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 Poker
In America
Tim Kopp of PokerPages writes about Poker in America
Play With Howard, Get Broke
Hello again everyone and welcome back to Poker in the USA. It's hard to believe that we're already almost into May and baseball season
is underway. There's nothing like taking in a ballgame during the day and playing poker with your friends at night. If that were all I ever
had to do in life, I'd be a happy man indeed. My poker game needs a heck of a lot of work before that can happen, so I'll just focus on
my day job for now. Did I say it's almost May? You all know what that means; It's World
Series Of Poker time!
By the time this issue reaches most of you, Event #1 of this years WSOP will be well underway. This will prove to be a most interesting
year for The Big One, as for the first time in it's 35 years in operation, the WSOP will not have a Binion Family member in charge. For
some it was a bittersweet parting of ways, but the fact of the matter is now that Harrah's has taken charge of Horseshoe operations, there's
every indication that this may be the biggest and best WSOP in years. Poker Players all breathed a collective sigh of relief when Harrah's
announced it's WSOP 04's tournament team, headed
by Matt Savage, one of the best
tournament directors in the business. Matt's put together a great crew, and the report from the floor is that they're more than ready to
handle this year's projected crowds. Some early projections are setting the number of entrants for the $10K Main Event well over the 1000
player mark! That is going to make for one nasty prize pool. Even with the ownership change, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that
attendance will be up in every single of the 33 events this year. Once again this year, PokerPages founder, Mark Napolitano will be in attendance
and will be covering the daily action along with daily reports from Nolan Dalla. We here at PokerPages have prided ourselves on having the
WSOP results listed for you first since we've been online, so stick with a winner and Click
Here for your daily results.
But Let's not get ahead of ourselves; there's been some mega action out at the Bellagio this month at the 2nd Annual 5-Star
World Poker Classic (WPT Main Event). This has been one of the most exciting, as well as, the most bizarre events in recent memory.
After a smooth start, 4 of the events had to be abruptly cancelled due to a total power outage at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino that lasted
an excruciating 4 days! Ouch. All casino games came to a halt, 1000's of guests had to be found alternate accommodations and Casino/hotel
personnel were all on standby. Someone must have been in deep, deep trouble. I would have hated to have been the one to get that phone call!
However, as a credit to the fine management/personnel they have at the Bellagio, they all did an excellent job considering the circumstances
and stress they must have been under to get things back on track. I haven't yet heard the official explanation from the Bellagio, but early
reports were that 1000's of feet of wiring and cable had to be re-run throughout the casino before they could restore power. As luck would
have it, things did eventually get under way and we're currently into the first day of the $25K WPT Main Event. Let's take a look at how
we got there.
 Action
started off on April 2nd and this event wasn't designed for the squeamish, or for the penny-pinching poker player. Event #1, No Limit Hold'em
had a $2,500 buy-in and that was as cheap as any seat would cost the entire run of the 20-Day Tournament. That didn't keep people away though,
quite the contrary. 361 players came out for the event and almost pushed the first event's prize pool over the million-dollar mark ($875,425).
One of my favorite players, The Professor, Howard Lederer, took 1st place and a good chunk of that Prize pool ($339,842). First place also
came with a seat in the $25K main event. Well known player, TJ Cloutier took 3rd ($80,872).
 The
following day it was another $2,500 event. This day however it was Omaha Hi/Lo. Numbers were not surprisingly down from the preceding day
but with the $227,950 total prize pool, 1st place would still be getting $91,000, which isn't to shabby. Mid-westerner Dan Heimiller from
Plymouth, Mitchigan took 1st place honors. In the early going it appeared it was going to be even tougher to get 1st once at the final table.
In the Omaha Hi/Lo match the final table featured the Likes of Tony Ma, Mat Lefkowitz, and Rusty Mandap.
 Next was
the $2,500 Limit Hold'em event. Event #3 drew a healthy 162 players. Some of the best limit players in the game in "Miami" John Cernuto
(7th), and Scotty Warbucks Shoten (5th) both made the final table, but it was Annie Duke who plowed through final table to claim the 1st
place prize of $157,140. For those who don't already know Annie Duke, whom I think is one of the top 3 women in the game, is the sister
to Event 1 winner Howard Lederer. That's one home game I think I'm going to pass on. Good Job Annie!
 Moving along
to Event #4 we had 7-Card Stud. As poker's first game, 7-stud has been increasingly becoming the event with the lowest turn out. That's
unfortunate as it's a great game and even more fun in tournament form. Hold'em players seem to only want to play Hold'em, but think of themselves
good poker players. I never understood how someone who only plays one game can think they're a good poker player. Regardless, next time
you see a stud event, give it a try, you're bound to have a good time. Event #4 only drew 67 players, and those 67 players that were in
the field were among the best in the game. Peter Costa, Jon Juanda, and Scotty Nguyen all made the final table but they couldn't take down
the newcomer Joe Bove who eventually took first and the $64,990 first place prize.
 Next
up it was Pot Limit Omaha Hi and event #5. Attendance was up from the day before, but still only 80 players took their seats to begin play.
Las Vegas resident Marlon Santos had the chips moving in the right direction when it counted as he took the first place prize of $77,600.
That's' a pretty good payout for only 80 players and a $2,500 investment.
 Onto
the 6th day of the event and 7-card stud hi/lo. To my surprise there were a few more players for this event that there was the Stud Hi event.
76 players received their chips to begin play for the day. When the dust settled Ted Forrest of Las Vegas beat out O'Neil Longson in an
epic heads up match to take first place and $73,720.
Ever forward we move to event 7, the last of the $2,500 buy-in events and Pot Limit Hold'em. A respectable 140 players reported for the
first hand. Many high stakes players were in attendance but only 2 familiar faces were able to crack the final table. California Pro Toto
Leonidas and Amir Vahedi were able to get deep into the money but is was fellow Texan, Ted Leva, who had all the momentum going into the
final table and he never looked back as he collected $137,500 for his 1st place effort.
 Week
2 of the Tournament opened with the start of the $5K buy in Events. Up first was the ever-popular $5K No Limit Hold'em. With the turn out
for event 1, I thought for sure event 8's elevated buy-in would push the prize pool over the $1 million mark. As it turned out though a
few more players were needed as the total prize pool climbed to a respectable $819,650. Event 1 winner Howard Lederer made a late charge
to win another No Limit event surpassing John Juanda and Bully Duarte. But Howard had to settle for third place as with 21 players left
in the game, the Bellagio went dark. 4 Days later when the power was restored, it was agreed amongst the players that the Prize pool would
be paid out according to chip count giving California Pro, Allen Cunningham, 1st place equalling $111,494.
 Because
of the black-out Monday thru Wednesday's events were cancelled. Play picked up again on Thursday the 15th with a $2,500 No Limit Hold'em
match. Word must have gotten around fast that the lights were back on as 207 players turned out for the last minute event. Noted columnist
Barry Greenstein of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA was happy he got the call, for winning the event he pulled in $215,696 as well as a seat in
the $25K main event.
Friday
it was another $2,500 event, but the game switched to Pot Limit Omaha. Guess who was back at it? Howard Lederer, on a mission after settling
for 3rd in the cancelled event #8. He hammered the competition and eased into first place yet again picking up another $139,680. Howard
is playing extremely well and that should give him good momentum heading into the final event as well as the WSOP.
Now on to the Main event. This is where it all comes down. Another successful year of WPT matches brings all the former Champions to one
final destination. If you weren't fortunate to win a seat, it would cost you $25,000 to get a seat. An impressive 343 players jacked the
prize pool to over 8 million ($8,432,000)! The winner not only gets to come back next year for free, but will also get $2,728,356 all for
themselves.
 Day
1 saw 283 of the original 343 survive and there were some big names already at the head of the field. Joe Cassidy held the lead but
was closely followed by Hassan Habib and Russ Hamilton, with T.J Cloutier and Paul Darden not far behind. Day
2 saw 161 casualties as only 122 made it through. Lee Watkinson took over at the top but Hassan Habib was still right behind in second
place. Daniel Negreanu and Ted Forrest had moved into the top 10 along with last year's winner Alan Goehring. After Day
3 there were only 31 players remaining. Mike Matusow had worked his way to the top followed by David the Dragon Pham. 2003 WSOP bracelet
winners Tom Jacobs and Mohammed Ibrahim came next with Hassan Habib slipping to 5th place.
Day 4 saw us play down to the final table and it was surprising that after
mentioning all these great names the only one to make the final table was Hassan Habib. The other 6 were chip leader Martin Deknijff, Steve
Bretcher, Richard Grijalva, Matthew Matros and Russell Rosenblum. The final table on Day
5 in front of the cameras saw Martin Deknijff from Sweden put in a strong effort to take the first prize of $2,728,356 with Hassan Habib
in 2nd place with $1,372,223. Congratulations Martin on winning the biggest first prize in poker to date.
 In
the last issue we focused on The Bicycle Casino's yearly favorite Winnin 'O the Green. When we left off players were just taking their seats
for the Main event. As is the norm, it was No Limit Hold'em for the final event. Buy-ins were $2,500. Yes, that doesn't sound like much
after talking about the $25,000 entry fee to the Bellagio, but poker's top players were in attendance none the less. 144 players were enough
to create a $360,000 prize pool and it seemed the final table was reserved for the poker elite. Among the final table players there was
"Miami John" Cernuto (finished 6th), Young Phan (5th), Hassan Habib (3rd). But the winner of the $144,000 first place prize was one of Poker's
most recognizable Champs; Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. Chris, the winner of the 2000 WSOP main event has proved time and time again, he's one
of the best players in the game. Look for Chris to win another few WSOP events this year.
Some other events you may have missed this month include:
The New England Poker Classic at the Foxwoods Casino.
The 2004 WPT Super Satellite Weekend at the Hollywood
Park Casino where in every event they gave away a seat to the WPT final at the Bellagio.
Looking at the month ahead, the schedule has some of the best events of the year:
World Series of Poker 2004 April 22nd to May 28th at
the Horseshoe
2004 Mini Series of Poker April 21st to May 21st at
the Bicycle Casino
Fun in the Sun May 1st and 2nd at Ocean's Eleven
That's about it for this month, but be sure to remember to check PokerPages first for your WSOP results. In Next moth's newsletter, we'll
be looking at a blow for blow analysis of all the WSOP events to date.
Until that time, if you can raise, don't call.
Tim Kopp
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Full Details
 Poker
In Europe
Kevin Pratt of PokerPages writes about Poker in Europe.
The Europeans at the World Series of Poker.
 With
no major tournaments in Europe since my last newsletter I thought I would outline some names who may do well at the World Series of Poker.
My top tip for doing well in the main event is Johan Storakers from Sweden. I met him at the World Series in 2002 so he has played before
although I'm not sure he played the main event. Since then he has gone on to great things, most notably winning the Lido at the MasterClassics
in Amsterdam in 2003. he has the all round temprement to do well in the main event but we all know its going to take some luck as well as
the skill to last to the final table this year. Expect a field of about 1,500 this year in what is going to be the biggest tournament ever.
  For
the main Omaha events I am going to side with Phillipe Marmorstein from Germany. Phillipe was 3rd in the European Omaha Championship at
the Aviation in February and has been placed in many big Omaha tournaments since 1988. He has played the World Series before and I am sure
he will feature strongly this year. Phillipe also made 2 final tables at the 2002 WSOP and was particularly unlucky in the $1500 No Limit
Hold'em losing with quads with only 5 players left. Rob Hollink also deserves a mention as a strong contender in the Omaha as well.
 Finally
I am going to pick a Frenchman to do well in any Hi-Lo events or No Limit Hold'em, Fabrice Soulier. He had a great year in 2001 but has
been a bit quiet of late. He won the €1,000 Omaha Hi-Lo at the Aviation in 2003 and I saw his name in the field at the Bellagio so
I know he is in Vegas.
Good Luck to all the Europeans.
Don't forget to look at the new Top European Players
Gallery on PokerPages to see if you are on the list. I will be expanding this list to include some more players, so if you have any
votes as to who should be included let me know.
Until next time good luck wherever you play.
Kevin Pratt
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www.BugsysClub.com - The Best Poker Games in Town, and where we take care of you personally
 Bugsy's
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The action in Bugsys Getaway has already started so don't let the leaders getaway too far on the
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Al's Smash 'n' Grab League, for tournament and satellite play only, and Bugsys
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 Poker
in the U.K.
Andrew Lacey of the PokerPages Team writes about poker in the UK.
Hello again and welcome to our monthly newsletter, covering the action in the UK and Ireland. Since our last newsletter there have been
three events played out in the UK and Ireland.
Rendezvous Casino Brighton Results
 The Rendezvous
Casino in Brighton held the Sussex Masters Easter Poker
Festival from April 5th to 12th. There were numerous £30, £50 and £100 buy-in events, which are always popular with
players new to the tournament scene, eager to pit their wits against other players, and often for the first time in a live event.
 The Main
Event in Brighton was the £300+£30 buy-in No Limit Hold'em tournament. 64 players registered, generating a prize pool of £39,100.
S. Jay fought off the other 63 players to win this event and £14,860. B. Harding came second, winning £7,430, and Dave Welch
won £4,690 in third.
Our thanks to Sinead and the team at the Rendezvous for providing us with timely results again.
Irish Open Results
Next on the menu in April was the always popular Irish
Open, run by Liam Flood and his team at the Merrion Casino in Dublin, which ran from April 8th to 11th. The Irish Open kicked off with
a €300+€30 No Limit Hold'em tournament. 155 entrants and 71 re-buys created a prize pool of €67,800. First place honours
and €27,800 went to Robert Mitchel. David Doyle picked up €13,570 as runner-up, and €8,130 went to Derek Baxter in third
place.
April 9th saw the €400+€40 Pot Limit Omaha event get under way. 71 runners and 43 re-buys lifted the prize pool to €45,600.
Scott Gray took this event down and won €18,700. Shane Timony had to settle for €9,120 in second place, with Goran Tomic taking
home €5,470 in third place.
The €1,500+€100 No Limit Hold'em tournament was the star attraction on April 10th. 107 entries created a prize pool of €160,500.
Congratulations to Ivan Donnaghy, who fought off the rest of a tough field to win this event, pocketing €65,800. Robert McGuirk came
second with €32,400, and €15,350 went to Simon Hennessey in third place.
Liam and the team at the Merrion wrapped the Irish Open up with a €150+€15 No Limit Hold'em tournament on April 11th. 106 players
took part, and the prize pool was boosted to €29,400 after 90 re-buys. Seasoned tournament player Willie Tan overran the rest of the
field to win the €12,050 first place prize. Runner-up, with €5,880 was Kevin Farrelly. Derek Durkin took home €3,520 in third.
Congratulations to all the winners in Dublin, and thanks to Liam and his team for getting us the results in such a timely manner.
Results from Luton
 The
Grosvenor Casino Luton hosted the Springfest, which
ran from April 12th to18th. The £150+£15 No Limit Hold'em event on April 15th attracted 97 players, and after 148 re-buys there
was £36,750 in the prize pool. Regular tournament player Allan McLean came first, winning £14,160, while second place and £7,080
went to Stephen Lennon.
On April 16th 88 players signed up for the £250+£25 Pot Limit Hold'em event, creating a prize pool of £45,250. Graham
Pound was the champ in this event, winning £17,100. A player who wished to remain anonymous won £10,050 in second place, while
Joseph Kourni won £5,660 in third.
The Main Event in Luton was the £1,000+£30 No Limit Hold'em tournament. With 80 runners there was £80,000 to be contested.
A deal was done at the final table. Michael Selzer took the title and £18,400, while Phil Stein and David G Wahl both won £18,300
in second and third place respectively.
Once again we'd like to thank the Rank Group, for getting us the results for these events.
Upcoming Events
The highlight of the poker tournament scene is the annual World
Series of Poker , which starts in Las Vegas on April 22nd. Many of the UK's and Ireland's finest poker players will make the journey,
to compete with the world's best players. Our players experienced a lot of early casualties in the 2003 Main Event at the World Series,
but there is no doubt that they are capable of bringing the title home. I'm going to pick Lucy Rokach again this year, as the player who
can win the Main Event.
For those unable to go to Vegas, why not pop up to Scotland, where the Gala Casino in Dundee hosts the Spring
Poker Festival which will run from April 28th to May 3rd.
There are two tournaments to look forward to in the UK in May. The Grosvenor Casino "The Sandcastle", in Blackpool, will host
the Blackpool Bonanza, running from May 3rd to 9th inclusive.
May 30th will see the start of the South of England Championship,
being held at the Grosvenor Casino in Southampton. It will run from May 30th to June 1st inclusive.
We wish all the contestants in these events the very best of luck.
Until next time, take care…
Andrew Lacey
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Meet Daniel Rentzer, the PokerSchoolOnline member
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PokerSchoolOnline.com is where you can turn $14.95 into big money.
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 Poker
Down Under
Reported by David Parlor
Christchurch Casino in New Zealand has just concluded the New Zealand Poker Championships. The field included many staff from The Crown
Poker Room who fancied their chances against the Kiwi players. Crown poker dealers have included this Championship in their calendar for
the past five years and from their returning reports already have it on the agenda for 2005. The quality of dealer/players has improved
over the years with many of the dealers focused on bringing home the money, while others are still content breaking drinking records and
generally letting loose for a week.
The shining star for the dealers in New Zealand was Harry (HTB) Chandler who managed a few final table finishes without collecting a trophy
(reports say that he was in bed by 11pm every night). The only dealer to manage a first place was Steven Appledorph from Casino Canberra
who took out the Casino employee event on his first visit to NZ. This result came out of left field and I am sure some of the Melbourne
and Sydney staff were shocked to learn that dealers from other Casinos can play too. With this success I look forward to seeing more representation
from Canberra in the future.
Many other more familiar names were seen receiving trophies. Larry Jones collected two early in the week, while Andrew Dimock was declared
the winner of the No Limit Hold'em main event. A full list of results is available here.
The next tournament on the horizon is the Melbourne Holdem
Poker Championship that will run from May 4 to May 9. The Championship will include three $125 buy-in tournaments covering Limit, Pot
Limit and No Limit Holdem. These events over the first three days are sure to attract many locals that have been playing regularly in the
Thursday night series. They have been scheduled for 6:15 p.m. although I would recommend pre-paying a seat to avoid missing out. The second
half of the week will include satellites for the main event and 2005's 10 K No Limit Hold'em Tournament. The main event on Sunday 9th May
will be a $500 No Limit Hold'em tournament that is sure to feature some quality players from around the country.
Series one of the Crown Casino Thursday night Tournaments has concluded with one of Australian Poker's most likeable players securing a
seat in the 2005 Aussie Millions. Melbourne local, Joe "The Nuts" Laruffa defeated a quality field in the single table playoff for his seat.
His scream left no mistake in anyone's mind who had won (I would love to see his reaction if he took out The Aussie Millions). As a Crown
Poker Room regular I am sure that many of Joe's opponents who missed out will be looking forward to following Joe's progress in the "Big
One" next year.
If you have questions about Poker in Australia, please email me.
David Parlor
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Guess Who April?
Guess Who? is a 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 30th April where we will also show you April'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?
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 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.
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