Seriously, compared with the action that came before, the second round of the Clubs/Spades bracket was not especially exciting. All but one of the matches were over in 70 minutes and the all-in-fest that started 30 minutes in usually featured...
PPA names state directors
The State Directors program is part of the PPA's comprehensive strategy to become a player in national and state-level policy debates to protect the rights of poker players across the nation.
"With close to one million members, the PPA is fortunate to have a dedicated and active membership base, but we need eyes and ears on the ground to help us," said PPA Chairman and former Senator Alfonse D'Amato.
"With the state directors program, we will have a leader in each state who can update us on local news stories or legislation and who can quickly mobilize their fellow local PPA members to help carry the PPA banner in their home state. We are proud of the state directors we have named today and look forward to working with them."
More than 1,000 applicants were considered for the state director positions, and according to the PPA, the people chosen were not only active PPA members, but also leaders in their communities who can advocate on behalf of the PPA.
A few positions haven't been filled yet, but the state directors appointed to date are:
| Alabama: Bret Atiyeh | Alaska: Wayne McGregor |
| Arizona: Steven J. Yeager | Arkansas: Jennifer O'Steen |
| California: Steven Miller | Colorado: Gary Reed |
| Connecticut: James Freehan | Delaware: TBA |
| District of Columbia: Norman Smith | Florida: Dick Campbell |
| Georgia: Kelli Mix | Hawaii: David Wallace |
| Idaho: Wendy Nutting | Illinois: Steve Brubaker |
| Indiana: Lynda Morgan | Iowa: Jim Hudson |
| Kansas: Susan Thacker | Kentucky: Rich Muny |
| Louisiana: Brian Brinser | Maine: Curt Fletcher |
| Maryland: Bruce Seidel | Massachusetts: Randall Castonguay |
| Michigan: Dave Crocker | Minnesota: Matt Werden |
| Mississippi: Bill Goff | Missouri: Nancy Krause |
| Montana: Mike Barger | Nebraska: Dave Willman |
| Nevada: Ken Illgen | New Hampshire: Patrick Fleming |
| New Jersey: Bill Brottman | New Mexico: TBA |
| New York: Vincent Papasodero | North Carolina: Paul Boome |
| North Dakota: Todd Anderson | Ohio: Donshey Peoples |
| Oklahoma: Greg Peters | Oregon: Nick Wellman |
| Pennsylvania: Tripp Amick | Rhode Island: Andrew Knutton |
| South Carolina: John Ridgeway | South Dakota: Vincent Amato |
| Tennessee: Dwayne Mann | Texas: TBA |
| Utah: Ryan Wilkinson | Vermont: C. David Sawyer |
| Virginia: Jeff Gregson | Washington: Lee Rousso |
| West Virginia: Robert Walker | Wisconsin: Steven Verrett |
| Wyoming: Daniel Prevedel |
The directors will be responsible for monitoring poker-related issues and events in their states and alerting the national PPA office to emerging trends or issues. Part of their job will also be to recruit new members for the PPA, organize groups of local PPA members to attend poker-related events or rallies, contact their elected officials and serve as spokespersons for local media.
The PPA also plans to help state directors set up state PPA committees that will help strengthen the organization's grassroots efforts in the future.
The State Directors program is one component of the PPA's aggressive campaign to boost member benefits, augment its grassroots efforts and position the organization and its members as a strong voice in national, state and local policy debates.
To further enhance its campaign for poker rights, the PPA will be launching a political action committee, a voter registration campaign, a new Web site and new membership incentives later this spring.
Currently the PPA, which is a nonprofit membership organization, has more than 900,000 online and offline poker players and enthusiasts as members, who have joined together to promote the game of poker and protect poker players' rights.
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Written and directed by Zak Penn, best known for writing action hero movies such as Last Action Hero, Behind Enemy Lines and X-Men: The Last Stand, The Grand takes on the mockumentary genre.
The movie is intended to be a comedic fake documentary about a poker tournament. Rather than writing out a full script, Penn did an outline for the movie and let the actors improvise the dialogue and actions for the scenes based on their characters.
When asked in a Reuters article if the scenes were totally improvised, Woody Harrelson, who plays One Eyed Jack Faro in the movie, said, "Yes, and I was a bit scared when we began shooting. I didn't think I had it all together, but then it kicked in."
Along with Harrelson, the cast is made up of a long list of actors as well as poker stars. Ray Romano, Jason Alexander, David Cross, Dennis Farina, Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind, Ray Liotta, David Cross and Chris Parnell all lend their comedic talents.
Bringing some more legitimate poker skills to the table are Doyle Brunson, Phil Laak, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth and Shannon Elizabeth.
Filmed at the Gold Nugget in Las Vegas, it was only fitting that The Grand debuted at a film festival in Las Vegas during the 2007 World Series of Poker.
Life is also imitating art now as the Gold Nugget plans to host a real Grand Poker Series June 6 through July 6 this summer.
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- The Grand to Hit Theaters in March
- Poker Mockumentary to Debut at Film Festival
- Superhero Movie Writer to Make Poker Movie
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Three More Arrested in Delaware 'Trooper' Poker Robbery
Three Philadelphia brothers were arrested in connection with the robbery, allegedly orchestrated by a Delaware state trooper, of a 'high stakes' poker game at an upscale Delaware golf club. The three brothers, Addae C. Powell...
Another Canadian captures Full Tilt freeroll win
Lawrence, who plays as Dirt04, signed up at Full Tilt Poker through PokerListings.com. That entitled him entry into the weekly $3,000 freeroll after he racked up 150 player points during the seven-day qualification period prior to the event.
The fact that Lawrence, a 31-year-old road construction worker, plays poker every chance he can get, and plays at Full Tilt Poker two times a week, probably helped.
"It's great if you like to play tournaments, and you have more variety in cash games if you like to play games like Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo, Omaha Hi-Lo," Lawrence said about Full Tilt Poker, "[plus] you never have a problem finding a table."
Lawrence has been playing poker regularly for about four years. He got started playing with his friends.
"A group of my friends would get together and have a game," he said. "And then one of my friends started playing online so I thought I would give it a try."
That led him to one of his biggest poker wins - a $130,000 cash in the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. He won his way to that event through another PokerListings.com exclusive freeroll with another poker site.
"So last year's PokerListings freeroll was better; I won the $11k package, which I turned into $130,000," Lawrence said. "The Full Tilt win was great too. So now you can see why I love PokerListings.com."
Lawrence described the Full Tilt freeroll as having a pretty solid playing field.
"But you always have some crazy players you can sit back and wait for to make a mistake and then capitalize," he said.
His win came down to his A-6 off-suit versus the other player's pocket fours. With a 3-1 chip lead, Lawrence raised it up, and the other player re-raised all-in. After Lawrence called, the board brought him the nut straight to the ace.
The final-table results for the March 15 freeroll were:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Dirt04 | $810 |
| 2nd | mikey11773 | $510 |
| 3rd | JohnDimitri | $382.50 |
| 4th | 1monsoon | $300 |
| 5th | Sailam | $225 |
| 6th | Chucker10 | $165 |
| 7th | Kobbers | $112.50 |
| 8th | lokmon | $90 |
| 9th | Dao Bo | $67.50 |
The past couple weeks have also seen winners for the $3k weekly freeroll at Full Tilt Poker. The results for the March 8 freeroll were:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | EE Ali | $960 |
| 2nd | mike24778 | $585 |
| 3rd | GrandDonkey | $420 |
| 4th | 1monsoon | $330 |
| 5th | thricer | $240 |
| 6th | lpod | $180 |
| 7th | RobSutton | $120 |
| 8th | andrewdice k | $90 |
| 9th | Javatinii | $75 |
The results of the March 1 freeroll were:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Strict 9s | $960 |
| 2nd | 45caliberT | $585 |
| 3rd | egasMoniz | $420 |
| 4th | soarsoar | $330 |
| 5th | joac87 | $240 |
| 6th | lpod | $180 |
| 7th | Fractions | $120 |
| 8th | Tadadonk | $90 |
| 9th | rominlingin | $75 |
PokerListings.com players also have access to exclusive satellites for $12,500 prize packages to the 2008 WSOP* Main Event. Players who signed up at Full Tilt Poker through PokerListings.com and who earn 300 player points during the qualifying periods will gain entry into the WSOP freerolls.
The qualifying period for the March 23 freeroll just ended Wednesday, but players have until April 2 to qualify for the April 6 freeroll.
* World Series of Poker and WSOP are trademarks of Harrah's License Company, LLC ("Harrah's"). Harrah's does not sponsor or endorse, and is not associated or affiliated with PokerListings.com or its products, services, promotions or tournaments.
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#361 – NBC Heads-Up Championship #11 – Opinions Are Like A-Holes; Everybody Has One
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:...
MONTABARNAK wins FT/PL.com WPT freeroll
Montreal native MONTABARNAK outlasted 146 players to take down the tournament in a dramatic fashion. After he got heads-up MONTABARNAK moved all-in from the small blind with Q-T and was called by his opponent with 5-5. MONTABARNAK managed to hit a straight and the tournament was over.
The 35-year-old MONTABARNAK has only been playing poker online now for a couple years but he seems to be hitting is stride. He mentioned that he plays almost every day and enjoys the competitive nature of the game.
"This prize is my biggest win," he explained. "I'm really happy with everything."
MONTABARNAK started playing on Full Tilt only four months ago but he's already a big fan of the site.
"It's a great site with a number of big tournaments," he said.
MONTABARNAK is also a regular PokerListings.com visitor and uses the promotions and reviews of various poker rooms. Although he is unsure if he will actually enter the WPT this year, because the season is already over, he has no doubt that he will likely be playing in a WPT event shortly.
To learn how you can pull a MONTABARNAK of your own head over to our review of Full Tilt Poker and check out the latest promotions.
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- Canadian Wins Full Tilt Poker Freeroll
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Cantu rides recent success into POY race
Although the top three names on the list remain the same as at the start of March (Men "The Master" Nguyen, Mike McDonald and Phil Ivey), our newest player had a great couple of weeks of play, propelling him into fourth place.
Brandon Cantu, who had an excellent showing in the preliminary events at the Wynn Classic before winning the championship at the World Poker Tour's Bay 101 Shooting Star, demonstrated why he's being touted as an upcoming star of the game.
With 1,854 points so far this year, along with three final tables, Cantu is primed for taking a shot at the top as the year moves along.
Bertrand Grospellier broke out of the logjam of players who have won a top-tier event this year by making a final table during the Wynn Classic. Even with those newfound points, however, Grospellier actually dropped to fifth in the POY standings.
Cantu's success over the past two weeks is the reason for Grospellier's fall, but we can expect that "ElkY" will be a factor in the POY race for the entire year.
Another new name in the Top 10 this week is a bit more surprising. While he hasn't been out of the top 50 of the POY race yet this year, William Blanda's name is still little-known.
The Texan got off to a great start in January by making two final tables at the Borgata Winter Poker Open (including one win) and has now followed it up with another title in a preliminary event at the Wynn Classic. The points he earned for those finishes push him into the Top 10 for the first time this year, in sixth place.
The remainder of the Top 10 is occupied by players who have been there since the start of 2008. Alexander Kostritsyn, Gavin Griffin, Tim Vance and Howard Lederer hold down seventh through 10th on this week's rundown.
| Player | Country | Points | FTA | 2008 Earnings |
| 1. Men Nguyen | United States | 2,436 | 7 | $514,426 |
| 2. Mike McDonald | Canada | 2,140 | 3 | $1,487,214 |
| 3. Phil Ivey | United States | 2,000 | 1 | $1,721,000 |
| 4. Brandon Cantu | United States | 1,854 | 3 | $1,034,514 |
| 5. Bertrand Grospellier | France | 1,740 | 2 | $2,011,097 |
| 6. William Blanda | United States | 1,640 | 2 | $315,115 |
| 7. Alexander Kostritsyn | Russia | 1,600 | 1 | $1,452,000 |
| 8. Gavin Griffin | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,401,109 |
| 9. Tim Vance | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,210,699 |
| 10. Howard Lederer | United States | 1,600 | 1 | $1,100,000 |
Completed qualifying events: 2008 Wynn Classic (Events 1-4, 6, 8-10, 12-13, 15-16 and the Championship Event), 2008 Majestic Star Deep Stack Poker Championship Main Event, WSOPC Caesars Atlantic City, GUKPT Leg 3-Victoria, 2008 Heartland Poker Tour Tama, WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star, EPT Polish Open, 2008 Canadian Open Poker Championship, 2008 Spring Poker Festival Austria (€1,500 event and Championship Event).
There are threats bubbling up underneath the Top 10 players. Two more champions from the past couple of weeks find themselves in the second 10 on the POY rankings. Michael Schulze (the champion at the EPT Polish Open) and Eric "Sheets" Haber (the victor at the WSOPC Caesars Atlantic City) both have the same number of points (1,600), but Schulze's earnings give him the tiebreaker between the two. Schulze sits in 11th place currently; Haber is only two spots back in 13th.
Another dangerous professional player joins in the mix as well, just behind Schulze and Haber. After making four final tables this year (but without a championship yet), 2007 WSOP Championship Event final-table finisher Lee Watkinson is in 17th place, in position to take a run at the mountaintop.
With two of his final-table finishes being at WPT and WSOPC main events (he barely missed a third at the Bay 101 event, where he finished ninth), it could only be a matter of time before Watkinson is in the Top 10.
Harman's Bay 101 run lands her in Ladies POY race
#img: jennifer-harman_18150.jpg: left: Jennifer Harman works her way into the Ladies POY ranks.#
After her strong finish at the WPT's Bay 101 Shooting Star, top poker professional Jennifer Harman has pushed her way into the PokerListings Ladies Player of the Year race.
Harman's third-place finish gave her 550 points, good enough to pass everyone on the list except for Marisol Banuelos, who took over the Ladies POY lead earlier this month.
While Diane Nguyen (third) and Vanessa Selbst (fourth) each fall a position on the leaderboard, Jennifer Golin is joined in a tie for fifth by strong East Coast player Karen Harris. A Connecticut resident, Harris plays in many of the ladies tournaments on the East Coast and, with a win at the WSOPC Ladies Event at Caesars in Atlantic City, moves up to tie with Golin for fifth place.
With these changes, the Ladies POY race currently looks like this:
| Place | Name | Points |
| 1. | Marisol Banuelos | 640 |
| 2. | Jennifer Harman | 550 |
| 3. | Diane Nguyen | 410 |
| 4. | Vanessa Selbst | 347 |
| 5. | Jennifer Golin | 326 |
| Karen Harris | ||
| 7. | Lorraine Bane | 320 |
| Regette Bechara | ||
| Marga G. Dominguez | ||
| GiGi Dong | ||
| Christy King | ||
| Irina Liepina | ||
| Van Tuyet Nguyen | ||
| Louise Rocchio |
Numerous tournaments will affect both Player of the Year races over the next couple of weeks. The WPT's final event in Reno is currently being played, and its stop at Foxwoods and its season-ending WPT Championship both loom on the horizon.
In addition, the WSOPC has Caesars Indiana on the schedule in the next couple of weeks, and the European Poker Tour will visit Italy for the first time late this month. Factor in some of the smaller tournaments from around the world and the PokerListings Player of the Year races could have an entirely different look a few weeks from now.
Related Articles:
- Phil Ivey Creeps Up POY Standings
- The Master Surges to PokerListings POY Lead
- EPT Win Puts McDonald Atop POY Standings
- Player of the Year Race Begins at PokerListings.com
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