January 09 2012, Brett Collson

We hope you all enjoyed your weekend. Now, back to business. In the Monday edition of the Nightly Turbo, we bring you a Guinness World Record by Team PokerStars Online member Randy “nanonoko” Lew, reality TV appearances by Beth Shak and Tiffany Michelle, and more.

In Case You Missed It

The PokerNews Podcast crew is still in the Bahamas for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. This week, the team caught up with Eric Baldwin and Randy Lew and discussed the big stories taking place at the PCA.

A victory at the European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event in 2010 changed everything for Liv Boeree. She discussed that and more in Part 2 of the Seat Open series.

For the first time ever, the Bicycle Casino is hosting a World Series of Poker Circuit event. Chad Holloway previewed the the $1,600 Main Event, which begins Tuesday, Jan. 10.

How did the Sunday Majors play out on PokerStars? Who took home the biggest win? Find out in the Sunday Briefing.

Day 1b of the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event concluded Sunday night. The second flight attracted 654 entrants, with Alex Venovski finishing on top.

The first World Poker Tour stop in Ireland wrapped up Sunday evening. Dave Shallow cruised to his first live victory and a $289,031 payday.

The Fastest Clicker on the Interweb?

Team PokerStars Online member Randy “nanonoko” Lew is considered by many to be the fastest poker player in the world. On Sunday, Lew set out to prove it.

Lew set a new Guinness World Record Sunday by playing the most hands ever recorded in eight hours while making a profit. Lew logged 23,493 hands while turning a profit of just $7.65, creating a tension-filled atmosphere in the corner of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament floor late Sunday evening.

“This is a great feeling. I finished it,” Lew told the PokerStars Blog after achieving the feat.

“I had a crowd. Everyone clapped for me. I was reading chat while I was playing. I probably shouldn’t have. But people were like ‘Go, Randy, go!’ So, it kept me pumped, and it is a good feeling when people want you to win.”

Read more about Lew’s record at PokerNews.com.

Poker Players or Reality TV Stars?

Beth Shak and Tiffany Michelle call themselves poker pros. But lately it seems like the two ladies spend more time on the sets of reality TV shows.

Shak, who appeared on Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker in November 2010, will be featured in an upcoming episode of TLC’s NY Ink. The following chip shows Shak playing a hand of hold’em for a free tattoo:

If you look carefully, the tattoo artist’s cards actually changed midway through the hand. Reality TV poker is so rigged.

Meanwhile, Michelle has parlayed her sixth place finish on The Amazing Race into an appearance on The Food Network’s Worst Cooks in America. Michelle will compete against seven other “recruits” trying to transform into skilled cooks. The first episode of Season 3 will premiere on Sunday, Feb. 12.

We know one thing: If french fries are on the menu, we’re betting the house on Tiffany.

Read more about Michelle at multivu.com.

Dancing Isildur

Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom has more than a million reasons to celebrate after winning the $100,000 Super High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure on Saturday. So, how is the Swede letting loose after his big win?

By dancing!

Well, kind of. While browsing TwoPlusTwo.com we came across an interactive site that allows users to take control of a virtual version of Blom on the dance floor. Among his wide array of moves: the robot, the twist, and even some disco.

The site has been around for a while and there have even been spinoffs featuring Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer. However, since this is the first time we’re seeing it, we had to share.

Check out the dancing Viktor Blom.

U.S. Crimes Against Online Poker

Last April, the U.S. Department of Justice deemed that the three major online poker sites had been breaking the law on charges of bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. PokerWorks.com writer Linda R. Geenen recently took an alternate approach to Black Friday by suggesting that the government committed crimes against U.S. citizens, using online poker as a front.

In the article, Geenen examines several instances of corruption committed by the government involving the World Trade Organization, Neteller, Firepay and more. She also questions why it took nine years before Bill Frist snuck the UIGEA onto the Port Security Act.

Writes Geenen, “Frist should be arrested for creating a massive can of worms that still has never been sorted through, regulated, or enforced and has cost literally tens of thousands of dollars in slipshod enforcement by expecting banks to shoulder the cost of upgrading and changing their banking regulations and software to stop money transfers. Banks are not law enforcement agencies but apparently the US government still hasn’t recognized this.”

Check out the entire piece at PokerWorks.com.

Let the Moose Guide You

The Aussie Millions isn’t the only major tournament hitting Melbourne this month. The rankings for the Australian Open were released on Monday, and SportMoose.com is the place to go for odds and betting advice during the first tennis Grand Slam event of the year.

Novak Djokovic and Carolina Wozniacki claimed the top seeds on the men’s and women’s sides, respectively. Djokovic is the defending champ and was listed as a 2.56-to-1 favorite by Betfair to defend his crown. He was followed in the rankings by second-seeded Rafael Nadal, although the Spaniard is listed as the fourth favorite by Betfair with odds of around 8-to-1.

Despite receiving the top seed on the women’s side, Wozniacki was listed at just 15-to-1 by Betfair to win her first Australian Open. Reigning Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova is listed as the favorite by most sports books at around 4-to-1, and bettors can take defending champ Kim Clijsters at around 10-to-1.

In addition to the tennis coverage, you can find the latest odds on up to 20 sports and reviews for a number of online sports books at SportMoose.com.

What Makes a Poker Player Nervous?

Poker pros have to deal with high-pressure situations all the time. PokerNews’ Sarah Grant set out to discover what makes poker players nervous.

Are you following PokerNews on Twitter? Like us on Facebook while you’re at it, and sign up for the newsletter. You know you want to.

Follow Brett Collson on Twitter – @brettcollson

October 06 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 2 of the 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Poker Festival £20,000 High Roller wrapped up on Thursday. The event is down to the final eight players who are all in the money. Leading the way is Igor Kurganov with 854,000 in chips. He has a sizable lead over Robert Akery, who sits in second place with 622,000.

To start the day, 30 players remained from the original starting field of 75. Team PokerStars Pros Joe Hachem, Jonathan Duhamel and Eugene Katahclov all made it to Day 2 but failed to advance to the final.

According to the PokerStars Blog, Hachem was sent to the rail by Michael Tureniec. Hachem’s pocket twos failed to win the flip against Tureniec’s . Duhamel was sent off by Adrian Bussman and Katchalov was dished to the sidelines by Andrey Bondar.

On Katchalov’s final hand, Bondar bet 20,000 with the board reading . Katchalov moved all-in and Bondar made the call holding for a turned two pair. Katchalov held but the river didn’t help and he was eliminated.

Sam Stein held the lead when Day 2 began. He took a hit early on after doubling up Byron Kaverman. The money went in on a flop with Kaverman holding to Stein’s . The turn brought the and the river the to give Kaverman the winning flush.

On his final hand, Stein moved all-in against Olivier Busquet on an flop. Busquet made the call with for second pair against Stein who was holding . The turn and river allowed Busquet to win the hand and send Stein out the door.

Other notable eliminations during Day 2 included Isaac Haxton, Anton Ionel, Mike Watson, McLean Karr, Mike McDonald, Phil Collins and James Bord. Collins was bounced in 11th place by Kurganov and then Kaverman went out in 10th. From there, there was a save made for the player finishing in ninth position. The payouts were adjusted so that ninth place could collect £25,000, making Kaverman (10th) the official bubble boy. Bord fell in ninth place to officially set the final table.

Final Table Chip Counts

If you recognize the names of a few of these high rollers from previous events, it’s because many have had plenty of success in big buy-in events on the EPT. The chip leader, Kurganov, placed second in last season’s EPT Grand Final “10,000 High Roller Turbo and third in this season’s EPT Tallinn “10,000 High Roller. Akery placed 13th in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $25,000 High Roller. Bussman came eighth in the EPT Deauville “10,000 High Roller last season. Busquet was second in the EPT Grand Final “25,000 High Roller in 2010. Philipp Gruissem won the EPT Barcelona “10,000 High Roller at the last stop on tour and Tureniec won last season’s EPT Copenhagen Main Event.

The third and final day of play kicks off at 1200 BST (0400 PDT) on Thursday. Because of the ninth-place save, first place has been adjusted to £511,300. That’s still a heck of a lot of money and PokerNews will have the recap after play is complete.

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Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter – @Donnie_Peters