Archive for December, 2009
12 31st, 2009
One of the top stories of 2009 was the arrival of the Scandinavian high roller “” to the nosebleed stakes of and the attempts of several players to chop his bankroll legs from under him. Caught up in those attempts was CardRunners’ Brian Townsend who, after compiling hand histories that he had obtained against “Isildur1,” gave the information to fellow CardRunners pro Brian Hastings, who dealt the fatal blow. The action set off a chain of events that has divided many in the poker community.
The information gleaned by Townsend, Cole South, and Hastings - and the confession of the use of that information by Hastings against “Isildur1” - led to Townsend’s status as a Poker “Red Pro” being suspended for 30 days on December 21st. At the time, Townsend himself admitted that the compiling of data violated the Terms and Conditions of Full Tilt Poker, but he further stated, “We (Hastings, South, and I) never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.”
In a poll on the noted poker forum TwoPlusTwo, responders were divided on the issue. Over 48% of those who responded stated that Townsend’s “Red Pro” suspension from Full Tilt was appropriate. 52% of those responding said that Townsend’s suspension was unwarranted or that they need to see more information before making a decision. Some of the conversations between the members of the forum reflect the diversity of opinions among many of the posters.
“How many more times does he have to be caught breaking the rules before he is considered a cheater in your eyes? Your opinion on the rules or the ethics surrounding his indiscretions are immaterial,” wrote “JabrielP” on the forum. “A cheater is someone who acts dishonestly and/or looks to violate the rules deliberately. That is exactly what Townsend is/did. He is a cheater. There is no fairer description.” Poster “blackf1re” agreed with “JabrielP,” saying, “How can anyone vote no in this case? He has broken the T&C’s. Therefore he is a cheater. That’s all there is to it. What you personally think of this whole issue is totally irrelevant.”
Others, however, didn’t see anything wrong with Townsend’s actions, comparing the research and study as to what professional athletes do in preparation for big games. Poster “gianakki” said, “To me, this is no different than a pitcher receiving a scouting report on a team lineup. 0-2 facing Jeter, throw him cutters up and away; 3-1 versus ARod, jam him inside.” Fellow poster “aojr03” agreed, stating, “How is he a cheater? Because he went over HH and tendencies with friends? Because he studied the guy and sought out the leaks in his play? If you want to win you find a way to gain an edge. It’s poker, not ballroom dancing.”
Finally, there were those who recognize the gray area that Townsend’s actions fall under. “Depends if you think multi-accounting and data mining is cheating. People who do either or both probably don’t think he’s a cheat, people who don’t probably do,” stated “Lister27.”
Others tended to focus on how or why the rules are written the way they are. Poster “otacon” had that subject in mind when he stated, “This poll will no doubt be skewed by people considering what they perceive to be the ethical judgment on his actions, not the fact that the rules as written have been deliberately violated.”
Whichever side of the argument you agree with, it is obvious that the latest online controversy will continue to be debated well into 2010. As of now, Townsend is about ten days into his suspension. It remains to be seen if there will be changes by online poker sites regarding data mining of player information.
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12 31st, 2009
Fans of the popular NBC poker franchise “Poker After Dark” won’t have to wait long after the clock strikes Midnight this evening to catch the show’s sixth season, which debuts on Monday night, January 4th, at 2:05am ET.
Ali Nejad and Leeann Tweeden will reprise their “Poker After Dark” announcing and hosting roles, respectively, as the show enters season number six. The first week is entitled “Commentators III” and, while the name isn’t very catchy, the action on the felt should be nail biting. , Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Nejad, Mark Gregorich, and Kara Scott will all play in “Poker After Dark’s” Season 6 premiere. Sebok, who hosts UB.com’s “Poker2Nite,” and Scott, the new floor reporter for GSN’s “High Stakes Poker,” are making their “Poker After Dark” debuts. You can catch “Commentators III” beginning on January 4th.
A total of 13 shows were filmed for Season 6 of “Poker After Dark,” including six-handed freezeouts and three different buy-in cash games. Followers of 2007 () Europe Main Event champion Annette “” Obrestad will be able to catch the youngster on a special “Nicknames” episode that also features Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, Erick “E-Dog” Lindgren, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, and Phil “The Poker Brat” Hellmuth. Obrestad, a Betfair pro, turned 21 in September and is finally old enough to gamble legally on U.S. soil.
A $50,000 buy-in cash game features a star-studded lineup of Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, , Matusow, Esfandiari, and Hellmuth. A press release distributed by Poker PROductions notes, “Any time Matusow and Hellmuth play against each other in a cash game, the insults alone make for must-see-television.” A high-stakes $150,000 buy-in cash game will see Tom “” Dwan, , David “Viffer” Peat, Eli Elezra, Kaplan, and Alan Meltzer take to the felts. The six are staples of “High Stakes Poker” and one mounts the comeback of the century.
One of the more notable freezeout themes is “Lonesome Shark,” which features Lindgren, , Esfandiari, Matusow, , and Brad Booth. What do they all have in common, you ask? All six are poker’s most eligible bachelors and the heads-up battle in this episode is one of the longest of the season. Mixed Martial Arts will take center stage shortly thereafter in a show featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer, Antonius, Strikeforce fighter Dan Henderson, former UFC champion Randy Couture, Lederer, and Lindgren.
Here is the schedule through April for new episodes of Season 6 of “Poker After Dark” according to NBC.com:
Week of January 4th - Commentators III
Howard Lederer, Gabe Kaplan, Joe Sebok, Ali Nejad, Mark Gregorich, Kara Scott
Week of January 11th – Nicknames
, , , , ,
Week of March 15th - Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 1
Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Antonio Esfandiari, Brandon Adams, Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow
Week of March 22nd – Cash Game $50,000 buy-in, Part 2
Todd Brunson, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth, Brandon Adams, Antonio Esfandiari, Chris Ferguson
Week of April 19th - My Favorite Pro
Craig Ivey, James Ashby, Steve Bartlett, Phil Hellmuth, Jens Voertmann, Chris Ferguson
Week of April 26th - He Said, She Said
Erica Schoenberg, Jean-Robert Bellande, David Grey, Karina Jett, Mike Matusow,
Additional dates for new episodes will be announced in the future and re-runs of popular shows will also air over the first four months of 2009. “Poker After Dark” will take a hiatus during the weeks of February 15th and 22nd due to the Winter Olympics, which NBC owns the rights to.
“Poker After Dark” and “High Stakes Poker,” both products of Poker PROductions, were filmed in October at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. The latter begins airing on GSN on Sunday, February 14th.
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12 31st, 2009
The final UB.com sponsored “Poker2Nite” of 2009 aired on Wednesday night and featured along with a recap of the outgoing calendar year. In addition, Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo broke down a hand from the 2008 () on the Fox Sports Net poker news franchise.
“Poker2Nite” hosts Joe Sebok and Scott Huff ticked off their top three poker stories of 2009. For Sebok, the WSOP Main Event final table came in at number three, as he told viewers, “It had more suckouts than a Blow Pop factory.” Huff added, “It finally proved that the November Nine format can work.” Number two on Sebok’s best of 2009 list was the arrival of , who stormed onto the high-stakes online poker scene late in the year. Sebok noted, “For somebody to come out of the mystery and take over is pretty unbelievable.” Sebok’s top story of 2009 was , who won two WSOP bracelets and reached the final table of the Main Event. He also appeared on the cover of “ESPN: The Magazine.”
Huff then shared his top three poker news stories of the year. First up for the “Poker2Nite” host was Lada Gaga introducing her hit song “Poker Face” to the world. Huff explained, “You have the biggest pop star in the world making a song about her poker face.” Number two was the WSOP Main Event Day 1D lockout, which saw 500 players shut out of poker’s most prestigious tournament when it reached capacity. Huff questioned, “How do you shut people out of the Main Event of the WSOP?” Number one for Huff was the compliance delay of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (). As it stands, the financial services industry in the United States has until June 1st to comply with the 2006 law.
“Poker2Nite” correspondent Lacey Jones interviewed players at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic asking what their New Year’s resolutions are for 2010. Shawn Buchanan stated that he wanted to win a WSOP bracelet, while Shaun Deeb explained that he’d rent a house in Europe. Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar vowed to study the game more, while Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer desired to be more organized. Finally, UB.com pro Adam “Roothlus” Levy told Jones that he would lose weight in 2010.
Smith, a Poker pro, then joined the show. He described 2009 as, “Awful. Atrocious. Terrible. It’s my very first ever losing year in tournament poker.” He added, “I don’t think I ever tried to win.” Smith took home $120,000 from an episode of NBC’s “Poker After Dark” and earned $30,000 at the 2009 WSOP. A man known for prop betting, Smith explained the origin of a tattoo featuring the initials “J.S.” on his shoulder: “At the L.A. Poker Classic a few years ago, [Sebok and I] had a last longer bet and the loser was supposed to get the other man’s initials on his butt.” Smith, upon hearing how painful a tattoo on his rear would be, instead immortalized Sebok’s initials on his shoulder.
Bonomo appeared in a segment entitled “In the Tank,” breaking down a hand from the 2008 WSOP against David “Chino” Rheem and Roland de Wolfe. The pro described his thought process on every street, although Bonomo ultimately dropped the pot to de Wolfe, who picked off Bonomo’s bluff. Bonomo bet after the river brought three clubs to the board, explaining, “Roland has to be afraid of that card,” but de Wolfe called with an underpair to the board.
Dana Workman doled out the “Weekly Misdeal,” a satirical look at recent poker headlines. Workman chose to recap the top offbeat stories of 2009, including Ivey’s numerous side bets involving bracelet wins at the 2009 WSOP, the Poker Hall of Fame nomination of Tom “” Dwan, and UB.com pro ’s feud with comedian Joan Rivers.
“Poker2Nite” airs on Wednesdays at 11:00pm ET on Fox Sports Net. Check your local listings for more information, as the show is often pre-empted due to local sports programming.
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12 31st, 2009
Now that Christmas is over and done with, people are setting their sights on the next big celebration, New Year’s Eve. Party plans range from night club celebrations to cozy gatherings at home with family and friends, but almost everybody intends to do something to celebrate the end of the decade. Those based in Las Vegas can enjoy an elaborate fireworks show on the Strip, with pyrotechnics being shot off the roofs of seven different casinos, including the MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood, Caesars Palace, the Venetian, the Stratosphere and the newly-opened Aria.
One poker pro who will be at Aria to ring in the New Year is UB.com’s . He has been invited to one of the biggest New Year’s Eve parties in Las Vegas and the Poker Brat couldn’t resist name-dropping some of the celebrities he would be rubbing elbows with as the clock strikes Midnight via his Twitter account (@phil_hellmuth). As Twitter reports, Hellmuth will watch the ball drop with the likes of Eva Longoria-Parker, her husband Tony, and countless others at the Beso Restaurant and Eve Nightclub in CityCenter.
Reality star Kim Kardashian will also be on hand and will play host to a pre-New Year’s Eve party Wednesday night at Eve, which is situated above Beso. Both Eve and Beso are owned by Longoria-Parker, who worked hand-in-hand with famed chef Todd English to launch the Las Vegas version of her popular Los Angeles restaurant of the same name. The New Year’s Eve bash will serve as the grand opening of Eve, while Kardashian’s party will be a precursor to the official launch of the club.
Jean-Robert Bellande of “Survivor” fame has spent the final days of 2009 gallivanting all over Latin America. According to his Twitter feed (@BrokeLivingJRB), he has been everywhere from Cabo San Lucas to Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic this holiday season. Bellande can’t seem to go too long without getting his poker fix, though, and found time to play online in between lounging on the beach and sightseeing: “Booked a small win over Brian Townsend this morning after being stuck big in 2-7. Feeling very relieved.”
Online poker pro Jeff “ICuRaRook” Sluzinski is going to take a small break from his schedule to celebrate the New Year and a friend’s birthday. “No poppin’ crazy bottles at clubs or anything for me,” Sluzinski told Poker News Daily. “We might go to the Strip, but we will probably just chill at [my friend’s] house.” However, Sluzinksi does plan to log some hours online New Year’s Eve, as he is in contention for the Yearly Tournament Leaderboard honors on . The top three finishers all win entries into stops on the various PokerStars-sponsored tours. He currently sits in fifth place and has a couple more days to boost his numbers and claim one of the top prizes. Although he admits he will be playing online on New Year’s Eve, Sluzinski intends to call it an early night. “I’ll stop around 7 or so,” he explained.
In typical fashion, many poker players, like Joe Sebok, are waiting until the last minute to finalize their New Year’s plans. He Tweeted about his options and has not even decided what city he is going to ring in 2010 in, Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Unfortunately for the “Poker2Nite” host, he may be sidelined from all festivities thanks to a cold, as he noted on @JoeSebok: “Woke up with scratchy throat, a headache, and sore body. I get it 2009, you ain’t going down w/o a fight. You are going out tho, you b***h.”
Poker News Daily would also like to wish all of our readers a Happy New Year. May your New Year’s Eve celebrations be lively and fun and may 2010 be a year for all of you to remember.
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PartyGaming’s decision to acquire the World Poker Tour has positioned the company with a vehicle that will help to re-embed the company in the U.S.-facing market once the UIGEA is repealed. Considered one of the top stories of the year by many…
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12 31st, 2009
With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.
The plan was to present them to you every other day from until New Year’s Eve and we conclude today with No. 1: Phil Ivey Makes the November Nine.
You simply can’t have a bigger story than the consensus best player on the planet making the final table of the biggest tournament in the world.
After finishing 23rd in 2002, a heartbreaking 10th in 2003 and 20th in 2005, of the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event this summer.
And, as if making the November Nine was not enough, he brought with him a shot at a third bracelet on the year.
Within minutes of the final table being set, pundits predicted poker would be the big winner, that the game’s biggest superstar would help sell poker to a whole new audience through the mainstream media and do more to convince the U.S. government that poker is a skill game, and should be legal online, than ever before.
But, weaned on the game in Atlantic City casinos playing with fake ID before he was old enough to legally play, Ivey had always been a bit standoffish with the media.
With the bright Main Event spotlight on him for four months before the final table played out, however, he appeared to at least partially embrace a role as an ambassador for the game, helping poker make a few strides further into the mainstream.
Despite sitting seventh in chips heading into the final, online betting sites saw huge dollars bet on Ivey, pushing the odds down and practically making him the favorite to win before November.
And as the final table date drew closer, it began to look as if the entire poker world was rooting for him, even those who probably shouldn’t have.
When there were 2,400 players left in the Main Event, fellow Team Full Tilt Pro Andy Bloch bet Ivey $20,000 at 99-1 that he wouldn’t win.
Faced with paying Ivey $2 million if he did, Bloch said he still couldn’t help but pull for him.
“It was quite a sweat,” he said. “But no matter how much it would have cost me, a part of me still wanted to see him win.”
Although Ivey’s presence did not increase ratings for ESPN’s final table coverage, it still appeared interest in the Main Event and the game of poker was as high this November as it’s ever been, and poker has Ivey to thank for that.
In the end, when his ace-king could not get past Darvin Moon’s ace-queen, Ivey bowed out seventh, helping pave the way for 21-year-old Joe Cada to become the .
But even appeared to draw as much attention as Cada’s win.
He may not have won the Main Event, but the impact of Ivey just making the final table was enough to turn the heads of people who had never paid attention to poker before and secure a spot as the No.1 story on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.
One lucky player on GTECH G2’s International Poker Network (IPN) got a timely Christmas bonus after collecting an enormous Bad Beat Jackpot. The player, who goes by the name 72osRocks! was initially devastated after seeing his quad kings cracked by Nogis22’s Royal Flush but his despair soon turned to delight.
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One lucky player on GTECH G2’s International Poker Network (IPN) got a timely Christmas bonus after collecting an enormous Bad Beat Jackpot. The player, who goes by the name 72osRocks! was initially devastated after seeing his quad kings cracked by Nogis22’s Royal Flush but his despair soon turned to delight.
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12 31st, 2009
There has been a sad end to Phil Ivey’s 2009 with the news that his seven-year marriage to wife Luciaetta has come to an end. The pair filed a joint divorce petition in Nevada on 22nd December and the petition was granted on 29th December.
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12 31st, 2009
PokerStars has announced the 23 players who will be joining its Team PokerStars Online team – an offshoot of its Team PokerStars Pro roster. The site has spent the past couple of months evaluating more than 2,000 applicants and has managed to whittle them down to a final 23.
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