Are you looking for the day’s biggest poker stories? Well, you’ve come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we bring you comments from MGM and Boyd game about the future of federal online gaming in the U.S., a big celebration coming from PokerStars next month, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Melanie Weisner leads the field after Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Copenhagen Main Event. Michael Tureniec is also still alive and looking to become the first double winner in EPT history.

Which poker tournaments should you have on your bucket list? Take a look at our top 10 can’t miss tournaments during the year.

Matthew Weber won the World Series of Poker Circuit event in Tunica last week. Chad Holloway caught up with Weber to talk about his road to the title and how he got his start in poker.

Just like the rest of our body, our ears are not invincible. Lynn Gilmartin explains why players should be careful with headphones at the poker table.

MGM’s Murren Optimistic About Federal Online Poker in 2012

Despite reports that federal online poker has more than likely been shelved until at least 2013, MGM CEO Jim Murren said in a conference call on Wednesday that he believes it will still be legalized at some point this year.

“It’s not easy, not because it’s a complicated issue,” Murren said on the call, according to Reuters. “It’s becoming a clearer issue. It’s because Washington is becoming more complicated.

“We’ll be one of the first horses out of the gate when it’s approved.”

Meanwhile, MGM’s partner, Boyd Gaming, stated during a Q4 earnings call on Wednesday that federal online gaming in the U.S. appears “further off than we hoped,” hinting that the joint venture between MGM, Boyd and bwin.party would have to enter the market at a state level first.

“We believe the best approach is for Congress to enact legislation that creates a national, well-regulated environment for Internet gaming,” said Boyd Gaming CEO Keith Smart. “And while we believe federal legislation is profitable, we will consider entering the market on a state-by-state basis if that’s how the issue plays out. We’ve already applied for an interactive gaming license in Nevada.”

Where does the third component in this joint venture, bwin.party, stand on the issue? We’ll be speaking with bwin.party CEO Jim Ryan in the coming days, so stay locked in to PokerNews.com.

Happy Birthday, Sunday Million!

PokerStars is celebrating the sixth anniversary of the Sunday Million on March 11, 2012, and for one-week-only the site has increased the guarantee of its flagship event from $1 million to $6 million, with at least $1 million going to the champion.

The event will kick off at its regular time of 1430 EST (1930 GMT) with a direct buy-in of $215. As always, players can qualify for a seat by using their Frequent Player Points or through a wide variety of reasonably priced satellites. There will also be a special 1,000-seat guaranteed satellite running just before the big Sunday Million kicks off, with feeder satellites starting from only $1.

You can expect to see all of your favorite Team PokerStars Pros participating in the event, including Liv Boeree, Johnny Lodden, Lev Velduis, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier and Jason Mercier.

“When I think of the Sunday Million, I think back to being a 19- to 21-year-old kid, grinding mid-stakes, looking for that big tournament score,” Mercier said. “I would get excited every week to play the Sunday Million, hoping that would be the day that I would have my first six-figure score.”

For more information, check out our story at PokerNews.com.

Duhamel Leads Global Poker Index Player of the Year

Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel held the top spot in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings again this week. The award, which is presented by PokerNews, honors the player who has the strongest performance in live tournaments during the calendar year, according to the USA Today Global Poker Index point system.

There were no changes in the Top 10 from last week, but there was plenty of movement in the Top 100. Among the biggest climbers were Noah Schwartz (up 36 sports to No. 19), Marko Neumann (up 67 spots to No. 21), Harrison Gimbel (up 113 spots to No. 33) and Barry Greenstein (up 60 spots to No. 49). Gimbel’s huge rise came by way of a ninth-place finish at the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open. Schwartz took 18th in that same event.

Here’s a look at the Top 10 of the Global Poker Index Player of the Year standings:

Current GPI Player of the Year Top 10

For the full GPI Player of the Year standings, head on over to EpicPoker.com.

Keith Ferrera Wins Venetian DeepStacks Extravaganza I

Las Vegas poker pro Keith Ferrera took down the $2,500 Venetian DeepStack Extravaganza I Main Event on Tuesday, earning $139,720 for his three days of work. Ferrera, who was coming off a sixth-place finish at the World Poker Tour Lucky Hearts Poker Open for $42,185, continued his heater this week by besting 254 players at the Venetian, including a final table that featured Will “The Thrill” Failla, Francois Safiedinne and Paul Lieu.

Here’s a look at the final results from the Venetian:

Venetian Deepstack Extravaganza 1 Final Table Results

WPT Heads to Los Angeles

The World Poker Tour heads to the City of Angels this week for the Los Angeles Poker Classic at the renowned Commerce Casino. The $10,000 Main Event gets under way on Friday, Feb. 24, and will play down to a champion on Wednesday, Feb. 29.

Last year, Greg Brooks burst onto the live tournament scene by outlasting 681 players to win the LAPC Main Event for $1,654,120. Brooks bested a loaded final table that featured Carlos Mortensen, Steve Gross, Vivek Rajkumar, Amir Lehavot and Daryll Fish.

Other winners of the prestigious event include Phil Ivey, Alan Goehring, Michael Mizrachi, Antonio Esfandiari and Gus Hansen.

Stay tuned to PokerNews.com as we bring you recaps from each day of the LAPC. For more information about the event, check out the World Poker Tour Blog.

Get Hog Wild

If you live in the U.S. and are looking for a way to qualify online for the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event, HogWildPokerLeagues.com is giving away a free $13,000 package at the end of May. And all you have to do is compete in Hog Wild’s Staking Series.

“Players in our leagues love the fact that their game improves rapidly when they compete in our league format,” says HogWild CEO Jeff Amrein. “Along the way almost every player has a dream to be staked as a pro and we wanted to give many players that experience, rewarding them for their demonstrated skill over multiple games. Nearly 50 players will live that chance in the next three months thanks to this series.”

Read more about Hog Wild Poker in the press release.

Atlantis Internet Group Launches First Legal Intranet Gaming Platform

On Wednesday, the Atlantis Internet Group Corp. (ATIG), a Nevada-based gaming innovator, announced the launch of the first form of legal Intranet gaming within the United States.

The Coushatta Casino Resort in Louisiana and Coyote Valley Casino in California became the first two Indian casinos to sign with ATIG’s Tribal Gaming Network, allowing ATIG to pioneer intrastate poker.

“We have a huge leg up on the competition, having mastered play-for-fun marketing sites since 2003,” said ATIG President and CEO Donald L. Bailey. “Now, based on the NIGC opinion, to date ATIG is the only gaming company that can legally offer online linking games other than bingo, nationwide for live cash, such as poker and progressive jackpots. This is a new technology that has never been offered in the gaming Industry before today.”

Read more at PokerNews.com.

Daniel’s Weekly Rant

You probably saw Daniel Negreanu’s first video blog about Jason Somerville and the Full Tilt Poker board members. If you haven’t you’ll definitely want to check it out.

On Wednesday, Daniel released his second video blog, discussing topics such as his deep run at the LAPT Grand Final, Doyle Brunson defending Howard Lederer, and more.

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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Are you compiling you poker tournament bucket list? Don’t fill it with [insert casino name here] 7 p.m. nightly. Yes, those are fun, but come on, you should have the best of the best on your list. The PokerNews Team has come up with its top 10 can’t miss poker tournaments. And yes, there are even online tournaments in the mix. Check out this list, and start building your bankroll – playing these doesn’t come cheap.

1. World Series of Poker Main Event

Without a doubt, this is the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. Amateurs and pros turn out in full force to compete with one another for millions of dollars. It doesn’t get much better than that. If you’re a poker player, playing the WSOP is certainly on your bucket list.

2. PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event

Busting out on Day 1 might be optimal because you’re literally on Paradise Island. Winning the tournament and taking home a few mill would be OK, too.

3. Aussie Millions Main Event

It’s the biggest and most prestigious poker tournament in the Southern Hemisphere. That should be enough to get you Down Under.

4. World Poker Tour World Championship

Yes, the buy-in is $25,000, but this is one of the sickest fields in all of poker. All you need is money to play with the absolute best of the best, which is why poker is so amazing. If you’ve got the money, why not go play with all the legends?

5. PokerStars Sunday Million

If you’ve got a spot to grind from, this is the one to play online. The Sunday Million regularly pays out around a quarter-million dollars to the winner, and that’s not too shabby for a $215 investment. What’s better? You can satellite into the Sunday Million for pocket change, and the chance to parlay that into a couple hundred thousand bucks every single week makes it too tempting to pass up.

6. World Series of Poker Europe Main Event

While this event series has yet to come close to WSOP numbers, this past year was its most attended Main Event. Players will follow the gold bracelet wherever it is up for grabs.

7. PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final

The EPT is Europe’s richest poker tour, and the EPT Grand Final is the coup de grâce of the EPT. The field is huge and the $10K buy-in makes for a sizable prize pool.  PokerStars tends to keep the location of this event a secret until the last minute every year, creating anticipation in the poker community. No matter where it is, the location is always classy, cultural and impressive. 

8. World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic

Huge field of crazy, gambling people from LA in a tournament that provides the chance to get on a WPT televised final table and win loads of cash. Sounds like a good idea to us.

9. PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker

You can become a millionaire by sitting in your pajamas for two days. Enough said.

10. PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final

This year, the LAPT Grand Final took place during Carnival, which is known as one the biggest party festivals in the world. If you’re thinking about going to South America, this is a perfect tournament for both poker and pleasure.

Do you have your own list? Let us know in the comments section below, and as always, follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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This past week, Daniel Negreanu recorded a rant and then final-tabled the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final, Drew McIlvain gave his side of the chip-dumping story, Jason Somerville made a big announcement, and online poker legislation failed again in the United States.

We’ve got some thinking to do.

1. Kid Poker rehashes hatred, then crushes São Paulo

On Feb. 15, Negreanu uploaded a vlog on his YouTube channel titled, “Real Talk.” During the ten-minute video, Kid Poker talks about his upcoming trips to Brazil and Ireland, the World Series of Poker schedule, and, of course, Full Tilt Poker.

“I’ve come to realize that those comments are pretty harsh,” he admits, alluding to a past blog post where he advocated for old-school Vegas punishment for Ray Bitar, Chris Ferguson, and Howard Lederer. “I’ve had some time to think about what I said, and..um…yeah! I think they’re absolutely appropriate! I do, Howard! If you’re listening and watching this, I do! I don’t think I would have any problem with somebody who had $15,000 of their hard-earned money or your site, come up to you and bash you in the nuts with a baseball bat.”

This vlog – like everything Negreanu does – received mixed reviews. Some people just can’t stand him and how open he is, while other people, including some of the Negreanu-haters, champion his stance and hatred of FTP. Unsurprisingly, Matt Glantz served as the voice of reason, tweeting the following to Kid Poker:

Negreanu will always be vocal, and that turns people off, but right now he has more support than ever because (1) he’s right, and (2) he’s playing well.

What FTP did was inexcusable, and the repercussions will be felt for a long time. That being said, advocating violence isn’t always the best course of action, Daniel. I love that you’re honest, and that you’re not afraid to be yourself, but there are times where self-censorship is necessary. Please, bash FTP all you want, but don’t tell everybody that it’s OK to bash Lederer’s genitals. There are better, more productive ways to solve this problem.

Right or wrong, Negreanu’s opinions will remain in the headlines as long as he’s producing. This year alone, Kid Poker’s finished fifth in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100,000 Super High Roller, bubbled the Aussie Millions $250,000 Super High Roller, and finished sixth in the LAPT Grand Final. That’s an impressive two-month résumé.

I’m positive that we’ll hear more from Negreanu in the future, and I am certain that one of his recurring topics will be FTP.

2. It’s not about intent

Last week, I had a chance to talk with both Drew McIlvain, the player who was banned from Harrah’s Tunica, and Seth Palansky, the vice president of corporate communications at Caesars Entertainment. McIlvain, while his interview was interesting to say the least, says he did not intend to cheat or steal “Terry’s” chips. It’s not about intent however; it’s about following the rules.

“The definition of collude in the dictionary that I have in my hands,” Palansky told me. “Is two words: conspire together.”

McIlvain admits to having multiple conversations with “Terry,” but this doesn’t allow him to plead ignorance. After the first conversation, he should’ve known something strange was going on. After the second conversation, you have to tell somebody. If McIlvain called the floor at that point, what’s the worst that could happen? They tell him he’s wrong, and when “Terry” donks off his chips, he gets to keep them.

Some are arguing that only a small percentage of players would notify the floor in this situation, and that these types of things happen “all the time.” I don’t believe either claim is true. Had these people been in McIlvain’s shoes and were told the things McIlvain was told by “Terry,” they would’ve done something about it. Likewise, this doesn’t happen regularly. Sure, we’ve all seen someone get crippled then say something like, “I’m either going to triple-up or bust in the next orbit,” but that scenario is clearly different. “Terry” and McIlvain spoke player to player, away from the table, and there was a plan in place.

McIlvain didn’t make the plan, but he didn’t turn it down either.

Should McIlvain have been disqualified? Yes. Should he be banned from all Harrah’s properties? No. Will he be banned? I don’t think so. I think he’s learned a valuable lesson, and, after the appeals process, he will be welcomed back.

I hope he’s learned something from his mistakes, however, both on and off the felt.

3. Jason Somerville is a courageous man

Upon entering the poker media at the 2009 WSOP, Jason Somerville was one of the first players I met. He was very cordial, and didn’t act like he was above me in any way. As a rookie in the game, I appreciated that greatly. And, despite making four WSOP final tables, winning one bracelet and racking up over $1.6 million in live tournament earnings since our first encounter, Somerville hasn’t changed. He’s still one of the nicest players in the game.

Last week, on his blog, Somerville admitted that he was gay. More importantly, he said that he’s “honestly happier now than I’ve ever been.”

To those of you who don’t believe this is news, I ask you to name another high-profile male poker player who is openly homosexual. OK, now can you name an openly gay NFL player? NBA player? MLB player? NHL player? Golfer?

Having trouble?

It’s 2012, and while we’d like to think that things like race, creed, and sexuality don’t matter, they do. There are still stigmas, there are still arrogant people, and, above all, there is still fear.

“That same year, the second and third people I came out to were my parents (probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done),” Somerville writes.

Pressing “post” on this blog was probably in Somerville’s top 10, but the response from players and fans has been overwhelmingly positive. Even Perez Hilton reached out to Somerville:

There may not be a ton of homosexual poker players, but if there are any who were previously afraid to be themselves, I hope that Somerville’s post will make them more comfortable. We can’t change who we are inside, but it should be mandatory for us to live life to the fullest. It’s impossible to enjoy life while living in fear, however, and I commend Somerville for his courage.

4. Gullible is written on the ceiling

The millisecond I filed last week’s Five Thoughts, I came across something – I forget if it was a tweet or an article – that basically said online poker had no chance of making it on the payroll tax cut extension. A few days later, the ship sailed, and online poker was left on the dock again.

Optimism is the worst, and I really have no reason to be optimistic. Senator Harry Reid has been rumored to save the day twice now, and both times we were woefully disappointed. Even if something was passed, it would take months for anything substantial to occur, and that would be on a state-by-state level. It’s a never-ending bureaucratic nightmare.

I’m here to formally announce that Five Thoughts will no longer be optimistic towards online gaming legislation in the United States. Five Thoughts’ official stance: I’ll believe it when I see it.

This will be a hard-line stance, and I promise it won’t change until the next rumor pops up.

5. Carnival!!!

Enjoy

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Don’t miss your chance to qualify for Titan Poker’s $3,500 DeepStack Freeroll. Sign up for a Titan Poker account through PokerNews now!

What’s better than free money? Nothing as far as we’re concerned, which is why you should be excited for an offer by Titan Poker exclusive to PokerNews players. Throughout February, you have the opportunity to qualify for the special $3,500 DeepStack Freeroll, which will be held on March 5 starting at 2000 CET.

What do you need to do to qualify?

It’s simple, just sign up for Titan Poker through PokerNews, make a deposit, and proceed to earn a minimum of 30 Titan Points. The qualification period runs from Feb. 13 (0001 CET) to March 3 (2359 CET), so earning the required amount of points should be a breeze.

To learn more, visit Titan Poker. You can also sign up for a Titan Poker account through PokerNews and receive a special bonus of 200% up to $2,000, just use bonus code “POKERNEWS.”

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

Get all the latest PokerNews updates on your social media outlets. Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook now!

Season 4 of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour concluded this week with Daniele Nestola taking home the title. The timing for the Grand Final in Brazil could not have been better. In a country that needs no excuse for a party, there’s no better excuse for a party than Carnival, and it arrived alongside the Grand Final in full confetti and papier-mache regalia. It’s the biggest week of the year on the Brazilian calendar, and it came paired with the nation’s most prestigious poker tournament. A total of 367 players paid 4,000 reais apiece for a ticket to LAPT São Paulo, and the four-day event culminated in Monday’s final table.

The marriage of poker and party brought notables from as far away as Canada and Northern Europe, and the temptations were even enough to lure Daniel Negreanu to play. His influence has spread far south of the equator, and his presence alone put a notable mark on Brazilian poker. Luckily enough for fans gathered ringside, Negreanu was chatty and playing mostly fantastic poker, and he picked his way all the way through the field and into the final eight.

Daniele Nestola began the final table as the big stack and wasted no time wielding that in a pot that ended the run of Argentina’s Juan Gonzalez. They were playing 12,000/24,000/3,000 when there was a raise and a flat-call in front of Nestola’s small blind and decided to squeeze in a reraise from 54,000 to 148,000. In the big blind, Gonzalez four-bet shoved for 549,000 holding . The other two players folded out of the way, but Nestola called with , and the race was on. The board ran , and the early quads were the first sign that the day would belong to Nestola. Gonzalez was the first player to fall in his wake, earning R$26,340 for eighth place.

The final Brazilian fell in seventh place when Vitor Torres lost the last of his chips. He’s an imposing man at the table, but his short stack found him shoving into Felipe Morbiducci’s . The flop was not at all good news for the native and was awarded R$35,560 as he left the stage to a warm ovation.

Negreanu was down in the realm of 20 to 25 big blinds as the blinds went up in the second level of the day and made it clear that he was playing for the win. Unfortunately, his first bid for a double went afoul at the hands of Carlos Ibarra. Negreanu was the preflop raiser, and Ibarra called in late position to go heads-up to the flop. When it came , Negreanu continued out for 102,000. Ibarra wanted to play for 300,000 though, and his raise effectively put “Kid Poker” to a decision for all his chips. Negreanu had 575,000 left behind, and he chatted up Ibarra a bit before committing with . Ibarra had been working with though, and Negreanu was two cards from the exit. The turn and river were no use, and Negreanu’s sixth-place consolation prize was R$48,730.

That put Ibarra within striking distance of Nestola’s chip-leading stack, and the two men traded spots a couple of times before Nestola really began to turn the screws. He found the same Ibarra had used to tally a knockout of his own, and it earned him the bounty of Ecuador’s Jonathan Markovits. The latter stuck his short stack in with the respectable , but he could not overcome Nestola’s rockets, leaving in fifth place with R$64,540.

Morbiducci, from Chile, was the next to run aground at Nestola’s expense when the two got it in with and respectively. Morbiducci had his tournament momentarily extended by the flop, but the turn drew Nestola right back into the lead. The river was the , and the blank sent the first of two Chileans off to the exit in fourth place with R$89,570.

Gaspernio Nicolas had been biding his time as the price of poker had been growing, and he really began to mount a charge during three-handed play. He overtook Nestola briefly, but his time at the top was short-lived. Nestola once again found those friendly in a big pot against Nicolas, and the Nestola’s chip lead began to grow once again as he knocked his opponent down a notch.

Nicolas managed to take care of Ibarra, the other Chilean, in third place, but he was still facing an uphill battle. Ibarra’s elimination came when he bluff-shoved his short stack with on a flop. Nicolas’ was good enough to send him on his way, and he earned the first six-figure payout with a check for R$148,840 and a respectable third-place result.

Nestola and Nicolas agreed to chop R$500,000 of the remaining prize pool in half and play for the remaining R$39,300, and it didn’t take long at all for Nestola to claim that remainder and the trophy. The heads-up battle was short and lopsided, and it was a seemingly innocent limped pot that ended the day. Nicolas flopped top pair with on the , and Nestola called a bet with his drawing at the open-ender. The came right on fourth street, and the rest of the money got in right there. Nicolas was already drawing dead to the river, and he took a quarter-million Reais back home to Venezuela with him.

From start to finish, the whole tournament took just over four hours, and Nestola was likely headed out for a night of partying Carnival-style in the streets of São Paulo. He has 289,300 reasons to celebrate, and he was smiling broadly as he posed for his winner photo with the winning hand, the trophy, and all the chips.

2012 LAPT Grand Final São Paulo Results

Still hungry for live reporting? Check out the updates from EPT Copenhagen. Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

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On Sunday night, Fox Sports Network aired its first tournament of Season X of the World Poker Tour – the Legends of Poker from the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California. The Legends of Poker is one of the most prestigious titles in all of poker and has been on the WPT schedule from its inception.

Last year, Andy Frankenberger topped a field of 462 to claim the $750,000 first-place prize, joining the likes of Doyle Brunson and Dan Harrington as past Legends of Poker champions. In Season X, the tournament, which was originally held Aug. 25 through 30, 2011, featured a $3,500+$200 buy-in and attracted 757 entrants, creating a prize pool of $2,570,015.

This year, the WPT’s television coverage was expanded and now includes three hours of airtime from each event, including in-depth coverage of the tournament’s early days, and more comprehensive coverage of the final table.

Prelude: The broadcast got under way with footage of Day 1a, which drew 322 players including Dwyte Pilgrim, Faraz Jaka, Matt Affleck, Phil Hellmuth, and of course the defending champ. “No one’s ever won the same tournament in the WPT twice,” Frankenberger said before the start of the action. “So I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of pressure to do it, but I put a lot of pressure on myself anyways. I always put pressure on myself to win. I hate losing.”

Not everyone was able to avoid defeat on Day 1a as Gavin Smith, Kathy Liebert, and Matt Mafafioti hit the rail, though each had the option of reentering on Day 1b. Likewise, Frankenberger busted late in the day and was not among the 141 Day 1a survivors. A few players who were, included chip leader Matt Berkey (248,500), Will “The Thrill” Failla (148,300), and Zach Clark (126,400).

On Day 1b, 435 players showed up and brought the total field up to 757 entrants. Among the entries was Chris Karagulleyan, who won the Legends of Poker in Season I, and Season V champ Joe Pelton. By the time action ended, only 197 players remained, meaning 338 returned for Day 2, with JC Tran leading the way with 265,000.

The eliminations mounted quickly on Day 2 including Frankenberger, Maria Ho, and Michael Winnett. After a long day, the field had been reduced to 99 with Ken Aldridge (659,500) leading, though Cody Slaubaugh (658,000) was hot on his heels, followed by Failla (550,500) and Berkey (502,000).

On Day 3, the money bubble loomed as 81 players were slated to be paid, meaning 18 players would leave disappointed. “Titan” Tom Braband and Dylan Hortin were among the early eliminations, and Joe Ressler earned the unfortunate distinction of being the bubble boy.

Once in the money, the eliminations came furiously. Jamie Gold scored his first WPT cash with a 67th-place finish for $7,300, and WPT Season IV Player of the Year Gavin Smith followed him out the door a short time later in 57th place for $7,710. Tran (39th – $9,250), Jonathan Little (38th – $9,250), Slaubaugh (35th – $10,280), Pilgrim (33rd – $10,280), Berkey (30th – $10,280), Allen Kessler (28th – $10,280), and Keith Kozar (23rd – $14,135) all hit the rail before play ended with just 21 players and Jeff Vertes leading the way with 2,712,000.

Day 4 saw the final 21 reduced to six, losing Dan Heimiller (20th – $14,135), Brent Hanks (16th – $19,275), Christina Lindley (15th – $24,415), Buchanan (13th – $24,415), Matt Kay (10th – $29,555), and James Carroll (8th – $51,400) along the way. Ray Henson (7th – $64,250) ended up being the final-table bubble boy.

Here is a look at the seating assignment at the start of the final table:

WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

Ugliest Hat in History: Jeff Vertes opened for 325,000 with only to have Owais Ahmed move all-in for 1,630,000 with . The rest of the field folded and as Vertes was contemplating his options, Will Failla told Ahmed, “That has got to be one of the ugliest hats in history.”

“I don’t want to play from behind,” Vertes said before laying down his hand, allowing Ahmed to swipe another pot without so much as a flop.

Action Flop: In the very next hand, Jeff Vertes opened for 325,000 with and received a call from Will Failla, who was on the button holding . Ken Aldridge also came along for the ride from the big blind holding , and there was three-way action to the flop. The players checked to Failla, who put out a bet of 300,000. Aldridge folded, and Vertes gave a bad acting performance before making the call.

When the hit the turn, Vertes checked and surprisingly Failla did the same. The river saw Vertes give another bad acting performance, sighing deeply and acting conflicted, before he put out a bet of 500,000. Failla seemed to know something was up, but felt compelled to make the call nonetheless. Even though he lost the hand, it almost seemed like a win for Failla as both the crowd and commentators acknowledged that he could have lost a lot more on the hand.

Ahmed Eliminated in Sixth Place: Action folded around to Owais Ahmed in the small blind and he once again moved all-in. Will Failla was in the big blind and took a peek at his cards before making the call.

Showdown

Failla was a 54 percent favorite, and tried to get the crowd pumped up before the flop fell . Failla still wasn’t convinced that he was going to win the hand and proceeded to stare down the board and chant, “Ace of diamonds, ace of diamonds, ace of diamonds.” Wouldn’t you know it, the spiked on the turn to fulfill his request and leave Ahmed drawing dead. The meaningless was run out on the river for good measure as the short-stacked Ahmed was eliminated in sixth place for $77,100.

“Don’t Listen to Anything He Says:” Will Failla opened from the cutoff for 300,000 only to have Adam Aronson move all-in from the button for 1,895,000. Both blinds got out of the way, Failla stood from his seat, and announced a call.

Showdown

“I want you to think of the queen of hearts,” Failla told the dealer.

“Don’t listen to anything he says,” Aronson joked. In this case, the dealer, or rather the cards, favored Aronson as the board ran out . With that, Aronson chipped up to 4,070,000.

To Be Continued: Who’ll be the next player to join the prestigious list of Legends of Poker winners and take home the $758,085 first-place prize? Part II is set to air on Sunday, Feb. 26, 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 Legend of Poker Champions

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*Picture courtesy of World Poker Tour.

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The inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Western New York Poker Championship came to a close Sunday evening in Niagara Falls, New York. After three days of play, William Vogel outlasted a field of 217 players to collect the top prize of $71,827 and the honor of being the first winner of the brand new DeepStacks Poker Tour.

Vogel began the six-handed final table with a slight lead over Lou Procopio, but Procopio took the pole position on the second hand of the day. With the blinds at 10,000/20,000, Procopio raised to 46,000 from the cutoff and action folded to short stack Steve Przybyl, who moved all-in for 173,000 from the big blind with . Procopio made the call with , and a queen-high board sent Przybyl to the rail in sixth place for $13,359.

Vogel then made his presence known by eliminating Tom Krol in fifth place. The two players saw a flop of and some furious action ensued. Krol led for 50,000 before Vogel pushed all-in, having Krol covered.

Krol took his time, but eventually made the call for his last 193,000. He was ahead, holding for top pair against Vogel’s . However, the came down on the turn and completed Vogel’s straight. Drawing dead, Krol was already out of his chair and shaking hands with the other players as the river was revealed. He collected $17,802 for fifth place.

Procopio still held the lead up to that point, but Vogel took control after sending Buffalo, New York, native Michael Wachowski home in fourth place. Wachowski made a bold all-in bluff with on a board. Vogel called with for two pair, and the on the river ended Wachowski’s tournament.

Vogel continued rolling by sending Nick Goetz to the rail in third place. With the blinds at 15,000/30,000, Goetz moved all-in for his last 425,000 on the button. Vogel called from the small blind, and the action shifted over to Procopio, who tanked before finally letting his hand go.

Goetz:
Vogel:

The flop brought , and Goetz needed a lot help to stay alive. He picked up several more outs when the fell on the turn, but the river gave the pot to Vogel. Goetz exited with $31,161 and a huge smile on his face.

That set up a heads-up battle between the two behemoths to start the final table. Vogel and Procopio began their match with nearly identical stacks, but Vogel got out to a quick lead and never looked back. After winning two big pots to take a 7-to-1 lead, Vogel called Procopio’s three-bet shove with and was slightly ahead of Procopio’s .

“This is exciting,” Vogel said to his friends and family in attendance. He turned around to watch the dealer reveal the flop. Vogel remained out in front, but the on the turn gave Procopio some additional outs for a chop. However, the on the river sealed the deal for Vogel, whose friends and family applauded the first DeepStacks Poker Tour Champion. Procopio, meanwhile, took $43,928 back to his home in Liverpool, New York.

Western New York Poker Championship Final Table Results

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Day 3 of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final wrapped up shortly after dinner on Sunday in São Paulo, Brazil. Leading the way in a big way is Daniele Nestola. He finished with 1.892 million in chips and has about 600,000 more than Carlos Ibarra, who is in second place. Vitor Torres will be the short stack, wrapping up with 273,000 in chips.

The day began with 24 players returning to action including Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes. Entering the day as the shortest stack in the room didn’t make things easy on Brenes and he was out the door in 22nd place.

Brenes was all-in with against Martin Santos’ . The board ran out and that was the end of the line for the Costa Rican pro.

Also falling short of the final table were notables Caio Pimenta (12th) and Mayu Roca (11th). The last player eliminated on the day was Joshua Ewing in ninth place.

Getting short on chips, Ewing looked down to see pocket fours and moved all-in for approximately 230,000. He was crushed by the pocket kings held by Gasperino Nicolas and couldn’t find any help on the flop, turn or river. For his finish, Ewing took home R$22,390 and his elimination officially ended the day.

The biggest name at the final table belongs to Team PokerStars Pro and four-time World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Daniel Negreanu. This was Negreanu’s first time ever making an LAPT cash and he’s made the most of it so far by finding his way to the final table. In doing so, Negreanu has accomplished a feat that no other poker player has done.

Combining this final table appearance with his EPT Vienna and APPT Sydney final table finishes in 2010, Negreanu is the only poker player to ever make a final table in Main Events across all three of the PokerStars-sponsored tours. “Kid Poker” bagged up 702,000 in chips and will enter Monday’s final day fifth overall.

Final Table Seating Assignments and Chips

Live updates will begin at 1200 BRST (1400 GMT) Monday and the PokerNews team will bring you all of the action. There’s R$324,600 up for grabs for the winner and all of the remaining eight players would love to get their hands on it.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter to keep up with the rest of the news from the poker world.

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Did you miss any of the top poker news stories this week? Well you’ve come to the right place to get caught up. Patrik Antonius has been added to the PartyPoker Premier League V lineup. And, if you can get over dreaming about seeing Antonius’ heavenly mug on your television, you can keep reading to find out about PokerStars’ mobile app, and more.

Poker Tournaments

Patrik Antonius Joins PartyPoker Premier League

What’s a good way to boost ratings for a televised poker program? Add Patrik Antonius to the lineup.

PartyPoker announced Thursday that Antonius will join Tony G, Luke “FullFlush” Schwartz, Vanessa Selbst, Sam Trickett, and others for the $125,000 buy-in PartyPoker.com Premier League Poker V Main Event from April 4 through 10 in Vienna.

The 16-player event is part of the World Poker Tour Vienna festivities and will award the winner with entry into the $25,000 WPT World Championship at Bellagio, in addition to the league’s top cash prize.

Reigning WPT Player of the Year Andy Frankenberger will also be in attendance to defend his PartyPoker Premier League title. Last November, Frankenberger bested Andrew Feldman, Sorel Mizzi and others to win the Premier League Mixed Games Championship for $100,000. The previous Premier League winners are David Benyamine, Andy Black, JC Tran and Juha Helppi.

PartyPoker is offering players a chance to qualify for two seats in April’s prestigious event. Visit PartyPoker.com for the details.

So Sick!

Phil Laak and Antonio Esfandiari will be hosting the Laak & Esfandiari Open from March 1 through 4 at Montreal’s Playground Poker Club.

The first event on tap is a $2,200 heads-up tournament, which features a best-of-three format and will be capped at 32 players. Notables likely to attend the event include Erik Cajelais, Marc Karam, Mike “Timex” McDonald, Pascal Lefrancois and former NHL player Guy Carbonneau.

Part of the fun during the festivities will be the friendly prop bets between Laak and Esfandiari. The two friends have already agreed on a last-longer bet for the heads-up event, and the loser will be humiliated by the other in front of everyone at the Playground on Sunday, March 4th.

There will also be a $550 Deepstack event beginning on Friday, March 2. The field will be broken down into two days – Day 1a’s players will represent “Team Laak,” and Day 1b’s players will represent “Team Esfandiari.” Depending on which day the winner of the tournament advanced from, the loser will again be humiliated in front of everyone in attendance.

Laak and Esfandiari love to torment each other, so we’re looking forward to this one.

For a full schedule and details on the Laak & Esfandiari Open, visit www.PlaygroundPoker.ca.

The Prince of South Africa

The 2012 World Series of Poker Africa is rolling into Johannesburg on Feb. 21, and five-time WSOP bracelet winner Scotty Nguyen has been named host of the festivities.

The series will be held at the Emerald Resort and Casino from Feb. 21 through 26, and will consist of six events, including a $3,300 Main Event beginning on Friday, Feb. 24. Last year, South African Warren Zackey outlasted 188 players to collect the WSOP ring and the top prize of $222,477.

Nguyen has never been to South Africa and says he’s looking forward to his first trip to the country’s largest city.

“You know, the Prince has been all over the world baby, you name it: Australia, Asia, Europe, but this is my first time going to South Africa and I’m so excited to come out and share this great game we love with the players there, to get to know them and to just have a good time baby,” Nguyen told Sport24.

“Just make sure the people at the Emerald protect me from any lions and I promise you we’ll have a lot of fun baby!”

Check out the full story at Sport24.

Online Poker

Take PokerStars With You Wherever You Go

On Tuesday, PokerStars announced the launch of a new mobile poker app that will allow players in the United Kingdom to play free and real money games on Apple and Android devices.

Just like the desktop software, the PokerStars Mobile app offers real-money games in varieties like Texas hold’em, Omaha and Omaha hi-lo. Players can compete in multi-table tournaments, sit-and-gos and ring games, and they’ll even find familiar features like multi-tabling and hand histories.

“PokerStars Mobile is more than just the migration of the existing PokerStars game product to the mobile platform,” said PokerStars’ Director of New Platforms Jeffrey Haas. “It’s an intentional product designed specifically for the form factors of mobile and tablet devices, and the different ways people play games on them. This is the best authentic poker experience available for mobile devices today.”

Check out the full story at PokerNews.com.

PokerStars Launches New Site

Poker players in Sweden and Finland received great news Monday when PokerStars launched a new site that will allow residents of those nations to play on the site tax-free. PokerStars.eu will continue to offer the same games and software as the dot-com site, but PokerStars’ new Maltese gaming license will allow players in European markets to take advantage of the gambling-friendly tax laws of the European Union.

Until now, gamblers in Sweden and Finland were taxed high amounts on their online gambling winnings earned outside the EU. Poker players from those countries will now be able to play tax-free on the dot.eu site because Malta, a member of the EU, does not tax gambling winnings.

“Some markets treat European Union-licensed operators differently than other license-holders,” said PokerStars head of business development Guy Templer. “Offering our online poker on www.pokerstars.eu with a Maltese license provides benefits to players in Sweden and Finland in particular and we are always striving to offer the best product possible to our players, wherever they are located.”

Get the full story at PokerNews.com.

Iowa Pushes for Online Poker

Online poker is expected to be one of many topics discussed by Iowa lawmakers when they return to the Statehouse this week.

Sen. Jeff Danielson says he expects to receive a draft of legislation establishing regulatory perimeters for state-licensed casinos to offer online poker to Iowa residents. The outlook of online poker in the state improved when the Department of Justice changed its stance on the Wire Act of 1961, but Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal told The Gazette that it’s “hard to tell” whether a bill could be approved by the end of the year.

“We have this messy circumstance where there’s this gray market or black market online poker business going on,” Gronstal said. “I think it’s something worth exploring. I think there’s a lot of potential side tracks for this bill to go down. But I think it probably makes sense for us to try to regulate this industry that’s already going on.”

The Gazette has more.

Online Poker Won’t Ride Payroll Tax Bill

According to a report at PublicGaming.com, regulated online poker will not be included in the payroll tax bill, which some pundits believe will be the last major piece of legislation passed by the Obama administration before the November elections.

Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) was rumored to be planning to attach federal online poker to the bill, which is aimed to extend payroll tax breaks and unemployment payments. According to Politico writer David Saleh Rauf, a spokesperson for Reid said that regulating Internet poker will not be part of a tentative deal.

The report was later confirmed by Steve Tetreault of the Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Online poker’s exclusion from the final payroll bill could be viewed as the end of the road for federal legislation in the U.S before the lame duck session. Making matters worse, Republican presidential frontrunners Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have both expressed disapproval of online gaming, which could present a weighty challenge for poker supporters if either candidate supplants Obama as president this November.

PublicGaming.com has more.

Poker Players

Duhamel’s Bracelet Recovered

On Friday, reports surfaced that Jonathan Duhamel’s 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet had been recovered – well, what was left of it anyway. The bracelet was found by a street sweeper in Montreal last Wednesday.

“The sentimental value [of the bracelet] is priceless. We are giving the bracelet to the police, because it is still a piece of evidence, and should help the police with the investigation. We are happy, and Jonathan is doing very well,” said Philippe Jette, Duhamel’s manager.

Read more, and see images of the damaged bracelet on PokerNews.com.

Never Too Old To Quit

Doyle Brunson admitted last year that traveling the tournament circuit is becoming too much of a grind at his age. But the 78-year-old legend is still crushing the Las Vegas cash games as if he was still in his twenties.

Brunson recently wrote in his blog that he’s been playing lengthy sessions over the past few weeks at Aria and the Bellagio. The high volume has apparently paid off, too, as Brunson said he’d won 14 of the last 15 days as of Friday, Feb. 10.

“Poker is going strong in Vegas,” Brunson wrote. “There are two or three medium stake poker games every day. The games aren’t nearly as high as they were before Black Friday, but at least they are going every day. The games are $300/$600 at the Aria and $600/$1,200 at the Bellagio with the stakes going a little higher sometimes. There seems to be lots of players because there is usually a waiting list.”

Brunson did mention one lousy beat: Doctors told him he had to lay off the Cheetos and Goldfish crackers for a while. If he’s looking for a replacement snack to keep the heater running, we recommend apples.

Read Doyle’s full blog at doylebrunson.com.

Jason Somerville Breaks His Silence

World Series of Poker bracelet winner Jason Somerville opened his heart to the poker community Tuesday by divulging on his blog that he is gay.

Among other things, the 24-year-old discussed the lack of openly gay poker players in the industry, as well as the struggle to balance his private life with his desire to be himself in public and at the poker table.

“I’m no Daniel Negreanu, the royalty of real talk, but I do pride myself on saying what I think and simply being who I am,” Somerville wrote. “But I suppose you could say in the past being ‘truly myself’ has come with a bit of an asterisk. Privately, amongst friends, I can say I’ve been doing that for some amount of time – but publicly, and in poker, that hasn’t completely been the case. I haven’t exactly always been where I am now, though, and haven’t really been ready to share my story publicly. Privacy reasons excepted, that won’t be the case anymore.”

Somerville, one of the most admired and respected players in poker, has received an outpouring of support on Twitter, TwoPlusTwo and even YouTube. Negreanu, a close friend of Somerville, even posted a video blog discussing Somerville’s decision to “come out” (as well as some harsh words for the board members at Full Tilt):

Read Jason’s full blog at jcarver.badbeatscrew.com

Liv Boeree Check-raises for Chipata

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has launched a charity called Check-raise for Chipata dedicated to bettering the lives of orphans in the nation of Zambia. SOS Children, the world’s largest orphan charity, is building a village in Chipata for children who have been abandoned as a result of poverty and disease, and Boeree is looking to raise enough money to build a home in the village for children to live in.

“Any donation on this site, however big or small will be gratefully received and goes straight to SOS Children,” Boeree said. “The current goal is to raise £75,000 which I’m aiming to reach by the summer.”

Boeree has already made a contribution of £2,500. To get involved by making a donation, visit Boeree’s page at Virgin Giving Money.

And Because This Meme Isn’t Played Out Enough…

…we bring you, the What People Think I Do meme for poker players – again. For probably the last time.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

The inaugural DeepStacks Poker Tour Western New York Poker Championship has reached a final table after two days of play at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Niagara Falls, New York. The tournament began with 217 players, including several high-profile members of Team DeepStacks, but only six will return for the televised final table on Sunday.

Day 2 began with 42 players, and a whirlwind of early eliminations left only 25 players on the money bubble in the third level of the day. That’s when the biggest hand of the day took place. With several small stacks simply trying to squeeze into the money, the two biggest stacks in the room collided for the biggest pot of the tournament to that point.

Chip leader Kyaw Naing raised to 15,000 from the cutoff and Lou Procopio three-bet to 62,000 from the small blind. Action folded back to Naing, who made the call, and the dealer rolled out a flop. Naing checked and Procopio took his time before betting 150,000. Naing check-raised all-in and Procopio stood up and announced a call.

Naing
Procopio:

Naing needed a heart to burst the bubble and take an overwhelming lead over the rest of the field. However, the turn brought the and the river was the , giving Procopio around 850,000 – more than double the stack of any other player. Naing was left with just 82,500, and he was sent home as the bubble on the very next hand.

Michael Mizrachi was the biggest story entering the day. The man with more the $12 million in live tournament earnings had the chip lead when play began, but “The Grinder” had a turbulent ride at the feature table all afternoon. Mizrachi snuck his way into the money, but he was eliminated in 14th place when his was bested by Mike Crystal’s .

Procopio used the chips he won on the money bubble to run over his opponents the rest of the day. He also got the help of a timely turn card in a big hand against Jonathan Dimmig. Dimmig got his 300,000-plus chip stack all-in preflop with against Procopio’s , but the board gave an animated Procopio a set of kings. Procopio is second in chips entering the final table, trailing only William Vogel.

Vogel climbed past Procopio for the lead on the final hand of the night. Vogel and Husni Aga both checked the flop, but when Vogel made it 25,000 on the turn, Aga called. The river seemed innocent enough, but Aga decided to shove his last 185,000 in the middle. After about two minutes in the tank, Vogel called with , picking off Aga’s bluff to secure the final table.

Every member of the final table is from Upstate New York, making the tournament a true Western New York Poker Championship. Joining Vogel and Procopio at the final table will be Tom Krol, Nicholas Goetz, Michael Wachowski, and last year’s runner-up at the DeepStacks Seneca Poker Open, Steve Przybyl.

Here’s a look at the table draw and chip counts of the final six:

The final table kicks off Sunday at 1400 EST (1900 GMT) in the Bear’s Den. Get all the updates right here on PokerNews.

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