Le Monde du Poker.

February 21 2012, Brett Collson

Some of poker's most notable players made headlines on Tuesday. Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel and Dan "Jungleman" Cates were all in the news, and we'll bring you all of their stories here in the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Daniel Negreanu lashed out against Full Tilt Poker's board member last week. Negreanu is one of the subjects of Rich Ryan's latest Five Thoughts.

Day 1b of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Copenhagen wrapped up on Tuesday. Mads Wissing finished on top, but he'll be chasing Day 1a leader Steven O'Dwyer when Day 2 begins.

Winners of the 2011 Montreal Open were left empty-handed after the event's sponsor, Full Tilt Poker, closed up shop. Chad Holloway examines the lingering issues surrounding the tournament.

Daniele Nestola won the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final on Monday. Get all the details in our final table recap.

Doyle Brunson Talks Full Tilt Poker

Aside from a controversial joke he made on Twitter last April, Doyle Brunson had been relatively quiet about Black Friday — especially regarding the severe financial situation at Full Tilt Poker. However, after Daniel Negreanu verbally attacked the FTP shareholders (again) in a video blog last week, Brunson defended his friends in his own blog on Monday.

"It looks like Bitar, Ferguson and Lederer are taking all the heat," Brunson wrote. "Ferguson had a lot of faith in his friend Bitar. It is widely perceived that Howard Lederer was still heavily involved in running the company even though he retired two or three years earlier. I've been in contact with Lederer the last few months. When someone I've known for years, trusted and respected looks me dead in the eye and says he didn't know about the financial problems, call me a big old Texas sucker because I will believe them.

"I have not talked to Ferguson but I understand he says what Lederer told me, that they didn't know. There are at least four stockholders that own more of FT than Lederer. Where were they? The guilt should be shared IF it's true Lederer and Ferguson didn't know of the financial mess."

Doyle's comments got a rise out of several members of the poker community, including Negreanu.

RealKidPoker Daniel Negreanu @TexDolly your buddy Howard knew FTP was accepting deposits POST BF. That is shady and unforgivable. No excuse whatsoever justifies that. February 21 2012

To read Doyle's full blog, check out doylebrunson.com.

Seidel Joins PartyPoker Premier League

The lineup for the fifth edition of the PartyPoker Premier League continues to get stronger. On Tuesday, poker's all-time money winner, Erik Seidel, added his name to the mix of players who will put up $125,000 to compete in the televised event in Vienna, Austria, from April 4 through 10.

Seidel joins Patrik Antonius, Tony G, Luke "Full Flush" Schwartz, Sam Trickett, Vanessa Selbst, Andy Frankenberger, and others for the PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker V. The 16-player event is part of the World Poker Tour Vienna festivities and will award the winner with a massive top prize plus entry into the $25,000 WPT World Championship at Bellagio.

"I am born to crush the Seiborg by the Danube," Tony G. said on Tuesday. "Forget Tony the Tiger I am Tony the Terminator!"

Visit Tony's blog for more information on the Premier League.

ISPT Planning Second Event

The International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) still needs to get a gaming license in order to launch its inaugural €20,000,000 Guaranteed tournament at London’s Wembley Stadium. However, that's not stopping ISPT co-founder and president Laurent Tapie from eying future stops for the tour.

According to eGaming Review, Tapie has plans to follow up the event in London with second event in Paris or Monaco. The ISPT's goal is to attract up to 30,000 players to each event, so it would need to find a stadium with that capacity.

Groupe Bernard Tapie's original plan was to have most or all of the 30,000 players qualify online, presumably at Full Tilt Poker after the sale of the site went through. However, with that acquisition still on hold, there's no telling how the ISPT will bring that number of players to London.

You can find more on this story over at eGamingReview (if you have a subscription, of course).

Iowa Approves Online Poker Bill

An Iowa subcommittee has approved a bill that could pave the way for intrastate, interstate and international platforms for online poker. On Monday, a three-member Senate panel voted to send Senate Study Bill 3164 to the Senate State Government Committee, which may consider passage as soon as this week.

Iowa lawmakers feel that the state is missing out on up to $13 million in annual taxes from online gambling. For years, Iowa residents have placed bets at offshore operators that aren't regulated by the U.S. government.

“We have it out there. It needs to be controlled,” said Senator Wally Horn (D-Cedar Rapids).

Read the full story at PokerNews.com.

Another Challenge from Jungleman

Apparently, playing cash games for millions of dollars doesn't provide enough action for some high-stakes poker players. They need to pound each other's faces in, as well.

Last November, Team PokerStars Pros Lex Veldhuis and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier met in the ring for a kickboxing match, which Veldhuis won by knockout. Now, Dan "Jungleman" Cates has challenged Andrew Feldman to a fight during the 2012 World Series of Poker.

junglemandan Daniel Cates @Andrewfeldman1 so you still want to do the fight? Let's schedule for this WSOP perhaps? #Ringmatch February 20 2012

Andrewfeldman1 Andrew Feldman "@junglemandan: @Andrewfeldman1 so u still want to do the fight? Let's schedule for this WSOP perhaps? #Ringmatch" Sure lets do it! #hu4rolz February 20 2012

We hope they're actually talking about getting into the ring and not sitting in front of a TV screen playing Street Fighter on Xbox. If that's the case, Randy's Lew's got next.

Betfair Poker Signs Peter Eastgate

On Monday, 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Peter Eastgate became the newest member of Team Betfair Poker. Eastgate will make his first appearance wearing a Betfair logo at the 2012 WSOP Main Event in July.

Eastgate left Team PokerStars in 2010, but made his return to poker at the 2011 NBC Heads-Up Championship. The London native has nearly $11 million in live tournament earnings, including $9,152,416 for his victory at the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

We have more on this story at PokerNews.com.

Online Poker Traffic Report

On Monday, PokerScout.com released its online poker traffic rankings for the previous week. The tracking site reported an overall drop of 3 percent, marking the second straight week of losses after a huge gain to start the month.

The biggest falloff in traffic was at the Everleaf Gaming Network, which withdrew from the U.S. after receiving a cease and desist order from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Traffic at Everleaf's 100-plus skins dropped 16 percent from the previous week. Time will tell if other offshore sites like Bovado, Cake and the Merge Gaming Network will follow Everleaf out of the States.

As for year-over-year numbers, online poker has seen a worldwide decline of 28 percent since this time last year. Along with the traffic extinction at Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network, the International Poker Network (down 49 percent), PKR (down 25 percent) and the Ongame Network (down 21 percent) have seen a significant decline.

The biggest climbers over the past year are the Merge Gaming Network (up 85 percent), 888poker (up 77 percent) and Bodog (up 62 percent).

The full report can be found at PokerScout.com.

Carnival!

Today is Fat Tueday, so we thought it seemed fitting to show you some footage of Brazil's Carnival, which took place during the PokerStars LAPT Grand Final. Team PokerStars Pros and staff hit the streets of Sao Paulo to celebrate the country's biggest festival.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!

Follow Brett Collson on

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

AppId is over the quota
October 08 2011, Chad Holloway

Even though the headlines seem to be dominated by the latest in the Full Tilt Poker saga, I’ve decided to turn my attention to the stories that have been overshadowed by the online drama. Needless to say, between the tournament slate in Europe and various happenings in the U.S., there's plenty to sound off on.

Doyle Brunson in London: Earlier this week, Doyle Brunson traveled to England to play in his first European Poker Tour, which was being held in London. "Texas Dolly" has been vocal that his traveling days are becoming increasingly rare and will soon cease altogether, so it was nice to see him make a trip overseas, which in all likelihood could be his last as he seeks to avoid the wear and tear of being on the road.

Brunson made the most of his trip by notching his first EPT cash, coming in 77th place in the EPT London Main Event for $14,067. Not only that, Brunson plans to travel to Cannes, France, for the World Series of Poker Europe. It has been a week of firsts for the living legend, so why not his first WSOPE bracelet, which would tie him with Phil Hellmuth at 11 WSOP bracelets. Brunson epitomizes poker, and it is satisfying to see him doing his thing.

Pegasus Flying High: If you don’t know the name Mark “Pegasus” Smith, do yourself a favor and become familiarized. The 59-year-old Smith earned his nickname, “Pegasus,” for his involvement in professional horse breeding and racing. From Georgetown, Kentucky, Smith has approximately 25 WSOP Circuit cashes totaling more than $485,000. Not only that, he recently set a record after winning his fifth Circuit ring in a $345 NLHE event at the WSOP Circuit in Southern Indiana.

Smith was previously tied with Men “The Master” Nguyen at four rings, but the consummate grinder set himself apart last week. I’ve met Pegasus many times on the Circuit and can tell you that you’d be hard pressed to find a nicer guy. Characterized by patience and professionalism, Smith is the opposite of Phil Hellmuth, who is his counterpart at the WSOP. Both are champions in their own right, and it’s nice to see Pegasus soaring above the crowd. Interestingly, Smith almost captured his sixth ring just a few days later in a $555 NLHE Event, ultimately finishing in third place.

Poker Hall of Fame Nominees: The 2011 WSOP Poker Hall of Fame (PHoF) nominees were announced earlier this week and included:

Annie Duke
Barry Greenstein
Jennifer Harman-Traniello
Linda Johnson
John Juanda
Marcel Luske
Jack McClelland
Tom McEvoy
Scotty Nguyen
Huckleberry Seed

This list will now be presented to a 17-person media panel and the 18 living members of the PHoF who will determine this year’s class. Unfortunately, I’m not a member of the media panel, but that won’t stop me from offering my opinion on this year’s nominees. First, I think this is an excellent list and everyone on it deserves to be nominated. With that said, I do have my favorites.

In my opinion, Barry Greenstein is the frontrunner in this group. In the game for 20 years, Greenstein has notched three WSOP bracelets and more than $7.5 million in tournament winnings. He also has found success in all forms of poker and more than holds his own in the high-stakes cash games. Throw in the untold good he has done with charity work, and Greenstein has more than proved his mettle in the poker industry.

I could go on in regard to why each of the nominees deserves to be in the PHoF, but I believe some deserve it more than others. Annie Duke, Scotty Nguyen, Jen Harman, and John Juanda are likely all future Poker Hall of Famers, but I don’t think it will be this year. I say this because of the longevity the other nominees have exhibited in the industry. Linda Johnson, Marcel Luske, Jack McClelland, and Tom McEvoy come from an era of poker that is often forgotten by today's players, each having done incredible things for the game.

Johnson is already in the Women’s Poker Hall of Fame for her contributions and accomplishments, while Luske has been an advocate for poker in Europe for decades. Likewise, McClelland defined what it meant to be a tournament director, while McEvoy always seems to be the bridesmaid of the PHoF, always being nominated but never inducted. I would be pleased to see any of these nominees as part of this year’s class

With all that said, if I had two votes, I’d cast them for Greenstein and the only other player on the list I haven’t mentioned, Huckleberry Seed. The 1996 WSOP Main Event Champion has more than $7.2 million in tournament cashes dating back to 1990, and has stood the test of time. The last three years have been the best of his career since 1996, and he earned more than $100K each year in between with the exception of 2001 ($2,759) and 2005 ($52,020).

I think all are deserving, and I am really looking forward to seeing who becomes part of the Class of 2011.

Flawless Victory: In the Oct. 4 edition of the Nightly Turbo, it was announced that Team PokerStars Pros Lex Veldhuis and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier had set a date for their long-anticipated kickboxing match. On Nov. 22, 2011, the two will square off in a three-round match with judges looking on. The participants will forgo any protective gear and will compete in front of TV cameras.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. This bout was rumored years ago, and since then I’ve lost quite a bit of my enthusiasm. Part of me doesn’t care about two skinny fellas knocking each other around the ring; however, if they kickbox like they play poker, it could turn out to be a good match. For that to happen, though, it would need to be nothing but all-out action. Anything less than a KO would be disappointing. If there is blood and someone lying on the ground, well, that would be something to get excited about.

Who do I think will win? It should be a close match, but my gut tells me Veldhuis will come out on top. He seems a little more motivated, focused, and in shape than Grospellier does. I can’t help but picture Grospellier as a pasty white video gamer whose muscles atrophied after spending countless hours playing Starcraft. Veldhuis for the win!

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Follow Chad Holloway on Twitter — @ChadAHolloway

View the original article here

AppId is over the quota
October 01 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 1a of the 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Main Event came to a close on Friday after a starting flight of 280 players hit the felt to kick off the action. At the end of the night, 162 remained.

Leading the charge after an amazing day of poker is Lukasz Golzyt with 211,600 in chips. Some other notable big stacks include Mustapha Kanit with 152,200, Umberto Vitagliano with 143,600, Raul Paez with 136,500, Lev Marymsky with 133,800 and Sandor Demjan with 121,100.

With such a hefty field coming out the first day, some notable players were eliminated. Team PokerStars Pro John Duthie along with Guillaume Darcourt and Dave "Devil Fish" Ulliott all fell early on while 2011 World Series of Poker November Niner Phil Collins and Xuan Liu hit the rail throughout the day.

Barry Greenstein advanced to Day 2 with 73,500 in chips and the one and only Doyle Brunson, in London for his first EPT, bagged up 45,200. Jake Cody, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Nick Binger, Darren Elias, Arnaud Mattern, Mickey Petersen and Fatima Moreira De Melo also moved on.

Both Greenstein and Brunson were the beneficiaries of sets of aces to land them some of their chips. Greenstein took his aces and put them against queens and jacks before coming out on top, and Brunson won his hand with a set of bullets on the flop after firing out a single bet. Both hands were relatively easy wins for the two long-time professionals. With Brunson new to the EPT felt, plenty of fans and players got an up-close of the "Godfather of Poker" and will have autographs and pictures to remember their moments. Others, namely the players at Brunson's table, will have the unforgettable experience of playing with the game's great, win or lose.

Day 1b commenced Saturday at 1200 BST (0400 PDT). Just like Day 1a, players will play eight levels without a dinner break, but 15-minute breaks coming after every two levels. You can expect the field on Day 1b to soar past the 500-player mark in hopes of setting another record here in London. Be sure to head right back to PokerNews for all of the live coverage from the felt.

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter — @Donnie_Peters

View the original article here

AppId is over the quota
02:07 min., October 02 2011

Somehow the Texas Dolly, Mr. Doyle Brunson, has managed to avoid EPT's so far. Sarah Grant caught him to chat about his choice to visit London.

View the original article here

Les fans de poker peuvent ont vu histoire de poker jeudi sans le savoir.

Le légendaire Doyle Brunson a peut-être joué son tournoi live.

L'âgé de 77 ans a été un fantôme au WSOP 2011, seulement une poignée d'événements, avec très peu de succès aux tables de jeu.

Malgré cela, Brunson surpris beaucoup de fans de poker lorsqu'il a écrit sur Twitter que s'il n'a pas accomplir ses normes dans le championnat de joueurs de 50 000 $ il pourrait être terminé avec le WSOP complètement.

Brunson s'était effondré de 50 000 $ Players Championship sur 2 jours et, en dépit de faire plusieurs demandes à l'effet contraire, a décidé de faire une apparition dans le Main Event des WSOP 2011.

Malheureusement il aussi busted de que plus tôt aujourd'hui.

Il semble que Brunson peut-être pas le désir ou l'endurance physique ou mentale à jouer au poker pendant 12 heures au Rio anymore.

Il est également mentionné qu'il a perdu beaucoup de motivation pour poker depuis noir vendredi et a même pris un coup au ministère de la Justice, en leur demandant de lui acheter dans le Main Event.

Brunsons résultats plus que la dernière ont également diminué considérablement et il a zéro encaisse à la WSOP au cours des deux dernières années.

Il est difficile de mettre en mots combien Brunson a signifié pour le jeu de poker. Littéralement, Brunson a écrit le livre sur le poker avec son célèbre Super système 1 & 2.

Bien que connu plus de joueur de jeux d'argent résultats du Brunson parlent d'eux-mêmes avec 10 bracelets WSOP et plus de 6 millions de dollars en gains tournoi live à vie.

À un niveau plus profond, Brunson est peut-être le dernier, meilleur, lien vers les débuts souterrain, dos-salle du jeu.

Il est difficile d'imaginer un WSOP sans Brunson. Bien que Phil Hellmuth a plus de bracelets et Johnny Chan est liée avec Brunson, le Texas Dolly est vraiment dans qu'une Ligue de son propre lorsqu'il s'agit du montant de respect il a dans cette industrie.

Les fans de poker peuvent se réjouir que Brunson pourrait très bien retrouver le WSOP, cependant.

Il est mentionné plusieurs fois qu'il a eu beaucoup de problèmes personnels au cours des huit derniers mois, mais c'est peut-être juste temporaire.

Il joue toujours au comptant jeux et s'il avait un revirement de jouer le WSOP, il peut avoir définitivement un autre.

Si Brunson décide de prendre un congé permanent de tournois live, moins ceux qui étaient à la 2011 WSOP peut dire qu'ils ont vu l'un des plus grands dans sa dernière apparition WSOP.

Le 2011 WSOP continue à travers le 19 juillet. Pour une couverture complète direct de Las Vegas cocher Live mises à jour des PokerListings apporté à vous par PartyPoker.

View the original article here