Fourth and final “first day” wraps up at WSOP main event

The fourth and final Day 1 of the World Series of Poker main event concluded on Sunday, with 2,461 people entering, the largest field of the four days.
In all, 1,386 players made it out of Day 1d with chips still in hand.
With the first   …full article

More than 1,900 turn out for Day 1c of the WSOP

The World Series of Poker is into its third “first day” of this year’s main event, with the biggest day so far.
Three former main event champions were among the 1,928 players to take to the felt on Saturday for Day 1c, making it the biggest   …full article

Big names fall on Day 1b of WSOP main event

Some big names fell on the second “first day” of the World Series of Poker, Day 1b, as Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Lee Watkinson, Ted Forrest and Kenny Tran were among those eliminated.
At the start of the day, 1,157 players were entered, but only 621   …full article

Full Tilt releases schedule for FTOPS IX

Full Tilt Poker released its schedule for FTOPS IX, which will feature 25 events and more than $15 million in guaranteed prizes.
The ninth edition of the online tournament series will begin in August. Here’s the schedule:
Event #1: Wednesday, August 6th, 21:00 ET, $200 + $16,   …full article

WSOP main event kicks off with 1,297 players on first “Day 1″

Thursday marked the first day of the World Series of Poker, as Day 1a began with 1,297 players. But by the end, just 636 remained.
Mark Garner, who finished 25th in the main event in 2006, leads all players with just under 200,000 chips.
According   …full article

Final two events before main event wrap up at WSOP

The World Series of Poker has nearly reached the main event as two more events came to a close on Wednesday.
In Event No. 52, the last $1,500 NLHE tournament, David Daneshgar won his first bracelet and the top prize of $625,443 — his eight cash   …full article

Schedule announced for 2008 WSOP Europe

The schedule for the World Series of Poker Europe has been announced, with the first event getting under way on Sept. 19 in London.
This is the second year for the event, which will feature four bracelet events and five non-bracelet events.
According to Betfair.com, the title   …full article

WSOP becomes “climate friendly” poker tournament

Harrah’s announced a deal this week that makes the World Series of Poker a “climate friendly” poker tournament.
Harrah’s, which puts on the WSOP, purchased “carbon offsets” through a company called NativeEnergy. A carbon offset consists of paying for the greenhouse gas emissions a person or   …full article

Former Irish Open winner takes down WSOP event; Hellmuth third in HORSE

The 2007 winner of the Irish Open, Marty Smyth, won Event No. 50 at the World Series of Poker on Tuesday, taking down the $10,000 World Championship of Pot-Limit Omaha.
Smyth pocketed the first prize of $859,549 in the event, which had a prize pool of   …full article

PokerStars announces WCOOP schedule

PokerStars recently released its 2008 schedule for the World Championship of Online Poker, and there is more than twice the guaranteed money as last year, according to PS.
The WCOOP will be 33 events this year, with $30,000,000 guaranteed. The series features several new additions, such   …full article

Woman suing PokerStars for $1.2 in tournament winnings

A woman named Natalie Teltscher is suing PokerStars for winnings that were withheld from her account because of what the online poker site said was a breach of tournament rules.
Teltscher, who is the owner of the account “the VOid,” won the 2007 World Championship of   …full article

Pro J.C. Tran breaks through with first WSOP bracelet

Several pros who have been considered to be among the best without a World Series of Poker bracelet have left that club by winning a bracelet this year. The latest to do so was J.C. Tran, who won Event No. 49, a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em   …full article

Scotty Nguyen takes down $50K HORSE at WSOP

Scotty Nguyen outlasted a star-studded and talented field to win Event No. 45, the $50,000 World Championship of H.O.R.S.E. at the World Series of Poker on Sunday.
With the win, Nguyen won his fifth career WSOP bracelet, the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy and the top prize   …full article

Two WSOP events award bracelets; $50K HORSE to final table

Two bracelets were given out on Saturday at the World Series of Poker, while the star-studded HORSE event reached its final table.
Joe Commisso, playing in his first WSOP this year, won Event No. 46, $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Six Handed. He took the first prize   …full article

Phil Ivey to host charity tourney

Poker pro Phil Ivey is hosting a charity poker tournament in Las Vegas on Thursday.
The Budding Ivey Game Night Celebration will be hosting the event, which requests a donation of $1,000 to enter and features $500 rebuys, at the Golden Nugget. The public is welcome   …full article

Recent college grad wins WSOP event

Recent University of Toronto graduate Max Greenwood took down the only final table at the World Series of Poker on Friday, Event No. 44, $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em w/Re-Buys.
Rene Mouritsen took second in a WSOP event for the third time in his career as Greenwood won   …full article

21-year-old German wins at WSOP

Twenty-one-year-old German Martin Klaser outlasted a final table that included veteran pro Erik Seidel to take down Event No. 43, $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better at the World Series of Poker.
Seidel had won eight bracelets in his career, but instead it was the   …full article

Senior outlasts field of more than 2,000 players at WSOP

Dan Lacourse navigated his way though a field of 2,217 players to take down Event No. 42, the $1,000 Seniors No-Limit Hold’em World Championship at the World Series of Poker on Wednesday.
Lacourse eliminated each of the final four players in about an hour to win   …full article

Phan gets second WSOP bracelet of 2008

John ‘the Razor’ Phan became the first person to win two World Series of Poker events this year.
He won Event No. 40: $2,000 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball, for the first prize of $151,896.
Phan outlasted a talented final table that included pro and author David Sklansky   …full article

Belgian takes down a WSOP event

In a slow day for final tables at the World Series of Poker, Belgium’s David Kitai won Event No. 38, $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em $2,000 and the first prize of $244,546.
Lee Watkinson and Robert Cheung were both at the final table seeking their second WSOP   …full article

Best player without a bracelet? No longer — Benyamine takes WSOP event

David Benyamine is already one of the top cash-game players in the world and has two World Poker Tour titles on his resume. Now he can add World Series of Poker bracelet winner to his list of accomplishments.
Benyamine won Event No. 37, the $10,000 World   …full article

Flack gets sixth bracelet at WSOP

The year of the pro rolls on at the World Series of Poker.
Layne Flack won his sixth World Series of Poker bracelet on Friday, taking down Event No. 34, $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys for the first prize of $577,725. He outlasted Ted Forrest, who   …full article

Many celebrities to play in Ante Up For Africa poker tourney

The second annual Ante Up For Africa tournament is scheduled for July 2 at the World Series of Poker on July 2, and a number of celebrities, both from inside and outside the poker world, are scheduled to take part.
The fundraiser, hosted by actor Don   …full article

Ferguson just misses sixth WSOP bracelet

Chris Ferguson got to heads-up play in his pursuit of a sixth World Series of Poker bracelet on Thursday, but fell just short.
In Event No. 33, the $10,000 World Championship of Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8, Sebastian Ruthenberg outlasted “Jesus” to win his first bracelet   …full article

WSOP wraps up 30th event, two bracelets awarded

Two more events came to an end as the World Series of Poker saw the close of its 30th event of 2008.
In Event No. 29, a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. A marathon six-hour heads-up session between John “Razor” Phan and Johnny Neckar ended with Phan   …full article

Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond wins first bracelet

Another top pro took down a bracelet at the World Series of Poker, as Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond won Event No. 28, the $ 5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha with Re-Buys.
Already an accomplished online player, it was the first bracelet for Galfond, who won the first prize   …full article

Pair of pros take home bracelets on Day 17 of WSOP

In a year that might be remembered for pros taking back the World Series of Poker, two more pros earned bracelets on Sunday — Kenny Tran and Barry Greenstein.
Tran won his first bracelet by taking down Event No. 25, the $10,000 Heads Up No-Limit Hold’em   …full article

Pescatori claims second WSOP bracelet; another Hinkle wins, too

Italian pro Max Pescatori won his second career World Series of Poker bracelet on Saturday, taking down Event No. 24, the $2,500 Pot-Limit Holdem/Omaha event.
Pescatori topped a final table that included five-time bracelet winner Allen Cunningham, who finished in fourth place. The “Italian Pirate”   …full article

Two bracelets handed out on Day 16 of WSOP

Two first-time bracelet winners prevailed at the final tables of Day 16 of the World Series of Poker.
After finishing 13th in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em event, Scott Seiver won event No. 21, the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. He came into the final table with a   …full article

2008 WSOP winner gives all his winnings to charity

Eric Brooks announced after winning Event 14, the $10,000 World Championship of Seven-Card Stud, that his entire first-place check of $415,856 would be going to charity.
He gave the money to The Decision Education Foundation, a charity based in Palo Alto, California that instructs kids from   …full article

Negreanu wins fourth bracelet at WSOP

Another pro added to his bracelet collection on the 13th day of the World Series of Poker, as Daniel Negreanu won Event No. 20, the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event.
Negreanu entered the final table with the chip lead and held on for the victory, the $204,874   …full article

Matusow wins third bracelet at WSOP

Day 13 at the World Series of Poker only had one final table, but it was a big one.
Mike “The Mouth” Matusow won Event 18, $5,000 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Re-Buys, defeating ‘The Iceman’, Jeffrey Lisandro in heads-up play for his third WSOP bracelet and   …full article

Day 12 at WSOP: ‘Glum Girl’ gets bracelet

Three bracelets were handed out on Day 12 of the World Series of Poker, highlighted by Svetlana “Glum Girl” Gromenkova winning Event No. 15, the $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold’em event.
Gromenkova won the first prize of $224,702.
Also on Tuesday:
– Ted Forrest missed an opportunity to win   …full article

Four bracelets given out on Day 11 of WSOP

Four bracelets were handed out as the World Series of Poker hit Day 11, with 14 events now in the books. Here’s a look at the final tables that completed:
– Pennsylvania native Eric Brooks won Event No. 14, the $10,000 World Championship Seven Card Stud   …full article

GSN doesn’t pick up option on WPT

The World Poker Tour announced today that Game Show Network would not be exercising its option for a seventh season of the popular poker tournament television show.
The WPT said it has already started talking to other networks about broadcasting the new season, although GSN didn’t   …full article

WSOP winner is father of one of AP’s founders who was linked to “potripper”

Phil Tom, the father of one of Absolute Poker’s founders, won Event No. 11, the $5,000 no-limit hold’em shootout event.
His son is Scott Tom, according to wickedchopspoker.com, who is linked to the superuser scandal and the famous “potripper” account.
Whole thing here.
The story references a Web   …full article

WPT’s fate on TV looking bleak

The chances of the World Poker Tour being renewed for a new season on the Game Show Network have become slim after a deadline for the two companies has passed.
According to poker-king.com:

Lindgren tops Bonomo for first bracelet at WSOP; Singer takes pot-limit title

Erik Lindgren survived a table full of seasoned professionals to win his first World Series of Poker bracelet, outlasting Bodog pro Justin Bonomo for the title in event No. 4, $5,000 mixed hold’em.
The final table also included such stars as Howard Lederer, David Williams Roland   …full article

Nenad Medic wins WSOP Event No. 1 against star-studded final table

Nenad Medic became the first bracelet winner of this year’s World Series of Poker by besting a final table full of well-known players in event No. 1, $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em World Championship.
The final table included Andy Bloch, Kathy Liebert, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak, Patrik   …full article

Poker tourney prize: 21 million frequent flier miles

If you are a member of Continental Airlines’ frequent-flier program, you may be eligible to play in a poker tournament to win…frequent flier miles.
Continental’s program, OnePass, has partnered with the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas to put on a poker tournament where the top prize   …full article

‘Green’ poker table to debut at WSOP

It may seem like a drop in the ocean for environmentalists, but the first-ever ‘green’ poker table will make its debut at this year’s World Series of Poker.
The main event winner will get one of the tables courtesy of its manufacturer, New Jersey company EGM   …full article

Upcoming WSOP to deliver a number of firsts

The 2008 World Series of Poker begins on Friday at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and when it does, it will mark several firsts for the WSOP.
For the first time, the WSOP will offer a total of 55 different events.

Bellagio deep stack tournaments get even deeper

Starting in June, the Bellagio in Las Vegas will make increase the starting chip stacks for all of its daily tournaments, and for the major tournaments played there as well.
Currently, the Bellagio runs a daily $540 buy-in (3,000 chips) and a $1,080 buy-in on the   …full article

PokerStars changes Sunday schedule, Sunday Million always $215 buy-in

PokerStars announced that its popular Sunday Million tournament will always be a $215 buy-in event, instead of changing the buy-in to $530 once a month.

World Poker Association announces proposed tournament rules

The World Poker Association announced that it has compiled its proposed poker tournament rules for 2008, which it suggests should be used in tournaments around the world.
The rules will be distributed on May 28 in Las Vegas at the inaugural meeting of the association.
The   …full article

WSOP pre-registrations running ahead of schedule; low-limit events may fill early

The World Series of Poker improved its preregistration since last year’s event, and the result is that the world’s biggest series of poker tournaments is running ahead of schedule for getting people signed up for this year’s events.
According to pokernews.com:
The new cap on entries –   …full article

Hellmuth’s mug to appear on Milwaukee’s Best Light cans

If you want to crush Phil Hellmuth’s face, Milwaukee’s Best Light cans will give you the opportunity.
The beer manufacturer is a World Series of Poker sponsor, and it is producing 12 million cans with Hellmuth’s photo on them to commemorate his attempt to win a   …full article

First two-time winner in same FTOPS?

The player “halfrek” on Full Tilt Poker won two events in FTOPS VIII, making it the first time anyone has won two events in the same FTOPS, according to research by pokerkingblog.com.

America Online is offering six free WSOP seats

Internet provider America Online announced that it will be providing six seats to the World Series of Poker main event through online freerolls and games.com.
The freeroll poker tournaments will continue through June 15, with six lucky players going to Las Vegas in July.
According to online-casinos.com:
The   …full article

Ante Up for Africa event raises $500K

Pro poker player Annie Duke and actor Don Cheadle helped to raise more than half a million dollars for charity thanks to their Ante Up for Africa event at the San Manuel Casino in Los Angeles.
The casino itself added money to the funds raised by   …full article

No new episodes of ‘High Stakes Poker,’ WPT in danger too?

“High Stakes Poker” may be nearly done on the Game Show Network.
No new shows are in production, and GSN has not yet bought new episodes of the show.

WSOP to open branded store in Las Vegas

If you are looking for World Series of Poker merchandise, it’s going to be easier than ever to find now the powers behind the world’s largest poker gathering are opening a store in Las Vegas to sell WSOP-branded merchandise.
The WSOP announced a multi-year deal with   …full article

Bodog taking action on WSOP prop bets

Bodoglife.com is now taking bets on a variety of possibilities at the World Series of Poker, allowing anyone to bet on the action at poker’s biggest event.
Here are a few of the prop bets (odds as of Wednesday, May 14):
Will a player win 2 or   …full article

‘Poker After Dark’ hosting ‘couples night’

The NBC show “Poker After Dark” will be airing episodes this week featuring three of poker’s most famous couples.
The week’s theme is called “Love at First Raise,” featuring Jennifer Harman and Marco Traniello, David Benyamine and Erica Schoenberg, and Phil Laak and Jennifer Tilly all   …full article

Former WSOP winner Jamie Gold to host Playboy celebrity tourney

Jamie Gold, the winner of the 2006 World Series of Poker’s main event, will host the Celebrity Poker Tournament and Casino Night at the Playboy Mansion on Saturday.
He’ll be co-hosting with Khloe Kardashian from E!’s “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.” The event is a fundraiser   …full article

Ladbrokes to offer $1M if one of its players makes WSOP final table

Online poker site Ladbrokes has said any of its players that reach the final table of the main event of the World Series of Poker will earn $1 million from the site.
The money will come in the form of a sponsorship package, according to pokerpages.com:
Ladbrokes   …full article

Full Tilt to offer $25K buy-in heads-up tournament

Full Tilt Poker will be putting on the Full Tilt $25K Heads-Up World Championship on May 24-25 in what will be the most expensive tournament buy-in in the history of online poker.
The event takes place a week after the end of FTOPS VIII.

‘Real World’ cast members to play tourney at Doyle’s Room

Doyle’s Room will be hosting a special tournament on Wednesday that will feature members of recent casts of “The Real World,” the MTV reality show:
Recent “Real World” stars Dave Sky and Will Gill (Season 20) and Parisa Montazaran (Season 19, “Real World: Sydney”), will appear   …full article

Get your Package to the 2008 World Series worth $17,000

888.com gives you the chance to win 5 amazing packages to the 2008 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, worth $17,000 during the live broadcasting of 888.com’s biggest poker event, the World Poker Crown.
It has been an exciting 2 months during the online tournaments   …full article

Allen Cunningham wins WSOP circuit

Allen Cunningham will head into this year’s World Series of Poker seeking a sixth bracelet, and he’ll be on a bit of a roll.
Cunningham won the main event of the WSOP Circuit held at Caesars Palace. He entered the final table with an average chip   …full article

More details about changes to WSOP final table

Harrah’s held a conference call yesterday to discuss the coming change regarding the World Series of Poker main event, in which the final table will be delayed until November for the purposes of showing it almost live on television.

Report: WSOP main event final table to be played in November

An article published in USA Today is reporting that World Series of Poker main event final table will be delayed until November for the benefit of television.
The main event starts on July 3, and will continue until July 14, when the initial field will have   …full article

NBC announces automatic ways to qualify for NHUPC

It’s not getting any easier for anyone who wants to play in NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
The methods for getting an automatic invitation to the event in 2009 were announced by NBC, and the selection method will guarantee about half the spots in the   …full article

David Chiu stuns Gus Hansen to win WPT Championship

Gus Hansen looked like he had his fourth World Poker Tour title wrapped up at the WPT Championship. But David Chiu made an amazing comeback in heads-up play to win the event and the $3.4 million top prize.

Tourney to help poker make in-roads in Japan

The All Japan Poker Championship is scheduled to take place starting this Sunday in a country where there are no casinos and no gambling.
According to cardplayer.com:
Because casinos are not yet allowed to operate in Japan, this event was created to provide poker fans there an   …full article

Poker tourney to raise awarenss of Darfur crisis

San Manuel Casino in California is slated to host a celebrity poker tournament on May 8 to benefit and raise awareness of Ante Up for Africa, which is headed up by actor Don Cheadle and poker pro Annie Duke.
Ante Up for Africa hopes to shed   …full article

Another exclusive Pacific tournament with overlay

Pacific has set us up with another great tournament with excellent added value. Note that this tournament is open to both new registrations and those that registered for the event held last Sunday:
Time: Friday April 25th at 3pm EST
Name: PTP & RBN WPC Qualifier
Buy   …full article

Canadian wins EPT Grand Final

Twenty-two-year-old Glen Chorny of Ontario, Canada, won the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final on Thursday, outlasting a field of 842 other players to take the season-ending event.
Chorny pocketed just over 2 million Euros ($3.2 million) for the first-place finish, which is believed to be   …full article

Exclusive Pacific Poker Tournament

PTP and RNB were approached by Pacific Poker with the opportunity to run a private tournament this Sunday at 2pm eastern with an absolutely insane value. Pacific does not accept US players. Here are the details:

Great Britain wins Poker Nations Cup

Great Britain won the PartyPoker.com Poker Nations Cup that ended this week.
The team of professionals from the United Kingdom defeated six other teams in the tag-team poker format, where substitutions were allowed for each nation’s team in each of six “heats.”
According to pokerpages.com:
The winning GB   …full article

WPT reverses decision to take percentage of prize pool for charity

The World Poker decided yesterday not to donate a percentage of the prize pool for its 2008 Ladies Championship to charity after top women’s players said they wouldn’t play in the event because of the policy.
Two-time champion Susie Isaacs led a group of players who   …full article

Hachem nearly gets in fight at EPT Grand Final

Former World Series of Poker main event champion Joe Hachem is nicknamed “Salty” for a reason, apparently.
With 82 players left in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, Hachem nearly got into fisticuffs with a player named Woody Deck. At the time, players were two away   …full article

Barry Greenstein wins “Stars of Poker” event at EPT

While players were battling out in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final, PokerStars hosted an invitation-only table with poker pros playing for a first-prize of $100,000.
Barry Greenstein won the event, outlasting a talented field, according to pokerstarsblog.com:
The line-up was among the toughest you’ll see. Daniel   …full article

One UltimateBet player to go heads up with Phil Hellmuth

One lucky UltimateBet player will get the opportunity to play pro Phil Hellmuth in a heads-up match for $30,000 on Sunday.
UB is holding the Heads-Up SmackDown Bracket of Champions, which is down to its final four players after nine months of competition. The heads-up series   …full article

National Heads-Up Poker Championship TV schedule released

NBC recently updated the broadcast schedule for its fourth annual National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
Coverage of the event begins Sunday and will include action from all three days of the event, eventually won by Chris Ferguson against Andy Bloch in the best-of-three final.
According to pokerpages.com:
The Championship   …full article

Erik Seidel wins WPT’s Foxwoods Poker Classic

Erik Seidel started the final table of the Foxwoods Poker Classic with the most chips, and he ended the World Poker Tour event with all of them.
The final table — consisting of 6 players — lasted 12 hours and 229 hands, and the eight-time World   …full article

WPT to honor past champs, hand out bracelets

World Poker Tour champions will now get a bracelet — just like World Series of Poker event winners do — at an event honoring all its past champions later this month.
The “Ceremony of Champions” will be held at Bellagio’s “O” Theatre on April 21, where   …full article

WSOP main event final table: No delay this year?

A post at pokerati.com apparently quashes rumors — for now — that this year’s World Series of Poker main event final table could be delayed by months for the purpose of broadcasting on television it almost live.
Here’s the blog entry:
With all of the references to   …full article

Jennifer Harman continues charity poker event for Nevada pets

With a first place prize of a seat at the Main Event in the 2008 World Series of Poker, over 100 professional poker players including Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Jennifer “Jennicide” Leigh, Joe Hachem, and, of course, Jennifer Harman herself, the Second Annual Jennifer Harman   …full article

American qualifier wins EPT San Remo

The European Poker Tour San Remo final table featured four players who had made it to EPT final tables before. But an American who qualified online beat them all.
Jason “treysfull21″ Mercier won the event, cashing for $1.34 million in winning his first live poker tournament   …full article

Rumors swirling that WSOP main event final table will be delayed, broadcast almost live

The final table of this year’s World Series of Poker main event may be broadcast nearly live and may be delayed by several months to accommodate television, according to rumors circulating on the internet.
Under the plan, wickedchopspoker.com says the final table would be aired on   …full article

RaiNKhaN wins Foxwoods event, and is on a roll

On Wednesday, Hevad “RaiNKhaN” Khan won the $2,000 buy-in no limit hold’em preliminary event at the 2008 Foxwoods Poker Classic, winning $108,000.
Khan, who gained fame in reaching the final table of last year’s World Series of Poker main event, beat a field of 192   …full article

Asian Poker Tour announces 2008 schedule

The Asian Poker Tour released its 2008 calendar and has guaranteed a prize pool of $1 million at each of its four events.
The Tour will begin on May 27 in the Philippines and will wrap up on June 1 in Singapore. The APT will also   …full article

Lee Markholt wins WPT World Poker Challenge

Lee Markholt had cashed 14 times before on the World Poker Tour, but he never made it to a final table.
When he finally made it to one, he didn’t waste the opportunity.
Markholt won the WPT’s World Poker Challenge on Friday in Reno, Nev., taking   …full article

Irish Open ends, Londoner takes top prize

Neil Channing, 40, of London, England, bagged his first huge tournament win yesterday when he outplayed Irish Donal Norton and the rest of the final table in just more than three hours.
Channing took home a huge trophy and €801,400 of the PaddyPowerPoker.com guaranteed €3 million   …full article

PokerStars’ Sunday Hundred Grand gets even bigger

PokerStars’ giant weekly tournament, the Sunday Hundred Grand, just got bigger and shows no signs of slowing down.
PokerStars’ increased the field to 22,500 people for this Sunday’s edition of the tournament, an $11 buy-in. And the field was still full. When the tournament first started,   …full article

Small Town Poker Tour plans for Louisiana

The Small Town Poker Tour, billing itself as “changing the world of poker one hand at a time,” announced today the launch of its “Gator Flop Series” through Louisiana.
The charity poker events, which begin in April, will culminate in October with the award of   …full article

Hellmuth to host charity poker tournament after Kentucky Derby

If gambling at the Kentucky Derby isn’t enough for people at the biggest event in horse racing, there will be even more action after the Run for the Roses.
Phil Hellmuth and Robert Williamson III will host the Kentucky Derby Poker Championship at Caesars Indiana following   …full article

Last year’s third-place finisher at Wynn Classic takes top prize

Last year, in the inaugural Wynn Classic, Chris Moore took third place.
This time around, he sealed the deal.
In the second year of the event, Moore took the top prize of $692,286 in the $10,000 buy-in event.
Despite a top field of players entered in the   …full article

Dates of second WSOP Europe announced

Harrah’s has announced the dates for the second World Series of Poker Europe, which will be held September 19 to October 1 in London, England.
Last year was the inaugural event, and the London Clubs International will host the events again at three different locations. This   …full article

Former WPT, WSOP champ wins more than $1M at Bay 101

Brandon Cantu, who has won both a World Poker Tour and a World Series of Poker event, won the 2008 Bay 101 Shooting Star main event, pocketing more $1 million with the victory. He ran over the final table after coming into the last day   …full article

New WSOP rule limits celebration in 2008

The floor shows of the likes of Hevad Khan and Humberto Brenes most likely won’t be on display at the 2008 edition of the World Series of Poker. If they do, they might find themselves on the rail.
Harrah’s Entertainment released the 2008 edition of its   …full article

Huck Seed wins Canadian Open

Huck Seed, the 1996 World Series of Poker main event champion, won the 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship in Calgary, Alberta.
Seed wrapped up the win on Sunday for the $100,000 first prize. The win comes on the heels of his third-place finish at the 2008   …full article

Chip leader at final table of WSOP circuit event is DQ’d

The results at a World Series of Poker circuit event held in Atlantic City were pretty much overshadowed by the disqualification of the chip leader at the final table of the tournament.
Lesley Thornburg of Richmond, Va., was leading Event #1, the $300 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em   …full article

Everest Poker signs on as World Series of Poker sponsor

According to an announcement released today, Everest Poker has apparently replaced Party Poker as the primary poker room sponsor of the World Series of Poker. Terms of the deal were not announced, but Everest will be featured as a table logo on all WSOP   …full article

Justin Bonomo: Men Nguyen cheating in live tournament events

Professional poker player Justin Bonomo called out Men “The Master” Nguyen in a blog post today, accusing the well-known tournament player of cheating in various events. Similar accusations have been raised against Men in the past, and are primarily centered around charges of chip   …full article

Pre-registration for the World Series of Poker now open

Harrah’s announced today that the World Series of Poker is now open for pre-registration. Players have the option of registering for all 2008 World Series of Poker events either by registering in person at the main cage of the Rio, the host casino for   …full article

Bodog Poker Open kicks off this week

Online poker room Bodog Poker kicks off the inaugural installment of their tournament series, The Bodog Poker Open, on March 3rd with a $250 No Limit event that will have $10,000 added to the prize pool. The entire schedule is reprinted below.
All of the   …full article

Chris Ferguson wins the National Heads Up Poker Championship

Adding an exclamation point to an already impressive NHUPC resume, Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson triumphed over a field of 63 opponents to bring home the 2008 National Heads Up Poker Championship title.
Ferguson defeated fellow Full Tilt Poker pro Andy Bloch to win the title and half   …full article

Poker Stars and Full Tilt launch WSOP promotions

The two largest online poker rooms chose the same day to launch dueling promotions for the richest tournament series in poker - The 2008 World Series of Poker. Both Full Tilt Poker and Poker Stars revealed their extensive satellite schedules for a broad range   …full article

National Heads Up Poker Championship down to quarterfinals

The NHUPC is currently in Day Three, with the original field of 64 now whittled down to 8. The big surprise of the field is former Major League pitcher Orel Hershiser, who is taking on Andy Bloch. The remainder of the matches are   …full article

National Heads up Poker Championship heads into Day 2

The first day of the NHUPC wrapped up with several familiar faces - including defending champ Paul Wasicka - sent to the showers. It was a day of fairly massive suckouts and minor dramas, all of which are captured in the links below.
Here’s a   …full article

LV Sun: Odds for National Heads Up Poker Championship

Jeff Haney has an article in today’s Las Vegas Sun that lays out his list of the odds for the field of the fourth installment of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
At the top of the list: Chris Ferguson, Barry Greenstein, Alan Cunningham and Andy Bloch.   …full article

PokerStars qualifier wins EPT’s Scandinavian Open

An American is the latest winner on the European Poker Tour, as PokerStars qualifier Tim Vance won the tour’s stop in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Vance, a 46-year-old construction company manager from near St. Louis, Missouri, won the first prize of 21,086,400 Danish Kroner (around 830,000 Euros or   …full article

Antonio Esfandiari hired by the WPT to do something or other

The WPT has apparently decided that their model for success relies on fewer tournaments and more hype - at least that’s one conclusion you could draw from today’s announcement that the World Poker Tour has hired Antonio Esfandiari to be the ‘face of the WPT   …full article

National Heads-Up Poker Championship players announced

Sixty-three of 64 players in NBC’s fourth National Heads-Up Poker Championship have been confirmed for the event, according to pokerpages.com. The event begins Feb. 29 at Caesars Palace in Lax Vegas and features a first prize of half a million dollars.
The single-elimination tournament starts with   …full article

CardPlayer OPOY standings shuffled post-FTOPS

The CardPlayer Online Player of the Year standings saw a fairly significant shake-up in the wake of the recently concluded Full Tilt Online Poker Series VII. With a 3rd place finish in FTOPS 19 (on the heels of a Sunday Million win), Tomgus456 moved   …full article

World Poker Tour announces schedule for Season 7

The World Poker Tour released the schedule for season 7 of their popular live poker tournament series today. Season 7 will see the WPT visit 14 destinations, including stops at the Borgata, Bellagio, Foxwoods and The Bike.
The schedule is lacking some familiar stops,   …full article

FTOPS comes to a close with main event

Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS VII came to a close early this morning with a winner being crowned in the $535 main event, which had nearly 5,300 people registered. FTP member “Reverse” won the title by beating FTP pro Thomas Wahlroos heads up in the finale.
Reverse’s   …full article

Bodog announces tournament series: Bodog Poker Open

In the middle of another successful installment of Full Tilt Poker’s FTOPS tournament series, Bodog Poker announced the schedule for the inaugural run of their own tournament series - The Bodog Poker Open.
The series will have six events, capped off by a main event that   …full article

WPT announces TV broadcast schedule for Season 6 on GSN

The World Poker Tour announced the upcoming broadcast schedule for Season 6 of the poker tournament series today. This season, the WPT is leaving its long-time home at the Travel Channel and showing instead on the Game Show Network, also home to the popular   …full article

World Poker Tour downsizing live schedule?

Pokerati is reporting that the World Poker Tour live tournament schedule, set to be released next week, will feature significantly fewer tournaments than 2007’s schedule.
The tournament rumored to be cut are primarily Las Vegas stops.
Excerpt from Pokerati:

PokerStars running $2 million guaranteed FPP tournament

The Poker Stars Turbo Takedown - a tournament with one of the largest guaranteed prize pools in recent memory - is a more unique still for another reason: you can’t buy in with money.
The tournament, set to run at 2:30 EST on February 17th, can   …full article

Sheikhan uninvited from LAPD poker tournament

Shahram ‘Sheiky’ Sheikhan won’t be appearing as planned at an upcoming LAPD charity poker event, according to a story published today by PokerHelper.com. Sheikhan, whose possible deportation from the US due to past charges of sexual misconduct made news a few months ago, has   …full article

Timex: Most people should stay away from poker

In a series of comments to Canadian newspapers following his big EPT win last week, Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald sounded more like a PSA than an EPT champ - which is probably a good thing for the image of online poker players.
McDonald was profiled in an   …full article

Canadian teen wins PokerStars EPT Dortmund

Eighteen and a half years old, Michael McDonald has been playing live poker for only six months. Following the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop in Dortmund, Germany, he is now the youngest player ever to win an EPT stop. €933,600 richer from the   …full article

Herald Sun: Arrests made in Jason Potter robbery case

The Melbourne Herald Sun is reporting today that two men have been arrested in connection with the robbing of poker player Jason Potter. Potter was robbed of $30,000 at knifepoint earlier this month during the Aussie Millions.
From the MHS:
Detectives in Melbourne executed two search   …full article

Poker Stars and Full Tilt cooperating with Harrahs to offer Heads Up Poker Championship seats

In an announcement that’s a bit more significant than the typical online poker promotion, PokerStars.net revealed this week that they’ll be offering the opportunity for a PokerStars player to fill one of the four seats not already assigned for the 2008 Heads Up Poker Championship   …full article

World Poker Open winner: Brett Faustman

Brett Faustman wrestled his way to a new piece of jewelry, entry to the World Poker Tour championship this spring, and $892,413 in prize money at the Mississippi Gold Strike Casino & Resort yesterday.
After starting off in second place, the young insurance salesman and former   …full article

World Series of Poker radio to begin next week

January 28 will see the launch of WSOP Radio, the official show for the 2008 World Series of Poker.
The show, which will be presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light, is produced by Bluff Media. Host Nick Geber is a regular commentator on “World Series of Poker   …full article

CardPlayer updates criteria for Online Player of the Year award

CardPlayer has rolled out a revised set of criteria that will be used to determine the winner of the 2008 Online Player of the Year (OPOY) award. The big changes include the ability to officially ‘retire’ a screen name if you permanently switch names   …full article

Florida woman wins World Poker Tour Ladies inaugural event

The World Poker Tour Ladies league kicked off this week at the Borgata, with 383 women entering the inaugural No Limit Hold ‘em Event 6.
Regette Bechara, from Florida, walked away with $33,321 in first prize monies and a seat in the WPTL championship. This was   …full article

2008 Irish Open 2008 schedule

Paddy Power Poker released the schedule for the 2008 Irish Open. This year’s open promises a 3 million Euro prize pool for the main event, with first place guaranteed a minimum of 800k Euros.
Alongside the Main Event activities are the side events, including the first   …full article

Poker player Jason Potter robbed at Aussie Millions

Various sources, including the victim himself, are reporting this morning that 22-year old poker player Jason Potter was robbed of approximately $30,000 (US) yesterday near the site of the Aussie Millions. The robbery took place as Potter was heading back to his hotel after   …full article

Aussie Millions Main Event winner: Alexander Kostritsyn

The 2008 Main Event of the Aussie Millions poker tournament series has concluded, and it’s Alexander Kostritsyn who came out on top of a nearly 800 player field to capture the title and 1.65 million in cash.
Kostritsyn bested long-time pro Eric Seidel in a heads   …full article

Shane Warne joins 888.com, plays in Aussie Millions, sends texts

Shane Warne got in trouble from his seat at the Aussie Millions when he sent a text message. He received a five-minute suspension as a result, but the real consequence of his misguided messaging was the reemergence of gossip concerning the last time he got   …full article

2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure: final results

The 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has come to an end, and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is the winner, taking the $2 million top prize.
Hafiz Khan was second, with a not-too-shabby $1,100,000.
Complete coverage here

Irish Poker Championship winner: Jude Ainsworth

The Irish Poker Championship is over and has been won by an Irishman. Jude Ainsworth, 28, of Claregalway, took the top prize of €180,000 and a crystal trophy home with him from Galway City earlier this week.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” proclaimed   …full article

PokerProForAYear Winner: Luke Abolins

The Abolins parents must be proud. Two of their children, Luke and Jo Abolins, ended up in the finals competing to win PokerProForAYear, and one of them won. Not only did Luke win, but his sister held on till the final three.
Luke “Resteal” Abolins of   …full article

Pokerati: PokerBowl money problems

Dan Michalski over at Pokerati wrote about the inaugural PokerBowl and some apparent ongoing financial problems today. Excerpt:
I guess maybe we shouldn’t be surprised when a tournament that relies on too many freerolls and forgets to take any juice runs into a financial clusterflubbing.   …full article

Full Tilt Poker releases schedule for Online Poker Series 7

Online poker room Full Tilt Poker released the schedule for the seventh installment of their popular FTOPS tournament series this week. This time around, the online poker tournament series will offer a total of $10 million in guaranteed prize money spread out over 20   …full article

Aussie Millions gets underway, JJProdigy apparently to attend

Popular poker tournament series The Aussie Millions kicked off this Saturday, and promises to provide a steady stream of news and gossip during its two-week run that caps off with the final table of the Aussie Millions Main Event, currently scheduled for January 20th.
Last year,   …full article

WPT World Poker Open starts today

The first event of the 2008 World Poker Tour World Poker Open kicked off today at the Gold Strike Hotel and Casino in Tunica, Mississippi. The World Poker Open runs from today through Jan. 23, with the $10k championship event taking up the final three   …full article

2008 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour schedule

The 2008 schedule for the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour was recently released.
The tour, sponsored by Blue Square Poker, consists of nine legs stretching from January through mid-November, with the Grand Final taking place in London from Nov. 24-30. Prize monies have been announced to be   …full article

Card Player changes Player of the Year criteria for 2008

Card Player’s new rules for its 2008 Player of the Year qualifications are available in a column by Bob Pajich. Pajich supplies the entire list, pointing out which are changes from 2007.

The championship events of the following international tourneys all count toward POY standings: European   …full article

Card Player online player of the year: Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron

Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi came in third place in the Card Player Online Player of the Year ranking, with Isaac “westmenloAA” Baron continuing the streak he started last January with a $255,000 win from Poker Stars Sunday Millions. Matt “ch0ppy” Kay took a close second place.
Baron   …full article

Poker Stars: Josh “JJProdigy” Field not welcome at PCA

Controversial online poker whiz kid Josh “JJProdigy” Field will apparently have to delay his live tournament debut for a week or two. Field, who became notorious for admitted multi-accounting and various other offenses committed while he was racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars   …full article

Josh “JJProdigy” Field offers apology to online poker community

Josh Field, better known to the online poker world as “JJProdigy”, posted an apology of sorts on several major online poker forums this weekend, just days before he is set to make his live poker debut at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
“JJProdigy” is one of   …full article

WPT World Poker Classic Day Two gets underway

Day Two of the (deep inhale) World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic runs today. 152 players remain out of a starting field of 664, and they’ll be competing for a first prize worth almost 2.5 million. Phil Ivey starts   …full article

Main event of the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic underway at the Bellagio

The main event of the 2007 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic is underway at the Bellagio. This $15,000+300 buy in event caps weeks of tournament action at the Bellagio and should make for a great close to an exciting tournament year.
For up-to-the-minute coverage, check   …full article