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If you’re looking for Dawn Summers poker posts, update your blogrolls and RSS feeds: www.ihadoutsblog.com

Omaha. Equal stacks. $150 pot. Guy raised in ep. Second guy calls. I re-jam with AA. Second guy re-rejams. Third guy calls. I call. I am up against the amazing hands of 4456 and 679T. Of course the board plays out on the river as JQK. Fun times.

Much more to say on the matter … but just to set the record straight, after further research I am now fairly confident that the rumor propagated across the internet about a Harrah’s sale of the Rio being “complete” was not accurate.
Pretty sure something was close to done and may or may not have [...]

Tags: casino business, corrections, Harrahs, poker-media, WSOP, WSOP News & Speculation

Good video from WPT-London … with Neil Channing discussing the travails of backing James Akenhead and a more detailed explanation of what goes into staking players, from the guy Brits worldwide look to for bankroll assistance:

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Tags: backers, backing-deals, bankroll-management, James Akenhead, neil-channing, Pokerati TV, WPT-London Poker Classic, WSOP News & Speculation

The Tournament Trail
WPT London :: 21-year old Jake Cody wins his 2nd major of 2010, WSOP win away from Triple Crown. PartyPoker million dollar man denied. PartyPoker Blog
WPT London High Roller :: Justin “Boosted J” Smith defeats Tony G heads-up in marathon final table, earning £141,000 WPT High Roller report
Partouche Poker [...]

Tags: Beau Rivage, greg-raymer, partouche poker tour, Tournament-Coverage, WinStar, WPT, WSOP News & Speculation

Taking the role previously played by Darvin Moon, Dennis Phillips, and Steve Dannenmann, Cuong “Soi” Nguyen is this year’s resident everyman.

read more

Tags: Online Only, Shari Geller, world series of poker

It only happens once a year. The World Championship of Online Poker brings the biggest guarantees, most tournaments, and best variety for online poker players around the world. And it’s finally here!

The first night of WCOOP action brought some exciting action, with Event 1 and its short-handed no-limit hold’em followed by Event 2 and the $10,000 buy-in high roller NLHE action. And the late-starting event was this, the $200 buy-in straight-up NLHE tournament with a whopping $2 million guarantee. And the players were more than ready for it, as registration showed 12,066 of them at the tables, which boosted the prize pool well past the guarantee to $2,413,200. What a way to welcome the 62-event series!

With a massive field and quite a bit of money at stake, the tournament took quite a few hours to reach the money bubble, at which time mwasta666 took the unwanted distinction of finishing the tournament in 1531st place, one spot outside of the cash. The rest of the 1,530 players were guaranteed a minimum payout of $361.98 for their $200 + $15 entries, and as the cashier began doling out the dough, some of the PokerStars team members were among those accumulating it. the first to cash out was Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck in 1435th place, and she was followed by George “Jorj95″ Lind in 1310th place, Florian “F. Langmann” Langmann in 908th, Sandra “Naujoks” Naujoks in 826th, Andre “aakkari” Akkari in 659th, Andrew “Kid Nebraska” Goetsch in 372nd, Diego “vgreen22″ Brunelli in 195th, Karlo “elmagopr” Lopez in 136th, and Nuno “nuno coelho” Coelho in 133rd. The last Team PokerStars Pro standing in the tournament was Martha “marene” Herrera, who ultimately went out in 53rd place for a $3,740.46 cash.

The final two tables picked up speed as the competitors were anxious to make it to the final table, and hand-for-hand play with 11 players didn’t take long at all. It was short-stacked hotshotss21 who moved all-in preflop with [3c][3s], but Iteopepe88 called 443,868 more from the big blind with [9h][3h]. The board came [Qd][7h][Ac][6h][Kh], and the hearts gave Iteopepe88 the flush and eliminated hotshotss21 in tenth place with $10,135.44 in prize money.

The final table was then set amidst Level 42 with blinds at 80,000/160,000 and a 20,000 ante, and the players were seated as follows:

Seat 1: jampiriki (6,817,011 in chips)
Seat 2: Bdbeatslayer (6,972,227 in chips)
Seat 3: i need bond$ (8,997,220 in chips)
Seat 4: binhoeiji (13,135,436 in chips)
Seat 5: Twinshark (10,972,400 in chips)
Seat 6: Iteopepe88 (19,968,840 in chips)
Seat 7: joao bauer (11,768,624 in chips)
Seat 8: cmpjo (29,726,018 in chips)
Seat 9: Aleksei1990 (12,302,224 in chips)

Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater chimed in to the chat box to wish the players the best of luck, as they were doing the same with each other. Cmpjo was firmly in the chip lead and had been for some time, but Twinshark had other plans. After Twinshark took a 5.38 million-chip pot from I need bond$, the next move was to double through cmpjo in a monster pot as follows:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Most of the following hour of play was filled with caution and thoughtful raises that induced folds. Clearly, no one wanted to be the first to leave the table, and with the top four spots paying out six figures, that was incentive enough to play tight and wait for prime hands.

Through that period of time, Bdbeatslayer was unable to gather any momentum and was relegated to a very short stack. With only 488,387 chips left, Bdbeatslayer pushed all-in preflop with [Ts][7h], but Iteopepe88 easily called with [Qd][Qh] from the big blind. The board was a rather uneventful [Js][2h][2s][6d][8c], and no help came for Bdbeatslayer, who became the first eliminated player from the final table with $15,203.16 to show for the ninth place finish.

Over the next while, Iteopepe88 climbed into the chip lead and didn’t look back, putting over 2 million chips between that first place spot and second place maintained by Twinshark. Meanwhile, I need bond$ was able to double through cmpjo to stay alive.

Just after the 17-hour mark of the tournament, it was jampiriki on a short stack and pushing it with none other than [Ah][Ad]. It was the hand he undoubtedly waited for, and binhoeiji made the call from the big blind with [Ts][Tc]. When the flop appeared as [7s][Qs][Js], it gave pause because of the spade flush draw for binhoeiji, and the [3s] actually made that flush. A meaningless [2d] on the river ended the hand with aces cracked, and jampiriki was forced out in eighth place with $24,132.00 to help forget about the bad beat.

And to prove that pocket aces were having a bad day, another hand ensued, and it was a big one. It started with I need bond$ making a preflop raise and binhoeiji with the call, but when Twinshark reraised it, I need bond$ folded and binhoeiji called. After the flop came [3d][9d][Kd], Twinshark bet, binhoeiji raised all-in, and Twinshark called with [Ad][Ks] for top pair and the flush draw. But binhoeiji showed [Ah][Ac] for his tournament life, and the overpair was good as the [5h] appeared on the turn. But the [8d] hit on the river to give Twinshark the flush and the 35 million-chip pot. Aces were cracked again, this time sending binhoeiji out in seventh place with $48,264.00.

Aces decided to make a comeback, though, and prove that they could still be the best hand. I need bond$ doubled through cmpjo when aces held up to A-K, and joao bauer did the same through Twinshark with aces fending off nines. But then cmpjo used pocket fours to crack the aces of I need bond$, and the reputation of pocket rockets was again on the fence.

Aleksei1990 finally decided to make a move and did it with [Ah][Qh] preflop. Twinshark made the call with [Js][Jh], and the board only helped turn that pocket pair into a full house when it came [2c][2s][7s][Jc][8s]. That eliminated Aleksei1990 in sixth place with $72,396.00 in prize money.

As the tournament approached the 18-hour mark, the biggest climber was I need bond$, who tripled up from a short stack into fourth place, doubled through cmpjo to climb into third, and soon took over second place. Cmpjo did wage a bit of a comeback as well, doubling through Twinshark to stay alive and get off the short stack. And joao bauer doubled through chip leader Iteopepe88 to do the same. A while later, cmpjo doubled through Iteopepe88 to climb into a solid second place.

Meanwhile, many Team PokerStars Pros showed up in the chat box to, well, chat. Thater was still present in her hosting duties, and others like Andre Akkari, Veronica Dabul, Henrique Pinho, Nuno Coelho, and Joep van de Bijgaart came by to see some of the lengthy tournament action.

A while later, cmpjo doubled through Iteopepe88, and I need bond$ did the same, cutting Iteopepe88’s lead down to a bare minimum. Joao Bauer doubled through cmpjo in a 32.2 million-chip pot, and players were looking more aggressive (exhausted) and ready to move (sleep).

Twinshark was the next player to risk tournament life, but the hand started with a raise from Iteopepe88. Twinshark reraised all-in for 12,837,687 chips with [9d][9c], but Iteopepe88 didn’t hesitate to call with a dominating [Kd][Kc]. The flop came [8s][Ks][Js] to give Iteopepe88 the set of kings, and the [8d] on the turn made his hand into a full house. The [2s] on the river ended it for Twinshark, who departed in fifth place with $96,528.00.

With the very next hand, a new chip leader was born as joao bauer took the reins:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Iteopepe88 doubled through I need bond$ to climb back to second place, which left I need bond$ needing more chips. It wasn’t long before I need bond$ moved all-in, and Iteopepe88 reraised all-in to isolate from the small blind, which worked. I need bond$ showed [Kd][Jc], but Iteopepe88 was in the lead with [As][Td]. The board produced [5c][4c][7d][Ad][4h], and Iteopepe88 improved to two pair to eliminate I need bond$ in fourth place, which was worth a payout of $120,660.00.

After cmpjo doubled through joao bauer and then Iteopepe88 to jump back into contention, the final three players decided to take a look at some chip-chop numbers. But once the figures were presented, all of the players had issues, and they chose to restart the tournament and play on.

It didn’t take long from there. Joao Bauer took a 25 million-chip pot from Iteopepe88, and the latter’s stack continued to shrink. Finally, Iteopepe88 pushed all-in for 16,437,116 holding [Ad][5h], and joao bauer called with [Ah][Jd]. The flop brought [Js][3s][Jh] to give joao bauer trips, and the [3d] only developed that hand into a full house. The [7s] on the river brought Iteopepe88’s tournament to a close with $168,924.00 for the third place finish.

Heads-up play then began with the following counts:

Seat 7: joao bauer (89,632,684 in chips)
Seat 8: cmpjo (31,027,316 in chips)

And two hands into the action, they paused to make another attempt at discussing numbers. Finally, after much back-and-forth and several sets of numbers, they agreed that joao bauer would take $276,702.37 and cmpjo would receive $260,298.79, while an extra $40,000 was to be awarded the eventual winner.

The duo proceeded with caution. Cmpjo wasn’t going out without a fight and continued to push at his opponent, but joao bauer had some aggression in him as well. The two got involved with a raise and reraise to see a flop of [5c][Jd][4h]. A bet from cmpjo was called to bring them to the [7c] turn card. Then it was joao bauer who bet and it was an all-in bet. Cmpjo check-called for his last 19,462,316 chips with [4s][6d] and the pair of fours, but joao bauer showed [8d][7s] for a pair of sevens. The [9s] on the river ended the tournament, and cmpjo accepted $260,298.79 for second place.

After 19.5 hours of intense tournament action, joao bauer won Event 3 and took home $316,702.37 and a gold WCOOP bracelet for the accomplishment. Congratulations!

2010 WCOOP Event 3 Results:

1st place: joao bauer ($316,702.37)
2nd place: cmpjo ($260,298.79)
3rd place: Iteopepe88 ($168,924.00)
4th place: I need bond$ ($120,660.00)
5th place: Twinshark ($96,528.00)
6th place: Aleksei1990 ($72,396.00)
7th place: binhoeiji ($48,264.00)
8th place: jampiriki ($24,132.00)
9th place: Bdbeatslayer ($15,203.16)

The 2010 WCOOP is now underway with a total of 62 events and $50K in guarantees. The official WCOOP website has a plethora of information about the entire series, and PokerStars TV offers tournament highlights. And as the next few weeks of excitement progress, check out the VIP Club page to learn how to pick up amazing rewards for simply choosing to play on PokerStars.

Tags: WCOOP

A late night for your humble scribbler. Was up following the first day of action over at PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker, in particular Event No. 2, that $10,300 buy-in “High Roller” event. (See full schedule here.) Sucker didn’t end until daybreak here on the east coast, actually, with CrabMaki (a U.K. player named Dave Shallow) taking the $605,655 prize for winning. Here’s the full recap of Event No. 2 over on the PokerStars blog.

Speaking of late nights and poker, you probably heard there were a couple of occasions last week when online poker made it onto late night television, popping up in the “mainstream” — i.e., on major network shows — as a subject of discussion.

One was that “Nightline” segment about online poker that after several delays finally aired on ABC. (I wrote a little something here in anticipation of that report a couple of weeks ago.) While there was a kind of “cautionary tale”-like atmosphere attached to the report that folks under the age of 21 are playing poker online, I thought the piece ended up being about as balanced as one could hope for, and even perhaps shed a positive light (overall) on online poker as not necessarily a hopelessly degenerate activity.

If you missed it, you can view the “Nightline” piece here.

That segment aired on Tuesday night. Coincidentally, Rep. Barney Frank was a guest on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on NBC that same evening, and they, too, talked some about online gambling.

It was amid a discussion of individual liberty that Frank chose to allude in a general way to the legislative fight currently underway involving his H.R. 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. At the end of July, Frank’s bill was passed by his House Financial Services Committee, and now awaits consideration by the entire House and/or Senate.

Referring to his proposed bill, Frank noted how licensing and regulating online gambling in the U.S. would lead to “billions of dollars” in tax revenue, and the studio audience cheered in response. But rather than agree with Frank (and the crowd), Leno then raised an objection to online gambling — a very familiar one, actually.

If you didn’t catch Frank on Leno’s show last week, here it is (the talk of online gambling starts right around the 3:50-mark):

Here is what Leno said by way of objecting to online gambling:

“To me, Vegas works because you have to go to the desert to get there. You have to make an effort. You go to the desert, you lose your money and you come home. You can’t go to the desert again unless you get more money. If you’re sitting at home and you’re up late at night and you got your little credit card, next thing you know… it’s like a mini bar. You’re not going to eat the potato chips unless they are in the mini-bar.”

We’ve heard this line before. So has Frank — many times — and he had a ready response. Frank pointed out to Leno that gambling is available in other places than Vegas. Frank also explained that his H.R. 2267 wouldn’t allow for the use of credit cards to gamble online.

The discussion then moved on to lotteries and other issues, but did circle back to Frank’s position that adults shouldn’t be treated like children as Leno’s whole “you have to go to the desert” argument implies — as though when it comes to gambling we all need artificial restrictions in place to prevent us from constantly doing harm to ourselves. You know, sort of like putting the cookie jar up on the refrigerator where we can’t reach it easily and thus spoil our dinners.

Leno’s line about the mini-bars made me think back briefly to my summer in Las Vegas. I lived for nearly two months in a hotel room while there helping cover the WSOP for PokerNews.

There was a mini-bar in my room, of course, full of overpriced snack items and beverages for the taking. Somehow I managed to resist taking a single item from the mini-bar during my entire stay there, knowing I could purchase all of those things at a quarter of the price if I just figured out a way to leave the room.

Actually, it wasn’t that hard for me. As Muddy Waters once sang, I’m a man. Way past twenty-one. Truth be told, I have been able to decide for myself about such things for a long time now.

I guess Leno is in part going for the laugh there. It’s funny to think of adults as being childish, immature, etc. But I think he also genuinely objects to online gambling in the U.S. And the fact is, as Leno’s continued popularity shows, a lot of people in America tend to like Leno’s lines.

Why do they like Leno? I have no idea. Maybe it’s because, well, he’s just there. Like the mini-bar.

Tags: *the rumble, ABC News, Barney-Frank, jay-leno, NBC, Nightline

The first day of the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is officially in the books and by all acounts it was a tremendous success. The three events combined …

You can check out the final results for Sunday’s flagship events on Full Tilt, PokerStars, UB, Absolute Poker, Bodog and Cake below: PokerStars — Sunday Million Note: This event did …