May 15 2012, Brett Collson

Looking for the day’s biggest poker stories? You’ve come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo we’re bringing you Phil Galfond’s latest blog, the official launch of PokerStars’ Zoom Poker, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Shaun Deeb has been crushing tournaments during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. Rich Ryan discussed that and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.

Kurt Jewell has been a monster on the World Series of Poker Circuit since the 2010-2011 season. Jewell sat down with Chad Holloway to discuss his recent success.

Fifteen players won PokerStars SCOOP titles on Monday. Martin Harris and Mickey Doft break down all of the winners in the Day 9 SCOOP recap.

Galfond’s Early Years

Phil Galfond’s introduction to poker certainly doesn’t compare to the exhilarating tales of most old-school gamblers, but the high-stakes wizard’s ascension to the nosebleed games should still be fascinating to most poker enthusiasts.

On Tuesday, Galfond shared his story in a blog entry titled My Poker (+other) Story. The 5,000-plus word entry includes Galfond’s first taste of online poker during college, his decision to drop out of school to become a poker pro, and the surprising relationships he’s built because of that decision.

Here’s a particularly funny excerpt from the blog:

I’m an introvert, so I enjoy my alone time. Actually, I need my alone time. I like people, sure, but too long in a crowded environment with no chance to get away is debilitating. I need my alone time to reset. My room was poker plus alone time – heaven.

My heaven was part of a three bedroom apartment. I shared it with two girls, one of whom was sure I was gay for the majority of that year. I think it was because I had a small poster on the outside of my door of a cat with a tiara that read “I’m a Princess” (I thought it was funny), and because she never saw me with a girl.

Galfond is a gifted writer and his story will hit home with a lot of poker grinders out there. You can find his blog at PhilGalfond.com.

Zoom Poker Launches

PokerStars has officially launched Zoom Poker after a successful beta release that resulted in skyrocketing traffic numbers on the world’s leading online poker site.

PokerStars says it dealt more than 300 million hands of the fast-action Zoom Poker during the two month beta phase. Zoom was originally only available for low stakes no-limit hold’em, but it is now available in Omaha, Omaha hi/lo and five-card draw with stakes ranging up to $2.50/5.

“Zoom Poker offers people a different way to play poker,” said Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. “Recreational players, who want more constant action, will be able to fold instantly and wait for better hands, while pro grinders will be able to get in hundreds of more hands an hour and win more. On top of all that, it’s just so much fun to play!”

In addition, Zoom Poker Mobile has been released on the Android platform for players on PokerStars.com, PokerStars.eu and PokerStars.net. The new Android app also includes scrollable lobby menus to ease navigation, improved search, a new auto-rebuy function, and various other improvements.

For an in-depth look at Zoom Poker, check out Matthew Pitt’s review here at PokerNews.com.

Full Tilt Poker Staffers Decline Tapie’s Offer

According to Gaming Intelligence, Full Tilt Poker employees in Dublin have declined an offer from Groupe Bernard Tapie to join a new online poker venture in Paris.

One day after GBT’s deal with the U.S. Department of Justice fell through, Laurent Tapie emailed high-ranking FTP staff members with a job offer, according to a report by Diamond Flush Poker. In the email, Tapie laid out plans to write a new poker software platform and relaunch using a new brand.

Apparently, Tapie’s offer wasn’t tempting enough to lure key FTP employees from company headquarters in Ireland. Gaming Intelligence reports that the employees have been told that the deal with PokerStars is moving forward. PokerStars has remained mum about the deal other than to reiterate that discussions with the DOJ are ongoing.

Read the full story at Gaming Intelligence (paywall warning).

Mizrachi Signs Extension with Breeders’ Cup

DeepStacks Pro Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi has renewed his contract with the Breeders’ Cup through 2012. “The Grinder” will resume his role in helping raise awareness of the Breeders’ Cup within the poker community.

The two-time World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour champ will take part in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and will actively encourage his fellow poker pros to participate in the $10,000 handicapping event. The Breeders’ Cup will take place Nov. 2 through 3 at Santa Anita Park outside of Los Angeles.

“Partnering with the Breeders’ Cup has been amazing” said Mizrachi. “I look forward to fine-tuning my handicapping skills as I prepare for the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge. Check my Twitter and Facebook accounts for updates as I plan to visit a number of tracks throughout the summer.”

As part of his deal last year, Mizrachi hosted the inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Breeders’ Cup Celebrity Invitational, which attracted big names like Mike “The Mouth” Matusow, John Racener, David Williams and Karina Jett, as well as NBA players Brian Cardinal, Jermaine Taylor and Carl Landry. The second event will be held later this year.

Read more at Deepstacks.com.

A Record Made to be Broken?

Is Phil Laak’s Guinness World Record for sleep deprivation consecutive hours playing poker in jeopardy? Barry Denson seems to think so.

The Manchester, U.K., native will take a shot at Laak’s feat at the G Casino in Manchester beginning on Sunday, July 1, 2012. Denson, an ex-Territorial Army soldier, will attempt to raise money for Help For Heroes, a charity aimed at helping Britain’s soldiers that have been wounded since September 11, 2001.

“One of the biggest challenges will be finding enough players to play me,” said Denson. “Guinness World Records will only allow other players to play for up to four hours at a time so we need as many players as possible to come along and take part, especially in the early hours or the mornings!”

Laak played 115 straight hours at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2010. He could barely put together a sentence by the end of the marathon, as you’ll see in this interview with PokerNews’ Kristy Arnett.

Read more at tnplmanchester.com.

Illinois Joins Online Poker Race

Illinois made history in March by becoming the first state to offer online lottery tickets on the Internet. Now, legislation has been introduced that could ultimately allow the state to offer other forms of online gambling like poker.

On Tuesday, Senate President John Cullerton proposed an amendment to a bill that would create the division of Internet Gaming within the Illinois Lottery. Illinois officials estimate the state would gain hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue under the new legislation.

The Chicago Democrat reports that the bill has to be approved by May 31 in order to qualify under legislation pending in the U.S. Senate.

Cullerton’s proposal comes nearly five months after the Department of Justice changed its position on the Wire Act of 1961. On Dec. 22, the DOJ released a response to Illinois and New York regarding the Wire Act’s effect on intrastate sales of lottery tickets via the Internet. In the memo, the DOJ found that the Wire Act only applies to sports betting.

Reuters has more.

The Return of Durrrr?

Even though he’s been playing the biggest games in the world in Macau, Tom Dwan is getting the itch to play online poker again.

During his trip to the Philippines for the Manilla Millions, Dwan told CalvinAyre.com’s Tatjana Pasalic that traveling and finding games to play is becoming a grind, and that game selection is proving much more difficult than on the virtual felts. Dwan also discussed U.S. legislation, the Epic Poker League, World Series of Poker bracelet bets, and the downfall of his former employer Full Tilt Poker.

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May 14 2012, Chad Holloway

The Five Diamond World Poker Classic is one of the most popular stops on the World Poker Tour each and every year. On Sunday, Season X of the WPT continued on the Fox Sports Network with the latest Five Diamond World Poker Classic from the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada. The $10,000 Main Event, which originally took place from Dec. 6 through 11, 2011, attracted 413 players and created a prize pool of $4,006,100, with $821,612 reserved for first place.

The broadcast kicked off by highlighting the early stages of the tournament, beginning with Day 1. “Bellagio’s just got that mystique to it, you know,” said Legends of Poker champion Will “The Thrill” Failla. “All the heavies played here. If you win here, you’ve really showed up, you know what I mean? If you can win here, you can win anywhere.”

Indeed, the Five Diamond World Poker Classic has proven a great success each and every year, due in no small part to its location at the Bellagio. Given that it’s in Vegas, the field tends to be dominated by the biggest names in the game, and this year would be no different. Failla, Esfandiari, Erik Seidel, Matt Giannetti, Carlos Mortensen and Faraz Jaka were all among the 283 players who survived Day 1, though all were trailing the big stack of Vanessa Selbst, who finished with 165,800.

On Day 2, the field got even tougher as Barry Greenstein, Noah Schwartz, Jennifer Harman, Phil Hellmuth, Ben Lamb, Jason Mercier, John Hennigan, Freddy Deeb, Daniel Alaei and Doyle Brunson were all among the pros who took advantage of the late registration. After a long day of play, just 149 players remained with Grant Lang’s 382,000 stack leading the pack.

Needless to say, the action on Day 3 was fierce as the field was quickly cut down to size as Seidel, Hennigan and Hellmuth all hit the rail. The latter’s demise came when he ran into the of Canadian Braden Hall. The board ran out an uneventful and the “Poker Brat” was sent packing.

Leading up to the money bubble, both Brunson and Darren Elias were eliminated, leaving 101 players alive when only 100 were slated to be paid. It took some time, but the money bubble burst when Brent Sheirbon found himself all-in holding against the of John Krpan. The board provided no help and Sheirbon earned the unfortunate distinction of bubble boy.

Once players made the money, a flurry of eliminations occurred that saw Failla (93rd – $11,942), Krpan (82nd – $11,942), Jeff Vertes (78th – $11,942), Shaun Deeb (73rd – $11,942), Mortensen (71st – $11,942), Deeb (67th – $12,937), Alan Goehring (59th – $12,937), Justin “Boosted J” Smith (53rd – $12,937) all hit the rail, leaving just 49 players headed into Day 4 including chip leader Kyle Julius, who bagged up 1.457 million.

The fourth day of action began the same way the day prior had ended, with bustouts. Allen Cunningham (46th – $15,922), Allen Kessler (45th – $15,922), Dwyte Pilgrim (37th – $19,903), Scott Clements (34th – $19,903) and Matt Glantz (25th – $23,884) were among the notables to hit the rail, while the WPT’s Raw Deal host Tony Dunst found his tournament life on the line in a classic race with his trailing the of James Dempsey. The flop gave Dunst a flush draw, while the turn added a gut-shot straight draw. Unfortunately for him, the river was a blank and he was sent packing in 18th place for $31,845.

Ty Reiman (17th – $31,845), Matt Marafioti (15th – $39,806) and Blake Kelso (14th – $39,806) joined Dunst on the rail before action came to a halt with just 13 players remaining. Leading the way was former World Series of Poker November Niner Soy Nguyen, who held a monstrous stack of 3.1 million.

It didn’t take long for the first elimination to occur on Day 5. It happened when William Reynolds doubled up Vitor Coelho and was then eliminated at the hands of Hall. Reynold’s 13th-place finish for $39,806 gave him the highest finished by a Season X Ones to Watch, though it was of little consolation.

From there, Julius (12th – $39,806) and David Williams (9th – $47,767) found themselves on the rail, and before long the TV final table bubble was on. How did it burst? Nguyen moved all-in holding on board and got Larry Wells, who won his seat into the tournament in the very last satellite held at the Bellagio, to call off with the inferior .

With that, the final table was set. Once again it was a stacked final table, but the big story was Esfandiari’s title defense and the possibility of becoming the first player in WPT history to win back-to-back titles in the same event; in fact, no player had ever won the same title twice.

Here’s how things stacked up at the start of the final table:

WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Final Table

First Hand: With the blinds at 30,000/60,000 and a 10,000 ante, Dempsey was first to act and opened for 125,000 with . The field folded to Selbst in the small blind and she came over the top for 310,000 with . Nguyen folded in the big blind and Dempsey conceded the hand.

Antonio Esfandiari Eliminated in Sixth Place: On what would be Hand #10 of the final table, action folded to Dempsey on the button and he put in a big raise, enough to put both blinds all in if they chose to make the call. The defending champ did just that from the small blind while the big got out of the way.

Showdown

The flop gave Dempsey a wheel draw, but it was the that spiked on the turn to give him the lead. At that point, short-stacked Coelho shot his arms up in the air, knowing full well that Esfandiari’s elimination would earn him at least $39,806.; meanwhile, “The Magician” was on his last leg, looking for either a ten or five on the river to stay alive. The dealer burned and put out the . With that, Esfandiari’s title defense came to an end in sixth place for $119,418.

Vitor Coelho Eliminated in Fifth Place: On Hand #12, Nguyen opened for 120,000 with and Coelho committed his last 260,000 with . “Ok guys, time to double up,” the softspoken Coelho said. Selbst then came along for the ride with . Both active players proceeded to check down every street as the board ran out , and Nguyen took down the 860,000 pot.

Coelho, who had made the final table the WPT stop before the Five Diamond, finished in fifth place for $159,224. “Very happy, very happy,” Coelho told sideline reporter Matt Savage in his post-elimination interview. “I ran very good, did my best and I’m very pleased with it. I have plans to make my third final table in a row.”

Tune in Next Week: Part II of the Five Diamond World Poker Classic is set to air on Sunday, May 20, on FSN, so be sure to check your local listings. If by chance you miss it, check back next week for the latest recap of all the action right here on PokerNews.

Past Foxwoods World Poker Finals Champions

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*Picture courtesy of World Poker Tour.

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