October 20 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 World Series of Poker Europe has concluded with the “10,400 Main Event Championship. It was an absolutely amazing series capped off with a victory by Elio Fox in the Main Event. For his win, Fox earned the massive “1,400,000 first-place prize.

On Saturday, Oct. 15, this prestigious event kicked off with 310 players entering on Day 1a. On Day 1b, 283 players joined the mix to take the grand total of entrants all the way up to 593, easily making it the largest WSOP Europe Main Event in history.

The large field generated a prize pool of “5,692,800 and the top 64 places were paid out. The eight players to make the final table would have a chance at “3,890,000 of that prize pool and coming into the final day, Elio Fox was the boss of the bunch.

The first player eliminated on the day was Britain’s Max Silver. During Level 24 with the blinds 15,000/30,000/5,000, fellow countryman Chris Moorman raised to 60,000. Silver three-bet to 165,000 and then Moorman requested a count on Silver’s stack. After the count was received, Moorman four-bet to 365,000. He was met with a shove from Silver and quickly called.

Moorman tabled and was flipping with Silver’s . The flop, turn and river ran out and Silver exited in eighth place for “115,000.

Falling in seventh place was another British player, Jake Cody, who had earned his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year during the summer in Las Vegas. Cody was on the button during the 25,000/50,000/5,000 level and called a raise to 110,000 from Fox. Cody reraised and made it 260,000 to go. Fox slid out a four-bet to 600,000, prompting Cody to move all-in. Fox quickly called it off.

Fox tabled , but was behind Cody’s . No worries were in order for Fox though, as he was in familiar position. On Day 4, he took a massive pot to eliminate two players after coming from behind with pocket tens. A very similar thing happened here as the board ran out and Fox made a come-from-behind straight to send Cody out the door. For his finish, Cody took home “150,000.

Shawn Buchanan was next to head home, but did very well for himself all day long to get right back into the competition after beginning the day on the short stack. Much like Cody, Buchanan got his money in good, but the poker gods had other things in mind.

Fox opened to 120,000 on the button with the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000. Dermot Blain reraised all-in from the small blind and Buchanan called all-in for less from the big blind. Fox folded and when the cards were tabled, Blain’s was up against Buchanan’s .

The flop came down and Blain added a world of outs. He could now hit a diamond for a flush or a five for a wheel along with his overcard ace. The turn brought the and, for a few moments, everyone felt Buchanan was going to hold tough and fade this huge draw for Blain, but when the landed on the river it was all over.

Buchanan capped off an amazing WSOP Europe with a “200,000 score for his finish. Previously in the series, Buchanan finished 29th in the “2,500 6-Max No-Limit Hold’em for “5,789, 14th in the “5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha for “14,147 and second in the “10,000 Mixed No-Limit Hold’em for “207,624.

Falling in fifth place was Blain. He went out on the 147th hand of play with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000/10,000 at the hands of Brian Roberts.

Blain opened to 175,000 and Roberts three-bet to 350,000 from the small blind. Blain came back over the top with a four-bet shove for 1.76 million. After several long minutes in the tank, Roberts called holding . He was proven correct when Blain turned up a worse and was on the brink of elimination.

The flop paired both players when the fell. That was followed by the and to finish things off and end the tournament for Blain, who took home “275,000 for his efforts.

Roberts was the next to go after losing a lot of chips in some key hands to both Moorman and Fox. Down to under one million in the same level in which he busted Blain, Roberts called all-in with from the big blind after Moorman shoved in from the small blind with the .

For a minute, everyone thought Roberts was going to put himself back into the swing of things when the flop came down . It became even more of a reality after the landed on the turn and kept Roberts in front. Unfortunately, the hit on the river, and Moorman made a straight to the eight. Roberts said his goodbyes and walked away with “400,000 in prize money.

Germany’s Moritz Kranich was in line to become the second German player to win a WSOP Europe gold bracelet behind Thomas Bihl and could also earn poker’s Triple Crown if he were to win this event. That run ended in third place, though, when Fox sent him packing.

Fox min-raised on the button to 160,000 and Kranich reraised all-in from the small blind for approximately 1.6 million. Action got back to Fox who made the quick call, tabling the . Kranich held .

The flop came down and gave Kranich a lot more hope than expected. The on the turn didn’t change anything, nor did the on the river. All Kranich could muster was a pair of fours, which weren’t good enough to beat Fox’s nines. He was eliminated in third place and earned “550,000.

The heads-up battle for the title came down to American Elio Fox and Brit Chris Moorman. When the match began, Fox held the lead with 11.095 million in chips to 6.72 million. There was a difference of “600,000 in prize money up for grabs, but also a bit more than that at stake.

Moorman was fighting for a chance to become number one on the WSOP Player-of-the-Year leaderboard. He had to win this event to take over the top spot, but only one man stood in his way.

Also sweating the duel was 2010 champion James Bord. Leading up to the Main Event in Cannes, Bord said, “I don’t think an American can win the bracelet; Europeans are now far superior. We used to look up to the U.S. players back in the day, but those days are now long gone. I’m prepared to put my money where my mouth is and refund any losing bets up “500 if an American wins.”

What Bord was talking about was that if you made a bet on Matchbook.com and an American won the Main Event, Bord would refund your bet up to “500.

About 20 hands into heads-up play, Fox took a big chunk from Moorman’s stack. Fox had the button and he raised to 200,000. Moorman called. The flop came and Moorman checked to Fox who bet 250,000. Moorman took his time and raised the action to 625,000 and Fox made the call.

The turn was the interesting and Moorman kept up his momentum with a bet of 950,000. Fox remained seemingly unfazed with his fists clenched tightly underneath his mouth; he grabbed for chips and made the call.

The river was the even more interesting and Moorman pulled back on the brake a little bit with a check. Action moved to Fox and he also checked. Fox showed for the tiniest of flushes and Moorman mucked his hand. From there, Fox kept the pressure on Moorman leading up until the final hand of the tournament.

On the final hand, Fox had the button and raised to 200,000 with the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000. Moorman three-bet to 430,000 and then Fox shoved all-in. Moorman called it all off and it looked like he had a little over two million in chips left. He held and was dominated by Fox’s .

The flop was interesting with the falling. The turn brought the and gave Moorman some outs to a chop. When the river landed with the , Fox became the champion. For his finish in second place, Moorman took home “800,000.

Final Table Payouts

With Fox winning the bracelet, Bord must pay up to everyone who made bets, and Ben Lamb has locked up the WSOP Player of the Year no matter where he finishes at the WSOP Main Event final table.

That wraps up PokerNews coverage from Cannes, France for this amazing series, but the WSOP still has one more event to finish off for 2011. Join us in a couple of weeks for the WSOP Main Event November Nine live from Las Vegas, Nevada. We’ll see you there!

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Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters

October 19 2011, Brett Collson

On Tuesday, PokerNews learned that Congress is set to discuss online poker at a hearing taking place next week. That could be good news for PartyPoker, which is currently preparing for a potential return to the U.S. market. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we bring you details on the upcoming U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee hearing on Internet gaming, the latest comments from bwin.party co-CEO Jim Ryan, and more.

In Case You Missed It

We know how taxing the grind of the live tournament circuit can be. In our most recent Stay Stacked series, Lynn Gilmartin reveals a natural bodily function that could be the one key element missing from your game.

Phil Hellmuth’s Team Americas squad bested Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s Team Europe in the Caesars Cup on Wednesday. Get all the details of the match in our recap.

Did you miss Tuesday’s coverage the World Series of Poker on ESPN? Check out our recap to find out who advanced to Day 8 of the Main Event!

The PokerNews Podcast was back in Cannes, France, on Wednesday. The crew discussed the World Series of Poker Europe and was joined by November Niner Sam Holden to talk about how he’s preparing for the Main Event final table.

Only 25 players advanced to Day 4 of the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event. Find out who the leaders were in our daily recap from Cannes.

PartyPoker Eyes Return To U.S. Market

Before the introduction of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, PartyPoker was the top dog in the world of online poker. It boasted more than 40 percent of the worldwide online poker revenue in 2005, according to its operator, PartyGaming, and was still growing by the day.

Things changed in 2006 as PartyPoker struck a $105 million deal with the Department of Justice and withdrew from the U.S. market. The company was forced to sit idly on the sidelines and wait patiently for the day it could return to the States.

That day could be rapidly approaching, according to bwin.party co-CEO Jim Ryan.

In a recent interview with Forbes, Ryan revealed that he’s spent three of the past five weeks traveling across the U.S. showcasing his newly-merged company to potential investors. One of Ryan’s biggest selling points is a chart that shows the top three online poker sites - PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and UB/Absolute Poker – crossed out in red symbolizing their exit from the U.S. market following Black Friday.

With that, Ryan believes the online poker brand that has the most consumer awareness in the States is his brand, PartyPoker. And while he acknowledged that there’s no guarantee that online poker will be regulated in the U.S., Ryan believes it is important to prepare for any future possibilities.

“My focus is on the U.S.,” Ryan told Forbes. “Even though there is no guarantee that online gaming will ever be regulated in the U.S.”

Read the full story at Forbes.com.

Congress to Hold Hearing on Online Poker

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2011, the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee for Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing on Internet gaming. Among the topics of discussion will be the merits of Congressman Joe Barton’s (R-TX) Online Poker Act of 2011 (HR 2366). Barton is one of the members of the subcommittee.

The Poker Players Alliance is encouraging the poker community to reach out to the subcommittee requesting that the members support online poker at the hearing. The organization also sent an email to its members on Tuesday with a brief statement about its game plan leading up to the Oct. 25 hearing: “The PPA and its lobbying team will continue to meet with members of the subcommittee and their staffs leading up to next week’s hearing. We will be asking PPA members whose U.S. Representative is a member of this committee to contact their member directly before the hearing.”

Read more about the hearing in the latest PPA newsletter.

Online Poker Traffic Update

The online poker traffic numbers from last week have been released. PokerScout.com reported a traffic increase of 2.1 percent, mostly because of a huge boom at PokerStars. The site unveiled its first Double Vision Sunday, which generated more than $4 million in prize pools across its two weekly flagship tournaments, the Sunday Million and Sunday Warm-Up.

Six of the top 10 sites saw traffic declines over the past week. PokerStars saw a rise of 8 percent since last week, but most of that gain was likely due to a tracking error from the previous week. The Merge Gaming Network also gained steam after re-opening its doors to new U.S. players. The network saw a 7 percent increase in traffic over last week, and the day-by-day numbers indicate that the traffic boom has been closer to 15 percent.

As for year-over-year numbers, PokerScout’s ACES indicator reports that online poker traffic (with the exception of Italy) has decreased by 32 percent in the last year. The Merge Gaming Network and Bodog have seen increases of 55 percent in the wake of Black Friday, but PokerStars (down 20 percent) and the Cake Poker Network (down 20 percent) have taken massive hits since 2010.

Get the full report at PokerScout.com.

PokerStars Launches Time Tourneys

On Wednesday, PokerStars launched a new tournament format never seen before on the virtual felts. Time Tourneys break the mold of traditional poker tournaments that continue until one player has all the chips. The new events will last for a set period and divide the prize pool among the remaining players based on their stack sizes.

The length of Time Tourneys ranges between 15 and 180 minutes. The new tournaments are offered around the clock for a wide range of buy-ins starting as low as $1.

“Time Tourneys are going to be so much fun,” said Team PokrStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier. “I often want to play a tournament but don’t have hours to spare, so these are just perfect. I think Time Tourneys are also going to be intense, because as the clock ticks down there’s going to be even more action. I can’t wait to get playing them!”

For more information on Time Tourneys, visit PokerStars.com.

Phil Galfond: Pirate Model?

We couldn’t help but bring this to your attention. A thread was created over at TwoPlusTwo with a picture of a Phil Galfond “clone” modeling a pirate Halloween costume. Have a look:

Funny? Sure. It looks a little bit like him. But it was Galfond’s response within the thread that made it an instant classic:

Hey Guys,
After Black Friday, I was pretty panicked. I got work wherever I could find it.
GL!
-Phil

As usual, the Photoshop masters at TwoPlusTwo are having some fun with this one.

Here’s our personal favorite:

Check out the full thread at TwoPlusTwo.

WSOPE 2011: City and Venue Tour

With the World Series of Poker Europe is coming to a close, PokerNews’ Kristy Arnett took a tour through Cannes and the Hôtel Majestic Barrière.

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Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson