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APW MPC1 A HUGE SUCCESS APW MPC1 WINNER CHUENG LEE 30.07.2010 Australian Poker Weekly’s Metropolitan Poker Championships at Ermington Poker Establishment was a huge success. Ten events were played during the twelve days of the championship. There were many more players than we had anticipated, with most of the events being sold out. I wish to congratulate and also extend my sincere thanks to Jymmi Briggs, Graham Bernard, David Eyre and all the staff at Ermington for conducting such a well structured campaign. The boys ran all tournaments ultra-smoothly and with total professionalism. I played in four of the tournaments myself and ran deep in two. The winner of the main event was Chueng Lee and the player of the series was Josh Griffiths. Altogether it was a fun week and readers can view a selection of tournament photos on page eight. To see all the photos go to the Australian Poker Weekly Facebook Group www.facebook.com/AustralianPokerWeekly ANZPT Queenstown has just been decided, with Julian Cohen taking the prestigious award along with $73,630 cash, plus 95 points which places him twelfth on the ANZPT rankings ladder. Tony Hachem is still leading with 171.65 points, but with ANZPT Gold Coast, Darwin and Melbourne still to go it is early days and any of the current ranked players could take out the player of the series award. Read about Julian’s win on page 10; also check all the remaining ANZPT schedules on page 4. Sydney Champs is just around the corner and there are plenty of satellites to win seats in the main event. Check out the Sydney champs satellite guide on page 5. As of this week we are introducing a Poker TV guide. Now there will not be any legitimate reason for you to miss any poker program being aired in Australia again. Find the new guide on page 6. May your pocket aces always hold up.  Coming soon to Star City Automated Online Tournament Rego  30.07.2010 By Scott Colvin Regular tournament players keep your eye out for the BGP tournament registration revolution. In the next week or so, Star City will be launching an online gateway which will make registering for all Star City Poker tournaments quick and easy. From the tournament calendar, click though to a list of all available events on sale. Add your details, select the event (or events), agree to the conditions and proceed to checkout. Star City have partnered with NAB to provide a secure gateway for you to buy-in using your credit card. Your registration is processed automatically and a seat allocation will be waiting for you to pick up at the Poker Host Desk when you arrive to play. No more long queues, no more waiting in line for credit cards to process. A full set of instructions will be made available once the system goes live.  ANZPT GOLD COAST  30.07.2010 The Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour (ANZPT) is continuing with a visit to Surfers Paradise for ANZPT Gold Coast from August 11-15. Satellites are taking place now on PokerStars from just $11 under the 'Events' > 'Special' area and we are offering packages to the value of $3,820! Along with your tourney entry, packages include six nights' stay at the Conrad Jupiters Hotel, $500 travel money and a tourist outing. So when you’re not at the felt, you can explore this beautiful city known for its vibrant nightlife and for having some of the best surfing beaches in Australia. Visit the ANZPT Gold Coast website for full details. Win a Lamborghini Gallardo on PokerStars  30.07.2010 Leading online poker site PokerStars has just launched a new tournament that is offering players from around the world the chance to win a Lamborghini Gallardo automobile for free alongside a share of more than one million dollars in cash. PokerStars is holding 24 daily freerolls on the hour for up to 10,000 players with each awarding the top 18 competitors with a spot into a weekly final. There will also be cash satellites held every two hours at PokerStars for as low as $1.10. The weekly games will see up to 2,000 players battle it out every Sunday for a prize pool worth $100,000 while the top 2,000 competitors will receive a cash prize and a spot into the grand final, which is scheduled to take place on October 3. PokerStars revealed that October’s final will come complete with a $250,000 prize pool for the top 5,000 players with the winner driving away in a new Lamborghini Gallardo worth $200,000. “It’s the ride of choice for rock gods, sports stars and fashion royalty and now you can own one too,” read a statement from PokerStars. “Play the PokerStars Lamborghini freeroll and you can win your very own $200,000 supercar. Tournaments are running now and there’s more than one million dollars in cash up for grabs along the way. The Lamborghini Gallardo is one of the most famous and iconic cars in the world, win yours now.” $73,630 VICTORY FOR JULIAN COHEN AT THE POKERSTARS.NET ANZPT QUEENSTOWN  30.07.2010 On Sunday 25 July at SkyCity Queenstown Julian Cohen became $73,630NZD richer when he beat 118 poker hopefuls to win the Main Event in the PokerStars.net Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour Queenstown. There was a very international feel to the field with 14 countries making the trip to Queenstown. Julian who has just completed a Commerce Arts degree at Deakin University was cheered on by his brother and a large group of friends throughout the day. He had a remarkable tournament with a royal flush on the last hand of day two and on day three he eliminated Team PokerStars PRO Tony Hachem with four sixes. After his win Julian was overwhelmed saying, “it is so great to have won a tournament like this, I have been here both years and made some great friends on the tour, so to win in such good company makes it all the more satisfying.” This tournament has really opened up the race for Player of the Year. Tony Hachem is still leading the point’s race but the gap has been shortened considerably. Sydney’s John Maklouf is now coming second after an amazing three consecutive final tables and fellow Sydneysider Andrew Scarfe is in third with an impressive 15th place finish. Jason Gray, Michael Spilken and Vesko Zmukic have also moved up the table making the next three tournaments an exciting fight to the finish for the Player of the Year. This is a hotly contested award as the winner receives a sponsorship package to the APPT worth $50,000; second place receives an ANZPT package and third wins up tournament seat worth $10,000. The final table was a tough one with seasoned professional Jason Gray fresh from ANZPT Canberra win, John Maklouf at his third final table in a row, Team PokerStars PRO Bryan Huang and some solid internet players making it one of the toughest final tables New Zealand has seen. In the end it came down to two young guns battling it out, Andrew Watson from Wollongong and Julian Cohen from Melbourne. The heads up battle saw the lead change a couple of times until Andrew went all-in holding the King of hearts and Ten of diamonds only to be snap called by Julian who had Ace of diamonds and Ten of clubs, the board did not help Andrew and Julian won the title with his ace. The large field included some of the best Australian poker players; Team PokerStars PRO Australia’s Tony Hachem, Lee Nelson and Team PokerStars PRO Asia’s Bryan Huang as well as New Zealand’s first WSOP bracelet winner Simon Watt. Next stop on the tour is ANZPT Gold Coast from August 11 – 15. The final standings and monies earned are as follows: 1st: Julian Cohen (Melbourne, Victoria) $73,630NZD ANZPT Points – 95 2nd: Andrew Watson (Wollongong, NSW) $46,860NZD ANZPT Points – 55 3rd: Vesko Zmukic (Perth, Western Australia) $27,440NZD ANZPT Points – 116 4th: Michael Spilken (Melbourne, Victoria) $22,760NZD ANZPT Points – 103 5th: Tim Clarke (Melbourne, Victoria) $18,740NZD ANZPT Points – 46 6th: Emerson Rewi (Rotorua, New Zealand) $15,400NZD ANZPT Points – 45 7th: Jason Gray (Sydney, NSW) $12,720NZD ANZPT Points – 106 8th: John Maklouf (Sydney, NSW) $10,040NZD ANZPT Points – 161 9th: Bryan Huang (Singapore) $8,030NZD ANZPT Points – 52 TOTAL PRIZE MONEY $267,750 NZD ANZPT POINTS RANKING SEASON 2 1st-Tony Hachem-171.65 points 2nd-John Maklouf-161 points 3rd-Andrew Scarf-154.5 points 4th-Rennie Carnevale-139.55 points 5th-Vesko Zmukic-116.1 points 6th-Aaron Benton-108.85 points 7th-Jason Gray-106.5 points 8th-Dale Marsland-103.55 points 9th-Michael Spilkin-103.3 points 10th-Peter Aristidou-98.3 points 11th-Christopher Evans-96.05 points 12th-Julian Cohen-95 points 13th-Angelo Hamataj-92.5 points 14th-Bradley Bower-92.5 points 15th-Daniel Neilson-91.4 points 16th-Aleks Lackovic-89.5 points 17th-Mike Ivin-85.25 points 18th-Michael O'Grady-85.1 points And then there were nine  23.07.2010 It has been a long but exciting campaign for the 2010 World Series Of Poker, with 57 bracelet events and two special events being decided in less than two months. From the 7,319 entrants who paid $10,000 each for the privilege of playing in the main event and taking a chance for immortality, it has now come down to the nine players who made the final table. After eight intense days only 27 players remained in the tournament, each harbouring the dream of becoming the next world champion and grabbing the coveted WSOP Gold bracelet along with the cool cash, to the tune of $8,944,138 for first prize. Play on Day Eight lasted 17 hours and 45 minutes. Brandon Steven, a 35-year-old automobile dealership owner-operator from Wichita, Kansas became the unfortunate November 9 “bubble” player in the main event. Brandon’s elimination – carrying with it a consolation prize of $635,011 – left nine surviving players. The group listed as follows is the official 2010 November Nine: SEAT 1: Jason Senti Chip Count: 7,625,000 SEAT 2: Joseph Cheong Chip Count: 23,525,000 SEAT 3: John Dolan Chip Count: 46,250,000 SEAT 4: Jonathan Duhamel Chip Count: 65,975,000 SEAT 5: Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi Chip Count: 14,450,000 SEAT 6: Matthew Jarvis Chip Count: 16,700,000 SEAT 7: John Racener Chip Count: 19,050,000 SEAT 8: Filippo Candio Chip Count: 16,400,000 SEAT 9: Cuong "Soi" Nguyen Chip Count: 9,650,000 The championship final table, also known as the November Nine, will be played commencing 6 November, 2010. The initial session of play will whittle the nine finalists down to the last two contenders. The surviving duo will return two days later to play heads-up for the 2010 World Championship. Each of the players who made this year’s November Nine will be paid a guaranteed minimum amount of $811,823. The prize money payouts are as follows: 1st place $8,944,138 2nd place $5,545,855 3rd place $4,129,979 4th place $3,092,497 5th place $2,442,960 6th place $1,772,939 7th place $1,356,708 8th place $1,045,738 9th place $811,823 May your pocket aces always hold up. Australian Poker Weekly’s Metropolitan Poker Championship opening weekend  SEE ALL THE PHOTOS ON OUR FACEBOOK GROUP CLICK HERE 23.07.2010 BY STUART COOPER The opening weekend of the APW Metropolitan Poker Championships #1, at the Ermington Hotel, was an outstanding success. The Friday night Event 1 was the most successful for me. I was chip leader with 16 players remaining but I lost some big confrontations where I was a big underdog and ended up finishing 13th out of 100, out of the money but at least picking up some points towards the Player of the Championship award. I got to bed very late, as I gave a mate a lift to South Sydney. I had a few hours deep sleep but when I woke up after 10 it was already time to prepare to go back to Ermington for the Saturday midday game, 6-max No Limit. It always feels strange playing poker in the middle of the day, and stranger still in a nice sunny day. The hardest day's poker I ever played was in the Hunter Valley Vineyards on a perfect autumn day, it was just too nice a day to spend inside at the tables. I started shakily in the 6-max though nobody was busting early so all the chips were staying on the table, most of mine were in other player's stacks. I got back from 3k to 10k just before the break, which gave me confidence that I could do well at this game. An hour later, as blinds were starting to bite, I took a chance against a player who'd been preflop raising for 4 out of the previous 5 hands. My J9 was looking a good chance on the flop of 784, I had two overcards with the gutshot nut straight draw. I called the active player's bet for my tournament life, and he showed pocket Kings. Ouch. The turn and the river were both Nines, and I stay in the tournament. I finally bust out around 22nd, still with 4 tables playing. Another decent performance though not as good as Friday night. I'm starting to feel the strain of not much sleep and a lot of poker. Event 3, the 5pm 20k Deepstack, is a disaster for me. I play by far my worst poker and I'm out in one hour, still with 90 players left. I might have lasted a bit longer if my 74 on a flop of A65 had completed a straight, but the way I was playing it wouldn't have mattered much anyhow. I get 3 callers for my final hand, and QT outdraws my AT. I skip the Teams game, Event 4, on Sunday midday. A few players had asked me to join them to form a team, but my game is shot to pieces. I watch a great Sydney Swans win on TV instead and arrive for the 5pm Omaha tournament, Event 5. Suddenly my enthusiasm for poker has returned completely and I have a fantastic night. As early as the 50-100 level there's all-in pots with made hands against giant draws. The second chance format was excellent and what made my table an absolute pleasure was the fact that one of the ladies, Nadia, was a superb chip counter and pot controller. She could split a pot or calculate a pot reraise faster than most players could cut a deck. Perhaps she's a Star City dealer, though since she was pleasant and didn't call for a supervisor every 3 minutes, she probably isn't. I finished in the bottom half of the tournament, but still found it exciting and enjoyable. I'll write more about my play in this tournament a few weeks from now, I was very happy with it. My confidence is back and I hope I can make a good cash or two in the concluding events of the Championships. WSOP 2010: THE OFFICIAL NUMBERS 16.07.2010 As Australian Poker Weekly goes to press this week the World Series Of Poker Main Event for 2010 has entered Day 4. From the original 7319 entries there are over 700 players still in contention for a share of the $68,798,600 prize pool. Payouts will be: 1st = $8,944,138, 2nd = $5,545,855, 3rd = $4,129,979, 4th = $3,092,497, 5th = $2,332,960, 6th = $1,772,939, 7th = $1,356,708, 8th = $1,045,738, 9th = $811,823, 10th-12th = $635,011, 13th-15th = $500,165, 16th-18th = $396,967, 19th-27th = $317,161, 28th-36th = $255,242, 37th-45th = $206,395, 46th-54th = $168,556, 55th-63rd = $138,285, 64th-72nd = $114,205, 73rd-81st = $94,942, 82nd-90th = $79,806, 91st-99th = $67,422, 100th-171st = $57,102, 172nd-243rd = $48,847, 244th-315th = $41,967, 316th-387th = $36,463, 388th-459th = $31,647, 460th-531st = $27,519, 532nd-603rd = $24,079, 604th-675th = $21,327, 676th-747th = $19,263. This year participants from 117 different nations made their way to the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino to compete in the 41st World Series of Poker. This year's WSOP awarded the most prize money in its history and accommodated a record number of entrants. This means the 2010 WSOP Main Event became the second-largest live poker tournament ever, bettered only by the 2006 WSOP Main Event. In terms of prize money, the total pool is the second-largest in history. The 2010 WSOP Main Event winner will walk away with more money than Joe Cada did last year, and more than the COMBINED amounts taken home by the respective winners of the Indianapolis 500, Daytona 500, US Open (golf) and US Open (tennis). As we go to press, Australia’s Jackie Glazier, Jonathan Karamalikis and Teemu Kangasvieri remaining in the top 100 chips, and we remain hopeful for a positive tournament result for each of this trio. New Zealand’s Simon Watt is nursing a stack of over 500,000 and is currently in 57th place. We shall bring you the latest information regarding who cashed and who was, or is, the last Aussie standing, the last woman standing, The November nine and much more in next week’s edition. Meanwhile, don’t forget Australian Poker Weekly’s Metropolitan Poker Championships from 16-25 July 2010 at Ermington Poker Establishment at Ermington Hotel - Cnr Victoria and Silverwater Roads, Ermington. APW is giving away an NPL $500,000 Seat valued at $2,200 to the player of the series. So come along and pre-register to secure your seat in as many events as possible and give yourself a chance at winning a coveted NPL500 Seat – absolutely free! The Opening Event on Friday 16 July has already sold out, with more of the same looking likely for Saturday 17 July. However, there are 10 events –including the Main Event and the High Roller event – to enter. To reserve your seat at any of the events highlighted on page 17 of this edition of APW, simply call Graham Bernard on 0414 709 104 or Jymmi Briggs on 0416 747 542. May your pocket aces always hold up. WSOP Main Event kicks off!  09.07.2010 World Series of Poker Main Event (Event 57) has kicked off just as Edition 79 of Australian Poker Weekly goes to press. Fifty-eight events, including 56 bracelet events plus Tournament of Champions and Ante Up For Africa have been finalised. There were no Aussie bracelet winners this year, although plenty of Aussies cashed in various events. Find out how we fared on page 3. The only bracelet from our region was won by New Zealand’s Simon Watt. Page 12 features all the information about the Kiwis who managed to cash in. This edition also features two pages (9 and 10) dedicated to the bracelet winners. The only person who won two bracelets, and is currently sitting on top of the ladder for WSOP Player of the Year, is Frank Kassela. John Juanda remains second on the list, even though he did not win a bracelet this year. We shall await the outcome eagerly as the WSOP Main Event unfolds during the next 12 days. Phil Gordon became the 2010 Ante Up For Africa Champion, winning $129,086 which he very kindly and promptly donated back to the charity. The Ante Up For Africa event is organised jointly by poker pro Annie Duke and Hollywood actor Don Cheadle, with the aim of raising public awareness and funds to support the victims of the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan. Who do you think should be the next Poker Hall Of Fame inductee? Well, the on-line ballot is now active and you can find out how to vote, and whom to vote for, by turning to page 17. Poker Hall Of Fame inducts a player or an individual who has been important to the game of poker in a ceremony that takes place immediately prior to the November Nine assuming their seats at the final table. May your pocket aces always hold up. Aussies and Kiwis who cashed at WSOP 2010  Canberra's James Andersen - 2010's highest Aussie cash 09.07.2010 Andrew Batey - Australia Event 47: No-Limit Hold’em 31st - $11,232 Angelo Limanis - Australia Event 3: No-Limit Hold'em 353rd - $2,150 Basilis Jordanou - Australia Event 52: No-Limit Hold’em/Six Handed 14th-$58,699 Brendan Baynes - Australia Event 24: No-Limit Hold’em 132nd - $2,960 Event 36: No-Limit Hold’em 39th - $9,101 Brent Thomas - Australia Event 24: No-Limit Hold’em 55th - $6,571 Event 30: No-Limit Hold’em 107th - $3,878 Daniel Kochan - Australia Event 44: Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) 42nd - $5,503 David Gilkes - New Zealand Event 49: No-Limit Hold'em 247th - $2,780 Eric Assadourian - Australia Event 49: No-Limit Hold'em 140th - $3,433 Gary Benson - Australia Event 15: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship 9th - $43,833 Halit Jusufi - Australia Event 36: No-Limit Hold’em 59th - $6,253 Jack Drake - Australia Event 13: No-Limit Hold’em 203rd - $2,244 Jackson Zheng - New Zealand Event 42: No-Limit Hold’em 80th - $5,751 James Andersen - Australia Event 8: No-Limit Hold’em 6th - $96,422 Jeffrey Lisandro - Australia Event 25: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship 24th - $17,138 Event 33: Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha 42nd - $5,243 Event 37: H.O.R.S.E. 5th - $68,417 Joe Hachem - Australia Event 40: Seven Card Razz 22nd - $6,464 WSOP Tournament of Champions 4th-$25,000 John Apostolidis - Australia Event 56: No-Limit Hold’em 42nd - $16,339 John Corr - Australia Event 9: Pot-Limit Hold'em 48th - $3,352 Joseph Allis - New Zealand Event 47: No-Limit Hold’em 92nd - $3,350 Kerry Stead - Australia Event 31: H.O.R.S.E. 23rd - $6,877 Michael Mariakis - Australia Event 40: Seven Card Razz 30th - $5,423 Event 42: No-Limit Hold’em 249th - $2,756 Octavian Voegele - Australia Event 5: No-Limit Hold'em 174th - $2,880 Event 13: No-Limit Hold’em 92nd - $3,257 Paul Sharbanee - Australia Event 30: No-Limit Hold’em 199th - $3,199 Event 42: No-Limit Hold’em 179th - $3,403 Raymond Walter - Australia Event 21: Seven Card Stud 10th - $10,057 Sam Capra - Australia Event 56: No-Limit Hold’em 20th - $24,107 Simon Morris - Australia Event 29: Limit Hold'em World Championship 7th - $62,897 Event 36: No-Limit Hold’em 223rd - $2,289 Event 49: No-Limit Hold'em 198th - $3,089 Simon Watt - New Zealand Event 141: No-Limit Hold'em 1st - $614,248 Event 47: No-Limit Hold’em 118th - $2,927 Theos Rippis - Australia Event 45: No-Limit Hold’em 107th - $4,348 Event 49: No-Limit Hold'em 255th - $2,780 Tyron Krost - Australia Event 44: Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) 36th - $6,763 2010 WSOP bracelet winners  Frank Kassela with two WSOP bracelets is at the top of the player of the year list 09.07.2010 Event #1: Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em Hoai Pham-$71,424 Event #2: The Poker Players Championship Michael Mizrachi-$1,559,046 Event #3: No-Limit Hold'em Aadam Daya-$625,872 Event #4: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Michael Chow-$237,463 Event #5: No-Limit Hold'em Praz Bansi-$515,501 Event #6: No-Limit Hold'em Shootout (2000 players max) Joshua Tieman-$441,692 Event #7: 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball (Limit) Peter Gelencser-$180,730 Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em Pascal LeFrancois-$568,974 Event #9: Pot-Limit Hold'em James Dempsey-$197,470 Event #10: Seven Card Stud World Championship Men Nguyen-$394,807 Event #11: No-Limit Hold'em Simon Watt-$614,248 Event #12: Limit Hold’em Matthew Matros-$189,870 Event #13: No-Limit Hold’em Steven Gee-$472,479 Event #14: 2-7 Draw Lowball (No-Limit) Yan Chen-$92,817 Event #15: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship Frank Kassela-$447,446 Event #16: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed Carter Phillips-$482,774 Event #17: No-Limit Hold'em Jason DeWitt-$818,959 Event #18: Limit Hold'em Eric Buchman-$203,607 Event #19: 2-7 Draw Lowball World Championship (No-Limit) David Baker-$294,321 Event #20: Pot-Limit Omaha John Barch-$256,919 Event #21: Seven Card Stud Richard Ashby-$140,467 Event #22: Ladies No-Limit Hold’em Championship Vanessa Hellebuyck-$192,132 Event #23: Limit Hold'em / Six Handed Dutch Boyd-$234,065 Event #24: No-Limit Hold’em Jeffrey Tebben-$503,389 Event #25: Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship Sammy Farha-$488,241 Event #26: No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed William Haydon-$630,031 Event #27: Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better David Warga-$208,682 Event #28: Pot-Limit Omaha Miguel Proulx-$315,311 Event #29: Limit Hold'em World Championship Matt Keikoan-$425,969 Event #30: No-Limit Hold’em Mike Ellis-$581,851 Event #31: H.O.R.S.E. Konstantin Puchkov-$256,820 Event #32: No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed Jeffrey Papola-$667,433 Event #33: Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha Jose-Luis Velador-$260,552 Event #34: Seniors No-Limit Hold’em Championship Harold Angle-$487,994 Event #35: Heads Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship (256 player max) Ayaz Mahmood-$625,682 Event #36: No-Limit Hold’em Scott Montgomery-$481,760 Event #37: H.O.R.S.E. Phil Ivey-$329,840 Event #38: Pot-Limit Hold'em Championship Valdemar Kwaysser-$617,214 Event #39: No-Limit Hold'em Shootout (2,000 player max) Steven Kelly-$381,927 Event #40: Seven Card Razz Frank Kassela-$214,085 Event #41: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better Steve Jelinek-$245,871 Event #42: No-Limit Hold’em Dean Hamrick-$604,222 Event #43: H.O.R.S.E. World Championship Ian Gordon-$611,666 Event #44: Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) Gavin Smith-$268,238 Event #45: No-Limit Hold’em Jesse Rockowitz-$721,373 Event #46: Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-low Split-8 or Better Chris Bell-$327,040 Event #47: No-Limit Hold’em Shawn Busse-$485,791 Sigurd Eskeland -$260,497 Event #49: No-Limit Hold'em Michael Linn-$609,493 Event #50: Pot-Limit Omaha Chance Kornuth-$508,090 Event #51: Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em Ryan Welch-$559,371 Event #52: No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed Dan Kelly-$1,315,518 Event #53: Limit Hold’em Shootout Brendan Taylor-$184,950 Event #54: No-Limit Hold’em Marcel Vonk-$570,960 Event #55: Pot-Limit Omaha World Championship Daniel Alaei-$780,599 Event #56: No-Limit Hold’em Tomer Berda-$825,976  All roads to WSOP 2010  GAVIN SMITH WINS HIS FIRST-EVER BRACELET. 02.07.2010 It’s past the halfway point at the WSOP 2010, just prior to the start of the main event and around the time most of Australia’s decent players who are not already in Vegas make their annual pilgrimage. The prestigious Tournament Of Champions is in its third day as we go to press, with Australia’s Joe Hachem holding on fifth in chips. Since most of the pros are registered in concurrent events there is talk of stopping proceedings at the end of day three, with a return to the tournament on Saturday for day four. Some of the players have already been going from table to table not to miss their blinds. Yesterday Mike Matusow and Antonio Esfandiari were constantly running from one end of Rio’s huge poker room to the other end and back! Also as we go to press, Tony Hachem has just busted out of event 51 (Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em), Eric Assadourian is looking good at event 49 (No Limit Hold’em) and Van Marcus is still in with a chance in event 50 (Pot Limit Omaha). Plenty of Aussies have cashed in different tournaments. We will bring you a complete list once event 56 is finalised and the main event begins. We will also dedicate a couple of pages to all the 2010 bracelet winners. There is some good breaking news for Aussie players as the Australian Productivity Commission calls for managed liberalisation of online poker. There are similar tidings for our trans-Tasman neighbours as a New Zealand court rules in favour of poker. Turn to page 6 of this edition to read all about these landmark events. Colourful Canadian Gavin Smith, who has lost millions of dollars on prop bets every year for not winning a bracelet, has finally done it by taking out the Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit), winning his first-ever bracelet and cashing $268,238 in the process. Smith has been heads-up in 2005 and 2007 but took second place both years. His total WSOP and circuit earnings to date are $1,278,470. He has cashed 17 times in WSOP and 6 times in WSOP Circuits. That’s it for this edition of Australian Poker Weekly. We have a very busy schedule ahead as we approach the business end of 2010 WSOP. May your pocket aces always hold up. Australian Poker Weekly’s Trophy Cup II at Harbord Poker HQ was a runaway success  02.07.2010 Australian Poker Weekly together with Harbord Poker HQ at Harbord Diggers held a weekend long series of tournaments last weekend Friday 25, Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July. The entire three days of tournaments were very succesful with more than usual crowds at Harbord Poker HQ. Congratulations to Peter Perceval, Di and the staff for their organisation and running of three great days. After realising the extended prize pool on Friday and Saturday nights Peter ended up giving away two FullTilt 500 tickets on Friday and two Macau packages on Saturday, instead of one ticket and one package which was advertised originally. Congratulations also to Patrick Leufkens who ended up winning two out of the three trophies on offer. He is now the Harbord NLHE Champion as well as the Northern Beaches Deepstack Champion. Below are the wekend’s results: FRIDAY JUNE 25 HARBORD NLHE 1st: Patrick Leufkens Full Tilt 500 ticket (value $2200) + $500 2nd: Alex Chiddy Full Tilt 500 ticket (value $2200) + $250 SATURDAY JUNE 26 NPLWT SHOOTOUT 1st: Ashley Hallett NPLWT Macau poker package (value $3000) + $500 cash 2nd: Phil Shepherd NPLWT Macau poker package (value $3000) SUNDAY JUNE 27 NORTHERN BEACHES DEEPSTACK 1st: Patrick Leufkens  Australian Productivity Commission Calls for Managed Liberalisation of Online Poker  02.07.2010 The Australian Productivity Commission, the Australian federal government's independent advisory body for microeconomic reform, has released its final report supporting the managed liberalisation of online poker in Australia. While the draft report argued for widespread change stating that the "the Australian Government should repeal the Interactive Gambling Act, and in consultation with state and territory governments, should initiate a process for the managed liberalisation of online gaming," the final report called for the gradual liberalization of online gambling starting with a recommendation to amend the Act to permit the supply of online poker card games. “Consequently, a gradual approach to managed liberalisation that commenced with the likely safest form of online gambling - poker card games - would seem to be an affective way forward. The effects of this partial liberalisation could then be evaluated, as could the harm minimisation measures in place, before any further liberalisation was considered." Online poker was identified as being a relatively safe form of gambling based on a number of harm minimisation procedures adopted by the various poker rooms, highlighted in iBus Media’s submission, as well as several independent studies that point to the social impacts of online poker as being low. iBus Media/PokerNews Chief Consultant Damon Rasheed said of the final report: “It’s refreshing that regulatory and judicial bodies around the world are recognising that the social impacts of online poker are in most cases significantly less than other forms of terrestrial gaming such as poker machines and casino games which are generally legal. I commend the Productivity Commission for the conclusions they reached in the final report." The Productivity Commission’s report could not have been timelier, with increasing pressure on Australia’s Federal Police, from prominent parliamentarians, to investigate the legality of various .net advertisements, which have been advertised in recent times. The final report, coupled with Tuesday's New Zealand court case ruling that .net advertising is not gambling, may help pave the way for operators to advertise in Australia. The federal government has put out a brief response stating it does not “support the liberalisation of online gaming, including online poker, as recommended by the Productivity Commission. The Government is not convinced that liberalising online gaming would have benefits for the Australian community which would outweigh the risks of an increased incidence of problem gambling, particularly with the rapid changes in technology. The current prohibition on the provision of online gaming services to Australians will continue to apply." On the heels of an election in Australia, and the considerable demand for poker, it is likely that the Productivity Commission’s report will be a hot topic during the coming weeks. New Zealand Court Rules In Favour of Poker 02.07.2010 In landmark ruling for the case for poker being a skill-based game, a New Zealand court has ruled that .net advertisements are not promotions for gambling operators, and that poker tournaments themselves are not gambling but a form of competition. The Department of Internal Affairs recently brought charges under the Gambling Act 2003 against TVWorks Limited (which owns the television stations TV3 and C4). The DIA claimed that a number of advertisements for PokerStars.net (the play-for-free site) promoted an overseas gambling operator (PokerStars.com or PokerStars or APPT) or alternatively that the advertisements were likely to induce New Zealanders to gamble overseas. In the first case of its kind, his Honor Justice David J Harvey has dismissed all of the charges. The lawyers for TVWorks, Mike Heronand Joe Edwards, from Russell McVeagh, identified the Court's key findings as follows: •The pokerstars.net website is not promotion of a gambling operator, promotion of gambling overseas, or likely to induce New Zealanders to gamble overseas. •The pokerstars.net website is not a gambling website nor is it synonymous with pokerstars.com. •The APPT is not "gambling" in terms of the Act because it is a competition, with an entry fee, which has prize money at the end of it (as opposed to the payment of consideration, based on the outcome of the game). In regards to .net advertising, the prosecution conceded that pokerstars.net is not a gambling operator. However, prosecutors argued that the use of “PokerStars” in both the .net and .com domain names meant the advertisements for pokerstars.net were de facto advertisements for pokerstars.com (hence advertising an overseas gambling operator). Justice Harvey ruled that this argument must fail for three reasons: “Firstly, the nature of the material in the advertisements made it clear that what was being advertised was free websites that do not involve gambling. Secondly, the .com website is not mentioned at any time. Unless the user knew of the existence of the .com website, no association could be made between PokerStars and that particular website. A third reason for rejecting the suggestion that .net and .com sites involve a distinction without a difference lies in the very internet itself... the navigational realties of the internet mean that there is a very significant difference between web addresses of any nature, be they .net .com and .org even although they may be associated with a similar domain name.”. In relation to the APPT Poker Tournament ads, the defense argued that participants in poker tournaments are not gambling. As an analogy, the defense drew the distinction between a horse owner who pays an entry fee for his horse to participate in a race and who, when the horse crosses the line first, wins prize money, with someone who gambles upon the outcome of the race, the latter being gambling. Judge Harvey agreed with this argument adding, “I do not agree that the way in which the APPT is structured amounts to gambling. It does not involve the payment of consideration based upon the outcome of the game. It involves the splitting of a sum of money derived from the payment of entry fees between the winning players. Although poker is usually associated with some form of gambling, because players do not make side bets on the outcome of each hand that element of wagering upon the outcome, or paying consideration or a stake, is not present”. In reaching his conclusion Justice Harvey replied heavily upon the expert industry evidence presented by Damon Rasheed of PokerNews/iBus Media Consultancy and Professor Roger Marshall who provided expert evidence on the advertisements themself. Damon Rasheed said upon hearing the decision today that, “Justice Harvey’s ruling was a common sense result for the industry that will have wide spread implications especially for those jurisdictions with similar legislation, such as Australia and the US, were the distinction between .net advertising and gambling has yet to be the subject of legal challenge”. Joe Edwards of Russell McVeagh added, “The impact of the Court's decision is that play for free .net websites can now be advertised in New Zealand and there is likely to be a sharp increase in the amount of .net websites promoted in advertising and as sponsors of various poker related events”.  02.07.2010 BY STUART COOPER Sports fans Australia-wide are aware of the new Greater Western Sydney AFL team, due to start in the 2012 season. They have Kevin Sheedy as coach and recently signed League superstar Israel Folau. There's a million people around the greater Blacktown area who need a team to follow, according to the AFL. They also need good poker rooms. The most important new poker room in Sydney's west is Poker Establishment inside Ermington Hotel. It's very easy to get to by car, being on the corner of Victoria Road and Silverwater Road. The poker room has its own floorspace, seperate from the main pub. The main bar is a real workman's drinking hole, the TAB facilities are first rate. Poker Establishment are behind the Ermington Hotel poker room, and run games 5 nights a week, from Tuesday night through to Saturday night. Games run well into the night and Chip Chop games can finish as late as 2am. The equipment is excellent. The tables are large and have fast felt that makes it easy to deal on, even from seat 3 or seat 7. The chairs are strong and can accomodate the size of today's poker player. You can find the games listed in bold in Australian Poker Weekly’s tournament listing pages. The room is decorated with some big posters of poker pros watching over us, including one of my favourite pros, Allen Cunningham. With Allen keeping a close eye on me, I always try to make my best decisions in my games. Once I made a very questionable call, and lost a ton of chips to an obviously better hand. Allen was very disappointed in me on that occasion. I'll do my best not to let him down again. The Tournament Director is Jymmi Briggs. Jymmi is a legend of the Sydney pokerroom scene, having been involved in running rooms at Newtown, St Marys and a few others in the the West which I never got around to visit. Jymmi's a larger than life character. A few other operators have sniped on the internet about Jymmi's style, but I've never had a problem with him. He runs a good game and certainly knows and respects poker. I encourage you to play some games at Ermington and make up your own mind. Ermington Hotel are running an ambitious series of games in mid-July, called the Australian Poker Weekly MPC1 Metropolitan Poker Championships. There's a great range of games at the affordable buyin of $55, with a teams event, Omaha game, Holdem / Omaha / Pineapple game and a 6-max game to go along with the straight Holdem events. I'm looking forward to playing in most if not all of these games, though if I don't cash in the early games I'll pass on the High Rollers Event. It's going to be an absolute festival of poker, and all of it a ten minute drive away. I'm having daydreams already about being crowned being Player of the Championship. Next time: I win a 100 player game, turning $50 into $2000 through the magic of tournament poker. Find out just how I did it in next week's APW. TIGER ROARS AGAIN!  25.06.2010 Phil Ivey has done it again. The man they call the Tiger Woods of Poker has just won his eighth bracelet, a matter of a few hours before we went to press. We had to change our cover very swiftly! Fortunately, Ivey was already our cover personality for the promotion of FullTilt Poker’s new TV show the Pro-Am Poker Equalizer. Here are just a few stats on this giant of the poker world: Total WSOP and Circuit Earnings: $5,595,819 WSOP Bracelets: 8 WSOP Cashes: 40 WSOP Earnings: $5,213,809 Circuit Cashes: 3 Circuit Earnings: $382,010 Birthdate: 1976 Birthplace: Riverside, California Resides: Las Vegas, Nevada •Arguably the best poker player in the world, Phil Ivey is the youngest player to attain five WSOP Bracelets, none of which were in a Hold'em event. In 2005, Ivey was named Bluff Magazine's Player of the Year. •Ivey is known for playing high-stakes. He once beat Texas billionaire Andy Beal out of $16 million over the course of three days in a $25,000/$50,000 No Limit Hold'em Heads Up. Ivey is a regular at the $4,000/$8,000 mixed cash game (The Big Game) at the Bellagio. •Ivey's family moved from Riverside, California to New Jersey when he was a child. After attaining an ID from a colleague named Jerome at the telemarketing firm where he worked, Ivey began playing poker in card rooms around Atlantic City. He earned the nickname "No Home Jerome" from the countless hours he spent at the casino. Ivey’s bracelet wins: 2010 H.O.R.S.E. 2009 Omaha/Seven Card Stud HL/8 or Better 2009 Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball 2005 Pot Limit Omaha 2002 Limit S.H.O.E 2002 Limit 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo 2002 Limit 7 Card Stud 2000 Pot Limit Omaha May your pocket aces always hold up. FullTilt Poker’s New TV show Pro-Am Poker Equalizer comes to Australia  The Pro-Am Poker Equalizer is a unique tournament featuring an exciting mix of professional poker players and celebrity enthusiasts playing for a first-place prize worth $500,000. Filmed at the South Coast Casino in Las Vegas, each episode features six players (four professionals and two amateurs) playing in a six-handed Sit & Go tournament. The winner of each game will advance to the next round and play for a chance to take home the $500,000 prize. So, what's the "Equalizer"? Because they're professionals, it's safe to assume that players like Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, and Howard Lederer might have an advantage over their celebrity competition. With that in mind, FullTilt has handicapped each of the pros in this tournament by forcing them to start with only 100,000 chips, while each celebrity will be given 150,000 chips with which to play. The show airs every Tuesday Aussie time on ESPN at 11.00pm and repeats at 11.00pm every Sunday. Schedule Episode 1 Erick Lindgren, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Jose Canseco, Cheryl Hines Episode 2 Johnny Chan, Mike Matusow, Shawn Sheikhan, Gus Hansen, Nicholas Gonzalez, Yancey Arias Episode 3 Clonie Gowen, David Williams, Ted Forrest, Allen Cunningham, Jennifer Tilly, Penn Jillette Episode 4 Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, Phil Laak, Jennifer Harman, Cindy Margolis, Jeremy Sisto Episode 5 On this episode: Gabe Kaplan, Gavin Smith, Andy Bloch, Erik Seidel, Shannon Elizabeth, Don Cheadle Episode 6 Jamie Gold, Huckleberry Seed, Jeff Madsen, David Benyamine, Shana Hiatt, Jason Alexander Episode 7 Revisit the all highlights from the past six episodes, including the big bluffs, bad beats, and exciting wins. Final Match The Final Table - where the action gets amped and the winner takes home half a million dollars. .JASON SCORES CAPITAL WIN  18.06.2010 The first-ever ANZPT Canberra was a major success, both for PokerStars and Casino Canberra last week. There had not been a major tournament staged in the national capital since 2002 and this was a great event to get major poker competition rolling again in Canberra. I made the three-hour trip by car from Sydney to one of the only places I used to be able to play poker legally in the old days. I played day 1B and was knocked out on sixth level by the eventual champion Jason Gray. Congratulations to Jason who made an amazing comeback from being the shortstack in early stages of day one. Congratulations also go to Sam Dawson and his team who ran a great event at the Capital city. Also a big thank you goes to PokerNews’ Sean Callander for his compliments on the PokerStars blog. Read about the event, the final table and Jason’s win on page 5. Sammy Farha has just won his third WSOP bracelet in event 25, the $10,000 Omaha High-Low Split Eight or Better Championship. Sammy is a fierce competitor and one of the best players in the game. His antics, style of play and his signature unlit cigarette always make for good poker TV. Whilst Chris Moneymaker may well be the major reason for the poker boom, Sammy deserves some of that spotlight as well, since he was the pro Moneymaker knocked out in the WSOP 2003 heads up battle to take the championship title. In this week’s edition of Australian Poker Weekly we feature an in-depth report on Sammy’s win, together with updates on last week’s events at the WSOP. This week we have included the schedules to ANZPT Queenstown, ANZPT Gold Coast and ANZPT Darwin. ANZPT Melbourne schedule is not yet available, but we will run it as soon as it is on hand. The Victorian Poker Championship schedule can also be found as part of this week’s offerings. May your pocket aces always hold up. $95,930 VICTORY FOR JASON GRAY IN THE FIRST POKERSTARS.NET ANZPT CANBERRA  The final table (left to right standing) Michael Chon, Jason Gray, Rennie Carnevale, Adam Cameron and Martin Rodwell. (left to right sitting) Alan Al-hantosh, Andrew Scarf, Aaron Benton and John Maklouf. 18.06.2010 Last week at Casino Canberra Jason Gray became $95,930 richer when he beat 180 poker hopefuls to win the Main Event in the PokerStars.net Australia and New Zealand Poker Tour Canberra. Jason is one of Australia’s most respected poker players. His best tournament results have come in recent years - he won the $15,000 buy-in event at the 2007 Victorian Championships, then placed third in the $10,000 Omaha Hi/Lo Split World Championship at the 2008 WSOP for more than USD $200,000 and was runner-up to Martin Rowe in the 2008 APPT Grand Final. Canberra has been absent from Australia’s poker tournament scene, with their last major tournament back in 2002, but prior to this they were well known by some of the seasoned poker veterans, including Jason Gray who used to play when the largest field they had was no more than 70 players. The last four days has proved that Casino Canberra has returned as a great venue for tournament poker. Yesterday’s final table saw a host of names familiar to the ANZPT and with Team PokerStars PRO Tony Hachem unable to cash, the race for Player of Year has tightened considerably. Aaron Benton, APPT Grand Final 2009 Champion who cashed in Perth, finished 8th. Runner up in Adelaide ANZPT, Andrew Scarfe finished 5th and in 4th the winner of ANZPT Adelaide, Rennie Carnevale. Finally there is John Maklouf who was 6th in the Sydney event managed to be runner up here. Tony Hachem is still out in front in the Player of the Year standings but the gap has narrowed and there are a host of players fighting for second and third place. The final table was also very well represented by Wollongong with three players coming from the Steel City. Rennie Carnevale and Aaron Benton are flat mates and Adam Cameron, the third place winner is their good friend. This meant a loud group of supporters on the rail throughout the day. This was the longest heads up battle of the ANZPT’s short history; lasting three hours with the two players swapping the chip lead several times. Finally it came down to Jason Gray’s pair of fours being unable to caught by John Maklouf’s ace three. The large field included some of the best Australian poker players; Team PokerStars PRO Australia’s Emad Tahtouh, Grant Levy, Eric Assadourian as well as Billy ‘The Croc’ Argyros, Graeme ‘Kiwi’ Putt and Antonis ‘Toothpick Tony’ Kambouroglou. Next stop on the tour is ANZPT Queenstown from July 18 – 25. The final standings and monies earned in Australian dollars are as follows: 1st: Jason Gray (Melbourne, Victoria) $95,930 ANZPT Points – 62 2nd: John Maklouf (Sydney, NSW) $60,635 ANZPT Points – 118 3rd: Adam Cameron (Wollongong, NSW) $34,394 ANZPT Points – 63 4th: Michael Chon (Perth, Western Australia) $28,236 ANZPT Points – 60 5th: Rennie Carnevale (Wollongong, NSW) $23,530 ANZPT Points – 129 6th: Andrew Scarfe (Sydney, NSW) $19,005 ANZPT Points – 118 7th: Alan Al-Hantosh (Melbourne, Victoria) $15,385 ANZPT Points – 46 8th: Aaron Benton (Wollongong, NSW) $12,308 ANZPT Points – 99 9th: Martin Rodwell (Canberra, ACT) $9,593 ANZPT Points – 44 TOTAL PRIZE MONEY $362,000 AUD THIRTEEN BRACELETS - AND COUNTING  11.06.2010 Thirteen events have been played, thirteen bracelets have been awarded. The WSOP 2010 is well and truly underway and among the notable winners so far is Michael ‘the Grinder’ Mizrachi, who, despite his fame as one of the world’s best tournament players with many prestigious titles under his belt, was missing a bracelet. Michael finally scored one in the inaugural Poker Players Championship, in addition to taking home $1,559,046 for his effort. Kiwi Simon Watt did his country proud, eliminating Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan heads-up on the final table of Event 11, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em, to become New Zealand’s first-ever bracelet winner and adding $614,248 cash to his bank account. Australian Gary Benson cashed $43,833 at the final table of Event 15, Seven Card Stud Hi-Low Split-8 or Better World Championship. The final table comprised some very talented players, including Jennifer Harman, Steve Zolotow, Frank Kassela, John Juanda, Vladimir Schmelev, Kirill Rabtsov (chip leader), Allen Kessler and Dario Minieri. Gary was the shortstack of the final 9 and was eliminated in 9th Place. Gary Benson XX/QT4J/X Allen Kessler XX/64K4/X Frank Kassela XX/3K93/X Six players went to Fourth Street, the above three along with Kirill Rabtsov, Jen Harman and Steve Zolotow. Benson bet, Rabstov folded, Kessler raised, Harman and Zolotow folded, Kassela called and Benson reraised. Both Kessler and Kassela called. Kessler checked on Fifth Street, Benson bet, and both Kassela and Kessler called. Kessler bet again on Sixth, Kassela called, and Benson called all-in. Both Kessler and Kassela checked the River. "I've got kings up," said Kassela, revealing KT8. Benson showed QTfor queens up and Kessler mucked. Kassela took down the pot and Benson was eliminated. Canberra’s James Anderson final tabled Event 8, No Limit Hold’em, finishing sixth for $96,422. Australian Poker Weekly’s regular editorial contributor Danielle Adams-Benham has signed a comprehensive deal with FeltStars Poker. We salute one of our very own on page 5. May your pocket aces always hold up
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