2011 January 17, Chad Holloway

The PokerNews Live Reporting Teamwas in the Bahamas last week covering the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Our live blog reported all the action from the $100,000 Super High Roller Event, $5,000 NAPT Bounty Shootout, $25,000 High Roller Tournament, and of course the PCA Main Event. What many people may not realize is that these tournaments were just a sample of those offered throughout the 10 days of the PCA. Unfortunately, PokerNews wasn’t able to live-report each event, but we’ve put together a recap of the more popular side events.

THE PCA $1,000 LADIES EVENT

Hoping to duplicate Vanessa Rousso’s feat of winning the PCA Luxury Ladies Poker Event last year, 96 women entered the 2011 PCA $1k Ladies Event, including 28 who satellited online at PokerStars. Among the participants were Team PokerStars Pros Vicky Coren, Maridu Mayrinck, and Fatima Moreira de Melo; EPT Prague Ladies Event winner Hana Soljan, TV personality Ricki Lake, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s girlfriend Cathy Hong, recent WPT 14th-place finisher Lauren Kling; Argentine star Veronica Dabul; all-time female money winner Kathy Liebert, EPT London Ladies runner-up Megan Milburn, 10th-place PCA Main Event finisher Ana Marquez, Eat Play Love author Beth Gains, and Teija Halkosaari, a freeroll satellite winner playing her first live event.

In the end, Kristin “change100” Bihr was the last woman standing after defeating Kling in a tough heads-up battle. Bihr, who is widely recognized by her nickname, is a seasoned poker writer and one of the most respected professionals in the poker media. To give you an idea of just how popular she is, when Bihr made the final table, the “Twitterverse” exploded with updates on her progress; so much so that “change100” became the biggest Twitter trend out of Las Vegas on Saturday night. “I’m a poor poker writer, so this kind of money really means a lot to me,” Bihr told PokerStars after her $29,798 win.

The eight players paid in the event were:

1. Kristin “change100″ Bihr – $29,798
2. Lauren Kling – $18,624
3. Vicky Coren – $13,968
4. Victoria Lucenkova – $9,312
5. Deb Quailey – $7,450
6. Ricki Lake – $5,587
7. Kathy Jamison – $4,656
8. Lauren Fallia – $3,725

PCA $5,250 HEADS-UP CHAMPIONSHIP

Heads-up bracket courtesy of PokerStars.

The $5,250 Heads-Up Championship sold out on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2011, with a full 64-strong complement of players including Team PokerStars Pros John Duthie, Leo Fernandez, Alex Gomes, Vanessa Selbst, Joe Cada and Vicky Coren. They were joined by other tops pros such as Sorel Mizzi, Alexander Kostritsyn, Scott Seiver, Daniel Cates, John Racener, Nick Schulman and Justin Bonomo, to name a few.

The event and $120,000 first-place prize was ultimately won by Pieter de Vries, who defeated Daniel Colman in the final round of the tournament. Aside from Colman, de Vries’ path to victory was paved with some stiff competition. In Round 1, he bested Seiver and moved on to face Jach Schanbacher in Round 2. From there it was on to Dave Chouinard, Scott Baumstein, and Jamie Armstrong in successive order.

Here are the final standings and payouts of the PCA $5,250 Heads-Up Championship:

1. Pieter de Vries – $120,000
2. Daniel Colman – $60,000
3rd/4th – Jamie Armstrong & Jonathan Jaffe – $30,00 each
5th-8th – Scott Baumstein, Bryan Pellegrino, Benjamin Leblond, Tobias Kuder – $17,600 each

“Isildur1” vs. “OU THE NICK”

On Saturday, Jan. 8, PokerStars revealed the identity of the online superstar known as “Isildur1”. While no one was particularly shocked to learn the mystery player was the long-suspected Swede Viktor Blom, the announcement did vanquish the veil of anonymity and open the door for Isildur1 to play in the live-poker realm. As fate would have it, Blom’s first live match as Isildur1 occurred shortly after his identity was revealed. As part of a promotion, Blom faced off against German online qualifier Nick “OU THE NICK” Hahn.

Hahn, a 22-year-old from Frankfurt who bested a 424-player field to win the online promotion, was given $10,000 to play a heads-up match against Blom, who started with the same amount. Their table was surrounded by interested spectators who were anxious to catch a glimpse of the man who has won and lost millions. While everyone was fascinated with Blom, Hahn concentrated on defeating his opponent. Unfortunately, winning wasn’t in the cards.

In the last hand of the match, Hahn was slightly down in chips when he picked up . Isildur1 held , and all the money went in. While Hahn was a huge favorite, he was playing against an online legend. A on the flop, followed by another on the turn, gave Isildur1 the hand and match.

Side Event Summary

The above events were just a small sample of those offered at this year’s PCA. All told, the schedule boasted 48 highly successful events. Below is a summary of some of the other side events from the 2011 PCA:

Photo courtesy of PokerStars.

While the PCA is winding down, the Aussie Millions is just getting started. Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for all the Down Under action.

You have to check out the all new Home Games Online from PokerStars- play your regular home game with friends from all over the world.

2011 January 17, Elaine Chaivarlis

If you’re looking for the top poker news stories of the day, look no further. We’ve scoured the Internet to bring you everything you need to know. Up on the docket today, Florida is considering building Las Vegas style casinos, Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom might have to pay the tax man quite a bit of money, and more.

In Case You Missed It

Team PokerNews covered four events from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Live Reporting Blog, but there were plenty of side events going on. Take a look at the results from the PCA side events.

Going to be in Las Vegas soon and wondering what tournament series are running? The Las Vegas Grinder gives you the scoop.

Another Sunday of major online poker tournaments is in the books. “Benji79″ came away with the biggest score, but plenty of others added serious money to their bankrolls too. Check out the Sunday Briefing for all the results.

The 2011 Aussie Millions is under way and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team is there covering all the action. Event #3, the $1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha, played down to a final table Monday and if you’re looking for the final table lineup, you can check out the recap.

What Happens in Florida….

It just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it does it? The state of Florida is considering expanding casino gambling statewide, and has received proposals from some of Las Vegas’ leading hotel and entertainment companies. During his campaign for governor, Rick Scott opposed expanding casino gambling in the state, but now that he’s in the driver’s seat, he said he’s open to the proposition.

Scott met with CEO of Las Vegas Sands Corp., Sheldon Adelson, recently, increasing speculation on the issue. Adelson has said he is willing to invest up to $3 billion to fund a Miami hotel and casino project.

In a radio interview, Florida Senator Mike Haridopolos said, “We’re a big-time gambling state, and we need to figure out in general how we’re going to maximize revenue because people are going to gamble.”

Will we be calling Florida the Las Vegas of the South? Only time will tell. Check out more on the issue at Examiner.com.

Paying the Piper

The grand mystery of Isildur1′s identity was solved last week at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. It wasn’t a big surprise to very many people, if anyone, when Viktor Blom walked through the black curtain.

It was said that one of the reasons Blom didn’t reveal himself was the tax situation in Sweden. Well, that hasn’t changed, and last week a financial newspaper in Sweden revealed that the Swedish government had begun to crack down on online poker sites. Under Swedish law, residents must pay taxes on gambling online unless they play on sites based in the European Union or the state-run Svenska Spel. Unfortunately for Blom, he did most of his playing on Full Tilt Poker, and since it’s a non-European Union site, he could be looking at a hefty tax bill.

How hefty? $149 million. Why so much? Well, according to Swedish tax laws, all gambling is taxable, even losing hands. (Double bad beat.) Though originally from Sweden, Blom recently moved to London where gambling income is not taxed. There is no word yet whether or not Blom will have to pay up, but Erik Boman, a spokesperson for the Swedish tax agency said, “Internet poker is something we’re looking into and I know this poker player, but I can’t comment on whether we’ve opened a case.”

You can read more on Betting.Betfair.com.

Quick Sesh Before Tee Time

TMZ must have had a slow day Sunday because it posted a video of Phil Hellmuth playing poker at the Medinah Country Club from back in October. The video isn’t exciting, and we’re not so sure the story is either. Apparently, while waiting to tee off, Hellmuth took on some of the caddies in a friendly game of seven-card stud.

From TMZ, “But after the video cuts off … things really started to heat up. Sources tell us Phil was holding his own until one of the caddies took him for a $350 pot by besting Hellmuth’s ace-high flush with a full house.” While the caddy was probably breaking a sweat until he won the hand, we’re not so sure Hellmuth was. He was after all, tweeting last week about playing Chinese for $500 a point and losing $51,000.

We can’t embed the video for you, so you’ll have to check it out on TMZ.com.

UBOC 6 Under Way

The sixth installment of the UB Online Championship kicked off Sunday with three events: a $500+$30 no-limit hold’em deep stack hosted by Eric Baldwin, a $300+$20 Sniper no-limit hold’em deep stack hosted by Joe Sebok, and a $300+$20 no-limit hold’em deep-stack ultra turbo hosted by Team UB.

Twenty-nine events are on the 15-day UBOC 6 schedule. UB is guaranteeing $5 million in cash and prizes throughout all the events, and the championship event boasts a $1 million guarantee.

Running simultaneously, the Mini-UBOC caters to players whose bankrolls aren’t as established as those of others. Twenty-nine events are on the Mini-UBOC schedule, ranging in buy-ins from $15+1.50 to $50+$5 for the Main Event.

If you missed any of Sunday’s events, don’t worry, there are plenty more on the docket, you just need a UB account.

Do You Have What it Takes?

Only a few days are left in the PokerNews Hostess Hunt, so if you’re thinking about auditioning, you had better get your video in soon. While at the 2011 Aussie Millions, Lynn Gilmartin grabbed some friends and co-workers to test their skills in front of the camera. Good thing they aren’t auditioning!

Make sure you’re following us on Twitter. It’s the best way to get up-to-the-minute news. Also, become a fan on Facebook.

The first Lock Pro Supremacy was one of the most fun online tournaments of the year so far and there are three more to play. There are $7,500 Freerolls that also have 25 x $100 Lock Pro Bounties in each tournament, so you can boost your bankroll even if you don’t make the money.