Friday, September 11, 2009

Richard Toth Triumphs in Inaugural WPT Slovakia Event, by Jessica Welman - Poker News Daily - 7th September 2009

When the World Poker Tour (WPT) first announced it would be adding a stop in Slovakia for its eighth season, it was unclear how many big name pros would be willing to travel to Bratislava to participate in the event. The final numbers for last week’s Main Event were at a modest 100, but there were still some recognizable faces in the field and at the final table.

The €4,400 buy-in event was held at the Golden Vegas Casino in Bratislava in tandem with the Slovak Poker Sport Federation. The event will not be televised in the United States, but the WPT did add a little taste of the States to the event by flying in noted tournament director Steve Frezer and his crew to oversee all the tournament action.

Some of the other imports who came in for the event were American PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso, Full Tilt Pro Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen, DoylesRoom pro Alec “traheho” Torelli and 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Peter “Belabacsi” Traply of Hungary.

Both Torelli and Traply found themselves at the final table of the event, which is familiar territory for the two pros. Torelli finished in 4th place at the WPT season-opening Bellagio Cup V, earning $271,165 and made an appearance at the televised final table of the $40,000 buy-in anniversary event of the WSOP back in May. He finished in 6th place in that event for $329,730. So far this year, Torelli has won $695,291.

Traply has had an equally successful run. In April of this year he made the final table of the European Poker Tour’s Grand Finale at Monte Carlo, finishing in 8th place for $241,238. Then, in June, the young Hungarian took down the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout Event at the WSOP for $348,755. The achievement was a benchmark not just for Traply, but for his country as it was Hungary’s first-ever WSOP title.

Hungary had a strong showing in Slovakia as well. Traply was joined at the final table by fellow Hungarian Richard Toth. According to Czech poker site Pokerzive.cz, Traply was the extreme short stack heading into final table play while Torelli came in with the chip lead. Here are the complete chip counts from the start of the final table:

Seat 1: Alec Torelli (1,064,000 chips)
Seat 2: Richard Toth (781,000 chips)
Seat 3: Boris Zelený (469,000 chips)
Seat 4: Saŝa Stenčič (439,000 chips)
Seat 5: Marec Tatar (160,000 chips)
Seat 6: Peter Traply (63,000 chips)

An early double up by Traply kept him alive long enough to avoid going out in 6th place. Marec Tatar, the other short stack at the table, was less fortunate and was the first to fall in 6th place. Traply’s comeback would be short-lived and he would be the next player eliminated. Despite beginning the day with the chip lead, Torelli made his exit in 4th, matching his previous WPT final table performance at the Bellagio. In the end it was the other Hungarian, Toth, who would emerge victorious at his first WPT final table. He earned €104,000 for the win and added a WPT victory to the rapidly growing list of Hungarian poker achievements.

The complete results from the final table are as follows:

1st: Richard Toth - €104,000
2nd: Boris Zelený - €66,000
3rd: Saŝa Stenčič - €42,000
4th: Alec Torelli - €31,000
5th: Peter Traply - €25,000
6th: Marec Tatar - €20,000

The next WPT international stop in Cyprus is already underway and after only one of two starting days, it appears as if it will draw a substantially larger crowd than its Slovakian counterpart. (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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American Carter Phillips Wins EPT Barcelona, by Jessica Welman - Poker News Daily - 10th September 2009

It was a nearly wire to wire performance for 20-year old Carter Phillips at the final table of the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) recent tournament in Barcelona. Phillips came into the last day of play on Wednesday atop the chip counts and stayed there, briefly relinquishing his chip lead only once the entire day. Phillips capped off a remarkable poker performance with a memorable three hour-long heads-up match against popular British pro Marc Goodwin that pitted an online pro against a longtime brick and mortar grinder for the title of EPT Barcelona Season Six Champion.

For the first time in the EPT’s six-year history the Barcelona event did not open the season and that honor was bestowed on the newly added EPT Kiev spot instead. Perhaps because players were fresh off participating in that EPT event, the Barcelona stop saw a significant drop in participants this year, falling from a field of 619 last year to 478 players this year. The 23% decline can also be attributed to a number of major tournaments running in Europe at the same time. The World Poker Tour’s (WPT) newly added international stops at Slovakia and Cyprus both overlapped the Barcelona event and the Partouche Poker Tour is running as well. This is also the first indication that the EPT could potentially suffer the same kind of drop off in numbers that has been occurring Stateside for over a year.

Smaller field aside, the event was still packed with a wealth of talent from the online poker world like newly signed PokerStars Pro and EPT winner Jason Mercier, Lex “RasZi” Veldhuis, Faraz “The-Toliet” Jaka, Joe Serock and November Nine member Joe Cada. The live pros also turned out in full force with Full Tilt Pro Roland de Wolfe, Katja Thater, Freddy Deeb, Daniel Negreanu and “Miami” John Cernuto taking part as well.

As the field dwindled, there were three former EPT champions who all were making a run at another title. De Wolfe, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and two-time EPT winner Michael “Timex” McDonald all made it to the final three tables of the event. It was the youngest of the past winners, McDonald, who came the closest to the final table with an 11th place finish. It looked as though this year’s LA Poker Classic winner Cornell Andrew Cimpan was final table bound as well, but he was eliminated shortly after McDonald in 10th place.

While proven champions were falling left and right, Phillips was proving himself as a dangerous and talented young poker player. The American won three satellites into the event and chopped one of the smaller buy-in side events in Barcelona already and his hot streak carried over into the Main Event. His huge bluff with 6-8 against Goodwin’s A-K on an ace high board was the talk of the tournament room as play wound down and the final table was set.

The final table got off to a slow start as the mid-level stacks laid low waiting for the shortest-stacked players to bust. Gergios Kapalas was the first player eliminated, but the next one to fall actually started the day third in chips. Matt Lapossie developed a reputation for relentless aggression during his time in Spain and it was that aggression that led to his demise in 7th place when he shoved all-in holding J-4 to Toni Ojala’s pocket queens.

Local favorite Santiago Terrazas came into the final table with one of the shortest stacks, but he doubled up and picked up enough pots to end up in the final three. A Spanish EPT Barcelona was not in the cards though and his elimination set up the heads-up showdown between Goodwin and Phillips.

After battling back and forth for hours it would be a bluff that kept Goodwin from his first EPT title. Except this time it was Goodwin trying to pull off the semi-bluff while Phillips held top pair. With the board reading K-5-4-Q moved all-in for his last 4 million chips—nearly a million more than what was in the pot—and Phillips agonized over the decision before calling with K-J. Goodwin showed A-10 for a gutshot straight draw and when an ace or jack failed to materialize on the river, Phillips was the new EPT Barcelona Champion.

Here are the complete results from Wednesday’s final table:

1st: Carter Phillips - €850,000
2nd: Marc Goodwin - €530,000
3rd: Santiago Terrazas - €300,000
4th: Mihai Manole - €250,000
5th: Asa Smith - €200,000
6th: Toni Ojala - €160,000
7th: Matt Lapossie - €120,000
8th: Georgios Kapalas - €80,000 (Credit: Poker News Daily)

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

$140,000 in Rewards for Titan Poker Pot Limit Omaha Players

9th September 2009

Back by popular demand, the latest season of Titan Poker's Omaholics Promotion is being re-launched during the months of September and October.

Loyal Omaha poker players will be rewarded with huge cash prizes based on their game play, with more than $140,000 in prize money to be distributed to the top Pot Limit Omaha players. These players will be ranked based on the number of raked hands they have generated.

All players with raked hands at Pot Limit Omaha tables with $0.10/$0.20 and up are eligible to participate in the promotion. Players are ranked on leaderboards, posted on the Titan Poker website and updated regularly. The Omaholics Promotion runs from September 7, 2009, until midnight, October 18, 2009.

Titan Poker will also be staging a new weekly tournament called the Monday Night Omaha an additional attraction for Omaha poker enthusiasts. This series is specifically structured to provide plenty of play (5,000 in starting chips, 15 minute levels). The tournament will feature an $8,000 Guaranteed Prize and a $100 buy-in, and will be launched on September 21.

Titan Poker stages innovative and exciting promotions and tournaments, and awards seats to all the major poker tournaments around the world, including the World Series of Poker, the Asian Poker Tour, the Aussie Millions, the ECPokerTour, and the Irish Open. Titan Poker invites online poker players, both amateurs and poker enthusiasts, to enjoy the benefits of the improved Club Titan, the world’s most rewarding online VIP Poker Club.

About Titanpoker.com:

TitanPoker.com is the number one online poker room in Europe and part of the iPoker Network. Titan Poker's software is developed and maintained by Playtech, a public company and leading gaming software developer. With nearly 30,000 online players at peak hours, Titan Poker guarantees $16,000,000 in monthly prizes, features special sit 'n' go tournaments with progressive jackpots as high as $100,000, and awards players with entries to major worldwide poker tournaments. The Titan Poker brand is promoted exclusively by Euro Partners (http://www.europartners.com).

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Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Casino News Media - Global Gaming Directory - Media Man Australia News Update

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Tuesday, September 08, 2009

PartyGaming News Media Update

PartyGaming Friday reported a less-than-expected 6.5% fall in first-half earnings, hurt by the stronger dollar against the pound and fierce poker competition online, and said second-half trading so far has been in line with management's expectations.

Chief Executive Jim Ryan advised trading in the three weeks ended 18th August, which represents the peak holiday season in most of the group's core markets, has been "strong," inline with management's business expectations.

Mr Ryan said the company's three-year strategy is on track and that it remains "confident about the group's prospects and look forward to the rest of the year with confidence."

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization from continuing operations - the key figure watched by U.K. gaming analysts - fell 6.5% to $60.7 million in the first half to June 30, ahead of market expectations of $58.7 million. This compares with $64.9 million over the same period last year.

First-half net revenue dropped 21% to $201.3 million, inline with expectations, from $254.8 million a year earlier.

PartyGaming, the world's biggest listed-online gaming group by market capitalization, has been on the acquisition trail since its long-awaited settlement with U.S. authorities over its defunct gaming operations there in April.

Its first purchase was London-based bingo and casino operator Cashcade Ltd. for GBP95.9 million last month, and earlier this week it agreed to buy the bulk of WPT Enterprises Inc.'s operating assets for $12.3 million as well as 5% of the revenue generated by the assets.

Gibraltar-based PartyGaming didn't declare an interim dividend, in line with expectations, preferring to stock-pile money for "attractive consolidation opportunities." The U.K.-listed company hasn't paid a dividend since the U.S. government banned the online gaming industry in October 2006.

PartyGaming shares closed at 266 pence, valuing the company at GBP1.08 billion on the London Stock Exchange. The stock has risen 37% since January, fueled by its legal settlement with U.S. authorities and expansion plans.

PartyGaming's flagship brands are PartyCasino.com, PartyPoker.com, and is looking to ramp up its recent purchased brands, World Poker Tour and Foxy Bingo.

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