This year's Americas Cup winners' photo won't feature Team Peru. A Mexican clean sweep within the semi-finals, followed by a loss to Colombia in a subsequent play-off, quickly put paid to such ideas. Instead, the Peruvian quintet will take 'just' $2,500 each back to their home country. Do we see them when the following Americas Cup-style tournament rolls into paradise? It's impossible to mention. That is, unless in fact we're talking about Luis Felipe Villaran Bedoya.

Or as I LOVE to name him, "Mr Peru".

Mr Peru and Mr Costa Rica at this year's Americas Cup of Poker

This weekend Mr Peru represented his country on the poker tables for a 3rd straight year. In 2012 he was a part of a global Cup of Poker winning side and personally collected greater than $22,500. A year later he added $2,500 after his team finished fourth in a preceding Americas Cup of Poker in Panama.

Yet now, stood within the brightly lit, marble-floored hallway that leads from the Imperial Ballroom back to the Atlantis Resort's thousands of hotel rooms, Mr Peru looks slightly deflated about today's $2,500 prize.

"It's a disappointment, but it's poker," he says of Team Peru's fourth place finish. "WE SUPPLY the hopes of the poker community and it feels very, excellent (to symbolize Peru). I THINK numerous proud."

Dressed in his team's red and white colours, Mr Peru's "proud" is obviously on display here in Atlantis. When he isn't living his other life as stock broker in Lima, he plays tournaments on PokerStars on a semi-professional basis, and during the last few years his presence at events like these have turned him right into a poker somebody in Peru. It is a fame that may be thoroughly deserved.

Thousands of individuals tried to qualify for this year's Americas Cup. But Mr Peru beat them. Thousands likely tried to qualify for the arena Cup of Poker. But, again, Mr Peru beat them. Such consistency in poker isn't common place. In order the Mexican and Chilean teams butt-heads round the corner within the Americas Cup final, what does he believe the important thing to consistency is?

"A lot of discipline and difficult work," says Villaran. "To qualify for the Americas Cup I played between two and 3 tournaments for nearly 28 days in a row. It was constant. I wasn't seeking to win the tournaments but just earn points, points, points. NUMEROUS players don't understand that, they only need to win."

Luis Felipe Villaran Bedoya: once, twice, thrice a Peruvian player

Apparently if you wish to follow in such successful footsteps and take a shot at Americas Cup glory, you have to to be "a rock at the start" of every qualifying tournament, and make good use of the time clock.

"If the button passes you and you've got one blind and one point locked up, I prefer to not push. By the point the blinds comes you will have much more points. I REALLY LIKE to maintain my blinds."

Judging by Villaran's record in such matters and the calm way he delivers each word, it is a strategy I WOULD NOT argue with. But can such consistency realistically continue?

"Yeah, sure," he says. "THAT IS my third time so I NEED to return again."

Until next year then I guess, Mr Peru. The entire best.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Americas Cup]

Steven Wolanksy is the most recent champion on the 2016 World Series of Poker. The 28-year-old poker pro based out of Florida topped a field of 2,076 entries to win the newest $1,000 no-limit hold’em event, earning his second WSOP gold bracelet and the $298,849 first-place prize. Wolanksy, who won his first bracelet two years ago in a $1,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball event, was just as excited to emerge victorious this time around.

“This win is solely as meaningful, if not more,” Wolansky told WSOP.com after he came out on top. “The first one I won was more about me desirous to avenge my second-place finish the former year. I lost heads-up and that motivated me to prove to myself I'LL do it. But this time, it was much more money and plus the percentages I needed to overcome.”

Wolanksy came into the third and what was alleged to be final day in fifth chip position among 19 remaining players. He made his approach to heads-up play against Wenlong Jin, starting the overall showdown at just over a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage. The 2 battled for 85 hands before play was halted for the night with stacks nearly even, forcing the overall two to go back for a decisive fourth day.

Wolansky was capable of seize control right away, winning seven of the primary ten hands to take a slight lead after which extending it from there. Jing kept battling but by the point the general hand arose Wolanksy held greater than a 2-to-1 lead.

With blinds of 80,000 – 160,000 and an ate of 20,000 Wolanksy moved all in from the button with the 88 and Jin called with the QJ. The board ran out K8784 to offer Wolansky quad eights, the title and the bracelet. Jin earned $184,631 for his deep run.

Here is a glance on the payouts and POY points made at this final table:

Place	Player	Earnings (USD)	POY Points
1	Steven Wolansky	$298,849	1080
2	Wenlong Jin	$184,631	900
3	Bradley Myers	$133,955	720
4	Young Eum	$98,150	540
5	Justin Zaki	$72,634	450
6	Dejan Boskovic	$54,294	360
7	Walter Rodriguez	$40,999	270
8	Zaher Sayegh	$31,278	180
9	Danny Illingworth	$24,111	90

For more coverage from the summer series, visit the 2016 WSOP landing page complete with a whole schedule, news, player interviews and event recaps.

Winner photo courtesy of WSOP.

Read More... [Source: CardPlayer Poker News]

^

Who would have thought it? Reigning champions Italy out with barely a whimper. After round one and two performances that left them languishing in ninth position at the leader board, Italy limped out in their title defence with a ninth-place exit within the multi-table madness of round three. An ignominious end to a disappointing day for Captain Luca Pagano, an experience somewhat different from last year's finale.

Italy were first to leave (5 points) they usually were followed by Team Remainder of the sector (10) and Costa Rica (15) before an excellent one-man survival show from Anthony Monestes booked France 20 points for a sixth place finish. That left five nations with Japanese captain Masaaki Kagawa the player shoving but after a high-quality day they fell in fifth (25) leaving Peru to grind on before falling in fourth (30).

The round three final table

Three nations battled on past midnight, greater than six hours after round three began, with the Netherlands on top of things but Boeken doubled up Heitmann as plucky Tajikistan fought on. Tajikistan were the following to head (35) losing a flip to Germany putting in a Dutch-German heads up. The captains battled for a short time before Klaus Hornchurch despatched Johan van Til to take the entire 50 points completing an epic comeback for Germany who had finished the primary round in last place. They now lead Japan by one point.

1. Germany, 105 points
2. Japan, 104 points
3. Peru, 98 points
4. Netherlands, 97 points
5. Tajikistan, 92 points
6. France, 86 points
7. Remainder of the World, 74 points
8. Costa Rica, 73 points
9. Italy, 55 points (RELEGATED)

Team Germany completed an epic Day 1 turnaround

You can meet up with how Day 1 panned out by clicking at the links below. Play resumes at noon tomorrow. Meanwhile spare a thought for WCP floorman John Keegan who's running a 5k charity run in not up to five hours time.

The World Cup begins, Italy defends its title
How it works, the way you win
Japan bossing it, first round dominated by the rising sun
Water boy Jake Schwartz takes on Humberto Brenes
Round two results, another blistering performance from Japan
Multi-table madness as round three begins and Italy busts
The final table tussle for Day 2 dominance

Photos are copyright of Joe Giron (in play) and Neil Stoddart (with black backdrop). Credit and copyright is reserved by them respectively.

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: World Cup of Poker]

The Sunday Warm-Up continued to blaze hotter and warmer because the weather got colder this November weekend, with a whopping $925,600 within the prize pool. 4,628 players bellied as much as the virtual felt to take their shot on the massive payout, and the highest 675 finishers got paid for his or her efforts. Of course, the massive money was concentrated on the final table, so after rather less than nine hours of grueling poker, the nine survivors gathered 'round the overall table.

Action was tentative to begin off, with players avoiding any major confrontations within the first few hands, but because the blinds and antes grew, the fast stacks needed to take their shots to double up simply to stay alive. Melano26 put his previous few chips within the middle with A♠-8♠ and located a caller in CruSader1981. Big stack angevert then moved all in excessive to isolate, and CruSader1981 got out of ways. Angevert was ahead with J♦-J♠, and the flop of J♥-7♠-Q♣ left melano26 needing to catch runner-runner perfect to stick alive. The 2♥ at the turn meant that melano26 was drawing dead, and when the meaningless 6♠ rolled off at the river, melano26 was busted in 9th place ($7,404.80).

Floes came into the overall table because the second-shortest stack, and it was only a few hands after melano26's elimination when floes open-shoved from the small blind with A♦-5♣. It was a great time for the move, with a host of dead blinds and antes within the pot, but Mr. Shanish awoke with A♣-J♣ within the big blind and made the straightforward call. Already a dominant favorite, Mr. Shanish took final control at the flop because it came down 9♦-3♥-J♥. Running nines at the turn and river gave Mr. Shanish an entire house, and gave floes 8th place money to the tune of $11,750.00.

Bahneyyy lost most of his stack in an enormous hand earlier on the final table, but hung on for a couple of more orbits before he got all of it in preflop with A♠-5♣ against CruSader1981's A♣-9♠. The board did nothing to assist Bahneyyy, running out 8♣-J♣-2♥-3♣-9♥, and CruSader1981 picked up some much-needed chips as Bahneyyy busted in 7th place ($20,826).

CruSader1981 played his short stack well, but he eventually found various outs he couldn't fade when he went out in 6th place ($30,082) by the hands of angevert on this hand.

After a lengthy period of five-handed jousting, one misstep by cspdealer left him watching the sport from the sidelines after busting in 5th place ($39,338). The aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the button, and cspdealer re-raised from the massive blind with K♦-J♠. Mr. Shanish moved all in over the top, and cspdealer called, only to seek out he was dominated by Mr. Shanish's A♠-J♣. The flop hit both players because it came down A♣-K♣-9♥, but Mr. Shanish's top pair was well prior to cspdealer's middle pair. The Q♥ at the turn gave cspdealer few more outs to stick alive, however the Q♣ at the river ended his tournament.

After losing a large pot to double up the short-stacked $saxo$, Mr. Shanish came right back at the very next hand to bust rivermanl in 4th place ($52,296.40). Rivermanl moved all in preflop from the small blind on a steal with Q♠-5♠, but Mr. Shanish found J♣-J♥ within the big blind and made the straightforward call. The flop of T♣-7♥-7♣ helped neither player, however the 5♣ at the turn gave rivermanl a couple of more how one can survive. None of these ways included the T♦, so when that fell at the river, there have been only three.

With the stacks exceptionally close, the general three survivors took a couple of moments to talk about a maintain. the stacks almost even, the players selected an excellent chop of the rest money, with $10,000 left within the middle for the eventual champion. That locked up $106,468.22 for every player, an exceptional day's work by almost any standard. With their six-figure payday in hand, the rest three players settled in to duke it out for the last $10K.

It only took a couple of minutes of folding before a large confrontation brewed up between our three survivors. The ever-aggressive Mr. Shanish opened for a raise from the small blind with A♦-9♥, and $saxo$ moved all in excessive with 3♥-3♠. The race was on because the flop came down 7♥-8♠-Q♥, and $saxo$ had faded the overcards. The 2♥ gave both players a flush draw, and the 4♥ at the river gave Mr. Shanish the larger flush to send $saxo$ home in 3rd place.

Heads up play lasted only three hands, and Mr. Shanish won they all to secure his extra $10,000 and the Sunday Warm-Up title. The last hand went down like this -

When the dust cleared, Mr. Shanish's aggressive play had locked up the last $10K at the table and made a $116,468.22 payday for himself. Congratulations to Mr. Shanish and all our Sunday Warm-Up players!

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: PokerStars Sunday Tournaments]

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Read More... [Source: Hot Games]

Organizers of the brand new United Football League pooh-poohed NFL claims that gambling is a threat to sports, and said they hope sports betting helps their league up to it has the NFL.

Gambling could be a subject that causes National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell's eyes to bug out, however the innovators starting off the United Football League don't understand the NFL's problem with sports betting. UFL leaders have installed a team in Las Vegas, and say they hope gambling does as much for his or her game because it has for the NFL.

Michael Huyghue, commissioner of the UFL, says sports gambling has caused success for US pro sports leagues, and he welcomes lines being posted on his games by Las Vegas sports books.

"I think it's hypocritical to behave adore it (gambling) doesn't exist," said Huyghue in a press conference held on the Palms Casino. "WE CAN embrace it."

The UFL will play its inaugural season with four teams, including Las Vegas, Florida, New York, and San Francisco. Teams are sprinkled with coaches and players with NFL experience, including Jim Fassel, who coached the brand new York Giants into the Super Bowl.

Huyghue asserted that, despite the fact that NFL executives refuse to recognize it, sports betting is very important in establishing public interest in games. He downplayed NFL terrors about disruption of game integrity, declaring that sports gambling has co-existed for many years with football.

"The acclaim for the NFL has grown abundantly on account of that," said the brand new commissioner.

Published on August 11, 2009 by JoshuaMcCarthy

Read More... [Source: UK Casinos in the News]

New Jersey is steaming ahead on its plans to license online casinos, irrespective of if or when federal action takes place.

While the government struggles to seek out the need to inspect any of several bills suggesting the regulation of Internet gambling, New Jersey is thinking about all possible options to go back the state to gaming prominence, including allowing online casinos. Internet casino operators say Atlantic City can be among their most preferred US destinations in the event that they could legally base there.

State Senator Ray Lesniak has included provisions for online gambling in his bill looking to permit sports betting in New Jersey. Under the terms of the measure, casinos granted licenses in New Jersey could be capable of run online casinos servicing New Jersey residents.

According to a report by Atlantic City Weekly, online gaming officials at a public hearing at the Lesniak act said they'd prefer a base like Atlantic City, because the stringent regulatory environment would help communicate the security of online wagering to the public.

“The thrust of the bill is to unite the brick and mortar existing licensees with online gaming interests; to enroll in them together to allow them to complement each other," said a brand new Jersey lobbyist at this week's Global iGaming Convention to the Casino City Times. “We're going to be the primary state within the nation to have this bill passed. I'm confident in that.”

“The leading opposition to these bills in New Jersey is Harrah's," says iMEGA Chairman Joe Brennan, Jr. "Harrah's has said that they like a federal solution they usually have gone all in at the federal solution. Wel,l we at iMEGA believe that we will be able to walk and chew gum on the same time.

Published on May 13, 2010 by K.C.Carmichael

Read More... [Source: Harrahs Casino News]