Phil Laak Injured In ATV Accident
Phil Laak, while on an Oregon, outdoor adventure trip, was seriously injured in an ATV accident. Don’t worry. He’s fine just probably really sore. Reportedly he broke 7 bones including one in his arm. Laak, initially wasn’t in any condition to report the news to the poker community himself so he trusted his pal and fellow poker professional to do it for him via good old Twitter. Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari provided some detail about the accident but didn’t give an in-depth report. According to his tweet, Phil got hurt after the guys got a little crazing driving in the doons on All Terrain Vehicles (ATV).
The all-guys trip was scheduled to last an entire week with the guys living it up outdoors in the Oregon wilderness. Things reportedly went well the first two days. The group camped out and when rafting. Things would soon, however take a turn for the worst.
Laak is scheduled to make a full recovery, though he is bit banged up right now. This experience sheds some light on our dependency on popular social networking sites. A news source wasn’t the first to report on Laak’s injuries, Esfndiari was, via the social network site, Twitter. He also posted frequent updates and pictures, much like the news would if they were interested in the story.
This event also sheds light on the inherent dangers of All Terrain Vehicles. In the year 2008, more then 135,100 people were hospitalized after riding in ATVs, 410 people died. In 2010 in a span of 13 days, between July 20 and August 2nd, 18 people died. That’s an incredible amount of individuals in a very short amount of time. The point here is to be careful, play smart and avoid taking too many risks while riding on All Terrain Vehicles because the outcome can be devastating. Laak, appears to have been pretty fortunate.
Long story short is, if you are going to let it ride, do it at the casino!
WPT Legends of Poker Fan? It Begins Friday!
The WPT Legends of Poker begins Friday. Play for this year’s championship will begin August 20th and ends August 25th. Besides the championship, 22 other preliminary events have already taken place. Participants have competed in games of Hold’em, HORSE, Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Pot Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Half Stud Half Omaha Hi Lo and Shootout, Re-entry and Deepstack formatted Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo. Buys-ins for these events ranged from $225 to $545.
The Main Event for this tournament, the No Limit Hold’em Championship, requires a $5,000 buy-in, which is made up of $4800 + $200. It will be held at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California. The championship will last until August 25th and begins August 20th. Day one of the event will see the field split into two flights.
For those familiar with the WPT Legends of Poker tournament, a $5000 buy-in may seem a bit low. Individuals who made this observation would be correct. This figure is the lowest buy-in of a WPT Legends of Poker main championship event since 2005. It is the first time that it has been less then $10,000, again, since 2005. The buy-in amount has decreased in an effort to generate greater participation in WPT events. Unfortunately, it didn’t help to increase the number of participants. Attendance was 25% less then it was in 2005. Even still, the cashes will be nice, especially for the top 6 performers. The individual that finishes in first place, will take home more then $1 million. Those players that finish in spots 2-5 will receive six-figure payouts.
Last year’s winner was Mr. Prahlad Friedman. He beat out Kevin Schaffel for the honor of WPT Legend of Poker’s champion. This year, should be a noteworthy event with some of the world’s top players fighting it out to become 2010’s top player.
1% Bad Bet On Cancer Has Taken On The Dreaded Disease
Poker players in support of cancer prevention research have banned together to raise money for the Prevent Cancer foundation. Since 2003 nearly 100 poker players have helped raise more then $3.2 million. The 1% Bad Beat On Cancer initiative began after two poker professionals, Phil Gorden and Ray Furst, decided to come together to raise money for cancer prevention while at the 2003 World Series of Poker texas hold’em Main event.
Prior to that, each man had been donating their own money soon began to see the advantage of pooling the financial power of their fellow poker professionals. Phil Ivey, Chris moneymaker, Chris Ferguson, Annie Duke, Phil Gordon, Adam Levy, Toby McGuire and Phil Hellmuth as well as others have agreed to join the fight against cancer with them. The aforementioned are only a few of the 94 players who have agreed to give 1% of their earnings to the Prevent Cancer foundation. All donations are tax deductible.
Poker enthusiasts who may not be professional players can also contribute. Some groups around the country are meeting regularly with each participant donating 1 percent of their earnings to the foundation. The Prevent Cancer initiative is just one way that poker professionals are attempting to give back and support a cause that they are passionate about. Though the foundation has been quite successful, more donations are welcome.
The CEO of the foundation Jan Meyer has expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the poker players who have taken part and have agreed to give some of their earnings to prevent cancer. She has been extremely impressed, saying “I think it’s terrific because poker players are not known for their philanthropic endeavors but in reality they are very philanthropic,” she said. “They go out of their way for us.” Poker players who have pledged 1% of their earnings and who have actually donated, have the option of wearing a 1% Bad Beat On Cancer patch. Several players were sporting them at this year’s World Series of Poker.
WSOP November Nine Named
In this year’s World Series of Poker main event, 7,319 men and women descended upon Las Vegas to compete for one of the biggest prizes in poker, the WSOP Main Event Championship. Nine individuals played their way into the final table. This group has been dubbed the November Nine because the final table won’t be played until November, Nov. 6th to be exact.
The reasons given for the format change varies based on who you talk to. Some say that the format was tinkered with in order to give the finalist an opportunity to get used to their new-found fame. Whatever the reason, poker fans are now forced to wait until November before the World Series of Poker Main Event Champion is crowned.
The nine individuals make up this group include, Jonathan Duhamel, John Dolan, Joseph Cheong, John Racener, Jason Sentl, Cuong Nguyen, Michael Mizrachi, Matthew Jarvis and Filippo Candio.
These contestants hail from three countries, the United States, Italy and Canada. All seats have been drawn and announced. Jason Sentl will sit at seat 1, Joseph Cheong at seat 2, John Dolan Seat 3, Jonathan Duhamel Seat 4, Michael Mizrachi Seat 5, Matthew Jarvis Seat 6, John Racener Seat 7, Filippo Candio Seat 8 and Cuong Nguyen in Seat 9.
The most celebrated name of these finalists is Michael ‘the Grinder’ Mizrachi. The 29 year player is one of the eldest in the 9-man field. He hails from Miami, FL. This year he won is first WSOP gold bracelet, competing in the Poker Players Championship. Though he is the most successful of the group, he has a pretty low chip count going into the finals. As it stands, he is in 7th place with only 14.4 million chips. To provide you with some perspective the person currently in first place has 65 .9 million chips and that is Jonathan Duhamel.
It is important top note that the person with the highest chip count isn’t necessary the player who wins it all. Every player that makes it to the final has a chance of winning or at least finishing atop of the field in this prestigious texas holdem tournament. Who do you think is going to win? The online sportsbooks have released the betting odds for the 2010 WSOP Final Table. Grab yourself a promotion code for bodog sportsbook and put your money down to see who wins.
PokerStars Moves Into French Gambling Market
PokerStars.com has just been granted a license to enter the French gambling market and by all accounts, they are looking to make a big splash. Pokerstars has managed to lure some of the top French poker pros to their website. Bertrand Grospellier, Thomas Bichon, and Arnaud Mattern have all joined the site”s pro squad representing the Poker Stars.fr site. This should enable Pokerstars to make some pretty good inroads in the country right off the bat. Segastian Chabal and Gaels Monfils have signed on as celebrity spokesmen.
Play Poker at PokerStars Today
French poker pro, Bertrand Grospellier, went on record concerning Pokerstars.fr stating that , “Players on PokerStars.fr will have fantastic new opportunities, not only to play online, but to win seats to famous international poker events like the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour and the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas,” Grospellier said.
“These tournaments require players to have the right mix of skill, training, and concentration, and PokerStars.fr will be the perfect place for players to work on that.”
Poker Stars submitted their license to become an online gambling operator on May 19th. They have since been accepted and are now able to offer cash casino games. However, they are unable to offer cash-based poker games, sit n” gos or tournaments. This is due in part to the failure of France to release their regulations governing online poker.
Prior to France agreeing to make changes to its online gambling policies, all online gambling was state-run and operated. All of that changed in April of 2010. The French Parliament made the decision to open things up and the country has since, done exactly that. The ARJEL was created to provide regulation for the industry and to dispense licenses as they saw fit.
Besides PokerStars, the ARJEL has distributed licenses to a number of other groups. They include, but are not limited to, Everest Poker, Gaming Illiad, BWIN, Partouche Gaming France SAS, BetClinic and Electraworks SAS (Party Poker). Microgaming has applied for a license but is waiting for approval.
