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CLEARING THE DECKS FOR WSOP MAIN EVENT (update)
2009-07-03

The last of the preliminary tourneys nears the end, and a charity event reaches its final table

In Las Vegas, excitement is building as Friday and the traditional "shuffle up and deal" call that launches the Main Event dawns.

In the meantime, Thursday saw the last of the preliminary tournaments in this year's 40th anniversary World Series of Poker play down to a three handed stage, and a final table was set for the third addition of the praiseworthy "Ante Up for Africa" charity event.

Event 56 - the $5 000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em / Six Handed competition is now between just three survivors after 4 days of play, an entry field of 928 and a prize pool of $4 361 000. When InfoPowa went to press late night Thursday Vegas time, just three players remained in contention: Matt Hawrilenko on 6.75 million; Faraz Jaka holding 5.15 million and Josh Brikis on 3.5 million.

The three survived a final table that was decided late afternoon and included: Robert Kay (1.28 million) Matt Hawrilenko (1.62 million) Faraz Jaka (3.1 million) Sean Keeton (825,000) Matt Waxman (1.75 million) Jonas Wexler (1.65 million) and Josh Brikis (3.8 million).

In action earlier in the day was the third edition of "Ante Up for Africa," tournament, a charity event organised by actor Don Cheadle and poker ace Annie Duke which has now become a regular part of the World Series of Poker. This year it attracted 138 players from the worlds of poker, entertainment and sports with a roster that included Ben Affleck, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Mike Tyson, Sarah Silverman, Jennifer Tilly, Brad Garrett, rapper Nelly and the star of the poker movie Rounders, Matt Damon, along with poker champs such as Erick Seidel, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Phil Gordon, Jennifer Harman, Mike Matusow, Mike Caro, Andy Bloch, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, and Tiffany Michelle.

Cheadle opined that it looked to be the biggest yet, and with the international media gathering for the soon-to-start WSOP Main Event, good television and print media coverage was assured, raising awareness for a very worthy cause.

"When we first conceived of the charity, we were thinking we'd just do a little event and raise like 20 or 30 thousand dollars," said Duke. "But (WSOP Commissioner) Jeffrey Pollack had a vision for this event that we didn't have and he made us part of the World Series of Poker.

"It's an amazing platform where not only are poker players involved here, at one place at one time, but media is also focused on poker this time of year right before the Main Event. It's so exciting to see everyone come out."

Players bought in to the event for $5 000 each, raising a prize pool of $670 680, so the winner - who traditionally donates the win to the charity - should receive $177 730.

When InfoPowa went to press the final table was down to nine players that included Jennifer Harman, Chris Ferguson, Erik Seidel, Phil Gordon, John Hennigan, Alex Bolotin, Rafe Furst, Matt Kay and Adam Richardson.

WSOP observers are expecting a big signup for the Main Event - the $10 000 buy-in World Championship No-Limit Texas Hold'em commencing Friday in Las Vegas. While a few of the 56 preliminary tourneys leading up to the big one have fallen short in terms of attendance, others broke records and the interest is clearly there judging by the large numbers of players at the Rio this week.

STOP PRESS:

Just before midnight, Las Vegas time on Thursday, Matt Hawrilenko was declared the winner in Event No. 56, scooping a first placing prize worth $1 003 163 and a coveted WSOP bracelet in the last of the preliminary tournaments this year.

Internet and live tourney player Hawrilenko defeated Josh Brikis in a heads up of just four hands.

The last four survivors of the 4 day tourney battled for some time before low stack but persistent Sean Keeton, was eliminated by Hawrilenko in fourth place. Three-handed action then lasted another hour before Faraz Jaka took pocket queens up against Hawrilenko's ace-king, and Hawrilenko won the race, sending Jaka home in third place for $400 526.

Hawrilenko went into the heads up against Josh Brikis with a 4 million chip lead, and just four hands later it was over. Josh Brikis' second placing was worth $619,609.

CANTU CAN - PRO BAGS SECOND WSOP BRACELET (Update)
2009-07-03

Tough heads up with Watkinson

Las Vegas-based poker pro Brandon Cantu is the latest winner of a WSOP bracelet - his second - following some great poker in Event #48 - the $1 500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo competition at the World Series of Poker.

The 29-year-old pro player had to survive another massive entry field of 762 players to reach his goal as entrants flocked to the event, illustrating once more the pull of the $1 500 buy-in level. The field generated a prize pool of $1 040 130 and attracted big names such as Lee Watkinson, Allen Cunningham, Roland De Wolfe, Perry Friedman, Jacqmin Mathieu, Padraig Parkinson, Kathy Liebert and Phil Hellmuth.

Three days later, the field was down to a final table that was destined to take eight hours to complete and was comprised of:

Seat 1: Lee Watkinson (412 000)
Seat 2: Steve Jelinek (260 000)
Seat 3: William McMahan (168 000)
Seat 4: Brandon Cantu (1 025 000)
Seat 5: Ted Weinstock (250 000)
Seat 6: Aaron Sias (353 000)
Seat 7: Mathieu Jacqmin (552 000)
Seat 8: Ronnie Hofman (76 000)
Seat 9: Tommy Vedes (334 000)

Although he started final table play with an intimidating chip lead, Cantu did not have it all his own way, seeing the lead slip away to both Lee Watkinson and French player Jacqmin Mathieu by the time the action had reached four-handed stage. Ever the pro, he kept his cool and fought back in a talented and disciplined display of poker to reach a heads up against Watkinson, albeit with a 5 to 2 disadvantage against his formidable opponent.

Encouraged from the rail by his grandfather, Cantu reduced the deficit and eventually managed to retrieve the chip lead in a thrilling heads up that ended when Wilkinson fell to Cantu's trip fours.

Cantu took home his second bracelet (his first was in event 2 of the 2006 WSOP) and $228 867, bringing his career earnings to over $3 million dollars since 2006 in more than 30 major tournament events. The win marks another good bank account boosting achievement for Cantu this year - he came second last week in WSOP Event 39, winning $403 951.

Watkinson took the runner-up's check of $141 873.

IMPORANT CHANGES AT MICROGAMING POKER
2009-07-03

Euro will be the currency going forward, and a new approach to tournament action

The Microgaming Poker Network has announced important new changes that include the use of the Euro as the sole currency for its poker tournaments, and a fresh approach to poker tournament action.

The network is taking a fresh approach to tournament poker this summer with the launch of Survivor Tournaments, a new and exciting format for tournament poker play; it is also introducing two additional daily poker tournaments this month, called Breakfast and Bedtime Bounty. A company spokesman said this week that the moves are designed to deliver more playability.

The new Survivor Tournaments are fast paced with nail biting finishes. Players must battle against each other and keep one eye on the clock, as a percentage of players with the lowest chip stacks are eliminated from the tournament at each level.

Players are provided with a survivor status indicator on the table, stating the crucial information that they need to know to survive the next round of elimination. Players can see their status - SAFE, WARNING or DANGER – as well as the target needed to avoid elimination, the time left in the elimination level, and the number of players to be eliminated. All the information needed to make those quick decisions is available at a glance.

All tournaments offer equal payouts to all survivors. To get a share of the winnings, all the player need do is survive.

Mark Pinan, Microgaming’s Poker Network Channel Lead says: “The Microgaming Poker Network is proud of this new and unique tournament offering which is designed to provide the most entertaining network poker competitions available. We predict that July is going to be a big month for tournament poker.”

Also introduced this (July) month is the Breakfast and Bedtime Bounty Tournaments. In both games, half of the player’s buy-in is paid into the prize pool, while the other half forms the bounty on their head. Every time a player is eliminated from the tournament the personal bounty is awarded to the player with the winning hand. Bounties can make a significant boost to the prize money but also means that players are rewarded for eliminating their competitors, even if they don’t win the pot.

Along with the new games, the network has introduced the Euro as the sole currency for its poker tournaments, giving more guarantees, more variety in game play, more chips and longer blinds.

The move from US Dollars to Euros will be applied to all network guaranteed tournaments, freerolls, satellites and regular Multi-Table Tournaments. This move will bring more of the network’s software features into play, including the ‘double buy-in’ option which will be available in all re-buy and second chance tournaments, along with an auto re-buying and topping-up feature. The option to end tournaments early when all remaining prizes are the same will also be available – starting with satellites to the new weekly Euro100 000 GTD tournament.

ASIA PACIFIC POKER TOUR SCHEDULE RELEASED
2009-06-24

PokerStars.com has advised dates and venues for the third season

The popular PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) will soon start it's third season, with a five venue program that includes stops in Macau, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Australia.

Poker players aiming to participate in the popular tour are advised that the program includes the following:

Macau : Grand Lisboa Casino Macau
August 24-30, 2009
Buy-in: HKD $40 000 (US $5 160)
Event restricted to 700 entries.

Seoul : Venue: 7-Luck Casino, Seoul, South Korea
September 17-20, 2009
Buy-in: US $3 000
Maximum entry field 250

Auckland : Venue: SkyCity Casino, Auckland, New Zealand
October 14-18, 2009
Buy-in: TBA
Maximum entry field of 350

Philippines : Venue: Shangri-la Mactan Resort, Cebu
November 12-15, 2009
Buy-in: PHP 100 000 (US $2 150)
Restricted to 300 entries

Sydney : Venue: StarCity Casino, Sydney, Australia
December 1-6
Buy-in AUD 6 300 (US $4 920)
Maximum field of 700 players.

Full details of the tour, and supporting online qualifiers, can be found at the PokerStars.com website.

FOLEY TAKES WSOP EVENT 39
2009-06-24

Three final survivors were all from the United States

Ray Foley (37) of Northville, Michigan, is the victor in Event #39 - the $1 500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em competition at the 2009 World Series of Poker. The event drew an entry field of 2 715 and delivered a prize pool of $3 705 975, with 26 players surviving through to the final day, where it took five hours to reach the following final table:

Seat 1: Chairud Vangchailued - 875 000
Seat 2: Tyler Spalding - 1 485 000
Seat 3: Patrick O'Connor - 580 000
Seat 4: Brandon Cantu - 880 000
Seat 5: Alex Jacob - 2 200 000
Seat 6: Ray Foley - 2 860 000 - chip leader and eventual winner
Seat 7: Richard Lutes - 1 555 000
Seat 8: Wei Mu - 1 370 000
Seat 9: Jonathan Markham - 400 000

Foley, who has played in four major live tournaments including this one to accrue career winnings of $733 031, managed to maintain his lead through much of the tournamet and into the final table action.

The Foley vs. Brandon Cantu heads up was decided when Wei Mu was eliminated in third place for a $269 609 payday. By that time Cantu had opened up a chip lead of around 1.8 million on his opponent, and half-an-hour into the game it looked as if Cantu was headed for his second WSOP bracelet.

It was not to be however, with Foley enjoying a marvellous run of cards to put the final shine on his talented play, sending Cantu to the cashier with a second placing reward of $403 951, and collecting the main prize of $657 969 and his first WSOP bracelet.