April 29th, 2016

Rich and Donnie recap the Monster WPT TOC, talk California legislation, check out the changes announced for the 2016 WSOP, and discuss the outlet events of the EPT Grand Finale. 

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It took nine hours however the penultimate day of the MPC25 Red Dragon is complete. There have been 59 poker hopefuls who returned initially of play but we've only nine remaining. Leading the charge right into a stacked final table tomorrow may be frontrunner Shuaiyang Qiu. He started proceedings with 585,000 and managed to parlay that right into a commanding 2,840,000.

Amazingly Qiu is chip leader of the general nine on this record 1,145-player field and yet has no live cashes to his name. Now after three stellar days at the felt Qiu has jostled himself into pole position to take home the HK$2,509,000 top prize (which incorporates a HK$100,000 2016 ACOP Main Event seat) and the illustrious Red Dragon trophy.

Shuaiyang Qiu

Trailing Qiu by just 40,000 is back-to-back Red Dragon final tablist and former Red Dragon champion Tom Alner. The Englishman has had a ludicrously impressive run in Red Dragon events - earning the crown and HK$823,000 back in 2013 and currently fresh off an eighth place finish on this very tournament back in February.

Tom Alner

Before these two and the opposite lucky seven can make the overall table though one not-so-lucky individual needed to bubble it. That honor went to Thailand's Paphawin Laodee. He was eliminated by the hands of tournament crusher Jack Salter who made a whole house with Q♠Q♦ on a board of T♥K♦T♦Q♣J♥. Laodee made Broadway at the end with A♣6♣ and moved in precisely to be snapped off and sent home by Salter.

Paphawin Laodee

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin also came up painfully in need of a last table finish - she was two places off making her 4th one within the Red Dragon. Lin got her money in good with A♠4♣ against the K♥Q♦ of Liang Song but couldn't hold when an unpleasant river card landed at the 8♦7♣T♣7♠K♦. Her 11th place finish earned her HK$131,000.

Celina Lin

For the nine who did make the cut though it's right back here tomorrow from 3pm to battle it out until a champion is crowned. We'll have a blow by blow rundown on the PokerStars Blog. We are hoping you'll join us then! Meanwhile you can find how the overall nine stack up below.

Seat Last Name First Name Country PokerStars Status Chip Count

1	Qiu	Shuai Yang	China		2,840,000
2	Lee	Daniel Hyongin	USA		1,780,000
3	Salter	Jack Zi Yang	UK	PokerStars Qualifier	1,755,000
4	Hamnet	Benjamin	USA		2,225,000
5	Song	Liang	China		1,220,000
6	Zhu	Jingxuan	China		885,000
7	Alner	Tom	UK	PokerStars Player	2,800,000
8	Zhou	Xiao Bo	China		2,405,000
9	Chen	Wenxiang	China		1,270,000

PokerStars Blog reporting in Macau delivered to you by Brad Kain. Photos by Kenneth Lim Photography courtesy of PokerStars LIVE Macau.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Asia Pacific Poker Tour]

It was a revolutionary form of day for mark 999. The Canadian advanced to the overall table of MicroMillions 6 Event #97, yet he found himself near the back of the pack. mark 999 waited for the easiest moment to peak on the right time. Along the way, he snapped off pocket Queens with a fortuitous flop, and in another hand, his own pocket Kings held up in a decisive pot. However, mark 999 still found himself because the short stack when he took part in a money chop with three players remaining. Even if he was way behind, mark 999 was not deterred one bit. He somehow got heads-up and awoke with pocket Aces on the perfect time. He avoided an elimination and collected a timely double up. At the very next hand, mark 999 delivered a shocking knock out blow to successfully complete a come-from-behind victory and win MicroMillions Event #97.

MicroMillions 6 Event #97 $11 NL also doubled because the Sunday Storm Special Edition, which drew in 52,491 runners. They created a prize pool worth $524,910, which was significantly greater than the guaranteed prize pool of 300K. The highest 6,633 places paid out with $38,110.83 put aside to the eventual champion. That may be a juicy dividend on a trifling $11 investment.

The Sunday Storm progressed at a rapid pace. Three hours passed before the money bubble popped. Over 90% of the sector was liquidated within the first 3.5 hours.

The frantic pace bogged down throughout the final two tables. Action went hand-for-hand with ten to go, and flaviusff leading the way in which with over 50 million. Slovakia's KovTa bubbled off the general table in tenth place when A♦J♠ unfortunately lost to mark 999's K♥8♦ after mark 999 flopped two pair. With KovTa's bustout, the overall table of nine was set.

Event #97 - Final Table Chip Counts:Seat 1: patrik2003 (37,534,946)Seat 2: TheCTrain (25,509,603)Seat 3: Sevathebes46 (16,574,678)Seat 4: mark 999 (22,235,169)Seat 5: flaviusff (56,278,605)Seat 6: seby cacho (12,396,885)Seat 7: TocalaSam (48,524,796)Seat 8: StackYou780 (9,760,692)Seat 9: HAL7000 (33,639,626)

The final table for this Sunday Storm Special commenced during Level 49 with blinds at 325K/650K and a 65K ante. Romania's flaviusff held the lead with 56.2 million, while StackYou780 clung to the fast stack with a shade under 10 million.

StackYou780 eliminated in 9th place

The final table played out almost three full levels before someone busted. And it was one heck of a cooler... seby cacho opened to 2.4 million, StackYou780 bombed it all-in for 14,701,384 with K♦K♠, and seby cacho called with J♥J♦. The board ran out 6♥4♠2♠J♣4♣. seby cacho turned a collection of Jacks and rivered a ship to win the pot. StackYou780 had Kings brutally cracked and have become the primary player to bust on the final table. StackYou780 took home $2,005.15 for a ninth-place finish.

TheCTrain eliminated in 8th place

TheCTrain min-raised to two million, mark 999 bumped it as much as 5,454,599, TheCTrain moved all-in for 10,813,911, and mark 999 called. TheCTrain led with Q♠Q♦ against mark 999's A♠Q♣. The board ran out A♦K♠4♥5♣4♣. TheCTrain's Queens were cracked and mark 999 won the pot with two pair -- Aces and fours. For eighth place, TheCTrain collected $3,401.41.

With seven remaining, HAL7000 took over the lead with 50 million, but mark 999 was not far behind with 49 million.

Sevathebes46 eliminated in 7th place

Wrong time to get ambushed by cowboys. patrik2003 min-raised to 2.4 million, Sevathebes46 re-raised to 4.8 million, mark 999 four-bet to 13.2 million, patrik2003 folded, and Sevathebes46 called all-in for 4,549,678. Sevathebes46 made a last stand with A♥8♥, but he bumped into mark 999's K♠K♦. The board ran out K♣Q♥4♣4♦6♠. mark 999 flopped a suite of Kings and turned a ship. Sevathebes46 did not improve and hit the virtual rail in seventh place, which paid out $4.986.64.

With six to go, mark 999 took over the chip lead with 61 million.

HAL7000 eliminated in 6th place

Short-stacked HAL7000 open-shoved for 15,456,121 with Q♦T♥ and monster-stacked mark 999 called with A♦T♦. The board ran out K♦9♣7♦9♠4♠. HAL7000 flopped a gutshot draw, but neither player improved by the river. mark 999 won the pot with an Ace-high kicker. HAL7000 was taken offline in sixth place, which paid out $7,180.76.

TocalaSam eliminated in 5th place

Action didn't play out five-handed for greater than an orbit before someone bowed out. seby cacho min-raised to 3.2 million, TocalaSam bombed it all-in for 23,615,897 with A♦2♥, and seby cacho called with A♥Q♦. seby cacho was ahead and his hand would delay when the board ran out 7♣5♠4♦T♠T♦. TocalaSam flopped a Wheel gutshot draw, but didn't get there. Portugal's TocalaSam was knocked out in fifth place, which paid out $10,755.40.

With four players remaining, mark 999 was the leader with 98.4 million, seby cacho was second with 85.4 million, patrik2003 was third with 48.9 million, and flaviusff pointed out the rear with 29.6 million.

flaviusff eliminated in 4th place

With four to move... mark 999 min-raised to 4 million, flaviusff re-raised all-in for 28,055,668, patrik2003 called, but mark 999 folded. patrik2003 led with A♥K♥ versus flaviusff's K♦J♥. The board ran out Q♥5♥3♥8♠7♥. patrik2003 flopped an Ace-high flush, which held up. For fourth place, flaviusff earned $14,345.79.

DEAL

With three remaining, action was paused to talk about a deal. At that juncture, patrik2003 held the lead with 98.5 million, seby cacho was second with 83.3 million, and mark 999 was the "shorty' with 80.5 million. They agreed to the next terms with $6,000 left at the table to the eventual champion:

patrik2003 - $26,851.33seby cacho - $25,481.35mark 999 - $25,230.10

With a deal in place, play resumed.

seby cacho eliminated in 3rd place

seby cacho min-raised to five million, patrik2003 re-raised to 42.5 million with A♠3♦, and seby cacho called all-in for 24,701,051 with K♦T♥. The board ran out J♣4♥4♣3♠8♦ and patrik200 won the pot with two pair -- fours and treys. seby cacho didn't improve, and headed to the rail in third place, which paid out $25,481.35.

HEADS-UP: patrik2003 (Hungary) vs. mark 999 (Canada)Seat 1: patrik2003 (126,939,109)Seat 4: mark 999 (135,515,891)

With two remaining, it was a comparatively close race, despite the fact that mark 999 held a slight lead.

On the second one hand of heads up, patrik2003 won a 70 million pot and seized the lead. However, mark 999 got the lead right back after patrik2003 four-bet shoved with A♠T♦ and mark 999 aroused from sleep with A♥A♦. Aces held up and mark 999 won a pot worth 240 million. It was in all places at the ensuing hand.

patrik2003 eliminated in 2nd place; mark 999 wins Sunday Storm and MicroMillions Event #97

Trailing 240 million to 22.4 million, patrik2003 got his remaining stack all-in preflop with 6♥3♥ and mark 999 called with A♣4♣. The flop was A♦7♦5♥ and patrik2003 picked up a gutshot draw. The turn was the 8♠ and patrik2003 picked up more outs with an open-ended straight draw. The river was the T♣. patrik2003 did not improve and only held Ace-high, which meant he busted in second place. mark 999 faded a straight and won the pot with a couple of Aces to correctly bink Event #97.

For a sensational runner-up performance, Hungary's patrik2003 took home $26,851.33.

Congrats to Canada's mark 999, won earned $31,230.10 for an excellent first place victory in Event #97. mark 999 won a MicroMillions 6 event, which also doubled because the Sunday Storm Special Edition.

View the general hand via the replayer:

RSS readers must click through to view replayer

MicroMillions-097 $11 NL Hold'em [Sunday Storm Special Edition]Entrants: 52,491Prize pool: $524,910.00Place paid: 6,663

1. mark 999 (Canada) - $31,230.10 **2. patrik2003 (Hungary) - $26,851.33 **3. seby cacho (Argentina) - $25,481.35 **4. flaviusff (Romania) - $14,345.795. TocalaSam (Portugal) - $10,755.406. HAL7000 (Czech Republic) - $7,180.767. Sevathebes46 (Ukraine) - $4,986.648. TheCTrain (Canada) - $3,401.419. StackYou780 (Canada) - $2,005.15

** Denotes a deal a number of the final three players

Visit the MicroMillions 6 home page to look who currently sits atop the leader board.

Pauly McGuire is an author and freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: MicroMillions]

In 2015-16 the soldiers went 73-9 en path to setting the all time record for wins in an NBA regular season.

USA Today Images

The fantastic Westgate LV Superbook has officially released their regular season win totals for the impending 2016-17 NBA season and, as usual, there are many interesting numbers that are supposed to have basketball fans buzzing around their office water cooler.

It's not much of a surprise that the newly created mega-team in Golden State tops the list. What could be a surprise to some, however, is the truth that the Warriors' win total have been set at 66.5. Do you remember last year? I ASSUMED so. The Dubs went 73-9 en path to setting the best-ever record for wins in an NBA regular season - and so they added 7-time all-star Kevin Durant to to the combo for the impending campaign.

The defending NBA champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers, are set at 56.5.

At the ground of the Superbook's season win totals are the l. a. Lakers at 24.5 and the Brooklyn Nets at 20.5.

Here is the entire list:

Read More... [Source: Covers.com: NBA News and Stories]

It's that point of year again, when I'm able to share the tentative schedule for the once a year World Championship of Online Poker with you, to tell you how things stand at this time and to gather your feedback on what we've built so far.

We're as much as Version 04 of this year's WCOOP schedule, and we're quite desirous about what we're within the technique of building, and that i hope that you'll be similarly excited. I'm looking ahead to your feedback and thanks upfront for any and all constructive discussion(s) to come.

This year, there are now two schedules to share, though I'll only be posting one for the time being, for reasons which I'll explain at this time. The 2 schedules relevant to this year's series are as follows: 1 - WCOOP, the sector Championship of Online Poker, and a pair of - Mini-WCOOP, the micro-to-low-stake companion series we'll be running for the primary time ever alongside WCOOP.

To get some questions and answers out of how right from the beginning, I'll explain that Mini-WCOOP isn't in any respect intended to be another stakes level of WCOOP itself, but instead a companion series run at 1/100th of the buy-in of most WCOOP Events, at 1/1,000th for some, etc. Mini-WCOOP buy-ins range from $1.10 to $11 apart from the Mini-WCOOP Main Event, with a view to cost $50 to play. There'll be a particularly limited number of satellites to Mini-WCOOP Events, to be able to run at the same dates and on the same times, within the same formats, because the WCOOP Events which each and every one mirrors (thus the explanation there is no want to post the schedule). Mini-WCOOP Events is probably not within the WCOOP Events tab within the client, as they don't seem to be a part of WCOOP proper.

All feedback can visit wcoop@pokerstars.com.

The tentative schedule is below.

2016 World Championship of Online Poker - Tentative Schedule (v04)

Sunday, 04 September

08:00 ET -- Ev 01: $109 NL Hold'em [Sunday Kickoff SE, Final Day 1]

11:00 ET -- Ev 02: $215 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)

12:30 ET -- Ev 03: $1,050 NL Hold'em [Marathon Event Day 1]

14:00 ET -- Ev 04: $215 NL Hold'em [Sunday Million SE] (max re-entries: 2)

17:00 ET -- Ev 05: $320 NL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max]

Monday, 05 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 06: $215 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Rebuys]

13:00 ET -- Ev 07: $700 PL Omaha [3-Max, Progressive Knockout, Zoom]

16:00 ET -- Ev 08: $700 NL Hold'em [8-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]

Tuesday, 06 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 09: $1,000 NL Single Draw 2-7 Championship (max re-entries: 1)

13:00 ET -- Ev 10: $1,050 NL Hold'em [Super Tuesday SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 11: $320 FL Hold'em [6-Max]

Wednesday, 07 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 12: $1,000 NL 5-Card Draw Championship (max re-entries: 1)

13:00 ET -- Ev 13: $215 NL Hold'em [Progressive Super-Knockout]

16:00 ET -- Ev 14: $215 NL Hold'em [Big Antes] (max re-entries: 3)

Thursday, 08 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 15: $215 PL Omaha [1R1A]

13:00 ET -- Ev 16: $1,050 NL Hold'em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 17: $320 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo

Friday, 09 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 18: $320 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up]

13:00 ET -- Ev 19: $1,000 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo Championship (max re-entries: 1)

16:00 ET -- Ev 20: $320 NL Hold'em [3-Max, Progressive Knockout, Zoom]

Saturday, 10 September

04:00 ET -- Ev 21: $109 NL Hold'em (max re-entries: 3)

07:00 ET -- Ev 22: $215 PL 5-Card Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)

10:00 ET -- Ev 23: $10,300 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up, High-Roller, No Late Registration]

13:00 ET -- Ev 24: $530 NL Hold'em [Progressive Knockout]

16:00 ET -- Ev 25: $1,000 NL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)

Sunday, 11 September

08:00 ET -- Ev 26: $215 PL Omaha [6-Max, Progressive Knockout]

11:00 ET -- Ev 27: $215 NL Hold'em [Deep Payouts, Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)

12:30 ET -- Ev 28: $10,300 NL Hold'em [8-Max, High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)

14:00 ET -- Ev 29: $700 NL Hold'em [Sunday Million SE]

17:00 ET -- Ev 30: $109 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Sunday Cooldown SE]

Monday, 12 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 31: $320 NL Hold'em [8-Max]

13:00 ET -- Ev 32: $320 PL Omaha Hi/Lo [6-Max, Monday PLO8 SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 33: $1,050 FL Hold'em Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)

Tuesday, 13 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 34: $215 PL Omaha [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]

13:00 ET -- Ev 35: $1,575 NL Hold'em [Super Tuesday SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 36: $320 NL Hold'em [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)

Wednesday, 14 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 37: $215 NL Hold'em [2R1A]

13:00 ET -- Ev 38: $700 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Shootout, No Late Registration]

16:00 ET -- Ev 39: $1,000 FL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [8-Max] (max re-entries: 1)

Thursday, 15 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 40: $700 Players' Choice Event #1 [NL Hold'em]

13:00 ET -- Ev 41: $1,575 NL Hold'em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 42: $320 Eight-Game

Friday, 16 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 43: $1,000 Triple Draw 2-7 Championship (max re-entries: 1)

13:00 ET -- Ev 44: $700 Players' Choice Event #2 [non-NL Hold'em]

16:00 ET -- Ev 45: $320 NL Hold'em [Ante Up, Progressive Knockout]

Saturday, 17 September

04:00 ET -- Ev 46: $215 NL Hold'em [4-Max]

07:00 ET -- Ev 47: $1,000 Badugi Championship (max re-entries: 1)

10:00 ET -- Ev 48: $215 NL Hold'em [Rebuys]

13:00 ET -- Ev 49: $320 NL Hold'em [Mix-Max, Final Part 1, 8-Max]

16:00 ET -- Ev 50: $320 HORSE

Sunday, 18 September

08:00 ET -- Ev 51: $1,050 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Ultra-Deep]

11:00 ET -- Ev 52: $215 NL Hold'em [Sunday Warm-Up SE] (max re-entries: 2)

12:30 ET -- Ev 53: $102,000 NL Hold'em [8-Max, Super High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)

14:00 ET -- Ev 54: $2,100 NL Hold'em [Sunday Million SE]

17:00 ET -- Ev 55: $530 NL Hold'em (max re-entries: 3)

Monday, 19 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 56: $215 NL Hold'em [Progressive Knockout]

13:00 ET -- Ev 57: $1,000 PL Omaha Hi/Lo Championship [6-Max]

16:00 ET -- Ev 58: $320 Razz

Tuesday, 20 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 59: $320 NL Hold'em [Win the Button] (max re-entries: 3)

13:00 ET -- Ev 60: $2,100 NL Hold'em [Super Tuesday SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 61: $1,000 Razz Championship (max re-entries: 1)

Wednesday, 21 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 62: $530 NL Hold'em [Rebuys]

13:00 ET -- Ev 63: $2,000 PL Omaha Championship [6-Max] (max re-entries: 1)

16:00 ET -- Ev 64: $320 7-Card Stud

Thursday, 22 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 65: $700 NL Hold'em [Ultra-Deep]

13:00 ET -- Ev 66: $2,100 NL Hold'em [Progressive Super-Knockout, Thursday Thrill SE]

16:00 ET -- Ev 67: $1,000 7-Card Stud Championship (max re-entries: 1)

Friday, 23 September

07:00 ET -- Ev 68: $320 PL Omaha [6-Max, Rebuys]

10:00 ET -- Ev 69: $700 NL Hold'em [6-Max, 5-Stack]

13:00 ET -- Ev 70: $21,000 PL Omaha [6-Max, High-Roller] (max re-entries: 1)

16:00 ET -- Ev 71: $2,000 HORSE Championship (max re-entries: 1)

Saturday, 24 September

07:00 ET -- Ev 72: $109 NL Hold'em [Final Day 1]

10:00 ET -- Ev 73: $700 PL Omaha [Heads-Up]

13:00 ET -- Ev 74: $10,000 Eight-Game Championship (max re-entries: 1)

16:00 ET -- Ev 75: $700 NL Hold'em [6-Max, Progressive Super-Knockout]

Sunday, 25 September

08:00 ET -- Ev 76: $320 PL Omaha [Mix-Max, Final Part 1, 9-Max]

11:00 ET -- Ev 77: $215 NL Hold'em [8-Max, Sunday Warm-Up SE]

14:00 ET -- Ev 78: $5,000 NL Hold'em Championship Main Event - $1.5M Gtd to Champion! (max re-entries: 1)

17:00 ET -- Ev 79: $320 NL Hold'em (max re-entries: 3)

Monday, 26 September

10:00 ET -- Ev 80: $700 NL Hold'em [1R1A]

13:00 ET -- Ev 81: $320 PL 5-Card Omaha [6-Max] (max re-entries: 3)

16:00 ET -- Ev 82: $1,050 NL Hold'em [WCOOP Wrap-Up] (max re-entries: 1)

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com]

Here's your chance to win one in every of 5 x $11 tournament tickets with Lee Jones and PokerSchoolOnline!

All you need to do is !BOOM your poker hands on Twitter using both hastags #WinwithLee & #BOOMPlayer to be in with a possibility to win.

But ensure your hand is interesting and no bad beat stories as Lee might be picking probably the most interesting hands to talk about on his poker stream every Wednesday.

Lee will announce the winners of the 'Hand of the Week', five in total, on the end of his show every Wednesday starting at 7pm UK time (14:00 EST) at the PokerSchoolOnline Twitch channel. Follow PokerSchoolOnline on Twitch and get an email notification every time they go live with a brand new show.

So get posting those hands and be sure you use both hastags #WinwithLee & #BOOMPlayer to be in with a possibility to win.

See you there!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars news]

Casino operator Steve Wynn told reporters that the Chinese government is allowing its citizens to go to the gambling enclave of Macau thrice as frequently as earlier within the year.

Steve Wynn says the limitations the Chinese government placed on travel to Macau are being cut back, allowing a return to more tourists visiting casinos and gambling within the city. Wynn told a news conference that Chinese citizens living in Guangdong, the province closest to Macau, at the moment are permitted to go to once a month, instead of once every three months.

Wynn is able to need optimistic views of Macau, as he prepares a $1.6 billion IPO offering equity in Wynn Resorts holdings in Macau. The offer may be made at the Hong Kong exchange, and can finance continued Wyn gambling expansion into Macau, among other needs.

Wynn said the Chinese government made the visa adjustments after reviewing the results the slowdown on tourism had at the Macau economy.

The visa limits were put on Chinese travelers to Macau for several reasons. The absurd rate of growth in Macau before the visa limitations was causing stress to the area's infrastructure and labor pool, which might not stay alongside of the casino expansion.

China also desired to slow the flow of bucks from China to the casino operators, several of that are US companies, including Wynn Resorts.

If Chinese tourist number rise again, Macau casino gambling can expect to peer another wave of gaming projects resumed and completed throughout the next several years.

Published on September 23, 2009 by K.C.Carmichael

Read More... [Source: Macau Casino Gambling News]

Each year in Europe there's a musical spectacular wherein countries fight it out to become winners of the Eurovision Song Contest. Some take it more seriously than others, however it involves a glittering show by which 25 nations perform their song, after which the population of 42 countries vote over the phone for his or her favourites. Our US readers may well be slightly baffled by all this, but they want only know that probably the most music is excrutiatingly painful and instantly forgettable - but occasionally a bit gem launches a shocking career, just because it did for ABBA with Waterloo back in 1974.

What's all that got to do with the RPT in Moscow? Well it in order that happens that this year's Eurovision showpiece was held last night in an enormous concert venue just down the street from our poker tournament - Norway won, incidentally - yet despite that distraction, the poker provided enough thrills and spills of its own to maintain everyone enthralled.

While the Russian entry didn't fare so well within the Eurovision, its poker players were on fire within the RPT, where they'll make up all nine of the general table! Among them are Team PokerStars Pros Ivan Demidov, who final tabled last year's WSOP Main Event, and Alexander Kravchenko, who came fourth within the same event a year earlier.

Final table seats and chips:Seat 1: Artamonov Sergey - 375,500 chipsSeat 2: Vitkind Dmitriy - 115,500Seat 3: Ewgeny Onischuk - 347,000Seat 4: Goryachev Vyacheslav - 310,500Seat 5: Demidov Ivan - 425,000Seat 6: Kravchenko Alexander - 173,500Seat 7: Shamаrdin Oleg - 805,000Seat 8: Khaustov Alexander - 288,000Seat 9: Lunkin Vtaliy - 255,000

Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov

Day three had seen 36 players come again to minimize to the overall table of nine, and under the expert stewardship of tournament director Thomas Kremser, there has been enough play to verify all players had an opportunity to showcase their skills over nine hours. There have been still a hurry of early eliminations, with Vitaly Lee, Ilya Burtsev, Kirill Gerasimov, then Alexander Panov picking up their coats. With 27 places paid, the last to go away with nothing was bubble boy Alexey Maslov.

Alsp spare a thought for Sergey "gipsy" Rybachenko - chip leader earlier within the event - who went out in 27th, no less than with somewhat cash to turn for his efforts. He was eliminated by Oleg Shamardin on a 8-9-J-7-J board - a 10 for Rybachenko (for the straight) no good against Shamardin's J-9 for an entire house.

Shamardin continued his momentum to take a chip lead into the overall table with 805,000. Team Pros Kravchenko with 173,500 and Demidov, who was right down to the felt at one stage but rallied to 425,000, may have him of their sights as they seek out the primary prize of 14,323,000 rubles - that's about $445,000.

We'll have a last table report for you later tonight or early tomorrow, dependent on how long the general lasts. For those who can read Russian, or simply wish to attempt to understand what's going on from pictures and using an internet translation tool, then head over to the Russian PokerStars Blog, where our man Pavel Sychev is doing a grand job updating the loads. Warning: letters look very odd.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Russian Poker Tour]

The Sunday Warm-Up continued to blaze hotter and warmer because the weather got colder this November weekend, with a whopping $925,600 within the prize pool. 4,628 players bellied as much as the virtual felt to take their shot on the massive payout, and the highest 675 finishers got paid for his or her efforts. Of course, the large money was concentrated on the final table, so after rather less than nine hours of grueling poker, the nine survivors gathered 'round the overall table.

Action was tentative to start out off, with players avoiding any major confrontations within the first few hands, but because the blinds and antes grew, the quick stacks needed to take their shots to double up simply to stay alive. Melano26 put his previous couple of chips within the middle with A♠-8♠ and located a caller in CruSader1981. Big stack angevert then moved all in excessive to isolate, and CruSader1981 got out of ways. Angevert was ahead with J♦-J♠, and the flop of J♥-7♠-Q♣ left melano26 needing to catch runner-runner perfect to stick alive. The 2♥ at the turn meant that melano26 was drawing dead, and when the meaningless 6♠ rolled off at the river, melano26 was busted in 9th place ($7,404.80).

Floes came into the general table because the second-shortest stack, and it was only a few hands after melano26's elimination when floes open-shoved from the small blind with A♦-5♣. It was a great time for the move, with a host of dead blinds and antes within the pot, but Mr. Shanish awoke with A♣-J♣ within the big blind and made the simple call. Already a dominant favorite, Mr. Shanish took final control at the flop because it came down 9♦-3♥-J♥. Running nines at the turn and river gave Mr. Shanish an entire house, and gave floes 8th place money to the tune of $11,750.00.

Bahneyyy lost most of his stack in an enormous hand earlier on the final table, but hung on for a couple of more orbits before he got all of it in preflop with A♠-5♣ against CruSader1981's A♣-9♠. The board did nothing to assist Bahneyyy, running out 8♣-J♣-2♥-3♣-9♥, and CruSader1981 picked up some much-needed chips as Bahneyyy busted in 7th place ($20,826).

CruSader1981 played his short stack well, but he eventually found quite a few outs he couldn't fade when he went out in 6th place ($30,082) by the hands of angevert on this hand.

After a lengthy period of five-handed jousting, one misstep by cspdealer left him watching the sport from the sidelines after busting in 5th place ($39,338). The aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the button, and cspdealer re-raised from the large blind with K♦-J♠. Mr. Shanish moved all in over the top, and cspdealer called, only to search out he was dominated by Mr. Shanish's A♠-J♣. The flop hit both players because it came down A♣-K♣-9♥, but Mr. Shanish's top pair was well prior to cspdealer's middle pair. The Q♥ at the turn gave cspdealer few more outs to stick alive, however the Q♣ at the river ended his tournament.

After losing a large pot to double up the short-stacked $saxo$, Mr. Shanish came right back at the very next hand to bust rivermanl in 4th place ($52,296.40). Rivermanl moved all in preflop from the small blind on a steal with Q♠-5♠, but Mr. Shanish found J♣-J♥ within the big blind and made the simple call. The flop of T♣-7♥-7♣ helped neither player, however the 5♣ at the turn gave rivermanl a couple of more how one can survive. None of these ways included the T♦, so when that fell at the river, there have been only three.

With the stacks exceptionally close, the overall three survivors took a couple of moments to speak about a handle. the stacks almost even, the players selected an excellent chop of the remainder money, with $10,000 left within the middle for the eventual champion. That locked up $106,468.22 for every player, an excellent day's work by almost any standard. With their six-figure payday in hand, the remainder three players settled in to duke it out for the last $10K.

It only took a couple of minutes of folding before a large confrontation brewed up between our three survivors. The ever-aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the small blind with A♦-9♥, and $saxo$ moved all in excessive with 3♥-3♠. The race was on because the flop came down 7♥-8♠-Q♥, and $saxo$ had faded the overcards. The 2♥ gave both players a flush draw, and the 4♥ at the river gave Mr. Shanish the larger flush to send $saxo$ home in 3rd place.

Heads up play lasted only three hands, and Mr. Shanish won they all to secure his extra $10,000 and the Sunday Warm-Up title. The last hand went down like this -

When the dust cleared, Mr. Shanish's aggressive play had locked up the last $10K at the table and made a $116,468.22 payday for himself. Congratulations to Mr. Shanish and all our Sunday Warm-Up players!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Sunday Tournaments]

By now, if you're any fan of Daniel Negreanu, he's a person of many nations. He's a proud Canadian who lives within the US and can be voting as a citizen within the USA's next election. You may additionally know, Negreanu's heritage is Romanian.

That's where the Eureka moment comes in.

Negreanu will soon be joining hundreds of fellow poker players in a Romanian homecoming of sorts, and you have got the risk to sign up for him.

Want to enroll in Daniel in Romania? Click here to get a PokerStars account and qualify today!

Between May 16 and 22, the Eureka Poker Tour may be headed to Bucharest for a seven-day 18-event poker festival. The week-long party will feature the Eureka Main event (€1000 + €100 ), High Roller (€2000 + €200), The Pokerfest 500 ( €500 + €50 ), and the Bucharest Cup (€300 + €30).

And Daniel?

Well, he'll be there for it all. After all, it's his homeland.

As of today, PokerStars is running satellites so that you can get to Bucharest for next to nothing. Throughout the next two months, that you must be hanging out with Kid Poker with the risk of winning a Eureka title.

For full details at the event, visit the Eureka Bucharest homepage.

Want to check out to qualify for the development? Click here to get a PokerStars account.Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Eureka Poker Tour]

Coming right into a session of poker with the chip lead doesn't guarantee you anything. Just ask Oscar Alache and Mario Lopez, who led going into Day 2 and Day 3 of the LAPT9 Uruguay Main Event. Both ended up cashing, adding to their lengthy tournament resumes, but had their hopes for an additional final table appearance, and potentially a record breaking third LAPT title, fall short.

While those South American legends couldn't make their advantages on the top of the leaderboard over the past few days make them the winner's circle, Pedro Claus did that, en path to claim the last ever title at an LAPT festival.

Pedro Claus - LAPT9 Uruguay Main Event Champion

The Argentine came into today's eight-handed final table with a large lead at the remainder of the field, or even though he surrendered that lead a couple of times, within the end, there has been no denying Claus the title that often appeared to be his.

The LAPT9 Uruguay final table

The final table got off to a comparatively slow start, which was surprising for the reason that there have been a couple of players working short stacks. Eventually, one in all them fell, as Marco Oliveira, considered one of two Brazilians at this primarily Argentine final table, bowed out in 8th place. He ran his pocket deuces into Ruben Barros' pocket kings and was the primary out.

Marco Oliveira - 8th place

Cristian Andres Rotondo, who was the low man entering today's session, made a pay jump but after two unlucky chops that are meant to have netted him more chips, he was eliminated in 7th place. He was busted by Nicolas Pernigotti, K♥Q♥ besting K♠8♦ on a Q♠J♠9♥7♣9♠ runout. When the dust settled, Pernigotti had suddenly jumped up the leaderboard, working the third biggest stack when a marathon six-handed session began.

Cristian Rotondo - 7th place

During that six-handed session, the opposite Brazilian, Fernando Araujo bottomed out near ten big blinds once or twice but each, he battled back to stick alive. It was also during that reach that Claus surrendered his chip lead for the primary time, losing it to Sergio De Benedictis, only to win it back a couple of minutes earlier.

Manuel Vuotto also held the lead momentarily but if we finally had another bust out, it was Claus breaking the stalemate and regaining the lead. Ruben Barros was the sixth to fall, along with his A♣8♦ unable to conquer Claus' Q♥Q♦, with Barros besting an 8th place finish in last year's LAPT Uruguay Main Event.

Ruben Barros - 6th place

An orbit later, another Che was sent to the rail, because the short stacked Nicolas Pernigotti bowed out in 5th. He had come from the ashes yesterday, recovering from a brief stack but after Fernando Araujo cut him right down to only a handful of huge blinds, Sergio De Benedictis made sure the Argentine Phoenix didn't rise again.

Pernigotti got Q♦T♥ in against De Benedictis' A♥T♠ and after the ace-high flop, he was officially drawing dead at the turn.  

Nicolas Pernigotti - 5th place

Immediately after that elimination, De Benedictis had an opportunity to attain another, as a virtually 3,000,000-chip pot developed between him and Araujo.

While De Benedictis was capable of stop one Phoenix from rising, he couldn't stop Araujo, who scored an incredible double with A♣Q♦ holding against A♠J♦. When the dust settled, De Benendictis was left extremely short and while he battled valiantly to check out to make the rostrum spots, Araujo eventually came back to finish his final table run in 4th place, in brutal fashion.

The short stacked "Guacho" got all-in with K♦Q♥ against Araujo's A♥T♥ and after the K♥Q♠2♦ flop, it gave the impression of he was set for a double. That was, until the 2♣ and J♦ completed the board, giving Araujo Broadway and sending De Benedictis to the rail.

Sergio De Benedictis - 4th place

After the knockout, the remainder three players were very evenly stacked and after a couple of minutes of negotiations, all of them decided to fasten up better than second place money. Each secured $70,000 and the remainder $20,630 was left for the eventual champion. Despite the deal, the 3 battled for over an hour before that three-handed stalemate was broken by, you guessed it, Pedro Claus.

Claus had chipped up to, again, take a commanding lead and while he wasn't the only to chop down Manuel Vuotto, he was there to finish his run in 3rd. Level 31 began with the fast stacked Fernando Araujo doubling through Vuotto to depart the him short and some hands later, the 2 Argentinians battled to drop this LAPT9 Uruguay Main Event to its final two.

Manuel Vuotto - 3rd place

Claus opened the button, Vuotto shoved from the large blind for slightly below ten big blinds and Claus called. He had his opponent dominated, K♦9♥ to Q♠9♠ and after a king-high flop, Vuotto needed to take bronze. There has been no break before heads up play and again, Fernando Araujo was going to need to rise from the ashes, as he faced an almost 5:1 chip disadvantage.

He tried to seek out a double immediately, moving all-in from the button at the first hand of heads up play. In a flash, Pedro Claus called and tabled Q♣Q♠, leaving Araujo to only three immediate outs as he held K♦6♣. The board ran out clean for the pocket pair and after an embrace with the silver medalist, Claus raised his arms in victory, celebrating claiming the last ever Latin American Poker Tour festival Main Event trophy.

Fernando Araujo - 2nd place

After the initial celebrations, LAPT Assistant Tournament Director Fernando Obando addressed the gang that had assembled across the final table area. He referenced the years of success that the LAPT had enjoyed, in addition to the intense future that Latin and South American poker has prior to it. The emotional speech was capped with Obando thanking the players, fans, tournament staff and everybody who has made the LAPT possible during the last nine seasons, with a round of applause making way for Claus to regain center stage along with his trophy.

LAPT's Fernando Obando, Pedro Claus and PokerStars' James White

LAPT9 Uruguay Main Event final table resultsEntries: 438Places paid: 63Prize pool: $571,5901. Pedro Claus (Argentina) $90,630*2. Fernando Araujo (Brazil) $70,000*3. Manuel Vuotto (Argentina) $70,000*4. Sergio De Benedictis (Argentina) $39,7205. Nicolas Pernigotti (Argentina) $31,1606. Ruben Barros (Argentina) $24,4007. Cristian Andres Rotondo (Argentina) $18,340 8. Marco Oliveira (Brazil) $13,040*denotes three-way deal

Thanks for following our coverage during the last week from the Conrad Hotel & Casino in beautiful Punta del Este. Listed here are each day's live updates, where you'll be able to relive it all:

Day 1A live updatesDay 1B live updatesDay 2 live updatesDay 3 live updatesFinal table live updatesFinal table profiles

While that is the last LAPT festival, there's a short break before the LAPT returns, as a part of the BSOP Millions series in November. That week-and-a-half long series culminates with the LAPT9 Grand Final in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Until then, adios from Uruguay.

Ready to embark by yourself poker adventure? Join PokerStars and start your journey. Click here to get an account.

Will O'Connor and Martin Harris are Freelance Contributors to the PokerStars Blog. Photos by Carlos Monti.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Latin American Poker Tour]

Online casino operators within the UK, finding domestic competition intense and markets stagnating, are hoping to expand business into France as that country prepares to permit foreign competition in Internet gambling to begin.

Online casinos operating out of the uk want to the outlet of the French gaming market in an effort to keep growth going even while domestic markets show some signs of saturation. France has already arranged a structure for regulating online gambling that met approval by the ecu Commission, after some changes to the initial proposal.

Next, the bill suggesting French rules for Internet casinos could be brought before the national legislature within the first week of October. The law would allow Internet sports betting and online poker to be opened to international competition, meeting EU requirements that licensed EU companies be allowed to compete with domestic operations.

France had previously operated under a state monopoly on gambling, run by the national lottery.

A study by H2 Gambling Capital found that the revenue from online gambling in France would triple over the following two years if the market restrictions were loosened. That will boost sales to near to $1.5 billion.

William Hill, PartyGaming, and 888 are all reportedly desperate to expand operations into France, as recession has ended in stagnation of growth at home. Most UK operators have seen a leveling, if not decline, in sales associated with casino gambling and sports betting, although bingo still is increasing in income generated.

Ultimately, the real draw of French Internet gambling lies in taxation, as rate are yet to be determined. A suggested 2 percent poker tax and 7.5 percent sports betting tax are suggested within the bill.

Published on September 23, 2009 by PrestonLewis

Read More... [Source: UK Casinos in the News]