October 02 2012, Brett Collson

On Tuesday, Full Tilt Poker revealed Gus Hansen as the first ambassador of the new site, which is set to re-launch by Nov. 6, 2012. Hansen, a former Full Tilt Pro, returns to represent the brand after the company’s assets were purchased by PokerStars in July.

“I’m very excited to represent the industry’s most authentic poker brand,” Hansen said in a press release. “Full Tilt Poker has the best games, most innovative software and the strongest poker community; to me this feels like coming home.”

When Full Tilt Poker relaunches in early November, the site will offer real-money poker games and tournaments globally, with the exception of the U.S., France, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Estonia and Belgium. Full Tilt Poker’s customers in the rest of the world will be able to access their accounts and play on the relaunched site. Full Tilt Poker says players can be “confident that they are supported by PokerStars’ history of integrity combined with Full Tilt Poker’s track record of delivering the highest quality online poker experience.”

Hansen, 38, boasts career tournament earnings of nearly $11.2 million with three wins on the World Poker Tour and one at the World Series of Poker Europe. He also won the 2010 Poker Million IX for $1 million and the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event for A$1,500,000.

PokerNews caught up with Hansen for an exclusive interview to discuss his return to Full Tilt Poker and his new working relationship with PokerStars.

As someone who was associated with Full Tilt Poker for a long time, what does it mean for you to see the brand live under PokerStars’ guidance?

I’ve been a part of Full Tilt Poker for many years, and I have always respected Stars as a very professionally operated and well-managed competitor. Given what’s gone on in the past 15 months, I can’t think of any better company to be re-launching Full Tilt Poker and restoring it to the brand we’ve all loved.

Did you have any doubts about linking your name to a brand that has dealt with so much adversity over the past 17 months?

Not at all. Actually, the opposite. I really want to be a part of restoring the brand and helping the new management establish Full Tilt Poker as a leader again. And most of all, I’m really looking forward to playing on the site again.

How did the deal to represent the new FTP come about? What does the sponsorship deal entail?

Well, for the past year and a half I’ve been freelancing and playing a couple of tournaments but nothing really caught my eye. When the new management reached out to me to join the site, I jumped at the opportunity to represent what I believe is the coolest poker brand: FullTiltPoker.com.

I will represent the brand online and in major live tournaments around the world. So they’ll be paying me to do what I love to do.

What has been your early impression of working with the new management of Full Tilt Poker?

I was just in Dublin to meet with the new management. I really sensed the energy, motivation and excitement of the team. These guys are pros! It was a great experience, everyone was really dedicated to getting it right, and I am really excited about the future.

Why do you think you were the first player selected to be the face of the new Full Tilt?

I really have no idea. I must have a good PR agent! No, seriously, I have always been very passionate about promoting the Full Tilt Poker site. And I think my commitment and loyalty toward the Full Tilt Poker brand and the Full Tilt Poker players fits well with new management’s ideas and prospects for the future

Should we expect some other big names to join you in the near future?

There is only room for one at the top, but of course there is always room for others to follow.

In the months before Black Friday, you were crushing the nosebleed cash games on Full Tilt Poker. Can we expect to see the same action when the site re-launches in the coming weeks?

It’s no secret I have always enjoyed the high-stakes games at FullTiltPoker.com, and I can assure you I am looking forward to continuing the hot streak once we re-open on Nov. 6.

What are some of your hopes and expectations for the future of the site?

Crushing the high-stakes games on Full Tilt Poker is of course very high on the list. On a whole different level, paying back the players and giving them back the software and the online poker experience they loved is the number 1 priority.

I have to ask you if you’ve seen Howard Lederer’s interview with PokerNews yet. What are your thoughts?

Yes, I have seen it. I won’t get into any specifics. There were many people working very hard in the past year to try to restore the players’ accounts, get them repaid and reopen the site. Some of them are still with the company, and I am really happy to be working with them. I am focused on the future and feel really positive, both personally and for other Full Tilt Poker players.

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October 01 2012, Chad Holloway, Josh Cahlik

The 2012 World Series of Poker Europe continued on Monday as another gold bracelet was awarded in the postponed Event #5: “10,450 Mixed Max – No-Limit Hold’em. Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi took a big chip lead into Day 2 of the “10,450 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event. How did he do? Find out below in our recap thanks to PokerNews’ coverage sponsored by PartyPoker.

Aguiar Defeats an Cantu to Win Event #5: “10,450 Mixed Max – No-Limit Hold’em

Redemption. That was the only word on Jonathan Aguiar’s mind as he played Brandon Cantu heads up for a bracelet in Event #5: “10,450 Mixed Max – No-Limit Hold’em on Monday night. Aguiar, who stone bubbled in this exact event in 2011, was battling to redeem what he referred to as “the worst day of his career.” After a six-hour heads-up battle on Day 4, at which point play was halted for more than 24 hours so that the players could take part in the Main Event, Day 5 lasted just 45 minutes as Aguiar was able to seal the deal and defeat Cantu heads up. Aguiar earned his first WSOPE bracelet, as well as the “258,047 first place prize.

The first day of the tournament began with nine-handed play and moved to six-handed on Day 2. Once the final 16 players were reached, a random bracket was drawn and heads-up matches were played until there was a champion The final bracket of 16 did not disappoint in terms of powerful players from the poker world. Phil Hellmuth, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Joe Keuther, Mike Watson, Jason Mercier, Paul Tedeschi, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, and Jennifer Tilly were all among those who made it to the heads-up portion of this tournament, only to be eliminated in the first round. The aforementioned players earned a payday of “20,443 for their performances.

The next round saw the exits of Kristijonas Andrulis, Martin Jacobson, PartyPoker Pro Marvin Rettenmaier, and Konstantin Puchkov, all of whom took home “42,094. The eliminations of these players saw the formation of the final four.

Final Four

Aguiar took care of Jaka fairly quickly and was able to rest up for the final match. The match between Cantu and Roger Hairabedian, however, was a different story. The match lasted for roughly nine hours and had plenty of controversy. Tournament Director Jack Effel was called on two occasions to assess issues brought up by Cantu. The first involved Hairabedian moving to a different side of the table which Cantu did not think should be allowed. The second was ruled in favor of Cantu, and involved Hairabedian betting after he had already checked. These issues delayed play for about an hour total, but despite all of that, Cantu was able to clinch his spot in the finals.

Brandon Cantu

Cantu held the chip lead going into heads-up play with Aguiar and came out with guns firing. All of that changed, however, during a hand where both players saw a flop. Cantu led for 75,000 and Aguiar raised to 270,000. Cantu moved out a three-bet to 540,000 and Aguiar four-bet all in.

Cantu held the nut flush but Aguiar was drawing live with his set of eights. The on the turn was of no help to Aguiar and Cantu was one card away from the championship. It was not meant to be, however, as the fell on the river and gave Aguiar a full house.

From there the two players battled for another roughly three hours and by the end of the night, Cantu was able to overtake the chip lead once again. Due to scheduling issues and the casino closing at 5:00 a.m., the match had to be rescheduled to allow both players to play in the Main Event. Both Cantu and Aguiar busted from the Main Event on Day 1 and so they were back to the felt the next day.

The stacks were fairly close to even when play began on Day 5 with Cantu holding 1.52 million to Aguiar’s 1.361 million. Aguiar drew first blood in the match by taking the chip lead on the second hand and he never looked back after that. Aguiar won several big confrontations early on and Cantu was visibly upset. Finally, Aguiar raised to 40,000 before the flop and Cantu moved all in for roughly his last 600,000. Aguiar snap called and the hands were turned over:

The players were racing with Cantu’s tournament on the line. The flop came down and Aguiar was able to pair his ace and jump into the lead. The fell on fourth street and Aguiar was one card away from the championship and his first bracelet. The dealer put down the on the river and Cantu’s tournament was officially over.

Video: http://www.pokernews.com/video/wsope-2012-event-5-winner-jonathan-aguiar-7233.htm

“10,450 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event Day 2 Comes to an End with Baranov Leading Final 77

The 2012 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event continued on Monday with Day 2 action from the Majestic Barrière in Cannes, France. The remaining 230 players, from a field of 420, returned for six levels of play. By the end of the night only 80 remained with Sergii Baranov and his stack of 607,000 leading the way.

In an early hand, Baranov and Micah Smith checked the river on a board reading with about 20,000 in the pot. Baranov was first to show and flipped over , which was good enough for Smith to toss his hand to the muck. It was a simple hand for Baranov, who began Day 2 seventh in chips, and one of many that helped him steadily rise to the top of the counts.

Sergii Baranov

Speaking of starting stacks, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi began the day as the chip leader (234,850), and held a significant lead over his closest competitor, Day 1b chip leader Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier. Neither player was lacking in experience or success, but their Day 2s couldn’t have been more opposite.

While Grospellier played a patient game and slowly accumulated chips throughout the day, eventually bagging up 326,700, Mizrachi went the opposite direction. Mizrachi played a loose-aggressive game and his chip stack reflected that as it went for a wild up-and-down ride as described by Daniel Negreanu on Twitter. It soon became apparent that Mizrachi was taking one step forward and two steps back, and eventually it caught up with him and he was eliminated in Level 11.

Others who joined Mizrachi on the rail throughout the day were Vanessa Rousso, Joe Hachem, Faraz Jaka, Harrison Gimbel, Steve O’Dwyer, Greg Merson, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Tristan Wade, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Roberto Romanello, Antonio Esfandiari and McLean Karr, just to name a few.

While there were scores of eliminations, a handful of notables managed to survive the day. Former November Niner Joseph Cheong; 2009 WSOP Europe runner-up Daniel Negreanu; 12-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth; October Nine chip leader Jesse Sylvia; recent WCOOP winner Jason Mercier; and the defending champ, Elio Fox, are just a few of the pros who’ll be returning to action on Day 3.

Here’s a look at the top 10 end-of-day-2 chip counts:

2012 WSOP Europe End-of-Day-2 Top Ten Counts

Six 90-minute levels are scheduled for Day 3 on Tuesday as the remaining 80 players look to make the money at the top 48. Play is scheduled to kick off at 1200 CET (0600 EDT) , and of course PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all the action and eliminations from the 2012 WSOP Europe Main Event.

Be sure to check out our Live Reporting Section to follow our updates sponsored by PartyPoker. Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook today!

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