This ticket was one of the most sought after in recent times.  Full Tilt ran freeroll after freeroll for their players that allowed them to win entries into their main event for this show.  In most cases, individuals had to cash in their player points to enter the various satellites and then finish in the top couple of positions in order to get to the final event.

Now they are all seeing the fruits of their labor and by the early results, the wait was well worth it.  The first player to hit the felt has the dubious honor of going up against Phil Ivey.  With the performance that he had in the WSOP, it would have seemed as though Jonathan Nygaard would be easy work for him.  Not so fast, Nygaard pulled a huge upset and managed to get Ivey on with a weak Ace.  The board blanked and Nygaard decided to walk with the $40k instead of risking it.

The next player, Topel, has a bit more gamble in him.  His first round draw was not much better than Nygaard’s in that he drew Erick Lindgren.  Once again though, the pro came up short and he actually made fairly quick work of him.  The $40k payday was not enough for him though and he drew another card and when the door opened up, Howard Lederer was standing behind it.

While Lederer is far from a slouch, he has not exactly been tearing up the poker tables lately and that trend would continue as Topel managed to get just about every chip in plan in the middle of the table pre-flop with KK against Lederer’s AQ.  The flop gave Lederer an inside straight draw, but one of the last two kings never hit the felt and Lederer was left with virtually no chips at all.

For his victory, Topel was given the option of taking down a payday of $200,000, about 5 times his annual salary, or risk walking away with nothing and go for the $1,000,000 match.  He put the $200,000 back in the vault and will now risk it all against an as of yet unknown player on August 8th.  Half of you wants to smack him upside his head and the other half wants to pat him on his back and wish him the best.

This show is even further proof that ‘amateur’s are on a much even par with pro’s than people think. While you would expect a player to get lucky every now and again, to have 3 consecutive pro’s fall to amateurs in consecutive matches was probably not part of the game plan for Full Tilt.  Not only that, but it also does some damage to the idea that poker is a game of skill.  There simply is not another ‘sport’ that an amateur can have such success against a professional time and again.

Both sites on the Cereus network, Absolute and UB, have decided to add the game and it is already hitting the online poker world pretty hard.  Just about every poker forum online is buzzing with the opportunity to sit down at these tables and bluff someone out of a big hand.

The beauty of the feature is that you just never know what people are going to have now.  Even the straightest of players will often fall victim to the lure of the side bet and start throwing extreme amounts of money around in order to take down that bet.  The funny thing is that they are often wagering 10 or more times the bounty in order to win it.  Once they get going, it is hard to let go.

Cereus has been on damage control for quite some time now.  Just a while back, they were involved in a much publicized scandal where players were able to get the hands of the people that they were facing. The scams ended up being tracked down to people that were involved with the site and traffic fell off dramatically.  This in fact was very instrumental in Cereus overhauling their software to ensure that this would never happen again.  The damage was done however, and they slipped down in the overall power rankings of sites and currently reside at 7th.

The new feature is also perfect timing as they are in full swing with their Aruba Super Satellite tournament.  50 players will have their shot at traveling to Aruba to play in a satellite tournament to the main event.  The attractive feature for the players is that even if you don’t make it to the main event, you are still getting a nice little vacation out of the deal.  In most cases, you do not get to the site until you have actually won the main event entry.  This is a nice change of pace and one of the most popular online tournaments for a main event in existence.

Now you have the shot at not only getting into the Aruba tournament, but also playing in one of the most entertaining games around.  If you sit down at one of these tables, get ready to sling chips and strap in because the action is often ferocious.  Just the thought of someone having a 7-2 in their hand can cause fireworks.  More on this game to come as we are sure that sooner or later we will have to sit down at one of these tables to see what all the fuss is about.

Some of the information that came out of the meetings seems to have made an impression on some of the powers that be. One very interesting fact was a research project that had been done on the Poker Stars site in reference to how many of the hands actually go to showdown. This was done to show that poker is not a game of luck, but one of skill that makes the player rely on instincts to get out of a bad situation and limit their losses. This is something that one cannot do when they make a wager in any other form of gambling.

The stat that was rather enlightening that after tracking well over 100,000,000 hands, they found that a mere 25% actually went to showdown. This number made lawmakers take a step back and take a look at the game of poker as a game of skill.  If the laws are going to get passed in poker’s favor, this is a huge step in the right direction. Now all we need to do is catch President Obama and some of his cronies sitting around the table with chips and cards in front of them!

Another feather in the cap of the PPA was that they managed to bring to light the ‘good’ that poker has brought to many organizations. It is not uncommon for a local charity or church to hold a poker tournament as a way to raise money. This is not to mention the millions of dollars that the major poker players have donated over the last few years.  It is not uncommon for any of them to drop 6 figures into the basket when it is passed around.

As with anything else though, only time will tell if all of this lobbying is going to be successful. It would however seem as though poker is slowly but surely starting to tilt the scales in their favor. Hopefully we will see this trend continue because once the United States officially gets on board, the poker world is sure to benefit.

The week started off by introducing Howard Stern as its newest member.  What better way to get national attention that by getting one of the biggest mouths in radio on your side. Whether it be good or bad, Stern is sure to bring a lot more attention to the topic.  With the amount of people that he can influence during a single morning show, this should prove to be a very prudent move on the PPA’s part.

In addition to the announcement of Stern’s membership, the PPA had plenty more activities lined up to try and sway our lawmakers over the side of the poker player.  Several of the more notable players in the game have met with representatives to give them their side of the story.  The fact that they are sitting down and listening to the pitch for H.R. 2267 (the Bill introduced by Barney Frank earlier this year) would lead everyone to believe that they are finally wising up and realizing that people playing online poker on their computer is not the end of the world and could lead to a huge amount of tax income for the country.

With the week ending on Saturday, hopefully the desired affect will have been reached.  The ultimate goal is to have The President take poker out of the UIGEA legislation that it was attached to during the Bush Administration.  Many Americans have made their desires known, and if he is truly representing the voice of the people, he will change this ridiculous legislation and once again allow poker to be played legally online in the United States.

Knowing that they need to beat 35,000 players, both sites ramped up their efforts and added a ton of cash to the tournaments.  Poker Stars was up first with a $1 buy in.  This made it quite easy to draw players and when the final starting bell went off, 65,000 players had made their way to their computers to be a part of history.  The winner of the tournament was “004 license” and he managed to put $13,000 in his account about 10 hours after he put up his buck.  Not a bad day.

Full Tilt was next, but had a cap of 50,000 players on their tournament.  However, their tournament had a $5 buy in with $500,000 guaranteed.  That was enough to have everyone, including myself, ante up and take a shot at the massive $45,000 first place prize.  No luck on my end as two suckouts had me heading to the rail before the second hour, but that was hardly the case for “breo40” who ended up the eventual winner and added the large bounty to his account.

There is still some debate as to who will get the title because while Poker Stars had a much larger field, the tournament at Full Tilt had a larger prize pool.  In all likelihood, Poker Stars will hold the title, but I doubt if Full Tilt will take this one lying down.  They spent a ton of cash promoting this and will more than likely take another shot and open the next one up to 100,000 players if they have to in order to beat their main rival for internet poker.

Tournaments like this are a lot of fun to play in because the chips are usually flying pretty freely.  If you can get any kind of a run, you can coast into the money and possibly a payday that you would not be able to get in other tournaments on a small bankroll.  Keep your eyes peeled for the next round of the “Record Breaker” tournament at both sites.  Their rivalry is our gain as both will probably ante up plenty of extra cash to hold the title.

paddypowerpoker.com today announces the S’n’G Soda promotion, in which prizes will be awarded to Single Table Tournament (STT) players. $2,000 in cash and tournament tokens will be won over a 2 week period, running from 00.00 on July 15th to 23.59 on July 28th.

Prizes will be awarded to STT players in two categories (dependant on buy-in, $1 – $10 and $11+) and a points boost will be available to those who play 50 or more games in the counting period.

“Players loved our Double Up STT promo, which focused on STTs with Double Up payouts, so we decided it was time to reward players who prefer standard STTs”, said Paddy Power, Communications Manager for Paddy Power Poker. “Cold hard cash is what’s on offer; I’m sure our players will approve!”

10-player and 6-player STTs (also known as Sit’n’Gos) run on Paddy Power Poker 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Paddy Power Poker today invites players to take part in Paddy’s Vegas Vacation, which is scheduled from June 30th to July 3rd. The tournaments take place each evening at 8.45pm and the poker room is adding at least $100 to the prizepool of each.

“Paddy’s Vegas Vacation is designed for those of us who can’t get to Sin City for the start of the world championship event later this week” said Paddy Power, Communications Manager at Paddy Power Poker. “We’re adding cash to the prizepools and there are a variety of tournaments to choose from – we may not be in Vegas but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some thrilling tournament action during the most exciting time in the poker calendar!”

Paddy’s Vegas Vacation Tournaments:

Tues, June 30th @ 8.45pm: Paddy’s Rebuy Championship $5 NLH – $100 Added

Weds, July 1st @ 8.45pm: Paddy’s Omaha Championship $10 PLO – $100 Added

Thurs, July 2nd @ 8.45pm: Paddy’s Short-Handed Championship $5 NLH – $100 Added

Friday, July 3rd @ 8.45pm: Paddy’s Main Event Championship $20 NLH – $250 Added

To register for the Paddy’s Vegas Vacation tournaments, open the poker software lobby and select ‘Scheduled Tournaments’. Sort the tournaments by name or date to find the desired tournament.

In addition to the televising of the World Series of poker, the movie Rounder’s brought this once taboo game of poker out into the limelight. There is rarely a poker game that goes by where someone does not quote Teddy KGB by saying “I stick it in you.” Good news all you poker movie fans, because Brian Koppelman and David Levien are at it again.

While there is no working title out on the wire as of yet, the draw to the movie is that the one and only Leonardo DiCaprio has apparently been signed to play the lead role. The rumor mill has it that the movie is based on the experiences related to an online casino that is based in Costa Rica.

Without a working title or any leaks as to the meat of the script, it is a little difficult to see where the picture would go, but with the popularity of online poker and the success that these players are having at the World Series of Poker, the possibilities are endless.

Will it be the story of a successful young gambler that makes the transition from online to live play or will it be more desperate like the ending of Catch Me If You Can or the Basketball Diaries? It is quite easy to picture DiCaprio playing a desperate gambler who has maxed out all of his credit cards and is now trying to find a way to get back into action.

Something else that could be explored here is the recent scandal that involved Absolute/UB. It would be quite interesting to see the story behind the people that were involved in that mess. Only time will tell though as everyone is being very tight lipped about the project. One thing is for sure, poker players will flock to the theaters to see how Hollywood portrays their world this time around.

Taking place over October Bank Holiday weekend, the Irish Winter Festival features an estimated festival prizepool of €1,000,000. In addition to the Irish Masters main event (a €1,500 + €150 NLH freezeout starting on Saturday October 24th and running for three days), the festival will include a $150 + €15 NLH rebuy Super Satellite on Friday October 23rd.

A €500 + €50 NLH freezeout 2-day tournament is scheduled to start on Sunday October 25th, with a €300 + €30 Round-Of-Each (Holdem & Omaha) freezeout tournament taking place on Monday October 26th.

“Many players have already made plans to get to Dublin for the October Bank Holiday weekend, so we’re happy to be able to release full details on the festival schedule”, said Eric Booth, Head of Poker at Paddy Power Poker. “I’m particularly excited about our new Round-Of-Each freezeout, a tournament which many players have hoped for. We’ve done our best to make the Irish Winter Festival a ‘must-attend’ festival for both local and international players; it’s gonna be great!”

Weekly super satellites ($200 + $15 freezeouts) to the Irish Masters run on paddypowerpoker.com each Sunday evening, with a variety of feeders running daily. The Irish Winter Festival packages to be won at the super satellites are made up of an Irish Masters ticket plus accommodation and expenses.

The platform’s appealing design, as well as the option of using individually configurable avatars for a more personal touch, make this new offering all the more attractive. The added line-up includes single cash games, match series as well as daily knockout tournaments. In addition to the real money option, customers also get the chance to hone their skills using play money. “For bwin, extending the games portfolio with backgammon is a key aspect in the SkillGames sector and a further step in shoring up its position as a House of Games” commented bwin Press Officer Kevin O’Neal. The new game is available at backgammon.