Poker-Bug Poker News

One of the UK's leading online poker rooms, Poker Heaven, has signed a marketing agreement with TV company Poker Channel Europe, giving it certain exclusive sponsorship rights.

Daivd Pham is heading to the WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno as the chip leader. (AP Images)

 

The televised final table at the WPT World Poker Challenge in Reno is set, and it is David "The Dragon" Pham who, with $1,655,500 in chips, will be sitting down as the leader when play gets underway today at 5pm PST. The two-time WSOP bracelet winner has been at or near the top of the field since day one, and this is his fourth time making a WPT televised table. No doubt Pham’s experience and chip advantage make him the favorite of the final six to take home the WPT title, $683,473 first prize and a $25,000 seat into the WPT World Championship this April.

Pham though is up against one of the toughest final tables seen thus far in season 5 of the WPT, with all six finalists accomplished pros who have experience going deep in both WPT and WSOP events. Among those who will challenge Pham include Juan Carlos Alvarado, with $1,107,000 in chips. Alvarado first made his mark as a successful online poker player and has lately been making a name for himself in live tournaments. Most recently he finished second in the L.A. Poker Classic’s $2500 NLHE event, and as an encore he went deep in the L.A. Poker Classic’s main event, finishing 15th.

Close behind Alvarado is the man to watch today, JC Tran, who is stacked at $904,000. A solid pick to win, Tran has clearly been the most dominating figure on the World Poker Tour the past few months with already two WPT final tables so far in 2007, including a second place finish at the L.A. Poker Classic. While Tran netted more than $1.1 million for his runner-up finish in L.A., he wasn’t happy coming up short of the WPT title, and he’ll be gunning for nothing less than first in Reno. 

While the bottom three are more than a million in chips behind Pham, they certainly shouldn’t be discounted as they have more than enough experience to overcome their deficits, although they’ll need a little luck on their sides as well. Danny Wong, who will start the day with $623,000 in chips, just finished 4th in the WSOP Circuit event in Rincon and took home just under a $1 million in tournament winnings in 2006. Stacked at $325,000, Seif won back-to-back WSOP bracelets in 2005 and is one of the most respected pros on the tournament circuit, and John Hom, who is hanging by a thread with $119,000 in chips, won a world champion’s bracelet at the 2002 WSOP in the $3,000 NLHE event.

Here at UK PokerNews we were delighted to hear our friends at Ladies in Poker were heading out to The Mansion Poker Dome final, to follow the progress of British player Rob Sherwood. Here is their report from the action in Las Vegas.

The climax to the very successful Pokerstars.com European Poker Tour Season 3 has started today at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort in Monaco. You can catch all the action as it unfolds via Poker News' Live Update service.

On the same day the Florida Gators returned to the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament, a previous champion made his way back to the top four of the Bodog Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament. Top online player "gbmantis", who took home the $25,000 first prize in the Sunday $100k Guaranteed on February 18, notched another final table appearance this past Sunday and came close to taking home first place for the second time in as many months. 

It wasn’t meant to be though, and after a swing that saw "gbmantis" go from holding half of the chips in play to being short-stacked after two ill-timed bets, another noted online player, "Dyzalot", took him out in fourth place. In the end, it was "Touchdown4me" who took home the $25,000 guaranteed prize and the bragging rights.

The final table results were as follows:

1) Touchdown4me - $25,000

2) Dyzalot - $14,000

3) WiCane - $9,000

4) gbmantis - $6,500

5) Upgrade23 - $5,400

6) Ulven - $4,400

7) ndrudy46 - $3,400

8) justmissed - $2,400

9) madogwtf69 - $1,550

Every Sunday Bodog Poker guarantees more than $250,000 in tournament prize money, including the Sunday $100k guaranteed poker tournament and the new Sunday $50k guaranteed held every Sunday at 1 pm EST. Visit the Bodog Poker Schedule to find the tournament that’s right for you.

Tonight sees one of the year's highlights of TV poker. The Final of the William Hill Grand Prix II with "The Gods of Poker" gets its first small screen airing. Whatever the other-worldly quality of the players, the poker should be good.

The Paddy Power Poker sponsored Irish Poker Open is set to host an array of stars from the world of poker. Mike Sexton is heading to Dublin to take his seat in the Easter event. Many other big names are on their way too.

More poker is heading for UK television screens. The Poker Masters of Europe, an exclusive invite only tournament, which will be sponsored by Betfair has all the makings of a classic.

Phil Ivey will be making his much anticipated first appearance in "High Stakes Poker". (AP Images)

 

By the time he was 30, Phil Ivey had racked up an impressive five WSOP bracelets and more than $7.5 million in tournament winnings, making him one of the most successful poker tournament players in the game. Yet it’s in the fast and brash world of high stakes poker where he’s feared most, and tonight for the first time, television audiences will get a table-side view of his cash game prowess when Ivey makes his “High Stakes Poker” debut on GSN at 9pm EST.

While Ivey is considered by many to be the best cash game player in the world, tonight he’ll be up against one of the toughest tables seen so far on “High Stakes Poker”. Among the players in the lineup include David Williams, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, Phil Laak, Brad “Yukon Booth” Booth, Brian Townsend, John D’Agostino, Antonio Esfandiari and David Benyamine.

“High Stakes Poker” is now in its third season and features famous poker players playing No-Limit Texas Hold’em for a minimum of $100,000 of their own money, with some players buying in for as much as $1 million. When players bust, they can buy back in for at least $50,000 or more. As it’s a cash game and not a tournament, there is no set end to the game and the blind structure stays the same with the small blind set at $300, the big blind at $600 and a $100 ante on every hand.

Want to play for the highest stakes in reality TV history? Submit a video audition to Bodog.com for a chance to compete on Calvin Ayre Wild Card Poker II, where 12 amateur players will compete for an unprecedented $2 million grand prize package.

Josh Arieh answers questions from you, the reader, on how to make the jump from playing poker as a hobby to playing as a professional. (IMPDI 2006, for the WSOP)

 

Team Bodog member, Josh Arieh has gone head-to-head with some of the toughest players in the biz. He has two World Series of Poker bracelets and his career winnings total more than $4 million. He plays with a cocky, high-pressure, pedal-to-the-metal style that’s almost as famous as he is.

It seems there are many Bodog Nation readers who are at that crucial point where they are considering taking their game to the next level. Arieh tackles many of their questions in this edition of Ask the Pros.

Read the rest and find out How to Make the Big Leap in Bodog Nation.