September 14 2012, Rich Ryan

On Friday, the World Poker Tour Season XI Grand Prix de Paris continued with Day 4 of the six-day reentry event. After nearly nine hours of play, the chip leader at the official final table is the executive producer of Showtime’s Weeds Matt Salsberg with 1.757 million chips. Joining him at the final table are Mohsin Charania, Timothy Adams, Theo Jorgensen, Philipp Gruissem, and Fabian Quoss.

At the beginning of the day, 24 players had their sights set on the official final table, but only six could survive the day. There was a flurry of eliminations during the first level of play. The first player to bow out was Nicolas Cardyn, who ran into Kyle Cheong’s . Cheong held, and Cardyn was out in 24th place.

Following Cardyn out the door were Andrew Lichtenberger, Dan Djorno, and Bruno Lopes. Djorno open-jammed with from under the gun, Jérome Douieb re-shoved on his direct left with , and Bruno Lopes also shoved with . Douieb won, eliminating Djorno and crippling Lopes, who was eliminated shortly thereafter.

The next two players eliminated were Juha Helppi and Jean-Philippe Rohr. Both players were busted by Salsberg, who held aces against Helppi and kings against Rohr.

After the two-table redraw, Kyle Julius was the first to bust. Julius open-jammed his last 70,000 or so with , and Jorgensen called on the button with . The board ran out , and Julius hit the rail.

Florian Leconte, Michael Kwierk, and Bryan Colin were eliminated in 17th, 16th, and 15th place respectively, and then things started to slow down. In fact, the next elimination didn’t come for a full hour.

In one of the final hands of Level 19, Jacques Enjoubault opened in early position, and the action folded to Salsberg, who moved all in from the big blind. Enjoubault called with , which dominated Salsberg’s , but the board ran out and Enjoubault was eliminated in 14th place.

Daniel Amara and Raphaël Abitbol were the next two players eliminated. Amara was all in preflop with against Charania, who held two tens and flopped quads. Charania then won a race to bust Abitbol, who was all in and at risk with . Charania had , and the board ran out .

Grégoire Boissenot was eliminated in 11th place when he made a pot-sized shove on a board of . Adams called the jam with , which dominated Boissenot’s , and the turn and river came , respectively.

Hand-for-hand play stretched out for nearly an hour, until Joe Serock busted in 10th place. Serock four-bet most of his stack preflop, and was called be Jorgensen. The flop was , and Serock checked to Jorgensen who put him all in. Serock tanked for a bit, then called with . Jorgensen was ahead with , and the turn and river came , .

At the beginning of Level 21, the unofficial final table was set:

On one of the first hands at the final table Cheong three-bet jammed with deuces, and Salsberg iso-jammed with jacks. The jacks held and Cheong was out in ninth.

A few hands later, Idris Ambraisse was eliminated in eighth place. Ambraisse opened from under the gun, and was called by Charania, Gruissem, and Douieb. The flop fell , and when checked to, Ambraisse moved all in. Charania re-shoved, the action folded around and the hands were opened:

Charania faded an ace and diamonds as the turn and river came , , and Ambraisse was out.

Play slowed considerably on the official final table bubble, and for the next two hours the seven remaining players battled long and hard. One of the players who benefited the most from the bubble was Charania. In one particular hand, Charania opened to 24,000 from under the gun, and Gruissem and Adams called. The flop fell , and the action checked to Charania who continued for 33,000. Gruissem raised to 90,000, Adams cold-called, and Charania reraised to 233,000.

Gruissem and Adams folded, and Charania picked up the pot.

Quoss nearly busted on the final table bubble. Quoss found himself all in and at risk holding against Salsberg’s , but the board ran out , doubling Quoss.

Unsurprisingly it was Salsberg who busted the eventual bubble boy; Douieb. In the final hand of the evening, Quoss opened to 35,000 from under the gun, Douieb moved all in for 281,000 on his direct left, and the action folded to Salsberg, who reshoved having both players covered. Quoss quickly folded, and the hands were tabled:

Salsberg held as the board ran out , and Douieb was eliminated in seventh place.

Here’s how the final table looks:

To date, Salsberg’s biggest live score was for $108,412 when he finished 70th in the 2011 WSOP Main Event. All the other players have multiple six-figure scores, including Jorgensen who won this event in Season IX. If Jorgensen, the only WPT Champions Club member remaining, were able to win on Saturday, he would become the first player to ever win a WPT event at the same stop twice.

The final table will begin at 1600 CEST (0700 PDT) on Saturday. Be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting Team as they provide up-to-the-minute updates straight from the Aviation Club de France.

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September 13 2012, Brett Collson

Why is Full Tilt Poker emailing customers ahead of its upcoming relaunch? We tackle that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

The PokerNews Podcast crew is in Paris for the World Poker Tour Grand de Paris. This week, Rich and Kristy discuss the latest poker news and then speak with recent WCOOP High Roller champ Darren Elias about his big victory.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier regained the top spot in the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at some of the other big movers in this week’s GPI recap.

Are you planning a trip to Malta for the upcoming World Poker Tour event? Chad Holloway tells you everything you need to know about the area in the latest PokerNews Jet Set.

Venetian Opens New Poker Room

The Venetian Las Vegas has officially launched the largest poker room on the Las Vegas Strip. The brand new Sands Poker Room at The Venetian boasts 59 tables across a plush 14,000 square feet of space, giving poker players one of the best atmospheres in all of Las Vegas to play their favorites games.

“The new Sands Poker Room at The Venetian is a player’s room in every way,” said Kathy Raymond, Venetian executive director of poker operations. “We have carefully integrated new poker room features and services – keeping poker player needs front-of-mind. We believe that the atmosphere and addition of innovative and value-centered promotions and tournaments will give players of all levels a poker experience like no other.”

As part of the grand opening, the Venetian is offering a number of new promotions. From 10 to 11 a.m. and from 5 to 6 p.m., every Sunday through Thursday, the Venetian Happy Hour program allows players to take advantage of rake-free play at the tables. And beginning Sept. 17, the poker room will infuse “Bad Beat” Jackpots into the daily schedule.

Additional promotions will be announced later this month, along with full details of the celebratory Grand Opening Event. See the Sand Poker Room website for more details.

You’ve Got Mail!

According to members of the online poker community, Full Tilt Poker has been sending emails to customers requesting ID verification ahead of the site’s upcoming relaunch.

Customers have been asked to send in photo identification and address verification in accordance with the “anticipated Isle of Man regulatory requirements.” According to the email, once Full Tilt Poker’s relaunch is complete and players have provided the necessary documents, they will have unrestricted access to their account, including all cashier functionality and poker games.

The emails are totally legit and have been confirmed by Shyam Markus, Poker Room Manager at Full Tilt Poker. So far, it seems that only a small percentage of Full Tilt Poker customers have been notified, but the wheels are certainly in motion in order for the site to open its doors by Nov. 6, 2012, as promised.

More info can be found at TwoPlusTwo.com.

Macau Poker Cup Championship

Day 1b of the 2012 PokerStars Macau Poker Cup Championship saw 181 players hit the felts at the Grand Waldo Entertainment Complex, bringing the total number of entrants for the event to 270. The HKD $20,000 buy-in tournament – which had 89 players in the first of two Day 1 flights – has a prize pool of more than $4,800,000 for the top 31 players.

“I’m very pleased with the final number.” said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars’ director of live operations for the Asia-Pacific. “The MPCC crosses over the same schedule as WCOOP which has more players than any other poker series in the world. Seeing some people playing both at the same time says a lot about the importance of MPCC in Asia.”

China’s Yanqin Huang ended Day 1b with 112,925 chips, edging out Germany’s Sebastian Benz (112,625) for the chip lead. They’ll be chasing Day 1a chip leader Edmund Lee and his 119,175 chips when play resumes on Friday. Here’s a look at the top 10 overall stacks heading into Day 2:

The 2012 Macau Poker Cup Championship winner will be crowned on Sunday and will receive a top prize of HKD $1,108,500, which includes an entry to the Asia Championship of Poker Main Event in November. For daily updates from the event, stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog.

Sam Trickett, Matchbook Part Ways

Sam Trickett’s deal as member of Team Matchbook Poker has come to an end. The two sides mutually agreed to end their poker sponsorship arrangement this week, according to a press release issued by Matchbook.

Trickett signed with Matchbook in May 2012 and represented the brand at poker tournaments around the world, including the World Series of Poker where he took second place at the Big One for One Drop. Trickett won more than $10 million in that event to become Europe’s all-time money winner in poker.

“We have long believed that Sam is one of the best poker players in the world, and his success over the last two years is well deserved,” Matchbook said in a statement. “We have been honored to have Sam as the face of the Matchbook Poker team in which his results were nothing short of phenomenal. Sam is a huge asset for any brand, and we fully expect him to secure a sponsorship deal with one of the biggest dedicated poker sites around.”

Said Trickett, “I’m extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to compete in the biggest tournament in this history of poker and it was an experience that will live for me forever.”

Heartland Poker Tour Heads to Iowa

The Heartland Poker Tour is gearing up for $1,500 buy-in Main Event at Prairie Meadows Racetrack Casino Hotel in Altoona, Iowa. The tournament will take place from Oct. 19 through Oct. 22, 2012, and will later be featured in two episodes on nationally-syndicated television across the country.

The Main Event begins with Day 1 flights on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20. Day 2 takes place on Oct. 21 and will conclude when the final table of six is reached. The remaining six players will return for television production on Oct. 22nd, while thirteen high-definition cameras capture all of the action until a champion is crowned.

“We are happy to have Prairie Meadows as our partner in Iowa,” said HPT Executive Producer Fred Bevill. “The property is in line with all of the top casinos on our tour.”

Among the notables taking part in the event will be 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer, and Lon McEachern, the commentator for ESPN’s coverage of the WSOP. Earlier this year, Raymer won his first HPT title at the Route 66 Championship in New Mexico, and he has been making regular stops seeking title No. 2.

There are a handful of tournaments and Main Event qualifiers leading up to the flagship event at Prairie Meadows. For the full schedule, visit the Heartland Poker Tour website.

50 Shades of Ladurée

During the World Poker Tout Grand Prix de Paris, Kristy Arnett took the Royal Flush Girls to the world famous pastry shop Ladurée to play a game inspired by the novel, 50 Shades of Grey.

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