Steve Sung Wins $1,000 WSOP Stimulus Special, by Dan Cypra - Poker News Daily - 4th June 2009
A record-setting 6,000 players turned out for Event #4 of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the $1,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Stimulus Special. In the end, 24 year-old professional poker player Steve Sung banked $771,000 for the win.
The nine-handed final table in Event #4 was originally scheduled to play out on Tuesday night. However, a last-minute decision by WSOP officials to hold the final table on Wednesday set up a mid-afternoon showdown featuring Dan Heimiller and Sung holding dominating chip leads over the rest of the table. In fact, the duo held nearly half of the chips in play. First to hit the exits in the No Limit Hold’em tournament was Danny Fuhs, the short stack entering Wednesday’s play. After a board of 10-A-J-2, Phong Huynh pushed over the top of a raise by Fuhs, leaving Fuhs calling for his tournament life. He flipped over A-J for top two pair, but watched as Huynh revealed pocket tens for a set. Every member of the final table earned a six-figure payday, as Fuhs took home $114,168.
Huynh was the next to go, coming out on the short end of a set over set situation against James Matz. Heimiller then saw his lead take a dive after dropping a 2.5 million chip pot to Pete Vilandos. In the hand, Vilandos rivered a six-high straight, trumping Heimiller’s flopped set. Jeff Oakes was then ousted in seventh place by Sung. Oakes was all-in pre-flop holding pocket fives in a race against A-Q. However, the flop came ace-high, sending Sung into the lead in the hand for good. Sung then caught fire, as over the next hour, he’d grow his stack to well over six million.
During the heater, Sung sent Heimiller to the rails in sixth after Heimiller’s A-K of spades could not hold up against Sung’s A-Q. The flop came 3-Q-6, sending Sung into the lead for good. Heimiller banked $145,000 for his efforts and was gunning for his second WSOP bracelet. He won his first in 2002 in a $2,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em and Seven Card Stud event for $108,000. In that event, he bested Ram Vaswani heads-up in the finale of the 144 player field.
Sung was also the executioner of Nathan Mullen, who was eliminated in fifth place for $175,851. Mullen was all-in pre-flop with J-10 against Sung’s A-7. The flop came K-Q-J, giving Mullen the temporary lead in the hand, but also giving Sung a straight draw. Sure enough, one of the three remaining tens in the deck hit on the river, and Mullen was sent packing in shock. According to official WSOP coverage, the hand gave Sung 60% of the chips in play. Shortly thereafter, Larry Sidebotham was eliminated in fourth place for $227,254 by Matz, whose A-7 held against Q-J.
Sung sent Matz out in third place. Matz pushed over the top of a bet by Sung with 5-4 after a flop of Q-5-10. Sung flipped over K-J for an open-ended straight draw, which promptly hit when an ace fell on the river. Sung held a 5:2 chip margin heads-up and won his first bracelet within an hour. On the final hand, Sung’s hot run of cards continued. Vilandos called Sung’s all-in for his tournament life with pocket eights, only to see he was up against Sung’s pocket kings. The cowboys held and Sung banked $771,000; Matz earned $473,283 for his runner-up showing.
The $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #7) wrapped up Day 2 on Wednesday. When the final cards were dealt, Craig McConville was the only player with over one million chips. Hot on his heels are Steve Karp (957,000 chips) and Jacob Kalb (894,000 chips). Still in contention is Jeremy Joseph, who ESPN followed religiously throughout last year’s $10,000 buy-in Main Event. Joseph took 57th in the tournament for $115,000 and now sits with a stack of 493,000 entering the final day of play. Thirty-three players remain; falling during Wednesday’s action were Justin “looshle” Pechie (42nd place for $11,505) and Sandra Naujoks (61st place for $7,390). In March, Naujoks became only the second female to win a European Poker Tour (EPT) event.
Finally, David Fox leads the way in the $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event after Day 1. A sold out field of 1,459 players entered and 105 survived to see Day 2. Among those still in the hunt for the bracelet are David Daneshgar (27th with 77,700 chips), Bill Chen (40th with 68,700), Todd Witteles (45th with 64,600), Rafe Furst (63rd with 47,400), Justin Young (72nd with 33,300), Joe Awada (74th with 32,900), Carlos Mortensen (89th with 25,600), and Isaac Haxton (95th with 21,700). Play resumes at 2:00pm PT. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
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Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Seidel Endorsement Of Sexton - Final Table Set At PartyPoker.com Sports Stars Challenge IV
Poker Legend Erik Seidel On Mike Sexton
Final Table Set At PartyPoker.com Sports Stars Challenge IV
Poker legend Erik Seidel’s endorsement of Mike Sexton for induction into Poker’s Hall of Fame.
“Next up should be Mike Sexton. He has some impressive accomplishments as a player, he won the Tournament of Champions in 06', the European Heads Up, and is one of the leaders in WSOP cashes including one bracelet. If I'm not mistaken he also won the 1st 10k event at Foxwoods as well. I can't think of anyone though who has contributed more to the growth of the game then Mike and that's why he should be the next inductee. As the WPT's announcer he is the guy who introduced no limit poker to millions of people, and who explained it in a way that drew them in and got them interested. I meet people all the time who don't even play poker but watch the WPT because he manages to keep it exciting for everyone. People can tell his enthusiasm is real, Mike loves poker and fortunately is able to translate that for the viewer. He deserves huge credit too for the growth of the online game. As a consultant for PartyPoker he helped the online game get started and helped Party create the biggest poker site in the world. Party was just another poker site until Mike's commercials on the WPT started running, then overnight the numbers doubled, tripled and very quickly they became the largest site poker has ever seen. He is one of the best ambassadors poker has ever seen and I hope he is on deck for admission in 09’.”
You can vote for Mike now at: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/pokerhalloffame/halloffamevoting.asp
London – 1st June 2009 – The final table is set at the http://www.partypoker.com Sports Stars Challenge in London. Sports stars, both past and present, have taken their seats in the hope of being crowned the ultimate sporting poker champion in the strongest and most international line-up to date. For the first time in the Matchroom Sport organised event’s history there were heats for motorsport professionals, top golfers and an online qualifier element. Live reporting can be found at: http://www.matchroompokerforum.co.uk
The final table features three online qualifiers in the form Scott O’Reilly, Jason Brennan and Paresh Patel. They join England rugby union star Henry Paul, Germany’s European Championship football winner Thomas Helmer, Irish boxing legend Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley and popular French golfer Jean Van De Velde.
O’Reilly is a member of PartyPoker.com’s VIP club http://www.palladiumlounge.com and came through a high octane motorsport heat that featured F1 icons Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneueve. Previously he ran deep in the WSOP Main Event in 2006 winning over $165,000 as a PartyPoker.com qualifier. Jason Brennan, a 34-year old unemployed road builder from Holloway, London found his way to the final table after chinning darts legend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor in his heat. Paresh Patel is 42 years-old from Blackpool and got to play with football heroes and took out French World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf heads-up in his heat.
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “ 140,000 people overall took part in the special Sports Stars Challenge freerolls online and three players have made the final table. A number of the sports stars have shown they have real game when it comes to poker with Ronald De Boer and Giancarlo Fisichella, in particular, showing solid aggressive games. Both were unlucky not to make the final table.”
Amongst the other sports stars who were knocked out in the heat stages included 2008 European Ryder Cup team member Graeme McDowell and Sam Torrance. Footballers included Romania’s Florin Radiciou and Denmark and Liverpool legend Jan Molby. The boxing tear-up featured Germany’s former unbeaten World Champion Sven Ottke, while the rugby heat didn’t prove fruitful for union’s former France and Wasps captain Raphael Ibanez.
PartyPoker.com players had the chance to win a seat through a freeroll in the sports heat of their choice. The sports were football (two heats), rugby (union and league combined), motorsport, boxing, darts and golf.
The winner of Sports Stars Challenge I was former rugby union star Austin Healey, while the second instalment saw victory for Irish snooker champion Ken Doherty. Last year’s winner was television presenter Kara Scott, who used the tournament as the starting point for a breakthrough successful year on the circuit that also included big cashes at the WSOP Main Event and Irish Open. Scott won £20,000 after defeating Manchester United football legend Norman Whiteside heads-up. There is no presenter heat in the new format this year.
The winner of each of the seven heats will take their seat at the final table, where seven players will battle it out until one of them walks away with the title. Each player sits down with 2,000 chips with the heat winner getting £7,000. The overall winner receives £20,000 with second getting £10,000 and third receiving £5,000.
Coverage of the event will be aired in the UK later this year on Sky Sports and then distributed internationally. Jesse May leads the commentary.
PARTYPOKER.COM SPORTS STARS CHALLENGE IV FINAL TABLE – London – 29th May – 1st June
SEAT 1 – JEAN VAN DE VELDE (GOLF)
SEAT 2 – DAVE MCAULEY (BOXING)
SEAT 3 – JASON BRENNAN (ONLINE QUALIFIER DARTS)
SEAT 4 – HENRY PAUL (RUGBY)
SEAT 5 – THOMAS HELMER (FOOTBALL)
SEAT 6 – PARESH PATEL (ONLINE QUALIFIER FOOTBALL)
SEAT 7 – SCOTT O’REILLY (ONLINE QUALIFIER MOTORSPORT)
World Series of Poker”®, “WSOP®” and “WSOPE”® are registered trade marks of Harrah’s License Company LLC. No license, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not licensed by or otherwise affiliated with Harrah’s License Company LLC or the World Series of Poker®, in any way.
For more information e-mail Warren Lush warrenl@partygaming.com +34656236600
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Poker Legend Erik Seidel On Mike Sexton
Final Table Set At PartyPoker.com Sports Stars Challenge IV
Poker legend Erik Seidel’s endorsement of Mike Sexton for induction into Poker’s Hall of Fame.
“Next up should be Mike Sexton. He has some impressive accomplishments as a player, he won the Tournament of Champions in 06', the European Heads Up, and is one of the leaders in WSOP cashes including one bracelet. If I'm not mistaken he also won the 1st 10k event at Foxwoods as well. I can't think of anyone though who has contributed more to the growth of the game then Mike and that's why he should be the next inductee. As the WPT's announcer he is the guy who introduced no limit poker to millions of people, and who explained it in a way that drew them in and got them interested. I meet people all the time who don't even play poker but watch the WPT because he manages to keep it exciting for everyone. People can tell his enthusiasm is real, Mike loves poker and fortunately is able to translate that for the viewer. He deserves huge credit too for the growth of the online game. As a consultant for PartyPoker he helped the online game get started and helped Party create the biggest poker site in the world. Party was just another poker site until Mike's commercials on the WPT started running, then overnight the numbers doubled, tripled and very quickly they became the largest site poker has ever seen. He is one of the best ambassadors poker has ever seen and I hope he is on deck for admission in 09’.”
You can vote for Mike now at: http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com/pokerhalloffame/halloffamevoting.asp
London – 1st June 2009 – The final table is set at the http://www.partypoker.com Sports Stars Challenge in London. Sports stars, both past and present, have taken their seats in the hope of being crowned the ultimate sporting poker champion in the strongest and most international line-up to date. For the first time in the Matchroom Sport organised event’s history there were heats for motorsport professionals, top golfers and an online qualifier element. Live reporting can be found at: http://www.matchroompokerforum.co.uk
The final table features three online qualifiers in the form Scott O’Reilly, Jason Brennan and Paresh Patel. They join England rugby union star Henry Paul, Germany’s European Championship football winner Thomas Helmer, Irish boxing legend Dave ‘Boy’ McAuley and popular French golfer Jean Van De Velde.
O’Reilly is a member of PartyPoker.com’s VIP club http://www.palladiumlounge.com and came through a high octane motorsport heat that featured F1 icons Giancarlo Fisichella and Jacques Villeneueve. Previously he ran deep in the WSOP Main Event in 2006 winning over $165,000 as a PartyPoker.com qualifier. Jason Brennan, a 34-year old unemployed road builder from Holloway, London found his way to the final table after chinning darts legend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor in his heat. Paresh Patel is 42 years-old from Blackpool and got to play with football heroes and took out French World Cup winner Frank Leboeuf heads-up in his heat.
A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “ 140,000 people overall took part in the special Sports Stars Challenge freerolls online and three players have made the final table. A number of the sports stars have shown they have real game when it comes to poker with Ronald De Boer and Giancarlo Fisichella, in particular, showing solid aggressive games. Both were unlucky not to make the final table.”
Amongst the other sports stars who were knocked out in the heat stages included 2008 European Ryder Cup team member Graeme McDowell and Sam Torrance. Footballers included Romania’s Florin Radiciou and Denmark and Liverpool legend Jan Molby. The boxing tear-up featured Germany’s former unbeaten World Champion Sven Ottke, while the rugby heat didn’t prove fruitful for union’s former France and Wasps captain Raphael Ibanez.
PartyPoker.com players had the chance to win a seat through a freeroll in the sports heat of their choice. The sports were football (two heats), rugby (union and league combined), motorsport, boxing, darts and golf.
The winner of Sports Stars Challenge I was former rugby union star Austin Healey, while the second instalment saw victory for Irish snooker champion Ken Doherty. Last year’s winner was television presenter Kara Scott, who used the tournament as the starting point for a breakthrough successful year on the circuit that also included big cashes at the WSOP Main Event and Irish Open. Scott won £20,000 after defeating Manchester United football legend Norman Whiteside heads-up. There is no presenter heat in the new format this year.
The winner of each of the seven heats will take their seat at the final table, where seven players will battle it out until one of them walks away with the title. Each player sits down with 2,000 chips with the heat winner getting £7,000. The overall winner receives £20,000 with second getting £10,000 and third receiving £5,000.
Coverage of the event will be aired in the UK later this year on Sky Sports and then distributed internationally. Jesse May leads the commentary.
PARTYPOKER.COM SPORTS STARS CHALLENGE IV FINAL TABLE – London – 29th May – 1st June
SEAT 1 – JEAN VAN DE VELDE (GOLF)
SEAT 2 – DAVE MCAULEY (BOXING)
SEAT 3 – JASON BRENNAN (ONLINE QUALIFIER DARTS)
SEAT 4 – HENRY PAUL (RUGBY)
SEAT 5 – THOMAS HELMER (FOOTBALL)
SEAT 6 – PARESH PATEL (ONLINE QUALIFIER FOOTBALL)
SEAT 7 – SCOTT O’REILLY (ONLINE QUALIFIER MOTORSPORT)
World Series of Poker”®, “WSOP®” and “WSOPE”® are registered trade marks of Harrah’s License Company LLC. No license, affiliation, sponsorship, or endorsement is claimed, or should be inferred from the use of these trademarks here. PartyGaming is not licensed by or otherwise affiliated with Harrah’s License Company LLC or the World Series of Poker®, in any way.
For more information e-mail Warren Lush warrenl@partygaming.com +34656236600
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Virgin Games Delivers The Ultimate Gaming Experience
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - June 1, 2009)
Today Virgin Games, the online gaming service, announces that it has centralised its offerings and has become an operating company in its own right working from one common platform. This development will provide a streamlined customer experience by offering players the opportunity to play across multiple gaming products using a central sign on solution and a single Virgin Games wallet. The operation of Virgin Games gaming service was formerly outsourced to three different operators; Wagerworks for Casino; Boss Media for Poker and St.Minver for Bingo. The operation on the new Virgin Games platform has now been taken in-house and will be managed centrally from their head office in Guernsey.
With the Virgin customer experience being of core importance, players now only need to register once to become a Virgin Games player and browse seamlessly through all of the games at Virgin Poker, Virgin Casino and Virgin Bingo. Additionally, under the new system, Virgin players will be able to play for bonus promotions and Virgin Games loyalty points, V-Points, across all games offered.
The strategic shift to become a fully fledged gaming operator has taken place at Virgin Games over the last 18 months. The company now operates using two gaming licenses held in Alderney and Malta and runs an in-house customer service call centre as well as owning and co-ordinating player databases and payment processing systems. The 24/7 customer experience solution will bring all consumer touch points together in-house including telephone, email and web-chat communication resulting in greater control, improved efficiency and an all round excellent customer experience.
Simon Burridge, CEO Virgin Games, comments: "In developing and taking ownership of the new customer experience program, we have focused on creating the best possible value and service for our customers. Here at Virgin Games, we live and breathe the Virgin brand values and feel taking the customer service department in-house and integrating all three gaming services allows us to continue to deliver the unique Virgin experience that our customers have come to expect."
"Our players have told us that they would like to see a wider range of games at Virgin Games and we intend to give them exactly what they're looking for. There have been some very exciting new games brought into the market recently and we look forward to introducing them into the Virgin Games product offering" said Burridge.
For more information on Virgin Games please visit www.virgingames.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises four distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Cluedo, Dungeons and Dragons Fortress of Fortunes(TM) and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a seeding value of Pounds Sterling 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros Texas Hold em, Five card Stud Poker and more - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
For more information, please contact
Nelson Bostock Communications
Melissa Robinson
020 7792 7436
melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
or
Nelson Bostock Communications
Lucinda Pride
020 7792 7471
lucinda.pride@nelsonbostock.com
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LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwire - June 1, 2009)
Today Virgin Games, the online gaming service, announces that it has centralised its offerings and has become an operating company in its own right working from one common platform. This development will provide a streamlined customer experience by offering players the opportunity to play across multiple gaming products using a central sign on solution and a single Virgin Games wallet. The operation of Virgin Games gaming service was formerly outsourced to three different operators; Wagerworks for Casino; Boss Media for Poker and St.Minver for Bingo. The operation on the new Virgin Games platform has now been taken in-house and will be managed centrally from their head office in Guernsey.
With the Virgin customer experience being of core importance, players now only need to register once to become a Virgin Games player and browse seamlessly through all of the games at Virgin Poker, Virgin Casino and Virgin Bingo. Additionally, under the new system, Virgin players will be able to play for bonus promotions and Virgin Games loyalty points, V-Points, across all games offered.
The strategic shift to become a fully fledged gaming operator has taken place at Virgin Games over the last 18 months. The company now operates using two gaming licenses held in Alderney and Malta and runs an in-house customer service call centre as well as owning and co-ordinating player databases and payment processing systems. The 24/7 customer experience solution will bring all consumer touch points together in-house including telephone, email and web-chat communication resulting in greater control, improved efficiency and an all round excellent customer experience.
Simon Burridge, CEO Virgin Games, comments: "In developing and taking ownership of the new customer experience program, we have focused on creating the best possible value and service for our customers. Here at Virgin Games, we live and breathe the Virgin brand values and feel taking the customer service department in-house and integrating all three gaming services allows us to continue to deliver the unique Virgin experience that our customers have come to expect."
"Our players have told us that they would like to see a wider range of games at Virgin Games and we intend to give them exactly what they're looking for. There have been some very exciting new games brought into the market recently and we look forward to introducing them into the Virgin Games product offering" said Burridge.
For more information on Virgin Games please visit www.virgingames.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:
About Virgin Games
Virgin Games launched in June 2004 and has quickly established itself as one of the leading gaming websites in the UK. Virgin Games comprises four distinct offerings:
- Virgin Casino, part of the Wagerworks network, brings consumers classic casino offerings like blackjack and roulette, as well as great feature slots like Monopoly, Cluedo, Dungeons and Dragons Fortress of Fortunes(TM) and the highly popular MegaJackpots progressive games, with a seeding value of Pounds Sterling 1,500,000
- Virgin Poker, part of the Boss Media network, offers a huge array of games and content for beginners through to experienced pros Texas Hold em, Five card Stud Poker and more - as well as the most generous loyalty scheme in the industry
- Virgin Bingo, part of the Virtue Fusion network, offers cash prizes worth thousands of pounds in the progressive jackpots, as well as Virgin prize bingo and a range of unique Virgin Games bingo games.
For more information, please contact
Nelson Bostock Communications
Melissa Robinson
020 7792 7436
melissa.robinson@nelsonbostock.com
or
Nelson Bostock Communications
Lucinda Pride
020 7792 7471
lucinda.pride@nelsonbostock.com
Profiles
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Sunday, May 31, 2009
Justin Bonomo Leads $40,000 WSOP Tournament Field, by Brett Collson - Poker News Daily - 30th May 2009
With a starting field rivaling the most talented ever assembled in a poker tournament, it was assumed that the final three tables of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event would consist of the game’s biggest names. That promise has now been fulfilled, as players cracked the money bubble late Friday evening and the final 23 will prepare to play down to the final table Saturday.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo quietly, but steadily climbed to the top of the leader board to end Day 2, holding a small chip lead over Ted Forrest, David Baker, Greg Raymer, and Lex Veldhuis. Bonomo began Day 2 third in chips with 738,000 and rarely got involved in any big pots, pulling in small pot after small pot to increase his stack gradually. His biggest win of the day came by way of Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, who was eliminated in 33rd place after his A-Q was overcome by Bonomo’s K-T. Bonomo also watched as Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker were knocked off his table short of the money bubble. Other notables falling out of the money were Nam Le, Kirill Gerasimov, Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, and Team PokerStars Pro member Humberto Brenes.
Forrest, who was inexplicably missing for some time after the dinner break, returned to take out Galfond in 29th place and play then went hand-for-hand. Alec Torelli eliminated Neil Chriss in 28th place just after Midnight local time, sealing a payday for everyone at the final three tables. The bursting of the bubble came with less than ten minutes remaining in the final level of the night, so a card was drawn to determine that six more hands would be played before the end of Day 2. Vanessa Rousso (27th place), J.C. Tran (26th place), and Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi (25th place), all exited just minutes later and David “The Dragon” Pham departed in 24th place on the final hand of the night when he ran into Matthew Marafioti’s pocket kings. Each earned $71,858 for their two days of work.
The remaining 23 runners will resume play at 2:00pm and the last nine standing will return Sunday for one of the most anticipated final tables in memory. The winner will receive $1.9 million. Here’s a look at the chips counts heading into Day 3:
1. Justin Bonomo - 2,678,000
2. Ted Forrest - 2,586,000
3. David Baker - 2,367,000
4. Greg Raymer - 2,287,000
5. Lex “RasZi” Veldhuis - 2,103,000
6. Alec Torelli - 1,725,000
7. Keith Lehr - 1,257,000
8. Vitaly Lunkin - 1,166,000
9. Matt Marafioti - 1,003,000
10. Brian Rast - 912,000
11. Doshi Suresh - 771,000
12. Dani Stern – 762,000
13. Clark Hamagami - 691,000
14. Matt Glantz – 671,000
15. Brian Townsend - 671,000
16. Noah Schwartz - 541,000
17. Isaac Haxton - 539,000
18. Antanas “Tony G” Guaga - 481,000
19. David Chiu - 318,000
20. Neil Channing - 270,000
21. Andrew Black - 210,000
22. Frank Kasella - 167,000
23. Andrew Robl - 112,000
The $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better kicked off Friday afternoon and broke the record for the largest Omaha High-Low event in WSOP history. The $1,500 event attracted 918 entrants and generated a prize pool of $1.25 million. Defending champion Thang Luu is currently the chip leader with 73,600 in chips, but with 197 players still alive, the gold bracelet is up for grabs. Eli Elezra won a big pot toward the of the night to increase his stack to 55,000. Others returning on Saturday include Celebrity Apprentice runner-up Annie Duke, Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunson, and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Play is scheduled to begin at 2:00pm local time.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WSOP coverage. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
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With a starting field rivaling the most talented ever assembled in a poker tournament, it was assumed that the final three tables of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event would consist of the game’s biggest names. That promise has now been fulfilled, as players cracked the money bubble late Friday evening and the final 23 will prepare to play down to the final table Saturday.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo quietly, but steadily climbed to the top of the leader board to end Day 2, holding a small chip lead over Ted Forrest, David Baker, Greg Raymer, and Lex Veldhuis. Bonomo began Day 2 third in chips with 738,000 and rarely got involved in any big pots, pulling in small pot after small pot to increase his stack gradually. His biggest win of the day came by way of Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson, who was eliminated in 33rd place after his A-Q was overcome by Bonomo’s K-T. Bonomo also watched as Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond and 2003 WSOP Main Event Champion Chris Moneymaker were knocked off his table short of the money bubble. Other notables falling out of the money were Nam Le, Kirill Gerasimov, Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, and Team PokerStars Pro member Humberto Brenes.
Forrest, who was inexplicably missing for some time after the dinner break, returned to take out Galfond in 29th place and play then went hand-for-hand. Alec Torelli eliminated Neil Chriss in 28th place just after Midnight local time, sealing a payday for everyone at the final three tables. The bursting of the bubble came with less than ten minutes remaining in the final level of the night, so a card was drawn to determine that six more hands would be played before the end of Day 2. Vanessa Rousso (27th place), J.C. Tran (26th place), and Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi (25th place), all exited just minutes later and David “The Dragon” Pham departed in 24th place on the final hand of the night when he ran into Matthew Marafioti’s pocket kings. Each earned $71,858 for their two days of work.
The remaining 23 runners will resume play at 2:00pm and the last nine standing will return Sunday for one of the most anticipated final tables in memory. The winner will receive $1.9 million. Here’s a look at the chips counts heading into Day 3:
1. Justin Bonomo - 2,678,000
2. Ted Forrest - 2,586,000
3. David Baker - 2,367,000
4. Greg Raymer - 2,287,000
5. Lex “RasZi” Veldhuis - 2,103,000
6. Alec Torelli - 1,725,000
7. Keith Lehr - 1,257,000
8. Vitaly Lunkin - 1,166,000
9. Matt Marafioti - 1,003,000
10. Brian Rast - 912,000
11. Doshi Suresh - 771,000
12. Dani Stern – 762,000
13. Clark Hamagami - 691,000
14. Matt Glantz – 671,000
15. Brian Townsend - 671,000
16. Noah Schwartz - 541,000
17. Isaac Haxton - 539,000
18. Antanas “Tony G” Guaga - 481,000
19. David Chiu - 318,000
20. Neil Channing - 270,000
21. Andrew Black - 210,000
22. Frank Kasella - 167,000
23. Andrew Robl - 112,000
The $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low Eight or Better kicked off Friday afternoon and broke the record for the largest Omaha High-Low event in WSOP history. The $1,500 event attracted 918 entrants and generated a prize pool of $1.25 million. Defending champion Thang Luu is currently the chip leader with 73,600 in chips, but with 197 players still alive, the gold bracelet is up for grabs. Eli Elezra won a big pot toward the of the night to increase his stack to 55,000. Others returning on Saturday include Celebrity Apprentice runner-up Annie Duke, Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth, Todd Brunson, and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Play is scheduled to begin at 2:00pm local time.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WSOP coverage. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
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Paris Hilton, Willem Dafoe Attend Jamie Gold Cannes Poker Fundraiser, by Tom Jenkins - Poker News Daily - 30th May 2009
The 2009 Cannes Film Festival recently played out from the luxurious city on the French Riviera. During the event, the Maybach Foundation honored “Rounders” actor Edward Norton and hosted a charity poker tournament led by 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Jamie Gold.
The former ACED Poker pro served as the emcee for the event, which attracted 250 runners to the felts in Cannes. VIPs hosted by the Maybach Foundation included hotel heiress and television star Paris Hilton, “Lords of Dogtown” personality Emile Hirsch, Swedish model Malin Akerman, “Spiderman” actor Willem Dafoe, Hofit Golan, “Highlander” actor Adrian Paul, “The Hills” reality show star Doug Reinhardt, director Lars von Trier, “Reservoir Dogs” producer Lawrence Bender, and novelist Paulo Coelho. Celebrities from the world of fashion, sports, and business were in attendance, many already at the annual festival in Cannes.
The following day, Norton, whose role in the movie “Rounders” was one of the contributing factors to the modern poker boom, was honored by the Maybach Foundation for his work with charity. Norton joined the ranks of previous award winners like “Speed” actor Dennis Hopper and musician Quincy Jones. The organization’s President, Ulrich Schmid-Maybach, commented in a press release distributed last week, “The extraordinary engagement of Edward Norton is an excellent example of genuine celebrity support for charitable cause.” Norton was shooting a film in Detroit at the time of the Cannes events and was unable to attend. Instead, he appeared via satellite and thanked the gathered crowd.
“Rounders” was released in 1998 and also starred then-up and coming actor Matt Damon, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, and the legendary Martin Landau. It first turned many of today’s young guns of poker onto Texas Hold’em. The thirst for the game would boil over five years later when a Tennessee accountant with a unique last name dominated the world’s top competition in the 2003 WSOP Main Event. In that tournament, Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker trumped Sammy Farha heads-up, leading to a streak of wins by aspiring amateurs in poker’s most prestigious tournament. Since then, Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Gold (2006), Jerry Yang (2007), and Peter Eastgate (2008) have all captured WSOP Main Event bracelets.
Gold sits atop the all-time WSOP money list with over $12 million in earnings. He won exactly $12 million for his 2006 title and is comfortably ahead of Eastgate, who owns $9.1 million in lifetime earnings, good for second on the all-time money list. Gold’s Team ACED took down the first open event held by Dream Team Poker, which played out in March from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The trio pocketed nearly $60,000 for their efforts in the team poker tournament, which saw Gold partner with Ashley Nataupsky and Houston Waldie. He will have a chance to defend his title when Dream Team Poker makes its WSOP debut in July at the Rio during the tail end of the 2009 Main Event. Like the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and Sunday’s WSOP Champions Invitational, the Dream Team Poker event will not award a bracelet.
According to the same press release, the Maybach Foundation “helps particularly gifted young people reach their full potential by providing an innovative mentoring program and financial support.” The organization is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded back in 2006. It has since expanded to include an office in Germany.
Also benefiting from the Cannes event was Sunflower Children, an organization that “provides humanitarian aid to disadvantaged children around the world.” Sunflower Children is active in 16 countries, including Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Guinea, India, Kenya, South Africa, Nepal, Niger, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Guatemala, and the Philippines. It was founded nine years ago by model Helena Houdova and is based in New York City. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
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The 2009 Cannes Film Festival recently played out from the luxurious city on the French Riviera. During the event, the Maybach Foundation honored “Rounders” actor Edward Norton and hosted a charity poker tournament led by 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Jamie Gold.
The former ACED Poker pro served as the emcee for the event, which attracted 250 runners to the felts in Cannes. VIPs hosted by the Maybach Foundation included hotel heiress and television star Paris Hilton, “Lords of Dogtown” personality Emile Hirsch, Swedish model Malin Akerman, “Spiderman” actor Willem Dafoe, Hofit Golan, “Highlander” actor Adrian Paul, “The Hills” reality show star Doug Reinhardt, director Lars von Trier, “Reservoir Dogs” producer Lawrence Bender, and novelist Paulo Coelho. Celebrities from the world of fashion, sports, and business were in attendance, many already at the annual festival in Cannes.
The following day, Norton, whose role in the movie “Rounders” was one of the contributing factors to the modern poker boom, was honored by the Maybach Foundation for his work with charity. Norton joined the ranks of previous award winners like “Speed” actor Dennis Hopper and musician Quincy Jones. The organization’s President, Ulrich Schmid-Maybach, commented in a press release distributed last week, “The extraordinary engagement of Edward Norton is an excellent example of genuine celebrity support for charitable cause.” Norton was shooting a film in Detroit at the time of the Cannes events and was unable to attend. Instead, he appeared via satellite and thanked the gathered crowd.
“Rounders” was released in 1998 and also starred then-up and coming actor Matt Damon, John Turturro, Famke Janssen, Gretchen Mol, John Malkovich, and the legendary Martin Landau. It first turned many of today’s young guns of poker onto Texas Hold’em. The thirst for the game would boil over five years later when a Tennessee accountant with a unique last name dominated the world’s top competition in the 2003 WSOP Main Event. In that tournament, Team PokerStars Pro member Chris Moneymaker trumped Sammy Farha heads-up, leading to a streak of wins by aspiring amateurs in poker’s most prestigious tournament. Since then, Greg Raymer (2004), Joe Hachem (2005), Gold (2006), Jerry Yang (2007), and Peter Eastgate (2008) have all captured WSOP Main Event bracelets.
Gold sits atop the all-time WSOP money list with over $12 million in earnings. He won exactly $12 million for his 2006 title and is comfortably ahead of Eastgate, who owns $9.1 million in lifetime earnings, good for second on the all-time money list. Gold’s Team ACED took down the first open event held by Dream Team Poker, which played out in March from Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The trio pocketed nearly $60,000 for their efforts in the team poker tournament, which saw Gold partner with Ashley Nataupsky and Houston Waldie. He will have a chance to defend his title when Dream Team Poker makes its WSOP debut in July at the Rio during the tail end of the 2009 Main Event. Like the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament and Sunday’s WSOP Champions Invitational, the Dream Team Poker event will not award a bracelet.
According to the same press release, the Maybach Foundation “helps particularly gifted young people reach their full potential by providing an innovative mentoring program and financial support.” The organization is headquartered in San Francisco and was founded back in 2006. It has since expanded to include an office in Germany.
Also benefiting from the Cannes event was Sunflower Children, an organization that “provides humanitarian aid to disadvantaged children around the world.” Sunflower Children is active in 16 countries, including Cambodia, Colombia, Cuba, the Czech Republic, Brazil, Guinea, India, Kenya, South Africa, Nepal, Niger, Nicaragua, Peru, Romania, Guatemala, and the Philippines. It was founded nine years ago by model Helena Houdova and is based in New York City. (Credit: Poker News Daily)
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