February 07 2012, Chad Holloway

The World Poker Tour Venice Grand Prix continued on Tuesday with Day 2 action from the Casino Di Venezia. Appropriately, the three players atop the chips counts – Filippo Candio, Gabriele Lepore, and Andrea Dato – were all from Italy and looking to keep the title on their home soil. By the end of the day, only 27 players remained and Marcel Bjerkmann led the way.

When action kicked off, 89 players from a field of 155 remained in contention, and it didn’t take long for players to start hitting the rail. One of the first eliminations of the day was Melanie Weisner. According to the World Poker Tour Live Update Team It happened when Simon Ravnsbaek opened from the cutoff for 2,100, Weisner three-bet from the button, and Ravnsbaek four-bet enough to put his opponent all-in. Weisner called off for approximately 31,000 and the cards were turned up.

Showdown

Weisner was in great shape to double, until the flop came down . Ravnsbaek hit his six and picked up a flush redraw. Neither the turn nor river helped Weisner and she exited the tournament floor.

Weisner was not the only notable to hit the rail in the early levels of Day 2. Guillaume Darcourt, Dario Alioto, Roberto Romanello, and Marvin Rettenmaier all failed to advance.

Another man who failed to survive was PartyPoker Pro Tony G. He began the day with a healthy 80,000, but couldn’t get anything going and dropped down to 16,000. He committed the last of this chips holding only to be called by Gianluca Trebbi who was holding . The board ran out clean for Trebbi, and he silenced the brassy Tony G.

Likewise, fellow PartyPoker Pro and WPT host Mike Sexton came up shy of the money. His demise came when Umberto Calabrese raised to 5,000 from the hijack and Sexton called from the small blind. Trebbi then exercised his option in the big blind with a three-bet to 17,500. Calabrese folded, and Sexton moved all-in for around 40,000. Trebbi made the call and it was off to the races.

Showdown

Sexton was ahead preflop, but the flop made him a major dog. The was no help, and neither was the . Sexton was eliminated on the hand while Trebbi chipped up to 450,000.

Not long after, Candio, who had finished Day 1 as the chip leader, followed Sexton out the door. It happened when he raised to 4,800 from early position only to have Jason Wheeler make it 12,300. The rest of the field folded and Candio moved all-in. Wheeler snap-called and Candio discovered the bad news.

Showdown

Candio was behind, but the flop delivered a set for him and the lead. Unfortunately, and much to Wheeler’s relief, the turn and river put a four-card flush on the board, giving Wheeler the win with his .

Joining Bjerkmann as the end-of-the-day big stacks are Marko Neumann (384,400) Wheeler (348,200), James Akenhead (336,000), Andrey Gulyy (326,900), and Trebbe (323,500). They will also be joined by Kara Scott, who is the last PartyPoker Pro standing. Only 27 players remained when clock expired, meaning nine more players will need to be eliminated on Day 3 before the money was reached. Here’s a look at the WPT Venice Grand Prix payouts:

Day 3 is set to get back under way at 1300 CET 90400 PST) on Wednesday.

For more on the WPT Venice Grand Prix, be sure to visit the Party Poker Blog to see what Tony G and Mike Sexton have to say from the Casino Di Venezia.

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*Photo courtesy of the World Poker Tour.

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February 06 2012, PokerNews Staff

It’s that time again folks, time for the PartyPoker Weekly. So what has been going on and is about to take place in the world of PartyPoker? Keep reading to find out!

Dynamo To Perform At WPT Venice

The “4,950 buy-in World Poker Tour Venice Main Event gets underway on Monday 6 February at 1300CET and it promises to be one of the most memorable tournaments in Europe. Some of the biggest names in European poker are expected to descend on the most romantic city in the world but there will be no love lost between the likes of James Akenhead, John Eames, Roberto Romanello, Jake Cody and PartyPoker sponsored pros Tony G, Kara Scott and Giovanni Rizzo.

The fact the entire World Poker Tour production team, complete with the beautiful Royal Flush Girls, has got the city buzzing but there is a young man from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England who is causing an even bigger stir. Steven Frayne, better known to millions as Dynamo, is regarded as one of the very best magicians in the entire world and has performed for the likes of Jay Z, Diddy, Will Smith and Chris Martin of Coldplay!

By the end of the week the WPT Venice participants will be able to add their names to that exclusive list as Dynamo is going to give them a private 90-minute performance absolutely free! Check out the short clip below to sample some of Dynamo’s mind-blowing trickery!

The PartyPoker team will be reporting on all the action from the WPT Venice Grand Prix Main Event so if you want to follow the progress of your favourite poker players then head over to the PartyPoker blog right now.

Card Rush Returns!

The superb Card Rush promotion is underway and PartyPoker players have until midnight on Feb. 28 to get their hands on as many of the 1,800,000 available cards as they can. Players will receive an instant win card for every 15 PartyPoints they earn though PartyPoker are giving every player thir first card for just 5 PartyPoints!

Prizes range from 10-25,000 PartyPoints, freeroll entries worth between $2,000 and $20,000 and even instant cash prizes of between $1 and a staggering $5,000! That’s right, you could have $5,000 put into your account for earning just 15 PartyPoints!

In addition to these amazing prizes players can also be awarded Card Rush Race points that could win a $9,000 cash prize! There is a Card Rush Race points leader board that will pay out the top 200 Card Rush Race points earners between $200 and $9,000! Also, PartyPoker will also be awarding $50 to every 20th spot between 220th place and 2,000th place so everyone stands a chance of some free cash!

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Tony G Winds Up Max Pescatori

During the PartyPoker Premier League Mixed Game Championship back in November Tony G and Max Pescatori shared plenty of banter and trash talk at the tables and it seems to have continued in the run up to WPT Venice.

Pescatori, who is affectionately known as “The Pirate,” starred in a short video replying to Tony G’s comments but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears as Tony G almost instantly replied stating he was going to make Pescatori walk the plank and even use Dynamo to make him disappear all together!

For the fill story be sure to check out Tony G’s latest blog.

Fancy a Free $50 Bankroll?

They say the best things in life are free and thanks to the special relationship between PartyPoker and PokerNews new customers can help themselves to a free $50 bankroll. All you need to do is follow the simply steps below and the $50 is all yours to keep!

• Download the PartyPoker software through PokerNews
• Create a new PartyPoker account and enter the bonus code “PN50FREE“
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• DO NOT make a deposit when prompted
• Return to PokerNews and fill in our small registration form
• Check your email inbox for a confirmation email from free50@pokernews.com

Once you have received the confirmation email $20 will be placed into your PartyPoker account. You must earn at least 40 PartyPoints before they will be able to withdraw the free $20. If you do not earn 40 PartyPoints within 60 days the initial $20, or whatever remains of it, will be forfeited. PartyPoints are earned at a rate of two (2) PartyPoints per $1 in rake or tournament fees so earning 40 of them within a 60 day timeframe is quite an easy task.

Once you have earned 40 PartyPoints a further $30 will be deposited into your account bringing the total free cash amount to $50. You must then generate another 160 points before you can cashout any of the the $30 and must do so within 120 days otherwise the $30 or the remainder of it will be forfeited.

If you experience any problems with this or any of our promotions, please contact our Ticketed Promo Support System.

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