New poker league announces dates and formats

 

LOS ANGELES, California -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Federated Sports and Gaming (FS+G) and the Palms Casino Resort announced today the dates and formats for the first season of their professional poker league tournaments.

All league events will take place at the Palms Casino Resort. There will be four different events in the inaugural season, along with a championship event. Each event week will include a Pro-Am event, a charity tournament, and a $20,000, rake-free Main Event.

2011-12 Federated Sports and Gaming Season I Tournament Schedule

Event #1 ---- August 12-16, 2011

Event #2 ---- Sept 30 – Oct 7, 2011

Event #3 ---- December 1-10, 2011

Event #4 ---- January 20-27, 2012

Championship ---- January 29-30, 2012

The four Main Events will feature different formats of No-Limit Texas Hold'em, including six-handed play, a heads-up tournament with an innovative seeding structure, and a special multi-format tournament to round out the season.

"We decided to vary the format of our events to showcase and challenge the skill of the best live tournament players in the world," said Annie Duke, Commissioner of the new Federated League. "Our Pro-Am events will create opportunities for break-out stars to shine."

Each league Main Event is a $20,000 buy-in with no rake for league members. FS+G will also provide generous prize pool overlays across the four Main Events, along with a $1 million free-roll Championship event for the top 27 players in the league standings.

"We are excited to host a series of amazing poker events," said Palms owner George Maloof. "No poker organization of its kind can compare to this professional league, and we look forward to celebrating its long term success."

Players who do not qualify for a league card will have an avenue to play their way in to the regular season Main Events. Each tournament week will begin with a $1,500 Pro-Am event in which the top nine finishers will be awarded a temporary league card for that week's league Main Event.

The nine Main Event buy-ins will be withheld from the Pro-Am tournament prize pool and the remaining prize money will be awarded to the top 10% of the Pro-Am players, including the players who are awarded the temporary league cards. The Pro-Am tournament will be open to all players 21 years and older.

"Because the Main Events have four or more days to play down to a winner from a start of approximately 200 players, we believe it will ffer the best, most friendly structures for the skilled player out there," said Duke. "Great structures, no rake and generous overlays are integral to our celebration of the best live tournament players in the world."

 

Foxwoods poker players get the experience of a lifetime against the November Nine

  

MASHANTUCKET, Conn. — When Springfield, Mass., resident Phil Jackson showed up for a 30-person freeroll poker tournament at Foxwoods Resort and Casino on Tuesday, he didn't really know what he was getting himself into. He thought he was going to be up against 29 random Foxwoods players.

"I never turn down a chance to win money for free," he said laughing about 30 minutes before the tournament.

What Jackson didn't know at the time was he and 17 others were selected in a random drawing from a list of all the tournament players who cashed in events at Foxwoods over several weeks in January and February. The 18 raffle winners were being pitted against all the members of the 2010 November Nine, the group of players who made the final table of the World Series of Poker's Main Event, in a tournament with a $15,000 prize pool, including a $5,000 first-place prize.

The reunion event, organized by Foxwoods Poker Room Spokesman Bernard Lee, created plenty of buzz in the World Poker Tour Poker Room. Before the tournament began, many cash game players took breaks from the table to take pictures and get autographs from the November Nine, including the reigning world champion, Jonathan Duhamel.

But it wasn't until ESPN poker commentator Lon McEachern, who, along with Lee, was a "wild card" entry in the event, started introducing the players from last year's final table that Jackson put it all together. As Soi Nguyen, the ninth-place finisher last year, approached his table, Jackson realized for the first time that he'd be mixing it up with the players he'd watched vie for the title on ESPN.

"Wait a minute," Jackson said. "We're going to play against these guys?"

Jackson got plenty of ribbing from Lee, who was also seated at his table.

"I can see how you could have missed it, considering there are signs advertising it throughout the entire casino," Lee joked with Jackson.

Jackson typically plays in home games and online at Full Tilt Poker, and has only played at Foxwoods four times. Despite his initial shock at the prospect of facing the November Nine and an exit close to the money bubble in 14th place, Jackson says he had the time of his life.

"I've always said to myself 'One day I want to pay $10,000 and play in the World Series of Poker,'" said Jackson, a retired Marine and corrections officer who currently works as a business analyst at Bay State Medical Hospital. "Here I am, coming up looking to play in what I thought was a regular 30-player tournament, and I actually got a dream come true. I got to play against the people I see on TV, and that was fun."

Jackson's only regret was that he didn't get to play at the same table as Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, the famous professional player who finished fifth in November. Michael Hashim, a 60-year old attorney from Pittsfield, Mass., however, did have that privilege, after drawing perhaps the worst seat assignment in the whole tournament, with Mizrachi on his left and uber-aggressive Joseph Cheong on his right.

"I was terrified to be between two guys who both have reputations for being somewhat loose and aggressive," said Hashim, who plays in tournaments at Foxwoods four or five times a year. "I've tried a number of cases, and I've got to say that I had butterflies in my stomach for a little bit longer than I do when I try a case. But once you get over the initial butterflies, then it's just poker."

The poker gods weren't kind to Hashim however. He flopped top and bottom pair from the big blind midway through the tournament, only to be eliminated by McEachern, who held top two pair. Despite the early exit, Hashim walked away from the tournament with a smile on his face.

"For me, it's a thrill to play, whether I'm playing with professionals or just with other amateur players," said Hashim.

An amateur did end up beating the pros to win the tournament. Ben Hopkins, a 26-year-old carpenter from North Smithfield, R.I., knocked Duhamel out in fifth place. The hand started as a race until Duhamel hit two pair on the flop with his ace-jack to move ahead of Hopkins' pocket fives. Hopkins, however, hit a five on the river to improve to a set and knock out the world champ.

"That felt pretty good," said Hopkins. "It made me feel like I could sit down with the best of them."Hopkins beat eighth-place Main Event finisher Matt Jarvis heads up for the title to claim the $5,000 first-place prize to more than double his largest previous poker payday. While Hopkins says he plays at Foxwoods about once a month, he wasn't intimidated by the professionals.

"It wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it was going to be," said Hopkins. "I sat down at the final table and it was just like I was playing cards on a Friday night with my buddies. It was just another game."

Regardless of their performance, or whether they knew who they were going to be playing against before they sat down, all 18 of the Foxwoods qualifiers who played in the freeroll on Tuesday walked away with an experience they'll never forget.

 

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19-Year-Old Online Poker Pro Wins Main Event Championship at Palm Beach Kennel Club

 

 

West Palm Beach, FL (Mar. 1) – Further proof that big-time No-Limit Hold’em tournaments are fast becoming the private domain of a newer, younger super-generation of poker players was on full display this week at the Palm Beach Kennel Club.

 

John Riordan, a 19-year-old professional poker player (that’s no misprint), won the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit championship.  He collected $210,180 for first place.  Riordan was also presented a WSOP Circuit gold ring, the coveted prize awarded to all winners in poker’s biggest and most prestigious national tournament series.

 While the classification “professional poker player” is way overused in today’s lexicon of tournament coverage, there’s no doubt that John Riordan is the real deal.  Despite being at an age when most of his peers are either entering college or pursuing entry-level jobs, Riordan is already on in the fast line racing on the fast track to possible superstardom in the game.

 Riordan resides in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.  He first began playing poker online in free-money games at age 13.  He started playing for real money when he turned 18 and competed in steadily bigger-stakes games as both his bankroll and skills grew.  Riordan now plays in high-limit cash games almost daily, often buying into $200-$400 Pot-Limit Omaha games, $40,000 at a time.  He is also becoming a regular player in many of the highest stakes live cash games in South Florida.

 However, until the WSOP Circuit came to Florida, Riordan’s tournament options were severely limited.  In fact, he had no tournament resume whatsoever.  Due to his age (under 21) he wasn’t able to play in most other tournaments throughout the U.S.  Even with this dramatic victory, Riordan won’t be eligible to compete in the WSOP held in Las Vegas until the year 2013.       

 While potential challengers likely have much to fear when Riordan makes his inevitable entrance onto the regular tournament circuit 15 months from now, he will still be able to bask in the glow of at least one major tournament victory.

 Riordan held the chip lead during most of the later stages of the tournament and won – by any estimation – a victory that was just as eye-catching as it was deserved.  He dominated play from start to finish at the final table.  Afterward, Riordan seemed to think of his victory as an almost inevitable conclusion.  Like being born into royalty and receiving a coronation.  Such is the mindset of poker pro who clearly possesses extraordinary skill and self-confidence.  Indeed, although the comparison might seem outlandish now, mark these words:  Only time will tell if Riordan is the next Phil Ivey or Tom Dwan.

 This marked the first time a WSOP-related tournament had ever been played in the state of Florida.  The tournament series began on February 17^th and included ten official gold ring events.  The championship capped a two-week poker festival during which previous poker records were shattered and several new records were set for Florida’s booming poker scene.  Among the more notable happenings at Palm Beach were:

 The biggest single-venue poker tournament ever held in Florida.  Event #1 ($345 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em) attracted a whopping 877 entries, shattering the previous record.

-         Florida’s first major poker tournament female champion.  June Amer won a WSOP Circuit gold ring and $65,338 in the $550 No-Limit Hold’em competition (Event #7).

-         The youngest final table participant in WSOP Circuit history.  John Riordan became the youngest player ever to make the top nine in any Circuit tournament.  Florida law permits players over age 18 to enter poker tournaments.  This is the only WSOP Circuit event where this is possible.  He also became the youngest winner in history.

-         The largest $500 buy-in tournament of the 2010-2011 WSOP Circuit season, so far (through nine tour stops).  Event #7 attracted 664 entries.

-         One of the largest poker tournaments ever held at a (non-casino) racing facility anywhere in the world.

-         To pay tribute to the WSOP coming to Florida for the first time, several dog races were named in honor of world champion poker players.  All racing matinees held at the Palm Beach Kennel Club included two feature races named after former WSOP winners.  The program began on Feb. 17^th with the “Scotty Nguyen Feature Race.”  Racing continued daily through March 1^st with the “Jonathan Duhamel Feature Race.”  These special races not only drew big crowds and lots of betting at the racetrack.  The dog races were also simulcast across the nation to many casinos and bettor parlors.

 John Riordan’s coronation, officially known as the $1,600 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Main Event championship, began on February 27^th and attracted a huge field totaling 712 players.  The turnout was so large that two starting sessions were required – a rarity for big buy-in tournaments.  The 72 survivors who were fortunate enough to finish in-the-money divided the prize pool totaling $1,035,960.  A list of all players who cashed can be viewed HERE:

 About half of the field was eliminated on Day One.  That left 366 players remaining, who returned on Day Two.  During the following session, the field size was reduced to just 24 players.  Then, about six hours into Day Three, the final table was finally reached.

 Given the unusual circumstances of a poker tournament being held at a dog track, the tournament seemed far more invigorating than the normal run-of-the-mill poker competition.  Play was frequently interspersed with racing calls and cheering from the grandstand.  The final table was played on the main stage adjacent the racetrack, appropriately called “The Finish Line.”

 When players took seats at the final table which began at 8 pm on a Tuesday night, the seating order and starting chip counts were as follows:

  SEAT 1:  Jon Brody (Davie, FL) – 1,500,000 in chips 

SEAT 2:  David MacDonald (Jupiter, FL) – 920,000 in chips     

SEAT 3:  Ryan Lenaghan (Mobile, AL) – 1,420,000 in chips 

SEAT 4:  Austin Buchanan (Winter Park, FL) – 1,100,000 in chips 

SEAT 5:  Jerry Timmons (Cooper City, FL) – 980,000 in chips     

SEAT 6:  Mike Morton (Mays Landing, NJ) – 2,000,000 in chips 

SEAT 7:  Jesse Okonczak (Destin, FL) – 1,280,000 in chips 

SEAT 8:  John Riordan (Palm Beach Gardens, FL) – 4,500,000 in chips    

SEAT 9:  Thomas J. Aprea (East Marion, NY) – 600,000 in chips 

    The final table lasted about five hours, ending at about 1 am.  Players were eliminated in the following order:

 9^th Place – Nearly two hours passed before the first elimination.  That moment finally came when Jerry Timmons was dealt pocket queens.  It appeared he might double up, but Thomas Aprea called the raise with A-J suited and flopped a jack.  Then, another jack hit the river, making trip jacks.  That put Timmons out on the rail.  Jerry Timmons is a 56-year-old owner of a septic tank company from Cooper City, FL.  He was flushed away in ninth place, good for $19,665 in prize money.

 8^th Place – Jesse Okonczak was the chip leader at the end of Day Two.  He enjoyed the mixed blessing of making the final table, but was eliminated in eighth place.  Okanczak’s stack gradually dwindled as time passes, which forced him to make a move with the relatively repulsive Q-3.  The raise got snap called by K-Q in a battle of the blinds.  Okanczak failed to improve and exited with $24,771 in prize money.  Jesse Okonczak, a 24-year-old poker pro from Destin, FL has several online cashes.  But this marked his first WSOP-related in-the-money finish. 

 7^th Place – Dave MacDonald went out about three hours into play.  He was low on chips and made a move with A-7.  The raise was called by A-T.  A seven flopped making it appear MacDonald was on his way to a double up.  But a ten on the turn basically ended his hope for a big comeback.  Seventh place paid $31,599.  Dave McDonald is a 52-year-old part-time poker player from Jupiter, FL.

 6^th Place – This was Jon Brody’s big comeback into tournament poker.  Brody was one of the game’s brightest rising stars about 7-8 years ago, just before the poker boom.  He cashed multiple times at the WSOP and was a highly-successful cash-game player.  Then, he decided to leave it all to spend more time with his family and focus on his business.  Brody essentially disappeared from the poker scene until this event.  What could have been one of the year’s best comeback stories was derailed by three big hands where Brody had the best hand, and ended up taking beats and losing his chips.  The first of these was his pocket queens losing to pocket tens.  The final hand occurred when Brody held A-Q and was all-in versus Q-T.  A ten flopped, ending the Brody Cinderella story.  Jon Brody, a 40-year-old businessman from Davie, FL settled for $40,837.

 5^th Place – Ryan Lenaghan was a steady force at the final table, but ran out of chips late and had to settle for fifth  place.  On his final hand, he shoved with K-Q, which ran into Austin Buchanan’s A-Q.  The dominant hand held up, leaving Lenaghan with $53,468.  Ryan Lenaghan is a 25-year-old poker pro from Mobile, AL.  He enjoyed previous successes in tournaments held in Biloxi as well as Los Angeles.

 4^th Place – Austin Buchanan was seeking his first major tournament victory, but fell just short.  He ran low on chips late and finally moved all-in holding A-2, which ran into the chip leader’s A-9.  A nine on the turn gave super-stacked John Riordan a pair and ejected the 22-year-old poker pro from the finale.  Fourth place paid a very respectable $70,939 in prize money.  This was the first major cash for Austin Buchanan, from Winter Park, FL.  Buchanan says he is proud to be a lifelong fan and season ticket holder of the NFL’s Miami Dolphins, which proves he has the intestinal fortitude to endure the inevitable pain of playing poker professionally.

 3^rd Place – Thomas J. Aprea is a modern-day renaissance man.  His eclectic career began as a bodyguard in the music business.  Next, he worked as a commercial fisherman.  Later, he built racing engines.  And, he played a lot of poker on the side.  Now retired, Aprea was making his first WSOP-related final table after several small cashes in various tournaments around the country.  He almost pulled off a magical victory worthy of his diverse background, but instead hit the felt when he lost his final hand holding pocket fours.  John Riordan had pocket fives, called the all-in raise, and the higher pair held up.  Thomas J. Aprea, a 70-year-old retiree from East Marion, Long Island (NY) received $95,392 in prize money.

 2^nd Place – The runner up was Mike Morton.  He is originally from Mays Landing, NJ and now lives in Florida.  Morton is a 21-year-old bartender.  Morton had the chip lead for a brief time, but took two tough blows late in the tournament and ended up with second place.  Morton collected a nice consolation prize totaling $130,057.  Mike Morton works at his family business called “Passions,” a nightclub located in Hollywood, FL.  

 When heads-up play began Morton enjoyed a slim chip advantage over Riordan – about 8 million to 6 million.  The decisive hand of the tournament took place when Morton had 6-4 and moved all-in with top pair and an open-ended straight draw.  Riordan called and tabled his overpair, pocket tens.  When all the chips went in, the board showed 6-5-3-3.  Morton was drawing to 14 outs, but missed when an 8 hit on the river.  That gave Riordan a decisive advantage.  Riordan later said he considered folding the overpair after he was check raised all-in to a dangerous-looking board.  But he ended up making the perfect read and made the correct call.

 The final hand took place just a few hands later when Riordan’s 8s 7c bested Morton’s 9s 3s to a final board showing 7s 6c 2s Ah Kd.  Morton pushed on the flop with his spade flush draw, but missed.  Riordan ended up winning with a pair of 7s.

 1^st Place – John Riordan, a 19-year-old poker pro from Palm Beach Gardens, FL is the newest WSOP Circuit champion.  He received a top prize totaling $210,180.

 Following his first live tournament victory, Riordan proudly posed with a huge pile of poker chips, his newly-won WSOP Circuit gold ring, and “Ghost” a five-year-old honey-coated greyhound who races regularly at the track.  It was hard to tell who was more satisfied, Riordan after being crowned the newest WSOP Circuit champ, or the doll-faced greyhound receiving loads of affection from poker players and spectators alike.

 Oddly enough, Riordan will not be eligible to compete in other WSOP Circuit tournaments during the remainder of the season, due to being underage.  In fact, the next time Riordan is likely to be seen participating in a WSOP-related event will be next season in Florida, where he hopes to come back defend his title.  Meanwhile, one expects that Riordan will continue tearing up the high-limit cash games, both online and inside Florida’s cardrooms.  Scary as it might seem, like fine wine, Riordan is likely to only get better with age.

 Six more tour stops remain on the WSOP Circuit schedule.  The next tournament series is being held at Caesars Atlantic City, which runs March 2-14.  A complete list of tour stops and previous results for all tournaments can be seen at WSOP.COM.