If Day 1A of a poker tournament is an amuse-bouche then Day 1B is a hearty starter. A total of 338 players elected to start their Eureka6 Rozvadov adventure today, easily eclipsing the 219 who played yesterday.
The format, of course, was the same, 10 levels each 45 minutes in length. When they'd been completed just 132 players remained and it was Quentin Dellis who topped the lot. If you recognise the name it's because the Belgian final tabled UKIPT Dublin last month. He finished sixth on that occasion winning € 31,880.
By the time play ended today 27 year old poker professional had built his 25,000 starting stack all the way up to 201,100 and is the only player thus far to break the 200,000 chip barrier. Dellis has been playing for five to six years, professionally for the last three. The bad news for other players is that when Dellis cashes he makes the final table. He's got seven live cashes to his name and the lowest finish of any of them in sixth.
Whilst Dellis was the only player to break the 200,000 chip mark plenty of other players ran up big stacks. The likes of Martin Ilavsky (174,100), Jean-Marc Jelk (168,100), Jonas Lauck (159,300) Amir Mozaffarian (157,300) and Dag Palovic (132,600) will all be well placed when Day 2 starts tomorrow at 2pm CET.
There were also plenty of big names among the 206 players who busted out during today's action. Martin Kabrhel, who sits second on the Czech Republic all-time money list, couldn't get anything going today. Paul Michaelis, who has a WSOP bracelet to his name, got his hands on a stack but couldn't hold onto it and Antonin Duda (two EPT Main Event final tables) would've given anything to build a stack. He couldn't and also busted out.
They'll perhaps try their luck in the turbo Day 1C which has just started. If they do they may well find themselves at the same table as: Martin Mulsow, Anthony Ghamrawi, Stefan Raab,
Maria Lampropoulos, Marc Radgen or Mattias Ruzzi.
That's it for Day 1B, you can catch up on all today's action here and view end of day chip counts here. Day 1C will wrap up around 2am CET and we'll bring you a recap of the final flight at that point.
All photos are copyright of Tomas Stacha
Eight qualifying groups consisting of 72 countries in total (including a 'rest of the world' team so that no-one is left out) will play four qualifying tournaments apiece on the 11, 12, 18 and 19 August with the highest finisher from each country picking up points. The more entries from your homeland the better the chance you'll have of getting your nation through so tap up all your friends to join in the $2.20 No Limit Hold'em Super Knockout tournaments.
The highest scoring team in each group will then bring four qualifiers through to the final through four qualifying tournaments on the 26 August.
Each team will be designated a team captain who they'll join at the Atlantis resort and hotel, where flights and accommodation will be paid for by Pokerstars. Those eight teams will meet one of Spain, Italy or France who will compete separately for a place in the live final.
Find which group your country is in and who you'll all have to beat to make it through by clicking on the PokerStars World Cup of Poker qualification page.
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Power forward Kevin Love will return after a one-game absence and the Cleveland Cavaliers look for their sixth victory in seven games when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday. Love sat out Thursday's victory over the Los Angeles Lakers due to pain in both knees and he's looking to rebound from an 11-for-42 shooting slump over his last four outings.
Love's shaky play has contributed to the Cavaliers being unable to perform at the level that forward LeBron James is seeking. Cleveland's recent surge has been fueled by point guard Kyrie Irving, who is averaging 24.9 points over the last seven games after scoring 26 during Thursday's 120-108 win over the Lakers. The Clippers have won five of their past seven games as they make a run at catching the third-place Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference playoff race. The contest with the Cavaliers is followed by a five-game road trip that begins in San Antonio and concludes by visiting the Golden State Warriors.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC
LINE HISTORY: The spread opened on Saturday afternoon with the Cavaliers pegged as 1.5 point favorites and has held steady. The total hit the board at 207.5 and rose slightly to 208 by Saturday evening.
INJURY REPORT:
Cavaliers - C T. Mozgov (Questionable Sunday, illness)
Clippers - PF L. Mbah a Moute (Questionable Sunday, eye)
SF P. Pierce (Questionable Sunday, toe)
COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Cavaliers (-8.9) - Clippers (-8.8) + home court (-3) = Clippers -2.9
WHAT SHARPS SAY: "Cleveland will be playing an early daytime game on the West Coast after daylight savings time. The Cavaliers have been in California since Wednesday, and they’ve had two days off prior to this game, but this is still a tricky scheduling spot. Los Angeles has alternated wins and losses over their last four games; they won at home in their last game. The Clippers’ defense has allowed 98 points or less in four of their last five home games." - Covers Expert Steve Merril
DANCE TEAM WAR:
Al McMordie was 5-1 yesterday, and is UNLOADING today in College Hoops. Here, pick up Big Al's 10* NCAA Game of the Month for March, out of a 100%, 10-0 ATS System. If you enjoyed Big Al's last NCAA Game of the Month (an easy winner on Illinois-Chicago), then don't miss March's #1 Play.
At 8:40 pm, our complimentary selection is on the Wisconsin Badgers + the points over Xavier. Wisky defeated Pittsburgh on Friday, and held Jamie Dixon's men to 43 points. That bodes well for Wisconsin tonight, as underdogs that won a game in which they gave up 45 points or less, have covered 59.3% in the Tourneys since 1991. Take Wisconsin. Good luck, as always...Al McMordie. And don't miss my College Basketball Game of the Month (or any of my 7 selections) today. Join for a week or month to get all of my award-winning play.
Josh Turner finished atop the 33 remaining players from the Day 1b flight of the Hollywood Poker Open St. Louis Regional Main Event. Not only that, but his stack of 277,000 in chips surpassed that of Day 1a chip leader Bill Haner (243,500) to give Turner the overall lead heading into Day 2.
Turner has had his fair share of success in St. Louis, his hometown. Of his 12 live tournament victories, five of them have come in the Gateway to the West, including three in HPO events. Most recently, Turner took down a $300 side event during this HPO stop, topping a field of 62 players to win $5,312.
His biggest win also came from The Lou. In February 2015, he won the World Series of Poker Circuit $1,675 Main Event for $136,945.
All in all, Turner has just under $700,000 in lifetime earnings from live events.
Top 10 Day 1b Survivors
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joshua Turner | 277,000 |
| 2 | Lori Lindley | 192,500 |
| 3 | Don Baumer | 179,500 |
| 4 | Paul Fehlig | 159,000 |
| 5 | Mark Andrada | 157,000 |
| 6 | Eric Nagel | 154,500 |
| 7 | Brett Hulsey | 154,500 |
| 8 | Shiva Nomula | 152,000 |
| 9 | Lloyd Ney | 149,500 |
| 10 | Nicholas Burris | 142,500 |
Lori Lindley had a solid day and finished with 192,500. Her poker résumé is almost the complete opposite of Turner's. She has just $8,367 dollars in live tournament earnings, only five cashes, and one win. A deep run here could certainly mean a new career best. Nine days ago, she finished third in an HPO side event for $3,372.
Don Baumer (179,500), Paul Fehlig (159,000), and Mark Andrada (157,000) round out the top five finishers from Day 1b.
Kyle Cartwright is one of the most successful players remaining in the field, with $1.24 million in live tournament winnings, a WSOP bracelet and six — yes, six — WSOP Circuit gold rings. He finished second place in this same event last year, but will need to put in some some work tomorrow as he will start with only 33,000 in chips. He will have the shortest stack to enter the day, but will still have 10 big blinds to work with. It's not much, but it's something.
With a field of 257 entries, this year's HPO St. Louis $1,115 Regional Main Event saw an impressive uptick in size with 84 more entries than last year for a growth of 49% percent. The prize pool generated was $257,000, with first place tipping the scales at $61,676. The top 27 finishers will reach the money and earn a min-cash of $2,827.
Day 2 will start on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. local time. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews to see who will take home the title here in St. Louis.
If you're sitting at home kicking yourself because you're missing out on this Hollywood Poker Open stop in St. Louis, don't worry because there are still more stops in Season 4 that you've got plenty of time to be a part of.
Next up on the HPO Season 4 schedule is Columbus for an 18-event series running April 28 through May 8. The HPO Columbus $1,115 Regional Main Event will take place May 6-8 and boast a $200,000 guarantee on the prize pool.
Click here to view the complete HPO Columbus schedule.
After that it will be time for the HPO Regionals to come to a close with a 32-event stop in Charles Town from May 12-22. The HPO Charles Town $1,115 Regional Main Event will take place May 20-22 with a $100,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Click here to view the complete HPO Charles Town schedule.
Just like in St. Louis, PokerNews will be at each of the HPO's remaining stops, so be sure to come out, say hello, and get your grind on.
Want to stay atop all the latest in the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
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The San Antonio Spurs opened the season with a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it has been a dominant run ever since. The Spurs will look to exact a measure of revenge and extend their lengthy home winning streak when they host the Thunder on Saturday in the first meeting since the season-opening encounter in Oklahoma.
San Antonio opened its five-game homestand with a 109-101 victory over Chicago on Thursday to improve to 31-0 at AT&T Center this season and extend its home winning streak to 40 games dating to last season. One more victory at home will give the Spurs sole possession of the third-longest run in NBA history as they enter this one tied with the Orlando Magic of the mid-1990s and four behind the Chicago Bulls of the same era. A meeting on the back end of the homestand with the Golden State Warriors - who pulled into Friday with an NBA-record 46 straight home wins and a three-game lead on San Antonio in the Western Conference - is looming, but the Spurs must first contend with what could be an angry Thunder squad. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 54 points but their teammates provided little support in a home loss to Minnesota on Friday, Oklahoma City's seventh defeat in 11 games.
TV: 8:30 p.m. ET, ABC
LINE HISTORY: The Spurs opened as eight point favorites at home and by early Saturday morning that line was already adjusted to -8.5. The total opened at 213 on Friday afternoon, wobbled throughout the evening, began falling overnight, and settled in at 210.5 near mid-morning on Saturday.
INJURY REPORT:
Thunder - SG D. Waiters (Questionable Saturday, personal)
SG A. Robinson (Questionable Saturday, ankle)
Spurs - No injuries to report.
COVERS POWER RANKINGS: Thunder (-9.7) - Spurs (-16.4) + home court (-3) = Spurs -9.7
DANCE TEAM WAR:
Take Northern Iowa +6.5 (#719)
The Panthers full season power rating just doesn’t do them justice. Ben Jacobson’s squad certainly showed their potential early, pulling an upset over North Carolina in their first week of the season.
But they had a very rough start to their Missouri Valley Conference campaign, losing six of their first seven, with four of those losses coming as favorites. No surprise, then, that the markets crashed on Northern Iowa, but the team regained their mojo.
The results don’t lie. Northern Iowa is now 13-1 SU, 12-1-1 ATS in their last 14 ballgames. They’ve beaten Wichita State – a team with Top 20 talent – twice during that span – in Wichita and on the neutral floor of Arch Madness in St Louis. Their lone SU loss during this entire span came by only three points and it was in a major flat spot, heading back on the road off that win against the Shockers. This is not a team to lay points against without a darn good reason, and their current level of play is WAY ahead of where the markets have had them priced over the better part of the last two months.
The Panthers won a game in the NCAA Tournament last year before falling to Louisville in the second round. And with Jacobson’s contract extended all the way out to 2025, there’s tremendous stability here – Jacobson’s got his guys doing his thing. Their three leading scorers – Wes Washburn, Matt Bohannon and Paul Jesperson – are all seniors, and their other four primary rotation players are all in their second full year with the team. Jesperson’s buzzer beating three pointer made the highlights on Friday, but this veteran squad is primed to avoid the letdown against the Aggies on Sunday.
Texas A&M had an easy time on Friday, cashing a winning bet for my clients and I against a Green Bay team that doesn’t (and didn’t) play a lick of defense. That won’t be the case here against Northern Iowa; a game that has ‘down to the last possession’ written all over it! Take Northern Iowa.
Teddy entered the weekend riding a smokin’ hot 42-20 (68%) run across all sports over the last 3+ weeks, up more than $16,000 for himself and his clients! He's 25-13 (66%) in college hoops & 17-7 (71%) in NBA & 30-12 (71%) with his strongest plays -- 10* Big Ticket Reports -- since October, including a 7-1 mark with his last eight. Don’t miss a single winner all weekend long!
VGT has signed a major deal with Cherokee Nation Entertainment (CNE), the gaming and hospitality arm of the Cherokee Nation, bringing VGT games to nine casino locations across northeast Oklahoma.
Following the success of the Grand Prix Poker Tour, Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) and partypoker have created a brand new live poker series to be known as the Grand Prix Poker Tour Mini.
The new tour has 20 confirmed dates between March 23 and Dec. 4, 2016, and sees the DTD team take their expertise to up and down the country to locations such as Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Milton Keynes, and Newcastle.
| Dates | Location |
|---|---|
| March 23-27 | Aspers Milton Keynes |
| April 13-17 | Aspers Newcastle |
| April 20-24 | Broadway Birmingham |
| April 27-May 1 | Manchester 235 |
| May 4-8 | Rainbow Bristol |
| June 8-12 | Apsers Milton Keynes |
| June 15-19 | Rendezvous Brighton |
| June 29-July 3 | Rainbow Bristol |
| July 6-10 | Aspers Newcastle |
| July 13-17 | Broadway Birmingham |
| July 20-24 | Manchester 235 |
| Aug. 17-21 | Aspers Milton Keynes |
| Sept. 7-11 | Rainbow Bristol |
| Sept. 28-October 2 | Manchester 235 |
| Oct. 5-9 | Aspers Newcastle |
| Oct. 12-16 | Broadway Birmingham |
| Nov. 9-13 | Aspers Milton Keynes |
| Nov. 16-20 | Rendezvous Brighton |
| Nov. 30-Dec. 4 | Rainbow Bristol |
Simon Trumper, a director at DTD who will host the tour, said: "This is a great tour that will bring the festival feel to some excellent casinos up and down the country. The GPPT Mini presented by partypoker is offering an exceptional $50,000 guarantee for an affordable $109 buy-in. I look forward to visiting all of the venues and some new cities in the process. I hope the player's enjoy the tour as much as I will."
Each leg of the new tour costs $109 to buy into and features a $50,000 guaranteed prize pool. As the tour is sponsored by partypoker, players wanting to satellite into any of the tour’s tournaments can do so at partypoker for as little as a single cent.
While much attention is focused on the new Mini tour, its bigger brother is preparing to head to the home of Leeds United, Elland Road, between April 9-10. For a buy-in of $109, players have the chance to compete for a slice of a huge $250,000 guaranteed prize pool and get to play at the stadium of one of British football’s iconic clubs.
Before the live event at Leeds, partypoker is gearing up for a $500,000 guaranteed Grand Prix Poker Tour Online leg. PokerNews will have more on that next week, so make sure you check back in with us.
Want to stay atop all the latest from the poker world? If so, make sure to get PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and find us on both Facebook and Google+!
NOVOMATIC AMERICAS has moved their US base of operations from Deerfield Beach, Florida to a 51,000 square foot headquarters in Mount Prospect, Illinois.
The National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG) announced the appointment of Dr. Russell Sanna as its executive director; his appointment will take effect March 1, 2016.
The two have been together for 20 years, and they made the trek from Minneapolis to take in Thursday’s NCAA Tournament action at the Westgate Las Vegas Superbook. Kowarsch was pretty happy at the moment, having just won on massive favorite and No. 1 seed Virginia. The Cavaliers, laying 23 points against Hampton, steamrolled to an 81-45 victory.
That put her at 2-0 for the day, as she’d already won earlier by taking No. 13 North Carolina-Wilmington as 10-point underdogs against No. 4 Duke. The Seahawks lost 93-85.
“I did my homework before the brackets came out,” Kowarsch said. “I’m going with what I’ve read about basketball – who’s got a good defense, who’s got good shooters. I like watching college basketball. This is awesome in here seeing it like this. Being able to bet makes it much more fun.”
Meanwhile, Malani is agonizing over the final few seconds of the game between No. 5 seed Baylor and No. 12 Yale, as he’s got the Bulldogs on the moneyline. Soon, he got to join in the fun when Yale held on for a 79-75 upset catching 5.5 points.
“That was pretty intense, considering it was a moneyline bet for Yale, and the points,” Malani said. “You’ve gotta have a lot faith in a 12 seed to take the moneyline. But they’re a smart team.”
Well, you know, Yale and all that.
Malani moved to 3-1 with his wagers, a pretty good day to that point, but he admits Kowarsch has the edge in this relationship.
“She’s much better than me at betting. She’s undefeated,” Malani said.
Then Kowarsch gets the final word.
“For all the wise cracks he’s made about me, I’m doing pretty good.”
If you feel good about Kowarsch’s plays, then maybe take a look at Arkansas-Little Rock tonight. That’s her final play of the day.
Colin Kelly is a Las Vegas-based contributor for Covers. Follow him on Twitter: @ColinPKelly29.
