Full Tilt Poker Satellites for WPT

February 8th, 2010

December 1, 2009

From now, Tuesday, December 1, until February 28, Full Tilt Poker will be hosting a series of satellites and qualifiers into two of the biggest World Poker Tour events of the year: the WPT L.A. Poker Classic and the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship. Both prize packages are valued at $12,000 and include the $10,000 buy-in to the respective main event, hotel accommodations, and some spending money.

The WPT LA Poker Classic happens February 26 – March 2.

The WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star Championship is an exciting bounty event in which bonus cash prizes are awarded to those who knock certain poker celebrities out of the event. It starts March 8 and takes place in San Jose, California.

Full Tilt Poker will hold daily satellites with buy-ins starting as low as 50 cents or 50 FTPs. Win one of these events and climb your way up the ladder to one of 3 weekly qualifiers, each promising at least one prize package will be awarded, some offering more. Players can alternatively choose to buy-in directly to these qualifiers, and the buy-ins are listed below as well.

* $535 Sunday qualifiers at 4:30 pm ET, each guaranteeing to award 2 WPT prize packages
* $322 Tuesday qualifiers at 9 pm ET, each guaranteeing to award 1 WPT prize package
* $1060 Thursday qualifiers at 9 pm ET, each gauaranteeing to award 1 WPT prize package

In all, 5 World Poker Tour prize packages will be awarded each week of the FullTilt promotion.

The winner gets to choose which of the two WPT events to attend.

Written by Tilter · Filed Under Poker News

NBC’s Poker After Dark Season 6

February 7th, 2010

NBC goes with his successful poker show Poker After Dark in the 6th Season. PAD will be held at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In the audience to wait an interesting mix of high-stakes cash game poker games with well-known professionals. In this issue will be aired 13 episodes, including seven “six-handed winner-take-all cash game matches and six games.

In the first episode, called “Commentators III” replace Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott.

PAD’s second series invites players with interesting nicknames, including Annette “The Huntress” Obrestad, Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak and Phil “The Poker Brat “Hellmuth.

PAD’s first cash game section has a minimum buy-in of $ 50,000 and players like Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Mike Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth.

There are two other cash game matches: one to be with a minimum buy-to participate in of $ 100,000, at the Hellmuth, Eli Elezra, Doyle Brunson, Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen and Laak. In cash game with a buy-in of $ 150,000 Dwan, Patrik Antonius, David Peat substitute, Elezra, Kaplan and Alan Meltzer.

In the episode, called “Mixed Martial Arts” Go Bruce Buffer, Patrik Antonius, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Lederer and Lindgren at the start. In the episode with the sounding name of “He Said, She Said” replace Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Gray, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow and Annie Duke in a battle of the sexes.

January 6, 2010 by admin in Casino News

New Online Poker Television Network to Launch in Canada

February 6th, 2010

Next month a new online poker television network is set to launch in Canada offering new original content and features as well as programming from the last three years. The new network is called Canadian Poker Player TV and it will begin on March 5th.

The new network was created by the HeadsUp Entertainment International Incorporated and it will begin by broadcasting over twenty hours of programming. The broadcasts will be from several major events in Canada which featured Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Hellmuth, Gavin Smith, Joe Hachem, Huck Seed and Antonio Esfandiari.

Viewers of the new network will be able to see streaming video programs as well as archived content that can be viewed on demand. The first few broadcasts will feature the Stampede Classic in Calgary, the Canadian Open Poker Championships and other events.

The network will also be working with the Canadian Poker Tour and covering events on the tour as well as working with the Heads Up Canadian Poker Player Magazine. “There are so many amazing players and stories that we find on tour,” said Kelly Kellner, President and Chief Executive Officer for HeadsUp. “Both the magazine and our online network will give players from across the country a forum and showcase as we strive to build new poker superstars.”
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Published by Sadonna Price
Senior Editor

There’s no such thing as luck when it comes to poker

February 5th, 2010

JOE HACHEM

From smh.com.au February 6, 2010

RED-HOT POKER

SUMMER truly is the sporting tournament season for Australians and poker is no exception. Just days after a hugely successful Aussie Millions, we can look forward to the very first tournament in the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tournament (ANZPT). This is the second year of the tour and it has a special place in my heart as my brother Tony is the reigning champion.

There’s so much to enjoy about the ANZPT because it capitalises better than any other tournament on the opportunity to combine travel with poker. PokerStars.net put together such a comprehensive year-long tournament schedule, covering not only some of the toughest events and most challenging competitors, but also the best in sightseeing and local activities ranging from the beauty of the Adelaide hills and wineries, to my home-town casino, Crown, and the adventures (and extreme sports) of Queenstown.

At the opening Adelaide event, which kicks off next week, there is the chance to compete with some great local and international talent (the proximity to the Aussie Millions means many players stay in Australia to compete in both) and to take peaceful afternoon trips through the local vineyards – a very pleasant way to spend a week.

Players taking advantage of the trips through the local wineries should bear in mind though that this is not an event to let down your guard, or indulge in a little too much vino. Because the ANZPT has a truly unique structure in the poker world it means a serious player needs to bring his best performance to every single event.

Unlike other tours, the ANZPT is designed to reward consistency throughout the year-long calendar of events. While most tours are a collection of individual tournaments, the Pokerstars.net ANZPT operates on a points system that runs throughout each event. The overall winner is declared – not on a performance in one particular event – and is based on their consistent performance throughout each state heat of the tournament.

It’s a unique structure for a poker tournament, to reward consistent performance across a year and one that I personally encourage, as it dispels the myth that poker is about luck. By claiming the overall ANZPT tournament championship, a player has to prove that they can achieve high results again and again, against a wealth of different challengers, when they are faced with great cards or when they’re hit with a bad beat.

The ANZPT structure proves one of the things that I firmly believe about poker, that it is a game of consummate skill, not a game of luck. Unless you take into account the chance to travel the world, visiting beautiful tourist spots, playing a game that you love. That’s pretty lucky after all.

Until next time, pass the sugar!

Super Bowl Prop Bets Receive Much Attention As Big Game Nears

February 4th, 2010

From casinogamblingweb.com

Super Bowl betting has evolved to the point where simply picking a winner is not good enough. Gamblers now have a plethora of choices when it comes to betting the big game, and they are taking advantage of their options.

As Sunday approaches, Las Vegas sports books are receiving an increased amount of proposition bets. Gamblers now not only want to make choices on the game, but they enjoy the opportunity to pit sport against sport.

Some of the most common prop bets involve who will win the coin toss, how long the national anthem will last, and which player will score the first touchdown. The more elaborate choices have options such as whether there will be more first downs than Paul Pierce points.

The mix and match propositions between the NFL and the NBA started years ago, but as the NBA has grown in popularity over the past decade, the bets have also increased on these type of wagers. Now, the NBA is sure to schedule at least one marquee match up on Super Bowl Sunday.

For those bettors just interested in the game, wagers can be made on which quarterback will pass for more yards, the number of punts in the game, over-under on longest field goals, and this is just a sampling of the hundreds of bets that are available.

The Super Bowl is the single biggest gambling day of the year. Sports books expect that around $100 million will be wagered throughout the day on the game. There will be bets coming from all corners of the Earth.

The days of taking a couple bucks, flipping a coin, and throwing down on one team or the other are over. That has given way to much more sophisticated betting on Super Bowl Sunday, the type where a coin flip alone can win or lose a gambler some money.

DOUBLEDAVE22 Wins $279,044 as UB’s Online Championship Series Finishes with a $1.3 Million Show Stopper

February 4th, 2010

With over 1300 players registered in the $1 Million Guaranteed UBOC Championship event, the prize pool skyrocketed to $1,307,000. Online poker player DOUBLEDAVE22 takes home almost $280,000 for his superb first place finish.

Miami, FL (Marketwire) Monday, February 1, 2010 – Online poker site UB.com wrapped its 12-day UBOC schedule yesterday in super exciting style, welcoming 1,307 players to the UBOC Championship $1,000+50 buy-in event hosted by legend of the game, Phil Hellmuth. With a $1,307,000 prize pool on the table, the battle for the Championship title promised to be fierce from the get go, and proved a fitting finale to this year’s UBOC online series, UB’s most impressive and richest tournament line-up in the online poker site’s 10-year history.

“This years UBOC brought me out in full force. I played in almost every event, cashed four times, and had two top nine finishes,” stated Phil Hellmuth. “What a way to end the best online championship poker series ever. UBOC 4’s final $1 million Guaranteed paid out over $1.3 million and the tournament was unbelievably gripping, just like every single second of the 18-event series. It’s going to be tough to top this.”

The UBOC Championship No Limit Hold ‘em event kicked off on Sunday, January 31st at 16:00 ET. A long 12 hours and 43 minutes after the first shuffle-up-and-deal was called, online poker player DOUBLEDAVE22 topped off his impressive chip stack and claimed the UBOC Championship title after his Full house held up against SUPERMODL’s two-pair.

Heads Up play between DOUBLEDAVE22 and SUPERMODL lasted a mere 30 hands, with the final match-up seeing SUPERMODL raise to 500K. DOUBLEDAVE22 moved all-in and SUPERMODL was quick to call. Her pocket nines appeared to have the measure of DOUBLEDAVE22’s pocket fives, which could have been the tide-turner she was looking for.

The flop came 5h-6h-Ks to give DOUBLEDAVE22 a set and a grip on both the hand and the tournament. The Kd fell on the turn, the Ad on the river, and after making the final table of the first event in the UBOC series, this time DOUBLEDAVE22 went five places better to take down the UBOC $1M Championship. SUPERMODL collected $163,244.30 for finishing second.

A total of 135 players finished in the Main Event money, including third place finisher BS0228, who earned $115,016.00, and fourth placed WAWA711 for $83,648.00.Flying the flag for Team UB was MICHAELBINGER, who took out fifth spot to bank $69,924.50. JEFFBEESDAT pocketed the $500 Bounty placed on the tournament host’s head, sending Phil Hellmuth to the rails in 314th place, with the bounty hunter’s four kings besting the 11-time WSOP bracelet holder’s Two pair, kings and tens. JEFFBEESDAT survived long enough to get involved in plenty more hands before meeting his own fate and finishing up in 61st place for $3,267.50.

The UBOC Main Event $1.3 Million prize pool followed hot on the success of the January 24th $2500+100 buy-in Deepstack NLH 6-Max poker tournament, which easily crushed the $1 Million Guarantee with 628 players creating a $1.57 Million prize pool. Since UBOC 2010 kicked off on January 20, 10,041 online poker players competed in 18 guaranteed events, with a stunning total overall UBOC prize pool of $5,327,309.50 in guaranteed tournament prize money to be won; 1082 players went on to snare their share of that 5-million-dollar-plus prize pool. UB’s annual Online Championship series featured an exciting calendar of daily events, that covered a mix of popular online poker games, including No Limit Texas Hold’em, HORSE, Pot Limit Omaha, 8 Game Mix, 4 MAX, 6 MAX, Heads Up and more.

Players who preferred less financial risk to their bankroll enjoyed the return of Mini UBOC for a second year. The parallel series of tournaments ran alongside the larger stake games. With the exception of the two $1 million GTD tournaments, each UBOC event was mirrored by a separate Mini UBOC tournament, where players could buy in for approximately 10% of the corresponding UBOC event and compete for a lucrative prize pool.

From ultimatebet.com

WPT Offers Online Players a Free Ride to LA Main Event

February 3rd, 2010

From uspokerplayers.com/news written by Bonnie

While online poker tournaments can be a blast and earn you a large payday without ever having to leave the comfort of your home, there is nothing like being in a live poker tournament atmosphere, and now Ultimate Bet is giving players the chance to do so. UltimateBet is offering all players a chance in the spotlight by earning a seat at the WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event. The main event will be taking place on February 26th, live in Los Angeles, and there is still plenty of time for all the online players to win a seat and brush shoulders with some of the biggest names in poker.

Daily satellite tournaments will be held from February 1st, right up until just days before the main event. Some lucky players who play their cards right will find themselves will an expenses paid vacation to the WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event, which includes the $9,700 + $300 buy in, and $2000 for travel expenses. Players who make it to the top of the leader board during the satellite tournaments currently taking place, will find the winnings credited to their account within 48 after the winning tournament.

Last years WPT LA Poker Classic Main Event awarded more than $6.5 million in cash and prizes, and this year is on track to be even bigger and more rewarding.

Planet Hollywood, the rumored site of the 2011 World Series of Poker

February 3rd, 2010

From Cake Poker February 2, 2010

At this point it’s just a rumor, but there’s a lot of talk in Las Vegas that the World Series of Poker may be leaving its home at the Rio Hotel and Casino. It’s new destination? Planet Hollywood, or so the speculation says.

Since 2005, the World Series of Poker has taken place at the Rio, much to the chagrin of many poker players. Really, the main thing going for the Rio is that it has enough floor space to jam in thousands of poker players. But the downside, that it’s an expensive cab-ride away from the Strip, more than outweighed that one advantage. And, Vegas being Vegas, floor space isn’t exactly hard to come by.

The first whisperings that poker’s flagship event might be making a move started back in the summer, when Harrah’s was kicking the tires of Planet Hollywood. Harrah’s owns the Rio, and the WSOP brand, so their potential purchase of Planet Hollywood would pave the way for a move. And, as of a couple days ago, it seems that Harrah’s has indeed purchased Planet Hollywood, or is very close to it, anyway.

That move sent the rumblings of a WSOP address-change into high gear. As usual, the good folks over at Two Plus Two Poker Forums have their ear to the ground and have been discussing the possible venue switch. The conventional wisdom right now is that the 2010 WSOP will be held at the Rio, as usual, with the 2011 event taking place at the new location. The driving force behind the move is thought to be the sluggish sales of some brand new condos at Planet Hollywood, with the idea being that a high-profile event like the WSOP will give a boost to the property.

Daniel Negreanu Comments on Phil Ivey Taking All-Time Money Lead

February 2nd, 2010

From Pokernewshub.com
Over the weekend, Phil Ivey placed second to Dan Shak in the $100,000 Challenge at the 2010 Aussie Millions Poker Championship at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. For his efforts, Ivey won $553,776 ($600,000 AUD), vaulting him into the top position on the all-time live tournament money list. His total of $12,813,990 is now $381,623 ahead of Daniel Negreanu’s $12,432,367.

For his part, Negreanu has been far from a sore “loser.” In fact, Negreanu expressed his admiration for Ivey in his poker journal on his website, FullContactPoker.com:

“It’s my belief that Phil Ivey is the best poker player in the world, and that includes every format,” wrote Negreanu. “I’ve played live with him, and cash, Hold’em, Stud, Omaha, whatever, and he is just the most consistently good player at everything – include [sic] online based on what his results look like. I don’t think anyone has won more money online, live play, or tournament poker, than Ivey. Pretty strong.”

Fortunately, Negreanu does not feel like this turn of events diminishes his place in the poker world, nor should he. Like any good competitor, Negreanu is using Ivey’s success as an impetus to achieve even more in his career.

“It’s actually kind of fun for me,” Negreanu blogged after Day 1 of the 2010 WPT Southern Poker Championship at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi. “I’m glad he did so well because it motivates me to try and pass him again. I was up about $200,000 so I think I’ll need to finish 2nd or 1st to regain the lead. Should be a fun year from that perspective.”

“Kid Poker” also commented on Ivey’s mindset, saying, “Another misconception about Ivey is that he ‘Doesn’t really care.’ He does. He definitely cares, because he is a competitor. It’s not all about the money for him, otherwise he wouldn’t bother. I think he’s got something to prove in 2010. Not to the poker world, everyone with half a brain knows that Ivey is the best. I think he has something to prove to himself. 2010 could be a monster year for him.”

In the last half year, Phil Ivey has won nearly $2,000,000 on the live tournament circuit, allowing him to overtake such players as Phil Hellmuth, Jamie Gold, Joe Hachem, and Scotty Nguyen on the all-time money list (based on current money standings), in addition to Negreanu. While his Aussie Millions take was sizable, Ivey’s rise on the leader board was aided primarily by his seventh place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, where he won $1,404,014. He also won two bracelets during the 2009 WSOP, bringing his lifetime total to seven.

If it is any consolation for Negreanu, he remains ahead of Ivey on the inflation-adjusted money list (thanks to thehendonmob.com for this information), $13,816,957 to $13,305,078. He is still second on that list, though, to Hellmuth, whose inflation-adjusted total is $13,876,255.

Full Tilt Poker – Mini FTOPS XV

February 1st, 2010

Full Tilt Poker has now released details for the next miniFTOPS XV. miniFTOPS XV will run in March 2010, and offers a busy 27-event agenda. The total in pre-tourney guarantees for the 27 events will be $6 million.

The event schedule is peppered with short-handed, knockout and shootout events, while the majority of events are NL Hold’em. The Main Event carries a $800k guarantee.