Poker Petition Nearly at 200,000 Signatures
The petition organized by the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) calling for the legalization of the great American pastime is at nearly 200,000 signatures. Overnight on Sunday, an additional 6,000 players lent their names.
The poker petition has been the talk of the town in Las Vegas, where players from the United States and around the world have turned out in droves for the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is emanating from the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino. At Sunday night’s Cake Poker gathering at the Palms, Poker Room Manager Lee Jones told Poker News Daily that his site was one of several urging players to sign the PPA’s petition: “We’re very happy to be a part of this. We’re offering weekly $3,500 freerolls and are excited to see that the petition is doing so well.”
On PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker site, weekly freerolls began on June 27th and run through July 25th. The petition is scheduled to be delivered to U.S. President Barack Obama on July 22nd, the conclusion of the PPA’s National Poker Week. Signing the petition qualifies a person to take part in a $3,500 freeroll on one of several major online poker sites, including Cake Poker and PokerStars. On the latter site, freerolls are capped at 20,000 players each and run at 2:30pm ET every Saturday. The four-figure prize pool events have helped fuel the growth of the petition.
The petition asks for the following: “Please: 1) exempt poker from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and 2) license and regulate internet poker in the US. 3) Respect the rights of law-abiding Americans who love to play this great game of skill.” It also cites the Citizens’ Briefing Book, which was hosted by Change.gov and asked American citizens to identify their top national concerns. When the smoke cleared, the legalization of online poker emerged as the top technology issue after a coordinated effort by the PPA.
As of midday on Monday, 194,795 poker players and other concerned citizens have virtually signed the petition. A person’s first name, last name, e-mail address, mailing address, city, state, and zip code are required. In addition, petitioners are asked to input a special authentication code that consists of a five-digit number. Jones told Poker News Daily that Cake Poker receives a list of new petitioners each week and cross-checks them against account information in order to determine who is eligible to participate in the special $3,500 freerolls.
Last week, 2004 WSOP Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, who made the final table of the $40,000 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament commemorating the 40th running of the WSOP this year, authored an e-mail to PokerStars members urging their involvement. It begins, “President Obama – Poker is Not a Crime. I am a voter and a fellow poker player asking for your support of my right to play games of skill like poker on the Internet.”
The first ever National Poker Week runs from July 19th to 25th and includes a fly-in of the PPA’s 30 State Directors to meet with lawmakers. In addition to its own regional heads, the PPA is also bringing in professional poker players Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Annie Duke, Jan Fisher, Linda Johnson, and 2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips. For more information, visit the PPA’s official website of National Poker Week.
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Greg Mueller Wins Second Bracelet of 2009 WSOP
With only scant days remaining until the start of the $10,000 Main Event at the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP), the race for the remaining bracelets is heating up in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
The final table of the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout, Event #50 on the WSOP schedule, played out deep into the evening on Sunday. A total of 571 players started the event on Friday, with the final eight survivors having won their way to the final table by winning two sit and gos over the previous two days. As with the shootout format, the players all started with the same number of chips (450,000 at the final table) and there were plenty of strong players in the mix.
Bodog’s David Williams, who famously finished second to Greg Raymer in the 2004 Main Event and has since captured his own WSOP bracelet, was joined by two other bracelet winners from this year’s play. Marc Naalden, who won only the second bracelet in WSOP for his home country of the Netherlands, and Full Tilt Poker’s Greg “FBT” Mueller, the former Canadian hockey player who picked up his first bracelet this year, led a contingent of players from around the world. Millie Shue, who was the runner-up in the Ladies’ event in 2004, the Netherlands’ Joep Van Den Bijgaart, Argentina’s Jose Barbero, Italy’s Flaminio Malaguti, and the United States’ Matt Sterling rounded out what was truly an international table.
The three bracelet winners got off to fast starts and, within two hours, had separated themselves from the pack. Mueller pulled into the chip lead when he drew the first blood at the table with the elimination of Barbero in eighth place. Prior to the table taking the dinner break, the two Scandinavians battled it out, as Naalden took out Van Den Bijgaart in seventh place.
After the dinner hiatus, Williams tried to mount an attack on Mueller’s chip lead. He vanquished Malaguti in sixth when he turned a five to match his A-5 against the Italian’s Big Slick, but couldn’t seem to find any traction after that point. He slowly slid down the leaderboard and was eventually eliminated by Shue in fourth place. Even with the knockout, Shue, who played conservatively through the final table, was eventually ousted in third place.
Heads-up play began between Mueller (who had dismissed Sterling from the tournament in fifth place) and Naalden, with the Canadian holding a 4:1 lead over the Scandinavian. With the two men reaching heads-up, it also guaranteed the fourth double bracelet winner of this year’s WSOP, setting a new record for most multiple bracelet winners.
Naalden attacked Mueller from the start of heads-up action and, through skillful play, was able to pull to even within 30 minutes of play. Over the next hour and a half, Mueller and Naalden, who both won their bracelets in Limit events this year, would swap the lead approximately a half dozen times before Mueller was able to go on a run. That run enabled Mueller, once his five kicker played over Naalden’s deuce after both paired a King on the final hand, to capture his second WSOP bracelet and the $194,854 top prize.
Most of the attention of the crowd at the Rio was focused on play in the Players’ Championship, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. tournament. A total of 53 players came back to attempt to work down to the cashout level (the final 16 players), but were unable to do that as 19 remained by the time play ended for the day.
Vitaly Lunkin, who captured the title in the $40,000 Anniversary Event, leads the field with 1.5 million in chips. He is joined by internet legend Erik “Erik123” Sagstrom, 2007 H.O.R.S.E. champion Freddy Deeb, and David Bach as players who have all eclipsed the million chip mark. Lurking just under that level is Ville Wahlbeck, who captured his first bracelet earlier this month in the World Championship Mixed event. They are joined by such professionals as eight-time WSOP champion Erik Seidel, former World Champion and current National Heads-Up Champion Huck Seed, 2009 Pot Limit Hold’em World Champion John Kabbaj, and Gus “The Great Dane” Hansen, who has no WSOP jewelry in his career. The 19 remaining players returning for Day 4 will play through to a final table tonight and a champion determined tomorrow.
A championship will be determined tonight in Event #51, another $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament. Thirty-five players remain from the 2,781 who started the tournament, with newcomer Durand Thibaud holding the chip lead. He is joined by Owen Crowe as the only players over the million chip mark, with Josh Schlein on the verge of cracking that mark.
Two tournaments enter into Day 2 action today, the $3,000 Triple Chance No Limit Hold’em tournament (Event #52) and the $1,500 Seven Card Stud High-Low tournament (Event #53). Jeffrey Lisandro, who has already captured three WSOP bracelets this year, is looking for an unprecedented fourth in the Triple Chance event, although there are still 149 players left. Currently Lisandro holds a healthy stack of 113,800 and is in pursuit of Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, who has 127, 900. In the Seven Card tournament, Marcel Luske, Daniel Negreanu and Annie Duke are a few of the top names that have survived to play Day 2, with Allie Prescott holding the lead over the 143 runners remaining.
Two events will kick off action with their Day 1s that begin at Noon today. Event #54, another $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, should draw a sizeable crowd and Event #55, the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Triple Draw Lowball tournament, should be stocked with top professionals. Poker News Daily will be on top of this and all of the rest of the action at the Rio as the poker world prepares for the start of the Main Event later this week.
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Brandon Cantu Defeats Lee Watkinson for WSOP PLO High-Low Title
Two of poker’s stars clashed in a heads-up match for the ages in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better event Saturday evening. Brandon Cantu and Lee Watkinson were the first bracelet winners of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to play heads-up for a title and the large crowd that gathered at the ESPN stage in the Amazon Room wasn’t left disappointed.
In the end, it was Cantu who finished on top to earn his second WSOP gold bracelet and $228,867. Cantu fought back from a 5:1 chip deficit to take control of the match and eventually put Watkinson away. On the final hand, Watkinson raised and Cantu called to see a flop of Q-6-4 with two clubs. Watkinson moved all-in and Cantu called:
Watkinson: 
Cantu: 
Watkinson was unable to fill his low and straight draws and Cantu’s set of fours held up to seal the victory. The win came just a week after Cantu took second place in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event despite having an enormous chip lead throughout most of the final table. He earned $403,951, but the result came with plenty of discontent.
“This is really special, especially because I should have won a week ago,” he said of winning his second bracelet. “That loss was really hard for me to take. This one really was special… I put so much time into playing these tournaments. The money comes and goes, but the bracelet will always be there. It’s nice winning titles. It’s great.”
Cantu took nearly twice as many chips (1,025,000) into the final day of the Pot Limit Omaha High-Low event as his closest competitor (Mathieu Jacqmin). At one point during Day 2 he had 25% of the chips in play, reaching the one million chip mark before anyone else had hit 300,000. Despite having limited experience in the game, Cantu went on a rush that hadn’t yet been seen at this year’s WSOP. “I don’t know if this game suits my style,” Cantu explained. “But everything worked. You can’t be quite as aggressive in this game. You have to slow down a little bit. In the end, everything worked.”
Cantu’s first gold bracelet win took place in what was his first time ever to cash in a major live event. He won a $1,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em WSOP event in 2006 for $757,839. The tournament drew 2,776 players, which at the time at the time was the largest non-Main Event tournament in WSOP history.
Watkinson was also playing for his second career WSOP bracelet Saturday. His first came in the 2006 in the $10,000 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha championship. Watkinson also made it to the final table of the 2007 WSOP Main Event, taking eighth place for $585,699.
Here a look at the final results from the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Low event:
1. Brandon Cantu – $228,867
2. Lee Watkinson – $141,873
3. Mathieu Jacqmin – $92,946
4. Ted Weinstock – $74,727
5. Tommy Vedes – $47,617
6. Steve Jelinek – $36,893
7. Aaron Sias – $30,028
8. Ronnie Hofman – $25,618
9. William McMahan – $22,862
One player will be awarded a bracelet Sunday as the $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout comes to a close. Bracelet winners Greg “FBT” Mueller, Tom Schneider, David Williams, and Marc Naalden headline one of the most talented final tables formed at the 2009 WSOP. Online stars Matt “mattster24″ Sterling and Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart will also be vying for the bracelet and $ 194,854 prize when play resumes at 2:00pm Vegas time.
Day 3 of the $50,000 HORSE will get underway at 4:00pm with 53 of the original 95 players still in the field. Gus Hansen is the chip leader heading in to Day 3 with 686,000 while Ray Dehkharghani (643,000), Erik “erik123″ Sagstrom (560,000), and Todd Brunson (549,000) are close behind. A winner will be crowned on Tuesday and collect $1,276,802.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s events at the WSOP.
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Bahador Ahmadi Wins WSOP $2.5K Mixed Hold’em Event
Bahador “Baha” Ahmad careened his way through a field of 527 players, including a tough final table that included Barry Greenstein and Ylon Schwartz, to win the $2.5K Mixed Hold’em Event (#47) Friday evening. Ahmadi, an Iranian-born poker pro now living in Canada, earned his biggest career payday of $278,804 with the win.
After seven hours of play at the final table it took just one hand of heads-up play for Ahmadi to claim victory. His opponent, John McGuiness, completed his option from the button and Ahmadi checked behind. On the A-7-2 flop with two diamonds, McGuiness moved all in and Ahmadi quickly called:
McGuiness: 
Ahmadi: 
A deafening roar came from Ahmadi’s supporters when the 
landed on the turn, giving Ahmadi a flush and leading McGuiness drawing dead. McGuiness collected $172,227 for his first WSOP cash.
In Mixed Hold’em, the game switches between rounds of Limit Hold’em and No Limit Hold’em with the games alternating every 30 minutes. Ahmadi, more experienced in Limit Hold’em, talked about his strategy during Event #47: “In an event like this, you find a lot of No Limit players who have not played much Limit. So, if you have any edge in Limit, you can do well. I have a strong background in Limit. I found that I was able to really make (major gains) when we were playing Limit. I sat back in the No-Limit and just picked my spots.”
This was Ahmadi’s second final table of the 2009 WSOP. He took fourth in the $2,500 No Limit Hold’em Event (#13) for $139,934. He two cashes this year bring his total WSOP earnings to $418,738.
A handful of big names joined Ahmadi and McGuinness at the final table. PokerStars Team Pro Ylon Schwartz, a member of the 2008 WSOP Main Event November Nine, took third place for $112,967. Barry Greenstein made his second final table appearance in less than a week and finished fifth for $57,671. Fellow bracelet winner Hassan Habib earned $30,641 for his eighth-place finish.
Here’s a look at the final results of Event #47:
1. Bahador Ahmadi – $278,804
2. John McGuiness – $172,227
3. Ylon Schwartz – $112,967
4. Karlo Lopez – $78,628
5. Barry Greenstein – $57,671
6. Matt Woodward – $44,520
7. Randy Haddox – $36,084
8. Hasan Habib – $30,641
9. Zachary Humphrey – $27,199
One tournament will crown a champion on Saturday as the $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better event will play down to a winner. Ultimate Bet Team Pro Brandon Cantu gained the chip lead early on Day 2 and never looked back, eclipsing the 1-million mark before another player had even reached 300,000. He’ll begin the final table with 1,025,000 in chips while Jacqmin Mathieu (552,000) and Full Tilt Pro Lee Watkinson (412,000) follow him in contention for the bracelet and $228,867 prize.
Meanwhile, Day 2 of the $50,000 HORSE event will resume at 4:00 p.m. with 90 of the original 95 participants still in the field. Hassan Habib, who took his seat after busting from the final table of Event #47, has the chip lead with 387,000. Martin Vallo (347,200), Matt Glantz (300,000) and David Benyamine (282,200) are close behind. The five-day event will conclude on Tuesday with the winner receiving $ 1,276,802.
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for updates on all of today’s events at the World Series of Poker.
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High Stakes Omaha Games in Las Vegas
Since the inception of the World Series of Poker 40 years ago, one of the biggest attractions wasn’t the tournament series itself but the side games that occurred after people had busted out of their tournaments. All too often the real sharks of Las Vegas would be waiting in the juicy side games where the home game heroes would end up after their tournament was finished. All too often the result was that the sharks cleaned the tourists out and fattened their bankrolls for the rest of the year.
Times are a little different in Las Vegas 40 years later as poker is offered at just about every major casino in town. The idea of sharks waiting at every cash game is something of the past since so many casual tourists in town have some experience playing poker and don’t mind sitting down at the games when they are out gambling. This means that the fields for the small stakes tables, be it Limit Hold’em, No Limit Texas Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha are so big that good poker players should do well if they can avoid the coolers and bad beats no matter where they play.
More often than not, the biggest game in a poker room is Pot Limit Omaha. Because of the drawing nature of the game, pots are always bigger in PLO games than they are for No Limit Hold’em. When a huge whale comes in to town (someone with ridiculous amounts of money to burn) and wants big poker action, they’re playing Pot Limit Omaha. As famed rounder Sammy Farha was quoted as saying, “If No Limit Texas Hold’em is the Cadillac of poker, then Pot Limit Omaha is the Porsche.”
The days of juicy side cash games at the World Series of Poker aren’t too removed as the venue has changed to the swankier and bigger poker room at the Rio in Las Vegas. With the WSOP in town, the high rollers are constantly on the lookout for a big game to prove their skills in addition to taking home big profits. According to more than one source, one of the biggest games for Pot Limit Omaha is currently running daily at the Rio in the form of a 25-25-50 game. That means that there’s two small blinds of $25 and one big blind of $50 in a 9-handed format. To say this is an action packed game would be the littlest complement one could bestow on the game.
Regular players in that game include popular pro David “Devilfish” Ulliot and other internet PLO superstars such as DJ Sensei, Eric Liu, Harrington25 (not Dan Harrington) and colson10 have been spotted at the main game at the Rio. Many in that main game, as evidenced by recent posts in their blogs, have said that the game isn’t juicy at all and is similar to their regular games online. The idea for them was finding juicy games against lesser competition while in Las Vegas. Omaha does seem to be taking off in Las Vegas this summer as the game is more widespread than it has been in recent memory.
According to reports, the aforementioned Rio has been running 25-25-50 PLO every day and if requested, they have started up a 50-100-200 game during peak gambling hours in Sin City. Also at the Rio was a half 100-200 PLO and half 100-200-400 No Limit Hold’em game with antes which was running regularly through the WSOP week. Finally, the Rio has been known to run a 75-150 Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better game and players are encouraged to call in to the Rio poker room to request a seat at any of the big games.
Other hotels in Vegas are also running Pot Limit Omaha, including some of the smallest stakes seen for poker in Vegas casinos for players looking to learn the game live. At the Excalibur Hotel, they are offering up a regular $0.50-$1 Pot Limit Omaha game at their electronic PokerPro table which seems perfectly suited for the game to keep it moving quickly, as most dealt Omaha games run quite slow. Regular PLO games are known to be going at both Caesars Palace and Bellagio.
If you’re in Las Vegas this summer during the WSOP event season and are looking to get in on the action, there’s plenty of mega-high limit games at the Rio, in addition to games at Caesars. For those of you with oil company ownership money, you can always get in on the mixed game action at Bobby’s Room at Bellagio which requires a minimum $20,000 buy-in. If you win in that game, you just might be able to buy that Porsche Sammy Farha was talking about.
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Jeffrey Lisandro Interview with Poker News Daily
Jeffrey “Iceman” Lisandro accomplished a feat that many thought would be difficult to achieve in the post-Moneymaker era of the World Series of Poker (WSOP)—win three bracelets in a single year. Lisandro did just that, taking down Stud, Stud Hi/Lo and Razz events to make him the undisputed Stud games champion of 2009.
We caught up with Lisandro shortly before his second bracelet ceremony to talk about his amazing Series so far as well as the reasoning behind alternating between the Australian and Italian national anthems at his numerous bracelet ceremonies.
Poker News Daily: Congratulations on winning your second bracelet this year and your third career bracelet. After you won the first one a few weeks ago, did you expect to win another bracelet this year?
Jeffrey Lisandro: I thought it was going to be close, to be honest. I was really trying hard and I thought this (the Stud H/L Championship) would be my best chance. I was playing well.
PND: All of your bracelets are in Stud events. Do you consider yourself to be one of the premiere Stud players in the world?
Lisandro: Not really, no.
PND: You don’t think it is your best game?
Lisandro: I think I play all games well, but it just worked out that I’ve done better in the Stud events.
PND: Do you have a preference between Stud Hi and Stud H/L?
Lisandro: Yeah, I prefer the Stud Hi. I can play my opponent better.
PND: You’ve really excelled in the $10,000 buy-in Championship events. Do the bracelets mean more to you when you win them in a smaller field, but one packed with tough competition than winning one in a large field No Limit Hold’em event?
Lisandro: I don’t really enjoy playing No Limit Hold’em. I’ll play any game except No Limit Hold’em. I’ve been avoiding the No Limit Hold’em events so far this year.
PND: Is it nice to have so many alternatives to Hold’em at this year’s WSOP?
Lisandro: Yeah. I like the higher buy-ins and being able to play different games.
PND: It also seems to be helping you and Barry Greenstein in your bet with Daniel Negreanu and Erick Lindgren about which pair will turn out better results.
Lisandro: Yeah, we’re doing really well now. We’re pretty far in the lead now, but we’re not giving up. We can’t slack off because the two guys are capable of catching up and beating us. There are still enough tournaments left that if we were to stop now we might lose, so we’ve got to keep going and get a couple more results.
PND: Do these prop bets help motivate you more to play all the events in the Series?
Lisandro: They do, definitely. Barry’s really motivated, he wants to do well and so do I, but Barry more so because he wants to pull his end (of the bet).
PND: Are you going to put the pressure on him to match your results?
Lisandro: (laughs) No, no I’m not going to put the pressure on him. He’ll do better without pressure. You know, it just works out that you can have a good year, you can have a bad year. If you look at his results over a period of time, he’s right up there.
PND: We heard you were going to have the Italian national anthem played at your second bracelet ceremony of the year. How important is it to you to pay homage to all the different places you call home?
Lisandro: Very important. I’m very happy I won two bracelets this year because I consider myself an Australian-Italian and a lot of Italians don’t cope too well with the fact I say I’m Italian, but I’m Italian. I’m an Italian citizen, I have an Italian passport and other nations aren’t like America. In America, it doesn’t matter where you came from, you’re an American. One thing I value is my citizenship and the fact that I wasn’t born in Italy, but I am Italian. So, I am going to play the Italian national anthem today not for the guys who knock me, but for myself and for my country.
PND: Well congratulations again and enjoy your bracelet ceremony.
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WSOP Academy features Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth to teach in Main Event Primer
The acclaimed WSOP Academy is once again offering its once-a-year Main Event primer for players who want to improve their chances at poker’s most famous tournament. The instructors include two Main Event champions – Phil Hellmuth and Greg Raymer, – bracelet holders Annie Duke and Mark Seif, pro Phil Gordon, tell expert Joe Navarro and other noted instructors. Annette Obrestad has also been mentioned as a possible instructor for the Main Event Primer, an excellent option considering she won the first WSOP Europe Main Event in 2007.
Brandon Rosen from Post Oak Productions (the company that manages the WSOP Academy) describes the event in these words: “Like the WSOP Main Event itself, our Main Event Primer only comes around once a year and is unrivaled in its level of instruction as well as the interaction participants have with the biggest names in poker. It truly is a unique opportunity to learn optimal strategy from the pros who have won it all.”
The 3-day course will take place on June 29 – July 1 at Caesars Palace Las Vegas, and a roster of the industry’s top players and instructors will arm participants with an arsenal of strategies and mechanisms for navigating the huge Main Event fields and holding their own against the game’s best.
The Primer will focus mainly on four styles of instruction: advanced poker seminars (with Q&A sessions,) expert analysis of WSOP video footage, live hand demonstrations by top pros and private multi-table tournaments. Participants will also have the chance to win a seat into the $10,000 WSOP Main Event.
Attending the Primer will set you back $2500 (or $5000 for the deluxe package which includes an exclusive VIP dinner with the teachers,) but it could be worth it based on past results – some of last year’s graduates cashed big at the last year’s Main Event after learning from the Academy pros. These are some of the players who recouped their investment and then some after attending the WSOP Academy Main Event Primer: Aaron Keay made it to 49th Place and cashed for $135,100, while Allen Kennedy was just one below in 50th Place and also ashed for $135,100, and Gary Hamilton made it to the relatively low 560th Place and still took home $23,160.
The WSOP Academy Main Event Primer has an extensive and detailed curriculum, which covers all of the aspects a player needs to face the massive Main Event fields. These are just a few of the topics that will be studied at the Primer:
- Table image and the exploitation thereof
- Intimidation and control of your opponents
- Isolation of weak players
- Advanced pot odds + implied odds
- Pre and post-flop mathematics
- Four post-flop scenarios
- Limpers vs. non-limpers
- Situational raising
- “Suit”-itis
- The Gap Principle
- Making the money bubble
- Making the final table
- Mentally preparing
- Planning your day and play
- Taking care of yourself
- Conceal don’t reveal
- 13 advanced tells to look for
Space is limited and the Primer is expected to sell out, so if you are interested visit the WSOP Academy website to reserve your spot.
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PartyPoker Enters Sponsored Players Wars, Signs Three Top Pros
After staying out of the battle for sponsoring players for the entirety of their existence, PartyPoker has entered into the fray by signing three players to begin a team of sponsored players. These players come from their online ranks and have shown outstanding skills on the online poker site and in international competition.
For several years, PartyPoker featured only one sponsored pro on its rolls: PartyPoker ambassador and World Poker Tour commentator Mike Sexton. Recently, however, Party decided to extend sponsorships to players based on performance at its online poker room. PartyPoker looks at their VIPs, player loyalty to the site and historic links to PartyPoker in determining the criteria for addition to what they are calling a “grassroots” team. The three additions made this week not only are outstanding players in their own right but also represent the international aspect of poker.
Earlier this week, PartyPoker tabbed English poker professional Ian Frazer to join Sexton on the PartyPoker team. Frazer is a building contractor from London who has compiled a strong list of success on the felt. Nicknamed “The Raiser”, Ian has captured three major European titles at the 2005 888.com Pacific Poker Open, the 2006 PartyPoker European Open and the 2006 Goalpoker.com Champions League of Poker. In total, he has amassed over $1.3 million in tournament earnings and has money finishes in the three major tours (the WSOP, the WPT and the EPT) that are in existence.
Yesterday, PartyPoker announced the addition of two more members to Team PartyPoker. Brazil’s Felipe Ramos – who had a final table appearance at this year’s World Series of Poker – and France’s Remy Biechel have accepted the sponsorship that PartyPoker has offered and will represent the company in tournaments around the world. Both Ramos and Biechel are PartyPoker players whose poker accomplishments merit their newfound sponsorship deals.
Ramos is an aggressive young professional poker player from Sao Paulo, Brazil and is a popular and influential figure on the Latin American poker circuit. A top VIP at PartyPoker.com, he started playing professionally in January 2008 and has earned over $700,000 since that time. Last week he finished in sixth place in the $5,000 PLO (Event 35) at the World Series of Poker. Along with this finish, Ramos has been a Brazilian Series of Poker champion and contributes strategy advice to many poker magazines. He plays at PartyPoker under the names ‘mojave14’ and ‘FelipeMojave’ and, in addition to playing in live events for PartyPoker, will also be writing his own blog for the site and help nurture fellow players with tutorials.
Biechel is a very popular poker player on the French circuit and a Palladium Lounge member at PartyPoker. He currently has over $840,000 in lifetime live tournament winnings and has cashed significantly in two big international side events. He won the €5000 side event at this year’s EPT Monte Carlo, taking home €280,000, and secured second place in a side event at the 2008 WPT Festa Al Lago for $163,000. Along with playing, Biechel is also coaching French World Cup winning ex-footballer Frank Lebeouf, who will represent PartyPoker in next week’s WSOP charity event “Ante Up For Africa.”
With the addition of Ramos and Biechel, Team PartyPoker now stands at four players and more will be added in the future, according to PartyPoker executives. A PartyPoker spokesman stated, “We’re delighted to welcome Felipe and Remy to the team. Like Ian Frazer, they both have history as loyal customers and have increased their play since the re-launch of the new software and VIP programs.”
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Lisandro Wins Third Bracelet at 2009 World Series of Poker
Jeff Lisandro became only the fifth player in World Series of Poker history to win three gold bracelets within a single year by winning the $2,500 Razz Event (#44) Wednesday evening. A large crowd assembled in the Amazon Room to watch the Italian collect $188,390 by defeating a field of 315 players to pick up his fourth career bracelet. He has now cashed six times at the 2009 WSOP for a total of $807,486.
All of Lisandro’s wins this year have come in Seven-card events. His victories in Event No. 16 ($1,500 Seven-card Stud), Event No. 37 ($10,000 Seven-card Stud Eight-or-better World Championship), and Wednesday’s Seven-card Razz event give him a bracelet in each Stud format.
The other four players to win three bracelets in one year were Puggy Pearson (1973), Ted Forrest (1993), Phil Hellmuth (1993), and Phil Ivey (2002). Based on field sizes, however, Lisandro’s feat is the most remarkable of the five players who share the record. He defeated a total of 835 players (combined) in his three gold bracelet wins. Phil Ivey defeated 529 players during his run in 2002.
Lisandro wiped out the Razz final table almost single-handedly, knocking out six of the eight players, including the final four. No player ever came within 2 to 1 of his chip lead and it was the shortest final table of any of the 44 events completed so far at this year’s WSOP, taking just two hours and 44 minutes.
The final day of the event began with 13 players, and some big names fell on the way down to the final table, including Ville Wahlbeck, Nikolay Evdakov and Al Barbieri. Wahlbeck had an opportunity to make his fourth final table of this year’s WSOP but entered the day as the short stack and failed to squeeze his way in. Evdakov continues to rack up cashes – this was his fifth at this year’s WSOP. The Moscow native now has 15 cashes since the start of the 2008 WSOP, which is the most of any player. Evdakov broke the record for most cashes within a single year at last year’s WSOP with 10.
Lisandro was the only player at the final table that had previously won a bracelet. It was a table filled with colorful personalities, as Allen Bari, Kenna James, and noted poker author Michael Craig were among the final nine. Bari, who won a WSOP Circuit event held at Caesars Atlantic City last year, spent much of the three days jokingly complaining about the tediousness of Razz, but managed to take home $19,880 for his eighth place finish.
Kenna James finished in sixth. Considered one of the most accomplished players to never win a WSOP bracelet, the animated James earned $29,472 over the three days. He now has more than $3 million in career tournament earnings.
Craig finished runner-up to Lisandro and received $116,405. He is most famous for writing “The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King”, which is a true story about the highest-stakes cash game in poker history. Craig has also proven his competency on the felt by making three WSOP final tables.
Here’s a look at the final results of the $2,500 Razz Event (#44):
1. Jeffrey Lisandro – $188, 390
2. Michael Craig – $116,405
3. Ryan Fisler – $76,260
4. Warwick Mirzikinian – $52,772
5. Eric Rodawig – $38,470
6. Kenna James – $29,472
7. Steven Diano – $23,669
8. Allen Bari – $19,880
Two more champions will be crowned at the Rio on Thursday. The $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em World Championship gets underway at 1:00 p.m. Vegas time with fourteen players preparing to play down to a winner. John Kabbaj takes a commanding lead into the final day but PokerStars Team Pro member J.C. Alvarado and bracelet winners Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Davidi Kitai, and Jason Lester are in the mix vying for the $633,335 prize.
The other event concluding Thursday is the $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo 8-or-better (Event #46). Twenty-four players remain with chip leader Mark Tenner currently in the driver’s seat. Notables still in the field include Mike Matusow, John Monnette, CK Hua, and Mark Gregorich. The winner will collect $229,192
Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for continuing coverage of the 2009 World Series of Poker.
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JC Tran Interview with Poker News Daily
Professional poker player and California native J.C. Tran is renowned for his success in the industry. The Asian Poker Tour (APT) sponsored player just added a new title to his long list of accomplishments, which already include a World Poker Tour (WPT) event win, a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and nearly $8 million in tournament winnings. Recently, Tran won his second career bracelet in the $2,500 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Event. The win brings him an additional $235,685 and more bragging rights in his tight circle of accomplished friends that includes Amnon Filippi, Theo Tran, Steve Sung, and Nam Le.
We caught up with Tran shortly after his bracelet ceremony and he gave us some insight on his final table and how his Omaha game compares to his Hold’em game.
Poker News Daily: Congratulations on your second bracelet. You had a really tough final table to beat in order to win. Did you have a player or two in mind that you were especially worried about?
Tran: You know what? They were all tough. The thing about it is that they were all really solid. There wasn’t a guy who would hand me chips, you know? And in tournaments, you need those guys who just hand you half of their stack or their whole stack and there were just none of them there; they were all solid. I just happened to catch hands and my timing was right. I was able to win a lot of dead pots.
I have a lot of respect for [runner-up] Jeff Kimber. He was the one guy I didn’t want to play heads-up. When I got down to heads-up, I caught a bunch of hands early and took his confidence away, I guess. He was a little bit confused and didn’t seem to know what to do because every time he called me, I had a hand. It’s tough to play against someone who just keeps getting hands. If it were the other way around, I would be in a daze too. I definitely caught more hands than the rest of the guys.
PND: Do you think your Omaha game compares to your Hold’em game in terms of the way that you play?
Tran: No. I still have a lot to learn about Omaha. I think I’m getting good at it, but I am far from being great. I am going to keep playing and learning.
PND: You’re known for being part of a big group of friends who are all doing really well at the WSOP right now. For example, Steve Sung won a bracelet and you railed your friend Daniel Alaei at the $10,000 buy-in Limit Hold’em Championship table. How much time do you think you’ll spend cheering people on from the rail?
Tran: Hopefully every other night!
PND: Congratulations again and good luck to you and your friends during the rest of the 2009 WSOP.
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