I took a quick bathroom break right after the Hearts/Diamonds round of 32 concluded. I heard one side of the following cell phone conversation from one of the stalls:...
#360 - Mojo Ricin
Sorry to interrupt my coverage of the NBC Heads-Up Championship, but you'll understand why I have to for this story ... An international news story is developing about a man in Las Vegas who has been hospitalized for two weeks...
Doyle Brunson heading to Ireland
That's right, folks. The Godfather of poker - Doyle Brunson - is on his way to Ireland to take part in the 2008 Irish Poker Open.
Brunson tends to stay close to his home in Las Vegas these days, so what would entice him across the Atlantic? Well it might have something to do with the guaranteed prize pool of €3 million that's up for grabs this year. The payouts will likely be some of the very best in all of Europe this year and with a buy-in of €4,200 it's likely a number of the world's elite poker players will be on location.
Last year Marty Smyth outlasted 708 players, including Mike Sexton, Andy Black, Ram Vaswani and many more, and then out-dueled Rolande de Wolfe in heads-up play to win €650,000 for his troubles.
This year Ciaran O'Leary, Michael McCool, Noel Furlong, Pascal Perrault, John Duthie and of course Brunson are confirmed to play in the epic event.
The Irish Open is the longest-running tournament in Europe and was the brainchild of the late, great Terry Rogers. Rogers often visited Vegas and developed friendships with people like Benny Binion, Johnny Moss and Brunson. He was an advocate of No-Limit Hold'em and helped introduce the game in Ireland and across Europe.
The 2008 Irish Poker Open will kick off March 20 and run through March 24. This year's edition will be held in the world-class conference center of the Citywest Hotel.
To learn more about the Irish Poker Open visit www.irishpokeropen.com.
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#368 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #18 – Chris Ferguson Has Eliminated Phil Ivey to Make the Finals of the Championship for the Third Time in Four Years
Chris Ferguson eliminates Phil Ivey to win his way into the finals. On a board of 9-4-3-5, Chris bets 100,000. Ivey moves all-in. Chris thinks about it for 4 minutes. He’s shaking his head almost imperceptibly. He doesn’t look happy....
Harman, Full Tilt team up to help animals
Jennifer Harman will host the "Animal Lovers" charity poker tournament on Full Tilt Poker Sunday, March 16. The tournament will have a $5+$5 buy-in with 50% of all revenue benefiting the Nevada SPCA. The remaining money will go to the prize pool of the event.
The Nevada SPCA is a non-profit organization that operates a no-kill animal sanctuary in Las Vegas. The organization also promotes humane education, makes referrals for lower-cost spay/neuter and vaccination services and challenges pet owners to be the best possible guardians for the animals in their care.
Harman, a member of Team Full Tilt, has been a Nevada SPCA friend and supporter for several years. Not only do she and her husband Marco Traniello actively look for homes for dozens of animals each year, last year she hosted the First Annual Jennifer Harman Charity Poker Tournament in Las Vegas, which raised more than $130,000 for the organization.
The funds allowed the animal shelter to expand its facilities and services, protecting hundreds more animals.
"We're making a difference," Harman said. "The people at the Nevada SPCA are amazing. They have so much heart. Every penny counts, and these fundraisers really work."
According to a press release, the Nevada SPCA animal sanctuary is in need of immediate funding and Harman is encouraging everyone to join her in the Animal Lovers fundraising efforts.
Several Full Tilt Poker pros have already pledged to lend their support on Sunday. Howard Lederer, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, John Juanda, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Clonie Gowen, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham, Kristy Gazes and more will take part in the tournament.
There is plenty of support coming from outside the poker world as well. Professional snowboarder and world half-pipe champion Jeff Brushie (SMAKEbreak) and pro snowboarder Kris Swierz (WheatSApuff) will be playing.
Olympic medalist and two-time X Games champion Ross Powers, X Games gold medalist and five-time wakeboard world Champion Parks Bonifay (pbpbpb), X Games and Gravity Games wakeboard medalist Shane Bonifay (jeanyes407), four-time X Games wakeboard gold medalist Danny Harf (d9bigtime) and professional motocross champ Jimmy Button (BTNFLY) will lend their support at the tables as well.
Poker players interested in playing in the tournament will need to create an account at Full Tilt Poker if they don't already have one, and then register for the Animal Lovers tournament.
The online poker tournament isn't the only way people can show their support for the Nevada SPCA. Donations can also be made to the organization at NevadaSPCA.org.
Related Articles:
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Shawn Luman wins Bodog Poker Open main event
All kinds of players came out of the woodwork yesterday attempting to get a piece of the largest prize pool ever offered in Bodog Poker history. When all the results were tallied a total of 596 players registered for the $500 buy-in tournament. With the extra $25,000 from Bodog that made for a prize pool of just over $305,000.
Luman beat Michael "_TheFinisher_" Berra in heads-up play to win the first-place prize of $76,280 and the title of BPO main event champion. He'll certainly look the part of a high roller with the Omega Speedmaster watch (valued at $4,400) that was presented to him by Bodog.
Hamby had to settle for third but the $29,138 he received probably made him feel a lot better.
The Inaugural BPO brought out some of the world's elite poker players, especially the online crowd. Thayer "Thay3r" Rasmussen, Eric "Rizen" Lynch, Kevin "beLOWaBOVe" Saul, Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad, Marco "CrazyMarco Johnson and Jon "PearlJammer" Turner all played in events at the BPO.
Of course Team Bodog members Evelyn Ng, Josh Arieh and David Williams could be found at each event of the prestigious online series. Ng and Arieh amazed railbirds by finishing second and third respectively in the first event of the BPO.
This first run of the BPO main event, along with the five preliminary events, brought out more than 1,800 players and generated over $675,000 in prize money. Bodog kicked in an extra $75,000 so the value of each event was extremely high.
Now attention at Bodog Poker shifts to the poker site's WSOP qualifiers, where players can win a seat into the biggest one of them all - the WSOP Main Event. There are at least four WSOP Main Event seats up for grabs every week in March and April with that number jumping to five per in May and June. Click here to see how to qualify with Bodog.
Here are the Top Five payouts at the Bodog Poker Open main event:
| 1. phatcat | $76,280 |
| 2. _TheFinisher_ | $45,768 |
| 3. TheWacoKidd | $29,138 |
| 4. zpaceman | $21,358 |
| 5. CK3 | $16,781 |
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- Bodog Pros Flying High at Bodog Poker Open
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Huck Seed wins 2008 COPC
The 1996 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion is no stranger to heads-up tournaments. He came in third in this year's NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas. In 2007 he claimed ninth place in that tournament, third in 2006 and ninth in 2005.
Huck Seed also finished third two years ago at the inaugural Canadian Open Poker Championships. It took a return trip north of the border for Seed to finally capture a heads-up win.
It was by no means an easy tournament field to get through either. Players such as Joe Hachem, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Mel Juda, Bill Edler and Antonio Esfandiari had made the trip, plus Canadians Brad Booth, Greg Mueller and Gavin Smith were in the lineup.
In the end it came down to Seed versus Booth for a best-of-three match that lasted more than five hours before Seed finally triumphed.
"This was an amazing tournament in terms of both structure and quality of players," Seed said. "I love it when the cream rises to the top, and I get a chance to play with the best in the world. I am so happy that I finally won a heads-up tournament."
Seed takes home $100,000 for his win. The top eight players in the event were:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Huck Seed | $100,000 |
| 2nd | Brad Booth | $50,160 |
| 3rd | Graeme Putt | $30,000 |
| 4th | Gavin Smith | $30,000 |
| 5th | Nghi Van Tran | $20,000 |
| 6th | Joe Hachem | $20,000 |
| 7th | Van Marcus | $20,000 |
| 8th | Shawn Buchanan | $20,000 |
Hachem, the 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion, was eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the CPOC main event, but still had good things to say about the tournament.
"This is by far the best heads-up tournament I have ever played in, and I will definitely be back next year," Hachem said. "The structure is much better than the World Series or NBC Invitational with the best-of-three format and terrific blind structure."
Along with the main event, the COPC features four other tournaments, including a charity event. The winners of those events were:
- $500 Charity Event: Jody Lewchuk
- $1,500 Event: Steve Paul-Ambrose
- $1,000 Event: Bradley Ginet
- $500 Event: Harey Hammoud
All told, more than 600 players turned out for the five events of the Canadian Open Poker Championships, creating more than $700,000 in prize money.
"I am very pleased with the success of the event," said Kelly B. Kellner, HeadsUp Entertainment president and CEO. "The staff at the Deerfoot Inn and Casino were amazing and that is reflected in the comments from all of the players."
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EU may file complaint against U.S. concerning Internet gambling
The European Union launched an investigation Monday into U.S. laws on Internet gambling, according to a story by The Associated Press. European betting companies are complaining that the United States’ actions against them are infringing world trade rules. As a result, the EU may file a complaint ��...full article
The European Union launched an investigation Monday into U.S. laws on Internet gambling, according to a story by The Associated Press.
European betting companies are complaining that the United States’ actions against them are infringing world trade rules.
As a result, the EU may file a complaint at the World Trade Organization in the latest international argument about online gambling.
According to the AP story:
“The U.S. has the right to address legitimate public policy concerns relating to Internet gambling, but discrimination against EU companies cannot be part of the policy mix,” said EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. He said he hoped the issue could be resolved amicably.
European companies claim a U.S. ban that forced them out of the lucrative American market discriminates against them in violation of WTO rules, while permitting domestic gambling companies, particularly those offering betting on horse races, to flourish.
In 2006, the WTO had ruled against a U.S. ban that stops American banks and credit card companies from processing payments to online gambling businesses outside the country.
In December, Antigua and Barbuda won a ruling against the U.S. in a similar case. The small Caribbean nation won the right to impose yearly sanctions of $21 million (€14 million) against the U.S. for its restrictions on online betting. However, the country was seeing $3.4 billion in damages.
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