February 20 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We know life can throw you curveballs and you might miss a Nightly Turbo every now and again (you can sign up for the newsletter so that won’t happen by the way), so that’s why we’re bringing you the Weekly Turbo. In the lineup tonight, we’ve got the schedule for the new poker league, news on PartyPoker’s return (maybe) to the U.S., and more.

Federated Sports + Gaming’s Poker League Schedule Released

The schedule for the first season of the professional poker league that was announced in January by Federated Sports + Gaming has just been released. Every event will take place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas. Four events are on the schedule, along with a championship event. Each “event week” includes three tournaments: a Pro-Am event, a charity tournament, and the Main Event, which is a $20,000 buy-in. The four Main Events will feature different variants of no-limit Texas hold’em.

“We decided to vary the format of our events to showcase and challenge the skill of the best live tournament players in the world,” Annie Duke, commissioner of the new Federated League, said. “Our Pro-Am events will create opportunities for break-out stars to shine.”

Players who don’t qualify for a league card will be able to qualify for a seat in the Main Event. Each event week will begin with a $1,500 Pro-Am event that will be open to all players 21 and over. The top nine players from that event will awarded a temporary league card.

“Because the Main Events have four or more days to play down to a winner from a start of approximately 200 players, we believe it will offer the best, most friendly structures for the skilled player out there,” Duke said. “Great structures, no rake and generous overlays are integral to our celebration of the best live tournament players in the world.”

2011-2012 Federated Sports and Gaming Season 1 Tournament Schedule

For more, read the press release at FederatedInc.com.

Rumor: Party in the USA?

The rumor mill is buzzing about PartyGaming’s return to the U.S. According to reports in London’s Daily Mail, PartyGaming has signed a deal with at least one major U.S.-based casino so that once the U.S. has regulated online gambling, PartyGaming will be able to provide an online poker platform.

No casino has been named, but Boyd Gaming, MGM, Las Vegas Sands, and Caesars have been mentioned.

You can read more at GamblingOnlineMagazine.com.

From Russia, With Love

No, Natalia Nikitina is not the newest Bond girl, but she did take down the World Poker Tour National Series Euro Finals of Poker Diamond Championship early Wednesday morning. Nikitina was the last woman standing at the end of play, besting the 188-player field and taking home €243,830.

Nikitina battled Alexandre Brivot heads up, with the chip lead transferring hands a number of times before Brivot moved all in with king-jack and was called by Nikitina. Nikitina’s ace-three held and all the chips were pushed her way.

“That was a long and hard contest,” she said shortly after her first live major tournament win, “Three hours before the end I was actually finding it hard to stay awake and keep concentrating on my game but I am delighted to win. I am going to celebrate by buying a BMW 6 Series,” she said shortly after her win.

Sam Trickett, who has had a stellar year so far, was part of the final table, finishing in sixth place, good for €43,545.

Final Table Results

1. Natalia Nikitina – €243,830
2. Alexandre Brivot – €174,170
3. Jean-Louis Tepper – €113,210
4. Benjamin Pollak – €69,670
5. Tobias Wagner – €52,250
6. Sam Trickett – €43,545
7. Ingo Paulus – €34,835
8. Nicolo Calia – €26,120

Head on over to the PartyPoker Blog for more, including an interview with Nikitina.

*Photo courtesy of the PartyPoker Blog

LAPT Announces Chile National Poker Championship

The PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour has announced its return to Viña del Mar for the fourth season of the LAPT. The LAPT did not make it to Chile in season three because of the devastating earthquake that struck the country. The $1,100 buy-in LAPT Chile National Poker Championship will take place March 17 through 20 at the Enjoy Viña del Mar Hotel & Casino.

“It feels great to be returning to Chile. Poker has grown since we were last here and we look forward to helping it grow even more. Our partnership with the Enjoy Group, the leading live poker operator in Chile, is very strong, and we are looking forward to an exceptional tournament,” President of the LAPT, David Carrion said.

There are five events on the LAPT Chile docket with a wide range of buy-ins including a $4,000 High Roller event.

“This will be the second LAPT to take place in Viña del Mar, and we are very proud to bring this type of event to Chile. We believe this is a great opportunity to give our players a chance to take place in a tournament of high calibre and worldwide recognition, providing a significant push to the development of tourism within the region,” Juan Pablo Covacevich, gaming marketing manager of the Enjoy Group said.

Sign up for a PokerStars account and qualify for your seat at one of the LAPT events!

Back on Tilt

Sorel Mizzi was permanently banned from Full Tilt Poker in late 2007. In case you don’t know the story, it was revealed that he had taken over the account of Chris Vaughn late in the Full Tilt $1 Million Guarantee and then went on to win it. Soon after, both Vaughn and Mizzi were banned from Full Tilt Poker.

It seems as though Mizzi’s ban has been lifted and he is back at the Full Tilt Poker tables, playing under his screen name, “Imper1um.” Wednesday night, Mizzi tweeted, “19/25 in FTOPS #33 $300Rebuy- already won a ton in prop bets seeing if I can close big on first day back on FTP.” Imper1um ended up finishing in 24th place.

PokerKingBlog.com has more.

Team PokerStars Challengers

While we’d like to say we stumbled across the Team PokerStars Challengers while playing online, it wouldn’t be accurate because these guys are playing higher than our $.05/$.10 bankroll will allow us to play. We came across a thread on TwoPlusTwo titled New “team pokerstars pro’ [challenger] ??, and we decided to investigate. After an email or two to our sources, we figured it out.

Team PokerStars Challengers are three players from Greece, George Kapalas (gkap13), Alexis Zervos (J0hnny_Dr@m@), and Stavros Kalfas (IDOLLS). The Challengers, who will gradually be introduced over the next few months, are professional players who are well-known in their local market by their performances online and on the European tournament circuit.

The three have agreed to take on a challenge to determine which will be the best overall performer in 2011. Online tournament ROI, most live-event cashes, and SCOOP and WCOOP performances are some but not all the categories the three are competing in.

We’ve been told that PokerStars will be releasing more information on the Challengers soon, as well as a way to find out how they’re performing.

Why don’t you sign up for a PokerStars account and rail their tables, or take advantage of our sign up bonus.

Jared Huggins Gets Loose

A year-and-a-half ago, Jared Huggins was down on his luck, losing his job and becoming homeless. He started a thread on TwoPlusTwo about his situation, and before you knew it, the TwoPlusTwo community stepped in and began helping him out. Soon, a petition was started to get Huggins on the PokerStars Big Game, as one of the Loose Cannons.

Initially, it seemed as though Huggins didn’t make the cut for a Loose Cannon spot, but Sunday night, PokerStars Steve posted the Loose Cannon list for the 2011 taping of the Big Game, and Huggins was on the list. Filming for the Big Game begins in just a few weeks in Las Vegas.

If you want to find out more about Huggins’ story you can check out the Sin City Series or listen to the PokerNews Podcast.

Event Betting Returns

Will you be able to make bets at Las Vegas sportsbooks on the World Series of Poker this summer? Technically, yes. The Nevada Gaming Commission recently amended its regulations on event betting and approved it. This means, among the lines for football games and basketball games, you might see odds on the Grammys or the Oscars.

“I think it will be good for the state,” Cantor Gaming race and sportsbook director Mike Colbert said. “I don’t think it’s going to add all that much revenue, but anything that creates more action I’m in favor of.”

Cantor Gaming operates sportsbooks at The M Resort, Hard Rock, Tropicana, and The Cosmopolitan. It was also the organization at the forefront of getting the amendment passed. The gaming board is now requesting that sportsbooks show how they plan to monitor the betting to prevent cheating.

“There’s a million ways we could swing that,” Colbert said regarding the World Series of Poker. “All of the poker guys would love it. They bet amongst themselves anyway about who’s going to last longer, who’s going to win a tournament and who’s going to win the most bracelets. There’s really a market for a variety of different poker wagers.”

Read more at Covers.com.

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February 20 2011, Donnie Peters

The third day of action came to a close Saturday night for the 2011 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour São Paulo Main Event. Coming in Day 3 with only 24 players remaining from the record-breaking field of 536, Alex Manzano of Chile headed the pack. He wasn’t able to ride that big stack to the chip lead heading into the final table, but will enter second in chips with 1.73 million. Leading the way is Day 1 chip leader Leandro Csome from Argentina. Csome bagged up 2.875 million in chips at day’s end.

The action didn’t start off slow, as a few doubles up and eliminations came in the first level of the day. It wasn’t until the second level of the day though that the last woman standing Daniela Zapiello was eliminated from action in 22nd place. On the feature table, Zapiello got her money in with the . Henrique Bernardes held the and off to the races they went. The board ran out to end the tournament for Zapiello and leave her with a payday worth R$14,350. In February 2010, Zapiello placed fifth in the LAPT Punta del Este Main Event for USD $52,110.

Manzano began the day as the largest stack and kept his aggression up all day long, using the big stack just like a big stack should be used: like a club bashing on shorter stacks. He constantly opened pots preflop if the action got to him unopened. If that didn’t happen and someone else raised in front of him, Manzano would often three-bet, especially against smaller stacks where he would effectively raise enough to force them to a decision for their tournament life.

In one hand that exhibits just how aggressive Manzano was playing, he took a big pot from Fabio Colonese. Sitting in the cutoff, Manzano opened a pot preflop with a standard raise. On the button, Colonese reraised, clearing out the blinds. With action back to Manzano, he four-bet an additional 80,000. Colonese took two to three minutes before five-betting an additional 120,000 on top of Manzano’s four-bet. The seconds ticked quietly off the clock while Manzano pondered. With about a million left behind (against Colonese’s 500,000), Manzano six-bet shoved. Colonese put his head down on the table, seemingly pained by his decision to call or fold. Several more minutes went by before he finally folded. Manzano casually flipped up ! Colonese tapped the table “good hand” and showed one card, the .

The biggest name to move onto Day 3 was none other than Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. The two-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet and holder of more than $5.85 million in live tournament winnings went on to finish in 15th place. Brenes was all in and dominated against Marcelo Fonseca. He failed to get the come-from-behind victory, which made the water a little bit safer minus this shark. His finish earned him another R$16,740 for his career.

With even more chips than ever, the Chilean Manzano started picking off Brazilian players left and right. First, he eliminated Caio Brites in 13th place. Then, he knocked off Walter Oaquim in 12th place. Following that, Manzano clipped Eduardo Costa in 11th place. After all of this, Manzano had well over two million in chips.

Amos Ben Haim was the last player to go before the remaining nine players all settled in around the main feature table. Ben Haim open-shoved his button for 482,000 holding the . Unfortunately for him, Marcio Motta was waiting in the small blind with the . No help came on the board and Ben Haim finished in 10th place.

With the tournament down to its final nine, Manzano still had the lead with over 2.4 million in chips. He was the only player over two million at the time, but Day 1 chip leader Leandro Csome wasn’t too far off the mark with 1.9 million.

About an hour into nine-handed play, Joao Bauer was all in preflop for roughly 650,000 holding the . Chip leader Manzano was his opponent and he held the to make the end of Day 3 look just a flop, turn and river away. The deck had other things in mind though, or maybe it was just a bit partial to Bauer. Either way, the board ran out to keep Bauer alive in stellar runner-runner fashion.

From there, Manzano lost more chips. He missed out on some value against Colonese when he failed to bet a straight on the river against Colonese’s top pair. A few hands after that, Manzano check-raised to nearly half a million in chips, but was forced to fold to Csome’s reraise on the flop of . That pot gave Csome the chip lead and from there he continued to rise. Csome finished off Colonese in ninth place to end the day and padded his stack a little bit more.

Final Table Seating Assignments and Chip Stacks:

Everyone left has locked up a minimum of R$45,440, but they’ll all have their eyes set on the R$615,840 first-place prize. The button will start with chip leader Csome in Seat 6, making Politano and Bernardes the small blind and big blind, respectively. Play resumes on Sunday at 1:00 PM local time and you can be sure to follow all of the action live on PokerNews.

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