This year’s WSOP  broadcasts started yesterday on ESPN, and now there will be 2 hours of poker entertainment every Tuesday until the Main Event final table broadcast on November 9th.

The November 9

ONLINE POKER GIANT

Party Gaming and Bwin have finally settled on an merger agreement yesterday. Bwin will now own the majority share.

Bwin will receive 51.6% of the new company while PartyGaming’s share is 48.4%. The combined market cap of the two companies is approximately €2.7 billion. Total revenue in 2009 was €682 million for the two companies and earnings €196 million.

Phil Ivey Capures His 8th WSOP Bracelet

Phil Ivey has won his 8th WSOP bracelet in Event #37: the $3k H.O.R.S.E event.  Phil battled William”the poker mathematician” Chen heads up for the victory. Mr. Ivey took home just a little over 329k (chump change)for his victory. That now puts him ahead of Daniel Negreanu for all time tournament earnings with 13,182,309.

Phil Ivey’s WSOP Wins

2000     $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha ($195.000)
2002     $2,500 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo ($118.440)
2002     $2,000 S.H.O.E. ($107.540)
2002     $1,500 7 Card Stud ($132.000)
2005     $5,000 Pot Limit Omaha ($635.603)
2009     $2,500 No-Limit 2-7 Draw Lowball ($96.367)
2009     $2,500 Omaha Hi/Lo / 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo ($220.538)
2010     $3.000 H.O.R.S.E. ($329.840)

It’s FINALLY that time of year!!

New 2010 WSOP bracelets

Here is the complete schedule for the WSOP 2010

Apart from the WSOP events, there will be daily tournaments at the Rio:
$550 NL Hold’em (every Tue, Wed and Thu from June 1 to 30 at 1pm)
$340 NL Hold’em (Daily from May 27 to July 4 at 7pm)
$100 NL Hold’em (Daily from May 27 to July 4 at 11pm)

Phil 'The Unabomber" Laak

Phil “The Unabomber” Laak will attempt to break the world record in poker endurance this June @ the Bellagio Hotel & Casino. His goal is to top the current record of 78 hours of nonstop heads up poker set by the British player Paul Zimbler in 2009.
Laak’s attempt will start on June 2 at the Bellagio under the supervision of the Guinness Book of World Records judges.

“I have played many enduro sessions of poker, but never anything of this magnitude,” Laak states in a press release. “I know this will test my limits but I love a good challenge and am excited to be trying to beat this record in Vegas’ top poker room.”

Paul Zimbler set the current record of 78 hours last year during the WSOP Europe in London.

Security Risk On The Cereus Network

Yet another reason to STAY AWAY from the Cereus poker network

“The encryption key can be easily identified from a network dump and used to decrypt all information transmitted between the client application and the Cereus servers,” Pokertableratings.com reports.

Joe Cada 2009 WSOP Champion

6th Street: Life After the River is a new reality series starring WSOP Champion Joe Cada & best friends. Go behind the scenes of the 2009 WSOP with Joe.

Party Poker Cash Game

The competition is divided into seven levels. At each level, players will need to play 400 hands in a day with the most profitable players advancing towards the final table which takes place on 7th May.

Level 1: Stakes: 0,50$/1$ no-limit Hold’em – 5th to 9th April (five days)
Level 2: Stakes: 0,50$/1$ no-limit Hold’em – 12th to 16th April (five days)
Level 3: Stakes: 1$/2$ no-limit Hold’em – 19th to 21st April (three days)
Level 4: Stakes: 1$/2$ no-limit Hold’em – 26th to 27th April (two days)
Level 5: Stakes: 2$/4$ no-limit Hold’em – 29th to 30th April (two days)
Level 6: Stakes: 5$/10$ no-limit Hold’em – Play starts at 16:00 ET on 3rd May
Final Table: Panokset: 25$/50$ no-limit Hold’em – Play starts at 16:00 ET on 7th May

To be part of the OCGC, players must opt in before the end of level 1 and play a minimum of 400 hands on one day during each level. They can play on as many days of each level as they choose.

Armed robbers stormed the European Poker Tour’s tournament in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, reportedly making off with $1.1m.

At 2:15pm, four men believed to brandishing a handgun and a machete burst into the Grand Hyatt Hotel where the tournament was being hosted in partnership with Spielbank Berlin Casino. No shots were fired and nobody was seriously injured.

Tournament organisers EPT denied reports that the suspects had been carrying assault rifles and hand grenades and stated that the money stolen was considerably less than had been reported by the media.