s losing bets:

$2k OVER 27 1st (loser), $1k NE -1 1st half (even), $2k NE -1.51st (loser)...$2k OVER 53, $2k OVER 53.5

$3k NE scores OVER 29.5 for game, $2k Giants OVER 27 for game, $3k NE -3: $2,500 NE wins 2nd half, $2,500 OVER 26.5 2nd half NEED POINTS!

Still, despite the pummeling, Hellmuth has high hopes for the coming week:

Heading to LA Monday to play poker @CommerceCasino. Tough Sunday, but I'm determined to turn this into a winning week!

Follow Hellmuth for more gambling hijinx on Twitter here.

2) Chris Moorman Drops Some Insight with Snoopy

Most unknown $10m winner in poker?

He gets his due among those in the know. And he’s made a splash in a few big live events this past year to gain some more notoriety overall.

But there's no doubt Chris Moorman is still one of the most underrated poker players in the world.

A pure online destroyer with almost $8 million in earnings, plus a "token" $2.4 million won live, he’s quite frankly one of the top poker players to ever play the game.

So when he takes the time to give an in-depth interview, it’s definitely worth a look.

Speaking with poker reporter Adam “Snoopy” Goulding on Black Belt Poker, Moorman dives into a ton of subjects from staying motivated to Black Friday to the mechanics of having a 20-player stable of horses.

It’s a great read; here’s an excerpt that helps explain why he's been so dominant for so long:

“I suppose I should be bored with poker by now considering how much I play, so I’m lucky in that respect. I just love the game.

"It’s not about the money; every time I play, I want to win, even if it’s an eight-dollar rebuy or something, and it makes me feel good about myself when I do."

Full interview here.

3) Antonio Esfandiari Now Second-Best Magician in Poker

We’ve said Antonio Esfandiari has been getting a free ride as the poker world’s number #1 magician for years (when was the last time he covered anyone in club sauce?), and now finally someone has stepped up and called him on it.

Noted magician Dynamo has been on hand at the WPT Venice event doing his close-up sleight of hand, prompting WPT Host Mike Sexton to call Esfandiari a “has been” when it comes to being poker’s magic rep.

See for yourself below:

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Sunday Scoop: MatejK992SLO Goes Wire to Wire

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 09:00:00 -0800

With millions of dollars on the line, thousands of poker players flocked to the tables in hopes of celebrating their own championship victory.

Most of the major tournaments including the Sunday Million, Sunday Warm-Up and iPoker $200k Guaranteed easily crushed their guarantees

Here’s a look at a few of the biggest tournaments that took place yesterday and the ultimate winners.

MatejK992SLO Dominates Sunday Million

Slovenian MatejK992SLO took the chip lead into yesterday’s PokerStars Sunday Million final table and never let up.

The Sunday Million, as usual, didn’t disappoint with 7,401 runners and a $1.4 million prize pool.

MatejK992SLO started with 20 million chips, which was more than double his closest competition.

About the only mistake he may have made at the final table was agreeing to a six-way chop. He took the largest portion but he would have won the entire $222k first place prize if he went for it.

Instead MatejK992SLO ended up beating m0rtengud heads-up to take down a total of $177k.

The Team PokerStars Pros were nearly shut out of yesterday’s Sunday Million with only Andre Akkari, Johnny Lodden and Pat Pezzin making small cashes.

Here are the full final table payouts from yesterday’s Sunday Million:

1. MatejK992SLO - $177,691 2. m0rtengud - $166,420 3. fr0zZy - $113,001 4. *C@LLMEM8* - $119,780 5. GeigelGagel - $85,118 6. sprenger62 - $76,831 7. grackhack2 - $31,824 8. Eskapisten - $17,762 9. MeirDa - $11,471

Angel Guillen

MarinaBalbes Secures $97k in Sunday Warm-Up

The PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up was buzzing yesterday with 3,624 players and a $724,800 prizepool.

Among the many players to buy-in were Team PokerStars Pros Martin Hruby, Martin Staszko, Celina Lin, Fatima de Melo, George Danzer and Johnny Lodden but it was Mexican pro Angel Guillen who made the deepest run.

Guillden outlasted 3,588 players before finally busting in 36th place for $1,630.

Russian MarinaBalbes came out of the last sprint in the lead and entered the final table with the chip lead.

MarinaBalbes never let up at the final table and, although there was a three-way chop, ended up winning the tournament for $97k.

Here are the complete final table payouts:

1. MarinaBalbes - $97,939 2. Ms. Bon-bon - $77,931 3. Leviathan74 - $82,521 4. Tomascibak - $41,676 5. Bergeroo - $30,804 6. Zackmorris99 - $23,556 7. PokerSavage1 - $16,308 8. Salsicha - $9,060 9. Jenbizzle - $5,796

iPoker $200k Guaranteed

Meanwhile over on the iPoker network, which includes Titan Poker, William Hill Poker and Poker770, a total of 1,036 players paid the $215 buy-in to play the massive $200k guaranteed.

The players combined to create a prizepool of $207k with $35k dedicated to first place alone.

Several notables played in the tournament including established grinders Phil “bergeroo” Huxley and Matt “mjw006” Wakeman but the majority fell short of the cash.

In the end online poker player KiinKiin beat JimBeam22 heads-up to take down the $35,224 first place prize.

Here’s a complete look at the final table payouts:

1. KiinKiin - $35,224 2. JimBeam22 - $25,900 3. Ollieboy1 - $19,663 4. Skuja85 - $14,089 5. MyStapler - $10,256 6. Expekt3571965 - $8,184 7. Sitoutpre - $6,112 8. Bizbills - $4,040 9. Chrismullins01 - $2,237

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Pagano Slips but Holds On for 7th EPT Final Table

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:00 -0800

Still, it wasn’t necessarily the day Pagano hoped.

The esteemed Italian pro had a huge Day 4 on Friday as he rocketed himself to 3.5 million in chips and a one million-chip headstart over the pack heading into today.

Things didn’t go quite as smoothly, however, and Pagano ended up droppping 1.5 million in chips and slipping to sixth to enter the final table with 2.010,000.

Instead of a commanding lead, Pagano will be chasing the frontrunners topped by Frenchman Paul Guichard, the new chip leader with 5,955,000.

Guichard is followed closely by Vadzim Kursevich, EPT Berlin final-tablist and part of a five-way chop for last year’s WCOOP Main Event, who sits second with 5,670,000.

Pagano’s seventh EPT final table is still a new record, as is his 20th EPT cash, and he'll be looking to add to his $1.9 million in career live earnings tomorrow.

Mixed Bag in Final Eight

Rounding out the final eight with Pagano, Guichard and Kursevich are a quintet of players all looking to make a big splash.

Frenchman Olivier Rogez, owner of a cleaning company and among the leaders for the past two days in Deauville, will come in third in chips with 4,415,000.

Bruno Jais, another Frenchman and a 20-year poker vet, will enter fourth with 3,450,000 while 21-year-old Parisian computer science student Vuong Than Trong sits fifth with 2,570,000.

After Pagano in sixth comes Frenchman Yorane Kerignard, an EPT San Remo final-tablist, in seventh with 1,680,000.

Sitting on the short stack is Mick Graydon, the first Irishman to make Supernova Elite, winner of over $1.2 million online and pal of Irish PokerStars pro Jude Ainsworth.

Graydon will have 960,000 chips to start the day.

Bustouts, Big Day Tomorrow

Among the notable players to hit the bricks today were Chris “NigDawG” Brammer, Kevin Vandersmissen, Marc Inizan, and Ignat Liviu.

Action will start up again at noon in snowy Deauville on Monday.

Each player is now guaranteed at least €67,200 with €875,000 earmarked for the winner.

As an interesting side note, French gaming law actually restricts any deal-making at the final table so players will be claiming the prizes as they are listed.

The official final eight and their chip counts, care of the PokerStars blog.

1. Paul Guichard 5,955,000

2. Vadzim Kursevich 5,670,000

3. Olivier Rogez 4,415,000

4. Bruno Jais 3,450,000

5. Vuong Than Trong 2,570,000

6. Luca Pagano 2,010,000

7. Yorane Kerignard 1,680,000

8. Mick Graydon 960,000

Watch the action on the live stream at PokerStars.tv.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

In and Out List: Stars Hits 75 Billion, Kid Poker Loses a Million

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 17:00:00 -0800

This week’s List features 75 billion hands on PokerStars, Devo’s latest win and the end of an independent poker website, along with Jamie Gold, Daniel Negreanu and the Global Poker Index.

Buckle up. This is the In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: January 30 – February 5, 2012

Chopping the 75 Billionth Hand on PokerStars: IN

Earlier today PokerStars hit its latest milestone, hand 75 billion. And to celebrate they gave away $140,000.

And it gets better. The milestone pot was chopped, meaning two players had their prizes doubled!

edroqui07 and acer2831 both made the same seven-high straight and took $42,810 and $34,600, respectively.

Here are the payouts for the 75 billionth hand and their chat box reactions, courtesy of PokerStars Blog.

edroqui07: $42,810... "yeeeaaaaaaaaaa" acer2831: $34,600 i-268: $19,450... "awesome, ty" ant_poker: $19,010... "ooooh" Sebastfrz: $16,970 pavl007: $16,970... "enough for a sandwich" (but presumably a very big one)

We really like the sound of a $16,000 sandwich.

tcash777 for Live Updating his $2/$5 Game Against Jamie Gold: IN

Two Plus Two forum poster tcash777 sat down in a $2/$5 game at the Trop in Las Vegas and found the poker room’s namesake Jamie Gold sitting to his left.

"No one's live updated me since the 2006 Main Event"

He’s In this week because instead of sitting starstruck, or the much worse ask-for-a-picture, he started a thread about it.

Drawing on the vast number of bored slackers knowledge and experience available in NVG he asked for help. The feedback wasn’t exactly helpful, and his cell phone ran out of batteries before he could get much of a dialogue going, we're still commending him for taking the initiative.

Check out the thread right here.

Bryan Devonshire for Winning a Second WSOPC Ring: IN

The man known in the poker world as Devo has won a second WSOP Circuit ring, and a spot on this week’s In List.

Bryan Devonshire defeated the venerable Paul “Eskimo” Clark heads-up and pocketed $55,291. In total 228 players bought into that $1k event at Caesars Las Vegas.

Devonshire narrowly missed the 2011 November Nine, finishing 12th in the Main Event for over $600,000. He’s now got close to $2 million in lifetime earnings.

Get the full story from the amazing Nolan Dalla right here.

Poker’s Out List: January 30 – February 5, 2012

Subject: Poker for Closing its Virtual Doors: OUT

Subject: Poker, the website that has become synonymous with secret-source Full Tilt Poker news, has packed up shop and will no longer be publishing new articles.

Site founder NoahSD announced that he was getting into the online poker security consulting game, and would therefore be unable to present the kind of independent news for which the site was revered.

Feature writer Diamond_Flush has started a new blog, however, and will continue to follow the Black Friday debacle as it develops.

Daniel Negreanu for Bubbling the $250k Down Under: OUT

Some might call it cruel but we’re putting Daniel Negreanu Out this week for nailing one of the biggest bubbles in poker, the $250k Super High Roller at the Aussie Millions.

Maria Ho is one of 11 players bumped off the GPI this week.

Negreanu posted yesterday about what it’s like to go out in fourth and lose $250,000, instead of finishing third and winning $800k.

To make matters worse Negreanu spent the next evening with Patrik Antonius, the one who busted him out of the Super High Roller with jacks against A-8. Antonius, his wife Maya, plus Jason Mercier and his fiancée all went to the Aussie Open finals for that epic Nadal/Djokovic finale.

Click through here for Negreanu’s latest blog post.

11 Players from the Global Poker Index: OUT

Earlier this week 11 players were knocked off the weekly Global Poker Index ranking. The GPI ranks the top 300 live tournament players in the world.

Among those bumped off the list was Maria Ho, who has been in the top 300 since the 2011 WSOP, and Cornel Cimpan, who earned over $3 million in 2009 but hasn’t done a whole lot lately.

Still in the number one spot is Erik Seidel whose 2011 was among the greatest in poker history. Seidel has been number one 14 of the 32 weeks the GPI has been in existence. That’s more than any other player.

Click here for the full ranking.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Pagano Dominates on Day 4 at EPT Deauville

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0800

Starting the day with just 344,000 in chips and on the wrong side of the average stack, Pagano went on a fantastic heater to build his chip stack to over 10x what he had to begin with.

Seizing the chip lead in the first level alone, Pagano most notably pillaged the chip stack of Day 3 leader Samphane Phomveha in a huge hand to distance himself from the field.

Pagano flopped a set with sixes, filled up on the turn and got big calls from Phomveha, who held trip aces, all the way down.

When the dust settled, Pagano bagged up 3,561,000 in chips to grab the outright lead heading into Day 5 and a one million-chip advantage over second-place Olivier Rogez (2,688,000).

Pagano had already secured a record 20th EPT cash and is now in pole position to make yet another EPT final-table appearance.

Brammer, Inizan Still Lurking in Final 24

With just 54 players to start the day and a target of 24, things moved quickly on Day 4.

Brit Chris “NigDawG” Brammer, who began the day in third with just over a million chips, tread water for most of the day but still finished up in 8th with 1,262,000.

Fellow Brit Martins Adeniya, also in the top five to begin the day, wasn’t so lucky as he busted fairly early.

France’s Yorane Kerignard (1,124,000) and Marc Inizan (481,000), two of the more established players in a local-heavy field, are also still in contention.

Play Down to Final Table Begins

Play is scheduled to resume tomorrow at noon in France with a final table of eight the target number.

Remaining players have assured themselves of at least €23,000 with six-figures guaranteed for making the final seven.

A solid €875,000 is reserved for the winner.

The top 10 and their chip counts, care of the PokerStars blog.

1. Luca Pagano 3,561,000

2. Olivier Rogez 2,668,000

3. Vadzim Kursevich 1,815,000

4. Paul Guichard 1,700,000

5. Andre Corredoira 1,316,000

6. Ignat Liviu 1,303,000

7. Christian Togsverd 1,271,000

8. Chris Brammer 1,262,000

9. Artem Litvinov 1,193,000

10. Yorane Kerignard 1,124,000

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

21 Pros Collab on Poker E-Book for Charity

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 09:30:00 -0800

Benefitting the Green World Campaign, Poker with a Purpose brings big name poker pros like Annie Duke, Isaac Baron, Sorel Mizzi and Tom Marchese together for the first time to tackle core poker strategy concepts.

The book is available for just $9.99 on Amazon and covers seven essential topics, including Cash Games vs. Tournaments, Board Textures and Three-betting. Three pros tackle each topic to give you some serious perspective on what it takes to win at poker.

All the money raised by Poker with a Purpose will go straight to the Green World Campaign, an organization seeking to raise living standards for the rural poor through reforestation and sustainable agriculture projects.

From the GWC’s website:

The Green World Campaign has been cited by OnEarth, the magazine of the Natural Resources Defense Council, for its bold agenda: Turn degraded lands green again. Raise the living standards of the rural poor. Combat climate change. Create holistic ways to work for the health of our shared biosphere and the harmony of our global village.

The GWC connects those who want to help create a more sustainable world with on-the-ground projects that benefit people and planet. We focus on providing ecological and social benefits where they're most needed. We seek out effective grassroots partners, then finding the simplest, most direct ways we can all contribute to their success.

Our work centers around tree-planting. We ally with local experts who best know the problems and opportunities in their country. Our trusted, ground-level partners work with villagers who are motivated to work for the benefits our programs bring. Contributions from the GWC get planted right in the ground. We always learn from our partners, and collaborate with them on creative solutions.

The poker players featured in Poker with a Purpose include:

Alex Kim Andre Akkari Annie Duke Dan Colpoys David Sands Erika Moutinho Greg Shevach Isaac Baron Jared Vengrin Jason Koon Jason Young John Tabatabai Mark Herm Matt Vengrin Mike McDonald Perry Friedman Sorel Mizzi Stephen Chidwick Steve Gross Tom Marchese Tony Dunst

Get your electronic copy on Amazon for $9.99 and you can improve your poker game, while helping improve living conditions for people in need.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Tapie Confirms Unpaid Debts May Block Full Tilt Deal

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:00:00 -0800

Responding to a recent interview with BTG lawyer Behn Dayanim, Tapie confirmed to iGamingFrance that the unpaid debts of 19 poker pros, including Phil Ivey, Erick Lindgren and David Benyamine, could threaten the impending deal to purchase Full Tilt Poker's assets.

The unresolved debt of $16.5 million is not something the Group is willing to take on, Tapie says, especially since the overall financial situation at Full Tilt is "worse than expected."

Still, Tapie says they have reached out to all of the pros and some have even signed repayment contracts already. Some have yet to respond.

Tapie also specifically said Full Tilt players will only be refunded if GBT completes the takeover, which will require "the bulk" of that money returned.

If it isn't repaid, Tapie says it is true it could block the deal.

Said Tapie, roughly translated:

"The poker community, and particularly that made up of former Full Tilt players waiting to recover their funds, deserves to know the reality of the behaviour of some major poker figures who say they are ‘sorry for the situation of Full Tilt players and want to do everything they can to help them get their funds back, blaming the old management, but also refrain from saying how much they have borrowed from Full Tilt, and lost, playing on the site.

"However these losses represent some of the funds owed to the players who are waiting to be reimbursed. When you are a poker player, a great player at that, recognised and admired, the basic rule, it seems to me, is to honour your gambling debts.

"Fortunately, among the 19 players we have attempted to contact, some have immediately called back and worked with us on a repayment plan to clear their debts, and we are already finalising contracts to that effect."

Read the rest of Tapie's comments at iGamingFrance.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Brammer, Adeniya Chase Lead at EPT Deauville

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0800

Brammer, known online as NigDawG and one of the top ranked players in the world, had a huge day at the felt aided by rivering an ace against Winamax pro Ludovic Lacay and finished up in third with just over 1 million in chips.

Adeniya, the Day 2 chip leader, continued to build his stack over the course of the day and bagged up 893,000 to sit fifth heading to tomorrow.

Both, however, are chasing Frenchman Samphane Phomveha, who scooped a huge pot near the end of the night to take the chip lead into Day 4 with just under 1.5 million.

France’s Olivier Rogez (1,098,500) and Yorane Kerignard (979,000) round out the top 5.

Few Big Names Manage to Survive

With just 54 players still alive from the 170 or so that started the day and a very local-heavy field, big names are scarce with only a few managing to hold on through the day.

EPT Berlin final-tablist Marc Inizan is perhaps the most threatening, with just under $1 million in career earnings and 514,000 in chips to end the day.

PokerStars pro Luca Pagano also held on to some chips to secure his record 20th EPT cash and give him a shot at a bigger payday tomorrow.

Pagano finished with 344,000 in chips.

Making Money But Making Their Exit

Several notable players looked in position to make a big move on Day 3 but ended up crashing right out of the tournament instead, chief among them Lacay.

Bringing in a top five chip stack from Day 2, Lacay soared to the chip lead early on but fizzled out soon after Brammer hit the river ace against his jacks and busted in 58th place for €13,000.

Joining Lacay on the rail were Brits Toby Lewis and James Dempsey plus French rap icon Bruno "Kool Shen" Lopes.

Play is scheduled to resume tomorrow at noon in France with 24 the target number for players remaining by the end of the day.

Remaining players have assured themselves of at least €15,000 with €23,000 guaranteed for hitting the top 24.

Follow along with the live updates on the PokerStars blog.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

William Hill Takes Aim in €20k Dogfight Giveaway

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0800

The Dogfight, Will Hill’s latest promotion, is open to all players on the site and all you have to do to participate is play.

By battling at online poker cash tables and entering tournaments to accumulate Dogfight points, players will compete for three Irish Open packages and €8,400 in cash.

Points can be earned across all limits and game types, but depending on the stakes you play they’ll count towards one of two Dogfight leaderboards.

When you play cash games with a big blind of at least $1, £1 or €1, or tournaments with a buy-in of at least $20, £20 or €20, points will go towards the High Stakes Leaderboard. Anything less will count towards the Low Stakes Leaderboard.

Points are awarded at a rate of 10 for every $1 in rake or tournament fees you pay.

At the end of February the top 20 players in each category will get a piece of the cash. A €4,600 Irish Open package will go to the winner of the High Leaderboard and a €3,500 package to the first-place finisher on the Low.

At time of publishing Brosunited is leading the High Leaderboard with 20,840 points, while Rhomyr is in the number one spot on the Low Leaderboard with 6,525.

Click through to our comprehensive William Hill Poker review to see if it’s right for you. If you’re already a Will Hill player, just hit the tables and start earning Dogfight points!

Here are the full prize structures for the William Hill Dogfight promotion.

High Stakes

Low Stakes

1st

€4,600 Irish Open Package

1st

€3,500 Irish Open 'Ticket Only'

2nd

€3,500 Irish Open 'Ticket Only'

2nd

€ 1,000

3rd

€ 1,500

3rd

€ 500

4th

€ 900

4th

€ 300

5th

€ 500

5th

€ 250

6th

€ 400

6th

€ 200

7th

€ 350

7th

€ 175

8th

€ 300

8th

€ 150

9th

€ 250

9th

€ 125

10th

€ 200

10th

€ 100

11th

€ 160

11th

€ 80

12th

€ 140

12th

€ 70

13th

€ 120

13th

€ 60

14th

€ 100

14th

€ 50

15th

€ 80

15th

€ 40

16th

€ 60

16th

€ 30

17th

€ 50

17th

€ 25

18th

€ 40

18th

€ 20

19th

€ 30

19th

€ 15

20th

€ 20

20th

€ 10

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: ElkY to Brazil, Robbie in Heat, Bo Don’t Know Hellmuth

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find ElkY heading for the heat in Brazil, UK superstar Robbie Williams taking heat and Phil Hellmuth showing exactly how popular he is.

1) Brazil Recognizes Poker as a Sport, ElkY Shopping for Sunscreen

Two big pieces of poker news to report from Brazil this week.

ELKYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

One, the Brazilian Sports Ministry has officially recognized poker as a sport and named the Confederação Brasileira de Texas Hold'em (CBTH) as the official governing body.

According to a statement on the Brazilian Sports Ministry’s website:

“Poker is a competitive discipline, which requires the participant to have intelligence, ability, and intellectual and behavioural skills in order to succeed.

“The CBTH represents the most extended definition of poker, Texas Hold’em and all the other variants of this game including but not exclusively Omaha, Omaha High / Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud High / Low, Razz and Mixed Games.”

Two, big-name players are making plans for the upcoming LAPT Grand Final in Brazil.

Among the big names committed to play so far: Daniel Negreanu, Eugene Katchalov, Humberto Brenes, Jose Barbero and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

Brazilian PokerStars pro Andre Akkari, for one, is very excited about hosting ElkY at Carnival:

“ELKYYYYYY IS INDA HOUSEEEE!!!! O Monstro Elky está vindo para o Carnaval no Brasil! Mais um dos gênios do poker na nossa terra!”

More on the LAPT Grand Final and how to qualify at PokerStars.

2) Robbie Williams Taking Heat Over New "Free" Poker Site

Take this, poker haters.

Former Take That member and multi-platinum singing icon Robbie Williams is taking heat in the UK as he launched a beta version of a new “sort-of-real-money” poker site.

Players who sign up can win Robbie-related merchandise, tickets for future gigs and the chance to meet their idol.

It’s mostly free to play, but you can also buy extra chips and some tournaments have real buy-ins.

As the site says, "Many tournaments require a buy-in to participate...because if you aren't risking anything then why are you playing!?"

Given Williams' past troubles with addiction, several fans and activist groups are already calling him out for his "lack of sensitivity," going so far as to say it's "deplorable" and "awful."

None, however, have taken issue with the real human suffering caused by his music career. Hiyo.

3) Bo Don't Know Hellmuth

Everybody in poker knows Phil Hellmuth is a notorious name dropper, both in person and on Twitter.

In the past week alone Hellmuth has dropped almost 20 celebrity friends into his tweets in his unwavering quest to share his baller lifestyle.

Poker pro Gavin Smith finally responded by tweeting the question on everyone's minds about the tweet-dropping:

Does anyone else think @phil_hellmuth drops way to many fucking names, think any (of those) guys tweeter about meeting phil?

The answer:

Amy Tan does. Everybody else, not so much.

Names dropped by Hellmuth in the last week and their tweet reciprocation:

#celebrityrehash

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York (no) Oakland Raiders owner Mark Davis (no Twitter) Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob (no Twitter) Bo Jackson (no) Rob Dibble (no) Joe Carter (no) Gary Sheffield (no Twitter) Trevor Hoffman (no Twitter) Harold Baines (no Twitter) Randy Johnson (no Twitter) Ozzie Smith (no) Former Facebook VP Chamath Palihapitiya (no) Joe Montana (no Twitter) Sabina Gadecki (no) David Lee (no) Writer Amy Tan (Yes! And gave him a retweet!) Nobel Laureate Burton Richter (no) Producer Tim Kring (no)

Follow Phil and his celebrity friends here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Greenstein Responds to FTP Debt Allegations

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0800

Calling the outstanding debts a "serious obstacle" to completing the deal, Dayanim named several players including Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Greenstein as having outstanding debts they are seeking to have paid before the takeover.

Saying he's been inundated with calls from poker media, Greenstein said it would be easier if he responded in a public place and made a statement concerning his debt on 2+2:

Statement below:

"I borrowed $400,000 to play on Full Tilt a few years ago, before PokerStars had high stakes games. I didn’t pay it back, hoping that some people who owed me and had money on Full Tilt would pay me there so I could use that against the debt. (I'm only owed about $150,000 now).

"I have assumed when this case is resolved, the DOJ will allow methods for dealing with debt to FTP.

"Tapie Group contacted me last week and asked if I would pay them directly. Their attorney offered me the opportunity to pay in installments so I could have a chance to use money owed to me. He even offered me the opportunity to discount my debt if the US players don’t get paid in full"

"I told him that I have never paid less than I owe on any debt and I would rather wait until the DOJ establishes a fund for the US players. I don't believe my debt has any impact on the sale to the Tapie group as they have alleged.

"I was concerned about taking money due to US players and giving it to the Tapie Group because it is understood that the Tapie Group won't be the one paying the US players.

"On the other hand, I realize that the total debt counting other players is substantial, especially because I would include in that tally any money taken from FTP once it had become insolvent."

See the full post along with an excerpt from the letter Greenstein sent to FTP's attorney here.

Greenstein also suggested everyone who owes money to Full Tilt discusses it openly for "a better chance that they will make good on their debts" and so "money will end up in the pockets of players with balances on FTP."

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Adeniya, Lacay Stacked After EPT Deauville Day 2

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Adeniya, a former stock trader in London who quit to go pro a few years ago, has built himself another big stack in an EPT event and bagged up 512,200 in chips to take the outright lead heading into Day 3.

He’s yet to close out a big event, however, settling for a final-table finish at EPT London for £86,350 last year for his biggest score to date.

Winamax pro Ludovic Lacay is part of a large group of players well over 300k in chips and on Adeniya's heels.

Lacay built up a big stack of his own over the day to lock down 377,300 for the start of action tomorrow.

Brahim Oubella (452,000), Artem Litvinov (397,100) and Jason Hallee (375,900) round out the top five.

Notables Rise, Notables Fall

Much like a Saturday on the PGA Tour, Day 2 in a poker tournament is moving day.

The contenders start to separate themselves from the pack and the pretenders start to fall by the wayside.

Big names positioned well to make another move upwards on Day 3 include Chris “NigDawG” Brammer (321,900), Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes (304,600), Mustapha Kanit (289,000), Toby Lewis (278,000) and James Dempsey (274,600).

Still alive but around average stack or below are PokerStars pro Luca Pagano (172,000), Shannon Shorr (103,000), David Baker (98,400) and Ari Engel (50,400).

Bustouts

Notables hitting the rail today were Scotty Nguyen, Leonid Bilokur, Liv Boeree, Jake Cody, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Joe Ebanks, Vanessa Rousso, Kara Scott and Kevin MacPhee.

The money bubble hits at 128th place and with 178 players returning tomorrow it may be a while before it bursts.

A min-cash in Deauville is set for €7,500 with top spot paying out €875,000.

Action resumes at noon in Deauville; follow the live updates in the PokerStars blog.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Disaster Strikes Galfond in January High Stakes

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Still unidentified, the patpatman account didn’t even activate until the first week of this month and has since skyrocketed to nearly $1 million in profit.

On Jan. 24, patpatman peaked with a massive $698k profit in a single day.

The account’s biggest victim is none other than Viktor “Isildur1” Blom who has been ice cold since winning the PCA Super High Roller event for $1.3 million. Patpatman has taken over $400k from Blom.

Meanwhile Galfond had a truly catastrophic start to the year. He was the biggest loser of the month with $660k in damage.

Galfond has seen worse downswings, but not by much. Volume certainly wasn’t the problem as he recorded more hands than anyone in the top 10 winners.

For more information be sure to check our online poker stats section.

Here’s a complete look at the biggest winners and losers over the last month:

Jens "Jeans89" Kyllonen

Top 10 Online Poker Winners in January

Patpatman was easily the biggest winner in January but there were several other online poker pros who looked particularly dominant to start the year.

Jens “Jeans89” Kyllonen, who always seems to live in the shadow of the more famous fellow Finn Ilari Sahamies, was red hot in January with just short of $700k in profit.

Kyllonen has been remarkably consistent over the years and picked up $1.3 million last year without anyone batting an eye.

Right behind Kyllonen was Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky who amassed $671,000 in profit this month.

Sulsky has proven in the past he has the ability to run with the big dogs but last year was a bit off an off one for the U.S.-born pro as he only earned $239k.

After a brief hiatus from the game, Sulsky reemerged in the second week of January and promptly ran up well over half a million in 22,164 hands.

Some of the other notable winners this month included Phil “takechip” D’Auteil and former professional Warcraft 3 player Davin “mTw_DaviN” Georgi.

Here’s a look at the complete top 10:

1. Patpatman: +$858,000 2. Jeans89: +$698,000 3. Sauce123: +$671,000 4. ragen70: +$608,000 5. Bernard-bb: +$576,000 6. takechip: +$427,000 7. mTw-DaviN: +$349,000 8. BlatchPeople: +$344,000 9. altiFC: +$335,000 10. oogee: +$311,000

Viktor "Isildur1" Blom

Top 10 Online Poker Losers in January

There’s just no way around it: Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond got murdered in the January high stakes games.

Galfond played over 50,000 and lost $663k. In the middle of the month there was a two-day span where Galfond lost over $400k, a great deal of which was to Sander “berndsen12” Berndsen.

The mounting losses contributed to a recent blog post by Galfond called Sometimes I Lose, which provides some very interesting insight into what it’s like to go on half-million downswings.

Galfond was obviously not the only player to lose in January and VietRussian and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom both lost over $300k.

Blom gave VietRussian a good beating earlier in the month but then went on to lose several huge sessions to Berndsen12.

Isildur1 was easily the busiest player of the month as he burned through an insane 58,112 hands. Galfond was the only player who came close with 52,2230 hands.

Long90110, who many railbirds still maintain is Tom Dwan, got blasted for $369k.

Finally Zypherin, one of the biggest losers last year, didn’t exactly start 2012 with a bang as he lost $200k.

Here’s a complete look at the top 10 online losers in January:

1. MrSweets28: -$663,000 2. GVOZDIKA55: -$499,000 3. long90110: -$369,000 4. VietRussian: -$369,000 5. Isildur1: -$350,000 6. diggidave: -$244,000 7. Terken89: -243,000 8. roi kin23: -$233,000 9. Try__An__Hit: -$212,000 10. Zypherin: -$200,000

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Negreanu Rebuts, Chad Rebuked, Rap Icon Scores

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Daniel Negreanu bristling at an interview misinterpretation, Norman Chad pissing off an LA superior court judge and French rap pioneer Kool Shen crushing the EFOP.

1) Negreanu Bristles at "Twisted" Interview

In January, Poker Player UK magazine ran an exclusive interview with Daniel Negreanu.

Didn't say that at all.

Titled “What’s Wrong With You,” Negreanu was characterized as suggesting he “conquered” online poker, thought poker was in “big trouble” and that there's “something wrong” with young kids in poker.

Only problem, Negreanu says, is he didn't say any of those things.

Tweeting “Just read my article in Poker Player mag and it set a new record for the number of misquotes. Pretty impressive! They twisted everything,” a back-and-forth with the writer quickly ensued on the 2+2 forums.

The result was a quick reconciliation and a rebuttal from Negreanu posted on pokerplayer.co.uk that clarifies what he really said.

An excerpt:

“I don't think poker is in “big trouble” as was implied in the article, and I certainly don't think there is something inherently wrong with the younger generation of player.

“As I was correctly quoted in the article stating that players like DevilFish, Sammy Farha, Doyle Brunson, and Phil Ivey became fan favourites not only because of their skill set, but because of their interesting, and unique backgrounds and storyline.

“My fear is that the current story line for many of the younger generation lacks sexiness.”

Read the rest here.

2) Chad Scolded for Tweet Frenzy During Burglary Trial

A Los Angeles Superior Court Judge seems to have less patience for the off-color comedy stylings of Norman Chad than ESPN's WSOP viewers.

Can't stop won't stop.

Chad was given a good scolding and a contempt of court warning by judge Laura Foland Priver yesterday for tweeting while serving on the jury for a burglary trial.

"He made a mockery of our system," Priver said to Chad's attorney, according to the LA Times

"I'm disturbed by this behavior. Once the information is out there, it's out there forever. The public who sees these tweets is going to think this behavior is OK."

Among the poker-themed tweets Chad desparately needed to get out to his 18,000 followers:

"I love my jury seat: Front row, on the far aisle. Great view, with all the aggressive jurors to my left."

"And, in an extremely unfortunate coincidence for the defendant, he bears a striking resemblance to Phil Hellmuth."

"I'm sitting right behind the court reporter - I get instant replay on all testimony INSTANTANEOUSLY! It's better than seeing the hole cards.

"Memo to WSOP: Jury seats in LA courthouse are far more comfortable than chairs in Rio Amazon Room. I'm going to bring you one to show you."

Not one to miss a set-up, Chad's ESPN co-host Lon McEachern tweeted, duty-free:

If any of you 18,000 @NormanChad followers feel let down by his recent courtroom actions I will gladly take you in.

If things go REAL bad for @NormanChad with the Los Angeles DA we can always do the WSOP shows during visiting hours.

3) Kool Shen Krushes European Finals Championship

We've written about the poker prowess of French rap pioneer Bruno 'Kool Shen" Lopes before, and he proved it yet again in the recent EFOP in Paris.

Lopes took down the €5k European Finals of Poker Diamond Championship last weekend, beating out 108 runners for a €100,000 ($127,514) first-place prize.

It wasn't just a field of amateur patsies either as David Benyamine, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Jonathan Duhamel, Ludovic Lacay, and Basil “Basou” Yaiche all bought in.

Lopes boosted his career earnings to over $300,000 with the win, although he says his main field of concern is still hip-hop.

Rightly so, as you can see in the video below (h/t to Booksa-P.com):

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Unpaid Pro Debts “Serious Obstacle” in FTP Deal

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:00:00 -0800

Behn Dayanim, the lawyer representing the Tapie Group, told pokerstrategy.com in an exclusive interview that the due diligence process has revealed Full Tilt’s financial situation to be “substantially worse” than anticipated.

In particular, outstanding debts to the company from pros including Phil Ivey, Mike Matusow, David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren and Barry Greenstein could be problematic.

Said Dayanim:

"GBT doesn't want to acquire assets which will need to be litigated over later. In total, the sum owed to the company is between $10 and $20 million.

"Several of the players who owe money and have not yet expressed a willingness to pay their debts include Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, and Erik Lindgren. Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, and others owe a smaller but still significant amount.

"If the money doesn't come in, it creates a serious obstacle to completion of the deal."

A signed agreement is in place between GBT and the US Department of Justice to purchase the assets of the former Full Tilt for $80 million, although the working through of several necessary conditions has taken more time than expected.

As recently as this past week however, Groupe Director Laurent Tapie has said he expects the deal to be completed by the end of February.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Barbero, Rousso Build Stacks on EPT Deauville Day 1b

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 15:00:00 -0800

A swath of Team PokerStars pros lead the charge and by the time the chips were bagged Jose “Nacho” Barbero and Vanessa Rousso had built up 100k-ish stacks to put them inside the top 30.

Barbero finished the day with 106,300 while Rousso was slightly behind with 96,400.

Chip leader to end the day is Frenchman Amir Salhani, who bagged up 191,000.

Lewis, Cody Close Behind

Several other big names managed to navigate the French field and will join the leaders on Day 2.

Decent-sized stacks include Martins Adeniya (115,200), Toby Lewis (93,200), Fatima Moreira de Melo (81,000), Jake Cody (78,400), Shannon Shorr (75,300), Ludovic Lacay (68,800) and Ari Engel (56,300).

Making it through the day but with below-average stacks were Liv Boeree, Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, Joe Ebanks and Kevin MacPhee.

Also making an appearance on Day 1b was famed Vegas rounder Scotty Nguyen, who survived to see Day 2 with a stack of 33,100.

Bye Bye Blom, ElkY

Big names hitting the rail on Day 1b included Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Vanessa Selbst, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Eugene Katchalov, David Benyamine and Dario Minieri.

With 550 registering to play on Day 1b a total of 889 officially turned out for this edition of EPT Deauville, only two players short of the record 891 from last year.

All told it makes for a €4,267,200 prize pool with 128 spots paid and €875,000 for first.

Day 2 action begins at noon in Deauville tomorrow.

Follow the live updates in the PokerStars blog.

Official final-table payouts are as follows:

1. €875,000

2. €557,000

3. €328,000

4. €260,000

5. €200,000

6. €155,000

7. €110,000

8. €67,200

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Negreanu Fail, Duhamel Gets Mail, Padraig Rail

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Daniel Negreanu breaking the golden online poker security rule, Jonathan Duhamel getting a partial refund and Padraig Parkinson cracking wise as usual.

1) Negreanu Accounts Hacked, Culprit Donks Off $60k

PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu returned to a nice surprise after his long flight home from Australia.

Step 1: Watch your password.

His email account had been hacked.

As an added bonus, the culprit also hijacked Negreanu's PokerStars account and dumped off around $60k.

Explained Negreanu in a forum post on 2+2:

"I was on an airplane home while this guy was joyriding my Stars account.

“He hacked my email and I got that back, still figuring out what happened. When I have all the details I'll share when it makes sense to."

The fake Negreanu burned off the money sitting at a few $100/$200 NL tables and playing, err, less than optimally, including an all-in five-bet call with A-5.

The hands sparked a bit of a debate in the forums with some suggesting Negreanu was just hungover and playing badly, to which Negreanu replied:

"Some of you NVGtards really thought that was me??? Man HSP has really done wonders for my image”

Negreanu’s money unfortunately won't be returned, which should be a reminder to all poker players to practice the basics of good online account security – in particular using an RSA token.

2) Half of Jonathan Duhamel’s Money Found in a Mailbox

Welcome back, cash.

If you’re going to steal over $100k, it’s always good to have a secure hiding spot lined up just in case you run into any heat.

You know. Some place people rarely check or would suspect to find things delivered to them.

Like a mailbox, say.

Police in Quebec report they've recovered about half of the money stolen from 2010 WSOP Champ Jonathan Duhamel in his well-documented home invasion from earlier in December.

Of the $115,000 stolen, including $40k CDN and €74,000, police say they recovered part of the cash on Jan. 6.

An anonymous tip led them to a stash in a mailbox in Old Longueuil, about eight kilometres northeast of Montreal.

Yep. A mailbox.

Duhamel's ex-girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse has pleaded not guilty to five charges and along with two others was denied bail in a recent hearing.

The three are due for sentencing shortly.

3) The Importance of Reading Padraig Parkinson

The Irish uncle we never had.

For our money, one of the most enjoyable blogs in poker has always been that of Irish poker legend Padraig Parkinson.

The live tournament stalwart and 888 Poker rep has always had the right balance of self-deprecation and off-key, charming anecdotes to make for a good read on just about any subject. Even poker.

Parkinson’s latest blog post covers the important subject of “The Importance of Being Important” and does what he does best: Pokes fun at himself and others in a whimsical Irish brogue.

That’s how we hear it in our heads anyway, because we grew up with Lucky Charms commercials.

An excerpt (that followed a sarcastic rail about re-buy tournaments):

“There was no reentry option at the WPT Dublin. The main reason was that it’s a minor miracle when an Irish player manages to get a buy-in together in these tough times.

“The thought of having to pony up twice is enough to make a grown man cry.

“Nevertheless I managed to play three tournaments there and got knocked out four times!”

Oh Padraig. Full blog here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

2012 WSOP Schedule Released, October Nine Debuts

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:45:00 -0800

With 61 bracelets up for grabs, three more than 2011, the biggest changes to this summer’s WSOP come in the way of a shorter Main Event final table delay and the world’s first $1 million buy-in tournament.

Things kicks off in earnest on May 28th with a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event, that’s one day after the series officially starts with a non-bracelet $500 Casino Employees event.

The first bracelet event is one of 21 tournaments available to players at the $1,500 buy-in level.

New Bracelet Events for 2012

New events for 2012 include the aforementioned $1 million Big One, a $3,000 Mixed NLHE/PLO Heads-Up event, a $5,000 event following the same “Mix-Max” format we saw at the WSOP Europe in Cannes, a $2,500 four-handed No-Limit Hold’em event and a $1,500 Ante Only tournament.

The $50k Players Championship will play out over five days beginning on June 24th and will use the same eight-game mix from last year. The Big One, the only event that outdoes the Players Championship in terms of buy-in, will begin on July 1.

There will be a total of five open $1,000 tournaments, plus the $1,000 Seniors and Ladies events, comprising the summer's lowest buy-in bracelet events.

There will be seven $10k Championship events, including the Main Event.

New October Nine Delayed Final Table for Main Event

The WSOP has also announced expanded playing space in the Rio Hotel Convention Center. 470 poker tables are expected to be in use throughout the series. That’s 92 more than 2011, an increase of almost 25%.

The Main Event has undergone the most visible changes. The traditional four Day 1 heats have been cut to three, but a third Day 2 flight has been added. There will be no day off before the Day 2 flights as we saw in 2011.

The November Nine delayed final table has been moved up roughly a week to the end of October, but with the exception of now being an October Nine, it looks much the same as last year.

Click through to WSOP.com for the full 2012 WSOP schedule.

PokerListings.com will be in Las Vegas for the entire 2012 World Series of Poker so follow along with us right here, or on Twitter and Facebook for an up-close look at all the action.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Monster Pot Recap: Amit Wins 'Saucy' $85k Pot

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Amit and Sulsky plowed through 1,248 hands of $100/$200 Heads-Up Pot-Limit Omaha on PokerStars last night and there were a number of haymakers thrown throughout the session.

None could top the following hand, however, which took place just after midnight EST.

Sauce123 entered the hand with $107,742 to Amit’s $42,898.

Amit, who plays on PokerStars as refaelamit, opened for $580, Sauce123 three-bet to $1,920 and Amit four-bet to $4,120.

Finally Sulsky decided to end the betting by just calling.

The flop came 7♥ 6♣ 5♠ and then the real fireworks started.

Sauce123 checked but Amit immediately fired for $5,800. Sulsky check-raised to $13,400 and Amit re-raised to $17,400.

At this point Sauce123 decided to just jam, easily covering Amit. Amit eventually made the call and the cards were on their backs.

Amit: 8♦ 6♥ 5♥ 4♠ (eight-high straight)

Sulsky: T♣ 9♦ 8♣ 6♠ (nine-high straight)

It’s always hard to get far ahead in PLO but in this case Sulsky had Amit crushed. According to our pot odds calculator Sulsky had a stranglehold on the hand and was a 79.52% favorite to win with his better straight.

Amit did have some outs as they headed to the turn, however, with full house possibilities and a backdoor flush draw.

The turn was the K♦, which quickly put to rest any weird flush draws, but the river was a thundering 6♦ giving Amit a boat and the pot. He ended up raking in $85,794 thanks to the lucky river card.

It wasn’t all bad for Sauce123, however, as he would eventually finish the session as the ultimate winner with $80,429 in profit.

Sauce123 is off to an exceptional start in 2012 and has already picked up $671k in the first month of online poker.

Be sure to check our online poker stats section for more information but in the meantime you can see exactly how the hand played out in our hand-replayer below:

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Tapie Slams Ferguson Rumors, Deal on Track for Feb.

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0800

In an interview with iGamingFrance, the Director of the Bernard Tapie Group called the story “totally false” and said the deal is on track to be completed by the end of February.

Said Tapie:

"This (story) is totally false. Chris Ferguson has no problem with regard to the completion of the takeover agreement, which is now imminent.

"Even if Chris Ferguson wanted to oppose it (which is not the case), he would not be able to because the agreement has already been validated.

"Now that the due diligence process is nearly complete, and unless there are last minute surprises, we hope to do the deal by the end of February."

The original story published by Subject: Poker involved the investigation of several bank accounts in the name of Pocket Kings Ltd that were ostensibly under the personal control of Ferguson and to which he “funneled” money.

According to Subject: Poker, $14.3 million of an estimated $60 million was not withdrawn and instead was used to cover Full Tilt’s post-Black Friday expenses.

The insinuation of a possible delay came in the deal from the suggestion Ferguson and his lawyer Ian Imrich are seeking an accounting of the money spent post-Black Friday and may pursue legal action to reclaim any money “spent improperly.”

As reported in the original story, this may or may not even be possible and no sources were named.

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WSOP Drops November Nine for 2012

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:30:00 -0800

Details are still to be revealed and will be, according to the WSOP, at 1 pm. ET tomorrow along with the complete line-up of events.

The WSOP released some hints at the schedule and format through a series of tweets a short while ago:

What's tomorrow? Besides February 1st! It will be the unveiling of the 2012 World Series of Poker schedule! Stay tuned.

The 43rd Annual WSOP will take place from May 27 to July 16, 2012 at @RioVegas. Full schedule comes at 1 PM ET Wednesday.

A few hints on WSOP schedule coming tomorrow...you won't find the November Nine returning.

For the 2012 WSOP, an expected 470 poker tables will be utilized...nearly 100 more than last year!

Another good change coming to WSOP in 2012...no off day during Main Event

Despite speculation over the last few years the venue would be changed, the Rio in Las Vegas will again play host.

Stay tuned for more tweets from the WSOP here and check our poker news section tomorrow for the full schedule.

The November Nine debuted at the World Series of Poker in 2008 and included Dennis Phillips, Ivan Demidov, Chino Rheem and eventual champ Peter Eastgate.

WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky alluded to changes in an interview with PokerListings last November when discussing the success of the live streaming coverage in 2011:

“If you’re doing something live do you really need to delay it four months and try to build this anticipation to get people to watch?” he said. “It doesn’t quite work.”

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Andrulis Thrives, Scott Survives EPT Deauville Day 1a

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

The former EPT Tallinn High Roller champ from Lithuania has company at the top, however, and will enter Day 2 just 400 chips ahead of second-place Philippe Ma.

Rounding out the top 5 after play today were Elie Payan (141,800), Julien Claudepierre (128,200) and Marchel Masaladzhiu (114,600).

Brammer, Dempsey, Scott Head Survivors

As per usual on the EPT, another elite field of pros an amateurs is in close pursuit.

Over 330 players hit the felt in Deauville today with just over 200 surviving the day.

One of those players to survive is PartyPoker rep and WSOP Host Kara Scott, who clung to 38,200 chips to keep her chances alive heading into Day 2.

Other notable players to make it through the day include Brits Chris “NigDawG” Brammer (80,700) and James Dempsey (50,900), Dutch pro Ruben Visser (43,600), Russian Alexander Dovzhenko (41,200), Irishman Dermot Blain (11,400) and Frenchman Arnaud Mattern (6,300).

Duhamel, Deeb Done

Notables to hit the rail today were 2010 WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel, Shaun Deeb, Martin Jacobsen, Max Heinzelmann, Pierre Neuville and Constant Rijkenberg.

Organizers expect up to twice the amount of players for Day 1b tomorrow.

Tune in to the PokerStars blog for live coverage.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Vegan Doyle, Poker Majors, Demon Liv

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Doyle Brunson planning to step up his game (and vegetable intake), top TD Matt Savage making a case for a "Poker Majors" system and Liv Boeree revealing her inner demon.

1) Doyle Pushing Envelope, Going Vegan

Pass the kale.

Poker legend Doyle Brunson is essentially the EF Hutton of poker. When he talks, people listen.

Thankfully his fans will get to hear more of what's on his mind this year as he says he's ramping up the volume in his blog for 2012.

His latest post explains just how serious he is about competing with the best in the world this year - and an odd new meat problem:

“Im going to push the envelope pretty hard this year because if I cant compete at the highest level, I need to know it, I'm confident I can beat the mixed games because all the younger guys have one or two games they are very weak at. However I plan on playing in the big NLH with the best NL players in the world.

“...For some strange reason, I've become allergic to most kinds of meat besides some kind of fish. I can still handle a cheeseburger but for someone that has always been a steak and potato eater it's a big change.

“It seems nothing in my life has ever been normal so I guess this shouldn't surprise me. Maybe I'll see what all this vegan way of eating is all about.”

Expect a congratulatory tweet and some recipe ideas from Daniel Negreanu to follow.

2) Savage Calls for Syncing of "Poker Majors"

When Matt Savage speaks, Jason Mercier and Matt Glantz make fun of him (in jest) on Twitter.

Everyone else in poker, however, listens pretty closely as Savage is the preeminent TD in the game and runs the best structured and most popular poker tournaments around the globe.

First to ever use behooves in poker context.

In a new guest post on Glantz's blog, Savage asks for another big step in poker's history - creating a "majors" system to sync up schedules and high-end tournaments around the world. His logic:

"The players are the most important factor in the success of these poker tournaments, and it behooves the organizers to work together to make the events convenient and beneficial for them.

“When players can easily coordinate their travel schedules, money transfers, and even familial obligations around a set schedule, everyone will win, including the majors, which will see bigger turnouts and happier crowds.”

Savage suggests a "5 and 5 rule" – five years running, $5 million prize pools - to select the tournaments that qualify including:

Aussie Millions PokerStars Caribbean Adventure PokerStars EPT Grand Final World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic World Poker Tour Championship World Series of Poker Main Event World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

and possibles the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event, EPT London and EPT San Remo.

It's an intriguing idea and great post - check it out in full here. Look up "behooves" here.

3) Liv’s Inner Demon

Part three of the new PokerStars "We Are Poker" ad campaign has been released and this one is another winner.

Watch for appearances by Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Sandra Naujoks and a guy in a giraffe mask and hoodie.

Liv Boeree also makes an X-men-esque turn.

Best one yet ioho. Full ad below:

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Jeans89 Explodes for $234k Profit on PokerStars

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Kyllonen always seems to fly under the radar compared to fellow Finn Ilari Sahamies but last night he was flying with over 2,000 hands of $50/$100 PLO.

As usual Kyllonen stuck primarily to the 6-max games and won some huge pots off Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, 1II|1II|1iI| and Zypherin.

Kyllonen is off to a hot start in 2012 and is now second in profit with $735k on the year. Incredibly 90% of Kyllonen’s profit for the year has come over the last seven days.

The player Kyllonen is chasing for first, patpatman who had $967k in online poker profit on the year, was the biggest loser last night as he got destroyed in a series of heads-up $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em heads-up matches against altiFC.

In the end patpatman lost a total of $220k to altiFC and is now up only $747k and will have to hold off a surging Jeans89.

Interestingly Daniel Negreanu has been playing high stakes online poker over the last 48 hours.

It’s rare that Negreanu plays the high stakes games on PokerStars but perhaps he was inspired by his hot run in the massive $500/$1000 live cash game at the Aussie Millions.

At any rate it didn’t go well for Kid Poker as he ended up losing close to $100k in a 48-hour period. All his hands were recorded in either $50/$100 or $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em.

Jeans89 was not the only player to win big last night, however, as altiFC (+$219k), wobbly_au (+$138k), takechip (+$114k), O.Klunssila (+$61k) were all killing it.

Meanwhile Eunjong (-$186k), Zypherin (-$103k), 1II|1II|1iI| (-$92k) and MrSweets28 (-$81k) all hit the top five losers list.

For more information on the high stakes action from last night be sure to check our online poker stats section.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

888, Caesars Extend Software Deal to US

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

The deal is in anticipation of pending US poker regulation and a follow-up to 888's recent approval as a licensee by the state of Nevada.

In short, 888’s business-to-business software arm, Dragonfish, will provide the software platform for Caesars online poker brands once US regulation has been finalized.

"Utilising 888's state of the art poker platform,” an 888 statement said Tuesday, "the agreement will allow the launch of a real money offering immediately as either Federal or state based regulation is finalized and upon licensing by gaming authorities."

888 was one of the first companies to apply for and be approved for a Nevada Gaming license back in March 2010.

In July of last year 888 Deputy Chairman Brian Mattingly told Bloomberg News that 888 was in advanced stages of talks with Caesars, was "very interested" in a deal and said expanding into the US was a “no-brainer.”

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Daily 3-Bet: Meltzer's Millions, Fricke's Oscar, Tweet King

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to leave a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find High Stakes Poker notable Alan Meltzer showing his generosity, Jimmy Fricke helping his anxiety at the poker table and the new king of poker Tweeters.

1) Meltzer Leaves $1 Million to Chauffeur, $500k to Doorman

Watching Alan Meltzer on High Stakes Poker, it always seemed like he was a good guy.

A former pretzel vendor who made millions in music as the owner of Wind-Up Records, Meltzer just seemed to get a true kick out of playing high-stakes poker with the best in the world.

Meltzer passed away in October last year but the New York Post reported today that he gave a fair share of his estate to two close employees – his chauffeur Jean Laborde, whom he left $1 million, and his doorman, Chamil Demiraj, whom he left $500,000.

Said Laborde:

“He was always joking. He never looked down on anybody. He was such a nice guy. He left me money, but it’s not a good deal for me because it means he’s no longer here.”

His ex-wife, who got nothing? She wasn't so generous with her soundbite:

"He can leave it to whoever he wants to. I'm doing fine. I could care less. If he wants to give it to the bums, he can give it to the bums. He could f--k a nun. I couldn't give a s--t. He can give his money to whoever he wants. We're divorced. The man is dead."

Meltzer also wasn’t too shabby as a player, either, even if he needed to bink a straight to win a $400k pot off durrrr every now and then:

2) Fricke Brings Oscar to the Table

Oscar at the table. Photo: Will Souther.

Fans of Jimmy “Gobboboy” Fricke are likely familiar with his Daschund, Oscar.

As a proud dog dad, Fricke tweets about Oscar regularly, has a picture of Oscar as his online poker avatar and he’s done interviews with Oscar on camera with him.

Pretty much where Fricke goes, Oscar goes – and now that includes the poker table.

Fricke surprised a few tablemates over the weekend when he played the WSOP-C main event at Caesars in Las Vegas with Oscar at the table with him.

As Fricke explained in a forum post in December, Oscar has gone through training to become a service dog to help him with anxiety.

Fricke busted short of the money however (not to mention an impressive final 15 that includes Sean Getzwiller, Dutch Boyd and Jeff Madsen btw).

3) The New King of Poker Tweeters – @Adzizzy

You decide. Or don't

Some prefer the gentle comedy stylings of @erik_seidel. Some like the self-aggrandizing name dropping of @phil_hellmuth.

Others lean to the heart-on-sleeve musings of @RealKidPoker.

If you prefer ballsy call-it-like-he-sees-it candor, dispatches from the baller lifestyle and the occassional Twitter war, however, Matt “@Adzizzy” Marafioti is your new favorite Tweeter.

What you'll get, according to his account bio:

"A very successful high stakes poker player also known as ADZ124. Some say I am funny, brash and entertaining. You decide! Or don't."

A sample:

@codyespeseth That must be why I am up 3 million playing cash on Stars overall! Also why I've won 28 live cash sessions in a row +200k!#Dolt

Can't wait 2 start playing cash after where I can think on the level of a person and not that of amateur tards playing on other ppls dollar.

Yep. @Adzizzy ftw. Follow him here. And while you're at it, follow PokerListings on Twitter here.

4) PA Eats Three Big Macs for Australian Open Final Tickets

This video's been kicking around for a few days but it's still worth a view to watch ultra-fit demi-god Patrik Antonius sully his digestive system with three Big Macs.

Long story short, Crown Casino PR legend Natasha Stipanov had tickets for the Australian Open final with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic if PA ate the McDs.

He did, and got to see one of the greatest Grand Slam finals ever.

For the record, we would have done it just for the free Big Macs.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Sunday Scoop: David Emmons Crushes TCOOP Main Event

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

It was a massive day for tournament poker online with the TCOOP main and high roller events complimenting regularly scheduled majors. All told PokerStars awarded no less than 13 six-figure prizes.

Read on for the rundown on the week’s biggest online poker tournaments.

David "Betudontbet" Emmons Wins TCOOP Main Event

The Turbo Championship of Online Poker is over and David “Betudontbet” Emmons has distinguished himself as the biggest winner of the series.

Emmons outlasted a mammoth 3,667-player field in the $700 buy-in main event and walked away with $382,855. That’s more than twice what this week’s Sunday Million winner pocketed, and it took Emmons less than half the time to do it.

In little more than five hours just Emmons and Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver remained, and in true turbo fashion the heads-up match lasted just one hand. The money went in preflop with A-5 for Emmons winning out over Oliver’s K-7.

Chris Oliver took second in the TCOOP main event for over $285k.

Oliver is a poker pro from Florida who is currently playing from Costa Rica. He finished second in the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event, earning $1.8 million.

This main event had a guarantee of $1.5 million but by the time registration closed there was $2,438,855 in the pot to be distributed among the top 495 places.

Here are the full final table payouts for the 2012 TCOOP main event:

1. David "Betudontbet" Emmons (Mexico) $382,855.67 2. Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (Costa Rica) $285,310.93 3. Didak04 (Australia) $201,180.78 4. Gala_Terry (United Kingdom) $140,216.91 5. mmbittencour (Brazil) $103,638.59 6. DimaDima13 (Russia) $79,253.03 7. swissman29 (Luxembourg) $45,867.48 8. zyxel888 (Russia) $30,481.93 9. MON3Y$HOT (Australia) $19,508.44

TCOOP High Roller Triples its Guarantee

The $2,100 TCOOP High Roller event smashed its $500k guarantee, attracting 814 players and putting $1,628,000 up for grabs.

It took only two hours and 20 minutes to reach the money with Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet bubbling in 109th. Outlasting Van Fleet and finding a spot in the money were known pros Ville Wahlbeck (55th), Mattias “mattidm” de Meulder (31st), Caio Cesar “caio_pimenta” Pimenta (20th), and Maxim Lykov (15th).

The tournament was ultimately decided by a four-way chop which saw Denmark’s AlexKP take the biggest prize, although he ended up finishing second to Icallany of Norway.

Here are the final table payouts for the TCOOP High Roller, adjusted to reflect the deal:

1. lcallany (Norway) $210,259.47* 2. AlexKP (Denmark) $239,104.29* 3. Madridcash (Spain) $167,761.76* 4. Serkules (Germany) $166,756.48* 5. RuiNF (Portugal) $83,842 6. kenny05 (Costa Rica) $67,562 7. rUbEnhEnAo92 (Columbia) $51,282 8. davidv1213 (United Kingdom) $35,978.80 9. Vinkyy (Czech Republic) $20,838.40

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari finishes 25th in this week's Sunday Million.

Three-Way Chop Decides Sunday Million

Even with all the excitement of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, the Sunday Million still managed to post big numbers with 7,302 players turning up.

$1.46 million was in the prize pool and after roughly 12 hours, the final three players were able to agree on a chop. Chile’s curiplop took the biggest share, $181,080, while eventual winner CharlesTY. of Brazil pocketed $168,000.

Plenty of big names got themselves a piece of the cash this Sunday, including Andre Akkari (25th), Jim “Mr_BigQueso” Collopy (30th), Jose Ignacio Barbero (104th), azn_baller3 (119th), Keven “Stammdog” Stamen (144th) and Angel Guillen (550th).

Here are the full final table payouts for this week’s Sunday Million, adjusted to reflect the three-way deal:

1: CharlesTY. (Brazil) $168,000.00* 2: curiplop (Chile) $181,080.74* 3: hownorez (Czech Republic) $148,000.00* 4: bas0r (Germany) $77,401.20 5: K0VAK (Bulgaria) $59,876.40 6: Chikakaa (Finland) $45,272.40 7: Meewams (United Kingdom) $31,398.60 8: Joroy70 (Canada) $17,524.80 9: rasputoon (Germany) $11,318.10

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Hometown Hero Smashes Aussie Millions Final

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

“Words can’t describe it,” said an ecstatic Speidel. “It’s amazing to win it all. I don’t know what to say, to be honest.”

Speidel finished the tournament in style picking up pocket aces in the final hand to bust heads-up opponent Ken Wong.

The Melbourne local started playing poker five years ago and the Crown Casino is the first place he ever played live poker.

Speidel has been on quite a run at the Aussie Millions as he made two final tables in the preliminary events.

“I had a great week,” said Speidel. “To win this is just ridiculous. I’m really happy.”

The 26-year-old entered the seven-player final table second in chips and from the first hand seemed destined to win the event.

He busted five of his six opponents at a rapid-fire final table that took less than six hours of play to find a winner.

Hong Kong-native Bjorn Li entered the final table as the chip leader and one of the favorites considering his significant experience in online poker.

Instead Li never really got anything going and ended up crashing out in sixth place when he lost a coin flip against Mohamad Kowssarie.

Kowssarie, who used to play online as Fast_Freddie and TerrorOfSweden, entered the final table as the short stack but was one of the more dangerous players at the final table eventually finishing in fourth place with A-3 to Speidel’s pocket kings.

The other well-known online player Yann Dion, who plays online as yadio, was actually the first player to bust when he shoved with pocket sevens and got called down by Speidel with pocket queens.

The dynamic of the 2012 Aussie Millions changed dramatically yesterday when world-renowned poker player Phil Ivey busted in 10th place.

When one of the world’s best poker players busts, most players are relieved but Speidel admitted he was slightly disappointed by the professional’s absence.

“It would have been cool to have him at the final table,” he said. “He’s an amazing poker player and it was great to play against him. I was a bit relieved though, because he is really damn good.”

Speidel is the fourth consecutive player from Australia to win the Aussie Millions and will be keeping the trophy in Melbourne.

Here’s a complete look at the final table payouts:

1. Oliver Speidel – $1,600,000 2. Kenneth Wong – $1,000,000 3. Mile Krstanoski – $610,000 4. Mohamad Kowssarie – $405,000 5. Patrick Healy – $300,000 6. Bjorn Li – $230,000 7. Yann Dion – $170,000

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Poker’s In and Out List: Ivey Impresses, Galfond Confesses

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0800

A tip of the hat goes to one very brainy poker dealer, Phil Ivey’s Crown Casino conquest and Pokerati’s Dave Ferrara while our finger wags in the direction of Phil Galfond and the great state of Hawaii.

This is Poker's In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: January 23-29, 2012

Kirby Burnett for Flexing on Jeopardy: IN

Minnesota poker dealer Kirby Burnett snatches a spot on this week’s In List thanks to racking up almost $60k in winnings over two days on the television show Jeopardy.

Winning roughly $30k on both shows, Burnett described the win as, “Not life-changing but a nice shot in the arm.”

Burnett, 57, deals poker at the Canterbury Park in Shakopee. He’s even got a few Hendon Mob results, the biggest of which being an $11,000 second-place score in a $500 event at his home casino.

Click here for more from the Star Tribune.

Phil Ivey is alive with 12 left at the 2012 Aussie Millions.

Phil Ivey: IN

Maybe it would be easier to just reserve a spot on the In List for Phil Ivey, since he qualifies simply by definition of being Phil Ivey.

This week we have a legitimate reason to include him, however, as he narrowly missed the final table of the Aussie Millions main event in Melbourne.

It's funny how finishing 12th out of 659 players and winning $100k barely qualified as an accomplishment for Ivey.

Regardless, Ivey's incredible journey in Australia wasn't over as he quickly signed up for the $250,000 Challenge and promptly won the contest for $2 million - more than he would have recieved for first in the Main Event.

The lesson is to never, ever, count Phil Ivey out.

Dave Ferrara for Exploring Low-Limit Vegas Tourneys: IN

Dave Ferrara over at Pokerati.com is blogging a week of Las Vegas’s most affordable poker tournaments, earning himself the third spot on this week’s In List.

Take it from us, there’s nothing better than schooling the kind of fish that play $40 daytime tournaments in Vegas. It’s truly one of the most satisfying feelings in poker.

Ferrara will be reporting on structure, playing conditions, difficulty, basically everything you need to know to navigate your way around the plethora of poor-man’s tournament poker in Sin City.

Check the post here.

Poker’s Out List: January 23-29, 2012

Phil Galfond for Admitting He Sometimes Loses: OUT

Things went about as bad as they could have for Phil Galfond this week thanks to a big downswing playing $100/$200 on PokerStars. Galfond lost over $700,000 and admitted in the video blog below that, just like regular poker players, he sometimes loses.

In our opinion if you’re playing for that kind of money you can’t even give the word lose a spot in your vocabulary.

Galfond has dropped down in stakes and vowed not to sit in the big game until he’s built his PokerStars account back to $250k. Until then he’s out.

In the meantime check out his latest blog for a very honest look at big poker downswings.

Hawaii for Not Already Hosting Poker Events: OUT

We’ve been covering poker tournaments for a long time and we’ve always lamented the fact that Hawaii doesn’t allow gambling.

One of just two states that has still managed to keep casinos out, Hawaii has long been screwing over the poker media by not giving us professional access to their sandy beaches and clear ocean waters.

On the bright side they’ve just enacted a bill that could see Hawaii introduce gambling, at least on the Internet.

One step at a time but seriously Hawaii, we expect more progress on hosting some sort of major poker tournament.

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Ivey Storms Back with $2 Million Victory

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

Making a deep run in the Aussie Millions Main Event earlier in the day, Ivey eventually busted in 12th place just shy of the final table.

Unperturbed, Ivey immediately took a seat in the $250k Challenge.

About 13 hours later, Ivey beat fellow pro Patrik Antonius heads-up to win the super high roller tournament.

“It feels good to be back,” said Ivey moments after winning. “I took some time off from poker.

"This is one of my first tournaments back and it’s nice to get back to winning again.”

Ivey went on an extended hiatus from poker after the events of Black Friday before re-emerging in Macau in November.

Ivey received more for winning the $250k Challenge than he would have for winning the Main Event.

The Main Event, which plays out tomorrow, will only pay out $1.6 million. Ivey still received $100,000 (AUD), however, for finishing twelfth.

“I got pretty close in the Main Event,” he said. “Luckily I got knocked out just in time to play this. It worked out.”

Murderer's Row of Poker Players

The high-profile $250k Challenge ended up drawing 16 brave participants and, as expected, it was a collection of some of the best poker players in the world.

Pros Daniel Negreanu, Antonius, Gus Hansen, Jason Mercier, Sam Trickett, Erik Seidel, John Juanda, Tony Bloom, Dan Smith and Tom Dwan all got it on the action.

It wasn’t only poker pros in the field however as Chinese businessmen Winfred Yu, Paul Phua, Nick Wong and Richard Yong all bought into the tournament.

When registration finally closed organizers did a quick tally and informed players they were playing for a $4 million prizepool and only three players would be paid.

Negreanu Bubbles in Elite Final Four

Negreanu had the unfortunate distinction of being the bubble boy. He went out in fourth place when his A-8 fell to Antonius’ pocket jacks.

That left Antonius, Gus Hansen and Ivey to battle it out three-handed.

Hansen was the next player to go when he flopped top pair against Ivey’s flopped two-pair, although the $800,000 payout for third likely softened the blow.

Ivey and Antonius played heads-up for over an hour before a short-stacked Antonius finally moved in with K-3 and Ivey called with A-Q.

Ivey’s hand held up and Antonius had to settle for $1.2 million - now the biggest cash for the Finn in a live poker tournament.

With the victory Ivey also passed Negreanu for second place in all-time career tournament winnings with $15,990,000.

Durrrronimo.

Durrrr Busts Quickly

One of the marquee players in a marquee field, Tom "durrrr" Dwan went bust first early in Level 2, losing with trips queens when Hansen filled up on the river.

Businessman Wong was the next to bust, going out early in Level 3. Fellow businessman Yong followed when he flopped a set of kings against Hansen’s flush draw.

The flush came on turn and Yong was sent packing.

John Juanda, Sam Trickett and Erik Seidel followed shortly after and Paul Phua was the final-table bubble boy busting out in tenth to kickstart the final table redraw.

Jason Mercier was the first to crack in the final nine, getting all in with A♣ 7♠ against Ivey’s A♥ Q♠ and failing to improve.

Dan Smith, Tony Bloom and Winfred Yu went out in short succession before Sorel Mizzi exited fifth to set up the elite final four, getting in with nines against Ivey’s tens.

The Final 3 and Payouts:

1. Phil Ivey $2,000,000 AUD

2. Patrik Antonius $1,200,000 AUD

3. Gus Hansen $800,000 AUD

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Ivey Falls Short of Aussie Millions Final Table

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:00:00 -0800

Ivey entered Day 5 last in chips with 699,000 and was eliminated in the first level of play.

In Ivey’s final hand online grinder Yann Dion opened from under the gun and Ivey three-bet 140,000.

Dion decided to ship it with ace-king and Ivey eventually decided to call of his stack with ace-queen.

The board bricked out and suddenly Ivey was out of the tournament after an epic five-day run where he spent much of the time amongst the chip leaders.

Another Loss With A-Q

The 2012 Aussie Millions marked yet another major tournament where Ivey busted in a pot that involved ace-queen.

Darvin Moon busted him out of the 2008 WSOP Main Event final table with ace-queen over Ivey’s ace-king and Chris Moneymaker busted him with ace-queen over Ivey’s pocket nines in the 2003 WSOP Main Event.

Furthermore Ivey has busted out of several notable WPT final tables where it looked like he was primed to double up with ace-queen.

Playing in one of his first major tournaments since Black Friday, Ivey took down $100,000 (AUD) for his 12th place finish. It was his first cash in the Aussie Millions Main Event.

Despite his loss in the Main Event, Ivey immediately left and took a seat in the $250,000 Challenge.

Not far behind Ivey was New Zealander Lee Nelson who was hoping to become the first repeat champion at the Aussie Millions.

Nelson was short and four-bet shoved all-in for 590,000 with ace-king. Australian Oliver Speidel called him down with pocket eights and after a dry board Nelson was out of the tournament in ninth place for $125,000 (AUD).

Bjorn Li

Upstart Bjorn Li Takes Chip Lead into Final Table

Ivey and Nelson’s departures left the final table relatively devoid of big name players.

Former University of Chicago mathematics student Bjorn Li will take the chip lead into the final table with 4.7 million.

Li pulled off an exceptional turnaround in the final hour of play as he was the shortest stack to enter nine-handed play.

The Chinese-born pro obviously has some skills as he went deep in the WSOP Main Event this summer and won a high roller tournament in Macau.

Right behind Li is Aussie Oliver Speidel who ended the day with 3.4 million chips. Speidel has over $200k in lifetime tournament earnings, which surprisingly makes him statistically one of the most successful players at the final table.

Next up is fellow Aussie Patrick Healy with 2.9 million chips. Healy made some unusual moves in the last two levels but it may have all been a means to an end as he enters the final table third in chips.

Slightly unknown Canadian Kenneth Wong slots into fourth place with 2.31 million chips while online crusher Yann “yadio” Yann is fifth with 2.32 million.

Mike Krstanoski of Perth is the third Australian at the final table and he’s had a few deep runs in Aussie Millions side events over the years. He finished sixth in chips with 2.2 million.

Swede Mohamad Kowssarie is last in chips at the final table with 1.7 million. Kowssarie has a reputation as a successful online player and used to inspire fear as Fast_Freddie on the Prima network and TerrorOfSweden on Full Tilt.

Patrik Antonius even accused Kowssarie of using a trojan virus on MSN to see his hole cards during a session, which the Swede denied in our interview with him yesterday.

The final table is scheduled to begin at the 12:30 p.m. local time tomorrow.

Here are the complete chip counts:

1. Bjorn Li – 4,775,000 2. Oliver Speidel – 3,415,000 3. Patrick Healy – 2,995,000 4. Kenneth Wong – 2,330,000 5. Yann Dion – 2,325,000 6. Mile Krstanoski – 2,295,000 7. Mohamad Kowssarie – 1,750,000

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Daily 3-Bet: Juanda Hitches, Mercier Riches, Fight the Power

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find John Juanda hitching a ride to the Aussie Millions, Jason Mercier pocketing another half-mil and an outsider’s look at the success of social media in the fight for poker regulation in the US.

1) Juanda Gets Free Upgrade to Private Jet Class

Friends in high places.

We've said it before: the best way to get through life is to make friends in high places.

Former Full Tilt pro John Juanda, a veritable regular in the high-stakes games at the Aussie Millions for years, has been surprisingly absent this year but it has nothing to do with the ongoing FTP saga.

The problem? This year's schedule ran right on top of Chinese New Year, keeping Juanda – and 8 wealthy Chinese businessmen, he adds - out of the $100k Challenge.

As explained via his Twitter:

“Really miss Melbourne& Aussie Million; but impossible to go bcos its same time as Chinese NY. Hope they do better job w/scheduling next year.”

Despite the scheduling conflict, Juanda and at least one of said businessman are on their way now.

They'll be arriving in style on the Crown Casino corporate jet (see pic above) no less – a substantial upgrade for Juanda from his previous flight on Continental.

“Crown sent this to pick up my Super HR friend&he let me tag along. I hope its better than my last continental flight!:)”

Look for Juanda and the unnamed super high roller in our coverage of the $250k event at the Aussie Millions this weekend.

2) Mercier Dismantles Elite Cash Game at Aussie Millions

It’s been awhile since Jason Mercier binked a huge tourney score (*awhile meaning 6-8 weeks on the Mercier scale) so he’s been forced to take to the high-stakes cash games to keep the #whenwillitend machine going.

Despite an insane line-up including Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, Daniel Negreanu, Dan Cates and Sam Trickett, it’s worked out pretty well for him - to the tune of roughly half a million dollars in the last two days.

Just another day at the office for Mercier, apparently, as he ho hummed on Twitter:

Making Dilbert jokes with durrrr.

“Kinda nice to win 500k in 2 days ... Gamble on the 250k 2moro :)”

Mercier's office reminds us very much of our office, except we don't play $500/$1k NLH/PLO much any more and Trickett, Negreanu, Antonius and durrrr don't drop by ever, despite our e-vites.

Also coming out big winners from the cash game were Trickett (roughly $220k) and Negreanu ($150k).

Most of the game was filmed for TV and will air shortly, but check Poker Asis Pacific for a recap of some big hands.

Follow Mercier on Twitter here.

3) PC World Gives PPA Thumbs Up for Social Media Efforts

PPA Director John Pappas.

Truth be told, it may be giving the Poker Players Alliance a bit too much credit.

But noted computer magazine PC World has given the PPA and its ongoing drive to regulate online poker in the US a big thumbs up in a recent list of social media campaigns is says have combined activism and social media to spur change in the world.

Ranking it as “effective” and connecting the campaign to the recent DOJ ruling that online poker falls outside the Wire Act, PC World puts it alongside such heavyweight social media campaigns as the Anonymous hacks, the Occupy Movement, revolutions in Russia and Egypt and Dan Savage’s It Gets Better campaign.

High company, for sure.

While it may be a stretch to say the PPA was the driving force behind the DOJ decision, there's still no doubt the work of the PPA since 2006 has certainly put the issue in the scope of millions of people who might not care otherwise.

Getting in the discussion is a win in itself.

See the full list here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Galfond Kisses $700k Goodbye: Top 10 Online Winners/Losers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:20:00 -0800

The high-stakes action has flourished in the last seven days on PokerStars and looks to be revolving around Viktor “Isildur1” Blom who saw swings as big as $600k before finishing the week just a small loser.

Joining Kyllonen on the list of six-figure winners are high-stakes regulars like Rafi Amit, Ronny Kaiser and Davin Georgi.

Headlining the week’s losers are Patrik Antonius, Sander Berndsen and Theo Jorgensen.

Keep reading for the full rundown of the biggest winners and losers this week in online poker.

Top 10 Winners: Jan. 21-27, 2011

Despite Viktor Blom showing just a small net loss on the week, he played an integral part in the distribution of money, and was actually the direct cause of most of the biggest winners and losers.

Jens “Jeans89” Kyllonen won roughly $300k on Monday, much of it from Blom, playing shorthanded $100/$200 PLO and finished up $526,000 on the week.

The second biggest winner was patpatman who suffered losses to the tune of $268 last weekend but surged back to just shy of $450,000 in net profit by week’s end. Tuesday was particularly lucrative for the unknown high-stakes player as he raked in roughly $400k in a single 24 hour period.

The list of winners is rounded out by known pros Rafi Amit (+$278k) and Ronny Kaiser (+$266k.

Jens Kyllonen was the week's biggest winner.

Here are the top ten winners in the online nosebleed cash games this week:

1. Jens “Jeans89” Kyllonen: +$52 2. patpatman: +$459k 3. Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi: +$408k 4. Rafi “rafaelamit” Amit: +$278k 5. Ronny “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser: +$266k 6. K_0_S_T_Y_A: +$224k 7. nasud 11: +$223k 8. Eunjong Byun: +$193k 9. Sauce123: +$163k 10. phounderAA: +$157k

Top 10 Losers: Jan. 21-27, 2011

Phil Galfond has been extremely active in the high-stakes games so far in 2012 but this week was an absolute disaster.

Galfond got tuned up for over $700,000 since we reported last Friday, prompting him to release this video blog. Galfond says he’s selling his New York condo since he’s been spending the bulk of his time in Vancouver playing online.

He also updated his fans via Twitter that his Stars account was at just $90k, and he wouldn’t be returning to the $100/$200 games until he had rebuilt it to $250k.

Alongside Galfond on the list of losers, though faring much better, is Fake Love888, the account believed to belong to Patrik Antonius. Fake Love was on the winners list last week, earning $186k, but he gave that back and more in the last seven days, finishing down just over $300k.

In the third spot is Dutch pro Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen with just over $282k in losses. Much of his losses were at the hands of Viktor Blom on Tuesday.

Here are the top 10 losers in the online poker cash games this week:

1. Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond: -$709k 2. Fake Love888: -$304 3. Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen: -$282k 4. Terken89: -$279k 5. VietRussian: -$276k 6. 1Il|1Il|1il|: -$154k 7. azn_baller3: -$133k 8. Theo J: -$128k 9. masoren: -$122k 10. 0Human0: -$113k

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Dion Leads, Ivey Lurking in Final 12 at Aussie Millions

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 02:00:00 -0800

It was another fast day at the Aussie Millions as it took only four and a half hours of play to go from 26 players down to 12.

Day 4 was not a good one for Ivey as the former Full Tilt pro was bleeding chips.

Ivey had the misfortune of losing set over set to Karim Jomeen and never really seemed to fully recover.

He eventually finished with 699,000 chips, which puts him in last place. On the plus side the iconic pro still has 34 big blinds to work with so he could still make a late charge to the final table.

It was the opposite for Yann Dion, who crushes online poker as yadio. Dion caught fire in the last level of play and shot up to 2.6 million in chips.

Mohamad Kowssarie, who used to play online as Fast_Freddie and TerrorOfSweden, also had an exceptional day. The Swede won several massive pots and built a stack of 2.2 million chips.

As far as interestingly storylines Lee Nelson would certainly be up there. The 2006 Aussie Millions winner finished with 1.6 million chips and will have shot at becoming the first repeat champ.

Also still in play is recent WSOP bracelet winner Dan Idema who built a stack of 1.8 million.

To say play has been swingy at the 2012 Aussie Millions would be an understatement.

Matt Turk, who won a tournament-leading 2.6 million-chip pot against Jason Koon to end Day 3, was one of the final eliminations on Day 4.

Turk was bleeding chips all day and eventually shipped his last 570,000 chips with pocket tens and got called down by Yann Dion who had pocket kings.

Day 5 begins tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. It's unclear how many eliminations will be needed to set the final table as the usual number of players at the final table seven but in years past they’ve stopped at eight to accommodate star players such as Patrik Antonius and Barny Boatman.

Here’s a complete look at the chip counts at the end of play:

Yann Dionn – 2,670,000 Bjorn Li – 2,471,000 Mohamad Kowssarie – 2,300,000 Karim Jomeen – 2,063,000 Dan Idema – 1,840,000 Lee Nelson – 1,651,000 Patrick Healy – 1,565,000 Janis Lesinkskis – 1,501,000 Kenneth Wong – 1,498,000 Oliver Speidel – 809,000 Mile Krstanoski – 755,000 Phil Ivey – 699,000

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TerrorOfSweden Denies Antonius Allegations

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:00:00 -0800

The latest issue of a Swedish poker magazine featured an article where Antonius alleged Kowssarie sent a trojan virus through MSN so he could read the Finn’s hole cards in a sessiion several years ago.

Antonius was reminded when he saw Kowssarie playing EPT San Remo last month.

Kowssarie was shocked by the allegations, especially considering the amount of time that has passed since he played online poker against Antonius.

“After seven years he publically accused me of [cheating] without any evidence or facts,” Kowssarie said while playing the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Kowssarie, who played under the screen names Fast_Freddie, TerrorOfSweden and TheTerrorist, famously won a $465,000 pot against Johnny Lodden in 2006 – which was the biggest ever at the time.

He is also a polarizing figure in the poker industry and has been called a cheater by Johnny Lodden in the past. The Swede also denied those allegations at the time.

"Played Some Pretty Interesting Pots with Patrik"

Kowssarie maintained he’s up about $200k-$300k on Antonius in his lifetime and has proof that he never cheated the Finnish pro.

“I’ve played some pretty interesting pots with Patrik,” said Kowssarie. “These pots were for $150-$240k and they give the truth in one screenshot.”

Kowssarie plans on going back to the Swedish poker magazine and giving them his version of the story.

“He has no grounds for that accusation and there is no proof,” said Kowssarie.

Of course Lodden was the first player to accuse Kowssarie of cheating but he says the two have reconciled somewhat over the last few years.

“He said he didn’t care about the past and what’s happened.

"I think the media skewed what he was actually trying to say. We had a few drinks one night and that was the impression I got.

"He has to speak for himself obviously.”

Kowssarie certainly isn’t facing any controversy in the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

On the second break of Day 4 he was fourth in chips with 1.7 million and has a legitimate shot at making the final table, which is set for Jan. 29.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Heartland Poker Tour: Hidden Gem of US Poker Circuit

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

The tour has had more than 60,000 unique entrants in its history, and according to co-founder Todd Anderson 80 percent of that number is represented by recreational poker enthusiasts.

That means a signifcant number of people are getting their first taste of real live tournament poker at a Heartland event, but it also points to a huge opportunity for US poker pros cut off from online poker.

And with its recent acquisition by Federated Sports and Gaming, owners of the Epic Poker League, the Heartland Poker Tour is only getting bigger.

Televised Poker for Recreational Players

From day one the Heartland Poker Tour has taken a grassroots approach to running poker tournaments.

The HPT has partnered with smaller regional casinos to offer recreational players an affordable chance to play poker for big money, on television.

“At the time the only thing on TV really was the WSOP Main Event and the World Poker Tour," Anderson told PokerListings.com, "and it just seemed impossible for regular players to get into a $10,000 event.

"So we were just kicking around the idea of creating our own show and that was the genesis of it.”

Todd Anderson, co-founder of the Heartland Poker Tour.

Heartland’s first season saw seven events across Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In 2011 the tour grew to 15 main events, a charity event and a Pro-Am Qualifier to a $20,000 Epic Poker League event, all spread over nine states.

Using a unique television syndication model that allows networks and stations to pick up the show virtually for free, Anderson and co-founder Greg Lang have run more than 90 events, awarded over $30 million in prizes and produced roughly 170 hours of content.

“I think a big part of why it’s working is because we really try to foster an environment where people get together to have fun, and poker is the thing that’s bringing them together,” said Anderson.

“It’s a great way to get out and play live comfortably and not get overwhelmed and make sure you have a great experience.

“It’s different than the big buy-in events where you really feel that pressure, because it’s a lot of money and people have so much riding on it,” he said.

That open-arms attitude and reach into the mainstream is what made HPT so attractive to Federated Sports + Gaming.

FS+G Chairman and former Commissioner of the World Series of Poker, Jeffrey Pollack, said he’d always admired what the HPT has been able to accomplish.

“I’ve long thought Heartland was one of the great success stories of the modern poker industry,” Pollack told PokerListings.com.

“Poker is America’s most popular card game and there are all sorts of ways to enjoy it, and HPT is a great way for the weekend warriors to enjoy the game in a context that Greg and Todd have really custom-designed for fun and affordability,” Pollack continued.

Untapped Value for Low to Mid-Level US Pros

Online legend Dan "KingDan" Smith won six figures on the HPT in 2008.

While the HPT has done everything it can to attract recreational players to its events, it still seems like profesional grinders have by and large given the tour a pass.

But it’s only a matter of time before US pros cut off from most online poker sites take notice.

“Let me put it this way: a pro in our field is going to have an advantage,” quipped Todd Anderson.

“I’m sort of surprised our events haven’t been targeted more by the sort of low- to mid-stakes grinders because they do offer such great value,” he said.

Dan Smith, recent $100k Challenge winner at the Aussie Millions, won a Heartland event in 2008 and there are usually a few notable names peppered into the results, but the pro contingent certainly feels underrepresented.

Location has a lot to do with that since in the tour’s early years events were hosted in just a few Mid-Western states.

Since then the HPT has expanded beyond the actual Heartland to locations like Las Vegas and Florida, and it’s safe to expect to see more familiar faces at HPT final tables.

In the short term, HPT attendance may see a spike during the Black Friday era but in the bigger picture predictions for continued growth have more to do simply with the popularity of live tournament poker.

And the HPT seems to have struck a balance between buy-in, field size and prize pool that seriously appeals to the recreational player.

“HPT has had some ups and some downs and that’s par for the course, but over time we think poker will not only maintain its popularity but continue to grow,” said Pollack.

Anderson echoes that prediction.

"Every day we’re exposing new people to this brand and our merger with Epic Poker has opened up a lot of new doors for us in that department,” he said.

“As long as we’re putting on fair tournaments and as long as we’re putting on a good quality TV show I don’t see any end in sight for the Heartland Poker Tour.”

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Hach Back, Plaque Attack, Dunst Ankle Shoots

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Joe Hachem back in the Global Poker Index, get a major case of plaque envy from the Aussie Millions and watch WPT Raw Deal host Tony Dunst balancing his tweet range.

1) Hach Back in Top 200 of Global Poker Index

Soul patch is back!

The latest update to the Global Poker Index was posted today and, to no surprise, Erik Seidel and Jason Mercier held on to the top two spots.

Jonathan Duhamel jumped into the top 10 (from #11), Mike "Timex" McDonald dropped out of the top 10 (to #11) and a slew of other great tournament players moved up or down the rankings as usual.

Making a big move, however, to ring in his new ambassadorship with the Asian Poker Tour and the AsianLogic Group was Australia's favorite chiropractor-turned-poker pro, Joe Hachem.

Hachem came flying back into the GPI this week as his third-place finish in the Aussie Millions $100k High Roller event scored him 228 points and rocketed him back up to #177 in the rankings.

$100k High Roller winner Dan Smith, aka KingDan23, also crushed the rankings this week on the back of his $100k finish and jumped up 90 spots all the way to #65.

Check the full updated rankings for this week here.

2) Cash-Game Plaques, So Hot Right Now

Plaques are the mack.

The bundles of cash they used on GSN's High Stakes Poker were pretty baller, for sure, but everybody knows what takes you to the next level of money cachet.

Plaques. Flat, plastic stacks of heavy casino plaques.

Because the best way to show how truly above it all you are is to never sully your hands with cash again.

As Daniel Negreanu tweeted along with this great picture of his stack of plaques at the Aussie Millions cash game, plaques are also just "so James Bond."

To paraphrase Chris Rock:

"Bundles of cash make you look rich. Plaques make you look wealthy."

Check out a few more pics from yesterday's cash game in the PL blog and look for more reports later today.

Follow @RealKidPoker on Twitter for some of the best tweets in the game.

3) Tony "Bond_18" Dunst Balances His Tweet Range

Likes it raw.

Think the lingering resentment towards Full Tilt Poker and its primary owners Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer has dissipated at all?

Not if the Twitter tempest around a new report that came out yesterday revealing some “secret” accounts of Ferguson is any indication.

Most notably expressing his latent rage was WPT Raw Deal Host Tony Dunst, who made it pretty clear in a couple of tweets what he’d do if he ran into either of those two again:

“If Chris Ferguson shows his face in poker again I'll happily be the first one to drive a stake through that piece of shits ankle.”

Not to give Lederer a pass, he followed that immediately by:

“I'd bring retribution to Lederer too if I weren't so confident that the fat fuck will eat himself to death if he has any money left.”

Just to balance his range, Dunst was back to his more jovial host persona four minutes later when he tweeted:

“Check out season X of the WPT on FSN starting February 12th!”

Follow Dunst on Twitter here to see who gets it next.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Ivey Locked in Final 26 at Aussie Millions

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0800

Day 3 of the tournament was a blisteringly fast affair with nearly 50 players going to the rail in just three levels.

Through it all Ivey remained consistent and ended up finishing sixth in chips with 1.1 million.

Amazingly Ivey has never cashed in the Aussie Millions but that will change this year as the money bubble burst early and with only 26 players left at the end of the day every player left is guaranteed $35,000 (AUD).

Joining Ivey in the final 26 is former Aussie Millions champ Lee Nelson who took down the tournament in 2006.

Nelson finished the day with 878,000 and a shot at becoming the first repeat winner in the history of event.

Also in the top 26 are pros David Steicke, Daniel Idema, Yann Dion and Grant Levy.

Not all the pros were that lucky, however, as Swede Michael Tureniec and consistent Australian casher Billy “The Croc” Argyros both busted in the money.

Koon Crushed on Last Hand of the Day

West Virginia product Jason Koon’s last hand of the day went about as bad it possibly could have as he flipped for his tournament life with a massive, tournament-leading, pot on the line and ended up losing.

“Unreal how heartbreaking tourney poker can be,” wrote Koon on Twitter. “Paint a Picasso over 3 days and just lose a massive flip for all the money.”

English pro Matt Turk was the player who won the pot and he finished with 2.6 million in chips, which makes him the overwhelming chip leader.

Still, he’ll have to get past a red-hot Ivey who was stacking chips all day long and even made an opponent, who had already committed half his stack, fold pocket kings pre-flop.

Tournament organizers announced a surprising decision to change the schedule at the end of the day. They have moved the final table back to Sunday despite the fact that there are only 26 players left.

Apparently the decision was made because organizers are moving the $250k Challenge from tomorrow to Saturday so that more players can play and there’s only one TV feature table.

Regardless play will resume in the Main Event at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and it could be another short day.

Here’s a look at the top 10 chip leaders heading into Day 4:

Matt Turk – 2,675,000 Tim O’Shea – 1,376,000 Patrick Healy – 1,353,000 Bjorn Li – 1,222,000 Yann Dion – 1,156,000 Phil Ivey – 1,107,000 Daniel Idema – 1,033,000 Minh Nguyen – 992,000 Borge Dypvik – 882,000 Lee Nelson – 878,000

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Trickett, Heinz Top European Poker Awards

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:00:00 -0800

UK native and Titan Poker pro Trickett was crowned Player of the Year for 2011 on the back of three $1 million+ finishes.

Trickett scooped over a million each for a win at the Partouche Poker Tour main event, a win in the $100k High Roller at the Aussie Millions and a second in the $250k High Roller in Oz.

It took that extraordinary of a year to win the POY title as Trickett had to beat out triple crown winners Jake Cody and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier plus 2011 WSOP Main Event winner Pius Heinz.

Heinz and Grospellier didn’t leave empty-handed however.

Heinz took home Best Tournament Performance of the Year for his incredible Main Event run.

Grospellier won the award for Poker Personality of the Year.

Online high-stakes loose cannon Ilari Sahamies was also named the Internet Player of the Year by the panel of industry and media members who voted on the awards.

Nominees for the awards this year included Liv Boeree, Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Chris Moorman, Eugene Katchalov, Fabrice Soulier and 2011 November Niner Sam Holden.

Complete list of award winners below:

Player of the Year Sam Trickett Best Tournament Performance Pius Heinz Rookie of the Year Andrey Pateychuk Europe's Leading Lady Natalya Nikitina Poker Staff Person of the Year Warren Lush (bwin.Party's PR Director) Internet Player of the Year Ilari Sahamies Rob Gardner Memorial Award for Poker Personality of the Year Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier Best European Event of the Year WSOPE Cannes Lifetime Achievement Award Jesse May

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Refugee Poker Pro Looking for Title Down Under

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:00:00 -0800

Koon, who is originally from Weston, West Virginia but lived in Las Vegas until this summer, used to play on Full Tilt Poker as the formidable NovaSky.

The West Virginian had over one million chips midway though Day 3 of the 2012 Aussie Millions and was looking dangerous in almost every hand he played.

Despite some close calls over the years, Koon has never won a major live tournament and while he was reluctant to say he was due he did mention he was ready to win in terms of ability, preparation and mindset.

“I do have the ability to dominate this tournament and I’m looking forward to playing the best that I can and going as deep as I can,” he said.

It’s been a life-changing 12 months for Koon who saw his ability to play online poker in the USA disappear with Black Friday. He also had a substantial amount of money stuck on Full Tilt Poker.

“It was a big hit financially and in terms of lifestyle,” he said. “I was back home in West Virginia hanging out with some friends and making a pretty great living grinding four or five days a week.”

Like many online pros Koon opted to move to poker player haven Vancouver, Canada, so that he could continue to ply his trade online.

At first the adjustment of moving from the USA was difficult but Koon eventually got into the rhythm of it.

“Vancouver’s a beautiful city and I lived in Coal Harbor and Yaletown, which are both nice areas,” he said.

Despite his good experiences in Vancouver, Koon is once again on the move and plans on living in Cyprus with Chris Moorman for the next while.

“I’ve been bouncing all over the place and it’s been a lot of fun,” he said.

Earlier this year Koon Tweeted that 2012 would be his year and so far he’s lived up to his promise.

At the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Koon made the final table of the $25,000 High Rollers event and ended up finishing in fourth place to take down $271,950.

The final table was no walk in the park with pros Jonathan Duahamel, Isaac Haxton and Randy Lew all competing for first place.

“I was first in chips heading into the final table I was obviously not completely satisfied with fourth but getting fourth in one of the toughest tournaments in the world is never a bad thing,” he said.

Right now Koon is firmly set on making a deep run in the 2012 Aussie Millions. He had nothing but good things to say about the signature Australian event.

“The value is good and the structure is great,” he said. “This is a fantastic tournament.”

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Ferguson Accounts "Could" Impact FTP Deal

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0800

According to Subject: Poker, over the last four years Ferguson transferred an additional $60 million in Full Tilt dividend payments (on top of the $25 million paid into his personal accounts) into accounts belonging to Pocket Kings Ltd.

Those bank accounts were understood to be Ferguson's personal accounts it claims.

Ferguson withdrew or moved $45 million of the money through various means, the report says, including transfers to other personal accounts, payments to his lawyer Ian Imrich, loans to other FTP shareholders and the purchasing of more FTP shares.

According to Subject: Poker, $14.3 million of the $60 million was not withdrawn and instead was used with Ferguson’s approval to cover Full Tilt’s post-Black Friday expenses.

As for how the accounts could affect the impending deal, Subject: Poker sources say Ferguson and Imrich have been trying to recoup this $14.3 million and have threatened legal action to see an accounting of the money and reclaim any money “spent improperly.”

This may or may not even be possible though, Subject: Poker says.

The report also claims early versions of Full Tilt’s agreement with the Bernard Tapie Group included giving the equivalent in shares to Ferguson but that changed when the DOJ stipulated Full Tilt’s board of directors could not be involved in the new company.

No sources have been officially named and neither Imrich or Ferguson were reached for comment.

Read the full report here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Gold’s Mom, Grind for Credit, Kevmath FTs

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the Daily 3-Bet we learn the poker talent in the Gold family runs to the top, find math geniuses playing poker for credit at MIT and tip our hats to Kevmath for a nice run in Australia.

1) Jamie Gold’s Mom Coming to Get Him

Jane Gold fan.

Jane Gold, mom of 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jamie Gold, has earned the family a new poker title.

She took down the Borgata Winter Poker Open Ladies’ Event this past weekend.

With over 100 runners and a $400 buy-in, Mom’s take for the win was just over $10k. Not $12 million, but a very nice score in its own right.

Said Gold to Borgata bloggers on the scene:

“Look out Jamie Gold, mama’s coming to get you.”

A staple in the WSOP main event since 2007, even outlasting her son on at least one occassion, Jane Gold is known as a keen poker player and one of the main reasons Jamie got into poker.

More details on the ladies event from Philadelphia-based gambling blog PhillyGambles here.

More on Jamie’s current gig as ambassador for the Tropicana Poker Room here.

2) Grind Online Poker for Credit at MIT

As if poker games aren’t already tough enough, 200 more math geniuses from MIT are about to get into the mix.

A course at MIT taught by Ph.D student Will Ma (former Grand Prix de Paris winner with $1.7 million in online cashes) is now up and running and so popular they had to move to a bigger classroom to accommodate it.

It's an introductory course, but it’s also a bit more advanced than your usual beginner poker strategy.

Course topics include preflop ranges, polarization, bet sizing, implied odds, reverse implied odds, flop analysis, credible bluffs, thin value, folding good hands, slow-playing, river odds, ICM theory, faults of Nash Equilibrium, decisions vs. results, statistics and variance and risk management.

Course work is to play in a private home league on PokerStars and to pass you need to earn 10 points playing online poker tournaments.

Check the rest of the syllabus here.

Lectures are online (first one above) if you want to pretend your grades were good enough for MIT.

We lasted seven minutes before it got over our heads.

3) Kevmath Makes Final Table in Aussie Millions $550 Terminator

Nubs for Kevmath.

Last but definitely not least in today's 3-Bet we send congrats out to everyone's favorite poker media icon Kevin "Kevmath" Mathers.

Mathers has been on the scene live in Melbourne covering the Aussie Millions but managed to find some time to play in the $550 Terminator event.

Playing against some stiff competition, Kevmath was on the short stack for a long time but still managed to make the final table.

He ended up cashing in sixth-place for for $6,055 when his A9 couldn't hold against K8.

As expected, he handled his exit like a pro, tweeting:

"Out in 6th for 6055, k8 <a9, guy hits 8 on river. Certainly can't complain after being so short forever."

How's he going to spend it?

"Figured out the first thing I'm doing with my winnings, laundry at the Crown!"

Hat tip to Kevmath. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Follow him on Twitter here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Ivey, Payouts Highlight Aussie Millions Day 2

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0800

Day 2 of the signature Australian tournament went by today at the speed of a Roger Federer serve, with 239 eliminations in seven levels of play.

Of the 314 players that entered the day only 75 still have a shot at winning the event.

$1.6 Million for First

Payouts were announced on Day 2 and although first place will walk away with $1.6 million the more important number for players right now is 72. That’s when the payouts begin.

Ultimately this year’s Aussie Millions, with 659 players, came short of the 721-player mark it reached last year.

Of course since that time there has been major changes to the poker economy with the fallout from Black Friday and Full Tilt Poker’s hiatus.

Regardless the prizepool contains over $6 million, which should provide enough motivation for Ivey.

There is one player, Australian Tim O’Shea, who has more chips than Ivey with 921,000 to Ivey’s 778,000 but Ivey looks almost unbeatable as the field continues to narrow.

Dwan, Tony G Among Pros Sent Packing on Day 2

Outside of Ivey, many pros had a rough day.

Tom Dwan, Annette Obrestad, Gus Hansen, Isaac Baron, JC Tran, Jason Mercier, Tony G and Maria Ho were all sent to the rail.

Tony G had a particularly ironic departure as one of the players who qualified for the Aussie Millions on the site he represents – PartyPoker – busted The G out of the tournament.

Meanwhile Tom Dwan had an extended battle with Australian Tom Grigg.

Grigg needled Dwan several times and the New Jersey native even called the clock on the Aussie at one point.

Grigg eventually got the best of Dwan when he hit a straight against the pro's turned set.

Dwan was crippled in the hand and busted shortly after. Grigg finished the day with 225,500 chips.

Not every pro was eliminated, however, as Jason Koon (667,500), David Steicke (453,000 chips), Lee Nelson (432,000 chips), Michael Tureniec (289,000 chips), Matt Wakeman (170,000 chips) and Grant Levy (80,000 chips) will all carry on into Day 3.

Day 3 kicks off at 12:30 p.m. tomorrow with the money bubble likely to burst early.

The top 10 chip counts:

1. Tim O’Shea – 921,0002. Phil Ivey – 778,5003. Aage Ravn – 708,5004. Jason Koon - 667,5005. Oliver Speidel – 540,0006. Patrick Healy – 521,0007. Yann Dion – 495,0008. Mohammed Kowssarie – 477,0009. Rob Angood – 470,50010. Janis Lesiwski – 463,500

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Scottish Millionaire Revealed as WSOP Bracelet Buyer

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0800

Eastgate’s bracelet sold for an astounding $147,500 on eBay to an, at the time, anonymous buyer with the username 7****I.

A year later the buyer has come forward as Scottish millionaire entrepreneur Willie Haughey.

“I was very impressed with the fact that Peter [Eastgate] was giving the money to charity,” he said. “That was the only reason I bought it.”

A recreational poker player, Haughey was in Australia for business but decided to try his luck at the country’s signature poker tournament – the Aussie Millions – which is currently taking place the Crown Casino.

Over £5 Million to Charity in 5 Years

The 56-year-old Haughey, who lives in Glasgow, built his fortune through his company City Refrigeration Holdings.

He's gone on to become known as one of Scotland’s most generous philanthropists, giving £5 million to charity over the last five years.

Haughey only heard that the bracelet was up for auction when he saw a link while playing on PokerStars.

The Scotsman never had any intention of wearing the bracelet at the poker table and keeps it locked away in a display case.

“You have to win one to wear one,” he laughed.

New Event at 2012 WSOP?

Just paying $147,500 for the bracelet to go to charity isn’t enough for Haughey and he’s now contemplating giving it back to the WSOP for charity.

“I’d like to give it back to the WSOP so they can put it in a museum even though I spent $150,000 on it,” he said.

“Maybe they could strike a new bracelet for charity and have an online or live tournament in Europe with half the money going to a charity in the U.S. and half going to a charity of my choice in the U.K.”

Poker to Tax the Brain

It might come as a surprise that a philanthropist such as Haughey would be interested in poker but he loves the game, particularly the social aspect of it.

“I’ve run my own business for 25 years and I’m always looking for hobbies that tax my brain,” he said. “I stumbled on late night poker on television one evening.”

Haughey has been playing for seven years now and travels with his wife to various poker destinations around the globe.

No slouch at the table either.

He’s become a huge fan of poker and gets frustrated when he sees the game portrayed in a negative light.

A Great Community That's Not All Gamblers

“It’s fantastic,” he said. “It’s a really great community and you get to meet interesting people from all over the world.”

“Poker’s been tarnished a bit in the last year with everything that happened with Full Tilt so I think it’s important to show that we’re not all gamblers by giving back to charity.”

Haughey is no slouch at the poker table either as he’s cashed in WSOP, WSOPE and GUKPT events.

He's even taken down an EPT side event for $145k.

“I’ve enjoyed a bit of success,” he said while grinning.

Haughey actually holds third place in the all-time Scottish poker earnings charts with $284k.

“I think the game is getting so fierce these days with the younger guys it’s tough for us older guys to win but I still enjoy it,” he said.

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Daily 3-Bet: Poker in Congress, Galfond Run Bad, More Bikinis

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any tips for a future 3-Bet, drop a note in the comments below.

Today in the 3-Bet we find online poker back on the agenda for the US Senate, Phil Galfond not enjoying his "opposite day" and we revisit the Royal Flush Girls bikini shoot.

1) Online Poker in US Back in Congress

The on-again-off-again online poker train ride through US Congress seems to be back on again, at least with the US Senate Committee for Indian Affairs.

A new hearing is now scheduled for Feb. 9 with the agenda to further assess the role of Native American tribes in the future of online poker in the US.

Let our people go.

It also aims to look at how the recent ruling from the DOJ determining the Wire Act only refers to sportsbetting will impact impending legislation.

At the last hearing with the Senate Oversight Committee in November, the current poker bill before Congress prepared by Rep. Joe Barton was taken to task for violating the tribes' right to act as their own governments.

And so the wheels of US legislation turn.

More on the upcoming hearing and the Senate Committee for Indian Affairs here.

2) Galfond Drops a Bundle

In good spirits for bad day.

Fourteen hours ago, Phil Galfond tweeted this somewhat cryptic message from his Twitter account:

"I need to work on my all-in game"

About six hours later, we found out what he meant when he tweeted the graph above along with this:

"If today were opposite day, that would be cool."

We've all had bad days at the table, but $450k below all-in EV and a $650k total loss makes them seem a little silly.

Especially since Galfond probably has a better sense of humor about his bad day than we ever had.

Our online poker stat tracker is out of whack today but we hope to have the hands from his sessions up later.

Check our poker stats section later for more.

In the interim you can commiserate with Galfond on Twitter here.

3) The Girls of Winter

We mentioned this shoot a while back, but the WPT Royal Flush Girls have kindly reminded us of their December bikini shoot at the Bellagio with this highlight video.

Who are we to keep it from you?

Follow the Royal Flush Girls on Twitter here; video below:

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Ivey Rules Day 1c of Aussie Millions

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:00:00 -0800

Ivey, who was playing just his third major tournament since Black Friday, showed up and simply crushed the competition.

It was clear from the start of the tournament that Ivey came to play and in the first few levels of play he amassed over 180,000 chips. Robert Lam looks to be the chip leader with 198,000.

It seemed that Ivey was involved in almost every big hand that occurred on Day 1c and despite a slight downswing in the later stages of the day he managed to recover and finish with a very strong 184,000 chips, good enough for fourth overall.

Day 1c Draws Big Crowd

Ivey wasn’t the only story on Day 1c of 2012 Aussie Millions as 317 players jammed their way into the poker room.

With the $100k Challenge out of the way it was an intensely pro-heavy field with heavy hitters Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Dan Smith, Tony Hachem, JC Tran, Sam Trickett, Sorel Mizzi, Chris Moorman and Nam Le all hitting the felt.

Day 1c was easily the biggest day of the tournament attendance-wise and when you add the 340 players from Day 1a and Day 1b we’re looking at an overall field in the range of 660 players. That number is down slightly from the 721 players in last year’s Main Event.

The exact prizepool will not be released until tomorrow because registration is technically open through the first level, but there’s good chance first place will once again award close to $2 million.

While Ivey fared exceptionally well on Day 1c there were a number of big name pros who simply never got anything going.

Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and Sorel Mizzi all busted with little fanfare.

Meanwhile Jason Koon, David Steicke, Michael Pedley, Melanie Weisner, Brian Roberts, JC Tran, James Obst and Jason Mercier finished with above average stacks.

Ivey Crushes Warne

Phil Ivey played arguably the most memorable hand of the entire tournament with just 20 minutes left on the clock.

Australian cricketer Shane Warne had the misfortune of flopping a set of aces on a A♥ Q♥ J♥ flop against Ivey who had 8♥ 6♥ for the flush.

All the money went in on the flop and Warne, who had been absolutely flying early on, was crippled to 300 chips and busted on the next hand.

Ivey, on the other hand, moved up to 185,000 chips and finished near the top of the leaderboard.

It was a fast day and over half the field was eradicated with only 149 players booking their ticket into Day 2.

Day 2 of 2012 Aussie Millions should be a good one as it’s the first day where every remaining player will be under the same roof.

Join us for our continuing coverage from the Crown Casino in Sunny Melbourne.

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Hachem Reflects on Life-Changing Poker Journey

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 01:00:00 -0800

Since winning the 2005 WSOP Main Event the Australian poker superstar has traveled the world as a poker ambassador, played countless tournaments and claimed a World Poker Tour title.

He also won nearly $4 million playing poker during that span.

Times are changing for Hachem, however, as last month he announced he was leaving long-time sponsor PokerStars, which he helped build into the biggest online poker site in the world.

It turns out the whirlwind tour Hachem has been on since winning the Main Event is finally starting to take its toll.

“I’ve been on the road for seven years now and I’m totally exhausted,” he said during a break in the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Aussie Millions Pride and Joy

Hachem is one of the few players who has actually defined poker for an entire country and it’s never more apparent then when the Aussie Millions rolls around and thousands of Australian poker players and fans converge on the Crown Casino.

“It’s our pride and joy to be honest,” said Hachem, who lives in Melbourne.

“It’s a special event and it stands alone in that regard. It’s not connected to the EPT, LAPT, WPT or whatever.”

Joe Hachem at the 2005 WSOP Main Event

It’s questionable if the tournament would even exist if it weren’t for Hachem’s record-setting haul at the WSOP in 2005.

Time to Move Forward

Since Hachem became the first Australian to win the Main Event, poker has exploded Down Under.

Where there used to be only one poker room in the entire country there is now one or more in every state.

So it was somewhat of a shock when PokerStars and Hachem parted ways in December. The two brands had been synonymous since 2005.

A few days ago Hachem announced that he had reached an agreement to work with the lesser-known AsianLogic and help develop their future strategies for the online poker market.

It was a somewhat surprising move for the Australian considering there’s a good chance he received attention from major industry players like 888poker, PartyPoker or Titan Poker.

“I had a big offer from a large poker room on the table,” he said.

“I thought ‘OK, do I sign on as an ambassador for a big room or do I partner up with a solid company that’s close to home and looking to expand with plenty of opportunities to let me help it grow?

"It was a no-brainer for me.”

Hachem went on to say that he was tired of “dancing like a monkey” and wanted to be more involved in the day-to-day business for a company.

AsianLogic, he said, was the natural fit.

Chance to Stay Closer to Home

With his new deal Hachem will also limit the amount of travelling he does.

Right now only has plans to play the LAPC, WPT Bay 101, WSOP, WSOPE, Epic Poker Tour and the two AsianLogic-backed APT events.

It’s a big difference for a guy who lives thousands of miles from every major tournament outside of the Aussie Millions.

Joe Hachem flashing his PokerStars patch in 2010.

“Every trip that I go on takes at least a day,” he said. “It’s a hell of a lot of time to spend on an airplane.”

Still On Top of His Game

At this point it would be easy to say Hachem might have lost an edge in his game or he’s now in the twilight of his career, but the feisty Australian would beg to differ.

Earlier this week Hachem outlasted some of the best poker players in the world – including Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan and Gus Hansen – to take third place in the massive $100k buy-in tournament at the Aussie Millions for an impressive $330k.

It was his biggest cash since 2006 and the most he’s ever won in his hometown casino.

In the past Hachem has been a somewhat decisive figure in the industry thanks to his penchant for taking it personally when the cards don’t go his way.

Young Stars Need to Learn Some Manners

Although a fan of rising Aussie online stars Jonathan Karamalikis and Jarred Graham, Hachem has been critical of young online poker players in the past and encouraged them to “grow up.”

He still maintains that it takes more than skill to become a true star in the poker world.

“A lot of these kids don’t have any manners or respect,” he said.

“They live and die behind their computer screens so they don’t feel like they have to own up to anything.”

Despite his desire to remain closer to home and work behind the scenes, Hachem will always have fond memories of the last seven years where he seemed to have a PokerStars patch tattooed to his chest.

“I feel blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to do this,” he said.

“It’s been amazing but at the same time I’ve worked my ass off to be the best ambassador and best poker player I could be.”

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Daily 3-Bet: Nubs for Noobs, Lacey in FHM, DNegs Bets Tennis

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

Any tips for a future 3-Bet, drop a note in the comments below.

Today in the 3-Bet we explain Aussie Millions $100k winner Dan Smith's famous "nub," find Lacey Jones doing her part to globalize poker and watch Daniel Negreanu and Jason Mercier getting tipsy and betting on tennis.

1) Dan Smith’s Nub

We don't know the full lineage of the now famous "nub," but we know Dan Smith, newly crowned $100k Challenge winner at the 2012 Aussie Millions, is a central figure.

We're pretty sure he invented it, but at the very least he's a strong proponent of it.

The elusive Kevmath nub.

What's a nub?

According to Dansmithnubs.com:

"Nub: elbow to elbow contact, typically to express joy.

"e.g. Dude comes out of the bathroom (after probably pissing all over his hands). Now you don’t have to touch his hands to greet him."

According to the Nubs for Noobs section, there are also several types of Nubs:

The Nub to confirm, the Spin Nub, the Unnamed Super Nubs, the Nub solo, etc.

Basically, there’s a lot of different nubs. And importantly they're all more hygienic than the high five.

Cue Czech poker boom.

2) Poker Set to Explode in Czech Republic

There are a few places where we expect the next poker “boom” to happen.

Germany, Japan, China, India. Possibly Brazil.

One country, however, is going to jump to the head of the pack next month when the latest issue of their local FHM comes out.

The country: Czech Republic. The reason? Lacey Jones is on the cover.

Sure, Martin Staszko brought the game to the public's attention with his 2011 WSOP runner-up finish.

But nothing takes a sport to another level in a country like pictures of its pros in lingerie.

Check the pic to the right and follow Jones on Twitter here for more pics.

More on the photos and make-up from model and stylist Katarina Van Derham here.

3) Negreanu, Mercier Annoy Old Couple at Australian Open

As poker pros do when they’re at the Aussie Millions, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Maria Ho and Daniel Alaei (plus significant others) used a day off yesterday to catch some tennis action at the Australian Open.

Also as poker pros tend to do, they drank a little, made a bit of excess noise and made a lucrative prop bet on a half-finished match.

Video below explains.

Note: no line has been set for when Negreanu will learn to use landscape mode on his phone.

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Sunday Scoop: Akenhead Snatches Sunday Million

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

All told more than $2.53 million was generated by the three biggest online poker tournaments yesterday with known pros like Andrey Pateychuk and Giuseppe Pantaleo joining Akenhead among the weekend's biggest winners.

We’ve got the details on the Sunday Million, the Warm-Up and the 500 right here on the Sunday Scoop.

Akenhead Crushes Sunday Million

7,125 players found their way into the Sunday Million this week with UK pro James “Asprin1” Akenhead taking the top spot and the $213,750 first-place prize.

In 2008 Akenhead made the final tables of the WSOP main event in Las Vegas and the WSOP Europe main event in London and now he can add a Sunday Major title to his list of accomplishments.

Akenhead defeated pnp23 of Romania who pocketed $157,277 for second.

Finishing third was German pro Giuseppe “Ansgar2000” Pantaleo who is currently ranked 175th on the Global Poker Index thanks to 16 cashes, eight final tables and over $450,000 in results in less than two years.

Pantaleo has also earned more than $1.8 million playing online poker tournaments as Ansgaar2000 on PokerStars and previously as LeChiffre19 on Full Tilt and UB.

In total 1,080 players got paid. Here are the full final table results:

1. James "Asprin1" Akenhead (United Kingdom) $213,750.00 2. pnp23 (Romania) $157,277.25 3. Ansgar2000 (Germany) $114,000.00 4. Gambler4444 (Germany) $75,525.00 5. sigopi (Brazil) $58,425.00 6. Milana Jones (Russia) $44,175.00 7. shibinha (Brazil) $30,637.50 8. tyxerakias (Greece) $17,100.00 9. philipoo (Denmark) $11,043.75

Denmark On Top in Sunday Warm-Up

Danish player RasA86 defeated a field of 3,569 yesterday in the Sunday Warm-Up, winning $112,067.

Pius Heinz cashed in this Sunday on PokerStars.

The Warm-Up smashed its guarantee, putting $713,800 in the pot to be divided among the top 540 finishers.

Celina Lin just made it into the money, finishing 537th, while reigning world champion Pius Heinz made it to 367th before going bust.

Here are the full results for the final table of this week’s Sunday Warm-Up:

1. RasA86 (Denmark) $112,067 2. vonBaranow (Brazil) $83,514 3. 6Thor6 (United Kingdom) $58,888 4. respect82 (Netherlands) $41,043 5. t6naver (Estonia) $30,336 6. fabi8913 (Germany) $23,198 7. sevshi (Chile) $16,060 8. neckbr4ke (Germany) $23,198 9. salaliito (Finland) $5,710

Pateychuk Comes Close in Sunday 500

Super hot Russian player Andrey Pateychuk, who won EPT San Remo last October and WPT Prague in December, narrowly missed a win in the Sunday 500 this week.

Pateychuk was edged out by Romanian player ALIN76poker who made a deal heads-up with Spanish player Rocks_Strato to take $64,500 and $59,500, respectively.

In total 117 of the 800 who played got paid, sharing the $400,000 prize pool.

Notables to finish in the money include Leo Fernandez (23rd), Fabrizio "SixthSenSe19" Gonzalez (29th), (Pat Pezzin (62nd) and Shane Schleger (69th).

Here are the full final table payouts for this week’s Sunday 500, adjusted to reflect the heads-up deal:

1. ALIN76poker (Romania) $64,500* 2. Rocks_Sprato (Spain) $59,500* 3. ThePateychuk (Russia) $38,800 4. southrnctowl (Mexico) $29,900 5. gugo117 (Armenia) $20,160 6. M.nosbocaJ (United Kingdom) $16,160 7. marroca5 (Columbia) $12,160 8. SGE1977 (Brazil) $8,200 9. hahila (Denmark) $5,000

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Dempsey, Dwan Crush Aussie Millions Day 1b

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:15:00 -0800

All three players recorded solid days but went into overdrive in the last two levels of the day to finish with huge stacks.

Dempsey finished as the chip leader with 189,000 while James bagged up 151k and Dwan ended with 107k.

A total of 187 players made an appearance on Day 1b, which was a decent jump from the 153 on Day 1a.

Overall the tournament is still trending down significantly from the 721 players who entered last year and will need a massive Day 1c to get close to breaking that number.

Big Names Busy

There were plenty of well-known poker pros in the field today w/ Annette Obrestad, JP Kelly, Tristan Wade, Tom Dwan, Mel Judah, Shawn Buchanan, Jonathan Karamalikis, Kenna James, David Bach and Marvin Rettenmaier looking to do some damage.

Former Aussie Millions champs Stewart Scott and Tyron Krost were also in the field today looking to add another Australian title to their record.

Krost experienced the pleasure of having the Crown Casino pay for his buy-in as part of his lifetime “golden ticket” from winning the 10th Anniversary Aussie Millions Tournament of Champions.

Krost put his freeroll to good use and finished with 52,000 chips.

Vintage Durrrr

Dwan, who hasn’t recorded a cash in a tournament since the WSOP, put in a vintage durrrr performance that saw him swing his way to 107,000 chips.

In a crowd-pleasing hand Dwan called all the way down a scary K-K-9-Q-3 board with three spades while holding a paltry T-9. Fortunately for Dwan his opponent was caught red handed with 8-7.

Dwan is no doubt looking to follow online nemesis Viktor “Isildur1” Blom’s lead by winning his first major tournament and the Aussie Millions wouldn’t be a bad one to win.

Not all pros were so lucky, however.

Andrew Scott, Harry Demetriou, Mel Judah, Simon Watt, Marvin Rettenmaier, Shawn Buchanan, Tom Koral, Xin Zhao and Justin Cohen were among the many players to bust on Day 1b.

A total of 104 players ended their night by bagging up chips.

Day 1c, the final starting day, begins tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time and PokerListings will be on hand.

Follow along with our live updates and news coverage.

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Dan Smith Crowned King in Aussie $100k Challenge

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Smith, who is known as King Dan online, beat a final table that included Gus Hansen, Joe Hachem, Sorel Mizzi, Nam Le, Tony G, Sam Trickett and Mikhail Smirnov.

He won $1.01 million for finishing first.

Paying $100,000 to play a tournament might seem absurd but Smith was able to justify it in his own mind.

“It’s fun playing the big buy-in tournaments and I’m one of those jackasses that thinks they are the best so I felt obligated to play,” he said.

“I’d been having a good year so I decided to gamble it up and it worked out this time.”

The $100k Challenge, which began yesterday, drew only 22 players but almost every one was a poker superstar with Tom Dwan, Daniel Negreanu and even Phil Ivey all making an appearance.

The final table got off to a fast start with Sorel Mizzi, Nam Le and Sam Trickett busting in the early stages of the day.

Gus Goes Out on Bubble

Mizzi’s elimination brought about the bubble, however, and the tournament went into slow motion with no one wanting to lose $100k when they were so close to winning $242k.

“I played so much tighter than I usually do,” said Smith. “I folded A-3 on the button, which I’ve literally never done.”

Finally Gus Hansen got frisky with chip leader Mikhail Smirnov and busted in fifth place.

Tony G busted shortly after that for a $242k cash. Hachem recorded his biggest cash ever in his hometown of Melbourne when he finished in third for $330k.

Smirnov and Smith Head-to-Head

That brought about a spirited heads-up match between Smirnov and Smith.

Smirnov was perhaps the least known player in the tournament but is a respected Russian cash-game player.

The players went at it for three hours before Smith was finally able to land the knockout blow with pocket deuces versus a crippled Smirnov’s Q-6.

Smith’s hand held up and Smirnov had to settle for second place and $616k.

Smith Going to Super Bowl

Meanwhile Smith, who is an instructor at Leggo Poker and has over $1.3 miilion in career online earnings, records the biggest cash of his poker career.

What does the Manalapan, New Jersey native plan to do with his newfound wealth?

Go to the Super Bowl of course.

Earlier in the day Smith’s New York Giants won a spot in Super Bowl XLV against the Patriots and the young pro is already looking into purchasing tickets for the big game.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Waking Life: Spotlight on Aussie Matt Wakeman

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:00:00 -0800

The 26-year-old from Newcastle, New South Wales, has earned hundreds of thousands of dollars online and made it into the top 10 ranked players on PocketFives last month and #1 on the Australian rankings.

Despite earning that much online, Wakeman is modest about making it into the PocketFives top 10 global ratings.

“It’s a nice achievement but at the same time it’s a bit embarrassing,” he said. “My biggest score is like $30k whereas everyone in the top 100 has six-figure scores pretty much. I don’t know if I’m actually as good as my ranking suggests.”

Surprisingly Wakeman has only been playing MTTs for eight months and previously concentrated primarily on heads-up Sit & Gos.

From Late Night TV to the Real Thing

The story of Wakeman’s introduction to poker should be familiar to 90% of poker players.

He started playing home games with friends and then started watching the game on TV.

“We used to find it really entertaining watching late night WPT episodes,” he said. “We used to laugh at how serious Mike Sexton took everything on the show.”

From there one thing led to another and in 2008 he started taking the game seriously.

“I’m a really competitive person so I really wanted to crush all my friends,” he laughed. “I got online and started researching. I visited a few training sites and it just developed from there.”

Eventually Wakeman started to crush heads-up Sit & Gos and he was content to earn his cash in those games for two years.

Last year he decided to switch things up and start playing MTTs.

The transition has gone well and although Wakeman has yet to land that huge score, he’s been very consistent.

“I was always happy to play under the radar but since going to MTTs you get a lot more opportunities to do shameless self-promotion,” joked Wakeman.

Hardly a recluse Wakeman is an active participant in social media and contributes to TwoPlusTwo, Tweets and blogs on Poker.org and HUSNG.com.

“I enjoy writing,” he said. “Some players do it as a form of stress relief and while I’m sure it helps me with that in some regard, I just like putting myself out there. It’s really important to me.”

From Online to Live

Thanks to his online poker success, Wakeman has started to dip his toes in live tournaments.

Despite some APPT and ANZPT events, this is the first year Wakeman has played Australia’s flagship tournament – the Aussie Millions.

It’s been a learning experience for Wakeman as he attempts to adapt his online game to the physical felt.

“My live experience is basically spewing chips in every main event I’ve entered,” joked Wakeman. “I only made it to Day 2 in one of the eight events I entered last year.

"I basically think I can get old men to fold hands every time.”

Despite the lack of success, Wakeman can’t ignore the value that exists in live tournaments.

“It’s really soft,” he said. “That’s the appeal of it. Plus it’s nice to get away from the computer and actually meet some of the people I talk to on the Internet.”

Balancing Poker and Family

Interestingly Wakeman has a two-year-old son and makes an effort to balance poker and family.

“It hasn’t been that bad yet,” he said. “My fiancée has been a full-time mom for the first two years.

"She’s just now starting to go back to work so once she goes back to work we’ll have to sort out child care, which is hard in Australia."

Wakeman mentioned it’s important for players who make their living from poker to treat it as an actual job.

“At the end of the day poker is work for me and when I need to work she takes care of him,” he said. “He also seems to know not to bug me when I’m at my grind station.”

Wakeman’s luck in live tournaments may be changing. He bagged up 25,000 chips on Day 1a of the Aussie Millions and while that’s below average he can finally add another Day 2 to his poker résumé.

The Newcastle pro is optimistic he will play APPT Seoul in March and some other APPTs and ANZTs as long as his campaign here at the 2012 Aussie Millions goes reasonably well.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Poker’s In and Out List: Ivey Down Under, Gold’s Coaching Plunder

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

Today we tip our hats to Phil Ivey, the Crown Casino and old-timer Johnny Hughes while giving a stern wag of our collective finger to Sander Berndsen, the latest tournament series at the Beau Rivage and Jamie Gold’s latest piece of self-marketing.

Don’t move a muscle, this is the In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: January 16-22, 2012

Phil Ivey for Finally Playing a Tournament: IN

With one small exception in Macau, Phil Ivey has been MIA from the live poker world since he announced he’d be skipping the WSOP back in June of 2011.

This week in Australia, however, he got himself back in action and back in front of our camera. Ivey played the $100,000 Super High Roller and ended up bubbling the final table yesterday.

Luckily the finale is stacked with big names, led by Gus Hansen and rounded out by Joe Hachem, Dan Smith, Sorel Mizzi, Nam Le, Tony G and Sam Trickett.

Check out photos from the Aussie Millions $100k event right here.

Crown Casino, Melbourne: IN

PokerListings.com has been all over and there’s hardly a casino in the world where we haven’t set up our traveling media headquarters. That said, the Crown Casino is In this week for consistently topping that long list in terms of location, facilities and hospitality.

The Crown Casino in Melbourne enjoys a spot among PokerListings.com's favorite poker locations in the world.

We’re from Canada, which means in January things are looking white and cold through the PokerListings office window.

The PCA in the Bahamas is okay to kick things off, but the real winter-summer hits us when we get off the plane in Melbourne.

It may sound like a shameless plug to make sure we continue getting comped at the Crown but it also happens to be true.

The Aussie Millions is always huge and PokerListings.com is on location as we speak. Keep an eye on our 2012 Aussie Millions main event live updates and news for all the action.

Johnny Hughes for Being Super Old and Remembering Things: IN

Johnny Hughes has been regaling the Two Plus Two community for years with stories of days long past and even though the stories may have hints of factual inaccuracy, you have to admit he remembers a lot of stuff from a really long time ago.

His latest post, and the one that gets him a spot on this week’s In List, tells of recently passed R&B legend Etta James having been the daughter of legendary gambler and pool player Minnesota Fats. The resemblance is indeed striking and based on circumstance, it’s entirely possible.

Read the account via Johnny Hughes’ latest forum thread.

Poker’s Out List: January 16-22, 2012

The Beau Rivage Million Dollar Heater for Tiny Prize Pools: OUT

Call us cynical but you should make more than $40k winning two prelims at a legit live poker series these days. That’s how much Joe Tehan profited after two wins this past week at the Beau Rivage’s so-called Million Dollar Heater.

Joe Tehan takes down two prelims in Biloxi, too bad no one showed up.

Jonathan Little also won two events and fared little better. We point to economic depression in the area pricing most of the locals out of the action, while bigger events like the PCA and Aussie Millions luring away the US circuit pros that may have otherwise attended.

We’ve been to the Beau and played in the poker room and we can tell you, there’s value to be had in Mississippi, not to mention a waffle house on every corner.

As a bonus it’s Biloxi so you can re-enact your favorite scenes from Biloxi Blues on location.

Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen for losing $558k: OUT

This week in nosebleed online poker saw big winners, but even bigger losers. Dutch pro Sander Berndsen topped that list, out of pocket some $558,000.

That’s about eight times the average household annual income in the US.

Berndsen is still up over $300k so far in 2012 but another downswing like he experienced this week could quickly change that.

Click here for a full rundown of the Top 10 Weekly Online Poker Winners/Losers.

Advertising for $1,000/hour Coaching with a Sign Like This: OUT

Friend of PL.com Dan Michalski over at Pokerati.com posted this picture from the Jamie Gold poker room at the Tropicana. That’s right, $1,000 an hour to be coached by the 2006 world champion of poker.

Right off the bat we’re calling this whole thing Out since they decided to advertise via a sign that looks like it was printed on Jamie’s home computer. And not even any clipart to spruce it up.

We’re not even going to get into whether Jamie Gold’s time as a poker mentor is worth $1,000 an hour, but let’s just say you’d be better off spending that $1,000 investing in actual gold than Jamie Gold.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Hansen Busts Ivey to Set $100k Final Eight

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Hansen will return for Day 2 and the play down to the title with 567,000 chips for a slight edge on new AsianLogic pro Joe Hachem, who will come back with 538,500.

Hansen ended play for the night and took the chip lead when he flopped two pair with 7-6 and it held to beat Ivey's 88 with an up-and-down straight draw.

Outside of a recent trip to Macau, Ivey has been on hiatus from tournament poker since Black Friday so it set the railbirds buzzing when he strolled into the tournament area an hour late and sat down to play.

Unfortunately for Ivey, who was very active and seemed to have little rust on his game, his tournament will end without a payout

Tough Final Eight, but Not Expected Final Eight

Hansen and Hachem lead a very tough final eight as expected, but maybe not with exactly the expected players.

Dan Smith, Mikhail Smirnov, Sorel Mizzi, Tony G, Nam Le and Sam Trickett will join them tomorrow on the final table with several high-profile players on the rail.

Down goes Ivey.

Jason Mercier, who busted in 10th, is one of them along with perennial high roller final-tablist Erik Seidel, who went out in 11th.

Bustouts Fast and Furious

Due to the fast structure, several of the 22 runners who started the event were gone early.

Mike "SirWatts" Watson, Tom Dwan, Dan Shak, Masa Kagawa, Tony Bloom and Jonathan Karamilikis were all sent home before the dinner break.

Following shortly after were Daniel Alaei, Daniel Negreanu, Tobias Renkemeier, Dan "jungleman12" Cates and JC Tran.

The 22 total runners was well short of the 38 players who entered the event in 2011.

The four players who cash will split just over $2 million AUD between them with $1,012,000 to the winner.

Second-place will take $616,000, third $330,000 and fourth $242,000.

Check back tomorrow for a recap of the final.

The final eight and their chip counts:

1. Gus Hansen 567,000

2. Joe Hachem 538,500

3. Dan Smith 346,500

4. Mikhail Smirnov 265,000

5. Sorel Mizzi 228,500

6. Tony G 102,000

7. Nam Le 79,500

8. Sam Trickett 73,000

Click through to our blog for a photo essay on the high roller event and follow the action in the 2012 Aussie Millions main event with our live updates.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Watson, Nelson Lead Charge for 2012 Aussie Millions

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0800

A total of 153 players entered the day but after seven levels of action only 72 remained.

Although facing some stiff competition from the $100k Challenge, the Main Event had no trouble drawing a number of big name pros and Patrik Antonius, Barry Greenstein, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Maria Ho, Ramzi Jelassi, Sam Holden, Matt Jarvis, Jeff Lisandro and Michael Tureniec all took a crack at Aussie glory.

Unfortunately the vast majority of big name pros who entered Day 1a were snuffed but there were some notable exceptions including Lee Nelson, Jamie Rosen, Maria Ho, Leo Boxell, Ramzi Jelassi, David Vamplew and Michael Tureniec.

The locals put on a dominant performance with Australians Brett Watson (250,000) and Paul Sing (170,000) finished 1st and 2nd in end-of-day chip counts.

Day 1b of the massive tournament begins at 12 p.m. local time tomorrow and if anything it could be even more star-studded than today. The 2012 Aussie Millions continues through to Jan. 28.

There were a number of other events that either began or finished this weekend. Here’s a look at the notable ones:

Tom Dwan

Aussie Millions $100k Challenge

The Aussie Millions pioneered the concept of the super high roller tournament and their $100k Challenge remains one of the most elite tournaments in the world.

Last year an astounding 38 players paid the enormous buy-in to create a $3.8 million (AUD) prizepool and while only 22 showed this year, they still created a $2.2 (AUD) million prize pool.

As expected the field was a murderer’s row of skilled poker players including Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, Erik Seidel and more.

To learn more about the tournament be sure to check our photo blog.

Ivey had the room buzzing but unfortunately for tournament organizers he would be the final table bubble boy.

It was former Full Tilt teammate Gus Hansen who finally knocked Ivey out with two-pair versus Ivey’s pocket eights.

Despite the lack of Ivey the eight-player final table is sufficiently sick with Hansen, Joe Hachem, Dan Smith, Mikhail Smirnov, Sorel Mizzi, Tony G, Nam Le and last year’s winner Sam Trickett all looking for the $2 million first place prize.

Aussie Millions Event 6 $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em with Rebuys

The sixth event of the 2012 Aussie Millions offered arguably the best final table of the entire festival thus far.

The table included pros Jonathan Karamilikis, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Mike Watson, Marvin Rettenmaier and Tyron Krost.

Despite the sheer amount of star power in the end first place went to local Michael Pedley who picked up $122k for his victory.

Aussie Millions Tournament of Champions

This freeroll saw eight former Aussie Millions champions compete for a “golden ticket” that provides a lifetime of entries into the Aussie Millions.

David Gorr, Stewart Scott, Gus Hansen, Lee Nelson, Jamil Dia, Tony Bloom and Peter Costa all showed up but it was 2009 Aussie Millions champ Tyron Krost who would claim the golden ticket.

Tony Bloom finished second in the winner-take-all event.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Joe Hachem Enters Partnership with AsianLogic

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0800

The 2005 WSOP Main Event champion announced the new partnership during a press conference at the Crown Casino in Hachem’s hometown of Melbourne, Australia, where the Aussie Millions is currently taking place.

“Recently I left my biggest sponsor and basically it was about not living out of a suitcase all the time and being able to spend more time at home with my family,” said Hachem.

AsianLogic may not be nearly as established as sites like PokerStars or PartyPoker but operates a number of Asian online casinos and poker rooms on the Playtech software platform.

For years Asia has been touted as the biggest emerging market for online poker and Joe Hachem mentioned he still believes the boom is coming.

“Australia, Asia and Australasia are, in my opinion, still untapped,” he said.

Perhaps the most visible role Hachem will have with AsianLogic for the time being is his new role as ambassador for the up-and-coming Asian Poker Tour. AsianLogic acquired the tour in 2008.

Hachem will join J.C. Tran and Nam Le as ambassadors for the tour.

The Asian Poker Tour has awarded millions since its inception and currently has stops in China, India and the Philippines.

“Hopefully we’ll bring [the APT] Down Under to the Crown Casino for a tournament soon,” said Hachem.

Hachem, arguably the most famous Australian poker player, should help put AsianLogic on the Australian radar.

“Joe is one of the most recognized and respected poker players in the world and we’re very excited to have him on board,” said AsianLogic CEO Tom Hall.

“It’s not just Joe’s poker playing abilities that were interested in, though, it’s his knowledge and understanding of the industry both here in Australia and internationally.”

The 2012 Aussie Millions continues through Jan. 28 with Hachem set to play in both the Main Event and the $100k Challenge, which both started today.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Historic 10th Aussie Millions ME Set for Sunday

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

The $10,000 (AUD) Main Event of the 10th Anniversary Aussie Millions begins on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. local time (6:30 pm Saturday PST).

Throughout its 10 years of existence the Aussie Millions has awarded millions of dollars and produced such notable winners as Lee Nelson, Gus Hansen, Tyron Krost and Alexander Kostritsyn.

A favorite of big-name pros, the Aussie Millions final table has been home to Erik Seidel, Sorel Mizzi, Annette Obrestad, Peter Jetten, Andy Black, Shannon Shorr and Nenad Medic over the years.

Last year local poker veteran David Gorr outlasted 721 players to take down the $2 million first-place prize.

An Australian has won the tournament for the last three years running so it remains to be seen if a foreigner can buck the trend this year.

The Aussie Millions poker festival includes 26 events and there have already been several notable stories with Brendon Rubie winning the opening $1k No-Limit Hold’em event for $200k and Dan “djk123” Kelly winning the $1k PLO for $33k.

Sandeep Pulusani won the $1.1k Shootout for $37,500, Aaron Lim won the $1.1k NL/PLO Mix for $37k and Tom Middleton won the $1.1k Nl Six-Max for $84k.

The Crown Casino has also been known to host massive cash games during the Aussie Millions and both Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius have already been active in the games this year.

Surprisingly the $10k Main Event isn’t even the biggest tournament on the 2012 Aussie Millions schedule as there is also a $100k Challenge on Jan. 22, a $250k Challenge on Jan. 27 and finally a $25k Semi Shootout on Jan. 28.

Last year Erik Seidel did the unthinkable and placed third in the $100k Challenge for $618k and then won the $250k Challenge outright for $2.4 million.

Essentially Seidel left Australia with an extra $3 million in his pocket.

This year the Aussie Millions will also run a special Tournament of Champions featuring every Aussie Millions Main Event champion with the eventual winner walking away with a lifetime pass to the Aussie Millions.

PokerListings will be on hand at the Crown Casino for the Aussie Millions Main Event Jan. 20-28 with live updates, news, photos and blogs.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Durrrr vs Bear, Devo Waxes, Trickett Badgered

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet Durrrr goes face-to-face with a koala, Bryan Devonshire waxes nostalgic on the new sickness in poker and Sam Trickett laments getting hit up for money by strangers.

1) Durrrr in Oz, Looks Kinda Like Koala Bear

durrrr vs. bear.

Thanks to some photos posted on Twitter by Tom Dwan’s girlfriend, Erica, it’s been confirmed durrrr is currently on land in Australia.

The pictures only confirm he’s in Sydney, however, which is still 1,000 kilometers from Melbourne and the Aussie Millions.

But speculation is already running rampant he’ll play some poker while he's down under.

With Gus, Patrik and the Macau businessmen who keep the big cash games running confirmed for Oz already, it's pretty much a lock durrrr won’t be able to resist the action.

That also likely includes the scheduled $100k and $250k high roller tournaments.

Whether he plays poker or not, this shot of him mugging with a koala is a top 10 photo of the year already.

We'll be on the lookout for more durrrr in our live coverage from the Aussie Millions starting Saturday.

Follow his girlfriend on Twitter here.

2) Devo Waxes Nostalgic, Has Some Tips

Twelfth-place finisher in the 2011 WSOP Main Event Bryan Devonshire has been around poker for a long time.

Smile if you like poker.

Playing a poker game a few nights ago and raking a $500 pot that didn’t even make it to the flop, Devo was struck, as he posts in his blog, by how much sicker the game of poker is now then when he started 10 years ago.

Also taking Matt Glantz’s much-talked about Responsibility in Poker blog and Phil Galfond's recent posts to heart, Devo has some simple suggestions for keeping new money flowing into the game:

“It’s not that hard to do really. Be good to people. Don’t berate anybody ever.

“You really don’t need to talk about poker ever. There’s no reason to ever do anything that will either make them less likely to play or more likely to play better. “Be a humble winner and a happy loser. Be fair.

"Be honest. Do what you say you’re going to do. Pay your debts promptly. Smile.”

Seems easy, doesn't it?

3) Trickett Rich, Tired of Freeloaders

One of the downsides of being a high-profile poker player who wins a lot of money?

Everybody knows you have money. And exactly how much of it.

Titan Poker pro Sam Trickett sat down with WPT Poker magazine for a recent interview and, among other things, lamented about how many random Facebook requests he gets from strangers looking for money.

And how hard it is to keep coming up with excuses not to give any handouts.

Seriously, people have asked for like £40,000 to save their houses.

Full interview below:

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

PA, Galfond Crush: Top 10 Online Winners/Losers

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

Heineckerragen narrowly edged out French pro Alex “BiatchPeople” Luneau for the top spot while high-stakes regulars Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Sander Berndsen and Ronny Kaiser found themselves among this week’s biggest losers.

A relatively subdued week in the nosebleed games with many players in transit either from the PCA or to the Aussie Millions, the last seven days nonetheless saw a few seriously large pots.

Read on for details on this week’s top 10 online poker winners and losers.

Top 10 Online Poker Winners: Jan. 14-20, 2012

Niklas “ragen70” Heineckerragen posted a very big week, profiting to the tune of $243k and bringing his 2012 total to $619,390.

Heineckerragen was second on last week’s list with $250,000 in profit.

Most of ragen70’s windfall this week came thanks to a massive session against Sander "Berndsen12" Berndsen yesterday.

The two battled heads-up at $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em with Berndsen taking a big six-figure beating.

Second on the winner’s list is French pro Alex “BiatchPeople” Luneau who posted an enormous win in a game not usually known for high-stakes online action.

Luneau pulled in $150,000 during a single session of $500/$1,000 2-7 Triple Draw on Tuesday against a tough lineup including RaiseOnce, the account believed to be Phil Ivey, and Rami “Arbianight” Boukai.

Also faring well and posting six-figure wins were Patrik Antonius on his Fake Love888 account, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, Jens “Jeans89” Kyllonen and Davin “mTw-DaviN” Georgi

Here’s a complete look at the top 10 online cash game winners this week:

1. ragen70: +243k 2. BiatchPeople: +233k 3. Ben86: +195k 4. Fake Love888: $186k 5. MrSweets28: $148k 6. L0ve2playU: $146k 7. St1ckman: $124k 8. Jeans89: $108k 9. 0Human0: $101k 10. mTw-DaviN: $93k

Top 10 Online Poker Losers: Jan. 14-20, 2012

Rough week for Sander. Photo: Neil Stoddart, PokerStars blog.

The most commonly mentioned name in 2012 high-stakes reports has been Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen but unfortunately today he’s being mentioned for dumping more than half a million dollars on the nosebleed tables this week.

Berndsen played over 12,000 hands this week but lost a total of $558,000. Luckily for him a very strong start to the year still has him up $313,400 so far in 2012.

Berndsen joins true poker superstars Phil Ivey, who is thought to be playing as RaiseOnce on Stars, and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom on this week’s loser’s list.

Ivey is down $101k so far in 2012 but has lost a total of $304,000 since the account was created in November of 2011.

Isildur1 had a very small losing week by his standards, donating just under $90k to the games, while Rami “arbianight” Boukai said goodbye to roughly $75,000.

Here are the top 10 losers in online poker cash games this week:

1. Berndsen12: -$558k 2. long90110: -$150k 3. RaiseOnce: -$148k 4. Sauce123: -$124k 5. Isildur1: -$89k 6. arbiangiht: -$75k 7. oogee: -$71k 8. 1-ronnyr3: -$65k 9. venced0r: -$63k 10. Jackovski: -$56k

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Zynga “Confirms” Interest in Real-Money Gambling

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0800

According to writer Tricia Duryee's post, a “Zynga spokesperson” provided the following statement in response to the question of a potential launch into real-money gaming:

“We build games and experiences that our players want and love. Zynga Poker is the world’s largest online poker game with more than 7 million people playing every day and over 30 million each month.

“We know from listening to our players that there’s an interest in the real money gambling market. We’re in active conversations with potential partners to better understand and explore this new opportunity.”

No specific spokesperson was named and the statement is open to interpretation, but rumors of Zynga looking into partnerships with land-based casinos in the US have been circling for months.

While US poker players are anxiously awaiting regulated US poker sites, an ongoing interest has been the crossover potential from the massive play-money gaming pool on Zynga Poker.

With an expected 10-20% conversion rate to real-money players should it become available, it could be the most substantial influx of new players into the poker economy since 2003.

Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus also recently announced at a press event that the company was preparing to launch Zynga Casino with its first game expected to be bingo.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Deeb Stumped, Duhamel Jumps, Irish Move

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Shaun Deeb confused in Florida, four Canadians making jumps in the GPI and poker fans in Northern Ireland lobbying for legal poker.

1) All Old People In Florida Look Like Burt Boutin

Burt Boutin: Face of Florida.

Fans of poker pro Shaun Deeb very much enjoy his stream-of-consciousness, punctuation-free posts on forums and via his Twitter account.

Virtually impossible to make sense of at times, there’s still usually a thread of an idea Deeb is getting at and the fun is in finding it.

Deeb has been spending the last few days down in Miami playing some poker and apparently channeling an old comedian from the Poconos.

Mostly, he’s just been surrounded by old people.

Some sample tweets:

Moved from table pretty sure burt bouton on my left but unsure all old people in florida look the same

Forgot how south fla can be im the only person under 55 in this restaurant thanks to the specials To join the deciphering Deeb game, follow him on Twitter here

2) Duhamel Leads Canadian Surge in GPI Rankings

Crushing tournaments good for rankings.

This week’s Global Poker Index update is out and while Erik Seidel has taken the #1 spot back from Jason Mercier, a few other players made notable jumps as well.

Four Canadians in particular gained some ground in the latest index, chief among them 2010 WSOP champ Jonathan Duhamel.

Duhamel jumped 41 spots all the way up to #11 on the strength of his epic crushing of the 2012 PCA.

Making four final tables and cashing for $1.2 million including a fourth in the $100k High Roller, a win in the $5k 8-Max and a second in the $25k High Roller will do that for you..

Vancouver pro Shawn Buchanan also moved back into the top five this week on the back of a PCA win, his in the $10k 6-Max Turbo.

Debuting in the top 10 is Waterloo, Ontario native Mike "Timex" McDonald.

MCDonald jumped up the charts thanks to a win in the $20k Epic Poker 8-Max Event, a second and third in EPT events and a third in a WPT event over the last few months.

Torontonian Matt Marafioti also jumped 10 spots back into the top 20 with his cash in the $25k PCA High Roller.

See the latest Global Poker Index Rankings here.

3) More Than Just Drunk Men on River Boats

Let Andy's people go.

This might sound familiar.

After a move to close down poker clubs in 2006, card games have been foced “underground” in Northern Ireland and average citizens have been unable to hold poker tournaments.

Ideally not for much longer, however, as a Legalise Poker in Northern Ireland group has made an appeal to the government to allow regulated poker clubs and tournaments again.

The group says legalization could create 150 jobs, encourage tourism and “see the resumption of a cross-community social activity.”

It also says the traditional view of poker "of drunk men playing in wild west saloons and river boats" couldn't be further from the truth today.

After feedback from a few parties including Sinn Fein, who’s representative said he had “no hangs-up about the legalization of poker,” the committee agreed to write to the department of social development to ask for a change in gambling legislation.

Hear, hear.

Monster Pot Recap: Galfond Taken for $275k

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Berdsen was on the losing side of the day’s biggest pot, a $127,186 monster, but thanks in part to winning the second and third biggest hands he finished up $144,343 on the day.

That session brings Berdsen’s 2012 net profit to just over $550,000 on PokerStars, while Galfond’s winnings on his MrSweets28 account so far this year were knocked down to just under $80k.

In total three pots made it into six-figure territory yesterday.

Galfond Redraws for $127,186

Game: $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha on PokerStars

Players and Stacks:

Berndsen12: $111,902 MrSweets28: $63,594

The biggest pot of the day was an absolute rollercoaster, with $127k going in on the flop with Galfond as a moderate favorite.

It started with Berdsen opening from the button to $800 with K♣ J♠ 7♥ 5♥ and Galfond three-betting A♦ 8♦ J♥ 7♣ to $2,760 from the big blind, call.

Preflop Winning Percentages: Galfond 58% - Berndsen 38% - Tie 4%

The flop rolled out J♣ 6♦ 4♥, giving Galfond top pair top kicker and a gutshot while Berndsen found top pair and an open-ender with a backdoor heart draw. That’s when the fireworks began.

Galfond check-raised from $4,848 to $21,052 before Berndsen moved all-in. Galfond called off and was looking to make the best hand hold up.

Flop Winning Percentages: Galfond 55% - Berndsen 38% - Tie 7%

The 8♦ on the turn changed that in a big way. Hitting his straight, Berndsen was now 85 percent to win while Galfond’s hopes had shrunk to just 7.5 percent.

Turn Winning Percentages: Galfond 7.5% - Bernsden 85% - Tie 7.5%

But the river turned the tables again, coming the 8♠ and making Galfond’s full house.

Check out the hand in action:

Replay this hand at pokerlistings

Berndsen Hits Wrap for $102,438

The second biggest pot of the day once again saw all the money go in on the flop.

The hand began with Berndsen opening to $800 from the button with Q♥ 9♣ 8♠ 3♠ and Galfond three-betting A♣ A♠ K♠ K♥ to $2,760, call.

Preflop Percentages: Galfond 69% - Berndsen 31%

The flop fell J♦ T♣ 5♣, giving Berndsen the wrap but leaving Galfond’s aces, now with a gutshot, well ahead.

Galfond led out for $4,800 and was raised to $20,878. Galfond shoved and Berndsen quickly called.

Flop Percentages: Galfond 56% - Berndsen 44%

The A♦ gave Galfond a set but didn't change a whole lot. The 9♦ on ther river, however, definitely did. Berndsen's straight was good for the $102,438 behemoth.

Check out the replay:

Replay this hand at pokerlistings

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Blackrain79: Building a Fortune a Few Cents at a Time

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:30:00 -0800

In his new book Crushing the Microstakes Williams shows you exactly how to replicate those results.

This is a book geared towards the beginner, designed to help newbies build a bankroll and a solid understanding of the game while sticking to the lowest stakes.

Surprisingly, it’s a niche that’s been largely ignored in poker publishing. Especially surprising since the micros are home to more players than any other stakes on the Internet.

And while a lot of strategy writers might have played the micros early in their career, they’ve long since moved on to bigger games. Williams makes a living playing low-stakes and has a proven track record crushing the very lowest.

That’s the experience that he brings to bear in this book and because it’s so current, and specifically geared to the madness that is micro-stakes online poker, it stands apart as a unique tool for beginner online players.

Blackrain's Backstory

A university graduate who found poker at the relatively old age of 24, Williams grew up in a suburb of Vancouver, Canada and turned pro in 2007.

He got his first bankroll selling the play chips he had accumulated on Party Poker for $60 and since making the move to PokerStars he’s earned almost $30,000 at NL2 and NL5. That’s 1.5 million big blinds at NL2.

Experienced? Williams has played six million hands of online poker.

While that doesn’t represent his total winnings it does put him among the biggest micro-stakes winners ever on PokerStars.

According to Williams he’s the biggest.

“When PTR came out my exploits at the lowest stakes became public knowledge and it became interesting for people to talk about,” Williams told PokerListings.com in Vancouver.

“I guess because no one was playing as many hands as I was and getting such high win-rates, people just thought it was crazy,” he said. “At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL.”

What to Expect from Crushing the Microstakes

In Crushing the Micros Williams shows you the moves that made him famous, including spazz-shoving all-in with the nuts into miniscule pots, and opening for 10X raises against players who don’t know the difference between 3X and a 300ZX.

Higher-stakes players may scoff at some of the advice, but Williams knows a lot more about the micros today than they do. Heed his wisdom and it will pay dividends. He’s drawing on his experience playing the same games, as well as what he’s learned about teaching as a coach at DragTheBar.com.

Williams also coaches at DragTheBar.com.

Coaching and writing strategy books, helping fish and newbies to become better players, seems to be at odds with trying to make a living playing poker but Williams maintains that no matter how much material is made available, there will always be players willing to lose their money.

“I realized that the players you make the most from playing lower stakes are just recreational players. They’re not joining training sites or reading forums or buying my book,” he said.

“Sure, the regs in these games will continue to get better by using books like this, but the recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros.

“And I don’t subscribe to the opinion that anyone can just join a training site or get some coaching and expect to be as good as the best regs. There’s always going to be a pecking order in poker,” he continued.

Studying Crushing the Microstakes will help make sure you don’t get stuck at the bottom.

Click here to read the full interview transcript of our conversation with Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams.

For screenshots and more information on Crushing the Micros head over to Blackrain79’s blog.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Olympic Dreams, Cash Seized, Fricke Rolled

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find an Olympic hopeful banking on online poker, grinders getting pinched for their cash at US customs and Gus Hansen steamrolling Jimmy Fricke.

1) Olympic Fencer Uses Online Poker to Supplement Funding

Threads usually turn up between poker and virtually every competitive enterprise (see our recent Poker and MMA post) so it’s no surprise even fencers draw on poker for help from time to time.

Brit Jamie Kenber, an Oxford graduate and surefire fencing candidate for the 2012 London Olympics, told the BBC he occasionally uses online poker to help with the bills when he's training.

"I've had some wins,” Kenber says, “but it's not a reliable source of income unless you have a lot of time to commit.

"I'm a decent hobbyist, but I've made a little bit of money from it."

Jamie Kenber (right). Photo: Getty Images.

As for any similarities between fencing and poker, Kenber says there are a few:

"In fencing someone might show you something and you don't know whether they're actually going to go through with it or if it's just an early bluff.

“That happens in poker as well.

"And if you think people are doing things for the wrong reasons you can end up losing. It's no coincidence that I enjoy both of them."

Check out the full feature here.

2) Never Let Your Sweaty Younger Brother Hold Your Cash

Before getting in to poker, it was one of those things on the customs form that always made us laugh.

Declare your money.

Any plants or fruit with you? Um, no. Over $10,000 cash? Ha, yeah sure.

After poker, well, having a lot of cash with you just seems normal – and a very important thing to declare at customs.

Three grinders from New Jersey found that out this weekend when they had $26k seized at the Nassau airport.

Sean Ruane (18) and his older brother Michael (23) both had to plead guilty to falsely declaring the money while going through US pre-customs leaving the Bahamas.

Their 18-year-old cousin Thomas Freeman Jr, pleaded guilty to abetting them.

How'd they get caught?

“It was revealed by prosecution that a secondary search of the defendants brought on by the nervousness of the sweating younger brother, showed that the brothers were each in possession of $9,400.”

None were given an additional sentence but the cash stays in the Bahamas.

An expensive lesson, for sure. Declare your cash. And never let your sweaty brother handle things at customs.

Full story here.

3) Fricke Rolled by Hansen in 2007

With another Aussie Millions main event set to get underway (check our live coverage Saturday for updates), we're revisiting a classic final table from 2007.

Running over both Gus Hansen and Andy Black three-handed to take a massive chip lead into heads up, 19-year-old Jimmy Fricke was set to score his biggest win ever and justify the negative comments he had made about how bad some pros were playing.

Hansen had other ideas, however, got hit by the deck pretty hard and stormed back to take the title.

Despite the $1m AUD he won, the sadder arc of the Jimmy Fricke story was born here as he was taken to task online for his negative interviews and wardrobe selection, among other things.

He later became known for an email exchange with Howard Lederer labelling him a "freak and a really weird dude" and the ubiquituous Fricke Roll.

Here's how the final played out:

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Monster Pot Recap: takechip Takes Two

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

The biggest online poker winner overall was actually BiatchPeople, who earned $150,000 yesterday playing 2-7 Triple Draw, but because of the Limit structure of that game none of the pots even came close to the behemoths built by Berndsen and D’Auteuil.

Surprisingly, since they played two six-figure pots and a slew of other monsters, neither Berndsen or D'Auteuil cracked the biggest winners or losers lists on the day.

Berndsen finished just over $9,000 up while D’Auteuil lost roughly the same. Let’s take a closer look at the day’s two biggest pots.

takechip Fades 12 Outs Twice for $101k

Game: $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em on PokerStars

Players and Stacks:

Berndsen12 - $81,832 takechip - $50,784

The biggest pot of the day began with Berdsen12 opening K♣ 4♣ to $500 from the button and takechip three-betting to $1,800 with J♥ J♠ from the big blind.

The flop came T♣ 8♥ 5♣ and takechip c-bet $2,200 into $3,600, looking to squeeze out some value with his overpair.

Berndsen flopped the second nut flush draw with an overcard and semi-bluff raised to $5,800. takechip re-raised to $13,300 and Berndsen clicked it back to $20,800. takechip then made it $45,300, leaving himself just $3,684 behind, and Berndsen shoved all-in.

Berndsen missed on the turn and river and the $101,488 pot was shipped to D’Auteuil.

Check out the replay:

Replay this hand at pokerlistings

Berndsen Sheriffs, Loses $99k

The second biggest pot of the day was also won by Phil D’Auteuil, this time thanks to straight-up value-towning with an overpair on a low board.

Game: $100/$200 No-Limit Hold’em

Players and Stacks:

Berndsen12 - $112,945 takechip - $50,000

With a fresh $50k stack takechip three-bet 9♣ 9♥ from the big blind and got a call from Berndsen on the button with T♥ 6♥.

The flop rolled out 6♣ 4♣ 3♣ and takechip led out for $2,300, call. The 8♦ on the turn brought an $11,400 bet from takechip and another call from Berndsen. The 8♥ hit the river and takechip bet $34,360 into $31,200, basically all-in since he had left himself just $40.

Berndsen made the hero call and the just-under-six figure pot was shipped to the French-Canadian.

Here’s the replay:

Replay this hand at pokerlistings

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$10m Turbo COOP Starts Thursday on PokerStars

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Joining the world-renowned WCOOP and SCOOP series on the Stars schedule, the TCOOP series runs from January 19-29 with buy-ins ranging from $5.50-$2,100.

Turbo and Hyper Turbo tournaments will both be on the schedule as will a $1,500,000 guaranteed Main Event to wrap the series up.

For anyone unfamiliar with a Turbo format, it’s basically just a faster version of the standard multi-table tournament with blind levels increasing faster to force the action.

For players with busy schedules, like PokerStars pro David Williams, it’s the perfect solution.

“Actually turbo tournaments fit my style much better,” Williams told the PokerStars blog, “because you're forced to be more active.

“Turbo tournaments will be some of the most exciting tournaments out there, and to have a series comprised of solely turbo tournaments is a player's dream.

“Basically, you don't have to spend a full day for a big score.”

Williams’ strategy advice for Turbo tournaments?

“You have to go out there and go get those pots. It's important to not be too patient early and get grinded down.

“You can put yourself in a position where you simply can't win."

The first event in the 2012 TCOOP kicks off tomorrow (Thursday, January 19) at noon with a $22 buy-in, $200k guaranteed six-max no-limit holdem event.

Satellites for TCOOP events start as low as $1 or 50 FPPs.

To open a PokerStars account and be eligible for our exclusive monthly Sunday Million freerolls, sign up via our PokerStars review.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

WSOP to UFC: The Rise of Poker and MMA

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:30:00 -0800

Hint: we’re not talking about poker.

We’re talking about Mixed Martial Arts and its most popular vehicle: the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In the last few years the UFC has skyrocketed in popularity and now rivals sports like boxing and professional wrestling.

Indeed MMA and poker have taken a similar path to widespread popularity. Consider:

Both have dark pasts and have been outright outlawed in some locations Both have been around for years but didn’t gain mainstream acceptance until 2006. The value of the UFC and WSOP brands has increased exponentially over the last 10 years. Both have plenty of so-called “bad boy” personalities Both are intensely strategic and one bad decision can get you knocked out or busted

Of course one involves getting punched in the face and poker, most of the time, is restricted to blows to your bankroll.

In recent years the two have become even closer as major players on each side have crossed over into the other’s territory.

Terrence Chan after his first MMA win.

From the Felt to the Ring: Terrence Chan Takes His Shot

Perhaps no one has taken the transition from poker to MMA more seriously than Terrence Chan.

Chan, a former PokerStars employee, has won over $1 million in live and online tournaments.

A dominant online poker player, Chan won two SCOOP bracelets in a single night and later added a WCOOP title.

For years Chan trained Muay Thai boxing and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, but it wasn’t until last year that he took his first shot at competitive fighting.

“It was fun, almost like a complete new sport yet still familiar,” he said.

It may come as a surprise that someone with Chan’s intellectual slant would be interested in the rough and tumble sport but MMA, as Chan explained, is far more than two guys hitting each other in the face.

“I love that it's such a complex game,” he said. “It's very multifaceted. In the standup, the ground and in wrestling, there are so many moves and so many counters.

“And if you're one-dimensional and only understand one discipline well and the other guy understands the other disciplines better, he can have a big advantage since you put yourself into such bad situations.”

Chan went on to give an example where a wrestler would ignore his other options to attempt a guillotine choke or a Jiu Jitsu fighter might not realize he was vulnerable to strikes in a certain hold.

“The fact you have to take all these strategic decisions into consideration and have to do it really quickly and be physically capable of doing them is a really interesting physical puzzle.”

Terrence Chan back at the 2007 WSOP.

All of Chan’s training culminated with his first MMA fight in Vancouver last summer. Chan won by TKO and said it’s something he will never forget.

“It was a fantastic feeling obviously,” he said. “From the moment the ref pushed me off the guy it was the best day ever.

"And to hear the roar of friends and teammates in the crowd… there is truly nothing quite like it. I didn’t take my handwraps off until dinner because I never wanted the moment to end.”

Chan took his MMA journey one step further this winter when he flew to Phuket, Thailand, to continue his training.

He spoke to us from his bungalow in Phucket in the midst of rigorous Muay Thai, MMA and BJJ training at the Phuket Top Team training school.

Is there a future for Chan in something like the UFC? He's still unsure.

“I dunno, I’m sometimes delusional enough to think there is,” he laughs.

“I mean it's hard, I really only have one year of real MMA experience, I'm 31, not that gifted in an athletic sense, and I've had a lot of injuries too.

“On the other hand if the UFC were a realistic shot, 125 lbs is a weight I can make and the division is brand-new, so... maybe?

"But in the end if I work hard, and get as far as I can get, then I'll be happy. The main thing for my career is that I want to have no regrets about what I could or should have done.”

Regardless of what happens to Chan in his bid to become a UFC fighter, he says the experience has changed him in a positive way.

“I mean, for me, it's been life-changing,” he said. It's the best thing I ever could have done for myself.

"It's made me focus on health, fitness and nutrition. It's made me spiritually a better person and made me mentally tougher.”

Would he recommend it to other poker players?

“I would but at the same time I recognize that getting punched or choked is not for everyone.

"The best thing for life balance is just to find some hobby that you really love and can immerse yourself in fully, and ideally it should be physically active.”

Lex Veldhuis vs. ElkY. Courtesy PokerStars

The Biggest MMA Fight in Poker History

Terrence Chan isn’t the only poker player who has taken an active interest in MMA.

Team PokerStars Pros Lex Veldhuis and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier recently fought in an actual kickboxing match as part of one of the greatest prop bets in the history of poker.

Back in 2009 Veldhuis and Grospellier got to talking about fighting and eventually decided to stage a match of their own.

Both poker players had some experience with MMA.

Veldhuis boxed for nearly two years when he was younger and then started training in kickboxing in the last few years.

Grospellier started kickboxing and Muay Thai around the same time and was working hard on his conditioning in preparation for the fight.

After several delays the match finally occurred in Marbella, Spain last November. The fight lasted four minutes until Veldhuis delivered a pair of kicks that sent the Frenchman to the mat.

Two amateurs fighting doesn’t always make for the most interesting match, but Terrence Chan couldn’t help but appreciate the bout.

“I was very impressed by Lex,” he said. “I think he mentioned boxing as a teenager so people would think he'd mostly throw hands, then won the fight throwing high kicks like a champ. Sick level.”

“I thought ElkY definitely didn't perform to his level. When I sparred with him he was frequently in control and paced himself well for 5 rounds, but in the fight he threw a ton of wild haymakers, got tired, then his hands started dropping and that was the end.”

Despite his loss Grospellier was positive about the experience and felt it even helped his poker game.

“It’s really good to have another thing in your life other than poker,” he told PokerListings.com. “Having something else that’s important to look forward to can help you when you take bad beats.”

“Mostly it’s just quality of life. It helps so much when you’re playing long days. You don’t get as tired and you’re able to think more clearly and make better decisions.”

Veldhuis agreed.

“Yeah, even if you told me now that I was definitely going to lose the bet, and I had already done all this training, it would still be worth it for me,” he said.

“I think it keeps you mentally strong and fit. Fighting is the best because it’s the most intense and high-pressure kind of workout.”

Former MMA fighter Rami Boukai

Do MMA Stars Have a Fighting Chance in Poker?

It’s not just poker players that have been crossing over into the MMA world. World-class fighters have been trying their hand at poker for years.

Forrest Griffin, Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are amongst the numerous MMA stars that have played in the World Series of Poker.

Matt Hughes and Mike Swick were also Friends of Full Tilt Poker during online poker’s peak in 2006-07.

MMA and poker appeal to similar demographics and Full Tilt and UB Poker even sponsored several official UFC fights in 2009-10.

Perhaps the best example, however, has been the lesser-known Rami “arbianight” Boukai.

Boukai had an MMA record of 2-2 and once fought UFC star Urijah Faber before he switched to poker full time.

He may have missed his shot at a title in MMA but he’s certainly succeeded in poker. In 2009 Boukai outlasted a field of 453 players to win a WSOP bracelet in Pot-Limit Omaha/Hold’em.

Boukai didn’t really make many connections between MMA and poker but he did say he gets nervous when goes deep in poker tournaments, which was similar to how he felt when he had a big fight.

He beat Najib Bennani heads-up to secure his first WSOP bracelet and the $244,862 first place prize. Boukai was modest about the win.

“I just wanted to win,” Boukai told Bluff Magazine after winning his first bracelet. “I won most of the hands heads-up but I was running really well, I was hitting some rivers. He was actually dodging, folding on the river a lot when I had him.”

Boukai has not been a one-hit wonder in the poker world either. Lately he’s been an absolute wrecking ball in the high-stakes online games and is up more than $250,000 so far in 2012.

Eventually Boukai had to choose between MMA and poker and decided to go with playing cards.

It’s hard to picture Boukai regretting his decision, considering he’s won more than $1 million since he started playing poker.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Negreanu Reborn, Bach Talk, JT Pokers for Life

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find the rebirth of Daniel Negreanu, David Bach gets cranky with television and Justin Timberlake bets his life on a gutshot.

1) Negreanu Back, Buoyed By Readers Choice Awards

Welcome back Negreanu.

There’s no one in poker that puts himself out there more than Daniel Negreanu, so it’s nice to see that effort rewarded by the fans.

Recently named Favorite Male Player and Best Poker Twitterer in the Bluff Readers Choice Awards, Negreanu wrote in his latest blog that the mental boost from the awards means a lot to him.

Saying he hasn’t really felt like himself for the last couple years, Negreanu expressed his heartfelt gratitude and said he’s turned an important corner heading into 2012:

"I haven't really felt like "myself" in the last couple years, and I'm not talking about my poker game, although confidence is a big part of playing well.

"My close friends noticed, and while I tried to hide it from the public I think some of you may have noticed as well. I think that's why the awards actually meant a lot to me. "I've really turned the corner the last few months and finally feel like I'm completely back to my old self again. Very happy in my own skin, extremely confident, and harboring far less anger than I once dealt with.

With another packed travel schedule for 2012 including the upcoming Aussie Millions in Melbourne, fans will get their fair share of the Daniel they love this year.

2) Bach in Blog

Kicking off 2012 with his much-talked about "Responsibility in Poker" blog, poker pro Matt Glantz has now taken it one step further and offered up his blog as an open forum for "valued members of the poker community" to air their grievances.

In his words, "So long as your writing is in good taste and serves a purpose to the community, I will gladly post it on my website."

First to take him up on his offer is David “Gunslinger” Bach, high-stakes cash game regular and $50k HORSE champ at the 2009 WSOP.

Harumph to TV.

Bach’s big beef?

A number of situations where the “integrity of the tournament has been compromised by a conflict with the interests of television.”

His conclusion:

I have noticed a trend in the past 4-5 years where the game of poker itself is placed 2nd in priority behind TV production, and this is just plain wrong.

3) Justin Timberlake Gambles His Inheritance on Gutshot

We'll always love a good royal flush-over-straight flush-over-quads poker scene, but the new Justin Timberlake movie In Time has taken ludicrous poker hands in movies to the next level.

The premise of In Time? Time has become the ultimate currency.

Everybody stops aging at 25 is genetically-engineered to live only one more year unless he or she can buy more time.

The rich stay alive, naturally, while the poor scramble to get more time any way they can – including, it seems, high-stakes poker.

50 years on a gutshot JT? Well played:

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New UB Complaint Claims $20M Stolen

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:55:00 -0800

The complaint names Excapsa Software, the company that controlled Ultimate Bet, and alleges that at least $20 million was stolen from customers of the online poker room. It goes on to assert that members of the site’s management were complicit in the theft.

In addition to Excapsa, the complaint names 10 John Does and explains that while the plaintiffs are unable to prove who these 10 individuals are right now, they have suspicions and are working to amend the complaint with names when evidence is discovered.

The plaintiffs in the complaint are named as Daniel Ashman of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Brad Booth of Vancouver, British Columbia, Thomas Koral of Skokie, Illinois, Greg Lavery of Madison, Wisconsin, Dave Lizmi of Baltimore, Maryland, Joseph Sanders of Lima, Peru, Daniel Smith of Bethesda, Maryland and Dustin Woolf of Los Angeles, California.

While some of these names are familiar to mainstream poker fans thanks to televised appearances, all of them are or were high-stakes online poker professionals.

This complaint seeks not only to recoup the players stolen funds, but also to compensate them for interference with prospective economic advantage, intentional infliction of emotional distress, unfair business practices, fraud and negligence, as well as to uncover the identities of those responsible at Ultimate Bet.

The complaint’s supporting material reads as a detailed history of the Ultimate Bet super user scandal and investigation, clearly implicating founders and management of Ultimate Bet including Russ Hamilton, Greg Pierson, Jon Karl and Jack Bates.

The complaint reads:

Since at least June 2003 and until at least January 2008 Excapsa/UltimateBet did conspire to and did direct, effect, and permit the theft of over $2 million held in plaintiffs' online poker accounts at UltimateBet.com. Specifically, by creating and making use of an intentional a security flaw in the UltimateBet.com software, and with the assistance of owners, agents, and employees of Excapsa and its various subsidiaries that operated UltimateBet, defendants either allowed others to or did directly view plaintiffs 'hole cards' during high-stakes poker matches run at UltimateBet.com.

With the assistance of owners, operators, officers, employees, and/or agents of Excapsa and its subsidiaries, the cheaters were further able to change their online identities to avoid detection and to improperly funnel their illicit proceeds through various UltimateBet accounts in a manner that would have been impossible without insider assistance. Through these activities, defendants stole or caused to be stolen at least 20 million dollars from plaintiffs and other high-stakes poker players at games run by UltimateBet.

At this time, plaintiffs suspect but do not know the identities of Does 1-10. Evidence, some of which is discussed below, has arisen that some of the founders and management of UltimateBet and Excapsa, including Greg Pierson, Jon Karl, Jack Bates, Russ Hamilton, and others who formerly operated (and may continue to be involved in the operation of) UltimateBet were likely aware of or involved the conspiracy to cheat players. However, because the identities and activities of UltimateBet and those who have profited from its operations has been intentionally shielded though numerous agents, subsidiaries, and foreign corporations, it will be necessary to conduct significant discovery before a complete list of defendants can be identified. After such discovery, plaintiffs will seek to amend the complaint to add additional defendants.

In "the UltimateBet.com online poker cheating scandal” plaintiffs and other high-stakes online poker players were cheated out of millions of dollars in crooked online poker games where their opponents (employees, agents, owners, and/or officers of Excapsa/UltimateBet) had illicit access to players 'hole' cards. Plaintiffs unknowingly played games of high-stakes poker with their cards essentially face-up. The facts underlying the case have already been the subject of intense public interest and media scrutiny, including a feature story on 60 Minutes, an investigative series by the Washington Post, a feature article by MSNBC, and hundreds of articles and news reports across the Internet.

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Daily 3-Bet: Duhamel Popped, Weisner Locked, Poker for Glory?

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Jonathan Duhamel on the receiving end of another sucker punch, another up-and-coming pro gets locked in to a pro deal and the debate about whether poker is for money or not gets weird.

1) Finger Gets Punchy with Duhamel at PCA

We’ve written about German Martin (0Piggybank) Finger’s booze-induced aggressive tendencies before, but it seems like he’s still not so good with the drink.

Finger: Needs to keep his hands to himself.

This time the object of his aggression wasn’t a disagreeable restaurant window but 2010 WSOP Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel.

Duhamel was out celebrating his runner-up finish in the PCA $25k High Roller, as you do, when Finger sucker punched him in the face for “talking trash.”

Or, as he explained it on IM (loosely translated) to a German friend, "in the puss."

Piggybank: i’m drunken Piggybank: duhamel is drunken Piggybank: he started talking trash Piggybank: i was thrown out of the club Piggybank: even i ddin’t do anything Piggybank: i waited for him in front of the club Piggybank: he comes out Piggybank: i hit him in his puss Piggybank: nice line Piggybank: imao

Piggybank: he was soooooo drunken Piggybank: pissing me off, even i just wanted to walk by Piggybank: really getting on my nerves Piggybank: i just chill Piggybank: he was kinda aggro Piggybank: security Piggybank: busting me Piggybank: i’m out Piggybank: waiting the whole time Piggybank: with isildur Piggybank: then duhamel showes up Piggybank: i walk towards him an hit him directly in his face. security intervene

Duhamel didn’t seem too worse for wear, based on his tweets and the fact he took home $1.2 million from the PCA.

2) Melanie Weisner Signs as Lock Poker Pro

Locked in.

Former Full Tilt pro Melane Weisner has a new deal with Lock Poker.

Weisner joins Chris Moorman, Matt Stout and Leo Margets, among others, on the Lock Pro Elite team.

With just under $400k in career live earnings and $1.2 million online under the screen name Callisto 5, the 25 year-old from Houston, Texas, is a rising star in the game and part of the next generation of female pros weaned on the internet.

"Melanie is a perfect fit for Lock," CEO/Owner of Lock Poker Jennifer Larson said.

"Passionate, relentless in her dedication to the game and incredibly intelligent. Players like Melanie give us the true insight into the product and player experience that we need to become the best."

Weisner's biggest live cash was for €30,000 at EPT Prague last year but she has several scores in the same range.

Online her biggest score is $50,397.50 in the PokerStars Sunday 500.

To sign up and get our exclusive bonus at Lock Poker, check out our Lock Poker review.

3) Poker For Wins, Not Money, is Crazy Talk

In two recent International Federation of Poker blog posts the idea was floated that the "real story" in a poker tournament is the glory of the win, so to speak, rather than the payout.

Excerpt from blog one:

"if we want our game to be taken seriously as a competitive sport and to take the focus off gambling then we need to start appreciating players not for their total tournament winnings, but for how they stack up against the other greats of this game of giants."

Excerpt from blog two, where Leonid Bilokur's win in the PCA $25k is used as a case study:

"The event was won by Ukrainian player Leonid Bilokur, an accomplished player even before he won the first prize ($1.1 million).

Bilokur: Did it all for the trophy? No.

"When asked how the money would change his life he merely shrugged, brushing off the question in that old fashioned way.

"It was too important a title to be sullied by the issue of money ....

and

"On course for victory, before Bilokur made a remarkable comeback heads-up, Duhamel was visibly devastated that he’d fallen short of another title.

"Was it the money he was interested in ...? No. The Canadian only wanted the esteem of a new title, the number “1” shining proudly on his tournament Palmares."

To which we say, um, no. That is a pretty bad misread.

The only people who don't want to win poker tournaments for the money are people who have lots of money.

Anything else is crazy talk.

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Galfond Records Super Sweet $378k Weekend

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:50:00 -0800

The Maryland-native went into beast mode this weekend and won a staggering $376k in 2,460 hands on PokerStars.

Galfond’s primary victim was Dutch pro Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen who picked up $631k last week.

Right from the start, Galfond appeared to have Berndsen12’s number as he was dominating the $100/$200 heads-up PLO games they were playing.

After getting stuck, Berndsen12 asked Galfond to raise the stakes to $200/$400. He wrote this in the PokerStars chatbox:

“Berndsen12: convincing Phil Galfond to play higher, man this is the biggest moment of my life.”

The change of stakes did nothing to improve Berndsen12’s campaign and he finally called it quits, having dusted off $308k this weekend.

Amazingly Berndsen12 also played Isildur1 this weekend and actually won several hundred thousand from the Swede but still ended up down over the last few days.

When the dust had settled Galfond was easily the biggest winner with nearly $400k in profit.

Just a week into the New Year, Galfond typed out a blog that outlined his new approach to poker.

Galfond mentioned that he was going to try and be more accessible to media and players and help grow the game.

So far he’s lived up to his word with some free poker strategy and even a recent video on how he feels online poker rooms should operate.

Other big winners over the weekend included patpatman (+$312k), arbianight (+208k), 0Human0 (+$120k) and ragen70 (+$109k).

Berndsen12 actually escaped the biggest loser distinction as Kanu7 got hammered in the $50/$100 No-Limit Hold'em games against patpatman and takechip. He lost a total of $313k.

Viktor “Isildur1” Blom continued his recent downswing since winning the PCA Super High Roller by dumping a total of $288k into the high stakes games.

Ben86 (-$113k) and oogee (-$237k) rounded out the top five biggest losers.

For more information be sure to check our online poker stats section but in the meantime here’s a look at one of the biggest hands between Galfond and Berndsen12.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

The Sunday Scoop: Europe Dominates Sunday Majors

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

The Sunday Million, Warm-Up and 500 all smashed their guarantees and awarded a total of $2.6 million to 1,727 poker players from around the world.

With much of the live poker world returning from the recently finished PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, or traveling to Melbourne for the upcoming Aussie Millions, the payout lists were noticeably light on big-name pros.

Read on for the essentials on this week’s biggest online poker tournaments.

PokerStars Sunday Million

The Sunday Million drew 7,379 players, down just over four percent from the previous week. Nevertheless it demolished its guarantee, putting $1,475,800 in the pot to be divided among the top 1,080 finishers.

After more than 12 hours of play it came down to a two-way deal between Ticiz of the Netherlands and roosi88 from Germany.

Ticiz started the heads-up match at a roughly two to one chip deficit but battled back to even before the two discussed a potential deal. They agreed on a roughly even chop, with just $3,000 more going to roosi88 thanks to a very slight chip advantage.

$20,000 was left on the table which Ticiz picked up after he defeated his German heads-up opponent.

Jonathan Karamalikis finished 14th in this week's Sunday Million.

Finishing 5th was former Sunday Million winner UH Big Tex playing out of Mexico. He won $205,000 back in 2008 for winning this tournament, and picked up another $60k and change yesterday.

Former WCOOP champion Jonathan "MONSTER_DONG" Karamalikis finished 14th.

Here are the full final table payouts, adjusted to reflect the heads-up deal:

1st place: Ticiz (Netherlands) $200,960.69* 2nd place: roosi88 (Germany) $183,298.27* 3rd place: nordlending (Norway) $118,064.00 4th place: Stunts25 (Brazil) $78,217.40 5th place: UH Big Tex (Mexico) $60,507.80 6th place: insanocut (Canada) $45,749.80 7th place: BlackMisi (Hungary) $31,729.70 8th place: Freund Nase (Germany) $17,709.60 9th place: GM_VALTER (Brazil) $11,437.45

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up

3,675 players found their way to the $215 Sunday Warm-Up on PokerStars, building a $734,000 prize pool and putting $115,238 on the line for first.

Unlike most Sunday Majors, this event did not end in a chop. Russian player MikiOpasniy made it to heads-up play before defeating FinancialPOK of Spain who received $85,878.

The heads-up match was a complete blow-out with MikiOpansniy winning 17 of the 20 hands the two played. The Russian had a six to one chip lead going into the final hand but had to get lucky with A-9 against the Spaniard’s A-T. A nine on the flop put FinancialPOK down for the count.

Here are the final table payouts for this week’s Warm-Up:

1st place: MikiOpasniy (Russia) $115,238.00 2nd place: FinancialPOK (Spain) $85,878.00 3rd place: LiroLa (Brazil) $60,555.00 4th place: DelarPNZ (Russia) $42,205.00 5th place: Dick_Fosbury (Canada) $31,195.00 6th place: PIUlimeira (Brazil) $23,855.00 7th place: KVB59 (Russia) $16,515.00 8th place: PatrickCs (Romania) $9,175.00 9th place: ZISIMO7 (Greece) $5,872.00

PokerStars Sunday 500

This week’s Sunday 500 broke its guarantee by over 60 percent this week, thanks to 812 players chipping in their $500 buy-in.

After nearly 12 full hours of play PSMozak of Bulgaria was the only player left alive, scooping the $73,080 first-place prize. He topped the 117 players who shared the $506,000 total prize pool.

PSMozak defeated Argentina’s Crisper heads-up.

Here are the full final table payouts:

1st place: PBMozak (Bulgaria) $73,080 2nd place: Crisper (Argentina) $52,780 3rd place: StrungOut1 (Mexico) $39,382 4th place: trionojnika (Bulgaria) $29,435 5th place: glhf99 (Germany) $20,462 6th place: vbjishfij (Sweden) $16,402.40 7th place: Betudontbet (Mexico) $12,342.40 8th place: m.cerqueria (Brazil) $8,323 9th place: Orkyd (Belgium) $5,075

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Negreanu, Boeree Take Top Readers Choice Awards

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Along with taking the popular vote in the marquee “Favorite Male Poker Player” category, Negreanu also easily scooped the award for “Favorite Poker Tweeter.”

Negreanu is well known for being more than a bit open and revealing with his tweets, which could be one of the reasons he took over 50% of the votes in that category.

Other awards of note:

Liv Boeree was the winner in the other headline category, the Favorite Female Player.

Boeree won in a landslide with 37.7% of the votes despite social media heavy lobbying on Twitter from some of her category rivals Maria Ho, Vanessa Rousso, Vanessa Selbst and Amanda Musumeci .

Ben Lamb took the most lopsided victory in a category with his win for Breakout Player of the Year.

With a third place in the WSOP main event, a $10k PLO bracelet, the WSOP Player of the Year award and well over $5 million in cashes, it’s not hard to see why.

Lamb topped Matt Waxman, Sam Trickett, Chris Moorman, Galen Hall and Elio Fox to win the category.

Magician and Scott Best in Show

Antonio Esfandiari and Kara Scott also scooped the male and female awards for Favorite TV Personality thanks to their highly praised work on the WSOP Main Event live stream.

The top “On the Felt” moment from 2011 in readers’ eyes was Phil Hellmuth making three runner-up finishes at the 2011 WSOP.

For the breakdown of the voting totals for the Readers Choice Awards, check out the March issue of BLUFF magazine.

The rest of the awards:

Favorite Male TV Personality: Antonio Esfandiari (WSOP Live Coverage)

Favorite Female TV Personality: Kara Scott (WSOP Live Coverage)

Favorite Web-based Poker Show: The Micros

Favorite Poker Blog: WickedChopsPoker.com

Favorite Poker Tweeter: Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)

Favorite Las Vegas Poker Room: Aria

Favorite California Poker Room: The Commerce

Favorite Florida Poker Room: Hard Rock Seminole

Favorite East Coast Poker Room: Borgata

Breakout Performer of the Year: Ben Lamb

Favorite Male Player: Daniel Negreanu

Favorite Female Player: Liv Boeree

Top “On the Felt” Moment of the Year: Phil Hellmuth Finishes Runner-Up Three Times @ WSOP

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Poker’s In and Out List: Galfond Checks In, Hellmuth Cells Out

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 16:00:00 -0800

This week on the list we feature Jon Duhamel’s PCA prowess, a Great Dane in China, Phil Galfond’s new blog and Phil Hellmuth’s cellular misadventures in the Bahamas.

Buckle up. This is the In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: January 8-15, 2011

Jon Duhamel: IN

Jonathan Duhamel is in this week thanks to strength of character and true grit.

Flying to the Bahamas just a few weeks after being the victim of a home invasion-style robbery to spend roughly $250k on buy-ins takes some heart and Duhamel reaped the reward for having such gumption.

Duhamel performed exceptionally well, winning an event and making three other final tables. In total he earned $1,206,350 in less than two weeks.

Here are his results:

1st - $5k No-Limit Hold'em 8 Max - $239,830 5th - $5k No-Limit Hold'em Turbo 8-Max - $17,990 4th - $100k Super High Roller - $313,600 5th - $25k High Roller - $634,930

Phil Galfond: IN

Phil Galfond is In this week for making good, at least so far, on his promise to be more accessible to fans via his blog.

Galfond, who has relocated to Vancouver in order to keep playing online poker, just released a 15-minute video Q&A and a new post outlining his thoughts on potential improvements to how online poker rooms work.

Phil Galfond represents everything that’s good and right in poker.

Gus Hansen: IN

The Great Dane is In this week for keeping us updated, albeit sparingly, on his high-stakes play and the big game in Macau.

Hansen has played three 24-hour sessions, according to his blog, and has nothing but great things to say about the players, atmosphere and casino staff.

Gus Hansen might be grinding more than the cash games in Macau.

Here’s an excerpt:

This session was more up and down than the previous 2 sessions and at one point I found myself on the good end of a cold deck in a 3-way all-in where I was holding Aces – unfortunately as the old expression says ‘Easy comes, easy goes’ I was also holding Jacks vs. Queens in another huge all-in hand. At first it looked like I was going away with both as a Jack hit the flop, but a Queen came sailing in on the river making it a fair 1 win, 1 loss outcome.

Poker’s Out List: January 8-15, 2011

Montreal: OUT

Brandon Adams recently released his list of the top 30 poker cities in the world and coming in dead last was Montreal.

For that failure to rank higher, we're putting Montreal Out for one week.

Choices that interest us include Vienna/Baden in Austria, where PokerListings once visited for an EPT event in 2007, Marrakech in Morocco and Goa in India.

Las Vegas sits expectedly at the top of the list while Los Angeles edges out Macau for the number two spot.

Phil Hellmuth’s Cell Phone: OUT

Jeff Madsen tweeted this old video of Phil Hellmuth, himself and Liv Boeree on the streets of London, England talking about how Hellmuth lost his phone at some party.

This just goes to show that even in the middle of the night, in a deserted street Phil Hellmuth will find a way to get himself in front of a camera.

On the bright side, according to Phil, this wasn’t the phone with the “celebrity numbers” in it, going to show that there’s really no premise into which Hellmuth is unable to work in a reference to how he knows celebrities.

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Bilokur Edges Duhamel for $25k High Roller Title

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0800

Coming into the heads-up match down 2-1 in chips, Bilokur slowly but surely fought his way back to snatch the title away and wrap up the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in style with $1,134,930 for his win.

Duhamel, who was at his fourth final table of the PCA, walked away with $634,550 for his second-place performance.

Add that to the $571,420 he'd won already at the PCA and, while coming up just short of a picture-perfect ending, he still heads home with over $1.2 miilion in earnings.

Title Slips Away From Duhamel

With a 5.43 million to 1.96 million lead to start heads-up, plus momentum from knocking out Jason Koon in fourth and Isaac Haxton in third, it seemed like Duhamel was set to wrap up an epic PCA with a quick rush to the title.

Bilokur however, a steady pro with over $370k in career earnings coming in to the final table, had a diiferent plan and didn’t back down to the 2010 WSOP champ.

Picking his spots well, Bilokur overtook Duhamel for the chip lead about an hour into heads-up play when he rivered a straight and managed to get Duhamel to call a big bet.

Duhamel grabbed the lead back again quickly but from there it was all Bilokur as he ground out the win.

Haxton Out in Third, Koon out in Fourth

Coming in to the final table fifth in chips, no one counted Isaac Haxton out and he certainly justified that respect.

Steadily chipping up throughout the day, Haxton looked poised to make a big move of his own but couldn't quite get over the hump three-handed.

A big hand with Duhamel began his downfall when he opened to 80,000 with Q♦ 7♣ and Duhamel defended the big blind with K♥ 4♥.

The flop came down K♣ K♠ 7♦ to give Duhamel trips and Haxton a pair.

Duhamel checked, Haxton bet 140,000 and Duhamel check-raised to 380,000.

Haxton called and the turn came 6♣. Duhamel led for 560,000 and Haxton called.

When Duhamel shoved the 6♥ river, Haxton finally gave up to what he thought was a bluff and never recovered.

Haxton earned $380,730 for his third-place finish.

Koon, the chip leader coming into the final table, had a great start but lost a big flip to Bilokur mid-way through the day and couldn't hold on, eventually exiting in fourth for $271,950.

The rest of the final eight and their payouts:

1. Leonid Bilokur $1,134,930

2. Jonathan Duhamel $634,550

3. Isaac Haxton $380,730

4. Jason Koon $271,950

5. Nicolas Fierro $217,560

6. Govert Metaal $181,300

7. Michael Telker $145,040

8. Randy Lew $108,740

For a full recap of the day's action, check the PokerStars blog or visit PokerStars.tv.

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Freeroll Spotlight: Titan Poker offers $10k Bonanza

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:30:00 -0800

The $10,000 Monthly Bonanza will run every last week of the month starting Jan. 31, 2012.

Players can buy-in directly for 2,000 points or qualify in the numerous satellites for the exclusive tournament.

The 10k Bonanza Freeroll Satellite runs eight times a day with the top two players in each tournament getting a seat in the $10k monthly final. Entry is completely free although players can only play one of the freeroll satellites each 24-hour period.

The 10k Bonanza Points Satellite costs just 10 player points to buy into and also runs eight times a day with the top 5 qualifying for the monthly final.

Finally the best opportunity to qualify is for new depositors. The 10k Bonanza Depositors Satellite runs once a week and is only open to new depositors from the previous week but the top 50 players all gain entry to the monthly final.

For the complete $10,000 Monthly Bonanza schedule be sure to check the Titan Poker lobby.

In addition new players on Titan Poker still have access to the regularly scheduled $2,500 New Depositors Freerolls. Each player that deposits on Titan Poker gets four tokens to the free tournaments.

Perhaps the best feature in the new player package, however, is the $3,000 monthly beginners races. Every week Titan Poker awards $750 to the top 150 new players.

Remember these aren’t hardcore grinders you’ll be competing against but instead it will be low-volume, new players.

Furthermore Titan Poker still offers one of the biggest sign-up bonuses and PokerListings players receive a 200% deposit match up to $2,000.

To learn more check the Titan Poker review.

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John Dibella Wins 2012 PCA Main Event

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0800

At 43 years old, the amateur Dibella was by far the oldest player at the table and a heavy underdog coming in but managed to outlast some of the best young pros in the game for the win.

To make his ROI even sweeter, Dibella won his seat in the event via a $1,000 satellite.

Runner-up and $1.5 million richer himself, thanks to a deal the two made heads-up, is poker pro Kyle “KJulius10” Julius, who looked poised to win the title several times himself but fell just short.

Tide Turns Three-Handed

Dibella had to get lucky several times throughout the day to survive but if there was a tipping point for the win it was a huge hand three-handed that turned the tide.

With short stack Faraz Jaka opening the betting to 625,000 with sixes, Dibella looked down at sevens and three-bet to 1.8 million.

Julius amazingly woke up with aces and flat-called.

Sniffing something was up, Jaka made a great fold with his sixes and they went to the flop heads-up.

Long story short, Dibella spiked a set, check-called 1.1 million from Julius on the flop and checked-raised a 1.1 million bet to 2.5 on a turn card that gave him a full house.

Julius shoved, Dibella called and the big chip lead was now his.

Jaka Gets Burned with K-J

Jaka, who held the chip lead for a very large portion of the tournament, had his up-and-down day end in third shortly after, earning $755,000.

Jaka's backbreaking hand also came three-handed as he fought for the chip lead with Julius.

With the chip stacks about even at 11 million, the two got into a pre-flop raising war with Jaka five-bet shoving K-J into Julius’ AK.

No help came and that was the beginning of the end for Jaka, knocking him down to under 2 million chips.

Canadians Take Home Over a Million

Canadian Xuan Liu, the first-ever female to make the PCA final table, was one of the favorites coming in but had to settle for fourth place and $600,000

Mark Drover, a Masters student from St John’s, Newfoundland who at one point in the tournament was down to just three big blinds, managed to hang on for fifth and take home $468,000.

Finishing in sixth was Anthony Gregg, whose appearance at the 2012 final table is the first time anyone has made two PCA Main Event final tables. Gregg was the runner-up in 2009.

Gregg took home $364,000 this time to bring his total earnings from those two final tables up over $2 million.

David Bernstein, also from Canada and who won a prize draw to earn his seat in the main event, finished seventh for $260,000.

Dutch pro Ruben Visser was the surprising first to bust, coming in fourth in chips but leaving in 8th.

To catch a full replay of the final table, check out PokerStars.tv or revisit the live updates in the PokerStars blog.

The final eight and their payouts:

1. John Dibella $1.775,000

2. Kyle Julius $1,500,000

3. Faraz Jaka $755,000

4. Xuan Liu $600,000

5. Mark Drover $468,000

6. Anthony Gregg $364,000

7. David Bernstein $260,000

8. Ruben Visser $156,400

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Koon, Duhamel, Haxton Head High Roller FT

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0800

Duhamel made his fourth final table of this year's PCA in the $25k High Roller today in Atlantis and will come into the final day second in chips with 1.54 million.

Duhamel trails chip leader Jason Koon by just over 100k in chips, as Koon snuck into the lead on the very last hand of the night when he scooped a 360k pot.

Coming off a horrible Christmas that saw him attacked and robbed in his own home, Duhamel has rebounded in style with over $500k in cashes already and a chance for a whole lot more.

First-place in the $25k High Roller pays $1.13 million.

Haxton Heads Multinational Cast

The rest of the final table chasing the million+ is an interesting mix of veteran pros from around in the world.

Chip leader Koon is a veteran pro in his own right with over $400k in career live earnings and over $2.4 won online.

Third in chips coming into the final tomorrow is Chilean Nicholas Fierro with 1.18 million.

Known as the “PokerKaiser” online, Fierro has over $3.3 million in online earnings to go with around $770k in cashes from live events.

Fourth is Russian Leonid Bilokur, with about $350k in career earnings, who will enter the final table with 1.1 million in chips.

Entering fifth is veteran pro Isaac Haxton.

With 762,00 in chips, Haxton still has plenty of room to make a move and the experience to pull it off.

He also has a history of success at the PCA, finishing second to Ryan Daut in the 2008 Main Event for $800k.

Rounding out the final eight are Dutchman Govert Metaal with 545,000 in chips, 2012 Player to Watch Michael Telker with 397,000 and PokerStars Team Online pro Randy Lew, who is the short stack on 197,000 in chips.

Metaal finished fifth in the 2011 PCA High Roller, Telker came second in a $2k side event this year and Lew is coming off a win at APPT Macau at the end of last year.

Yunis, McDonald are Bubble Boys

Busting out in ninth to miss the final table was Nick Yunis, who still took home a nice $79,770 for a seat he won in a last-minute satellite after busting out with his forst buy-in.

Players to make the money but fall short of the final table included 2011 WSOPE Main Event champ Elio Fox (16th - $58,020), businessman Bill Perkins (15th - $58,020), veteran pro Matt Marafioti (11th - $72520) and Norwegian high-stakes crusher Terje Augdal (10th - $79,770).

Virtually every player to bust out in the high roller today was a big name but some of the more prominent were Andrew Lichtenberger, Sam Stein, Chino Rheem, Galen Hall, JP Kelly, Barry Greenstein and Jennifer Harman.

Mike ‘Timex” McDonald was the cash bubble boy, busting out in 17th.

Final Table Streaming Live Tomorrow

Players looking to watch the action live can check it out on PokerStars.tv starting at 2 pm (EST).

Here are their chip stacks and seat positions:

Seat 1 Isaac Haxton 762,000 Seat 2 Leonid Bilokur 1,139,000 Seat 3 Randy Lew 197,000 Seat 4 Jonathan Duhamel 1,530,000 Seat 5 Nicholas Fierro 1,181,000 Seat 6 Jason Koon 1,646,000 Seat 7 Michael Telker 397,000 Seat 8 Govert Metaal 545,000

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Daily 3-Bet: Deeb in LA, Women at PCA, DQs Down Under

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:00:00 -0800

Suggestions for a future 3-Bet can be dropped in the comments below.

Today we bring you Freddy Deeb bucking the PCA trend with a score state-side, two players who got the boot from the Aussie Millions and a star-studded Ladies Event that will probably be won by someone named Vanessa.

1) Deeb Has All the Chips, Still Short

While the rest of the poker world is either at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, or headed to the Aussie Millions, Freddy Deeb was busy winning a tournament at the Bike Casino in Los Angeles.

Freddy Deeb picks up six figures this week in LA.

Deeb is the latest WSOP Circuit champion, earning himself $171,810, a Circuit ring and a seat in the $1 million WSOPC National Championship this May in Las Vegas.

Deeb adds this WSOPC ring and six-figure score to his two WSOP gold bracelets and more than $7.8 million in lifetime winnings.

Placing second was recent San Diego law school grad Alex Masek. Masek earned $106,185 for his finish but narrowly missed out on what would have been his fifth WSOP Circuit win, which would have tied him for most wins with Mark “Pegasus” Smith.

Click here for the full results from the WSOP Circuit event at the Bike in LA.

2) Toughest Ladies Event Ever?

72 women bought into the $1,000 Ladies Event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the player list includes many of the most talented female professionals in the game.

Liv Boeree, Vanessa Selbst, Vanessa Rousso, Ana Marquez, Adrienne “Talonchick’ Rowsome, Ladies Chess Grandmaster Jennifer Shahade and Lauren Kling are all playing, to name just a few.

The first three names in the preceding paragraph have a combined lifetime earnings total of $10.3 million so it’s not surprising they’re doing things to make their time at the table a little more interesting.

Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree on the beach in the Bahamas.

Check out Vanessa Rousso’s recent tweet:

Just made a last longer vs @liv_boeree in the @Pokerstars @PCA 1k ladies event...loser must sing winners national anthem over loudspeaker!

Keep an eye on Rousso's Twitter account to find out what happens there.

3) Two Players DQ’d from Aussie Millions Re-Entry Event

The 2012 Aussie Millions started today with a $1,100 re-entry event and even though players are supposed to have the option of taking another shot on a later Day 1 flight should they bust, two players found themselves not only out of the tournament, but banned completely from the Crown Casino.

After an investigation by tournament staff it was discovered that a player had sold his stack to another player that had previously busted.

Both players were disqualified from the tournament and issued a ban from Crown property.

PokerListings.com will be on location for the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event. Tune in to our Live Coverage section for live updates and news.

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Berndsen12 Triumphant: Top Weekly Winners/Losers

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 11:30:00 -0800

Isildur1 won the PCA Super High Roller for $1.3 million last week so many railbirds thought we might see some big sessions for the young Swede.

It turned out they were right.

Blom played an astonishing 21,177 hands this week including several massive heads-up sessions against Berndsen12.

Unfortunately for Isildur1 he didn’t exactly light it up in the high stakes games and actually ended the week in the loser’s column.

Where Isildur1 faltered, RaiseOnce and Fake Love888 picked up the slack. The rumored accounts of Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius both finally recorded winning weeks with over a $100k in profit each.

As always be sure to check our online poker stats section for more information.

Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers this week:

Top 10 Online Poker Winners This Week

Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen put a world of hurt on the high stakes community this week.

The lesser-known Dutch poker pro absolutely crushed everyone that opposed him as he cruised to a massive $631,000 victory this week. A large portion of Berndsen’s winnings came directly from the marathon heads-up matches he played against Isildur1.

Thanks to his incredible run this week, Berndsen is now the biggest winner – by far – of 2012 with $732k in profit. At this point his graph in 2012 essentially looks like a rocket launching.

The week also saw Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky re-emerge in the high stakes games. Sulsky had barely played over the last few months but apparently hasn’t lost a step as he raked in over $300k.

RaiseOnce and Fake Love888 are heavily rumored to be Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius respectively and both had very successful weeks.

RaiseOnce won $145,000 over 2,407 hands while Fake Love888 only needed 146 hands to win $129k.

Here’s a complete look at the top 10 online winners this week:

1. Berndsen12: +$631,000 2. Sauce123: +$313,000 3. Ragen70: +250,000 4. Kanu7: +$237,000 5. Patpatman: +227,000 6. Bernard-bb: +164,000 7. RaiseOnce: +$145,000 8. Doncarignano: +$132,000 9. Fake Love888: +129,000 10. altiFC: +$120,000

Ilari Sahamies

Top 10 Online Poker Losers This Week

It may come as a surprise that Viktor “Isildur1” Blom didn’t top the loser’s list this week as he was smashed by Berndsen12 in their heads-up sessions.

Blom actually performed pretty well against any player not named Berndsen12, however, and managed to escape the week with only $99k in losses despite sending hundreds of thousands to Berndsen12.

Instead the caps-heavy GVOZDIKA55 was feeling the most pain this week as he dumped a total of $240,000 into the high stakes games.

Talented online grinders Ben “Ben86” Tollerene and Ronny “1-ronyr3” Kaiser both had underwhelmings weeks losing $149k and $143k respectively.

Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, last year’s biggest winner with $1.8 million earned on PokerStars, is off to a slow start in 2012 and lost a total of $113k over the last week.

VietRussian also experienced the wrath of Berndsen12 this week when he was annihilated for $100k in a heads-up match against the Dutch pro.

Here’s a complete look at the top 10 online losers this week:

1. GVOZDIKA55: -$240,000 2. Diggidave: -$158,000 3. Ben86: -$149,000 4. 1-ronnyr3: -$143,000 5. Johnxfleming: -$132,000 6. Ilari FIN: -$113,000 7. Verve.oasis: -$109,000 8. LiangYu: -$101,289 9. VietRussian: -$100,000 10. Isildur1: -$99,000

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$245k in Bounties Announced for WPT Shooting Star

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

In total 49 names were announced, totaling $245,000 in bounties at $5,000 per player. That number is up from the 45 bounty players who competed in the event one year ago.

Players who eliminate one of the names on this list will get a $5k prize along with a signed tee-shirt to commemorate the occasion.

The list runs the gamut of professional poker from big-name live tournament legends like Erik Seidel and Scotty Nguyen to up and coming international names like Sam Trickett and Chris Moorman.

In 2011 the WPT Shooting Star was won by Alan Sternberg, a poker pro from New York who earned $1,039,000 for the victory. He defeated a very tough final table including the WPT’s own Mike Sexton as well as past WPT Champion Vivek Rajkumar and brand-name pro Mike Matusow.

Here is the full list of bounties for the 2012 WPT Shooting Star, playing out in San Jose March 5:

Allen Bari Liv Boeree Todd Brunson Allen Cunningham Freddy Deeb Jonathan Duhamel Antonio Esfandiari Will Failla Andy Frankenberger Chau Giang Matt Giannetti Barry Greenstein Bertrand Grospellier Tony “G” Guoga Joe Hachem Christian Harder Jennifer Harman Phil Hellmuth Maria Ho Linda Johnson John Juanda Eugene Katchalov Phil Laak Ben Lamb Nam Le Kathy Liebert Erick Lindgren Mike Matusow Jason Mercier Michael Mizrachi Chris Moorman Daniel Negreanu Men Nguyen Scotty Nguyen Dwyte Pilgrim Marvin Rettenmaier David “Chino” Rheem Erik Seidel Scott Seiver Mike Sexton Gavin Smith Fabrice Soulier Sam Stein Alan Sternberg – Reigning Champion Joe Tehan Jennifer Tilly Yevgeniy Timoshenko JC Tran David Williams

Keep an eye on PokerListings.com's Poker News Section for daily updates from the WPT Shooting Star.

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Yunis, Perkins in Control at $25k PCA High Roller

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:00:00 -0800

148 players bought into this event which, along with seven re-entries, boosted the prize pool to a massive $3,626,000.

This year’s High Roller champion will pocket $1,134,930 and a bracelet from Shamballa Jewels. 16 players in total will get paid and will earn a minimum of $58,020.

Yunis Satellites Twice, Finishes as Chip Leader

It was a rollercoaster day for Nick Yunis who finished the day leading the 56 players who advanced to Day 2.

Yunis originally earned his way into this event via satellite, only to bust in the third level of the day. Luckily for Yunis this is a re-entry tournament and he was able to find and win another satellite, get back in the event and stack 407,100 chips, good for the overnight chip lead.

Yunis is trailed closely by multimillionaire venture capitalist turned poker player Bill Perkins who brings 345,700 with him to Day 2.

Big Names Abound on Day 2 Leaderboard

As expected from a tournament with a price tag equal to most economy cars, the overnight leaderboard is stacked with big names.

In the top ten we find EPT and EPL winner Mike McDonald, recent WSOP Europe main event champion Elio Fox, former world champion Jonathan Duhamel, WSOP bracelet winner Keven Stammen and WSOPC circuit ring winner Andrew Lichtenberger.

Viktor Blom was eliminated on Day 1 of the $25k High Roller.

Moving down the list of the 56 remaining players the stacks get a little smaller, but the star power does not.

Chino Rheem, Anton Makiievskyi, Nicolas Chouity, Team PokerStars Pro Pierre Neuville, Amit Makhija, Jen Harman, ElkY, Ville Wahlbeck, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Matt Marafioti and Barry Greenstein are just a few of the big names still in.

Broken, Beaten, Busted

Over 90 players dusted off their $25,000 buy-in before action was halted for the night.

Included in that group was recent $100k Super High Roller winner Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, who was busted by end-of-day big stack Bill Perkins.

Also out is Canadian Will Molson, who has finished in the top two of this event for the last three consecutive years. Molson won this event in 2011 and finished runner-up in 2010 and 2009.

Joining Blom and Molson on the rail was former world champ Carlos Mortensen, recently single Vanessa Rousso, Erik Cajelais, Ludovic Lacay, Sean Getzwiller, Tom Marchese, Martin Finger, Phillip Gruissem, Jason Mercier and reigning world champion Pius Heinz, to name a few.

Tonight’s Top Ten List

Here is the full top ten leaderboard as we head into Day 2:

Nick Yunis 407,100 Bill Perkins 345,700 Taylor Paur 317,100 Keven Stammen 301,500 Chris Hunichen 271,000 Terje Augdal 270,000 Mike McDonald 267,500 Andrew Lichtenberger 248,000 Jonathan Duhamel 226,300 Elio Fox 216,800

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Jaka, Julius, Liu Lead Chase for $2m at PCA

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:00:00 -0800

Up for grabs tomorrow: a $2 million first-place prize, a $1.2 million runner-up prize and the prestige that comes with outlasting one of the toughest fields in poker.

Jaka Rises Again

For Jaka, the Day 4 chip leader who came in to the day with a commanding advantage, things had begun to look dire about the middle of the day when his massive 4.1 million chip stack had dwindled to just over 1.5 million.

He managed to turn things around again though, shaking off running A-K into KK and using relentless aggression to get back on top by the end of the day.

Jaka bagged up 6.47 million in chips and will head into the final table again in the chip lead, although this time just barely.

Still, with over $4.7 million in career earnings live and online Jaka is a heavy favorite to take home the gold.

Julius and Liu Just A Blind Behind

Starting his day with 1.8 million in chips, well behind Jaka, Kyle Julius used a couple of big hands mixed with a slow and steady climb to bag up 6.45 million to end the day, good for second place.

Known as KJulius10 online, Julius has over $1 million in online earnings and a top live cash of $65k that he’s now guaranteed to beat.

Liu, one of the hottest female players on the circuit over the last year with over $500k in earnings, started the day with just over 1 million but finished with 6.35 million to sit third.

Jaka: Still rolling.

Dutch pro Ruben Visser, a strong player who hovered in or around the top stacks for most of the last few days, finished the day in fourth and will return for the final table with 4.4 million in chips.

Coming in fifth in chips is John Dibella, who ended play for the night and sent Lee Goldman home on the bubble in a brutal hand.

Getting it in good with kings to Dibella’s nines, the crushing two-outer came on the river to give Dibella a set and send Goldman to the rail in ninth for $101,000.

Dibella will start the final table with 3.46 million.

Down But Not Out

The bottom three players to make the final eight will definitely have the tougher road to climb tomorrow with none sitting above 2 million in chips.

Sixth is David Bernstein (1.96 million), seventh is Mark Drover (1.43 million) and eighth is Anthony Gregg, a former runner-up in this event, who will start with 1.1 million.

All eight remaining players are now guaranteed at least $156,400.

Bustees

Notable pros from the final 24 who busted prior to the final table were Martin Jacobsen (10th – 101,000), Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (11th - $85,000), Alex “assassinato” Fitzgerald (14th - $70,000), Sam Greenwood (15th - $58,000) and David Peters (22nd - $52,000)

The final eight will return tomorrow at 1 pm (EST) to play down for the $2 million. Action will be streamed almost-live on a 40-minute delay at PokerStars.tv.

Here are their chip stacks and seat assignments:

Seat 1 Mark Drover 1,430,000 Seat 2 Anthony Gregg 1,160,00 Seat 3 David Bernstein 1,960,000 Seat 4 Ruben Visser 4,400,000 Seat 5 Faraz Jaka 6,470,000 Seat 6 John Dibella 3,465,000 Seat 7 Xuan Liu 6,355,000 Seat 8 Kyle Julius 6,450,000

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Daily 3-Bet: Phil Hams, Rousso Jams, Blom Goes the Dynamite

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we catch another humble brag from Phil Hellmuth, get a look into Vanessa Rousso's other passion and watch a blast from Isildur1's past.

1) Hellmuth Floored

In demand.

Owner of perhaps the most @humblebrag-y Twitter account in poker, Phil Hellmuth was up to his usual tweet tricks again yesterday.

While the rest of the big names in the poker world were busy playing side games at the PCA or winning $1m at the Aussie Millions, Phil was playing the $1,600 WSOP-C event at the Bike in LA.

Not to be outdone, though, he found some high-stakes action afterwards and now, Hellmuth says, he's needed courtside at the Golden State Warriors-Orlando Magic game tonight in Oakland.

Nothing but floor seats for Phil, of course:

No rest for the weary. Played poker for about 24 hrs straight starting in tourney yesterday at Bicycle Club and ending at Commerce Casino

Lost 7k in day yesterday, watched 3 movies, then lost 17k in 300-600 game. Now flying back to Nor Cal to sit on the floor GSWarriors/Magic

Stay tuned for his name-drop tweet featuring Warriors owner (and Hellmuth pal) Joe Lacob later.

Watch the game streaming live on atdhenet.tv.

2) Rousso Kicks Out the Jams

Rhythm has got her.

Fans of PokerStars pro Vanessa Rousso might also know she has a burgeoning side career as a DJ/musician.

Players might remember her sets at the WSOP main event last year, thanks in large part to her classes at the Berklee Music school.

Taking up to five classes at a time, Rousso says in a new video endorsing the online school that Berklee has taught her a ton and that a career playing poker tournaments and DJing/playing her songs on the side would be pretty much the perfect life.

Comparing music to poker, she says:

"One of the things which makes poker and music kind of analogous is the fact that there are so many variables at stake.

Whereas in poker you have all the variables like the psychology, the math, the player history … you have the odds, the cards that are out.

In music, you have, you know, the harmony, the melody, the rhythm. You have the production. All of these different things."

Watch the full video here.

3) Blom Goes the Dynamite

As Viktor “Isildur1” Blom goes about burning through his PCA Super High Roller winnings in marathon high-stakes online sessions, we couldn’t help but be reminded of this awesome clip of an 18-year-old Blom at the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe.

Saying anything would ruin it (although his exit really makes the whole clip), so just watch below:

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World Champs Duhamel and Cada Victorious at PCA

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

Duhamel’s victory came in the $5,000 No-Limit Holdem 8-max event two days ago while Cada notched a win in the $2,000 No-Limit event last night.

Both players pocketed six-figure prizes.

Duhamel Dominates $5k

2010 World Champion of Poker Jon Duhamel has had a tumultuous few weeks. Starting with the shocking home invasion and robbery he endured and continuing with a very lucrative week in the Bahamas at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Most recently he beat out a field of 158 in the $5k side event to pocket $239,830, just a few days after he finished fourth in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event for $313,600.

Duhamel faced a very talented final table on his way to victory including decorated tournament all-star Jason Mercier, current world champion of poker Pius Heinz, WSOP bracelet winner and respected online pro Kevin Stammen, rising Canadian star Owen Crowe and UK pro Laurence Houghton.

Duhamel defeated Canadian Edward Kim heads-up who received $134,100 for second.

Also cashing in this event in 14th and 15th, respectively, were American professionals Tom Marchese and Jason Koon.

Duhamel's had an eventful month to say the very least.

Here are the full final table payouts for the 2012 $5k PCA 8-Max event:

1. Jonathan Duhamel (Canada) $239,830 2. Edward Kim (Canada) $134,100 3. Jason Mercier (USA) $80,460 4. Keven Stammen (USA) $57,470 5. Pius Heinz (Germany) $45,980 6. Owen Crowe (Canada) $38,320 7. Laurence Houghton (UK) $30,650 8. Kenny Hallaert (Belgium) $22,990

Cada Conquers $2k

2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada posted the biggest score since the $8.5 million payday that first put him on the poker map last night, overcoming a field of 348 to win Event 16, $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em.

Cada defeated fellow American Michael Telker to take the title and the $175,550 first-place prize.

Telker was featured on PokerListings.com's Top 5 Poker Players to Watch in 2012 list just two weeks ago and kicks his year off with a $93,170 payday.

Also making the final table of that event was Shannon Shorr who finished fourth for $45,910 and former PokerStars sponsored player JC Alvarado who placed sixth and earned $29,710.

Cashing but falling short of the final nine were 2010 Canadian WSOP bracelet winner Pascal Lefrancois, Team PokerStars Pro members Alex Kravchecnko and JP Kelly as well as boyfriend-girlfriend combo Bryn Kenney and Ana Marquez.

Here are the full final table payouts for the 2012 PCA $2k side event:

1. Joe Cada (USA) $175,550 2. Michael Telker (USA) $93,170 3. Andre Moreira (Portugal) $59,410 4. Shannon Shorr (USA) $45,910 5. Jose Gomez (Spain) $36,460 6. JC Alvarado (Mexico) $29,710 7. Mayu Roca Uribe (Colombia)$22,950 8. Pascal Lefrancois (Canada) $16,200 9. Aadam Daya (Canada) $12,150

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Berndsen12 Burns Isildur1 in High Stakes Rematch

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

Earlier this week Berndsen12, who is Dutch poker pro Sander Berndsen, played a 5,000-hand marathon match against Isildur1 and eventually booked a $150k win.

Last night Berndsen12 scorched Isildur1 for $280k in over 2,000 hands of $100/$200 PLO and ended his night with a staggering $445k in profit thanks to an earlier heads-up session against VietRussian.

The heads-up match between Berndsen12 and Isildur1 followed a familiar pattern as Blom cruised to nearly $200k in profit before a complete meltdown that saw him lose over $500k.

It didn’t help that Bernsen12 raked in the biggest pot of the night – a $232k barnburner – when he flopped a set of fours against Isildur1.

Berndsen12 is easily the biggest winner in 2012 with $732k and, if he continues to crush, could be the first person to crack a million in online poker this year.

Isildur1 has gone poker mad over the last week and recorded over 15,000 hands in the high stakes games on PokerStars.

Berndsen12 was the biggest winner last night but Bernard-bb, who coincidentally is the second biggest winner in 2012 with just over $400k, also pulled in a substantial $157k.

Fake Love888 (+$129k), gavz101 (+$82k) and H?rh? (+$75k) also made notable scores.

Meanwhile VietRussian dumped $213k into the high stakes games, nearly getting into Isildur1 territory.

Ben86 (-$184k), mTw-DaviN (-$110k) and johnxfleming (-$75k) also had the dubious honor of making it into the top five biggest losers last night.

For more info be sure to check our online poker stats section but in the meantime here are a couple of the biggest hands from Isildur1 vs. Berndsen12 II:

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Jaka Closing in on PCA Main Event Final Table

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:27:00 -0800

Jaka has spent the majority of the tournament either on top of the chip leaderboard or near it and he didn’t let up on Day 4.

The Californian ended with 4.1 million chips and is starting to pull away from his competition. Alex Fitzgerald is the closest but is more than a million chips behind Jaka.

Phil D’Auteuil, who plays as the very well-known “takechip” online, continues to live up to his online name and will take 2.2 million chips into action on Day 5. It’s enough to put the French Canadian third overall in chips.

Former PCA Main Event runner-up finisher Anthony Gregg is also in the top five chip counts with 2.1 million.

Meanwhile Swede Martin Jacobson is in the top 10 chip counts with 1.6 million.

Down But Not Out

Outside of the top 10 chip leaders there are still plenty of big names looking for PCA glory including last woman standing Xuan Liu (1,082,000).

Liu has quietly established herself as one of the up-and-coming female players in the game with significant cashes in both the WSOP and EPT with a third place finish at EPT San Remo for $524,704.

Last year Ana Marquez made the deepest run by a woman ever in the PCA when she finished 10th and Liu has a legitimate shot at breaking that record.

Some of the other notable players to book a seat in Day 5 include Daniel Shiff (834,000), Ruben Visser (461,000) and David Peters (424,000).

Sergio Garcia

Bumped to the Beach

Famed golfer Sergio Garcia’s amazing run at the 2012 PCA finally came to an end on Day 4 when his A-J failed against pocket queens.

On the bright side Garcia made it into the final 50 and received $35,000, his biggest score in poker ever.

Some of the other players to hit the rail on Day 4 included last year’s champ Galen Hall, Chris Klodnicki, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Jan Heitmann, Arnaud Mattern and Luca Pagano.

Last Team PokerStars Pro still standing Barry Greenstein made a noble effort to survive with his short stack but ended up busting in 25th place for $46,000 to end the day.

The remaining 24 players will return to the Atlantis Convention Center at 12:00 p.m. local time to go about setting a final table.

First place will walk away with $2 million and the 2012 PCA title.

Here are the top 10 chip counts at the end of Day 4:

1. Faraz Jaka – 4,114,000 2. Alex Fitzgerald – 2,709,000 3. Phil D’Auteuil – 2,280,000 4. Anthony Gregg – 2,142,000 5. Byron Kaverman – 2,136,000 6. Sam Greenwood – 2,109,000 7. Kyle Julius – 1,818,000 8. Lee Goldman – 1,760,000 9. Martin Jacobson – 1,627,000 10. Maksim Semisoshenko – 1,446,000

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Xuan Love, $1m for PA, In Phil We Trust

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments below.

Today in the 3-Bet we correct a gross oversight in our Players to Watch list, salivate over some potential high-stakes history-making and get inside Phil Galfond's head.

1) Xuan Love

Liu: Superstar in waiting.

If we could go back in time and add one name to our 2012 Players to Watch list, it would be Xuan Liu.

The third-winningest female player on the poker circuit last year (over $500k in cashes), the Toronto native has everything a poker player needs to crush in 2012:

Momentum from 2011, a rapidly expanding game, razor sharp intelligence, drive and focus, personality and a sense of humor.

She also runs in a pretty sweet circle of high-caliber poker friends (Scott Seiver, Mike Watson) to continue to help her take her game to the next level.

A bit under the radar for the last few years, she started to pile up results last year including a third-place finish in San Remo for €360,000 and a deep run at the EPT Grand Final.

She’s up over 1 million in chips in the PCA main event as we speak and locked down at least another $52k for her spot in the final 24.

Basically, if Xuan Liu isn’t a huge poker superstar by the time the year is over, the world is not right.

Follow her on Twitter here and on her blog here.

2) Patrik Makes Another Million

Another day, another $1m.

Preliminary events for the Aussie Millions are just about to get underway but the huge cash games have apparently already started rolling according to Tony G.

The big-game insider tweeted a pic of him smoking a sheesha last night after closing a huge session at the cash-game tables at the Crown Casino in Melbourne.

He won a bit, but Patrik Antonius won a lot according to the G.:

Just finished 1k/2k PLO @crownpoker - patrik up a million - ended up a small winner. Game continues tomorrow

We can only hope Tom Dwan, Andrew Robl, Phil Ivey and the other high rollers have also hopped a plane from Macau down to Crown and the games get progressively ridiculous.

We’ll be there in person next week and hope to catch a few hands among the millionaires.

Stay tuned to our poker news section for a few exclusive Auusie Millions previews and live coverage starting on the 18th.

3) The Dangerous Mind of Phil Galfond

You'll never guess what he's thinking.

He said he would be more open and available to the poker community in 2012 and so far Phil Galfond is more than living up to his word.

Barely two weeks in and he's already posted three in-depth blog posts, including his latest today with a very deep look into his poker thought process on a couple of recent hands.

If you ever wanted some proof why Galfond is one of the most respected poker minds in the world, this is it.

While he may play at stakes unfathomable to you and me, there's always something you can take from his approach to the game and apply to yours.

Simply put, he's one of the best in the world and insight like this, for free, is a rarity.

Given that he's been at the tables virtually non-stop, playing over 11,000 hands this week and battling with some of the toughest players in the world including Isildur1, it's amazing he's can even write something coherent let alone insightful.

Get it while it's hot here.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Isildur1 Rebounds with $200k Victory

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:00:00 -0800

Last night Blom returned to the high stakes tables on PokerStars and plowed through 6,383 hands of $50/$100 Pot-Limit Omaha.

This time around Blom mixed it up and switched between 6-handed games against Ben86, Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond, mTw-DaviN, patpatman and Bernard-bb and heads-up games against the aforementioned Ben86 and Galfond.

It didn’t really matter if it was heads-up or 6-max as Blom was crushing in both.

After more than 12 hours of action Blom left the tables with $210k in profit. The win was easily enough to erase the $150k in losses he accrued against Berndsen12 the previous night.

Since winning the 2012 PCA Super High Roller for $1.3 million it appears that Blom is looking to put in some serious volume on PokerStars. Blom has recorded over 10,000 hands since winning his PCA title.

The only player with more hands in the last few days is Galfond, who has been on a sick run in the last while that has seen him play over 11k hands.

As usual Isildur1’s sessions have been swingy but he has managed to hold on to $202k in profit this year.

Isildur1 may have been the biggest story in high stakes online poker last night but he actually wasn’t the biggest winner. That honor went to Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky who re-emerged to win $267k in 3,818 hands.

Ben86 (+$104k), The Liar (+$52k) and masoren (+$51k) were also amongst the big winners in online poker last night.

Meanwhile diggidave was absolutely blasted by Isildur1 heads-up and ended up losing $288k to top the loser charts.

Diggidave wasn’t the only one to feel some pain as tiltjezz (-$106k), 1-ronnyr3 (-$99k), yhoda aboav (-$69k) all lost the equivalent of a pretty hefty house down payment.

For more information be sure to check our online poker stats section.

In the meantime here are a few choice hands from the massive Isildur1 session last night.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Takechip Takes Command at PCA Main Event

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 16:00:00 -0800

The brash young French-Canadian, who has towered over the mid/high-stakes games online the last few years, came into the day with 412k in chips but bagged up 1.47 million by the end, good for top spot.

Day 2 chip leader Faraz Jaka had a slightly less impressive day than yesterday but still held steady, never dropping out of the top 5 and bumping his chip stack up to 1.2 million to sit third.

Sandwiched in between the two in second is Sam Greenwood, who stacked up 1.41 million in chips to end the day.

In the Hunt

As expected, several notable names are still in the hunt including Alex “assassinato” Fitzgerald (1.1 million), Luca Pagano (863,000), David Peters (857,000), last woman standing Xuan Liu (680,000), Eddy Sabat (594,00) and poker "old timers" Bill Chen (668,000) and Barry Greenstein (379,000).

Still in but on the shorter side of the average stack are Erik Cajelais (333,000), William Reynolds (269,000), reigning champ Galen Hall (168,000), Chris Klodnicki (157,000), Arnaud Mattern (155,000), and Yevgeniy Timoshenko (122,000).

Also notably still alive is pro golfer Sergio Garcia, who survived some swings today to make it to Day 4 with 235,000.

The remaining 64 players are all guaranteed at least $32,500 apiece.

Big Name Bustouts

Also as expected, big names went flying out the door as they played down from 184 to the final 64.

Heading home early without a cash, which began at 160 players, were JC Alvarado, Nicolas Chouity and PokerStars pro Pat Pezzin.

Hanging on long enough for a cash were Shane Schleger, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, Liv Boeree, Shawn Buchanan, Randy “nanonoko” Lew, Harrison Gimbel, Andrew Lichtenberger, Carlos Mortenson and 2011 November Niner Phil Collins.

Last woman standing.

The final 64 will return tomorrow to play down to the final 24. Catch all the live updates starting at noon in the PokerStars blog.

The top 10 in chips heading into Day 4:

1. Phil D'Auteuil 1,472,000

2. Sam Greenwood 1,401,000

3. Faraz Jaka 1,220,000

4. Alex Fitzgerald 1,154,000

5. Anthony Gregg 1,129,000

6. Kyle Julius 1,019,000

7. Peter Dräxl 951,000

8. David Bernstein 876,000

9. Luca Pagano 863,000

10. David Peters 857,000

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Daily 3-Bet: Sergio Slacks, Jaka Stacks, Duhamel Payback

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we serve up a PCA Tweet special with Sergio Garcia’s slow play, Faraz Jaka’s massive stack and Jonathan Duhamel’s new year shaping up much better than his Christmas.

1) Sergio Rising, But Not Fast

Slow play has always been an issue on the PGA tour.

Not up on his golfers.

Lining up shots. Lining up putts. Testing the wind. Re-testing the wind. Picking a club. Re-picking a club. Wiggling. Etc.

Much like in poker, it can be a drag for other players if someone takes too much time on a decision.

PGA superstar Sergio Garcia has never been known as a fast golfer, and it looks like he’s carried that tradition over to the poker table at the PCA.

PokerStars Team Online pro Shane Schleger, who actually had no idea who Garcia was, tweeted that he’s not the fastest decision maker at the felt either:

Apparently Sergio Garcia is a world famous golfer known for playing very slow at the tee. He plays poker very slowly too.

Whatever pace Garcia’s using seems to be working though, as Schleger has busted on Day 3 and Garcia just outraced recent Epic Poker winner Chris Klodnicki in a big hand to jump up to 350k.

Follow Garcia's progress toward the final table on the PokerStars blog.

2) Jaka’s Stack Dwarfs All

Jaka's stacks, photo by Chris Klodnicki

Never let it be said we don’t like a good picture of a big chip stack.

Regardless of the circumstances, or how boring it might seeem, it just brings us joy to see a giant stack and know that a) it’s possible and b) one day it could be ours.

Faraz Jaka had the kind of day poker players wait years for yesterday at the PCA, crushing all that dared play a hand with him to build up a huge stack heading into Day 3.

Recent Epic Poker winner Chris Klodnicki, who’s no stranger to building up massive stacks of his own, was impressed enough to tweet a shot of Jaka's stack in comparison to his as they bagged up chips last night.

As of press time they’re both still in the tournament though, with Jaka up to 1.2 million and Klodnicki around 250k, so anything can happen.

Follow SLOPPYKLOD on Twitter.

3) Duhamel’s New Year More Profitable Than His Christmas Holidays

Payback is sweet.

Jonathan Duhamel wrapped up 2012 in pretty much the worst fashion possible.

He was attacked, beaten, threatened with death and robbed in his own home by what he thought were delivery men dropping off Christmas gifts.

They took his 2010 WSOP Main Event bracelet, an engraved Rolex watch and over $100k of his cash.

Even worse, it was his ex-girlfriend that set the whole thing up.

Showing that people tend to get what they're due, as his ex was denied bail in a hearing today in Montreal, Duhamel is busy in the Caribbean doing what he does best – cashing in poker tournaments.

He’s made the money in three out of the four tournaments he’s played, most importantly the $100k High Roller, meaning he gets the ultimate last laugh.

Duhamel’s latest tweet from the side event he’s making a run in:

In the money, 3/4 in the money here in Bahamas so far! 16 left and I got a lot of chips!

He's still looking for his WSOP bracelet though, so any tips send to the Longeuil police via this form.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Berndsen12 Slays Isildur1 in Marathon Match

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 10:30:00 -0800

With the durrrr Challenge on hiatus and no Isildur1 SuperStar Showdowns in the last few months it’s been awhile since two players had an extended, no-holds barred, marathon match but Berndsen and Blom did their best to rectify that last night.

The pair hooked up in $50/$100 Pot-Limit Omaha and played heads-up for over 12 hours.

As expected there were numerous massive pots throughout the session. Berndsen won the biggest one, worth a total of $134k, when he rivered a straight against Isildur1’s two-pair.

At a certain point Isildur1 even told Berndsen that he would leave if the Dutch pro didn’t put in 3X when placing a bet.

“I don’t play the minibet game,” said Blom in the chatbox. “Sorry.”

In typical Isildur1 fashion, Blom started the session well and by the mid-point was up over $270k but ended up giving all that back and another $150k to Berndsen by the time the final card was played.

Berndsen has been on a serious heater to start 2012. The Dutch pro recorded a miserable 2011 with nearly $400k in losses but he’s already up more than $286k in the first 10 days of 2012.

The Berndsen12/Isildur1 match stole the spotlight last night but there were also a number of notable sessions by big name online poker players.

Bernard-bb continued his strong play of late by adding another $79k to his bankroll and even online pioneer Johnny Lodden made a rare appearance in the top 20 winners by taking down $22k.

RaiseOnce, the rumored Phil Ivey account, played an Ivey-like amount of hands, recording just 425, but lost an un-Ivey-like $100k. If it is Ivey maybe he’s still getting used to the PokerStars software.

For more information on the high stakes action from last night be sure to check our online poker stats section.

Below is a collection of the biggest hands from the epic Berndsen12/Isildur1 match.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Jaka Crushes Day 2 at PCA Main Event

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 19:00:00 -0800

The man known as “The-Toilet” online literally destroyed any and all poker players in his vicinity on Day 2 today in the Bahamas to stack up a massive 902,500 in chips when play came to a close.

Peaking at around 1.2 million, Jaka fell back a bit at the end of the last level but still has almost twice as much as his nearest competitor, Cristian Folescu with 555,500, heading into Day 3.

Starting Day 2 with just under 130,000 in chips, Jaka had a day most players only dream of and will be looking to add the $2 million first-place prize at the PCA to his over $4.7 million in career tournament earnings live and online.

Joining Jaka tomorrow will be 188 players who also made it through the trials of Day 2.

With the money not starting until 160 players, however, another 28 will still leave Atlantis with nothing to show for their efforts.

Remaining Field Packed with Big Names

In the top 10 in chips are tourney vet Erik Cajelais (528,500) online poker star Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (412,500) and PokerStars pros Arnaud Mattern (340,500) and Luca Pagano (280,000).

Also still in the hunt and well stacked are former PCA champ Harrison Gimbel (259,500), 2012 Player to Watch Marcel Bjerkmann (250,000), reigning PCA champ Galen Hall (192,500), 2011 November Niner Phil Collins (190,000), Adam “Roothlus” Levy (175,000) and David “Raptor” Benefield (165,500).

Similarly almost all of the 188 still in contention are huge names including Randy Lew, Andrew Lichtenberger, Barry Greenstein, Shawn Buchanan, Liv Boeree, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Dario Minieri and Carlos Mortenson.

Another huge name also surprisingly still in contention?

PGA superstar Sergio Garcia, who may or may not actually be good at poker but has 104,500 chips regardless and will return with the poker heavyweights for Day 3.

Notable bustees today included Christian Harder, Kevin MacPhee, Lex Veldhuis, Boris Becker, Russell Carson, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Vanessa Selbst and Chino Rheem, who had the unfortunate honor of being moved to Faraz Jaka’s right and ran out of chips just two rounds later.

The remaining players will reassemble at the Atlantis Resort starting again at noon tomorrow to play down towards the final table.

Catch up with all of the action live in the PokerStars blog.

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Daily 3-Bet: Galfond Opens Up, Negreanu Plots, Dangs Chase Tail

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:00:00 -0800

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today we find a new commitment for 2012 for Phil Galfond, an ambitious plan for Daniel Negreanu and a redistribution of online poker wealth into the crawfish industry.

1) Galfond Taking Responsibility in Poker Seriously in 2012

Despite a few naysayers, a lot of people in the poker industry have clearly taken Matt Glantz’s recent blog about “Responsibility in Poker” to heart.

Simply amazing pic by John Wray of Micros fame.

Fans of online poker icon Phil Galfond will be happy to hear Galfond is one of them.

Galfond has made a pledge to be more open about his life both inside and outside poker and to step up even more in setting a good example for young pros in 2012.

Drawing inspiration from Daniel Negreanu, Phil explains his new outlook in two new blog posts to start the new year:

“I don’t have any delusions about being like Daniel. I’ll never be as outgoing, talkative, or as bold as he is.

“I’ll never be as well-known or liked by the general public (nor do I think I’d want to… it seems hard). I’ll also never have the tournament success Daniel has.

“I just will try to put a little more of myself out there and hope that I can set a good example for some of the young online pros (now that I’m an online dinosaur), and try to play my part in giving online poker players, and all poker players, a better name.”

Negreanu himself tweeted his appreciation for the shout out and a burgeoning Negreanu/Galfond bromance thread has, naturally, already run wild on 2+2.

2) Negreanu Aims High, Offers Piece in $1 Million for One Drop

Speaking of Negreanu, Daniel also recently posted his annual blog about his goals for the year.

In 2010, he set 8 goals and only hit 1. In 2011 he set 10 and hit 3.5. But that apparently hasn’t discouraged him from a) setting more goals and b) aiming extremely high.

Among his goals for 2012 (in random order) are:

DNegs: Lofty goals.

$1 million in tournament earnings Have a better year than Jason Mercier Follow my personal tournament rules religiously Regain the #1 spot on the WPT all-time money list Win a WSOP Bracelet One Major Tour Win outside the WSOP

Given that he could be on the hook for over $2 million in buy-ins this year, he also selling off pieces of his action for the epic $1 million buy-in tournament at the 2012 WSOP:

“Including the massive $1 million buy in One Drop event at the WSOP this year, as well as going down to Aussie Millions for at least another $100k, I could spend as much as $2 million in buy ins this year!

“That's a crazy thought. I'm not planning on putting the whole million up for the One Drop event and am looking to sell probably $600,000 worth of pieces.

I am considering doing it via twitter and Full Contact Poker, allowing people to buy a piece of me for as little as $120! If that happens, I'll obviously post details.”

Check his blog out here.

3) Dang Brothers Redistribute Poker Money to Crawfish Community

Once one of the most feared duos in all of high-stakes online poker, the notorious Dang brothers, Di and Hac, haven't been seen much at the tables over the last year.

Poker money + Cajun crawfish = Chasin' Tails

High-stakes pros looking to get back any of the $15 million lost to the brothers over the years are likely out of luck as they've apparently poured that money into a Crawfish restaurant.

Called "Chasing Tails," the restuarant is adhering to the time-tested American restaurant standby of food, friends, family and fun.

Also, football. And boils.

From their Facebook page:

"Crawfish, a staple of Louisiana seafood, attracts thousands of visitors each year from all over the country to the region.

"The traditional Cajun way of serving crawfish is adding a special mix of homemade, southern style boil’s seasoning to a batch of crawfish.

"The boil is drained and dumped right onto the table. This style of food brings about a fun, social atmosphere for family and friends to gather during meal time.

"Add some beers and football and you have the perfect ingredients for a great time enjoyed by all."

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Monster Pot Recap: MrSweets28 Spanked by Berndsen12

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:00:00 -0800

Galfond was in the midst of a marathon session that saw him play over 8,000 hands when he took Dutch pro Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen on at $100/$200 heads-up Pot-Limit Omaha on PokerStars.

Approximately one-hour into the session Berndsen12 would rake the biggest pot of the evening.

The hand began with Berndsen12 opening for $500, Galfond 3-betting to $1,680 and Berndsen 4-betting to $5,120.

At this point Galfond decided to slow things down and just call to see a flop of K♦ 8♣ 4♦.

Galfond checked it down but Berndsen fired into him for $7,600. Galfond called to see the Q♣ turn.

This time Galfond started the betting and put $26k in the middle. Berndsend called and the board finished with the 8♥ on the river.

Galfond checked, Berndsen bet another $26k and Galfond called. Showdown?

Berndsen: 8♦ 7♦ 6♠ 5♣ (Trip Eights)

Galfond: K♣ Q♥ J♦ 9♦ (Two-Pair)

A very unfortunate river for Galfond gave Berndsen the scale-tipping $133k pot.

You can see exactly how the action went in our hand-replayer below.

Galfond made somewhat of a comeback in the later stages of the session but still finished the night with $121k in losses while Berndsen left with $149k.

Interestingly Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, just one day removed from his giant $1.2 million win in the PCA Super High Roller, was active in online poker last night. Unfortunately for Blom he lost $96k.

Be sure to check our online poker stats section for more information. Here’s a brief rundown of the biggest winners and losers last night:

Top 5 Winners:

1. patpatman: +$215,000 2. Berndsen12: +$150,000 3. diggidave: +$133,000 4. Ragen70: +$92,000 5. VietRussian: +$62,000

Top 5 Losers

1. LiangYu: -$128,000 2. MrSweets28: -$121,000 3. Gavz101: -$103,000 4. Isildur1: -$96,000 5. RaiseOnce: -$90,000

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The Sunday Scoop: Wins for shemandez, 3max, BAGSBAGSBAGSBAGS

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:00:00 -0800

Guarantees were shattered in the Sunday Warm-Up, the Sunday Million and the Sunday 500 as thousands of poker players from around the world logged on for a shot at the biggest prizes in online poker.

And with the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in full swing in the Bahamas, many of the biggest names in the game were taking time off from live poker to play online from the Atlantis Hotel and Casino.

Shemandez Wins Sunday Million

The Sunday Million’s second incarnation of 2012 attracted 7,710 players. That’s up 5 percent from one week before and helped generate a total prize pool of $1,542,000.

According to the official payouts $231,300 was earmarked for the winner but thanks to a three-way deal, eventual champion shemandez from Russia took home $178,192.

When the deal was struck Mackkapackka of Australia was chip leader and took the biggest part of the deal, good for $178,079. The players left $20,000 on the table which ended up in shemandez’s pocket at game’s end with $160,298 going to third-place finisher dave798111, also from Australia.

Check out the full final table payouts from this week’s Sunday Million:

1. shamandez (Russia) $178,192.36* 2. Mackkapackka (Australia) $178,079.17* 3. dave798111 (Australia) $160,298.47* 4. @RXIDI@ (Greece) $77,716.80 5. blablonae (Spain) $61,680.00 6. A.A.KATALO (Russia) $46,260.00 7. hoefi73 (Switzerland) $30,840.00 8. 26071985 (United Kingdom) $17,733.00 9. TheFish9999 (Netherlands) $11,950.50

* reflects the results of a three-way deal with $20,000 left on the table for first

Three-Way Deal Decides Sunday Warm-Up

Adam "Roothlus" Levy almost made the final table of this week's Sunday Warm-Up.

Just like yesterday’s Sunday Million, the $215 buy-in Sunday warm-up was eventually decided by a three-way chop.

BAGSBAGSBAGSBAGS of Switzerland took the lion’s share of that deal, pocketing $91,043 and defeating crazylandd from Russia heads-up.

American pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy just missed the final table, finishing 11th for what must have been a disappointing $4,342.

Here are the full final table payouts for the Sunday Warm-Up, adjusted to reflect the three-way deal:

1. BAGSBAGSBAGSBAGS (Switzerland) $91,043.18* 2. crazyland (Russia) $81,773.19* 3. NhFy (Sweden) $85,219.50* 4. scarface2911 (United Kingdom) $41,618.50 5. jaaaaaaack (United Kingdom) $30,761.50 6. moneyinbag (Mexico) $23,523.50 7. .i. prestige (Netherlands) $16,285.50 8. Kedrila (Russia) $9,047.50 9. Gry Dilling (Denmark) $5,790.40

Russia Takes Sunday 500

768 players coughed up the $530 buy-in to build a $384,000 prize pool in this week’s Sunday 500 on PokerStars.

After almost exactly 11 hours it was Russian player 3max alone in the winner’s circle with $69,120 to show for his effort. He defeated Guezmere of Israel heads-up who received $49,920.

Former MMA fighter and pro poker player Rami “arbianight” Boukai finished sixth for $15,513.

Here are the full final table payouts for this week’s Sunday 500:

1. 3max (Russia) $69,120 2. Guezmere (Israel) $49,920 3. fish2013 (Belarus) $37,248 4. jbrown8777 (Mexico) $27,840 5. TIETYMM (Germany) $19,353 6. arbianight (Mexico) $15,513.60 7. Milana Jones (Russia) $11,673.60 8. _paul€FauL_ (Germany) $7,872 9. hunwei (Australia) $4,800

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Rheem, D'Auteuil Among Leaders After PCA Day 1b

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 18:00:00 -0800

Of the 654 players to fork over the $10k buy-in to start the day, just 342 escaped with chips.

Alex Venovski leads the way for the Day 1b flight with 193,000, but 2008 November Niner Chino Rheem is a very close second at 182,900.

Rheem has to consider himself lucky to be there, however, as he scooped a huge pot at the end of the night despite a misread of his own hand.

According to the PokerStars blog, Rheem and Tyler Kenney got it all in for a 120k pot pre-flop with Kenney flipping up kings and Rheem calling out aces.

Only problem was Rheem actually had A-2. An ace on the river gave Rheem the right pair though and the big stack heading into Day 2.

Takechip Lurking

Third in the Day 1b chip counts is veteran pro Jonathan Jaffe with 182,000, and just behind him is high-stakes online poker notable Phil "takechip" D'Auteuil at 170,800.

D'Auteuil is fresh from a solid week online that saw him take home $92k in profit.

Combined with the 418 runners from Day 1a yesterday, the total field for the 2012 PCA main event topped out at 1,072 players.

That makes for a total prize pool of $10,398,400 which will be split among the top 160 finishers.

Top prize will be a sizable $2 million with $1.2 million reserved for second place and six figures guaranteed for the final 10 players.

Notables Returning, Busting

Among the other notable players from Day 1b to make it to Day 2 with a healthy stack were Arnaud Mattern (139,300), Luca Pagano (136,300), Ari Engel (118,700), 2010 PCA Main Event champ Harrison Gimbel (114,500), 2010 WSOP November Niner Matt Jarvis (110,300), poker legend Barry Greenstein (106,200) and Yevgeniy Timoshenko (105,800).

Russian Alexey Repik, who bagged up 220,000 to end Day 1a, will retain the overall chip lead when players return tomorrow for Day 2.

Notable players hitting the rail today included Pius Heinz, Daniel Negreanu, Viktor Blom, Jonathan Duhamel, Jason Mercier, Vanessa Rousso, Eugene Katchalov and Eli Elezra.

The remaining 545 players from the two Day 1 fields will combine and resume the hunt for the final table starting at noon (EST).

Catch all the action live in the PokerStars blog.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Lew Sets World Record for Poker Hands Played

Sun, 08 Jan 2012 17:00:00 -0800

The Team Online pro renowned for his multi-tabling ability and epic rise to $1 million in profit through the microstakes took it to the next level today with his new Guinness World Record.

Sitting down in the corner of the PCA tournament room, Lew blitzed his way through 0.815 cash-game hands per second on his way to 23,000+.

To officially set the record, Lew also needed to make a profit and he managed to do just that, squeezing out a miniscule $7.65 to make it legit.

At his lowest Lew was down $1,200 but jumped up in limits briefly to make it back into the black.

To help him get the maximum amount of hands in, PokerStars also upped its limit to 40 tables Lew could play on at a time - an astounding feat in itself.

Coming off a recent win at the APPT Macau Main Event, Lew told the PokerStars blog he's riding high after the successful challenge.

"Wining APPT Macau was pretty big, and having this right after, those two things are on the top of my list at the moment, to be honest.

"This is a great feeling. I finished it. I had a crowd. Everyone clapped for me."

Lew's record-setting effort, by the numbers:

Hands: 23,493

Hours: 8

Hands per hour: 2936.63

Hands per minute: 48.94

Seconds per hand: 1.23

FPPs earned: 22,784

Meet Lew at the tables on PokerStars by signing up for an account here.

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