Tag: wpt

World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic Has 18 Players Remaining

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The World Poker Tour’s Los Angeles Poker Classic has had a ton of hype surrounding it, and to this point it has lived up to that hype.  When Day 4 began of the action there were 54 players remaining, but when the day finally wound down we were left with only 18 top players remaining in the action.  These 18 players will head back today to the Commerce Casino to play down to the final table, which should be one of the stronger final tables in recent memory as there are still some heavy hitters left in this event.  The winner of the World Poker Tour’s LA Poker Classic will take home over $1.3 million as well!

A few players that are definitely worth noting that are still in the event are Noah Schwartz (1.77 million chips, first place), Dan Kelly (1.749 million chips, second place), and A.J. Jejelowo (1.57 million chips, third place).  To round out the players who are holding over 1 million chips heading into Day 5, we have Stephen Chidwick in 4th place with 1.42 million, Jason Dewitt in 5th place with 1.18 million, Sean Jazayeri in 6th place with 1.126 million, and well-known poker pro Jason Somerville in 7th place with 1.025 million.  Quite a bit of the hype has surrounded Somerville, as this past week he came out as the first ever openly gay male professional poker player, and it seems that his announcement hasn’t slowed him down at all from playing incredible poker and putting himself in a great spot to make a run.

A few other well-known players still remaining in the action are former World Poker Tour Champions Joe Hachem and Allen Carter, as well as Sorel Mizzi, David Pham, David Sands, and Nick Binger.  All in all, there are quite a few big names remaining, and this final table has the potential to be one of the most talked about out of many recent events as well.  After Somerville who is in 7th place, the above-mentioned Pham, Sands, and Hachem are all sitting in 8th, 9th, and 10th places in that order.  Binger and Mizzi both have a bit of work to do though, as they currently hold 565k chips, and 600k chips respectively.

The action today starts with the blinds at 10k/20k, with an ante of 3k.  The action goes until there are only six players remaining, and then this will set the televised final table.

Party Poker World Poker Tour Denmark Satellites Start

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The Party Poker satellite tournament series for the upcoming World Poker Tour stop in Denmark has begun. Running from January 9 to February 19, 2012, the Party Poker WPT Denmark satellite tournament series awards at least one prize package to the event per week.

Each prize package into the WPT National Series Denmark is valued at $3,500 and includes the $2.2k main event buy-in, $550 cash for expenses, and accommodations for four nights. The WPT National Series Denmark takes place from February 28 to March 3, 2012.

The WPT National Series Denmark Party Poker satellite where one prize package is guaranteed to be given out takes place on Sundays at 15:10 ET for a $190 direct buy-in. One prize package will be given out for every $3.5k collected in the prize pool. Players are allowed to win as many WPT National Series Denmark prize packages as they are able to. After the first package, which the player must accept according to the terms stated, attending the WPT Denmark as agreed, all subsequent prize packages are deposited into the player’s real money Party Poker account as tournament dollars for the value of the package, in this case $3.5k.

Players can avoid the $190 buy-in for the WPT Denmark satellite by winning their seat in the event through a satellite qualifier. There are sub qualifier speed events with and without rebuys and even freeroll qualifiers that players can enter as well. That means, a player at Party Poker can win a seat in the next World Poker Tour event in Denmark for absolutely nothing.

Party Poker Launches WPT Venice Satellites

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Party Poker, home of satellite series’ all year long for various World Poker Tour main events, has now launched its satellite series for the tour’s next stop: WPT Venice.

The Party Poker WPT Venice satellite series runs from December 19, 2011 to January 22, 2012. It features five weekly satellites where $10,000 prize packages will be awarded. Prize packages include the $6,700 buy-in for the WPT Venice main event, 6 nights of accommodations at the Casino di Venezia, the site of the tournament, and $1,100 cash for expenses. Weekly WPT Venice satellites take place on Sundays at 15:20 ET for a direct buy-in of $530. One prize package is guaranteed to be awarded at each, with one package going out for every $1,100 collected in the prize pool.

You can skirt the direct buy-in by winning a daily $58 satellite qualifier. They take place at 13:45 and on Sundays are Turbo events. WPT Venice sub qualifiers for $2 and $6.50 will be held daily to seed players into the satellite qualifier. Both sub qualifiers are speed events and the $2 event includes a rebuy.

You can even get into the WPT Venice main event for free, with daily freeroll tournaments awarded entry into the $2 sub qualifier to the 25 top finishers of each freeroll.

The 2012 World Poker Tour Venice main event takes place from February 6 to 11 in Venice, Italy. By participating in this satellite series you are affirming that you can accept the award and attend the tournament if you win. Prize packages are not transferrable nor can they be redeemed for cash.

James Dempsey Takes Down WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic

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In what is definitely the longest tournament name out there, James Dempsey prevailed over a field that was star studded at the World Poker Tour’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond Classic.  The final table itself drew some well-known names, featuring players like Antonio Esfandiari, Vanessa Selbst, Andrew Lichtenberger, and 2012 November Niner Soi Nguyen.  Esfandiari was looking to become the first ever player to become a repeat champion of a WPT event, while Selbst was looking to become the first female winner of one.

To start the six handed action, Nguyen found himself atop the leaderboard with over a 1 million chip lead (4.995 million), with Dempsey in second place (3.86 million).  Lichtenberger was in third with 3.605 million chips, followed by Selbst with 2.25 million, Esfandiari with 1.255 million, and Vitor Coelho with 560k.

When all was said and done through the first four eliminations, there was Dempsey and Nguyen, the two players atop the leaderboard to start the day, matched up to decide the championship.  Esfandiari went out in 6th, and was followed by Coelho in 5th place, Lichtenberger in 4th place, and Selbst falling just short in 3rd place.  The heads up play started with each player almost even in chips, and set up quite an interesting match.

It started with Dempsey up a bit early on, but it wasn’t long before Nguyen took a big pot and control of the game.  After Nguyen kept raising and re-raising, Dempsey found himself at a huge disadvantage of over 10 million chips, 13.5 million to 3 million.  He was able to get up to about 6 million before a huge hand went down.  The action started with a raise by Nguyen pre-flop, and a three-bet by Dempsey.  The flop came down with the Queen of spades, 2 of spades, and 4 of clubs; prompting Dempsey to bet out 1 million chips.  Nguyen called this, and the turn came with a Ten of spades, leading to an all-in from Dempsey.  Nguyen debated for multiple minutes before finally calling and turning over As-5d for the nut flush draw and a straight draw.  Dempsey had Ad-Js for a worse flush draw, but a higher kicker, meaning that he could either hit one of his straight cards, or have a blank come on the river.  It was the King of hearts, giving Dempsey the straight with no flush for Nguyen, and everything had turned.

It wasn’t long after that before Dempsey sent the knockout punch to Nguyen, as he called his opponents’ all in with K-Q, and Nguyen turned over K-J.  Nguyen actually flopped a Jack to take the lead, but the river gave Dempsey a flush, the championship, and a $821,612 payday.  Nguyen got a nice pay out for his run as well, taking home $517,478.

Party Poker WPT Ireland Satellites Begin

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Party Poker is one of the primary sponsors of the World Poker Tour and as such holds satellite series’ for most of its major tournaments. The latest addition to the Party Poker WPT satellite series is WPT Ireland.

Running from November 7 through December 18, 2011, the Party Poker WPT Ireland satellite series includes daily freerolls and cash satellite qualifiers for as little as $1. The series culminates in a weekly WPT Ireland Satellite where 1 seat at the WPT Ireland main event is guaranteed, with more prize package awards likely.

Each Party Poker WPT Ireland prize package is valued at $6,000 and includes the $3,600 buy-in into the main event as well as $1,400 in spending cash, hotel accommodations throughout the stay with breakfast and dinner included and Party Poker’s world famous hospitality. Party Poker will award one of these $6K prize packages to 1 in 20 competitors in its weekly WPT Ireland Satellite, taking place every Sunday at 2:20 pm ET, with a $320 direct buy-in.

You can avoid the direct buy-in by winning a seat through a $33 satellite qualifier. These take place twice every day but Sundays when it takes place once in the form of a Turbo tournament. You can also win seats in this event via a $4 speed sub qualifier or a $1 speed sub qualifier with a rebuy. Finally, you can avoid paying buy-ins into this series altogether by first winning one of Party Poker’s daily WPT Ireland freerolls. These give out seats in the $1 rebuy sub qualifier.

Daniel Santoro Takes Down WPT Foxwoods Event

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Daniel Santoro is not the most well-known poker player in the game today, but he definitely made a name for himself after this World Poker Tour Foxwoods event.  Before this event, Santoro had a total live tournament earnings of $260,862, and he gave himself quite a bump on that total with his impressive win at this tournament.  The first place prize was set at $449,910 that he pocketed, and he was involved in a few big hands at the final table, and one hand that determined his fate as the eventual champion.

The final table featured six players with Steven Brackesy starting atop the leaderboard with 1.81 million chips, and was followed up by Christian Harder (1.29 million), Santoro (1.16 million), Bob Carbone (588k), Eli Berg (496k), and Andy Frankenberger (374k).  The first three eliminations happened fairly quickly, and the first elimination sent Berg home after only three hands.  Frankenberger was the next to go, and after that came one of the biggest hands of the tournament.

It involved Brackesy and Santoro, who got involved pre-flop and were going back and forth before getting it all in.  Brackesy flipped over A-4 suited to be quite a bit behind the pocket Queens that Santoro were holding.  This pot put Santoro in a massive chip lead over the remaining players, and it ended up having Santoro matched up against Harder to decide who would win it all.

Heads up play kicked off with Santoro as the chip leader by almost 4 times Harder’s chip stack.  Harder was forced all the way under 400k in chips before making a massive comeback and doubling up to get back into it.  Harder’s incredible storm back saw him actually take the chip lead at one point before Santoro was able to turn it back around.  The final hand of the tournament saw Santoro re-raise his opponent, which led to Harder to push the remainder of his chips into the middle.  Santoro made the call with A-K, and was up against the pocket ten’s of his opponent.  It wasn’t until the final card that Santoro was able to take the lead, and win the entire event.

While Santoro won the championship and the huge grand prize, Harder got a nice consolation prize of $248,962 for his run as well.

Party Poker Launches WPT Five Diamond Satellites

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It’s time for another satellite series to take place for another esteemed World Poker Tour main event. This time the event is the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic happening in Las Vegas, Nevada between December 6th and 11th, 2011.

Players winning Party Poker prize packages into the WPT Five Diamond will receive, in addition to the $10,300 buy-in into the main event, accommodations for 7 nights at the Bellagio, where the tournament will be taking place, and $2K in expense money. That’s a $14,000 value for each prize package.

These prize packages will be awarded at Party Poker’s WPT Five Diamond Satellites, taking place every week between October 17th and November 20th, 2011 on Sundays at 3:20 pm ET. These satellites have a direct buy-in of $700 + $50 but players can win their way into the event for cheaper than that via daily satellite qualifiers for $80. These award one player in ten seats in the satellite where one prize package is guaranteed to be given away each time.

Likewise players can win their way into the satellite qualifiers as well via a choice sub qualifiers. Both are daily events and both are speed events, although one, with a $3 buy-in, has rebuy whereas the other, with a $9 buy-in, does not. Players can even win their way into the $3 sub qualifier speed rebuy event via freeroll WPT Five Diamond Freeroll tournaments, also running daily. The highest 25 finishers at each freeroll will advance to the next stage of the series.

Party Poker WPT National Bohemia On Now

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Party Poker has begun its satellite series for the newest stop to be added to the World Poker Tour itinerary: WPT National Bohemia in the Czech Republic.

The Party Poker WPT National Bohemia satellite series runs from October 10 to November 6, 2011. It starts with daily qualifiers costing only $1 to buy-in. There are two such $1 daily sub qualifiers: a speed event from which 1 in 10 players will advance to the next stage and a speed rebuy event from which 1 player will advance to the next stage for every $18 in the prize pool.

That next stage is the WPT National Bohemia Satellite Qualifier, taking place daily and as a Turbo tournament on Sundays. It costs $18 to buy-in directly and advanced 1 in 10 players to the next stage, the actual WPT National Bohemia Satellite where at least one prize package is guaranteed to be awarded. These take place on Sundays for a $150 + $12 direct buy-in and award prize packages to 1 player for every $3,000 in the prize pool.

WPT National Bohemia will take place November 18 – 20, 2011 at the King’s Casino located right near the Czech / German border in Rozvadov, the Czech Republic. Each $3,000 prize package into the WPT National Bohemia will include the $2,100 buy-in into the main event, hotel accommodations while the tournament is taking place and $400 for expenses.

Winners are responsible for their own transportation to the Czech Republic for the event and are affirming by playing in these satellites and qualifiers that they will be able to attend if they do win a prize package. Prize packages are non-transferrable and non-refundable for any cash value.

Party Poker WPT Prague Satellites On Now

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Party Poker has begun its satellite tournament series for the World Poker Tour stop in the Czech Republic. Party Poker’s WPT Prague satellite series runs October 3 through November 20 during which the site will be awarding multiple prize packages into the WPT Prague worth $7,500 a piece.

The Party Poker WPT Prague satellite series starts with daily freerolls that each award advancement into a sub qualifier speed rebuy event for the top 50 finishers. That sub qualifier speed rebuy is also a daily event, this time with a $1 direct buy-in, and which awards seats in the satellite qualifier to one player for every $44 in the prize pool. There’s also a daily sub qualifier speed event without a rebuy that has a $5.50 + $0.50 direct buy-in and awards seats in the satellite qualifier to one in every eight players.

That WPT Prague satellite qualifier takes place daily and is a Turbo event on Sundays. It has a direct buy-in of $40 + $4 and awards seats in the satellite final to one in ten players. That WPT Prague satellite final takes place weekly, on Sundays, for a $375 + $25 direct buy-in and awards one seat for every 20 players competing, with one prize package minimum guaranteed.

The WPT Prague is the latest addition to the World Poker Tour itinerary, taking place at Prague’s Corinthia Casino betweeen December 1 and 5, 2011. Each Party Poker prize package into the WPT Prague includes the $5,000 buy-in into the main event, $1,300 in expense money, and luxury hotel accommodations during your stay.

David Williams Separates Himself from Field on Day 2 of Borgata Open

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While the world of online poker is blowing up with news about Full Tilt Poker, there is a very interesting World Poker Tour event going on that is starting to draw quite a bit of attention as well.  The 2011 Borgata Poker Open kicked off this past Sunday with Day 1a, and was followed up by Day 1b on Monday.  Yesterday, the two days combined the field to make the push towards the final table, and there were quite a few big time names still remaining in the field.  One of the many names out there is poker pro David Williams.

Williams separated himself from the field on Day 2, and took a chip lead with an impressive 727,100 chips.  The next closes to him on the leaderboard is Maurice Hawkins with 646,500 chips.  Two other big names who held their own throughout Day 2 were Vanessa Selbst, who ended with 315k chips, and one of the hottest players in poker currently, Will Failla, who ended up with 315k chips as well.

Day 1b chip leader Jeff Madsen struggled to get anything going, and ended the day with 100k chips left, but is still alive heading into Day 3.  There were also quite a few big names who were eliminated from the event as well, with players like Gavin Smith, Andy Frankenberger, Hasan Habib, Allen Kessler, Christian Harder, and Todd Terry all being eliminated before Day 2 came to a close.

Day 2 saw quite a few eliminations, and ended with only 170 players who will be moving on to Day 3.  With the incredible number of entrants at 1,313; 100 total players will make the cash, and Day 3 of the Borgata Open will be played until the field is cut down to only 27 players remaining.

The current top ten at the WPT Borgata Poker Open features a wide range of stacks, with David Williams leading with his 727k stack, and the 10th place player, David Diaz holding 457,100 chips.  Day 3 should be the most interesting day yet, and could set up a few of the big names who are left in the event to make their final push to the $922k+ first place prize!