Poker

This weekend was an exciting one at PokerStars because of the 2013 Spring Championship of Online Poker that was well underway. For a week, players had been flocking to the virtual tables with the hopes of winning a SCOOP title and collecting some of the tens of millions of dollars in guarantees available. Today was no different, as there were two NLHE tournaments and a PLO from which to choose. Thus far in the 2013 SCOOP, women were proving to be formidable opponents in SCOOP events, with more than a few making final tables. And one of the more well-known women in poker - Ana Marquez - already took down a title in this series. Meanwhile, the Women's Sunday was going strong with a solid field for its $10K guarantee tournament. The final registration numbers were: Total players: 227 Guarantee: $10,000.00 Prize pool: $11,350.00 Paid finishers: 36 There were four members of Team PokerStars in the field today, each with a $50 bounty on her head. The first to exit did so later in the tournament but before the money portion of the day, as Team Online's Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome was eliminated in 80th place. Team Pro Leo Margets followed shortly after in 68th place. After the money bubble burst, two bounties were still in play, however. Friend of PokerStars Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander and Poker SportStars Fatima Moreira de Melo were still in action but found themselves close to the bottom of the chip counts with three tables remaining. Fatima was soon eliminated in 17th place at the hands of sabaeva-elen. The 11th place elimination of domilid started hand-for-hand play, and it didn't take long for a big hand to develop. Jakwad_LV raised from the small blind, and Callisto 5 reraised from the big blind all-in with [As][3d]. Jakwad_LV called with [Ah][Jh], and that hand stood up to the [Ks][4c][9h][Tc][4h] board. Callisto 5 departed in tenth place with $181.60. Jakwad_LV jumps in with chip lead The final table began in Level 19, with blinds at 2,000/4,000 and a 400 ante, along with these players and their chip counts: Seat 1: jakwad_LV (134,170 in chips) Seat 2: Haufniensis (117,428 in chips) Seat 3: zzzFFFzzz (110,286 in chips) Seat 4: filosovsky (99,153 in chips) Seat 5: Yana Lipec (68,620 in chips) Seat 6: sabaeva-elen (43,814 in chips) Seat 7: Kosyan13 (31,351 in chips) Seat 8: donKK69 (40,138 in chips) Seat 9: Sjlot (36,040 in chips) The very first hand was a big one that changed the chip counts for several players: RSS readers click through to see replay Only a few hands later, sabaeva_elen was down to little more than 6K chips and pushed all-in with [Kh][Jd]. Kosyan13 reraised to isolate, which worked, and showed [Ac][Ts]. The board only improved that hand to a straight when it came [Jh][8s][Qd][As][9s], and sabaeva-elen was eliminated in ninth place with $215.65. Jakwad_LV ran into trouble when zzzFFFzzz took a pot worth 177,200 chips from her, and it again changed the makeup of the final table leaderboard. DonKK69 then doubled through zzzFFFzzz, and Sjlot doubled through Haufniensis. Jakwad_LV then doubled through DonKK69. Filosovsky sought a double-up as well. The hand started with an UTG raise from Kosyan13 and reraise from Haufniensis, at which point filosovsky came over the top all-in with [Ah][Qc]. Kosyan13 folded, but Haufniensis called with [Ac][As]. Nothing on the board of [Kc][2h][3h][9c][3s] changed anything, and filosovsky exited in eighth place with $283.75. DonKK69 then doubled through zzzFFFzzz but remained on the short stack. Sjlot doubled through jakwad_LV, and Yana Lipec did the same through Kosyan13. Sjlot then found another double opportunity, this time to climb into the top three: RSS readers click through to see replay Two hands later, Yana Lipec pushed her 1,380 chips all-in UTG with [4c][4h], and donKK69 reraised. Haufniensis raised it up again, and donKK69 called all-in with [Ah][Ks]. Haufniensis showed [Ad][Kd] and made the flush on the [7d][5d][9d][5s][2d] b

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State gaming regulators are looking into the relationship between 2-week-old Internet poker website Ultimate Poker and an unlicensed service provider used to identify new players. In an email, Gaming Control Board Chairman A.G. Burnett said gaming agents are working with officials from Ultimate, which is majority owned by Station Casinos. Over the weekend, Ultimate Gaming, parent of Ultimate Poker, said in a statement through a spokesman that on Thurday , it “discontinued” using services from Iovation. The company according to poker news resources, was linked to a 2008 online cheating scandal that brought down Ultimate Bet, which is not related to Ultimate Poker. Burnett said Iovation was not a registered service provider with Nevada but the company’s services were utilized by CAMS, an Nevada-approved service provider. “This is in the category of where the ultimate responsibility rests upon the licensee (Ultimate Gaming), and I know that they are addressing the issue,” Burnett said. “We, in turn, will analyze what we received back from Ultimate, and then decide how to proceed from here.” The issue was first brought to light by players on several online gaming websites and chat rooms. Software provided by Iovation, according to PokerNewsDaily.com and QuadJacks.com, was used by insiders of now defunct Ultimate Bet to “look in” hole cards of other players. According to the websites, poker players saw Iovation linked to the Ultimate Poker website and warned other players via message boards. Ultimate Poker launched in Nevada on April 30. The website can only accept wagers from customers gambling on computers or mobile devices located in Nevada. Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal. com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter. ________________________________________________________________ Copyright 2013 Stephens Media Interactive GamingWire.

It was the 30th time Rafael Nadal had stood at the net with Roger Federer, and the King of Clay made it count. Today at the Italian Open, Nadal beat Federer 6-1, 6-3 for the title. It was the seventh time Nadal had won the championship there and the 20th times he'd beaten Federer. If there was any question about Rafa's recovery from his 2012 injury, Rafa has put it to rest. This is his fifth title since the comeback. Now Rafa heads to Roland Garros for the French Open where he will attempt to win his 12th Grand Slam. Congrats, Rafa, on another great performance. Brad Willis is the PokerStars Head of Blogging

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The game was five-card pot-limit Omaha, one designed to add another layer, a fifth dimension if you like, to a game already laced with volatility. The result was a typical SCOOP final, one filled with good players, good play, and a winner worthy of the accolade "SCOOP champion". That was L0stKeys, who secured a shock win against Odd_Oddsen, to win the title, a SCOOP winner's watch and an un-chopped first prize of $114,660. That the prize was a big one owed everything to the re-buy and add-on option which swelled the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool to more than $440,000. From the 151 players there were 166 re-buys and a further 124 add-ons. Frugality, thy name is not 5-card pot-limit Omaha. A few hands into the SCOOP 19-H final table Clarity, your name is not 5-card PLO either. As hands flashed up the fifth card meant only the sharp-eyed were able to spot winning hands before they disappeared, the chips were pushed in one direction or another. For the sleepy, watching late at night, or early in the morning, the hand re-player served its purpose. What that showed was a pretty entertaining final table. Seat 1 - Odd_Oddsen Norway), 398,245 Seat 2 - L0stKeys (Costa Rica), 315,051 Seat 3 - VOZNI (Russia), 196,483 Seat 4 - blanconegro (Mexico), 138,113 Seat 5 - sexygee (United Kingdom), 169,826 Seat 6 - Ledicus (Ireland), 353,282 As you'd expect in a $1,050 buy-in Omaha event, the line-up was a one of competitive distinction. Among the last six there were former runners-up, of SCOOPs and a Sunday Millions, as well as those set for a career best finish. Odd_Oddsen secures the lead The relatively inexperienced Norwegian Odd_Oddsen led with nearly 400,000 chips, ahead of Ledicus, from Ireland, with 353,000. The pair would wrestle for the lead in the early stages before Odd_Oddsen pulled away through the application of relentless pressure, and a locking of antlers that took Odd_Oddsen up to more than 650,000 when Odd_Oddsen rivered an ace-high flush to beat Ledicus's ace-high straight. It was a lead he would keep until he was heads-up. Meanwhile VOZNI was first to depart. A SCOOP runner up from 2010, VOZNI's tournament ended in sixth place when his turned second nut flush was pipped by Ledicus's nut flush. Three minutes later Sexygee followed. Sexygee, who finished second in the $7m guaranteed Anniversary Sunday Million in March, was busted when he could only show ace-high against the ace-high straight of Odd_Oddsen. It meant advantage Norway, up to more than 750,000. Meanwhile... At the other end of the scale was Blanconegro, another SCOOP 2010 runner-up, who survived a further 15 minutes as the short stack before he too was despatched by the chip leader in fourth place. Three handed, Odd_Oddsen's lead was significant. Odd_Oddsen - 852,000 Ledicus - 415,000 L0stKeys - 295,000 L0stKeys, boxing out of Costa Rica, had been relatively quite up to now, but got to work taking over second place from Ledicus, while Odd_Oddsen took his stack above the one million mark. Ledicus, though, was never able to recover, busting in third place. Odd_Oddsen had led all the way and, with a two-to-one advantage over L0stKeys, looked destined to secure a first SCOOP title. With blinds at 3,000-6,000 however, the stacks were deep, deep enough for L0stKeys to set about clawing back. It looked to be working until Odd-Oddsen undid all his work to restore his lead. Then a massive hand. The hand effectively switched the stacks around, L0stKeys now leading and crippling Odd_Oddsen minutes later. Going into the last break L0stKeys's 1.3 million towered over Odd_Oddsen 269,000. It was beginning to look inevitable when Odd_Oddsen got his chips in on the flop of [3c][9c][th]. L0stKeys fired before Odd_Oddsen shoved for his remaining 124,000... L0stKeys's tens and nines were enough to secure his first SCOOP bracelet, a well-timed display to pull off the unexpected win. Congratulations to L0stKeys on an excellent performance. PokerStars 2

One of the newest games to hit the PokerStars lobby, Pot-Limit 5-Card Omaha is exactly like regular PLO, but with the bonus of an additional hole card. Hand values increase, redraws are vital, and the nuts, or something very close to them is most often the winning hand. This isn't a game for the faint of heart and no one at this final table understood pressure more than brianm15. A Sunday Warm-Up champion who once made back-to-back Sunday Million final tables, brianm15 lost out on a SCOOP title last year in the $2,100 NLHE event, but took home over $211k for his runner-up finish. Tonight, brianm15 did one better and nabbed himself a SCOOP watch along with over $42,000. 658 adventurous SCOOPers gave Big O a whirl, their 1,155 rebuys and 499 add-ons resulting in a $231,200 prize pool. 84 places were pair with first place set to earn $42,772.00. Ten Red Spades joined the field, among them Nacho Barbero, Lex Veldhus, Eugene Katchalov, Marcel Luske and George Danzer, but when it came to making the money, they were all shut out. With seven players remaining, brianm15 held a substantial chip lead with more than double the chips of his closest competitor. He padded that lead even further by delivering a one-out blow to cluelessiam on a [Ad][6s][9s][9c][8s] board, the river making him a nine-high straight flush vs. cluessiam's full house. Left with 182,000, cluelessiam got the rest of his chips in on a [Qd][Td][3d][4h] board vs. brianm15. Cluelessiam turned up [Kc][Qc][Qs][6h][4d] for a set of queens, while brianm15 revealed [Jd][9d][9h][5s][2s] for a flopped queen-high flush. Cluelessiam didn't boat up on the river, the [Ah] falling to end his run on the final table bubble. Final table chip counts Seat 1: EdoTK (204,968 in chips) Seat 2: AceQuad (523,525 in chips) Seat 3: NoTime2WaZT (967,566 in chips) Seat 4: Andollini (619,774 in chips) Seat 5: isinm2006 (991,151 in chips) Seat 6: brianm15 (4,627,016 in chips) Andollini eliminated in sixth place Andollini couldn't seem to get any traction at the final table. Down to 244,000 with the blinds up to 10,000/20,000, Andollini opened for 70,000 from UTG. NoTime2WaZTcalled from the big blind and they saw a [Kh][Js][3s] flop. NoTime2WaZT led out for 100,000 and Andollini called. NoTime2WaZT bet another 100,000 on the [Qc] turn and Andollini called all-in, revealing [As][Ac][9d][7c][2s] for a pair of aces and the nut flush draw. NoTime2WaZT had already made Broadway with [Ad][Kc][Tc][9c][4d]. Andollini needed a river spade to survive, but got the [2h] instead, and departed in sixth place. brianm15 delivers a one-two punch AceQuad was the next to fall. After brianm15 opened for 70,000, AceQuad three-bet shoved for 196,025 and brianm15 called. AceQuad [Ac][Ah][8s][6c][3c] brianm15 [Qh][Jd][6s][5c][4d] AceQuad made aces up on the [Ts][5s[5h] flop, but the [3s] on the turn gave brianm15 a straight draw. He filled it on the river with the [2s] and AceQuad was out in fifth, earning $11,560.00 for his run. Two hands later, EdoTK put his last 110,000 in before the flop, his [Ad][As][7c][6h][5h] up against brianm15's [Kd][Kc][Jh][Th][Ts]. Although EdoTK made top set on the [Ah][9s][4h] flop, brianm15 turned the nut flush with the [8h]. EdoTK needed to pair the board on the river, but saw the [Qd] fall instead to send him home in fourth place. Clock runs out on NoTime2WaZT On the very next deal, brianm15 opened for a min-raise to 40,000 and isinm2006 called from the big blind. Both players checked the [Jd][Th][9c] flop and when the [Qh] came on the turn, isinm2006 check-called another 40,000. The river fell the [Tc] and isinm2006 checked a third time. Brianm15 bet 170,000, isinim2006 raised to 680,000 and brianm15 looked him up. Isinm2006 turned over [Kd][Qd][Qs][6h][6d] for the nut boat and raked in the 1.53 million pot, increasing his stack to 1.55 million. At this point, brianm15 continued to hold a dominating chip lead with 4.42 million while NoTime2WaZT and isinm2