February 15 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

While we might be in a candy heart coma today, we’re not going to leave you hanging. WSOP.fr got word on its license in France, the rumor mill is buzzing about PartyPoker’s return to the United States, and more.

In Case You Missed It

The World Series of Poker Circuit in Tunica, Mississippi, played down to a final table on Monday. Want to find out which player is that much closer to a WSOP-C gold ring? Check out the WSOP-C recap.

Didn’t make it to Foxwoods for the November Nine Reunion? That’s OK. We did and we have the photo blog to prove it.

The World Series of Poker Europe is moving to France. Allons en France: A Dissection of the WSOP Europe’s Move to Cannes gives you a few reasons why this could be a good thing.

If you aren’t able to catch the soap operas during the day, no worries, the drama between Stanley Ho and his family will get you your fix. Check out Inside Gaming for more.

The high-stakes action heated up over the weekend with Patrik Antonius and Scott Palmer battling it out, as well as Gus Hansen, and Rui Cao. The Online Railbird Report has some of the biggest hands from the matches.

WSOP.fr Gets There

The French online gaming regulator ARJEL has granted an online gaming license to WSOP.fr, the poker site created by the partnership between Caesars Entertainment and Groupe Lucien Barriére.

WSOP.fr is a skin of Barrierepoker.fr and will offer real-money poker and WSOP-branded tournaments. Also, players will be able to qualify for WSOP events in Europe and the United States.

EGRMagazine.com has more.

Rumor: Party in the USA?

The rumor mill is buzzing regarding 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.

Raise Your Hand for Africa

On February 19, poker pros and celebrities alike will get together for the Raise Your Hand for Africa charity poker tournament. The event, which is being held at the Golden Nugget in Las Vegas, will benefit two organizations: Starkey Hearing Foundation, which helps the world’s hearing impaired, and Pros for Africa, which helps provide basic needs for the children in Africa. The Heartland Poker Tour will be televising the event.

Plenty of you favorite poker players will be there including, Phil Hellmuth, Howard Lederer, Annie Duke, Johnny Chan, Liz Lieu, and more. Joining them are NFL stars Adrian Peterson, Larry Fitzgerald Jr., Roy Williams, and Larry Johnson among others. Don Cheadle, Steve Martin, and Verne Troyer, will also be in attendance.

If you want to find out more, head on over to the Starkey Foundation’s Raise Your Hand for Africa page.

Chilipoker DeepStack Open

Season two of the Chilipoker Deepstack Open has released its 2011 schedule. Seven events are on the docket, each with a €550 buy-in. The first event kicks off on March 31 at Gran Casino Costa Brava in Spain. Next up is Cannes in April and then Marrakech in June. The rest of the year finishes up in Paris, Malta, Vienna, and Marrakech again for the final stop on the season two DSO schedule.

The site is also giving three sponsorship opportunities, which will give players the chance to become a member of the Chili DSO Team complete with a full year of sponsorship for the 2012 DSO.

If you want to win your way to one of these stops, you’ll have to sign up for a Chilipoker account.

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for up-to-the-minute news.

Right now, not only can you get a free $50 bankroll from PartyPoker and PokerNews, you will also get a free month at PokerNews Strategy. Hurry because this is a limited offer, but the great thing is you do not even need to make a deposit at any stage, just go to our PartyPoker Free $50 Page and follow the walk-through.

February 14 2011, Chad Holloway

Poker After Dark has heard the cry for higher cash games and decided to hold its second $150,000 buy-in cash game with blinds at $300/$600 and a $500 ante out of the big blind. Here is a recap of some of the bigger hands. SPOILER ALERT: If you have PAD sitting on your DVR and don’t want to know what happens until after you’ve had a chance to watch them, then read no further. With that said, here were this week’s participants.

Seat 1: David Peat
Seat 2: Howard Lederer
Seat 3: Phil “Unabomber” Laak
Seat 4: Greg Mueller
Seat 5: Olivier Busquet
Seat 6: Eli Elezra

Elezra vs. Peat: While there were some familiar faces in this week’s cash game in Eli Elezra, Howard Lederer, David Peat, and Phil Laak, both Greg Mueller and Olivier Busquet were making their PAD debut. Action got off to a fast start when Elezra and Peat butted heads and drove the action. In one hand, Busquet raised to $2,000, Elezra called from the cutoff, and Peat reraised to $7,000 on the button. After a couple of calls, the flop came down . Action checked to Peat, who promptly bet $15,000 with his . Busquet folded his pocket fours. Elezra called with , and the dealer burned and turned the . Elezra checked, Peat bet $51,000, and Elezra moved all in. Peat made the call and created a pot worth $216,400, the first six-figure pot of the match. Both players agreed to run it twice, and what looked to be an exciting hand fizzled after the on the first run gave Elezra a flush, and an on the second gave Peat a straight. Chop it up.

Welcome to the Game: Busquet, the new kid on the block, raised to $2,000 on the button with and was quickly reraised to $6,800 by Elezra, who just so happened to hold in the small blind. Busquet made the call and the duo watched the flop fall . Elezra proceeded to lead out for $6,800, Busquet called with his open-ended straight draw — and the hit the turn.

Elezra paused for a moment before betting $13,500. Busquet came along as the was put out on the river. Busquet missed his straight but managed to pair his jack. Elezra immediately fired out $45,000 as the pot swelled to $104,300. Busquet reluctantly mucked as Peat joked, “Guys, how do we feel that we’re getting run over by a guy who voted for Lincoln?”

Big Flop for Lederer: Once again, Elezra looked down at but this time opted to slow-play with a limp. Both Lederer and Laak came along in the blinds — and three players watched the flop run out . Lederer, who happened to flop two pair with his , led out for $2,000, Laak folded, and Elezra popped it to $6,000. Lederer smooth-called and then checked the turn. Elezra took the bait and bet $11,400, which Lederer again chose to smooth-call. Unfortunately for him, the on the river counterfeited his two pair. Lederer, who had surely been licking his chops, was left with little choice but to fold to Elezra’s $15,500 bet on the river.

“That was a Tight Fold”: As usual, Laak was jawing with his tablemates when he looked down at and raised to $1,700. Mueller was next to act and decided to reraise to $4,000 with his . Action folded to Lederer in the big blind and, surprisingly, he made it $15,000 to go with just . Even more surprising, Laak snap-folded his queens without a word of complaint. “That was a tight fold,” he said out of nowhere. Meanwhile, Mueller made the call and the flop was gin for Lederer. He bet out $21,000, Mueller folded, and the $53,500 pot went to “The Professor.”

Peat Hits a Full House: Peat continued his aggressive style with a raise to $2,000 from the cutoff with and received a call from Busquet, who held , in the big blind. When the flop came down , Busquet checked, Peat bet $4,000, and Busquet raised to $11,000 with his flush draw. After Peat called, the was put out on the turn and both players checked. The on the river ignited the action as Busquet led out for $25,000 with his rivered flush. Peat, who had hit a full house, pushed back with a raise to $80,000 and Busquet seemed to know he was in trouble; nonetheless, he made the call as Peat simply said, “I got it.” Indeed he did and he raked in the $186,800 pot.

Elezra Finishes Strong: Late in the match, four players paid $2,100 to see a flop of . As you can tell from the players’ hands, this was going to be a doozy.

Laak:
Busquet:
Elezra:
Peat:

Everyone checked the flop to watch the dealer burn and turn the . At this point, Laak tried to take it with a bet of $9,000 but was quickly called by Busquet. Elezra then raised to $22,500 with his full house. Both Peat and Laak got out of the way as Busquet made the call. The on the river changed nothing and Busquet checked to Elezra, who bet $22,000. Busquet called only to shake his head in frustration as the $107,300 pot was sent Elezra’s way.

PAD’s $150,000 Cash Game week continues this week, so be sure to check your local listings for times.

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