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Bird on the Rail |
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December 2007
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Poker Stars’ WCOOP Main
Event Ends in Scandal
This year’s World Championship of Online Poker on Poker Stars not only
smashed records for attendance and prize pools, but it prompted a
scandal that was buzzed about for weeks on internet poker forums and
message boards. The $2,600 buy-in WCOOP Main Event attracted 2,998
players, creating a prize pool of a staggering $7,495,000 and a fi rst
place award of nearly $1.4 million — by far the largest prize pool and
fi rst place payout of any online poker tournament in history. After
twenty-two straight hours of competition, two of poker’s top pros
landed at the fi nal table — Team Poker Stars’ own Vanessa
“LadyMaverick” Rousso, who fi nished third, and Josh “nitbuster” Arieh
who came in sixth. Winning it all was a player rumored to be a former
EPT Champion, who went by the screen name “TheV0id.” As is standard
practice in high buy-in tournaments on Poker Stars (including their
weekly Sunday Million event), a security review was conducted and,
after their investigation was completed, Stars disqualified TheV0id
from the tournament and revoked his/her $1,228,330,50 in prize money
(after a deal made during heads-up play that included a $150,000 save).
Though rumors are flying about that The V0id’s disqualification was due
to playing multiple accounts in the tournament, Stars would only
comment that TheV0id was in breach of Poker Stars’ Terms of Service,”
since all details of their security investigations are confidential. As
a result of TheV0id’s DQ, each player, including the bubble boy, moved
up one place in prize money. This translated to an additional $237,000
for Rousso and an extra $75,000 for Arieh.
Prop Bet of the Month:
Could You Stand in a Pool for Twelve Hours? The World Poker Tour’s new
$7,500 event in Turks and Caicos may have hit a low point in terms of
attendance (only 137 players bought in), but it was the scene for one
of the more outrageous prop bets in recent history. According to
reports, David Williams, Lee Markholt, and Chris Smith bet $15,000 that
Matt Giannetti could not stand for twelve hours in the deep end of the
pool at Club Med. Several terms and conditions were set up forthe
wager: Giannetti was allowed only food, water, and sunblock; he could
not come within five feet of the edge of the pool; he could not take
off any clothing he wore into the pool; nor could he put on new clothes
while he was in there. Giannetti entered the water at midnight on the
night before the fi nal table and had to remain there until noon the
next day in order to collect. Well, he did it — and without too much
struggle — exiting the pool after the full twelve hours to a round of
applause from crowd comprised primarily of people who had bet on him to
make it. Giannetti’s feat inspired an even crazier potential wager
between Mark Seif and Sean McCabe. Seif was ready to bet $50,000 that
McCabe could not stand shoulder-deep in the ocean for 24 hours
straight. McCabe agreed to do it, but the two have yet to agree on a
time and place.
The John-Robert Bellande
Survivor Update
We all knew that John-Robert Bellande would pull out his poker player’s
bag of tricks in terms of reading his Survivor: China opponents, but
who knew that would include speaking Mandarin? In a recent episode,
Bellande’s Fei Long tribe won a reward challenge that included fishing
and cooking lessons from a family of locals. Having spent several years
in Taiwan as a child, Bellande was able to translate many of their
words and phrases into English for his tribe mates. Though he had been
targeted for elimination in an early episode, Bellande has managed to
hang on. In his own words: “I thought there was a small chance I’d be
going home… but I fi gured I’d be staying. I’m a professional poker
player, and my game plan is starting to kick in. I’m one of those guys
who likes to start out in last place… now I’m just slowly inching up on
the pack. And I’ve kicked ass in the challenges and my work ethic in
the camp has improved and people notice that.”
Play with ‘The Grinder’
at Planet Hollywood
It’s one thing to play with a pro online, but staring down a two-time
WPT champion across only a few feet of green felt? Well, that’s a
priceless poker experience (and certainly a story to tell your
friends). If you’re in Vegas, there’s an opportunity to do just that
for only a $60 buy-in. Planet Hollywood’s new poker ambassador Michael
“The Grinder” Mizrachi now plays in their special “Grinder Bounty
Tournaments” three nights a week, which comes with $300 bounty at stake
for the player who knocks him out. The tournaments run Monday,
Wednesday, and Friday nights at 7:00pm in the Planet Hollywood poker
room. Players get 4,000 in chips to start and levels are 20 minutes
long — a pretty good structure when it comes to low buy-in Strip
tournaments. The Grinder also hosts a Q&A at 6:30pm on the nights
he plays. Attendance has reportedly been huge, with the tournaments
frequently selling out, especially on Friday nights.
Fancy a Deathmatch?
This month, Full Tilt Poker added three super-high stakes tables to
their lineup, all with a common theme: You. Heads up. With Phil Ivey.
For sick amounts of money. No Limit Hold’em players can challenge Phil
at the $500/$1000 “Ivey Deathmatch” table, PLO junkies can head for the
$500/$1000 “Ivey Thunderdome,” and mixed-games lovers wanting a taste
of the Bellagio Big Game can try their luck at $2,000/$4,000 H.O.R.S.E.
in the “Ivey Glue Factory.” David Benyamine is already quite a fan of
these tables and can frequently be found sitting in.
Jack9 is on the scene
Jack9 Entertainment is the leading online destination and unTV home for
poker afi cionados. With something for players of all levels, Jack9.com
brings the best in World Series of Poker action to the masses. Jack9’s
unTV online offerings include behind-thescenes looks at high-stakes
games and what the best players on the WSOP circuit do in Vegas when
they’re not stacking their chips at the tables. You can fi nd it all in
the Player’s Lounge on Jack9.com. In addition to the best poker action,
Jack9.com ’s unTV network also features the newest and freshest content
from a variety of other gaming and leisure sectors.
Nelly Scores Tourney Win at the Hard Rock
Though Grammy-award-winning rapper Nelly didn’t last more than a few
hours in this summer’s WSOP Main Event, he did take down the Hard Rock
Hotel’s Celebrity Poker Tournament, held on the weekend of the MTV
Video Music Awards. Outlasting a field that included Clerks director
Kevin Smith and The Hills’ Brody Jenner, Nelly donated his entire first
place prize to charity and spent the remainder of the evening
celebrating his win with longtime girlfriend R&B star Ashanti.
Who’s Got Sponsorship Now?
Both 2007 WSOP Main Event 2nd place finisher Tuan Lam and 3rd place
finisher Raymond Rahme quietly joined Team Poker Stars just as the
final table episodes of ESPN’s coverage of the Big Dance hit the
airwaves. Over at Full Tilt, online legends Peter “Nordberg” Feldman,
Jared “TheWacoKidd” Hamby, and Jon “PearlJammer” Turner have been added
to their stable of site pros. And 2002 WSOP runner-up Julian Gardner
also plays with his name in red as of this month, as does young
Austrian player Niki Jedlicka, who has enjoyed a great 2007 on the
European circuit, making the final table at the EPT Barcelona and
winning the Austrian Masters.
Nicole Gordon is a writer from Los Angeles, CA. She’s also the author
of the poker blog “Pot Committed” at http://potcommitted.blogspot.com.
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