New Season/Format for Poker After Dark

Poker After Dark' Season IV Begins July 14

NBC's "Poker After Dark" series returns with
its fourth season of episodes beginning July 14th.

Season IV of "PAD" promises to break the
tradition established by the highly popular
late-night series in its first three seasons,
where it offered a revolving mix of poker's
biggest names in 6-handed freezeouts.

PAD's fourth season expands the show's horizons.
The debut episode of the upcoming season features
high-stakes, no-limit cash game play as opposed to
the series' traditional freezeout format, wherein
most of the weekly challenges offered a $120,000,
winner-take-all prize to a single player.

Instead, the July 14 episode kicks off new
territory for the show. It's a full week of
high-stakes cash-game action featuring a
lineup of diverse but impressive talent.

In seat order, the six chairs will be occupied by:

- 21 year old Tom "durrrr" Dwan

- 11 time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth

- high stakes, part-time cash-gamer Mike Baxter

- 5 time WSOP bracelet winner Allen Cunningham

- Cirque de Soleil CEO Guy Laliberte... and

- cash game veteran David "Viffer" Peat.

Dwan and Hellmuth have a (very brief) bit of
poker history on NBC, since the two squared off
in Round 1 of the 2008 National Heads-Up Poker
Championship. Courtesy of a bad beat, Dwan
defeated Hellmuth in just three hands,
the shortest match in NHUPC history. They and
the other four players – including Cunningham,
who will be making his televised cash-game
debut here – promise to get the new season
off to a lively start.

The debut week's new cash-game format
has the players starting with blinds of $200/400,
with, according to the show's press statements,
plenty of straddles and prop bets.

The minimum buy-in is $100,000,
the maximum $250,000, and the
mimimum for rebuys is $50,000.

Leeann Tweeden also makes her debut
as the series new host in the July 14 premiere.
The first episode airs late night Monday,
at 2:05 a.m. ET on July 14 (technically Tuesday ),
with five episodes airing on consecutive nights
at the same time.

As in previous seasons, a special "Director's Cut"
episode airs late Saturday night (technically
1:00 a.m. ET Sunday morning), following
"Saturday Night Live." Each day's show will
also be available for same-day viewing
at www.nbcsports.com/poker.

A second week of cash-game action is scheduled
for this fall on PAD. That week's episodes,
starting October 13, will feature Patrik Antonius,
Dee Tiller, Howard Lederer, Doyle Brunson,
Gabe Kaplan, and Eli Elezra.

PokerStars WCOOP 7 announced

PokerStars has announced dates for the
World Championship of Online Poker
(WCOOP), online poker's largest championship
series. The 2008 edition, is scheduled to begin on
September 5th, 2008. There will be 33 events
and a massive overall guarantee of $30 million,
twice the total guaranteed in last year's WCOOP VI.

Stars' WCOOP annually offers the widest selection
of tournament formats, and the WCOOP VI lineup
is no exception. Among the less-common formats
in this year's series are the following:

● $10,300 High-Roller No-Limit Hold'em
● Eight-Game Mixed tourney
● Four-Max No-Limit Hold'em
● Mixed Hold'em
● PLO with one rebuy, one add-on
● $25,500 High-Roller Heads-Up NL Hold'em
● Six-Max Mixed Hold'em
● No-Limit 2-7 Single Draw
● Six-Max No-Limit Hold'em w/ rebuys

The WCOOP VII will run for 18 days, running
September 5-22, with the final event, the
two-day $5,200 NL Hold'em Main Event,
actually beginning on September 21.
That event carries an incredible $10,000,000
guarantee, the largest ever for an online,
series-based event.
Excepting the final Sunday of the series,
which is devoted to the Main Event,
two other events get underway on each
of WCOOP VII's first 16 days.

WCOOP VII satellites will start July 6.
As with previous WCOOP editions,
Stars will also have a sizeable number of
free entries via such avenues as FPP
(Frequent Player Point) qualifiers;
an additional $1.5 million in free entries
has already been earmarked for the
WCOOP VII series.

WCOOP VII schedule:
#/ Date/ Day/ Time/ Buy-in/ Guarantee

#1 5-8 Fri 14:30 $215 NL Hold'em [6-max] $1Million
#2 5-8 Fri 16:30 $215 PL 5-Card Draw $100k
#3 6-8 Sat 14:30 $215 Limit Hold'em $300k
#4 6-8 Sat 16:30 $215 2-7 Triple Draw $100k
#5 7-8 Sun 14:30 $10,300 NL Holdem $2Million *
#6 7-8 Sun 16:30 $530 NL Hold'em $3Million
#7 9-8 Mon 14:30 $215 PL Omaha [6-max] $300k
#8 9-8 Mon 16:30 $320 8-game Mixed Event $200k
#9 9-9 Tue 14:30 $215 NL Hold'em [4-max] $400k
#10 9-9 Tue 16:30 $215 Razz $100k
#11 9-10 Wed 14:30 $320 PL Omaha Hi/Lo $300k
#12 9-10 Wed 16:30 $320 Mixed Holdem $300k
#13 9-11 Thu 14:30 $215 NL Holdem w/RB $1Million
#14 9-11 Thu 16:30 $320 7-Card Stud $100k
#15 9-12 Fri 14:30 $320 NL Hold'em [Heads-Up] $500k
#16 9-12 Fri 16:30 $215 PL Omaha [1R / 1A] $300k
#17 9-13 Sat 14:30 $530 PL Hold'em [6-max] $400k
#18 9-13 Sat 16:30 $215 HORSE $300k
#19 9-14 Sun 14:30 $25,500 HU NL Hold'em $1.6Million *
#20 9-14 Sun 16:30 $1,050 NL Hold'em $3Million
#21 9-15 Mon 14:30 $530 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo $200k
#22 9-15 Mon 16:30 $530 Mixed Omaha Hi/Lo 6-max $200k
#23 9-16 Tue 14:30 $530 NL Hold'em [1R/1A] $500k
#24 9-16 Tue 16:30 $530 NL 2-7 Single Draw $200k
#25 9-17 Wed 14:30 $320 PL Omaha w/ Rebuys $500k
#26 9-17 Wed 16:30 $320 NL Hold'em [6-max] $500k
#27 9-18 Thu 14:30 $530 NL Hold'em Triple Shootout $300k
#28 9-18 Thu 16:30 $530 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo $400k
#29 9-19 Fri 14:30 $530 NLHE w/Rebuys [6-max] $400k
#30 9-19 Fri 16:30 $1,050 PL Omaha $500k
#31 9-20 Sat 14:30 $1,050 Limit Hold'em [6-max] $500k
#32 9-20 Sat 16:30 $10,300 HORSE $500k *
#33 9-21 Sun 16:30 $5,200 NL Holdem ME $10MILLION
* -- indicates two-day event

WSOP Europe '08 Schedule

WSOP Europe 2008 Schedule;
ESPN Deal Announced

Harrah's Entertainment has announced
the schedule for the 2008 World Series
of Poker Europe (WSOPE), to be held
September 19th to October 2nd, 2008
in London, England.

The series is expanded slightly over the
inaugural 2007 version, and will this year
included four bracelet events and five
additional non-bracelet preliminaries.

The series will be sponsored by Betfair
and will be held at several London Clubs
International properties – Empire,
The Sportsman and Fifty. Two other London
LCI properies, Golden Nugget and
Rendezvous, may also be part of the mix
when the preliminary schedule is confimed.
Sportsman, Leicester Square and Fifty were all
part of the inaugural 2007 proceedings as well.

The four bracelet events, including the addition of
a £1,500 No-Limit Hold'em freezeout to start
the proceedings, have been scheduled as follows:

• (9-19-08) Event #1, £1,500 No-Limit Hold'em
(three-day event / two opening days)

• (9-22-08) Event #2, £2,500 H.O.R.S.E.
(three-day event)

• (9-24-08) Event #3, £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha
(three-day event)

• (9-27-08) Event #4, £10,000 ME No-Limit Holdem
(five-day event / two opening days)

In related news, Harrah's announced a deal
with exclusive WSOP telecaster ESPN to
broadcast eight hours of WSOPE coverage in 2008.
The coverage will be aired globally. The details of
the live broadband coverage on ESPN360.com
have yet to be confirmed. Harrah's will complement
ESPN's coverage by distributing WSOPE content
into non-ESPN markets.

2008 WSOP TV Sched

If you've been reading about the WSOP
but are really dying to watch in on tv,
you'll have to wait a bit longer.

A month from now, you can watch the
2008 WSOP on ESPN, here's a run down
of the WSOP broadcast schedule which
will appear on Tuesday nights at 8pm EDT.

July 22 - $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'em (2 hours)

July 29 - $1,500 NL (2 hours)

Aug 5 - $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'em (2 hours)

Aug 12 - $1,000 NL w/ Rebuys (2 hours)

Aug 19 - $50,000 HORSE (2 hours)

Aug 26 - $10,000 PLO (2 hours)

Sep 2 thru Oct 28 - $10,000 Main Event
Championship (18 hours)

Nov 4 - Main Event Final Table

GBH Ladies Tournament

Attention Ladies !

Great Blue Heron Casino (Port Perry)
is holding a No-Limit Holdem tournament
especially for the female poker community.

August 27th, 2008.

Entry Fee is $200 +$40
Freeze out (no rebuys)
Event limited to 55 women max.
2,000 starting chips.
Estimated prize pool: $11,000

Call 1-888-29HERON ext. #200 to
register with Visa or Mastercard

Call The Poker Pit 1.888.294.3766 ext. # 263
for more tournament information.

http://www.greatblueheroncasino.com/poker.php

2008 Blue Water Classic

Entry is now open for the Point Edward Casino
(near Sarnia) Blue Water Classic

The tournaments runs Tuesday Sept 23-27
with Main Event on Sunday, Sept 28.

Tuesday ($150 + $14)

Wednesday ($300 + 30)

Qualifiers for main event are
Thurs, Fri, and Saturday.
($750 + $50 each day).

The number of players per event
has been cut back to 100 (from 150).

Tuesdays, from now until the BWC,
there are multi-table satellites qualifiers
for the Main Event . $75 + $5 w/ rebuys at $40.
Satellites are capped at 50 players max.
You can reserve a seat up to 1 wk prior.
Registration can be made by phone:
1-888-394-6244 (Ask for the Gift Shop)

I'll try to post blind structure and
patience factor/skill level for the events
once I get confirmed details.

Stampede Poker Classic FreeRolls

Still a few days left to win a $7000
SPC package from The Score.
Sign up at 888poker.com and play
a freeroll (8pm, 9pm, 10pm daily)
$7k prize includes $3k tourny entry,
air fare, Deerfoot Casino accomodations,
and $500 walkin around money.

http://www.thescore.com/contests/888/

2-7 Lowball

I've been practicing my
2-7 Triple Draw over on Poker Stars.
Having fun learning the game.

A few things i've picked up quickly:

Its a game of drawing to the nuts.
(just like omaha).

2-7 lowball is an action game, lots of
people splash around in a lot of pots.
Surprising how many people put money
into the pot without a deuce.

I can also see how reading your
opponents would be super important
in a live game, because you never get to
see any of their cards. I'm still a total novice
at this game, but theres a lot of strategy
to learn and its good practice paying attention
... you have to pay attention in this game !

Full Tilt Freerolls

Poker After Dark, Round 2 Tourny
Tomorrow (Saturday), 3:05pm.
100 Full Tilt Points to enter.
One seat guaranteed to PAD Final
on July 27, where you can win
your way on to an episode of the show.
Warning: This is a Donk-tacular !

The $100 Canadians only was quite
a bit more tame, still slightly donkish,
but not like the PAD one.
(I finished 11th out of 2000 entries)

Tony & Sylvia !

(Sylvia thinking over her next move at the WSOP)

Two former Premier Poker Tour

players from London just got back

from Las Vegas.

Tony and Sylvia Shilyuk
both cashed at the WSOP !!!

Tony came in 5th at Event #9
$1500 Short Handed NL Holdem,
worth a cool $70,860.

He started the final table as the
short stack with 310,000 in chips
Hand 75, Rep Porter on the button
in seat 3 raises to 45,000.
Tony thinks a bit, then moves all in
from the small blind for 138,000.
The others get out of the way & Rep calls.
Tony shows: Kc 8c
Rep shows: 3c 3s
The gallery was on their feet
in the Final Table Area.
Porter has Tony covered so
his tournament life is on the line.
The flop comes Jd 4s 2c.
Porter's legion of fans applaud
while Tony's grow uneasy.
The tournament director explains
that Tony needs to catch a King,
an Eight, running Clubs, or
running double Board Pair to
stay alive in the hand.
The turn comes the 4c ,
the best card that could come
without taking the lead outright.
Now Tony can catch a King, an 8,
a Jack, or a Club to survive and
double up. When the dealer layed
down the river, it was the 5d.
Porter's pocket threes hold up
as he breaks the 2 million chip mark.
Tony went out in fifth and Porter
went on to win the bracelet.


Sylvia came in 40th at Event # 15
$1000 Ladies World Championship
for $3682.

The cutoff, Jody Phillippo, raised
All In preflop with 9d 9h.
Sylvia called from the big blind
with Qc Qh.
The flop was 8s 7c 5d giving Phillipo
a straight draw. The turn gave her
a double gutshot, more outs when
the 10s popped off.
Sylvia had one more card to sweat,
and then boom... the 6d landed as
the last card. Phillippo made a
straight and sent Sylvia to the rail.
Also notable, Sylvia finished ahead
of tourny veterans Kathy Leibert
and Evelyn Ng.

Big Congrats to both of you !

Full Tilt Freerolls

$100 Canadians Only FreeRoll.
Tonight, 8:35pm.
Practice your donkament skills !

Poker After Dark, Round 2 Tourny
Tonight, 10:05pm.
100 Full Tilt Points to enter.
One seat guaranteed to PAD Final
on July 27, where you can win your
way on to an episode of the show.

Heartland Poker Tour in Detroit

The Heartland Poker Tour will be
within easy driving distance over the
next few months.

Soaring Eagle Casino, Mount Pleasant, MI
August 16-24th

Turning Stone Casino, Verona NY
Ocotober 15-19th

Detroits GreekTown Casino
October 19-26th

I watch it on Dishnet satellite all the time,
but for those unfamiliar with it, the HPT
is a "minor league" poker tour with reasonable
buy-ins and relatively large prize pools.
HPT tapes the final table and creates 2
one-hour episodes with full commentary
to be aired on TV at a later date.

HPT usually has 3 events held over a
week at the host casino.
Buy-in's are usually $560, $760,
and $1650 for the televised Main Event.

Starting stack for the ME is $10,000 chips
(5k chips for other events).
Blinds go up every 40 minutes.

I'll probably be giving the GreekTown event
a shot in October.

Anyone interested in attending a rake-free
satellite home-game tournament for a seat ?

Niagara Satellites SUSPENDED

I got word that all WPT satellites and
any other WPT promotions/advertisings
at both Fallsview and Casino Niagara
are suspended....

Good idea to call ahead if you were thinking
of heading down to play in one of these sats.

There is some financial uncertainty with
WPT Ent. This has a lot to do with
Game Show Network (GSN) not renewing
their contract for World Poker Tour tv show.

WPT Ent. is supposed to be in negotiations
with other networks, and if a deal is going
to happen, it'll likely happen soon since
Season 7 of the WPT is scheduled to get
underway with the Bellagio Cup IV,
July 11-17, 2008 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

I'll do my best to keep you updated.

CANADIANS cash in Event #2

Picture of Scott Mongomery at WPT

Congratulations are in order for Aaron "Pacmann" Coulthard of Waterloo, Ontario for finishing 6th, worth almost $212,000.

Also, Scott Montgomery from Ottawa had a great couple days during the WSOP Event # 2 where he finished in 29th spot for a $18,770 pay day.
His only previous major finish was in February at the 2008 WPT L.A. Poker Classic, 5th place for a cool $296,860.00
He plays on Full Tilt as.................. r_a_y_m_a_n_d and on PokerStars as.................... r_a_y sm

...and Josh Engerdahl from BC,13th for $41,296

...and Andre Boyer , 24th for $24,134

...and Michael Lum, Toronto, 33rd for $18,771

...and Alan Lai from BC, 105th for $4,827

...and Arda Fikri from Ontario, 111th for $4827

...and Terrance Chan,Vancouver, 120th for $4827

...and Quentin Krueger Winnipeg, 130th for $4559

...and Dustin Cole, Ontario, 162nd for $4559

...and Roberto Durante, Ontario, 178th for $4290

...and Nghi Van Tran ,Toronto, 179th for $4290

...and Keith Wintermans, Vancouver, 223rd, $4022

...and Brandon Sampson, BC, 258th for $3754

...and Brian Fitzgerald, Ontario, 263rd for $3754

...and Bedard Marcel, from Quebec, 317th, $3218

...and Russ McDonnell, from Ontario, 320th, $3218

WSOP #1 won by Canadian

The first event of the 2008 WSOP
just finished up about a half hour
ago... and score one for CANADA !

Niagara Falls pro NENAD MEDIC won
Event 1, the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold'em
World Championship and earned $ 794,112.
He beat out 352 of the best pros out there.
No kidding, the final table included big names
like Andy Bloch, Mike Sexton, Phil Laak,
Kathy Liebert and Patrik Antonius ! !

He mostly plays cash games, so he's not a
household name despite some solid fishishes.

In January 2005 at the WPT Caribbean Adventure
he finished 6th out of 461 players, for $100K.
He also had 2 cashes at the '05 WSOP.

In January 2006 he came in 3rd at the Australian
Poker Championshipfor $275K.
In November 2006, Nenad made $1.7 million by
finishing 1st at the WPT Championship at Foxwoods.

Nenad plays on Full Tilt as.... serb2127

08 WPT Niagara Satellites Announced

WPT NAPC Satellites 2008

Step 1:
- $70 ($53 + $17), 24% fees/rake.
[Last year's Step 1 had 19% fees ($73 + $17).]
- 1st place wins seat to $460 satellite.
- 2nd place gets replay in $70 satellite.
- 1000 chips, 10 minutes.
- Casino Niagara only, Thursday-Sunday.
- Patience Factor: 1 Skill Level: 0

Step 2:
- $460 ($418 + $42), 9% fees.
[2007's Step 2 two-table format had 5% fees ($607 + $33).]
- Top 3 gets seat to $1,240 Step Q satellite.
- 4th gets $460 replay.
- 2000 chips.
[Last year's Step 2 had 25% more chips at 2,500.]
- 20-minute levels.
- Saturday at Casino Niagara, Sunday-Friday at Fallsview.
- Patience Factor = 2.7, Skill Level = 1

Step A:
- $170 ($141 + $29), 17% fees.
[$290 in fees will be taken away from the players
for every Step A satellite, or over 20% more than
the $240 last year ($136 + $24).]
- 1st place gets seat to $1,240 Step Q satellite.
- 2nd gets $170 replay.
- 1200 chips.
- 15-minute levels.
- Daily.
- Patience Factor = 1.3, Skill Level = 1

Step Q:
- $1,240 ($1,154 + $86), 7% fees.
[$860 in fees will be taken away from the players for
every Step Q satellite, which is a whopping 72% more
than the $500 last year ($1150 + $50)!]
- 1st place gets NAPC entry. 2nd place gets $1,240 replay.
- 3,000chips.
- 30-minute levels.- Saturday (daily starting on Oct 1).
- Patience Factor = 6.2, Skill Level = 4.


I think we'll see a lot more rake free satellites
being organized amongst players who think these
rake fees are getting too high.
(I will be running one at some point)

*Thanks to my friend BlondeFish for the comparisons
& patience factor / skill level calculations.

Binion's announced return of the
Binion's Poker Classic. This year's BPC
runs from May 28 through July 8, 2008.

The 41-day series includes 43 events,
the vast majority of which include a
very affordable entry fee designed
for the budget-minded player.
Entries for selected events are as low
as $90+10, with a $10 "bonus buy" for
an extra 2,000 in starting chips available
in the majority of events. The buy-ins
in most cases are designed to be about
one tenth that of corresponding events
going on at the World Series of Poker
at the Rio.

The two largest buy-in events of the BPC
are a June 27 PLO tournament ($950+50,
20,000 in starting chips), and the BPC's
championship event ($1,920+80, 25,000
in starting chips).


Satellites are available for selected events;
starting times and blind levels vary.
Binion's is suspended its normal 2pm
afternoon tourneys for the duration of the BPC.
More information is available on the
www.binions.com site.

The complete schedule:

Date/ Time/ Event /Buy-in/ Starting Chips/ Bonus Chips

5-28 2PM #1 - No-Limit Hold'em (Employees) $90+10 2,000 2,000
5-29 2PM #2 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
5-30 2PM #3 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
5-31 4PM #4 - Pot-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-1 4PM #5 - Limit Omaha 8 or Better $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-2 2PM #6 - No-Limit Hold'em $180+20 4,000 2,000
6-3 2PM #7 - Limit Omaha8/Stud8 $225+25 5,000 2,000
6-4 2PM #8 - Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-5 2PM #9 - No-Limit Hold'em $225+25 5,000 2,000
6-6 11AM #10 - Ladies No-Limit $90+10 2,000 2,000
6-6 2PM #11 - Limit Omaha 8 $180+20 4,000 2,000
6-7 4PM #12 - No-Limit Hold 'em (Shootout) $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-8 4PM #13 - Pot-Limit Omaha $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-9 12PM #14 - No-Limit Hold'em $460+40 10,000 N/A
6-10 2PM #15 - No-Limit Hold'em $180+20 4,000 2,000
6-11 2PM #16 - Razz $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-12 2PM #17 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-13 2PM #18 - No-Limit Hold'em $270+30 6,000 2,000
6-14 4PM #19 - No-Limit Hold 'em (6Handed) $225+25 5,000 2,000
6-15 4PM #20 - Seven Card Stud $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-16 2PM #21 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-17 2PM #22 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-18 2PM #23 - Pot-Limit Hold'em $180+20 4,000 2,000
6-19 2PM #24 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-20 2PM #25 - Mixed Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-21 11AM #26 - Seniors No-Limit $90+10 2,000 2,000
6-21 4PM #27 - HORSE $225+25 5,000 2,000
6-22 4PM #28 - Pot-Limit Omaha 8 $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-23 2PM #29 - No-Limit Hold 'em w/rebuys $90+10 2,000 2,000
6-24 2PM #30 - Seven Card Stud 8 $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-25 2PM #31 - No-Limit Hold'em $180+20 4,000 2,000
6-26 2PM #32 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-27 12PM #33 - Pot-Limit Omaha $950+50 20,000 N/A
6-28 4PM #34 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-29 4PM #35 - Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
6-30 12PM #36 - No-Limit Hold'em $460+40 10,000 N/A
7-1 12PM #37 - No-Limit Hold'em $460+40 10,000 N/A
7-2 2PM #38 - No-Limit Hold'em $135+15 3,000 2,000
7-3 2PM #39 - No-Limit Hold'em $180+20 4,000 2,000
7-4 2PM #40 - Limit Omaha 8 or Better $180+20 4,000 2,000
7-5 4PM #41 - No-Limit Hold'em (Employees) $90+10 2,000 2,000
7-6 4PM #42 - Pot-Limit Omaha 8 $135+15 3,000 2,000
7-7 12PM #43 - No-Limit Holdem (Championship) $1,920+80 25,000
7-8 #43 - Day 2 of Championship Event

FT announces MINI-WSOP Events

Even if you can’t make it to Vegas for the

WSOP, you can still be part of the action.

With more than $700,000 in guaranteed

prize money spread over more than

50 events, Full Tilt Poker’s Mini Series

of Poker is your chance to share in the

thrill of poker’s most prestigious series

from the comfort of your own couch.

From May 30th through July 5th,

the MSOP will let you play the same

day’s tournaments that will be running

at the WSOP in Las Vegas for anywhere

from $10 to $500 – just 1/100th of what

it would cost you to play at the Rio.

Check out the full schedule to find

all of the events you want to play,

and look for satellites starting for as

little as $2 + $.25 or 50 Full Tilt Points.

And because no poker series is complete

without a special prize, they’ll award each

event winner with a limited edition

Full Tilt Poker Champion’s Watch

in addition to their first-place prize money.

Go deep in as many events as possible

to work your way up our MSOP Leaderboard

and your play can even earn you a $10K

seat at the 2009 Main Event in Las Vegas.

Play for your chance to become an

MSOP champion and see why what

happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay

in Vegas anymore.

Mini Series Of Poker Schedule

Event/Date/Time (ET)/Game/Guarantee

1/May 30th/15:20/$100 + $9 PL Hold’em/$20,000
2/May 31th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$15,000
3/June 2nd/15:20/$15 + $1.50 PL Hold’em/$4,000
4/June 2nd/20:20/$50 + $5 Mixed Hold’em/$10,000
5/June 3rd/15:20/$10 + $1 NL Hold 'em Rebuy/$8,000
6/June 3rd/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Omaha Hi/Lo/$3,000
7/June 4th/15:20/$20 + $2 NL Hold 'em/$10,000
8/June 4th/20:20/$100 + $9 Mixed Hold’em/$20,000
9/June 5th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em 6max/$7,500
10/June 5th/20:20/$25 + $2.50 OE/$2,500
11/June 6th/15:30/$50 + $5 NL Hold 'em Shootout/$25,000
12/June 6th/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Limit Hold 'em/$3,000
13/June 7th/15:20/$25 + $2.50 NL Hold 'em/$10,000
14/June 7th/20:20/$100 + $9 Stud/$10,000
15/June 8th/15:20/$10 + $1 NL Hold 'em/$5,000
16/June 8th/20:20/$20 + $2 Omaha Hi/Lo/$4,000
17/June 9th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em Shootout/$7,500
18/June 9th/20:20/$50 + $5 Razz/$5,000
19/June 10th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 PL Omaha/$3,000
20/June 10th/20:20/$20 + $2 Limit Hold 'em/$4,000
21/June 11th/15:30/$50 + $5 NL Hold 'em/$25,000
22/June 11th/20:20/$30 + $3 HORSE/$5,000
23/June 12th/15:20/$20 + $2 NL Hold 'em/$7,500
24/June 12th/20:20/$25 + $2.50 HA/$3,000
25/June 13th/15:20/$100 + $9 NL Hold 'em Heads-Up/$10,000
26/June 13th/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Razz/$2,000
27/June 14th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$7,500
28/June 14th/20:20/$50 + $5 PL Omaha Rebuy/$15,000
29/June 15th/15:20/$30 + $3 NL Hold 'em/$15,000
30/June 15th/20:20/$100 + $9 Limit Hold 'em/$15,000
31/June 16th/15:20/$25 + $2.50 NL Hold 'em 6max/$10,000
32/June 17th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$6,000
33/June 17th/20:20/$50 + $5 Stud Hi/Lo/$5,000
34/June 18th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 PL Omaha Rebuy/$5,000
35/June 18th/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Stud/$2,000
36/June 19th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$7,500
37/June 19th/20:20/$100 + $9 Omaha Hi/Lo/$15,000
38/June 20th/15:20/$20 + $2 PL Hold’em/$5,000
39/June 21st/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$7,500
40/June 22nd/21:30/$500 + $35 HORSE/$50,000
41/June 22nd/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Mixed Hold’em/$5,000
42/June 23rd/15:20/$10 + $1 NL Hold 'em/$3,000
43/June 24th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 PL Omaha8/$3,000
44/June 25th/15:20/$10 + $1 NL Hold 'em Rebuy/$5,000
45/June 25th/20:20/$25 + $2.50 Razz/$3,000
46/June 26th/15:30/$50 + $5 NL Hold 'em 6max/$25,000
47/June 26th/20:20/$15 + $1.50 Stud8/$2,000
48/June 27th/15:20/$20 + $2 NL Hold 'em/$6,000
49/June 28th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$5,000
50/June 29th/15:20/$100 + $9 PL Omaha/$20,000
51/June 29th/20:20/$15 + $1.50 HORSE/$3,000
52/June 30th/15:20/$15 + $1.50 NL Hold 'em/$5,000
53/July 1st/15:20/$15 + $1.50 Limit Shootout/$3,000
54/July 5th/18:00/$100 + $9 NL Hold 'em/$250,000

Wicked Cheap Laptop Deals

Here's a new offer from www.Dell.ca
for Ontario and Quebec residents.

If you sign up for a new 1-year
high speed internet contract with Bell,
you can receive a $450 rebate on select
laptop and desktop systems (4 total),
including:

Inspiron Laptop 1525 - $99 after $450 Rebate !
- Intel Celeron 550 (1MB cache/2.00GHz/533Mhz FSB)
(T5550 upgrade available for $100)
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic Edition
- Midnight Blue
- 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
- 120GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
- 4-cell Battery
- 8X CD/DVD Burner

XPS M1330 Laptop
- $599 after $450 rebate
- Intel Core 2 Duo T5750
(2.0GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
- Standard Display w/ 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
- 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
- 160G 5400RPM SATA HDD
- Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
- 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
- 6 cell battery

You receive a valid e-coupon after you
complete the sign up for the 1 year of
internet service. This offer is good in Ontario
and Quebec for new customers only,
and is valid from May 16 to May 22.

Sarnia now has No Limit !

POINT EDWARD CHARITY CASINO
now has 1-2 NL $100 max buy in.

I have heard that the size of your bet is
capped at $100 (have not confirmed personally).
May effect how you structure your bets if you
cant move all in to protect your hand, only
bet a max of $100.

My source said the action is great, very juicy.
1 or 2 good players and everyone else is
a limit player. The casino has only had fixed limit
holdem for the last 8 years the games are full
of people who have neverplayed NL cash before.

WestJet Wynn LV deal

WestJet Vacations is offering a
3-night stay at the luxurious
5-Diamond Wynn Las Vegas.
Deal includes air, accommodations & taxes.
Fly from Toronto: July 6,13,15,20 & 22...$694
(per person including taxes)

http://www.westjetvacations.com/content/deals/las-vegas-0163.html?WVID=travelzoo_top20_20080507

Spirit Vegas Deals

Spirit Airlines has some good
all-incl. deals going on right now.

Eg: Fly Non-Stop Detroit to Las Vegas
and stay at Circus Circus for 3 days
for $306 per person incl. all taxes & fees!!
(Price varies by date obviously)

http://www.spiritvacations.com/top_picks.asp?cmpid=EMC-TopPicks#LASALDA

WSOP Final Table Delayed 4 Months

A Comprehensive Look at the WSOP Final Table Delay – Part One
May 06, 2008 by BJ Nemeth

By now, everyone in poker has heard about the new format for this year's WSOP Main Event. The final table will be delayed several months to be shown "nearly live" on ESPN. It's a bold and controversial proposal, surrounded by rumors and wild theories.

This article aims to separate the facts from the fiction. The primary reason for the new change? In a word, ratings. The demographics for televised poker have been dropping in recent years, and that affects everyone in the poker world, from Harrah's and ESPN to PokerStars and Full Tilt to the grinders in the cash games who have fewer fresh fish to feed on. This change is designed to increase the buzz around the final table of the WSOP Main Event in an attempt to put it on par with other major "sports" championships. (While poker isn't actually a sport, the fans watch it in much the same way.) If the TV ratings for poker continue to fall, we face the possibility of losing poker on TV, except for late-night paid-for specials. The proponents of this plan claim that it will reinvigorate televised poker, draw new fans to the game, and potentially create another Moneymaker-style poker boom that would boost the entire industry. (Is there anyone in poker who didn't benefit from the post-Moneymaker boom?)

The detractors of this plan claim that this delay could kill the WSOP — or worse, kill some of the final nine players.

THE NEW SCHEDULE

Event #1 of the World Series of Poker starts at the end of this month, and the first 46 days of the WSOP will proceed on the original schedule. The only change is on the last day of the last event, and it will only directly affect the final nine players. (In last year's field of 6,358, they represented 0.0014% of the total.) When the biggest bubble boy in poker history is eliminated in tenth place on July 14, the remaining nine players will take a 117-day break before returning to play the final table. That's nearly 17 weeks, or about four months. Okay, so ratings are important. But why is the delay so long? Why 4 months? Why not two days, two weeks, or two months? For the answer, let's take a look at the full schedule for the Main Event and ESPN's coverage (all of ESPN's WSOP episodes are two hours each, except for the one-hour Final Table Preview on Nov. 4).

July 3-6: Days 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d of Main Event

July 7: *Off Day* July 8-9: Days 2a, 2b

July 10-14: Days 3-7 (down to final 9 players)

July 22 - Aug. 26: ESPN airs prelim events for 6 wks

Sep 2 - Oct 28: ESPN airs Main Event for 9 wks

Nov. 4: ESPN airs 1 hour final table preview

Nov. 9: Final Table played, 9 players to final 2

Nov. 10: Heads-up for the WSOP Championship

Nov. 11: ESPN shows final table at 9:00 pm ET

Why is the delay is so long? ESPN needs that time to show the prelims and the early days of the Main Event to build the viewing audience for the final table. To maximize the ratings (which, after all, is the primary goal), the early days of the Main Event have to air before the final table to build the storyline and introduce the players. So even if ESPN dropped covering prelims entirely, the delay would still be two and a half months.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE 'NOVEMBER NINE ?

A source at Harrah's referred to the nine final tablists as the "November Nine," and I'm going to use that label to describe these 9 final tablists going forward. It's catchy, clear, and concise, and it's much easier than saying the "nine final tablists in the WSOP Main Event." As a bonus, it not only refers to the players, but the day they'll be returning to play the final table (Nov. 9th). As soon as the final table is set, the November Nine will immediately be paid 9th-place money. (Last year, ninth place paid $525,934; the average over the past four years was $890,798.) The remaining prize pool will be placed in an interest-bearing account, and the interest will be added to the prizepool.

The November Nine will be encouraged to stick around the next day (July 15) for a photo shoot, but according to WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky, "Nothing is mandatory." The Player Release Form for all Main Event entrants is the same form used in prior years, and the November Nine will have no additional responsibilities forced upon them. There are no "reality TV" scenarios, and if the players don't want any ESPN cameras following them home, that is their choice. While the final nine are the ones most inconvenienced by the new schedule, they also have the potential to gain the most. WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack said, "We think the effect on those [final nine] players will be overwhelmingly positive, and we think it's going to do a lot to further mainstream this game."

They'll likely pick up at least 15 minutes of fame in their hometowns/home states/home countries, and receive some broad attention from the mainstream media as a group. Because anyone can win (a chip and a chair), even the player with the fewest chips will likely receive more media exposure than last year's third-place finisher. The potential to win poker's biggest prize, even as the underdog, is a compelling story that the mainstream media can run with. Finishing third in something that has already happened is not.

The delay also gives the November Nine an advantage in sponsor negotiations. Rather than signing a sponsor agreement late at night while exhausted and euphoric, players can negotiate contracts that are examined by a lawyer, and pursue additional sponsors outside of the usual online poker sites, since WSOP rules now allow players to wear multiple logos. (Last year, Robert Williamson III sported at least five different sponsor logos.) Also, if the ratings increase as expected, the November Nine should be able to earn more from their sponsorships. Some of the non-professional players are expected to hire poker coaches to help them improve their game during the delay, and all nine will undoubtedly be watching ESPN's coverage to get a feel for their opponents. Most people see this as a negative, saying that it disrupts the natural flow of the tournament, allowing players to dramatically improve their skills and potentially change the outcome. Others hope that it will improve the overall play at the final table, making it more entertaining and skill-based than years past. Regardless, 117 days is not enough time to turn Richie Cunningham into Allen Cunningham. When it's time to resume play in November, each player will receive an all-expenses paid trip for two back to the Rio in Las Vegas for the final table.

Check back tomorrow for part two, as we explore how the final table will differ this year, and what some of the issues are that are fueling some of the criticism toward this big change in the World Series of Poker.

Poker After Dark

The repeats are getting pretty
thick, with more on the way.

The only good news is that there will
be a few new shows intermixed with
more repeats. Keep an eye for:


Week of May 12 - New Show
(Love at First Raise)
Jennifer Harman, Marco Traniello,
Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak,
Erica Schoenberg, David Benyamine

Week of May 19 - New Show
(Commentators Week)
Mark Gregorich, Chad Brown,
Oliver “Ali” Nejad, Robert Williamson,
Phil Gordon, Howard Lederer

Full Tilt Tournament Hand

click to enlarge

As a testiment to how g-didi
continues to run, here's a
screen shot of how she was
eliminated from the final table
of a 90 player Bounty Tournament
on Full Tilt last night.


She is "Devosleeps" in the
bottom seat, 2 under the gun.
Four way all-in preflop
with pocket Aces.