World Poker Tour Online
MILLION DOLLAR PAYDAY FOR SATELLITE POKER ACE STERNBERG
2011-03-21
WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star tourney pays off big
Alan Sternberg, a poker player who qualified for the Wolrld Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting Star competition in a satellite tourney, is celebrating a million dollar win this weekend.
On Friday he prevailed over a final table comprised of Steven Kelly, Mike Matusow, Vivek Rajkumar, Casey McCarrel and poker legend and chip leader Mike Sexton, beating them all to claim the $1,039,000 winner’s prize.
The heads up was decided when Mike Matusow was eliminated in third place for a payday of $369 000, leaving Steven Kelly and Sternberg in the decider after persuading tournament director Matt Savage to allow them to play without antes.
Sternberg appeared unstoppable, building up a near 6 to 1 lead over his opponent before dispatching him with the runner-up prize of $595 000.
Sexton was eliminated in sixth place.
PARTYPOKER ANNOUNCES LATEST UPGRADE2010-11-01Find the Pro's and Chase the Rabbit's
PartyPoker.com has released its latest software upgrade which according to the company blog includes
- Pro Players now highlighted.
- Adding the tournament lobby to a table’s chat area capability.
- Rabbit Hunt - post hand information.
- New Anonymous Heads Up Tables
A PartyPoker spokesman said, "All these new features are now live in the client", and encouraged players to communicate with the company with any views or suggestion.
MORE ONLINE POKER CASH SEIZED IN THE UNITED STATES2010-08-18$13.3 million settlement reached with processor
Federal prosecutors continue to go after financial processors in their attempts to stifle online poker, reports Forbes Business, revealing that the authorities reached a settlement worth $13.3 million Tuesday with Ahmad Khawaja, together with his firms, Allied Wallet and Allied Systems.
The settlement brings to a close a year-long issue that began when the FBI seized the $13.3 million in June 2009 (see previous InfoPowa reports).
Officials alleged that the funds constituted proceeds of operating an illegal gambling business that were deposited between January 2009 and May 2009 in an account at Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona. Those funds were traceable to PokerStars, the world’s biggest online poker firm, and other offshore online gambling companies, and include “proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling information and operating an illegal gambling business," court documents reveal.
Forbes reports that the funds were linked to allegations of money laundering by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, with some of them traceable to wire transfers from outside the U.S. by individuals who knew that the funds represented the proceeds of the illegal transmission of gambling.
Isle of Man-based PokerStars issued a statement following the settlement in which it said: “PokerStars does not condone efforts by processors to conceal the nature or purpose of funds used to play online poker. PokerStars has taken steps to ensure that processors properly disclose the nature of their business to their relevant financial institutions.”
Forbes notes that PokerStars has long maintained that it offers for-money online poker play to U.S. players in accordance with legal opinions from several U.S. law firms that state it is not violating U.S. law.
"Department of Justice officials have for years taken the position that facilitating for-money online poker violates U.S. law, making no distinction between online sports betting - clearly illegal - and online poker playing. Still, the fact that prosecutors have not moved directly against the online operators has suggested to some that the government’s position is weak," the publication observes.
Despite the UIGEA, PokerStars continues to dominate the U.S. market for online poker, making it the world’s biggest online gambling firm, with estimated annual revenue of $1.4 billion and some $500 million in profits.
EXTRA DAY NEEDED FOR EVENT 47 AT WSOP (Update)2010-07-01Shawn Busse takes the honours after four tough days
With a star-laden entry field of 3,128, World Series of Poker event 47, a $1,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em competition, turned out to be something of an endurance test, but after four days Shaun Busse has emerged as the winner.
It took five hours to reach the final nine during Day 3 of the event, necessitating the final table nine going into a fourth day of action with Manuel Davidian, who had been in the lead as Day 3 started, ending it as the bubble boy on the final table.
When the fourth day action kicked off Wednesday afternoon Adam White was the chip leader on a table that comprised Allan Baekke, Shawn Busse, Owen Crowe, Ilya Andreev, Chuan Shi, Jason Mann, Pekka Ikonen and Wenlong Jin.
By late Wednesday night the affair had been decided when Owen Crowe was eliminated at level 29 in second place for $300,494 after a tense heads up against Busse, who collected the bracelet and $485 791) as the winner.
Crowe had held a 2 to 1 chip lead when the heads up started and he was to increase that even further, making Busse’s achievement all the more remarkable.
By late night Wednesday only 4 players remained in event 49 - the $1,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em contest which had started out two days earlier with 2,543 hopefuls taking their seats.
Day 3 of the event started with 23 survivors led by Michael Linn but still plenty of opposition threats in the form of players like Mihai Manole and the UK’s Johnathan Spinks.
The final table eliminations were:
Chadwick Grimes out in 5th place ($141,235)
Alexander Kuzmin out in 6th place ($104,364)
Justin Zaki out in 7th place ($78,067)
Erle Mankin gone in 8th place ($59,082)
Tyler Cornell eliminated in 9th place ($45,247)
As InfoPowa went to press play had reached Level 27, with just 4 players still in the hunt, led by Taylor Larkin on 4,560,000 and Mihai Manole on 3,425,000.
When the chips were bagged at the end of Day 2 of Event 50 - the $5,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha there were still 31 players in action from a field of 460 just after a rush of eliminations just after the cash bubble burst on Men Nguyen at position 45.
Robert Mizrachi started Day 3 on Wednesday afternoon holding the chip lead in a tough and talented field that included Kevin Boudreau, Jose Nacho Barbero, Ryan D'Angelo, Jason Mercier, Tieman, Ayaz Mahmood, Eric Baldwin, Justin Smith, Joe Serock, and Di "urindanger" Dang.
By late Wednesday night there were still 5 players in action at level 25 with the millionaire chip stacks belonging to the following leaders:
1 Chance Kornuth 2,650,000
2 Danny Smith 1,300,000
3 Kevin Boudreau 1,180,000
4 Edward Martin 1,020,000
189 players survived an original field of 965 contestants on Day 1 of event 51- the $3,000 buy-in Triple Chance No-Limit Hold'em competition, and by late night Wednesday at level 18 that was down to only 24.
Ryan Welch had a comfortable lead on 1,050,000 as InfoPowa went to press, with his closest rival Michael Fong on 710,000.
The big money was on event 52, the $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed competition which kicked off midday Wednesday with a field of 191.
It’s difficult to compare the size of the field with anything previous on this new event, but in last year’s special anniversary $40,000 buy-in event 201 players signed up..
Name-spotters noted the following as the field rather sluggishly assembled: Chris Moorman, Steve Billirakis, Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Faraz Jaka, Joe Cada, Shawn Buchanan, Michael Mizrachi, Shaun Deeb, Roland de Wolfe, Daniel Negreanu, David Benyamine, Kevin Saul, Matt Glantz, Chad Batista, Nikolay Evdakov, Praz Bansi, Isaac Haxton, Juha Helppi, Sam Stein and Davidi Kitai, Vanessa Rousso, Lex Veldhuis, Chris Moore, Beth Shak and Christian Harder.
With the big money buy-in and respectable turnout a prize pool of $4,536,250 was announced by the organizers, which shared on a sliding scale by the top 18 finishers. The winner will be taking home a bracelet and $1,315,518, which is right up there with top international competition prize levels.
Here’s a snapshot of how the final table payouts will be made:
1st - $1,315,518
2nd - $812,941
3rd - $556,053
4th - $386,125
5th - $272,084
6th - $194,559
7th-8th - $141,168
9th-10th - $104,651
Twelve hours after launch on Day 1 the action was still taking place as late at night Wednesday the players reached level 9 with just over half the field already eliminated. McLean Karr on 515,000 was in the lead, chased by Brit Sam Trickett on 470,000 and Daniel Negreanu on 419,000.
The day’s 93 casualties by that stage included Bertrand Grospellier, Tom Dwan, Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Steve Billirakis, David Benyamine, Lex Veldhuis, Shaun Deeb, Chris Moorman, Juha Helppi, Faraz Jaka, Steve Sung, Gavin Smith, Kevin MacPhee, Matt Glantz, Antonio Esfandiari, Eric Baldwin and Chad Batista.
Many of the big names in the event were multi-tabling on event 53.
In event 53 - the $1,500 buy-in Limit Hold’em Shootout – the field was slightly down on last year’s 571 entrants.
A total of 548 registrants took their seats for Day 1 late afternoon Wednesday, a number of them already casualties from event 52 being played nearby.
The field was star-stacked with players like Tom Dwan, Joe Sebok, Ylon Schwartz, Marco Traniello, Matt Hawrilenko, Barney Boatman, Jeff Madsen, Greg Mueller, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin, Bill Chen, Tom Schneider, Chino Rheem, Jon Turner, Eric Froehlich, Mike Beasley, Tony Dunst, Michael Binger, Mel Judah, John Brock Parker, Eric Baldwin, Jennifer Harman and….arriving rather late…. Phil Hellmuth, Chris Ferguson and Marcel Luske.
The registrations generated a prize pool of $739,800, which means that the top 64 players will cash, with the winner taking home $184,950 and the runner-up $114,484.
By early evening Wednesday Vegas time play had reached level 6 and the field had only suffered 10 casualties. Among the fallen were Jeff Shulman, Michael Binger, Victor Ramdin, Jason Mercier, Humberto Brenes, Al "Sugar Bear" Barbieri, David Sklansky, Michael Mizrachi and defending champ Greg "FBT" Mueller.
The five top chip counts were:
1 Blake Cahail 45,000
2 Ben Yu 45,000
3 Robert Beveridge 45,000
4 Andrew Petersen 45,000
5 Noah Askarian 45,000
Average chip counts over the field 4,382.
MIZRACHI WINS WSOP $50K PLAYER’S CHAMPIONSHIP (Update)2010-06-03$1.55 million in prize money, a prestigious bracelet and other rewards for poker pro
Mike Mizrachi won through in the $50 000 buy-in mixed game Player’s Championship at the World Series of Poker early Wednesday, besting a field of 116 of the best players in the world to win his first WSOP bracelet, $1.55 million in cash, and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy.
"It's definitely worth the wait," a delighted Mizrachi said. "This is one of the most prestigious tournaments in poker.”
With the hard fought championship down to fourhanded play, Mizrachi took on and ousted John Juanda and David Oppenheim to enter the heads up against Russian player Vladimir Schmelev.
Schmelev initially appeared to have Mizrachi’s number and looked set to win the event, but Mizrachi staged a bright comeback, eventually dominating his opponent and taking the honours.
The final table payouts looked like this:
Michael Mizrachi – $1,559,046
Vladimir Schmelev – $963,375
David Oppenheim – $603,348
John Juanda – $436,865
Robert Mizrachi – $341,429
David Baker – $272,275
Daniel Alaei – $221,105
Mikael Thuritz – $182,463
In the $1 000 buy-in NLHE event a final table was reached after 5 tough days of action in which all but nine of the original 4345 starters fell by the wayside.
On Wednesday afternoon the final nine took their seats with Adam Dava holding a chip lead of over half a million on opponents Cory Brown, Gabe Costner, Dash Dudley, Bart Davis, Nicholas Mitchell, Isaac Settle, Richard Rice and Deepak Bhatti – all going after the big money in a prize pool that topped $3.9 million in this event.
Every one of the final table players was guaranteed a paycheck of over $50 000, and the atmosphere was intense but friendly as the action started.
By 8pm Vegas time the game was down to three handed play with level 30 blinds at 60,000/120,000, Ante at 15,000 and average stack $4,345,000. Bhatti, who had started the day as the low chip count had enjoyed a great session to reach the final three players, and after the break went on to face Adam Dava in the heads up after Gabe Costner was eliminated in third place.
When InfoPowa went to press the two were still slugging it out.
By 10pm Vegas time Wednesday, the $5 000 buy-in NLHE Shootout players were down to 6, vying for the remaining seats at the final table for the event.
Ben May, Chino Rheem, Blair Hinkle and Eugene Katchalov had all been eliminated, and Julien Nuijten and Stuart Rutter; Danny Estes and Josh Tieman and Joe Elpayaa and Cary Katz were playing for the three final table places, most of them agreeing on bail-out bets in case they did not make the $72 000 payment levels that go with final table play.
In Event #4: $1500 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better, Michael Chow outlasted 818 players en route to a bracelet and $237 140 after besting runner up Dan Heimiller, who had to be content with a second placing paycheck of $146 505. Ylon Schwartz took third for $94,561.
POKERSTARS LIKES UKASH2010-03-15Payment facility is attracting a whole new player demographic, says the world's largest online poker site.
Global e-commerce payment provider Ukash has joined forces with online poker site PokerStars.com to offer players an alternative means of cashing up new gambling accounts, and first time European users are being offered a promotion to use it.
First-time Ukash users in Europe can win a seat to the European Poker Tour’s San Remo event next month. The seat will include an all expenses paid trip with flights, accommodation and spending money.
“This is an exciting chance to offer Ukash users a once in a lifetime opportunity to play poker alongside poker's elite,” said Mark Chirnside, CEO for Ukash.
“By partnering with PokerStars.com to offer first-time Ukash depositors such a valuable prize, we hope to show players across Europe the benefits of using Ukash as they join the millions of consumers who already use cash to bet online.”
A Pokestars spokesman in the Isle of Man said: “Providing Ukash as a payment method on PokerStars.com has introduced a new demographic to our site, the cash customer.
“Thousands of our players benefit from using Ukash, an easy system for depositing money when betting online, and we look forward to working with Ukash to give one lucky customer the chance of a lifetime, to play poker alongside the world's best.”
ALAEI THE WPT 5 DIAMOND POKER CHAMP2009-12-28LA poker pro's take-home was $1 428 430
The past few days have seen some of the world's top poker pros mixing it up in the World Poker Tour Five-Diamond Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, which culminated in a final table Saturday and a major win for Los Angeles professional Daniel Alaei.
In a final table crammed full of respected names, two of them former WPT champs, the 26-year-old Alaei managed to prevail to a final heads up against Josh Arieh and emerge victorious. The reward was considerable - a main prize of $ 1 428 430, a WPT bracelet and a $25 000 seat at the WPT Championships and a Rolex from the Bellagio.
The rail was packed for much of the final table action as Alaei fought off skilled and determined play from Faraz Jaka - in the chip lead by almost half a million chips at the start of play; Scotty Nguyen as Jaka's nearest rival; Shawn Buchanan; Steve O'Dwyer and Josh Arieh.
Rather cautious play went on for some 47 hands before the first elimination, Steve O’Dwyer, was taken out by Scotty Nguyen ($202 362). Nguyen's jubiliation was short-lived for he was the next to go, picking up a fifth place paycheck $249 976 after a clash with Arieh and Jaka.
Alaei took out Shawn Buchanan in fourth spot for 333 302, and the heads up was decided when third place went to Faraz Jaka, eliminated by Alaei and collecting a prize of $571 374.
Heads up and 122 hands into the game it was an Arieh vs. Alaei confrontation, with Arieh holding a 2 to 1 chip advantage, which Alaei soon overcame in a spectacular double up that turned the tables and left Alaei’s stack with 14.6 million and took Arieh down to 5.13 million.
Despite a heroic attempt to fight the game back, Arieh was ultimately taken out by Alaei not long after and had to be content with the second prize of $952 290.
The win was Alaei's biggest yet, taking his career earnings into the $4 million dollar range from 44 major tournament cashes, 5 wins and 2 WSOP bracelets. His previous highest cashout was for $445 888 in this year's 40th WSOP, where he won the WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo World Championship. And that total does not include winnings on high stakes cash games!