EPT BARCELONA: TONS AT STAKE FOR SHORT STACKED KATCHALOV

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

It's final table time in beautiful Barcelona, Spain as EPT Barcelona is ready to name it's new champion on Thursday.

Tomeu Gomila will enter Final Table play as the chip leader for the second straight day. Gomila managed to risk very little chips today while other were raising and 5 betting as if they were playing a quick $5 sit 'n go at their buddy's kitchen table.

Second place in chips is Saar Wilf, who had some success in 2010 - Wilf was one that was throwing some chips around - seems like it worked out well.

But let's not kid ourselves, one player is earning everyone's attention - and for good reason. Eugene Katchalov will be last in chips when play begins on Thursday. However, he is by far the most experienced player, especially in these types of situations - his six world-class tournament final tables this year serve as indication.

But there is more than just a tournament win at stake for Katchalov. A top-7 finish (in other words, survive one elimination) and Katchalov will takeover from Ben Lamb as the #1 ranked player on the PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard ... although Lamb will have a mega opportunity to take the lead back come November.

This will be Katchalov's sixth PTPR Score of the season. He would need a win to surpass is current season high in tournament points - earning 128 PTPR Points in his WSOP Seven Card Stud bracelet win.

Katchalov also stands to takeover the new GPI - Global Poker Index rankings - taking over from Jason Mercier on the list (Mercier currently sits second on the PTPR Leaderboard).

But more importantly, Katchalov is a EPT title away from becoming the fifth player to win Poker's Triple Crown (a WPT title, EPT title and a WSOP bracelet). Earlier this summer, both ElkY and Jake Cody joined Gavin Griffin and Roland De Wolfe as the only players to ever achieve this feat.


FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENT / CHIP COUNTS:
Seat 1. Saar Wilf - 4,555,000
Seat 2. Martin Schleich - 2,260,000
Seat 3. Juan Manuel Perez - 1,090,000
Seat 4. Eugene Katchalov - 690,000
Seat 5. Isabel Baltazar - 2,270,000
Seat 6. Dragan Kostic - 2,155,000
Seat 7. Raul Mestre - 4,260,000
Seat 8. Tomeu Gomila - 6,985,000

EPT BARCELONA FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS:
1 €850,000
2 €532,000
3 €315,000
4 €244,000
5 €185,000
6 €145,000
7 €105,000
8 €73,000

RELATED:
THE FINAL 24 IS SET - INCLUDES SOMEONE NAME EUGENE?
CARRUGGI GRABS LEAD LATE, LEADERS BRACE FOR SELBST ATTACK
DARCOURT LEADS, KATCHALOV LURKS AS BIG FIELD INVADES BARCELONA
HOW SWEDE IT IS: 22-YEAR OLD LUNDMARK WINS EPT BARCELONA (2010)


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event
August 27-September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,635 | Prizepool : $5,843,660 | Entries: 811

PTS AT STAKE:
EPT Barcelona Champion 133
2nd position 83
3rd position 53
4th position 43
5th position 38
6th position 33
7th position 33
8th position 18
JOSE MIGUEL ESTEBAN 18
MATTHIAS de MEULDER 18
MARTON CZUCZOR 18
MASSIMILANO MARTINEZ 16
MARCOS FERNANDEZ 16
JAVIER CONTRERAS 16
EVGENY ZAYTSEV 16
MIIKKA ANTTONEN 13
TOME MOREIRA 13
SIGURD ESKELUND 13

WPT LEGENDS: THE THRILL OF VICTORY - FAILLA WINS LEGENDS

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

It was one heck of a roller coaster ride, but, in the end, Will "The Thrill" Failla is ok with that.

Failla entered final table play on Tuesday with a solid chip lead. Just a few hours after the cards were in the air, Failla found himself in last place and was bleeding chip. But then, a breakthrough. On the heels of big pot victories over Owais Ahmed and Keith Aldridge, Failla grabbed control of the WPT Legends of Poker and never looked back - collecting his first WPT Main Event title.

Failla has had a lot of tournament results, however, this one is more special for sure - just ask his loud rail, they will tell you!

The thrill of victory for Failla, for sure!

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS
1 - Will Failla $758,085
2 - Ken Aldridge $365,800
3 - Jeff Vertes $186,400
4 - Joshua Pollock $128,500
5 - Adam Aronson $102,800
6 - Owais Ahmed $77,100

RELATED:
FINAL TABLE SET - WILL "THE THRILL" REEL 'EM IN?
WPT LEGENDS GOES INTO OVERTIME
ENOUGH EATING, LET'S GET BACK TO BUSINESS!
BIG NAMES LEAD, BIG NAMES LEAVE ON DAY 2
REMEBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

FINAL RESULTS:
WILL FAILLA 132
KEN ALDRIDGE 82
JEFF VERTES 52
JOSHUA POLLOCK 42
ADAM ARONSON 37
OWAIS AHMED 32
RAY HENSON 32
JAMES CARROLL 17
DAVID DANESHGAR 17
MATT KAY 17
TYLER CORNELL 17
RICHARD MCGEE 15
SHAWN BUCHANAN 15
MIKE ESKANDARI 15
CHRISTINA LINDLEY 15
BRENT HANKS 12
BILLY BEY 12
DAVID TUTHILL 12

EPT BARCELONA: THE FINAL 24 IS SET - INCLUDES SOMEONE NAMED EUGENE?

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

24 players are a day away from a shot at EPT title. EPT Barcelona will crown it's champion on Thursday but first, the final 24 must duke it out.

Eugene Katchalov is the big name left in the tournament. Should Katchalov finish seventh or better, he would take Ben Lamb's spot atop the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year Leaderboard.

Should be a fun day Wednesday.




TOP 24 CHIP COUNTS:
Tomeu Gomila 2547000
Raul Mestre 2363000
Saar Wilf 1999000
Massimilano Martinez 1795000
Marcos Fernandez 1699000
Eugene Katchalov 1452000
Matthias De Meulder 1376000
Jose Miguel Esteban Nieto 1169000
Javier Contreras 1156000
Evgeny Zaytsev 1095000
Marton Czuczor 860000
Mikel Allende 826000
Sigurd Andreas Eskeland 802000
Juan Manuel Perez Cornejo 780000
Dragan Kostic 714000
Benjamin Juhasz 663000
Xavier Carruggi 542000
Martin Schleich 536000
Anthony Picault 450000
Rumen Nanev 397000
Tome Moreira 338000
Miikka Anttonen 282000
Isabel Baltazar Clemente 255000
Andras Kovacs 251000

NOTABLE DAY 2 ELIMINATIONS:
Marvin Rettenmaier, Bryn Kenney, Ludovic Lacay, Ville Wahlbeck, Tristan Clemencon, Sebastien Ruttenberg, Daniel Cates, David Vamplew, Jason Mercier, Vitaly Lunkin, Kent Lundmark, Jonathan Duhamel, John O'Shea, Jose Nacho Barbero, Allen Bari, Joseph Cheong, Melanie Weisner, Andrew Teng, Luca Pagano, Marcin Horecki, Matthew Waxman and Arnaud Mattern.

RELATED:
CARRUGGI GRABS LEAD LATE, LEADERS BRACE FOR SELBST ATTACK
DARCOURT LEADS, KATCHALOV LURKS AS BIG FIELD INVADES BARCELONA


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event
August 27-September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,635 | Prizepool : $5,843,660 | Entries: 811

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 133
2nd position 83
3rd position 53
4th position 43
5th position 38
6-7th position 33
8-11th position 18
12-15th position 16
16-18th position 13

WPT LEGENDS: FINAL TABLE SET - WILL "THE THRILL" REEL 'EM IN?

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

Will "The Thrill" Failla - quite the character - QUITE the character! The folks in the WPT production truck must be licking their chops in anticipation of what Failla may have in store for us as chip leader heading into WPT Final Table play at the Legends of Poker, outside Los Angeles.

Failla picked up the chip lead late (actually, very early this morning after a marathon session late Monday/early Tuesday). Joshua Pollock had the chip late in the day prior to Failla taking over. Pollock sits second, just about 1 million chips behind The Thrill.

Early chip leader Ken Aldridge will also make his way to final table play on Tuesday as will 2011 WSOP bracelet winner Owais Ahmed. Ahmed will be the short stack as play begins.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS
Seat 1 - Joshua Pollock 5,315,000
Seat 2 - Owais Ahmed 1,720,000
Seat 3 - Will Failla 6,775,000
Seat 4 - Adam Aronson 2,185,000
Seat 5 - Ken Aldridge 3,640,000
Seat 6 - Jeff Vertes 4,005,000

RELATED:
WPT LEGENDS GOES INTO OVERTIME
ENOUGH EATING, LET'S GET BACK TO BUSINESS!
BIG NAMES LEAD, BIG NAMES LEAVE ON DAY 2
REMEBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 132
2nd position 82
3rd position 52
4th position 42
5th position 37
6-7th position 32
8-11th position 17
12-15th position 15
16-18th position 12

WPT LEGENDS: INTO OVERTIME - THEY'RE STILL PLAYING!

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

We're into overtime at the WPT Legends of Poker ... eight players still remain, we need to get down to six for the WPT final table ... still battlling it out at 2:30AM Vegas time!

Ray Henson 4,100,000
Owais Ahmed 3,850,000
Joshua Pollock 3,400,000
Will Failla 3,400,000
Adam Aronson 3,050,000
Ken Aldridge 2,740,000
Jeff Vertes 2,000,000
James Carroll 1,200,000

RELATED:
ENOUGH EATING, LET'S GET BACK TO BUSINESS!
BIG NAMES LEAD, BIG NAMES LEAVE ON DAY 2
REMEBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 132
2nd position 82
3rd position 52
4th position 42
5th position 37
6-7th position 32
8-11th position 17
12-15th position 15
16-18th position 12

WPT LEGENDS: ENOUGH EATING, LET'S GET BACK TO BUSINESS

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

Time to shout off the stoves, dinner break is almost over - let's get right back down to business at the WPT Legends of Poker.

We have 10 players remaining in our unofficial final table. We will make it down to six players tonight in order to determine our WPT Final Table.

The current chip leader is Joshua Pollock. Pollock finds himself in unfamiliar territory - his best ever live tournament finish was at Heartland Poker Tour Las Vegas in January of 2010 - he finished 38th in that event.

Pollock has already surpassed his personal best - he now looks to continue trending up. James Carroll, Ray Henson, Will Failla, Ken Aldridge and bracelet winner Owais Ahmed are seasoned veterans that remain and that hope to take the reigns from Pollock.

Current chip counts as play is set to resume in a few minutes ...

Seat 1: David Daneshgar - 1,320,000 (33 BBs)
Seat 2: Joshua Pollock - 3,700,000 (92 BBs)
Seat 3: Owais Ahmed - 940,000 (23 BBs)
Seat 4: Will Failla - 2,360,000 (59 BBs)
Seat 5: Adam Aronson - 1,700,000 (42 BBs)
Seat 6: Matt Kay - 890,000 (22 BBs)
Seat 7: Ray Henson - 2,800,000 (70 BBs)
Seat 8: Ken Aldridge - 3,000,000 (75 BBs)
Seat 9: James Carroll - 2,200,000 (55 BBs)
Seat 10: Jeff Vertes - 3,550,000 (87 BBs)

NOTABLE DAY 4 ELIMINATIONS:
Tyler Cornell, Shawn Buchanan, Christina Lindley, Brent Hanks and Dan Heimiller.

RELATED:
BIG NAMES LEAD, BIG NAMES LEAVE ON DAY 2
REMEBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 132
2nd position 82
3rd position 52
4th position 42
5th position 37
6-7th position 32
8-11th position 17
12-15th position 15
16-18th position 12

EPT BARCELONA: CARRUGGI GRABS LEAD LATE, LEADERS BRACE FOR SELBST ATTACK

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

It's almost money bubble time at EPT Barcelona. Another large group of players made their way to the exit of Casino Barcelona, we're down to 141 players (from a impressive 811 start) and for the second straight day, we have a Frenchman.

A late surge has given Xavier Carruggi the chip lead heading into Day 3. He takes over from fellow countryman Guillaume Darcout who had the chip lead when we started Monday's play. Darcourt is still Top 10 in chips.

You can bet that those Top 10 players are looking over their shoulder. Lurking right outside the Top 10 is PTPR #66 ranked player Vanessa Selbst. Don't be fooled by Selbst's "low" rating, she is, by far, one of the most feared players at the poker table and she may just be on the verge of taking this tournament by storm - watch out for Selbst on Tuesday.


TOP NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS (Min. 100000 chips):
Xavier Joseph Carruggi 577700
Martin Schleich 453400
Guillaume Darcourt 380100
Vanessa Selbst 364500
Victor Ramdin 252900
Chris Moorman 248100
Tobias Reinkemeier 209300
Leo Margets 175200
Filippo Candio 167500
Simon Charette 164500
Andre Akkari 157700
Erik Scheidt 155600
Eugene Katchalov 154000
Leo Fernandez 146400
Martin Jacobson 128700
Manuel Bevand 128300
Alex Kravchenko 123900

NOTABLE DAY 2 ELIMINATIONS:
Marvin Rettenmaier, Bryn Kenney, Ludovic Lacay, Ville Wahlbeck, Tristan Clemencon, Sebastien Ruttenberg, Daniel Cates, David Vamplew, Jason Mercier, Vitaly Lunkin, Kent Lundmark, Jonathan Duhamel, John O'Shea, Jose Nacho Barbero, Allen Bari, Joseph Cheong, Melanie Weisner, Andrew Teng, Luca Pagano, Marcin Horecki, Matthew Waxman and Arnaud Mattern.

RELATED:
DARCOURT LEADS, KATCHALOV LURKS AS BIG FIELD INVADES BARCELONA


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event
August 27-September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,635 | Prizepool : $5,843,660 | Entries: 811

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 133
2nd position 83
3rd position 53
4th position 43
5th position 38
6-7th position 33
8-11th position 18
12-15th position 16
16-18th position 13

PTS AT STAKE: DARCOURT LEADS, KATCHALOV LURKS AS BIG FIELD INVADES BARCELONA

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Welcome to Barcelona and the European Poker Tour's second event of the 2011-12 season! Oh, and welcome to the biggest tournament in Spain's history.

In total, 811 participants bought into EPT Barcelona - no rebuys, no re-entries, no second chances here - straight up freezeout is what we're playing! The total prizepool? Over €4,000,000 !!!

We've completed both Day 1's and Frenchman Guillaume Darcourt leads the way with 195K in chips. Day 1A chip leader Martin Schleich sits second in chips.

There are big names atop the leaderboard but the one we're keeping our eye on after Day 1 is PTPR's #3 Ranked player Eugene Katchalov. Katchalov will enter Day 2 play on Monday 10th in chips with 153K.

Still lots of play left as about half the field was eliminated on Saturday or Sunday. Back to Casino Barcelona on Monday.

TOP NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS:
Guillaume Darcourt 195300
Martin Schleich 182100
Sam El Sayed 163200
Eugene Katchalov 153100
Dmitry Gromov 152200
Leo Fernandez 148600
Arkadiy Tsinis 143200
Daniel Cates 140500
Manuel Bevand 133700
Kevin Vandersmissen 133200
Ivan Starostin 125700
Chris Moorman 122975
Mickey Petersen 117800
Marvin Rettenmaier 114200
Andre Akkari 105000

NOTABLE DAY 1B ELIMINATIONS:
Praz Bansi, Jude Ainsworth, Kevin MacPhee, Liv Boeree, Johannes Strassmann, Dag Palovic, Noah Boeken, Daniel Negreanu, John Eames, Dario Minieri, Sorel Mizzi, ElkY, Dominik Nitsche, Philip Collins, Brandon Cantu, Steve O'Dwyer, Fatima Moreira de Melo, James Dempsey, Maxim Lykov, Anton Wigg, Roberto Romanello, Viktor Blom, John Duthie, Michael Turneniec and Chris Moneymaker.

EPT BARCELONA PAYOUTS (in EURO):
1 €850,000
2 €532,000
3 €315,000
4 €244,000
5 €185,000
6 €145,000
7 €105,000
8 €73,000
9-10 €50,000
11-12 €36,000
13-14 €29,000
15-16 €24,000
17-24 €20,000
25-32 €18,000
33-48 €16,000
49-64 €14,000
65-80 €12,000
81-96 €10,000
97-120 €8,000

RELATED:
HOW SWEDE IT IS: 22-YEAR OLD LUNDMARK WINS EPT BARCELONA (2010)
TURENIEC, BENDIK WIN EPT BARCELONA PRELIMS (2010)

PTPR PREMIER EVENT
European Poker Tour Barcelona
EPT Barcelona NLH Main Event
August 27-September 1, 2011

Casino Barcelona | Spain
Buy-in: $7,635 | Prizepool : $5,843,660 | Entries: 811

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 133
2nd position 83
3rd position 53
4th position 43
5th position 38
6-7th position 33
8-11th position 18
12-15th position 16
16-18th position 13

UNIBET DUBLIN: UK IS OK - VAS NUNES BECOMES FIRST BRIT TO WIN UNIBET

PHOTO/SOURCE: UNIBETOPEN.com

The Unibet Open Dublin was Paul Vas Nunes' to win. He carried a big chip lead into today's final table play and, except for a small period, held the chip lead throughout today's play - all the way to the title!

Van Nunes becomes the first Brit to pickup a Unibet Open title.

Runner-up Emil Pedersen had quite the adventure today. Down to just a few chips at one point, he built and built his chip stack - so much so that he took the lead away from Vas Nunes for a little bit.

Another successful event by the folks at Unibet.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS (in EUR):
1 €105,300.00 Paul Vas Nunes
2 €66,300.00 Emil Pedersen
3 €39,000.00 Pim van Riet
4 €27,000.00 Tommy Almqvist
5 €23,000.00 Peter Harkes
6 €19,000.00 Boris Kuzmanovic
7 €15,000.00 Marcel Scherjon
8 €11,000.00 Morten Jensen
9 €7,800.00 Thomas Svengaard

RELATED:
FINAL TABLE SET - VAS NUNES CHIP KING
UNIBET OPEN DUBLIN DEEP INTO DAY 2


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Unibet Open Dublin
NLH Main Event
August 25-28, 2011

Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre | Dublin
Buy-in: $2,390 | Prizepool : $564,840 | Entries: 260

FINAL RESULTS:
PAUL VAS NUNES 35
EMIL PEDERSEN 18
PIM VAN RIET 10
TOMMY ALMQVIST 8
PETER HARKES 5

WPT LEGENDS: BIG NAMES LEAD, BIG NAMES LEAVE ON DAY 2

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

Many big names of poker went in opposite directions during Day 2 play on Saturday at the WPT Legends of Poker outside Los Angeles.

While the top 6 spots in the standings are filled by known pros, a ton of other known players went by the wayside on moving day at the Bike.

Ken Aldgridge, Cody Slaughbaugh, Will Failla, Matt Berkey, Tom Braband and James Carroll occupy the Top 6 spots while Matt Affleck, Tim West, Taylor Von Kriegenbergh, Sam Stein and Andy Frankenberger are amongst the big name players that were eliminated on Saturday.


NOTABLE TOP CHIP COUNTS (above average chip stacks):
Ken Aldridge 659,500
Cody Slaubaugh 658,000
Will Failla 550,500
Matt Berkey 502,000
Tom Braband 482,000
James Carroll 472,500
Ray Henson 454,500
Brent Hanks 430,000
Allen Kessler 408,000
Dan O'Brien 360,500
Alec Torelli 324,500
Dwyte Pilgrim 315,500
Gavin Smith 282,500
Soi Nguyen 274,500
Chance Kornuth 265,000
Jason Dewitt 255,500
David Paredes 249,500
Jon Friedberg 237,500
Dan Heimiller 235,500
Aaron Overton 235,500
Shawn Buchanan 235,500

NOTABLE DAY 2 ELIMINATIONS:
Mike Sowers, Nicolas Levi, Nam Le, Nick Binger, Lee Markholt, Kristy Gazes, Matt Affleck, Micah Raskin, Maria Ho, Thor Hansen, Tim West, Taylor Von Kriegenbergh, Van Nguyen, Todd Terry, Ryan Welch, Raymond Davis, Shannon Shorr, Sam Stein, Scott Clements, Corey Burbick, Chad Batista, ODG David Baker, David Levi, Dan Shak, Darren Elias, Amit Makhija, Andy Frankenberger, Ali Eslami, David Peters, Joe Bartholdi, Jimmy Tran, Jonathan Aguiar, Joe Tehan, Greg Sessler, Isaac Baron and Jason Koon.

RELATED:
REMEBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS
SAUCEDO TURNS $150 INTO 340K AT LEGENDS


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 132
2nd position 82
3rd position 52
4th position 42
5th position 37
6-7th position 32
8-11th position 17
12-15th position 15
16-18th position 12

APPT QUEENSTOWN: SCHREINER IS CHIP BOSS - WINS SNOWFEST

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Was there ever a doubt? Marcel Schreiner took the chip lead at APPT Queenstown Snowfest sometime on Friday and he never, ever looked back. Chip leader after Friday, chip leader following Saturday's play and pickup the Championship on Sunday - not a bad weekend for the German!

The buzz name heading into this weekend's play was popular pro Jonathan Karamalikis and although he did make the final table, he wasn't able to place better than 9th, outside PTPR Points consideration for a PTPR Challenger Event.

FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS (in NZD):
1 Marcel Schreiner 94,300
2 Matt Yates 60,000
3 John Waterman 35,150
4 Carl Knox 29,145
5 Daniel Laidlaw 24,000
6 Tom Grigg 19,715
7 Xiao Dong Xia 16,290
8 Hugh Cohen 12,860
9 Jonathan Karamalikis 10,280

RELATED:
CARDS ARE IN THE AIR, FINAL TABLE PLAY BEGINS
xMONSTERxDONGx ALERT AT APPT QUEENSTOWN SNOWFEST


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Pokerstars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest
APPT NLH Main Event
August 23-28, 2011

SKYCITY Queenstown | New Zealand
Buy-in: $2,510 | Prizepool : $287,380 | Entries: 127

FINAL RESULTS:
MARCEL SCHREINER 35
MATT YATES 18
JOHN WATERMAN 10
CARL KNOX 8
DANIEL LAIDLAW 5

UNIBET DUBLIN: FINAL TABLE SET FOR SUNDAY - VAS NUNES CHIP KING

PHOTO/SOURCE: UNIBETOPEN.com

Dublin will be the setting of the next Unibet Open final - the remaining nine players will make their way to the Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre on Sunday afternoon to battle it out.

Paul Vas Nunes will enter Sunday's play as the big chip leader. He has more than a 2:1 chip lead over second place Boris Kuzmanovic. All eyes will be on Vas Nunes and every other player will be gunning for those chips sooner or later.

Over €105,000 goes to the winner - Vas Nunes is hoping he wins it and, in the process, become the first Englishman to pickup a Unibet Open title.

Play resumes Sunday at 2PM Dublin time, final table live stream on unibetopen.com.

FINAL TABLE SEAT ASSIGNMENTS/CHIP COUNTS:
Seat 1: Pim van Riet – 527,000
Seat 2: Paul Vas Nunes – 1,483,000
Seat 3: Tommy Almqvist – 618,000
Seat 4: Boris Kuzmanovic – 705,000
Seat 5: Morten Kjaer Jensen – 257,000
Seat 6: Peter Harkes – 583,000
Seat 7: Thomas Svengaard – 181,000
Seat 8: Emil Pedersen – 397,000
Seat 9: Marcel Scherjon – 419,000

RELATED:
UNIBET OPEN DUBLIN DEEP INTO DAY 2


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Unibet Open Dublin
NLH Main Event
August 25-28, 2011

Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre | Dublin
Buy-in: $2,390 | Prizepool : $564,840 | Entries: 260

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 35
2nd position 18
3rd position 10
4th position 8
5th position 5

APPT QUEENSTOWN: CARDS ARE IN THE AIR, FINAL TABLE PLAY BEGINS

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

Final table has just begun in New Zealand as we're nearing completion of the APPT Queenstown Snowfest Main Event.

Marcel Schreiner holds the chip lead coming in - and this, for the second straight day, yesterday's feature player - xMonsterxDongx himself, Jonathan Karamalikis, starts sixth.

Cards are already in the air, follow PokerNews and the PokerStars blog for up-to-the-minute results.

FINAL TABLE CHIP COUNTS:
1 Marcel Schreiner 591,500
2 Matt Yates 523,500
3 Tom Grigg 275,000
4 Daniel Laidlaw 236,000
5 Carl Knox 236,000
6 Jonathan Karamalikis 174,000
7 John Waterman 153,500
8 Hugh Cohen 146,500
9 Xiao Dong Xia 107,500

RELATED:
xMONSTERxDONGx ALERT AT APPT QUEENSTOWN SNOWFEST


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Pokerstars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest
APPT NLH Main Event
August 23-28, 2011

SKYCITY Queenstown | New Zealand
Buy-in: $2,510 | Prizepool : $287,380 | Entries: 127

PTS AT STAKE:
APPT Queenstown Champion 35
2nd place 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

EUREKA! HUNGARIAN BODIS WINS CROATIA MAIN EVENT, PKRGSSP REPORT

PHOTO: POKERSTARSBLOG.com

Before heading to Crotia for the latest Eureka Tour stop - we're checking in on the Bay 101 Open and the successes of our good buddy JW, the guru behind PKRGSSP (@PRKGSSP - pkrgssp.com).

It was a bit of a slow start during Monday's and Wednesday's events - despite playing solid poker, no results to speak of.

However, Friday's $345 buy-in bounty event was a totally different story. Some great poker playing our Superstar from the Bay Area placed sixth and collected a nice $2600 paycheck in the process - very well played sir - go get 'em in today's Main!


Now back to the Golden Sun Casino in Croatia where Richard Bodis defeated Carsten Luxig heads up to pickup the Eureka Poker Tour Croatia Main Event title.

It was a first PTPR Score for Bodis and all other Top 5 participants.

RELATED:
KEITH JOHNSON WINS EUREKA PT INAUGURAL EVENT


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Eureka Poker Tour Croatia
NLH Main Event
August 24-27, 2011

Golden Sun Casino | Croatia
Buy-in: $1,095 | Prizepool : $260,210 | Entries: 255

FINAL RESULTS:
RICHARD BODIS 35
CARSTEN LUXIG 18
VASILEIOS CHANTZARAS 10
JOSE CARLOS FIBLA LOPEZ 8
MICHAEL LUNDQUIST 5

PTS AT STAKE: UNIBET OPEN DUBLIN DEEP INTO DAY 2

PHOTO/SOURCE: UNIBETOPEN.com

The next instalment of the Unibet Open tour has arrived in Dublin, Ireland. 260 players have decided to put their money where their mouths are and attempt to pickup the Dublin title.

The action is alive and kicking at Citywest - we're down to 36 players - and two notable players have recently been eliminated. Marty Smyth and Unibet Open Prague Champ Henri Ojala have been been felted and will have to wait for the next tournament in order to make it back to the final table.

UNOFFICIAL TOP 10 CHIP COUNTS AT LEVEL 12
Marcel Scherjon 264500
Peter Harkes 246000
Pim van Riet 240500
George McKeever 220000
Hauke Heseding 210000
Paul Van Walsem 199400
Derek Murray 184000
Sampo Ryynanen 180000
Joey Vittali 154300
Simon Hemsworth 150000

Unibet brings you live feature table coverage of the event:
LIVE FEATURE TABLE COVERAGE

RELATED:
SANCHEZ CEBOLLADA WINS MARATHAN AT UNIBET BARCELONA
DOUBLE DUTCH: MOOLHUIZEN WINS UNIBET MALTA


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Unibet Open Dublin
NLH Main Event
August 25-28, 2011

Citywest Hotel and Convention Centre | Dublin
Buy-in: $2,390 | Prizepool : $564,840 | Entries: 260

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 35
2nd position 18
3rd position 10
4th position 8
5th position 5

PTS AT STAKE: REMEMBER ME? JC TRAN LEADS THE WAY AT WPT LEGENDS

PHOTO/SOURCE: WPT.com

There were long periods of time between 2006 and 2009 where JC Tran was one of if not THE best tournament poker player in the world and to expect him to keep that pace going year in and year out would have been unfair.

This isn't to say that Tran has completely disappeared from the poker circuit, not at all - but - the last major tournament victory for Tran was in 2009 - where he captured his last bracelet, at the WSOP PLO Event 30.

Well, queue Friday night at the Bike - Tran, trying to come back to stardom - ends the day as the chip leader at the WPT Legends of Poker - the first WPT event of the 2011-12 season in the US (the tour has already visited Slovenia and Spain).

Tran enters Day 2 play with 265K in chips, about 20K more chips more than Day 1A chip leader Matthew Berkey. WSOP November Niner Soi Nguyen, Cody Slaughbagh and Ryan Welch will also enter Saturday's play with healthy chip stack.

UNOFFICIAL NOTABLE TOP CHIP COUNTS (Day 1A + 1B combined):
JC Tran 265,000
Matthew Berkey 248,500
Soi Nguyen 215,200
Cody Slaubaugh 188,200
Michael Woo 167,000
Ryan Welch 157,500
Will Failla 148,300
Paul Lieu 148,000
Owen Crowe 138,500
Dan O'Brien 136,000
Taylor von Kriegenbergh 133,400
Isaac Baron 130,500
Hafiz Khan 130,100
Zach Clark 126,400
David Peters 120,100

NOTABLE DAY 1B ELIMINATIONS:
Lars Bonding, Kyle Wilson, Lauren Kling, Kathy Liebert, Jennifer Tilly, Justin Young, Justin Smith, Robert Williamson III, Tony Dunst, Andreas Hoivold, Barry Greenstein, Abbey Daniels, Cornell Cimpan, Freddy Deeb, David Pham, EPIC Poker League Champion Chino Rheem and Brandon Meyers.

RELATED:
SAUCEDO TURNS $150 INTO 340K AT LEGENDS
BIG GAME HUNTER: RAMDIN WIN THE BIG EVENT


PTPR PREMIER EVENT
World Poker Tour Legends of Poker
WPT Legends of Poker Main Event
August 25-30, 2011

The Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $3,700 | Prizepool : $2,570,015 | Entries: 757

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 132
2nd position 82
3rd position 52
4th position 42
5th position 37
6-7th position 32
8-11th position 17
12-15th position 15
16-18th position 12

PTS AT STAKE: xMONSTERxDONGx ALERT AT APPT QUEENSTOWN SNOWFEST

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERNEWS.com

We've completed Day 2 at the APPT Queenstown Snowfest and although we had a very small field to start, action seems to be popping in New Zealand!

German player Marcel Schreiner will be the chip once play starts back up on Saturday but most eyes will be on xMONSTERxDONGx Jonathan Karamalikis, a colorful and very skilled pro on the tournament circuit. Karamalikis is a well-known pro that has had a lot of success in Australia and New Zealand - in fact, Karamalikis won APPT Sydney back in December.

We are down to 21 players, here are the Top 10 chip counts:
Marcel Schreiner 453,800
Tom Grigg 220,500
Jonathan Karamalikis 192,800
Ben Paurini 180,100
Carl Knox 148,100
Hugh Cohen 143,900
Daniel Laidlaw 138,100
Jackson Zheng 121,200
Cole Swannack 120,100
Matt Yates 100,200

RELATED:
AUSSIES RULE: APPT SYDNEY A AUSTRALIAN AFFAIR


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Pokerstars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Queenstown Snowfest
APPT NLH Main Event
August 23-28, 2011

SKYCITY Queenstown | New Zealand
Buy-in: $2,510 | Prizepool : $287,380 | Entries: 127

PTS AT STAKE:
APPT Queenstown Champion 35
2nd place 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

JAMES WRIGHT WINS INDIANA STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

We finally have final results for the Indiana State Poker Championship which ended earlier this week.

James Wright claimed the top prize and is Main Event Champion of the Indiana State Championship.

Eli Loewentahl (pictured) earned his second PTPR Score of the season with his third place finish - he earned points at a WSOP Circuit New Orleans side event back in May.

RELATED:
LOOKING BACK AT THE LOCAL'S WIN OVER STARS SEIDEL, REYNOLDS

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Indiana State Poker Championship
NLH Main Event
August 20-21, 2011

Hollywood Casino | Indiana
Buy-in: $1,600 | Prizepool : $339,200 | Entries: 240

FINAL RESULTS:
JAMES WRIGHT 35
SAMUEL STEELE 18
ELI LOEWENTHAL 10
JUSTIN TRUESDELL 8
DWAYNE WALTERS 5

PTPR POKER PLAYER PROFILE: TAYLOR VON KRIEGENBERGH

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: PTPR POKER, THEHENDONMOB.com, WIKIPEDIA.org

PLAYER VITALS
Name: Taylor Von Kriegenbergh | Born 1988
Home: Stoneham, Massachusetts, USA

LIVE TOURNAMENT WINNINGS
Lifetime: $1,324,508 | 2011(YTD): $1,324,508

MAJOR TOUR TITLES (1)
WPT Titles: 1 | 2011 WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown

2011 PTPR RATINGS
PTPR Ranking: 17th | PTPR Points: 184 | PTPR Scores: 4

2011 PTPR TOURNAMENT SCORES (4)
THE BIG EVENT, Los Angelels (PTPR Tier 3)
March 5-10, 2011 | Placed 4th, 140K | 29 PTPR Points

NAPT MOHEGAN SUN NLH MAIN EVENT, Connecticut (PTPR Premier)
April 9-13, 2011 | Placed 18th, 12K | 8 PTPR Points

NAPT MOHEGAN SUN NLH BOUNTY SHOOTOUT, Connecticut (PTPR Tier 3)
April 12-14, 2011 | Placed 5th, 44K | 18 PTPR Points

WPT SEMINOLE HARD ROCK MAIN EVENT, Florida (PTPR Premier)
April 27-2, 2011 | Champion, 1.12M | 129 PTPR Points


FINAL 2010 PTPR RATINGS
PTPR Ranking: N/A | PTPR Points: 0 | PTPR Scores: 0


RELATED:
PTPR PLAYER OF THE MONTH: MAXIMILIAN HEINZELMANN BEST IN APRIL
WPT SEMINOLE HARD ROCK MAIN EVENT - VON KRIEGENBERGH MOVES UP
WPT SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: VON KRIEGENBERGH WINS MARATHON SESSION

HASTINGS VICTORIOUS AT WPT REGIONAL SEMINOLE HARD ROCK

PHOTO/SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

Brian Hastings is the latest winner on tour. Hastings collected over 213K and the win at the WPT Regional - Summer Splash Open - that was taking place at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Florida.

Hastings survived a strong field that included PTPR #2 Ranked Player Jason Mercier and Darryll Fish - who finished fourth in the event.

Hastings outlasted Griffin Malatino heads up - look out for Malatino, a lot of name players were singing the praises of Malatino.

RELATED:
WPT SEMINOLE HARD ROCK - VON KRIEGENBERGH MOVES UP


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Summer Splash Poker Open
WPT Regional NLH Main Event
August 19-22, 2011

Seminole Hard Rock Casino | Florida
Buy-in: $2,200 | Prizepool : $782,200 | Entries: 391

FINAL RESULTS:
BRIAN HASTINGS 35
GRIFFIN MALATINO 18
MICHAEL DE GILO 10
DARRYLL FISH 8
JAKE SCHWARTZ 5

KARR DOMINATES, WINS PARX OPEN

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: PARXPOKERBLOG.com

McLean Karr took the lead at the Parx Open Poker Classic late on Saturday night, and he never looked back.

Karr picks up his third PTPR Score of the 2011 season with this win, he defeated Dan Smith heads up - Smith earns his fourth PTPR Score this year.

Ronald Lee finished third in the event, earning his second PTPR Score of the year while notable Mike Sica finished fifth in the event.

Thanks to Kevmath for tons of updates from the event!

RELATED:
KARR IS LEADER AS DAY 2 BEGINS AT PARX
RESULTS NOW IN: KARR WINS WPT VIENNA HIGH ROLLERS


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Parx Open Poker Classic
NLH Main Event
August 20-22, 2011

Parx Casino | Pennsylvania
Buy-in: $2,000 | Prizepool : $324,808 | Entries: 181

FINAL RESULTS:
MCLEAN KARR 35
DAN SMITH 18
RONALD LEE 10
MATT BOWERS 8
MIKE SICA 5

ERIC PHAN TAKES HOME FOXWOODS MEGA STACK CHALLENGE TITLE

SOURCE: FOXWOODSLIVE.com

Eric Phan is the latest Foxwoods Mega Stack Main Event Champion! Entering Day 2 play in ninth place, Phan had a little work to do in order to take this tournament down, but he did, chopping with second place finisher Bob Kuehl.

Over 400 runners in the latest instalment of the Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge - another successful series run!


RELATED:
DAY 2 BEGINS AT FOXWOODS MEGA STACK CHALLENGE
FOXWOODS FINDS ITS LATEST MEGA STACKS CHAMPION


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge
NLH Main Event
August 20-21, 2011

Foxwoods Casino Resort | Connecticut
Buy-in: $1,200 | Prizepool : $432,436 | Entries: 409

FINAL RESULTS:
ERIC PHAN 35
BOB KUEHL 18
JEAN JOSEPH 10
PAUL STANECHEWSKI 8
LOUIS CICCOTTO 5

CHATTHA DISPOSES OF STARS LEWIS, FELDMAN ON WAY TO GUKPT LUTON WIN

SOURCE: GROSVENORPOKERTOUR.com

It was a dream final table for sure as powerhouse names were taking their seat in hopes of winning the GUKPT Luton Main Event ... and in the end, Chaz Chattha scoops up the title in impressive fashion, elimination pros Toby Lewis and Andrew Feldman in order to win it.

Feldman had quite the day today ... at one point, he was down on his luck, then, he had a serious chip lead and then he was down on his luck again. But, nothing could stop him from losing all of his chips when his queens ran into Chattha's kings, and that's when Chattha took control of the situation.

With a two-to-one chip lead, Chattha knew that Lewis would need to take chances heads up - and he did. On the final hand, Lewis pushed all of his chips in with ace-ten while Chattha called with a ace-king hand which proved to be the winner.

Chattha and Feldman pick up their first PTPR Score of the season while Toby Lewis collects his second.

RELATED:
LEWIS, FELDMAN TAKE LEAD INTO GUKPT LUTON FINAL TABLE
PFEIFER WINS DEEPSTACKS SENECA, MANSBRIDGE TAKES GUKPT WALSALL


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Luton
GUKPT Luton NLH Main Event
August 19-21, 2011

G Casino Luton | Great Britain
Buy-in: $1,540 | Prizepool : $307,880 | Entries: 214

PTS AT STAKE:
CHAZ CHATTHA 35
TOBY LEWIS 18
ANDREW FELDMAN 10
BERTIE KEEGAN 8
ANTONIO GERMAN 5

PTS AT STAKE: DAY 2 BEGINS AT FOXWOODS MEGA STACK CHALLENGE

SOURCE: FOXWOODSLIVE.com

So many tournaments going on this weekend, it's amazing!

Our next stop takes us to famous Foxwoods, and the latest edition of the Mega Stack Challenge! 86 players are returning for Day 2 play with Ken Harding carrying the chip lead as play has just begun.

A total of 409 runners entered the event and most didn't survive the Day 1 rush - Ari Engel and Ronnie Bardah were some of the last notables eliminated late Saturday night.

TOP 10 CHIP COUNTS:
1 Harding, Ken 510,000
2 Colpoys, Dan 503,500
3 Berlin, Nachman 472,000
4 Comeau, John 460,500
5 Bettencourt, Andy 415,000
6 Nye, Mike 408,500
7 Flanagan, Michael 394,000
8 Zollo, Louis 394,000
9 Phan, Eric 389,000
10 Johnson, Dourlas 329,500


RELATED:
FOXWOODS FINDS ITS LATEST MEGA STACKS CHAMPION (May 23, 2011)


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge
NLH Main Event
August 20-22, 2011

Foxwoods Casino Resort | Connecticut
Buy-in: $1,200 | Prizepool : $432,436 | Entries: 409

PTS AT STAKE:
1st place 35
2nd place 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

PTS AT STAKE: KARR IS THE LEADER AS DAY 2 BEGINS AT PARX

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: PARXPOKERBLOG.com

It's time for Day 2 at the Parx Open Poker Classic in Pennsylvania, and, there is a familiar name on top of the leaderboard.

Although he had only a few chips left prior to the dinner break, McLean Karr must have enjoyed some good food as he took over the Main Event once play started up again and never looked back. Karr has over 320K in chips.

181 players each put up $2,000 for the opportunity to win the Championship.

NOTABLE CHIP COUNTS:
McLean Karr – 328k
Rocco Luciano – 222k
Brian Lemke – 201k
Ronald Lee – 170k
Kobi Waldfogel – 168k
Robert Pyne – 124k
Joe Palma – 122k

Notable eliminations during Day 1 play: Tristan Wade, Michael Mizrachi and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow.


RELATED:
RESULTS NOW IN: KARR WINS WPT VIENNA HIGH ROLLERS


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Park Open Poker Classic
NLH Main Event
August 20-22, 2011

Parx Casino | Pennsylvania
Buy-in: $2,000 | Prizepool : $324,808 | Entries: 181

PTS AT STAKE:
1st place 35
2nd place 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

PTS AT STAKE: LEWIS, FELDMAN TAKE LEAD INTO GUKPT LUTON FINAL TABLE

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: HPTPOKER.com

It's going to be a very interesting Sunday at the G Casino Luton as final table play will begin in the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Luton Main Event. Two popular poker pros - EPT Vilamoura Champ Toby Lewis and Andrew Feldman - are one and two in chips entering Sunday's final table play.

Lewis grabbed the chip lead earlier in the day on Saturday and has looked unstoppable. Feldman joined Lewis with max chips later during the day. Lewis is looking for his second PTPR Score of the 2011 season, while Feldman is going for #1.


FINAL TABLE CHIP STACKS
Toby Lewis 620,500
Andrew Feldman 609,000
Dan Furnival 427,000
Bertie Keegan 364,500
George Hassabis 292,000
Antonio German 290,000
Martin Huber 207,000
Ergun Macit 186,500
Jonathan Weekes 124,500
Chaz Chattha 105,000


RELATED:
EPT YEAR IN REVIEW: TOBY LEWIS TOPS THE CHARTS


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Luton
GUKPT Luton NLH Main Event
August 19-21, 2011

G Casino Luton | Great Britain
Buy-in: $1,540 | Prizepool : $307,880 | Entries: 214

PTS AT STAKE:
GUKPT Champion 35
2nd place 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

PTPR POKER PLAYER PROFILE: JASON MERCIER

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: PTPR POKER, THEHENDONMOB.com, WIKIPEDIA.org

PLAYER VITALS
Name: Jason Mercier | Born: 1986
Home: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

LIVE TOURNAMENT WINNINGS
Lifetime: $6,711,097 | 2011(YTD): $1,544,740

MAJOR TOUR TITLES (7)
WSOP Bracelets: 2 | 2009 1.5K PLO, 2011 5K PLO
EPT Titles: 2 | 2009 EPT San Remo, 2011 Champions of Champions
NAPT Titles: 2 | 2010 and 2011 High Roller Bounty Shootout
Other Titles: 1 | 2008 Euro Championships 20K High Rollers

2011 PTPR RATINGS
PTPR Ranking: 2nd | PTPR Points: 305 | PTPR Scores: 7

2011 PTPR TOURNAMENT SCORES (7)
PCA EPT 25K HIGH ROLLERS, Bahamas (PTPR Tier 3)
January 14-16, 2011 | Placed 8th, 129K | 6 PTPR Points

NAPT MOHEGAN SUN BOUNTY SHOOTOUT, Connecticut (PTPR Tier 3)
April 12-14, 2011 | Champion, 246K | 100 PTPR Points

WPT SEMINOLE HARD ROCK NLH 6-HANDED, Florida (PTPR Prelim)
April 25-26, 2011 | Placed 9th, 7K | 5 PTPR Points

WSOP NLH EVENT 8, Las Vegas (PTPR Premier)
June 4-8, 2011 | Placed 7th, 10K | 27 PTPR Points

WSOP 7-STUD CHAMPIONSHIP, Las Vegas (PTPR Premier)
June 12-14, 2011 | Placed 14th, 24K | 9 PTPR Points

WSOP PLO 6-HANDED EVENT 35, Las Vegas (PTPR Premier)
June 20-22, 2011 | Champion, 619K | 130 PTPR Points

WSOP 2-7 TRIPLE DRAW LOWBALL EVENT 49, Las Vegas (PTPR Premier)
June 28-30, 2011 | Placed 6th, 25K | 28 PTPR Points


FINAL 2010 PTPR RATINGS
PTPR Ranking: T-250 | PTPR Points: 88 | PTPR Scores: 5


RELATED:
JASON MERCIER AT HENDON MOB
2011 WSOP: CHAOS AT THE TOP
2011 WSOP: MERCIER MAKES MOVE INTO PTPR TOP 3
THIS JUST IN: ANYTHING SELBST CAN DO MERCIER CAN DO TOO

CHRIS CONRAD PICKS UP WIN AT JACKSONVILLE'S WPT REGIONAL

SOURCE: JAXPOKERROOM.com

Northern Florida hosted it's biggest poker event yet over the past few weeks as the 2011 Jacksonville Summer Series was played. The Main Event was a World Poker Tour Regional event and was certainly a huge success.

Chris Conrad wins the WPT Regional, collecting over 140K in the process - quite a nice pay-day. 461 players participated in the four-day event.


TOP 10 PAYOUTS:
1 Chris Conrad $143,145
2 Ray Leone Sr. $90,245
3 Ben Mintz $52,904
4 Michael Naserazad
5 John McDonald $24,899
6 James "Ping Pang" Kerr
7 Robert Mims $18,670
8 Nabil "Doc" Hirezi $16,181
9 Fred Akel $13,691
10 Ara Melikian $11,202


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Jacksonville Summer Series
WPT Regional NLH Main Event
August 13-16, 2011

Orange Park Kennel Club | Florida
Buy-in: $1,500 | Prizepool : $622,350 | Entries: 461

FINAL RESULTS:
CHRIS CONRAD 35
RAY LEONE SR. 18
BEN MINTZ 10
MICHAEL NASERAZAD 8
JOHN MCDONALD 5

HPT TURNING STONE: CHAMP PFEIFER IN A EMPIRE STATE OF MIND

SOURCE: HPTPOKER.com

It was probably the longest Heartland Poker Tour Main Event in history ... but it was all worth it to Randy Pfeifer - who picks up $157,000 and, most importantly, the win at Heartland Poker Tour's Turning Stone Main Event in Verona, New York.


Is Pfeifer King of the Empire (State)? This is his second major tournament victory of the season - and his second in the State of New York - he won the Seneca Niagara Deepstacks Main Event a few months back. Pfeifer now carries 70 PTPR Points into the final third of the 2011 season.

Here is a link to our report on Pfeifer's Seneca Niagara victory:
THE ROUND-UP: PFEIFER WINS DEEPSTACKS SENECA, MANSBRIDGE TAKES GUKPT WALSALL

Poker ambassador, ESPN's Bernard Lee finished third in the event. Lee held the chip lead late only to suffer a few devastating defeats in a row, causing him to bow out in third position. Still, another great effort from Lee.

Here are other posts from the HPT Turning Stone Main Event:
HPT TURNING STONE: DOWN TO THE FINAL FOUR IN VERONA
HPT TURNING STONE: GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS AT TURNING STONE
PTS AT STAKE: HEARTLAND POKER TOUR HITS TURNING STONE


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Heartland Poker Tour Turning Stone
HPT Turning Stone NLH Main Event
August 12-14, 2011

Turning Stone Resort Casino | New York State
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool : $664,500 | Entries: 443

PTS AT STAKE:
RANDY PFEIFER 35
EVAN LAMPREA 18
BERNARD LEE 10
GEORGE HETELEKIDES 8
JEFF BRAVERMAN 5

HPT TURNING STONE: DOWN TO THE FINAL FOUR IN VERONA

SOURCE: HPTPOKER.com

We're three hours into Final Table play at the Heartland Poker Tour at Turning Stone Main Event.

Two of the final six participants have already been eliminated. 19-year old Sam Panzica was the first to be eliminated. Minutes after, fifth place finisher Jeff Braverman was gone as well.

The Heartland Poker Tour released the following chip counts about 45 minutes ago:
1. EVAN LAMPREA 4.4M
2. BERNARD LEE 4.3M
3. RANDY PFEIFER 3.3M
4. GEORGE HETELEKIDES 1.1M


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Heartland Poker Tour Turning Stone
HPT Turning Stone NLH Main Event
August 12-14, 2011

Turning Stone Resort Casino | New York State
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool (estimated) : $730,950 | Entries: 443

PTS AT STAKE:
HPT Turning Stone Winner 35
Runner-Up 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
JEFF BRAVERMAN 5

HPT TURNING STONE: GETTING DOWN TO BUSINESS AT TURNING STONE

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: HPTPOKER.com

While the remaining participants are currently enjoying the succulent offering at Turning Stone's Season's Harvest buffet, business is about to pick up.

Bernard Lee let us know (through his Twitter account @BernardLeePoker) about an hour ago that we were down to 17 players at dinner break.

Just finished dinner break - Entering level 24 (10k/20k, 2k ante) at @HPTpokertour main event at @Turningstone - I got 509k - 17 left #fb

We are playing down to the final 6 players tonight with final table play coming to you on Tuesday.

Sadly, Lacey Jones will not be part of the final six, she tweeted the following a couple of hours ago...

Well my friends, at least I have the down payment. Out 27th. Thank you all so much for the support.

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Heartland Poker Tour Turning Stone
HPT Turning Stone NLH Main Event
August 12-14, 2011

Turning Stone Resort Casino | New York State
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool (estimated) : $730,950 | Entries: 443

PTS AT STAKE:
HPT Turning Stone Winner 35
Runner-Up 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

PATRICK LEE WINS MACAU POKER CUP

SOURCE: THEHENDDONMOB.com

The Macau Poker Cup wrapped up this weekend with the traditional Red Dragon No Limit Hold'em event.

Patrick Lee picked up the win in the event, defeating Tetsuya Tsuchikawa heads up.

A total 478 players entered the main event of the always-successful PokerStars-run event.


Top 10 Payouts (in HKD):
1st Patrick Lee HK$1,039,700
2nd Tetsuya Tsuchikawa HK$717,000
3rd Xiaobo Zhou HK$425,400
4th Jun Yap HK$329,800
5th Chen Lu HK$251,000
6th Daniel Tarnopol HK$203,200
7th Jun Chen HK$160,100
8th Pawel Chmiel HK$119,500
9th Wenlong Jin HK$95,800
10th Andrew Chung HK$79,000


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Macau Poker Cup
NLH Red Dragon Event
August 11-14, 2011

Lisboa Hotel & Casino | Macau
Buy-in: $1,410 | Prizepool: $612,457 | Entries: 478

FINAL RESULTS:
PATRICK LEE 35
TETSUYA TSUCHIKAWA 18
XIAOBO ZHOU 10
JUN YAP 8
CHEN LU 5

PTS AT STAKE: HEARTLAND POKER TOUR HITS TURNING STONE

PHOTO/SOURCE: HPTPOKER.com

After a successful Pro-Am event at the Epic Poker League series at the Palms last week, the Heartland Poker Tour is in Verona (outside Syracuse), New York for it's latest tour stop.

A total of 443 runners all put up $1,650 on Saturday in order to try and grab a piece of the Heartland.

We had some big names in poker attend the event including: Kevmath, Lacey Jones, Dennis Phillips, Bernard Lee, Darvin Moon, Todd Terry, Bryan Piccioli and Ari Engel.

The plan is to play down to the final table tonight but, after seeing a Dennis Phillips tweet, there still seems to be 74 players remaining - they have yet to even hit the money! - could end up being a very long night at the Turning Stone!

Here is Phillips' (@Dennis_Phillips) tweet:

Lost huge pot end of level 16...down to 130k now! 74 players remain, paying 60

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Heartland Poker Tour Turning Stone
HPT Turning Stone NLH Main Event
August 12-14, 2011

Turning Stone Resort Casino | New York State
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool (estimated) : $730,950 | Entries: 443

PTS AT STAKE:
HPT Turning Stone Winner 35
Runner-Up 18
3rd place 10
4th place 8
5th place 5

POKER ROUND-UP: CRANE, BRACELET WINNER DIAZ COLLECT SECOND WINS OF 2011

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: THEHENDONMOB.com, POKERPAGES.com

Two players become two-time winners on the poker circuit this season! Russell Crane captures the Borgata Deepstack while David Diaz wins the World Poker Open ... also, results from the Barriere Poker Tour Trouville Main Event - all in this edition of the poker round-up!

BORGATA DEEPSTACK DOUBLE PLAY
Russell Crane is proving that playing Borgata tournaments can be really good for one's bankroll - Crane picks up his second major tournament win on the poker circuit this season by winning the Borgata Deepstack Double Play Main Event.

Crane, who won the Borgata Spring Open in April, outlasted 399 other players in order to pickup the win.

Kyle Cartwright earned his fourth PTPR Score of the year with his 4th place finish.

GOLSTRIKE CASINO WORLD POKER OPEN
2011 World Series of Poker bracelet winner David Diaz also picked up his second tournament win of the season - beating 148 other players to win the Goldstrike Casino World Poker Open.

Diaz (pictured) picked up his bracelet in the 1.5K No Limit Hold'em Triple Chance tourney. Diaz now has 173 PTPR Points on the season, one more than Shaun Deeb - Diaz sits 21st on the 2011 PTPR Poker Tournament Player of the Year Charts.

Alex Smith was the runner-up in the event. Smith picks up his second PTPR Score of the year - Vichien Siprajim was 5th.

BARRIERE POKER TOUR TROUVILLE
Finally, we head to France where the Barriere Poker Tour hosted it's latest event - at the Casino Barriere de Trouville.

Jerome Zerbib collects the win, besting Pierre Canali heads up.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Borgata Deepstack
Deepstack Double Play NLH Event
August 7-10, 2011

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa | Atlantic City
Buy-in: $1,650 | Prizepool: $600,000 | Entries: 400

FINAL RESULTS:
RUSSELL CRANE 35
ALEX SMITH 18
KENNETH SILBERSTEIN 10
TEMP HUTTER 8
VICHIEN SIPRAJIM 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Goldstrike Casino World Poker Open
World Poker Open NLH Main Event
August 6-8, 2011

Goldstrike Casino | Mississippi
Buy-in: $3,000 | Prizepool: $433,590 | Entries: 149

FINAL RESULTS:
DAVID DIAZ 35
DYLAN HORTIN 18
DONALD NORMAN 10
KYLE CARTWRIGHT 8
RONALD SEWELL 5

PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Barriere Poker Tour Trouville
BPT Trouville NLH Main Event
August 6-7, 2011

Casino Barriere de Trouville | France
Buy-in: $1,920 | Prizepool: $271,338 | Entries: 147

FINAL RESULTS:

JEROME ZERBIB 35
PIERRE CANALI 18
PARHAM AHOOR 10
BRICE BOURGEIX 8
ERIC SADOUN 5

MAIN EVENT WRAPS UP AT MERIT CYPRUS CLASSIC

PHOTO/SOURCE: MERITPOKER.com

Cyprus hosted yet another series - another succesful one at that! The Merit Cyprus Classic is all done!

Timur Ilyasov picked up the win in the Main Event - his first PTPR Score of the year. In fact, all players receiving points in the event were collecting their first PTPR Scores of 2011.

Of note, Marvin Rettenmaier - currently tied for 24th on the PTPR Charts for 2011 - finished sixth in this event, just outside of PTPR Points collection. Rettenmaier led the 2011 PTPR Tournament Player of the Year race earlier this season.

Top 10 Payouts (in USD):
1 Timur Ilyasov $92,723
2 Konstantin Tolokno $114,580
3 Iacob Iulian $87,300
4 Spyros Chondrokoukis $91,239
5 Dany Georges $101,115
6 Marvin Rettenmaier $36,133
7 Elie Feghali $27,822
8 Aleksey Khoroshenn $21,318
9 Ali Baskan $15,898
10 Nauos Koustautiuos $11,201


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Merit Cyprus Classic
NLH Main Event
August 6-10, 2011

Merit Poker Club | Cyprus
Buy-in: $5,500 | Prizepool: $677,015 | Entries: 149

FINAL RESULTS:
TIMUR ILYASOV 35
KONSTANTIN TOLOKNO 18
IACOB IULIAN 10
SPYROS CHONDROKOUKIS 8
DANY GEORGES 5

FAUSTO SAUCEDO TURNS $150 INTO +340K AT THE LEGENDS OF POKER

SOURCE: POKERPAGES.com

Fausto Saucedo knows what positive EV is all about! Turn $150 into over 340K? Consider it done!

Saucedo defeated known pro Greg Sessler heads up to to win the inaugural event of the 2011 Legends of Poker, hosted by the Bicycle Casino outside Los Angeles.

That's right, $150 is all it took to get you into the 1M guarantee event. Over 7000 bought in - add to that almost 6000 rebuys and, well, you've got yourself a $1,453,811 total prizepool - no overlay here!

Great start to the Legends series - the WPT Main Event is set to begin on August 25th!

Top 10 Payouts (in USD):
1 Fausto Saucedo $340,191
2 Gregory Sessler $140,000
3 Antonio Castaneda $70,100
4 Tony Phan $47,000
5 Josh Hale $35,000
6 Eddy Asady $25,000
7 Adam Bush $17,000
8 Tule Tule $13,000
9 Rocky Le $10,000
10 Nikolay Yefimov $8,000


PTPR TIER 3 EVENT
Legends of Poker
No Limit Hold'em 1M Guarantee Event
July 28-August 9, 2011

Bicycle Casino | California
Buy-in: $150 | Prizepool: $1,453,811 | Entries: 13,718 (includes RB)

FINAL RESULTS:
FAUSTO SAUCEDO 120
GREGORY SESSLER 80
ANTONIO CASTANEDA 55
TONY PHAN 45
JOSH HALE 38
EDDY ASADE 30
ADAM BUSH 28
TULE TULE 25
ROCKY LE 25

EPL PALMS: LOTS OF NEWS TO REPORT, INCLUDING O'DWYER'S PRO-AM WIN

PHOTO/SOURCE: EPICPOKER.com

Lots of news coming from the Epic Poker League at the Palms in Las Vegas.

The Main Event started earlier today. A total of 127 have currently registered but there are still a couple of hours for players to sign-in. The Main Event is a six-handed event a 20K buy-in. Please note that this event will not qualify for PTPR Points - due to the fact that this is not an open event - but, we will still provide daily updates.

We have currently completed three levels, players are on a 15-minute break.

The current Top 5 chip counts look like this:
Isaac Baron – 175,200
James Mackey – 139,600
Dan Fleyshman – 121,300
Sam Stein – 117,000
Sam Trickett – 108,000

Eliminated players include: Isaac Haxton, Micah Raskin, JC Tran, Andrew Lichtenberger, Dean Hamrick, Eric Froehlich, Brock Parker, Randal Flowers, Scott Clements, Rep Porter, Nick Binger, Chris Moorman and David Peters.


Yesterday was TV Final Table time for the Pro-Am event - all players had already secured their seat to today's Main Event. Steve O'Dwyer won the event, collecting his fourth PTPR Score of the year. O'Dwyer's 167 PTPR Points place him 26th on the 2011 PTPR Player of the Year charts.

Brandon Meyers earned his third PTPR Score of the year with his second place finish. Andy Bloch and Jeremiah DeGreef collected their second Scores.


Congratulations to Andy Frankenberger, who won the Epic Poker Charity Event on Sunday night - the reigning WPT Player of the Year donated his winnings to charity.


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Epic Poker League Palms
Epic Poker League Pro/Am Qualifier Palms
August 5-8, 2011

Palms | Las Vegas
Buy-in: $1,500 | Prizepool: $259,350 | Entries: 190

PTS AT STAKE:
STEVE O'DWYER 35
BRANDON MEYERS 18
ANDY BLOCH 10
CLIFFORD WAITE 8
JEREMIAH DEGREEF 5

DEIMANN WINNER AT ESTRELLAS SAN SEBASTIAN

PHOTO/SOURCE: ESTRELLASPOKERTOUR.com

Fabian Deimann picked up the win in Spain's latest Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event. Deimann's win came on Monday - at the Casino Kursal in San Sebastian. This was Deimann's first PTPR Score of the year.

Fouth place finisher Eduardo de la Rivas picked up his second PTPR Score of the year - de la Rivas finished fifth at ESPT Alicante in May.




FINAL TABLE PAYOUTS: (in EURO)
1 - Fabian Deimann, 64,600 €
2 - Jorge Ufano, España, 41,000 €
3 - Daniel Hernández, 22,800 €
4 - Eduardo de las Rivas, 17,700 €
5 - Fernando Piñeiro, 14,850 €
6 - Alfredo Rubio Ruiz, 12,150 €
7 - Mauricio Pazos, 9,650 €
8 - Miguel Ángel Martín García, 7,600 €


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Estrellas Poker Tour San Sebastian
ESPT San Sebastian NLH Main Event
August 4-8, 2011

Casino Kursal | Spain
Buy-in: $1,425 | Prizepool: $360,095 | Entries: 290

FINAL RESULTS:
FABIAN DEIMANN 35
JORGE UFANO 18
DANIEL HERNANDEZ 10
EDUARDO DE LAS RIVAS 8
FERNANDO PINEIRO 5

PTPR PLAYER OF THE MONTH: WSOP PLAYER'S CHAMP RAST EARNS JULY HONORS

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com

Defending World Series of Poker Player's Championship winner Brian Rast is July's PTPR Player of the month.

Rast's 151 PTPR Points collected in the Player's Championship was enough to finish first. July is usually a slow month as the WSOP winds down and there aren't many big events on during the month.

Maxim Lykov continued his solid season by finishing second. Vincenzo Natale is the top points producer to have earned multiple PTPR Scores (2) - earning points at WPT Slovenia and at the Poker Grand Prix in Italy.


30 TOTAL TOURNAMENTS QUALIFIED FOR PTPR POINTS
Grand Slams - 2
Premier - 4
Tier 3 - 7
Prelim - 1
Challenger - 16


JULY TOP 10

July Player of the Month:
Brian Rast, 151 PTPR Points, 1 PTPR Score

> WSOP Poker Player's Championship (1st) - 151 PTPR Points
151 - BRIAN RAST
145 - MAXIM LYKOV
145 - HASAN ANTER
128 - NICK BINGER
126 - MIHA TRAVNIK
116 - ADRIEN BRAESCO
111 - VINCENZO NATALE
104 - LUCA PAGANO
103 - ADAM ELPAYAA
102 - ELIO FOX
102 - LEO BOXELL
102 - CONNOR DRININ


A total of 252 different players scored PTPR Points in July. Six different players earned two PTPR Scores during the month - Vincenzo Natale, June Player of the Month Ben Lamb, Byron Kaverman, Alexandr Gnatenko, Bryn Kenney and Mario Doria.

2 - VINCENZO NATALE
2 - BEN LAMB
2 - BYRON KAVERMAN
2 - ALEXANDR GNATENKO
2 - BRYN KENNEY
2 - MARIO DORIA

EPL PALMS: TV TABLE SET FOR PRO-AM, O'DWYER LEADS THE WAY

PHOTO: POKERNEWS.com
SOURCE: EPICPOKER.com

The Epic Poker League's Pro-Am event has hit the TV final table at the Palms in Las Vegas. Final table play will resume at 2PM Vegas time.

Steve O'Dwyer leads the way with over 500K in chips. Andy Block sits second with a little over 400K. All six of the final table participants have received exemption into the main tournament that starts on Tuesday.



The three last players eliminated also receive entry into the Main Event. They are Dan Fleyshman, George Long and Sean Getzwiller.

Final Table Chip Counts:
Steve O'Dwyer - 562K
Andy Block - 420K
Cliff Waite - 272K
Brandon Meyers - 258K
Jeremiah DeGreef - 231K
Micah Raskin - 158K


PTPR CHALLENGER EVENT
Epic Poker League Palms
Epic Poker League Pro/Am Qualifier Palms
August 5-8, 2011

Palms | Las Vegas
Buy-in: $1,500 | Prizepool: $259,350 | Entries: 190

PTS AT STAKE:
1st position 35
2nd position 18
3rd position 10
4th position 8
5th position 5