New WSOP Bracelet Design

2007 H.O.R.S.E. Event Bracelet


2007 Main Event Bracelet


Luxury Swiss watchmaker CORUM
introduced the most elegant and
expensive bracelets in World Series
of Poker history at the opening of the
38th edition of poker’s longest-running,
richest and most prestigious event.

The winner of the $50,000 buy-in HORSE
Championship will walk off with a bracelet
boasting 91 black diamonds and two rubies.
CORUM drew from its heritage of
watch-making expertise and craftsmanship
in designing the World Championship $10k
Main Event bracelet, using a tonneau
(barrel) shaped case featuring 136 grams
of 18-carat white gold set with 120 diamonds.

“The World Series of Poker bracelet is the
most coveted prize in gaming and the
ultimate expression of excellence in poker,”
said Jeffrey Pollack, commissioner of the WSOP.

“These spectacular bracelets are the finest
in the history of the WSOP, and will be
cherished by those skilled enough to win them."

More WSOP News - HELLMUTH !!!

June 12th

Hellmuth Makes WSOP History with his
11th Bracelet Win.


Phil Hellmuth's star shone bright on
Monday evening, as he emerged from the
sequestering of the private filming tent
in the Amazon Room with his 11th
WSOP bracelet, a new career mark.

Hellmuth, who broke his year-old tie
with Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan
at ten bracelets each, captured the title
in Event #15, $1,500 No Limit Hold 'Em.

Hellmuth's victory meant $637,254
in addition to the coveted 11th bracelet.

Hellmuth Breaks WSOP Record

Phil Hellmuth grew his legend by making
his second cash at the the '07 WSOP in
Event #15, $1500 No Limit Hold'em.
He extend extended his own record for
career WSOP cashes to 59.

Earlier, Hellmuth's 104th place finish
(for $3901) in event # 8, the $2,000
No Limit Hold Em tournament,
broke the record for most carear
cashes at the WSOP.

CUNNINGHAM earns 5th Bracelet

In what was one of the more

professional laden final tables

in recent memory, Allen Cunningham

was able to overcome an excellent

final table and take away the title

of champion in Event #13, the $5000

Pot Limit Hold 'Em tournament,

making history at the same time.

398 runners started the event on

Friday, building a prize pool of

1.87 million dollars and $487,287

would go to the winner of the event

on Sunday afternoon.

The Final Hand:

With the blinds at 40K/80K,

Lisandro raised from the button to

165K and Cunningham responded

with a reraise to 495K.

Lisandro pushed the remainder of his

stack into the center and Cunningham

called, showing K-9 to Lisandro's pocket

Queens. The flop kept Lisandro in the lead,

but a King on the turn gave the lead to

Cunningham. Once the river ran dry

for Lisandro, Allen Cunningham was

crowned the champion of the $5000

Pot Limit Hold 'Em event.

Final Standings:

1. Allen Cunningham - $487,287

2. Jeff Lisandro - $294,260

3. Humberto Brenes - $197,348

4. Jason Lester - $132,813

5. Joe Patrick - $99,142

6. Travis Rice - $78,565

7. Gavin Griffin - $58,924

8. Keith Lehr - $43,959

9. Alan Jaffray - $31,800

With the victory, Cunningham earned

his fifth World Series bracelet and also

became the fifth man in World Series

history to capture a bracelet in at least

three consecutive years.

Only Johnny Moss (74-76),

Doyle Brunson (76-79),

Gary "Bones" Berland (77-79) and

Erik Seidel (92-94)

can claim such success at the WSOP.

WSOP Alive and Very Well

There's been a lot of talk about how
the anti-online gambling bill would effect
turn outs at the Series in 2007.
The people have spoken !

Event #3 of the 2007 World Series of Poker,
had the largest non-Championship Event field
ever. On saturday afternoon, 2,998 players
crammed the Amazon Room, then the
Alternate Room and its roughly 60 tables
(inside an air-conditioned tent set up outside
of the Rio), then even stretched into the Rio's
poker room's nine tables.

Looks like 2006 USPC champ Alex Jacob
has a great shot at taking this one down.

Chip Counts:
1. Alex Jacob - 3,100,000
2. Paul Evans - 1,690,000
3. Jeff Yoak - 965,000
4. Matt Vengrin - 930,000
5. Ciaran O'Leary - 610,000
6. Thad Smith - 555,000
7. Craig Crivello - 495,000
8. Andreas Krause - 490,000
9. Bart Hanson - 210,000

Premier Poker Tour

The PPT CHAMPIONS CUP

The Premier Poker Tour is only

a few weeks away from launch.

Everything is coming together very well.

We will be making announcements very

shortly about locations and dates.

The Tour Season will culminate with

the Premier Poker Tour Championship

Tournament.

The winner will get their name

engraved on the PPT Champions Cup

and get their choice of grand prizes including:

* Trip for 2 to Las Vegas

* Kawartha Cottage Vacation for 6

* $1250 USD Full Tilt Package

* 42" HD Plasma/LCD TV

* $1600 BCC Fall/Winter Classic Entry

The Season Points Leader will get their choice of:

* Entry into min. $250,000 prize pool tournament

* Sony PlayStation PSP

* Apple iPOD Nano 4GB MP3 Player

* Lowrance iWay 250 GPS Navigator w/MP3

Degree Poker Details

Degree Poker Championship
Rama Tournament

Rama has updated their site with
details of the Rama Degree qualifier
tournament. Blinds & starting chips
have yet to be determined. (Hopefully
they will be increased from the 2,500 standard)

Rama is offering the chance to win 5 Casino
Rama designated seats in the 2007 Degree
Poker Championship. The top 5
finishers in the June 11, 2007 Casino
Rama Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament
will qualify* for a seat in the Degree Poker
Championship being held at Casino Rama
from June 25-29, 2007.

Tickets go on-sale Wednesday, May 30
at noon in-person at the Casino Rama
Box Office.Entry fee: $360 + $40 admin fee.

LIMITED SEATS AVAILABLE, FIRST COME,
FIRST SERVED. More details at this link:

http://www.casinorama.com/pdfs/degree_poker_rules_regs.pdf

Casino Windsor Tournaments

They've changed some of their tournament entries and structures.

Monday $110

Tuesday $55

Wednesday $55

Thursday $55

Friday $110

Saturday $110

Sunday $110

Juice is a respectable 10%. All tournaments begin at 10am with registration opening at 9am (or 8am for players seated at live games). With full field of 60 players, tournament lasts 3.5-4 hours

Players begin with $2000 chips and blind levels are as follows:

25-50 20 minutes

50-100 20 minutes

100-200 20 minutes

200-400 30 minutes

300-600 30 minutes

500-1000 30 minutes

800-1600 30 minutes

1000-2000 30 minutes

1500-3000 30 minutes

2000-4000 30 minutes

3000-6000 30 minutes

Poker Wisdom

I watch a lot of poker on tv.
One thing i've noticed a lot lately
(new shows and old WSOP's too)
is a 'mistake' guys are making in
tournaments. It has to do with
the size of their pre-flop raise.

Playa ZZ bets and Playa EX goes
over the top for all of Playa ZZ's chips.
Playa ZZ goes into the tank, takes 2-3
minutes to decide because he's totally
frazzled and unsure what to do.

Lets say its a satelite tournament
with 100/200 blinds.

Playa ZZ with 2400 chips,
has Ah/Js and bets 700.

Playa EX reraises putting ZZ all in.

There's 3400 in the pot and its
1700 more for ZZ to call
getting 2-1 on his money.
He needs to win [1/3] one third
of the time to make calling profitable.

If he thinks that EX is a loose
reraiser then its an easy call.

If he thinks that EX is a tight
reraiser then its an easy fold.

But if its 50/50 even money,
then i think that ZZ made a mistake
in the size of his preflop raise.

Almost all the hands that would
reraise ZZ, are a favourite over
Ace-Jack offsuit.

If EX has Pocket Aces,
he's a huge favourite.

If he has pocket 66,
then he's a slight favourite.

If ZZ moved all in
(instead of raise to 700),
EX would usually fold hands
like 66 or suited Aces.
The All-in raise would cause EX
to consider what hands would raise
all in with, and realize that many
of them have him beat.
If EX calls the all-in, he's only getting
odds of 2700-to-2400 (9:8),
so he'll have to win 8 of 17 times
(47%) to be profitable.

Sometimes when ZZ moves all-in,
EX will have a hand like AA or KK
and be a big underdog. But in the
above scenario, ZZ was about even
to call EX's reraise anyways,
he's going to run into these big hands
at the same frequency.

Since ZZ's all-in move will often
pick up the blinds, it turns the situation
against pocket 66 from a small loss situation
into a small profit one, every time opponent
EX has a marginal reraising hand.

Something to think about and watch for on tv

Full Tilt Online Poker Series

FTOPS IV Underway at Full Tilt

The fourth installment of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) is in full swing right now over at Full Tilt Poker. Full Tilt is guaranteeing at least $4 million in total prize money over 10 events, compared to $3.6 million last time.

The poker room is also adding more prizes for top finishers, including:

Limited edition FTOPS baseball caps (to everyone who cashes)
Baseball cap and limited edition FTOPS jacket (final table finishers)
Gold FTOPS jersey and gold FTOPS avatar plus all of the above (tournament winners)


And, as always, the overall leaderboard winner at the end of FTOPS IV will receive a custom avatar for use at Full Tilt.


As an added bonus this year, Full Tilt will hold an FTOPS Tournament of Champions, bringing together the 27 past FTOPS event winners plus the 10 from FTOPS IV to duke it out in a winner-take-all tournament. The champions’ champion will receive a $10,000 seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event.


FTOPS IV Schedule (Full Tilt Host in Parentheses, all times EST)

5/11 @ 9:00pm -- $200 + $16 NL Hold'em -- $300,000 guaranteed (Kristy Gazes)

5/12 @ 4:30pm -- $100 + $9 PL Omaha High w/Re-buys -- $150,000 guaranteed (Eric Froelich)

5/13 @ 6:00pm -- $300 + $22 NL Hold'em -- $750,000 guaranteed (Huck Seed)

5/14 @ 9:00pm -- $1000 + $60 NL Hold'em -- $300,000 guaranteed (Gavin Smith)

5/15 @ 9:00pm -- $200 + $16 HOSE -- $100,000 guaranteed (David Grey)

5/16 @ 9:00pm -- $200 + $16 NL Hold'em 6-Max -- $400,000 guaranteed (Jeff Madsen)

5/17 @ 9:00pm -- $200 + $16 PL Omaha High/Low -- $100,000 guaranteed (Layne Flack)

5/18 @ 9:00pm -- $200 + $16 PL Hold'em -- $150,000 guaranteed (David Singer)

5/19 @ 4:30pm -- $100 + $9 NL Hold'em w/Re-buys -- $250,000 guaranteed (Alan Boston)

5/20 @ 6:00pm -- $500 + $35 NL Hold'em Main Event -- $1,500,000 guaranteed (Gus Hansen)


Ongoing satellites are being held at Full Tilt for every FTOPS IV event. As part of Full Tilt’s “Satellite Challenge,” players may win more than one seat to the same FTOPS event. Cash will be awarded for every seat won after the first.

Click on one of the Full Tilt links on the side,
or just use the bonus code: PPT

*FUNDAMENTALS: Implied Odds

Implied Odds are the pot odds adjusted for future betting.

Lets say you flop a flush draw. There is $500 in the pot and your opponent bets $500. It costs you $500 to potentially win $1000, or Pot Odds of 2:1. You do not have proper Pot Odds to make the call.

But when you consider the Implied Odds, how much you will likely win from your opponent if you make your flush (and it is the best hand) it may be worth calling his bet. Keep in mind that if you are out of position with players to act behind you, a bet from one of them will make your implied odds calculation incorrect.

Vegas July 2007

Just a reminder to everyone....

The trip to Vegas that Sonny Rattan from PIC
was organizing is still a go. It actually has nothing
to do with PIC, its just that he's organizing it.

You can see the WSOP LIVE in Las Vegas!!

Special rates secured for our players at
The PLAZA hotel. The plaza poker room
will be holding Private tournaments,
open to our players only, if enough of us book.

Also during this time, the "POKER EXPO"
show is taking place July 5-8, anything and
everything to do with poker, in one place,
don’t miss it. The biggest names in poker
will be in Vegas for the WSOP, here is your
chance to meet them. (no guarantees, sorry )

Sunday – Thurs $34 per night
Fri & Sat - $64 per night.
Only 20 rooms secured at this rate, if we need
more, I may be able to get more. These rates are
per ROOM, NOT PER PERSON!!
So with 2 in a room, $17 each!!

Join the gang in Vegas, and remember,
What happens in Vegas, gets talked about
for MONTHS when you get home!!

Don’t just hear the stories, LIVE THEM!!

Rooms are available at this rate June 28 – July 10.
You can book any days during this time for our rate,
the actual group dates are July 4-10, Sonny will be
in Vegas from June 28, I'll be arriving on the 30th,
if you want to come early.

Plaza Hotel toll free 1-800-634-6575
You MUST mention SONNY RATTAN Group ,
And special code PIPT628 to get this rate.
If anyone wants to go, and needs a room mate,
let me know, and I will do my best to set you up
with another tour member.

WSOP Preview:
The Process of Changing Payout
and Tournament Structures

by Tim Lavalli

Directly in response to comments from
WSOP 2006 participants, Harrah's made
some major adjustments in the tournament
payout structure and the tournament blind
and ante structure. The revised and 'flattened'
payout structure is getting a lot of media
coverage after a recent Harrah's press release.
Let's look behind the changes to the reasons
for the evolving WSOP structure.

Gone are the days when the Main Event
winner will be splitting a $12 million dollar
prize up among friends, family, backers and
assorted litigators; while the bottom end
870-something finisher makes $4K on his
or her $10K entry fee.

Last year the $12M announcement was met
by almost universal player response of:
"Why so much?" and "Why not cap it at
$10M and spread the wealth."

Well that is exactly what is going to
happen this year. Like so many good ideas,
it takes action by a few individuals to start
the wheels of change. After the 2006 Series,
our sources tell us that Barry Greenstein
sent a "revised" payout structure to the
WSOP staff; this was basically Barry's
thoughtful response to the player reaction
to the 2006 payout structure. His was the
payout structure that became the template
for this year's Series.

But change does not come with a single
stroke of a pen and one payout structure
does not work for the diversity of events
that the 2007 WSOP offers. No, it took
over 200 hours of work between WSOP
Tournament Director Jack Effel and
Players Advisory Council members
(with significant input from Howard Lederer)
to create the series of five unique Payout Tables.

Think you know your poker?
Check out the Shootout Pay Table on
worldseriesofpoker.com, and explain the
gaps in the entrant numbers. The changes
in most events will result in smaller payouts
on the top end of the tournament, basically
the top 27 will receive less and the resulting
increase in payouts in the bottom 90-95%
of the pay structure.

Last year's $12M first prize in the Main Event
would come down to around $10M under the
new structure and the bottom end players
would take home $20K instead of $14K.
All of the 2007 WSOP events will change
in a similar fashion. The changes do not add
more players to the payout structure but simply
more money to those who do burst the bubble
at the low end of the pay scale. Right along with
the payout structure changes were the changes
to the blind and ante structure for all events.

As previously announced, every event in the
2007 WSOP will start with double the chips
from last year. Gone are the days where one
big hand in round one of a 1500 chips event
made you an automatic short stack.
Again, a lot of hard work and collaboration
between Jack Effel, Howard Lederer and the
WSOP staff has created a new set of tournament
structures that will allow for more play.
This is not to say that the starting chips were
doubled and the structure left unchanged.
To quote Assistant WSOP Tournament Director,
Jimmy Sommerfeld's classic line:
"At some point in the tournament you have to
bust some players out." But change in the blind
and ante structure allows for at the very least
70% more play for the prudent, patient player
until their Aces get cracked back-to-back.

Tournament Structure sheets can also be
found on worlderiesofpoker.com

Degree Poker Update

WOW !
just got some interesting updated info.
Looks like the tournament is going to
be majorly scaled back this year.
Last year... 3000 players, this year...
8 tables - 72 players.
Bingo Blind structure looks to be
the same unfortunately.

Ways to Enter into the Tournament:
1) winning one of fifty-four (54)
Tournament seats in an online contest
conducted by Unilever Canada
at the degreepoker.com website.

2) winning one of two (2) tournament seats
in a Unilever Canada product point of sale
contest.

3) being one of the eleven (11) qualifying
players from the2005 and 2006 Degree
Poker Championship.

4) winning one of five (5) seats in
tournament play at Casino Rama.
(Top 5, one tournament, not sure if you'll
have to pay to enter this tournament)


72 work down to 36 (4 tables) for the filming.

Brantford Spring Classic

Brantford Spring Classic 2007

Tournament Date: Jun 11, 2007
Tournament: No-Limit Holdem
Buy-In: $500
Registration: $50
Re-buys: none
Add-ons: none
Prize Pool: $50,000



Tournament Date: Jun 12, 2007
Tournament: No-Limit Holdem
Buy-In: $1000
Registration: $75
Re-buys: none
Add-ons: none
Prize Pool: $100,000



Jun 13, 2007
Tournament: No-Limit Holdem
Buy-In: $1500
Registration: $125
Re-buys: none
Add-ons: none
Prize Pool: $450,000


Brantford Spring Classic 2007 Rules & Regulations

http://www.canadianpokertour.tv/forms/sc2007-1500.doc

Brantford Spring Classic 2007 Satellites

http://www.canadianpokertour.tv/forms/sc2007-1500-satellite.doc

Degree Poker Registration

Registration is now open
for the 2007 Degree Poker
Championship.

Go to http://www.degreepoker.com/

Rumours around that it will be at the CNE,
but i think it will be at Casino Rama.

WPT now on Game Show Network

by Amy Calistri

When World Poker Tour Enterprises, Inc.
first teamed up with the Travel Channel in
2003 to air the first season of WPT events,
they became part of the fuel that spurred
poker's meteoric growth. But today, WPTE
officially announced that their alliance with
the Travel Channel has officially ended.

In a SEC filing dated April 5, 2007, WPTE
announced that the Travel Channel had
not exercised its option for season six.
But viewers will not be deprived of seeing
the upcoming season as WPTE also
announced that they had reached a deal
with GSN for season six, which also includes
an additional two season option.

During poker's boom years, the Travel
Channel had been eager to exercise its
WPT option, often beating the deadline.
This year, however, sources speculated
that the Travel Channel might pass as the
March 10, 2007 exercise deadline was
extended to April 1, 2007. Also complicating
this year's time line was the recent acquisition
of the Travel Channel by Cox Communications,
announced March 29, 2007. With season six
fast approaching and a more saturated poker
television market, the WPT's leverage to ink
a new deal was called into question.

Today the question was answered as,
according to the SEC filing, GSN agreed to
pay $300,000 per episode for the upcoming
season's twenty-three episodes. As part of
the deal, GSN has also committed to spend
at least $3,000,000 in marketing costs for
each season.

While the per episode fee is somewhat
lower than past years, it demonstrates that
the WPT brand still commands a premium
in a market that became populated with
time buys and faced flagging online poker
advertising revenue.
Also, the deal, according to the SEC filing,
has additional upside revenue potential for
WPTE. Should GSN exercise their option
after season six, they will pay a 5% increase
per episode for each future season. WPTE
also has the opportunity to augment their
per episode fees with a bonus clause
should they exceed pre-agreed to Nielsen
ratings for the season.

It's an obvious fit for both companies;
something that becomes even more
obvious when listening to Steve Lipscomb,
CEO of WPTE and Rich Cronin, President
and CEO of GSN, enthusiastically discuss
their alliance, as we did today. It is only then
that you realize that this is less of a network
deal and more about a partnership based
on a shared vision and philosophy.

Lipscomb described their relationship as
an "industry changing event," and affirmed
that, together, GSN and WPTE were
committed to "both foster and grow our
community." He applauded the ability and
care GSN demonstrated, introducing a
quality and differentiated product like
High Stakes Poker into a competitive market.
As Lipscomb described it, GSN was not
just a network that would air the WPT,
they represented an environment
where quality poker programming was
both appreciated and nurtured. Cronin, too,
saw the alliance as a growth opportunity,
describing the union as "a classic case of
where 1+1 = 3." Since 2004, when GSN
first ventured into casino programming,
they have been actively seeking quality
program partners to complement their space.
To Cronin, GSN's deal with WPTE
represents the "sweet spot; a premier
franchise at the ideal moment."

The "sweet spot" for poker viewers is
going to be Monday nights, when both
High Stakes Poker and the WPT
will air on GSN.

Nothing better to do ?

The EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo,
Europe's richest poker tournament,
will be broadcast via the internet,
on www.EPTlive.com

Starting Saturday 31st March,
the EPTlive.com webcast will bring you
three days of world class poker action from
the EPT Grand Final, at it happens.

This is a free service, with up to 10 hours
of coverage a day starting at the following times:

DAY FOUR, TV TABLE:
Saturday, 31th March, 1400 local time (0900 ET).

DAY FIVE, TV TABLE:
Sunday, 1st April, 1400 local time (0900 ET).

DAY SIX, FINAL TABLE:
Monday, 2nd April, 1600 local time (1100 ET).

Start times may vary, depending on the progress of the tournament.

More Poker Hysteria

NETeller Withdraws from
Canadian and Turkish Markets

by Haley Hintze

Despite not being pressured by any official
Canadian government action, NETeller Plc
announced in a press release today that the
firm would no longer provide service to online
gambling merchants for its Canadian customer
base, effective immediately.

NETeller also confirmed that it had withdrawn its
very minor presence in the Turkish gaming market,
following up on its blocking of Turkish bank-deposit
options on March 9th.

The cessation of services between Canadian players
and online gambling merchants is a de facto withdrawal
from the Canadian market, because NETeller has
no non-gambling merchants of significance. NETeller
also placed an immediate freeze on its instaCASH
service for Canadian customers, though peer-to-peer
transfers, pre-paid debit transactions, and fund
withdrawal by customers are still available options.

NETeller's statement on the matter only hints at
the factor that resulted in the firm's withdrawal,
with the closest explanation being this:
"Recent actions by regulators, payment
processors, and online gaming operators have
increased the uncertainty around certain
activities related to online gambling in some
jurisdictions." NETeller expects an additional
loss resulting in its departure from the Canadian
market, but is not expected to lay off any more
workers following its sizeable staff cuts several
weeks ago.

NETeller also took pains to mention that the
"75 days" mentioned in its release about frozen
U.S. funds was not a timetable for repayment
itself, but rather is just the timeline for creation
of the plan, as noted in our story on NETeller's
agreement with the USAO last week.

"It would remain to be determined, as part of
that plan," reads the new NETeller release,
"the precise timing of the distribution of funds
to US customers."

Will's Note: I got an email the other day from
WPTonline the other day saying they are no
longer accepting deposits from Canadians and
that i should withdraw my money asap.

Poker Mockumentary to debut at Film Festival

by Sarah Polson

The Grand, a poker mockumentary by
Zak Penn, has been chosen to screen
in the Tribeca Film Festival's Spotlight
category. The movie will be shown
during the festival's run April 25 - May 6.

The Spotlight category showcases
out-of-competition movies that feature
high-profile cast members, filmmakers
and subject matter.

The Grand certainly fits two out of three
of those features. Its cast is made up of
a laundry list of stars such as Ray Romano,
Jason Alexander, David Cross, Shannon
Elizabeth, Dennis Farina, Woody Harrelson,
Cheryl Hines, Richard Kind and more.

Several professional poker players also
put in appearances in the film:
Doyle Brunson, Phil Gordon, Phil Hellmuth
and more will show off their poker skills.

The Grand is a comedy set against a poker
tournament, a subject that is quite topical
considering the poker boom over the past
few years.

Penn directed the movie from a screenplay
outline and allowed the actors to improvise
most of their dialogue as they play real poker
on their way to the championship round of
a pretend international tournament.

A theater release date hasn't been set
yet for the movie.