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NOVEMBER 2010USA $5.00

POKER BETTING LIFESTYLE

POKERThe WSOP Main Event final table is finally here

STRATEGYStaking – the newest way to make money from poker

SPORTNBA & NHL 2010/11 Season Previews

it's that time of year again...All spotlights shine on Vegas as the November Nine comes to town

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NOVEMBER 2010

fiRst up06 editorial

10 Poker news

pOkER16 the november nine

in Profile Get all the info on the nine

men looking to become the 2010 WSOP Main Event Champion

20 wPt tour schedule

22 one hell of a month

London’s September Poker Scene in Review

28 the watch is on Players becoming the online

poker Cops

32 full tilt Quiz The best in the world square off at trivia

34 stake & chiPs How the Staking Revolution

has taken over the poker world

stRatEgy

37 freerolling How to improve your game

for free

38 double or nothing sngs

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contents

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40 spORts BEttiNg40 back in the land

of hooPs and dreams

The 2010/11 NBA season preview

48 betting for dummies

Classes in becoming a better gambler

50 bsn sPorts nfl betting tiPs

This month’s NFL Tips

52 holyfield’s undisPuted mission

Evander Holyfield Interview

60 nhl 2010/11 The new season is here

64 schilling’s rhode island hoodwink

Curt Schilling’s new business venture at the taxpayer’s expense

68 sPrint for the finish line

The NASCAR season comes to a climax

lifEstylE

72 nhl 2011 EA Sports latest hockey

release in review

78 destination known

Aria Resort & Casino

NExt MONth80 the sPorting

month ahead

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news

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November

T he dispute between minnow online poker room Deliverance Poker and Tiltware LLC, the branding arm of

Full Tilt, has come to an end after Deliverance voluntarily dismissed all claims at the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.Deliverance had filed a law suit relating to the actions of November Niner Michael Mizrachi, who was branded as a Deliverance pro together with his poker playing brothers but jumped ship

D espite being known for having the most intimidating stares in poker, Phil Ivey is also considered by almost

everyone in the poker-know as one of the gents of the game. Never one to complain about a bad beat or change his emotions on the turn of a card, Ivey is seen by many as almost immune to the value of the money he gambles on almost all casino games. It therefore came as a surprise to many when a story surfaced on the two plus two forums detailing an irate Ivey cursing at staff at the Wynn Casino, Las Vegas.Ivey was throwing dice for an unconfirmed amount believed to be in $100,000 a roll range when a ruling from the stickman went against him because one of the dice was propped against the back wall of the table.Ivey argued the call, calling it “the most ridiculous” thing he’d ever seen, and after the confirmed ruling went against him the poker pro

lost his cool and directed a tirade of abuse at the Wynn staff who could only re-insist that they were simply doing their jobs.Whilst casino staff watched on Ivey told the bemused stickman “I’ll never play in this casino again. If you see me in this casino ever again I’ll suck your ****.”He then turned to the pit supervisor and said “Yours too.”The fallout from the incident is yet to be confirmed.

Ivey blows up aT The DIce Table

DelIverance poker DIsmIsses claIm agaInsT Full TIlT

from the minnow poker site midway through the Main Event at the WSOP and instead re-patched himself in the Full Tilt brand.Deliverance claimed that the move was a breach of contract on Mizrachi’s part and that damages were due from Tiltware because they had instigated their own contract with Mizrachi which replaced their own.However, on reviewing the original contract Judge James Nowlin asserted, “Even with the additional support attached to the Plaintiff’s amended pleadings, this Court is still not convinced there is ‘substantial likelihood’ that Plaintiff will prevail on the merits.”The case has therefore been withdrawn, leaving The Grinder free to concrete on the WSOP final table which takes place early next month.Mizrachi is taking only the 7th biggest chip stack to the final table but is the most recognized name still alive in the tournament and as such is one of the favorites to win it all with bookmakers and poker fans alike.Full Tilt has seven sponsored pros at the final table, but can only patch three of its players. The Grinder will now certainly be one of them.

In The news

p artyPoker have launched a revolutionary new internet poker game, dubbed Double Hold’em.

The concept of poker’s newest format is similar to NL Hold’em with regards to betting rounds and hand values, the difference is that each player is dealt three hole cards instead of two.All three hole cards are played in tandem pre-flop, but then post flop (assuming the player hasn’t elected to fold) the player will select one of the three cards that will designated as the “point card”. The point card can then be paired with either of the two remaining cards to make two conventional Hold’em hands. The two cards not designated as the point cannot be used together. The game should provide more action as players can arrange their three hands post flop to increase the number of drawing hands available. For example, with a hand such as Ah – 10c – 9h, and a board of Jh – 8s – 2h, a player can elect the 9h as their pivot to give them a flush draw and an open ended straight draw.Double Hold’em was created by E. Mark Gross and Zvi Lando, CEO and CFO of TableBrain. Gross billed Double Hold’em as giving players “more playable hands, more action, and bigger pots! It’s a poker game built by poker fans for poker fans.”Whether traditional poker fans are won over by PartyPoker’s new format is yet to be seen, recreational players will no doubt find the excitement as addictive as poker games that they are more familiar with but it may take longer for professionals to be won over by the game’s innovative style.

parTypoker launches Double holD’em

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I t was not good news for every World Series of Poker final tablist this month as former November Niner Scott

Montgomery was robbed in the bathroom at the Bellagio.Montgomery was at the casino during the preliminary events of the Festa al Lago when he was apprehended in the bathroom by a man wielding a knife. The man took $2,000 from Montgomery’s wallet and left the premises without being caught.Using social network site Twitter Montgomery let his followers know of the poor reaction he

believed the Bellagio had when informed of the incident. “I called security, but they took like 15 mins so they didn’t catch him. They are useless twits. Didn’t even ask me to look at camera footage…Security pretty much just said oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. I’m pretty annoyed.”Outcries from the poker community have intimated that the Bellagio should at least recompense Montgomery the money stolen, if only to maintain both their own public image and the level of trust between the casino and poker players.Montgomery is one half of poker’s newest high profile couple after announcing that he is currently dating 22 year old poker phenom Annette Obrestad, who also made her opinions on the Bellagio staff known via Twitter, saying “@scotmont got just got robbed at Bellagio restroom... Security didn’t give a sh*t… how does this even happen??”

scoTT monTgomery geTs robbeD aT The bellagIo

h ighstakesdb.com have published the figures of 2010’s biggest winners and losers on the virtual felt of the internet

cash tables, and it will come as no surprise to most that the two biggest winners on Full Tilt’s nosebleed stakes cash games are Tom Dwan and Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates.Dwan was the runaway profit leader of the year until the beginning of second Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge against Cates. Jungleman12 is up over $600,000 in the Challenge, slashing the difference in accumulated winnings between to the two by some $1.2m. Both players are over $4m in profit this year with Durrrr topping the leader board by just $27,000, only one hand at the high stakes cash tables.Phil Ivey is over $3m in the black, placing him third on the money list for 2010 and taking his profits since the site began recording online cash winnings in February 2007 to $18.7m. As well as being the biggest online winner on record Ivey is also the biggest live tournament winner with $13.1m in cashes.Brian “brugsby” Townsend is the biggest loser of 2010, having dropped almost $4m from his

bankroll, followed by 2010 WSOPE bracelet winner Gus Hansen. Townsend was down $2.53m before losing his Red Pro status at Full Tilt after deciding to step down as the lead instructor at online poker training site CardRunners, and has lost a further $1.4m under the online account name “brugsby” under which he amassed his huge bankroll.Hansen is in the red in 2010 to the tune of $3.67m and is now down over $10m since 2007, a staggering loss for a player who some would have said is past his prime before his recent WSOPE bracelet win in London.Cole South, Justin Bonomo and Richard Ashby all also ranked in the top ten biggest losers of 2010, with each player down more than $1m.

Full TIlT 2010 proFIT/loss reporT announceD

F ull Tilt have followed PokerStars lead in signing sports personalities to promote

its brand by inking 38 year old British heavyweight boxer Audley Harrison to the site. The announcement of Harrison’s signing is intended to boost the profile of Full Tilt in the UK and has been timed to coincide with Harrison’s latest fight. Harrison is fighting David Haye in an all British encounter for the WBA Heavyweight Championship on November 13th, and will sport Full Tilt branding for the fight.Far from being a recreational player, Harrison has cashed in two WSOP events and has scored a second place in a Bellagio Cup event.“I fell in love with poker while living in Las Vegas and have spent time learning how to play the game from the professionals who reside there,” said Harrison. “I have had some great results already in the game and Eddie (British Sports PR company Matchroom Sport managing director Eddie Hearn) and I have been looking at joining the right team for a while now.”“We have found the perfect partner in Full Tilt Poker and I look forward to representing them both in the ring and on the tables. Next time I’m in action on the felt, I plan to have the WBA Heavyweight Championship belt round my waist.”“I have heard it a hundred times from sportsmen and celebrities who think they can play the game but very few can, Audley is certainly in that small number,” said Hearn, Harrison’s promoter. “I watched him come close to winning the deep stack event at the Venetian in July and I think he has a big tournament result in his locker. The partnership with Full Tilt is an exciting one and I know Audley will be a great ambassador for the brand.”

Full TIlT sponsors harrIson In FIghT v haye

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r eports emanating from Sweden this month have been that Viktor Blom, aka Isildur1, has been signed to a pro

sponsorship deal with a big online poker site.Sohello “BankTheMan” Shah, a poker blogger from Sweden, has claimed via his blog that a deal has been done, strongly hinting at Blom without giving specifics as to what the pro contract actually is.Shah’s post read as follows:“A famous Swedish high stakes player, according to my sources, has now made a sponsorship deal with a well-known poker site. This news is not official yet, so unfortunately I cannot go out

has IsIlDur1 been sIgneD To a pro sponsorshIp Deal?

with his name or nickname. But the person is 20 years old, and during late 2009 and throughout 2010 he came poker’s biggest hot topic. Many have said, that he is the world’s best HU player and that will soon take Ivey’s place.”The claim clearly points to Isildur1, what is less apparent at the moment is whether the deal will be with Isildur1’s host site, Full Tilt. The poker world is all but certain that Blom is the man behind the Isildur1 myth, and Blom has also been ousted playing on PokerStars under the alias Grolongo, meaning that it isn’t inconceivable that Stars have nabbed one of Full Tilt’s most famous players from underneath their rivals’ noses. It is equally plausible that the Swede could sign with a Scandinavian site much like Finnish pro Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies who is sponsored by PowerPoker.However, after a period of absence of over 9 months Isildur1 has been back playing at Full Tilt for the past month, meaning that if there is any truth behind the rumors then the money would surely be on Blom tying his allegiances to the site which would guarantee him a shot at winning his money back from Patrik Antonius, Durrrr and Brian Hastings.

T he results of the of the poker Hall of Fame votes were announced this month and legends Erik Seidel and

Dan Harrington are the men that will be honored this year.A pivotal member of Team Full Tilt, Seidel is an eight time bracelet winner, the last coming in 2007, with over $4m in WSOP earnings including a second place finish at the 1988 Main Event. He also has a WPT title to his name and second

seIDel anD harrIngTon InDucTeD InTo poker hall oF Fame

place finishes at the Aussie Millions Main Event and the National Heads-Up Championship.Harrington’s poker resumé includes four WSOP Main Event final table appearances, including a win in 1995 and back to back final tables in 2003 and 2004. In addition to crushing the game on the felt Harrington’s literature series, Harrington on Hold’em and Harrington on Cash Games, are classed as some of the foremost works ever written on poker strategy.Seidel and Harrington join a host of living legends including Doyle Brunson, Phil Hellmuth and sole 2009 inductee Mike Sexton in poker immortality, the Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Monday 8th November inbetween the final table and the heads up finale of the November Nine.The 16 living members of the Hall of Fame and a 17 man media panel were each awarded 10 votes to any of the nominees in any manner they saw fit. The two players with the highest number of votes would then be inducted.Other players nominated but missing out in 2010 included Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Barry Greenstein and Jen Harman. Whilst it is expected that many of this year’s nominees will end up in the Hall of Fame, this year it was the turn of Seidel and Harrington.

?a fter Doyle Brunson

whimsically mused over the internet to his 350,000 strong

poker following that they should submit their opinions on some of his fellow pros to him, he probably didn’t expect to get a particularly excessive response.But that is exactly what happened as thousands replied to the Poker Haller of Famer, prompting him to post the results of his game on the internet.Brunson posted the impromptu poll via Twitter, asking poker fans which poker players they would like to sleep with, hang out with and kill, three questions that are getting asked on card tables up and down the country on a nightly basis. Well, the first is certainly anyway. The results of the poll were fairly predictable however, with Shannon Elizabeth taking the tiara as the player most people would want to sleep with ahead of Vanessa Rousso and Jennifer Tilly. Team PokerStars pro new girl Liv Boeree was in the top three for the majority of the poll but dropped out of the rankings in the final results.Phil Laak was the player most people would want to hang out with, with Gavin Smith second and Daniel Negreanu third, and Phil Hellmuth won the vote as the player most people want to kill. Hellmuth beat out UB cheating scandal beneficiary Russ Hamilton and Tony G to top honors.

brunson’s poll geTs ThousanDs oF responses

news

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T eam PokerStars have won the race to sign British female poker pro Liv Boeree after they announced the EPT

San Remo winner as their newest team member.PokerStars top dog Daniel Negreanu made the announcement at the press launch for the EPT London, welcoming Liv to the team and describing her as “the number one free agent in the poker pro market” and “having all the qualities you look for in a person to represent your brand.”Boeree was warmly received by both the media and her new Team PokerStars pro teammates who were present at the launch which included Negreanu, Greg Raymer and Chad Brown, and described the moment as “something I’ve worked my whole career towards.”

Boeree joins PokerStars after leaving UB.com earlier in the year, she was patched for UB for the majority of the World Series of Poker but her sponsor’s brand was conspicuous by its absence at the Main Event, prompting speculation that Boeree had ended her relationship with the online site.The rumours were confirmed shortly after and for the past three months Boeree has been the most coveted free agent on the poker market. Rumors were rife that both PokerStars and Full Tilt were extremely keen to persuade her to join their brand.With her first appearance in a team PokerStars uniform being at the EPT London, Boeree finished 2nd in a £2,000 NL Hold’em event and scooped over $80,000 for her efforts.

Full TIlT 2010 proFIT/loss reporT announceD

2 2 year old poker pro Randal “RandALLin” Flowers has been crowned WPT Champion for a

second time after taking down the Festa Al Lago at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. Flowers took a chip lead into the six-handed final table and proceeded to impressively use his stack to push through to the final table and eventually take the WPT title.After beating Michael Benvenuti heads up Flowers took home $831,500 and a second WPT bracelet for the win. Benvenuti got $564,200 for finishing second.Noah Schwartz, Jason Koon, Andy Frankenberger and Skip Wilson completed the televised final table lineup, Wilson was the first player eliminated from the final table after just 25 hands to finish 6th for $112,000. Frankenberger, who already has a WPT Season 9 title to his name after taking down the WPT Legends of Poker tournament in August, busted in 5th to ensure that WPT co-host Vince Van Patten keeps his hair intact for another tournament at least. Van Patten has an ongoing bet with tournament host Matt Savage that there won’t be a two time winner on the tour this year. If Patten loses the wager, he also loses his hair.Koon and Schwartz were both busted by Flowers in 4th and 3rd to leave the young American heads up with Benvenuti.In claiming the victory this week Flowers has become the youngest poker player ever to win two WPT events. He was also the youngest player ever to win a WPT event when he won the WPT Spanish Championship in Barcelona at the age of 20 in June 2009.Annette Obrestad led the Festa al Lago field at the end of day 4 with 14 players remaining but couldn’t take down her maiden major poker title in the USA. After running bad at the beginning of day 5 Obrestad ended up crashing out in 13th.

ranDal Flowers wIns seconD wpT TITle

Church is about to be in session.The November Nine is upon usand the entire poker world willcease to exist except for those

nine players sitting around the final table of the2010 World Series of Poker Main Event. After7,319 players entered the Rio Hotel AmazonRoom over 12 days of poker, just one tableand nine players remain, all eager to get theirhands on the first place prize of $8.9 millionand one of the most coveted objects in all ofpoker; a WSOP gold bracelet.

The November Nine consists of sixAmericans, two Canadian and one Italian.

Each has a different poker background, fromthe crowd favourite and most seasoned ofall Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi, who isthe only member of the 2010 NovemberNine to own a WSOP gold bracelet, to SoiNguyen, the man who has only played inthree previous live events before hisunbelievable run to the final table.

With the nine players come ninepersonalities and nine stories. Here’s howthose nine stack up coming into poker’smost holy of days.

Starting Blinds: 250,000/500,000, Ante 50,000

The November Nine

Jonathan Duhamel Chips: 65,975,000Odds: 13/5From: Boucherville, Quebec, Canada

Canadian Jonathan Duhamel began the 2010World Series of Poker without ever havingcashed in a WSOP, and qualified for the eventthrough PokerStars. He has had success in theEPT where he bubbled a final table in Praguefor 10th place and $54,904 in 2008. Duhamel’sother major live tournament cash before the2010 WSOP was at the 2010 PokerStars

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OF2010THECLASS

Words DAVID TUBBS Pictures ANNE LAYMOND

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Caribbean Adventure Main Event where hefinished 151st for $17,000. Duhamel had achange in fortune this summer however whenhe cashed twice for a total of $43,000 beforerunning deep in this, Event #57.

Duhamel currently sits as the overwhelmingchip leader holding nearly 50% more chipsthan his next closest competitor. The Canadiansuccessfully managed to eliminate a numberof the short stacks on his way to the finaltable, giving the boot to UB.com andDeepStacks University pro Adam ‘Roothlus’Levy (12th) and Matt Affleck (15th), who burstinto tears at the table after having his Acescracked by Duhamel’s 10’s. Duhamel isunderstandably the bookies’ favourite to winthe event and is priced at 13/5 on Betfair.

John DolanChips: 46,250,000Odds: 4/1 From: Bonita Springs, Florida, USA

John Dolan’s 2010 WSOP run has been thestrongest of his career with two cashesamounting to over $95,000 including an$82,804 score for finishing 6th in Event #36.

Like Duhamel, Dolan’s live game has beensteadily developing and has peaked in thisyear’s 2010 Main Event. The American, whopaid his own way into the event, has beenmaking a name for himself online by cashingbig in events such as Full Tilt Poker’s $1kMonday as well as several $100 re-buyevents for multiple five-figure cashes.Dolan’s playing style has been aggressivethroughout the 2010 Main Event and theman second in chips will look to flex his bigstack muscles in order to narrow the gap onDuhamel’s massive lead.

Joseph CheongChips: 23,525,000 Odds: 7/1 From: La Mirada, California, USA

Joseph Cheong is predominantly an online prowho has won some of the biggest buy-intournaments on the web. In July 2009 alone,Cheong took down six, yes six, $100 buy-intournaments on PokerStars. He also grabbedtwo cashes at the WSOP this summer as wellas a WSOP circuit win back in March. He alsofinished 2nd in the £10,000 NLH Six Max HighRoller Turbo at the EPT London last month,providing a nice little confidence booster priorto the Main Event.

Cheong will go into November’s showdownthird in chips having eliminated WSOPbracelet winner Pascal LeFrancois (11th)with trip-Kings against LeFrancois’ pair ofJacks. This was Cheong’s solitary knockoutof Day 8 in the Main Event, yet theCalifornian will be looking to add to that tallywhen play resumes.

John Racener Chips: 19,050,000Odds: 9/1From: Port Richey, Florida, USA

John Racener will go into the Final Tablewith a mid-range stack that is less than athird of Jonathan Duhamel’s table leadingpile. The 24-year-old has been well knownfor cashing big both online and in livetournaments for years. He had a sensationalFTOPS and WCOOP season on Full Tilt andPokerStars respectively, making eightdifferent final table appearances in 2010alone. His World Series of Poker statsmeanwhile are just as impressive with$762,846 in WSOP earnings, including a firstplace finish in the 2007 WSOP Circuit atHarrah’s Atlantic City for $379,392.

Since Day 5 of the Main Event, Racener hasheld a substantial chip stack that led the fieldfor a while on Day 6. And had it not been forFilippo Candio’s late 4-bet pocket Aces vs.

Racener’s A-K, which doubled up the Italian.Racener would have been returning to the Riowith the clear chip leaders. He will be goinginto the Main Event full of confidence thoughhaving finished 5th in the WSOPE £5,000PLO event.

Matthew Jarvis Chips: 16,700,000Odds: 13/1From: Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Matthew Jarvis is the second Canadian bornplayer of the November Nine and was theplayer who finally busted Brandon Steven(10th) to set the November Nine. EliminatingSteven was merely the end to a day whereJarvis bounced two other players from thefinal two tables - Benjamin Statz (16th) andScott Clements (18th) – and the 25-year-old’s WSOP Main Event run has been by farand away the Canadian’s best showing atthe poker table.

Other than a very recent cash at the 2010WSOPE in Event 3, Jarvis has had a quietlive poker career. He held a strong positiongoing into Day 7 of the Main Event in sixthposition but slowly lost ground throughoutthe day thanks to his conservative approach.Given his relatively new status as a majorlive poker player, Jarvis may well have beenavoiding risks in an attempt to simply makethe final table, but now that he’s here theyoungster will need to change his tactics ifhe’s to etch his name into the history booksand attain Main Event glory.

Michael Mizrachi Chips: 14,450,000Odds: 15/2From: North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi might be 7th inchips going into November but he is only aslightly longer shot than John Dolan to takehome his second WSOP gold bracelet of2010. Mizrachi is another Florida native and isby far and away the most seasoned player inthe November Nine. He won the $50,000Poker Players Championship event at the startof the World Series and has 23 WSOP cashesamassing an enormous $2.2 million inearnings. November’s final will be his fourthWSOP final table this year. With a CV that alsoincludes two World Poker Tour titles andalmost $9 million in career tournamentearnings, it’s no surprise that the bookies see‘The Grinder’ as the one to beat.

One of the biggest stories of the 2010WSOP was the fact that Michael and hisbrother Robert both reached the final tableof the players’ championship before all fourMizrachi brothers also cashed in the MainEvent. Mizrachi will share the WSOP Playerof the Year award with Frank Kassela if hewins the main event, yet aside from makingWSOP history that is unlikely to ever berepeated, the 29-year-old will also leapfrogPhil Ivey as the top earning tournamentpoker player of all time.

Soi Nguyen Chips: 9,650,000Odds: 22/1From: Santa Ana, California, USA

Soi Nguyen walked in the Rio’s AmazonRoom for the 2010 WSOP Main Eventhaving only played in three previous livetournaments with zero WSOP cashes. Hewill be the least experienced player playingin November by quite some distance, yetwith a strong showing throughout the MainEvent the medical supply distributor hasproven he knows how to play like achampion. Nguyen was on the right side ofone of the 2010 WSOP’s largest pots withDane Theo Jorgensen on Day 6, scooping a19.5 million pot and eliminating WPT GrandPrix de Paris winner in the process.

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The 37-year-old will be one of the mostvulnerable players at the table with roughlyone seventh of the stack chip leader JonathanDuhamel holds and will be a direct target tobe taken out first. Nguyen will need to pick updecent cards in the first few orbits of the finaltable if he is to extend what looks set to bevery limited playing time. If an early double upis not forthcoming for the Vietnamese bornplayer, an early exit will, excuse the pun, beon the cards.

Jason Senti Chips: 7,625,000Odds: 24/1From: St. Louis Park, Minnesota, USA

Jason Senti has had one WSOP cash in hisfew years as a poker pro, scoring $17,987 fora 21st place finish in the 2009 WSOP Heads-Up World Championship. Senti is one of the

feature instructors on the poker training siteBlueFire Poker, which hosts some of onlinepoker’s biggest names such as Phil‘OMGClayAiken’ Galfond and Don Nguyen.While Senti’s live tournament experience isfairly limited, his online presence is not so andthe big man routinely plays $50/$100 NLHold’em against some of the deepestpocketed players in the world.

Going into Day 8 of the WSOP Main Event,Senti held a solid chip stack for 4th place andplayed well enough to reach the final table,but his time as a November Niner looks set tobe limited. With the opening blinds set at250,000/500,000, Senti will only have a smallwindow to double up and double up again.

Having said that, the 9.5 million which AntoineSaout took to last year’s final table wasenough to see the Frenchman claim 3rdplace, meaning Senti’s elimination is by nomeans certain just yet.

The Class of 2009Player Starting Stack Position

Darvin Moon 58,930,000 2nd Eric Buchman 34,800,000 4thSteven Begleiter 29,885,000 6th Jeff Shulman 19,580,000 5th Joe Cada 13,215,000 1st Kevin Schaffel 12,390,000 8th Phil Ivey 9,765,000 7th Antoine Saout 9,500,000 3rd James Akenhead 6,800,000 9th

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World Poker Tour Season 9 2010/2011 Results1 Grand Prix de Paris

May 14th-16th

Winner: Theo Jorgensen (Denmark)

Prize: € 633,902

Buy-In: € 10,000

Runners: 247

Prize Pool: € 2,347,797

Location: Aviation Club de France, Paris

2 WPT Spanish Championship

May 19th-23rd

Winner: Ali Tekintamgac (Germany)

Prize: € 315,000

Buy-In: € 3,200 + € 300

Runners: 326

Prize Pool: € 1,311,460

Location: Casino Barcelona, Barcelona

3 Bellagio Cup IV

July 11th-15th

Winner: Moritz Kranich (Germany)

Prize: $ 875,000

Buy-In: $ 10,000 + $ 300

Runners: 353

Prize Pool: $ 3,424,100

Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas

4 Legends of Poker

August 20th-25th

Winner: Andrew Frankenberger (USA)

Prize: $ 750,000

Buy-In: $ 4,800 + $ 200

Runners: 462

Prize Pool: $ 2,151,072

Location: The Bicycle Casino, Los Angeles

5 WPT London Poker Classic

August 30th-September 4th

Winner: Jake Cody (England)

Prize: £273,783

Buy-In: £ 5,000 + £ 300

Runners: 171

Prize Pool: £ 820,800

Location: The Palm Beach Casino, London

6 Borgata Poker Open

September 18th-23rd

Winner: Dwyte Pilgrim (USA)

Prize: $ 733,802

Buy-In: $ 3,300 + 200

Runners: 1,042

Prize Pool: $ 3,335,442

Location: Borgata Hotel Casino, Atlantic City

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Calendar7 Festa al Lago

October 15th-20th

Main Event buy-in: $ 10,000 + $ 3,000

Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas

8 Foxwoods World Poker Finals

October 28th-November 2nd

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,700 + $ 300

Location: Foxwoods Casino, Mashantucket

9 WPT Amneville

November 2nd-6th

Main Event buy-in: € 3,200 + € 300

Location: Casino Municipal, Amneville

10 WPT Marrackech

November 27th-30th

Main Event buy-in: € 4,250 + € 750

Location: Casino Marrackech, Marrackech

11 Five Diamond World Poker Classic

December 3rd-8th

Main Event buy-in: $ 10,000 + $ 300

Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas

12 Southern Poker Championship

January 23rd-27th, 2011

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,700 + $ 300

Location: Beau Rivage, Biloxi

13 WPT Italy

February 5th-9th

Main Event buy-in: € 3,000 + € 300

Location: Venice Casino, Venice

14 WPT Paris

February 9th-15th

Main Event buy-in: € 5,000

Location: Aviation Club de Paris, Paris

15 L.A. Poker Classic

February 25th-March 1st

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,600 + $ 400

Location: Commerce Casino, Commerce

16 Bay 101 Shooting Star

March 14th-18th

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,500 + $ 500

Location: Bay 101 Casino, San Jose

17 WPT Vienna

March 24th-28th

Main Event buy-in: TBA

Location: Montesino Poker, Vienna

18 Hollywood Poker Open

April 9th -13th

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,600 + $ 400

Location: Hollywood Casino, Lawrenceburg

19 Seminole Hard Rock Showdown

April 27th-May 3rd

Main Event buy-in: $ 9,600 + $ 400

Location: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel, Hollywood

20 WPT World Championship

May 14th-20th

Buy-In: $ 25,000 + $ 500

Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas

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SPORTS BETTING

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RecoRd MakeRs and HeaRt BReakeRsCheryl Baker and Kriss Akabusi may well have been on duty elsewhere, but that didn’t mean the four weeks of mayhem was without its records. For some it was a case of toasting success, whilst for others it was a case of so near but yet so far.

The most impressive record of them all was the turnout for the EPT London Main Event itself, which smashed the previous mark for the highest attendance at a live UK tournament. 848 players stumped up the £5,000 buy-in for the event, bloating the prize pool to well over £4m.

POKER

The Highs and Lows of The Autumn Gold Rush

With the Autumn London Gold Rush now over for another year, those poker players who hit the English capital for the World Series of Poker Europe and the European Poker Tour London have finally had a chance to catch their breath. Yet for one mad month, London saw winners, losers and storylines galore. Here we wrap up the best and the worst of what went down as all the action unfolded on the casino floor. By Alex HAmmond Pictures GARRY dAvies

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But it was heartbreak for JP Kelly who was looking to seize one of the most impressive records in poker. The Team PokerStars Pro was defending the WSOPE £1,000 NL Hold’em title he won in London in 2009, the second of his two WSOP bracelets, and made it all the way to heads-up with fellow Londoner Scott Shelley.

If Kelly had taken the tournament down he would not only have become the sixth player to successfully defend a WSOP event, joining an elite group of players including Poker Hall of Famers Doyle Brunson, Stu Ungar and Phil Hellmuth, but even more remarkably he would have broken the record for the youngest player to win three WSOP bracelets by two years.

Unfortunately JP couldn’t quite get the job done, falling at the very last hurdle, meaning that the record still belongs to Phil Ivey. Still, with over 100 WSOP events left to try and break the record, don’t bet against him claiming the mark for himself in the future.

re.WelcoMe to tHe cluB, We’ve Been expecting YouFollowing a month of first wins at the 41st World Series in Vegas, you can now cross two more names off the “best player never to have won a bracelet” list after Phil Laak and Gus Hansen picked up their first pieces of WSOP bling in London.

Laak was still sporting the scars of an ATV accident in September that was much worse than was first reported, but still managed to make the transatlantic flight to compete in the WSOPE. His determination to get back on the felt paid off when he came through a tough field to take down Event #1, a £2,500 Six Handed Max NL Hold’em tournament, scooping £170,802 as well as the bracelet.

Hansen came through an incredibly strong field in Event #4, the £10,000 NL Hold’em Heads Up Championship, to earn his bracelet and a £288,409 payday. After railing Phil Ivey, Neil Channing and Andrew Feldman, Hansen found himself in the final against young American Jim Collopy, eventually coming through the best of three match-up after a two day break was needed for the players to play in the Main Event.

As well as Hansen and Ivey, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Viktor “Stop calling me Isildur1” Blom and Daniel “Jungleman12” Cates all played in the heads-up event, the first time that five of the biggest online cash players in the world have stepped up to face each other in a live tournament.

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HellMutH steps up coMedY act Phil Hellmuth’s WSOP entrances have always been entertaining. Never for the intended reasons of course, but entertaining nonetheless. And this year the Hellmuth publicity machine not only lived up to the absurdity expected, it demolished the boundaries of comedy in a way that had to be seen to be believed.

A ropy double-decker bus emerging over the Leicester Square horizon signalled the commencement of procedures, before a

marching band led the vehicle to its parking spot in front of the Casino at the Empire. The band then began a painful rendition of Lady Gaga’s Pokerface as eleven of the pop diva’s lookalikes (of various shapes and sizes it must be added) emerged from the bus to complete the rendition of the pop “classic”.

A big crowd gathered with cameras at the ready and as the tension hit fever pitch a parting of the masses saw the man, the myth, the legend that is Phil Hellmuth, stride out towards the Casino at the Empire.

An audible intake of breathe from the crowd was swiftly followed by an even more audible “Who the hell is that?” as the cameras went away and the crowd dispersed almost as quickly as it has formed.

Not done with the comedy routine just yet, Hellmuth and the entourage promptly strolled straight past the casino and into the cinema next door, only to emerge minutes later with egggy popcorn on his face to the sound of even more laughter than what he’d heard on the way in.