Ante Up Magazine

Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway opens

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:40:00 +0000

Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas, is now open with a 12-table poker room.

The casino, on Turn 2 of the Kansas Speedway, features a poker room trimmed in rich woods with seven LCD televisions. The room offers a bad beat jackpot and several game variations.

Global Poker Index: Seidel Maintains Lead

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Each week, the Global Poker Index releases a list of the top 300 tournament poker players in the world using a formula that takes a player's results over six half-year periods. Erik Seidel is still on top this week as the top 10 remained mostly the same. For a look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website.

The Top 10 as of January 30, 2012

Rank	Player	Total Score	Change in Rank from Last Week
1	Erik Seidel	3,069.84	0
2	Jason Mercier	2,986.07	0
3	Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier	2,839.23	0
4	Eugene Katchalov	2,760.52	0
5	Shawn Buchanan	2,672.49	0
6	Sam Trickett	2,436.22	0
7	Will "The Thrill" Failla	2,423.22	0
8	Matt Waxman	2,400.18	+1
9	Vanessa Selbst	2,397.53	-1
10	Mike "Timex" McDonald	2,377.53	+1

Back in the top ten this week is Mike "Timex" McDonald, one week after making way for Jonathan Duhamel. Last January, Duhamel took first place in the €10,000 High-Roller event at the 2011 EPT Deauville. That score fell into Period 3, and as a result, Duhamel dropped six spots on the GPI.

Welcome to the GPI

Daniel Idema returns to the GPI with the best ranking of the 11 new players after his eighth-place result in the Aussie Millions Main Event.

New Additions

Player	Total GPI Score	GPI Rank
Daniel Idema	1,323.23	158th
Daniel Chevalier	1,304.80	164th
Brian Hawkins	1,122.06	257th
Nacho Barbero	1,113.64	262nd
Taylor von Kriegenbergh	1,105.10	266th
Sebastian Winkler	1,094.21	273rd
Grant Levy	1,093.92	274th
Daniel Reijmer	1,078.21	288th
Connor Drinan	1,076.66	289th
Paul Berende	1,053.79	298th
Kevin Calenzo	1,050.97	300th

The 11 players who fell from the GPI this week were Cornel Cimpan, David Sonelin, Denys Drobyna, Jacob Bazeley, Lucien Cohen, Maria Ho, Martin Finger, Maurizio Sepede, Owais Ahmed, Sigurd Eskeland, and Stefan Huber.

In last week's article we mentioned that Phil Ivey could very well be returning to the GPI, because he was deep in the Main Event at the Aussie Millions. In addition to his eventual 12th-place finish, Ivey won the AUD$250,000 tournament for more than AUD$2,000,000. However, that win is not reflected in the GPI because the event only drew 16 players. To qualify for the GPI, a tournament must have at least 21 entrants. As a result, Ivey didn't crack the GPI quite yet.

Ups and Downs

The biggest rise of the week belonged to Jason Koon. With a 27th-place finish in the Aussie Millions Main Event, Koon added a third result for his Period 1 scores during January, going along with two cashes at the PCA.

Biggest Gains

Rank	Player	Total Score	Change in Rank From Last Week
68th	Jason Koon	1,663.88	+121
82nd	David Steicke	1,610.00	+43
91st	Faraz Jaka	1,569.10	+54
112th	Matt Stout	1,479.75	+72
127th	Michael Tureniec	1,424.61	+93
151st	Dominykas Karmazinas	1,344.84	+44
162nd	Khiem Nguyen	1,316.74	+100
165th	Jeff Lisandro	1,297.85	+64
182nd	Manuel Bevand	1,261.49	+87
186th	Alain Roy	1,248.77	+94

Kenny Hallaert saw his GPI stock fall the most. His sixth-place finish in the 2011 EPT Deauville Main Event fell from Period 2 to Period 3.

Biggest Drops

Rank	Player	Total Score	Change in Rank From Last Week
128th	Tristan Wade	1,423.84	-37
168th	Kristijonas Andrulis	1,292.75	-35
223rd	Marco Leonzio	1,178.74	-40
226th	Cristiano Guerra	1,174.08	-46
227th	Justin Smith	1,173.91	-35
246th	Luca Pagano	1,142.87	-52
256th	Kenny Hallaert	1,122.33	-80
259th	Jeff Papola	1,119.94	-35
282nd	Daniel Colman	1,087.26	-60
295th	Mike Beasley	1,056.92	-70

What's In Store?

EPT Deauville is in the midst of its Main Event, which concludes on Monday. While it probably won't be a part of next week's rankings, many side events will be and should result in some movement throughout the GPI.

To look at the entire list of 300, visit the official GPI website. While you're at it, follow the GPI on Twitter and its Facebook page.

To stay on top of the GPI and other happenings in the poker world, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.

Fertitta Interactive Seeks Nevada Online Gaming License

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 19:22:00 +0000

Fertitta Interactive LLC issued a press release Thursday announcing that it submitted an application to the Nevada Gaming Control Board to expand its gaming licenses to include online poker in Nevada.

"We support the regulation of online poker," said Lorenzo Fertitta in a statement. "Our industry leading software has a track record of complying with the strictest regulations in jurisdictions around the world."

"Nevada has always been the leader in gaming regulation and we're pleased to file our application here," he continued. "Our goal is to provide customers with the best online gaming experience in a safe and well-regulated online environment."

In October of last year, Fertitta Interactive, the company who owns the UFC and Las Vegas-based Station Casinos, purchased online gaming provider CyberArts Licensing LLC, which specializes in online poker. The acquisition of CyberArts came on the heels of a strategic partnership with Full Tilt Poker that had fallen through after Black Friday.

In October, Fertitta had the following to say on the CyberArts acquisition: “Fertitta Interactive fully supports the federal regulation of online poker in the United States. In CyberArts, we found a leader in the development and design of online gaming software with an exemplary track record of regulatory compliance. We will be working on new and innovative products with the goal of ultimately providing consumers with the best online gaming experience in a safe and secure environment.”

Fertitta Interactive joins the list of companies that have filed applications with the Nevada Gaming Control Board to expand into the online realm including South Point, 888 Holdings, Ball Technologies Inc., Cantor Gaming, and International Game Technology.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Washington, D.C. Online Gambling Bill Headed to Full Vote for Repeal Next Week

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:05:00 +0000

On Wednesday, the Finance and Revenue Committee in Washington, D.C., voted 3-2 to send the jurisdiction's Internet gambling legislation to a full council vote for repeal.

Council member Jack Evans, an opponent to the online gambling legislation, voted to repeal and told The Washington Post, "It gives [council members] an opportunity to vote up or down with full knowledge of what they're voting for."

The full council vote could happen as early as next week, and according to The Washington Post, nine of the 12 council members will vote or are inclined to vote for the repeal.

Michael A. Brown, the council member who added the Internet gaming initiative to the 2010 budget bill that was passed, defended the legislation in the committee meeting, saying that casino interests had influence in getting the legislation to the repeal vote.

According to The Washington Post, Brown believes if casinos get their way, Internet gaming "will be federalized" and D.C. "won't get any of the revenue." He didn't, however, call out any casinos specifically.

The Washington Post says Brown is planning to reintroduce his legislation if the repeal is successful, but he may have some obstacles to get around. Marie Drissel, an activist opposed to the Internet gaming bill said, "We're going to put the brick wall back up if Michael Brown comes back with the same type of legislation."

Council member Muriel Bowser says it was the way that the legislation passed that was worrisome to D.C. residents, admitting that residents "aren't necessarily opposed to Internet gambling generally."

The Washington Post has more.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

_{*Photo courtesy of WashingtonCityPaper.com}

Danny Shiff moves into 8th place in Ante Up POY race

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:36:00 +0000

Danny Shiff of Aventura, Fla., has moved into eighth place in the race for Ante Up's 2012 Player of the Year.

Shiff won the $2,500-buy-in Isle Poker Classic main event at Isle Casino Pompano in Pompano Park, Fla., which began Jan. 27. Shiff earned $115,604 for the victory in the 173-player field.

He earned 578.46 Ante Up POY points, good for eighth place. Abraham Araya of Carrollton, Texas, remains in first place with 1,314 points.

Players earn Ante Up Player of the Year points for finishing in the top 10 of qualifying events. Visit Ante Up's Player of the Year page for a list of upcoming tournaments and Ante Up's Leaderboard page for player standings.

Rep. Stephen Sandstrom Introduces Bill to Prevent Internet Gambling in Utah

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:20:00 +0000

According to Market Watch, Utah Rep. Stephen Sandstrom has introduced H.B. 108 Internet Gambling, which is intended to prevent online gaming in the state if and when the U.S. Congress legalizes online gaming.

"We want to keep Utah free from the negative impacts of legalized gambling," said Sandstrom, a lifelong resident of Utah who is known as a staunch Reagan conservative. "Without courageous leadership to block Internet gaming, Utah could see Indian casinos popping up statewide in just a few years."

The bill would prevent Internet gambling, as well as gambling on handheld devices. In addition, it would prohibit Indian casinos from entering the Utah market. The introduction of the bill was made in response to another bill introduced by the state of Utah, H.R. 1174. This bill is being reviewed by the U.S. Congress and allows states to legalize online gaming unless they choose to opt out, which is what Sandstrom is trying to do.

"Utah is only one of two states that prohibit any form of gambling, Hawaii being the other,” Sandstrom said. “Unfortunately, this could change soon because Hawaii is currently considering legalizing gaming, leaving Utah to fight the principled fight against legalized gambling on its own."

_{*Picture courtesy of heraldextra.com.}

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

2012 World Series of Poker Schedule Released

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:33:00 +0000

The World Series of Poker has announced the 2012 WSOP schedule, along with numerous changes and additions. This year, 61 gold bracelets will be up for grabs from May 27 through July 16, 2012, at the Rio All-Suite Hotel in Las Vegas.

"This year’s WSOP schedule is very exciting,” said WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, who will oversee the event for the seventh consecutive year.

“We’re introducing some fantastic new events, while bringing back many successful stalwarts that our players love. We will expand our footprint this year to include extra tables dedicated to cash games, as well as plenty of satellite and single-day tournament space, so players will have an easy time finding a desirable game without ever having to leave the Rio Convention Center.”

The most notable changes involve the Main Event. First, instead of the usual four starting days, there are only three (Saturday, July 7; Sunday, July 8; and Monday, July 9). Also, the traditional day off has been removed. Finally, there will be no November Nine this year because the final table has been moved up a week to accommodate the U.S. presidential election. Instead of happening in November, the final table will be held in two stages. First, nine players will play down to two on Sunday, Oct. 28, and the heads-up battle will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 30.

There are also some new events on this year’s schedule, including Event #3: $3,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold’em/Pot-Limit Omaha; Event #6: $5,000 Mix-Max No-Limit Hold’em; Event #28: $2,500 Four-Handed No-Limit Hold’em; and Event #49: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em. Furthermore, there will be two new non-bracelet events including a $560 Doubles No-Limit Hold’em and a $560 Bracelet Bounty No-Limit Hold’em, which will see a bounty placed on any former bracelet winner to enter the field.

The inclusion of Event #49: $1,500 Ante Only No-Limit Hold’em comes on the heels of the WSOP’s introduction of the event at the recent WSOP Circuit stop at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. What is an Ante Only tournament? According to the WSOP: “In a twist on traditional no-limit hold’em poker, this event will be played without the small and big blind bets. All players at the table will ante to begin every hand, with the person to the left of the button starting the action with a choice of folding or bringing in the minimum chip amount in play. The event will create a lot of action and multiple-player pots.”

Here are some of the other changes for this year’s WSOP:

An additional 92 tables have been added, bringing the total number of tables up to 470. The Brasilia Ballroom will be used to accommodate the extra tables.
The opening weekend, June 2 and 3, will feature a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry tournament.
The $1,000,000 buy-in One Drop event will be held on July 1.
The Seniors Event will begin at 10 a.m. and The Big One for One Drop will start at 1:11 p.m.
Preregistration for the 2012 WSOP will be available online beginning Feb. 8, 2012.

For a look at the entire 2012 World Series of Poker schedule, visit WSOP.com.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

District of Columbia Ready to Repeal Online Gambling Legislation

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 02:33:00 +0000

According to the Associated Press' Ben Nuckols, the District of Columbia is poised to repeal its online gambling legislation. In April 2011, the District of Columbia was the first jurisdiction in the U.S. to legalize online gambling. There has yet to be a launch in the D.C. online gambling operation, and it is looking as though it will be repealed before it gets the chance.

On Tuesday, council member Jack Evans told The AP that he was planning on "moving a repeal bill out of his finance and revenue committee on Wednesday."

Evans voiced concerns over the lack of opportunity that the council and public had to to discuss the bill before it became a law. "We just need to start over," Evans said. He added that he had no plans on introducing another bill should the current one be repealed.

Evans isn't the only council member in favor of a repeal. David Catania, Muriel Bowser, Jim Graham, Phil Mendelson, and Tommy Wells are part of the council who support the repeal. Council members also have Mayor Vincent Gray in their corner according to The AP. Gray's spokesperson, Pedro Ribeiro said, "It's become such a divisive issue. It's not critical to the fiscal needs of the city. It's just better to stop this, take a few steps back, take a deep breath and figure out where to go from here."

Council member Michael A. Brown plans to introduce a new online gambling bill if the repeal is a success.

"Most of the folks that are supporting the repeal are OK with online gambling," Brown told The AP. "They just want to start the process all over, which I find curious."

Brown believes that waiting could mean less revenue for the district than if it were the first jurisdiction to offer online gambling.

"There will continue to be thousands of residents playing unprotected, and there has yet to be anyone that has shown outrage for that," Brown said.

The AP has more. Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

_{*Photo courtesy of limo4washingtondc.com}

Caesars Entertainment Interactive, 888 Extend Licensing Deal to U.S.

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:33:00 +0000

On Tuesday, 888 Holdings and Caesars Interactive Entertainment announced they were extending their U.K. licensing agreement to the United States. 888 said it will see Dragonfish, the business-to-business division of 888, power a selection of Caesars' poker brands once online gaming is legalized and regulated in the U.S.

"Utilizing 888's state of the art poker platform, the agreement will allow the launch of a real money offering immediately as either federal or state based regulation is finalized and upon licensing by gaming authorities," 888 said in a statement.

Last month, 888 was among five entities to apply for licenses to operate in Nevada. The company filed as a publicly traded corporation called 888 US Limited, and was seeking to exist as a manufacturer, distributor and service provider in Nevada when online poker is legalized.

Caesars and 888 inked a deal last March to combine the power of the Caesars name with 888's gaming platform to help expand the World Series of Poker brand in the U.K. Caesars Interactive Entertainment CEO Mitch Garber said that the company chose to work with 888 because it already has the necessary hardware and software and would save Caesars the trouble of writing its own programs.

"888 has been successfully driving the World Series of Poker brand in the U.K. for the past three years, and with current momentum toward either a federal or state by state regulatory environment, 888 is uniquely positioned to support either outcome, without delay," Garber said on Tuesday, according to Gaming Intelligence.

Stay up to date on all the latest news by following us on Twitter and liking us on Facebook.

Kevin Calenzo Wins World Series of Poker Circuit Caesars Palace Main Event

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:30:00 +0000

Last Friday, the 2011-2012 World Series of Poker Circuit rolled into Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and over the course of two Day 1 flights, 662 players entered the $1,600 buy-in Main Event. After the final table on Monday, Kevin Calenzo had all the chips and took home $197,451, the WSOP Circuit gold ring, and a seat to the season-ending WSOP Circuit National Championship.

When the final day began, 15 players remained and Calenzo was in 10th place. Within two hours of play, the "unofficial" final table had been reached. Rellie Sigua and start-of-day chip leader Nicholas Wilbur were among the players who were unable to advance to the final table, finishing 14th and 11th respectively.

The final table included three WSOP gold-bracelet winners -- Dutch Boyd, Sean Getzwiller, Madsen, and Calenzo, who has over $400,000 in tournament winnings.

The first casualty of the final table was Brandon Riha. He was crippled when he ran his jacks into Getzwiller’s queens and was eliminated shortly afterward when his queen-nine couldn't catch up against the aces of Bill Creigo.

Action was nine handed for nearly three hours before another player was eliminated. James Mordue got all of his money in preflop with but was crushed by the of Jeff Fielder. The flop provided plenty of action, falling , but Mordue couldn’t connect on any of his draws. The fell on the turn and the on the river, and Mordue was eliminated in ninth place.

Madsen wasn’t able to get much going at the final table, either, and was eliminated in eighth place. His ran into the of Ian Mack. The board ran out king high and Madsen was sent to the rail.

Joe Kuether, who entered the day second in chips, was looking good at the final table until he ran his kings into Getzwiller's aces. That knocked Kuether down to just three big blinds, yet he was able to hold on for over an hour before he finally succumbed. Ironically, it was Getzwiller, holding aces, who did him in, as they easily beat his ace-queen in an all-in preflop confrontation.

Dutch Boyd was eliminated in sixth place, also at the hands of Getzwiller. The two players got their chips in preflop in a classic coinflip, with Getzwiller holding and Boyd holding . Getzwiller flopped a set and Boyd wasn’t able to catch up.

Fielder was the next to hit the rail after a huge hand that propelled Calenzo to his heads-up battle. Criego raised to 200,000 and Calenzo moved all-in for 1.2 million. Fielder was next to act and moved all-in for 1.5 million. Criego made the call to put them both at risk and was in great shape with against Calenzo's and Fielder's . The flop was safe for Criego, coming , but the spiked on the turn to give Calenzo the lead. The on the river sealed the hand and Calenzo earned the triple up, while Fielder was ousted.

Just over 10 minutes after that hand, Criego got the rest of his chips in preflop against Calenzo. Criego held the , but was far behind Calenzo's . The board ran out and Criego headed to the rail.

Mack, Getzwiller and Calenzo were all very even when three-handed play began, each holding around 4.3 million.

After being knocked down to 1.4 million, Getzwiller got the rest of his chips in preflop with ace-king against Mack's ace-eight. The flop was brutal for Getzwiller, coming . Getzwiller couldn’t catch the miracle he needed and was eliminated in third place.

Calenzo began heads-up play with a 60-40 lead over Mack, but that changed quickly on the second hand of heads-up play. Calenzo flopped bottom two pair, while Mack flopped top two pair. Amazingly, all of the chips didn’t get into the middle, but Calenzo did get knocked down to a three-to-one chip deficit.

Calenzo crawled back, however, and doubled up once with ace-nine against Mack’s ace-eight before the most pivotal hand of the tournament. Calenzo got all of his money in on a flop of with but was in a world of hurt because Mack held . The turn gave Calenzo extra outs, bringing the and the river brought the , giving Calenzo an improbable runner-runner straight, snatching victory from Mack.

Calenzo then finished the deal when he moved all-in with and was called by Mack, who was holding . The flop came , giving Calenzo top pair, but also giving Mack a flush draw. The hit the turn and Calenzo needed to dodge an ace or a heart to win. He did just that, as the river brought the , and it was all over. For his second-place finish, Mack earned $122,183. The title, the gold ring and lion's share of the cash went to Calenzo for his victory.

Final Table Payouts

Place	Player	Prize
1	Kevin Calenzo	$197,451
2	Ian Mack	$122,183
3	Sean Getzwiller	$89,617
4	Bill Criego	$66,644
5	Jeff Fielder	$50,321
6	Dutch Boyd	$38,365
7	Joe Kuether	$29,686
8	Jeff Madsen	$23,271
9	James Mordue	$18,474

That’s it for our coverage from Caesars Palace Las Vegas. Thanks as always for staying tuned to PokerNews all tournament long and be sure to come back when the WSOP Circuit makes its next stop in Tunica. Also, check back often on our Live Reporting pages to track the latest updates from tournaments all across the globe.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

_{*Photos courtesy of the World Series of Poker.}