New Poker Entertainment Show at Canadian TV
HeadsUp entertainment the Canadian production company has found spellbinding success in airing poker shows on Canadian entertainment channels. Most of their entertainment shows like the Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker and 2 Months has seen a lot of success, and interested generated amongst it s viewers. The entertainment company has therefore gone ahead and announced the introduction of their new reality show hoping again that viewers would enjoy every bit of it.
There is however not much known about the entertainment program, the only bit that is revealed is that they are looking at just 12 – 16 people who will be a part of their poker show that “will be one of the highest rated poker programs in the North American and International television markets.”
The entertainment company HeadsUp Entertainment’s CEO, Kelly Kellner mentions, “There is no question that television audiences in at least 20 countries throughout the world have shown an overwhelming audiences in at least 20 countries throughout the world have shown an overwhelming interest in poker television. Our market study has concluded that we can sell the series in at least 10 – 12 English speaking countries.”
Currently the entertainment company is looking at showcasing its new shows and selling it to different countries. They are currently under negotiations with whom they think are potential sponsors, and it could be anyone like Daniel Negreanu who is a Canadian PokerStars pro.
Free Poker Summer Festival at Pokerstars
Summer is officially here and to celebrate the blue skies and summer fun PokerStars are holding a Summer Festival of Free Poker exclusive to UK and Ireland PokerStars players.
The festival will last for five weeks starting today, 23rd April with a TV campaign and a $1000 freeroll at 19:15 BST. There will be daily freeroll tournaments where players will be able to play for cash prizes and entry into the £100k Grand Final.
£145k will be given away in prize money throughout the festival through UKIPT packages, celebrity bounty tournaments, daily freeroll qualifiers to the £100k Grand Final and least four freeroll tournaments with cash prizes per day.
The grand final will be held on Sunday 30th May, 2010. Here is the PokerStars.com Summer Festival of Free Poker weekly Schedule Friday, April 23 – Saturday, May 29.
MONDAY – FRIDAY
19.15 – $1000 freeroll with $.0.50 rebuy – final 9 qualify for the £100k
freeroll
20.15 – $2 Freezout with $500 added – all who cash qualify for the £100k
freeroll
21.15 – £100k qualifier – top 90 qualify for the £100k freeroll
22.15 – $300 turbo freeroll – final 9 qualify for the £100k freeroll
SATURDAY
14.15 – $11 Sundays Satellite – 5 x $215 tickets guaranteed, top 20 qualify
for the £100k freeroll
17.15 – £100k qualifier
19.15 – $1000 freeroll with $0.50 rebuy – final 9 qualify for the £100k freeroll
20.15 – £100k qualifier
21.15 – UKIPT freeroll
22.15 – $1000 freeroll with $0.50 rebuy – final 9 qualify for the £100k freeroll
SUNDAY
14.15 – $11 Sundays Satellite – 5 x $215 tickets guaranteed, top 20 qualify
for the £100k freeroll
17.15 – £100k qualifier
19.15 – $1000 freeroll with $0.50 rebuy – final 9 qualify for the £100k freeroll
21.15 – UKIPT bounty
22.15 – $1000 freeroll with $0.50 rebuy – final 9 qualify for the £100k
freeroll
SUNDAY MAY 30, 2010
19.30 £100k freeroll
Magic Ride in Poker held in the SCV
The Old Road Harley-Davidson store on Centre Pointe Parkway in Santa Clarita recently played host to motorcycle fans from throughout the area for the annual Pre-Laughlin River Run sale and barbecue.
On display outside the store was the Harley-Davidson motorcycle donated by the store to the 39th annual Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clarita Valley Benefit Auction. The auction will be held June 12 at the Mann BioMedical Center in Valencia.
This year’s auction boasts the theme Born to be Wild. The Old Road Harley-Davidson store is among the event sponsors and will help present the inaugural Magic Ride to be held in the SCV on June 6, an event held to promote the auction.
“The SCV used to play host to the annual Love Ride, but without the Love Ride, it seemed like a great idea to host our own ride to benefit the Boys & Girls Club,” said John Mahaffey, interim Boys & Girls Club Foundation executive director. “We’re very excited to be partnering with Old Road Harley-Davidson in this ride.”
In addition, the “Magic” in the Magic Ride will be supplied by Six Flags Magic Mountain, the starting and ending points of the ride.
“We’re so excited that Jay Thomas, park president of Six Flags Magic Mountain and Hurricane Harbor, is going to participate in this ride and that Six Flags is joining with Old Road Harley-Davidson in presenting this event,” said Mahaffey.
Guests of the Old Road Harley-Davidson event were able to learn about the Magic Ride and purchase hot dogs cooked up by volunteers from the Boys & Girls Club of SCV.
John Dow, a member of the Boys & Girls Club Foundation board, was on hand to help with the hot dog sales and to spread the word about the “Magic Ride.”
“This is really going to be a fun event,” Dow said.
Mahaffey said he hopes to have a good turnout from the motorcycle community.
“This is the perfect event to replace the Love Ride,” he said. “We also want to introduce our auction to people who may never have participated. It is important to help the kids of the SCV.”
The route of the Magic Ride will start and end at Magic Mountain with stops at the Rock Inn, Old Road Harley-Davidson, Boys & Girls Club Newhall clubhouse and Route 66 Classic Grill.
The Magic Ride Poker Run will cost $40 for riders and $35 for passengers who preregister before May 31. Riders will receive coffee and donuts, admission to Magic Mountain, run pin, raffle ticket, all-you-can-eat barbecue lunch and card games. Live music by Neal & The Real Deal, raffle prizes, 50/50 raffle, horseshoes, volleyball, a motorcycle stunt show and a cash beer garden are also included.
David Williams wins 25k Bellagio WPT World Championship
David Williams has just won the 25k WPT World Championship title and $1.5 million. He outlasted a field of 143 of some of the best tournament players in the world. David is also credited with knocking out Faraz Jaka by cracking his aces with Broadway. Faraz has been dominating the World Poker Tour with his sick aggressive re-raises.
The final tables was set after Phil Hellmuth bubbled in 7th place:
Seat 1. John O’Shea – 1,200,000 (12 bb)
Seat 2. Billy Baxter – 2,440,000 (24 bb)
Seat 3. Eric Baldwin – 4,490,000 (44 bb)
Seat 4. David Williams – 4,700,000 (47 bb)
Seat 5. David Benyamine – 4,705,000 (47 bb)
Seat 6. Shawn Buchanan – 1,965,000 (19 bb)
1st Place: David Williams – $1,530,537
2nd Place: Eric Baldwin – $1,034,715
3rd Place: Shawn Buchanan – $587,906
4th Place: David Benyamine – $329,228
5th Place: Billy Baxter – $246,921
6th Place: John O’Shea – $199,888
Stacked final table for WPT Championship –Hellmuth just misses out
The final 10 players in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship came into day 6 of the poker tournament knowing four of them would fall just shy of the televised final table, not to mention the $1.5 million first-place prize-money.
Heading into day 6 it was crystal-clear that the final table was shaping up to be one for the ages, with poker’s biggest names in contention: Phil Hellmuth, Scotty Nguyen, David Williams, David Beyamine, Shawn Buchanan, Billy Baxter, Eric Baldwin, Cliff Josephy, Nikolay Edvakov, and John O’Shea. Even with the two biggest falling short of making the final table, Phil Hellmuth in 7th place and Scotty Nguyen in 8th place, the WPT Championship’s final table is one of the strongest of all-time:
Seat 1: John O’Shea; the Irish player is the least tested of the final table participants has 1,200,000
Seat 2: Billy Baxter; owner of 7 WSOP bracelets has 2,440,000 in chips
Seat 3: Eric Baldwin; the 2009 Card Player POY has 4,490,000 in chips
Seat 4: David Williams; the runner-up in the 2004 WSOP Main Event has over $6 million in career earnings has 4,700,000 in chips
Seat 5: David Benyamine; one of the best poker players in the world has a WSOP and WPT win to his credit has 4,705,000 in chips
Seat 6: Shawn Buchanan; a former WPT champion with over $2.3 million in career earnings has 1,965,000 in chips
In: Poker News · Tagged with: WPT Championship
A Year in the Life of the World Series of Poker Champion
It’s less than a month away from the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker and the scene of Joe Cada’s biggest poker “crime.”
For those who’ve slept, or perhaps spent that past six months on a desert island, the Team PokerStars Pro stole the biggest title in poker from 6,000+ poker rivals this past November, winning $8.5 million on the way to becoming the youngest Main Event winner in WSOP history.
Now, after a whirlwind year that saw him deal with the burden of fame perhaps more than he played poker, a 22-year-old Cada is looking forward to playing a few more tournaments in the lead up to defending his title at the 2010 Main Event.
“I think I just want to play my best poker really, and stay focused,” he said. “It’s a long time out in Nevada.”
For starters, the World Champion says he’ll play more Omaha events this year than last. Plus, the one-time online heads-up No-Limit Hold’em specialist says he may even enter a few mixed game events.
“I’m not really super satisfied with how I play mixed games yet,” he said. “It’s something I need to put more hands in at. But you can get a lot of practice in online poker – thousands of hands a day. So I’m not ruling it out for this year.”
Obviously, Cada is looking forward to the opportunity to defend his title in Las Vegas, but the Michigan native finds himself on the other side of the Atlantic in Monte Carlo this week, playing for the glory of a European Poker Tour title in the PokerStars EPT Grand Final.
Having had the experience playing in a few EPT events this year, the American has had some experience playing against Europeans and is careful not to stereotype any opponent.
“Some Europeans play differently,” he explained. “You may have one tight Italian and you may have one very tough Italian. I guess it’s your job as a player at the table to class everyone as what type of player they are.
“The majority of Swedes may be more aggressive, but you just can’t say all of them are. Just like you can’t say all Italians are going to play the same. There are so many great poker players: Younger, older, different nationalities and different styles. I guess you just hope to match up good against the line up you get.”
Travelling to events across the globe has been a big part of Cada’s reign as the World Champion, as has dealing with a new found fame.
Of both, he says there are good and bad sides.
“It’s different to say the least,” he said. “There’s been a lot more travelling than I did before and fame and being recognized, especially around the poker world.
“There are pros and there are cons of it all. It’s not like I was excited to win the Main Event because it was going to make me famous. It just kind of comes with the territory. I’m not really mad about it, or really happy about it, it just kinds of comes with it.
“Everything I do is looked at under a magnifying glass now, which is a bit of a problem. And a lot of people feel the need to criticize me for no reason now. But it’s not a bad thing. People see the final table and judge on one airing how you play poker. But regardless, I’m grateful for the situation I’m in.”
“Hopefully I’ll play more EPT’s next season,” he said. “I’m going to try to. Balancing everything is hard right now. Just balancing my life in general is tough right now.”
In: Poker News · Tagged with: 2010 World Series of Poker
EPT Grand Final Day 1b : €1.7 million
The second first day of the 2010 PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final went off in Monte Carlo Monday with 497 runners joining the fray.
With 351 players hitting the Le Sporting felt Sunday, this year’s Grand Final has drawn a grand total of 848 entrants.
Losing almost 100 players from last season’s total of 935 might be a warning sign in other years, but travel difficulties in Europe due to volcanic ash from Iceland was likely the cause of the dip in entries this time around.
The total prize pool for the 2010 Grand Final is €8,480,000 with first place paying €1,700,000.
When play wrapped on Day 1b around 11:30 p.m. local time Monday, approximately 252 players remained with Thiago Nishijima, Salvatore Bonavena, 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Joe Cada, 2009 WPT Championship winner Yevgeniy Timoshenko and 2009 WSOP Main Event last woman standing Leo Margets among the leaders.
They will join Day 1a leader Simon Muntz and the 176 survivors from Sunday for Day 2 in Monaco Tuesday.
Kevin MacPhee Wins 2010 PokerStars.net – €1,000,000
After an epic three and a half hour heads-up battle, online qualifier Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee has earned his cool €1,000,000. On Day 3 he proved his “lucksac” status when he was all in for his tournament life with pocket nines against Vikash Dhorasoo’s pocket queens, and rivered a nine to stay alive. After that, there was no stopping him. MacPhee came into the final table as big chip leader and although the lead went back and forth between him and second placer Ilari Tahkokallio several times, at last MacPhee managed to wrest it back from Tahkokallio once and for all.
The last time these two titans clashed over a final table – in the £1,000 PLH/PLO back at EPT London last year – it was Tahkokallio who was victorious and MacPhee had to settle for second. This time MacPhee got to even the score, and became a Euro millionaire in the process.
Though fierce rivals at the table, there is certainly no bad blood between the two, and neither had anything but praise and respect for the other’s game. In fact, this whole final table has been a masterclass in good sportsmanship, and we hope that the inaugural PokerStars.net EPT Berlin will be remembered for the high standard of play and the gentlemanly behaviour of its finalists rather than the unfortunate incident that disrupted play yesterday.
As players and staff alike head assortedly towards their hotel beds, flights home, or just downstairs to the bar, one gentleman has other plans. The newly-crowned champ was asked what he was planning to do this evening to celebrate. True to his passion, MacPhee replied, “I’m going to play online. The Sunday Million starts in 15 minutes.”
2010 Derby Poker Championship & Previews
One of the events leading up to this weekend’s running of the Kentucky Derby is the Derby Poker Championship. Fronted by Phil Hellmuth, Robert Williamson III, and legendary University of Louisville coach Denny Crum, the event promises to be one for the ages. Poker News Daily caught up with Crum to talk about the gala, which will play out on Thursday night, April 29th, from the Palace Theatre in Louisville.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. Give us a preview of this week’s Derby Poker Championship.
Denny Crum: The charity that they’re going to be working with this year is called Blessings in a Backpack. I was involved with a charity called Kentucky Harvest way before they started working with Blessings in a Backpack, which is a charity where kids who are on the lunch program can go home on Friday afternoon and have backpacks full of food for their families to have over the weekend.
They asked me if I wanted to participate and I said I’d love to. Now, the three of us are hosts. We have a ton of celebrities who are going to be a part of it like Ron White, Corey Pavin, Jennifer Tilly, Maria Ho, Trishelle Cannatella, Darren Sharper, Tiffany Michelle, Robbie Alvarado, and a couple of other jockeys.
They’re going to have a VIP room and people can just watch the game if they’d like. There will also be a disc jockey. It’s going to be a fun event with a lot of different people involved. I’m in favor of anything you can do for charity that helps kids. The poker law here in Kentucky says that a minimum of 40% of the prize pool has to go to charity, so they’ll benefit as well. It’s a great cause and a bunch of good guys will be there.
PND: Talk about being the official Kentucky ambassador of the Derby Poker Championship.
Denny Crum: My college roommate used to own a card room in Oceanside, California. When I’d go out there, we’d play golf in the morning, go to the track in the afternoon, and have a poker tournament at night. You couldn’t have a better day than that. We’re going to do basically the same thing here, except we’ll be playing golf at Valhalla Golf Club and when we finish, it’ll be time for the poker tournament. The Derby is such a great event and I haven’t missed one in 39 years. Being a host along with Phil Hellmuth, who I know personally, is a no-brainer.
In: Poker News · Tagged with: Poker Championship
European Poker Tour Grand Final Day 1a
When players streamed into the tournament area at Le Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, it was to a sun-drenched vision of high-end luxury; this poker room is so fly that the roof comes off – literally. Being poker players, however, many of the 351 runners cowered in the shade, and 15 minutes later the roof and indeed the curtains had been closed and it was down to business. By the time play finished nine levels later, only 173 players remained with Simon Munz of Germany in pole position on 175,200.
As one could have probably predicted for an EPT Grand Final, the field was stellar. Phil Ivey turned up and found himself sharing a table with Roland de Wolfe and Men Nguyen. Elsewhere Phil Laak, Jennifer Tilly, Greg Raymer, Chad Brown and Alex Kravchenko made appearances, as did Patrik Antonius, Arnaud Mattern and Luke “_FullFlush1_” Schwartz. As always, their fates would be mixed.
Phil Laak was among the early exits when he fell foul of Andrew Chen. Gavin Griffin soon followed when he got his already depleted stack in with {A-} {K-} against Allen Bari’s pocket queens. Failing to spike, Griffin kissed his chance of a second Grand Final win goodbye — for this year at least. Following him out the door as the day turned into night were fellow luminaries Barry Greenstein, Kravchenko, Barny Boatman, Nacho Barbero, Erik Seidel, Ivey, Antonius and Mattern.
Antonio Buonanno was among the early chip leaders, having knocked out two players and then pushing Boatman off a chunky pot to put him over the 100,000 mark within just a few levels. Buonanno finished in the top ten but acquired some serious competition as a clutch of new big stacks emerged including Neil Channing, David Paredes, Chris Bjorin, Sergiy Baranov, Anton Wigg and Antonio Palma. Johannes Steindl, the sole member of Team PokerStars Pro: Austria, also found himself in possession of a huge stack after getting his pocket aces paid off in full by Alexander Roumeliotis holding {A-Hearts} {K-Spades}.
Come bag-and-tage time, though, Munz was on top of the chip count. On almost the last hand of the day, first he knocked out Barbero and another player in a single monstrous hand and then his pocket queens flopped a set against Barbero’s pocket jacks and the other player’s {A-Spades} {K-Spades} to send them both to the rail.
Munz may be in the lead for now, but there’s a whole other Day 1 to go yet. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be back on the floor at noon local time, so be sure to check back then to see who fails to make the grade, and who’s going to get paid.
In: Poker News · Tagged with: European Poker Tour