April 13 2011, Donnie Peters

Tuesday was Day 4 at the World Poker Tour Hollywood Poker Open in Lawrenceburg, Indiana, and only nine players remained in the $10,000 Championship Event. Only three players needed to be eliminated before the official WPT televised final table was set. That only took 43 hands, and at the end of the day, William Reynolds was leading with 1.169 million in chips.

The first player to be eliminated on the day was Terry Jacobs. He finished in ninth place for $31,021 after losing to Mike Scarborough. On the ninth hand of play at the final table, Scarborough raised to 9,500 from middle position with the blinds at 2,000/4,000 with a 500 ante. Reynolds called and then Jacobs moved all-in for 85,000 from the button. The action folded back to Scarborough, who made the cal, and Reynolds got out of the way.

Scarborough turned over the and Jacobs the for your standard all-in coin flip. The board ran out to steer clear of anything Jacobs needed and gave Scarborough the pot.

On the 30th hand of play, Allen Kessler raised to 10,500 from middle position. Scarborough made the call on the button, and everyone else folded before the flop came down . Kessler was first to act and bet 14,500. Scarborough flatted to bring the two players to fourth street where the landed.

On the turn, Kessler checked and Scarborough checked. The river then completed the board with the . Kessler bet 18,000 and Scarborough raised all-in for an effective shove of 110,500. Kessler made the call with the for top pair. Scarborough turned over the for a king-high straight. Scarborough held the winning hand and sent Kessler out the door in eighth place for a $39,884 payday.

Seven-handed play only lasted 13 hands before the final player hit the rail to end the day. That player was start-of-the-day chip leader Steve Barshak, and he was eliminated by Reynolds.

With the blinds at 2,500/5,000 with a 500 ante, Barshak raised to 12,000 from under the gun. Action folded around to Reynolds in the big blind and he three-bet to 38,000. Barshak didn’t back down and four-bet to 92,000. Reynolds had some extra firepower of his own and fired right back. He five-bet to180,000. Barshak then six-bet shoved for approximately 425,000, according to the World Poker Tour Live Update Team, and Reynolds made the call.

Reynolds tabled the and Barshak the for another classic race situation, this time worth more than just some chips. If Reynolds won this hand, it would send him and the remaining five players to the official final table. If Barshak won, he’d take the chip lead. The board ran out and Reynolds won the hand with a full house, queens over jacks, to eliminate Barshak in seventh place. He walked away with $44,315 in prize money.

Final Table Seat Draw with Chip Counts

As you can see, Erik Seidel has the golden touch once again. He’s successfully maneuvered his way to this final table and continues to do nothing but win in 2011. Another player who is having a great year is Ali Eslami, having also made the final table. Tom Marchese has a few big tournament splashes to his name and will be looking to add this trophy to his mantle while Andy Whetstone is truly making the best of his opportunity from qualifying for this event from ClubWPT.

The final table will commence at 1600 EDT (2000 GMT) on Wednesday and it’s set up to be another great one. Be sure to check back to PokerNews for the recap or follow the action at WorldPokerTour.com.

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Right now, not only can you get a free $50 bankroll from PartyPoker and PokerNews, but you will also get a free month at PokerNews Strategy. Hurry, this is a limited-time offer, but the great thing is that you don’t even have to make a deposit at any stage. Just go to our PartyPoker Free $50 Page and follow the walk-through.

April 13 2011, Elaine Chaivarlis

Tony G is just one of the players scheduled to take part in the PartyPoker Big Game V this weekend. Want the power to vote someone off the show or watch it live with hole cards? We’ll tell you how, catch you up on the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday drama, and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

There has been plenty of talk regarding AB 258, a bill regarding online poker that was introduced into the Nevada Legislature. The bill has passed through the state assembly judiciary committee, but very much altered than the way it was introduced.

Do you sometimes raise after only looking at one card? Ronnie Bardah does, and in this hand he recounts from the NAPT Mohegan Sun, it worked out for him, maybe we should add this poker strategy to our repertoire.

The World Poker Tour Hollywood Poker Open was set Tuesday night and Erik Seidel has found himself there, although not leading. Check out the WPT recap to find out who else made the final table and who’s sitting with a monster stack.

Last month, the 6th Annual Full Tilt Poker Miriam Foundation Montreal Open was held in Quebec, Canada. If you missed it, you missed playing with the pros, and your shot at one of five WSOP Main Event seats. Here’s a look at the event, and who’s headed to Las Vegas to play for the WSOP seats.

The PartyPoker Big Game V kicks off this weekend. We’ve got some pretty cool promotions running during the event, and we’ll be streaming it live with hole cards.

Greg Raymer was at the WSOP Circuit stop in St. Louis to play, and host a Fossilman Training course. We always wondered about his split with PokerStars, so we asked him.

Watch | Play | Win

If you skipped down to this, then you missed the link to the article telling you all about the PokerNews Big Game Interactive. You should already know that the PartyPoker Big Game V is kicking off on April 15, (that’s Friday) at 1900 GMT, and you might be wishing you could be there to watch it. Don’t worry, PokerNews will be streaming it live with hole cards. And if you don’t like a player on the show, you’ll have your say in evicting him or her. Not only that, but we’ll also be running $5,000 in exclusive promotions during the 48-hour cash game.

“The innovation of introducing streaming and evictions will make for engaging viewing. This is no ordinary poker live stream, you will get hole cards, graphics and the TV commentary from Jesse May and a variety of co-commentators over 48 hours – it will be like watching it on TV. Who’s a nit? Who don’t you like? You have influence! The only exceptions to eviction are that statistically the most active player is exempt and that each of the “PartyPoker.com Wildcard” online qualifiers are guaranteed four hours play. You will be able to watch the stream, get involved with the action, and vote on all PokerNews.com home pages worldwide,” a PartyPoker spokesperson said.

Click here for a breakdown of the $5,000 in exclusive promotions, and more on the coverage of the PartyPoker Big Game V we’ll be bringing you beginning Friday.

$1K Monday Drama

On Monday, the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday ran as a Multi-Entry tournament with a $1 million guaranteed prize pool. The tournament drew 995 entries, with $225,000 up for grabs for outlasting the field. Things were business as usual until, the final three players were told the servers were being reset at 0600 EDT and the tournament would be cancelled if it wasn’t over before then and the players would be paid out by a chip chop if a deal wasn’t made.

The dialogue (too long to post here) that ensued after that announcement is in a thread on PocketFives, but you should know that a deal was not reached and the tournament was canceled. Through all the angry posts in that thread, FTPDoug, the Full Tilt director who was involved in this situation, posted his explanation and mentioned that he would be willing to work with the three players to make it up to them. He also said he is working on getting the site maintenance moved to Wednesday to avoid any future complications.

Read the entire thread on PocketFives.com.

Failed to Get There

Both Florida and Hawaii had introduced bills to legalize online poker (and in Hawaii, live poker as well). However, it seems that both bills have been killed.

Florida

The sun is no longer shining on the online poker bill Sen. Miguel Diaz de la Portilla sponsored, which would have regulated intrastate poker. The bill was voted on by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee and with a 2-2 tie, it was stopped in its tracks.

“What we’re trying to do here is create Florida intrastate poker network and do it with Florida companies with regulations here — protecting from identity theft and protecting the consumer — and having revenue go to the state,” Diaz de la Portilla said.

Half of the committee didn’t see it that way. According to Bradenton.com, Frank Messersmith, with the opposition, called it “Internet crack” and a “form of digital escape to the anti-social people.”

Hawaii

According to BusinessWeek.com, the legislation that would have legalized poker, both online and live, in Hawaii didn’t get a hearing in the House Finance Committee before the deadline for bills to advance.

Hawaii is one of two states (Utah is the other) that have no form of legalized gambling. According to Finance Committee Chairman Marcus Oshiro, “there wasn’t enough public interest in the bill to merit additional consideration.”

“For the silent working majority of Hawaii, this offered revenue to the state without the social ills of other types of gaming, and it was a way to avoid nasty tax increases,” Rep. Angus McKelvey, chairman for the House Economic Revitalization & Business Committee, the committee the bill made it though, said.

Chippin’ Up

So, as you know, the PartyPoker Big Game V is coming up this Friday (yes, we’ve mentioned it a couple of times today). While you’re watching the action, why not have a little vested interest in what goes on. Tony G has put up 10 percent of his buy-in on ChipMeUp.

You can buy a share (0.01%) for $3.05. There are currently 871 shares still available and you have just under two days left to buy some.

Head on over to ChipMeUp to get in on the action.

Hall of Famer

While at the Mohegan Sun for the PokerStars North American Poker Tour, Sarah Grant checked out the Michael Jordan Sports Cafe where she talked to the executive chef and laid her eyes on the monster that is the Hall of Famer burger.

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