2011 January 14, Mickey Doft, Rich Ryan

$25,000 High Roller

Day 1 of the $25,000 High Roller at the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure welcomed 151 entrants into the ballroom here at the beautiful Atlantis Resort and Casino, nearly double the 84 players that participated last year.

After eight levels, Ryan “toetagU” Fair bagged up 217,200 in chips and will enter Day 2 as the chip leader. Fair won the 2010 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker $10,300 Main Event for $1,162,350 back in May and has over two million in career earnings on PokerStars alone.

The defending champion, William Reynolds, had a very solid day on the felt as well. He bagged up 170,800 in his title-defense run. Joining Fair and Reynolds towards the top of the pack will be Ty Reiman (205,400), Kyle Julius (173,500) and Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez (167,600).

The event saw plenty of big names come and go including Bertrand Grospellier, Viktor Blum, Jonathan Duhamel, John Duthie, Justin Bonomo and Shaun Deeb. There were plenty of survivors though including both Jason Mercier and Joe Hachemwho had rollercoaster days, but finished with 75,600 and 55,500, respectively.

Play resumes tomorrow at 12:00 p.m. EST with Day 2 as they play down to the final table of eight players. Make sure you follow the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for the remainder of the 2011 PCA!

$5,000 NAPT Bounty Shootout

Play resumed in the 2011 PCA $5,000 NAPT Bounty Shootout Saturday where 36 players returned in two flights to play down to a final table. Andrew Chen, Shaun Deeb, Michael Binger, Marko Neumann, Scott Baumstein and William Pilossop all won their heats and have a seat locked up at Sunday’s final table.

There were a handful of notables who entered the day looking to advance including Amnon Filippi, David Baker, Darren Elias, Jeff Madsen, Brandon Adams, Faraz Jaka and Nick Binger.

Team PokerStars was well represented by Greg Debora, Barry Greenstein, Dario Minieri, Ville Wahlbeck and George Lind III, but none of them were able to win their respective heats. Wahlbeck was the closest, finishing runner up when Pilossop cracked his aces heads up.

Perhaps the most intriguing story of the day was that Nick and Michael Binger sat next to each other at their table. Michael even eliminated his brother when Nick shoved with . Michael had him dominated with and held when the board ran .

Chris Klodnicki took the worst beat of the day when he flopped a full house with on a board. His opponent, Neuman, flopped trips with and after the turned the river brought the . Over 90,000 chips went in the middle, Klodnicki was left with only 1,500 and busted the very next hand.

The final table is set for Sunday at 12 p.m. local time. The remaining players have all guaranteed themselves $40,000 and will be fighting it out for both the $200,000 first-place prize and the $25,000 prize for most knockouts.

Remember to follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

2011 January 14, Elaine Chaivarlis

If you were searching for the top poker news stories of the day, look no further, you’ve found them. We’re going to get straight to it, so you can get what you need and mosey along and start your weekend. The television dates for season nine of the World Poker Tour have been announced, so we’ll tell you all about that, the Full Tilt Poker Academy that’s going to be held at the Aussie Millions, and more.

In Case You Missed It

The second flight of the first event of the 2011 Aussie Millions saw 283 players register. When play was done for the day, Simon Watt and Jonathan Karamalikis were in the top ten in chips on the leaderboard, but it was Martin Drewe who was leading the way. Check out the Aussie Millions recap for more.

The NFL Divisional Playoffs are here and you’re probably wondering which teams to take this week. Rest your brain, we’ve done all of the research for you and made picks in the latest edition of the Pigskin Diaries.

$100k flips, $100k pots, and more. It’s just another day on the high-stakes poker scene online. Want to read more about it? You can, in the Online Railbird.

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure kicked off last week with a $100,000 Super High Roller event that attracted 38 players. Since we know you’ve already read the live reporting blog with all the action, we figured we’d bring you a picture book to look at.

It’s Baaaaack!

No one is a huge fan of reruns, so when the newest season of your favorite show has been announced, you want to know the dates right away so you can set your DVR. The World Poker Tour’s Executive Tour Director, Matt Savage, announced the dates via his Twitter account and in a post on TwoPlusTwo.

The 26-episode season kicks off on Sunday, February 13 with part one of the Bellagio Cup VI. As you know, there are new elements to the WPT broadcast, such as Kimberly Lansing taking the anchor position on the show, the Royal Flush Girls, and Tony Dunst’s new segment called the Raw Deal.

If you missed the preview teaser the last time we talked about it, don’t worry, we’re in a giving mood and have embedded it again for you.

Check out the entire television schedule on TwoPlusTwo.

Full Tilt Academy – Live

While many of you have checked out the online videos from the Full Tilt Poker Academy, those of you who are in Melbourne, Australia, for the 2011 Aussie Millions will be able to experience it live.

This is a course you don’t want to miss as Howard Lederer, Erick Lindgren, Gus Hansen, Roberto Romanello, Jonathan “xMONSTERxDONGx” Karamalikis, and Simon Watt bring you insights on table image, live tells, mixed games, changing gears, and hand analysis. This is only the second time that the online Full Tilt Poker Academy has gone “off line” and live, giving participants a unique face-to-face experience with the pros.

Tickets to the seminar are exclusive to Full Tilt Poker Aussie Millions qualifiers, but, Full Tilt is running a tournament on January 19 and is awarding the top 25 places, a seat in the seminar on January 22.

Read the press release for more, and if you’re going to be in Melbourne and want a seat, sign up for a Full Tilt Poker account and check out Tournament ID 211446808 for more.

Watch the PCA Final Table (Almost) Live

Back in December, we told you that ESPN2 and ESPN3 would be airing the final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event. Don’t worry, that hasn’t changed. This is just a friendly reminder because if your memory is anything like ours, we know you need it.

Coverage starts at 5 p.m. EST on ESPN3, and then at 10 p.m. EST, ESPN2 HD will join in to simulcast the show and run until a winner is crowned. The broadcast will be on a one-hour delay, so when a player busts, he can relive it all if he wants to.

“For the first time viewers at home will see a poker telecast from start to finish, with all the strategy of world-class poker players playing in real time and completely unedited,” Matt Volk, ESPN manager of programming and acquisitions said.

ESPN.com as more.

PKR Gets in the Octagon

PKR, following in the footsteps of Full Tilt Poker and UB, has partnered with a mixed martial arts promotion. BAMMA, the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts (Britain’s top MMA promotion) and PKR have just signed a deal to become the official gaming partner of BAMMA. With this partnership, the PKR brand will be seen at all fights, and BAMMA branding will be used in and around PKR Poker Rooms, as will fighter images.

“It is with great pleasure that we announce our official partnership with BAMMA. Mixed Martial Arts is becoming hugely popular and we are very much looking forward to working with them throughout the coming year,” PKR Marketing Manager Erika Schwartz said.

Check out UK.PokerNews.com for more.

Poker Pet Peeves

Do you have any pet peeves at the poker table? Kristy Arnett and Sarah Grant talk to some of the pros at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to find out what they can’t stand when they’re playing live.

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