November 21 2011, Brett Collson

While we all continue to wait for further details regarding Full Tilt Poker and Groupe Bernard Tapie, the Nightly Turbo brings you a CNN story about online poker players, comments from pros about the Jungleman Challenge, and more.

In Case You Missed It

A champion was crowned at the first European Poker Tour Main Event in Greece. Learn about the newest EPT champion in our Loutraki recap.

What can be taken from the Internet poker hearings on Capitol Hill last week? PokerNews’ Matthew Kredell breaks them down for you.

How did Team PokerStars Pro member André Akkari get his start in poker? Find out in the latest edition of the Seat Open With series.

Day 2 of the World Poker Tour Jacksonville Main Event saw only 42 players survive. Vitor Coelho emerged as the chip leader nearing the money bubble.

How did the Sunday Majors play out on PokerStars? Who took home the biggest win? Find out in the Sunday Briefing.

The second episode of the Epic Poker League was shown on CBS over the weekend. Read about Mike McDonald’s triumph in our recap.

Only 11 players returned for Day 3 of the World Series of Poker Circuit Harveys Lake Tahoe Main Event. Get all the details in our Day 2 recap.

Online Poker in the Mainstream Media

On Monday, CNN Money ran a story about online poker in the U.S. and the players who relied on it as a source of income. According to the piece, about 8 percent of online poker players made their living from the game before Black Friday, and some have since moved outside the country to resume their careers.

Among the players featured in the story is 2010 World Series of Poker bracelet winner Shawn “jordankickz” Busse, who says in the interview that he considers the $60,000 stuck in his Full Tilt Poker account to be lost. Busse made more than $300,000 playing online poker in the past three to four years and used his winnings to pay for the necessities in his everyday life. He says getting the money in his Full Tilt account back would be a “nice bonus.”

The interview with Busse likely came before last week’s news that French investment firm Groupe Bernard Tapie had signed a deal with the Department of Justice to purchase Full Tilt Poker, allowing for the potential repayment of players all over the world. While some outlets, including CNN, initially jumped the gun by reporting that all aspects of the deal were finalized, the agreement still must be approved by FTP investors.

The full CNN story can be viewed here:

For more of CNN’s coverage of online poker, visit money.cnn.com.

Who Wants to Challenge Jungleman?

Dan “Jungleman” Cates issued a challenge to the world last month, but it doesn’t appear as though anyone is willing to make the trip to Prague to face the online superstar.

The match on Dec. 6 would pit a challenger against Cates in a heads-up match at stakes of “200/”400 with a minimum buy-in of “100,000. Cates confidently offered the challenge to anyone who had the “nerve” to take him on but didn’t offer an incentive like Tom Dwan did with the Durrrr Challenge.

Is the whole thing just a publicity stunt? Have a look at what Tony G. and some other well-known pros think:

Get more of Tony G’s thoughts on the challenge in his blog at PartyPoker.com.

Raul Mestre Wins IFP World Championship

Spain’s Raul Mestre won the International Federation of Poker World Championship on Sunday, besting a field of 135 players to take home a prize of $250,000. Mestre began the final table as chip leader and went on to defeat the U.K.’s Victoria Coren heads-up for the title.

The event, dubbed “The Table” by the IFP, saw the field trim down to nine after more than 11 hours of play on Saturday. Three women advanced to the final table as Coren was joined by Australia’s Marsha Waggoner and Germany’s Sandra Naujoks. Coren was the only woman left standing after she eliminated Waggoner in fifth place, and the Team PokerStars Pro ground a short stack all the way to the heads-up match against Mestre. From there, the cards fell in the Spaniard’s favor as he won a crucial flip with ace-jack against Coren’s pocket fives to put the match out of reach.

The IFP World Championship event followed the inaugural IFP Nations Cup, which was featured as part of the London Mind Sports Festival earlier in the week. Naujoks, along with Tobias Reinkemeier, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Moritz Kranich, Hans Martin Vogl, and Tim Reese, formed the German team that won the unique event that was played in a format intended to minimize the luck involved in no-limit hold’em.

Here’s a look at the final results of the IFP World Championship:

Read more about the event at the IFP’s website.

Celebrate History in Prague

If you happen to be in Prague during the European Poker Tour event next month, PokerStars is inviting all of its players to the Prague Hilton Hotel to celebrate its latest attempt at another Guinness World Record.

On Sunday, Dec. 4, players can meet up in a private room at the Hilton to participate in the momentous $1 tournament with a $50,000 guarantee. The tournament already has more than 60,000 entries with 13 days before the tournament begins and will try to best the current record of 149,196 players set in Dec. 2009.

PokerStars will provide food and drinks for the celebration and offer players the opportunity to play and mingle with several members of Team PokerStars. The tournament kicks off at 1230 EST (1530 BST).

Get more information at the PokerStars Blog.

PokerStars Unveils Macau Schedule

PokerStars Macau has announced the preliminary events calendar for 2012. The Asia poker season will launch with the Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon from Feb. 18 through Feb. 26, and the series will culminate with a $HK100,000 Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP) Main Event with a $HK10,000,000 Guarantee.

“It’s been an unbelievable year for the MPC Red Dragon series. We went from 300 players in 2010 to an average of 478 players in 2011 … peaking with the February series at 509,” said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars Director of Live Operations for Asia-Pacific, to the PokerStars Blog.

“With several exciting changes to our calendar next year, there’s still something to be said about tradition. PokerStars Macau has always opened with the Macau Poker Cup where the Red Dragon has a massive following within the region.”

The series will offer 10 events, one in each month from February through November. Official dates will be added in the coming months. Highlighting the 2012 calendar will be the MPC: Red Dragon series in February and July; the Macau Millions in March; and the Macau Poker Cup Championship in September. The 2011 Macau Millions marked the first ever tournament in Asia to break the thousand-entry barrier.

PokerStars Macau 2012 Schedule

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EPT Loutraki Recap

The European Poker Tour stop in Loutraki came to close on Sunday. In case you missed any of the action, PokerNews’ Sarah Grant rewinds the week to take you every step of the way.

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And They’re Off: In the first hand, with blinds at 10,000/20,000, Erik Seidel raised to 50,000 under the gun holding and was called by David Steicke in the big blind holding . The flop gave Steicke a pair of sixes, but he checked to Seidel who bet 60,000 with the best hand. Steicke called, the spiked on the turn, and both players checked. The river saw Steicke lead out for 100,000 with his full house, which Seidel paid off. First blood to Steicke.

Button Pressure: David Steicke looked down at on the button and raised to 60,000, which Erik Seidel three-bet to 150,000 from the small blind with . Steicke eyed up the Poker Hall of Famer’s stack before announcing that he was all-in, a huge over-raise to 1,042,000. To call would cost Seidel all of his chips, and he decided against it.

Sick Soul Read: The EPL aired a segment that harkened back to its first broadcast and took a look at a notable hand where Erik Seidel called off his stack with on a board. Seidel, who made the right decision as he bested Chino Rheem’s , explained his thought process in the hand, giving viewers a brief glimpse into the mind of a poker great.

“Erik made a great call. He made like a sick soul read, that’s why he’s who he is,” Rheem admitted in the feature.

Four in the Window: Fabrice Soulier raised to 51,000 from the button, only to have Michael “Timex” McDonald move all-in from the small blind for 560,000. The big blind got out of the way and Soulier made the call.

Showdown
Soulier:
McDonald:

It was a race situation, but not so much after the flop. McDonald had flopped a set and left Soulier drawing to runner-runner. The turn was of no consequence, aside from leaving Soulier drawing dead, and McDonald was guaranteed the double to 1,152,000.

“He’s too good,” Soulier said as he counted his remaining chips.

“Too lucky,” McDonald said with a smile.

Seidel Eliminated in Fourth Place: A short-stacked Erik Seidel moved all-in from the button with only to have Soulier move all-in over the top from the small blind with . McDonald folded from the big blind and the man known as “Seiborg” was a 4-1 dog for his tournament life. With 812,000 in the pot, the flop fell , bringing Seidel one step closer to the door. The left him looking for a five, while the river sent him home in fourth place, worth $184,100.

Soulier Shoves: With the blinds now at 12,000/24,000, Soulier opened from the button for 48,000 with , and watched as McDonald made it 144,000 to go from the small blind with the far superior . Steicke folded the big blind and Soulier stared at his opponent before moving all-in for 1,066,000. McDonald asked for a count before admitting, “This is one of those hands where whatever I do I’m gonna look dumb on the broadcast.” The four-bet shove proved too much for McDonald, who slide his cards to the muck.

Soulier Eliminated in Third Place: A little while later, with the blinds at 20,000/40,000, Soulier moved all-in from the small blind for his last 665,000. McDonald snap-called, and the cards were on their backs.

Showdown
Soulier:
McDonald:

McDonald was a 70 percent favorite to win the hand and had the Frenchman on the ropes. The flop gave Soulier some chop outs to a nine, and the turn increased those outs to an ace, king, nine, or three on the river, not to mention a ten for the win. Unfortunately for Soulier, the blanked and he was eliminated in third place ($299,160).

Heads-Up Play: Steicke began heads-up play as the chip leader with 2,835,000 to McDonald’s 2,015,000. It was the Australian versus the Canadian, old versus young, for the latest EPL title. In the first hand between the pair, Steicke looked down at and raised to 90,000, which McDonald called with . The flop hit McDonald hard, but he checked to Steicke, who bet 150,000. McDonald made the call and then checked the turn.

Steicke checked behind and took a free card on the river, which was the . McDonald played coy with a third check, but Steicke refused to bite. McDonald, who shook his head at the missed opportunity, rolled over his full house to collect to the 490,000 pot. “I did have an out at the end,” Steicke smiled as his opponent pulled even in chips.

Off to the Races for an EPL Title: McDonald raised to 90,000 with and Steicke three-bet to 300,000 with . Both players held quality hands, and you just knew it was going to be a big pot. Sure enough, McDonald moved all-in for 1,965,000 and Steicke made the call. Just like that, there was 4.54 million in the pot. “This is pretty much it,” Steicke deadpanned.

Sure enough, if Steicke won he would be an EPL champion, but if he lost he’d be left with hardly anything. The flop made McDonald a 68 percent favorite, but the turn doubled Steicke’s outs. Either a ten, queen, king, or ace on the river would give Steicke the tournament, but it was not meant to be as the appeared. Suddenly it was the 21-year-old Canadian on the verge of an EPL title.

Timex’s Time: In the next broadcasted hand, Steicke moved all-in for 1,395,000 and was quickly called by McDonald.

Showdown
Steicke:
McDonald:

McDonald was a 65 percent favorite and only five cards separate him from an EPL title. The flop brought him even closer, while the turn left Steicke in need of a king or deuce on the river. Unfortunately for the Aussie, the blanked and he finished in second place for $506,260. Meanwhile, McDonald became the EPL 8-Max Champion and earned himself a hefty $782,410 payday.

“It was a tough day. A lot of tough players at the table. Things just worked out really well for me today,” McDonald said on the eve of his 22nd birthday in his post-victory interview.

*Photo courtesy of Epic Poker League.

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