June 2008 Archives

As most people were leaving the Amazon Room late last night, Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu were chipped up in the $50,000 HORSE, their team-mate Victoria Coren and sponsored player Kiril Gerasimov were nearing the money in the $2,000 event, and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, the winner of the PCA this year, was the big-stack in the $5,000 short handed event.

The latter had to play down to a final table of six, and ElkY was looking good to be a contender. It's a shame to report he narrowly missed out that first WSOP finaP, running A-J into aces to finish 16th.

But this is the World Series and a new tournament is always around the corner. Saturday means the Rio will be filled to bursting with the no-limit hold 'em fanatics: event 49 is an ever-popular $1,500 buy in events. More than 2,700 players will sit wall to wall crammed into both the Amazon and Brasilia rooms, and beyond. Action kicks off at noon.

Once underway, the 198 players who made it through to day two of the $2,000 event will return, minus Vicky Coren who busted just short of the money. Kiril Gerasimov on the other hand, will. He sits with 29,800 chips in the middle of the pack. A cash is already guaranteed. The question remaining is how much.

Then the real heavyweights return for the penultimate day of the HORSE event. It's the prestige event of the summer and one every poker player wants to win. And of the 21 remaining players - three represent Team PokerStars Pros at either ends of the chip leader board. Chad Brown is the official tournament short stack, with 81,000. But Chad is more than capable of a comeback.

Meanwhile the familiar faces of Barry Greenstein and Daniel Negreanu are second and third in chips, respectively.

It offers a potentially mouth watering prospect ahead and tomorrow they will play into the money and then towards the final table.

Play starts in that event at 3pm PST. We wish them all well.

Another fascinating day at the World Series, but just one in a long run that you could describe in the same way. By noon 805 players have signed on to play the $5,000 Short-handed hol’dem event, among them at least six members of Team PokerStars Pro. By the close of play just 90 had survived the action.

One of those players was Team PokerStars Pro ElkY who will come back for day two with 153,000, close to the leader’s 180k.

Meanwhile Humberto Brenes recorded his 52nd World Series cash across the hall in the $1,000 re-buy event, busting in 77th for a $7,776, his fourth cash this year alone.

But right now it’s the HORSE event that has the crowds massing along the rail. 142 players returned today in pursuit of a $2 million first prize. Team PokerStars Pro has excelled in this event up to now. Eight started the day and seven will come back for day three.

The man unlucky to be leaving before the rest was Greg Raymer. But the PokerStars roll call was a good one – Barry Greenstein (475,000), Daniel Negreanu (360,000), Bill Chen (325,000), Chad Brown (302,000), Isabelle Mercier (150,000), Katja Thater (102,000) and Dario Minieri (55,000).

A table over from where Greg had exited sat Isabelle Mercier and Daniel Negreanu, fighting off the likes of Patrik Antonius. Behind them sat Dario Minieri along with Doyle Brunson, a snap shot of poker’s glorious past coupled with its future star.

Tomorrow is another day of course and will be no easier for those remaining and it will close in sight of the money, as well as crowning some more champions...

The focus on today was not on endings but beginnings. It was about the start of one event that completely overshadowed the rest.

It marked the start of the $50,000 HORSE event, which saw the PokerStars media team on duty in the Amazon Room’s press box for the first time to watch over five days of poker. Whilst that went on were we also following the progress of Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem, on a run for the final table of his event, the $1,500 PLO8. The final remained elusive but Joe recorded a cash of $4,600 for 35th place.

It was also the start of a roller-coaster style re-buy event which saw a bundle of Team PokerStars Pros rolling up their sleeves. However, only one would make it through the carnage on day one, that being Humberto Brenes who will be looking to sew up his 52nd cash of his World Series career, and his fourth of the year. He ended today with an average stack for day two.

But the story today remained that of the $50,000 HORSE. It attracted 148 of the world’s best players which will see just 16 finishing in the money; the winner taking away nearly $2 million. Team PokerStars Pro was well represented at the start with a roll call of Barry Greenstein, Greg Raymer, Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater, Chad Brown, Bill Chen, Dario Minieri and Isabelle Mercier. There were noted PokerStars-sponsored players also in Kiril Garasimov and Alex Kravchenko.

Such is the pace of the game chip counts are academic in the early stages but there were some slight changes. Both Bill Chen and Barry Greenstein finished among the leaders and whilst Daneil Negreanu was roughed up at stages leaving him with just 26,000 he rallied well to end the day in the comfort zone.

Play resumes at 3pm PST in both the $1,000 Rebuy and $50,000 HORSE events. Tomorrow begins the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Short-Handed event at $1,500 Stud Hi-Lo tournament. We'll be here for it all.

Team PokerStars Pro is one of the most elite in the world and this week it welcomed two new players in William Thorson and Marcin Horecki.

For William his most notable success came at the World Series in 2006, eliminated in a painful 13th place in the main event. That day netted him $907,128 just part of what amounts to over $1,800,000 in tournament winnings. After that came a final table appearance at the EPT in San Remo, not before a ninth place at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure earlier in the year.

From Varberg, Sweden, Thorson has always played poker, learning the game from his father and playing full time since he left school. PokerStars hosted his first online experience back in 2002 where he began practicing on the free money tables.

“To be a member of Team PokerStars Pro is an honor for me. It’s a great team with many of the world’s greatest players and I’m honoured to be included in such company – as a player I’m very proud to have my skills recognized in this way. It’s a great opportunity for me and I hope to be able to achieve big results,” he said.

Thorson plays as “William” on PokerStars which give you some idea how long he’s been a member of the site. You’d be unlikely to get a username like that without a few numbers tagged on.

As well as Thorson PokerStars have welcomed Polish poker superstar Marcin Horecki to the fold, one of the best players Poland has ever produced. He’ll be looking for his first major tournament win in PokerStars colours in events around the world.

Another graduate of the play money tables at PokerStars after playing Magic: The Gathering....

“When I first started playing the free money tables, I dreamed of becoming a Team PokerStars Pro player,” Horecki said.

His first impact on the live poker scene came in 2006 when he made the final of the €1,000 No Limit Hold’em at the Barcelona Open. It was a modest win but one that gave Marcin the confidence to make it as a professional.

Then in 2007 he cashed in the PokerStars European Poker Tour season 3 Copenhagen tournament winning $9,580 for 30th place. Showing no signs of slowing he followed that three months later with a final table appearance in the Asian Poker Classic in Goa, a cash worth $29,000.

More cashes followed in Vienna and at the EPT in Warsaw. We'll see both players at the World Series in the coming weeks. Congratulations and welcome to the team guys.

Back home in Germany the soccer team has reached the semi-finals of Euro 2008 championships hoping to record two more wins for glory. Well, back in Las Vegas one of their countrymen has waved the flag early – Sebastian Ruthenberg, a PokerStars sponsored player, became the latest member of the team to win a bracelet, taking down the $5,000 Seven Card Hi-Lo event, beating former World Champion Chris Ferguson heads-up.

It’s a great result for Sebastian who picks up his first World Series bracelet and a payday of $328,756. He joins the likes of Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein and Dario Minieri who have each won a bracelet at this year’s World Series.

He has numerous nicknames, from “Baby-faced assassin” to “Super Dario” to “Scarf Boy”. But whatever you want to call Dario Minieri you can now add World Series bracelet winner to his credentials after he won the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, a title worth $528,418.

Dario had started the final with a massive chip lead and when with four players remaining he eliminated Kevin Song (A8 vs KJ) Dario couldn’t stack his chips quick enough to be counted.

"How much I got now? I don't know!" Minieri asked with a smile.

"I don't know," the tournament director said. "I haven't gotten that far yet."

It was more than 3.5 million...more than twice what his opponents had...combined.

Some harsh hands got the better of Dario three-handed, raising the prospect of yet another third place finish...

"I didn't want to come in third, because I came in third on two European Poker Tours. It was a nightmare," Minieri said.

Dario has two final table appearances on the EPT. His first came in Baden during Season 3 where he finished third. A year later, he made the final table in San Remo, Italy. Again, it was a third place finish.
But Dario kept the pressure on and after the dinner break it went heads up with Seth Fischer dealing Justin Filtz a crushing blow – AK vs AA with big slick emerging winner.

With such an advantage to Fischer, Dario had work to do, trailing as he did 3 to 1 in chips. He got lucky on a courageous all-in bluff with 3-4, snap called by pocket kings, only to find runner-runner fours to keep him alive.

That was all he needed. From that double up he never looked back, taking the chip lead. When Fischer pushed in with KdTd it was Dario doing the snap calling, his pocket queens holding up to give the Italian his first World Series bracelet.

"I have never seen so many bad beats in one day. I feel very lucky," he said.

Before tonight, Minieri had not recorded a major live poker win. He now has his first victory, first World Series bracelet, and first opportunity to say he has more than $1 million in career winnings.

Congratulations, to Dario, on his first bracelet.

Whilst the World Series blazes it’s way through June with the history books open and ready for new names to be entered it’s worth remembering that even the best players, even world champions, began their poker careers somewhere, many in freerolls which helped shape their skills. There are few better places to do just that than the PokerStars Weekly Round 2 events.

Qualifying for one of the two weekly events is simple. All you need to do is play in one of the Astronomer freerolls shown in the PokerStars.net lobby and finish within the number of tables specified. They astronomer freerolls run several times a day so there’s never long to wait and if you’re successful your ticket into the Weekly Round 2 could see you win a cash prize.

This week that honour went to several hundred players notably the two winners, “dreamender” on Saturday and “stagmatta55” on Sunday. As you can see hundreds of players finish in the money making this a great value event – just ask “2TONTOM” and “Jerebear57” who each snuck in under the bubble.

Weekly Round 2 results (Saturday 14 June)

1. dreamender (United States) -- $287.60
2. NutDraw16 (United States) -- $166.00
3. Mr.Pickles00 (United States) -- $100.00
4. philippety (Belgium) -- $80.00
5. thiberre (Spain) -- $62.00
6. JacobKC (United States) -- $50.00
7. TASSY555 (United States) -- $39.00
8. robcfc (United Kingdom) -- $30.00
9. Jaze23 (United States) -- $22.20

702nd 2TONTOM (United States) -- $0.80

Weekly Round 2 results (Sunday 15 June)

1. stagmatta55 (United States) -- $276.00
2. narud (United States) -- $164.00
3. knightowl006 (United States) -- $100.00
4. dr flower (United States) -- $80.00
5. lhsoares71 (Brazil) -- $62.00
6. jpj1966 (United States) -- $50.00
7. eerkr (Hungary) -- $39.00
8. booby20 (United States) -- $30.00
9. LSUFAN4life (United States) -- $22.20

801st Jerebear57 (United States) -- $0.60

Dario Minieri was already playing at full speed before the World Series last year. Easy to find with his now trademark AS Roma scarf of claret and amber and hyper-aggressive play, Dario leaves a lasting impression before and after you’ve played against him, and this year is no different.

Dario is currently second in chips going into the second day of the $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em six-handed event and not too far behind him is fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bill Chen. The two of them are among the 80 players left of the 1,000 who started and by the end of the day they could be looking at their first final table of the Series.

There was another big finish for Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu last night in the final of the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha re-buy event. Daniel finished in seventh place, cashing for $123,437 to add to the bracelet he picked up a few short days ago. Also at the final was PokerStars sponsored player Kiril Garasimov who went on to finish in fifth spot, earning $192,870.

But as far as cashing goes Humberto Brenes can’t seem to stop. The Team PokerStars Pro recorded another when he finished in 33rd place in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em for $13,666.

Congratulations to Humberto and all the PokerStars players on a great few days.

With the champagne hardly touched from Barry Greenstein’s victory in the $1,500 Razz two more PokerStars players had made a final table.

Fresh off his own success in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em – his fourth World Series bracelet – Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu sits alongside PokerStars sponsored player Kiril Garasimov in the $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha re-buy event, fighting it out for bracelet honours.

With four bracelets in his possession next on the list is a fifth for Daniel who shows no signs of stopping. Good luck to Daniel and Kiril as they start the final today.

A few days ago Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein took third place in the No-Limit 2-7 Draw event at the World Series. Well now he’s gone even better. After nine hours of play at the final table Greenstein won the $1,500 Razz event. It’s his third World Series bracelet and it made him $157,619.

In the game of Razz players compete to make the ‘worst’ five card hand, no pairs, sets or flushes, just a you’d think was garbage in any normal stud game. Now the Team PokerStars Pro has proved to be among the best at well, finding the worst.

Before his win few doubted that Barry is anything but one of the best in the game, a reputation he cemented with this win. It also keeps the bracelet well and truly within the PokerStars family, with Katja Thater winning the event last year.

A nice addition for Greenstein though who now holds bracelets in Razz, No-Limit 2-7 and Pot Limit Omaha. Congratulations to him on a fantastic win.

The time has come to add a few more dates to the diary for as a poker fan few want to miss any of the action from the PokerStars European Poker Tour. Well today PokerStars has announced the dates of the tour’s fifth season with a new schedule as good as you’d expect.

It all kicks off in Barcelona, Spain as it has every year, for the EPT Barcelona Open at Casino Barcelona from 10-14 September. Here’s how the rest of the season looks...

Has Daniel Negreanu been called “Kid” a little too long? Ten years ago it seemed fitting for a young brash pro, with bags of confidence and ego. So the name stuck. But tonight the Team PokerStars Pro took his place among the greats of the game by winning his fourth World Series bracelet.

Daniel had bullied he field into shape on Days 1 and 2 so some may have thought the win in the $2,000 Limit Hold’em was a foregone conclusion. At the start of the final he was third in chips and as if often the case in limit poker Daniel’s hopes went up and down, sometimes looking like they were in jeopardy. But he stuck to the game he knows...

"The last time I won [a bracelet] was this event in 2004," he said after his victory. "I love the game."

Having played more hands of limit hold’em than any other game Daniel knew that even when the chips are literally down your chances don’t have to be the same.

"The key is stay composed and stay focused," he said.

He did just that. When his aces were cracked he fought back. When his kings were cracked, he fought back and down to three players many believed the bracelet was as good as his. They were right. With the lead secured he never looked likely to give it up.

The result was worth $204,874, life changing money for some, but for Daniel (who often bets more than that on the golf course) the money was not the important factor. What’s important is the bracelet and that however old he gets he’ll always be “Kid Poker” – a winner of World Series bracelets.

Nolan Dalla presented him with the bracelet which Daniel slipped over his hand...

"I might have to take a few links out. I have pretty skinny wrists."

It’s been a busy time for Team PokerStars Pro. Barry Greenstein joined the final table of the No-Limit 2-7 Draw event and demonstrated why he remains one of the best players in the game. He finished third place, good for $225,552. Congratulations go to Barry.

This was all while Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu was tearing through the $2,000 Limit Hold’em event, holding the chip lead for much of the day before reaching the final in third place. He goes for his fourth World Series bracelet.

Elsewhere Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes made Day 2 of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, joined by Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano. Also there is Luca’s father Claudio. Father and son went deep at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo back in April and there’s into Day 2 together looking for a similar result.

There’s more Day 2 action in store for Vanessa Rousso and Greg Raymer who are each on their way to the second day of the $3,000 HORSE event and are looking for their first cashes of the Series.

Another good spell for Team PokerStars Pro – good luck to all players.

As the battles at the World Series rage on, the humble but equally important duels of the Weekly Round 2 events continue on PokerStars. Last weekend saw an all German heads-up finale in the Saturday event, whilst on Sunday the same happened between two players from the United States. The results; a $287.60 haul for “Judieth” in the former and $276 for “DO_DMD” in the latter. Congratulations to both players.

Weekly Round 2 results (Saturday 7 June)

1. Judieth (Germany) -- $287.60
2. BosnaStar (Germany) -- $166.00
3. kazamafia (Canada) -- $100.00
4. polard82 (Canada) -- $80.00
5. sburd (United States) -- $62.00
6. darrendoucet (Canada) -- $50.00
7. JAKE786 (United States) -- $39.00
8. brembobrakes (Canada) -- $30.00
9. sprem1959 (Uruguay) -- $22.20

702nd hubert 910 (United States) -- $0.80

Weekly Round 2 results (Sunday 8 June)

1. DO_DMD (United States) -- $276.00
2. luckyroc (United States) -- $164.00
3. crestw (Canada) -- $100.00
4. bartgcork1 (Canada) -- $80.00
5. All-InFranz (Austria) -- $62.00
6. jbird31 (United States) -- $50.00
7. Billy Boy6 (Austria) --$39.00
8. blackyp_10 (Netherlands) --$30.00
9. Mightykings (Netherlands) --$22.20

801st Feriko22 (Romania) --$0.60

How do you play in this diamond of the PokerStars.net lobby? Simple. All you have to do it play in one of the astronomer freerolls on PokerStars.net and take it from there. The freerolls run several times a day and you can enter as many times as you want with the top tables in each contest winning tickets to the weekend’s Weekly Round 2 tournaments. For any other info drop me a line at the email address at the top right of this page.

If you want an example of what has to be one of the toughest games played by the hardcore of the poker establishment you don’t have to go much further than the World Series No-Limit 2-7 with re-buys. The final table of this event at this years World Series, a $5,000 re-buy, should live up to this standard.

Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is among those at that final table going into the closing stages. His Teammate Chad Brown recorded his fourth cash of the Series and only narrowly missed the final of this one himself, finishing in 11th place for $34,700, leaving Greenstein, sitting as he does second in chips, with a solid chance of a bracelet and the $537,862 first prize.

Meanwhile Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu has made the second day of the $2,000 Limit Hold’em with the fourth biggest stack. The news of Team PokerStars Pro doesn’t end there. Team members Noah Boeken and Tom McEvoy went heads up against each other in the first round of the $1,500 Triple Shootout. It was 1-0 to Noah who would be victorious and eventually cashed for $5,596.

Finally, there have been many a dedicated PokerStars fan but few as dedicated as Dean Kubicek who surely tops the list (thanks to Tom Donoghue for the photo).

Classic, elegant, instantly recognisable and a place where everybody knows your name. That's a little bit like how the PokerStars lobby feels to a lot of pople but now you can take a break from the traditional and select an altogether more darker theme - nothing sinister, just a new look lobby option.

If you feel like changing things around a little when you play at PokerStars the new lobby option is an easy one to find. Open up the software and log in. With that done select "View" from the drop-down menu and then click on "Lobby Themes". Select the "Black Theme" and follow the instructions.

The 2008 World Series is just two weeks old but already Team PokerStars Pro are notching up some cash finishes, warming up for the big one you might say, if you needed warming up in the Nevada desert.

Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin recorded two cash finishes this weekend. The first came in the $1,500 no-limit hold’em six-handed event whilst the second came in the £1,500 limit hold’em. That has to be worth a day off.

One of the newest members of Team PokerStars Pro is Chad Brown who so far has three cashes in this year’s series. This weekend he scored number three with a 23rd place finish in the $10,000 mixed championship worth $16,243.

Meanwhile Kid Poker Daniel Negreanu of Team PokerStars, narrowly missed out on his first final table of the summer finishing 11th in the $10,000 Seven Card Stud championship, taking $33,417 in consolation.

Finally, as week three begins it’s good luck to Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein who heads into Day 2 of the $2,000 Omaha High-Low event armed with a solid stack of chips. Tomorrow’s final in a few hours play away.

You may remember a certain 18 year old who walked into the EPT Grand Final in 2006 to become an EPT Champion. Unheard of, Jeff Williams made history and €900,000 in the process. One of his only regrets? That he wouldn’t be able to play in Vegas for a while.

Well, now 21, Jeff is where he wants to be, in the heart of Vegas at the World Series where his countrymen are seeing a formidable opponent who’s been under wraps for a while. They won’t forget the first they saw of him either.

Williams took second place in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em re-buy event yesterday, scooping an impressive $406,330. He can even have a drink to celebrate. Congratulations Jeff.

It’s also a promising day for Team PokerStars Pros Greg Raymer and Chad Brown, both of whom return for Day 2 of the $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low-9 or better event. It will be cash number one if Greg is successful whilst Chad will be adding to a top 40 finish in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em.

Following Tom McEvoy’s cash in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em more success has been met by PokerStars players.

Whilst Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu made it to the second day of the $1,000 No-Limit Re-buy event congratulations are also due to PokerStars sponsored players Aaron Coulthard and Theo Tran who each made the final table of the £1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. Aaron finished in sixth place, collecting $211,841 whilst Theo fared even better in fourth, narrowly missing out on the bracelet in a spot worth $327,148.

A few days after the 2008 World Series got underway and already Team PokerStars Pro are counting the cash. Triple Crown winner and one of the new boys to Team PokerStars Pro Gavin Griffin finished 251st from a starting field of 4,000, picking up a ragged looking $3,754 – good for a couple of buy-ins.

Former World Champion Tom McEvoy’s slow start to this year’s series has picked up a step or two with a cash finish in the bag in Event #3 the $1,500 Pot-Limit Hold’em – 25th place worth $5,547.
Congratulations to all of them.

This week’s Weekly Round 2 events had a multi-national feel to them and each recorded huge fields with over 800 players in both finishing the event with a cash prize. On Saturday, where five nations were represented at the final table, it was “dannyr1947" who picked up $276. Whilst on Sunday (another five nations) “JDaRtNeLL” fared slightly better, collecting $305. There were plenty others of course but honoured with edging into the money on Saturday was "1ELPASOKID" (a worthy $0.60) and on Sunday “aannff” would win $0.60 to spend in his native New Zealand. Not bad for an entry fee of exactly zero.

Weekly Round 2 results (Saturday 31 May)

1. dannyr 1947 (United States) -- $276.00
2. huypham_king (Australia) -- $164.00
3. deensegap (Denmark) -- $100.00
4. Hellmuth87 (United States) -- $80.00
5. forgetting (United States) -- $62.00
6. jarvis12782 (United States) -- $50.00
7. marko ristic (Serbia) -- $39.00
8. Dullnramer (Germany) -- $30.00
9. Mutzi10 (Germany) -- $22.20

801st 1ELPASOKID (United States) -- $0.60

Weekly Round 2 results (Sunday 1 June)

1. JDaRtNeLL (United States) -- $305.00
2. stallion274 (United States) -- $180.00
3. Jefferson80 (Germany) -- $103.80
4. OCONNOR444 (Canada) -- $86.00
5. easy2222 (Germany) -- $72.00
6. KIUY (Netherlands) -- $60.00
7. yako8901 (Panama) -- $48.00
8. Mash81 (Germany) -- $38.00
9. shermy11 (United States) -- $17.60

800th aannff (New Zealand) -- $0.60

To have a go yourself simply play in one of the astronomer freerolls in the PokerStars.net lobby and take it from there. The freerolls run several times a day and you can enter as many times as you want. And for any other info drop me a line at the email address at the top right of this page.

From the PokerStars blog team at the World Series in Las Vegas

Poker is defined largely by its American heritage on Mississippi river boats and dusty Texas back roads. The variant played here at the World Series of Poker takes its name from those areas in the Lone Star state. But, by name and definition, this tournament is an international event. From Russia, to Costa Rica, back across the pond to the UK and back to Amarillo, this is no longer only America's game. It's a world contest and open to anyone who can find a way to pay $10,000 American at the cage.

Nevertheless, Day 1B of the World Series began on the anniversary of its home country's independence. It played out while families barbequed and fireworks exploded over the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Nearly 1,160 players showed up on this American holiday to play the second of four Day 1s. Combined with yesterday's field, nearly 2,500 people have entered the Main Event with two Day 1s left to go. Whether it was the holiday atmosphere or slightly smaller crowd, most folks here agreed it was more subdued than the day previous, and certainly more low key than we'll see on the rest of this holiday weekend.

It's a bit of an odd relationship here at the PokerStars Blog. Only one-third of the blogging crew here sits under the American flag. The other two fly the Union Jack, which makes American Independence Day a contentious time. If there was such a battle among the members of Team PokerStars Pro, it came out with the same score. John Duthie and Vicky Coren stayed alive for the UK. Vanessa Rousso (who, admittedly, maintains dual citizenship in the USA and France) represented the stars and stripes.

This is not the only place to get your fix for World Series news. Our video blogging team is working tirelessly and turning out some great stuff at the freshly-launched PokerStars.tv. Be sure to head over there and watch a few videos. You will also get the password for the PokerStars.tv freeroll on PokerStars.

Also scheduled to appear on Day 1C are Team PokerStars Pros Andre Akkari, Chris Moneymaker, Gavin Griffin, Joe Hachem, Isabelle Mercier, and Steve Paul-Ambrose.

Brad "Otis" Willis reports on what can only be described as the generosity of PokerStars players...

When PokerStars told its players they could donate to the China earthquake relief fund, it was impossible to know how much money it would raise. Though PokerStars players have been more than generous in the past, the earthquake in China is a world away for many poker players.

Distance, however, proved to be no hindrance for generosity.

This global campaign by PokerStars and its players has since resulted in a contribution of $2,226,146.50 HKD ($285,248.19 USD) to the Red Cross Macau earthquake relief effort. The money came from many a different source.

PokerStars recently launched Macau’s first dedicated poker room, PokerStars Macau, with a charity tournament to raise money for the victims of the recent earthquake in Western China.

In addition to the charity tournament, existing PokerStars players were given the opportunity to donate to the relief fund through their online accounts, with PokerStars then matching the donation dollar for dollar.
All of the money raised by PokerStars and its players will now be sent to the Red Cross to aid the suffering in China.