SKINNERS CASHING:

First Renee made the final table of the women's event then her husband Todd went deep in Event 11 and cashed himself.    Congrats, to the Lafayette, LA poker player couple.  Two of our favorites, and they repped the GCP hoodies great this weekend.  If you'd like to cash while wearing a hoodie with our logo on it contact us.  We can take care of the hoodie but you'll have to take of the poker.

Back to event 11, Stephen Hesse of Houston won for 21k.  Jonathan Hart of Jackson, MS took second (13k).  Jason Anderson of Kenner 6th. Michael Horchoff a cashing machine finished ninth.  Ronald Brown of Sunset, LA, Gabriel Tender of NOLA, Randy Gordon of Metairie, Christopher Sheffield of Pensacola, Deric Williams of Harvey, LA and David Nguyen of Baton Rouge all finished in the money too.

TURBO DOGS:

Locals Allan Farber, Sean Gaffney, Drake Roetker and Josh Mancuso all cashed in the final turbo event of the WSOP-C season.  Alex Masek, Chris Parsons, and Kevin McColgan circuit regs and point horders also made the money.  Brian Green of Chico, TX won the ring and 13.7k.

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS CIRCUIT EVENT MAIN EVENT:

JOE HEBERT SECOND:

If there was ever a player destined to win a a hometown event it should be a regular Joe from the city.  In a city like New Orleans, his last name should probably be Hebert.  Hebert did a great job repping NOLA and came up just short, but there a lot of people proud of the effort he put into the event.

See some of you might have slept on Joe, but's he's been on our Who's Who from way back.  Congrats to a classy guy, even if second place is hard to swallow at this point in time, it's a tremendous finish in a main event the 140k doesn't hurt either.  Luke Graham won 228k for first.

We had several rooting interests as the field narrowed, including Corrie Wunstel  (pictured below) who finished in tenth place.  Congrats also to Tripp Kirk of Atlanta who finished in 7th for 34k and to his fellow dirty bird  Daniel Weinman of Atlanta who eneded in fourth place winning 77k.  Ben Mintz of New Orleans finished 8th. 

With two tables left we saw the heartache of Parwes Nawabi of New Orleans, running AK into AQ, as he went out 19th.  Claudia "the Claw" Crawford had another deep run but it ended in 22nd.  Rahul Deevara, another Atlanta man, ran out to a huge early chip stack finished 27th and was probably being the most feared player in the tournament the first two days.  Danny Doucet of Opleousas (28th), our friend Chip Ervin of Tuscaloosa (32nd), Nic Gellepis of Tallahassee (33rd), Morgan Bowers of NOLA (34th),  and Mark Montero of Baton Rouge all made the final four tables and padded their bankrolls with a little cash. 

Lance Campion of Pineville, LA, the wily Mark Wilds of Biloxi, Pedro Rios of Houston, Brennan Benglis of Lake Charles, Ryan Lenaghan, Corey Harrison of Birmingham,  David Weinstein of Baton Rouge, Daniel Rivera of Baton Rouge, and good ole November Niner Robert Salaburu all cashed.  Congrats also to Central Louisianan Corey Matthews how had a deep run of his own.

HORCHOFF SECOND IN EVENT 6, GIROIR FINAL TABLES:

Mike Horchoff (pictured left) of River Ridge has three cashes in 2013, two during this series, and his latest is his biggest.  Horchoff earned 14k for second.  Daniel Lowery of Arkansas nipped Horchoff in heads-up play winning 22k.  Pretty loaded final table and lots of notables in the money.

Congrats to Prissy Giroir, pictured right, of Lafayette as she finished 10th and added another cash to her growing resume.   Circuit regulars Charles Moore, Allan Farber, Josh Pender, Captain Tom Franklin, Paul Sokoloff, Kat Bowen, Jerry Monroe and Ryan Lenaghan all added to their cash and points totals.  Should make the national championship a lot of fun this year, with all the grinders trying to play their way in.    

BRABHAM GRABS CIRCUIT GOLD:

New Orleans musician and Tulane grad (pictured below) won 24k for first place in event seven.  He topped a field of 350 and beat Rob Georato of Naples, FL heads up.  Maurice Hawkins also of Florida finished third for 10k.  Baron Whipple of Houma cashed again this time seventh for 3.6k so too did Roy Salinas who finished fourth. 

The affable Professor Corey Harrison of Birmingham, AL finished eighth after another three outer ended his tournament.  James Henson and Chainsaw Allen Kessler also made the money.

CIRCUIT NEWS AND SOME OPINIONS

Next years circuit will again end in New Orleans but the National Championship will be in Atlantic City.  Immediately after...  Head scratcher?  Of course it is.  And realize that the World Series will start right after that in Las Vegas so point chasers should expect to log some flight time.  It doesn't appear the travel money stipend awarded last year is back either, so we'll have fun with that too and coming out of pocket to bounce around the country even more. 

Another tweak is the Championship will award seats, if possible, to online players on WSOP.com's new format.  While it's understandable to promote the new product this move "rings" hollow.  The new site doesn't really seem to have anything to do with the Circuit or the National championship.  Also, when part of the justification for the exorbitant juice on Circuit tournaments is because of the big freeroll prize at the end, taking away travel money and accommodations is one thing but when you take away SEATS things have really gone a little too far.  A number players who have "chased" the last few years have privately grumbled the latest tweaks may be the final straw.

David Baker and others took to twitter to vent their displeasure for the changes and Baker made the astute point that the eligible pros that can buy-in likely won't make the trip to AC, just as it is rumored many won't be showing up in New Orleans.  Though East Coast pro Matt Glantz was quick to credit the WSOP for finally throwing the East a bone. 

Don't want to go too negative, because to their credit organizers did repair the structure of the National Championship,  which turned to garbage out in Vegas last year.  Considering the opportunity for many circuit grinders to win a piece of a million dollars, is not an every year occurrence, the more play the better.   

ULTIMATE FALL OUT:

Ultimate Poker the live site for Nevada online players probably didn't think their name through.  Not only does it sound just like Ultimate scam poker site Ultimate Bet, it's hired some of the same guys to aid in protecting the site (and for that matter to represent the company).  Greg Pierson, Phil Hellmuth's best friend, is now getting the Russ Hamilton treatment over on two plus two.  His company, through a third party was hired and now fired as Nevada is already investigating the young online poker sit. 

Also, not mentioned here, but common knowledge a tape of Russ Hamilton and his league of thieves, including Pierson, has shown up with damaging sound bites.  Got an a half hour to kill read this thread (links to the audio) on that poker message board site.

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS CIRCUIT EVENT AND IVEY NEWS:

REENTRY UPDATES:

EVENT 4:  REENTRY DOWN TO FIVE:  Tons of locals cashed in the massive 800 player field.  Most notably, Baron Whipple of Houma (7th 7.2k), Andy Moon of Vidalia, LA (8th 5.7k)  made the final table, but not the cut-off for today.  Christopher "Nit" Sheffield of Pensacola finished tenth for 3.6k. 

With 81 paid lots of folks found their way to the money.  Allan Farber increased his standing in the National Championship, a tad with a min cash, Sam Bailey of Gulf Breeze, Tripp Kirk of Atlanta, and Francis Boquet of Houma were also among the first nine out one the money bubble broke. 

The next pay jump included Brian Walsingham of Winston, GA, and Mihal Karasoulis of Metairie, LA.  Another bump up were Parag Segan of NOLA, Ylon Schwartz of Austin, Kamran Shahlaei of Slidell, Randy Stott of Olla, LA, Todd Hannie of Baton Rouge and Drake Roetker of Lafayette.  A cluster above that in the 46 through 54 range were Al Yeoh of Mandeville, LA, Timothy Repp of Plaquemine, LA, Brian Williams of Metairie, LA, David Landry of Youngsville, Aaron Massy of Chicago, and Teddy Conner (with another cash) of NOLA.

Josh Mancuso, GCP's Wild Bill Phillips, Robert Veazey of Carencro, LA, Jerry Monroe, and Stephen Danos of Harvey, LA all finished in the next bump between 37 and 45.  The pay  jumps improved after that in groups of three.  Matt Blanchard of Houma finished 34th, Alex Dmytraczenko of Baton Rouge and Hunter Johnson of NOLA were 32nd and 33rd.

Josh Pender, Frank Alpandinar of Baron Rouge, Kirk Naquin of Houma, and Josh Evans all finished in the twenties.  Congrats also to Alden Hinkel of Sarepta, LA finished 19th for 2k.

IVEY KNOWS HOW TO PLAY THE TURN:

We don't mean "fourth street" either.  The British Casino that Phil Ivey is suing for his Punto Banco winnings has responded saying Ivey and his accomplice were reading the asymmetrical back of the cards, which due to manufacturer error had the effect of marking the cards.   This Daily Mail article explains the process in full.  What's unclear is if Phil Ivey's sharp eye happened upon an exploitable situation and crushed the casino, or if there was planning involved, or as Ivey's lawyers will tell it, Crockfords is full of crock and just making an excuse to not pay a big debt. 

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS CIRCUIT EVENT:

MORE TOURNAMENT RESULTS:

EVENT 1:  JOE MCKEEHEN WINS:  North Wales, PA resident Joseph McKeehen took down the first event beating Houstonian Randall Lefevre in heads up play.  Ryan Pinell of Chauvin, LA finished sixth.  Barth Melius made the final table but bowed out in eighth.  Brandon Guillory of Opelousas, ninth, Michael Horchoff of River Ridge, tenth, Thomas Doussan of Metairie, LA, eleventh, and James Arruebarena of Metairie, finished twelth.  Ben Thomas of Baton Rouge and Kristen Kent of Slidell finished 14th and 17th respectively.

EVENT 2:  THE GUNS OF TROY TOO MUCH FOR TALLEY:  Troy Davis earned 35.5k after beating Caufman Talley in a LOONG heads up battle.  Talley settled for almost 22k.  Corey Matthews of Alexandria, LA finished fourth for 11k.  Josh Pender is going deep in everything this circuit stop including a fifth place finish.  Vadim Balashov of New Orleans earned another cash finishing 8th.    Brandon Gill of Prairieville, LA, Mario Bruciaga of NOLA, Kyle Nunez of Erath, Charles Chandler of Haughton, LA, and Brett Tortorich all made the money too.

EVENT 3:  HENSON WINS AGAIN:  Ray Henson has cashed five times on the circuit.  Three of those cashes are wins.  That includes this Pot Limit Omaha event.  The Texan found state mates in three out of the final four with William West of Austin, and Ronald Rost of Pearland also in the money.  Brennan Benglis of Lake Charles, Nick Langsford of Metairie, frind of GCP Kenny Milam of La Place, Ben Thomas of Baton Rouge and Brandon Turner of Marion, MS all cashed too.

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS CIRCUIT EVENT:

ONE EVENT IN AND ALREADY SOME NAMES TO WATCH:

They are down to the final two tables, paring the field of 367 to 18, in just a days worth of work.  Jody Spears of Philadelphia leads the field with 481k.  Ryan Pinell of Chauvin, LA has 362k (good for fourth in chips).  A couple of familiar faces to GCP, Mike Horshoff and Barth Melius (pictured... he's the one on the right) of New Orleans are fifth and sixth respectively just under 300k.

Thomas Doussan (Metaire, 8th, 218k), Ben Thomas (Baton Rouge, 9th, 215k), James Arruebarena (Metairie, 11th, 173k), Kristen Kent (Slidell, 12th, 116k), Garrett Jones (Port Arthur, TX 15th, 87k), Chad Melerine (Violet, LA 17th, 57k), and Brandon Guillory (Opelousas, LA 18th, 20k) all have a shot to win.  Good luck, locals!

Linda Fredericks of Baton Rouge finished 19th.  Also, in the money but not back today were Birol Lermi (NOLA), Tripp Kirk, Morgan Bowers (NOLA), Charles Vaughan (Gulfport), Wesley Monico (NOLA), Teddy Conner (NOLA), Brad LeBlanc (Reserver, LA), Cody Yawn (Springfield, LA), Josh Evans, Josh Pender, and Chris Sumrall (Houma). 

NOLAN DALLA KILLING IT ON CIRCUIT BLOG:

You can read Dalla's personal blog (linked on the left) which is wide ranging in topics, but for now a better destination, where you can get a taste for New Orleans, updates and tips for visitors, in his circuit blog.  Great work, as always Nolan. 

ALSO SHOUT OUT TO ALLAN FARBER:

Somehow we missed this NOLA grinder, and former dealer, winning a ring event in Choctaw.  Farber is the last one in on the points list (60th) for the National Championships, and will need a result or two to get there this week.  In addition to his ring Farber has six other cashes, with a third place his highest finish on the year.  The race is heating up.  Speaking of which, Lafayette players, Kevin Eyster (having a monster year), also may need to make an appearance in NOLA as the field is edging up on him in the 54th spot.  The race is picking up. 

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS RAMPING UP FOR CIRCUIT EVENT:

DAVID CHOCHELES GETS PIECE OF FOURWAY FREEROLL CHOP:

David, pictured here, all-in at the final table, weathered the storm until only four players remained.  Earning enough points with a good run, late in the season to be eligible, Chocheles prevailed on Sunday.   Each of the final four earned over 3k with the biggest stack pocketing a little more.

Congrats, also to Tim Thomasson who finished in the money along with Captain Ron Hope.  If you finished in the top ten, shoot us an email and we'll get you the credit you deserve.  Tough luck for GCP's Wild Bill Phillips, Spider Henderson and Katie Pasano who (in order of finished) bubbled the money. 

WSOP-C AND TWO LOCAL TOURNAMENTS TO START US OFF:

Harrahs has released an updated schedule that includes two local tournaments preceding the WSOP-C events.  They'll be giving away a special ring to the Harrahs New Orleans Champion in a Tuesday $365 event and also will be having a $250 event on Wednesday. 

Circuit points, circuit rings, and a shot at the National Championship (also to be staged in New Orleans at the completion of the Circuit Main Event) start in earnest Thursday.  Grinder Rex Clinkscales, who won the Harrahs Philly Main Event (his long overdue first win after hundreds of WSOPC final tables) , and thus opened up another seat for the points chasers (as he had by far the most points on the Circuit this year), Allen Kessler, Seven Ring Champion Chris Reslock, and all the grinders should be showing up any day now.  By the way, congrats to Beverly Cheney for her ninth place finish in the Philly Main. 

MERCIER WINS EPT SIDE EVENT:

We think, based on his tweets, he took down a Chinese Open Faced Title for 48k (EURO).  However, based on his tweets we've also mistaken a recounting of his game on the app as a Chinese Delivery Order and a visit to a strip-club.  #Whatisfantasylandanyways? 

IVEY SUES... AGAIN AND OTHER LINKS:

PUNTO BANCO WINNINGS NEVER ISSUED:

Phil Ivey is suing Crockford's casino for money he won playing Punto Banco but they never paid.  How much?  About 12 million dollars.  Consider Ivey's lifetime poker earnings are only 16 million, it's a good chunk of change for him too.  Want to read a story about it, which is as badly fact-checked as anything we've ever run on the site.  Actually, much, much worse.  Go to Bloomberg (?) for giggles. 

ALABAMA COWBOY HOYT CORKINS IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM:

First they rob his house, now they take his identity.  Pretty soon all Hoyt will have left is his hat, and a penchant for irritating Phil Hellmuth.  We aren't making light, as it seems Hoyt's name is being used without his permission for a number of things including borrowing money and sports betting.  So if you get a call from a friend of Hoyt, think twice.

SPEAKING OF SCAMS LOCK POKER MONEY LOCKED AWAY:

Lots of news, none of it good is swirling around Lock Poker.  If you have money online with Lock consider it gone.   Go to PokerFraudAlert for highlights as Dan Druff, has been all over this like, flecks of skin on the shoulders of somebody suffering from a condition where their scalp sheds pieces of skin most noticeable on dark clothing (they should find a name for that condition).

SANDERS WINS IN CHOCTAW-AGAIN:

Congrats to Mike Sanders who is 103k richer:

All he does is win at Choctaw.  Sanders beat Omar Zazay in heads up play at the Choctaw Poker Classic Main Event to win over 100k.  The win also vaults him into the top ten of the Bluff POY race with Kevin Eyster. 

DIAZ DOESN'T WIN:

David Diaz can add another WPT sixth place finish to his resume.  Great run throughout the tournament but couldn't overcome his setbacks before the final table to win the thing outright.  Michael Linster wins the event for his first major score.  Congrats to Lefty for another deep cash.  The bracelet winner will eventually get that WPT title. 

DIAZ WPT FINAL TABLE:

DAVID DIAZ'S WPT FINAL TABLE x2:

As his final table from last year's WPT Circuit has made it's way to television Diaz was busy making another one in Jacksonville.  "Lefty" ran out to a huge chip lead and then the field started catching up.   He started his surge when he knocked out fellow Gulf Coaster Shannon Shorr (believe it was a painful KK over JJ situation).

However, the heater was short lived, when the dust settled for another final table six, Diaz found himself on the opposite side of the tote board.  Now the short stack with 375k, Diaz is looking up at cheerleader Danny Schechter (3.825 million), Michael Linster (2.15 million), David Bell, Pete Chwala, and Pete Tinnesz (all over a million).  You can get live updates later today here.  Action starts at 1:30, and will feature commentary by local Darryll Fish. 

Things may looke bleak for Diaz but considering Schechter started the day as the short stack and Diaz the big stack, anything can happen.  Let's hope for another reversal of fortune.

NEW BLOGGER:

CONGRATS TO JAY KAPLAN: 

Originally from Rockville, MD, Kaplan notched another cash on his tournament resume up in Chester, PA for the WSOP-C.  He finished eighth winning 4.6k. Kristen Deardorff also slid into the money with a min-cash.  Tough beat sent her to the cage.

As for Jay, Kaplan is the newest blogger on GCP.  He also blogs on All Vegas Poker.com and is a big contributor to the facebook forum Splash The Pot (that forum focuses mostly on the burgeoning Pensacola poker scene and strategy). 

Jay "queen10off" Kaplan is a prolific online tournament specialist originally from Maryland, who has spent a good deal of time in Atlanta and on the Gulf Coast. Jay currently travels the live tournament circuit, and will be blogging about his experiences and strategy from tournaments and cash games.  We are going to slide his blog in right to the left. 

PAYDAY FOR ROETKER AND WSOP NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP UPDATE:

LAFAYETTE GRINDER FREDERIC (DRAKE) ROETKER WINS CIRCUIT RING IN CHESTER:

Congrats to Roetker who won 14k for first.  He also bagged a crucial 50 points and is now one spot outside the National Championship freeroll with the rest of the Chester event and New Orleans to go.

Astoundingly, Lafayette, LA has at least three players  Blake Barousse (all but locked in),  Caufman Talley (likely also in the clear) and Kevin Eyster who at this moment have qualified.  Roetker hopes to make it four when some additional cashes.  

Other local rooting interests and FOGCP (friends of GCP) "in" the Million Dollar National Championship include David Nicholson, Kyle Cartwright, John Holley, Jonathan Taylor, Michael Sanders, Chris Conrad, Charles Moore, Ryan Lenaghan, Jonathan Tamayo, Nancy Birnbaum, Ashly Butler, Josh Pender, and Josh Palmer.  Joining Roetker on the outside looking in for the time being are Michael "Carwash" Schneider, John Dolan, Claudia Crawford, Michael Raimon, Ben Mintz, and Cory Burbick.

LOCAL NEWS AND LINK DUMP:

HARRAHS NEW ORLEANS FREE-ROLL RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER:

Looks like the cut-off point will be around five measly points.  Still time to earn 'em.  Got 'til early May to win a seat via the Wednesday and Saturday tournaments. 

SEEBOK EXTORTED IN SEX SCAM:

Joe Seebok who was the public face of scam corp. Ultimate bet, and public enemy number one of many, was being extorted in 2010.  Pokernews article right here.  If anybody remembers Seebok and Jon Aguiar's twitter beef this twists things up a little bit.  Seebok is the stepson of Barry Greenstein, and despite being a ghost for the last two years, was once notable for being a guy that built a public profile far more prolific players would have killed for... now Bernard Lee probably holds that distinction.

TRAIN YOUR BRAIN:

Can you train your brain to do the optimal play every time?  Can you unlearn all the bad habits you might pick up when you do the right thing in poker and consistently get unlucky?  The answer is yes.  But it's tricky.  This article doesn't specifically talk about poker but you can see the possible applications.

GAMBLING RING WITH POKER CONNECTIONS FEELS THE WRATH OF THE FBI:

There are allegations of ties to the Russian mob.  Vadim Trincher a WPT Foxwoods champion is accused of running the show on behalf of a powerful Olympic official bribing Ruskie name Alimzhan Tokhtakhounov.  Also, caught up in the dragnet was Molly Bloom the little lady who used to set up the A-List home games in Hollywood.  Poker names include Bill Edler, Justin Smith, Abe Mosseri, and Eugene Katchalov's dad,   Go to Bluff for more.

EYSTER EARNS IT! WPT CHAMPION!

EYING WPT TITLE EYSTER FIRST IN CHIPS:

WINNING IS CONTAGIOUS FOR ONE SICK DISEASE:

The young un' from Lafayette, LA is having a year for the ages.  He returns to his first WPT final table, first in chips.  Kid knocked Faraz Jaka out with AA v. KK all in preflop and then maintained his chip advantage until only six remained.

Here are some highlight hands for Eyster over at WPT.com.  Jeff Madsen, a former WSOP POY, is also joining Eyster on the final table baize.   Eyster leads with 5.68 milly.  Paul Dlugozima is second with 4.47 million.  Madsen sits in fifth with 1.3.  Zo Karim is the shorty at 685k.  Nancy Birnbaum finished 15th for almost 23k. 

Btw, thanks to Joseph Hoehl and other readers/friends for the heads-ups.  We knew about Kevin's run but were too slow in posting it.

WSOP-C CHEROKEE:

John Bauman of Hickory, NC won 250k for winning the event.  Had some rooting interests with Jerry Monroe finishing ninth (28k), Claudia Crawford 36th (5k), and David Nicholson 43rd (4.5k).

Congrats also to the locals who cashed in Event 9.  Josh Palmer fifth for 11k.  Leif Force 16th and Mark Montero of Baton Rouge were also in the money. 

In other side events, Allen Farber of Metairie, LA grabbed a cash.  So too Nicholas Melville, of Birmingham, AL, Claudia Crawford, again, and Philip Hui, of San Antonio, TX,

NEGREANU'S CHOICES CENTERED ON WINNING:

Daniel Negreanu hasn't won a bracelet in five years.  His nearest miss a runner-up finish in the WSOP Europe Main Event.  This time when he got heads up in another WSOP Main Event he prevailed winning the inaugral WSOP Asia Pacific Main Event (which was played neither in Asia or the Pacific specifically) in Australia.  He won over 1 milly for first.  Octo-Niner Russell Thomas finished 8th.

FLORIDIANS LOSE GRAY MARKET GAMBLING:

The governor, Rick Scott, has signed a bill to close the Internet cafe based gambling loopholes.  This is in reaction to a large scale theft of money supposed to go to Veteran charities by owners of 49 Internet Cafes.  Go here for more.

ALSO NEW BLOGGER COMING!  We'll get him up this week.  Meanwhile a slew of our regulars have updated.  Check them out left and right.

MOST IMPORTANTLY TODAY OUR THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS ARE GOING UP TO BOSTON!

MO MONEY NO PROBLEMS:

MOE MOINI WINS WPT IP MAIN EVENT:

Motel Magnate and Biloxi rounder Moe Moini won the IP Main Event.  Not sure there wasn't a chop, as there was when we reported he won event 1 of the Million Dollar Heater.  Doesn't matter.  PokerPages is giving him this outright win, so we will too.

The final table also included a couple of local pros that make a habit of final tabing Main Events: John Dolan, eighth, (no surprise there) and Tyler Smith, fifth (again no surprise there either).   Moeini recently is kind of making this a habit too.  He's credited with nearly 37k for first.  Pablo Garcia-Salas, David Rozas (both of Baton Rouge) also made the money.  So too did Jerry Monroe who pretty much owns the IP tournament area at this point in his career. 

Johnny Landreth from Georgia finish second winning 25k.  Third place finsiher Laura Green earned her first cash and 16k.  Congrats also to Alex Vasilescu, Rahul Deevara, Terry More, Ben Thomas, Dane Roemer, John Dollinger, and John Seale for also cashing.  

SIDE EVENTS:

EVENT 21:  YATZI FOR YENTZEN:  Gulfport local Michael Yentzen prevails.  Third cash of the series is a win.

EVENT 14:  URBAN RENEWAL:  Peter Urban of rural Mississippi wins 3.6k for first.

EVENT 12:  DODGING BULLETS AND BAD BEATS:  Richard Dodge, a Gulfport local won 5.3k for first.  The field was power packed with Caroll Domangue of Houma, LA taking 3.7k for second, and Barron Whipple, "Doc" Stukes (three cashes for the series) and Greg Whitworth all at the final table.

EVENT 8:  TOMMY GUNNING 'EM DOWN.  Gulfport local (hey anybody noticing a theme here?) prevailed in event 8th.  Troy Anderson of Hammond, LA also notched his second cash of the series.

EVENT 7:  OLD MCDONALD HAD A TROPHY:  George McDOnald won 5.8k for first.  The Ocean Springs player bested another packed field.  Robert Harwell second, Ki Kim (two cashes for the series), Dane Dubose and the aforementioned Troy Anderson and "Doc" Stukes all cashed.

EVENT 6:  MASSINGILL MOMENT:  The Mississippi local's first cash was also his first win.  "Doc" Stukes made the money, so too Richard Parks, Jeremy Garrison, Stephen Fitzpatrick, Ross Zieman, William Donnell, Jacob Long and Greg Cook.  Congrats all.

EVENT 5:  MURRAH MONEY:  Davy Murrah beat Caufman Talley in heads up action, scan down for a pic of that battle from a previous update.  As mentioned Teddy Conner of New Orleans came in third.  Not mentioned below was Ki Yong the fourth place finisher.

EVENT 4:  GUNTER HUNTS DOWN TITLE:  Robert Gunter of Salem, AL was credited with the senior tournament win.  We know these tournaments are typically chopped right after the first player is eliminated so we publish these results with the reservation that they may only reflect the line they signed.  Gordon Scott of Houston (second), friend of GCP Todd Skinner (third--somebody better check his I.D. though), James Stickland, James Berry, Mary Craven, Michael Smith, Stanley Avery and Charles Hanes all cashed.

EVENT 3:  SALAS DANCING:  Our friend from Baton Rouge won this event and the 2k for first.  Eliton Gouveia, Aaron Porter, mark Jarema, Sheil Allen, Elisa Guy, Bobby COnway, Fredrick Barnes, and Daniel Weston all in the money.

EVENT 2:  SIMON SAYS CHAMPION:  Pelham Alabama's Andrew Simon bested Kevin Fazzio in heads up action.  Larry Williamson finished third.  Lucy Kyser (don't say Soza--dare you) fourth.  Dwaynius Harris, Sean Gaffney, Jordan Chaffin, Howard Graham, Chris Gaffney, Cory Schick, Vincent Dalesandro, and Rory Parker all made some moolah.

NINE FOR IVEY AND OTHER NEWS:

IVEY PARTIED LIKE IT WAS 1999:

Okay maybe it was more like 2002 when he was busy winning three WSOP bracelets and palling around with Danel Negreanu and Gus Hansen. 

NEWSFLASH:  They are having official WSOP bracelet events in Australia right now brought to you by turn back the clock airlines.  Ivey and Negreanu survived a field of 81 (for a bracelet event?) to make the final table.  For the win, Ivey won a paltry 54k or so.  More important to him was bracelet number 9.  Negreanu finished fourth for 16k.  And you guessed right it was another mixed games win for the Tim Burt of high stakes mixed games. 

By the way, here's a good Ivey story by Nolan Dalla.  Involves a senator's son, golf, Chip Reese and booking action unseen.

BITAR HEART BROKEN REACHES PLEA DEAL:  Remember the Ron Jeremy looking kingpin, make that scapegoat, at Full Tilt.  Ray Bitar needs a new heart and the feds might let him skip jail time to get it.     

SHORR INTERVIEW:  GCPer Shannon Shorr did this lengthy but still interesting interview for iGaming.  Here's the link.  It like his blog, shows a remarkable since of self, self-improvement, and speaks about the virtures of poker in honing that.  His love for the game shines through so too, the recent revelation that stepping away from it at times can be a great avenue for improvement both on the felt and off.

BELOW ABOVE ON TOP:  Kevin Saul, beat Paul Snead and a slew of other East Coasters to win the WSOP-C Foxwoods Main Event. He won 194k for first.  That means he'll be here in New Orleans, in May, for the National Championship.

WANT TO BE A POKERSTARS PRO?  You might want to take up a profession other than poker and become really good at it.  Ronaldo, the Brazilian one, just signed as a new Pro.  Who's that, yeah, he's a soccer player, and there are two Ronaldos... don't worry about it, just know that he's yet another non-poker player representing the global poker brand.

That list include Rafa Nadal, Boris Becker, and Marcus Heller none of whom are POKER-STARS per se.  Though the are members of "Team Pokerstars Sport."  To be fair Pokerstars is targeting MASSIVE Brazil and the signing makes sense as Ronaldo is one of the greatest soccer players ever, and they only play two sports in Brazil; soccer and not-soccer.  Makes their Olympic TV listings so much easier as almost every time block is labeled simply "Not Soccer."

HAPPY EYSTER*:

1SICKDISEASE GETS HIS SIX FIGURE SCORE:

After losing a flip in the Main Event at the WSOP-C last week, Eyster rued missing out on his first six digit score.  Consider that goal accomplished and scratch off the bucket list for the poker "retiree."  The Louisiana transplant did some business out of the country and won $333k in the FTOPS XXII 2k 6Max event. 

He beat another online sicko LarsLuzak in heads up play.  400k in poker winnings in a couple of weeks for a kid who was "retired" from the game has retirees everywhere reconsidering their retirement plans.  Pssst... Full Tilt here's a great commercial idea, focus on an older couple talking about retirement over a cup of coffee as they always do.  Their brows are furrowed as they talk about their underperforming IRAs and 401ks, the wife pulls up this site and see Eyster's mug.  Cut to them saying it's time to fire their broker move to Mexico and play some online poker.  That's gold, jerry, gold.  That's what this site is good for, generating wholly original ideas, you're welcome poker world.   

*The headline is stolen from Austin Bursavich... maybe... stolen originally from Blake Barousse.  Regardless an Easter Sunday Eyster will never forget.

BEAU RIVAGE MAIN EVENT:

KLEIN TIME:

Houston native, Geffrey Klein won the Spring Break Classic Main Event for 68k.  This is Klein's third major win.  He also won a bracelet in 2011 at the World Series of poker (544k), and snapped off a Borgata Poker Open event (150k). 

He beat Scott Born of Woodstock, GA in heads up play.  Born won 37k for second.  Here are the payouts, with the usual sprinklings of accomplished local players including Jared Ingles, Josh Mancuso, Claudia Crawford, David Williams, Bert Ladner, and Patrick Eskandar.

It was a good Sunday for Houstonians at the Beau as Pradeep Buddharaju chopped Event 14 with Jeffrey Fotakis of San Antonio.  John Henley of Madison, MS finished third.  GCP's Wild Bill Phillips the unlucky bubble boy.  Far more unlucky was Corrie Wunstel who was one of the few who just missed the money in the Main Event.   

IP WPT EVENT:

CHIP SHIPS:

One of our favorites from Tuscaloosa Chip Ervin (backwards white cap) emerged victorious out of o the four flighted monster that was the opening event at the IP.  Also, a great job by Rob Quin (to the right of your picture) of Metairie who finished third for 7.8k. 

When heads up play began Chip and his oppoent who was chipleader at the time discussed a chop.  Chip declined the terms, took the chip lead and won 17k for first.  The big hand that turned the tide was Chip's 96 over his opponents 94 on a 9 high board that doubled Chip's stack.  Great runs by, Chip and Rob!  Once we get the official cashes we'll post all the other locals who made the money.

MURRAH BESTS TALLEY:

Caufman Talley, finished second in a field of "somebodies" to Davvy Murrah.  Teddy Connor of New Orleans added a third final table for his impressive week long performance at the Beau and IP, cashing in third place. 

Also, deep were Captain Tom Franklin, Kenny Milam, and slew of other well known accomplished local players.

BEAU RIVAGE SPRING BREAK CLASSIC, WPT IP UPDATES:

DUAL AND DUELING POKER TOURNAMENTS ON THE COAST:

As players we've lucked out with a couple of tournaments overlapping in Biloxi.  We don't know if the Beau and the IP planned it but on Friday a number of players were traveling back and forth between both venues.  The Main Event started Friday at the Beau as well as the first two of four flights of the opening tournament at the IP.  Both venues captured more than 100 players for their day 1s.  As usual great job by Johnny, Eric and the guys at the Beau, and a great start by Bill Bruce and his crew at the IP.

The only drawback to all this poker it's Easter weekend.  We think if they could push this back a week or so next year we'd all profit as players.  There is the potential for bigger prize-pools and it could make the coast a destination for tournament players.  We've been to both venues and hope they can tweak this just a little bit to make it a permanent part of the calendar.   

MORE BEAU RESULTS:

EVENT #8: NO LIMIT HOLDEM:  Irwin Wins.  Kenneth Irwin of Houston, TX got the biggest chunk of change on the day (6.1k) beating some regs from the coast.  Congrats to Dane Dubose from Broussard for his $3.2k payday in second.  Also in the money John Riola of Biloxi (3rd), Kweli Mwasi of New Orleans (4th), Guy Turner of Mobile (5th), GCP's own Wild Bill Phillips (7th), and Teddy Conner (New Orleans). 

This was Conner's second final table of the week.  As well as Teddy has been running, Doug Claybrook (the 100k guarantee winner AND the winner of Event #10--final results still to come) of Vidor, TX continued his one man heater with a 6th place finish.   In this year alone Claybrook has 55k in cashes just at the Beau.

EVENT #9: POT LIMIT OMAHA 8 OR BETTER:  Binns Wins.  John Binns of Fort Meyers, FL won $3.9k for first.  A loaded final five that got paid included Tom Franklin of Gulfport, MS, Timothy Thomasson of New Orleans, and Gary Brock of Lafayette, LA. 

EVENT #12 NO LIMIT HOLDEM:  CLAUDIA CLAWS ANOTHER ONE OUT.  Claudia Crawford adds another title to her growing resume.  The hometown girl won 9.3k for first.  Kristopher Cannatelli also of Biloxi pocketed 4.9k for second.  Frank Domino of Lafayette won $1,036 for 8th.  Congrats to all... especially the "Claw."

SPRING BREAK CLASSIC AND TAYLOR TRIUMPHANT:

BLACKHAWK MAIN EVENT:

Jonathan Taylor, the Alabama man, won 138k for first place.  Kevin Eyster had to settle for second place and 85k.  The final table was billed as the clash of the titans, a three headed monster featuring Eyster, Taylor and Ashly Butler. 

Butler ran into early trouble and it was just up to Eyster and Taylor to provide the late fireworks.  Butler's 8th place finish paid 16k.  The Casino Championship went to Chris Parsons who bested Michael Sanders in a late tournament with the points on the line.  Parsons had to finish 9th to win and that's exactly where he finished.  Probably a good thing for the winner of the tournament that Parsons didn't have to finish first.

SPRING BREAK CLASSIC RESULTS:

EVENT #1 NO LIMIT HOLDEM:  Claybrook Claims it.  Doug Claybrook out of Vidor, TX won the 41k first place prize.  Chi Yim of Birmingham, AL finished second for 22k.  Chris Martin of Slaughter, LA who was "Up all Night" won 12k for third.  Kristopher Cannatelli of Biloxi, MS earned 4.15k for 8th.  Gabriel Peaden of Pensacola 2.5k for 9th.  Other names that littered the in the money list include Mike Raimon, Dane DuBose, Leif Force, Dane Roemer, Wilbur Trippe, Charles Campos, Matt Welch, Natasha Barbour, Mark Wilds, and Joe Petro. 

EVENT #4:  NO LIMIT HOLDEM:  Zelko Felts All.  Jeffrey Zelko won 8k for first.  Rip Jones, and Dean Digerolamo both of Baton Rouge, as well as New Orleans own Teddy Conner also made the final table and the money.  So too, Lane LeBlanc of New Iberia, LA.

EVENT #6 NO LIMIT HOLDEM:   Drane Storms to Title.  Jerry Drane, out of Atlanta finished first winning almost 7k.  Other locals in the money and on the final table:  Jeffrey Gill of Gulf Breeze, Fl 4th , Wesley Wesley of Praireville, LA 7th and Tom Franklin of Gulfport 9th.

EVENT #7 LIMIT STUD 8:  Saab cruises to win.  Doug Saab of Trussville, AL won 3.1k for first.  He bettered Robert "Matt" Chaney of Crawfordsville, AR in heads up play.  Herman Shumaker of Brandon, MS finished third.

BLOGGING AND WRITINGS: 

A reminder to buy Reid Gilbert's book "Of Bread and Circuses:  The Story of "Bountygate" and the 2012 New Orleans Saints," by clicking on link to the left.  Also check out some of our blogs.  Scotty Clark makes the case since the players pay the poker dealers players should have some input on who stays and who goes.  Nola Dalla recently completed a multi-part piece on Peter Falcone which is a warning to anybody that anybody can get scammed. 

BEAU RIVAGE, WSOP-C UPDATES:

QUICK PLUG FOR THE BEAU:

Over the weekend we got  a taste of the first class service offered by the Beau.  Great structures and a packed house.  The Beau had the ballroom cordoned off with just the right amount of space to fit everybody in.  March Madness on the big screen a plus too.  We'll be back through the week.  Some early results below, but first...

ONE SICK DISEASE LOOKING FOR ONE SIX FIGURE ONE TIME:

The Main Event in Colorado's WSOP-C event is around the corner from Kevin Eyster's second home in Denver.  Eyster, a grinder from Lafayette, LA  has relocated to the Rockies as he's a snow board enthusiast. A sicko on the virtual felt and, of late, on the live baize, Eyster blazed his way to the top of the leaderboard.  With 11 left he's the chip leader with 1.23 milly.  First pays 138k.

He's got company from the gulf coast, Jonathan Taylor from Alabama, has double and triple barreled his way to second in chips with 1.162 milly.  Ashly Butler, now of New Orleans by way of Mobile, has been clicking back his opponents and stacking dolts on his way to 1.158 milly.  Colorado has been good for the Gulf Coasters.  Also in the money were Jared Ingles who finished 13th winning 8.727k and James Arruebarena of Metairie who min cashed for 2.8k. 

When they get to the final table sometime around 3 pm Monday they will stream it on ESPN3.  Go here.

FEELS LIKE ITS TIME FOR A MICHAEL SANDERS UPDATE:

Every couple of weeks it seems the friend of GCP is hitting for another score.  This one's a bit bigger, he won his first WSOP-C ring.  Like Chris Parsons before him, the circuit reg got the monkey off his back in Colorado and won his first title after numerous final tables.  Sanders won 24k for first.  Coincidentally, Parsons was also at the final table winning 4.5k for sixth.  Allan Farber of Metairie, also tasted the money min-cashing in 16th place.  In the event before Sanders and Daniel Rivera of Baton Rouge cashed in 13th and 14th place respectively.

BRIDGET FREDERICKS LADIES CHAMP AT SPRING BREAK CLASSIC:

The Baton Rouge grinder is a regular on the local circuits and wins her well deserved sailboat taking down the Ladies Crown.  She said on the Beau's facebook page; 

"I think we played heads up for 2 hours. It was a very good structure. I have played ladies tournaments at other places where the structure was terrible because they clearly wanted the ladies tournament to end. The Beau gave us time to play it out. What a great place to play poker."

PHARO POKER KING:

In the Limit Omaha 8 or Better, Mark Pharo of Birmingham, AL was the top dog.  He earned another 4.2k for his growing bankroll.

NO FINAL RESULTS FROM 100K GUARANTEE YET HAVE BEEN POSTED:

We do know Lafayette's own Dane Dubose made the money.  We know Jerrard Parfait of Houma just missed.  After that, well we'll know soon enough and get it to you when we can.

GCP BLOGGER REID GILBERT AKA ROGER GOODELL'S WORST ENEMY:

Reid G has a book.  And you need a copy.  You've probably enjoyed seeing his poker blog transform into a Saints chronicle.  Reid's taken it to the next level with a book outlining Bounty Gate, the fallout, and the Saints  of 2012.  Reid is an exceptional writer with an eye for finding the nugget of truth in a barrage of PR and half truths.   If you enjoy the Saints you'll probably enjoy this book.  Click here to order (very reasonably priced).

COUSHATTA 7 CLANS PART OF THE MADNESS TOO, WSOP-C NEWS:

LENAGHAN WINS THE BLING:

Congrats to Ryan Lenaghan, of New Orleans by way of Mobile, AL.  Ryan won his first ring in Event 4 of the current WSOP-C.  He had local company in the money as Jared Ingles min-cashed the same event (he later min-cashed event 7 too).  Great job to both.  Ryan entered the final table and maintained his advantage.

MAKE THAT THREE TOURNAMENT SERIES OVERLAPPING ONE ANOTHER:

The Seven Clans Poker Cup runs April 2-7, with four events ranging from $200 to $1000.  This includes a charity event to kick off the series.  Lots of options for tournament players in the short-term. 

 MORE RESULTS FROM COLORADO:

Justin Gardenhire of Ponca City, Oklahoma finished third in the big re-entry event at the Lodge Casino.  He won 15k for the finish. Allan Farber won 4.9k for 7th. Chris Conrad finished 30th for $906.  And La Sengphet 42nd for a min cash.  

Also, not a local but great job to Chris Parsons, a rounder from Ohio who followed up Lenaghan's overdue ring with one of his own in Event 5. Parsons has been often seen on the local circuit vacuuming up chips  John Holley, cashed again, is he man or machine?  This time it was in a Limit Omaha Eight or Better event.

MADNESS, MARCH MADNESS POKER AND OTHERWISE:

BEAU AND IP OVERLAP TOURNAMENTS:

If you wanted tournament poker options you got them.  The Spring Break Poker Classic returns to the Beau Rivage starting Friday March 22nd.  There are two days 1 of a 100k guarantee ($350 buy-in), Friday and Saturday.  The event runs from March 22 to March 31, culminating in a two day ones of the $1070 Main Event.  Here's the complete schedule with lots of options.

The WPT at the IP starts with an event with four first flights starting March 29th for $355.  It appears you can enter all four flights.   These day one slightly overlap the Beau's Main Event so it looks like there will be some travel back and forth across Biloxi.  Their Main Event is a $1150 buy-in with two Flights.  And while this is branded a WPT event, not really clear on what the connection is right now.   Go here for their schedule.

MORE (MOSTLY BAD) NEWS-LINKS:

NEW POKER "REALITY" SHOW-Features Louisiana Lass Trishelle Canatella.

GREG RAYMER GETS ARRESTED-The story took many turns until the facts came out that he was arrested for soliciting prostitutes in North Carolina.  We aren't going to pile on--too much.   We will mention a lede we read somewhere else that said "Main Event Champ didn't like his hand,"--that was good.  We also regret that his mug shot didn't include his glasses.

FULL TILT FUNDS CLOSER TO BEING RETURNED-The Feds have announced they've hired somebody for you to get in touch with to get your money.  Last time we checked the links they supplied were dead.  Once things get a little more coherent we'll publish links and information.  For now feels like just the latest tease.

DUTCH BOYD STARTS KICKSTARTER BOOK PROJECT-He's raised 5k to write a book.  We want to write a book.  Please send us money and we will do it.

HACKING THE CASINO TO CHEAT-Surprised it took this long, or maybe it took this long to get caught.  Some high profile poker cheats hacked into the cameras at a casino to find out the hole cards of opponents and scooped huge pots.   Yeah, $32 million worth of huge pots.  Read more here.

SOME MARCH MADNESS LINKS-No valuable information here, what we can tell you is to expect some upsets in the first round (that's A LOCK!), the second round, the third round, and whatever other rounds there might be.  Anyway, here's ten tips, former poker player Nate Silver's insight (warning might require a graduate degree to complete), and a mash up of something called Mad Men and March Madness.   

WE HAD A SITUATION OVER HERE;  HOLLEY, PRESCOTT FINAL TABLE WSOP-C MAIN EVENT ON JERSEY SHORE:

John Holley continued his red hot heater with another deep run.  That's five final tables and counting for the Destin, FL fisherman.  Holley won $33k for sixth.  Allie Prescott, a former Tulane baseball player, and a Memphis, TN original was the first eliminated from the final table winning 16k. 

The overall winner was Joseph McKeehen of Pennsylvania who won 174k.  The college student is a math major and should have no problem counting his new bricks of hundos.

OTHER NEWS LINKS:

Gus Hansen is down five milly on Full Tilt since it reopened (PokerKing). 

Dwan and Jungleman Cates are having a bit of twitter war and some of it has to do with their unfinished business... The Durrrr Challenge, (2+2). 

Allen Kessler is the subject of a poker comedy cartoon video by SrslySirius on PokerTube. 

Floridian Chad Brown talked to PokerNews.

Wicked Chops readers think Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson should go to jail.  Almost as noteworthy a poll would be asking human beings if they prefer to breath than not.  If you want the obvious click here.

Jerry Yang has got some 'splaining to do.  He owes the IRS back taxes.  Again 2+2.  Rather unlikely Yang goes on a Grinder-esque "I got to get even with the Federal Government" Heater.  Yang's Main Event bracelet is being auctioned.

WHEN IT RAINS IT POURS... WHEN IT DOESN'T IT DOESN'T:

Little to report on the Gulf Coast scene.  On our site, Nolan Dalla has put out some great blogs.  Look left.  Gene D and Monkey have chimed in we some updates of their own, look right.  Scotty has been keeping us up to date on national news (you're looking left again). 

Blake B did stellar in his WPT run but came up a little shorter than he would have liked.  Our friends over at APP have been running good in Coushatta.  Jonathan Little got some internet TV time playing cash games at the Bike but mainly just folded while being card dead.   

This drought should end soon.  We have the Spring Break Poker Classic at the Beau Rivage coming up as well as the WPT that hits the IP immediately after.  The IP has already started giving away some free seats in conjunction with their tournaments (added to the prize pool not taken from) and Wild Bill is supposed to blog about that soon. 

Not too far from then is the May circuit event at Harrahs, which will be preceded by a free roll tournament for all the weekly grinders that should put up a juicy prize pool.  We hope to have a top ten or twenty in points list up here soon.  Harrahs shoot us the email!

Away from the coast, Daniel Negreanu is getting flack for choosing to join a Rastafarian cult.  Fact check... sorry, he's alleged to have joined a cult, called the Choice Center, or something like that, along with other top poker pros.  As for the Rastafarian get up, that's just an average Tuesday (or an old photo of Negreanu we like to trot our every 12 months or so).  Pretty strong denials served up fairly quickly, by Negreanu and Nick Binger but not before some 2+2 photoshoppers had fun with it.

There's also a faux Pokerstars v. Full Tilt challenge we won't spend much attention on.  Why?  Because Pokerstars owns Full Tilt.  It's a bit like Pepsi having a Pepsi Challenge with itself.  Pepsi... wins?  In other news, Pokerstars turned down a chance to buy the Rio and the WSOP?  Wha-huh?  Read here.

BLAKE BAROUSSE GETTING NO WPT LOVE:

HALF BLAKED:  18 LEFT, HE'S ONE OF THEM, BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW IT:

For a while he had no face next to his chip count.  Then there was an update of a another player that featured half of Blake's face (above).  Finally, they found the other half of his face and they added a visual profile.  Don't think that matters to him, as he's never seen particularly interested in fame.  The one milly up top that's a different story.  However, for those of us following him on the virtual rail it's been tough to get an update.  His twitter feed, look left, has been a better source.

Floridian Noah Schwartz on the other hand gets his face time.  He also rocked a great T-shirt:

The World Poker Tour.com added, "These are not the chips you are looking for" but there were just that for Jeremy Ausmus who busted Schwartz late in the day (19th place). 

Toby Lewis comes back as the chip leader, one of five players over the million dollar mark.  Blake B is just behind at 945k.  Michael "Squeaky" Winnett, the short stack, is making a name for himself, and apparently it's Dooschbag (at least according to Eric Froehlich and others on twitter).  Go to WPT.com to catch on the shenanigans and to follow the action today.   

WSOP-C, WPT L.A.P.C UPDATES:

HOUSTON PRO JONATHAN TAMAYO WINS WSOP-C PALM BEACH MAIN EVENT:

The humble pro, from Humble, TX won over 200k for first.  Jonathan Tamayo who you probably don't remember from his Circuit win in New Orleans a couple of years back,  and a runner up for a bracelet in Vegas, outlasted the field. 

There was some debate about the age of Mark Rose on twitter, is he the same Mark Rose that final tabled the Main Event in 1985, but there was no debate about him performing on the big stage.  The former Gulf Coast Poker Champion (he beat two GCP bloggers Kai Landry and Will Souther in three handed play) Rose finsihed third for 93k.  The popular Clint Tolbert out of Norman, OK finished second for 127k.  Another rooting interest was Nancy Birnbaum of Atlanta, who finished ninth for 19k. 

Monkey also cashed in this event, so too Natasha Barbour, Ebony Kenny (see Ladies tab for more on both), Harrison Gimbel and Steven McKoy (Birmingham, AL).  To see GCP Blogger Nolan Dalla's usual stellar write up of the event go here.

BAROUSSE SECOND IN CHIPS AT L.A.P.C MAIN EVENT:

Remember that perfectly non-annoying guy at the WSOP Main Event Final Table, young pro, young dad Jeremy Ausmus?  He's the only guy with more chips than local pro Blake Barousse.  Wish we could hate on Ausmus but seems like a likable guy.  That being said, Blake B doesn't just seem like a likable guy, he is.  First class young rounder who's deserving of all the success he's having recently.  Will be following the updates closely today at WPT.com.  Let's go Blake.

They all already in the money and now will just play down to two tables.  The field is in a word, loaded.  It'll be tough to make it to the MILLION dollar first place but Blake is good enough to get there.     

UPDATES AND FOLLOW-UPS:

WSOP-C PALM BEACH MAIN EVENT:

Natasha Barbour, Nancy Birnbaum and 268 other players have made it to, or bought in on, Day 2.  Our own GCP blogger Will Poker Monkey Souther had a healthy stack to start the day.  Read about his day 1 by clicking on his blog to the right.

The prize pool has over 1 million dollars in it, with first being over 200k, second 127k, and third 93k.  Ninth pays out almost 20k.  72 players will theoretically make a profit.  However, with the min cash being not quite  double the buy-in, considering how many double bought in, making the money for some might still not be a profit.

Also, in the thick of things Josh Arieh, Harrison Gimbel, Chris Conrad, David Nicholson, Jerry Yang (Jerry Yang?!?), David Diaz, Mark rose, Adam Levy, Ylon Schwartz, and Ebony Kenney,   

IP ADDING WPT EVENT :

The "regional" event will be April 5 through the 8th.  It is one of five regional and national events that aren't quite "official" WPT championship events.  No points towards WPT player of the year and no name on the WPT Champions Cup, but if the turnout is decent maybe a tester for a bigger event in the future.  Would be wise of us to support it (hint:  show up and play).  Jacksonville, FL will also get a stop and so too the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa, FL.

L.A.P.C. NEWS AND DOLAN DATA:

The L.A. Poker Classic just seems to keep going.  It's like they have a daily tournament for a couple of months and call the entire thing a poker series.  Anyway, we said we'd be back with the details of Dolan's win.  The young dad earned a flashy cowboy trophy and almost 20k for first place in the bounty tournament in Event 55.  No idea how many bounties he also scooped. 

Of note New Orleanian James Arruebarrena (pictured here at the Milion Dollar Heater) made the final table and won almost 4k for sixth.  Arruebarrena seems poised for a break out win any day now, as he keeps nibbling around the top of the money ladder.  His day will come. 

Benton Blakeman cashed in 8th place in the No Limit Hold'Em Eternament, so named because it featured two hour levels.  Blakeman earned almost 2k for his eighth place finish.  Jared Ingles finished 10th in Event #44, $1100 No Limit Hold'em Mixed Handed.  The young buck won 10k.  On the top three players chopped for at least 90k, so he was oh so close to a lot more.  David Baker (ODB) was 14th for a little over 8k.  Matt Giannetti also had a five figure cash in Event #60.  For more results go here.

COLLEGE POKER TOURNAMENT:

Just passing along some information.  South Padre Island March 13th will have a free to enter tournament in South Padre Island, TX.  Click here for more details.  Sounds like a good chance for young 'uns to get blazed on the baize.

DOLAN DOES IT AGAIN, COMMERCE CHAMP:

NOVEMBER NINER WINS A LOT:

We'll post more details as they come available to us, what we can say now, is congrats on the victory in the $1600 NLHE Bounty tournament, if tweets of congratulations are to be believed. 

What else? We can also say this: John outlasted a field of poker players, bested somebody in heads up play, and independent of chops and or bounty accumulations likely won more money than anybody else.  It's a WPT event at the Commerce so it's also likely it's a big chunk of change.  Congrats John!

WSOP-C POINTS UPDATE:

Going to take a few more points this year to make the National Championship but those who would qualify if the Circuit ended today include:  John Dolan, Josh Palmer, Michael "Carwash" Schneider, Michael Sanders, Ashly Butler, Blake Barousse, David Nicholson, Charles "Woody" Moore, Chris Conrad, Caufman Talley, Nancy Birnbaum, Ryan Lenaghan and Tripp Kirk.  Already in are Jonathan Taylor, John Holley,  Kyle Cartwright, and Cory Wood.  Go here for complete standings.

BOURRE FROM BAYOU TO GET TV COVERAGE?

Who doesn't know of a back bar or bayou Bourre game?  Pots get big quick and bankrolls get built or emptied just as fast.  Kudos for our friends at Wicked Chops for pointing out this story over at laweekly.  Talk of Bourre being the next fad, move over poker here comes Bourre, what?  Read the details and the NBA connection right here.

WSOP-C CAESARS PALACE:

TUTHILL AND PHAHURAT CHOP, BAROUSSE CLOSE:

David Tuthill of St. Petersberg, FL won the Main Event after already making a money chop with AP Phahurat (pictured) of Rogers, AR for around 180k a piece.  Jeffrey Fielder of Des Moines finished 6th and Steven Goldberg 8th.

Blake Barousse of Lafayette won 16k for 11th.  Also cashing from the early 2000s, Florida native Chad Brown, E-Dog Erick Lindgren, and Gavin Smith.  Other notables in money included Will Failla, Kevin Stammen, Todd Terry, Scott Clements, Eric Baldwin, Dan O'Brien,  Ari Engel and Kurt Jewell. 

Also congrats to Clay Henry of Many, LA, Michael Hallen of Tampa, FL, for cashing in earlier events.

WSOP-C PALM BEACH KENNEL CLUB UPDATE:

HOLLEY, NICHOLSON CASH AGAIN:

The Event #1: No Limit Hold'em Re-Entry Tournament with a million dollar prize pool had a couple of familiar names at the end.  Unfortunately, they were two of the first three eliminated from the final table.  David Nicholson (pictured) earned ~21k for 9th and John Holley's one man Heater continued as he made 32k for seventh.

Also in the money, were Mark Rose, Lily Kiletto, and shartballs of other Floridians (shartballs?).   Barron Whipple, and Timothy Thommasson of Louisiana also in the money.

CHAN CAN:

Charles Chan of Panama city won 2.7k for 6th in the PLO Eight or Better Event 2.  Henry Moses of San Antonio, TX, Kathy Liebert and Adam Jacobs of Gainesville, FL all min-cashed.  Congrats to Charles who has been on our Who's Who page for quite a while now.

HORSE PLAY:

GCP Blogger, Will "Poker Monkey" Souther aka Monkey Road Kill was just horsing around and opened up the account in Palm Beach with a cash in this prestigious event.  Apparently Tim Burt didn't make the trip as somebody not named Tim Burt, a Mr. Clifton Ward, won the event. 

Clifton, a Georgia native beat Clifford Kitey in heads up play to win 14k.  Yes, you read that right, that means Clifford vs. Clifton heads up, must have made it a fun day for the announcer.   Who are we kidding there was nobody on the mic, it's a H.O.R.S.E. tournament they probably didn't even get cocktail service.

PALMER, EYSTER EVENT 4 ROAD-BLOCKS FOR PALUMBO:

Michael Palumbo of Fort Myers won 26k for taking down NLHE Event Four.  A couple of local notables Josh Palmer of Daphne, AL (8th, pictured) and Kevin Eyster of Lafayette, LA (15th) made the money and made it difficult for everyone else in the $365 buy-in event. 

BURBICK-MURRAY PRODUCE REAL WORLD RESULTS IN SIX HANDED:

In event five, Corey Burbick and Ylon Schwartz just missed the final table of six strangers picked to play for 20k.  Burbick finished 8th and Schwartz 7th.  Donna Murray of Gautier, MS won a min cash for 21st.  And if you fully caught the wordplay/reference in the headline at one point in your life you watched too much MTV.  Luke Bereton of Naples, FL won the event and 21k.

WSOP-C CEASERS MAIN EVENT:

 RYAN "GUTSHOTALLIN" WELCH LEADS DAY 1A WITH MASSIVE STACK:

BUT!!!!... 2 GCPers are in the top 10. We wont say on his heels as Welch has almost twice as many chips 2nd place has. Blake Barousse is sitting on 215,700 and Tim Hebert bags 160,000...both from Lafayette, La.  Lots of pros always play this event in Vegas and there will be many firing 2nd bullet today.

Ryan Welch 424,900...David Tuthill 274,100...Andy Watson 267,000...Ping Lu 241,100...Blake Barousse 215,700...Tim Hebert 160,100

Blake Barousse has been on a heater lately already making a final table and cashing twice while in Vegas for close to $10,000 total. We found a throwback pic of him for some good luck and run good. Good luck to all GCPers playin the Ceasers Main Event.

GIANNETTI OUTLASTS KILETTO WINS SEMINOLE HARD ROCK WPT TITLE:

NOVEMBER NINER WINS $323K:

After a hard fought battle that included surviving Darryll Fish (pictured) three handed and beating audacious Lily Kiletto in heads up play Matt Gianetti now has a WPT title. 

Kiletto won $191k for second. Fish got coolered when his Queens found Kiletto's Aces and went out a little while later for 125k.  Danny Shiff (fourth $86k), Hayden Fortini (fifth $64k) and Matt Salsberg (sixth 50K) rounded out the final table.

BILOXI BOMBER PROFILED:

Chad Holloway, PokerNews writer and Movie Review Blogger, has done it again.  Great piece on David Nicholson recently and now a profile on Nicholson's roommate on the road Chris Conrad.  The Florida native, and owner of souls at the Beau Rivage, spoke openly about his life on the circuit and grinding daily.  Go here to read the article.

DELAWARE AND NEVADA UNLIKELY POKER FRIENDS:

There is an small group, that grows at a trickling rate, of online poker friendly states.  These states will regulate the game on their own terms.  One of them is Delaware.  Problem is Delaware has two maybe three maybe four citizens, so it's hard to fill up a game.  Solution?  Join forces with Nevada who will likely join up with other states.  How about New Jersey, they share a border with Delaware?

Fuggeddaboutit.  Their pro poker legislation is to protect their jewels on the boardwalk from encroaching mid-atlantic casinos.  They want nothing to do with Delaware.  For better information go here.  What's that mean for us?  Maybe if we can get our local politicians in line, maybe somebody in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, East Texas, West Florida should set up an online poker site.  They could call it Gulf Coast Poker.NET?  What do you all think?

WORLD SERIES OF POKER SCHEDULE RELEASED:

No need for a write up, it's really self-explanatory.  The schedule for this years World Series of Poker has been released.  Go here to plan your bankroll boosting or busting trip. 

Highlights?  Okay... the Little One for One Drop.  Buy-in is $1,111, remember the Big One for One Drop was one milly.  Not everybody gets off cheap as there is also an $111,111 High roller event for One Drop. 

Like Chinese Open Face Poker?  Or want to?  Go click that banner at the top of this column if you are an Apple Zombie and get hooked.  Got an extra 5k?  Play it in a non bracelet event this summer.  Lots, and lots of 1k and 1.5k events, going on too.  Hard not to see this even in cold February and not get excited.     

WPT FISH, LILY LIVE STREAM:

FINAL TABLE SET:

Cash game player Lily Kiletto (see our list of best LADIES in the region... she may be a new face to wicked chops, but she was on our radar way back when), Darryll Fish, Matt Giannetti (Texan November Niner), and Matt Salsberg are joined by Danny Shiff and Hayden Fortini to battle for WPT glory.  First place wins $323k.  Sixth is guaranteed at least $50k.

Joe Serock had another deep run finishing 14th for 12.5k.  Mike Beasley, Justin Zaki, and Marsha Wolak all made the money too. 

Should Lily win this she would be the first female player to win a WPT Main Event.  Obviously, we'll be pulling for the Fish at the table too.

WSOP-C TUNICA MAIN EVENT:

RYAN STEVENSON WINS IT:

Stevenson of Horn Lake, MS got 204k for the win.  Michael Sanders (pictured) finished fourth for 69k.  666 players in the field (see poker is evil, your mom was right) and none ran better than Stevenson.

Bert Ladner continues his heater with a 17th place finish for 10k.   Blogger David Clark finished 43rd for 3.6k.  BJ McBrayer also cashed.    

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