Many in the poker community wonder aloud what the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) does when it’s not handing out information at the World Series of Poker or fighting the Kentucky governor’s efforts to seize online poker domain names. With over one million dues-paying members, it’s not an unreasonable question, though all one has to do is look on Capitol Hill or wherever government officials congregate to see PPA representatives hard at work forging alliances and pushing for pro-poker legislation.

The PPA’s latest efforts were concentrated on some of the staunchest opponents of the organization’s goals. The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) began at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, February 26 with some of the most influential names in the conservative movement on the speaking agenda, such as John Bolton, Mike Huckabee, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, Tucker Carlson and Joe Scarborough, Bay and Pat Buchanan, and Joe the Plumber. And as the three-day conference got underway, the PPA made its presence known with a table at CPAC.

Among the PPA members helping spread the word about its mission, a message of non-government involvement in internet gaming that would tend to coincide of the conservative talking points of smaller government and more personal responsibility, was 2004 World Series of Poker champion Greg Raymer. As he spoke to CPAC visitors about the PPA, he also found himself signing autographs for fans.

The Washington Times caught up with Raymer, who told the paper, “I don’t want the government telling me what to do unless I’m hurting you. The only issue is going to be protecting children. I don’t believe that adults should be protected from themselves by the government; that’s what your family’s supposed to do.”

Raymer also made the point that the case for overturning the UIGEA was not without already-substantial Republican support from outspoken conservative figures like George Will, Grover Norquist, and former Rep. Dick Armey.

Also representing the PPA at CPAC were members R.J. Van Auken and Kentucky State Director Rich Muny. For the most part, the presence of the organization was well-received, and the message seemed to resonate among visitors to the PPA table. Though there is a significant portion of the conservative movement who collectively feel that gambling is dangerous and sinful, the message of the PPA spokespersons was two-fold but simple: Poker is a game of skill, and it is not a crime.

To find out more about the PPA, its efforts, and how to get involved in the mission, visit the Poker Players Alliance website.

Knockout Magazine announced today that tournament poker legend Phil Hellmuth, Jr. will be playing in its first Knockout Poker Tour event at Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas this spring.

The event, billed as “The Sexiest Poker Tournament on the Planet,” runs April 24-27. For $10,000 players get their buy-in to the tournament, round-trip transportation on a private 737, lodging at the Hard Rock, and entry to a bevy of special events planned throughout the weekend.

“I’m excited to play in the Knockout Poker Tournament and I look forward to the challenge of the Knockout Bounty on myself,” said Phil Hellmuth. “I always have fun competing and believe me, I always bring my best game with me. I’ll be playing to win!”

The excitement doesn’t stop with everyone’s favorite bustout tirade artist. Knockout Magazine’s president, Gray Knight, shared Hellmuth’s enthusiasm for the venture. “We are very excited to have a player of Phil’s stature associated with our tournament. This is a rare opportunity to sit at the same table as a legend.”

In addition to adding a little bit of high stakes poker authenticity to the proceedings, Hellmuth, who holds the World Series of Poker records for most bracelets (11) and cashes (69), will have a bounty worth $5,000 on his head. As long as he remains in the tournament, organizers plan to move him to different tables to give everyone an equal shot and taking down the Poker Brat.

“We are thrilled to partner with Knockout Poker. The magazine’s combination of poker and beautiful women is perfect fit for the Hard Rock. This is a chance to make the pages of the magazine reality and showcase the lifestyle. I’m expecting a fantastic event,” said Brian Stedeford, Senior Director of Casino Operations for Hard Rock.

Early Friday morning Andrew Cimpan ended a marathon final table to win the World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic Championship Event and the $1,686,760 first place prize by busting Binh Nguyen. The two played heads-up for 186 hands over nearly five hours.

Before those two played heads-up though four other players had to be sent home. Chris Karagulleyan, who entered final table play with the chip lead, was unable to build any momentum early and eventually surrendered the lead to Binh Nguyen. It took Karagulleyan 25 hands before he dragged his first pot of the day.

The first player eliminated was also the most accomplished player at the table, Chris Ferguson. After having action folded around to him in the small blind Ferguson raised to 300,000 and Andrew Cimpan called from the big blind. The flop came T 8 8 and Ferguson checked. Cimpan moved all-in for 2,050,000 and after tanking Ferguson made the call for his last 1,345,000. Cimpan showed 4 4 and Ferguson showed A K. The turn and river both blanked for Ferguson and the five-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner was eliminated in sixth place earning $240,538.

Pat Walsh was next to go. Nguyen raised from the button to 250,000 and Walsh three-bet to 950,000. Nguyen moved all-in and Walsh was forced to call. Nguyen showed A J and Walsh flipped over A 2. The board ran out T T 7 3 5 and Walsh was sent home in fifth with $310,694.

Despite coming into the day with the chip lead Karagulleyan simply couldn’t manage to find his footing and in the end, even the cards turned a cold shoulder to him. Again action folded around to the small blind and Cimpan moved all-in for 1,285,000 and Karagulleyan, who had seen his stack dip to roughly only 1,000,000, made the call from the big blind. He tabled A 9 and was way ahead of Cimpan’s Q 8. The flop came A Q T and Karagulleyan’s hand improved, but the Q on the turn all but turned the tide. When the 7 came on the river the player that started as the early morning favorite was out in fourth with $430,963.

Only six hands later Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers would get sent packing. Following Sowers’ button raise to 300,000 Nguyen reraised from the small blind to 1,000,000, Sowers moved all-in and Nguyen called. Sowers showed 4 4 and Nguyen revealed Q Q. The board came J 9 8 J K and Nguyen eliminated Sowers while increasing his stack to over 8 million.

When heads-up play began Nguyen had 8,450,000 of the 13,900,000 chips in play.  After only four hands Cimpan took over as the big stack for the first time and the two would swap the lead back and forth for the next five hours. Nguyen held the momentum early and eventually had over 11,000,000 but after nearly 100 hands of play the two players had settled nothing and were back at the same chip counts as when heads-up play began.

The key hand for Cimpan came with blinds of 125,000/250,000. Nguyen raised to 575,000, Cimpan moved all-in and Nguyen called and tabled T T. Cimpan showed A 4 and needed help. The flop came 8 6 4 giving Cimpan a pair of fours. The turn brought the 8 and Cimpan picked up a flush draw. He made his flush on the river with the 5 and with 11,450,000 in chips was in complete control. It took another 15 hands for Cimpan to capture the title. Nguyen earned $935,424 for his runner-up performance.

With the Championship Event out of the way attention now turns to the celebrity-filled WPT Invitational. The charity event will help raise funds for The Vine Group USA, a charity responsible for providing educational opportunities for children in Africa.

Annie Duke is hoping to never hear Donald Trump say "You're fired" on the second season of Celebrity Apprentice.

Spoiler Warning: This article contains information pertaining to the possible outcome of the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice.

Annie Duke has never shyed away from the spotlight of mainstream media and Sunday night she’ll be starting her run on the NBC reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice.

The UltimateBet spokesperson has previously appeared the NBC game shows 1 vs. 100 and Deal or No Deal and had a sitcom pilot based loosely on her life enter production before rejected by the network.

On Celebrity Apprentice Duke is part of a cast that includes comedian Andrew Dice Clay, former NBA star Dennis Rodman, talk show host Tom Green, reality TV star Khloe Kardashian and 2001 Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick. The 16 contestants will compete in a series of business related challenges and judged by Donald Trump.

Each celebrity candidate will be playing on behalf of a charity and to the surprise of nobody in the poker world Duke has chosen Refugees International, a group that works to provide support for refugees in countries in crisis including Darfur, a cause close to Duke’s heart.

Every episode the leader of the winning task is awarded a monetary prize to be given to that players chosen charity. The eventual winner of the 14-week competition also earns a cash prize for their charity.

**Spoiler Alert**

WickedChopsPoker.com has been reporting that Duke is one of the final two contestants and may in fact win the event.

Celebrity Apprentice airs Sunday nights at 9 pm on NBC. Check local listings.

Jesse Hale shows off his WSOP Circuit championship ring.

First place was worth $113,020 the coveted championship ring and a $10,000 buy-in to the 2009 WSOP Main Event, however the final three players agreed to a chop with numbers unreported. Hale may turn down the non-transferable Main Event seat however as his wife is due to give birth to the couples first child around that time. Runner-up Dennis Meierotto was scheduled to take home $62,790 before the chop.

The 5,150 buy-in tournament lacked any real marquee names. Alan “Ari” Engel made the final table and posted a sixth place finish for $18,837.

Hale started the final table with the fifth largest stack but was nearly 360,000 chips behind John McDonald who started the day with 439,500. McDonald went on to finish third.

It marked a rather succesful week for Hale. The skydiving instructor posted a runner-up finish in Event #17 ($345 Pot Limit Omaha).

The next WSOP Circuit event is scheduled to begin March 4 at Caesars Atlantic City. Preliminary events will run until March 12th when the $5,150 buy-in Championship Event will begin.

Five days of poker are in the books at Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, and all that’s left now is to write an ending to one of the largest fields in the history of the LA Poker Classic main event.

Day 5 began with just 20 players remaining of the original 696. Those who left earliest received just over $44,000; the prizes for the rest of the day scaled upward to $180,000 for seventh place, a consolation prize at best compared to the $1,686,760 awaiting the tournament’s winner.

Former WPT Borgata champ Nick Schulman was one of the first to take a walk, busting in 18th place when his five-high flush draw couldn’t crack Zachary Hyman’s A-J for top pair, jack kicker. Fan favorite Teddy “The Iceman” Monroe wasn’t far behind, finishing 16th when his pocket nines couldn’t spike a two-outer against the Q-Q of Dan Lu.

Despite taking that pot against Moore, Lu would be the next to go in 15th place when his A-J of hearts couldn’t find a miracle against Mike Sowers‘ A-K of diamonds. On the fast track to the cash cage behind Lu was Peter “Nordberg” Feldman, whose desperation shove with A-3 was met by Donnie D’Auria’s 7-7.

Chris “Jesus” Ferguson came into the day with the chip lead but almost found his way to the exit on several occasions throughout the day. His lifeline came when he was able to call two smallish bets and hit a runner-runner flush against Binh Nguyen, who paid the Full Tilt pro off for over 700K on the river before mucking his hand.

While Ferguson was avoiding elimination, a familiar face from the early days of the WPT was chipping up. Local player Chris Karagulleyan, who won the 2002 Legends of Poker on the WPT’s first season, got a timely double-up early in the proceedings courtesy of Sowers before he began building what would become the largest stack at the final table.

The final portion of Karagulleyan’s winnings on the day came when he eliminated Blake Cahail in seventh place, making him the TV bubble boy. All the money went in preflop, and Karagulleyan’s pocket kings held up against Cahail’s A-K to send six players home for the night.

While Karagulleyan looks to score his second WPT title, all the other players at the table will be in search of their first. That includes Ferguson, the 2000 WSOP Main Event champion who was part of the player group that boycotted the WPT for nearly two years. Though he has the shortest stack at the TV table, Ferguson also has position on the two biggest stacks - not to mention plenty of experience playing championship tables.

The conclusion of the LAPC main event is set for 4 p.m. PST on Thursday. In the meantime, here are the chip counts for the remaining six players.

1. Chris Karagulleyan - 4,080,000
2. Mike Sowers - 2,405,000
3. Pat Walsh - 2,200,000
4. Binh Nguyen - 1,895,000
5. Cornel Cimpan - 1,740,000
6. Chris Ferguson - 1,565,000

Only one year ago, a PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP analysis estimated that regulated internet gambling activities had the potential to generate up to $42.8 billion in revenue for the U.S. government over the span of ten years from the passage of such pro-gaming legislation. Recently, the same company issued an updated reported that put the ten-year revenue estimation at $51.9 billion due to a significant increase in the number of online gamblers in the United States, despite the attempted prohibition by way of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The new PricewaterhouseCoopers numbers took into consideration revenue sources such as licensing fees, wagering taxes, and individual and corporate income taxes on internet gambling activities. Experts then broke down expected revenue by year, under the assumption that regulation is put into motion in 2009. For the year 2010, revenue generated only came to just over $1 billion, as time would be required for companies to become compliant and taxpayers would need time to become familiar with filing obligations. Each year, revenue possibilities increase steadily, putting the ten-year total at $51.9 billion.

It is noted that the estimates are created under the assumption that no professional sports leagues, such as the NFL and NBA, or individual states would opt out of the legislation. If sports leagues remove themselves from internet regulation, the overall number would decrease by more than $10 billion, and any states who refuse to participate would also cause a drop in the revenue estimates.

The study was done under the plausible assumption that internet gaming regulation legislation would be passed in the houses of Congress by October of 2009, with specific references to bills proposed by Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA) and Jim McDermott (D-WA). Frank’s H.R. 2046, the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act (IGREA), is strongly believed to be the legislation that Frank vowed to reintroduce (http://news.bluffmagazine.com/barney-frank-to-introduce-anti-uigea-legislation-in-march-2448/) in the coming weeks. McDermott’s H.R. 5523 was a companion bill to IGREA that called for the taxation of regulated gaming activities.

With the release of the new numbers, the Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI) released a statement in support of legislation based on the revenue possibilities contained in the PricewaterhouseCoopers study.

Spokesman for the organization, Jeffrey Sandman, commented, “This analysis further illustrates that the U.S. is missing the opportunity to collect billions of dollars in federal revenues. We are optimistic that the Obama Administration and Congress will pay closer attention to this issue as they seek to find new revenues that can be generated without raising taxes for critical federal, state and local government programs. Regulation is also needed to ensure there are safeguards to protect against compulsive and underage gambling, money laundering, fraud and identity theft.”

The SSIGI website provides access to United States government officials, who need to be made aware of the opinions of the poker community on upcoming proposed legislation. Log on to SSIGI to make your voices heard to your elected representatives.

The Bluff Online Poker Challenge (BOPC), sponsored by LockPoker.com, is set to kick off this Sunday, March 1st with a field full of top online poker players all vying for the chance to be on the cover of the poker industry’s leading publication.

The challenge will have over 20 of the world’s top online poker players including 2008 BLUFF Magazine Online Poker Player of the Year David “The Maven” Chicotsky as well as Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb, Kevin “BeLOWaBOVe” Saul and Lock Poker qualifier Jeffrey “Duralast” Romano.

“We’ve got the best players in the world raring to go,” said Eric Morris, publisher of BLUFF Magazine. “Over the next 31 days we’ll see who’s got the skill and the discipline required to come out on top.”

Lock Poker held an exclusive qualifier during the month of February where Romano collected over 50,000 frequent player points to claim the exclusive invitation to compete with this elite group.

Each player begins the competition with $200 and has the entire month of March to build their bankroll playing in multi-table tournament and sit-n-goes exclusively on LockPoker.com. The winner is determined by the player who shows the greatest return. Players will not be permitted to reload their account at any time and once the initial $200 is gone players are eliminated from the BOPC.

The winner of the BOPC will be featured on the cover of a future issue of BLUFF Magazine while the first and second place finishers will each receive a team entry to an upcoming Dream Team Poker event.

The Complete BOPC Field

•  Ari “Bodog Ari” Engel
• Eric “Rizen” Lynch
• Jeff “Yellowsub” Williams
• Garrett “GBecks” Beckman
• Phil “USCphildo” Collins
• Brett “Bhanks11″ Hanks
• David “The Maven” Chicotsky
• Brian “Sno0oman” Hawkins
• Brett “Gank” Jungblut
• Kevin “BeLOWaBOVe” Saul
• Adam “AJUNGLEN” Junglen
• Maria “Femme on Felt” Ho
• Chris “Moorman1” Moorman
• Esther “Etay” Taylor
• Soren “Kongsgaard” Kongsgaard
• Matt “Plattsburgh” Vengrin
• Brian “Devo” Devonshire
• James “Krsykunuck” Worth
• Mark “P0ker H0″ Kroon
• Brandon “any2cantu” Cantu
• Shaun “shaundeeb” Deeb
• Tom “SBRounder” West
• Tim “Tmay420” West
• Russell “RDCRSN” Carson
• Jeffrey “Duralast” Romano

The BOPC begins March 1st and runs through until Midnight on March 31. Fans can follow all the action through the daily scoreboard and video blogs from the players at www.bluffmagazine.com/bluff-poker-challenge and www.lockpoker.com/challenge.

If you’ve ever wanted to party at the Playboy Mansion, and you’re probably lying if you say you haven’t, then AbsolutePoker.com is giving you the chance to fulfill that fantasy.

Through a series of qualifying tournaments six players will earn trips for two to the Kandyland Party on June 13, 2009. Daily satellites are running to qualify players for the wekly Sunday tournament. The top 10 players each Sunday will earn entry to one of three final events where the top two finishers will each win a prize package valued at $6,500.

The night will include Playboy Playmates, the Kandy Go-Go Dancers, a house DJ and an open bar. Each package includes two VIP passes, a private cabana, Grey Goose bottle service, a tour of the legendary Playboy Mansion and money for travel and accomodations.

To get started on your way to partying with Playmates and Grey Goose sign-up for Absolute Poker here.

Phil Ivey continues to dominate the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt Poker.

Phil Ivey proved today that he’s one sector of the economy showing no signs of a recession, dominating Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes tables on the way to a seven-figure win.

Ivey started with an $81,000 stack when he picked up a pair of black kings in the big blind at the $500-1,000 Pot Limit HA table. Ziigmund opened on the button for $3,500, LarsLuzak called from the small blind, and Ivey raised to $14,000. Both players called and the flop came 6 5 2; LarsLuzak checked and Ivey fired a continuation bet of $30,000 - nearly half his remaining stack. Ziigmund raised Ivey all-in with 9-9 but found himself in need of a two-outer. The board ran out blanks and Ivey dragged a $176,000 pot.

There were a few more players at the table a little later when the game changed from Hold’em to Omaha, but the only one Ivey needed in the hand was Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Ivey opened the betting for $3,000 in the cutoff seat. durrrr made it $10,500 on the button and then called after the blinds folded and Ivey reupped to $33,000. When the flop came down J T 2, Ivey fired $67,000 holding A K K 4 for an overpair and Broadway straight draw. durrrr moved in for just $20,000 more with T 6 5 4 for middle pair and a backdoor flush draw and the board bricked out to ship the $240,000 to Ivey’s stack.

After their tangle at the HA table came a heads-up $500-1,000 PLO battle between Ivey and durrrr which saw the former take down three pots worth more than $170,000 each.

The largest pot came when both players got five bets ($81,000 each) in the middle preflop. The rest of the money went in on the K T 8 flop with durrrr in the lead, holding Q J T 8 for bottom two pair with an open-ended straight draw. Ivey’s A A 2 2 wasn’t too far behind, though, and he caught up when another king on the turn gave him the bigger two pair. The 5 was no help to durrrr on the river and Ivey took down $336,000.

Ivey won almost as much when he opened for $3,000 holding J 7 5 4 on the button and then called durrrr’s raise to $9,000. durrrr pulled off a check-raise to $60,000 on the 9 6 3d] flop, and Ivey called to see the 8[h] hit the turn, giving him the second nuts. It was an easy call when durrrr moved all-in for $95,000 with T T 8 2, and Ivey dragged another $328K with the K on the river.

The smallest of those pots was the last. With just $86,000 left in his stack, durrrr got all his money in before the flop holding A Q J 3, but Ivey had a pair of aces once again with A A 6 2. In the end it was the flush draw that proved most beneficial to Ivey when the flop came down all spades, 9-8-3. durrrr needed running cards to a full house but never got them, shipping the $172,000 pot to Ivey. At the end of the hand, Ivey’s stack was just north of the $1,000,000 mark.

All told, Ivey took more than $1.1 million off his opponents Tuesday.

Chris Ferguson could have his first World Poker Tour crown on Thursday evening.

One year ago Chris Ferguson broke through and captured his first NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship title after numerous close calls. On the day that the field was announced for the 2009 NHUPC Ferguson put himself in position to win his first World Poker Tour title as he ended Day 3 of the LA Poker Classic championship event as the chip leader.

Ferguson sits atop the 20 remaining players with 1,721,000 chips in his stack. Right behind him is Payman Arjang with 1,488,000. There is also one previous WPT champion still alive. Nick Schulman, who won the Foxwoods World Poker Finals in 2005, sits in sixth spot with 850,000.

Tuesday’s action started with 63 players, all in the money, but after five levels of play the field was down to 20. David Pham, Jeff Garza, Nenad Medic, Erica Schoenberg, Men Mguyen, Bertrand Grospelier, Paul Wasicka, Hoyt Corkins and Greg Mueller were all eliminated on Tuesday. Also sent to the rail was the player who’d entered the day with the chip lead, Kofi Farkye.

Fans of internet gossip forums will be happy. Teddy “Iceman” Monroe is also still in the running but with only 264,000 he’ll need to win a coinflip or two early to have any chance at staying alive. Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers sits in 10th spot with 626,000, just below the average of 694,450.

Play resumest at Noon PT and will continue until the WPT final table of six players has been reached.

Peter Eastgate is amongst the impressive field at the 2009 NBC National Heads-Up Championship.

The NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship has established itself as one of the most prestigous tournaments of the year and one look at the quality of the field for the 2009 event tells you why.

Eleven former winners of the World Series of Poker Main Event, including defending champion Peter Eastgate, are among the 60 players anounced Tuesday. Joining Eastgate as Main Event winners in the field will be Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Chris Moneymaker, Scotty Nguyen, Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Huck Seed, Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang.

“We’ve got a great mix of celebrity participants and top poker pros, including veterans and newcomers, for this year’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship,” said Jon Miller, executive vice president of NBC Sports. “It’s a combustible combination bound to produce the inevitable upsets and compelling action that will excite poker fans everywhere.”

In 2008 tournament organizers announced that the winner of BLUFF Magazine Player-of-the-Year would get an automatic berth in the tournament and with that John Phan will make his NHUPC debut. Also making their debut will be 2008 WSOP Main Event runner-up Ivan Demidov, Dario Minieri, 2008 European Poker Tour Grand Final champion Glen Chorny, Ilari Sahamies, Vanessa Selbst, Gavin Griffin, Bertrand Grospellier, comedian Brad Garrett and the two qualifiers who have been determined so far, Jeffrey Ishbia and Leon Yanovski.

And yes poker fans, there will be a chance that Hellmuth and Tom Dwan reprise their now famous three-hand battle from last year. Dwan was also named to the field and will now have to wait until the draw party on March 5 to see if the brackets might allow for a rematch of one of the most talked about matches from 2008.

The most glaring omission from the field appears to be that of Michael Binger. In 2008 Binger was runner-up to Phan for BLUFF POY and he recorded three seperate wins including a WSOP Circuit event at Lake Tahoe in November.

Annie Duke, who will apparently make a deep run on the upcoming season of Celebrity Apprentice, is also in the field and is one of six women in the field joining Jennifer Harman, Jennifer Tilly, Clonie Gowen, Vanessa Rousso and Selbst. The inclusion of Gowen could lead to some interesting match-ups given her current lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker in which she has named a number of players in this event as defendants.

There are still four spots to be determined with one still to come from Full Tilt Poker, two from PokerStars and one final player from a Caesars qualifier being held this weekend. The drawing party will be held at PURE nightclub next to the Caesars poker room on Thursday, March 5 where the opening match-ups will be determined. The tournament begins on Friday, March 6 and continues until the best-of-three final on Sunday, March 8. NBC will air 12 hours of coverage from the event on six consecutive Sundays beginning April 12.

2009 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Field

• David Benyamine
• Andy Bloch
• Chad Brown
• Doyle Brunson
• Johnny Chan
• Don Cheadle
• Glen Chorny
• Allen Cunningham
• Ivan Demidov
• Annie Duke
• Tom Dwan
• Peter Eastgate
• Eli Elezra
• Antonio Esfandiari
• Sam Farha
• Chris Ferguson
• Scott Fischman
• Layne Flack
• Ted Forrest
• Brad Garrett
• Jamie Gold
• Clonie Gowen
• Barry Greenstein
• Gavin Griffin
• Bertrand Grospellier
• Joe Hachem
• Gus Hansen
• Jennifer Harman
• Phil Hellmuth
• Orel Hershiser
• Jeffrey Ishbia
• Phil Ivey 
• John Juanda
• Gabe Kaplan
• Phil Laak
• Howard Lederer
• Erick Lindgren
• Jonathan Little
• Mike Matusow
• Dario Minieri
• Chris Moneymaker
• Daniel Negreanu
• Scotty Nguyen
• David Pham
• John Phan
• Greg Raymer
• Vanessa Rousso
• Ilari Sahamies
• Huck Seed
• Vanessa Selbst
• Erik Seidel
• Mike Sexton
• Gavin Smith
• Jennifer Tilly
• J.C. Tran
• Kenny Tran
• Paul Wasicka
• David Williams
• Jerry Yang
• Leon Yanovski

Since the launch of their poker room in 2004 Bodog Poker has been wanting to add an instant play option to make their product available to more players, including the often overlooked Mac user.

Now they have that option following the launch this week of an Instant Play option that requires only an internet connection and a web browser. The flash-based product allows players to play a single table and features all the bells and whistles normally associated with Bodog’s downloadable poker client.

“The new Instant Play option at Bodog is perfect for when I want to play poker on my Mac or play cash games on a friend’s computer who may not have the Bodog Poker client installed,” says Bodog Poker pro Evelyn Ng. “You can even snatch a few games at work.”

To sign-up with Bodog and begin playing on their Mac-friendly software click here.

The Borgata $500,000 Guaranteed this March is sure to attract the best poker players in Atlantic City.

Tab Duchateau and the brains behind the Borgata Hotel and Casino Poker Room continue to deliver great value to the players on the East Coast. The Atlantic City resort announced this week yet another $500,000 Guaranteed Deep Stack tournament.

The $1,650 buy-in event will run March 21 - 24 and will include two starting days. Players will start with 30,000 in chips each. In an effort to put as many players as possible into the tournament the Borgata is also hosting a number of qualifying events with buy-ins ranging from $200 to $380.

• Friday, March 6 at 11AM ($165 + $35)
• Sunday, March 8 at 11AM ($165 + $35)
• Sunday, March 15 at 11AM ($330 + $50)
• Friday, March 20 at 4PM ($330 + $50) 

In the first two qualifiers one in every 10 players will qualify for the $500,000 Guaranteed Tournament and the final two will award one seat for every five players. For more information visit www.theborgata.com.

Kofi Farkye will take the chip lead into Day 4 of the LA Poker Classic championship event.

The third day of play at the LA Poker Classic championship event had its fair share of twists and turns. The schedule for the World Poker Tour event called for five 90-minute levels but tournament director Matt Savage made one of those decisions that has made him a favorite amongst tournament players; he made them keep playing.

When the final scheduled level ended for the night a total of 64 players were left and the payout schedule called for 63 to get paid. Rather than wait until Wednesday to burst the bubble Savage had the players start their sixth level of the day until one more player was eliminated.  After just over 20 minutes Patrick Stemper was eliminated by Jeff Garza and the 63 remaining players were in the money and done for the night.

Kofi Farkye started the day with the second largest stack and his strong run continued as he improved his standing by one spot. When play gets back underway Wednesday Farkye will unbag 837,500 chips. Right behind him is Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers with 741,500. Antonio Esfandiari, who had the chip lead at the start of the day, was eliminated when he got it all-in with A-K against Sowers’ A-Q and watched in horror as a queen came on the turn.

Chris Ferguson took full advantage of the bubble and was very active late doubling up to vault himself into the top ten with 468,500. Teddy “Iceman” Monroe, known more for coinflips than tournament cashes, survived with 139,000 and will record the third cash of his career. Defending champion Phil Ivey did not survive the day.

First place pays $1,686,760 and the first nine players eliminated Wednesday will cash for $23,052. Play resumes at Noon.

LA Poker Classic Top 10 Day 3 Chip Counts

1. Kofi Farkye - 837,500
2. Mike Sowers - 741,500
3. Donald D’Auria - 666,500
4. Jeremy Kottler - 574,500
5. Chris Karagulleyan - 543,000
6. Daniel O’Brien - 534,500
7. Anthony Venturini - 508,000
8. Dan The Lu - 507,500
9. Chris Ferguson - 468,500
10. Matt Woodward - 420,000