|
Welcome to the PokerPages Newsletter!
 PokerPages
Cardroom
Win Bugsys Bonus Points daily in the PokerPages FreePlay Cardroom and turn them into INSTANT CASH at BugsysClub
In order to participate in these selected BBP Tournaments you MUST register with BugsysClub, see full details in join event window of any
BBP Tournament in PokerPages Lobby
You can use your BBP's in the following ways :-
- Turn them into INSTANT CASH anytime you have acquired 1000 BBP's or more. See details in your BugsysClub cashier. (you can access the
BugsysClub cashier from the BugsysClub lobby once you have registered with BugsysClub). Money converted from BBP's to cash cannot be cashed
out BEFORE making your next deposit. This is subject to BugsysClub's discretion.
- Enter BBP Buy-in tournaments to win CASH or more BBP's at BugsysClub. See BugsysClub lobby for daily tournaments
Full Details
BugsysClub
BugsysClub the Best Poker Games in Town.
The most friendliest cardroom on the internet, where Bugsys takes care of you personally. Chat 24/7 with live customer support operators.
Great No Limit Action with no maximum buy in and no all in protection.
Bugsys Shootout - $1,000 ADDED
Every Sunday 3pm CDT $50+$5 NLHE $1,000 added prize money
Bugsy has added a total of 45,000 BBP to the following weekly events
Friday 9.00pm CDT 30 BBP + 3 BBP buyin 15,000 BBP added
Saturday 4.30pm CDT 30 BBP + 3 BBP buyin 15,000 BBP added
Sunday 11.00am CDT 30 BBP + 3 BBP buyin 15,000 BBP added
Return to Top
PokerSchoolOnline
For $14.95 per month or $149.95 annually you can get all the poker tuition you need and practice with a realistic play money bankroll.
Great community in the cardroom and in the forum, and you can also get to meet the players at the 2nd PSO Convention in January. PokerSchoolOnline
LIVE TOUR 2004 starts in January and you could be sponsored into the $25,000 WPT event at the Bellagio. See website
for details or Join now
Return to Top
 Poker
In America
Tim Kopp of PokerPages writes about Poker in America
Eat, Sleep, and Breath it.
Hello again and welcome back to Poker In America. I hope everyone here in the States had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday and had their
fill of turkey, football and spirits. Hurry up and eat those leftovers though, we'll be doing it all over again in a few weeks as Christmas
and the New Year are just around the corner. Most of the country just recently got their first full taste of winter's grip and are still
digging out from the season's first major snowfall. So once that driveway is clear, head on out to the local card room for America's favorite
game! It's good for what ails you, I guarantee it.
All of us here are at PokerPages are quickly cleaning off our desks and eagerly awaiting PokerPages and PokerSchoolOnline founders Mark,
and Tina Napolitano, return to the States as they get ready to head to the 2nd Annual PSO Convention in Tunica. From what I hear, they're
even more anxious to meet all of you this year, and from the response from the players, it looks like being a fantastic event for everyone.
 Unfortunately
we have to start on a somber note this week. Shortly after Thanksgiving this year us here at PokerPages received some sad news from the
poker front. Jack Keller, World Series champ and member of Binion's Poker Hall of Fame passed away December 5th. Jack has been living in
Robinsonville MS and playing in Tunica for the past several years. So, in Jack's honor, let's take a look at what's been happening in the
poker world, shall we?
When we last left off, east coast, west coast, and midlanders alike were headed to Atlantic City. Just off the heels of the Foxwoods World
Poker Finals, players had their sights on the Sands Hotel and Casino and the Million Dollar Deal, the Showdown
at the Sands.
 We
pick up right where we left off in Event 6, the first
of the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em events. A nice plump prize pool of $137,000 was up for grabs as the 137 players broke through the guarantee
that was set at $100K. Floridian new-commer, Anthony Morales left the railbirds gawking at the final table when he got caught with his hand
in the cookie jar when trying to steal the $3,000 blinds when heads up with making an all-in raise with 8-9 off-suit but ran into Robert
Mizarchi's 10-10. Mizrachi caught a ten on the flop, was massive overkill versus the two under cards. However, the board showed Q-10-3,
which gave Morales (with 9-8) an inside straight draw if a Jack came. Need I go on? On the very next card that jack came for Morales giving
him the straight and the $47,950 first place prize.
 The
following day in Event 7, we had the last match before
the main event and another $1,000 buy in "warm up" No Limit Hold'em tournament. As would have been expected, a few less players
showed up for this event, but still there was 128 eager players to get in on the action. The $128,000 prize pool was fiercely contested
the entire way. Edward "Bolivia" Moncada enjoyed a 2-1 chip lead when play went heads up and never looked back. L.A. player Kenny
Goldstein had to settle for 2nd place and watched sullenly as Moncada collected his $44,800 first place prize. Moncada's K-3 suited held
up against Goldstein's 6-3.
The players had a day off before the final, though the Sands offered a day of $500 satellites to keep players in the mood. Now time for
the final, 198 players filled the tournament room and forked over the $5,000 to enter the match. Many of you may have found a pleasant surprise
Thanksgiving Day if you were flipping though the channels and cam across FoxSports.net's coverage of the final table of this event. A lot
of hard work went into getting to that final table though. At the end of day 1, 44 players made the cut. The following day, they would play
until there was only 9. Of the 9 remaining after day 2, world-class players Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow and T.J. Cloutier held most of
the chips and were seen as the favorites for the $1 million dollar prize. The big names and big stacks didn't intimidate amateur John Myung
though, as he showed patience makes perfect and became poker's newest millionaire. Myung is from Rockville, MD and said before the match
that if he wins the million-dollar first place, he will invest most of the money and also take a long, well-deserved vacation. I'm willing
to bet that vacation spot is somewhere near a poker room.
Hat's off to the Sands management and card room staff. This was the inaugural event for the Million Dollar deal and it was such a success,
plans are already in the works to make this one of the east coat's not-to-be-missed annual events for years to come. So free up your calendar
for next year, for your chance to become a millionaire.
 I hadn't
planned on covering the next event, but a certain player put me in my place by making the money in 9 of the 13 events at the St. Marteen
Open at Maho Beach Casino Resort in San Marteen (or Saint Martin, for those of us in the States). Juha Helpi, of Finland, whom you may remember
qualifying for the 2003 World Poker Tour Finals in Aruba really showed that he was deserving of the seat. Juha, I take back everything I
said about how lucky you were, you've got the skills to pay the bills.
As it turned out, since most of the US players were tied up with the Foxwoods and Sands events, the San Marteen Open attracted mostly our
European friends from across the pond. With several small buy-in events, Maho Beach casino offered 2 $1,000 Buy in events in an exotic setting.
In the First big event, the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em, Italian player and pro Antonio Turrisi outlasted the other 59 players to pick up a
nice $21,000 first place prize. If you follow the Euorpan circuit, you may recognize Antonio's name from several of the larger European
and Australian event, and he has several 7-card stud 1st place finishes. Look for Antonio in next year's WSOP, if you don't, he may just
bump you out of the tournament.
Back by popular demand was the 2nd of the 2 $1,000 No limit events. Players must have either had a plane to catch or were just busted from
the ferocious cash games that were rumored to have take place, because only 45 players sat down for play in this event. Still nice enough
to make a prize pool of $42,745 after the house take. Peter Gunnarjon, a Swedish student/poker player on vacation, got his trip paid for
and then some when he beat out Fin, Jlari Sahamies to pick up $16,280.
Be sure to check the daily results from these 2 great tournaments that are just getting started, we'll be taking a look at both next issue.
2003 Five Diamond - Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas, NV
The Trump Classic - Trump Taj Mahal Atlantic City, NJ
Also, many of you have asked if I'll be doing a End of the Year Wrap up much like I did last year. So, for all 3 of my "groupies"
(Mom Dad and Girlfriend), look for that in next issue, when we relive the Year of the Moneymaker, 2003
Until next time, good luck!
Tim Kopp
Return to Top
 Poker
In Europe
Kevin Pratt of PokerPages writes about Poker in Europe
The Italian Championship was held in Nova Gorica Slovenia
for the second time as it is still not legal to play poker in Italy. However its just a short hop over the border to the Hit Casino and
they thrive on the Italian custom as coach loads of Italian gamblers come over each weekend.
 Event
1 of the Championships was €200 No Limit Hold'em and saw 25 entries making a prizepool just shy of €10,000. David Bradaschia won
this and €4,140 and it was good to see an old friend Grego Renzo in third place.
Event 2 was the €200 Limit 7-Card Stud and it was no surprise to me to see Robert Binelli win this as I know from first hand experience
how good he is. You may remember me writing about how he won the €150 No Limit Hold'em at the Concord Card Casino earlier in the year.
Robert picked up €5,310 for winning and he also added another €2990 the next day when coming second in the €200 Limit Omaha
to Massimiliano Ramponi.
Event 4 was €500 Pot Limit 5 Card Stud that saw 21 players enter. Roger Sagesse emerged the victor winning €4,725.
 The
final event of the Championship was the €500 No Limit Hold'em and this was won by Antonio Grimaldi. Antonio has won 3 tournaments now
this year, the other two being in Kiev in the Ukrain but his biggest money win of the year came in the main event during the Tourneo de
Poker in May. Slovenia is obviously a happy hunting ground for Antonio but I expect to see him winning something big in 2004.
Over in Austria we had the Christmas Poker Championship
in Bregenz. Event 1 was €190 Pot Limit Omaha which went to Daniel Gebhard who won €8,450. Event 2 was €285 Limit 7 Card-Stud
and this one went to Bernd Rygol who you may remember won the €200 Limit stud at Seefeld in june so he is clearly an expert at this
game. The final event is this 3 day festival was €190 Pot Limit Hold'em which went to Daniel Studer of Switzerland a regular winner
at Casino's Austria.
Next up in Europe is the Winter Tournament at the Aviation
in France which this year is all Hold'em events.
Kevin Pratt
Return to Top
 Poker
in the U.K.
Andrew Lacey of the PokerPages Team writes about poker in the UK.
Hello again and welcome to our bi-monthly newsletter, covering all the action in the UK and Ireland, as we lead up to the holidays. Firstly
I'll cover the results of recently completed tournaments in Dundee, Walsall, Sheffield and Brighton, in what has been a busy few weeks for
tournaments in the UK.
Results from Dundee
The Gala Casino in Dundee held their Winter Poker Championships
from November 18th to 23rd, and 5 tournaments were played out.
For starters, a £100 Pot Limit Hold'em tournament was run, and 87 runners took part. After 118 re-buys the prize pool stood at £20,500.
R Houston won this event, good for £5,900 with M Farooq, who's been having a lot of money finishes this year, taking second and £5,800,
after a deal was done at the final table.
The second event was a game that seems to be increasing in popularity, though not for the faint hearted! It was a £100 6-Card Omaha (players
are dealt 6 hole cards) and use 2 of those and 3 from the board to make the best 5-card hand. Think of the possibilities! 62 players with
nerves of steel entered this one and with 98 re-buys there was £16,000 to be played for. B Islam fought off the rest of the field to win
this one and £5,500, with R Mitchell winning £3,600 in second and D Dodds winning £2,600 in third.
 The
English players dominated events in the £500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em event, with only one local making the final table. 62 players signed
up and the prize pool stood at £31,000. J Falconer went on to win this one, pocketing £6,750. Simon "Aces" Trumper had to settle
for £5,000 in second place, with D Cheung, the only local to make the money, pocketing £4,000 in third.
A £200 buy-in Pot Limit Hold'em event was next on offer. 92 runners and 104 re-buys created a prize pool of £39,200. Howard "The Magician"
Plant from England wielded his magic in this game, winning the £14,500 first place prize. Runners-up spot and £7,500 went to local R Mitchell,
his second runners-up place finish of the week. Third place and £4,500 also went to local J Findlay.
The final event of the Winter Poker Championships was a £100 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament. 75 players took part and the prize pool
stood at £19,400 after 75 entries and 119 re-buys. The locals fared better here, taking down first and second place. First place and £4,365
went to M Saleem. Second place and £3,420 went to G Harrison, with £2,955 going to H Roshanei from England in third place.
We would like to thank the Gala Casino for faxing us the results of these tournaments.
Results from Walsall
Running from November 24th to 30th, the Grosvenor Casino Walsall staged their Midland
Masters Tournament and the action was good, with most of the top players from the UK and Ireland in attendance.
 The action
kicked off with a £250 buy-n Pot Limit Hold'em game. 103 entries and 202 re-buys put £51,250 in the prize pool. It was Charalambos Xanthos
, a tough competitor always, who emerged victorious here. He won £15,000 for first, with D Finney taking home £10,000 in second. G Adsemian
won £8,065 in third place.
The second event in Walsall was the £100 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha mixed game event, and it attracted 109 players. The prize pool stood at
£26,300 after 154 re-buys. The first place title and £7,250 went to J Koumi. F Sherkhan also took home £7,250 for second place after a final
deal was negotiated. G Adsemian came third again, this time good for £4,750.
 Next
up we had the £250 No Limit Hold'em tournament and 103 players took part. With 98 re-buys there was £50,250 to play for. A deal was struck
at the final table that would award £6,610 to first and second place, and £6,000 to the third to seventh finishers. F Sherkhan went one
better in this event, claiming the title, while A Pervais was the runner-up.
 The buy-in
jumped to £500 on November 27th for the No Limit Hold'em tournament. Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani continued his recent winning ways to see
of the 105 other players, to win £22,300 of the £91,000 prize pool, after 76 re-buys. Yet again a deal was struck at the final table which
saw £13,040 go to G Jones, M Michael, D Gardener and M Davies for their respective second, third, fourth and fifth place finishes.
 Time
for some Omaha in Walsall now, and 80 players entered the £250 Pot Limit game. 99 re-buys put £44,750 in the prize pool. Paul Testud from
France took this title down, winning £9,170. Yet another deal saw K Broad win £7,350 in second, with D Mayall and J Falconer each getting
£7,220 in third and fourth places.
 The
big buy-in event, the £1,000 No Limit Hold'em game kicked off on November 29th. 83 entrants and 37 re-buys gave us a prize pool of £120,000.
Dave Colclough , a consistent tournament money finisher, played his A-game to win this one. Dave picked up a nice £54,000. No deals were
done this time so Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman had to settle for the runners-up prize of £24,000. Still not a bad day's work. John Kabbaj
won £12,000 in third.
To finish up events in Walsall, a £100 Pot Limit Hold'em tournament was held. 106 entrants and 134 re-buys put the prize pool at £24,000.
First place honours and £7,000 went to J Koumi. A negotiated deal gave M Wernick and G Rees £5,500 apiece for their second and third place
finishes.
Results from Sheffield
Napoleon's Casino in Owlerton, Sheffield has just completed their December
Festival. 3 events were played out. First up was the £50 No Limit Hold'em tournament. We had 101 entries and 200 re-buys, so there was
£15,050 to play for. A final table deal was struck with £3,400 going to B Ford for first, and also to C T Law for second. J Aoun picked
up £2,800 in third place.
52 players entered the £100 Pot Limit Omaha game, and with 84 re-buys, the prize pool stood at £13,600. Time for another deal here, with
£3,250 going to T Maddern and Ian Oldershaw in first and second place. H Rehman and A Rashid each picked up £2,150 in third and fourth place.
 Events wrapped
up in Sheffield last Friday, with the £200 Pot Limit Texas Hold'em event. 79 entries and 73 re-buys put the prize pool at £30,400. Ali Mallu,
who's been having a good year on the tournament circuit, won this one and £9,000. Another deal was struck awarding £6,300 to Younis and
Gerry Richards for coming second and third.
Results from Brighton
The Rendezvous Casino in Brighton has just wrapped up their Christmas
Cracker Festival, which had some very affordable buy-in events.
A £20 buy-in Pot Limit Hold'em game was first on offer and there were 76 entries. £2,170 went to McDonald as the winner, with T Hakki getting
£1,085 in second place. F Bastow picked up £715 in third.
The £30 No Limit Hold'em event saw 66 players compete. G Shirey won this event and £2,830. Second place and £1,415 went to T Hakki, making
it two runners-up spots in a row for him. M Clark got £930 in third place.
It was now time for a mixed game, so we had a £50 buy-in Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha tournament. W Edrington saw off 44 other players to win
this game, and £2,720. Amazingly T Hakki was runner-up yet again, this time good for £1,360. D Morris picked up £850 in third place.
 The £100 No Limit
Hold'em tournament saw 60 entries and a prize pool of £15,100. £5,740 and first place went to S Jay. £2,870 went to J Blake in the runners-up
spot. Third place and £1,890 went to M McCluskey.
The £50 buy-in Stud event has just finished at my time of writing and the results are not yet in. I will cover those in the next newsletter.
Our congratulations go to all the winners in Dundee, Walsall, Sheffield and Brighton.
Upcoming Events
Monday, December the 8th sees that start of the Grosvenor Casino Luton's Christmas
Cracker week. Buy-ins range from £50 up to £500 for the main event on Saturday, December 13th, so there will be plenty of excellent
action to be found in Luton.
One of Ireland's newest card rooms, the Macau Sporting Club in Cork City will run their Irish
Christmas Poker Festival from December 12th to 14th inclusive. 3 tournaments will be on offer in Cork. A €200+€20 Pot Limit
Omaha game, a €500+€30 No Limit Hold'em game, and finally a €100+€10 No Limit Hold'em game. We wish the Macau Sporting
Club every success with their new card room and Festival. Many of you will have played in Dublin before. Cork is also a fantastic city in
Ireland, so if you travel there you will have a great time.
We will of course bring you all the results from Luton and Cork here at PokerPages. Good luck to all of you who will be playing.
Until next time, take care...
Andrew Lacey
Return to Top
 Poker
Down Under
Reported by David Parlor
Christchurch Casino's Annual Poker Christmas Party was held last weekend and included many small satellite events to generate a seat in
The Australasian Poker Championship Main Event. With cash payouts incorporated in the satellite structures, these tournaments proved very
popular with 26 players entering the final (25 there by Satellites).
The eventual winner of the seat was Hamish Webb who has thought of a unique way to generate himself a little extra live game dollars and
raise the profile of Poker at the same time. Hamish's idea is to advertise himself on Ebay for any prospective sponsors. This Auction will
end on December 10 and has a starting bid of $39.99, a steal for any company wishing to advertise at the Southern Hemisphere's premier Poker
Tournament. For full details of the Auction, click
here.
Crown Casino's Special Weekend of Poker is also proving very popular with many players taking their last chance to win a cheap seat in
the big one. Ten-dollar Satellite tickets are currently being sold at Crown and could win you a seat in January's main Event purely by chance.
Players that purchase a ten-dollar entry need to survive three hands (one in each round) to gain their seat. I guess the best way to describe
this is a Poker raffle, no skill required.
Special Poker rates for players are still available at the new Crown Promenade Hotel and may be booked by contacting Tournament Director,
Danny McDonagh
David Parlor
Return to Top
Guess Who December?
Guess Who? is a new competition introduced on PokerPages for BugsysClub.com where you can win $50 in a Real Money account at BugsysClub.
All you have to do to win the Real Money account is to look at the photo to the left and guess which well known poker player it is. Post
your answer on the BugsysClub forum. You must be registered at BugsysClub to post on the forum, and you can do that here.
The winner will be randomly drawn from all the correct entries that are posted on the BugsysClub forum. The contest is judged by BugsysClub.com
and then awarded by Bugsy himself.
There is only one guess per username and any posts that are edited will be disqualified.
We will be having one Guess Who? per month and the next one will be on the 31st December where we will also show you December's result.
Two steps to winning a $50 Real Money account.
Step 1. Guess who the player is.
Step 2. Register an Account at BugsysClub
Step 3. Post your answer
on the BugsysClub forum under the thread Guess Who?
Return to Top
 PokerDollars
Play for free on our PokerPages software and win a chance to join PokerSchool Online! Just download the PokerPages software here!
If you have registered and downloaded our software and
play in the fun play cardroom of PokerPages you can Win Poker Dollars. The Top 3 players on the ranking
system at the end of the month win, 3 months, 2 months and 1 month respectively in PokerSchool Online. You must play in at least 20
freeroll tournaments during this month in order to win.
To see our winners so far, click here!
If you are an existing school member you can still play in the Fun Play cardroom and win Poker Dollars towards your existing school membership.
Return to Top
This is an HTML-formatted newsletter. If you have any trouble reading it please visit http://www.pokerpages.com/newsletter/newsletter20031207.htm
|
