Winning after being 12^th at Aussie Millions

No one would have imagined Phil Ivey winning the greatest price money, which Aussie Millions had to offer after he came 12^th in the main event of the much famous $100,000. But it was destiny which was on Phil’s side on Sunday and helped him win the biggest price money of his career the Super High Roller. He also showed up in November in APPT Macau, but it was bad luck for him then; as he was not able to hit the poker prize and returned empty handed from there.

Best players battled it out at the Aussies Millions

The game had a massive buy-in which was in 6 figures as anticipated previously. There were 16 best players of the world; who were in the race for the grand prize, but led to having a bubble of $800,000, which was played among top three spots. Some of the players who took part in the event were Winfred Yu, Paul Phua, Richard Yong, Sorel Mizzi, John Juanda, Jason Mercier, Tom Dwan, Player of the year Sam Trickett, and defending champion Erik Seidel. This was a star studded game, which showed lots of class and excellence in playing poker.

From latestpokernews.net

Gary Bolden won two gold rings at Caesars, making him only the second player of the season to win two events in one stop. Bolden won two $340 events, one in pot-limit Omaha and another in no-limit hold’em, securing him the player of the series title and earned him a seat at the 2012WSOP Circuit National Championship in Las Vegas.

In the second largest buy-in of the series, a $1,080 no-limit hold’em event, Bryan Devonshire defeated three-time WSOP gold bracelet winner Eskimo Clark to earn $55,291 and 384 POY points.

From Cardplayer.com

“This year’s WSOP schedule is very exciting,” said WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, who will oversee the event for the seventh consecutive year.

“We’re introducing some fantastic new events, while bringing back many successful stalwarts that our players love. We will expand our footprint this year to include extra tables dedicated to cash games, as well as plenty of satellite and single-day tournament space, so players will have an easy time finding a desirable game without ever having to leave the Rio Convention Center.”

The most notable changes involve the Main Event. First, instead of the usual four starting days, there are only three (Saturday, July 7; Sunday, July 8; and Monday, July 9). Also, the traditional day off has been removed. Finally, there will be no November Nine this year because the final table has been moved up a week to accommodate the U.S. presidential election. Instead of happening in November, the final table will be held in two stages. First, nine players will play down to two on Sunday, Oct. 28, and the heads-up battle will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

There are also some new events on this year’s schedule, including Event #3: $3,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha; Event #6: $5,000 Mix-Max No-Limit Hold’em; Event #28: $2,500 Four-Handed No-Limit Hold’em; and Event #49: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em. Furthermore, there will be two new non-bracelet events including a $560 Doubles No-Limit Hold’em and a$560 Bracelet Bounty No-Limit Hold’em, which will see a bounty placed on any former bracelet winner to enter the field.

The inclusion of Event #49: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em comes on the heels of the WSOP’s introduction of the event at the recent WSOP Circuit stop at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. What is an Ante Only tournament? According to the WSOP: “In a twist on traditional no-limit hold’em poker, this event will be played without the small and big blind bets. All players at the table will ante to begin every hand, with the person to the left of the button starting the action with a choice of folding or bringing in the minimum chip amount in play. The event will create a lot of action and multiple-player pots.”

Here are some of the other changes for this year’s WSOP:

• An additional 92 tables have been added, bringing the total number of tables up to 470. The Brasilia Ballroom will be used to accommodate the extra tables.
• The opening weekend, June 2 and 3, will feature a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry tournament.
• The $1,000,000 buy-in One Drop event will be held on July 1.
• The Seniors Event will begin at 10 a.m. and The Big One for One Drop will start at 1:11 p.m.
• Preregistration for the 2012 WSOP will be available online beginning Feb. 8, 2012.

For a look at the entire 2012 World Series of Poker schedule, visit WSOP.com.

From PokerNews.com

Roughly seven months after Todd Terry and several other poker players filed a class action lawsuit against Full Tilt owners, the suit has been dismissed by a New York federal judge.  The suit named a number of individuals and corporations affiliated with Full Tilt Poker and sought the repayment of more than $150 million in player funds in addition to damages.

Law360.com broke the news about the Monday ruling, which dismissed several charges on the grounds that it could not be clearly determined whether the  actions of the defendants named in the suit or the actions of the federal government’s April 15th actions resulted in players being unable to access their funds.

US District Judge Leonard B. Sand stated that he did not believe the racketeering charges alleged in the class action suit resulted directly in the confiscation of player funds.  The defendants names in the suit included Ray Bitar, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, and several corporate entities including Pocket Kings Consulting.  The charges against all the individuals named in the case were dismissed outright, while some of the charges against Tiltware LLC, Vantage Ltd, and Filco Ltd remain. The plaintiffs were also granted leave to amend some of their complaints against Tiltware and Pocket Kings.

BLUFF reached out to one of the plaintiffs for comment, but he declined.

The defendant’s counsel Jeff Ifrah was obviously pleased with the court’s decision. “The Court’s decision recognizes that relief for the players is being pursued by the United States. There is no compelling basis to open additional doors for private class action lawyers to pursue that very same relief,” Ifrah said in an official statement from Ifrah Law Firm.

This news breaks at the same time as several publications, most notably Gaming Intelligence,  are reporting that Full Tilt is in the final stages of its agreement with the Department of Justice, which will allow the completion of the sale of the site to Groupe Bernard Tapie.

Not a contest of chance

New York state Criminal Court Judge John H. Wilson, who was overseeing the People v. Feng case in which two Mahjong players were accused of promoting gambling and possessing a gambling device, declared in his ruling that Mahjong is in effect a “contest of chance.”

Although the judge did eventually allow the gambling charges to proceed, his findings and the fact he ruled the game to be one of skill and not just luck, could have positive implications for other games of skill like poker which have often been viewed by legislators and the courts as constituting illegal gambling.

Play Mahjong online too!

Mahjong may be the most ancient of table games, with a history going back to the time of Confucius around 500 BC. But that hasn’t stopped top online casinos from offering it to their customers, often under the westernized version Mahjong Solitaire, or in its alternative western form of Rummy.

This ancient Chinese game was even showcased at last year annual Poker in the Park festival in London, where a Mahjong dome was set up next to one for poker. One game is the most popular in the east, the other in the west, and hopefully very soon Americans will be able to enjoy both online, in a legal and responsible gaming environment.

From Onlinecasinoreports.com

According to PlayPokerOnline.com, till recently, countries prohibited people to play poker online for money to protect them from the problems related to gambling. However, with the advancement of technology, measures can be taken at the national and site operator level to ensure player safety.

Legalizing Online Poker in 2012

At the national level, counties like the US are assessing whether online poker falls under the purview of laws that were passed decades ago. Till recently, the US had banned online poker sites from operating within the country on the basis of the Wire Act of 1961 which prohibited few betting activities.

In December 2011 the Department of Justice said that the Wire Act does not expressly ban poker. PlayPokerOnline.com stated that no one within the industry has come to a conclusion about whether online poker is legal. But this has not deterred some of the top poker site operators from entering the country.

Last year, several nations within Europe brought up the need for independent online poker legislations. The motives behind this were different. While a few nations wanted to allow offshore poker site operators to offer games to their players, others wanted to restrict online poker real money games to only their residents.

PlayPokerOnline.com clarified that though the nations are yet to announce their new legislations, they have to abide by a rule that the European Parliament has emphasized on – state-owned monopolies will not be allowed. Italy is the only country that has started offering online poker real money games. In the coming months in 2012, the European countries will announce their plans for online poker.

Player Fund Protection Systems

Kahnawake Gaming Commission, an authority on online poker recently made a few changes to its standards. These are to protect players. The commission now allows players to opt for self-exclusion. When they do this, players with gambling problems can inform the Gaming Commission about their needs. The sites that are regulated by the commission will be informed about the players’ requests.

A few poker sites have joined hands with financial service firms to establish a system which will ensure that players’ funds are protected. Through this system, the financial service provider will monitor whether poker sites have sufficient funds to repay people who have real money accounts with them to play poker online. According to PlayPokerOnline.com, more poker site operators from across the world are likely to adopt this system. The site also mentioned that a move like this shows online poker rooms’ dedication to ensuring that its players are protected at all times.

From PokerOnline.com

]]> http://onestoppoker.com/sng/online-poker-sit-poker-player-protection-priority-online-poker-industry/feed/ 0 http://onestoppoker.com/sng/online-poker-sit-poker-melbourne-man-wins-2012-aussie-millions-main-event/ http://onestoppoker.com/sng/online-poker-sit-poker-melbourne-man-wins-2012-aussie-millions-main-event/#comments Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:22:00 +0000 stu http://onestoppoker.com/?p=5420 [more]]]> In the run-up to the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event final table most of the talk centered around Phil Ivey (who eventually finished in 12th place) with any remaining scraps of coverage going to 2006 Aussie Millions Champion Lee Nelson (who finished in 9th place). Not to toot my own horn, but I also mentioned that Aussie poker pro Oliver Speidel was a player to keep an eye on, and Spediel came through in a big way on Sunday, winning the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event.

Speidel is the fourth straight Australian winner of the tournament (a remarkable feat in today’s day and age) and the second straight Aussie Millions Champion from Melbourne. By far the biggest cash of his career (previously a $100k win in a preliminary event at last year’s Aussie Millions), his Aussie Millions victory capped off an impressive tournament series that also saw him final two other tournaments: 6th place in the $1,500 NLHE Bounty Event and 2nd place in the $1,000 NLHE Shootout Event.

Last year the Aussie Millions title went to longtime Aussie poker pro and Melbourne native David Gorr; in 2010 it was Tyron Krost who won the Championship for Australia, and in 2009 Stewart Scott began the run of Aussie domination.

Speidel has been on a pretty good run of late, winning the Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event in Manilla last December and just a month later becoming the talk of the Australian poker scene with his performance in the Aussie Millions.

Speidel was dominant throughout the day, and by the time he got to heads-up play against Kenneth Wong he held a commanding 4-to-1 chip advantage. The final hand of the night was simply a summary of Speidel’s overall performance at the final table: Speidel raised, Wong re-popped it, Speidel put in a 4-bet, Wong put in the fifth bet (which at this point was 1.9 million), and Speidel finally said the words “All-In”. Wong made the call with Pocket 9’s and quickly learned the bad news as Speidel tabled Pocket Aces.

Here is a look at the complete final table payouts from the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event:

1. Oliver Speidel – $1,600,000

2. Ken 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

8. Daniel Idema — $125,000

9. Lee Nelson — $125,000

On the previous day Phil Ivey captured the $250k Challenge title (winning even more than Speidel at $2,000,000 despite the tournament having only 16 participants) and while Speidel was busy taking care of business in the Main Event, Dominykas Karmazinas was pocketing $200k for his win in the 20 player, $25k buy-in Semi-Shootout tournament. Karmazinas won the tournament through no small feat; besting a final table that included Tony G, Daniel Alaei, Dan Kelly, and JC Tran.

From Pokernewsboy.com

The Obama administration has taken to YouTube to field questions for the president to answer at a post-State of the Union conversation that will take place Monday from the White House. There are already more than 100,000 questions asked, including 123 about poker. The site vaguely states that the president will answer several of the top-voted questions during the interview.

PPA executive director John Pappas has submitted the following question with video and text: “Regulating internet poker will establish strong consumer protections; create new jobs and revenues for states and the federal government. President Obama, will you support this common-sense public policy?”

As of this writing, the PPA’s question has 446 likes and 46 dislikes. To find the question, go to the White House YouTube channel linked above and search for poker on the right-hand side. A login is required to vote. There are multiple questions unrelated to poker that have tallied more than 3,000 likes. The deadline for votes to be counted is Jan. 28 at midnight Eastern time.

The poker community is still waiting for the response promised by the Obama Administration for the “We the People” online poker petition.

The petition got off to a strong start last September, quickly passing the required 5,000 signatures to get a response. The petition finished with 9,296 signatures, less than the final required total of 25,000, but was still guaranteed a response because it passed the original requirement before it was raised.

To date, 41 responses have been issued. The responses come not from Obama himself but from someone within the administration who deals with the topic. Judging by the responses made so far, the poker response won’t be worth the wait. The responses have not addressed concerns made in the petitions but instead merely stated the administration’s stand on the topics.

It’s so bad that, in a second set of petitions made at the end of last year after some of the initial responses had come in, a petition was created with the title, “Actually take these petitions seriously instead of just using them as an excuse to pretend you are listening.” The petition goes on to say: “Although the ability to submit petitions directly to the White House is a noble and welcome new feature of the current administration, the first round of responses makes blatantly clear the White House intends to just support its current stances and explain them with responses everyone who has done any research already knows.” The petition got 33,714 signatures.

Still, the Obama administration has never said much of anything about online poker so any stance taken could be interesting. Perhaps that is why the online poker response is taking so long.

From Pokernews.com

More than a dozen players have apparently committed to participate in the $1 millionBIG ONE for ONE DROP tournament, including Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrik Antonius,Gus Hansen, Tony G, and Doyle Brunson. ONE DROP president and founder of Cirque du Soleil Guy Laliberte will also take part, as well as CEO of MGM-Mirage Resorts Bobby Baldwin, and Treasure Island owner Phil Ruffin. A $50,000 deposit is required to reserve a seat in the event, which has a registration cap of 48 players.

“We are proud to align the planet’s premiere poker event with the foundation created by one of our generation’s most creative entrepreneurs, Guy Laliberte, to help make the world a healthier place,” said Gary Loveman, Caesar Entertainment Corporation’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

The tournament is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN and the winner will take home the first-ever platinum WSOP bracelet. Of the $1 million tournament buy-in, 11.11 percent of each entry will be withheld for One Drop.

The announcement of the BIG ONE was made at the beautiful new ESPN arena, which also played host to the WSOP rematches Thursday evening. Former WSOP Main Event runner ups Johnny Chan and Sammy Farha had an opportunity to get revenge on the men that defeated them in their respective tournament years ago, and it all played out for everyone to see live on ESPN3.

First it was Chan facing off against 1989 champion Phil Hellmuth, who set the record as the youngest player ever to win the Main Event at the time (since broken by Peter Eastgate and then Joe Cada). Chan broke out to an early lead Thursday and never let the 11-time bracelet winner back in the match, slowly chipping away before getting his payback on the Poker Brat.

Chan was also scheduled to play Erik Seidel in a rematch of the 1998 Main Event, but Seidel was still playing the $1500 Limit Omaha 8 or Better tournament Thursday so the match was postponed. That left only Farha and 2003 champion Chris Moneymaker to play a best-of-three heads up match in a restoration of what is widely considered the spark that created the poker boom.

Moneymaker began the first match with same chip lead he had eight years ago and was able to relive the feeling of victory over Farha when his Ac-8h came from behind to beat Farha’s Ah-10c after the two got their chips in preflop. In the second match, the chip stacks were reversed, and this time it was Farha who used a timely suckout to his advantage. On a flop of 7h-6d-6c, the two players had a raising war that resulted in Moneymaker all in with pocket eights against Farha’s As-7h. But an ace on the river gave Farha a higher two pair and set up the rubber match.

The third match began with even stacks and turned out to be an intense and long battle. Ultimately, though, it was Moneymaker who came out on top after a bad beat crippled Farha to the point of no return. On a Jh-10d-2h flop, Moneymaker put his tournament life on the line with two pair, Jacks and Twos, against Farha’s Jacks and Tens. But a deuce on the river doubled up the former account from Tennessee and he was able to finish off Farha a few hands later.

From Pokernewsdaily.com