November 07 2012, Brett Collson

Doyle Brunson tweeted Tuesday that he is once again battling cancer. We’re covering that story, plus big news for poker players in Maryland, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.

In Case You Missed It

Full Tilt Poker reopened on Tuesday. Which pros will be keeping their bankroll on the site to play? PokerNews’ Chad Holloway found out.

With the year coming to a close, Dan Smith still has a huge lead in the Global Poker Index Player of the Year race. Mickey Doft takes a look at some of Smith’s closest contenders.

On Tuesday, the World Poker Tour released the 2013 schedule for its 11th season. Take a look at all of the stops here at PokerNews.com.

The PokerNews Podcast returned to the airwaves on Wednesday. This week, the crew discussed the conclusion of the WSOP Main Event, the relaunch of Full Tilt Poker, and more.

The 2012-13 World Series of Poker Circuit River Rock Main Event played down to a final table on Tuesday. Find out who is contention for the ring in our WSOPC recap.

The 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker HKD$100,000 Main Event kicked off on Wednesday. Take a look at the leaders from Day 1 in our ACOP recap.

Doyle’s Fight

Doyle Brunson has faced many tough challenges in his life, but none more grueling then his long bout with cancer.

On Tuesday, Brunson revealed via Twitter that was recently diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer. It was the fourth time Brunson has been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness. He described this particular type as a “slow growth that is usually OK but it’s still something you’d rather not hear.”

Brunson has beaten cancer three times in the past 50-plus years and seems confident that he’ll do it again. Each time, he’s been told the illness is malignant, but the 79-year-old continues pushing forward, beating some of the toughest cash games in the world along the way.

Doyle received a large amount of support on Twitter Tuesday:

Maryland Gets Dealt In

The most expensive political advertising campaign in Maryland’s history has resulted in the passage of a measure that will legalize table games like poker at the state’s casinos.

On Tuesday, Maryland voters passed Question 7, also known as the Gaming Expansion Question, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin statewide. The measure needed to be passed both by state voters and by voters in Prince Georges County, where it succeeded by a 59 percent to 41 percent margin.

According to WBAL in Baltimore, more than $90 million was spent by opponents and supporters of the Question 7 issue. Among the rivals of the measure is Penn National Gaming, which said Wednesday that it was “disappointed” in the results of the ballot. Penn National operates a casino in West Virginia and is hinting at taking legal action against the measure, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“There remains a question as to the validity of the outcome given a legal challenge that has been filed by an outside group as to what constitutes a ‘qualified voter’ in this election,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll be exploring that issue in the coming days.”

If all goes as planned in Maryland, table games could be introduced at the state’s three existing casinos early next year and when a new casino opens in Baltimore near M&T Bank Stadium, home of the NFL’s Ravens. Tuesday’s measure will also allow for a new casino to be constructed at National Harbor along the Potomac River near Washington, D.C.

Maryland is the home of some of the top poker minds in the world, including Christian Harder, Anthony Gregg, and 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Greg Merson, who expressed his excitement after the measure passed Tuesday evening:

USA Today has more.

Roothlus Contest Winner

Two weeks ago, Adam “Roothlus” Levy teamed up with 99designs and launched a contest to see who could design the best personal logo for the professional poker player’s personal website. In the end, a total of 23 designers submitted 102 different logos, and fans voted for the winning logo:

“Helsing,” the winning designer, earned $200 for being selected. This is the fourth contest that Helsing has won on 99designs.com, and the designer has earned $690 in the process.

For more on the competition, check out the article here at PokerNews.com. And check out Levy’s site at Roothlus.com.

Moorman Falls Short

Chris “Moorman1″ Moorman is the all-time winningest tournament player in online poker history, cashing for more than $7.5 million. But even thought he’s added another $2.7 million in live tournament cashes, Moorman has struggled securing a major Main Event win on the live circuit, finishing runner-up in events like the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event and WSOP’s $10,000 Six-max Championship in Las Vegas.

Moorman got another chance at glory Wednesday at the PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour Online Main Event in Bristol. The British superstar entered the final table third in chips after securing his set online last month, and eventually found himself heads-up with Wojtek Barzantny. However, after a lengthy back-and-forth battle, Moorman came up short again when his was upended by Barzantny’s . Moorman collected £55,471 for yet another runner-up finish, and Barzantny earned £77,126 and a seat to the champion of champions event.

Here’s a look at the final table results of the inaugural UKIPT Online Main Event:

For more on the UKIPT, visit the PokerStars Blog.

Welcome to Macau!

The 2012 PokerStars.net APPT Macau: Asia Championship of Poker Main Event kicked off on Wednesday. Before hitting the tournament floor, Lynn Gilmartin took a tour around the “Oriental Las Vegas.”

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October 29 2012, Donnie Peters

Follow hand-for-hand action from the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event.

Today marks the kickoff the of the greatest final table in poker as it belongs to the World Series of Poker Main Event!

Just about three and a half months ago, the nine finalists etched their name in the poker history books by becoming the nine members of the 2012 WSOP Main Event final table. Not only that, but they also became the first group called the “Octo-Nine”. Headed by big chip leader Jesse Sylvia, everyone remaining has locked up a minimum of $754,798, and it’s the top seven spots that will become millionaires.

Speaking of Sylvia, he’ll be looking to achieve what Jonathan Duhamel did when he came into the final table as chip leader, and that’s win the title. Other former chip leaders since the delay in action were Dennis Phillips (2008), Darvin Moon (2009) and Martin Staszko (2011), but they all failed to get the job done.

Trailing Sylvia are Andras Koroknai and Greg Merson with just about the same amount of chips. Koroknai could be seen as one of the dark spots of this final table, but to him it doesn’t seem to matter how the public views him. There has been some controversy around Koroknai, and he even told Robert Salaburu, “The French girl is mine.” upon making it down to the 10-handed final table, speaking of Gaelle Baumann.

Merson, on the other hand, has been to the dark side, but has since worked his way back. Having come into poker and money at a young age, Merson fell into a drug addiction, but has battled against it to get his life back in order. Doing so allowed him to win his first WSOP gold bracelet earlier this year, and can still see him win a second. He could also win the WSOP Player of the Year if he were to claim first place. Right now, Phil Hellmuth is set to take those honors.

Another feel good story alongside Merson’s would be if Jake Balsiger won, but he’d have to do it coming from the second shortest stack remaining. Balsiger is just 21 years and 281 days old, and he could become the youngest Main Event champion in history. The 2009 champion, Joe Cada, was 21 years and 356 days old when he won the event.

Here’s a look at the final table, and how the players will stack up in seat order:

The crowd here inside the Penn & Teller Theatre is heating up, and the electricity is in the air. There’s going to be plenty of excitement on the way, and you won’t want to miss a thing!

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