Another dedicated and now contented Poker Player Joe Cada makes money by taking second place in a $150-rebuy online tournament through Full-Tilt Poker on Sunday and winning $45,000. Cada, aged 21 and belonging to Shelby Township, also recently won a seat at the final table at the World Series of Poker Texas Hold-em Main Event which is going to he held in Las Vegas on Nov. 7th.

When asked about winning the poker tournament the blissful player stated “I planned on taking a little break from poker, but I always play on Sunday,” He went on “I had to play and just so happened to have won a little bit of money.”

On Cada’s arrival to his home town in Shelby Township from Las Vegas he was greeted with a massive gathering of friends and family who were there to celebrate the victory. The 57-event series of Poker Tournaments in the World Series Poker event lasted for four months during which Cada was residing in Las Vegas, where it was taking place.

He managed to corner $28,214 placing in two small events and won a large amount of $1,263,602 for making the final table at the Main Event. The famous “November Nine” are said to be playing for a first-place prize of $8,546,435 making the event even more appealing.

On coming back to Michigan Cada exclaimed “My phone has been ringing off the hook — mostly with numbers I don’t even recognize,”.

Cada stated that he will continue to play online every Sunday and is listed to play in a couple large poker tournaments before the Main Event final table in November. He also plans on playing at the Legends of Poker at the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, Calif., on Aug. 22-26 as part of the World Poker Tour, and will play in an another event in Barcelona, Spain, in September.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » July 21st, 2009

Interesting news for the poker lovers at the 2009 WSOP Main Event was the official announcements that, the top 648 players were guaranteed at least $21,365 in prize money. By Day 4 of the grand event, only 407 players remained in the Main Event and PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, was proud to have an estimated 77 online qualifiers and sponsored players in the event. The winner of 2009 will collect an $8.5 million grand prize and the title of WSOP Champion.

The 2005 World Series of Poker Champion and Team PokerStars Pro member, Joe Hachem stated that “I am not surprised that we have so many players left,” He further went on to say that “PokerStars has the best online poker players in the world. It was just a matter of time before they started to dominate the live events as well. After having six of final nine players last year on our side, I was expecting another dominating performance by PokerStars.com.”

Initially PokerStars had 1,100 online qualifiers, sponsored players, Team PokerStars Pro members and celebrities. Five of the top 20 players in Day 5 qualified to the WSOP through PokerStars, along with the Pro member Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, PokerStars-sponsored Austrian pro Bernhard Perner and three more.

More Poker Stars Pros!

The PokerStars players represented 17 countries. The United States had 44 players, followed by the Netherlands with six, United Kingdom with five and Canada, Australia and France had 3 each.

Some significant PokerStars players that were present, are Grospellier (1,253,000), Perner (1,426,000) actor Lou Diamond Phillips (607,000), Noah Boeken (499,000), Joe Hachem (490,000), Dennis Phillips (419,000), Peter Eastgate (397,000), Thierry van den Berg (270,000) and Benjamin Kang (254,000).

It is believed that the top 407 players at this year’s WSOP are sure to win $27,469 in prize money. The nine players on November’s final table will each earn a minimum of $1.2 million. Those players qualified for the WSOP on PokerStars will receive a once-in-a-lifetime chance and experience the full Las Vegas lifestyle while preparing to play at the most exalted live event of the year.

The prize package offered to PokerStars’ players included the $10,000 Main Event buy-in, $1,000 for travel and expenses, eight nights accommodation at the Palms Hotel, PokerStars player bags, shuttle bus service to and from the Rio, and a VIP Invitation to the July 9 PokerStars Party at the Palms club Rain featuring hip hop star Nelly.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » July 14th, 2009

The magical, action packed and enticing world of Poker has attracted thousand of players globally. One special Poker player Kent Senter, fighting blood cancer, and struggling for life sees the chance to play at the World Series of Poker, as a dream come true!

Residing in Pittsburgh and aged 55, Senter interacted with top poker pros and made it to the second day of the Main Event even though he is a beginner. Kent Senter was exclusively interviewed by ESPN, and was visited by Nelly the recording artist which added to the excitement of his children.

According to Senter, who says his doctors have give him six months to a maximum of three years to survive his multiple Myeloma”It’s been unbelievable,”. … Now, I’ll just play it by ear, take it day by day and do what the doctor says.”

Senter was given special dealing and a full ‘expense paid’ package of accommodation, food and traveling by the Poker starts (online gambling company) and Bluff Magazine, as well as a $10,000 buy-in for the Main event.

Having discontinued his job at Lowes recently, Senter, finds online poker a good distraction as his inability to walk alot because of the tumour in his spine, hampers his work.

“Even just playing in this tournament, it takes everything out of me,” he says. “It’s hard to walk around for more than 10-15 minutes without being in a lot of pain.”

Playing free online, Senter tried to win a trip to the World Series. He says he came especially close once but could not make it. “It was just so depressing,” he says. After his wife disclosed his situation on a forum on Bluff Magazine’s Website, they were contacted by Bluff, which arranged the connection with PokerStars.

In a tournament with initally 6,494 entrants, Senter began with 30,000 chips and made it through his first day of play last Sunday. In his second day Wednesday, he got his total up to about 67,000 chips, but he lost a big pot when a flush didn’t fall for him, and he was later eliminated.

“I really haven’t played poker. I watch it on ESPN,” he says. “So to be sitting there when a lot of these pros had already been knocked out was unbelievable.”

Senter had recently undergone chemotherapy and he expects later this month to have stem cell transplantation. PokerStars says it was the ailing man’s wish to make the trip by car and was taken care of by his wife who drove them to and from the event, to which he said “I never saw out West, so it’s been great. I get to see the country side,”.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, WSOP | No Comments » July 10th, 2009

This year the 4th of July holiday created a buzz around the Poker world. The officials at the World Series of Poker have said that they experienced a strangely low turnout at the event. The $10,000 no-limit Texas hold ‘em World Championship drew 6,494 entries, officials said after figures for the four-day opening round were added up Monday night. That was 350 fewer players than a year ago.

However, the reason for the low strength was somewhat different. More than 500 potential participants were turned away Monday on the final opening day because the Rio had already reached its seating capacity. Due to this players competed on tables set up outside of the Rio’s tournament poker room inside the convention pavilion.

Harrah’s Entertainment Vice President Jeffrey Pollack, who serves as the commissioner of the World Series of Poker said “There is no question that our strong preference was to have a bigger main event this year if possible”. He further clarified “We tried to accommodate every player we could, so it was disappointing in that sense. We simply ran out of space.”

In his defense The Vice President stated that the event was a success and that any flaws that occurred will be examined for future events. “We never want to be in the business of turning people away,” he said. “There was plenty of opportunity to play in the main event.”

On Monday, 2,809 players took part in the tournament. Among the more than 500 players rejected were some top professional poker players, including five-time gold bracelet winner Ted Forrest and six-time gold bracelet winner T.J. Cloutier, along with hundreds who just patiently waited to be accommodated.

On Friday, 1,116 players, but only 873 signed up to play on Saturday, July 4th. The tournament was expected to sell out on Monday. This year’s champion in the main event will take home almost $8.55 million. Last year, 22-year-old Peter Eastgate of Denmark won $9.15 million.

Pollock believes that the nine players who reach the final table in this year’s main event will each take home more than $1 million. This year’s main event will pay 648 places. The final table of nine will be determined July 15, and the players will return to the Rio in November to play for the title. On Tuesday, the past winners competed and fourteen former champions of the World Series of Poker, including Eastgate, survived the first day and will advance to the next round.

Moving into the second day of competition is CityCenter Chief Executive Officer Bobby Baldwin will play in the main event. Baldwin won the World Series of Poker in 1978 when he was known as “The Owl,” the quiet and studious professional poker player from Oklahoma. When he won the title at Binion’s Horseshoe, he beat a field of 42 players to win $210,000.

Baldwin has won four World Series of Poker bracelets. In 1994 he finished 24th in the main event, winning $16,800. Baldwin had 70,900 in tournament chips, the 305th best of Monday’s competitors. Among celebrities still alive in the main event were actresses Jennifer Tilly and Shannon Elizabeth, actors Brad Garrett, Jason Alexander, Lou Diamond Phillips and Marlon Wayans and Jordan Farmar of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » July 8th, 2009

Over 500 seats have already been won by players on Full Tilt Poker for WSOP 2009. Players like the Mini Series of Poker, where they can get in on big tournament action with buy-ins of only 1/100th of the corresponding WSOP event.

Anyone who has been to the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas or watched the coverage on ESPN is aware that Full Tilt Poker always maintains a solid presence at the Series. In addition to the Team Full Tilt members and any number of other sponsored pros in the Full Tilt family, there are numerous other players wearing the gear and representing the site. How did they get there? The answer is obvious.

Full Tilt Poker.com is one of the online poker websites that awards the most seats to the various WSOP events throughout the summer, and the current year is no different. As of the penning of this article, Full Tilt has given away 519 seats to several events at the 2009 WSOP, including main event entries worth $10,000 each.

There are numerous ways to win said seats and travel to Las Vegas for the experience of a lifetime. Shootout tournaments run daily on Full Tilt Poker, and cash qualifiers are on the weekly schedule. But in the $10 Million Main Event Mania, there are events throughout the week that give players from all over the world the chance to win. And keep in mind that the $10 million refers to the amount of money that the main event winner will receive on top of the already hefty prize money if that person qualifies through Full Tilt and goes on to win the 2009 WSOP main event. A $10 million bonus!

With 519 seats to the WSOP already awarded and many more on the line in the coming weeks, it is now or never to win your trip to Las Vegas. The opportunity to participate in the most prestigious and exciting tournaments on earth is only a few clicks away.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Uncategorized | No Comments » June 29th, 2009

Overheard and confirmed. Political geeks are in luck. Not only is it rumored – and close to being 100% confirmed – that Rep. Barney Frank will be visiting the 2009 WSOP on July 5 to do a little “shuffle up and deal” business, but other political figures and friends of poker will be arriving on Monday, June 22.

PPA Chairman and former NY Senator Alfonse D’Amato will be gracing the Rio on Monday for a yet-to-be-announced morning press conference. After he is scheduled to join Nevada Rep. Shelley Berkley for Monday’s “shuffle up and deal” honors, D’Amato will then look for his seat, as he will be playing in Event 43, the $1K Seniors NLHE tournament, starting at noon.

Fully understanding that the likelihood of D’Amato going deep in this tournament is slim, seeing him at a WSOP final table would definitely rock the worlds of poker aficionados.

Other participants include John Pappas, Executive Director of PPA and professional players which are yet to be announced. The Rio All Suites Hotel and Casino, Pavilion Area, Pavilion 11, is chosen to be the venue, located in the WSOP main hallway Las Vegas, Nevada.

The priority would be to educate lawmakers about the number of concerned poker supporters, who have issues with existing US government policy toward poker.

Sherman Bradley, the OCA gambling analyst says, “A united response to such moves as the Department of Justice’s seizure of bank accounts holding payments to online poker players will be effective, if poker pro players all speak together.”

According to him, the more visible, vociferous, and noticeable the poker playing patrons of the US become, the harder it will be to ignore their political will.

National Poker Week will be a time for poker players to unite and make their voices heard.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, WSOP | No Comments » June 21st, 2009

On June 14 at 16:30 ET, PokerStars will be holding a World Series mega Main Event Qualifier satellite that will guarantee at least 200 prize packages to the WSOP 2009 Main Event; and since the Main Event is rapidly approaching, this just may be the best and last chance to see what it takes to be the next WSOP World Champ.

This special Main Event Qualifier will be held in place of the normally scheduled Sunday Million on June 14th, with a direct buy-in available for just $370. But why not try to get in cheap by playing in the full range of qualifier satellites? These satellites provide the chance to win seats in the mega Main Event Qualifier, starting at only $2.20 or 460 FPPs (Frequent Player Points). PokerStars will award an extra bonus when someone plays in the Mega Satellite Main Event Qualifier; thus, doubling VIP points.

The World Championship Main Event prize package is worth $12,000 that includes; the Main Event buy- in, hotel accommodations and $1,000 cash for travel and expenses. The Main Event party starts on July 3rd at the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

The freebies, however, do not end at just winning the WSOP Main Event seat because once there, PokerStars.com will give a shot at winning $1 Million Dollars for free. Click here to read more!

At Las Vegas, PokerStars will be hosting a series of live FreeRoll Sit n’ Go Satellites and every one of them will have a cash prize pool with the top finisher being awarded a ticket to play in the online final. These FreeRolls will give away a total of $1 Million Dollars in prizes. These events and the cash to be won will be only for those players who won their seat through PokerStars and played in the Main Event. Moreover, by wearing PokerStars logo gear while playing in the WSOP Main Event, anyone can automatically be a PokerStars SuperNova VIP when credited 100,000 FPPs.

Team PokerStars Pro Peter Eastgate who is the reigning WSOP Champion said; “The World Series is the tournament to play if you are going to take a shot at fame and fortune and there is no better place to take that shot than by winning your PokerStars WSOP package in the biggest online qualifier to be found.”

Even if someone misses the $370 Mega Satellite, they can still jump in the daily FreeRolls which gives a shot at winning the chair in the World Series for free. Until June 20th, every day there will be 14 quadruple shootout FreeRoll tournaments on PokerStars which will award 10 players a ticket to play in the Weekly Final.

The Weekly Final takes place every Sunday at 19:00 ET.  Each of the Weekly Final winners will receive a World Series Main Event package worth $12,000.

Click here to Win your Seat at the WSOP 2009 Main Event!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 12th, 2009

Few players go off at 2.5 to 1 against winning a bracelet in a single WSOP. Phil Ivey spread those odds on himself and cashed in big tonight by winning the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Lowball event.

Ivey survived dramatic ebbs and flows at the final table to beat John Monnette heads-up. The victory gives Ivey his sixth WSOP bracelet and a first-place cash of $96,361.

“I don’t play that much Deuce, so I am pretty proud that I won a bracelet in this event,” said Ivey after the match.

“Every time you win a bracelet, especially now, it is a major accomplishment.”
While the first-place cash and the bracelet are important they pale in comparison with the money this win earned him in side bets.

Rumors of million-dollar wagers include names like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Ted Forrest.
Negreanu admitted that he is in the hole to Ivey during a break in the $10,000 Mixed Event.
“We have a bet standing,” Negreanu said. “Last year I beat him for $200,000 winning a bracelet, and we have $200,000 on every bracelet.”

“So he won that, but I also have bets on him in my fantasy stuff, he’s my first pick. So I lost $200,000 but I won pretty close to that back anyway.”

Financial setbacks aside, the four-time bracelet winner Negreanu was pleased to hear of Ivey’s victory.
“I was happy for him,” Negreanu said. “It was one of those weird things; he’s a good friend of mine.”
“So $200,000 is less important to me than he doing well. I like when good players win bracelets. It’s historic.”

Ivey joins T.J. Cloutier, Layne Flack, Men “The Master” Nguyen, and Jay Heimowitz among the other six-time bracelet winners, now setting his sights on Billy Baxter, the only player currently with seven WSOP bracelets.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 6th, 2009

The largest ever World Series of Poker tournament, outside a Main Event, is now completed.  The tournament was originally scheduled to run for 4 days, ending Tuesday.  However, late Tuesday, event organizers decided that it would be best to delay the final table one day so that more people would be able to follow the action live via the telecast.

The action on Day 1 was incredibly fast and furious as almost 90% of the field was eliminated before the start of Day 2. 

The final table saw only a couple of familiar faces including Steve Sung, who has cashed in quite a few major tournaments over the past few years along with several six-figure scores.  However, he had never been able to take the top spot in a World Series event.  Sung came into the final table second in chips to Dan Heimiller.  Heimiller is another player at the final table that might be recognized by some as he is a solid tournament pro with over $2 million in lifetime winnings.

The fast action continued at the start of the final table as well with a few big hands colliding.  The first player knocked out of the final table was the short stack, Danny Fuhs. As the game furthered at a calmer pace, Steve Sung continued with his aggressive playing style.  While doing so, he managed to bluff away a large portion of his stack to the point where he was actually short of stack at the table. 

It was at this time that he seemed to slow down a little and was fortunate enough to double-up, winning a pre-flop all-in race up against the 55 of Jeff Oakes.  Sung hit trip Aces, eliminating Oakes in the 7th position and thereafter, began to turn the aggression back up once the game became short-handed.  It was the start of a nice run that took him into playing heads-up, facing Pete “The Greek” Vilandos.

Vilandos employed a strategy of being a little more patient and passive, really picking his spots against Sung’s very aggressive style.  In the end, though, it was a case of bad timing eliminating the Greek in second place and giving Steve Sung his first World Series of Poker Bracelet.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 5th, 2009

The WSOP Qualifiers for poker players are still going on at Bodog until June 14. It is never too late to get the word out. Bodog welcomes its players to qualify for the 2009 World Series of Poker.

At present, there is only one tournament that can guarantee poker immortality, and only one online poker site that is making it convenient than ever to get there. BodogPoker has guaranteed 5 WSOP Main Event Prize Packages every week, two awarded on each Sunday. Due to a considerable decline in tournament entries, it has become especially easy to win a seat in the 2009 WSOP Main Event via the online poker room.

Jean-Robert Bellande, Bodog Poker Pro expressed, “The Main Event is the one tournament we all dream about winning, and the simplest and easiest way to make that dream come true is here at Bodog.”

In the past two weeks, Bodog.com has seen an average of 66 players competing in the Sunday tournament. Even with such low entry rates, Bodog Poker continues to dole out the two promised WSOP Main Event Prize Packages each weekend.

It costs $250 to buy-in to the tournament directly, but more affordable satellite tournaments are held throughout the weekend, awarding a seat in Sunday’s WSOP Main Event Semifinal tournament. As to why participation levels have been so low, this can only be speculated; but the fact that the Sunday Main Event Semifinals are held at 3:15 a.m. ET might have something to do with it.

Bodog is the world’s pre-eminent online gambling destination offering players top-class sports betting in its Sportsbook, a Vegas-style online Casino with more than 75 games, a feature-rich online Poker Room and a wide variety of tracks and wager types in its Racebook.

Bodog is celebrating its 15th year as a trusted and respected leader in the online gambling industry.

Get your site now at the WSOP Main Event!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 1st, 2009