In 2007 Mindy Trinidad made the final table of the World Series of Poker’s Ladies Event. Her 7^th place finish was supposed to be the start of an amazing poker career that saw her become one of the game’s best.

On October 9^th Trinidad, a wife and mother of two, passed away after losing her battle with Leukemia. Thanks to Erick Lindgren this Wednesday poker players can play in a fundraising poker tournament on Full Tilt Poker that will benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma in memory of Trinidad.  

The tournament is in the FullTilt tournament lobby in the PRIVATE tab under “Dec 3 19:00 Hold’em NL $5 + $5.” The password is “charity”. The $5 entry goes to the prize pool with the $5 fee going directly to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society/Southern Nevada. The winner of the event will receive the first place cash prize and a “WORLD” model Curtis & Co. watch valued at $2,200. 

For more information on Mindy Trinidad and her courageous fight with Leukemia visit http://mindytrinidad.blogspot.com/.

The Commerce Casino in Los Angeles has chosen renowned tournament director Matt Savage to fill that role during the upcoming L.A. Poker Classic. The need for a new TD came after Cherri Dokken retired from the position in early November.

Savage brings with him an impressive resume that includes World Series of Poker Tournament Director for three years and the same role at Bay 101, host of the World Poker Tour’s Shooting Stars event. 

“Commerce Casino is unique in that a couple of our L.A. Poker Classic games are recorded for the World Poker Tour television program,” said Tim Gustin, casino manager at Commerce Casino. ”Working with television crews and intense media interest brings certain challenges when it comes to running a poker tournament. Savage brings with him a wealth of experience in handling televised tournaments, which will make for a seamless transition as he takes the reigns of this major event.”

Savage is also one of the founders of the Tournament Directors Association, a group aiming to standardize poker tournament rules. He also works closely with the Asian Poker Tour and was inducted as the first member of the Poker Room Manager’s Hall of Fame in 2003.

The L.A. Poker Classic runs January 22 - March 2, 2009 with the $10,000 buy-in Championship event and the WPT Invitational being filmed for broadcast as part of Season VII of the World Poker Tour.

He’s one of the most hated poker players on the planet. He’s also one of the most beloved. No matter what your opinion is on Phil Hellmuth you’ve not got the opportunity to dress just like him.

Hellmuth launched The Poker Brat clothing line earlier this week and the items are now available for purchase on http://www.pokerbrat.com/ and will soon be available on his own personal website www.PhilHellmuth.com.

“I love the people who designed these shirts,” said Hellmuth. “We’ve worked with artists in Las Vegas, Missouri, and West Hollywood, and I told them to design whatever their hearts desired and, man, did they create some great poker designs.” 

As well as the trademark PH hat that Hellmuth has made famous, poker fans can purchase t-shirts designed with the Ed Hardy look in mind. T-shirts emblazoned with the Poker Brat Clothing Co. logo are also available for purchase.

The largest prize in the Bluff Europe Madness freeroll series is up for grabs this Thursday at 20:00 GMT as the European publication teams up with Diamond Bet for its biggest ever event. The tournament, which has seen players from around the world sign up, will see $10,000 won, with the winner taking home a first prize of over $1,500.

Players are already confirming their attendance at the event which has been publicised on the www.bluffeurope.com/madness website, as well as in the poker publication itself. Once again Bluff Europe has proved popular worldwide, with players from the UK, Europe and as far abroad as China set to take part in the free tournament extravaganza.

“Our biggest ever freeroll has had the poker world buzzing”, says Dave Bland, online editor at BluffEurope.com. “Every month we look to reward our readers, and this exclusive promotion with Diamond Bet has really set a new benchmark for our competitors.”

Players who sign up to Diamond Bet via the Bluff Europe Madness webpage will also benefit from a 200% deposit bonus up to ¬777.

Macy’s Parade. Football. Turkey. Black Friday. All of these things are a big part of the four day extravaganza that has become Thanksgiving. If that’s not enough to keep you satisfied Bodog Poker has created a special series of online poker tournaments to help you celebrate.

Starting Thursday and running through Sunday there are four tournaments each with added value for the players. The first event is a $10 + $1 Turbo tournament using a standard payout template, but the top ten finishers also receive free entry to Bodog’s $100,000 Guaranteed Tournament on Sunday afternoon - a $109 value. The complete schedule for all four events is as follows:

Thanksgiving Thursday Turbo
Thursday, November 27th @ 8:35pm ET
Buy-In: $10 + $1
Payouts: As per standard payout template
Bonus Prizes: Top 10 will win T$109 to play in the $100K Guaranteed Tournament Sunday @ 4pm ET
Starting Chips: 1,500
Levels: 8 minutes

Thanksgiving Special ($2K Added)
Friday, November 28th @ 11pm ET
Buy-In: $150 + $12
Payouts: As per standard payout template
Bonus Prizes: $2,000 added to the prize pool
Starting Chips: 2,500
Levels: 15 minutes

$100K Thanksgiving Qualifier (10 seats added)
Saturday, November 29th @ 5:05pm ET
Buy-In: $10 + $1
Payouts: 1 player for every $109 in the prize pool will win T$109 to play in the $100K Guaranteed Tournament Sunday @ 4pm ET
Bonus Prizes: 10 seats added
Starting Chips: 1,500
Levels:  12 minutes

Thanksgiving Special ($3K Added)
Sunday, November 30th @ 2pm ET
Buy-In: $100 + $9
Payouts: As per standard payout template
Bonus Prizes: $3,000 added to the prize pool
Starting Chips: 3,000
Levels: 15 minutes

To register for any of these special events launch the Bodog Poker client and go to the “Scheduled Tournament” tab and choose the “Private” tab. All four tournaments are listed there. 

Online poker sites Absolute Poker and UltimateBet have finalized the merging of the two player bases into one to form the CEREUS poker network. The move was first announced by Tokwiro Enterprises, owner of both brands, over the summer and players familiar with either site will notice some improvements in the software and game offering.

The software of both companies will remain their own while the player pools will be combined to offer a greater liquidity in ring game, sit-n-go and tournament play.

Another aspect which will see great benefit is the Bad Beat Jackpot. Previously each site had their own jackpot but now the combined player base will create much larger, more lucrative jackpots.

Along with increased player traffic and bad beat jackpots Tokwiro is promising better security for all players, a welcome improvement given the super user scandals that have plagued both sites over the past year.

Other features of the new software packages include the ability for players at final tables to make deals, lobby filters allowing the player to show only certain games or stakes, and an instant replay feature for hands.

Tournament players may notice a huge change this coming Sunday. The $200 buy-in $200,000 Guaranteed tournament on UltimateBet has had an overlay of roughly $20,000 for the past 18 months, but with an increased player base that prize pool should eclipse the guaranteed amount as early as this week.

To check out more great features visit AbsolutePoker.com or UltimateBet.com.

TruePoker.com is the host of Event #3 of the BLUFF Poker Tour Tuesday night. The $10+$1 tounament begins at 9:15pm ET and will have at least four poker professionals playing. Kathy Liebert, James Worth, Warren Karp, and Young Phan are playing this event with bounties on their heads. Eliminate any of these pros and earn automatic entry into the Tournament of Champions at the end of the BPT. 

The BPT is an online poker tour with stops at some of the top online poker venues which use www.picclub.com processing. Each tour stop is a $10 +$1 buy-in with points being awarded for both finishing position and participation. In order for any player to be eligible to play, they must create an account with www.picclub.com. Once an account has been created, players can then deposit and use their funds to transfer money to participating poker rooms. 

So sign up now at www.picclub.com and then register your screen name at http://www.bluffmagazine.com/bpt/register.asp. The current BPT leader is “samtbone” is the current leader with 549 points. To check out the rest of the standings go to http://www.bluffmagazine.com/bpt/standings.asp.

The description from CBS’ website reads as follows:

“60 MINUTES and The Washington Post reveal how online poker players suspecting cheating were forced to successfully ferret out the cheaters themselves. That’s because managers of the mostly-unregulated $18 billion Internet gambling industry failed to respond to their complaints. Steve Kroft and The Washington Post’s Gilbert Gaul report. Ira Rosen is the producer.”

Gilbert Gaul will also have a piece in the Washington Post to accompany that 60 Minutes story that is believed to call for regulation of the online poker industry. Gaul has previously won the Pulitzer Prize on two occasions and was a finalist for the prestigious award four more times.

Also interviewed was Michale Josem, founder of AbsolutePokerCheats.com. In the preview clip below Todd Witteles is interviewed.

Apparently some home-cooking served Daniel Negreanu pretty well. The Canadian poker pro returned to the Great White North this past weekend and captured the 2008 BC Poker Championship.

The four-day event drew a total field of 689 players each paying the $2,500 CDN ($2,020 US) buy-in to put the total prize pool at $1,722,500 CDN ($1,402,800 US). The fourth annual event was hosted by River Rock Casino in Richmond, BC just outside of Vancouver.

“Being Canadian myself, playing and winning the BC Poker Championships is extra special to me,” said Negreanu. “It may have been a smaller tournament but I would say this has been the best $2,500 buy-in event structure I’ve ever played.”

The Main Event drew some other big names including Gabe Kaplan, Brad Booth, Gavin Smith, Lacey Jones, 2008 World Series of Poker third place finisher Dennis Phillips and the last woman standing from the 2008 WSOP Tiffany Michelle.

“This years tournament has drawn the largest celebrity participation out of all BC poker events, confirming British Columbia as a hot destination for exciting poker,” said Darryl Schiewe, British Columbia Lottery Corporation Vice President of Casino and Community Gaming.

The Main Event capped off a week’s worth of events. All three events were completely sold out putting the total prize pool at $2.9 million.

Like most of poker’s young guns Danny Ryan, known online as “THE__D__RY“, first burst onto the poker scene by dominating online tournaments. He made his jump to live play in 2007 shortly after turning 21 and recorded two WSOP cashes. But Sunday night he turned back the clock just a little bit with a dominating performance in the PokerStars Sunday Million where he outran the 7,774 other players to take home the $189,997.50 first place prize. 

Here are the final table finishes from all of the Sunday Majors.

1. Cobus83 - $101,374
2. Cassidy13 - $70,182
3. fffffs - $46,788
4. Trueblue333 - $38,990
5. Kameleont - $31,192
6. NewsKoooL - $23,394
7. Powergolf - $15,596
8. Mr nOmadsen - $9,747.5
9. IDOLLS - $6,706.28

Full Results

1. THE__D__RY - $189,997.50
2. xfadomas666 - $128,112.60
3. parachuting - $86,856
4. Major_BomB - $70,570.50
5. Verichip - $55,060.50
6. Stammdogg - $39,550.50
7. thebosshead - $27,142.50
8. A_Ivanovich - $17,836.50
9. Hikkespett - $10,857

Full Results

1. Apathy123 - $49,032
2. pattstars - $35,640
3. darkfedor - $27,000
4. LoneHixx - $20,250
5. APALLDAY28 - $17,175
6. Shafeeq - $11,475
7. BlackFourz - $8.775
8. Dennis_TO - $6,075
9. central106 - $3,780

Full Results

1. irishgirl08 - $45,000
2. yellowhat - $27,000
3. widebody - $18,500
4. MFS0YUY1 - $13,000
5. Manstheman - $11,000
6. grumpysmurf23 - $9,000
7. BKiCe - $7,000
8. UltimateKaos - $5,000
9. geobayboy - $3,500

Full Results

1. Julian Verse - $79,557.20
2. liverdracon - $52,523.20
3. jimmyforreal - $39,006.20
4. DontTryToBlufMe - $30,509.80
5. i_love_Venetian - $22,785.80
6. beck911 - $15,834.20
7. Half Full - $9,655
8. JCSeelbach - $6,565.40
9. chelt1 - $4,634.40

Full Results

1. MicoTX - $132,787.50
2. Wasaki coke - $80,250
3. spandit - $52,500
4. SPIN101 - $41,400
5. Davidp18 - $31,050
6. Embetant - $23,025
7. PXFACTOR - $17,250
8. DNA2RNA - $13,500
9. PeppermintHippo - $10,050

Full Results

1. drunk mashimaro - $45,810
2. charder30 - $29,522
3. badbeatninja - $21,887
4. thopra - $16,797
5. highlandfox - $12,725
6. Pimpnuho - $9,162
7. bigegypt - $6,108
8. Eleon222 - $4,581
9. Jagz7 - $3,257.60

Full Results

For hardcore poker fans it has become the poker show against which all others are measured. High Stakes Poker, produced for GSN by Poker PRO-ductions, will be back for a fifth season with even bigger stakes.

The Golden Nugget will host the taping of the new season December 19-21 and players will need to bring bigger duffle bags as the minimum buy-in has been raised to $200,000 from the $100,000 of past seasons.

“High Stakes Poker, by a wide margin, has become a must-see on GSN for poker players and poker fans all over the world,” said executive producer and recent Poker Hall-of-Fame inductee Henry Orenstein. “We are happy to bring back the top amateurs and professionals risking hundreds of thousands of their money in the new season.”

The show is the first to regularly feature high stakes cash game play rather than tournaments and previous players have included some of the biggest in the game. Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu have all graced the felt for the show.

The fifth season roster has yet to be announced but executives are promising that nobody will be disappointed.

“I am very excited about the mix of players that we will bring together for this next season of High Stakes Poker. Viewers are in for a thrill,” said Mori Eskandani, another Executive Producer of the show.

Apparently you don’t need a first name like Steve, John or Joe to win on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. Van Marcus, a 25-year-old Australian professional online poker player, took down the APPT stop in Manila on Monday after the longest final table in tour history.

The 16-hour final table gave Marcus the win and the $162,856 US first place prize. It was his third APPT final table in the past 15 months and improves upon his fifth place performance at the 2007 APPT Manila.

“I guess it is third time lucky on this tour. I have now made three final tables on the APPT - it feels great to finally hold a title,” said Marcus. “And even better I get a ticket to the Sydney Grand Final. Hopefully I can replicate this week’s performance in front of a home crowd,” commented Van directly following his win.

The Manila stop was the fourth on the APPT tour in its second season. The final table included three local players as well as three Korean players, one Hong Kong resident, a New Zealander and the Australian Marcus.

“We are thrilled to see an Australian champion on the APPT as we head into the Sydney Grand Final. It is great to see all final table players coming from countries across the Asia Pacific,” said APPT President Jeffrey Haas. “The Philippines is the beating heart of poker in Asia today and so it was very fitting to have three locals included in the final nine today.”

APPT Manila Final Table Payouts

1. Van Marcus - $162,856.98 US
2. Noh Tae Jun -  $103,142.75 US
3. Hyoung Jin Nam - $54,285.66 USD

4. Michael Chang - $37,999.96 US

5. Ramil Tandoc - $29,314.26 US

6. Lee Nelson - $21,714.26 US

7. Manish Sansi - $16,285.70 US

8. Benjie Lim - $12,485.70 US

9. Ranier Aquino - $9,228.56 US 

Beginning Friday morning Bluff Magazine, in partnership with POKER VT, is offering thepokerdb’s Premium Services free of charge for the entire weekend. Thepokerdb is the most comprehensive database of online poker tournament results and is a great tool for poker players of all levels.

“This weekend we’re letting online poker players have the run of the house,” said Jeff Markley, Vice-President of Online Operations for Bluff Media. “It’s a great chance for those that haven’t signed up yet to take a look around and see exactly what it is they’re missing.”

Using thepokerdb will give players the ability to track their stats as well as all stats of their friends or prominent online players. Players will also have the ability to receive alerts when their friends cash or have made it to a final table. Most importantly they can search out all competitors and even paste whole hand histories for fast look ups.

Some of the data included in the Premium Services is estimated buy-ins, rake, estimated profit, average buy-in, return on investment, buddy lists with stats and final table alerts.

To get started with the free thepokerdb weekend visit http://www.bluffmagazine.com/account/registration.asp to sign-up for your account.