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The 2009 World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational was a colorful event. The Commerce Casino was filled with hundreds of poker pros and celebrities all vying for a World Poker Tour title and a chance to donate to charity. In the end, it was WPT Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic winner Freddy Deeb who walked away with the championship and $100,000 in winnings.

It only took 73 hands for the final table to play out. Just seven hands into the game, Jose Tavares was sent home in 6th place with $5,000. The blinds were a staggering 30,000-60,000 with 10,000 ante and Tavares pushed all-in pre-flop with his A-Q with around a million in chips. Unfortunately for him, he was called by Nick Gonzales who held Pocket Rockets.

Ottavio Tassone was the next to go when he lost against WSOP bracelet holder Scott ”BigRiskky” Clements. Tassone shoved all-in before the flop with K-J and was countered by a push by Clements with Pocket eights. The board didn’t help Tassone and he ended up in 5th place with $10,000.

Clements’ victory was short-lived as he was the next to bust out with $15,000. After Tom Hall raised to 200,000 pre-flop, Clements pushed all-in for 1.32 million. Hall called Clements with As-3s. Although Clements was ahead A-9, the flop gave Hall trips with 3-3-2.

The blinds were at 40,000-80,000 with 10,000 ante when…

Read More » Freddy Deeb wins 2009 WPT Celebrity Invitational

It was a fitting end to yet another big poker tournament.

And while it was supposed to be Chris Ferguson’s time to shine, the favored poker pro floundered and Cornel Andrew Cimpan was crowned the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic champion.

Almost 700 players competed for the title but in the end, it was luck that determined the latest World Poker Tour champion. For overcoming the odds (and a marathon heads-up match against Binh Nguyen), Cimpan wins $1,686,250 in first prize money.

It was unfortunate for Chris Jesus Ferguson since he was in the chip lead before ending up with the shortest stack in the final table. He was eliminated first in what has been one of the biggest collapses in the tourney.

In his final hand, Ferguson raised only to be called by eventual champion Cornel Andrew Cimpan pre-flop. Flop was 10s-8d-8h. Ferguson checked and Cimpan moved in over the top pushing the pro all-in with pocket 4s. After thinking about it for a long time, Ferguson called with Ac-Kc.

Unfortunately for Jesus, God wasn’t on his side this time as the turn and river drew blanks. (We apologize for the blasphemous remark…)

Pat Walsh was eliminated next when his all-in preflop with Ad-2s were just no match against Binh Nguyen’s Ah-Jh. Fourth place and $430,963 went to another former chip leader, Chris Karagulleyan. Both players went…

Read More » Chris Jesus Ferguson eliminated early as Cornel Andrew Cimpan wins the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic

I guess looking like Jesus Christ himself has worked for Ferguson so far.

There are only 20 players left vying for the title of Main Event Champion in the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic after Day 4.

It was fast and furious action and after the bubble burst, it was Chris Ferguson who emerged as the chip leader with 1,721,000 in chips.

From 63 players, the field was whittled down with several notable eliminations during the day including David Pham (50th), Men Nguyen (36th) and Bertrand Grospellier (32nd).

The eliminations started very early in the day as everyone was guaranteed to be in the money. A few minutes into play, David Daneshgar and Paul Darden busted out on the very same hand to take 63rd and 62nd place respectively.

Men ”The Master” Nguyen had to settle for a 36th place finish, pocketing $38,085 in the process. Bertrand ”ElkY” Grospellier’s dreams of another WPT title were dashed when his all-in with Pocket Jacks couldn’t hold up versus Binh Nguyen’s Ad-Qs.

Although Grospellier was in the lead with a 3d-2s-9d flop, the turn and river hit consecutive diamonds, giving Nguyen the nut flush. Grospellier ended up in 32nd place for $38,085.

On the hand where Chris Ferguson took over the…

Read More » Chris Jesus Ferguson leads the 2009 L.A. Poker Classic

Because the guy can’t keep his mouth shut.

Has Tom ”durrr” Dwan taken on more than he can chew? After Dwan discussed a poker challenge where he would put up $1.5 million of his own money versus any challenger’s $500,000, both Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius indicated their interest in playing against him.

In his deal, Dwan stated that the challenger wins if he or she beats him heads-up in either No-Limit Hold’em or Pot-Limit Omaha with a minimum of 50,000 hands played simultaneously at four tables at $200-$400 stakes.

Phil Ivey, who has reputedly won more than $6 million last year solely through online play at ring games, has said that he would play anyone at every game there is. His acceptance of Dwan’s challenge isn’t really a surprise. After all, Ivey has had a history of accepting prop bets.

Patrik Antonius, like Ivey, takes pride that he plays anyone. In an interview, he explained that he also took on the challenge because he believed it would be interesting, and even if he lost, it would help his game a lot. When asked whether he would be playing Hold’em or Omaha, Antonius chose the latter.

During Barry Greenstein’s ”Tuesdays with Ivey” show on PokerRoad Radio…

Read More » Tom Dwan to get his ass handed to him by Phil Ivey

Yes, royalty sure is hard to come by these days.

And when an agency calls itself Poker Royalty, it will be hard-pressed to live up to its title. It’s a good thing that the high-profile agency for professional poker players is meeting expectations and working double-time to beef up its roster of clients.

Poker Royalty’s newest client is David Chiu, considered by most as the most successful poker player that was born in China.

Players who sign up with Poker Royalty agree that they be represented for all their marketing and promotional needs. Ideally, this enables the players to ignore the gobbledygook that goes on around them and just focus on what is important, winning at the felt.

Poker Royalty handles everything from mainstream media to commercial endorsements. We can assume they also get a pretty hefty cut for all their troubles. It really shouldn’t be a surprise that Chiu was the next in line to join Poker Royalty.

Poker is starting to attract a lot of attention in Asia and someone like Chiu can only strengthen the interest further. Chiu has won…

Read More » David Chiu signs with Poker Royalty

The BC Open Poker Championships is one of Canada’s biggest poker events SINCE they really don’t have much going on up there.

And with Canada native Daniel Negreanu winning it all, the guy clearly is one of the most popular Canadian poker players we have in the game today and I won’t be surprised if his native country looks up to him now as its new hero at the poker tables.

Daniel Negreanu, who has been playing great poker by the way if you look at his record in recent events, won in the main event of the 2008 BC Open Poker Championships.

For his win, Negreanu further pads his bankroll with a cool $371,910 in prize money. He has also made his poker resume even more daunting. Canadians? This tournament was won by one of the most popular players in the world.

Unknown to a lot, Negreanu was originally from Toronto. Although he now lives in Las Vegas (the poker player’s home), Negreanu is tickled pink by his win. In an interview, Negreanu confessed that his victory was extra special since he was a Canadian himself. A little cheesy but it probably made him even more popular in Canada.

Who knows? It might even be true.

Despite the sentimental talk, Negreanu was a killer at the poker table. He had to…

Read More » Canada has a new Hero in Poker in Daniel Negreanu after he won the BC Open Poker Championships

High rollers, they sure get all kinds of attention in places like Las Vegas and Reno.

This guy will too, for sure, after winning the ”High Rollers” event at Full Tilt. Amit Makhija, who is slowly but surely making a name for himself in the world of poker, has captured the High Rollers title at Fill Tilt’s Online Poker Series (FTOPS X).

Amit Makhija paid the steep $5,000+200 buy-in (after all, there needs to be a reason why this was called the ”High Rollers” event) and eventually made his way to the top to be crowned champ.

Makhija was a dominant force as he was the overall chip leader among 35 players when action resumed, retaining his lead when the final table was called. When the dust cleared after the feeding frenzy at the final table, only three players remained with Amit ”amak316” Makhija still holding the advantage with 1,364,684 in chips. KaKetKa had 982,756 in chips while PureCash25 had 652,560.

PureCash25 actually took over chip lead but found himself losing in a race with his A-K against Makhija’s pocket queens. With only…

Read More » Meet the new High Roller in Poker, Amit Makhija, winner of the High Rollers Event at Full Tilt Poker

Good God almighty! Talk about versatility!

After virtually dominating the recently held 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aquaman himself proved that not only can he make his mark on water, he can also go toe-to-toe with the best of them on the poker tables.

You read it, multi gold medalist Michael Phelps proved that he can also play poker after scoring a final table appearance at Caesars Palace. Sure, we all know that the guy can swim like a freaking fish and he can win gold medals in effortless fashion in the Olympics, but if we’re going to judge him based solely on event No.2 at the Caesars Palace Classic, yes, apparently, he can play awesome poker as well.

The American swimmer, who as everyone knows, holds the distinction of having his face plastered all over the world for being the world record holder for most medals won in a single Olympics event, is no longer just a fish, at least not on the poker tables.

Phelps used some of his hard-earned endorsement money to buy into a $1,500 buy-in tournament and ended up finishing in ninth place in a field of 150 players. Not a bad payday for Phelps. He won over $5,000 for his feat.

It wouldn’t be fair to think that Michael Phelps is a total newbie when it comes to poker. Amanda Beard, another…

Read More » Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps can Play Poker

Yes, surprisingly, there’s a thing called a Hall of Fame in poker.

And for all ya’ll waiting, I guess the wait is over. We now know the names of the poker luminaries added to the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame list. It has been announced that the 2008 inductees are Duane ”Dewey” Tomko and Henry Orenstein.

The two will be the Poker Hall of Fame’s 36th and 37th inductees. Tomko and Orenstein will be awarded on November 9 at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino. Just in time for the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker main event.

Dewey Tomko is a former kindergarten teacher and golfer. He has been playing poker before the age of 19 and is considered a veteran of the game. Tomko has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and has had two runner-up finishes in the WSOP main event.

He also holds the distinction of having participated in the WSOP main event for 35 years. He won two of his bracelets in 1984 for the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven event and the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. He won his third bracelet in 1979 in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold-em event.

Henry Orenstein, on the other hand, is known for both his…

Read More » Tomko and Orenstein to be inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame at the 2008 World Series of Poker main event

Who do you think will win the big one this Sunday?

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table is ON this Sunday as the final nine players remaining, now dubbed as the ”November Nine” will play it out to determine who’ll be the 2008 WSOP champion.

One of the final nine participants this Sunday will be Peter Eastgate. Eastgate could become the youngest professional poker champion in the history of the World Series of Poker and yes, history could be made then.

If he achieves this enormous feat, he would surpass the victory celebrated by Phil Hellmuth when he became champion at 24 years old dating back in 1989. Eastgate was just three years old during that time.

Hailing from Odense, he has an association with Ladbrokes Poker though has been wearing PokerStars gear and is primarily an online player.

Peter Eastgate is regarded as one of the top Internet pros in Denmark, where he specializes in short-handed and heads-up high limit cash games ($200/$400 levels). He has had a couple of promising offline showings recently however, most notably finishing 9th in the 2007 Irish Open for…

Read More » 2008 World Series of Poker Part 10: Peter Eastgate