The event marks the debut of the newly formed fighting organization. A number of stars have already expressed interest in playing, including Vin Diesel, Ice Cube, Steve Baldwin and Wolfgang Puck, along with MMA/boxing industry professionals like Kevin Randleman, Frank Trigg, Dean Lister and Shonie Carter.
The tournament is open to any interested player and the buy-in is just $250. Despite the low buy-in first place will net the winner a seat into the WSOP $10,000 buy-in Main Event in addition to numerous other prizes.
It's the deal of the century, according to tournament organizer and IFC photographer Gary England.
"I really think we are going to blow the top off the Orleans," England said. "We've got a ton of fighters that are going to play as well as some celebrities and we haven't really started recruiting yet. My phone has been ringing off the hook with people interested in playing in the tournament since it was announced."
In addition players will be treated to a VIP party at the posh Blush nightclub at the Wynn the night before the poker tournament.
Lister, Carter and Din Thomas will be attending the tournament on behalf of Owned Entertainment, which is filming a thriller set in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.
Given that tournament organizers are already estimating a field of over 500 players the event could potentially be very lucrative, with the top 10% of players getting paid. Along with all that, every player who makes the final table will receive the $1,000 entry into the Orleans Open.
If a player is lucky enough to hit a royal flush during the tournament they will receive an impressive boating package from Campion that includes a boat, motor, trailer and truck. That package will be awarded to the first player that makes the fabled poker hand.
The Penthouse girls will also be attending the tournament and along with the celebrities will be available for autographs.
To top it all off the final table of the tournament will take place in a fighting cage and the winner will receive a fighting championship-style belt.
"This tournament will knock the lights out of any poker fan," England said.
It's an important event for the newly organized International Fighting Championship LLC which will host its first fight June 21.
The tournament will start at 11 a.m. (PST) on May 25, with registration beginning at 8 a.m. You can pre-register online at www.internationalfightingchampionship.com.
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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.
Ladbrokes marches in with Rake Race
Each week, the top 30 finishers in the rake race in each of the levels of the race will receive $27,000 in guaranteed cash prizes.
The prize payout structure is:
| Place | Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 |
| 1st | $1,250 | $2,000 | $3,500 |
| 2nd | $900 | $1,250 | $2,250 |
| 3rd | $600 | $900 | $1,500 |
| 4th | $400 | $600 | $1000 |
| 5th | $300 | $450 | $800 |
| 6th | $225 | $350 | $600 |
| 7th | $175 | $250 | $450 |
| 8th | $125 | $175 | $325 |
| 9th | $100 | $150 | $225 |
| 10th | $75 | $100 | $175 |
| 11th-20th | $45 | $75 | $125 |
| 21st-30th | $35 | $45 | $100 |
| 50th-54th | $30 | $40 | $75 |
| 100th-104th | $20 | $30 | $50 |
| 150th-154th | $15 | $20 | $30 |
In addition to that, the top 50 players and players finishing in the 100th and 150th positions in the standings will be invited to one of three end-of-the-month $20,000 World Series of Poker Freerolls. The freerolls will give them a chance to join Jonas "nebuchad" Danielsson and Team Ladbrokes at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.
The race levels are split up as follows:
- Level 1: 25¢/50¢ and 50¢/$1 stakes
- Level 2: $1/$2 stakes
- Level 3: $2/$4 or higher stakes
The first race wrapped up on Friday, and the second rake race for the month gets under way today and will run through Friday, March 14 at 11:59 p.m. (GMT). The third leg of the race runs March 15-21, and the fourth runs March 22-23.
There will also be special bonus days throughout the races. During this week's race, players can get Double Rake Race Points on Thursday, and 50% extra Rake Race Points will be awarded on Friday.
During the third week, double Rake Race Points will be awarded March 20, and 50% extra Rake Race Points will be awarded March 21.
The final week will see those double Rake Race Points dished out March 27, and the 50% extra Rake Race Points awarded March 28.
Related Article: Ladbrokes Approved as WSOP Satellite
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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 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's 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 |
* 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 toumaments.
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Hellmuth, Duke to give poker lessons in Canada
The seminar will include instruction on cash game strategy, sit-and-go tournament strategy and multi-table tournament strategy. There will also be time for a question-and-answer session.
Participants will also be treated to a $300 gift bag of items, a chance to win a seat to the 2008 Aruba Poker Classic and lunch and a meet-and-greet with the UltimateBet pros on hand to provide their poker expertise.
That team of pros will be led by Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth and includes Shawn Rice, James "Krazy Kanuck" Worth, Gary "DeBo34" DeBernardi and Mark "POker Ho" Kroon.
Hellmuth brings to the table his 11 World Series of Poker bracelet wins as well as more than $10 million in tournament winnings over the years. Duke is one of the top-ranked female players in the world with a WSOP bracelet of her own, more than $3.5 million in tournament winnings and extensive cash game experience.
While Rice, Worth, DeBernardi and Kroon don't have quite the impressive poker resumes that Hellmuth and Duke have, they too offer expertise, gathered from both the live and online poker worlds.
The team will be making its way to five cities in Canada during the Cross Canada Tour, starting with Toronto on Saturday, March 8. The full schedule is as follows:
| Date | Place | Lead Instructor |
| March 8 | Sheraton Centre, Toronto | Hellmuth |
| March 15 | Centre Mont-Royal, Montreal | Duke |
| March 16 | Ottawa Marriott, Ottawa | Duke |
| April 26 | Downtown Ramada, Calgary | Hellmuth |
| April 27 | Downtown Marriott, Vancouver | Hellmuth |
Registration along with a light breakfast for participants begins at 9 a.m. local time the day of the seminar, and then the classes begin at 10 p.m. and last until about 6 p.m.
Space is limited, and people wishing to participate can reserve their seats now online at UltimateBet.net. The seminar costs $299 per person.
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Players head to Poland for EPT event
This is the second year for the EPT at Casinos Poland in historic Warsaw, the capital and largest city of Poland. Last year's Season 3 event was a late addition to the EPT schedule after the French Open at Deauville had to be cancelled.
The 2008 Polish Open features a buy-in of 21,000 PLN (approx. €5,750), up from 15,000 PLN the year before, and the field is capped at 400 players. Well over a quarter of those seats are reserved for players who qualified through PokerStars satellites and members of Team PokerStars.
Among those players is Katja Thater, who topped all Team PokerStars players in Warsaw last year when she finished fifth out of 284 entrants. Already confirmed to join Thater in her quest for the final table are teammates Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, Luca Pagano and Dario Minieri.
Last year's 15,000 PLN Polish Open drew a field of 284 entries, building a prize pool of 4,007,000 PLN ($1,357,799). Seven European nations were represented at the final table, but host nation Poland was not among them.
The final saw Denmark's Peter Willers Jepsen take down the biggest tournament score of his career when he outlasted France's Farid Meraghni in a 90-minute, back-and-forth heads-up battle for the championship. The final table ended up looking like this:
| Place | Name | Prize |
| 1st | Peter Willers Jepsen | 1,226,711 PLN ($415,679) |
| 2nd | Farid Meraghni | 708,225 PLN ($239,987) |
| 3rd | John Conroy | 424,935 PLN ($143,992) |
| 4th | Marius Skoglund Torbergsen | 303,525 PLN ($102,851) |
| 5th | Katja Thater | 250,914 PLN ($85,024) |
| 6th | Andrew O'Flaherty | 198,303 PLN ($67,196) |
| 7th | Patrick Martenson | 157,833 PLN ($53,483) |
| 8th | Frederik Hostrup | 113,316 PLN ($38,398) |
As usual with stops on the EPT, the week of poker kicks off with a welcome party for the players the night before the tournament. Tonight's party is at Foksal, Poland's premier nightclub, where PokerStars will provide free food and drinks as well as a DJ.
In addition to the largest share of a prize pool chock full of Polish zlotys, whoever emerges victorious in Warsaw will claim the next-to-last remaining free seat in the Grand Final available on the Season 4 EPT schedule. The EPT San Remo event in Italy next month will award the last freeroll in the EPT's big bash in Monte Carlo.
Most stops on the EPT are filmed for broadcast on the tour's television series, but this year's Polish Open will not be televised. Luckily for you, our loyal readers, PokerListings.com's crack reporting team will be on the scene in Warsaw to keep us apprised of who's on top, who's on the rail, and what poker looks like in the heart of modern Poland.
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Inside the Tour, #86 — Inside 'The Psychology of Poker'
Psychology. It's a subject none of us give enough importance. Furthermore we don't want to do the work to look at ourselves and see where we fit into poker's panoply of players. For this niche, though, there is one book that...
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