Titan Poker Re-launches VIP Program

Titan Poker players will soon be able to experience a brand new VIP Program. The popular iPoker Network site will roll out its heralded promotion on July 1, offering a VIP status based on the previous month’s play.

Titan Poker players will rack up around 17 points for every USD 1 in the rake. If you can navigate a gem shop, then you can master Titan Poker’s revamped VIP Program. Players start off at the Bronze Level, which requires no monthly point balance and goes all the way up to 999. There is no VIP Point boost associated with this level, although you will still be able to use points-based promotions. When you finally work your way up to 1,000 points in a given month (or approximately USD 58 in rake), you will become a Silver member. This provides a boost of 20 per cent, ultimately giving you monthly points of 1,200 to 5,999.

Come 5,000 points, Titan Poker players will gain membership to the Gold level. Points are boosted by 40 per cent in this level, resulting in a range of 7,000 to 13,999. Above Gold is Platinum, which requires a monthly point minimum of 10,000. This VIP level results in a point boost of 60 per cent to at least 16,000. Titan Poker players can reach the heralded Titanium VIP level by racking up 17,000 points in a given calendar month (which is approximately equivalent to USD 1,000 in rake). Doing so results in a colossal 100 per cent points boost to between 34,000 and 69,998. The pinnacle of the new Titan Poker rewards system is Diamond, which is reserved for players who accumulate 35,000 or more points, which will promptly be boosted by a whopping 120 per cent.

Points can be exchanged for cash on Titan Poker, making the prospect of accruing points even more lucrative. The more points you save and ultimately cash in, the lower the rate of exchange. For example, trading in 2,000 points will net you a USD 10 cash reward, or 200 points per USD 1. However, trading in 6,500 points will result in your bankroll growing by USD 45, or just 144 points per USD 1. Other options available include USD 150 for 20,000 points (133 points per USD 1), USD 800 for 80,000 points (100 points per USD 1), USD 1,750 for 160,000 points (91 points per USD 1), USD 4,000 for 320,000 points (80 points per USD 1), USD 8,000 for 600,000 points (75 points per USD 1), USD 14,000 for one million points (71 points per USD 1), USD 39,000 for 2.5 million points (64 points per USD 1), and USD 120,000 for seven million points (58 points per USD 1). The bottom line is that saving your points before cashing them in is the optimal strategy.

Titan Poker offers a full points calculator complete with a graph to help you compute where you stand. Drop-down menus for the number of seats, game type, game speed, hours per week, number of tables, table stakes, average tournament buy-in, and number of tournaments per week add to the fun. As an important note, players on Titan Poker can cash in points any time they would like. With only USD 58 in rake required to attain Silver status, a bevy of Titan Poker players are eligible, making the VIP club accessible to customers of all bankrolls.

The iPoker Network’s featured tournament is the USD 250,000 Guaranteed, which runs every Sunday at 18:00 GMT. First-time depositors in June receive four entries into World of Poker Freerolls. The promotion’s grand prize winner takes home a USD 35,000 prize package which includes entry into the Asian Poker Tour’s Macau stop, the Irish Winter Festival, the 2010 Irish Open, and next year’s World Series of Poker Main Event. That’s three different continents’ worth of tournaments. New depositors also take home five chances to satellite their way into the USD 20,000 New Depositors’ Freeroll.

WSOP: Roland De Wolfe Wins 1st Bracelet, Completes Triple Crown

The World Series of Poker final table for the USD 5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better (Event 27) was stacked with experienced players used to playing on the biggest of stages. But it was Roland De Wolfe, sporting a Union Jack track jacket, who won his first WSOP bracelet and became the second player ever to win poker’s triple crown, EPT title, WPT title and a WSOP bracelet.

Scott Clements, Alex Kravchenko, Andy Black and Brett Richey did what they could, but De Wolfe completed his trifecta and took home his first bracelet. Gavin Griffin is the only other player to win poker’s triple crown.

The first to leave the feature table area for the short walk to the cashier’s cage was Anthony Lellouche. Clements raised from middle position and Lellouche called. The flop came T 8 6 and Lellouche led out and Clements raised the pot and Lellouche called all-in. Clements held A 9 7 2 for the nut high and a draw to the nut low. Lellouche held A Q T 2 and needed help, the turn was T which gave him some hope, but the J on the river was of no help.

A short stacked Armando Ruiz raised to 56,000 and Richey raised enough to put Ruiz all-in. He called with A Q 3 2 and Richey was ahead with A A 9 7 . The board ran K K 8 8 J and Ruiz’s day was over with an 8th place finish.

John Racener bet 40,000 on a flop of T 4 2 and Robert Campbell called. A 9 came on the turn and Racener moved in with the rest of his stack and Campbell with live cards - A 7 3 2 . Racener was ahead with A 3 9 8 and the 3 on the river completed Campbell’s flush and gave him a better low. Campbell scooped the pot and Racener was out in 7th place.

A rather quiet Black raised the pot, which was most of his chips, and Campbell re-raised to put Black all-in. Black called and tabled A A 4 3 and Cambell showed A A 5 4 . They went to the flop with almost identical hands and the board ran Q J 9 7 6 which gave Campbell a flush on the river. Black collected over USD 42,000 for his 6th place finish.

Clements had nearly half the chips in play and called Kravchenko’s pre-flop all-in. Clements held A 9 7 5 and Kravchenko held 8 7 5 4 . The board bricked for Kravchenko with J T 5 K 6 and Clements won the pot with only a pair of fives. Kravchenko was never able to gain any momentum and ended the day in 5th place.

Campbell bet 140,00 on a flop of 7 5 3 and De Wolfe called. Campbell moved in on the 4 turn and De Wolfe called with A 9 7 6 . Campbell was behind and needed a club to stay alive, but the 8 on the river gave the whole pot to De Wolfe and Campbell was out in 4th place.

Clements, who some some consider the best tournament Omaha player on the planet, looked to be sailing smooth, and in complete control of the final table. But Clements raised to 80,000 and De Wolfe re-raised the pot. Then Clements re-pots with another raise only to have De Wolfe move all-in. The Brit showed A 2 2 3 and Clements tabled A A 5 4 . The board ran Q J 9 6 7 giving De Wolfe the flush and the chip lead.

Only a few moments later, Clements raised the size of pot and De Wolfe called. The flop came 9 7 2 and again Clements potted. De Wolfe re-raised the pot and Clements moved all-in. De Wolfe held A 9 8 3 and Clements held A A 6 4 . The turn was the 5 , which gave De Wolfe the low and the river was K which scooped the pot for De Wolfe. Clements lost the largest pot of the tournament, about 2,500,000, and was eliminated in the 3rd place.

Richey raised pre-flop and De Wolfe called to see a flop of T 8 4 . De Wolfe checked and Richey bet, and then De Wolfe raised the pot and Richey went all in. De Wolfe was ahead with A Q 8 4 and Richey held Q J T 9 for top pair and a straight draw. The turn and river came 2 A and De Wolfe won his first WSOP bracelet.

Final Table Payouts for USD 5,000 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better
1. Roland De Wolfe – USD 246,616
2. Brett Richey - USD 152,618
3. Scott Clements - USD 101,063
4. Robert Campbell - USD 72,121
5. Alex Kravchenko - USD 53, 881
6. Andy Black - USD 42,993
7. John Racener - USD 36,200
8. Armando Ruiz - USD 32,105
9. Anthony Lellouche - USD 29,965

Schulman, Carris take down bracelets WSOP June 13

Nick "The Takeover" Schulman won his first World Series bracelet Friday, but Ville Wahlbeck continued his tremendous run at the 2009 WSOP.
Schulman finished first in the USD 10,000 World Championship 2-7 final table with Wahlbeck taking the second place to grab control of the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard with 255 points.
An especially impressive feat considering Erick Lindgren won POY last year with only 245 points.
Both players outlasted a stacked final table which included Steve Sung, John Juanda, David Benyamine and Rolande de Wolfe.
Here's a look at what else happened on another busy day at the WSOP:

Event 22 USD 1,500 Shootout Final Table

The USD 1500 Shootout final table didn't have a lot of star power, but you wouldn't have known that by looking at the railbirds.
Around 20 fans donned orange Jeff "Wildcat" Carris T-shirts to cheer on their horse while Chris Moore and Jason Somerville also drew a large crowd of fans.
The screaming was near Main Event level as Carris proceeded to outlast all his competition, including WPT Five Diamond winner Eugene Katchalov, to take down the bracelet and the USD 313,673 that came with it.

Event 24 USD 1,500 No-Limit Day 2

Event 24 was of particular interest to two of our bloggers, Martin Derbyshire and Olle Sundin, were looking to go deep.
Both players made it past the 40-player mark but Sundin busted soon after and Derbyshire ended up coming in 29th. Not bad for the PL.com crew.
Pretty much everyone was excited to see EPT Hostess Kara Scott go deep in the event, but she also busted out at around 1 a.m.
By the end of the day, 19 players remained with no big-name pros in the running, although Dean Hamrick did bubble the 2008 Main Event final table.
Also trying to win the bracelet are Michael Greco, Panayote "Pete" Vilandos and Andy "BKiCe" Seth. Day 3 of Event 24 starts at 1 p.m. sharp tomorrow.

Event 25 USD 2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud HL/Eight or Better Day 2

Day 2 of Event 25 began with 153 players including pros like Jennifer Harman, Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith and Chau Giang all vying to make another WSOP final table.
They made it all the way down to 14 players before opting to bag up the chips and come back tomorrow for what could be a long Day 3.
Jon "Pearljammer" Turner is your overnight chip leader with 365,000 chips. It could be an epic final table with Ivey, Blair Rodman, Chad Brown, Carlos Mortensen and Dutch Boyd still in the running.
Play resumes at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

Event 26 USD 1,500 Limit Hold'em Day 1

Event 26 drew 643 players, which once again proves that the No-Limit variant of poker is easily the more popular of the two.
That said, the field was rather compelling with actress Shannon Elizabeth, Lakers owner Jerry Buss and all the usual suspects with Teddy "Iceman" Monroe, Erica Schoenberg, Brock Parker and Barry Greenstein all in the building.
By the end of the day there would still be 124 players remaining with Bill Chen, Justin Bonomo and Nikki Harris all wielding big stacks.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

Event 27 USD 5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split Eight-or-Better Day 1

For an obscure event with a buy-in of USD 5,000, Event 27 did very well to bring in 198 runners.
Among the field were well-known pros like Phil Ivey, who multi-tabled Event 25, Barny Boatman, Shannon Shorr, Amnon Filippi, Clonie Gowen, Kathy Liebert, Erick Lindgren and many others.
By the end of the day 60 players were left with the money starting at 18. Daniel Negreanu, Jeffrey Lisandro and Roland De Wolfe were all stacked.
Day 2 starts at 2 p.m. tomorrow.

US has violated WTO on Internet gambling: EC

“The report concludes that US measures constitute an obstacle to trade and is inconsistent with WTO rules. As a result, WTO proceedings would be justified,” says a statement posted on the European Commission’s website.

However, the Commission may choose to forge an agreement with the Obama Administration rather than pursue WTO action. The RGA represents a bevy of European internet gambling companies, many of which are traded on major stock exchanges in London and Vienna. Its membership roster includes Party Gaming, 888, Ladbrokes, Sportingbet, and Playtech, which owns and operates the popular iPoker Network.

The 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) drove publicly traded internet gambling sites out of the US market in deference to shareholder interests. However, US-based sites which permit online wagering on horse racing were allowed to flourish. In addition, sites like PokerStars and Bodog, which are not publicly traded, continued to solicit customers from the US. The Commission’s final report said, “There are serious adverse effects for the EU. They include revenue and stock market value lost by affected companies as a result of their absence from the US market and also the threat of serious sanctions hanging over them which affect their normal operation outside the US.”

The European Commission’s investigation was launched in March 2008. In the end, its report outlines many of the ambiguities and shortcomings of the UIGEA, including the lack of a definition of “unlawful internet gambling” and the propensity of credit card companies and other payment processing companies to “overblock.”

The latter has taken center stage in North Dakota and New Hampshire, where legal online lottery purchases have been stunted by UIGEA regulations. Moreover, the report dives into the specifics of the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), which allows sports betting in several US states, including Delaware and Nevada. In short, the European Commission report spends countless pages assessing convoluted US gambling laws.

As a result of withdrawing from the US market, the stock price of publicly traded internet gambling companies took a nosedive. Party Gaming, 888, and Sportingbet lost 75 per cent of their value for a sum of GBP 5.7 billion between January of 2006 and October of 2006. In addition, bwin, which is traded in Vienna, lost GBP 120 million as a result of exiting the US market. In December 2008, Party Gaming Co-Founder Anurag Dikshit admitted to violating the Wire Act of 1961 in a New York courtroom. On the same day as Dikshit’s agreement was struck, shares of Party Gaming shot up 27 per cent. According to the Commission, the increase is evidence of how “the uncertainty created by the [Department of Justice] investigations is affecting the business prospects of EU remote gambling and betting companies.”

Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative spokesperson Michael Waxman told that “We hope that members of Congress are paying attention to all these very compelling arguments about why regulation is needed. We hope that, following Congressman Barney Frank’s leadership, members of the Congress will start paying attention and move in support of regulation.”

Frank’s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (HR 2267) outlines a comprehensive regulatory environment for the internet gambling industry in the United States. It was introduced on May 6th and has 30 co-sponsors.

On the future of the European Commission’s activities, a recent Wall Street Journal article noted, “The EU said Wednesday it would hold off on filing a formal complaint in the hope of negotiating some sort of solution with the Obama Administration.”

Playboy TV to telecast rowdy poker games

Sam Simon, a television producer, says that he had heard that private poker games are so entertaining that they should be on TV.

Simon is putting that concept to the test Thursday night on Playboy TV with ‘Sam’s Game.’

Some of the players in ‘Sam’s Game’ will be World Series of Poker bracelet winner and actor Jennifer Tilly, Norm MacDonald, Artie Lange and Brande Roderick, former Playmate of the Year and contestant on ‘Celebrity Apprentice.’ Some poker champs will also play in the games.

According to Simon, the Texas Hold 'Em games may not always be stellar, but they will be funny, and that's comedy of the raw sort, along with unfiltered language to match.

"Sam's Game" was filmed at The Palms casino and resort in Las Vegas.

Brock Parker Wins Back-To-Back WSOP Events

Brock “t soprano” Parker achieved a seemingly unachievable goal Wednesday evening by winning the USD 2,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and picking up his second bracelet in four days.

Parker bested a field of 1,068 players to win his first ever No Limit Hold’em event at the WSOP. He overcame a chip deficit to defeat Joe “floes” Serock heads up, and take home another massive payday of USD 552,745. With the victory Parker has now staked his claim as the king of short-handed events, as he defeated PokerStars Team Pro Daniel Negreanu on June 8 heads up to win the USD 2,500 Six-handed Limit event.

“I like to play more hands,” said Parker about his short-handed success. “Playing nine-handed is pretty boring. I guess Six-Handed gets me more motivated because I get to play in a lot of pots. It’s more fun.”

Parker, called an “online legend” by friend and fellow poker pro Alex Bortah, has been playing tournaments at the WSOP since 2004 but hadn’t made a No Limit final table until Wednesday. He considered himself a better Limit Hold’em player after having reached the third final table last week, but following his win last night he said he might put more time into No Limit Hold’em events in future.

Youth is starting to become a theme at the final tables of this year’s WSOP. Four of the top six finishers in the USD 2,500 Six Handed No Limit event were aged 23 or below, including runner-up Joe Serock. The online heads-up specialist was the chip leader going into the final day but was terrorized by Parker in the format he knows best. Serock made several attempts to take pots away from Parker by three-betting preflop but Parker always came back with a four-bet, forcing Serock to fold. According to Joe he was card dead throughout most of the heads-up play.

When Serock finally did pick up a good hand it was trumped by Parker’s better hand. On the final hand of the tournament Serock raised to 200K at 40K/80K blinds and Parker re-raised to one million.

Parker’s hand held up, as he made a set of queens on the river and captured the title. Serock was sent home with USD 341,783. Online star Russell Crane took third place in the event for USD 220,633. After being short stacked for most of the day Crane moved all in over the top of a Serock raise with J-T and Serock called with A-9. Joe made two pairs on the turn and was able to dodge a straight draw to send Crane to the rail.

Jesse Rios was the fourth place finisher when he got his entire stack in preflop with A-J against Parker’s A-Q. Parker’s hand held up and Rios, at age 33 the oldest player at the final table, left with USD 148,661. It was his fourth cash at this year’s World Series of Poker.

Alex Wilson (fifth place) and Clayton Newman (sixth place) were the other members of the final table. It took three hours to finally eliminate a short-stacked Newman, who moved all-in with pocket twos and was called by Jesse Rios with pocket tens.

Parker took over control of the WSOP Player of the Year lead with the victory and plans on playing Thursday’s USD 1,500 No Limit Event #24. “I’m excited about the Player of the Year,” he said during a post-tournament interview. “I want to try for that, for sure. Especially now that they are making a big deal out of it.” Here are the final results from the USD 2,500 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event:

1. Brock Parker – USD 552,745
2. Joe Serock - USD 341,783
3. Russell Crane - USD 220,633
4. Jesse Rios - USD 148,661
5. Alexander Wison - USD 104,323
6. Clayton Newman - USD 76,123

Two more bracelets will be awarded on Thursday as the USD 1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em and USD 3,000 HORSE events will play down to a winner. Twenty-one players are still alive in the USD 3,000 HORSE field, making for what should be a long day at the tables. Those remaining include Matt Hawrilenko, Chau Giang, Gavin Smith, Ylon Schwartz, and James Van Alstyne. They are all chasing chip leader Zac Fellows, who goes into the final day with 470,000 chips. A first-place prize of USD 311,899 will be awarded to the winner of that event.

Erik Seidel misses 9th bracelet bid

Erik Seidel missed out on a chance to win his ninth World Series of Poker bracelet on Thursday. His consolation, however, is that he was able to donate nearly USD 25,000 to charity.

The Gentle Giant busted early at the final table of the USD 1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em tournament Thursday afternoon, despite having entered the day third in chips.

Before the final table began, Seidel said that he would donate any money won at this event to children's charities. His seventh-place finish means USD 24,919 for children in need.

Seidel told PokerListings he wasn't particularly happy with his finish. “You are never satisfied unless you win, so I'm not that excited." Seidel said. "I wasn't thrilled with how I played."

He came in to the final table the marquee name amidst a group of young and mostly unknown finalists, but he said his rivals were anything but fish.

"They're all very good players," he said. "All those young players were very strong and I knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk. "You would like to go in knowing there are two or three dead spots, but everyone at the table was very good."
Among Seidel's tablemates were online pro Ravi "govshark2" Raghavan (a Sunday Million winner) and WSOPC Hammond finalist Jason DeWitt, the latter of whom sent Seidel to the rail with a flopped set of eights.

"I really thought they all played well," Seidel said. "It wouldn't surprise me to see any of them win."

That said, the Full Tilt pro suggested chipleader John-Paul Kelly, a poker professional out of Aylsebury, England, had to be considered the favorite simply because of his dominating chip lead.

At the time of writing, Kelly was on 1.1 million and leading the pack with four players remaining.
Dewitt, Marc Tschirch and Kyle Carlston also remain alive in the hunt for a USD 194,434 first prize.

US Fed Freezes Online Gamblers Winnings

An online poker player thought he hit it big on the Sunday before Memorial Day. David, a 41-year-old from Virginia who wanted only his first name to be used, won a USD 10,000 entry to the World Series of Poker Main Event.

David was playing at PokerStars.com when he won the tournament entry. He was sent a check from the online poker room and was told to cash it, so that he can buy into the WSOP Main Event for USD 10,000.

He took the check from the check processing company ‘Account Services’ and attempted to cash it on Wednesday, but the check bounced. What he initially thought was a mistake turned out to be an unprecedented move by the US Government to crack down on online poker. That move has so far affected around 27,000 people.

Late last week, the federal government ordered five banks to freeze a payments worth USD 30 million owed to players from companies that process payments from two offshore gambling sites, according to the Poker Players Alliance, a group that represents the interests of the companies and players.

"It's not like the government went after the money the site made, instead they seized money that belonged to me," David said. "There is no law that restricts citizens from recovering money."

According to the alliance, US federal prosecutors working out of New York's Southern District ordered Citibank, Wells Fargo and three smaller banks to freeze funds in accounts belonging to Allied Systems and Account Services, companies which process funds for the poker sites.

Some affected players who gamble at the sites FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com first realized that they could not access funds in their accounts over the weekend, when checks issued from the companies bounced.

Online poker, a USD 9 billion to USD 12 billion a year industry, is legally in a grey area, experts say. Washington is the only state with a law that bans residents from playing on the Internet. The sites themselves, however, are not allowed to operate in the United States and are all registered overseas.

"There is no legal precedent for what the government is doing," said John Pappas, executive director of the alliance. "We contend playing online poker is not unlawful. The government is going after the players' money, not that of the sites. The fact is, there is no federal law banning online poker," he said.

Though the government maintains that online gambling is illegal, the US attorney's office in New York would not comment on the case or confirm that an investigation was under way.

According to federal documents obtained by AP, a judge in the Southern District of New York issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco. The AP reported that the documents also showed that a federal prosecutor told a bank in Arizona to freeze an account.

In a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank of Arizona, Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant US attorney for the Southern District of New York said that accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture "as they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses," according to AP.

In another letter, Devlin-Brown asked the bank to treat the funds "as legally seized" by the FBI, saying that the government has probable proof that gambling payments made by US residents had been directed to offshore illegal Internet gambling businesses, the AP reported.

A source at Citgroup familiar with the government request, however, confirmed the "bank has been contacted and is cooperating" with the authorities. According to the alliance, the laws cited by prosecutors "appear to allege violations of the Wire Act and the Illegal Gambling Business Act" and not to a more recent piece of legislation on online gaming called the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.

Another player, Sam Friedman, a 24-year-old accountant from New York City who plays every night in tournaments on FullTiltPoker.com, said he realized the company had last week removed an option to deposit winnings directly into his Citibank account.

"There are lots of ways to deposit and withdraw money and payment options are always disappearing, but something didn't seem right," Friedman said. "I can't believe the government is reaching into people's bank accounts like this," he said. "For a lot of serious players this is their lifeblood. This is how they make ends meet."

Both FullTiltPoker.com and PokerStars.com have reimbursed players who tried to cash out and were unable to. “In the light of recent events involving the freezing of certain accounts, Full Tilt Poker would like to assure all players that their funds remain safe and secure," spokeswoman Michelle Clayborn said in a statement.

"All players who were affected by the current situation have had their funds returned to their accounts," the statement said. David, the World Series hopeful, said he had been reimbursed by PokerStars and given an additional 10 percent credit.

He used his own savings to buy into the World Series and will use the winnings from his championship game online to pay himself back as soon as he gets them, he said.

durrrr Challenge: Dwan surges back near even

Another 786 hands. Another USD 7 million wagered. Six more pots over USD 100k.

And ultimately almost right back to square one in the durrrr Challenge as Tom Dwan surged back near even Wednesday night, winning over USD 376k and cutting Patrik Antonius' lead after 16k hands to just USD 34,594.

The fans of Patrik Antonius will claim the last session was unfortunate or was an unlucky streak. Tom Dwan fans will describe it as inevitable.

With each session laden with massive pots, it was only a matter of time until another quarter-million-plus profit made the books.

Dwan's profit in this session came mostly from winning all five of the largest pots of the night, worth well over USD 100k.

The largest pot saw the money go all in on the turn, with Antonius's turned flush versus Dwan's flopped set of jacks.

The river paired the board, giving Dwan a full house and the USD 230k pot along with it.

After a night as big as this, and given Dwan's propensity for busting out early at the WSOP these days, it wouldn't be surprising to see some more Challenge action go down tonight.

Check back in the MarketPulse section for hand replays and updates, or log in to Full Tilt and watch the action as it happens.

durrrr Challenge by the numbers:
• 107,475,899: Total amount wagered in the challenge
• 9,000,000: Approximate cost of the original IBM computers
• 376,597: Amount Antonius lost in the latest session
• 40,000: Cost for a night in the Hugh Hefner suite at the Palms
• 34,594: Amount Antonius is ahead
• 16,124: Total hands played so far
• 4,737: Average pot size
• 60: Number of people you needed to run your original IBM computer
• 32: Percentage of challenge completed

WSOP: England’s Kelly Wins USD 1500 Pot Limit Hold’em Bracelet

Having Erik Seidel at a final table with any amount of chips can be a scary proposition. On Thursday afternoon the eight-time bracelet winner sat down at the final table of the USD 1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em event (Event 20) and was third in chips, well within smelling distance of the bracelet. But at the end of the day it was two European players who spoiled the party with Britain’s John-Paul Kelly beating Germany’s Marc Tschirch for the bracelet and the USD 194,434 prize money.

Kelly and Tschirch were the only two non-American players at the final table having battled 631 other players during the three-day event. Kelly began the day as the chip leader with 627,000 while Tschirch was in the middle of the nine-player pack with 268,000.

Coming into the final table with the shortest stack Ravi Raghavan was simply hoping to outlast a player or two and possibly find a double-up. Neither of those things happened. Tschirch opened the betting with a raise to 30,000 and Raghavan bet the pot, 102000 and Raghavan called. Even before the flop was out Raghavan blindly shipped his last 34,000 into the middle and after the flop came T 9 8 Tschirch called. Both had pocket pairs and had flopped straight draws, Tschirch with pocket jacks and Raghavan with pocket sevens. Neither the 4 on the turn nor the 4 on the river could keep Raghavan alive, and he was the first player out.

Andrew Radel was the next to go and suffered one of those beats that he’ll talk about in his sleep. From the small blind Radel raised to 36,000. Kelly made it 100,000 to go from the big blind and Radel called. The flop came A T 2 and Radel bet 100,000. Kelly responded by moving all-in for 400,000, Radel called and tabled A Q while Kelly showed pocket nines. The turn was the J but the river brought one of two remaining nines to give Kelly a set and eliminate Radel.

What could have been the story of the day ended in disappointment. A win by Seidel would put him within striking distance of the all-time leaders for bracelets won. It wasn’t meant to be. Seidel raised to 30,000 and Jason Dewitt called. The flop came K J 8 , Seidel checked and Dewitt bet 30,000. Seidel called and the turn came 5 and again Seidel checked. After Dewitt bet 80,000 Seidel called again and the river paired the board with the 5 . Seidel checked for a third time and Dewitt moved all-in. After taking his time to think it over Seidel called all-in and when Dewitt tabled pocket eights from a full house Seidel mucked his hand and left.

Seidel told the live broadcast after his elimination that he intended to donate 100 per cent of his winnings to Las Vegas schools.

Retired businessman Tony Steward was the next man out. From the button Steward raised to 35,000 and Tschirch made the call. The flop came Q J 4 , Tschirch checked and Steward be 60,000. Without much thought Tschirch fired in a raise to 175,000. Steward then tanked and told the German that the only thing he could really beat was if he was making a move. Steward made the call and showed J 3 and found himself behind the K J of Tschirch. The turn and river brought no relief and Steward’s night was through.

Kelly build up huge momentum once play was five-handed and was the first player to reach the one million chip mark. He then used his big stack to start bullying the table and found a victim in Aaron Virchis. Kelly took advantage of the action folding to him in the small blind and put a minimum size raise in front of him and Virchis called. The flop came T T 4 and Kelly bet 50,000, which was more than Virchis had left. Virchis called and turned over K 8 and Kelly showed A 4 . The turn and river did not bring a king or an eight and Virchis was sent to the rail.

Kelly kept on the pressure and eventually found a way to send another opponent home. After Dewitt limped Kyle Carlston raised to 90,000 and Kelly re-raised forcing Dewitt to fold and Carlston to call off the last of his stack. Carlston turned over A J and was behind the A K of Kelly. The board ran out A Q 7 9 4 and Kelly rivered an unnecessary flush to take down yet another victim.

As hot as Kelly was running he couldn’t avoid Dewitt playing the role of temporary cooler. Dewitt raised from the small blind to 52,000 and Kelly called from the big blind. The flop came A T 3 , Dewitt bet 51,000 and Kelly called. The turn was the 7 , Dewitt checked and Kelly bet 105,000. Dewitt then raised the pot and put his entire stack of 520,000 into the middle. Kelly called and table A 5 and Dewitt showed 4 5 for a gutshot straight flush draw, flush draw and double gutter straight draw. The river was the 7 giving Dewitt the straight flush and a double-up to over one million in chips. The hand left Kelly as the short stack, but not for long.

It took only 15 minutes for Kelly to get his chips back from Dewitt. Kelly made it 40,000 from the button and Dewitt re-raised to 130,000 from the big blind, and then Kelly called. A flop of T 9 2 got Dewitt to check and induced a bet of 150,000 from Kelly, which Dewitt called. The turn was the 2 and Dewitt checked again. Kelly bet 450,000 and Dewitt moved all in and Kelly called. Dewitt held 9 8 and Kelly turned up A T . Dewitt didn’t catch one of the two remaining nines on the river and Kelly doubled up leaving Dewitt crippled. The last American left was eliminated by Tschirch a few hands later.

Heads-up play began with Kelly ahead by nearly 500,000 and only 45 minutes later he had all the chips. Tschirch lead out for 55,000 and Kelly responded with a raise to 150,000, which Tschirch called. The flop came 8 5 4 and Kelly bet 155,000 and Tschirch called. The turn was the Q and Kelly put 300,000 into the pot. Tschirch moved all-in and Kelly called instantly and tabled A Q and found he was way ahead of A 5 of Tschirch. The river bricked out and Kelly had himself a bracelet and USD 194,434 to take home to England.

WSOP USD 1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em (Event 20) Final Table Results
1. John-Paul Kelly – USD 194,434
2. Marc Tschirch – USD 120,102
3. Jason Dewitt – USD 78,826
4. Kyle Carlston – USD 54,711
5. Aaron Virchis – USD 40,048
6. Tony Steward – USD 30,837
7. Erik Seidel – USD 24,919
8. Andrew Radel – USD 21,082
9. Ravi Raghavan – USD 18,637

WSOP09 Brock ‘t soprano’ Parker beats Negreanu, bags Bracelet

It was a short but action-packed day at the Rio for the 11 players still standing in Event #14 of the 2009 World Series of Poker, USD 2,500 Six-Handed Limit Hold’em. Before the clock ticked midnight in Las Vegas, the last bet had been made and called, the last river had run, and noted online player Brock “t soprano” Parker had come from behind to best Daniel Negreanu heads up for USD 223,688 and his first-ever WSOP bracelet.

Of the 11 Day 3 survivors, Jimmy Tran was the first to fall after he got most of his chips in preflop against Barry Shulman. Tran bet out on the flop and Shulman called. Tran moved all in on the turn, and Shulman called again. Tran was ahead with for the nut flush draw and an ace, while Shulman tabled . The river was unkind to Tran when it brought the to give Shulman top pair and send Tran home in the 11th place (USD 12,197).

Robert Como busted in the 10th place (USD 16,814) soon after, when Daniel Negreanu flopped top pair with A-9 to send Como to the rail. Nikolay Losev fell in the ninth place (USD 16,814) when his pocket kings were cracked by Kyle Ray’s . The board ran out , and Ray’s rivered ace washed away Losev’s bracelet hopes.

Players condensed to one table after Shawn Buchanan busted in the eighth place (USD 23,179), but the final table officially kicked off after Jim Buckley busted at the seventh place (USD 23,179). Buckley three-bet preflop after a raise from Daniel Negreanu, then saw a flop three ways after Brock Parker four-bet and Buckley and Negreanu both called. The flop brought , and Negreanu checked. Buckley bet, Parker raised, Negreanu got out of the way, and Buckley three-bet all in. Parker made the easy call with , showing top set to Buckley’s for middle set. The case king didn’t come on the turn or river, and the final table was set, with Negreanu taking the chip lead as the seating assignments and chip stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: Barry Shulman -- 385,000

Seat 2: Daniel Negreanu -- 786,000

Seat 3: Kevin Hong -- 89,000

Seat 4: Tommi Horkko -- 460,000

Seat 5: Brock Parker -- 606,000

Seat 6: Kyle Ray -- 429,000

While Kevin Hong went into the final table with the smallest stack, he doubled up many times before his eventual demise. It was Hong who picked up enough chips in the early going at the final table to knock out Kyle Ray in the sixth place (USD 31,966). All the chips went in preflop, with Ray calling off the last of his stack with . Hong showed the dominating , and the flop came down . Hong held the lead, but Ray had flopped an up-and-down straight draw. The turn added flush outs for Ray, but the river filled none of his draws, and his run was done.

Next, Barry Shulman got the last of his chips in the middle against Daniel Negreanu and Tommi Horkko before a flop of . Horkko bet out and Negreanu folded as Shulman tabled . Horkko led with pocket fours, and they held up as the turn and river came down to send Shulman home in the fifth place (USD 43,201).

Kevin Hong, Daniel Negreanu and Brock Parker all put in four bets preflop in what was to become Hong’s final hand. Hong then fired another bet on the flop, and Parker and Negreanu both called again to see the hit the turn. Hong bet out once again, and Parker raised. Negreanu got out of the way, and Hong called all in with , looking for an inside straight draw. Parker showed for the middle set, and the case five hit the river to give him quads. Hong picked up USD 60,885 for the fourth place.

The third place went to Tommi Horkko after he three-bet Daniel Negreanu preflop with and Negreanu called. The flop came down , and Horkko led out again after Negreanu checked. Negreanu called again, and the turn was the . This time Negreanu led out, and Horkko raised. Negreanu re-raised, and Horkko four-bet for the rest of his stack. Negreanu called with for trips, and when the river brought the , Horkko exited in the third place (USD 89,660).

Negreanu took the chip lead into heads-up play, but Brock Parker got hot at the right time. At first the battle see-sawed before Parker surged into the lead and claimed the title. Finally, with only a small stack remaining, Negreanu called a raise from Parker to see a flop of . Negreanu checked, then check-raised when Parker bet out. Parker three-bet, Negreanu raised once more, and Parker called. Negreanu bet all in when the hit the turn, and Parker called with . Parker was well ahead of Negreanu’s , and when the river came down the , Parker had busted Negreanu one spot short of his third limit hold’em bracelet. Negreanu picked up USD 138,280 for his runner-up finish, while Parker claimed his first WSOP bracelet along with USD 223,688.