Tim Fiorvanti Blog

Steve O'Dwyer is off to a strong start in the WPT Championship, taking the chip lead into Day 2.

One season ends as another begins, as the closing event of Season X of the World Poker Tour officially kicked off the Summer for poker players. The WPT Championship, the biggest buy-in of the season at $25,000, did not see many players sent to the rail on Day 1.

Just five of the 103 entrants went through their stack of 100,000 before the end of Level 4. Three former WPT Champions were among that group, including Sean Jazayeri and Phil Laak. Darren Elias made two final tables during Season X but he would not make a third in this event, while Heather Sue Mercer, one of three women to enter the field so far, failed to make it through Day 1. Erik Seidel had an unusually early exit in this big buy-in event, and joined the small group of casualties as well.

Steve O’Dwyer claimed the overnight chip lead with 231,750, followed closely by Masa Kagawa, Tyler Smith, Guillaume Darcourt, and Vanessa Selbst. Defending champion Scott Seiver has yet to register for the event, but registration is open through all of Day 2 and up to the beginning of Day 3. Farzad Bonyadi, the runner-up last year in this event, is off to a strong start as well with 185,000.

The 103 entries on Day 1 is down from 195 entries on Day 1 last year; there would eventually be 220 players who registered for the WPT Championship in 2011. With the SCOOP Main Event beginning on Sunday, there are a number of players who are out of the country playing the last event of that series. If they make Day 2 of any of those events, they won’t be able to play, but those who bust out on Sunday have the option of registering until Monday at 12 pm PT.

Day 2 will have four more 90 minute levels, the same schedule as Day 1. WPT Player of the Year leader Will Failla made it through the day, as did Joe Serock, Daniel Buzgon, and Vitor Coelho, though Coelho is the shortest stack remaining with 25,000. While those players in the top 5 all still have a chance at WPT Player of the year, Elias’ hope for the award ended with his elimination.

Play will resume at 12 pm PT Sunday. Here’s the unofficial top 10 after Day 1 of the WPT Championship.

1. Steve O’Dwyer – 231,750
2. Masa Kagawa – 228,675
3. Tyler Smith – 221,600
4. Guillaume Darcourt – 215,250
5. Vanessa Selbst – 207,425
6. Joe Serock – 197,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 194, 875
8. Justin Young – 190,000
9. Isaac Haxton – 189,500
10. Farzad Bonyadi – 185,000

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This is the prize that everyone will fighting for at this year's World Series of Poker

When the World Series of Poker gets underway on May 28th, the fortunate few lucky bracelet winners will notice a distinct difference in the look of their championship jewelry. The WSOP revealed the design for all of the open event bracelets that will be awarded in 2012, created by famous jeweler Jason Arasheben, better known as Jason of Beverly Hills.

“Blinger is Better,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “Jason grasped the heritage of WSOP bracelets, but was only interested if he could take it up several notches. This is a trophy that truly embodies the promise of today’s WSOP – seemingly unthinkable dreams are dealt each year. I challenge anyone to keep a poker face when they see this bracelet in person.”

Arasheben has designed the championship rings for the 2009 and 2010 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2011 Green Bay Packers, among others. Arasheben has also worked with musicians ranging from Michael Jackson to Justin Bieber, as well as some of the biggest actors, athletes, and celebrities in the world. His involvement with the design for this year’s WSOP bracelet came from an interest in the game.

“I’m a big poker fan,” said Arasheben, “and on top of that I had a very good friend that had heard they were looking for a jeweler to do the World Series of Poker bracelets. I did the Lakers Championship rings the last two years, and with me having a store in Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan it just made sense for me to be a part of this event.”

The winner of all but two of the events this summer will receive one of these gold bracelets, but there will be two events this Summer that merit an even bigger bracelet. The Big One for One Drop will award the first ever platinum WSOP bracelet, a fitting prize for the $1 million buy-in tournament. As in past years, the Main Event bracelet will stand out. Unlike past years, Arasheben has taken the most important piece of jewelry in poker and put a brand new spin on it.

“We are honored to have the opportunity to create this masterpiece for the World Series of Poker and it will go down as the most expensive piece of championship jewelry across all major sports,” said Arasheben. “We will tour this bracelet in our Las Vegas and Beverly Hills boutique so the world can bear witness to this historic work of art.”

The Main Event bracelet will feature each suit in the deck in either rubies or black diamonds. In terms of sheer mass, it weighs in at over 160 grams of 14 karat gold and over 35 carats of flawless diamonds. The bracelet has been called ‘priceless’, but there’s no denying the monetary value of the piece.

“The Main Event bracelet is the granddaddy of them all,” said Arasheben. “You can’t really put an exact figure on that it, but I’ll put it this way: it’s a six-figure bracelet.”

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Jonathan Duhamel continues to lead as the WSOP looms, but will he be able to keep that spot?

The World Series of Poker is just ten days away, with 60 events filling the next two months with big fields and big paydays. The BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings are sure to change on a regular basis throughout the Summer, but for now the tournament circuit has reached one final calm before that storm.

As has been the case over the last several years, the $25,000 WPT Championship will serve as a lead-in to the WSOP and feature many of the players competing to be at the top of the Power Rankings.

This week saw subtle shifts throughout the Power Rankings, starting near the top. After getting to within four hundredths of a point of Jonathan Duhamel and the overall lead, Will Failla lost eight points this week as a cash from 2011 lost half of its value after crossing the one year mark. Failla remains in second place, but the distance between him and Marvin Rettenmaier is slowly closing.

Sam Trickett and Vanessa Selbst switched spots in the top ten, with Trickett moving up to ninth in the Power Rankings as Selbst continues to lose value for some of her older cashes. Steve O’Dwyer is suffering from a similar fate over the last several weeks, losing 33 points this week as a WPT cash passed the one year mark. Matt Waxman was the biggest loser in this week’s Power Rankings, falling two spots to 13th place while being passed by two of the most successful tournament pros in history, Daniel Negreanu and Eugene Katchalov.

The lone new entry into this week’s top 20 is a familiar face. After falling sharply over the last few weeks, David ‘Doc’ Sands went from sixth place to out of the top 20 completely at a rapid pace. Justin Young made a one week cameo in the #20 spot, not the first time he’s done so, but a shifting of points brings Sands back after a one week hiatus.

If the past is any indication, the WSOP could provide an opportunity to those currently knocking on the door of the Power Rankings. Five of the ten players who currently occupy 21-30 in the rankings have won at least one WSOP bracelet. Only time will tell if any of these players can repeat this accomplishment.

Here is the list of the current top 20 in the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings:
( ) – Change in Position

1. (-) Jonathan Duhamel – 1,380.38
2. (-) Will Failla – 1,371.94
3. (-) Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,306.75
4. (-) Bertrand Grospellier – 1,237.91
5. (-) Steve O’Dwyer – 1,175.57
6. (-) Shawn Buchanan – 1,150.39
7. (-) Chris Moorman – 1,097.48
8. (-) Ben Lamb – 1,073.18
9. (+1) Sam Trickett – 1,045.90
10. (-1) Vanessa Selbst – 1,037.60
11. (+1) Daniel Negreanu – 1,007.97
12. (+1) Eugene Katchalov – 1,002.82
13. (-2) Matt Waxman – 996.74
14. (-) Pius Heinz – 971.79
15. (-) Elio Fox – 943.85
16. (-) Oleksii Kovalchuk – 914.17
17. (-) Jason Mercier – 905.22
18. (-) Philipp Gruissem – 901.48
19. (-) Andrew Badecker – 888.05
20. (NR) David Sands – 879.25

Comment

This week featured the release of the World Series of Poker television schedule on ESPN, with just two weeks to go before the annual Summer festivities get underway. While the WSOP is on the immediate horizon, the WSOP Circuit has entered its final stop of the season in New Orleans, while the World Poker Tour gears up for its $25,000 Championship event, the final stop in Season X. The BLUFF Player of the Year and Power Rankings are changing on an almost daily basis at this point, and the movement is sure to increase in the coming weeks with these tournaments as well as action going on around the world.

ESPN to Broadcast ‘Big One for One Drop’ and WSOP Main Event Final Tables Live

The WSOP Main Event final table will once again be broadcast nearly live with hole cards this year, with just a 15 minute delay between the live action and when it will be broadcast. ESPN is expanding their live coverage this year, as they’ll also be broadcasting the $1 million ‘Big One for One Drop’, the biggest buy-in tournament in the history of poker. Their coverage will be kicked off on Tuesday July 3rd with the final table of the ‘Big One for One Drop’, with an edited broadcast re-airing July 31st.

A two-hour broadcast of the WSOP National Championship will air August 7th, and coverage of the Main Event will begin on August 14th. There will be two hours aired every Tuesday at 8 and 9 pm through September 25th, with a move to 9 and 10 pm in October leading up to the 9 pm broadcast of the final table on October 30th.

There will also be a live stream coverage of every other event during the WSOP. There is a potential for three simultaneous final tables going on at the same time, and each will have its own streaming coverage.

Christopher Bonn wins WSOPC Philadelphia Main Event; Circuit Heads to New Orleans for Final Stop

With opportunities to qualify for the WSOP National Championship getting harder and hard to come by, Christopher Bonn claimed one of the last direct tickets into the tournament by winning the Main Event at Harrah’s Philadelphia. He received $109,760 for the win, but also guaranteed himself one of the 100 free seats in the National Championship; players automatically qualify by either winning a $1,600 Main Event during the Circuit season or accumulating the most points at any given stop. Outside of those automatic qualifiers, the rest of the 100 spots are given to the top point accumulators throughout the season.

New Orleans represents the last chance for players to claim their spot. If Event 1 is any indicator of the rest of the series, there will be a lot of people vying for the last few available chances. The 945 players who registered for Event 1 broke a record for the largest field in the history of New Orleans.

BLUFF Races Continue to Change as Tournament Circuit Heats Up

The EPT Grand Final was one of several events in Europe that had a drastic effect on both of BLUFF’s player ranking systems. Justin Bonomo and Daniel Negreanu both entered the Top 20 of the 2012 BLUFF Player of the Year race thanks to various events throughout that series, while Marvin Rettenmaier is now third in the Poker Player Power Rankings thanks in part to a win in Monte Carlo.

Serock continues Hot Streak in Aruba, IPT San Remo Main Event Has Strong Turnout

After a third place finish in the WPT Jacksonvlle bestbet Open, Joe Serock posted a win in Aruba to bring his winnings on the year to over $600,000. The biggest prizes of the week were awarded at IPT San Remo and the Unibet Open in Paris, each with first place prizes of over €140,000. Former EPT Winner Kent Lundmark was one of the recognizable faces in Paris, finishing in 2nd for €98,051. Faraz Jaka had a cash in the €5,000 High Roller event in San Remo, finishing in 4th place.

The Latest on Internet Legislation in The Fight

Be sure to read this week’s The Fight, where you can get the latest updates on legislation involving online poker. Nevada, New Jersey, and California are each in various stages of efforts to legalize intrastate online gaming, but each face different obstacles. The situation in New Jersey could be dramatically influenced by the upcoming elections, with Republican Governor Chris Christie reportedly among candidates to run as Mitt Romney’s Vice Presidential candidate. Christie is a key figure in the legalization efforts in New Jersey, and may not want to jeopardize his standing with the party, which is largely anti-gambling.

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Marvin Rettenmaier is within striking distance of the lead in the BLUFF Power Rankings, rising to third this week.

After a crazy month of action in April, the beginning of May has brought a calm before the storm that is the World Series of Poker. There was still movement in the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings, with a shake-up in the top five as well as a new entry to the top 20.

Bertrand Grospellier has been steadily climbing the ranks, moving up from fifth to third place in the Power Rankings last week, but one of his biggest career wins lost half of its value for being more than a year old. The win in the 2011 EPT Grand Final High Roller was worth 240 points, and losing half of that caused him to drop one spot to fourth.

The biggest beneficiary of his slide is Marvin Rettenmaier, who jumped five spots last week and continues to rise up the ranks in taking third in this week’s Power Rankings. Both he and Rettenmaier (and everyone else on the list for that matter) are currently looking up at Jonathan Duhamel and Will Failla, still separated by four one-hundredths of a point in first and second, respectively.

David Sands continued to fall in this week’s Power Rankings, going from sixth place a few weeks ago all the way down to 21st. His fourth place finish in that same EPT Grand Final High Roller lost half of its value as well, with more than 50 points eliminated from his score to drop him five additional spots from last week.

Sands is one of two players to drop out of the Top 20 this week. Allen Kessler was hanging on to the 20th spot last week, but a handful of lost points this week drops him down to 22nd overall. That makes room for two new players to enter the top 20. Andrew Badecker final tabled the WPT Bay 101 Shooting star in March and followed it with four cashes in Europe in April, good enough for him to debut in 19th place. Justin Young has been hovering around the top 20 for the last several weeks, and Sands’ drop puts Young back in 20th.

Preliminaries are already underway at Bellagio with the $25,000 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic less than two weeks away. There’s also action on the IPT, the California State Poker Championship at the Commerce, and the final WSOP Circuit event of the year in New Orleans that could shake up the Power Rankings before the WSOP begins.

Here is the list of the current top 20 in the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings:
( ) – Change in Position

1. (-) Jonathan Duhamel – 1,380.38
2. (-) Will Failla – 1,380.34
3. (+1) Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,306.75
4. (-1) Bertrand Grospellier – 1,237.91
5. (-) Steve O’Dwyer – 1,209.01
6. (-) Shawn Buchanan – 1,150.39
7. (-) Chris Moorman – 1,097.48
8. (-) Ben Lamb – 1,073.18
9. (-) Vanessa Selbst – 1,045.67
10. (-) Sam Trickett – 1,032.70
11. (-) Matt Waxman – 1,016.54
12. (-) Daniel Negreanu – 1,007.97
13. (-) Eugene Katchalov – 1,002.82
14. (-) Pius Heinz – 971.79
15. (-) Elio Fox – 943.85
16. (+1) Oleksii Kovalchuk – 914.17
17. (+1) Jason Mercier – 905.22
18. (+1) Philipp Gruissem – 901.48
19. (NR) Andrew Badecker – 888.05
20. (NR) Justin Young – 881.09

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With just three weeks to go until the World Series of Poker begins in Las Vegas, other tours are winding down towards the end of their seasons. The EPT finished off its eighth season while the WPT is down to the final event of Season X, with their late action having a dramatic effect on the Player of the Year race. A third WSOP bracelet-awarding series is also in the works, and one of poker’s leading forums continues to be down after being hacked.

WSOP Announces Plan for WSOP Asia-Pacific in April 2013

With the biggest tournament series in the world in the WSOP and a successful expansion in WSOP Europe, a third series was the next logical step. With the WSOP Asia-Pacific, the WSOP is expanding one of the biggest brands in poker to Australia in 2013. They entered into a partnership with the Crown Casino, the host of the Aussie Millions, to host a series that will award bracelets in five different events.

WSOP APAC will take place in Melbourne from April 5th-13th and be just the third series in history to award a WSOP gold bracelet to its champions. The Crown’s agreement includes plans for an international television contract with coverage that is expected to air on ESPN.

Charania, Negreanu, and Smith Among Big Winners at EPT Grand Final

The PokerStars Monte-Carlo Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final represented the end of EPT Season 8, but a number of players cashed in big as the year came to an end. Justin Bonomo followed up his Super High Roller win with a deep run in the Main Event and another final table in the €25,000 High Roller event to bring his total for the stop in Monte Carlo to just under €2 million.

Mohsin Charania won his first major live title in the EPT Grand Final Main Event, while Dan Smith captured three different €5,000 side events in Monte Carlo. Daniel Negreanu was denied a win in the €25,000 High Roller, but his second place finish was good enough to qualify as the fifth biggest cash of his illustrious career.

Big Changes Happening in the BLUFF Player of the Year Race

While each of these players took home plenty of money from Monaco, they also locked up some valuable points in the BLUFF Player of the Year race. Smith, Negreanu, and Charania went from off the list completely to sitting pretty in third, tenth, and eleventh, respectively. Bonomo had zero points this year heading into Monte Carlo, and he currently sits in 13th place solely on the merits of one very successful series.

The WPT had something of an influence of late on the POY race as well. Will Failla made his second final table of Season X to retake the WPT POY race, and that result helped to bump him up to fifth in the POY race, as well as pull him virtually even with Jonathan Duhamel in the BLUFF Power Rankings.

WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open Sees Some Familiar Faces From Season X

Failla was one of three players making their second final table of the season at the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open. His sixth place finish gave him enough points to take the WPT POY lead, but Daniel Buzgon could have made his reign back on top short and passed him with a good enough result. Buzgon went out next in fifth place, however, leaving Failla in the lead heading into the WPT Championship. Darren Elias added a third place finish in Jacksonville to a fifth place finish at the Borgata Winter Poker Open, where Buzgon finished third.

Shawn Cunix was the last man standing, defeating James Calderaro to take home the title and the biggest cash of his career.

The 2+2 Forums Enter Second Week of Being Down

On April 26th, the 2+2 poker forums were shut down after a hacker was able to infiltrate the site and steal e-mail addresses and passwords. Nearly a week into the situation, the highly-trafficked forums are still out of commission, with no concrete restart date yet to be set. The initial estimate made on April 27th was a 4-6 day window, but the latest estimate would see the forums reopen on May 12th.

“While it is unclear the extent of data to which he gained access,” reads a statement on their homepage, “e-mail addresses and passwords on the Two Plus Two forums should be considered compromised. If you have used your 2+2 password on any other site, you are advised to change it. For your security, we are closing the forums until the breach is patched. Upon reopening the forums you will be forced to change your password – it is counterproductive to do so now. We hope to be back up as soon as possible.”

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The days of Will Failla looking up at Jonathan Duhamel in the Power Rankings could be numbered.

Since the last time we updated you on the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings, there has been a seismic shift in the top 20. Seven different players posted enough results to climb the list, and while the top two remain the same the distance between them is about as razor thin as statistically possible.

Will Failla finished sixth at the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open to retake the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race and all but overtook Jonathan Duhamel in the BLUFF Power Rankings at the same time. The difference between their point totals in this contest where 13 people have over 1,000 points is .04 points. To put that into perspective, a cash in a $300 tournament with 70 players would be good for 1.25 points, so any further cashes by Failla in almost any tournament in the world would put him ahead of Duhamel.

The rest of the top ten saw a fairly dramatic shakeup thanks to events on the EPT over the last several weeks. Bertrand Grospellier moved up two spots to the number three in the Power Rankings thanks to a win in a €10,000 8-handed event in Berlin and a 3rd place finish in the Monte Carlo Super High Roller. There’s a new person in fourth as well; Marvin Rettenmaier moved up five spots from 9th to 4th thanks to a 3rd place finish in a €10,000 8-handed event in Monte Carlo and won a €2,000 side event at Monte Carlo as well.

The biggest jump of the week was made by Chris Moorman, who finished 2nd in the same event where Rettenmaier finished third in Monte Carlo. The €145,200 cash was good enough to improve his position by seven places, jumping all the way up to seventh. Vanessa Selbst, thanks to an update that included her win in a $5,000 event from back at LAPC and a deep run in EPT Berlin Main Event moved up two spots to ninth.

Three new players have risen into the top twenty, including two more beneficiaries of the side events in Monte Carlo. Daniel Negreanu jumped all the way up to 12th place thanks to a second place finish in the €25,000 event there, while Philipp Gruissem’s third place finish moved him up to 19th. Oleksii Kovalchuk is now in 17th place after his IPT San Remo Main Event win was added.

Five players slipped down the list after past results fell away or lost value. The biggest drop was David Sands, who slipped ten spots from sixth to 16th. Shawn Buchanan (-3), Matt Waxman (-3) Jason Mercier (-2), and Allen Kessler (-2) each lost ground on the leaders, with Mercier and Kessler on the verge of falling out of the top 20 completely.

Three players couldn’t avoid that fate this week. Justin Young is just on the outside looking in in 22nd place, Michael Mizrachi is right behind him in 24th, and David Peters fell the furthest down the list in 27th place.

The EPT season may be over, but the WPT and WSOP Circuit have a little more to do before the 2012 World Series of Poker gets underway, which should make for some more big changes in the Power Rankings.

Here is how the BLUFF Power Rankings stand as of May 3rd:
( ) – Change in Position

1. (-) Jonathan Duhamel – 1,380.38
2. (-) Will Failla – 1,380.34
3. (+2) Bertrand Grospellier – 1,357.91
4. (+5) Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,306.75
5. (-1) Steve O’Dwyer – 1,209.01
6. (-3) Shawn Buchanan – 1,150.39
7. (+7) Chris Moorman – 1,097.48
8. (-1) Ben Lamb – 1,073.18
9. (+2) Vanessa Selbst – 1,045.67
10. (-) Sam Trickett – 1,032.70
11. (-3) Matt Waxman – 1,016.54
12. (NR) Daniel Negreanu – 1,007.97
13. (-1) Eugene Katchalov – 1,002.82
14. (-1) Pius Heinz – 971.79
15. (-) Elio Fox – 943.85
16. (-10) David Sands – 932.05
17. (NR) Oleksii Kovalchuk – 914.17
18. (-2) Jason Mercier – 905.22
19. (NR) Philipp Gruissem – 901.48
20. (-2) Allen Kessler – 896.16

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Igor Kurganov defeated Daniel Negreanu heads-up to win the 2012 EPT Grand Final €25,000 High Roller Event (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

When the final table of the €25,000 High Roller event at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final began, the attention was focused on Justin Bonomo and his unbelievable run in Monte Carlo. When it got down to heads-up play it shifted to Daniel Negreanu, who was seeking the largest win of a career in which he has amassed over $15 million.

Neither the hottest streak in poker nor one of the most successful tournament pros in history could stop Igor Kurganov from claiming the High Roller title. The German pro emerged victorious against a tough final table and recorded the biggest cash of his careeer. The win, worth €1,080,000, increases his earnings during Season 8 of the EPT to over $2 million.

It would not be an easy victory by any means. The pace when play began Tuesday afternoon was swift, with short stack Max Lykov knocked out early on in the proceedings. His pocket kings were cracked by Negreanu’s AT and Lykov was forced to settle for eighth place and €100,000. Canadian Nathan Schoo was next, crippled in a coinflip with Noah Schwartz and finished off by his countryman Negreanu. Schoo notched the biggest cash of his career for his seventh place finish, worth €133,000.

Schwartz’s double up would only help him move up one more spot. He flopped two pair against Philipp Gruissem’s flush draw but Gruissem would hit on the river, sending the American home in sixth with €166,000. Artem Litvinov would then become just the latest victim of the living heater that is Justin Bonomo, running pocket jacks into Bonomo’s pocket queens to bust in fifth, receiving €216,000 for his troubles.

That pot helped Bonomo reestablish his chip lead, but he would fall back to the pack when Kurganov turned a flush against his trip nines. The final four of Bonomo, Negreanu, Kurganov and Gruissem would continue four-handed play for quite some time, Negreanu edging out in front with chips constantly moving around. Kurganov would secure another key double up, this time through Gruissem, when his pocket queens beat Gruissem’s pocket eights.

Despite Gruissem’s crippled stack, Bonomo would find himself out of chips first. He three-bet all-in from the small blind with AK and Negreanu called with AT. For the second time during this final table, Negreanu took that hand from way behind and spiked a T on the turn to knock out Bonomo in fourth. Bonomo adds €266,000 and ends an incredible run during the EPT Grand Final during which he won the Super High Roller, made a very deep run in the Main Event, and topped it all off by nearly going back to back in High Rollers.

Bonomo moved himself up to 12th place in the BLUFF Player of the Year race, one of several players to pull into contention thanks to big performances in Monte Carlo. His elimination left just three players, and with an already crippled stack Gruissem was not long for this final table either. It was once again Negreanu doing the dirty work, picking up two kings to finish off Gruissem in third place, which was worth €366,000 to the German pro.

Negreanu took a lead of over 2.5-to-1 over Kurganov into their heads-up battle but Kurganov quickly pulled the match even and then went ahead, first with pocket aces and then with several big pots in a row where he didn’t show down a hand. Negreanu brought it back to even by making trip jacks, but the first all-in and call of heads-up play was just around the corner.

On a board of TT9K. Kurganov and Negreanu got all-in with Kurganov holding the chip lead. He also had a stranglehold on the hand, holding AT against Negreanu’s T8. Negreanu was granted a reprieve when the K on the river split the pot. Kurganov would then continue to grind Negreanu down, until he made the wrong call on the river with ace high to give Negreanu a double up and bring the chips to even once again.

Kurganov then swung the match for good by picking up pocket aces again. He got all-in on a king-high flop against Negreanu’s K9 and held, giving Kurganov a lead of over two to one. Kurganov continued the onslaught and got Negreanu down to the brink of elimination. Negreanu made his stand with AJ and Kurganov obliged him with K3. The board ran out K545T and Negreanu was forced to settle for a second place finish with €598,600 as his consolation prize.

With two final table appearances in Monte Carlo in addition to two final tables earlier in the year, Negreanu has now cracked the top ten of the BLUFF POY race himself. Negreanu, Bonomo, and Kurganov are likely unhappy that its the case, but the 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final is now officially over.

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Crown Melbourne will be the host of the first ever World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific in April 2013.

The World Series of Poker announced Monday that they were entering into a multi-year agreement with the Crown Casino to bring a tournament series to Australia in 2013.

The event, called the WSOP Asia-Pacific (or WSOP APAC), will run from April 4th to April 15th next year and will feature five WSOP bracelet events. The Crown Melbourne, which has been the site of the Aussie Millions since 1998, will play host to the first WSOP events in the history of the country.

“Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.

Crown Melbourne is an incredibly popular destination, drawing 18 million local and international visitors each year. It also features the largest poker room in the world outside of North America. Crown Melbourne’s Chief Executive Officer, Greg Hawkins, spoke of how the relationship will be mutually beneficial to both parties.

“This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region,” said Hawkins. “Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

WSOP APAC will be just the second series in history to award a WSOP bracelet outside of Las Vegas. This partnership hopes to find the same level of success that the WSOP found when the created WSOP Europe in 2007. Crown’s agreement includes an international television production of the event, one that is expected to be shown globally on ESPN.

As big as the poker boom in the United States was when Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 Main Event, poker exploded in Australia after Joe Hachem won in 2004.

“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said Hachem. “I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

The official schedule for the WSOP APAC will be released later this year.

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Mohsin Charania won his first major title at the EPT Grand Final. (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

The final table of the PokerStars Monte-Carlo Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final was destined to be a fast-paced affair after the long struggle to get down to eight players. Despite the better efforts of several players at the final table, the action certainly delivered with crazy swings, dramatic all-in confrontations, and finally a coin flip for all the marbles.

When the dust had finally settled, it was Mohsin Charania hoisting the trophy as champion. Charania’s victory is the culmination of several years of grinding the live tournament circuit, the first major live victory of his career. After flattening out the difference between first and second place before the start of heads-up play, Charania and Lucille Cailly ran into an inevitable all-in confrontation on just the fifth hand of heads-up play. Charania’s QQ dodged any of the outs Cailly had with AK and Charania brought the tournament to a swift end, taking home €1.35 million and claiming the final spot in the EPT Tournament of Champions on Tuesday.

When the final table got underway on Monday afternoon, it seemed to carry the same atmosphere that led to more than four hours on the bubble on Sunday. Despite an average stack of less than 25 big blinds, it took nearly an entire level for the first player to be eliminated in dramatic fashion. A three-way all-in suddenly developed between Sergio Castelluccio, who had KK, Rodrigo Caprioli, who had JJ, and Daniel Gomez, who had AQ and the shortest stack. The net result saw Castelluccio make a full house to more than double up, put Caprioli near the bottom of the counts, and sent Gomez home in eighth place.

The next one to fall was Canadian Clayton Mozdzen, whose three-bet shove with AT ran into the 99 of Cailly and AQ of Castelluccio. Cailly bet Castelluccio out of the pot on the flop and her pair of nines held to eliminate Mozdzen in seventh. He was followed soon after by fellow Canadian and close friend Michael Dietrich, who couldn’t take A9 and overcome Charania’s AK. Dietrich would settle for sixth place while Charania would pull almost dead even with Castelluccio for the chip lead.

Eliminations kept on rolling as Caprioli couldn’t continue to maintain his diminished stack. He found a great spot with QQ but Castelluccio continued to roll, spiking an A on the river to pair his A8 and send Caprioli to the rail in disappointing fashion in fifth place.

This put Castelluccio well ahead for a moment, but it wouldn’t last. He and Charania would play a pot that would seemingly swing the entire final table, Charania getting full value to the river with KK against Castellucio’s 77. Castelluccio continued to slip over the next several hands when the first of several key all-in confrontations would develop between he and Cailly for almost all of their combined chips.

Castelluccio opened with JJ and Charania three-bet with 68. Cailly flat called in the small blind with AQ and Castelluccio wasted little time in declaring himself all-in. After Charania stepped aside, Cailly eventually called, and it was off to the races. The T93 flop was fairly dry, but the Q on the turn gave Cailly the lead and Castelluccio nine outs to stay alive in the tournament. The 3 sealed the hand for Cailly and sent Castelluccio, who had been the chip leader until shortly before this confrontation, out in fourth place.

Bernard Guigon actually started this final table with the chip lead, but avoided almost all confrontation as the blinds and antes ravaged his stack. After having a stack that hovered around 10 big blinds and folding his way all the way up to third, Guigon quickly found a double up with 77 against Charania’s A5. Cailly and Charania exchanged a series of medium sized pots and the chip lead several times while Guigon occasionally took the blinds.

Guigon’s run at a remarkable comeback fell short when Charania’s KQ flopped trip queens against Guigon’s A4. There would be no miracle runner-runner redraws and Guigon would succumb in third place. This would start nearly 20 minutes of conversation about a deal between Charania and Cailly, with the pair eventually settling on €1,150,000 for Charania, who held the lead, and €1,050,000 for Cailly. That would leave €200,000 for the winner, along with the title, the trophy, and the final opening in the Tournament of Champions event. In the end, Charania won the final showdown and all the spoils that came with it.

1. Mohsin Charania – €1,350,000
2. Lucille Cailly – €1,050,000
3. Bernard Guigon – €545,000
4. Sergio Castelluccio – €400,000
5. Rodrigo Caprioli – €315,000
6. Michael Dietrich – €245,000
7. Clayton Mozdzen – €185,000
8. Daniel Gomez – €130,000

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Will PokerStars buy Full Tilt and repay it's players?

The tournament poker circuit is ramping up to its annual crescendo, the World Series of Poker, with serious action and big winners all over the world this week. But the biggest news this week involved a dramatic change in the ongoing saga involving Full Tilt Poker and the effects that will be felt as the situation continues to play out. The poker world also lost one of the most influential players in the history of the game.

Tapie Group Can’t Reach Deal With DOJ, But Will PokerStars Get it Done?

After a lot of recent activity by GBT and Bernard Tapie in the recent weeks, the speculation that a deal with the Department of Justice was close began to heat up. That all changed this week when negotiations between the two groups fell through.

“Groupe Bernard Tapie regrets to announce that, after seven months of intensive work, our efforts to obtain final approval of the United States Department of Justice of the agreement to acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker have ended without success,” read a statement released by Tapie.

New rumors quickly surfaced that PokerStars was in negotiations to buy Full Tilt’s assets and repay all of the players who still have balances with the site. There was no immediate denial by PokerStars, and reports surfaced that the deal between PokerStars and the DOJ was imminent. There has still been no comment from the DOJ or any confirmation of a completed deal from PokerStars.

Tommy Vedes Wins WPT title at Seminole Hard Rock

Before the World Poker Tour headed back to Las Vegas for the WPT Championship, they swung through Florida for a couple of events. The WPT event at Seminole Hard Rock featured a stacked final table and swung the WPT Player of the Year race, but the biggest story of the tournament centered around Tommy Vedes. He became the 14th two-time winner on the tour and only the second person in the tour’s history to come back from last place at the start of the final table and win.

Justin Bonomo Wins Super High Roller in Monte Carlo

There was plenty of action going on in Europe as well. The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final kicked off with a €100,000 Super High Roller event that drew 45 entries and a prize pool of €4,432,500. The final table featured some of the best players in the world, including Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand Grospellier, Patrik Antonius, Eugene Katchalov, and Jonathan Duhamel. But it was Justin Bonomo who would stand tall, taking the chip lead from the beginning of the final table and riding it all the way to a €1,600,000 win.

Amarillo Slim Passes Away at Age 83

We learned Sunday of the death of former WSOP Main Event champion Amarillo Slim Preston. Preston did a lot for the game in its infancy, traveling the talk show circuit following his Main Event win and creating the Super Bowl of Poker, one of the biggest tournaments of its time. Visit BluffMagazine.com later tonight as we look back at the life of Amarillo Slim.

Lots of Tournament Action Winding Down as EPT and WPT Approach End of Seasons

The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final is bringing Season 8 of the EPT to its end. The Main Event has reached the final table, which will be played on Monday afternoon, and a €25,000 High Roller event is underway as well. Ondrej Vinklarek has all but locked up the EPT Player of the Year award with just a few side events remaining in the season. For those interested in taking their shot next year, the EPT also revealed their schedule for Season 9.

The WPT Player of the Year race has a new leader after their event at the Seminole Hard Rock. Joe Serock notched his second third place finish of Season X and passed Will Failla at the top of the contest. Failla will have to dig deep in order to reclaim the lead with such little time left in the WPT season.

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Lucille Cailly sits in third place, looking to become the fourth woman to win an EPT title (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

After a marathon session on Day 3, the playdown from 26 to the final table of 8 at the PokerStars Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final on Day 4 was expected to move at a quicker pace. It took about seven hours to get down to nine players, but those nine would play for over four hours before someone was finally eliminated.

While the chip leader at the start of the day, Geert-Jan Potijk, did not make it to the end of Day 4, Bernard Guigon started in second and rode his big stack all the way to the final table chip lead. The 64-year-old leads a table filled predominantly by online pros but also featuring the first woman to ever make it this far in the EPT Grand Final. Lucille Cailly, a French pro who predominantly plays online but has logged more than $100,000 in lifetime cashes, sits in third place when the final table begins.

Guigon’s nearest competition is Rodrigo Caprioli of Brazil, who sits in second place. Caprioli is one of two PokerStars SuperNova Elites at this final table, along with Daniel “Garnerus” Gomez of Spain, and Caprioli even bought his way into this tournament with Frequent Player Points. The most successful tournament pro at the final table by a fair amount is Mohsin “chicagocards1″ Charania.

With over $3 million in online earnings and over $500,000 in live earnings, Charania carries the most experience into this final table. He’s traveled the tournament circuit for a long time, and has seen enough of his friends winning major tournaments without having a title himself.

“There are seven people standing in the way of the title I’ve been wanting for the last five years,” said Charania. “After seeing all my close friends get there, it finally feels like it’s my chance. Anything shy of first would be extremely heartbreaking.”

With the length of play over the last two days, the average stack of just under 2.5 million is less than 25 big blinds. Guigon, the chip leader, has 49 big blinds in his stack, so almost every hand will prove to be important. Charania is well aware of how the high blinds will affect play at the final table.

“It’s obviously a turbo, so i might have an edge,” said Charania. “But then again I could get coolered pretty quickly. At this final table, being deep stacked would probably make my edge way bigger, but I feel fine.“

Also among the final eight contenders are two Canadians, Michael Dietrich and Clayton Mozdzen, who have already made it a successful trip across the pond. Sergio Castelluccio of Italy had a far shorter trek from Italy but is also guaranteed at least €130,000, the largest cash of his career.

Elsewhere in Monte Carlo, the €25,000 High Roller event got 133 entries with 66 players making it through Day 1. Andrew Badecker leads, with Patrik Antonius, Phil Ivey, and Chris Moorman close behind. Play will resume in that event at noon local time.

Play resumes in the Main Event at 2:30 pm local time and will be broadcast with hole cards with a one hour delay. Each of the final eight is playing for the €1,500,000 first place prize, and here’s how they stand heading into the final table of the PokerStars Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final:

1. Berrnard Guigon – 4,900,000
2. Rodrigo Caprioli – 2,945,000
3. Lucille Cailly – 2,865,000
4. Daniel Gomez – 2,665,000
5. Mohsin Charania – 2,215,000
6. Michael Dietrich – 1,550,000
7. Clayton Mozdzen – 1,430,000
8. Sergio Castelluccio – 1,410,000

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Geert-Jan Potijk is looking to ride his chip lead through one more day of play and into a final table in Monte Carlo (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

With the schedule calling for the field to be whittled down from 130 to 24 on Day 3 of the PokerStars Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final, everyone involved was prepared for a long day. Thirteen hours after play began Saturday afternoon, tournament officials made the decision to stop play for the night two players short of that goal.

The final 26 battled through a long day that began with each player not being guaranteed anything. The bubble sat at 96 and it would be no swift trip into the money with 34 players to lose. It took over three hours before it finally burst, and in that time a number of big names fell short of a cash in Monte Carlo. Adam Levy went out on the exact bubble because 96th place was split between two players who went out at the same time during hand for hand play. There were actually three simultaneous all-ins during that hand, but Andrew Badecker and Martin Finger lost their individual confrontations as shorter stacks and split the money, taking €7,500 each.

Other players who shared in Levy’s misfortune on Day 3 include Pius Heinz, Annette Obrestad, Alessio Isaia, Faraz Jaka, Johnny Lodden, Rupert Elder, and Marcel Luske. The pace of eliminations quickened after that and a wave of players were sent to the payout window; Nacho Barbero, Noah Boeken, Bruno Fitoussi, Brian Piccioli, Maria Ho and Max Martinez, the chip leader at the start of the day, each managed a min-cash at the Grand Final.

As the day wore on, more and more familiar names started to fall. Erik Seidel, David Sands, Leo Margets, Sandra Naujoks, Stephen Chidwick and Matthias De Meulder made it deep into the day on Saturday but fell short in their pursuit of the title. Justin Bonomo, fresh off of a victory in the Super High Roller just a few days ago, made a strong push at back to back titles but went out in 28th place.

Dutch pro Geert-Jan Potijk stood tall at the end of play with 1.32 million, already guaranteed the largest live cash of his career. The last woman standing in the field, Lucille Cailly, is standing tall in sixth place while Pratyush Buddiga, fresh off an eighth place finish at EPT Berlin, is in eighth place heading Day 4 at the Grand Final. Mohsin Charania, Amit Makhija, and Jesse Martin are also among the 26 contenders vying for the final eight spots on Sunday. Play will resume at noon and will continue until the final table is set.

Here’s the top ten heading into Day 4 of the PokerStars Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final:

1. Geert-Jan Potijk – 1,320,000
2. Bernard Guigon – 1,212,000
3. Georges Dib – 1,118,000
4. Andoni Larrabe – 1,071,000
5. Ben Vinson – 1,039,000
6. Lucille Cailly – 999,000
7. Pratyush Buddiga – 970,000
8. Anatoly Gurtovoy – 945,000
9. Sergio Castelluccio – 944,000
10. Vadzim Markushevski – 922,000

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Max Martinez sits atop the chip counts at the end of Day 2 of the PokerStars and Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

A lot can happen in six 75-minute levels of poker and that was just the case at the PokerStars and Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final on Friday. Several chip leaders came and went, not even surviving the day, while some big names slowly climbed the counts into contention on Day 2.

When play began on Friday afternoon, the 394 players who survived either Day 1A or Day 1B gathered for the first time in one room, the money bubble a distant target that would be unreachable on this day. Nicolas Yunis began the day with the chip lead, but his hopes of making a deep run and overtaking the EPT Player of the Year race fell apart by mid-day. Former EPT champion Vladimir Geshkenbein made a play at the chip lead for the second straight event but he too met his demise before the end of play.

By the end of the day, it was one of the newest members of Team PokerStars Pro, Italian Max Martinez, who couldn’t lose a pot near the end of the day. He enters Day 3 with 456,300, good for a healthy chip lead over his nearest competitors. Mohsin Charania sits in second place with 413,500, the beneficiary of a blowup by Yunis that involved a six-bet preflop all-in with AT. The man that’s currently sitting in third place is none other than Erik Seidel, who is somehow looking for his first career EPT cash outside of the PCA.

Less than one-third of the players who began Day 2 with a chance at grabbing the final EPT title of Season 8 made it through, as just 130 will come back with the same dream on Saturday. With the money bubble looming at 96 players, the atmosphere is sure to change. There’s a laundry list of players who have been in this spot before and are looking to add an EPT Grand Final win to their résumé. That large group includes David Sands, Justin Bonomo, Amit Makhija, Rupert Elder, Noah Boeken, Nacho Barbero, Alessio Isaia, Adam Levy, Faraz Jaka, Annette Obrestad, Pius Heinz, Marcel Luske, Johnny Lodden, Andrew Badecker, Guillaume Darcourt, and Bruno Fitoussi.

Among the unfortunate casualties on Day 2 were a number of recognizable names in their own right, including Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Isaac Baron, William Reynolds, Steve O’Dwyer, Chris Moorman, and Sam Trickett.

Play will resume at noon local time and it looks to be a long day, with 130 players being whittled down to just three tables of eight. Here’s the top ten heading into Day 3 of the PokerStars and Monte Carlo Casino EPT Grand Final:

1. Max Martinez – 456,300
2. Mohsin Charania – 413,500
3. Erik Seidel – 362,200
4. Anatoly Gurtovoy – 339,100
5. Geert-Jan Potijk – 324,600
6. Vadzim Kursevich – 317,800
7. Lawrie Inman – 303,500
8. John Andress – 301,200
9. Giuseppe Pantaleo – 294,400
10. Tudor Grangure – 293,900

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Nick Yunis holds the overall chip lead heading into Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final (Photo c/o PokerStars Blog, © Neil Stoddart)

The EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo has reached the end of Day 1B and registration is now officially closed. All those who are not among the 400 still in contention in this event will have to wait until August to compete in another EPT Main Event as the season quickly winds towards a close in Monaco.

Turnout on Day 1B was up as expected, with 394 players registering on Thursday to bring the total field size to 665. The total prize pool for this event is €6,650,000 with a min-cash for 96th place or better worth €15,000. A final table appearance is worth a minimum of €130,000 and winning the whole tournament will net one lucky player €1,500,000.

As is generally the case, a bigger field on Day 1B meant bigger stacks at the top counts. The three biggest stacks on Thursday each outdid Day 1A chip leader Martin Kabrhel and will start Day 2 on the top of the overall counts. Nicolas Yunis, currently fourth in the EPT Player of the Year race, is the top dog with 191,700, and he’s closely followed by Ivan Kudriavtcev (186,200) and Andoni Larrabe Sánchez (181,300). Other notables who got their hands on a lot of chips on Day 1B include Alessio Isaia (139,600), Tom Marchese (112,000), Nacho Barbero (105,400) and Vladimir Geshkenbein (103,900).

While those players are in great shape heading into Day 2, there are plenty of other big names ready to jump out of the blocks quickly on Friday. Pius Heinz, Erik Seidel, Jason Mercier, Annette Obrestad, Fabrice Soulier, Barry Greenstein, Sorel Mizzi and Dario Minieri are just some of the big names that will be back in action on Day 2. It was a less fortunate day for Jonathan Duhamel, Bertrand Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov, Olivier Busquet, David Williams, Davidi Kitai, Lex Veldhuis, Yevginiy Timoshenko and Mike Watson, who will each have to wait until Season 9 to get their next crack at an EPT win.

With approximately 240 players surviving Day 1B, the total remaining field sits at somewhere around 400. Play will resume at 12 pm local time Friday as they creep closer and closer to the money. Here is the combined top ten heading into Day 2:

1. Nick Yunis – 191,700
2. Ivan Kudriavtcev – 186,200
3. Andoni Larrabe Sánchez – 181,300
4. Martin Kabrhel – 167,800
5. Franck Blanc – 160,800
6. David Sands – 160,300
7. John Eames – 157,200
8. Alessio Isaia – 139,600
9. Malte Moennig – 136,900
10. Andres Artinano – 125,200

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