Eighteen and a half years old, Michael McDonald has been playing live poker for only six months. Following the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop in Dortmund, Germany, he is now the youngest player ever to win an EPT stop. €933,600 richer from the ��...full article
Eighteen and a half years old, Michael McDonald has been playing live poker for only six months. Following the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour stop in Dortmund, Germany, he is now the youngest player ever to win an EPT stop. €933,600 richer from the 410 player €8,000 buy-in event, the teenager plans to go home to Waterloo before hitting EPT Copenhagen.
Rest of the final table:
2. Andreas Gülünay, Germany, €528,500
3. Torsten Haase, Germany, €307,000
4. Diego Perez Marco, Spain, €234,200
5. Claudio Rinaldi, Switzerland, €193,000
6. Johannes Strassmann, Germany, €152,000
7. Thibaut Durand, France, €120,200
8. Christian Harder, United Sttes, €85,500
Image courtesy PokerStars
Selbst captures Commerce WPTL event
The $1,000 buy-in ensured that there would be a strong contingent of women battling for the crown. Evidently a recent California court decision had limited impact on the composition of the field.
On Jan. 18, the California judiciary determined that "women only" events were discriminatory against males and that any cardroom running an event could not keep men out if they wanted to play.
At the Commerce, one man stepped up to take on the ladies on the felt, but he was eliminated from the action in the early going.
Eighty-two players came to the tables for action midafternoon on Saturday, some very strong contenders among them. WSOP bracelet winner Cyndy Violette, Anna Wroblewski and 2007 WPT Ladies' Night winner Pamela Brunson sat down at the felt, but busted out relatively early in the evening.
The final table, convened early Sunday morning, featured several strong local players as well as some top professionals. Katrina Lim and Christina Hung, two California poker players who have a number of solid finishes in ladies tournaments between them, struggled valiantly but ended up in seventh and fourth place respectively.
When the tournament came down to the final three, it was Selbst (who also final-tabled the 2007 WSOP Ladies Championship), European poker pro Erica Schoenberg and Crystal Osgood at the baize.
Osgood, who is also the president of the Ladies Poker Association (one of the cosponsors of the WPT Ladies tournament), was first to depart the table, taking with her the third-place prize of $10,920.
As the hands of the clock approached 7 a.m. Sunday, Selbst was finally able to vanquish Schoenberg and capture the bounty: $26,500 in cash, a pink WPT chip set, LAPC and LPA trophies and a $1,500 seat at the WPTL Championship at the Bellagio in April.
Once the marathon wrapped up, the final-table results looked like this:
| Place | Name | Hometown | Prize |
| 1st | Vanessa Selbst | Montclair, N.J. | $26,500 |
| 2nd | Erica Schoenberg | Las Vegas, Nev. | $14,690 |
| 3rd | Crystal Osgood | Spring Valley, Calif. | $10,920 |
| 4th | Christina Hung | San Francisco, Calif. | $7,800 |
| 5th | Jana Delacerra | Northridge, Calif. | $5,850 |
| 6th | Danise Aaron | Los Angeles, Calif. | $4,290 |
| 7th | Katrina Lim | Orange, Calif. | $3,380 |
| 8th | Carol Neal | Provincetown, Mass. | $2,600 |
| 9th | Julie Le | Huntington Beach, Calif. | $1,950 |
In honor of the charitable organization the WPT Ladies promotes, the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, players sported pink bracelets given out by the WPT to promote and encourage donations to the WPTL official charity partner.
With the end of the second WPT Ladies event, female players will now be looking to the Bay 101 Casino in San Jose for the third stop on the tour at the Shooting Star in March.
The fourth tournament on the schedule takes place at Foxwoods in March.
The current season of the WPTL wraps up in April with the WPT Ladies Championship Event, a $1,500 buy-in on the schedule of the Five Star World Poker Classic at the Bellagio. The final table for that event will be taped on April 25 for broadcast on the WPT's new television partner, GSN.
Related Article: WPT Ladies Heads for Commerce Casino
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Bodog to award WSOP seat in blogger tournament
The poker site is putting on the Poker Blogger Tournament Series, which will give out a $12,000 prize package to send the winner to the World Series of Poker as part of Team Bodog in 2008.
The Bodog Poker Blogger Tournament Series is composed of 18 qualifying tournaments that will run weekly starting Tuesday, Feb. 5, to Tuesday, June 3. The top 30% of finishers in each qualifying tournament will earn points based on their finish, which will be used to rank players over the qualifying series.
At the end of the series, the top 18 players with the most points will play in the final tournament June 10 to try to win the $12,000 WSOP prize package.
The weekly tournaments have a $10+$1 buy-in, with the prize pool being distributed per Bodog's standard multi-table payout structure. In addition, the top five players each week will also win $109 tournament dollars to be used to buy into the weekly $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament.
The top five bubble players each week will get a second shot at the Blogger Tournament series with a free buy-in to the next week's tournament.
The Blogger Tournament final is free and only open to the top 18 point winners from the series. Prizes will be offered to the top five places.
- Grand Prize: $12,000 WSOP* Prize Package with Team Bodog
- 2nd place: T$540 to be used to buy-in to (2) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
- 3rd place: T$379 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal and (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
- 4th: T$270 to be used to buy-in to (1) World Series or Players Choice Semifinal
- 5th: T$109 to be used to buy-in to (1) $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament
To get in on the tournament series, bloggers need to go to BodogLife.com/promotions/poker/blogger-tournament/ and sign in with their Bodog account information. (Bloggers who don't have an account at Bodog will need to create an account first.)
Once they've signed in with their account, they must click on "Register Now" to enter the tournament series. After that, bloggers will have to register for the Online Poker Blogger Tournament each week like they would normally for any other tournament.
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- Bodog Players Find Live-Event Success
- Bodog Finds nevertilt22 Atop 2007 Leaderboard
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Bodog Poker launches WSOP qualifiers
The promotion started Tuesday with the first of the Main Event Semifinal tournaments, which are scheduled to take place on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays each week. Bodog Poker is guaranteeing at least three $12,000 Main Event prize packages a week through the Semifinal tournaments.
The prize package includes the $10,000 buy-in to the Main Event, $2,000 for travel expenses, loads of Team Bodog gear and the chance to experience Las Vegas in Bodog style.
There are also seats up for grabs through Bodog Poker's weekly Player's Choice tournaments.
The poker site is expecting to add even more Main Event Semifinal tournaments to the schedule during the coming months, building up to a total of more than 120 Bodog players who will get a shot at millions of dollars in the WSOP Main Event.
Players looking to secure their spot in the Main Event at Bodog Poker can do so for as little as $1 or 100 points. Qualifiers are running daily, and all qualifiers lead to the three weekly Main Event Semifinal tournaments.
The Semifinals are scheduled for:
- Tuesdays at 7:15 p.m.
- Thursdays at 9:15 p.m.
- Saturdays at 3:15 p.m.
(All times are EST.)
The buy-in for the Semifinal events is $250+$20.
The 2008 World Series of Poker kicks off at the end of May at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and the Main Event is scheduled for July 3-15.
Visit Bodog Poker for more information and to get in on the poker fun.
Related Articles:
- Bodog to Award WSOP Seat in Blogger Tournament
- Bodog Ups Presence in China
- Bodog Players Find Live-Event Success
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Canadian wins Full Tilt Poker freeroll
This time around it was Lance Murray, a 26-year-old player in Nova Scotia, Canada, who topped the weekly $3,000 freeroll for PokerListings.com players at Full Tilt Poker.
The tattoo artist has been playing poker since he was 13, and plays poker daily now. That experience paid off with a $780 win on Saturday after he climbed his way to victory from a short stack.
"I lost most of my chips really early, so I played very conservatively to stay in," Murray, who plays as drumandbass11, said about the tournament. "On the last hand, I had pocket aces, which I slow-played, and luckily sucked him in for all of his chips. I got lucky quite a bit too."
The Top 10 players in the freeroll were:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | drumandbass11 | $780 |
| 2nd | Darkangel71 | $495 |
| 3rd | Tyfoon777 | $375 |
| 4th | TMDAN | $292.50 |
| 5th | dglizda | $217.50 |
| 6th | takotako | $157.50 |
| 7th | RODDOG23 | $105 |
| 8th | mick skittles | $82.50 |
| 9th | sonnystorm | $63 |
| 10th | Sapo ITA | $37.50 |
So what does Murray plan to do with that extra $780 padding his bankroll? Play more poker, of course. It's more than likely that that play will also take place at Full Tilt Poker since he already plays there daily.
"It's the best site online without a doubt," Murray said when asked about Full Tilt Poker.
He's also a fan of PokerListings.com, which he visits when he wants to check out a new poker site.
"I love it," he said. "It's the only place I use to look for new poker rooms."
For your chance at weekly free cash at Full Tilt Poker, sign up at the poker site through a PokerListings.com link and then start playing to earn 150 points during the seven-day qualification period.
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French player crowned Titan World Champion
Lelievre finished first in the World Challenge Main Event in December to claim the title of Titan Poker World Champion. Along with his new status came a $100,000 cash prize.
The journey to get to that point took three months, as Titan Poker hosted events for players to win their way into the World Challenge Main Event. To qualify, they had to advance through a series of poker leagues, competing first against their compatriots and then against international players.
The final 56 players advanced to the World Challenge Main Event where they battled for the title of world champion.
The 55 players who didn't win received a share of a $55,000 prize pool.
Following his win, Lelievre said, "Poker is a true passion for me. I started playing poker in 2006, and it was not long before I realized all the passion that poker can provoke. I was so delighted to win the World Challenge Main Event, especially as it was such a close call. I became Titan Poker World Champion with a three of a kind - but just before the pot, I only had enough for the big blind!"
Lelievre said he intends to continue playing poker and fulfill some more of his dreams.
"I'm still very young, and I have a lot to learn, but I believe that I am getting closer and improving all the time," said the 25-year-old.
The World Challenge Tournament is just one of many cash promotions offered by Titan Poker. The online poker room hosts many events with added value for players and it will stage a $2 Million Guaranteed tournament March 2.
Related Article: Titan Sending Four to South African Poker Open
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