From PokerNewsDaily.com
“At 7:30pm local time on Thursday, 2006 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event Champion Jamie Gold and 2008 winner Peter Eastgate will host a 50 player charity poker tournament benefiting the Jamie Gold Foundation. The event is one of many that will take place as part of London’s Poker in the Park.
The Foundation works with a bevy of notable charities, including the Muscular Dystrophy Association/ALS Division, Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, Montel Williams MS Foundation, Sunflower Children, Covenant House, Fallen Heroes Fund, Fulfillment Fund, and the Abolish Slavery Coalition. Prizes up for grabs include a £5,200 European Poker Tour (EPT) entry, a £3,000 Unibet Open package, a Gresham Blake suit, a £1,000 Gevril Wristwatch, and chipsets and tables that are perfect for home games. Poker News Daily sat down with Gold to talk about this week’s event.
Poker News Daily: What can attendees expect at the charity poker tournament on Thursday?
Gold: This has all come together at the last minute, but we have some great support from the people running Poker in the Park. The Empire Casino, where we hold WSOP Europe, donated their space for us. We’re going to have a red carpet and even David “Devilfish” Ulliott is coming. He’s amazing and he’s a really great guitar player. He sings like Elvis.
PND: Talk about Peter Eastgate’s involvement.
Gold: The reason we became friendly is because we are both Main Event champions. He is impossible not to be friends with and, from what I can tell, he really cares. He knew that I had spent years trying to give back as much as I could. One of the things we bonded over is that he wanted to do the same. He wanted to make sure he didn’t just take the money and status for granted. He told me that if I ever needed him for anything, he’d be there.
There’s really one person who made this whole thing happen, Michael Casselli. He’s the head of Lyceum Media and Poker in the Park. He and I have been talking about doing an event together. It’s a little overwhelming because I’m not from Europe and he’s been a tremendous help.
PND: Is the 50 player maximum just a function of limited space?
Gold: The Empire Casino was kind enough to give us their space. We thought we had the whole casino, but they felt that if we had celebrities, we should have a protected area. We invited people like Daniel Craig (of “James Bond” fame). When you have people like that potentially coming, they will only allow you to be in the VIP room.
PND: One of the prizes in the charity poker tournament during Poker in the Park is a week-long poker training session by David “The Maven” Chicotsky. Talk about Chicotsky’s involvement.
Gold: Those guys are amazing, so I’m really excited. I’m in the process of making a partnership with The Maven. The things he doesn’t teach are my skills. I don’t claim to be the best in the world, but I seem to be on par with the best. I’ve only trained with them for a day, but I made two final tables during it. He’s completely changed my game.
PND: Are you considering relocating to Europe or signing with a non-U.S. online poker site?
Gold: Some of it has to do with the legalities, but I can’t deny that, with the economic situation, there’s not a lot of money being thrown around. The most lucrative deal I can make is in Europe. The two sites that take American players don’t need my help. However, my presence would help double most European sites’ numbers.
I have a powerful celebrity marketing base that could help a site do something special. I also believe strongly in my commitment to charity. I haven’t found another site in America that has the same commitment. They all care, but it’s not their number one goal, nor should it be. While I’m young, single, and healthy, now is the time I’d like to travel the world. I feel like I’m in a rare position.”
From PokerNewsDaily.com:
With only scant days remaining until the start of the $10,000 Main Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the race for the remaining bracelets is heating up in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The final table of the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Event #50 on the WSOP schedule, played out deep into the evening on Sunday. A total of 571 players started the event on Friday, with the final eight survivors having won their way to the final table by winning two sit and gos over the previous two days. As with the shootout format, the players all started with the same number of chips (450,000 at the final table) and there were plenty of strong players in the mix.
Bodog’s David Williams, who famously finished second to Greg Raymer in the 2004 Main Event and has since captured his own WSOP bracelet, was joined by two other bracelet winners from this year’s play. Marc Naalden, who won only the second bracelet in WSOP for his home country of the Netherlands, and Full Tilt Poker’s Greg “FBT” Mueller, the former Canadian hockey player who picked up his first bracelet this year, led a contingent of players from around the world. Millie Shue, who was the runner-up in the Ladies’ event in 2004, the Netherlands’ Joep Van Den Bijgaart, Argentina’s Jose Barbero, Italy’s Flaminio Malaguti, and the United States’ Matt Sterling rounded out what was truly an international table.
The three bracelet winners got off to fast starts and, within two hours, had separated themselves from the pack. Mueller pulled into the chip lead when he drew the first blood at the table with the elimination of Barbero in eighth place. Prior to the table taking the dinner break, the two Scandinavians battled it out, as Naalden took out Van Den Bijgaart in seventh place.
After the dinner hiatus, Williams tried to mount an attack on Mueller’s chip lead. He vanquished Malaguti in sixth when he turned a five to match his A-5 against the Italian’s Big Slick, but couldn’t seem to find any traction after that point. He slowly slid down the leaderboard and was eventually eliminated by Shue in fourth place. Even with the knockout, Shue, who played conservatively through the final table, was eventually ousted in third place.
Heads-up play began between Mueller (who had dismissed Sterling from the tournament in fifth place) and Naalden, with the Canadian holding a 4:1 lead over the Scandinavian. With the two men reaching heads-up, it also guaranteed the fourth double bracelet winner of this year’s WSOP, setting a new record for most multiple bracelet winners.
Naalden attacked Mueller from the start of heads-up action and, through skillful play, was able to pull to even within 30 minutes of play. Over the next hour and a half, Mueller and Naalden, who both won their bracelets in Limit events this year, would swap the lead approximately a half dozen times before Mueller was able to go on a run. That run enabled Mueller, once his five kicker played over Naalden’s deuce after both paired a King on the final hand, to capture his second WSOP bracelet and the $194,854 top prize.
Most of the attention of the crowd at the Rio was focused on play in the Players’ Championship, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. A total of 53 players came back to attempt to work down to the cashout level (the final 16 players), but were unable to do that as 19 remained by the time play ended for the day.
Vitaly Lunkin, who captured the title in the $40,000 Anniversary Event, leads the field with 1.5 million in chips. He is joined by internet legend Erik “Erik123” Sagstrom, 2007 H.O.R.S.E. champion Freddy Deeb, and David Bach as players who have all eclipsed the million chip mark. Lurking just under that level is Ville Wahlbeck, who captured his first bracelet earlier this month in the World Championship Mixed event. They are joined by such professionals as eight-time WSOP champion Erik Seidel, former World Champion and current National Heads-Up Champion Huck Seed, 2009 Pot Limit Hold’em World Champion John Kabbaj, and Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen, who has no WSOP jewelry in his career. The 19 remaining players returning for Day 4 will play through to a final table tonight and a champion determined tomorrow.
A championship will be determined tonight in Event #51, another $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. Thirty-five players remain from the 2,781 who started the tournament, with newcomer Durand Thibaud holding the chip lead. He is joined by Owen Crowe as the only players over the million chip mark, with Josh Schlein on the verge of cracking that mark.
Two tournaments enter into Day 2 action today, the $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #52) and the $1,500 Seven Card Stud High-Low tournament (Event #53). Jeffrey Lisandro, who has already captured three WSOP bracelets this year, is looking for an unprecedented fourth in the Triple Chance event, although there are still 149 players left. Currently Lisandro holds a healthy stack of 113,800 and is in pursuit of Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who has 127, 900. In the Seven Card tournament, Marcel Luske, Daniel Negreanu and Annie Duke are a few of the top names that have survived to play Day 2, with Allie Prescott holding the lead over the 143 runners remaining.
Two events will kick off action with their Day 1s that begin at Noon today. Event #54, another $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, should draw a sizeable crowd and Event #55, the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball tournament, should be stocked with top professionals. Poker News Daily will be on top of this and all of the rest of the action at the Rio as the poker world prepares for the start of the Main Event later this week.
This is brutal… From the TaxProf blog:
The big winner at this year’s World Series of Poker: the tax man. Russ Fox computes the tax liability of the final nine players on their $32.7 million of winnings as $14.3 million — a 43.7% tax rate:
1. Peter Eastgate (Denmark) won $9,152,416 — $6,660,545 Denmark tax (72.8% rate)
2. Ivan Demidov (Russia) won $5,809,595 — $755,247 Russian tax (13.0% rate)
3. Dennis Phillips (IL) won $4,517,773 — $1,568,950 federal tax, $135,533 state tax (37.7% rate)
4. Ylon Schwartz (NY) won $3,774,974 — $1,396,304 federal tax, $387,966 state tax (47.3% rate)
5. Scott Montgomery (Canada) won $3,096,768 — $929,030 withholding tax (30.0% rate)
6. Darus Suharto (Toronto) won $2,418,562 — $725,569 withholding tax (30.0% rate)
7. David Rheem (CA) won $1,772,650 — $651,262 federal tax, $170,302 state tax (46.3% rate)
8. Kelly Kim (CA) won $1,288,217 — $470,995 federal tax, $121,074 state tax (46.0% rate)
9. Craig Marquis (TX) won $900,670 — $328,911 federal tax (36.5% rate)
thats a lot of cash… from mlive.com:
There’s now a World Series of Poker record out there that even Phil Hellmuth can’t break, although it used to be his anyway.
With his heads-up victory over Russian Ivan Demidov early Tuesday, Denmark’s Peter Eastgate became the youngest main event champion in history at 22 years old.
The 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Hellmuth won the main event in 1989 when he was 24. In addition to his first WSOP bracelet, Eastgate pocketed $9.1 million.
For his runner-up finish — one spot better than he ended up at the WSOP Europe main event — Demidov earned $5.8 million. Here’s how the rest of the final table broke down:
3. Dennis Phillips — $4,517,773
4. Ylon Schwartz — $ 3,774,974
5. Scott Montgomery — $ 3,096,768
6. Darus Suharto — $ 2,418,562
7. David “Chino” Rheem — $ 1,772,650
8. Kelly Kim — $1,288,217
9. Craig Marquis — $ 900,670
From CasinoGamblingWeb.com:
John Juanda had to stare down Daniel Negreanu for much of the final table at the World series of Poker Europe Main Event. That is not an enviable task for any poker player.
What was not well known before this final table is that Juanda has as nice a resume on the poker tables as Negreanu. After the tournament was over, Juanda had even more bragging rights when he emerged as the champion.
Juanda endured the longest final table in World Series of Poker history on his way to the championship. He was the chip leader much of the way, and played nearly flawless poker. he now adds another bracelet to his others.
“A relieved Juanda had this to say after his win. “This is the longest final table that I have ever played. It’s so long ago when I won my last bracelet.” It might have been long ago, but there is no doubt that he is a true champion and one of the greatest players of his generation.
As for Negreanu, he was making waves at the Main Event throughout. He held the chip lead at several different points in the tournament, but was unable to put together a chapionship run in the end.
The focus of the poker world will now shift back to the United States. At the beginning of November, the World Series of Poker Main Event will resume with its final table.
Via Sports-Odds.com:
The 2008 World Series of Poker schedule has been set and posted so that poker enthusiasts can either prepare for the journey to play for a high cash prize in Las Vegas or know when events are being held if they wish to observe the series, either on television or in person. While there are some similarities between the poker series schedule of 2007 and that for 2008, there are a number of improvements that have been made to the 2008 schedule for the series. Online Poker can be wagered on atMost importantly, players can enjoy a more extended allotment of time when it comes to certain events. Last year, a number of professionals boycotted the series because of the problems they felt were occurring when it came to the treatment and conditions of the series. This year, players can enjoy a little more freedom and relaxation in that some one day events have been extended to two days.
Taking place from May 30, 2008 until July 16, 2008, players can enjoy a number of different games and buy ins, courtesy of the 2008 World Series of Poker schedule. 2008 World Series of Poker schedule. For the two days preceding the May 30th opening event, individuals will be able to take part in the World Series of Poker freeroll in order to try to gain last minute entry into the Main Event of the series. At noon on May 30th, individuals start out with a $10,000 pot limit of Texas Hold’em. The next $10,000 event in the 2008 World Series of Poker schedule is on June 4th and is for the World Championship Mixed Event. While there are a number of mixed events in between, including the No Limit Hold’em and Hi/Lo events, the biggest highlight of the 2008 World Series of Poker schedule is on Thursday July 3rd as individuals battle out the Main Event throughout the end of the event, scheduled to hold the Final Table on July 16th. Ultimatebet.com.
From CardPlayer.com:
In a new promotion called the Absolute Assassins, Absolute Poker is giving poker players a chance to slay their way to the World Series of Poker main event in a weekly bounty tournament.
Every Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET, a $200 buy-in bounty tournament takes place that awards one WSOP main-event package. Cash prizes are also awarded to top finishers. One package is awarded for ever 120 entrants. Of the total buy-in, $100 goes to the prize pool and the other $100 stays with each player as a bounty. There are daily qualifiers into this event for $24 at 5:50 p.m. and 11:40 p.m. ET.
Also, as part of the promotion, Absolute Poker is offering regular $10 buy-in bounty tournaments wherein $5 goes to the prize pool and $5 toward the bounty.
Players can also take advantage of a special Card Player deposit bonus for Absolute poker.
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Satellites for the $16,000 Main Event package will take place on Tuesdays and Sundays at 20:00 (CET) from Tuesday March 25 2008 until Sunday June 15 2008 with satellites for the $13,000 Side Events package taking place on Saturdays at 20:00 (CET) and running from Thursday March 27 2008 to Saturday May 31 2008.
The WSOP is the daddy of all Poker tournaments with the 2007 Prize Pool reaching a staggering $63,500,000 and the Main Event winner walking away with a cool $8,200,000.
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Orlando, FL (PRWEB) March 18, 2008 — Over the last decade, the game of poker, specifically Texas Hold ‘Em, has become a whole lot more than just a game of cards. To this day, millions of dollars have been won from a plethora of poker tournaments internationally, and so much attention has arisen from these championships that even ESPN highlights such events regularly, such as the World Series of Poker. Indeed, poker has shuffled its way into quite the spotlight. And, of course, with any game, a slew of methods for game play have become not only unique, but also a niche that players dedicate themselves to. One of these methods has grabbed much interest from poker players around the world: the donkey.
INews Imagen real life and in poker, donkeys are stubborn. In the realm of poker, though, they refuse to fold bad cards and deliver powerful kicks when they win on the river with any two cards. Somehow or another, the poker donkey will gamble against ridiculous odds and still hit their miracle card, in turn bringing great frustration to others. Some players have made donkey their style of play, relishing in a seemingly endless supply of luck.
In turn, even the Internet is reflecting the craze, even Full Tilt Poker has a donkey avatar which you can select to represent yourself while playing online. New companies are opening left and right that cater to poker donkeys, such as DonkeyGear.net. Whether you’re a donkey yourself or the conservative type, a variety of apparel and poker T-Shirts are available that encompasses the possibilities of fashionable and comedic designs on their website.
Donkey Gear was founded by a group of poker fanatics that have one simple goal: to provide others with fashionable poker apparel and quality poker accessories conveniently and appropriately. Offering poker shirts and poker accessories for every enthusiast, Donkey Gear certainly has found an avenue that is bound to capture attention from the world of poker - and now their taking it online. Donkey Gear just launched their online store as of Monday, March 17, 2008.
It’s not just T-shirts too, other companies have sprung up following the Donkey playing style - they’ve even formed new brands of bottled water such as Poker Water. Certainly, no matter how you approach poker, it’s becoming easier and easier to approach it in style.
LAS VEGAS, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the 39th annual World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light will be staged at the Rio(TM) All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas from May 30 through July 17, 2008.
“The team is still hard at work on the schedule of events for next year, but we’ve received so many requests for the dates that we decided to announce them now,” said Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP Commissioner.
“We’ll actually open the WSOP tournament room the week of May 26th for two special events,” said Geno Iafrate, vice president and assistant general manager of the Rio. “This ’soft opening’ will give players a chance to register early and avoid the lines we had last year during opening weekend — our busiest time.”
More WSOP information is available at http://www.worldseriesofpoker.com.
The WSOP brand is owned by Harrah’s License Company, LLC an affiliate of Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., the world’s largest provider of branded casino entertainment through its operating subsidiaries. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, nearly 70 years ago, Harrah’s has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. The company’s properties operate primarily under the Harrah’s®, Caesars® and Horseshoe® brand names; Harrah’s also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah’s Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.
More information about Harrah’s is available at http://www.harrahs.com.
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