Celebrating more than just his birthday early Thursday morning, Team Victory Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari won the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic. Facing fellow Team Victory pro and good friend Andrew Robl in final heads-up action, Esfandiari secured the title and $870,124.

The event, also known as the Bellagio Resort & Casino’s “Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic,” boasted one of the most notable WPT televised final table line-ups in history. The las six players included Team Victory Pros Esfandiari and Robl, female poker phenomenon Vanessa Rousso, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winners Ted Lawson and Kirk Morrison, and recent WSOP “November Niner” John Racener.

Both Esfandiari and Robl dominated a starting field of 438 entrants throughout all four days of competition that began on Friday, December 3rd, maintaining their chip leads heading into Wednesday’s televised final table.

Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman witnessed his team dominate the final table from a front row seat located directly behind Robl. “At the moment when Antonio and Andrew went heads up,” he exclaimed, “it felt like we had all just won the tournament.”

At 25 years old, Esfandiari won his first WPT championship in 2004, becoming the youngest poker player to win a WPT title and a million dollar prize. That same year he went on to win the WSOP $2,000 pot-limit hold’em event and a coveted WSOP bracelet. His stylish performances would fast-track him to stardom, eventually becoming one of the most televised poker players in the world. Esfandiari appears regularly on Poker After Dark, High Stakes Poker, and has made several cameo appearances in film and television, most recently HBO’s award-winning program Entourage.
Also going deep in Season VIII of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic were Victory Poker pros Jonathan Little, finishing in 38th place, and Keith Gipson, finishing in 59th place.

2010 December 23, Elaine Chaivarlis

With as cold as it is outside and everything and everyone going into hibernation, we figured we’d better do the same thing. It’s the last Nightly Turbo of the year, but don’t get discouraged, we’re putting up the top ten stories of the year starting tomorrow to refresh your memory. We’d like to thank you for reading and coming back day after day. We do this all for you — really. Enough of that, we don’t want you so teary eyed that you start thinking the four of spades is the ace of clubs. What’s perfect is that we’re leaving you with a photo of a pretty lady who knows how to win, the nominees of the World Poker Tour Magazine awards, and more. See you next year, same time, same place!

In Case You Missed It

Is the continuation bet in your arsenal of poker tricks? It should be, and PartyPoker pro Bodo Sbrzesny tells you why in our latest strategy article.

Every week, Lynn Gilmartin makes us jealous with her photos and stories from her trips — and this week is no different. Check out Around the World with Lynn for a sneak peek at season four of the PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour.

Were you railing the PokerStars 1/4 Million last night, but had to go to sleep and didn’t get to see the winner? We’ve got the results of that and more of the week’s tournaments in the Midweek Briefing.

Do you listen to the Matt & Matt Show every week but want to know more about the guys behind the show? Well, here’s your chance. Read Getting to Know Matt Parvis and Matt Brown of the Matt & Matt Show to find out more.

Felicidades!

Last woman standing at the 2009 World Series of Poker, 888 ambassador Leo Margets took down the Full Tilt Poker Masters Series at the Grand Casino in Barcelona last week. She took home €100,000 for the win in which she beat beat 31 of Spain’s best players who had qualified for the event.

The tournament was a three-day event that covered a range of poker disciplines including deepstack, shootout, and turbo tournaments.

Check out the press release for more.

WPT Magazine Awards

World Poker Tour Magazine is holding a reader’s choice award (which is a little different from Bluff Magazine’s — the one Gloria Balding is nominated in – go vote). So, the categories are Favorite British Player, Best International Player, Best Poker Personality, Best Online Player, Best UK Cardroom, Best International Cardroom, Best Online Room, Best Online Forum, Moment of 2010, and Outstanding Contribution to Poker.

We’d go through the nominees, but that would make this way too long. Voting is currently open and will remain open through February 1, 2011, with the results being announced in the March issue of World Poker Tour Magazine.

Go vote at WPTMag.co.uk.

Reserve Not Met

Last week in the Nightly Turbo, we told you about 1991 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Brad Daugherty who was selling his bracelet on eBay. Well, that auction has ended, and if there was a lucky buyer, we’d tell you who it was. The undisclosed reserve on the bracelet was not met; therefore, the last bidder, who was going to shell out $30,100 for the 14k gold bracelet won’t be doing so.

Raise it Up

Some of the biggest online gambling companies in the world are headquartered in Gibraltar. It sounds random when you think about it, but a one percent gaming tax up to a maximum €500,000 charge is quite the incentive. However, all that will change come January 2011.

With the new year comes a corporation tax hike of 10 percent. Gibraltar is trying to keep its tax regime in line with EU regulations on fair competition. Some companies on the island are currently paying the 10 percent tax, but some of the companies that have been on the island longer are paying the lower tax rate.

“We’ve known about this for some time, and we’ve factored it in,” Partygaming spokesperson John Shepherd said. “The tax is still going to be very low.” He also doesn’t think the tax hike would deter other companies from setting up operations in Gibraltar.

The Telegraph has more.

Happy Holidays!

And because there’s nothing like a good light show….

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Just a minimum deposit is required of new players to qualify for our final $2,770 Freeroll of 2010 with Poker770 next week.