March 21 2011, Rich Ryan

For the first three episodes of season seven of High Stakes Poker, Phil Ruffin crushed the game for around $400,000. He stacked fellow novice Robert Croak and won two massive pots against both Vanessa Selbst and David “Viffer” Peat.

Would the amateur’s luck last during his fourth and final episode? Or will the sharks rebound and regain some of their loses?

SPOILER ALERT: If you are waiting to watch the HSP episode, read no further.

There was no graphic to start the episode, but host Norm Macdonald told us that there was over $3 million on the table.

Bringing a Gun to a Pillow Fight: David Peat limped in with , and the action folded all the way around to Phil Ruffin who completed in the small blind with . Bill Klein checked his option with and the flop came down . Ruffin quickly led for $20,000 into a pot of only $3,200 and his two opponents folded immediately.

“Wow,” Macdonald commented. “That’s like bringing a gun to a pillow fight.”

Ruffin Through the Backdoor: On the next hand, the action folded to Phil Ruffin on the button who limped in with . Bill Klein completed with and David Peat checked with . All three players checked the flop and the on the turn, but after the fell on the river, Peat led for $1,000. Ruffin promptly bumped it to $20,000 with his flush, Klein mucked and Peat tank-called. Ruffin opened up his cards – much to the dismay of Peat – and raked in yet another pot.

Stack Sizes: Better late than never!

Ruffin Stacks Greenstein: Barry Greenstein opened to $3,000 from early position with . Phil Ruffin called with from the hijack seat, and David Peat also called, holding .

Ruffin flopped the joint – . Greenstein continued for $5,000, Ruffin smooth-called and Peat got out of the way. The on the turn was a disastrous card for Greenstein, giving him the wheel and enough of a hand to stack off with. He moved in for his last $18,100 and Ruffin asked him if he “had any more” before snapping it off.

“That’s all you have?” Greenstein joked upon seeing Ruffin’s hand.

The river was a meaningless , Ruffin raked in the pot, and Greenstein reached into his pocket for another $200,000.

Ace-High is Good: Phil Ruffin limped in first position with two red nines, David Peat limped behind with , and Doyle Brunson followed suit with . Vanessa Selbst popped it to $5,000 with two red eights, and Antonio Esfandiari re-popped it to $20,000 with . Ruffin tried to call before Andrew Robl acted and then did once it was his turn. Everyone else folded except Selbst, and the three took a flop of .

There was a beat and then Esfandiari plopped $45,400 in the middle. Ruffin snap-mucked his pair, but Selbst went into the tank. Esfandiari’s continuation bet was good enough to ship the pot to him, after Selbst eventually folded the best hand.

“I thought it was going in,” Esfandiari professed while stacking his new chips.

“I thought so too,” Selbst agreed.

“I had ace-high, but I was calling,” Esfandiari admitted.

Selbst laughed. “I had ace-high beat.”

30 Seconds with Kara Scott: Rather than sit down with one player, Scott asked everyone at the table who would play them in a movie about their life. Here are the answers the players gave.

Andrew Robl – Matt Damon

Vanessa Selbst – Matt Damon

Phil Ruffin – Pierce Brosnan

Bill Klein – Robert Redford

Antonio Esfandiari – Michael Imperioli

David Peat – Jim Carrey or Danny DeVito

Greenstein Gets Some Back: Phil Ruffin limped in with and so, too, did Doyle Brunson with and Vanessa Selbst with . Barry Greenstein decided to punish the limpers, raising to $5,100 with , and only Ruffin came along.

The dealer fanned and Greenstein immediately fired $7,000. Without hesitation, Ruffin raised to $20,000 and Greenstein called. The turn was the and Greenstein slowed down, checking to Ruffin who quickly tossed another $20,000 in the middle. Greenstein called.

The river was the , and it was Greenstein’s turn to bet $20,000. Ruffin snap-called and both players opened their cards. It took Ruffin a second to see that he was beat, but Greenstein’s queen played and won him a pot worth $132,600.

Soul Reading: Vanessa Selbst opened to $3,000 with , Barry Greenstein flatted with , as did Antonio Esfandiari with . The flop was , giving Esfandiari a flush draw, and Selbst led for $6,700. Greenstein quickly folded the best hand and Esfandiari called.

The turn was the , giving Selbst a flush draw, too, and she checked to Esfandiari who bet $15,600. Selbst called.

The spiked on the river and Selbst sneakily checked the nuts. Esfandiari fired a $32,400-bluff and Selbst check-raised to $101,800. For a moment it looked like Esfandiari was going to do something crazy, but he thought better of it and laid it down.

“I so wanted to re-raise you,” Esfandiari said after the hand.

“How could you call me with eight-high of hearts?”

He said re-raise Vanessa, but props for the sick soul read.

High Stakes Legend: This week’s tribute was to Texas-born rounder Jack “Treetop” Strauss, whose nickname referred to his six foot, six inch frame. Strauss was legendary for both his wit and his aggression, but his most famous achievement is winning the 1983 World Series of Poker Main Event after being down to a single chip. The feat gave birth to the saying, “all you need to win is a chip and a chair.” Ironically, Strauss died in 1988 after suffering a stroke during a high-stakes cash game.

Klein Wins a Pot!: Vanessa Selbst raised to $3,000 with and Andrew Robl three-bet to $11,000 with . Bill Klein cold-called the three-bet from the small blind with , Selbst tossed in the extra $8,000 and the flop fell .

Klein checked his set of eights and Selbst bet $18,000. Robl mucked and Klein check-raised to a hefty $58,000. Selbst called.

The turn was the and Klein led for $70,000. Selbst was forced to fold and Klein shipped his first pot in ages.

Klein couldn’t resist saying his favorite line; “There’s always a nine.”

Oops: Doyle Brunson opened to $3,400 with and Vanessa Selbst called with . Everyone else folded and the flop came down . Brunson checked to Selbst who fired $6,000, and Brunson check-raised to $21,000. Selbst called.

The turn was the and Brunson led for $35,000 with just king-high. Selbst moved all in for $121,000 and Brunson quickly folded.

This episode was Phil Ruffin’s last. He walked away with $336,000 in profits – a HSP record for an amateur player. Poker legend Johnny Chan will join the table next week so be sure to check your local listings and tune in to episode five of season seven of HSP.

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March 21 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

Most of you were probably too busy with March Madness and online poker tournaments to enjoy the first day of spring. Maybe by catching up on the latest poker news stories, you’ll have a little bit of time to enjoy the second day of spring. Read on to find out the results from Zynga PokerCon’s $100,000 guaranteed tournament, the next milestone PokerStars is upon, and the latest brag from Phil Hellmuth.

In Case You Missed It

We recently caught up with Joseph Cheong to talk poker, check out his grind station, and find out how life has changed since he became a member of the 2010 World Series of Poker November Nine. Check out the latest Sunday Grind for more.

FSN’s coverage of the World Poker Tour continued on Sunday night with the second episode from the Borgata Poker Open. In case you forgot the outcome or missed the show, you can get caught up on all the action in our WPT recap.

The MiniFTOPS XIX finished up on Sunday night with the Main Event smashing its $1.25 million guarantee. Find out how many players took their shot, who won, and the results to the rest of Sunday’s biggest tournaments in the Sunday Briefing.

The fifth installment of the PokerStars SuperStar Showdown kicked off on Sunday between Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom and Daniel Negreanu. The outcome wasn’t so great for one of the players and the match didn’t even go the full 2,500 hands, but we’re not going to tell you who got stacked, you’re going to have to read the SuperStar Showdown recap to find out.

The action on GSN’s High Stakes Poker continued on Saturday with one of the amateurs taking control. If you missed Saturday’s episode and want to catch up on things, you can check out the HSP recap.

Zynga’s PokerCon

Over the weekend, Zynga held its first PokerCon at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas. By Thursday, the day before the two-day event kicked off, it was sold out. There were poker seminars hosted by Annie Duke and Ali Nejad, and appearances made by some fan favorites like Doyle Brunson, Antonio Esfandiari, Scotty Nguyen, and more.

Zynga also hosted a $100,000 guaranteed poker tournament for the attendants of PokerCon. The tournament was divided into two flights of 250 players. The top three finishers from each flight moved on to the final table, and 54 players made the money. In the end, it was Aaron Alawen who outlasted the field and took home the lion’s share of the prize pool.

If you want to find out more about the event, and check out some photos, you can do so by heading over to Zynga’s Twitter page.

That’s a lot of Hands

PokerStars has managed to deal 10 billion hands in less than a year. Back in September, the online poker site dealt its 50 billionth hand. Now, about six months later the site is poised to hit 60 billion hands and it wants to celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than handing out cold hard cash to the players?

There’s approximately $1 million up for grabs during the 60 Billionth Hand celebration. The amount a player can win is dependent upon the VIP player points a player has won at the table, and prizes are awarded during milestone hands, or millionth hands (ex: 59,700,000,000). The winner of the 60 billionth hand will win at least $60,000.

It’s going to happen in the next few days, so if you want to find out more, check out the PokerStars Blog, and if you want your shot at the money, sign up for a PokerStars account.

PokerStars Backing Nevada Internet Gaming Bill

Earlier this month we told you about a bill that the was introduced into the Nevada legislature that would legalize online poker in the state. According to a recent article in the Las Vegas Sun, former Nevada gaming regulator, Randall Sayre, is now a consultant for PokerStars, and the online poker site is backing the legislation.

“If we don’t approach this in a rational fashion this legislative session, by the time we meet again in two years … we will be left on the sidelines, which is not a good thing for the traditional gaming industry in Nevada,” Sayre said.

The bill would establish Internet poker legislation, and prevent regulators from excluding PokerStars and other sites from a license simply because they accept bets from U.S. players now. PokerStars would also pay a 6.75 percent tax on the rake it collects, which is the same amount Nevada casinos pay on gross gambling revenue.

“We can show the feds that this is a product that can work in the U.S. That it’s not the big taboo, mysterious, ‘Wizard of Oz’ approach to gaming that the feds have made it out to be,” Richard Perkins, a former Nevada assembly speaker said.

There’s plenty more on this issue on the Las Vegas Sun’s website.

Iowa To Look Closer

In more Internet poker legislative news, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad said that he is planning on studying the bill that was introduced in the Iowa legislature and not “prepared to slam the door on an expansion into Internet poker.”

“I’m certainly not advocating it,” Branstad said. “This is kind of a new phenomenon and as I understand it, it’s a pretty significant issue and one that I think deserves to be very carefully studied. I want to make sure the integrity of the state is protected in the process and we certainly want to prevent our citizens from being defrauded by unscrupulous activities.”

Approximately 150,000 Iowans are playing online poker and proponents of the online poker bill have said that the state could collect at least $30 million in annual revenues if it was legalized in the state.

“It’s usually my policy not to threaten veto on anything until I’ve seen it in its final form,” Branstad said. “Things could change dramatically and I think it’s important to learn as much as I can before staking out a position. I learned this a long time ago that it’s important to have all the facts and all the information and not just make a snap judgment based on an inadequate amount of information.”

To find out more, check out EasternIowaGovernment.com.

Honey! I Met the (Former) President!

It seems Phil Hellmuth is on a tour of recent United States Presidents lately. He was previously photographed with former President George W. Bush.

“I love my life! Gonna go hang out with President Clinton for an hour or two, then sitting on floor of Warriors game tonight vs Mavericks,” he tweeted on March 16 and then on March 18, he tweeted a photograph of himself and former President Bill Clinton in San Francisco.

PokerNews’ head honcho, Tony G is offering up $50 to the best caption for the photo, so head on over to the PartyPoker Blog and try your best.

Laura Parties in Snowfest

As you know, the PokerNews Team is in Saalbach-Hinterglemm for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Snowfest. If you checked out the recap from Day 1a of the event, you saw the lovely sights from the Austrian town. Now, new PokerNews hostess, Laura Cornelius gives you an inside look at the Welcome Party and talks to some of the pros.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for up-to-the-minute news.

We have one more $15,000 Sunday Million Freeroll with PokerStars left to qualify for, with $1,000 to the winner and 260 tournament tickets, including 45 Sunday Million Tickets on offer.