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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 16 2012, Martin Harris, Mickey Doft

Remember way back when Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom was the talk of the SCOOP? Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb has made that a distant memory. Let’s recap what Deeb did on Day 10. He cashed in five of nine events, he made two final tables (bringing hit total this series to seven), and he won his third watch of the series. With four SCOOP victories, Deeb stands alone at the top of that list.

As expected, the “High” version of the 2-7 triple draw event drew a pro-heavy field of online poker’s elite. After nearly four hours there were still 100 players left of the starting 118, with “longerpig” leading a top five that included Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, and Ilya “ilushan” Gorodetsky. Three hours after that they were down to 32, by which time “TheCart3r” had pulled in front, followed by “TMMPOKPOK”, and “vovtroy.”

By the eight-and-a-half-hour mark they’d reached the stone-cold money bubble with 19 left. Recent eliminations at that point included one-time chip leader “TheCart3r” (20th), Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe (23rd), Clements (25th), and Mizzi (26th). Finally, after battling with a short stack for nearly half an hour, “jackal69″ became the bubble boy.

At that point, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo had pushed into first position as the only player with more than 60,000 chips. Over the next hour, six more fell, each earning $1,534: Calvin “cal42688″ Anderson (18th), “Spokey” (17th), Eugene “E. Katchalov” Katchalov (16th), “el_batong” (15th), “JeroenKoster” (14th), and “longerpig” (13th).

With 12 left, Mike “SirWatts” Watson led with Andrey “kroko-dill” Zaichenko not far behind. It would take a little more than an hour-and-a-half for six more to fall. Tim “TurnRiva” Marsters (12th), “TMMPOKPOK” (11th), and “CSWAMI” (10th) each took away $2,537, while “Papartis88″ (9th), “Wrathchild57″ (8th), and Zaichenko (7th) earned $3,835 apiece for 11 and a half hours of effort.

Here’s how the stacks looked for the last six at the start of the final table:

The first 40 minutes of action at the final table saw the stack of Event #5-M winner “joacowalter” grow while “vovtroy” and Bonomo’s stacks began to slide.

Finally, with the stakes having risen to 2,500/5,000, Bonomo found himself down to less than 12,000, 5,000 of which he called before the draw after Mike “SirWatts” Watson raised from UTG and “joacowalter” called from the SB.

All three players discarded two on the first draw, then “joacowalter” bet, Bonomo raised, Watson folded, “joacowalter” reraised, and Bonomo called with his last chips. Both of the remaining players took a single card on the second draw, then “joacowalter” stood pat while Bonomo took one again on his last opportunity. “joacowalter” showed , better than Bonomo’s , and they were down to five.

Watson was next to see his stack slip, and soon he and “merla88″ were capping the betting before the first draw for 10,000 apiece, leaving Watson but 8,447 behind. Both took one, and “merla888″ called Watson’s bet. Then Watson stood pat while “merla888″ discarded one again, and again Watson bet and “merla88″ called. On the third draw, Watson remained pat while “merla88″ tried once again discarding one. Then Watson bet his last chips and “merla88″ called.

Watson was taking his chances with , but “merla888″ had finally drawn better, tabling (a number four) to knock out Watson in fifth.

Next to go would be “merla888″ after falling short and then failing to survive a hand versus “vovtroy.” In that one, “vovtroy” called a “merla888″ preflop raise, both took two, “vovtroy” led, and “merla888″ called. Both took one on the second draw, and when “vovtroy” bet again “merla888″ raised for a just a touch more and “vovtroy” called, then standing pat while “merla888″ discarded one again. “merla888″ showed for a 10 low while “vovtroy” had for a winning eight.

The remaining trio battled another 40 minutes, with Dylan “ImaLucSac” Linde sliding down to less than 20,000 (just five big bets). All of Linde’s chips would then be in the middle by the second draw in a hand versus “vovtroy,” with Linde drawing two, one, then one while “vovtroy” took one twice then stood pat. Both ended up making 10-8 hands, but “vovtroy’s” beat Linde’s and they were down to two.

Heads-up play began with “joacowalter” ahead of “vovtroy” with more than 410,000 while “vovtroy” had just under 180,000. Gradually, “joacowalter” whittled “vovtroy” down to nearly nothing. Then, shortly after they’d crossed the 14-hour mark for the tourney, the final hand arose.

In that one, “vovtroy” was all-in before the first draw, then “joacowalter” took two, one, then stood pat, while “vovtroy” took two twice then one. “joacowalter” then tabled , better than “vovtroy’s” and “joacowalter” had claimed a second SCOOP victory.

The “Medium” version of 2-7 triple draw drew enough players to more than double the guarantee. The top 72 finishers got paid, with Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese among the min-cashers, taking away $172.80 for finishing 69th. Others realizing a profit in this one while falling shy of the six-handed final table included Marcin “Goral” Horecki (45th – $248.40), Ana Marquez (39th – $270), Alex “skalexjung” Jung (36th – $270), Jordan “iMsoLucky0″ Morgan (28th – $324), Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (22nd – $378), and Phil “USCphildo” Collins (14th – $502.20)

In the end, “Hefty.TILT” of Sweden outlasted the field to take the title in a bit more than 13 hours.

The “Low” version of 2-7 triple draw attracted enough players to eclipse the guarantee, with the top 390 finishers making the cash. Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb was there once again at the end, finishing 99th for $40.75. Kevin “iacog4″ Iacofano also made a relatively deep run to finish 24th for $149.33.

After “Dranik26″ was eliminated in sixth at the final table, the remaining five negotiated a five-way chop, then played down to two with “sumerki-2012″ enjoying a slight lead over “Flakon2010″ to start heads-up play. “sumerki-2012″ would add a few more chips, then surprisingly typed in the chat box a note about having to leave for a job and wishing “Flakon2010″ congratulations.

Thus did the tourney end somewhat strangely with “sumerki-2012″ blinding away to allow “Flakon2010″ to win the SCOOP watch and the extra $500 on the table following the chop.

*denotes five-handed deal

Out of the 74 players who participated in Event #26-H, only 12 made the money. The eliminations of Sorel “zangbezan24″ Mizzi (9th – $4,070), Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin (10th – $4,070), and Theo “Theo J” Jorgensen (11th – $4,070) set the stage for what has become a common theme this SCOOP series — Shaun Deeb winning.

Eugene “E. Katchalov” Katchalov

Daniel “DazzleO” Ospina was the first to be eliminated. Down to three big bets, Ospina started to commit his chips with /. By the time action got to fifth street Ospina had not improved with the and , while “kasparov007′s” board looked scary with {X}{X}/. Ospina committed his last big bet and saw that he was only in the running for half the pot as “kasparov007″ tabled down cards of . Ospina improved to two pair with the and on the final two streets, but “kasparov007″ caught the and to make trips and scoop the pot.

However, “kasparov007″ was the next to depart. Short stacked, “kasparov007″ was all-in on third street with /. When it was all said and done, “kasparov007″ made a pair of eights with an 8-7 low. The opponents in the hand, Shaun Deeb and Frederik “Fred_Brink” Jensen, each made a better hand. Deeb started with / but managed to hit four more diamonds for a flush, while Jensen began with / and made an 8-6 low.

Six hands later, Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen busted in sixth place to Deeb. Here is how their boards ended up.

Mozdzen: {X}{X}//
Deeb: {X}{X}//{X}

Mozdzen’s completion on third street was met with a raise from Deeb. A call from Mozdzen brought fourth street and gave him a pair on board. Mozdzen bet, Deeb called, and the action remained the same on both fifth and sixth street. When seventh street fell, Mozdzen’s bet was met with a raise from Deeb. An all-in call from Mozdzen revealed underneath for trips, while Deeb revealed for a full house to score the elimination.

Frederik “Fred_Brink” Jensen exited next, getting his last few chips into the middle with / against the / of Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli. With queens, Caprioli was ahead and Jensen failed to improve his hand. Four hands later Caprioli eliminated Eugene “E. Katchalov” Katchalov.

Katchalov defended his bring in with / and upon hitting the on fourth street, he committed his last two small bets. Caprioli held / and improved to aces and tens. Katchalov only made kings and fives, ending his run in fourth place.

Three-handed play began with the following chip counts:

About 90 minutes is how long it took until Rodrigo “caprioli” Caprioli was felted in third place. Caprioli was chipped down to three big bets, ultimately making a stand with /. The chips were in by fifth street, though the and weren’t much help. Shaun Deeb looked to make this a heads-up match and held /. No more held arrived for Deeb, but his pair of sevens held up as Caprioli failed to improve as well.

“PerpCzech” began heads-up play with more than a 2:1 chip lead, but Deeb snatched the 2:1 chip lead after a big pot. Here were their hands:

“PerpCzech”: {X}{X}//{X}
Deeb: {X}{X}//{X}

“PerpCzech” raised his bring in after Deeb’s completion. A call from Deeb led to a fourth-street bet from “PerpCzech,” raise from Deeb, and re-raise from “PerpCzech.” Deeb called to see fifth street and when checked to him, he bet. “PerpCzech” called and bet the open pair of sevens on sixth street. Deeb raised his four to a wheel, “PerpCzech” called, and seventh street saw “PerpCzech” check-call. Deeb tabled for a wheel, besting “PerpCzech’s” holdings. Six hands later Deeb took it down to win his fourth SCOOP event and third of this series.

Eugene “E. Katchalov” Katchalov

Among the notable finishers in Event #26-M were Erix “AceQuad” Brix (9th – $1,356), Jordan “iMsoLucky0″ Morgan (11th – $1,356), Calvin “cal42688″ Anderson (17th – $791), Ilya “ilushan” Gorodetsky (18th – $791), Gerald “viking47″ Ringe (20th – $791), and Alex “skalexjung” Jung (27th – $587.60).

Topping the 452-player field was “texaspl,” earning $17,176 for the win.

Shaun Deeb made another final table on Tuesday. He had some hefty competition for a low buy-in as Team PokerStars Online’s George “Jorj95″ Lind and Team PokerStars Pro (and all-time SCOOP cashes leader) George Danzer made it as well. In the end, Lind emerged with the victory.

The money hasn’t been reached yet in Event #27-H, but 135 of the 138 Day 1 survivors will indeed be somewhat satisfied with their performance when the bubble bursts on Wednesday. A few of the notables still in are James “jcamby33″ Campbell (12th – 84,930), Brendon “brendon1717″ Rubie (29th – 61,603), Jon “FatalError” Aguiar (49th – 45,944), James “mig.com” Mackey (82nd – 31,719), Martin Staszko (84th – 29,717), Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver (101st – 21,415), and Russell “rdcrsn” Carson (119th – 15,105). Play will resume at the 400/800/100 level.

Here are the top 10 stacks:

Event #27-M drew 4,992 participants and following Day 1 action, 169 remain. Cashing thus far: Billy “Patrolman35″ Kopp (206th – $324.48), David “SexSeen” Sands (211th – $324.48), Derek “derek8″ Lerner (218th – $309.50), Jared “jvengrin” Vengrin (225th – $309.50), Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis (238th – $292.52), and Christina “lindeyloo22″ Lindley (243rd – $294.52).

Among the remaining 169 players are Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (18th – 303,742), Dan “djk123″ Kelly (25th – 256,340), Andrey “ThePateychuk” Pateychuk (27th – 249,299), “uaredead lol” (47th – 199,667), Michael “WatchOutFish” Benvenuti (48th – 199,381), Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese (53rd – 189,528), and Steve “gboro780″ Gross (114th – 76,563).

Here are the top 10 chip counts:

From the massive starting field of 19,829 in Event #27-L, only 238 players remain from Day 1 action. Among the players who will return on Day 2 are Joe “Dyzalot” Morneau (83rd – 428,357), Paul “pvas2″ Vas Nunes (128th – 318,742), Mike “Gags30″ Gagliano (140th – 285,800), and Matthias “mattidm” De Meulder (170th – 228,928). Play will resume with the blinds and antes at 4,000/8000/1,000.

Here are the top 10 counts:

We will be providing daily recaps of all SCOOP Day 1s and final tables, so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews to stay up to date on all of the exciting action as it occurs.

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Posted by Maurizio in Uncategorized

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
04:49 min., May 13 2012

In the first part of this two part series, Terrence Chan opens up about how he found poker and how it shaped his early life.

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Posted by Maurizio in Uncategorized

May 14, 2012, Brett Collson

Online poker community, got one of his favorite discussion boards on Saturday. We’ll cover the story, plus the return of The Micros, in this edition of the nightly Turbo.

In case you missed it

Both the Sunday majors on PokerStars is working? Who took down the biggest score? Find out in a briefing Sunday.

Was crowned in the PokerStars spring Championship of Online Poker in Sunday’s winner, but several big names were in position to claim a massive score on Monday. Do you have details in day 8 SCOOP Recap.

We all know what poker players do to feel, but what’s in a “normal” life? In the last of a series of Off the feeling we’re talking with Ronnie Bardah about his break from poker, Muay Thai training, and more.

What is Terrence Chan did, than the professionally played poker? To see it, and in the latest edition of the seat open.

You miss the Sunday News, World Poker Tour on the FSN? Read our WPT Forecast.

TwoPlusTwo returns

On Saturday, the nightmare is over for Forum fanatics when TwoPlusTwo after two weeks pause back online. Web site was completed to address the breach of security, which took place on April 26. April.

In an interview last week with the TwoPlusTwo Pokercast owner Mason Malmuth said that he had no other option than to turn the Forum immediately after learning that a hacker penetrated the site. Malmuth added that the necessary security measures had to be carried out before it could allow members to return.

TwoPlusTwo users encountered with the following message when the site back online:

Welcome back! As most of you know, we had a problem, it means that the Forum had to be taken a little over two weeks. Log on to the Forum must reset your password. To do this-enter the e-mail address for your account, the Forum into the form for resetting your password, and then follow the instructions that are sent to you.

Let the trolling and photoshopping!

See you on the page

It’s been a long four months since we last heard from Chase, Max, the ball and the rest of The Micros gang. But according to co-creator John Wray, a popular animated series will make its return in the form of web comics until a new sponsor steps forward for the funding of video production.

“The animation, it seems, really is ‘ spensive, so instead of trying to extinguish an episode every few months we expose a Web comic books featuring the same characters, and hopefully, a few times a week,” Wray said the TwoPlusTwo forums on Saturday. “To find a sponsor to get back to the cartoons, but until then, we hope that you enjoy it.”

The first edition is characterised by ESPN commentators Lon McEachern and Norman Chadand the rest of the crew of The micron. It is good to have them back.

Visit the page Facebook fan The Micros more photos, including some fun posters for web comics.

Questions loom in Spain

The dispute emerged in Spain, a new online gaming market to open on December 1. June 2012.

According to eGaming review for the Department of Spanish tax tax on license applicants who were in the country during the last four years. More than 60 online gaming companies have applied for licences to operate under the new regime, but large companies such as PokerStars and bwin. Parties are reportedly facing a massive tax bills, if they wish to do business in the new space.

11. the hourly demand for back taxes probably stems from Spain, the growing economic crisis. Operators were originally told they would have to pay taxes in July 2011, but the Government is investigating whether the number of online gaming companies are responsible for the taxes than the Gambling Act was implemented in February 2011.

Now the Spanish poker players are left, wondering what the future holds for online poker in the country. Sites, Bodog, Unibet and Microgaming has already ended on the market in recent months, and last week, Titan Poker has announced that it will no longer accept deposits from players from the new rules.

Read more on the eGaming Review.

Cleveland rocks

Ohio in the first casino opened in Cleveland in Monday morning, almost three years after the voters approve the project, 53 percent of the vote. $ 350 million Horseshoe Casino Cleveland offers 30tabulka World Series of Poker-branded poker room, which is expected in the near future to host WSOP Circuit stop.

Cesars and Rock, Ohio, began to develop the Horseshoe as the joint venture after the Ohio vote allowing casinos in 2009. The Casino will have 100 000 square metres of floor game 2100 slot machines, table games and poker room. It is expected that the casinos employ around 1,600 people.

Horseshoe Casino Cleveland, developed by the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers , Dan Gilbert, the first four casinos in the State by the end of next year. Toledo’s running Hollywood Casino next week, and Cincinnati and Columbus Casino set to open next year.

Read more on the game today.

| Photo courtesy of Bullz-eye Blog.

Thrilled, crushing

Shaun Deeb took a huge lead in the leaderboard 2012 PokerStars spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) after winning his second title of the series on Saturday. He did so by defeating the stacked field of 68 players in case of breeding $ 2,000 Triple, and he followed that the achievement of the final table in the $ 2 k No-Limit Hold ‘em Shootout 10-Max. Here’s the play by shooting made the table, courtesy of PokerStars. tv:

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By Brett Collson for

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Posted by Maurizio in Uncategorized

Il server ha restituito una risposta non prevista: (400) Bad Request.
Il server ha restituito una risposta non prevista: (400) Bad Request.
May 15 2012, Martin Harris, Mickey Doft

On Day 9 of the 2012 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) at PokerStars, 15 players earned SCOOP victories. Ankush “pistons87″ Mandavia, winner of the WCOOP $10,000 High-Roller last September, added a SCOOP victory to his résumé. Also getting victories on Day 9 were Mayu “marroca5″ Roca, Ariel “ArielBahia” Celestino, and Nicolas “niccc” Chouity. In addition, “JRADF79″ made not one, not two, but three final tables.

After an hour and a half on Day 2, the 53 players who began Day 2 had been whittled down to 27, with James “mig.com” Mackey having pushed in front, eventually becoming the first player to 1 million chips.

Among the bustouts during the early going on Monday were Matt “ADZ124″ Marafioti (46th – $5,474), Markus “MarkusG91″ Garberg (44th – $6,256), Matt “All_in_at420″ Stout (40th – $6,256), Jeremy “00psiedaisy” Fitzpatrick (37th -$6,256), and Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (28th – $7,038).

Vanessa Selbst was next out in 27th after running pocket kings into the of “selinantis.” Adam “Roothlus” Levy was next out in 26th, followed shortly after by Chris “NigDawG” Brammer (24th) and Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer (22nd), all of whom, like Selbst took away $7,820.

Then Viktor “Isildur1” Blom was ousted in 20th — earning the same $7,820 payday — when his failed to hold in a three-way all-in versus “selinantis”‘ and “SUNDAYKING”‘s . A jack flopped, and “selinantis’” hand held to knock out the swingy Swede.

Soon, just 18 remained, and over the course of the next hour and a half came the last nine eliminations before the final table. “Shongalolo” went out in 18th, followed by Jonathan “johnduhamel” Duhamel (17th) and Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (16th), all of whom earned $10,948. “selinantis” (15th), Adrià “Chojjasd” Balaguer (14th), and “Gala_Terry” (13th) were next to go, each taking away $14,076. And “FreezeOutLV” (12th), Ivan Demidov (11th), and “scout326″ came up just shy of the last table, earning $17,204 apiece.

The final table was set.

It took an hour and 15 minutes before the first elimination of the final table. Following a min-raise open to 40,000 by Mackey, “anthonyff” reraised all-in for 509,244 with and Mackey called with . The board ended up coming to give Mackey quads and send “anthonyff” out in ninth.

Soon they reached the six-hour break for the day, at which point Mackey and Brian “brianmn15″ England sat side by side with more than 2.2 million each, well in front of third-place Jonathan “jonyctt” Concepción sitting to their left with just over 870,000.

Just after they returned, Bryn Kenney open-pushed all-in from the small blind for 367,087 (about 14.5 BBs) with and got called by Ken “kenny05″ Smaron in the big blind who held . The board brought two eights, two jacks, and a deuce, and Kenney was out in eighth.

About a half-hour after that, Smaron open-shoved from the small blind with and Morten “-MortenVM-” Mortensen called with his last 524,922 holding . The community cards came , meaning a set of fours for Smaron and a seventh-place finish for Mortensen.

A little later England opened with a min-raise to 50,000 from the button, then Mackey made it 121,000 from the small blind. Concepción responded in the big blind with an all-in push for 756,426, England reraised, and Mackey got out. Concepción had and England , and after an ace flopped Concepción was drawing dead by the turn, out in sixth.

Soon they were down to four when José “nachobarbero” Barbero open-pushed from the small blind with but ran into “SUNDAYKING”‘s pocket queens in the big blind. A jack flopped, but no other help came for Barbero who was out in fifth.

A little later Mackey min-raised to 60,000 from under the gun, “SUNDAYKING” reraised to 148,999 from the small blind, and England four-bet to 285,000 from the big blind. Mackey shoved for 932,197 total, “SUNDAYKING” reraised all-in a stack of a little over 2 million, and England stepped aside. “SUNDAYKING” had and Mackey . The flop came to put “SUNDAYKING” in front, and after the turn and river, Mackey was out in fourth.

The remaining three did pause to talk about a possible deal, but terms couldn’t be reached and the tourney played on through the day’s seven-hour break. A few minutes later Smaron raised to 60,000 from the button, “SUNDAYKING” reraised to 135,133 from the small blind, and England folded. Smaron then pushed for 635,304 total and “SUNDAYKING” called. It was for “SUNDAYKING” and for Smaron. Five cards later the board showed , which added up to a pair for “SUNDAYKING” and a third-place finish for England.

Heads-up play began with “SUNDAYKING” in front with about 4.73 million to England’s 3.08 million. They battled nearly an hour to the next break, during which stretch “SUNDAYKING” increased his lead by another 750,000 or so to take a better than 2-1 lead.

Then came a big hand in which England three-bet before the flop, then led all three post-flop streets ending with an all-in push on the river with the board showing . “SUNDAYKING” called the whole way, turning over for sixes, not enough against England’s for queens, and suddenly the stacks had essentially switched with England now enjoying a 2-1 lead.

England started to chip further at “SUNDAYKING,” then the latter doubled back to nearly even with versus England’s . They played a bit further, then decided to pause to discuss a possible deal with England enjoying a slight lead. Terms could not be reached, however, and play resumed.

“SUNDAYKING” soon grabbed the advantage, then pushed back ahead to more than 5.34 million to England’s 2.47 million. Then “SUNDAYKING” opened for the minimum with a raise to 100,000 from the button, England reraised to 288,500, and after thinking a bit “SUNDAYKING” called.

The flop came single-suited — . England led for 315,500, “SUNDAYKING” raised to 631,000, England shoved, and “SUNDAYKING” snap-called, showing for a flopped flush. England had , and after the turn and river brought a couple of jacks, the tourney was over.

Only 63 players made it through to Day 2 in Event #20-M, with “Tha Giggy” leading and Ryan “Daut44″ Daut and JC “PrtyPsux” Alvarado both contending at the top of the counts. “Tha Giggy” ultimately fell in 40th ($2,206.40) and Daut was eliminated in 29th ($2,371.88).

Meanwhile, Alvarado would make a deep run to finish in fourth, while “raidalot” ultimately took the title and whopping first prize.

It took a little over two hours for the 53 returners to play down to a final nine in Event #20-L. Among those who cashed Monday afternoon were Jamie “TheCronic420″ Rosen (34th) and Kenny “LoneHixx” Hicks (33rd), both for $880.52.

Ariel “ArielBahia” Celestino enjoyed the chip lead to start the last table, and after the last hand was dealt Celestino was also in first position to earn $55,048.04 on a $25+$2 buy-in.

As was the case in Event #20-H, a number of familiar names and avatars were among the group returning for Day 2 of Event #21-H. Only 60 players remained, and in the first four-plus hours of play on Monday, the field was trimmed down to a single table.

Among those coming up shy of the final nine were Iulian-Georgian “Ruxandescu” Ruxandescu (57th – $5,706), Grayson “gray31″ Ramage (55th – $5,706), Ignat “0human0″ Liviu (54th – $6,276.60), Luke “lb6121″ Schwartz (51st – $6,276), Bolivar “Ramux” Palacios (49th – $6,276.60), Matt “ch0ppy” Kay (46th – $6,276.60), Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese (40th – $7,037.40), Dmitry “Russian_nuts” Stelmak (37th – $7,037.40), Leo Fernandez (36th – $7,988.40), Rick “ThEcLaiMEer” Trigg (35th – $7,988.40), Tim “Tmay420″ West (30th – $7,998.40), Jordan “iMsoLucky0″ Morgan (28th – $7,988.40), Michael “YrrsiNN” Huber (24th – $9.129.60), Mike “Pipedream17″ Dietrich (22nd – $9.129.60), Brian “$tinger 88″ Hastings (17th – $12,933.60), James “mig.com” Mackey (15th – $16,737.60), Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen (14th – $16,737.60), and Jon “LUFCBas” Spinks (10th – $20,541.60).

Here’s how the stacks looked at the start of the final table:

Soon after the final table began, “ministerborg” opened with a min-raise to 28,000 from early position and got a caller in “10IsTheYear.” from a seat over. Action folded to “hook2120″ in the cutoff who reraised to 86,485, then “Exan15″ reraise-shoved all-in for 220,255 total from the small blind. Action then folded back to “10IsTheYear” who shoved over the top, as well, and forced out “hook2120.”

The hands that were turned over were just about what one would expect: for “Exan13″ and for “10IsTheYear.” An ace flopped, “Exan13″ couldn’t make the unlikely comeback, and quickly they were down to eight.

It took more than an hour-and-a-half for the next elimination, during which stretch Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver pushed out ahead with nearly 2.5 million. With the blinds at 12,500/25,000, “ministerborg” raised to 50,000 from UTG, then it folded to “JACK-CRACK-R” on the button who shoved for 634,865 total. Action folded to Stefan “I’am_Sound” Huber in the big blindcalling with his last 557,092, as “ministerborg” stepped aside.

Huber had and “JACK-CRACK-R” , and after the flop came Huber appeared in good shape to double up. But the turn was the and river the , giving “JACK-CRACK-R” a straight and sending Huber out in eighth.

More than 60 hands passed before the next elimination. After “trontrontron” raised for the minimum to 60,000 from early position, “JRADF79″ reraised to 183,824 from one seat over, then Chris Oliver called from the small blind and action folded back to “trontrontron,” who called.

The flop came and both Oliver and “trontrontron” checked. The turn was the , and this time Oliver bet 99,988 and got a call from his opponent. The river then brought the and a check from Oliver, and when “trontrontron” bet Oliver let it go. “trontrontron” showed for the flush, better than “JRADF79″‘s and sending the latter out in seventh.

Soon after “ministerborg” raised to 70,000 from under the gun, “trontrontron” reraised all-in for a little over 680,000, and action folded back to “minsterborg,” who called. “minsterborg” had and “trontrontron” , and when the board came jack-high, “trontrontron’s” run ended in sixth.

Next, “hook2120″ raised to 70,000 from under the gun, then “ministerborg” reraised to 164,200 from the small blind. “hook2120″ called, and the flop came . “ministerborg” led for 142,400 and “hook2120″ called. The turn was the and this time “ministerborg” checked. “hook2120″ took the invitation to bet 198,465, and “ministerborg” called. The river was the . “ministerborg” checked again, and when “hook2120″ bet 598,465, “ministerborg” check-raised all-in and “hook2120″ called with the 1,059,997 he had left. “ministerborg” showed for the flopped full house, while “hook2120″ turned over for a turned, lesser full house. Just four remained.

A little while later “ministerborg” open-shoved from the small blind with and “10IsTheYear” called from the big blind with . The board came , and trip nines for “ministerborg” meant fourth was the finish for “10IsTheYear.”

The final three played on, then “JACK-CRACK-R” made a min-raise to 100,000 from the button, and Oliver raised to 235,755 from the small blind. “ministerborg” got out, then “JACK-CRACK-R” shoved all-in for 1,058,734 and Oliver called. “JACK-CRACK-R” had and Oliver . The flop came to give Oliver a pair and a flush draw, then the fell on the turn to complete the spade flush and make the river no matter.

Heads-up play began with “ministerborg” holding a small lead over Oliver with about 5.27 million to Oliver’s 4.23 million. About 15 minutes into their duel, the stacks were roughly the same when “ministerborg” raised to 100,000 and Oliver made it 287,855. When “ministerborg” reraised back to 528,400, Oliver responded again with a push up to 832,140. But “ministerborg” persisted, making it 1,150,070 to go. Then Oliver shoved and “ministerborg” called.

When “ministerborg” had and Oliver had but , the board ran out and “ministerborg” won $344,262 and a SCOOP watch.

On Day 2 of the “Medium” version of Event #21, only 84 players returned. Among those making it to Monday but finishing short of the final table were Nick “Nickdawgg” Harvalis (69th – $2,126.30) and Rob “Vaga_Lion” Akery (27th – $3,455.24). In the end, “AjaceJackAJ” outlasted Hiren “hustla16″ Patel heads-up for the win and $224,595.

Only 62 players made it through Day 1 of Event #21-L on Sunday, and after four-and-a-half hours and a four-way chop on Monday “feloone” emerged with the win.

*denotes four-handed deal

The final table was set for Event #22-H when Noah “Exclusive” Boeken burst the final table bubble during hold’em. Holding , a series of raises between Boeken and Mayu “marroca5″ Roca culminated with Boeken five-bet shoving for about 70 big blinds. Roca called with and his kings held up to give him a sizable chip lead to begin the final table. Here is how it stacked up:

Andrew “RunThisTable” Lichtenberger

Julian “MrCoco” Gardner exited on the first hand of the final table, three-bet shoving for about 20 big blinds with . In the big blind, “benzidebuc” woke up with and re-raised to isolate the pot. Christian “charder30″ Harder folded his opening raise and “benzidebuc” took the pot down when the board came down .

Balázs “birs320″ Botond was the next to hit the rail, doing so during 2,500/5,000 pot-limit Omaha. After he min-raised to 10,000 in middle position, Mayu Roca called from the cutoff to see a flop. A check from Botond led to bet of 12,500 from Roca. A raise, re-raise, and all-in call led to Botond being all-in for 16 big blinds with for a wheel draw and flush draw. Roca tabled for a straight with a smaller flush draw, successfully holding through the turn and river.

A few hands later it was the end of the tournamennt for “benzidebuc.” A series of preflop raises resulted in “benzidebuc” all-in with for about 17 big blinds. Charlie “JIZOINT” Combes was ahead with and stayed that way through the board.

After doubling up Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo in pot-limit Omaha, Andrew “RunThisTable” Lichtenberger fell a little while later during hold’em. Action folded to Charlie Combes in the small blind and he shoved, leading to Lichtenberger calling all-in for nine big blinds with . Combes was ahead with and earned the pot when the board fell .

A few hands “Python817″ exited. After losing with aces to Justin Bonomo’s flopped two pair a few hands earlier, “Python817″ shoved for 11 big blinds on the button with . Charlie Combes called from the big blind with and took it down when the board ran out .

An hour passed before the next elimination and two hands after that, the tournament was over. It occurred during the 5,000/10,000/1,250 level of hold’em. Mayu Roca opened to 20,000 in the cutoff and Charlie Combes three-bet jammed for 253,296 on the button. Christian Harder, from the small blind, four-bet shoved for 396,293. Roca mulled it over, ultimately opting to call for more than one-third of his chips with . He held the lead against the of Combes and of Harder. The board rolled out to give Roca the pot.

Now with more than a 3-1 chip lead heads-up, Roca closed it out just two hands later. His button min-raise was called by Bonomo, landing a flop. A check from Bonomo led to a Roca bet of 21,800. Bonomo, though, put in a raise to 52,000 which was met with a re-raise to 110,00 by Roca. Yet another raise came, this one to 180,000 by Bonomo. Roca ended the re-raising madness with a shove. Bonomo called all-in for another 310,000 with , looking to catch a diamond against Roca’s . However, the turn filled up Roca to give him the hard-earned victory when river didn’t for a miracle chop for Bonomo.

Andrew “RunThisTable” Lichtenberger

Notable Finishes: Ozenc “ozenc” Demir (18th – $3,924), Peter “Apathy123″ Jetten (20th – $3,052), João “joaobarb” Barbosa (22nd – $3,052), Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart (23rd – $3,052), Stefan “I’am_Sound” Huber (27th – $3,052)

Among those going deep but falling short of the final table in Event #22-M were James “jcamby33″ Campbell (56th – $428.17), Mayu “marroca5″ Roca (48th – $466.23), Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (32nd – $608.96), and Martin “AABenjaminAA” Hruby (10th – $1,484.34).

Ultimately “GermanBraine” prevailed versus “hazelasty,” although after their chop, “hazelasty” came away with slightly more prize money.

*denotes two-handed deal

The “Low” version of the mixed NLHE/PLO event attracted another big field creating a prize pool that more than tripled the guarantee. After 12-and-a-half hours, “CMoosepower” emerged victorious following a two-way chop with eventual runner-up “Denff.”

*denotes two-handed deal

A field of 395 came to play in an event that is not for the faint of heart. There were three-bets and four-bets galore in Event #23-H. Among those who came up short of the final table were Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil (6th – $18,375.40), Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli (8th – $18,375.40), Tom “kingsofcards” Marchese (9th – $12,600.50), Joseph “subiime” Cheong (16th – $9,361.50), Dan “djk123″ Kelly (24th – $6,912.50), and Tom “hitthehole” Middleton (27th – $6,320).

Here were the chip counts to start the final table:

Karolis “g.karolis” Grybauskas

The players immediately took a look at the numbers and agreed on a deal, leaving $6,000 on the line for first place. Still, it was another half hour before the first elimination. Aaron “AaronBeen” Been was the one, getting his last 15 big blind into the pot against the of Ankush “pistons87″ Mandavia. A hit both, but gave Mandavia a set. The turn sealed it, ending Been’s run.

“JRADF79″ fell in fourth place. After he ran pocket tens into the pockets kings of Ankush Mandavia, “JRADF79″ got it in with on a board. His opponent in the hand, Karolis “g.karolis” Grybauskas, held a dominating and while “JRADF79″ picked up a few chop outs with the turn, the river offered no help.

Richard “nutsinho” Lyndaker exited in third place. At 2,500/5,000/625, he raised to 12,5000 from the small blind and was called by Ankush Mandavia in the big blind. When the flop fell , Lyndaker bet 15,000. Mandavia popped it to 42,115, only to see Lyndaker come back over the top to 97,531. With the bigger stack, Mandavia shoved. An all-in call for 273,759 more came from Lyndaker with . Mandavia was ahead with , but certainly was not in the clear. The turn gave Lyndaker a few more outs to a straight, the river did not get the job done.

Mandavia began heads-up play with about a 2:1 chip lead and went on to close out the match. Having extended his lead to about 3:1, Mandavia five-bet shoved with the bigger stack holding . Grybauskas showed but failed to hold up as the board ran out .

Karolis “g.karolis” Grybauskas

*denotes five-handed deal

Among those who posted solid showings in Event #23-M were Dan “Danny98765″ Smith (14th – $2,989.98), Alex “Schildy1984″ Debus (25th – $2,010.96), Jon “PearlJammer” Turner (29th – $1,856.61), Laurynas “LaurisL91″ Levinskas (39th – $1,671.39), and David “SexSeen” Sands (50th – $1,486.17).

Taking it down outright was “forhayley,” who pocketed $68,125.68

Highlighting the final table of Event #23-L was Zach “HustlerGrune” Gruneberg, but he busted in fifth place. A four-handed deal was struck and “Faaalk” emerged victorious.

*denotes four-handed deal

It took less than three and a half hours to declare a winner in Event #24-H. Before we get there, here were some of the notables who came close to the final table: Paul “paulgees81″ Volpe (12th – $10,272), Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee (13th – $8,667), Joe “ender555″ Ebanks (17th – $7,062), Anthony “wwwBTHEREcom” Gregg (18th – $7,062)

Here were the chip counts at the start of the final table:

Jorryt “TheCleaner11″ van HoofLuke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier

Jorryt “TheCleaner11″ van Hoof exited on the first hand of the final table, getting it in for six big blinds with . Alex “AlexKP” Petersen put van Hoof at risk with and got the job done when the board ran out . While the aces worked for Petersen, they didn’t fare as well for Dan “Danny98765″ Smith. He three-bet jammed his eight-big-blind stack from the big blind with and was called original raiser “Milana Jones’” . The flop gave “Milana Jones” a wheel and Smith was unable to catch up.

“Jamie_KK” was felted in seventh place, calling off his final two big blinds with . “Milana Jones” showed and held up when the board came down . Alex Petersen departed next, also at the hands of “Milana Jones.” With about five big blinds, Petersen raise-called all-in with . “Milana Jones” tabled and while Petersen improved with the board to a flush, “Milana Jones’” full house earned the pot.

João “IneedMassari” Simão fell in fifth place, calling all-in for two-and-a-half big blinds with . That led the of “MaiseE,” but the flop came down to give “MaiseE” a straight. Nothing crazy came from the turn or river to give “MaiseE” the elimination. At that point the remaining four players agreed to a deal. Once the terms were worked out, Luke “LukeFromB13″ Staudenmaier busted in fourth place. His chips were in preflop with against the of “MaiseE.” The flop put Staudenmaier ahead with top set, but “MaiseE” took it right back when the landed on the turn. No one-outer hit the river, leaving three players left.

The next elimination was also the last, coming in the form of a double. “Milana Jones” opened with a raise on the button and “JRADF79″ called all-in from the small blind. “MaiseE” called from the big blind, leading to a flop. Taking a tiny stab, “MaiseE” bet the minimum. “Milana Jones” put in a small raise, leading to “MaiseE” re-raising. An all-in call from “Milana Jones” revealed the following hands:

“MaiseE”: — straight, top two pair
“Milana Jones”: — straight, flush draw
“JRADF79″: — smaller flush draw

Tied for the lead with a straight, “MaiseE” clinched it when the hit the turn with a full house to seal the deal.

Luke “LukeFromB13″ StaudenmaierJorryt “TheCleaner11″ van Hoof

*denotes four-handed deal

Aaron “JeanGrae” McCready (12th – $2,647.08), Nick “caecilius” Petrangelo (14th – $2,062.26), Liv Boeree (15th – $2,062.26), William “Altrum Altus” Reynolds (17th – $1,477.44), Elad “Gambit360″ Nosimaj (23rd – $1,231.20), and McLean “PureProfitFo” Karr (35th – $1,077.30) all made deep runs in Event #24-M. After a three-way deal, Nicolas “niccc” Chouity emerged victorious over the 1,364-player field and pocketed $47,063.

*denotes three-handed deal

Four-and-a-half hours is all it took for a field of 5,552 to be whittled down to just one in Event #24-L. “Darreta” emerged victorious, defeating David “Mrdawwe” Sonelin heads-up for the outright win worth more than $18,000.

We will be providing daily recaps of all SCOOP Day 1s and final tables, so be sure to keep it here at PokerNews to stay up to date on all of the exciting action as it occurs.

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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 15 2012, Rich Ryan

The 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) is drawing to a close this Sunday but not before three main events with $1 million, $1.5 million and $2.5 million guarantees are offered. A staggering 115,004 unique players have played in one or more of the 72 events thus far, generating a prize pool of $35,873,599. There have been 155 countries represented, and 131 countries have cashed at least once.

At the top of the SCOOP 2012 Leaderboard is Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb (Mexico) with 470 points. His closest competitor, JRADF79 (Belgium), has only 305 points, and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom (United Kingdom) is tied for third with 290 points.

1. Waffle Crushing SCOOP 2012

Over the first nine days of SCOOP 2012, Shaun Deeb has recorded nine cashes, three final tables, and two wins. Unlike Blom, who won no-limit hold’em events on consecutive days, both of Deeb’s victories came in seven-card stud. His first victory came in SCOOP 10-H: $2,000 Limit Stud ($25K Guaranteed), where he bested a field of 64 entrants to take home the top prize of $41,600. Joining him at the final table were Team PokerStars Online George “Jorj95” Lind (8th, $5,120), Pat Pezzin (6th, $7,040), Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer (4th, $12,800), and James “Andy McLEOD” Obst (3rd, $19,200).

In the end, Deeb found himself heads up with ”TheMuppet”, who had a slight chip advantage. Initially, TheMuppet extended the lead, but eventually Deeb came roaring back to win his second career SCOOP watch.

Three days later, Deeb took down SCOOP 19-H $2,000 Triple Stud ($50K Guaranteed). Deeb was second in chips entering the final table, trailing only Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov, and eventually the two were three-handed with British pro Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick tagging along. Despite having Deeb out-chipped, both Chidwick and Katchalov were willing to make a deal that would’ve paid Deeb more than the value of his chip stack. Deeb turned it down however, and three hours later, he had every single chip.

shaundeeb shaun deeb Another scoop tilte for me, super tough and long 3h match between stevie and @EugeneKatchalov both played well but turned down a +ev chop May 13 2012

With the win, Deeb joins Calvin “cal42688” Anderson as the only two players with three career SCOOP watches. More importantly, Deeb continues to master mixed games, which sets him apart from basically every other young online poker player. Over the past few weeks, I’ve heard various players say — in one way or another — that no-limit hold’em is “solved.” There are so many standard plays, and so many people understand these standard plays, that the edge in the game is becoming thinner and thinner. Conversely, very few people are playing stud variants, and when they do, they rarely have a discernible edge over their opponents.

Poker, like many things, is cyclical. Once upon a time, five-card draw was the most popular game played. You’d be hard-pressed to find a dozen casinos in the country that will spread five-card draw for you today, that is unless you’re a whale or a high roller. The game is restricted to home games and a few tables online. That’s it. No-limit hold’em will continue to be the most popular game for a long time, but the gap between hold’em and Omaha is closing before our eyes. Soon, the stud variants will catch up, as well.

The best poker players adapt, and drift to where the soft money is. Deeb has been grinding mixed games at the Aria for many months now, and it’s clearly paying off. Along with his two recent SCOOP victories, Deeb finished fourth in the six-handed 10-game event at the 2011 World Series of Poker. Don’t be surprised if you see him at another non-hold’em final table this summer.

2. BULLDOZZZZERRRRRRRR

The WSOP held its annual conference call last week, and during the one-hour presentation, both Executive Director Ty Stewart, and Tournament Director Jack Effel discussed a few rule changes. On Monday, the 2012 rule book was published online, so here are the new rules word for word.

There have been special exceptions made for Rule 104, which previously stated that players may not “disclose the contents of live or folded hands, advise or criticize play at any time, read a hand that hasn’t been tabled, or discuss strategy with an outside source.” The exceptions are as follows:

”A participant is allowed to mention the strength of his/her hand if no other Participant in the hand will have a decision to make.

In heads-up events, or when down to the last two Participants in a Tournament, Participants may speak freely regarding the contents of their hands

The Floor Person reserves the right to use his/her judgment to determine if one Participant intentionally helped another participant. Participants who violate this rule are subject to penalty in accordance with Rules 39, 102, and 103”

As a group, these exceptions should be named the Negreanu Exceptions, because for years, Daniel Negreanu has argued that player should be able to speak freely — as long as they’re not colluding. We can also agree that the second exception should be named the Heinz-Staszko Exception because when Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko played heads up for the 2011 Main Event bracelet, not a single word was spoken, and the entire East Coast fell asleep. Stewart, Effel and the WSOP board are very aware that they need to make poker as entertaining as possible, and they hope that these new rule changes will entice players to chat a little more on the felt.

Speaking of celebration, if you go to the rules page, hit command+f ,then type “celebration,” you will receive 0 matches. That’s because Rule 46 is no longer recognized, meaning if you want to scream “bulldozer” after winning a hand, then go right ahead. On the conference call, Stewart explained that as long as you’re not knocking down chairs, needling players or causing disruption, then the WSOP staff wants you to be excited.

“The poker room is not a church,” Stewart explained.

I fully support these new changes, but there is a third major change that is going to anger a lot of players. Rule 88, which basically states that verbal declarations are binding — now states this at the end:

”Participants at all bracelet event final and feature tables are required to verbalize each action in the form of “Check”, “Bet” or specific amount, “Call”, “Raise”, or “All-in.” Violators will receive a penalty in accordance with Rules 39, 102, and 103.”

Effel explained on ESPN’s The Poker Edge podcast that the best players will adapt to this rule, but even if they do, they wont do so willingly or happily. I understand that there is a need to make poker more entertaining, but this rule directly affects the action. Showing the hole cards on a 15-minute delay does not affect hands while they are in progress, rather it affects the long-term meta-game. Forcing a player to verbalize their actions, when they otherwise wouldn’t do so, changes the way they approach the game on the most basic level.

The WSOP almost hit a grand slam with these new rules — the table talk and the celebrations will surely make the game more entertaining — but forcing every player at every final table to verbalize their actions reduces the changes to a ground-rule double.

3. TwoPlusTwo returns

TwoPlusTwo made an anti-climatic return on Friday night, when Mason Malmuth published a thread titled “The Official 2+2 Return Musical Celebration Thread.” Ironically, the music video he embedded (Michael Bublé’s “Feeling Good) still doesn’t work.

Take a second, and reflect upon those 16 days without the forums. Done? What was it like? Personally, I hit the “TwoPlusTwo” tab on my browser once a day, but I didn’t find myself yearning to sift through the trolling and flaming, just to find a few informative posts by a moderators or “Pooh-Bahs.” Perhaps it’s because my spectrum is limited to “News, Views, and Gossip,” but isn’t that the most popular forum?

The community as a whole is of course invaluable though. News frequently breaks on TwoPlusTwo because it’s the fastest way to reach a broad audience of poker players — and you don’t really have to fact check before submitting a post. And, while we’ve all proven we can live without, I’m sure that there are thousands of people that are very happy that TwoPlusTwo is back up and running.

Especially everyone who’s trying to sell packages for the 2012 WSOP — the “Marketplace” is very much abuzz right now.

4. Return of the Micros

John Wray the creator of The Micros, was one of the many people affected by the TwoPlusTwo blackout, but instead of complaining on Twitter, he decided to grind in Photoshop. Until the show can find a permanent sponsor, Wray plans to release web comics, and the first one features ESPN commentators Lon McEachern and Norman Chad.

Wray is without a doubt one of the most creative contributors to the forum, and the community has openly embraced The Micros. This past summer, ESPN aired a short clip of Max Rofls and Chase Berger watching Max Heinzelmann (who looks just like Rofls) when he was at the feature table. McEachern was especially pleased to add content from The Micros the broadcast and has openly supported the show on his Twitter account.

The Micros is undoubtedly the most entertaining spinoff about poker — most of the shows and clothing apparel about poker are pretty lame — and hopefully they’ll find a sponsor soon. Even better, maybe either Wray or co-writer Jay Rosenkrantz can muster up some run-good of their own and bink a tournament to bankroll themselves.

5. Terrence Chan

Terrence Chan was the latest subject of our Seat Open series. He talks about how poker shaped who he is today and how he got involved with a major online poker site during its infancy.

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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 16 2012, PokerNews Staff

The 2012 World Series of Poker is just weeks away and thanks to PKR you could be jetting out to Las Vegas armed with a WSOP package worth $4,500!

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On top of the chance to win a $4,500 WSOP package, PKR is also offering new customers a massive 120% match up to $800 first deposit bonus. All you have to do is enter the bonus code “PNEWS800″ and when you make your first deposit you will receive 120% of that amount as a bonus! Generate enough rake during this promotion and you could clear the full $800 bonus in time for the WSOP!

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

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Posted by Maurizio in Uncategorized

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 14 2012, Chad Holloway

The Five Diamond World Poker Classic is one of the most popular stops on the World Poker Tour every year. On Sunday, Season X of the WPT continued on the Fox Sports Network with the latest Five Diamond World Poker Classic from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. The $10,000 Main Event, which originally took place from Dec. 6 through 11, 2011, attracted 413 players and created a prize pool of $4,006,100, with $821,612 reserved for first place.

The broadcast kicked off by highlighting the early stages of the tournament, beginning with Day 1. “Bellagio’s just got that mystique to it, you know,” said Legends of Poker champion Will “The Thrill” Failla. “All the heavies played here. If you win here, you’ve really showed up, you know what I mean? If you can win here, you can win anywhere.”

Indeed, the Five Diamond World Poker Classic has proven a great success every year, due in no small part to its location at the Bellagio. Given that it’s in Vegas, the field tends to be dominated by the biggest names in the game, and this year would be no different. Failla, Esfandiari, Erik Seidel, Matt Giannetti, Carlos Mortensen and Faraz Jaka were all among the 283 players who survived Day 1, though all were trailing the big stack of Vanessa Selbst, who finished with 165,800.

On Day 2, the field got even tougher as Barry Greenstein, Noah Schwartz, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Lamb, Jason Mercier, John Hennigan, Freddy Deeb, Daniel Alaei and Doyle Brunson were all among the pros who took advantage of the late registration. After a long day of play, just 149 players remained with Grant Lang’s 382,000 stack leading the pack.

Needless to say, the action on Day 3 was fierce as the field was quickly cut down to size as Seidel, Hennigan and Hellmuth all hit the rail. The latter’s demise came when he ran into the of Canadian Braden Hall. The board ran out an uneventful and the “Poker Brat” was sent packing.

Leading up to the money bubble, both Brunson and Darren Elias were eliminated, leaving 101 players alive when only 100 were slated to be paid. It took some time, but the money bubble burst when Brent Sheirbon found himself all-in holding against the of John Krpan. The board provided no help and Sheirbon earned the unfortunate distinction of bubble boy.

Once players made the money, a flurry of eliminations occurred that saw Failla (93rd – $11,942), Krpan (82nd – $11,942), Jeff Vertes (78th – $11,942), Shaun Deeb (73rd – $11,942), Mortensen (71st – $11,942), Deeb (67th – $12,937), Alan Goehring (59th – $12,937), Justin “Boosted J” Smith (53rd – $12,937) all hit the rail, leaving just 49 players headed into Day 4 including chip leader Kyle Julius, who bagged up 1.457 million.

The fourth day of action began the same way the day prior had ended — with bustouts. Allen Cunningham (46th – $15,922), Allen Kessler (45th – $15,922), Dwyte Pilgrim (37th – $19,903), Scott Clements (34th – $19,903) and Matt Glantz (25th – $23,884) were among the notables to hit the rail, while the WPT’s Raw Deal host Tony Dunst found his tournament life on the line in a classic race with his trailing the of James Dempsey. The flop gave Dunst a flush draw, while the turn added a gut-shot straight draw. Unfortunately for him, the river was a blank and he was sent packing in 18th place for $31,845.

Ty Reiman (17th – $31,845), Matt Marafioti (15th – $39,806) and Blake Kelso (14th – $39,806) joined Dunst on the rail before action came to a halt with just 13 players remaining. Leading the way was former World Series of Poker November Niner Soy Nguyen, holding a monstrous stack of 3.1 million.

It didn’t take long for the first elimination to occur on Day 5. It happened when William Reynolds doubled up Vitor Coelho and was then eliminated at the hands of Hall. Reynold’s 13th-place finish for $39,806 gave him the highest finished by a Season X Ones to Watch, though it was of little consolation.

From there, Julius (12th – $39,806) and David Williams (9th – $47,767) found themselves on the rail, and before long the TV final table bubble was on. How did it burst? Nguyen moved all-in holding on board and got Larry Wells, who won his seat into the tournament in the very last satellite held at the Bellagio, to call off with the inferior .

With that, the final table was set. Once again it was a stacked final table, but the big story was Esfandiari’s title defense and the possibility of becoming the first player in WPT history to win back-to-back titles in the same event; in fact, no player had ever won the same title twice.

Here’s how things stacked up at the start of the final table:

First Hand: With the blinds at 30,000/60,000 and a 10,000 ante, Dempsey was first to act and opened for 125,000 with . The field folded to Selbst in the small blind and she came over the top for 310,000 with . Nguyen folded in the big blind and Dempsey conceded the hand.

Antonio Esfandiari Eliminated in Sixth Place: On what would be Hand #10 of the final table, action folded to Dempsey on the button and he put in a big raise, enough to put both blinds all in if they chose to make the call. The defending champ did just that from the small blind while the big got out of the way.

Showdown

The flop gave Dempsey a wheel draw, but it was the that spiked on the turn to give him the lead. At that point, short-stacked Coelho shot his arms up in the air, knowing full well that Esfandiari’s elimination would earn him at least $39,806.; meanwhile, “The Magician” was on his last leg, looking for either a ten or five on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned and put out the . With that, Esfandiari’s title defense came to an end in sixth place for $119,418.

Vitor Coelho Eliminated in Fifth Place: On Hand #12, Nguyen opened for 120,000 with and Coelho committed his last 260,000 with . “Ok guys, time to double up,” the softspoken Coelho said. Selbst then came along for the ride with . Both active players proceeded to check down every street as the board ran out , and Nguyen took down the 860,000 pot.

Coelho, who had made the final table the WPT stop before the Five Diamond, finished in fifth place for $159,224. “Very happy, very happy,” Coelho told sideline reporter Matt Savage in his post-elimination interview. “I ran very good, did my best and I’m very pleased with it. I have plans to make my third final table in a row.”

Tune in Next Week: Part II of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is set to air on Sunday, May 20, on FSN, so be sure to check your local listings. If by chance you miss it, check back next week for the latest recap of all the action right here on PokerNews.

If you love poker, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for all the latest updates on the World Poker Tour.

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*Picture courtesy of World Poker Tour.

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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota

It’s Wednesday and unless the Zodiak Rights group gets in the way, you know that you can pretty much always expect a Weekly Rant from Daniel Negreanu. This week, Negreanu applauds the WSOP for some rule changes, rants about ballerina flats (hey, they’re comfortable — at least that’s what we hear), and goes on a tirade about Jeffrey Pollack.

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Posted by Maurizio in Uncategorized

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 15 2012, Chad Holloway

When the World Series of Poker Circuit was revamped for the 2010-2011 season, a number of young guns began to emerge as superstars including Alek Masek, A.P. Phahurat, Tripp Kirk and Kyle Cartwright. Someone else who belongs in that group is Kurt Jewell, who has 12 cashes on the Circuit totaling $504,692, including four gold rings.

That gives Jewell an astounding 25 percent win rate when he has made the money. What’s more, two of Jewell’s gold rings have come in Main Events, an unparalleled feat in the modern era of the WSOP Circuit.

$350 NLHE Shootout Horseshoe Southern Indiana$550 NLHE Shootout Horseshoe Southern Indiana$1,600 Horseshoe Hammond Main Event$1,600 Harrah’s Tunica Main Event$345 Omaha 8 or Better Harrah’s St. Louis$1,600 Main Event Harrah’s Tunica

PokerNews caught up with Jewell prior to the WSOP Circuit stop in New Orleans to get his thoughts on becoming a two-time WSOPC Main Event champ, chasing the ring record and his plans for this year’s WSOP in Las Vegas.

Can you give our readers a little background on yourself?

I’m from Frankfort, Kentucky, but currently living in Louisville. I have one older brother and he and his wife just had their first kid, so I’m a proud uncle. I went to Eastern Kentucky and graduated with a degree in sports management. I learned to play poker online, and during my first year in college my roommate introduced me to PokerStars. I started playing really small, learning things here and there, then got hooked up with some good players and just learned a lot.

In April 2011, you won a ring at Harrah’s St. Louis by winning the Omaha 8 or Better event. Are you an Omaha player?

I registered for the tourney honestly thinking it was a PLO-hi tourney only to find out it was a limit O8 tourney when I sat down. I had played a little PLO but never O8. I literally was asking people about what hands to be playing, and googled top starting hands for O8! How the win came about, I’m still not really sure, I was very lucky I guess. And after that win, I retired from O8 having a perfect record!

Last year you captured two WSOP Circuit rings, and this year you’ve captured two more. Which of your rings means the most to you and why?

I would say the Main Event from Tunica this year. I was having a dry spell for a long time, and for me to come back to the same final table that I made the year before where I gave up a huge chip lead, it was pretty special to redeem myself with a win.

Of your four rings, two came in Main Events. What was it like becoming a two-time WSOP Circuit Main Event champ?

Really amazing to be a two-time Main Event winner. They both mean a lot to me, and I would have to say Tunica was a little better. Though the Hammond one was my first real big final table, and it had some really sick players there. To come out on top in that one, being my first really big payday, that really was awesome.

This year in Tunica, you returned to the final table in the Main Event after finishing in eighth place the year before. What was it like making back-to-back final tables and having the chance to redeem yourself?

Making back-to-back final tables in this event and having the chance to redeem myself meant a lot. I really messed the one up from the year before pretty badly and caught a lot of grief about it from people. So having the chance to redeem myself and actually doing it meant the world to me.

You’re now one ring behind tying all-time ring winner Mark “Pegasus” Smith. Does catching him appeal to you? What would it mean to you to join him or even pass him?

Of course I would love to tie and/or pass him. I’ve been close to Mark since I started playing — a super nice guy and a really good player. No matter how nice he is, I still would like to pass him!

What would you rather accomplish: pass Mark “Pegasus” Smith as the all-time WSOP Circuit ring winner or capture a WSOP bracelet?

I’ll be honest, my goal is both. I really feel like this summer is going to be a really big summer for me, and I really hope I get an opportunity to play for a bracelet. I will still play ring events, and continue to try to get more rings, but as of now, I have bracelets on my mind.

You’re qualified for this year’s National Championship. You also played it last year. Did you learn anything from the inaugural event that you think will help you in this year’s tournament?

Well, this year the event is completely different, structure, players, everything. So really I’ll just be going into this event just as I would any other tourney.

There will be quite a few pros in this year’s revamped National Championship. Are there any players you’d like to play against?

I’d like to play with all of them if I could. I think playing four- to five-handed with Phil Ivey would be the nuts though.

What’s your favorite stop on the WSOP Circuit and why?

I bricked in West Palm Beach, but that was the best trip. It was fresh off my win in Tunica. My boy Aaron Massey went with me and roomed with me, and we just had a great vacation. We had such a good time on that trip, maybe next year it will be the same amount of fun with a cash or a win!

What’s next for you as far as poker goes?

Next is the Circuit stop in New Orleans, and this year will be my first pretty full schedule for bracelet events at the WSOP. I’m going out the whole time from May 27 through the Main Event. Really hoping to have a big summer.

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AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
May 15 2012, Brett Collson

Looking for the day’s biggest poker stories? You’ve come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo we’re bringing you Phil Galfond’s latest blog, the official launch of PokerStars’ Zoom Poker, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Shaun Deeb has been crushing tournaments during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. Rich Ryan discussed that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

Kurt Jewell has been a monster on the World Series of Poker Circuit since the 2010-2011 season. Jewell sat down with Chad Holloway to discuss his recent success.

Fifteen players won PokerStars SCOOP titles on Monday. Martin Harris and Mickey Doft break down all of the winners in the Day 9 SCOOP recap.

Galfond’s Early Years

Phil Galfond’s introduction to poker certainly doesn’t compare to the exhilarating tales of most old-school gamblers, but the high-stakes wizard’s ascension to the nosebleed games should still be fascinating to most poker enthusiasts.

On Tuesday, Galfond shared his story in a blog entry titled My Poker (+other) Story. The 5,000-plus word entry includes Galfond’s first taste of online poker during college, his decision to drop out of school to become a poker pro, and the surprising relationships he’s built because of that decision.

Here’s a particularly funny excerpt from the blog:

I’m an introvert, so I enjoy my alone time. Actually, I need my alone time. I like people, sure, but too long in a crowded environment with no chance to get away is debilitating. I need my alone time to reset. My room was poker plus alone time – heaven.

My heaven was part of a three bedroom apartment. I shared it with two girls, one of whom was sure I was gay for the majority of that year. I think it was because I had a small poster on the outside of my door of a cat with a tiara that read “I’m a Princess” (I thought it was funny), and because she never saw me with a girl.

Galfond is a gifted writer and his story will hit home with a lot of poker grinders out there. You can find his blog at PhilGalfond.com.

Zoom Poker Launches

PokerStars has officially launched Zoom Poker after a successful beta release that resulted in skyrocketing traffic numbers on the world’s leading online poker site.

PokerStars says it dealt more than 300 million hands of the fast-action Zoom Poker during the two month beta phase. Zoom was originally only available for low stakes no-limit hold’em, but it is now available in Omaha, Omaha hi/lo and five-card draw with stakes ranging up to $2.50/5.

“Zoom Poker offers people a different way to play poker,” said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. “Recreational players, who want more constant action, will be able to fold instantly and wait for better hands, while pro grinders will be able to get in hundreds of more hands an hour and win more. On top of all that, it’s just so much fun to play!”

In addition, Zoom Poker Mobile has been released on the Android platform for players on PokerStars.com, PokerStars.eu and PokerStars.net. The new Android app also includes scrollable lobby menus to ease navigation, improved search, a new auto-rebuy function, and various other improvements.

For an in-depth look at Zoom Poker, check out Matthew Pitt’s review here at PokerNews.com.

Full Tilt Poker Staffers Decline Tapie’s Offer

According to Gaming Intelligence, Full Tilt Poker employees in Dublin have declined an offer from Groupe Bernard Tapie to join a new online poker venture in Paris.

One day after GBT’s deal with the U.S. Department of Justice fell through, Laurent Tapie emailed high-ranking FTP staff members with a job offer, according to a report by Diamond Flush Poker. In the email, Tapie laid out plans to write a new poker software platform and relaunch using a new brand.

Apparently, Tapie’s offer wasn’t tempting enough to lure key FTP employees from company headquarters in Ireland. Gaming Intelligence reports that the employees have been told that the deal with PokerStars is moving forward. PokerStars has remained mum about the deal other than to reiterate that discussions with the DOJ are ongoing.

Read the full story at Gaming Intelligence (paywall warning).

Mizrachi Signs Extension with Breeders’ Cup

DeepStacks Pro Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi has renewed his contract with the Breeders’ Cup through 2012. “The Grinder” will resume his role in helping raise awareness of the Breeders’ Cup within the poker community.

The two-time World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour champ will take part in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and will actively encourage his fellow poker pros to participate in the $10,000 handicapping event. The Breeders’ Cup will take place Nov. 2 through 3 at Santa Anita Park outside of Los Angeles.

“Partnering with the Breeders’ Cup has been amazing” said Mizrachi. “I look forward to fine-tuning my handicapping skills as I prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. Check my Twitter and Facebook accounts for updates as I plan to visit a number of tracks throughout the summer.”

As part of his deal last year, Mizrachi hosted the inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Breeders’ Cup Celebrity Invitational, which attracted big names like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, John Racener, David Williams and Karina Jett, as well as NBA players Brian Cardinal, Jermaine Taylor and Carl Landry. The second event will be held later this year.

Read more at Deepstacks.com.

A Record Made to be Broken?

Is Phil Laak’s Guinness World Record for sleep deprivation consecutive hours playing poker in jeopardy? Barry Denson seems to think so.

The Manchester, U.K., native will take a shot at Laak’s feat at the G Casino in Manchester beginning on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Denson, an ex-Territorial Army soldier, will attempt to raise money for Help For Heroes, a charity aimed at helping Britain’s soldiers that have been wounded since September 11, 2001.

“One of the biggest challenges will be finding enough players to play me,” said Denson. “Guinness World Records will only allow other players to play for up to four hours at a time so we need as many players as possible to come along and take part, especially in the early hours or the mornings!”

Laak played 115 straight hours at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2010. He could barely put together a sentence by the end of the marathon, as you’ll see in this interview with PokerNews’ Kristy Arnett.

Read more at tnplmanchester.com.

Illinois Joins Online Poker Race

Illinois made history in March by becoming the first state to offer online lottery tickets on the Internet. Now, legislation has been introduced that could ultimately allow the state to offer other forms of online gambling like poker.

On Tuesday, Senate President John Cullerton proposed an amendment to a bill that would create the division of Internet Gaming within the Illinois Lottery. Illinois officials estimate the state would gain hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue under the new legislation.

Cullerton says that the bill has to be approved by May 31 in order to qualify under legislation pending in the U.S. Senate.

Cullerton’s proposal comes nearly five months after the Department of Justice changed its position on the Wire Act of 1961. On Dec. 22, the DOJ released a response to Illinois and New York regarding the Wire Act’s effect on intrastate sales of lottery tickets via the Internet. In the memo, the DOJ found that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.

Reuters has more.

The Return of Durrrr?

Even though he’s been playing the biggest games in the world in Macau, Tom Dwan is getting the itch to play online poker again.

During his trip to the Philippines for the Manilla Millions, Dwan told CalvinAyre.com’s Tatjana Pasalic that traveling and finding games to play is becoming a grind, and that game selection is proving much more difficult than on the virtual felts. Dwan also discussed U.S. legislation, the Epic Poker League, World Series of Poker bracelet bets, and the downfall of his former employer Full Tilt Poker.

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