Friday, December 31, 2010

SOREL MIZZI WINS PTPR POY, GRINDER, SELSBT, BJERKMANN AMONGST OTHER WINNERS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


We close 2010 by handing out our awards for the past poker season.


2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT POKER PLAYER OF THE YEAR
SOREL MIZZI, 371 PTPR POINTS, 10 PTPR SCORES, 1st OVERALL

It was one crazy race for Tournament Player of the Year. Mizzi led for most of 2010 but Frank Kassela and Thomas Marchese both held the lead for a bit as well.

Everything went screwy on Haloween night when both points leaders, Mizzi and Marchese, were running deep at WPT Foxwoods - then we knew we had a race that would go right to the end ... and add to that Chris Bell's big score late in the season and it's a minor miracle that Mizzi was able to survive and win the title.


2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT COMEBACK PLAYER
MICHAEL MIZRACHI, 283 PTPR POINTS, 5 PTPR SCORES, 9th OVERALL

After a quiet (by his standards) 2009, The Grinder had one hell of a rough start to 2010. But Mizrachi took the WSOP by storm this season - making one of the most impressive comebacks to poker ever. Tip of the hat to Carlos Mortensen, who's 7th overall finish was only a great way to make sure that people haven't forgotten about El Matador!


2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
THOMAS MARCHESE, 361 PTPR POINTS, 9 PTPR SCORES, 3rd OVERALL

Wow, Thomas Marchese earned his first EVER live cash in February at Borgata. 11 months later, Marchese was Card Player Player of the year and finished third overall on our PTPR Charts - quite a year for the young rookie.



2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT BREAKTHROUGH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
VANESSA SELBST, 299 PTPR POINTS, 4 PTPR SCORES, 6th OVERALL

While the world was a buzz for the conclusion of the WSOP November Nine, Vanessa Selbst was dominating the final table at Europe's own version of the November Nine - the Partouche Tour Grande Finale in Cannes. And we're not kidding, Selbst was a beast at Cannes, destroying her competitors one by one.

Not a bad year for the "part-time" tournament player. If Selbst would have played more at the start of the 2010 season, is there any doubt that she would have contended for the PTPR's #1 overall spot? Not in our books.



2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT FUTURE WATCH/THE NEXT BIG THING
(TIE) DWYTE PILGRIM, 245 PTPR POINTS, 6 PTPR SCORES, 18th OVERALL
(TIE) MARCEL BJERKMANN, 248 PTPR POINTS, 3 PTPR SCORES, 17th OVERALL

Dwyte Pilgrim, the first ever King of the Minor Leagues, could become a Top 5 player in 2011 if he continues climbing the poker ranks the way he has in 2010. Pilgrim had been dominating the WSOP Circuit events (before the new WSOPC came into place) when he won a WPT tour event later in the 2010 season. Look out for Pilgrim in 2011.

Marcel Bjerkmann is one heck of an interesting man. Here's a fact - when Bjerkmann is mentioned anywhere on this blog, Scandanavians light up our stats! Bjerkmann is by far the most popular player on this site ... and his winning two big European events (the Belgian Open and the Masters Classic in Holland), Bjerkmann is one EPT Main Event win away from becoming a household name around the world.



2010 PTPR TOURNAMENT OF THE YEAR
WPT TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP - FIVE STAR POKER CLASSIC
BELLAGIO HOTEL CASINO
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, USA
APRIL 18-24, 2010

David Williams enjoyed his first major cash in a while, and, the other players in the Final 18 made this one of the toughest final fields of the season.

Williams beat Eric "Basebaldy" Baldwin heads up. Shawn Buchanan, Phil Hellmuth, JJ Liu, Scotty Nguyen, Olivier Busquet, David Benyamine, Faraz Jaka, JohnnyBax, Billy Baxter, Matt Stout, Tony Cousineau, Jason Lester, Josh Arieh were all players involved in the Top 18 - incredible field and amazing tournament!



MOST PTPR TOURNAMENT SCORES FOR 2010
SOREL MIZZI, 10 PTPR SCORES

Most PTPR Points and most PTPR Scores, enough said, this certainly was Mizzi's year.



Congratulaions to Sorel and the rest of the award winners from the 2010 season - here's hoping 2011 is even better!




Eric

PTPR RECAP: DUKE, HELLMUTH LEAVE UB


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com

We had all heard the rumors. We all had noticed that the Poker Brat was no longer sporting his UB logos at tournaments. We all knew that something was about to happen ... but did anyone predict this?

Within minutes of checking our latest tweets, the members of the poker world were treated to some of the best drama ever - scenes from an Acadamy Award winning movie happening, live, on Twitter!

The Twitter world was buzzing yesterday. Within the next hour, both Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth - two of the most recognized names in poker - were gone - both deciding to part ways with online site UB - a site that both Duke and Hellmuth help build from the ground up.

Annie Duke's Twitter Post:

Starting new chapter in my life. Decided to leave UB, but the future’s exciting for me and the place I’ve called home for more than a decade


Phil Hellmuth's Twitter Post:

Making a BIG move...leaving UB. Truly lots of great memories, but it's time to move on...Mutual decision...Looking forward to BRIGHT future!



With all the troubles UB has been through in the past few years, it's not shocking that both players would leave - but, the timing and the dramatic exits certainly were shocking moments.


So, what next for both Duke and Hellmuth? Only time will tell. Something that we do know is that UB is dusting itself off and acting quickly. They are surely going a younger, more aggressive route. Here is a link to UB's statement on both Duke and Hellmuth leaving ...

http://blog.ub.com/2010/12/annie-duke-leaving-ub-poker/
http://blog.ub.com/2010/12/phil-hellmuth-leaving-ub-poker-2/


Pokernews caught up with Joe Sebok, Team UB member and ambassador, for his thoughts on the mega-stars leaving his team - here is a link below ...

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2010/12/hellmuth-and-duke-out-at-ub-9577.htm

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

WPT YEAR IN REVIEW: EL MATADOR, EL PERFECTO


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


Reviewing the major poker tours and handing individual honors for 2010.

We end our 2010 Tour season in review with the World Poker Tour.


32 WPT EVENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 1
Premier - 12
Tier 3 - 8
Prelim - 11
Challenger - 0


WPT TOP PTPR POINTS EARNER OF 2010
Carlos Mortensen, 251 PTPR WPT Points, 4 PTPR WPT Scores


WSOPC TOP 10 PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
MORTENSEN CARLOS 251
PILGRIM DWYTE 175
FRANKENBERGER ANDREW 171
WILLIAMS DAVID 152
CHEONG JOSEPH 140
CORKINS HOYT 137
KARR MCLEAN 136
KOROKNAI ANDRAS 132
ESFANDIARI ANTONIO 129
KRANICH MORITZ 128
FLOWERS RANDAL 128


MOST WPT SCORES OF 2010
Carlos Mortensen, 4 PTPR Scores


WPT TOP PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
MORTENSEN CARLOS 4
FRANKENBERGER ANDREW 3
STOUT MATTHEW (MATT) 3
PILGRIM DWYTE 2
CHEONG JOSEPH 2
CORKINS HOYT 2
KARR MCLEAN 2
MOHAJERI KIANOOSH 2
LITTLE JONATHAN 2
BELL CHRIS 2
BALDWIN ERIC "BASEBALDY" 2
SMITH JUSTIN 2
HELLMUTH PHIL JR. 2
JAFFEE JARED 2
PARKER BROCK 2
NGUYEN SCOTTY 2
O'BRIEN DANIEL 2
BEGLEY TIM 2
NOVENA BRANDON 2
MIZZI SOREL 2
LANDFISH STEVE 2
BONOMO JUSTIN 2
KALTEUX ROBERT 2
RAGHAVAN RAVI 2
JOSEPHY CLIFF "JOHNNYBAX" 2
PERRY RALPH 2
LIU JOANNE "J.J." 2
KRPAN JOHN 2
JAKA FARAZ 2
NEWHOUSE MARK 2
BONITA CHRISTOPHER 2
PATHAMMAVONG BO 2
LICHTENBERGER ANDREW 2
STACEY SPENCER 2
HUNICHAN CHRIS 2

Monday, December 27, 2010

NAPT YEAR IN REVIEW: THE NAPT WAS ALL SAM STEIN'S IN 2010!


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


Reviewing the major poker tours and handing individual honors for 2010.

We continue our 2010 season review with the North American Poker Tour.


17 NAPT EVENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 0
Premier - 5
Tier 3 - 8
Prelim - 4
Challenger - 0


NAPT TOP PTPR POINTS EARNER OF 2010
Sam Stein, 170 PTPR NAPT Points, 3 PTPR NAPT Scores


WSOPC TOP 10 PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
STEIN SAM 170
MARCHESE THOMAS 151
GIMBEL HARRISON 140
SELBST VANESSA 132
TEHAN JOE 132
REYNOLDS WILLIAM 125
PETERS DAVID 115
HUBER STEFAN 102
BALDWIN ERIC "BASEBALDY" 100
THORSON WILLIAM 100
PICKETT MICHAEL 100
GROSS STEVE 100
GORODINSKY MIKE 100
GRIFFIN ASHTON 100


MOST NAPT SCORES OF 2010
Sam Stein, 3 PTPR Scores


NAPT TOP PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
STEIN SAM 3
MARCHESE THOMAS 2
PETERS DAVID 2
SEIVER SCOTT 2
BINGER MICHAEL 2
PEZZIN PAT 2
RICHEY BRETT 2
BLAIR ERIC 2
HALL BRANDON 2

EPT YEAR IN REVIEW: TOBY LEWIS TOPS PTPR'S EPT CHARTS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


Reviewing the major poker tours and handing individual honors for 2010.

We continue our 2010 season review with the European Poker Tour.


42 EPT EVENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 1
Premier - 11
Tier 3 - 8
Prelim - 22
Challenger - 0


EPT TOP PTPR POINTS EARNER OF 2010
Toby Lewis, 203 EPT Points, 2 EPT Scores


EPT TOP 10 PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
LEWIS TOBY 203
BAEKKE ALLAN 190
BOEREE LIV 177
CHOUITY NICOLAS 173
ROMANELLO ROBERTO 159
CODY JAKE 157
MACPHEE KEVIN 149
WIGG ANTON 144
LIMONGI MICHELE 139
VAMPLEW DAVID 133


MOST EPT SCORES OF 2010
7 players tied including Sorel Mizzi and Allan Baekke, 3 PTPR Scores


EPT TOP PTPR SCORERS OF 2010
BAEKKE ALLAN 3
MIZZI SOREL 3
YACOUB DORI 3
KERIGNARD YORANE 3
CAINELLI LUCA 3
PANYAK MAKSIM 3
BERENDE PAUL 3
44 players tied with 2 PTPR Scores

Sunday, December 26, 2010

WSOP YEAR IN REVIEW: FRANK KASSELA IS PTPR'S WSOP PLAYER OF THE YEAR


PHOTO CREDIT: WSOP.com


Reviewing the major poker tours and handing individual honors for 2010.

We continue our 2010 season review with the World Series of Poker.


56 WSOP EVENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 2
Premier - 54
Tier 3 - 0
Prelim - 2
Challenger - 0


WSOP TOP PTPR POINTS EARNER OF 2010
Frank Kassela, 316 PTPR Points, 5 PTPR Scores


WSOPC TOP 10 PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
KASSELA FRANK 316
MIZRACHI MICHAEL "THE GRINDER" 278
BAKER DAVID "BAKES" 252
PAPOLA JEFFREY 217
DEMPSEY JAMES 208
PROULX MIGUEL 208
DUHAMEL JONATHAN 207
NGUYEN MEN "THE MASTER" 206
ASHBY RICHARD 206
LEFRANCOIS PASCAL 195


MOST WSOPC SCORES OF 2010
Allen Kessler, Alex Kravchenko, Blair Rodman, 5 PTPR Scores


WSOPC TOP PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
KESSLER ALLEN "CHAINSAW" 5
KRAVCHENKO ALEXANDER 5
RODMAN BLAIR 5
KASSELA FRANK 4
MIZRACHI MICHAEL "THE GRINDER" 4
BAKER DAVID "BAKES" 4
JUANDA JOHN 4
SHCHEMELEV VLADIMIR 4
HEIMILLER DANIEL 4
KATCHALOV EUGENE 4
MIZRACHI ROBERT 4
JURGENS TAD 4
14 players tied with 3 PTPR Scores

WSOPC YEAR IN REVIEW: ANDERSON EARNS PTPR WSOPC POY HONORS


PHOTO CREDIT: WSOP.com


In the next few days we will be reviewing the major poker tours and handing individual honors. We start our 2010 season review with the World Series of Poker Circuit.


18 WSOPC EVENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 0
Premier - 2
Tier 3 - 7
Prelim - 2
Challenger - 7


WSOPC TOP PTPR POINTS EARNER OF 2010
Jim Anderson, 127 PTPR Points, 1 PTPR Score


WSOPC TOP 10 PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
ANDERSON JIM 127
BELL CHRIS 126
DEVONSHIRE BRYAN 117
KLODNICKI CHRIS 112
JEWELL KURT 108
LICHTENBERGER ANDREW 101
ISRA ROLAND 101
ROPER JEFFREY 101
ZACKEY WARREN 101
WASICKA PAUL 100


MOST WSOPC SCORES OF 2010
Chris Klodnicki, 3 PTPR Scores


WSOPC TOP PTPR POINTS EARNERS OF 2010
KLODNICKI CHRIS 3
STOUT MATTHEW (MATT) 2
PILGRIM DWYTE 2
MOORE CHARLES 2
WAXMAN MATTHEW 2
DEVONSHIRE BRYAN 2
134 players tied with 1 PTPR Score

Saturday, December 25, 2010

PTPR RECAP: BELLAMY WINS THE MONTE CARLO UK, OLIVA IS SLOVENIA'S PEOPLES CHAMP


PHOTO CREDIT: BLONDEPOKER/POKERNEWS.com


Frank Bellamy gave himself an early Christmas present, worth over 78,000 British Pounds at that! Bellamy beat out only pro Jack Ellwood to win the Dusk Till Dawn The Monte Carlo poker tournament.

Ellwood earns his second PTPR Score of the season. Here are the earnings of each of the final 9 players (in BPD)...

1 Fraser Bellamy £78487.50
2 Jack Ellwood £45885.00
3 Raymond Norton £27531.00
4 Shaun King £19320.00
5 Chris Gordon £14490.00
6 Lee Mcmillan £10867.50
7 William Fry £8452.50
8 Simon Deadman £6037.50
9 Benjamin Jenkins £4830.00


Meanwhile, over in Slovenia, Alioscia Oliva won the Peoples Poker Tour event at the Perla Casino Resort. He bested second-time PTPR Points earner Gianni Giaroni heads up.

Only a few more results are left for the year, sure looks like Sorel Mizzi has this one locked up!



PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
The Monte Carlo
Main Event
December 17-19, 2010

Dusk Till Dawn Cardroom
Nottingham, UK

Buy-in: $1,429
Prizepool: $334,381
Entries: 255


FINAL RESULTS
BELLAMY FRAZER 35
ELLWOOD JACK 18
NORTON RAYMOND 10
KING SHAUN 8
GORDON CHRIS 5



PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Peoples Poker Tour
Main Event
December 1-3, 2010

Perla Casino & Resort
Nova Gorcia, Slovenia

Buy-in: $1,966
Prizepool: $605,820
Entries: 308


FINAL RESULTS
OLIVA ALIOSCIA 35
GIARONI GIANNI 18
SCARABOSIO PAOLO 10
DEBELLIS GAETANO 8
RIPANI ANTONIO 5

Thursday, December 23, 2010

CAROL OF THE BELL ... CHRIS BELL GETS EARLY XMAS PRESENT, WINS WSOPC EAST REGIONAL - 2ND ON PTPR CHARTS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com

Chris Bell created quite the stir at the top of the PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year standings by almost taking over the #1 spot at one of the last events of the season ... ALMOST being the key word.

Bell, who clinched his second big tournament victory this season overnight (winning the WSOP Circuit Eastern Regional in Atlantic City), falls just two PTPR points shy of leader Sorel Mizzi.

Still, an unbelievable last-second performance by the man from Carolinas. Bell picked up over 350K of the 1M+ prizepool. This was Bell's 5th PTPR Score of the year.

Second place finisher Chris Klodnicki also made huge strides on the PTPR charts, moving up 168 spots to 54th overall.

6th place finisher Andy Frankenberger's 5th PTPR Score helped him jump in the PTPR Top 25. 15th place finisher Eugene Katchalov scored for the 6th time this year.


Official payouts for the event (in USD) can be found further down.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship
WSOPC Atlantic City Regional
December 19-22, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,279,624
Entries: 136


POINTS AT STAKE
BELL CHRIS 126
KLODNICKI CHRIS 76
PANDYA KETAN 46
RASKIN MICAH 36
TERRY TODD 31
FRANKENBERGER ANDY 26
BURT JASON 26
MITCHELL NICK 11
FISCHER SETH 11
WAXMAN MATTHEW 11
SHAK BETH 11
RAMDIN ANNAND "VICTOR" 9
RICHEY BRETT 9
CALO FRANK 9
KATCHALOV EUGENE 9


MONEY WINNERS ...

BELL CHRIS 358,295
KLODNICKI CHRIS 221,452
PANDYA KETAN 159,851
RASKIN MICAH 117,457
TERRY TODD 87,808
FRANKENBERGER ANDY 66,758
BURT JASON 51,607
MITCHELL NICK 40,538
FISCHER SETH 32,362
WAXMAN MATTHEW 26,232
SHAK BETH 26,232
RAMDIN ANNAND "VICTOR" 26,232
RICHEY BRETT 21,600
CALO FRANK 21,600
KATCHALOV EUGENE 21,600

BELL CONQUERS AC!

Chris Bell wins the WSOPC 10K Regional Championship Atlantic City ... and comes oh-so-close to the PTPR Player of the Year title!!!

Full details and event results later today.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

CLOSING OUT EPT PRAGUE: CASANOVA, NAIM WIN PRELIMS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


EPT Prague is over and done with. Two prelim events qualified for PTPR Points.

Louis Casanova won Event 7. He beat 189 other players for his first PTPR Score of the year. Dimitry Gromov scored for the third time this season, Kirll Rabtsov earned his second PTPR Score.

Yossi Naim won Event 10. Over 200 players were registered in the event. Naim earns his first PTPR Score of the season. Dimitry Stelmak (pictured), who was Day 2 chip leader at EPT San Remo earlier this year, scored for the fourth time of the year. Yorane Keignard earns his third score while Andreas Wiese and Roger Hairabedian scored for the second in 2010.


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
EPT Prague
Event 7
December 15-16, 2010

Hilton Hotel
Prague, Czech Republic

Buy-in: $2,623
Prizepool: $506,390
Entries: 190


FINAL RESULTS
CASANOVA LOUIS 75
SHAHA ALEM 40
GROMOV DIMITRY 25
RABTSOV KIRILL 15
KLIMCIAUSKAS DOMANTAS 10
VESTVIK VEGARD 8
CICHOKCI GRZEGORZ 5
CRETU CORNELIU 5
WISNIEWSKI ANDREJ 5


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
EPT Prague
Event 10
December 16-17, 2010

Hilton Hotel
Prague, Czech Republic

Buy-in: $1,352
Prizepool: $259,063
Entries: 202


FINAL RESULTS
NAIM YOSSI 75
ERSTENYUK MYKHAYLO 40
WIESE ANDREAS 25
ALBECK SAMMY 15
DODET DANIEL 10
KERIGNARD YORANE 8
LUNKIN VITALY 5
HAIRABEDIAN ROGER 5
STELMAK DIMITRY 5

PTPR RECAP: VALKENBURG WINS UNIBET OPEN LONDON, BRUNNER WINS SWISS CHAMPIONSHIPS


PHOTO CREDIT: UNIBETOPEN.com


Paul Valkenburg (pictured) earned his second PTPR Score of the season earlier this month by winning the Unibet Open London Main Event. He bested 272 players to win the PTPR Challenger event.

Meanwhile, Markus Brunner won the Swiss Poker Championships at the Grand Casino Baden. He won the most of the 1+ million dollar US prize pool. Here are the results ...


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Unibet Open London
Main Event
December 4-6, 2010

Grosvenor Victoria Casino
London, England

Buy-in: $2,541
Prizepool: $630,748
Entries: 273


FINAL RESULTS
VALKENBURG PAUL 35
MITRENTSOV YORDAN 18
NAYDENOV SIMEON 10
PATEL KIRIT 8
HANSEN JOHNNY 5



PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
Swiss Poker Championships
Main Event
December 7-9, 2010

Grand Casino Baden
Baden, Switzerland

Buy-in: $6,555
Prizepool: $1,002,933
Entries: 153


FINAL RESULTS
BRUNNER MARKUS 101
EL NASR NASR 61
WALSER SEVERIN 36
UNKNOWN PLAYER 26
BURKHART PASCAL 19
TOK OZKAN 11
GRAUER RONALD 9
GARRIDO DANIEL 6
KOLAKOVIC ROBERT 6

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

COUNTDOWN TO WSOPC ATLANTIC CITY REGIONAL: KLODNICKI, BELL LEAD THE WAY


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


The final table is set at the WSOPC Regional Championship in Atlantic City!

2010 PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year leader Sorel Mizzi, who was in the Top 15 in chip less than 24 hours ago, was one of the first players out as Day 3 began today. Mizzi conserves his slim lead atop the leaderboard but it will take a miracle from another player in order for Mizzi not to clinch the title.

Back to the final table - Chris Klodnicki (pictured) is your chip leader while PTPR Top 20 player Chris Bell sits second. Amazingly, Bell would be two PTPR Points shy of Mizzi should he win the WSOPC Regional title. However, he would surpass Tom Marchese for second place on the charts.

The latest six eliminated players have scored points...

WSOPC Atlantic City Main Event winner Matt Waxman was unable to win two majors in a row, he was our bubble boy. This is Waxman's third PTPR Score of the season. 15th place finisher Eugene Katchalov earned his sixth score of the PTPR Season and it was Brett Richey's fouth score of the year when his tournament ended with a 13th place finish.

Here are the chip counts and seating assignments heading into Final Table play...

Seat 1: Chris Bell – 706,000
Seat 2: Micah Raskin – 594,000
Seat 3: Ketan Pandya – 377,000
Seat 4: Nick Mitchell – 332,000
Seat 5: Todd Terry – 307,000
Seat 6: Andy Frankenberger – 230,000
Seat 7: Jason Burt – 579,000
Seat 8: Chris Klodnicki – 759,000
Seat 9: Seth Fischer – 219,000


For tournament payouts, see below.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship
WSOPC Atlantic City Regional
December 19-22, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,279,624
Entries: 136


POINTS AT STAKE / UPDATED RESULTS
1st place 126
2nd place 76
3rd place 46
4th place 36
5th place 31
6th place 26
7th place 26
8th place 11
9th place 11
WAXMAN MATTHEW 11
SHAK BETH 11
RAMDIN ANNAND "VICTOR" 9
RICHEY BRETT 9
CALO FRANK 9
KATCHALOV EUGENE 9


Here are the official payouts for the event (in USD)... 15 players paid ...

1st place 358,295
2nd place 221,452
3rd place 159,851
4th place 117,457
5th place 87,808
6th place 66,758
7th place 51,607
8th place 40,538
9th place 32,362
WAXMAN MATTHEW 26,232
SHAK BETH 26,232
RAMDIN ANNAND "VICTOR" 26,232
RICHEY BRETT 21,600
CALO FRANK 21,600
KATCHALOV EUGENE 21,600

Monday, December 20, 2010

PTS AT STAKE: MIZZI WATCH CONTINUES AT WSOPC REGIONAL IN ATLANTIC CITY


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


A little over 30 players are left at the World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship - Atlantic City. A disappointing 136 players signed up for the event. The proximity to Christmas probably explains why the event had a low turnout.

We're already down to 30-some players remaining late into Day 2 and one of the players currently atop the top 15 is PTPR Tournament Player of the Year points leader Sorel Mizzi. This could be Mizzi's chance to officially secure the title.

Other notables still alive include: Chris Bell, Eugene Katchalov, Matt Waxman, Victor Ramdin, Dan djk123 Kelly, Christian Harder, Brett Richey and Andy Frankenberger.

Day 1 chip leader Vanessa Selbst (pictured, who currently sits 5th on the PTPR charts) suffered a shocking elimination mid-way through Day 2.

Let's take a look at the official payouts for the event (in USD)... 15 players will be paid ...

1st place 358,295
2nd place 221,452
3rd place 159,851
4th place 117,457
5th place 87,808
6th place 66,758
7th place 51,607
8th place 40,538
9th place 32,362
10th place 26,232
11th place 26,232
12th place 26,232
13th place 21,600
14th place 21,600
15th place 21,600

For current chip stacks, see below.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit Regional Championship
WSOPC Atlantic City Regional
December 19-22, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $10,000
Prizepool: $1,279,624
Entries: 136


POINTS AT STAKE
1st place 126
2nd place 76
3rd place 46
4th place 36
5th place 31
6th place 26
7th place 26
8th place 11
9th place 11
10th place 11
11th place 11
12th place 9
13th place 9
14th place 9
15th place 9


UNOFFICIAL CHIP COUNTS AS OF 10:00PM ATLANTIC CITY TIME...

Seth Fischer 380,000
Chris Bell 268,000
Eugene Katchalov 200,000
Chris Klodnicki 190,000
Matthew Waxman 182,000
Victor Ramdin 175,000
Dan Kelly 175,000
Jay Nair 170,000
Christian Harder 162,000
Brett Richey 160,000
Ketan Pandya 152,000
Jason Burt 150,000
Sorel Mizzi 133,000
Micah Raskin 120,000
Andy Frankenberger 113,000
Dave Sands 110,000
Kenny Hicks 105,000
Bryn Kenney 105,000
Jared Jaffee 105,000
Chris Reslock 101,000
Nick Mitchell 94,000
Frank Calo 90,000
Bobby Wisiak 74,000
Duane Goodison 73,000
Beth Shak 68,000
Ronnie Bardah 65,000
Wooyang Lin 65,000
Jack Schanbacher 63,000
Eli Berg 53,000
Feming Chan 51,000
Jonathan Little 47,000
Lee Childs 45,000
Todd Terry 22,000

Saturday, December 18, 2010

EMOTIONAL OVERLOAD: ROMANELLO CAPTURES EPT PRAGUE; WEARS HEART ON HIS SLEEVE


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


Usually poker tournament players go through such a grind for a 4 or 5 tournament that they have no emotions left once they capture an important title - luckily, this was not the case for EPT Prague winner Robert Romanello.

In fact, once Romanello's hand was raised in victory, every emotion came out. He tried to hide the tears of emotion rolling down his cheeks but couldn't - and it was such a refreshing site to see. Winning a major title such as a EPT tournament should be emotional, and Romanello proved it! Congratulations on reminding us that poker players have emotions, and aren't just robots making standard raises, calls, or folds, Roberto!

More than half of the players in the Top 18 scored for at least a second time on the PTPR circuit this season. Three players (Rob Hollink, Richard Toth and Salvatore Bonavena) scored for the fourth time while Kevin MacPhee scored for the fifth time this season!

For money results from EPT Prague, see below.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Prague
EPT Main Event
December 13-18, 2010

Hilton Hotel
Prague, Czech Republic

Buy-in: $6,411
Prizepool: $3,609,796
Entries: 563


FINAL RESULTS
ROMANELLO ROBERTO 130
BONO EMILIANO 80
HORECKI MARCIN 50
SKRIPKA PETER 40
LEONZIO MARCO 35
BENDIK JAN 30
BEVAND MANUEL 30
NULLI ROBERTO 15
MACPHEE KEVIN 15
LOSEV NIKOLAY 15
PAVEL ION 15
WEISNER MELANIE 13
KIPNIS DENIS 13
HOLLINK ROB 13
TOTH RICHARD 13
RODRIGUEZ SERGIO 10
BONAVENA SALVATORE 10
SOULEIMAN JEAN SAMI 10


TOP 24 MONEY RESULTS (IN EURO)...
1 - Roberto Romanello, UK, €640,000
2 - Emiliano Bono, Italy, €435,000
3 - Marcin Horecki, Poland, €247,000
4 - Peter Skripka, Russia, €163,000
5 - Marco Leonzio, Italy, €130,000
6 - Jan Bendik, Slovakia, €100,000
7 - Manuel Bevand, France, €71,000
8 - Roberto Nulli, Italy, €54,550
9 - Kevin MacPhee, USA, €40,000
10 - Nikolay Losev, Russia, €40,000
11 - Ion Pavel, Romania, €30,000
12 - Melanie Weisner, USA, €30,000
13 - Denis Kipnis, Russia, €25,000
14 - Rob Hollink, Netherlands, €25,000
15 - Richard Toth, Hungary, €20,000
16 - Sergio Rodriguez Sanchez, Spain, €20,000
17 - Salvatore Bonavena, Italy, €15,000
18 - Jean Sami Souleiman, Lebanon, €15,000
19 - Haykel Cherif Vidal, Spain, €15,000
20 - Andrea Ferrari, Italy, €15,000
21 - Josh Prager, United States, €15,000
22 - Zoltan Szabo, Hungary, €15,000
23 - Ludovic Marguerat, Switzerland, €15,000
24 - Helen Prager, USA, €15,000

Thursday, December 16, 2010

PTPR RECAP: RESULTS FROM CANNES, VIENNA AND SAN REMO


PHOTO CREDIT: THEHENDONMOB.com


Three events were recently completed in Europe - all three qualified as PTPR Challenger Events. Here are the results ...


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Hold'Em Series de Cannes
Main Event
December 3, 2010

Croisette Casino Barriere de Cannes
Cannes, France

Buy-in: $2,647
Prizepool: $263,261
Entries: 115


FINAL RESULTS
PASQUALINI JEAN-PAUL 35
GARDELLI GERARD 18
VILLA PHILIPPE 10
COQUEREAU FREDERICK 8
AOURI BELGACEM 5


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Montesino Grand Slam
3LPT Grand Finale
December 8-11, 2010

Montesino Poker Centre
Vienna, Austria

Buy-in: $2,920
Prizepool: $674,841
Entries: 240


FINAL RESULTS
SPRINGAEL JORIS 35 (pictured)
OPRIA CRISTEA 18
DEBUS ALEXANDER 10
de BOER RUTGER 8
MESSINA VALENTIN 5


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Pokerstars IPT San Remo
IPT Main Event
December 9-11, 2010

Casino Sanremo
San Remo, Italy

Buy-in: $2,914
Prizepool: $878,906
Entries: 342


FINAL RESULTS
CAPONNETTO MARCELLO 35
LACCHINELLI RICCARDO 18
MORO FRANCESCO 10
BRUGNERA VITTORE 8
MARESCA GIOVANNI 5

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

PTS AT STAKE: 563 SHOW UP AT SNOWY EPT PRAGUE


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


The EPT's final event of the 2010 season is in snowy Prague, in the Czech Replubic. An impressive 563 players showed up for the event, less than two weeks before Christmas.

Colorful Roberto Romanello (pictured) will sit second in chips once we start Day 3 in a few hours. German Dirk Richter has a few more chips.

Kevin MacPhee, Tobias Reinkemeier, Marcin Horecki, Melanie Weisner, Dominik Nitsche, Nicolas Babel, Fabrice Soulier, Matt Affleck and Toby Lewis are a few of the 93 players remaining in the field.


Let's take a look at the official payouts for the event (in EURO)... 13 players won't be paid ...

1. €640,000
2. €435,000
3. €247,000
4. €163,000
5. €130,000
6. €100,000
7. €71,000
8. €54,550
9-10. €40,000
11-12. €30,000
13-14. €25,000
15-16. €20,000
17-24. €15,000
25-32. €12,500
33-40. €11,000
41-48. €10,000
49-56. €9,000
57-64. €9,000
65-72. €8,000
73-80. €8,000

For Day 3 table draw, see below.


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Prague
EPT Main Event
December 13-18, 2010

Hilton Hotel
Prague, Czech Republic

Buy-in: $6,411
Prizepool: $3,609,796
Entries: 563


POINTS AT STAKE
1st place 130
2nd place 80
3rd place 50
4th place 40
5th place 35
6th place 30
7th place 30
8th place 15
9th place 15
10th place 15
11th place 15
12th place 13
13th place 13
14th place 13
15th place 13
16th place 10
17th place 10
18th place 10


DAY 3 TABLE DRAW...

Table one
1 Nicolas Babel 157,000
2 Riccardo Giacalone 108,500
3 Marius Heiene 219,000
4 Charles Chattha 147,000
5 Manuel Bevand 179,500
6 Felix Bleiker DNR
7 David Stogel 314,500
8 Elias Brussianos 116,000

Table two
1 Ruslan Prydryk 210,000
2 Liviu Ignat 280,000
3 Dominic Linder 136,500
4 Rob Hollink 452,000
5 Sasa Stancic 262,500
6 Fernando Brito 101,500
7 Denis Kipnis 384,000
8 Omri Sason 96,600

Table three
1 Andras Koroknai 139,500
2 Kevin Stani 183,000
3 Cody Culp 57,000
4 Milous Artjoms 58,000
5 Mikhail Petrov 194,000
6 Mikael Norinder 201,000
7 Giuseppe Festa 105,500
8 Kevin MacPhee 483,000

Table four
1 Roberto Nulli 201,000
2 Andreas Berggren 29,500
3 Sergio Rodriguez Sanchez 245,500
4 Olivier Daeninckx 18,000
5 Oleksander Vaserfirer 91,500
6 Ben Carpenter 108,500
7 Melanie Weisner 211,500
8 Toby Lewis 93,500

Table five
1 Kiril Zahariev 197,500
2 Dirk Richter 593,000
3 David Sonelin 269,500
4 Emilliano Bono 114,500
5 Jonas Gutteck 144,000
6 Rasmus Nielsen 209,000
7 Marcin Horecki 219,000
8 Josh Prager 362,500

Table six
1 Pierre Neuville 94,000
2 Marc Gork 224,500
3 Fabrice Soulier 118,500
4 Zoltan Szabo 219,000
5 Dermot Blain 236,000
6 Alain Roy 164,500
7 Constantin Raducan 210,000
8 Salvatore Bonavena 80,500

Table seven
1 Marco Leonzio 231,500
2 Hugo Lemaire 71,000
3 Luca Pagano 146,500
4 Jaroslav Vajgl 73,000
5 Antonio Palma 545,000
6 Jan Bendik 87,000
7 Martial Blangenwitsch 84,000
8 Andrea Ferrari 192,500

Table eight
1 Dominique Franchi 152,000
2 Ronan Monfort 81,000
3 Salvatore Irace 127,500
4 Tayfeh Sokor Mohsen Jalal 172,500
5 Mikhail Lakhitov 283,000
6 Kirill Telezhkin 123,000
7 Kaspars Renga 52,000
8 Roberto Romanello 566,000

Table nine
1 Haykel Cherif Vidal 114,500
2 Joris Digregorio Zitella 108,000
3 Matthew Affleck 97,500
4 Ion Pavel 96,500
5 Karl Heinz Klose 88,000
6 Kirill Zapletin 192,500
7 Michael O'Grady 55,000
8 Cengiz Ulusu 277,000

Table nine
1 Christophe Pereira 107,000
2 Helen Prager 108,000
3 Dominik Nitsche 178,000
4 Lennart Holz 133,500
5 Radim Soudsky 81,500
6 Jean Sami Souleiman 207,500
7 Morgan Bauer 248,500

Table ten
1 Besim Hot 207,500
2 Paul Knebel 299,000
3 Ludovic Marguerat 248,500
4 Matthias Kurtz 138,000
5 Petr Targa 75,000
6 Tobias Reinkemeier 325,000
7 Richard Toth 60,000

Table eleven
1 Francisco Torres 125,000
2 Filip Nechansky 220,000
3 Guillaume Darcourt 218,000
4 Peter Skripka 169,000
5 Drasutis Tauras Narmontas 334,000
6 Nikolay Losev 158,000
7 Ludovit Fischer 165,500

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

WAXMAN RULES AC - WINS WSOPC MAIN EVENT


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


Matthew Waxman has won the Main Event at WSOPC - Atlantic City at Harrah's Resort. Waxman beat Jesus Cabrera heads up. Waxman earned his second PTPR Score of the season. 4th place finisher Chris Bonita scored for the third time this season.

Waxman earned 75 PTPR Points for the win. He also qualifies for the 1M WSOPC Championship Tournament and earns a WSOPC ring for his efforts.



PTPR PRELIM EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit - Harrah's Atlantic City
WSOPC Main Event
December 12-14, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $1,650
Prizepool: $510,705
Entries: 351


FINAL RESULTS
WAXMAN MATTHEW 75
CABRERA JESUS 40
SYKES MARK 25
BONITA CHRIS 15
CUBETA DAVE 10
SUMMERS MIKE 8
LY TAM 5
CROFT BRANDON 5
PATEL MANISH 5

PTPR RECAP: FIVE DIAMOND 5K EVENT RESULTS, JUSTIN YOUNG WINS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


A huge thank you to poker's encyclopedia, Kevin Mathers (@Kevmath) for his help with these results - Really appreciate it Kev!



WPT Five Diamond Events 11 and 17 (both 5K buy-in events) results are finally available! Poker Pro Justin Young (pictured) won Event 11 while Alexander Freedman won Event 17.

Congrats to Steve Landfish who PTPR Scored in each event (EV 11 - 3rd 35 PTPR PTS, EV 17 - 9th 5 PTPR PTS).

In fact, out of the 18 players who scored PTPR points in both events combined, only two scored for the first time only (Freedman and Brent Roberts, who finished 2nd behind Young at Event 11).

David "Bakes" Baker moved up 5 spots and into the PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year Top 10 (now 7th).


Here is a list of all players who scored for at least the second time this season:

6th PTPR Score: Scott Seiver, David Bakes Baker

5th PTPR Score: Chris Bjorin

3rd PTPR Score: Cliff Johnnybax Josephy, Justin Bonomo, Lee Markholt, Steve Landfish

2nd PTPR Score: Justin Young, John Krpan, Rock Cloutier, Tyler Kenney, Salman Behbehani, Ronald Lee, Barry Shulman, Spencer Stacey



PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
No Limit Hold'Em Event 11
December 1, 2010

Bellagio Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,180
Prizepool: $455,900
Entries: 94


FINAL RESULTS
YOUNG JUSTIN 100
ROBERTS BRENT 60
LANDFISH STEVE 35
BAKER DAVID "BAKES" 25
KRPAN JOHN 18
CLOUTIER ROCK 10
JOSEPHY CLIFF "JOHNNYBAX" 8
SEIVER SCOTT 5
BONOMO JUSTIN 5


PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
No Limit Hold'Em Event 11
December 6, 2010

Bellagio Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $5,180
Prizepool: $388,000
Entries: 80


FINAL RESULTS
FREEDMAN ALEXANDER 100
KENNEY TYLER 60
MARKHOLT LEE 35
BEHBEHANI SALMAN 25
LEE RONALD 18
SHULMAN BARRY 10
BJORIN CHRIS 8
STACEY SPENCER 5
LANDFISH STEVE 5

Monday, December 13, 2010

PTPR RECAP: DANIEL FISCHER WINS WSOPC AC PRELIM


PHOTO CREDIT: WSOP.com


Harrah's Atlantic City continues to see fine numbers at the WSOP Circuit AC.

Congratulations to Daniel Fischer, winner of PTPR Prelim Event 4 at the WSOPC Atlantic City. It was the first PTPR Score of the season for all participants in the Final 9. A total of 292 players participated in the event.



PTPR PRELIM EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit Atlantic City
No Limit Hold'Em Event 4
December 9-10, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $1,100
Prizepool: $283,240
Entries: 292


FINAL RESULTS
FISCHER DANIEL 75
GIVOTOVSKY ALEK 40
BORGES MARK 25
JOHNSTON PERRY 15
COHEN JESSE 10
ROBINSON CHARLES 8
GABIE JASON 5
WOLFRAM THOMAS 5
HU XIAOZHE 5

PTPR RECAP: TYLER SMITH WINS DOWN ON THE BAYOU, MICHAEL WOODS WINS AT FOXWOODS


PHOTO CREDIT: WJMEDIA.net


Two Challenger events have completed. In New Orleans, Tyler Smith earned his fourth PTPR Score of the season (and second major tournament win of the year) by winning the Winter Bayou Poker Challenge at Harrah's New Orleans. Smith bested a field of 108 players.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, Michael Woods (pictured) won the Mega Stacks Challenge at Foxwoods. This was Woods' first PTPR Score of the year.



PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Winter Bayou Poker Challenge
Main Event
December 10-12, 2010

Harrah's New Orleans
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Buy-in: $2,650
Prizepool: $251,497
Entries: 108


FINAL RESULTS
SMITH TYLER 35
HINES RONALD 18
HOLMES DAVID 10
FRIEDLANDER GARY 8
REMINGTON DUANE 5



PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge
Main Event
December 11-12, 2010

Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, CT, USA

Buy-in: $1,100
Prizepool: $265,000
Entries: 265


FINAL RESULTS
WOODS MICHAEL 35
ESPINOLA DAVID 18
HICKMAN DAVID 10
MCFARLAND BRAD 8
MOUTTAOUAKIL MUSTAPHA 5

SMITH, WOODS WIN TITLES

Tyler Smith wins his second event this season at the Winter Bayou in Louisiana ... while Michael Woods has won the Foxwoods Mega Stacks in Connecticut.


Full event results later tonight.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

PTS AT STAKE: WSOPC ATLANTIC CITY MAIN EVENT


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


The WSOP Circuit heads to Atlantic City this festive season. The Main Event started today. The Main Event qualifies as a PTPR Prelim Event.

Thomas Marchese is part of the field. Marchese, who recently lost his lead atop the PTPR Poker Tournamenet Player of the Year list, is looking to take what Sorel Mizzi took from him last week.

Other big names with chips include Ari Engel (pictured, current chip leader), Matt Glantz, Jason Young, Dwyte Pilgrim, Will Souther and Paul Darden.


Let's take a look at the official payouts for the event...

1. $117,462
2. $72,617
3. $52,975
4. $39,294
5. $29,600
6. $22,640
7. $17,568
8. $13,830
9. $11,041
10-12. $8,932
13-15. $7,329
16-18. $6,093
19-21. $5,133
22-24. $4,382
25-27. $3,789
28-30. $3,320
31-33. $2,942
34-36. $2,640


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
World Series of Poker Circuit - Harrah's Atlantic City
WSOPC Main Event
December 12-14, 2010

Harrah's Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA

Buy-in: $1,650
Prizepool: $510,705
Entries: 351


POINTS AT STAKE
1st place 75
2nd place 40
3rd place 25
4th place 15
5th place 10
6th place 8
7th place 5
8th place 5
9th place 5

AUSSIES RULE: APPT SYDNEY A AUSTRALIAN AFFAIR


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


Looks like the mission was pretty clear - get rid of all the outsiders and make the Final Four a all-Aussie affair at APPT Syndey's Grand Final.

When the smoke cleared, Jonathan Karamalikis won it all! Beating countryman Ben McLean heads up.

Chip leader Roland de Wolfe crashed and burned fairly early, exiting in 8th place - Canadian Daniel Negreanu earned an impressive sixth PTPR Score of the season with his 9th place finish.

Karamalikis, de Wolfe and Frenchman Antoine Amourette each scored for the second time ths year.

This was the final APPT event of the 2010 calendar.


PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Sydney
APPT Grand Final
December 7-12, 2010

Star City Casino
Sydney, AUS

Buy-in: $6,050
Prizepool: $1,788.291
Entries: 289


POINTS AT STAKE
KARAMALIKIS JONATHAN 102
MCLEAN BEN 62
RAFFERTY TOM 37
STOJANOVSKI PECO 27
AMOURETTE ANTOINE 20
SABAT EDDY 12
HANSIMIKALI MANUEL 10
de WOLFE ROLAND 7
NEGREANU DANIEL 7


Here are the payouts (in AUD) for the APPT Sydney Main Event...

1st Jonathan Karamalikis (Australia) - AU$459,510
2nd Ben McLean (Australia) - AU$294,780
3rd Tom Rafferty (Australia) - AU$164,730
4th Peco Stojanovski (Australia) - AU$121,380
5th Antoine Amourette (France) - AU$97,970
6th Eddy Sabat (United States) - AU$79,765
7th Manuel Hansimikali (Australia) - AU$65,025
8th Roland de Wolfe (United Kingdom) - AU$50,285
9th Daniel Negreanu (Canada) - AU$36,415
10th Reza Vakili (Australia) - AU$24,280
11th George Moussa (Australia) - AU$24,280
12th Heinz Kamutzki (Austria) - AU$24,280
13th In Wook Choi (South Korea) - AU$19,050
14th Craig Bourke (Australia) - AU$19,050
15th Brendon Rubie (Australia) - AU$19,050
16th Dongying Ling (Singapore) - AU$19,050
17th Konstantin Bücherl (United Kingdom) - AU$15,610
18th Grant Levy (Australia) - AU$15,610
19th Andrew Stergiotis (Australia) - AU$15,610
20th Stefan Streifeneder (Australia) - AU$15,610
21st Mitch Carle (Australia) - AU$13,875
22nd Jason Brown (New Zealand) - AU$13,875
23rd Miray Badaoui (Australia) - AU$13,875
24th Jarred Graham (Australia) - AU$13,875
25th Vijayan Nagarajan (Malaysia) - AU$12,145
26th Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) - AU$12,145
27th Joachim Chia (Singapore) - AU$12,145
28th Silkin Mong (Australia) - AU$12,145
29th Tyron Krost (Australia) - AU$12,145
30th Alan Bustany (Australia) - AU$12,145
31st Omer Silatozija (Australia) - AU$12,145
32nd Con Angelakis (Australia) - AU$12,145

Saturday, December 11, 2010

PTPR RECAP: VANDERMISSEN WINS FULL TILT ESPANA GRAND FINAL


PHOTO CREDIT: MARCA.com


Kevin Vandersmissen's second PTPR Score of the season is a nice one - a Full Tilt Poker Series Espana Grand Final win. Vandersmissen earns 35 PTPR Points for the win.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Full Tilt Poker Series Espana
FPT Series Grand Final
December 2-3, 2010

Casino Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Buy-in: $4,233
Prizepool: $769,986
Entries: 194


FINAL RESULTS
VANDERSMISSEN KEVIN 35
SCHURPF MICHAEL 18
NITSCHE DOMINIK 10
ZSOLT SOROS 8
MARTINEZ JAVIER 5

PTS AT STAKE: FOXWOODS MEGA STACK CHALLENGE MAIN EVENT


PHOTO CREDIT: FOXWOODSLIVE.com


Foxwoods is hosting it's final major event of the calendar year - the 2010 Foxwoods Mega Stacks Challenge Main Event. A total of 265 players have entered the event. Early eliminations have included James Woods, Bernard Lee and Foxwoods Poker Classic winner Luis Vazquez.

Let's take a look at the official payouts for the event (thank you to FOXWOODSLIVE.com for the info) ...

1st - $61,692
2nd - $36,244
3rd - $23,392
4th - $18,765
5th - $14,394
6th - $11,696
7th - $9,768
8th - $7,969
9th - $6,699
10th-12th - $4,883
13th-15th - $3,984
16th-20th - $3,084
21st-30th - $2,441


You can watch live action of this tournament on the Foxwoods live stream (2009 November Niner Darvin Moon is currently featured - as of 7:05PM Foxwoods time) ...
http://www.justin.tv/foxwoodspoker#/w/641818080


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge
Main Event
December 11-12, 2010

Foxwoods Resort Casino
Mashantucket, CT, USA

Buy-in: $1,100
Prizepool: $265,000
Entries: 265


POINTS AT STAKE
1st Place 35
2nd Place 18
3rd Place 10
4th Place 8
5th Place 5

COUNTDOWN TO APPT SYDNEY: DE WOLFE, NEGREANU HIGHLIGHT FINAL TABLE DOWN UNDER


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


APPT Sydney will have a few characters at it's Final Table later today. UK star Roland de Wolfe and Canadian sensation Daniel Negreanu bookend the final nine as de Wolfe enters the final day as a small chip leader while Kid Poker will have to double up a few times in order to fall back into contention.

This is Negreanu's second final table in six weeks - he finished fourth at EPT Vienna in late October.


Here are the official chip stacks heading into Final Table action...
Roland de Wolfe 1,663.000
Antoine Amourette 1,640.000
Peco Stojanovski 1,608.000
Eddy Sabat 917.000
Jonathan Karamalikis 890.000
Manuel Hansimikali 589.000
Ben McLean 530.000
Tom Rafferty 482.000
Daniel Negreanu 267.000


Here are the payouts (in AUD) for the APPT Sydney Grand Final's Final Nine...

1st - AU$459,510
2nd - AU$294,780
3rd - AU$164,730
4th - AU$121,380
5th - AU$97,970
6th - AU$79,765
7th - AU$65,025
8th - AU$50,285
9th - AU$36,415


PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Sydney
APPT Grand Final
December 7-12, 2010

Star City Casino
Sydney, AUS

Buy-in: $6,050
Prizepool: $1,788.291
Entries: 289


POINTS AT STAKE
1st Place 102
2nd Place 62
3rd Place 37
4th Place 27
5th Place 20
6th Place 12
7th Place 10
8th Place 7
9th Place 7

Thursday, December 9, 2010

PTS AT STAKE: APPT SYDNEY MAIN EVENT


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


The APPT finishes 2010 with it's Grand Final from Sydney, Australia. The circuit will be back in Australia shortly as the Aussie Millions will begin mid-January.

Daniel Negreanu and the Hachem brothers are just a few of the name players playing in the event.


Here are the payouts (in AUD) for the APPT Sydney Main Event...

1st - AU$459,510
2nd - AU$294,780
3rd - AU$164,730
4th - AU$121,380
5th - AU$97,970
6th - AU$79,765
7th - AU$65,025
8th - AU$50,285
9th - AU$36,415
10th-12th - AU$24,280
13th-16th - AU$19,050
17th-20th - AU$15,610
21st-24th - AU$13,875
25th-32nd - AU$12,145



PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Sydney
APPT Grand Final
December 7-12, 2010

Star City Casino
Sydney, AUS

Buy-in: $6,050
Prizepool: $1,788.291
Entries: 289


POINTS AT STAKE
1st Place 102
2nd Place 62
3rd Place 37
4th Place 27
5th Place 20
6th Place 12
7th Place 10
8th Place 7
9th Place 7

MAGIC MAN: ESFANDIARI WINS FIRST WPT TITLE IN 7 YEARS


PHOTO CREDIT: WPT.com


Antonio the Magician Esfandiari had pulled a disappearing act in the WPT Winners' Circle for the past seven years. Esfandiari last won a WPT event in 2004 - the L.A. Poker Classic - Season 2 of the WPT.

But Esfandiari decided to treat himself to a nice birthday gift, winning the Five Diamond World Poker Classic - and beat one hell of a field.

Sorel Mizzi, as reported on Tuesday, took over the #1 PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year rank from Thomas Marchese with his 10th PTPR Score of the season - he is the first to hit 10 scores.

Andrew Lichtenberger scored for the 5th time of the year while another Andy, Frankenberger, scored for the 4th time.

Vanessa Rousso who many thought had this tournament in the bag (or at least under control) and November Niner John Racener both scored for the 3rd time.

Scoring for the second time this season: Winner Esfandiari, Runner-up Andrew Robl, Kirk Morrison, Kianoosh Mohajeri, Ray Dehkharghani, Luis Velador, Chris Demaci, Daniel Fuhs and big papa, Doyle Brunson.

Racener's third score propelled him into the Top 50 on the PTPR List.


Here are the money winnings for the WPT TV Final Table participants:
1st: Antonio Esfandiari - $870,124
2nd: Andrew Robl - $549,003
3rd: Vanessa Rousso - $358,964
4th: John Racener - $232,271
5th: Kirk Morrison - $168,924
6th: Ted Lawson - $126,693



PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
WPT Main Event
December 3-8, 2010

Bellagio Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,300
Prizepool: $4,248,600
Entries: 438


FINAL RESULTS
ESFANDIARI ANTONIO 129
ROBL ANDREW 79
ROUSSO VANESSA 49
RACENER JOHN 39
MORRISON KIRK 34
LAWSON TED 29
MOHAJERI KIANOOSH 29
LICHTENBERGER ANDREW 14
MIZZI SOREL 14
DEHKHARGHANI RAY 14
VELADOR LUIS 14
DEMACI CHRIS 12
MAKHIJA AMIT 12
CARIS CHARLES 12
FUHS DANIEL 12
FRANKENBERGER ANDY 9
LEE DOUG 9
BRUNSON DOYLE 9

STILL AT IT....

We're into the wee hours of the morning in Vegas - and we still have a WPT Final Table going on!

Vanessa Rousso was eliminated third - Andrew Robl and Antonio Esfandiari are the last two men standing ... Follow live updates at WPT.com



We will have full event results for you later tonight.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

COUNTDOWN TO FIVE DIAMOND: LADY MAVERICK LEADS THE BOYS INTO WPT TV FINAL TABLE...


PHOTO CREDIT: WORLDPOKERTOUR.com

Vanessa Rousso holds a close to 2-1 chip lead as we countdown to the final WPT Main Event of the PTPR Season - the 2010 Five Diamond World Poker Classic - from Bellagio in Vegas.

The final table is a who's who in poker - Antonio the Magician Esfandiari, Ted Lawson, November Nine runner-up John Racener, the enigma Kirk Morrison and Andrew Robl all will be gunning for Lady Maverick's chips.

Action resumes in less than an hour from now - back for the final 12 minutes of Level 25 ...

Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari - 2,105,000 (35 bb)
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso - 5,830,000 (97 bb)
Seat 3. Ted Lawson - 635,000 (10 bb)
Seat 4. John Racener - 3,235,000 (53 bb)
Seat 5. Kirk Morrison - 2,650,000 (44 bb)
Seat 6. Andrew Robl - 3,210,000 (53 bb)



UPDATED RESULTS
1st place 129
2nd place 79
3rd place 49
4th place 39
5th place 34
6th place 29
LICHTENBERGER ANDREW 29
MOHAJERI KIA 14
MIZZI SOREL 14
DEHKHARGHANI RAY 14
VELADOR LUIS 14
DEMACI CHRIS 12
MAKHIJA AMIT 12
CARIS CHARLES 12
FUHS DANIEL 12
FRANKENBERGER ANDY 9
LEE DOUG 9
BRUNSON DOYLE 9

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

PTPR UPDATE: MIZZI OUT IN 9TH AT FIVE DIAMOND, SURPASSES MARCHESE FOR PLAYER OF THE YEAR


PHOTO CREDIT: WORLDPOKERTOUR.com

Sorel Mizzi has been knocked out of the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic Main Event. His ninth place finish earns him 14 PTPR Points and officially moves him 10 PTPR Points ahead of Thomas Marchese in the PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year Race.


Vanessa Rousso leads the star-studded Final 8. Here are the updated chip counts and seating assignments as of 6:00 PM Vegas time ...

Seat 1. Antonio Esfandiari - 640,000 (16 bbs)
Seat 2. Vanessa Rousso - 4,250,000 (106 bbs)
Seat 3. Ted Lawson - 1,150,000 (29 bbs)
Seat 4. Kia Mohajeri - 2,200,000 (55 bbs)
Seat 5. Andrew Lichtenberger - 2,000,000 (50 bbs)
Seat 6. John Racener - 2,700,000 (68 bbs)
Seat 7. –empty-
Seat 8. Kirk Morrison - 3,500,000 (88 bbs)
Seat 9. –empty-
Seat 10. Andrew Robl - 1,300,000 (33 bbs)


UPDATED RESULTS
1st place 129
2nd place 79
3rd place 49
4th place 39
5th place 34
6th place 29
7th place 29
8th place 14
MIZZI SOREL 14
DEHKHARGHANI RAY 14
VELADOR LUIS 14
DEMACI CHRIS 12
MAKHIJA AMIT 12
CARIS CHARLES 12
FUHS DANIEL 12
FRANKENBERGER ANDY 9
LEE DOUG 9
BRUNSON DOYLE 9

Monday, December 6, 2010

BREAKING: MIZZI SET TO TAKEOVER #1 PTPR POKER TOURANMENT PLAYER OF THE YEAR RANK WITH DAYS TO GO IN THE RACE


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com

It's official. With Eugene Katchalov's elimination, we are down to the Final 18 players at the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

This also means that Sorel Mizzi, who is still alive in the tournament, will become the #1 player on the PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year list. Mizzi will pickup a minimum of 9 PTPR Points in this event and will take a minimum of a 5 point lead on Tom Marchese.

With only days left before the #1 Ranked player is crowned PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year, will this be enough for Mizzi to seal the deal?


Unofficial chip counts of the Final 18 at the Five Diamond...

Antonio Esfandiari 2,900,000
Andrew Robl 2,500,000
John Racener 1,731,000
Kirk Morrison 1,370,000
Andrew Lichtenberger 1,000,000
Amit Makhija 1,000,000
Luis Velador 960,000
Daniel Fuhs 880,000
Kia Mohajeri 870,000
Sorel Mizzi 730,000
Vanessa Rousso 545,000
Ray Dehkharghani 500,000
Chris DeMaci 415,000
Andy Frankenberger 375,000
Doug Lee 310,000
Doyle Brunson 290,000
Charles Caris 260,000
Ted Lawson 260,000

PTPR RECAP: CHEONG MOVES INTO PTPR TOP 20 WITH FIVE DIAMOND PRELIM 2ND PLACE FINISH


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


November Niner Joseph Cheong moves into the PTPR Top 20 with his second place finish at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Event 9 - NLH w/rebuys (a PTPR Prelim Event).

Cheong moves up 13 spots to 17 on the PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year list.

Martin Hanowski actually won the event, scoring his first PTPR Points of the season. William Kakon scored for the third time this year while Ralph Perry scored for the second time.


Meanwhile, in Ireland, Nicholas Abou Risk has won the UKIPT Galway Irish Poker Championships (a PTPR Challenger Event). All five players receiving points scored for the first time this season.


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
Event 9 - No Limit Hold'em w/rebuys
November 30-December 1, 2010

Bellagio Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, NV, USA

Buy-in: $1,080
Prizepool: $258,990
Entries: 70 + 197 rebuys


FINAL RESULTS
HANOWSKI MARTIN 75
CHEONG JOSEPH 40
HARADA HIROAKI 25
LIU JIN 15
STACEY SPENCER 10
DELISLE IOHAHIIO ANDREW 8
JAZAYERI SEAN 5
KAKON WILLIAM 5
PERRY RALPH 5


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Irish Poker Championships
UKIPT Galway No Limit Hold'em Main Event
December 2-3, 2010

Radisson Hotel & Spa
Galway, Ireland

Buy-in: $1,100
Prizepool: $266,000
Entries: 266


FINAL RESULTS
ABOU RISK NICHOLAS 35
MALLIN TRISH 18
SILKE MAURICE 10
NAVICKAS VYTENIS 8
OLIN EOIN 5

Sunday, December 5, 2010

PTS AT STAKE: WPT FIVE DIAMOND - MIZZI ON THE PROWL


PHOTO CREDIT: WPT.com


We are in the money at the World Poker Tour Five Diamond Classic Main Event at the Bellagio in Las Vegas .. and the stars are out for sure! The current leaderboard reads as a who's who in poker ... Esfandiari, Lee, Kenney, Rousso (pictured), Brunson, Deeb, Morrison, Bakes, Koon, Racener, Shak, Lawson, Katchalov, Thor Hansen, Khan, Robl, and Phil Ivey all currently sit in the Top 30 in chips.

Also amongst the chip leaders is PTPR 2nd ranked player Sorel Mizzi. Mizzi's chips took a bit of a hit recently but, he is still above the chip average. Any spot in the Top 18 would give Mizzi the lead over recently eliminated Tom Marchese for PTPR Player of the Year race.


Here is the WPT Five Diamond prize pool (in USD) ...

1st: $870,124*
2nd: $549,003
3rd: $358,964
4th: $232,271
5th $168,924
6th: $126,693
7th: $97,131
8th: $67,570
9th:$59,123
10th: $50,677
11th-15th: $42,231
16th-20th: $33,785
21st-30th: $25,339
31st-40th: $21,116
41st-50th: $16,892
51st-70th: $13,725
71st-100th: $12,669
*Includes $25,500 Seat to WPT Championship in 2011


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
Five Diamond World Poker Classic
WPT Main Event
December 3-7, 2010

Bellagio Hotel Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

Buy-in: $10,300
Prizepool: $4,248,600
Entries: 438


POINTS AT STAKE
1st place 129
2nd place 79
3rd place 49
4th place 39
5th place 34
6th place 29
7th place 29
8th place 14
9th place 14
10th place 14
11th place 14
12th place 12
13th place 12
14th place 12
15th place 12
16th place 9
17th place 9
18th place 9

Friday, December 3, 2010

REMEMBERING NOVEMBER : TEHAN, LUNDMARK PTPR PLAYERS OF THE MONTH


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERSTARSBLOG.com


33 tournaments qualified for PTPR Points in November! Here is a quick look back at the month of November on the poker circuit ...


33 TOTAL TOURNAMENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 0
Premier - 2
Tier 3 - 8
Prelim - 2
Challenger - 21


NOVEMBER TOP 10

Player(s) of the month:
Joe Tehan, Kent Lundmark (pictured) each with 132 PTPR Points

Rest of the Top 10
EL SAYED SAM 105
PLACE ERIC 105
POLCHPOLEK MICHAL 103
BJERKMANN MARCEL 102
HASSE JULIAN 102
PETERS DAVID 100
BALDWIN ERIC "BASEBALDY" 100
GAMAITONI EDWARD 100

231 different players scored PTPR Points in November. Not a single played score twice in the month.


Q4 REPORT - TOP 10

Marcel Bjerkmann has continued his impressive run to close out 2010 - a whopping 247 PTPR Points have been accumulated in the quarter (since September 1st)

BJERKMANN MARCEL 248
SELBST VANESSA 157
PILGRIM DWYTE 135
VAMPLEW DAVID 133
TEHAN JOE 132
LUNDMARK KENT 132
EILER MICHAEL 130
PETERS DAVID 128
BORD JAMES 128
FLOWERS RANDAL 128


Bjerkamnn, David Peters, John Eames, Andrew Pantling and PTPR Top Ranked Player for 2010, Thomas Marchese, have each scored three times this quarter.

42 different players have scored twice in Q4, some of the names included: Selbst, Laak, Basebaldy, Annette, Lewis, Negreanu, Parker, Mizzi, Mercier, Madsen, Molson and Corkins.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

PTPR RECAP: TURENIEC, BENDIK WIN EPT BARCELONA PRELIMS


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


Online Swedish star Michael Tureniec (pictured) won EPT Barcelona Event 9 - No Limit Hold'em. This was Tureniec's first 75 PTPR Points this season. John Eames scored for the 4th time this year, Michael Freidrich scored for the 3rd time and Gillermo Garcia/Georges Yazbeck each scored for the second time this year.

Jan Bendik won EPT Barcelona Event 12 - No Limit Hold'em. Mikhail Lakhitov scored for the 3rd time this year. Sergey Lebedeu, Shahriar Soltaninassab and Simon Persson each scored for the second time.



PTPR PRELIM EVENT
EPT Barcelona
Event 9 - No Limit Hold'em
November 24-25, 2010

Hotel Arts Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Buy-in: $2,625
Prizepool: $588,134
Entries: 224


FINAL RESULTS
TURENIEC MICHAEL 75
EAMES JOHN 40
GOGNIAT THIERRY 25
GARCIA de BARREDA GILLERMO 15
KARKAS NIKOLAOS 10
FRIEDRICH MICHAEL 8
HAKIM JEFFREY 5
MURPHY CHRISTOPHER 5
YAZBECK GEORGES 5


PTPR PRELIM EVENT
EPT Barcelona
Event 12 - No Limit Hold'em
November 25-26, 2010

Hotel Arts Barcelona
Barcelona, Spain

Buy-in: $1,444
Prizepool: $285,704
Entries: 220


FINAL RESULTS
BENDIK JAN 75
PALENIUS TOPI 40
LEBEDEU SERGEY 25
SCHAFER THORSTEN 15
CHARTIER SAMUEL 10
SOLTANINASSAB SHAHRIAR 8
PERSSON SIMON 5
BARDIN SERGE 5
LAKHITOV MIKHAIL 5

PTPR RECAP: MEDITERRANEAN CUP, GUKPT GRAND FINAL


PHOTO CREDIT: POKERNEWS.com


Aleksandr Dovzhenko (pictured) earned his third PTPR Score of the season by winning the Merit Mediterranean Cup at the Merit Crystal Gove in Cyprus. Dovzhenko was the only repeat "scorer" in this Challenger Event.

Meanwhile, out in London, Leon Bui won the GUKPT Grand Final. All five Challenger Event scorers earned their first points of the season.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Mediterranean Cup Cyprus
Main Event
November 25-26, 2010

Merit Crystal Grove Casino
Cyprus

Buy-in: $2,500
Prizepool: $400,000
Entries: 153

FINAL RESULTS
DOVZHENKO ALEKSANDR 35
MAKSIM GUTKIN 18
STAUDACHER PETER 10
TAWILL KHALIL 8
POBEREZHNIY DMITRY 5


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Grand Final
GUKPT Main Event
November 25-27, 2010

Grosvenor Victoria
London, UK

Buy-in: $3,282
Prizepool: $679,374
Entries: 207

FINAL RESULTS
BUI LEON 35
IRVING NICOLAS 18
CHATTHA CHARLES 10
MIAH ASH 8
LEE SONG 5