REAL POKER MASTERY

Despite the promise of a televised final table for both its Pot Limit Omaha Championship and Main Event, it was a small crowd at the United States Poker Championships (USPC), with only 32 players entering the Omaha event and 154 taking part in the Main Event.

The tournament series, hosted by the Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, ran from November 2nd until shortly before Thanksgiving and featured a total of 24 different events with buy-ins ranging from $340 to $5,250.  Prior to the start of the series, the tournament staff announced that cable television channel Spike TV would be on hand to film a couple of the contests.

The first televised event was the $2,625 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha tournament.  Although the field was a scant 32 players, it was packed with some big name pros, several of whom made it to the final table.  Amnon Filippi, Matthew Matros, Matt Glantz, and Allie Prescott all made the feature table, with Prescott taking home the victory worth $36,000.

The second televised tournament, the USPC Main Event, drew a much larger crowd than the Omaha contest and saw substantial growth over last year’s running.  The combined appeal of a televised event plus a smaller buy-in helped to essentially triple the size of the field between 2008 and 2009.  Last year, the event featured a buy-in of $10,000 and only drew 52 runners.  Some of the 154 players who turned up to play in this year’s tournament included Matt “All In At 420” Stout, UB.com pro Liv Boeree, Allen Kessler, Michael and Nick Binger, Joe “hoodini10” Udine, Adam Junglen, Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, and Thayer Rasmussen.

The final table featured a number of notable names, including the 2001 USPC Champion Men “The Master” Nguyen.  Nguyen defeated fellow pro John Juanda heads-up in 2001 to take the $228,000 first place prize.  This time around, the tables were turned and it was Nguyen who had to settle for a runner-up finish.  Nguyen was joined at the final table by Nick Binger, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Brian Lemke, and online poker player Eric “avrilsharapova” Ladny.

The chip leader going into the final table was not one of the known pros though, it was William Brindise, a New Jersey local who started the final seven-handed table with more than 1.5 million chips – twice that of his next closest competitor, Nguyen.  Ladny rounded out the top three and the trio of players started and ended the day in the exact same positions on the leaderboard.  Ladny busted out in third place, setting up a heads-up match between Nguyen and Brindise.  It would be the local who prevailed over the professional, as Brindise defeated Nguyen to take down the first place prize worth $261,800; Nguyen earned $138,600 for his runner-up finish.

Although he may be lacking the experience of his formidable heads-up opponent, Brindise is no stranger to poker success.  Prior to his win at the USPC, he had nearly $130,000 in tournament winnings to his credit, including a win in a Trump Classic event in 2005, several cashes at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, and an in-the-money finish at the 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event.  With the victory in Atlantic City, Brindise’s career winnings are now close to $400,000.

Here are the results from the final table of the 2009 USPC Main Event:

1st Place: William Brindise – $261,800
2nd Place: Men “the Master” Nguyen – $138,600
3rd Place: Eric Ladny – $77,000
4th Place: Gordon Eng – $53,900
5th Place: Brian Lemke – $46,200
6th Place: Nick Binger – $30,800
7th Place: Anton Smolyanskiy – $23,100

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Most Americans spent Thanksgiving Day huddled around the dinner table, noshing on roasted turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and a variety of desserts. Poker News Daily was able to talk to several pros to hear what they are thankful for.

Many poker players took the day off from the tables to spend time with their families. Beth Shak was quite reflective when she said, “I’m thankful for my health and the heath of my family. I’m thankful for the love from my family and friends. I’m thankful for love and laughter in my life.”

Even those who may not have originally called the United States home were able to get in on the tradition with their families and bring some of their own flair to the holiday. Marco Traniello, who sat in on Thanksgiving with wife Jennifer Harman and their children, noted, “We are very thankful for our wonderful family and friends that we have. This year, though, we substituted the turkey with an authentic Pilgrim’s dish… lasagna!”

There was even more fun in the Joe Sebok household, as one of the wittiest poker players in the game today commented on his Thanksgiving by saying, “I am so thankful for all of my peeps that I am close with, all the opportunities that I have been given this year, and yes, even the crazy world of poker that I have found myself in somehow.” After a moment of pause, Sebok added, “Oh, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, too!”

Some of the pros in the poker community talked about their activities on Turkey Day. Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little headed to the ski slopes instead of watching football and commented, “I was planning on working out, but I can hardly move from skiing. I think I will have enough time to crawl to the tournament at Bellagio,” where the Five Diamond World Poker Classic will begin. Pamela Brunson thought about all the food she ate when she said, “I gobble gobbled but good! Time to start a new exercise regime! I’m starting by two-steppin’ on Friday!”

In the end, all of the players – and many Americans themselves – thought of those who couldn’t be with those they love. Eric Mizrachi, gathering with the Mizrachi clan, said, “I’m thankful for what all the people did to have such a nice country that we are living in today. I’m proud to be an American and at least I know I’m free!” The effervescent Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones enthusiastically responded to Poker News Daily, “I’m thankful for our troops! And I want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!”

Poker News Daily wants to thank all those who responded and join with them by wishing everyone the happiest of Thanksgivings.

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Twenty-four hours after it was revealed that mandatory financial services industry compliance with the regulations of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) would be delayed by six months, the poker industry has had a chance to react.

The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) was one of several organizations that successfully petitioned U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to push back conformity with UIGEA rules until June 1st, 2010. The 1.2 million member strong lobbying organization’s Chairman, Alfonse D’Amato, commented in a press release distributed on Friday, “We are thankful to our co-petitioners, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the American Greyhound Track Operators Association, and for the dozens of members of Congress who voiced their support for this petition through letters to Secretary Geithner and Chairman Bernanke. The PPA looks forward to working with regulators and legislators to pass legislation that protects consumers and the great game of poker.” News of the extension originally broke on Wednesday.

The two horse racing outfits co-authored a letter with the PPA to Geithner and Bernanke outlining the potential for overblocking by financial institutions, which could have led to legal online wagers being denied by companies like Visa and MasterCard. According to the PPA, the possibility of an extension beyond the current six-month time frame exists. Ideally, Congress would formulate proper internet gambling legislation in the near future.

To that end, Safe and Secure Internet Gambling Initiative (SSIGI) spokesperson Michael Waxman commented, “This decision is the latest evidence that momentum is building for a shift in policy and a rewrite of U.S. internet gambling laws to provide for regulation and taxation instead of prohibition. Over the next six months, Congress should act to create a framework that regulates internet gambling to protect consumers and collect billions in much-needed revenue for critical federal and state government programs.”

Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA), whose House Financial Services Committee will host a hearing on two internet gambling bills next Thursday, gave his two cents on the UIGEA compliance date being postponed: “The Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors deserve a great deal of credit for suspending these midnight regulations promulgated by the Bush administration which would curtail the freedom of Americans to use the internet as they choose and which would pose unrealistic burdens on the entire financial community. This will give us a chance to act in an unhurried manner on my legislation to undo this regulatory excess by the Bush administration and to undo this ill-advised law.”

On the PocketFives.com online poker forum, Rich “TheEngineer” Muny, who serves as the Kentucky State Director for the PPA, broke the news early on Black Friday. While many online poker players were out hunting for deep holiday discounts, PocketFives.com member “mordan” was on the message boards candidly responding, “Everyone in the poker community just won a 30/70 with this development. Although this doesn’t guarantee regulation in the future, our odds have significantly increased with the U.S. Treasury recognizing problems with this bill.”

The future of the legality of games like online poker remains up in the air. In the PPA forum on TwoPlusTwo, poster “Distajo” questioned, “Was the delay granted more for the clarity of the UIGEA rules? Thus, being more beneficial for banks? Like don’t fund poker accounts, but allow horseracing wagers?” Past attempts to clarify the UIGEA have mandated that “laundry lists” of legal activities be created. If a bill like Frank’s HR 2267 is passed, the entire industry seems likely to be legalized and regulated in the United States.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest UIGEA headlines.

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