January 28th, 2008
The Borgata Winter Open is in full swing in Atlantic City and the results are in from the weekend. The $5000 no-limit hold’em event was played on the 25th, and the $1,330,000 prize pool attracted 266 entrants. It was won by James Sowers of Charlotte, NC. James took home the $399,000 first prize in his first major cash.
Second-place prize money of $226,100 went to Tom Dwan. It’s his third final table since November of 07, a span in which he won over $600,000. The big name amongst the finalists was Erick Lindgren, who finished fourth for $79,800. It was Erick’s third cash of ‘08, but his first final table.
Earlier in the week, the $2500 no-limit hold’em event first prize of $238,525 was won by Steven Fiorentini. The WPT main event $10,000 no-limit hold’em event #13 began Monday, and will run for four days, finishing on the 31st.
January 21st, 2008
The 2008 edition of the Aussie Millions has been won by a young Russian player named Alexander Kostritsyn of Moscow, Russia, who was able to beat one of the best players in the world in Eric Seidel. Both players won over a million Aussie dollars; Seidel winning $1M (AUS) and Kostritsyn taking home the $1.65M (AUS) first prize. Michael Chrisanthopoulos also had a big payday, winning $700,000 for his third-place finish.
Earlier in the week, Howard “The Professor” Lederer won the $100,000 buy-in professional’s no-limit hold’em event. The event attracted numerous big-name players including Gus Hansen, Tony “G” Guoga, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren and Masaaki Kagawa. There were 25 players in total, with the top five getting paid. Lederer won $1.25M (AUS), a sizable difference between the second-place winnings of $650,000 (AUS), which went to Mark Teltscher of London, United Kingdom.
January 14th, 2008
The WSOP will honor the late Chip Reese this year by awarding the winner of the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E event with the ‘David “Chip” Reese Award’ along with the bracelet and cash. Reese was the first winner of this event in 2006, the first year they made it the premier tournament amongst the game’s elite. That was his third WSOP bracelet in a poker career that rarely saw him in tournament play. He only went back to playing in tournaments because his children wanted him to do so.
Reese was considered one of the greatest high-limit mixed poker cash game players of all time. He was a fixture on the Vegas poker scene since the 70’s and was the youngest to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 1991. Reese will be sorely missed in the poker community, and naming the tournament after him will hopefully continue beyond this year.
January 7th, 2008
The 2008 edition of Poker After Dark will have a few new faces from previous years. Gavin Smith is one player who will make multiple appearances in Season 3. David Oppenheim is another newbie to the show. One of the best younger players will also be on the show this season. David Williams is slated for the week of March 24 and should make his presence felt at these highly-skilled single-player sit and go tournaments.
Hoyt Corkins will also make an appearance on the April 14 episode against Doyle Brunson, Chris Ferguson, Chau Giang, Andy Bloch, and Gabe Kaplan. Hoyt has done well since coming out of tournament poker retirement the last couple of years.
The show will also get a new hostess. Gone is the lovely Shana Hiatt and in her place is model/actress Marianela Pereyra. Marianela also does commentary for the WSOP and hails from Argentina.
