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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August 16 2012, Donnie Peters

Anthony Gregg has had numerous close calls on the live tournament circuit. Throughout his career, Gregg has placed second in the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, eighth in the 2011 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III Main Event, sixth in the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, third in the 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final 6-Max Turbo High Roller and fourth in World Series of Poker Event 28: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em – Four Handed. But, he’s never had a standout win like the one he just received by taking down the World Poker Tour Parx Open Poker Classic on Wednesday.

“It feels amazing,” said Gregg in his winner interview. “I’ve played so many live tournaments and I’ve come close a bunch of times, and just come up short. I’ve always wanted that feeling of actually winning because it just feels so much better than getting second, or any other place. The money’s always nice, but the title is good, too, and just knowing that you beat everyone.”

For someone who has had numerous large scores from so many near victories, the title may be more important than the money, but the $416,127 first-place prize Gregg received is nothing to sneeze at.

Entering the day, Gregg was second in chips to Stephen Reynolds. Andre Nyffeler began the day as the second shortest stack at the official WPT final table, but he was the first out the door.

On the 43rd hand of the final table, the blinds stood at 20,000/40,000/5,000. According to the WPT Live Reporting Blog, Nyffeler moved all in from the cutoff seat for roughly 550,000. With the in his hand, Larry Sharp made the call from the big blind. Nyffeler held the and it was off to the races.

Nyffeler fell behind on the flop and stayed there as the board was completed with the on the turn and on the river. For his sixth-place finish, Nyffeler earned $61,619.

It wasn’t until the 101st hand of the final table that the next elimination occurred with Chris Vandeursen falling in fifth place. He went out at the hands of Chris Lee after all of the money went in preflop. Vandeursen held and had moved in for about 900,000 from the button. Lee mad the call from the big blind with . The flop, turn and river ran out and Vandeursen headed to the payout desk to collect his $76,824 prize.

Only 10 hands later, Sharp’s tournament life was severed when he lost a heartbreaker to Reynolds. With the blinds at 30,000/60,000/10,000, Reynolds raised to 125,000 from under the gun. Gregg called out of the small blind and Sharp moved all in from the big blind for a little over 1.5 million. Reynolds reraised all in, which knocked Gregg out of the way.

Reynolds held the and Sharp the . On the flop, Sharp picked up two pair while Reynolds added a gutshot straight draw and a backdoor flush draw. The turn was the and the river the . With the two running hearts on fourth and fifth street, Reynolds backed into a flush and eliminated Sharp in fourth place for $108,034.

By claiming Sharp’s bounty and chips, Reynolds moved to 7.115 million. Gregg stood in second place with 5.14 million, and Lee stood in third with 2.615 million. Lee would then fall just under 20 hands later.

On the 129th hand of the final table, with the blinds up to 40,000/80,000/10,000, Reynolds raised to 160,000 on the button and Lee reraised to 370,000 from the small blind. Reynolds moved all in and Lee made the call with the . Unfortunately for him, Reynolds had him pipped with the . The board ran out and Lee was drawing dead by the turn. He was eliminated in third place and took home $158,450.

The heads-up battle between Reynolds and Gregg began with Reynolds in front 9.55 million in chips to 5.32 million. Although Gregg had the chip deficit going in, he had the Olympic prowess of Michael Phelps in his corner. Phelps tweeted good luck to Gregg during the final table.

For the first part of the match, Reynolds maintained his lead while Gregg struggled to gain ground. On the 172nd hand of the final table, Gregg was able to win a pot with a pair of sixes and pull within 650,000 of Reynolds. But then on the very next hand, Reynolds took a pot worth 5.46 million in chips to widen the gap once again as he climbed over 10 million while knocking Gregg below five million. Still, Gregg wasn’t giving up.

Gregg began to slowly claw his way back into things, but just as he was about to get over six million, Reynolds whacked him right back down by snatching up around half of Gregg’s stack. That was on the 191st hand of the final table, but the 202nd hand was the big one that saw the momentum swing.

With the blinds at 75,000/150,000/25,000, Gregg limped on the button and Reynolds moved all in. Gregg called quickly with . Reynolds held the . The board ran through and Gregg’s nines held up to give him the double back to over six million. A few hands later, Gregg took the chip lead, but Reynolds snatched it right back on the very next hand.

After trip queens on the 212th hand of play and a three-bet shove on the 217th hand of play from Gregg, he was over 10 million and really applying pressure to Reynolds. Eventually, Reynolds dropped below four million in chips before the final hand came up.

It was the 228th hand of the final table with the blinds in Level 34 at 125,000/250,000/25,000. Gregg limped in on the button and Reynolds moved all in for 3.4 million. Gregg called with . Reynolds held . Gregg took the lead on the flop and kept it after the fell on the turn. The landed on the river and failed to give Reynolds what he needed, eliminating him in second place for $244,877.

Final Table Payouts

For his victory, Gregg earned the lion’s share of the prize pool worth $416,127 and the first major title of his career. His win also includes a $25,500 entry to the season-ending WPT World Championship.

The next stop on Season XI of the WPT will be the Legends of Poker at The Bicycle Casino. The Main Event kicks off Friday, Aug. 24 and PokerNews will be providing daily recaps of the action from Los Angeles. Last year, the event attracted 757 entrants and was won by Will “The Thrill” Failla for $758,085.

*Hands and Data courtesy of the WPT Live Reporting Blog.

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