The third annual World Series of Poker Europe presented by Betfair has solidified its tournament schedule, Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc., owner and operator of the world’s most prestigious poker tournaments announced today.

The 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Presented by Betfair (the WSOPE) will feature four bracelet tournaments, including a new addition, the £2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot Limit Omaha mixed event that begins on September 21st.

“The World Series of Poker Europe has quickly established itself as the most prestigious tournament outside the United States,” said World Series of Poker Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. “Winning a gold bracelet is recognized globally as the top prize in the sport and we look forward to awarding four more bracelets in 2009 at the Casino at the Empire in London.”

The WSOPE will be held from September 17th to October 1st, 2009 in the heart of Leicester Square at the Casino at the Empire in London, England. The Casino at the Empire has been a hotbed of poker activity since hosting the WSOPE, with regular cash games and tournaments running around the clock. The casino now stays open 24-hours a day and has begun offering satellite tournaments for the WSOPE. Visit http://www.thecasinolsq.com/pages/casino-events.php for more details.

“The Casino at the Empire has quickly become the destination for poker in the UK, “said Michael Silberling, COO, London Clubs International. “”We look forward to hosting the best players in the game for the WSOPE this fall and will continue to offer the finest poker action daily for those in Leicester Square.”

Players can pre-register for the WSOPE at any London Clubs International (LCI) venue in the UK or at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Alternatively they can try and qualify online exclusively at Betfair Poker via www.betfairpoker.com.

“We are delighted to be working alongside Harrah’s again for a successful third year of our sponsorship of the World Series of Poker Europe,” said Betfair CEO David Yu. “We will remain the only place to qualify online for the WSOPE tournament and we are also very excited about the new $1 million promotion which with free entry will give the WSOPE a wider appeal and add more value than ever before.”

The complete bracelet event schedule is as follows:

Friday, Sept. 18, 2009

Event #1 – £1,000 + £60 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (3-day event/2 start days)

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009

Event #1 – £1,000 + £60 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1B

Monday, Sept. 21, 2009

Event #2 – £2,500 + £150 – Pot Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha (3-day event)

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009

Event #3 – £5,000 + £250 – Pot Limit Omaha (3-day event)

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009

Event #4 – £10,000 + £350 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (5-day event/2 start days) “Main Event”

Sunday, Sept. 27, 2009

Event #4 – £10,000 + £350 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em Day 1B “Main Event”

All the above tournaments will be sanctioned gold bracelet events. Non-stop cash games will also be scheduled during the tournament, as well as a bevy of satellite tournaments in the weeks leading up to each event. The Casino at the Empire does not require membership for admission.

Betfair Poker is also proud to present a brand new WSOPE event exclusively free for Betfair poker players to enter. The FREE MILLION DOLLAR GAME is only available at www.betfairpoker.com. Qualification begins 13th April with the top 18 players traveling to London to play live at WSOPE for a first place prize of U.S. $1 million. The event will kick off the WSOPE on Thursday, September 17.

ESPN, the exclusive World Series of Poker telecaster, is scheduled to air ten original hours of coverage of the World Series of Poker Europe in the United States and distribute the tournament globally. ESPN360.com, ESPN’s signature broadband sports network, is scheduled to provide live coverage in the U.S., Europe, Mexico and Brazil.

Harrah’s Entertainment will distribute World Series of Poker Europe programming in non-ESPN markets, which totaled 170 million households in 2008 including U.K. host broadcaster Channel 4.

During the WSOP in Las Vegas (May 26-July 15), players can pre-register for WSOP Europe at the tournament cage as well as lock in poker player hotel rates via www.worldseriesofpoker.com. In addition, $1,570 Mega Satellites for the WSOP Europe Main Event will be held July 9th, 10th and 11th at 5:00 PM at the Rio® All-Suite Hotel and Casino.

WSOPE in London complements the WSOP held annually in Las Vegas. During the first two years of the WSOPE, seven gold bracelets have been awarded along with £9,997,500 in prize money.

The biggest names in poker have participated in WSOPE including: Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Gus Hansen, Eric Seidel, Mike Matusow, Joe Hachem, Vanessa Rousso, Andy Bloch, David Benefield, Ivan Demidov, Sorel Mizzi, Jennifer Tilly, Layne Flack, Andrew Black, Barry Greenstein, Tom Dwan, Chris Ferguson, Scotty Nguyen, Max Pescatori, Chris Bjorin, Allen Cunningham, Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, Patrik Antonius, John Phan and Annette Obrestad.

Obrestad won the largest amount ever for a female, £1 million – or U.S. $2,013,102 when she won the inaugural WSOPE Main Event in 2007. John Juanda, the winner of the 2008 event, won in an epic battle. The final table lasted 21 hours and Juanda took home a cool £868,800 in prize money and a coveted WSOP bracelet for his remarkable efforts.

The host country is still looking to win its first bracelet on home soil, while six different nations have captured a WSOPE bracelet: Denmark (2), Afghanistan, Germany, Italy, Norway and USA.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments, WSOPE | No Comments » April 20th, 2009

With a throng of loyal fans gathered to support their favorite poker stars, the 2009 World Poker Tour Bay 101 Shooting star has narrowed down from a staggering number of 145 players to 36 in San Jose today. Michael Nguyen was witnessed to enter the field today with the chip lead followed by the recurrent finalist David Pham and Internet phenomenon’s Isaac Baron and Vivek Rajkumar right behind him. But the day didn’t prove to be as fortunate for them and the entire group was seen leaving the conflict one after the other. Renowned stars like Daniel Negreanu, Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren and Jonathan Little also hit the rail as they moved past the 45-person money bubble.

Astonishingly certain players who were swiftly gathering attention from several professional poker players are relatively unknown such as Michael Kamran who finished second with Hevad Khan, the Team Poker Stars Pro at the 2008 Caesars Palace Classic, appeared as the new chip leader by the end of the day. Kamran is confident that the experience at the Caesars has completely prepared him for earning his way to the World Poker Tour finals tomorrow. He said that the Caesars field was similar to this one and he is now geared up to flaunt to everyone in the event, his unique style of gambling and do his post flop damages against his experienced rivals.

The play moving to six handed in the final 36 at Bay 101 is one of the most unique and exquisite structures at the World Poker Tour and Michael Kamran has said that he’s ready for it. Having played a few six hundred tournaments before including the one last month at Commerce where he managed to earn the seventh place, Kamran says he realizes that the level of aggression is a lot higher here but he can handle the pressure.

Famous names like Hoyt Corkins, Joe Sebok, Amnon Filippi and Kathy Liebert remain in the battle for the Bay 101 crown not to forget that the 2008 Wynn Classic champ Chris Moore is right behind Kamran. The 25-year-old Los Angeles resident however seems to be confident and ready for whatever he may have to face tomorrow. Hoping for it all to go well so that he could make the final table, he steadily said that he is here only to win.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments, WPT | No Comments » March 23rd, 2009

(PRESS RELEASE) — Blandino Gines’ first job in the United States was picking grapes in the vineyards of Modesto, California; thirty-four years later, he will play poker on national television for a chance at $500,000 thanks to PokerStars.net. Gines, a 52-year-old welder from San Jose, California, won a free satellite on PokerStars for a chance to compete head-to-head with the world’s top celebrities, athletes and poker pros at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship in Las Vegas from March 6-8. The championship will be televised nationally on NBC and CNBC.

“I didn’t think it was real when they first called me,” Gines said. “I thought I just won $1,000. I didn’t know that they were going to send me to Vegas to play in NBC Heads-Up. This is unbelievable. I am still in shock.”

In 1975, Gines emigrated from The Phillipines when his father petitioned for him to come to the U.S. For three years, the 19-year-old Gines made a living picking grapes in the vineyards of Modesto and Stockton, CA. He then moved to Alaska where got a job canning salmon with Trident Seafood Corp. After 11 years in Alaska, Gines taught himself how to weld, and took a fabrication job at Trident’s factory in Seattle, WA.

The current economic downturn forced Trident to make cutbacks and Gines was let go from the company. For the past three months, Gines has lived in his sister’s apartment with his wife and 7-year-old daughter. To earn extra money he works part-time on construction jobs with his brother-in-law and plays poker on PokerStars.

“PokerStars builds champions and make dreams come true,” said 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer. “PokerStars com offers the most tournaments and unique promotions out of any poker site in the world. I wish Gines the best of luck and hope to see him in the finals.”

In early February, Gines entered PokerStars’ National Heads-Up Poker Championship promotion and survived 590,000 players through three rounds to win his seat. Gines first started playing poker two and a half years ago after watching poker on TV. He immediately created an account on PokerStars, and has been playing online ever since.

PokerStars.net, the world’s largest online poker site, will cover Gines’ $20,000 entry fee into the tournament along with four nights of hotel accommodations in Las Vegas and $1,000 cash for travel and expenses.

“I can’t believe I might have the chance to play against Daniel Negreanu and Greg Raymer. I am going to start practicing on PokerStars right away. I’m very excited and so grateful to PokerStars for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

In the past, the tournament was primarily reserved for world-class players and celebrities, on an invitation-only basis. This is the second time in the history of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship that an online qualifier from a poker site was allowed entry to compete for a share of $1.5 million on TV’s highest-rated poker broadcast.

Last February, PokerStars qualifier Alisha Kunze won a chance to compete in the event for free. The 23-year-old from Indiana played a solid game and held her own against the pro players. Kunze eventually busted out when her pocket Kings ran into pocket Aces.

The event is bracketed much like the college basketball championship: play head-to-head, win and move on to the next bracket. The “national champion” takes home $500,000.

For more information about PokerStars free satellites, visit pokerstars.com

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » March 3rd, 2009

Bringing to you a world of great opportunities Aussie millions is one of the worlds top multi million dollar poker events. Following a legacy of great events the Aussie millions is highly regarded by all online poler players from around the world. The online poker tournament is staged annually at the Crown Casino complex in Melbourne, Australia. Crown Casino is the largest casino and poker room in Australia. In 2006 the Aussie Millions proved itself above all other competitors by showcasing a total entry of 418 players that competed for a slice of the AUD$4, 18,000 prize pool .

The event broadcasted some of the biggest names in the Poker world such as WSOP Champion Joe Hachem, Phil Ivey, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Kathy Leibert and many more. But before the players could forget about this exhilarating event the Aussie millions returned in 2007 and exceeded all expectations with main event player numbers increasing by over 70%.Filmed by Fox Sport Net the Aussie Millions second consecutive year brought with it a prize pool worth $1.5 million which was won by Gus Hansen. In 2008 21-Year-Old Russian Young Gun Alexander Kostritsyn was Crowned Aussie Millions Champion. Taking down one of the toughest NL Hold’em tournament players, Erik Seidel Gun Alexander walked away victorious.

Making a come back for the 3rd consecutive time in the year 2009 Aussie millions first major online poker tournament series launched off in Melbourne’s Crown Casino with AUD$1,100 .Named as a No-Limit Hold ‘em and a $1,050 No-Limit Hold ‘em event the Aussie millions event was played on PokerPro electronic tables. Christian Reich of Germany shined during the event and was victorious over a record 732-strong field in the $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em event. Arriving at the final table at third place in chips Christian progressed towards catching cards and making moves in the right place all the while building his stacks up to heads-up clash with Steve Topakas. Heich salvaged the chip lead playing one-on-one before getting Topakas to put his money in against Heich’s powerful hand of three Jacks. Trapping him with a flopped set that avoided the dangerous river cards the German efforts paid off and he won $150,000.

A fusion of live and online poker the players were provided with electronic touch screens and Eighty-three players including Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad and Wesley “tEh_R3aLde4L” Whybrew took to the PokerPro electronic tables in the $1,050 tournament.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » January 29th, 2009

By DANIEL NEGREANU For the Chronicle

Dec. 31, 2008, 4:11AM

What I’m about to say may surprise you. You might be a cheater and not even know it.

If you are in a poker game for money and are taking it easy on one of your buddies, you are cheating yourself, your friend, and every other player in the game. I realize that’s a bold statement, but it’s absolutely true.

In the poker world, we have a term for this type of play. It’s called soft playing. When two friends, spouses, relatives or flat out cheaters don’t bet against each other, they’re soft playing.

Soft playing destroys the integrity of the game of poker and it’s wrong, flat out wrong.

I realize that many players have no idea that this behavior is so unethical. More often than not, soft playing (not to be confused with slow playing) is done innocently with no harm intended. Perhaps a gentleman doesn’t want to take a lady’s last $20. Or, one player doesn’t want to raise his friend because his friend is losing too much money.

Well, if you are so concerned with your buddy losing money, or if you’re trying to get a date, by not betting against a beautiful woman, try taking them both out to dinner after the game. The poker table is no place for compassion and kindness. I’m sort of kidding, but I think you get the idea.

The unintended byproduct of soft playing a friend is how it affects the action for the rest of the players at the table. For example, let’s say that you and a pal both make the final table of a No Limit Texas Hold ‘em tournament that pays the top five finishers. There are six players remaining and you and your buddy are still hanging in. Remember, the next player out gets nothing. Everyone at the table wants to see someone get knocked out so that they can finish in the money.

How do you think the other players at the table would feel if you are soft playing your friend?

By not playing hard against him, you are absolutely cheating the other players at the table. That may not have been your intention, but ignorance of the rule won’t get you off the hook when you get caught. Soft playing in a tournament can result in severe penalties, including disqualification to both you and your friend.

Poker is not a team sport. It’s every man for himself. It’s perfectly okay to root for your buddies and hope they do well, but when it’s time to play the game, you have to give it your all.

All by yourself, that is.

Soft playing is, more often than not, totally innocent. But you need to be aware that there are snakes out there, and it’s important that you spot them before they team up against you.

If you’re playing online and you smell something fishy, e-mail customer support and have them investigate. At reputable poker sites, a representative will look into your claim by reviewing the hand(s) in question, as well as the betting history of the suspected cheaters. If suspicious betting behavior is detected, the crooks will be banned from the site and you will likely receive a refund for the money you lost due to player collusion.

If you see something strange in a live game, notify the floor man immediately and ask him to investigate

Posted by Susan George in Poker Articles | No Comments » January 1st, 2009