August 16 2012, Brett Collson

Viktor Blom is out, but PokerStars has already inked a new player to don the red spade. Who is it? We’ll bring you that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Anthony Gregg won the World Poker Tour Parx Open Poker Classic on Wednesday. Find out how he took down his first WPT title in our final table recap.

Christina Lindley has enjoyed success both on the live and virtual felts. But they’re completely different animals. In the latest Strategy With Kristy podcast, Lindley discusses specific no-limit hold’em strategies and how they differ in a live and online setting.

Now that his swimming career is over, is it time for Michael Phelps to turn his full-time focus to poker? PokerNews’ Donnie Peters says yes.

Erik Seidel dropped out of the top 10 of the Global Poker Index for the second time this week. Which young guns are on the rise? Mickey Doft breaks down the biggest movers and shakers of the GPI.

The PokerStars European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona kicks off this week. Chad Holloway tells you everything you need to know about the Barcelona Poker Festival.

Laugh Equity

PokerStars has signed comedian Gerry Dee to represent the online poker room’s free-play site, PokerStars.net. Dee, the star of the weekly sitcom Mr. D on CBC, will appear in TV commercials and at live poker tournaments for PokerStars.net. PokerStars has also signed on as the title sponsor of the Gerry Dee Comedy Tour.

“I’m better at math and statistics than the teacher you see on TV, so I’m not a bad poker player,” said Dee, who recently invited Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu to appear on an episode of Mr. D. “I’m no pro but I’ve always been a bit of a poker buff. I really admire the skill it takes to compete at the top level. I’m excited about this partnership and am looking forward to improving my game!”

A PokerStars commercial featuring Dee will air throughout the fall to promote a series of free online poker tournaments where Canadians can win a trip to the Bahamas to play in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA). Dee will attend the PCA and film his experience there for a TV special.

Wednesday’s announcement came one day after PokerStars and high-stakes legend Viktor “Isildur” Blom mutually agreed to part ways.

Read more at the Digital Journal.

Bwin.Party Partners with Manchester United

Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, the world’s largest online gambling firm, has entered into a three-year deal to sponsor English Premier League soccer club Manchester United.

The agreement will see the integration of bwin into Manchester United’s website; access to players for marketing campaigns; and bwin-run betting kiosks located at the soccer club’s Old Trafford stadium.

“Manchester United is one of the biggest names in world sport with a global fan base running into hundreds of millions. We share a passion for football that has always been at the heart of our long term brand development strategy,” said bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger in a statement. “Man Utd has 569 million followers outside of Europe, providing us with a great opportunity to offer jointly designed and innovative products in countries that do not yet allow real money online sports betting.”

Bwin also sponsors Spanish soccer club Real Madrid. The company was the title sponsor of the Portuguese League Cup competition until last January when a Portuguese court ordered Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment to remove ads and sponsorship from sports competitions in the country after finding the online gambling company’s activities to be illegal.

Read the press release at bwinparty.com.

Heartland Poker Tour Goes Mile High

The Heartland Poker Tour is gearing up for a return to Black Hawk, Colorado, for the Mile High Poker Open at Golden Gates Casino and Poker Parlour. Annually the largest stop on the HPT’s nationwide tour, the Mile High Poker Open will run from Sept. 3 through 16 and is expected to generate a total prize pool in excess of $1 million.

“At every stop throughout the year, players say ‘See you in Colorado,’” said Fred Bevill, HPT’s executive producer. “This event has become a reunion of sorts for HPT players nationwide.”

Former world champ Greg Raymer will be one of thousands expected to compete at Golden Gates next month. Fresh off his win at the HPT Route 66 Championship in New Mexico, Raymer will be looking for back-to-back titles on the tour.

Last year’s Mile High Poker Open was won by Mark Dunbar, who collected $182,100 after besting a field of 401 players. Other former winners are Matthew Mason (2010), William Givens (2009), Andreas Ramadanis (2008), and Michael Haggard (2007).

For the full schedule of events, visit the Heartland Poker Tour website.

Tony G is a Baller

By now, we all know that Tony G spent the summer managing the Lithuanian basketball team at the London Olympic Games. What we didn’t know was that Tony has some game, too.

On Thursday in Estonia, Tony squared off against former NBA player Martin Müürsepp on the basketball court and on the poker felt as part of the grand opening of the TonyBet betting shop. In what turned out to be an upset on both sides, Tony won the three-point shooting challenge against Müürsepp, but Müürsepp then got the best of him in the heads-up poker match.

Unfortunately for those in attendance, the draw meant neither had to run through Tallinn’s Independence Square in their underpants.

After the heads-up challenge, Tony and Müürsepp sat down with Estonia’s top four poker-tournament winners of all time – Imre Leibold, Marek Kolk, Raigo Aasmaa, and Henri Kasper – for a six-handed sit-and-go tournament. The winner would receive “1,000, and a “500 bounty was placed on Tony’s head. With hundreds of viewers watching via the livestream at EE.PokerNews.com, Tony G wound up winning the sit-and-go, even after letting a local girl and her dog sit in his seat and play his stack for about 30 minutes. It was quite the spectacle.

For videos and pictures of the day’s events, check out the TonyBet.eesti Facebook page.

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May 23 2012, Brett Collson

When the World Series of Poker kicks off later this month, one of online poker’s all-time greats will finally get his chance to play in poker’s biggest spectacle.

Twenty-one-year-old Aussie poker pro James Obst will be making his way to Las Vegas this summer for the first time. The Adelaide native has been crushing online poker tournaments since 2006, cashing for millions of dollars under the moniker “Andy McLEOD” on PokerStars and “TheFatFish” on Full Tilt Poker.

Yes, you’re doing the math correctly. Obst was 15 when he first started playing real-money online poker. As a teenager, he was introduced to the game by chess buddies Shane “Anbessa9″ Pacheco and Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet, both of whom turned out to be online poker superstars in their own right. Under their tutelage, Obst found early success by winning a $11 rebuy on PokerStars for $17,000.

A poker prodigy was born.

From there, Obst spent nearly every waking hour outside of school improving his game. Unlike most young aspiring poker pros, he wasn’t strictly playing no-limit hold’em. Obst learned how to play stud, Omaha and draw games.

And he played them well.

Obst quickly became one of the most highly touted online poker players in the world after notching wins in nearly every high-stakes online tournament on the major sites. Only, no one knew his identity. He was simply known as “Andy McLEOD” or TheFatFish” by the majority of the online poker community.

For obvious reasons, Obst was content with flying under the radar.

But there were a select few who knew about his secret. And on one December morning in 2007, Obst suddenly vanished from the poker world. Another poker pro had ratted him out for playing underage, and Obst had his PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker accounts suspended until he turned 18.

Obst spent the next nine months focusing on other aspects of his life. He rented his own apartment in Adelaide and had it fully furnished. He also bought an $80,000 Audi A4 2L turbo.

When Obst finally turned 18, his re-introduction to online poker was seamless, as expected. His return from exile immediately drew headlines. In his first month, Obst final tabled the Sunday Million on PokerStars, finishing fourth for $75,870. He then took down the $300 razz event in the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) IX, earning more than $40,000 in the process. It was his second career FTOPS title – his first came during the FTOPS IV in a $100 no-limit hold’em rebuy event when he was underage.

He followed that up with a victory in a special $5,000 winner-take-all sit-and-go on PokerStars for $80,000.

In September 2008, Obst won his first PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title in the $200 pot-limit Omaha event for $98,280. He bested a talented final table that included Isaac Baron, Chris Moneymaker and Chris Moorman.

Obst’s WCOOP success carried into 2010 when he made four final tables and earned enough points to win Player of the Series, solidifying him one of the series’ all-time greats. After another successful WCOOP in 2011, Obst was tied with Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier for the most WCOOP final tables ever (seven). He’s also tied for sixth all-time in WCOOP cashes (33).

As incredible as Obst has been on the virtual felt, he’s also had a considerable amount of success on the live circuit. Obst has more than $600,000 in live tournament cashes entering the 2012 WSOP, including a victory at the 2010 APPT Sydney High Roller Event for $148,300. He also took second place in the 2010 ANZPT II Melbourne Main Event for $120,330.

PokerNews caught up with Obst during one of his very first live events to learn a little more about the online legend known as “Andy McLEOD”:

Obst told PokerNews this week that he hasn’t finalized his WSOP schedule for this summer, but he will certainly be one of the players to look out for in a wide array of events. With thousands of hands in every variant already under his belt, Obst will likely have an edge over the field in every event he plays. With Obst, it’s not a question of “if” he’ll be a bracelet winner someday – it’s “when.” And if it doesn’t come this year, you can bet that Obst will be back in Las Vegas for years to come.

PokerNews will be keeping a close eye on Obst in the coming months, so be sure to check our Live Reporting Page for the duration of the 2012 WSOP. Stay tuned for more rookies to look out for, as well.

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