April 14 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

We’re generally all for people keeping their identities hidden, if that’s what they want to do, but even Darth Vadar showed us his face eventually. Kagome Kagome has come from behind the computer screen to give us a face to (and explain) the screen names he has. Also, Washington, D.C. is planning poker “hot spots.” Find out more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Ever sit down at the poker table and think, “How much should I buy in for?” Full Tilt Poker Red Pro Steve Zolotow is going to answer that question in our latest strategy piece, Buy-In Tips with Steve Zolotow.

The PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour kicked off its latest stop in Lima, Peru, Thursday, and our very own Lynn Gilmartin is south of the equator covering the event. If you didn’t get a chance to go, check out the latest Around the World with Lynn, for a look at what you’re missing.

Erik Seidel had the opportunity to notch another win in his already stellar 2011 on Wednesday night. Did he do it, or did someone else take the top prize at the World Poker Tour Hollywood Poker Open?

Dwyte Pilgrim made his name on the World Series of Poker Circuit. Is Kyle Cartwright’s recent success a changing of the guard? Check out Kyle Cartwright: Poster Boy for the WSOP-Circuit to find out.

What’s in a Name

You’ve read all about Kagome Kagome (or before the screen name change, IHateJuice) in the Online Railbird Report, but you probably didn’t know who the online high-stakes poker player was. Well, now it’s time to put a face to the name(s).

In a video interview on PokerStatic, Hasu (as he wanted to be called, so as not to reveal his real name), discussed the controversy surrounding his first screen name, IHateJuice, being asked by Full Tilt Poker to change it, and coming up with his other screen name and the story behind it.

Poker Hot Spots

Last week, the time frame for Congress to raise objections to legislation regarding online poker in Washington, D.C., expired, leading D.C. officials to start planning their online poker push.

According to The Washington Post, District officials are planning to set up online poker “hot spots” in hotels, bars, and other venues. The “hot spots” would be set up throughout the city by September 1, and by the end of the year, it might even be possible for residents of the District to be able to play poker online in their homes.

“We are trying to do as much innovative stuff as possible to increase revenue,” Michael Brown, the D.C. Council Member who proposed the plan said. “We have competition around the region on gaming, so we had to do something. Also, the online, offshore poker companies are already here.”

If you’d like to find out more, you can head on over to WashingtonPost.com.

Loveman Talks Online Poker

CEO of Caesars Entertainment, Gary Loveman, appeared on CNBC Wednesday to discuss the recent online gambling legislation that could regulate Internet poker in Nevada.

“We don’t think it provides any sort of risk of cannibalization at all. It’s a completely different business,” he said. “We own the World Series of Poker, which is the dominate poker franchise and playing poker at home online is a completely different experience then coming to one of ours full service resort facilities.”

He said that the company wants online poker to be legalized, but more so on the federal level than the state level.

“If Internet poker were to be made available to Americans that would be I think a very appealing event for our company,” Loveman said.

If you want to check out his appearance, you can at CNBC.com.

Get Your Read On

We know you’re all gearing up for the 2011 World Series of Poker (we have been for quite some time now), and it will be here before you know it. If you’re one of those players who likes to thumb through magazines while you wait for a seat in a cash game (because we all know how juicy those are during the summer at the Rio), or when that donkey is taking forever to fold his hand to an all-in, you’ll be happy to know that Poker Pro Magazine will be available at the WSOP for the entire six-week run.

“We have always spent more money on product than promotion,” VP of Marketing Will Jordan said. “But this year, we’re going all out to show off the new Poker Pro. Poker Pro has more pages than any other poker publication, and every poker player can benefit from the information we publish. We expect Poker Pro readers to win big this year.”

Poker Pro editor-in-chief John Wenzel said, “We plan to make Poker Pro available free of charge to every player at the World Series. These are the best players in the world and this is a chance to show them what we’ve got.”

Check out the press release on BusinessWire.com for more.

Hola Peru!

The PokerStars.net Latin America Poker Tour Lima kicked off Thursday in Lima, Peru, and we’re proud to introduce new PokerNews hostess Nicki Pickering to the team. Want to know what you’re missing in Peru? Check out the video below for Nicki’s tour.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter, and while you’re at it, like us on Facebook.

Just a $20 deposit is required to play in eight Bodog $100k Guarantee Satellites. We have 80 tickets worth $162 each up for grabs.

April 13 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 PokerStars.net North American Poker Tour Mohegan Sun $5,000 Main Event wrapped up Wednesday night in Uncasville, Connecticut, after an exciting final table took place. Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst was able to successfully defend her 2010 NAPT Mohegan Sun title and taste victory once again. Selbst became the first-ever player to win back-to-back titles at the same stop of a PokerStars-sponsored tour in subsequent seasons. For her win, Selbst collected a first-place prize of $450,000 and added yet another major title to her stout tournament résumé.

Selbst joined seven others who outlasted an elite 387-player field to find themselves seated at Wednesday’s final table. With over $1.23 million still up for grabs for the final table participants, the pressure was on everyone to shine under the bright lights of the television cameras.

On the third hand of the day, Steve O’Dwyer got himself into a sticky spot against Selbst. With the blinds at 15,000/30,000 with a 3,000 ante, O’Dwyer raised to 60,000 and Selbst three-bet to 215,000 from the big blind. O’Dwyer made the call and the flop came down . Both players checked and the dealer added the on the turn. Selbst fired 220,000 and O’Dwyer made the call. The river completed the board with the and Selbst moved all in to apply maximum pressure to O‘Dwyer. He tanked for several long minutes, but eventually folded his hand and suffered a big blow to his stack.

Shortly after, O’Dwyer was all in preflop with the to Aaron Overton’s . The board ran out and Overton made a flush to cripple O’Dwyer. From there, O’Dwyer only doubled back once, before his couldn’t beat Vincent Rubianes’ in his final hand. He finished in eighth place for $32,330.

Overton was the next to go. The action folded to him in the small blind and he moved all in for about half a million in chips with . Selbst made the call in the big blind with the . The flop, turn and river ran out in Selbst’s favor to end the day for Overton. He finished in seventh place for a $50,000 payday.

Selbst wasn’t the only former NAPT champion to make this final table. She was joined by 2010 NAPT Los Angeles winner Joe Tehan who was also in the hunt for a second NAPT title. That second NAPT trophy would have to wait though, as Tehan was eliminated in sixth place for $70,000. His couldn’t improve against the for Thomas Hoglund Jr. on his final hand.

Moving forward, Rubianes was left short after he doubled up Selbst. He was eliminated shortly thereafter at the hands of Tyler Kenney, pocketing $90,000 for fifth place. Following him out the door was Hoglund Jr. in fourth place for $120,000. Kenney eliminated him, too.

Heading into the final table, Kenney, a 21-year-old semi-professional poker player from Long Beach, New York, held the chip lead with 3.021 million in chips. He was only able to ride the big stack until three-handed play before bowing out in third place.

After Shak opened to 200,000 from the small blind with the blinds at 40,000/80,000 with a 5,000 ante, Kenney moved all in for 1.625 million from the big blind. Shak made the quick call and rolled over . He was dominating the of Kenney. After the board ran out , Kenney was eliminated. He took home $170,000.

The stage was set with heads-up play coming down to Shak and Selbst. When it got down to the final two, Shak had nearly a three-to-one chip lead with 8.685 million in chips to Selbst’s 3.025 million. Those counts would just about swap an hour after the two returned from the dinner break.

On the flop, all of the money went in between Shak and Selbst. Shak held and Selbst . The turn brought the and the river the , which allowed Selbst to double to 8.73 million. Shak was left with 2.98 million.

From there, Selbst ground Shak down to about 1.2 milion in chips before he was able to find a much-needed double up. He also doubled up a few hands later after flopping the nuts on a board with before the money went in. Selbst held the for a sweat, but the on the turn or the on the river couldn’t give her the title – just yet that is.

Roughly two-and-a-half hours into heads-up play, the final hand came up. Shak limped the button and Selbst checked her option in the big blind, which brought the two players to the flop. Selbst checked and Shak bet 200,000. Selbst came back with a check-raise to 625,000 and then Shak moved all in for about 2.8 million. Selbst snapped and tabled for top two pair. Shak held for a very grim chance at winning the hand. The turn left him drawing dead when the rolled out and the river completed the board with the .

For his finish, Shak walked away $254,000. Selbst, the reigning champion of this event, had successfully defended her title en route to claiming a cool $450,000 in prize money. She can now add a second NAPT title to her trophy case and watch as her lifetime tournament earnings climb to $4,115,864. That’s good enough to bump her ahead of Annette Obrestad into third on the Women’s All-Time Money List and right behind Annie Duke. She’ll also move from 102nd to 87th on the All-Time Money List with still so much of her career ahead of her.

Final Table Payouts

Congratulations to all of the winners and especially to Selbst on her amazing title-defense performance. There’s still one more event to finish up at the 2011 NAPT Mohegan Sun and that is the $10,000 High Roller Bounty Shootout. The final table for that event takes place on Thursday, so be sure to check out PokerNews’ live reporting of the event starting Thursday afternoon.

Between now and then, you should follow us on Twitter and become our fan on Facebook to keep up with bits of poker news all the world around!