Tom Marchese Wins NAPT Venetian Stop
February 25, 2010
PokerStars North American Poker Tour held their first ever tour stop at the Venetian in Las Vegas this week and the main event has finished up. The main event of the tour stop had a field of 872 and it was twenty two year old poker pro Tom ‘kingofcards’ Marchese who outlasted the other competitors to down the first place win.
Several poker pros and celebrities participated in the event including Vanessa Rousso, Tom McEvoy, Bill Chen and Greg Raymer. Celebrities included Orel Hershiser, Brad Garrett and Montel Williams. The buy-in for the tournament was $5,000 and the prize pool was so large that the winner earned just over $800,000.
The tournament took days to complete and when the final table began, Marchese found himself sitting beside Sam Stein, Daniel Clemente, Yunus Jamal, David Paredes, Thomas Fuller, John Cernuto and Eric Blair.
In the end it would be Marchese facing Sam Stein in heads up play. Marchese was sitting with the low chip stack but it would not be long until his controlled aggression helped him pull out the win. On the final hand Stein called Marchese’s river shove holding 4-2 on a 4-5-9-4-10 board when Marchese held pocket 10s. Stein would go out in second place and Marchese would earn the first place win.
Marchese commented on his first place win by stating: “When you get heads up you never know what’s going to happen. I was fortunate enough to make some hands and I got called pretty light. I know that it’s frustrating to go from a pretty dominate chip lead to suddenly being dominated yourself, so people tend to almost spite call. The tide really turned in the space of about five hands were it all went well for me and fell apart for him.”
Final Results:
1. Tom Marchese - $827,648
2. Sam KingKobeMVP Stein - $522,306
3. Daniel Clemente - $309,366
4. Yunus Jamal - $241,064
5. David Paredes - $184,816
6. Thomas Fuller - $144,639
7. “Miami” John Cernuto - $104,461
8. Eric blizair Blair - $60,266
Oregon Man Arrested in Poker Parlor Shooting
February 3, 2010
The Old West seems to be coming to life in Oregon, as we see guns showing up more and more in local poker rooms. During a small poker game at a newer Gresham area poker club, Shots were fired, players were hit.
Carroll L. Mayfield age sixty six was arrested on January 29th just minutes after he opened fire on patrons at a Gresham Poker Parlor. Mayfield hit two people who were playing cards and missed many others. It was just thirteen minutes later that Mayfield was arrested by police.
The incident took place at the Gresham Players Club, a business that has been open for just about two months. On the 29th of January the owner of the Club, Jacque Lavadour and six other people were playing a game of poker. It was about 10:40pm when the shooting occurred.
The players noticed a man outside and the players thought the man was talking to a wife of one of the men playing. The men went back to playing cards and just minutes later a laser beam was pointed at the men and the man outside said ‘Get on the floor’. In just seconds, a bullet flew past the poker players.
The man fired about seven or eight shots according to Lavadour before he calmly walked away. It was then just thirteen minutes later that Mayfield was arrested. He was found by police with a gun that is suspected of being used in the shooting but police are not releasing the type of gun used. Mayfield is currently being held on $1 million bail on two allegations of attempted murder and two allegations of first degree assault. Mayfield has no criminal record.
One player was shot in the arm and he has been released from the hospital. Another man was hit in the side and remains in serious condition at the hospital. To ensure further security at the club, Lavadour’s wife, Erika has decided to install a new security system at the Club. It is still unclear as to exactly why Mayfield decided to go on the shooting spree.
Mayfield is currently being held at the Multnomah County Jail on 2 charges of aggrevated attempted murder, and 2 felony assualt charges. Bails been set at 250,000.
Twenty People Arrested for Illegal Poker Tournament
January 20, 2010
This past Saturday night, twenty people were arrested at The Ramada Plaza Hotel in Kentwood, Michigan for participating in an illegal poker tournament. The Michigan State Police had been running an undercover operation, looking to bust these poker playing law breakers, and get rid of the illegal poker tournaments this past weekend they made their move.
An undercover inspector attended the illegal poker tournaments at the hotel as part of the investigation (no word on his win/loss record). The investigator attended the tournaments in November and December 2009 'to keep tabs on the group'.
The group of players were arrested and charged with frequenting or attending gaming places which is a misdemeanor charge and punishable by up to 90 days in jail. The players are expected to be arraigned next week for the charges.
The suspected operator of the tournaments currently has warrants out for his arrest. Cash, poker chips, gaming cards and other gambling items were taken during the raid by the Michigan State Police and the Kentwood Police Department. The Hotel has been cited for violations according to the state Liquor Control Commission.
Binions Historic Hotel Closing December 14th
December 1, 2009
A part of poker history is closing it’s doors on December 14th. Binions Hotel and Casino, located in Downtown Las Vegas on Fremont Street is going to be closing their 365 room hotel for the foreseeable future.
Binions opened in 1951 and started experiencing financial troubles when Benny Binion’s daughter Becky Behnen took over in 1998. It closed in January of 2004 whren marshals seized cash from the casino to pay outstanding employee benefits.
The same year Harrah’s bought the rights to the WSOP and sold the casino to MTR Gaming Group as the Binion’s Gambling Hall and Hotel. TLC Enterprises has owned the hotel since March of 2008.
Binion’s was the home of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) until 2005 when the event grew too large for the hotel and casino to house and moved on to the Rio Hotel and Casino across town.
You will still be able to visit the casino, poker room, Ranch Steakhouse and sports book but if Binion’s is where you usually set up shop in Las Vegas you will have to book a room in a nearby hotel. Also closing until further notice are the coffee shop and keno parlor.
Binions is owned by TLC Enterprises the same company that also owns the Four Queens. Lisa Robinson, a spokesperson from TLC said, “We plan to reopen it, but we can’t speculate when that will happen. Las Vegas has been hit so hard with the dramatic drop in visitor spending and the average daily room rate has plummeted. Our hotel rooms were no longer competitive in the market. We had to make cuts where our biggest drains were, the hotel and coffee shop.”
The closures are a hard decision for the company to make, they can refer guests to stay in one of the Four Queen’s 700 rooms but where are the 100 employees losing their jobs going to go?
Poker Player arrested after winning BC Poker Championships
November 25, 2009
The 2009 BC Poker Championships were held in British Columbia, Canada just a few days ago and it was Sophon Sek bested the close to 800 player field to take down the $364,000 first place prize. In a surprising turn of events Sek was arrested just twenty four hours after winning the tournament for his part in a six person murder.
Sek was arrested the next day for his part in the Surrey Six slayings. Sek was charged with manslaughter in connection with the slayings, which was when six victims were murdered including two innocent bystanders. The killings took place back in 2007 and Sek is the sixth person to be arrested in the killings.
Sek has ties with the Canadian gang known as the Red Scorpions. The gang is based in British Colombia and can be identified by the RS tattoos on their necks and arms. The gang originally formed in a young offender’s facility and they have been running a major drug trafficking operations in Vancouver since 2000.
The gang has been connected to many shootings in the area including the six people who were killed in the Whalley condominium in 2007. It has been alleged that Sek gave the killers access to the Balmoral Tower but it is not clear if he knew the plans of those he allegedly let into the building.
Howard Blank the Vice president of the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation commented on Sek’s arrest. He stated: “The RCMP has informed us it is the same person who won our tournament and the RCMP has requested that the funds be held for his winnings. So the funds have not been issued to the winner.”
Sek did not return the next day to claim his winner’s check so Blank found out at that point from police that Sek had been arrested for his part in the crime.
Pittsburgh Lawyer Sentenced for Organizing Illegal Poker Tournaments.
November 1, 2009
A 66 year old lawyer in Pittsburgh was sentenced to one year on county supervised probation by a Westmoreland County Judge in on Friday.
Larry Burns was convicted with 12 misdemeanor counts of gambling back in August of this year. The convictions stemmed from illegal poker tournaments Burns organized and held in and in support of fire halls in Adamsburg and Seward in 2007.
Burns argued that these poker tournaments were not illegal, because poker is not a gamble, or a game of chance, but a game of skill.
During his probation, Burns is not allowed to participate in a poker game, play a tournament, or organize one.
The District Attorney in this case, John Peck, was admittedly hard on Burns, who is a lawyer himself, asking for a community service in addition to county supervision.
In fact, Burns could have received up to a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 to five years in prison, and up to a $10,000 fine.
Peck’s attempt to hold Burns to a higher regard because of his career as a lawyer was ‘overruled’ when Judge McCormick said “Mr. Burns is a lawyer. Frankly I don't think it matters. This is no reflection on lawyers, he's simply a citizen”.
Burns will however have to report his conviction and the accompanying probationary sentence to the Disciplinary Board of the state Supreme Court of the state of Pennsylvania.
As to the conviction, Burn’s attorney David Millstein has already filed the appeal.
Prior to the appeal, some other forward movements were made.
Just a week after Burns conviction, State Rep. Bryan Barbin, a Johnstown Democrat, proposed House Bill 243, which would permit volunteer fire companies to hold poker game tournaments to raise money.
There's been some backwards thinking too, in fact, the States Attorney General wants the 40k that was raised for rural fire departments.
Tommy Vedes Wins WPT Festa al Lago Classic
October 28, 2009
The 2009 World Poker Tour Festa al Lago Classic concluded this past Monday and Tommy Vedes walked away the winner. The $15,000 no limit hold’em championship final table returned to game play at 4pm on Monday at the Bellagio as the field of 275 players was narrowed down to just 6.
When final table play began it would take more than an hour for the first player to be eliminated. Shawn Cunix would go call Tommy Vedes’s all in with pocket sixes. Vedes got a king on the turn and this would eliminate Cunix in sixth place.
Fifth place would go to Jason Burt after he was eliminated by Freddy Deeb. Deeb’s chip stack grew significantly after Burt was eliminated. Deeb would then go up against Vedes and lose to give Vedes a huge stack of chips. A short while later Deeb would be eliminated by Vedes which would give him the chip lead at over six million chips.
Jason Lavallee then took out Craig Crivello in third place which would leave Lavallee to face Vedes in heads up play. Going into heads up play, Vedes had 9.2 million chips to Lavalle’s 7.3 million. Lavallee gained the chip lead within twenty minutes of heads up play and this would cause for an exciting match up.
Vedes would soon double up and on the final hand three queens would win the tournament for Vedes and leave Lavallee in second place. this win was Vedes’ first major tournament title and earned over $1.2 million in prize money.
Final Results:
1: Tommy Vedes — $1,218,255
2: Jason Lavallee — $795,150
3: Craig Crivello — $477,090
4: Freddy Deeb — $278,300
5: Jason Burt — $208,725
6: Shawn Cunix — $168,970
Poker Pro Banned from EPT
October 7, 2009
Luke “_FullFlush1” Schwartz might be trying to set a new record in the game of poker. Schwartz may be the first professional poker pro to be banned from multiple poker venues and tours if he keeps up with his controversial attitude. A few weeks ago Schwartz was banned from the Vic Casino in London and this week the poker pro has been banned from the remaining season of the European Poker Tour.
Schwartz was banned a few weeks ago from the Vic Casino in London after he refused to take off his hat. This week Schwartz was able to attend the European Tour Event in London only because his friend Eddie Hearn vouched for him and had the ban overturned at the casino.
Schwartz was at the EPT London event to compete in the Main Event. He only made it to Day 2 play before he was busted so I would guess he was little agitated. Schwartz then went to get a sandwich and when he was asked to pay for the sandwich (what normal people do when they get food from a restaurant) he proceeded to pitch a big hissy fit.
Schwartz thougth he was entitled to a free sandwich as a VIP customer though the casino disagreed. An argument began and Schwartz was escorted from the building and then banned from all remaining European Tour events for this season.
So, Schwartz pretty much lost a ton of potential money because he refused to pay a couple dollars for a sandwich. Seems pretty stupid to me. But apparently Schwartz is known for being outspoken. He has made remarks about poker pro Tom Dwan saying that he cannot stand the poker pro and that he is ‘geeky’ and ‘gay’. Schwartz was also banned from using the chat feature at Full Tilt Poker because of certain comments he made so he decided to leave the site.
Through his various comments, it seems as though Schwartz has only just begun with his tirades and we have not seen the last of his obnoxious and cocky behavior.
Several Robbed during Private Poker Game in Oklahoma
October 6, 2009
Last week a group of people were participating in a private poker party in northwest Oklahoma City, Oklahoma when two men busted in and robbed twenty two people. Police are now looking for the two men who took more than $12,000 when they invaded the poker game.
Last Wednesday a 911 call was placed to report a robbery at 11:25 pm at a strip mall suite in Oklahoma City. The police report was released this past Monday and it stated that Jerry Gilchrist age thirty one, told officers that he rents a suite in the mall strip to host poker parties.
During his latest party, a gunman forced his way inside as Gilchrist was opening the locked door so a player could leave. The gunman and another man forced the poker players on the floor and took their wallets and cell phones. Each victim lost money in the robbery in amounts varying from $30 to $5,000 in cash. Many of the cell phones were found later abandoned on a street.
The private poker party is illegal in the state but on Monday the prosecutor in the case said no gambling charges were being pursued. Scott Rowland the first assistant district attorney for Oklahoma City commented that if no third party was involved in the poker party to make a profit from the gambling then the players would face only misdemeanor charges if they could be proven. However prosecutors would rather pursue the felony armed robbery complaints from the victims.
The robbers were said to have fled the scene in a green sport utility vehicle and the gunman was described as a white man about 5’10 weighing 220 in a green or blue jacket with a scarf over his mouth and nose. A description for the other robber has not been made available.
An interesting point in the case is that the victims were 20 men and two women ranging in ages from 23 to 62 but two of the players were listed in the report as professional poker players. It makes one wonder if the pros were ones we may have heard of or if they are unknown.
WSOPE Main Event Won by Barry Shulman
October 2, 2009
The final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event was filled with November Niners and bracelet winners so everyone knew the action was going to be fantastic. It would an interesting final table as Jason Mercier looked to be the one taking home the bracelet as he had large chip lead but it was not to be. After many hours of play the eventual winner would be Barry Shulman after he took down Daniel Negreanu in heads up play.
After four hours of final table play, all nine players were still seated at the table so it looked as though the event was going to be a long one. The chip stacks were constantly changing and eventually James Akenhead would become the first player eliminated from the competition. Akenhead ran his ace-queen against Negreanu’s pocket kings and no help from deck saw Akenhead eliminated.
Akenhead’s departure stirred up the other players and within one hour three more players were eliminated from the competition. In eighth place would be Matt Hawrilenko, seventh would go to Antoine Saout and Chris Bjorin would be eliminated in sixth.
Negreanu eliminated Saout and Bjorin and then Markus Ristola in fifth place. This of course gave Negreanu a great deal of chips. Then after the break Jason Mercier would be eliminated in fourth place by, you guessed it, Negreanu. Praz Bansi would go down in third thanks to Barry Shulman and that would leave Negreanu and Shulman to compete in heads up play.
By this time everyone was assuming that Negreanu would take the win as he had gained the chip lead and had been dominating the competition at the final table. But that was not the case. Negreanu would lose a good deal of chips to Shulman when he went up with pocket aces. After another try Negreanu lost more chips to Shulman and the final hand played out like this.
At four in the morning Negreanu was all in with pocket fours against Shulman who had pocket tens. Shulman got a ten on the flop and it was all over with Shulman earning his second bracelet.
Final Results:
1: Barry Shulman — £801,603
2: Daniel Negreanu — £495,589
3: Praz Bansi — £360,887
4: Jason Mercier — £267,267
5: Markus Ristola — £200,367
6: Chris Bjorin — £150,267
7: Antoine Saout — £114,228
8: Matt Hawrilenko — £87,074
9: James Akenhead — £66,533
WSOPE Main Event Final Table Filled with Champions
September 30, 2009
The final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event has been decided and boy is it going to be a nail biter! The majority of the players to compete at the final table are previous bracelet winners and two are set to compete at the final table of the WSOP Main Event when it returns in November. Competition is definitely going to be tough when play resumes tomorrow.
Jason Mercier is leading the pack with just over 3 million chips and has a European Poker Tour win under his belt. He was able to eliminate six of the last fifteen players who went home today. James Akenhead and Antoine Saout, both of which will be at the final table of the WSOP come November, will be returning tomorrow to compete at the WSOPE main event final table as well. Saout is sixth in chips while Akenhead sits second in chips right under Mercier.
Daniel Negreanu, Matt Hawrilenko, Praz Bansi, Chris Bjorin and Barry Shulman are the other bracelet winners in contention to take the WSOPE Main Event bracelet. Interesting enough, Barry Shulman is the father of Jeff Shulman, another November Niner.
The final table will reconvene on Thursday at 2pm BST. Below is a list of all the players returning to compete for the Main Event bracelet as well as their chip counts.
Jason Mercier - 3,198,000
James Akenhead - 1,398,000
Praz Bansi - 1,160,000
Barry Shulman - 1,090,000
Markus Ristola - 784,000
Antoine Saout - 701,000
Matt Hawrilenko - 674,000
Chris Bjorin - 518,000
Daniel Negreanu - 438,000
New Poker After Dark: “U.S.A. vs. Italy”
September 29, 2009
It’s the red, white, and blue against the red, white, and green in one of PAD’s most entertaining matches ever
NBC’s Poker After Dark has featured international weeks before, but never a week where three players from one country squared off against three players from another. That’s exactly what happens this week, however, as Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erick Lindgren will represent the United States against three of Italy’s finest in Marco Traniello, Max Pescatori, and Dario Minieri. Each will put up $20,000 and compete for the $120,000 winner-take-all first prize.
Ferguson is fresh off a victory in “The Magnificent Six,” where he became only the third player in PAD history to eliminate all five of his opponents in a match while bringing his overall record on the show to 2-7. Lederer also participated in that match but was eliminated in 6th place, and now sports a PAD record of 2-6. Lindgren is still looking for his first PAD title, being winless in three attempts, so you know he will be motivated to break into the win column.
This match marks the PAD debut of two of the Italians in Pescatori and Minieri. Pescatori is a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, and ranks 2nd on Italy’s all-time live tournament winnings list. Minieri, with his trademark scarf, has also won a WSOP bracelet and has a large following among the Internet community where he has made quite a name for himself with his aggressive play. Traniello, with 22 lifetime WSOP cashes in just five years, is making his third appearance on PAD and looking for his first victory.
Brief profiles of all six players follow. The match will begin airing on NBC late night Monday at 2:05 a.m., September 28, and will continue for five consecutive nights in the same time slot. A special program called the “Director’s Cut” will air late night Saturday, October 3, at 1:00 a.m., right after Saturday Night Live. This show will feature Leeann Tweeden with a behind-the-scenes look at the week with highlights and insightful player interviews and analyses. Check your local listings for the exact times in your area. Viewers can also watch the action at www.nbcsports/msnbc.com/poker.
This is an exciting and entertaining match. There are several lead changes, and the players agree that the winner of a hand will show one card if the hand doesn’t go to showdown. This creates a different table dynamic that becomes especially interesting as more players get knocked out. It is obvious that the Italian players are also playing for national pride, which is refreshing to see. But above all, there is some real poker played in this match, with one player in particular displaying a gear not often seen on this show which frustrates his opponents and often leaves them dumbfounded. The heads-up battle for the title is also one you won’t want to miss.
18 of the world’s top poker players have confirmed their seat in the Aruba Poker Classic online poker tournament.
September 29, 2009
With just days before the first hand of the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic is dealt, UltimateBet today announced that a record number of poker professionals will be playing in this year’s Main Event in Aruba. In addition to the 16 pros who represent UltimateBet on Team UB, the popular island tournament continues to attract pros from outside of UltimateBet.
“This is one of my all-time favorite poker tournaments,” said Annie Duke, UltimateBet’s Cardroom Consultant and member of Team UB. “While the UB community is famous for gathering together at all sorts of other poker tournaments like the WSOP, Aruba is all about celebrating the successes of UltimateBet’s online poker players. I can’t wait to meet the people I play against online, party with old friends on the beach and make some new ones.”
Over the last year, UltimateBet has secured some of the world’s most respected poker players for its popular Team UB. To date, the group of online poker pros made up of those who have achieved incredible success online and in land-based events has skyrocketed to 16. Each member of the group has confirmed their attendance in the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic.
Slated to play are Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Joe Sebok, Adam Levy, Billy Kopp, Bryan Devonshire, Brandon Cantu, Debo34, Hollywood Dave, Liv Boeree, Matt Graham, Michael Binger, P0ker H0, Scott Ian, Shawn Rice and Tiffany Michelle.
Also confirmed to play in the event are professional poker players Lacey Jones and Matt Vengrin, who both play on the CEREUS Poker Network. While the expanded list of pros from outside of the CEREUS Poker Network hasn’t been reported, the Aruba Poker Classic has attracted some big name poker players in past years, including Mike Matusow, Evelyn Ng, and Johan Storakers.
The Aruba Poker Classic, UltimateBet’s signature island poker tournament, heads into its 8th year at the Radisson Aruba Resort & Casino. The week-long poker experience runs from October 3rd through 10th and features a multi-million dollar prize pool.
Last year’s Main Event was won by Matt Brady of Havertown, PA, who took home $1 million for his victory. It’s rumored that the poker champion will show up to defend his title.
Players can still secure a $5,500 seat through an online satellite or buy directly into the event right up until the first hand is dealt. For more information on the 2009 Aruba Poker Classic, visit UltimateBet.com.
About UltimateBet
Designed with the assistance of the best poker players in the world - Phil Hellmuth and Annie Duke – UltimateBet provides the best poker games available on the net through the CEREUS poker network. Players can download the free online poker software to their Mac or PC, play in free ring games and tournaments and get tips from the pros to learn the sport or to enhance their playing strategy.
Low Buy-ins Bring Players to Borgata Poker Open
September 22, 2009
Many people are struggling with their finances as of late since the economy is still hurting financially. It can be hard for a poker player to come up with the funds to enter into a large poker tournament at a major casino. But players have been out in full force for the World Poker Tour Borgata Poker Open at the Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa in Atlantic City for the past few days as the events have low buy-ins that players can afford.
Since the WPT Borgata Poker Open Championship began on September 8th it has been estimated that around 15,000 players have competed in the various events. The Main Event attracted a good number of players this past Saturday as it began. 1,018 players paid the $3,500 buy-in, which is substantially low for a major poker tournament main event.
A regular at the Borgata Joe Simmons commented on the lower buy-in. he stated: “I think it’s very smart for today’s economy. It gives everyone a chance to play. The $10,000 buy-in at this point is cool for the World Series (of Poker), but just imagine how small this field would be otherwise.”
Players are competing for a piece of the $3.4 million prize pool and the winner of the main event will earn just over $925,000. "We've built the event for the players," Borgata poker marketing director Ray Stefanelli said. "Rather than spend $25K on an event, they can come here and get the same exact prize pool with a better value."
The main event final table will be televised and aired in the future on GSN. So the players who make the final table have the possibility of starting a career in the poker industry if they are noticed by the right people.
World Record Attempt to take place at 2009 WSOPE
September 3, 2009
Paul Zimbler is a popular poker pro in the UK and he will be attempting to break a world record at this year’s World Series of Poker Europe. Zimbler is looking to break the World record for heads up poker play which was broke last year by Dave Cain.
Last year, Cain was able to break the record in Lincoln by playing seventy four hours and twelve minutes. The previous record was for seventy two hours. Zimbler is going to try and break the record created at last year’s event. Cain was shooting for one hundred hours but once he hit just over seventy four hours he had to quit due to health and mental reasons.
The record breaking attempt will take place during the World Series of Poker Europe most likely at the Empire Casino. Several poker pros will be competing with Zimbler as he attempts to break the record. Included in the attempt will be Sorel Mizzi, Sammy George and Annette Obrestad. The players will be working to raise money for the SPARKS charity and hope to raise at least £5000.
It will be interesting to see if Zimbler has what it takes to break the record created last year by Cain. Will he endure the same challenges that Cain endured last year such as health issues due to staying awake for so long or the mental challenges of being in the game for such a long period of time? We will just have to wait and see once the record breaking attempt begins.
Dermot Blain Wins APPT Macau Main Event
September 1, 2009
The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Macau main event has ended and it was Dermot Blain who outlasted the 429 player field to take the first place win. The $5,000 no limit hold’em tournament saw nine players return for final table play and with just over $2 million in prize money, the players were ready to fight for the top finish.
The first to be eliminated from final table play was Stefan Hjorthall. Pontus Kers went up against Hjorthall with pocket aces and they were too strong for Hjorthall’s pocket nines. Brandon Dems went out in eighth place after Blain knocked him out with pocket kings.
Blain would then knock out the seventh place finisher, Dbinder Singh with an ace in the hole against Singh’s pocket queens. The next few players to go would be Jicheng Su, Pontus Kers, Darkhan Botabayev and Daoxing Chen. This would leave Blain and Mike Kim to compete in heads up play.
Blain had gained quite a few chips by knocking out a few players in final table play so he had just over 7 million while Kim only had 920,000. It only took four hands for Blain to claim his victory. On the final hand Blain moved all in preflop and Kim made the call. Blain showed K-10 and Kim showed 10-9. The board ran A-10-3-J-8 and Kim was finished, leaving Blain to earn the $541,089 first place prize.
Final Results:
1: Dermot Blain — $541,089
2: Mike Kim — $484,999
3: Daoxing Chen — $239,327
4: Darkhan Botabayev — $166,497
5: Pontus Kers — $114,464
6: Jicheng Su — $74,923
7: Dbinder Singh — $52,033
8: Brandon Demes — $41,621
9: Stefan Hjorthall — $31,222
More Pros Added To Caesars Cup Teams
August 31, 2009
Daniel Negreanu and Annette Obrestad have been working hard to create the eight person teams for the inaugural Caesars Cup which is coming up in September. Negreanu recently added poker legend Doyle Brunson and Jennifer Harmon to his team while Obrestad added Patrik Antonius and Ilari Sahamies to the European team.
The event will take place as part of the World Series of Poker Europe and will begin at 10:00 am on September 25th at the Casino at the Empire in Leicester. The Caesers Cup will be recorded and televised on ESPN branded channels around the world as part of the 2009 WSOPE coverage.
The two teams of eight will be competing in a No-Limit Hold’em tournament over a series of Heads up and two-man doubles matches. Single points will be awarded for each match and doubles formats will include alternate betting. The first team to earn four points will win.
The first match to take place will be Doubles: Alternate Bet. Two players will compete from each side. One player from each side will play pre-flop and on the turn while the other player will play the flop and the river. Once players have been chosen for their type of game, places cannot be changed. Two matches will take place in the Doubles which means four of the eight players on each team will be competing.
The next two matches will be Doubles: Same Stack. Two players will be competing per side and they will share the same chip stack. Each alternate playing two hands at a time so both have the button. Once the doubles matches are complete Heads Up play will begin, but only if necessary. If Heads up play does take place, the captains will decide who will compete.
One final place on each team will be given to a player who qualifies via Betfair who is sponsoring the World Series of Poker Europe. The last player on each team will be named right before the competition begins.
Below is a list of the players on both teams.
Americas:
Daniel Negreanu
Phil Ivey
Phil Hellmuth
John Juanda
Doyle Brunson
Jennifer Harman
Europeans:
Annette Obrestad
Peter Eastgate
Dario Minieri
Bertrand Grospellier
Patrik Antonius
Ilari Sahamies
World Poker Tour Bought by PartyGaming for $12.3 Million
August 25, 2009
It was announced yesterday that Peerless Media, a subsidiary of PartyGaming, has purchased the World Poker Tour for $12.3 million. World Poker Tour Enterprises made the announcement yesterday and stated that along with the purchase price, PartyGaming will be earning at ongoing 5% participation in gaming and revenues that are generated by the assets.
In early August World Poker Tour Enterprises had announced they sold the WPT to Gamynia Limited for $9 million. it was when PartyGaming offered the larger $12.3 million proposal, WPTE decided to terminate the agreement with Gamynia Limited.
“PartyGaming has been an important partner for a number of years and we are confident that they will be an excellent manager of our brands in the future,” stated Steve Lipscomb, WPTE's President and CEO. “The Board of Directors has determined that PartyGaming’s acquisition proposal is financially superior and we look forward to working with one of the pioneers and leaders in the poker and online gaming markets to provide a strong vehicle for the WPT brand to continue its global expansion and return to online gaming.”
The new agreement with PartyGaming will see the WPTE selling their Television library and all intellectual property as well as branding rights to PartyGaming. At the same time the WPTE will retain their cash, debt securities investments and future license revenues from the Season Seven sponsorship deal with PokerStars.
The WPTE will retain the net cash proceeds from the sale of their assets and use the money to develop a business away from the game of poker instead of dividing any dividends to the company’s stockholders. This of course has many shareholders angry and upset. The majority of the shareholders of the company must approve the sale of the company and despite WPTE’s decision to not distribute the dividends, the major investors have already agreed to vote for the sale.
PokerStars Inaugural EPT Kyiv Main Event won by Maxim Lykov
August 24, 2009
The first ever PokerStars European Poker Tour Kyiv event had its share of chaos but nevertheless the event saw a good turnout of 296 players from over 30 countries competing for the first ever title. The event was moved from its original destination of Moscow to the Ukraine and by the final day of play eight players returned to the Sport Palace to see who would win the title and the first place prize.
The atmosphere was that of celebration and support as fans gathered to watch the final table unfold. Many of the spectators were dressed in blue and yellow in support and celebration of the Ukrainian Flag Day which was the same day.
The Kyiv event was a filmed event so just after midday the final table began competing and the cameras began rolling. It would take almost an hour before the first player would be eliminated. The first to go would be Vadim Markushevski when he put his pocket kings up against Alexander Dovzhenko’s pocket aces.
Just a half hour later the next player, Torsten Tent, would be eliminated. Tent had the better cards but when his opponent paired both his cards it was over and Tent exited in seventh place. Maxim Lykov would do much of the eliminating as he got rid of Tent and then Ad Schaap in sixth.
It would then be a few hours before the next player would go. Out in fifth would be Lucasz Plichta and then Arthur Simonyan in fourth and Vitaly Tolokonnikov in third. This would leave Alex Dovzhenko and Maxim Lykov to compete in heads up play.
When heads up play began, Lykov held an almost 2 to 1 chip lead after earning a good bit from the last elimination. Lykov would play very aggressively and this would prove to be Dovzhenko’s downfall. On the final hand both would check and see the flop of 4spades Jack diamonds and 7 spades. The turn brought a 4 clubs and Dovzhenko would bet 400,000 and Lykov would check raise to 1 million. Dovzhenko would then go all in and Lykov would call.
Dovzhenko would turn over J clubs 10 hearts which gave him two pair, while Lykov flipped over 4 hearts and nine hearts which of course equal trip fours. A blank Ace on the river gave no help to Dovzhenko and he was out in second place giving Lykov the win.
Final Results:
1. Maxim Lykov (Russia) - €330,000 (approximately $473,000 U. S.)
2. Alex Dovzhenko (Ukraine) - €220,000
3. Vitaly Tolokonnikov (Russia) - €140,000
4. Arthur Simonyan (Russia) - €100,000
5. Lucasz Plichta (Poland) - €80,000
6. Adrian Schaap (Holland) - €60,000
7. Torsten Tent (Germany) - €45,000
8. Vadim Markushevski (Belarus) - €30,000
Jeremy Gaubert Wins World Poker Open in Tunica
August 12, 2009
It looked as though Chris Moneymaker was a shoe-in to win the 2009 World Poker Open in Tunica, Mississippi on Tuesday as he had a huge chip lead but it was not to be. Moneymaker would lose his massive chip lead and go down in third while Jeremy Gaubert would go home with the win.
The event was held at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica and had a buy-in of $5k. by day two of the event Moneymaker held a strong lead of close to forty percent of the chips in play. it looked good for Moneymaker at the final table until Steve Hamontree busted Thomas Creel in fifth to gain the lead in four handed play.
Moneymaker soon found himself with a very small chip stack after Jeremy Gaubert took him down a notch with his ace-queen. Chad Brown would go down in fourth before Moneymaker would be knocked out when his competitor got a flush.
This would lead Steve Hamontree a business owner from Chattanooga and Jeremy Gaubert in heads up play. Gaubert held the chip lead and in the end his pocket aces would seal the deal against Hamontree’s pair of tens. Gaubert earned just over $190,000 for first place as well as a $10,000 seat to the WPT Southern Poker Championship in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Final Results:
1. Jeremy Gaubert — $192,953
2. Steve Hamontree — $109,400
3. Chris Moneymaker — $60,110
4. Chad Brown — $48,088
5. Thomas Creel — $36,066
6. Gil George — $30,055
7. Tommy Vedes — $24,044
8. Jerry Milanos — $18,033
9. Paris Heard — $12,022