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ASIA PACIFIC POKER TOUR SCHEDULE RELEASED
2009-06-24

PokerStars.com has advised dates and venues for the third season

The popular PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) will soon start it's third season, with a five venue program that includes stops in Macau, South Korea, New Zealand, the Philippines and Australia.

Poker players aiming to participate in the popular tour are advised that the program includes the following:

Macau : Grand Lisboa Casino Macau
August 24-30, 2009
Buy-in: HKD $40 000 (US $5 160)
Event restricted to 700 entries.

Seoul : Venue: 7-Luck Casino, Seoul, South Korea
September 17-20, 2009
Buy-in: US $3 000
Maximum entry field 250

Auckland : Venue: SkyCity Casino, Auckland, New Zealand
October 14-18, 2009
Buy-in: TBA
Maximum entry field of 350

Philippines : Venue: Shangri-la Mactan Resort, Cebu
November 12-15, 2009
Buy-in: PHP 100 000 (US $2 150)
Restricted to 300 entries

Sydney : Venue: StarCity Casino, Sydney, Australia
December 1-6
Buy-in AUD 6 300 (US $4 920)
Maximum field of 700 players.

Full details of the tour, and supporting online qualifiers, can be found at the PokerStars.com website.

FOLEY TAKES WSOP EVENT 39
2009-06-24

Three final survivors were all from the United States

Ray Foley (37) of Northville, Michigan, is the victor in Event #39 - the $1 500 buy-in No Limit Hold'em competition at the 2009 World Series of Poker. The event drew an entry field of 2 715 and delivered a prize pool of $3 705 975, with 26 players surviving through to the final day, where it took five hours to reach the following final table:

Seat 1: Chairud Vangchailued - 875 000
Seat 2: Tyler Spalding - 1 485 000
Seat 3: Patrick O'Connor - 580 000
Seat 4: Brandon Cantu - 880 000
Seat 5: Alex Jacob - 2 200 000
Seat 6: Ray Foley - 2 860 000 - chip leader and eventual winner
Seat 7: Richard Lutes - 1 555 000
Seat 8: Wei Mu - 1 370 000
Seat 9: Jonathan Markham - 400 000

Foley, who has played in four major live tournaments including this one to accrue career winnings of $733 031, managed to maintain his lead through much of the tournamet and into the final table action.

The Foley vs. Brandon Cantu heads up was decided when Wei Mu was eliminated in third place for a $269 609 payday. By that time Cantu had opened up a chip lead of around 1.8 million on his opponent, and half-an-hour into the game it looked as if Cantu was headed for his second WSOP bracelet.

It was not to be however, with Foley enjoying a marvellous run of cards to put the final shine on his talented play, sending Cantu to the cashier with a second placing reward of $403 951, and collecting the main prize of $657 969 and his first WSOP bracelet.

FLORIDA TO STUDY LEGALISED INTRASTATE ONLINE POKER
2009-06-24

Sunshine state joins California in taking a close look at poker possibilities

Positive news from the state of Florida is that Governor Charles Grist has signed off on a bill passed by the state legislature in May this year which authorised a detailed study of the possible impact of Internet poker on an intrastate basis.

A positive report would provide powerful leverage for the many politicians who see the regulation and licensing of online poker in the state as a strong possibility, placating poker players and providing additional tax revenues.

The bill's objective is to consider what measures may be required to protect state residents from gambling offered by offshore Internet poker sites, measures to protect the vulnerable and underaged and what impact legalised intrastate poker might have on the state's existing terrestrial poker venues.

It provides for the results of the study to be ready for consideration by the state Senate as early as December 2009.

There could also be synergy with similar moves to legalise intrastate Internet poker in the state of California. Two closely related lobbying organisations, American Poker Ventures and the Poker Voters of America have been involved in lobbying for change and have drafted the content of Bill HB225 that deals with the study in Florida.

WSOP EVENTS 36 AND 37 CONCLUDE (Update)
2009-06-22

Jeff Lissandro is king of the seven card stud genre this year and wins a second bracelet

Jeff Lissandro has done it again! The Australian-born poker pro has won his second World Series of Poker winner's bracelet this (2009) year, firmly positioning himself among the top seven card stud exponents in world poker.

It was a tough competition, with 164 entrants going after $1 541 600 in prizes for Event 37 - the $10 000 buy-in Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo World Championship. Illustrative of the high-powered nature of the field, it included Doyle Brunson, Abe Mossari, Mike Wattel, Barry Greenstein, Chau Giang, Annie Duke, Chris Ferguson, Erick Lindgren, Eli Elezra, Howard Lederer, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Daniel Negreanu, Carlos Mortensen, Phil Ivey, Justin Bonomo, Jason Mercier, Max Pescatori, Jennifer Harman, Mark Gregorich, Ted Forrest, and Dario Alioto. Also in the field were Lyle Berman, Dario Minieri, Tom Schneider, David Benyamine and Daniel Alaei.

In the three-and-a half-hour heads up it was Lissandro vs. Farzad Rouhani, with the former living up to his nickname of The Iceman and playing a controlled and strategic game to take the honours despite starting lower in chips in the heads up, along with the bracelet and the winner's prize of $431 656.

It was Lissandro's second bracelet at this 40th Anniversary World Series - last week he took down Event #16 - the $10 000 buy-in Seven Card Stud World Championship (see previous InfoPowa report) to win $124 959. He has also cashed in two other events this year.

Rouhani collected a check for $266 804 for his second placing.

Prior to playing poker full-time, Lisandro (43) was a real estate investor. He is now a top high-stakes cash game and international live tournaments player who has 45 cashes to his credit, three WSOP bracelets, 8 first place finishes in global tourneys and career winnings approaching $4 million.

Texan player Jordan Smith achieved his first WSOP bracelet in Event 36 - the $2 000 buy-in No Limit Hold'em contest, which attracted a field of 1 695 and offered a prize pool of $3 084 900. Among the starters were David Rheem, Kathy Liebert, Joe Sebok, Scott Seiver, Jonathan Little, Darus Suharto, Shaun Deeb, Jared Hamby, Lika Gerasimova, Rob Hollink, Michael Binger, Kenna James and Andy Black.

Smith, holding a small chip lead, faced Swedish player Ken Lennaard in the heads up after both survived a seven hour final table that included two female players in Almira Skripchenko and Laurence Grondin, although neither reached heads up status, finishing in seventh and third places respectively.

Smith lost and regained his lead on several occasions in the hard-fought game that followed with his Swedish rival, but in the end he managed to prevail to take the bracelet and the $586 212 main prize, leaving a worthy opponent in Ken Lennaard with respect and $360 439 as runner-up.

MICROGAMING AND UNIBET LAUNCH MARIA POKER
2009-06-18

Female friendly portal with games, chat and tutorials

The Isle of Man-based online gambling software provider Microgaming has revealed that it is powering Maria Poker, the Unibet gambling group’s newest brand which launched online today at Mariapoker.com.

Maria Poker offers feminine focused gaming as the sister site to Maria Bingo, a successful bingo portal acquired by Unibet in 2007.

Petter Nylander, CEO of Unibet and Maria Poker said: “We are excited to launch online poker on the Maria brand, which is possibly the strongest female brand in Northern Europe. By implementing Microgaming’s platform on Maria Poker we can ensure that the products we offer are the most innovative and captivating, and well suited to the fun and feminine ethos of our newest gaming portal.

"Maria Poker appeals to all levels of player and is particularly suitable for beginners as it features an online poker school, specifically designed to guide novice players through their initial gaming experience on Maria Poker. With quick tips, visual aids, step-by-step tutorials of the basic game plays, libraries and improvement techniques, they can soon learn how to hit their winning streak."

Microgaming’s new Flash Poker software will power the Maria Poker site, and feature an innovative no-lobby interface. All games selection is available directly from the poker table so that once the player has made a selection, they are seated within seconds.

Roger Raatgever, Microgaming's CEO commented: “It is a fantastic testament to our experience that Unibet has continued to trust in Microgaming’s software platform for the launch of its latest venture. There is currently a boom in female participation in gaming, so it is certain that Maria Poker is set to become an exciting portal in all countries.”