Poker & Tournaments in the News

Marty Smyth Wins $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha Championship

The $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha world champion is Marty Smyth, from Belfast, Ireland. He is a professional poker player with many previous tournament cashes and wins. This was his first career WSOP gold bracelet. Prior to this victory, Smyth had cashed only one time at the WSOP. That was a 39th-place finish in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event earlier this year (Event #19). Smyth won $859,549 for first place. This was the largest Pot-Limit Omaha top prize in poker history. Prior to playing poker for a living, Smyth worked as a civil servant. “It was a dead-end job,” he said. “I was lucky to find poker.” Smyth acknowledged the Irish poker pioneers who preceded his victory in this event. “Padriag Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea were Irish poker gods to me,” he said ...

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Scotty Nguyen Wins $50,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. Championship

The 2008 H.O.R.S.E. World Champion is Scotty Nguyen. He is from Henderson, NV. Nguyen won the WSOP Main Event in 1998. This was his fifth WSOP gold bracelet. Despite his extraordinary success in tournament poker for more than a decade, Nguyen suffered through one of his lowest points following last year’s meltdown, which resulted in an 11th place finish in the 2007 Main Event. At one point, Nguyen seemed primed to go much deeper in last year’s championship and many say he should have won. But Nguyen went through a horrific two-hour phase late on the preceding day to the final table and was eliminated. So distraught with disappointment, Nguyen reportedly did not eat regularly for months afterward. He was physically ill. He lost 15 pounds and refused to leave the house ...

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Davidi Kitai Wins WSOP $2,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold'em championship

The 2008 $2,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Hold’em champion is Davidi Kitai. He is a 28-year-old economic analyst from Brussels, Belgium. Kitai was born in Antwerp, Belgium. Kitai works for a banking institution in Belgium and deals with macroeconomic investment issues. Kitai becomes the first WSOP gold bracelet ever from the nation of Belgium. Belgium becomes the ninth nation to produce a gold bracelet winner at this year’s WSOP. This list now includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Russia, and the United States ...

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Vanessa Selbst Wins Pot-Limit Omaha Gold

The 2008 $1,500 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha champion is Vanessa Selbst, a 23-year-old law student and poker professional from Brooklyn, NY., and is the first woman to win a WSOP open event since Katja Thater last year in the 2007 Razz championship. Vanessa collected $227,933 for her first place victory, and has also earned her first WSOP gold bracelet. Vanessa Selbst is a Yale University graduate, and plans to return to Yale to study law. Eventually Vanessa plans to work on behalf of human rights issues ...

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Erick Lindgren Wins WSOP Mixed Hold'em Gold

The winner of the $5,000 buy-in Mixed Hold’em event is Erick Lindgren. He is 31-years-old. Lindgren has been a professional poker player for nearly ten years. He worked as a blackjack dealer at an Indian casino in Northern California. However, Lindgren started playing poker regularly during his free time and discovered both a passion and talent for the game. He gradually transitioned to the status of a full-time pro. He now plays in most high-profile tournaments held around the world ...

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Nenad Medic Captures First WSOP Gold of '08

When you look at Nenad Medic, you’re not going to think ‘poker player’. At a broad, built 6’3”, the man looks more like a mixed martial artist than a poker player, but beneath the thick exterior lies the lethal combination of competitive will and advanced comprehension of the nuances of the game. That’s what’s made him one of the best players in the world. David Williams was one of a dozen professionals in attendance cheering Medic on ...

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Nick Ceci Wins the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge

The final extravaganza of the 2007-2008 World Series of Poker Circuit season concluded today at the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Hotel. The No-Limit Hold'em championship was won by Nick Ceci from Peachtree City, Georgia. Ceci (pronounced "CC") is a 38-year-old demolition contractor. That's right – he tears down buildings for a living. Ceci did his best work in this tournament, demolishing the hopes of more than a few hundred competitors ...

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Final WSOP Circuit Event of the Season Begins at Harrah's New Orleans

The final tournament of the 2007-2008 World Series of Poker Circuit season began today at the fifth annual Bayou Poker Challenge. This is the last tournament of the final stop on the nine-month schedule, which began last summer and visited 12 different poker destinations. The fourth season of the World Series of Poker Circuits was widely popular once again, attracting more than 30,000 entries nationwide. More than $25 million in prize money was awarded to winners. At the end of Day One, David Fox is the co-chip leader with 101,100 in his stack. Last year's champion, Lou Esposito also has an identical count with 101,100. Also worth noting was the participation of WSOP Circuit "Unofficial MVP", Doug Carli, from Alliance, Ohio. Carli has more cashes and final table appearances than any other player ...

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Andrew Kloc Wins First WSOP Circuit Gold Ring

The fifth annual Bayou Poker Challenge continued today at the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort. The second event on the schedule, a $500 (+50) no-limit hold’em tournament, attracted 344 entries, creating a prize pool totaling $166,840. The winner was Andrew Kloc, from Naugatuck, CT. The 36-year-old former social worker’s transition to becoming a full-time poker pro was made much easier by collecting first place prize money in this event, which amounted to $51,840 ...

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Mark Stephen Edwards Victorious at Bayou Poker Challenge

The fourth event on the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule was completed today as Mark Stephen Edwards won the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em competition. The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort. First place paid $30,957. Edwards was also presented with a gold ring, awarded to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in New Orleans ...

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Johnathan Westra Wins Second WSOP Circuit Gold Ring and $29,385 at Bayou Poker Challenge

The third event on the 2008 Bayou Poker Challenge schedule was completed today as Johnathan Westra won the $500 no-limit hold’em competition. The tournament was hosted by the Harrahs New Orleans Casino and Resort. First place paid $29,385. Westra was presented with a gold ring, awarded to all World Series of Poker Circuit winners here in New Orleans. This marked his second career WSOP Circuit victory. Westra also won the Short-Handed No-Limit Hold’em championship held at the Tunica Grand Casino-Resort in January ...

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Hail Allen Cunningham!

All great athletes possess intangible qualities. There’s something extraordinary about stars such as Michael Jordan, Joe Montana, and Wayne Gretzsky performing in the prime of their careers. It’s not just that they were winners. Many athletes win championships. It was the way they won which captivated fans everywhere leaving an indelible mark on the consciousness of a generation. Witnessing the final table of the most recent World Series of Poker Circuit championship at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, one had a sense of absolute inevitability ...

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Poker Aficionado J.D. Newitt Wins Gold Ring at Caesars Palace

Jason “J.D.” Newitt has been a familiar face on the poker tournament scene for years. As a consultant and public relations specialist, Newitt has traveled around the world attending many of poker’s most prestigious events. While doing so, he has become accustomed to seeing other top players in the spotlight. This time, Newitt took center stage. He won the $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event held at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which is part of the World Series of Poker Circuit. In doing so, Newitt proved once and for all he is every bit as talented as those players he often deals with on a daily basis ...

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Mickey Pickett Wins WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s Rincon

These days, twenty-something poker champions are a dime a dozen. Every month it seems, a young person wins a big tournament somewhere, only to quickly fizzle out and gradually disappear from the tournament poker scene. It brings to mind the old proverb that as tough as it is to climb to the top of one’s profession, it’s even tougher to stay there. But Michael “Mickey” Pickett is quite possibly the exception. The 23-year old newly-turned poker pro from Little Canada, MN won the latest World Series of Poker Circuit championship, held recently at the Harrah’s Rincon Casino and Resort ...

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WSOP Tournament Notes Through End of Day 2-A

The 2007 WSOP $10,000 buy-in championship Hold'em event attracted 6,358 players this year, due largely to the UIGEA bill passed in the dead of night in Congress, attaching it to the crucial Port Authority bill. This has restricted the entry of the Online entrants from the USA, but still qualifies as the second-largest live poker tournament in history. Only the 2006 main event attracted more entries (8,773) ...

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