Monthly Archives: May 2023

Phil Hellmuth is in Houston for the grand opening of the new Champions Club Texas, a poker room he co-founded at its previous location a couple years ago.

Champions Club, formerly in a different area of town, is kicking off the opening of its new location in a big way with six days of high-stakes live-streamed poker that will feature some of the game's biggest stars, including Hellmuth, Shaun Deeb, Justin Young, Johnnie "Vibes" Moreno, and Dan "Jungleman" Cates, according to the card room's president, Isaac Trumbo.

Trumbo told PokerNews the room's soft opening took place April 29 with the grand opening festivities beginning May 6. The building, previously a Hampton Inn hotel, has been renovated and is a one-of-a-kind property for Texas poker rooms.

In Texas, most poker clubs are located in strip malls or stand-alone buildings. There aren't any attached to hotels, which isn't always convenient for those traveling to play cards. Well, there weren't any, but now there is one in Houston.

Trumbo said the old location "was a nice club, but it was poorly situated and hard to get to." He anticipates the new spot, located in the popular Asiatown district, will be easier for players from all over to access.

Champions Club will have some advantages over its competition, most notably the fact it has a full-scale hotel attached, something that is especially beneficial to players from outside the Houston area. Trumbo referred to the new Champions as a "warm and inviting" establishment.

The room has 20 tables and will offer both tournaments and cash games. In the future, Trumbo anticipates hosting a major poker series, but will soon have daily tournaments available. Players can also indulge in a juicy steak in the on-site restaurant and lounge, and we're told the food is on point.

Hellmuth, along with poker legend Dewey Tomko, is a partner, investor, and co-founder of Champions Club, and he's going all-in to promote his card room starting Friday, May 12 at 3:00 p.m. CT when he appears on the room's live-stream for some $100/$200 no-limit hold'em action.

Deeb, who won a $5,000 buy-in tournament at The Lodge in Austin on Thursday, will make the three-hour drive to Houston to compete on the stream for at least one session. Hellmuth will play each day for the next 6-7 days on the stream for five hours, potentially longer depending when the card room decides to end the show. Beyond the aforementioned poker pros scheduled to compete this coming week on the stream, there will be a number of Texas poker regulars in the various games, including Kim Stone (Saturday) and her fianc Hayden Fortini (Tuesday).

On Saturday, the game will be $5/$10/$25 no-limit hold'em, followed by $25/$50/$100 on Sunday and Monday. PokerGO announcers Brent Hanks and Jeff Platt will handle the commentary duties all week long.

Trumbo's goal with the card room's new location is to "elevate poker in Texas overall." What he means by that is to conduct business the right way and not to cut corners or operate illegally. In Texas, it's illegal to collect rake, so the rooms that are abiding by the law charge membership and seat fees instead.

There are some influential people in the Longhorn State who take an anti-poker stance and would love for nothing more than to see every poker club shut down across the state. But Trumbo's working with some competitors on a mutual push to reword Texas Penal Code Chapter 47 so that there is no doubt in anyone's mind as to the legality of poker.

Trumbo referred to two of his biggest competitors Doug Polk (The Lodge) and Ryan Crow (Texas Card House) as "likeminded people," and praised their commitment to assisting him with the Texans for Texas Hold'em group that lobbies against anti-poker legislation.

"Doug Polk is poker's greatest influencer," Trumbo said of the poker superstar who owns the largest card room in the state.

Champions Club originally attempted to open a card room in Dallas, but ran into some zoning issues that shuttered the poker aspect of the operations. Trumbo said they're still working on eventually bringing a second poker club to the Dallas area. For now, Hellmuth's poker business will focus on building its newest location into the premiere place to play poker in Houston.

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Phil Hellmuth's Texas Poker Room is Having an Epic Grand Opening - PokerNews.com

Vanessa Selbst participates in the WSOP Main Event at the Rio in Las Vegas on July 14, 2012. (Las Vegas Review-Journal file)

Women have been a force at the World Series of Poker since the first event for women was held in 1977.

Vera Richmond was the first woman to win an open WSOP event in 1982, and women captured an open-field event for 10 consecutive years at the WSOP from 2012 to 2021.

Here are the top five female players in WSOP history:

1. Vanessa Selbst

The graduate of Yale law school is one of four women with three WSOP bracelets for tournament victories and is the only woman to win three open-field events. Selbst has more than $2.2 million in career WSOP earnings, tops on the womens WSOP all-time money list.

2. Kristen Foxen

The Canadian joins Selbst, Barbara Enright and Nani Dollison as the only women with three WSOP bracelets. After winning the WSOP Ladies Championship in 2013, Foxen added two more bracelets in open events and has more than $1.3 million in career WSOP earnings.

3. Loni Hui

A native of Staten Island, New York, Hui owns two bracelets, both coming in open events. Hui also has won five times on the WSOP Circuit, and her career WSOP earnings of more than $1.9 million rank fourth on the womens WSOP all-time money list.

4. Jennifer Harman

One of four women to win two open-field WSOP events. Harman excels at all variants, earning her bracelets in limit holdem and 2-7 Draw Lowball. She has more than $1.5 million in career WSOP earnings and was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame in 2015.

5. Barbara Enright

A member of the Poker Hall of Fame, Enright is a three-time WSOP bracelet winner. She captured the WSOP Ladies Championship twice (1986 and 1994) and also is the only woman to reach the final table of the WSOP Main Event, finishing fifth in 1995.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.

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5 best all-time women players in the World Series of Poker - Las Vegas Review-Journal

The online poker market is an ever-growing industry, with millions of players around the world participating in cash games, tournaments, and various series every single day. But how healthy is the industry? According to a report published by Zion Market Research, its doing well and is predicted to be worth a massive $237.5 billion by 2030.

In 2003, the industry got a huge boost from the victory of a then unknown amateur player named Chris Moneymaker in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. The American won his seat in an online satellite, and ended up going home with $2.5 million in prize money.

After this happened, everyone started to believe that if he could do it then so could they. The rest,as they say, is history. People were signing up to online poker sites left and right and the poker boom was born.

Smartphones and tablet use is expected to be a helpful driving force for the digital game in the coming years. Easy access to online poker and casino games around the world is benefiting the industry significantly.

Moreover, technological advancements in payment methods have made it easier for players to make deposits and withdrawals. The availability of various payment options like digital currencies, credit cards, and e-wallets have made transactions faster, secure and convenient, thereby boosting the growth of the market.

The growth of online poker has been driven by various factors such as increasing internet density, technological advancements, and easy availability of cost-effective mobile applications for betting. The use of digital currencies in online games has also contributed to the growth of the market. The growth of online poker is expected to continue in the coming years, driven by the growing popularity of mobile devices and the internet.

The lack of uniform regulations also makes it difficult for players to know which sites are safe and trustworthy. Players need to be cautious when selecting online poker sites, as some may not be licensed or regulated. This can put players at risk of fraud or other types of scams.

The online poker market is a multi-billion dollar industry that has been growing steadily over the years. The growth of the market is driven by various factors such as increasing internet density, technological advancements, and easy availability of cost-effective mobile applications for betting. The use of digital currencies in online games has also contributed to the growth of the market.

The proliferation of smartphones and the internet has made online poker more accessible and convenient, thereby increasing its popularity. The use of technologies such as VR and AI has also helped improve the gaming experience and create new potential for growth in the market. However, regulatory challenges remain a major challenge for the online poker market, and companies need to be cautious when operating in certain markets.

Overall, the online poker market is expected to continue growing in the coming years, driven by the increasing popularity of mobile devices.

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Online Poker to Be Worth $237.5 Billion by 2030 - HighstakesDB

My mother and I have been playing poker together for nearly twenty-five years. For Christmas recently, I wanted to give her a gift that encompassed our shared passion. I hired a bespoke calligraphist to draw something up, all curlicues and gold foil. My mother peeled open the envelope and pulled out the note. It read, Merry Christmas, Mom. This certificate may be redeemed for a weeklong, all-expenses-paid vacation to Las Vegas, Nevada, and $1,000 for use at a poker table of your choice. May you always catch on the river.

The author and his mother happened to be in Las Vegas at the same time as the World Series of Poker, the most anticipated poker event in the world.

She began to cry. A trip to Vegas to play cards: the one thing we had always talked about doing together.

My mother learned how to play as a teen, from a group of guy friends at her Massachusetts high school, and it wasnt long before she began playing competitively. She moved to Houston in her early twenties and played there, too, primarily sticking to underground games. But she stopped after marrying my father, moving near her hometown, and giving birth to me and my sister, all in quick succession. My mother abandoned that aspect of her identity in the face of new responsibilities and for the rewards of family life. But she always stowed a deck of cards in our junk drawer. She taught me how to play at our dining-room table, a flash of her former life trickling into motherhood.

The authors bespoke Christmas card to his mother.

By 2000, when I turned thirteen, my fathers tile business was flourishing. That year, he and my mother finished building a wide-set, two-story colonial with a sunny kitchen and a deck that overlooked the broad backyard: their American dream home. Then, eight months later, my father suddenly dieda stroke on the small yellow couch in the living room. He and my mother had worked for so long to save up for that house, had managed to secure a mortgage they werent quite qualified for even while he was alive. And now our family had no income.

My mother realized that the best way she could pay the bills on time was to start playing poker again. She ran the numbers: She could make more money at the card table than at the minimum-wage jobs that were the alternative. She reunited with cards like long-lost best friendspassionately, longingly, both nostalgic and hopeful. She began chasing games wherever she could find them: inside basements with underground tables in our area, in regulated card rooms in New Hampshire, at high-stakes tournaments in Connecticut casinos. She played on weekdays and weekends, logging enough hours most weeks to count it as a full-time job.

My sister and I supported her eccentric vocation. Our mother was home every day when we returned from schoola small token of stability in a household that needed it. Most evenings, she left us at home, but we didnt mind; dinner was always waiting for us in the refrigerator, our clothes were always washed and folded, the house was always clean. Most mornings, on my way out the door for school, Id spot the previous nights earnings spilling out of her purse. The routine became normal for me. She never spoke to us in such terms, not then, but family survival was what motivated herto save the home that stood as a physical manifestation of her and my fathers upward mobility, to not give up on all shed accomplished so far. And she always seemed to come out ahead, each year taking home roughly $25,000 in winnings.

The author and his parents, circa 1988.

My mother had first started playing poker for the fun and for the intellectual challenge. Returning to competition twenty years later, she rediscovered old pleasures. She was playing not only to make money but also as an emotional escape. At the table, she wasnt a single mother without a steady job mourning her husbands death. It was the only place she felt comfortable playing the villain, cutthroat and cruel, lying to strangers faces and getting paid for it. I love having a nemesis at the table, she once told me. It gives me purpose. To this day, at every table, she picks a player and slowly, steadily, hand by hand, tries to destroy them.

To some people, poker is just a card game, a way to pass the time. For me and my mother, its a window into our identity, our way of understanding a world that at times can seem unforgiving. I began joining my mother in basement games around town in 2003, when I was sixteen. Ever since, poker has formed a bond between us, a mutual love, a prism through which I can see her not just as my mother but as a three-dimensional person who carries deep heartache and immense responsibility. Though it took me years to realize it, I now understand exactly how high the stakes were each time she sat down at a card table: It was the only way she knew how to keep living.

She and I played together over the years, catching games when I visited from college and, after I moved to Brooklyn in 2009, meeting for weekend getaways to Foxwoods Casino, in Connecticut. By then, having borrowed against the American dream home shortly before the financial crisis hitfor her, a desperate bid to buy some time; for the bank, just another line of credit during the mortgage-backed-securities boommy mother was struggling to pay her debts. Poker no longer covered the bills; she stopped paying the mortgage. The dream homes value plummeted. Eventually, the bank took it, and she used her nest egg to buy, in cash, a tiny, very cheap fixer-upper a couple towns over.

The familys american dream home, shortly before the 2008 financial crisis that led them to lose it.

The loss hit my mother like a swinging hook after the jab of my fathers death. It crushed me to know that shed made the riskiest bet of her lifetaking that second mortgageand lost. When she moved out, I couldnt bring myself to help. Ive visited the house only once since then, in 2018, soon after I began dating my now-fiance, on a driving tour of my hometown. I nearly burst into tears as soon as I turned into the driveway, seeing all my mother had lost.

And yet, as the years passed, we kept making the time to play cards together. That longing never left us. Poker has been the only constant in my mothers turbulent life, and the thing that has kept us close.

My mother had been to Vegas beforeone of her sisters lives therebut this was the first time she was going exclusively to play cards. To compete. We chose to stay at the Bellagio, located at the bleeding heart of the Strip, boasting a card room that many players consider to be the center of the poker universe. After landing, my mother and I took a cab to the hotel-slash-casino, handed our bags to the bellhop, and looked up at the thirty-six floors towering above us, all limestone and marble. The humidity hung in the air like thick smoke. We were drawn inside, as if the building carried its own gravity, were a planet unto itself.

Coincidentally, the World Series of Poker, the games most anticipated annual event, was taking place at a neighboring casino while we were in town. Wed planned to stick to the small-stakes tables at the Bellagio, but we decided to try our luck at one of the Series many tournaments. The next morning, we walked to the banquet hall where the event was being held, each paid a $500 entry fee, and entered. Hundreds of players packed the room. The sound of chips clattering on dozens of tables filled the space. My mother wished me luck, then found her assigned seat across the room. Maybe it was because we hadnt played in a while, or maybe it was because of the intimidating glitz and glamour of the World Series, but we both played poorly, our stacks dwindled, and we quickly busted out.

The author and his mother, immediately upon arriving at the Bellagio.

We licked our wounds at a small taco stand, boasting about our most beautiful playswe each had exactly oneand brooding over our worst, of which there were many. As we ate, she opened her purse and pulled out two black poker chips, World Series of Poker emblazoned on the front. You took them off the table? I asked, shocked. We both knew pocketing tournament chips was against the rules.

She had. When the dealers attention turned elsewhere, she explained, she palmed the chips and dropped them into the strategically placed purse at her feet. Her own personal Oceans Eleven. She looked at me and smiled as she reached for another taco. Our little memento.

I beamed. These chips were a tiny symbol of the long and sometimes reckless lengths shed go to just to create memories for us to share.

For the rest of the trip, we played every night at the Bellagio. We fell into a groove; after just a few sessions, we each pocketed a neat little profit of a few hundred dollars. My mother quickly cemented a reputationnot as a little old lady, a tourist trying to make good, but as someone who commands respect. Since my father died, she has carried this ethos of fearlessness, even in the direst of circumstances. Its the thing Ive always respected about her most.

One night, the author took his mother to a restaurant overlooking the Bellagios famed water fountains.

One night, I took her out to dinner at a fancy restaurant that overlooked the Bellagios famed water fountains. We sat at a table by the window and watched the choreographed spurts and the bright lights. She explained that while things had been rocky for her recently, shed begun meditating to ease her internal pain. An insomnia that had troubled her ever since she lost my fatherfor a while, he haunted her dreamshad started abating. Through trial and error, shed found an especially useful method: She conjured up a large box into which she stuffed all her troubles, all her regrets, all the things she wished she had done differently and the things she knew were out of her control. Into the box they went, then she snapped the lid shut until the next morning, when she awoke to start living all over again.

Just then something occurred to me. You do the same thing when you sit down at the poker table, I said.

She nodded, still watching the water fountains. Yes, she said. Youre right.

Playing poker with my mother has made me realize that life isnt anything more than a series of well-timed bets, and that sometimes things dont work out and theres nothing you can do about it. A run of bad cardsduring a poker game or in lifecannot be escaped, only endured.

Which is why our trip to Las Vegas was so special, so necessary. So much had changed since my father died and my mother resumed playing poker. Gone were the dreams of small-town entrepreneurship that shed shared with my father, and with them the baton of upward mobility. The only thing made real for her over the past two decades was this: It was a fallacy to think that youd be rewarded for doing everything right, that class could easily be transcended, that hard work and a plan would always pay off. Our trip to Las Vegas taught me that I play because I want to but she plays because she must. For her, money isnt the only thing on the line; in this zero-sum game, her identity is, too.

On our last night in town, we joined a lively session. Everyone at the table bet big. By 11:00, I was up by more than $1,000 and my mother was close behind. On the next hand, my mother locked horns with two other players, who quickly raised the stakes as the hand progressed, culminating with both of them going all-in before the river, as the last communal card is known, was dealt.

My mother knew that if she caught the card she needed, shed win. She pushed all her chips into the middle. I call, she said. She turned over her hand: a king and a ten, both diamonds.

The dealer peeled the river: the eight of diamonds. Which meant my mother had a flush, the best hand at the table. She jumped out of her chair, thrust her arms skyward, and yelped with joy.

After stacking her chips into neat little pilesshed won nearly $600she leaned over and whispered into my ear, Just like you said in your note, honey: May you always catch on the river. We smiled at each other, placed our bets, and began the next hand.

IanFrisch is a Brooklyn-based journalist and the author of MAGIC IS DEAD: My Journey Into the World's Most Secretive Society of Magicians. He has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, and New York Magazine, among others.

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My Mother, the Poker Shark - Esquire

Alabama lawmakers are cashing out their poker chips on gambling and lottery legislation before the dealer calls a game.

Not one gaming-related bill has been introduced this spring requesting a vote on a constitutional amendment to legalize any form of gambling after repeated attempts over the past decade and two years after a comprehensive gaming package almost squeaked out of the Legislature during the waning days of the session.

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It is now close to a quarter century since voters last got a chance to decide if the state should have a lottery. Only five states remain without one.

With only nine legislative days left, I dont anticipate any gaming package introduction this session, said state Rep. Andy Whitt, R-Harvest, who Alabama House leadership assigned to handle issues related to gambling initiatives.

Whitt said a group of around nine House lawmakers are formulating a plan perhaps, for the 2024 session -- that could represent a breakaway from the previous comprehensive gambling strategy backed by the Alabama Senate.

Could that finally mean a vote on the lottery for the first time since 1999?

All future bets are on the table, Whitt said.

Our approach is detailed, open to new ideas and not driven by the desires of gaming interests and their lobbyists, Whitt said. Previous gaming study commissions have tried and failed, so we will use those failures as a roadmap of what not to do. In all candor, the previous legislative efforts were driven by what best served the gaming interests, and their high-paid lobbyists, but this effort is being driven solely by what will best serve the people of Alabama.

He added, Rather than taking a 10,000-foot view of Alabamas gaming options, our group is looking at the issue through a microscope and determining the pros and cons of each option.

Whitts comments come after State Senator Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, continued to push for the Alabama House to originate a proposal. He said that previous gaming measures were backed in the Senate, only to flounder when they got to the House, including the 2021 package.

The Senate has done our job, he said. We have on several occasions. Unless the House takes it up and at least give it a debate time, there is no need for us to waste our time on it.

Albritton said he was surprised, however, that not one bill was introduced this session.

Not much has been said about the issue, either, from legislative leaders or from Alabama Gov. Kay Iveys office. Ivey was vocal about her support for the 2021 legislation.

I was under the impression there would be several bills, Albritton said. One bill to allow sports gaming and a bill prepared to do online gaming. There was a bill to do a straight lottery that was also being worked on.

Whitt said there is no timetable for rolling out a new proposal. He said his group was told to take the time necessary to get a full picture and then to suggest a commonsense, comprehensive, workable plan, and build the support necessary to pass it through both chambers.

Indeed, with all gambling options off the table, Alabama will continue to be among the few states without legalized gambling of any form that produces revenues for state and local governments.

Gambling expansion opponents such as Greg Davis, president and CEO of Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), an organization that lobbies the Legislature on behalf of churches say the pause is only temporary.

He anticipates the push for gambling to heat up in 2024, ahead of the November presidential elections when the issue could appear on the ballot for the first time since 1999.

Davis said he believes opponents will be able to get their say in quashing future considerations.

Davis said he is not surprised by a lack of any gambling bills introduced this session.

He noted that newly appointed Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville, signaled in February there was no momentum for a gambling package this spring. Part of the hesitation is due to the large freshman class in the Alabama House 31 of 105 House members are new.

Albritton told AL.com in February that he did not believe the influx of political newbies was a good enough excuse, noting that gambling has been before lawmakers for more than two decades.

The heavy hitters on the issue are still angling for a comprehensive package, though they realize nothing is happening this year.

The 2021 plan included a lottery, six new casinos, sports betting, and a statewide regulatory commission.

Four of the casinos would have been at the states greyhound tracks in Birmingham, Mobile, Greene County and Macon County where parimutuel and some video racing is already allowed. A casino would have been placed in Houston County. The sixth would have been in northeast Alabama and operated by the Poarch Band of Creek Indians under a compact with the state.

The longer this issue is not addressed, unregulated, illegal gaming will continue, said Kristin Hellmich, spokesperson with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, the only federally recognized Indian tribe in Alabama and the only operators of gambling casinos.

The tribes Wind Creek Hospitality group operates hotels and casinos in Atmore, Wetumpka, and Montgomery. All three are on sovereign territory and are authorized for Class I and II gaming under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) bingo and non-banked card games.

The state does not receive revenues from the bingo games.

As a result (of a lack of a legislative gambling plan), Alabamians will continue to not benefit from hundreds of millions in tax revenues that are being lost each year, Hellmich said.

Some lawmakers say the timing isnt ripe for a gambling push. They said the state is flush with revenues, noting an all-time high Education Trust Fund that includes a whopping $2.8 billion surplus.

Its hard to do gambling at a time when you have plenty of money to spend, said state Senator Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro. Thats the essence of it. The gambling bills (in the past) have come with the ability to fill gaps for different funding sources.

He added, Weve got $2.8 billion in the education budget, and (approximately) $1.3 billion in General Funds. We got more money than gambling could bring to us.

Said State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne, We have huge budget surpluses and the need, if you will, for additional revenue from gaming is not nearly as great as it has been in the past. Thats dampening the enthusiasm as there was in the past.

Alabama, according to a 2020 report from a gambling policy study group, is leaving a lot of money at the table by not having casino or online gambling, sports betting, and lottery.

Danny Sheridan, the legendary oddsmaker and Mobile native, said too much money is leaving Alabama to surrounding states that have casinos and lotteries. He advocates for lawmakers to negotiate a compact with the Poarch Band of Creek Indians for $500 million a year or open up casino gambling and sports betting to competition.

If you dont have competition, you cheat the state out of hundreds of millions of dollars, Sheridan said.

Read more on this topic: Alabamas future with gambling: Dont bet on it

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Where are the gambling bills? Alabama cashes out its poker chips before political game begins - AL.com

The PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) stop at the five-star NagaWorld Integrated Resort in the Kingdom of Cambodia has determined a winner in the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event. Out of a field of 476 entries, Chao-Ting Cheng and Junnie Pamplona shared the biggest slice of the $623,322 prize pool after cutting a heads-up deal.

It only took 13 hands from there on for Cheng to overcome a small chip deficit and claim the golden shard trophy that had still been up for grabs along with $94,448 for the efforts. Runner-up Pamplona won his seat in a PokerStars LIVE Manila live qualifier for 6,600 Philippine Pesos ($120), which included the tournament entry and hotel package, and made it almost all the way to victory with just one bullet to claim $101,647 for the efforts.

Pamplona narrowly missed a career-best score on the live poker circuit, which he previously set in the 2022 WPT Prime Cambodia $1,100 Main Event right here in the grand ballroom at Naga 1.

Ting-Yi "Eric" Tsai and Hua-Wei Lin also represented Taiwan on the final table, finishing in third and seventh place respectively. Colombia's Jimmy Torres followed up an 18th place in the 2023 EPT Monte-Carlo Main Event with another deep run while on a poker and vacation trip to Asia alongside fellow countryman Mauricio Salazar Sanchez.

Final Result 2023 APPT Cambodia $1,500 Main Event

*denotes ICM deal of the final two players

The final nine players returned to their seats at 1 p.m. local time, and the average stack was very deep, yet it took just six and a half hours to determine a champion. Especially the opening stages brought several all-in showdowns, and the field was already cut down to just four contenders on the first break with the short stack holding 48 big blinds to their name.

Vietnam's Bien Mai, who already had two runner-up finishes and a win to his name in the last two months in the Asia-Pacific region, was the first to bow out. In the third hand of the final table, Mai's king-queen suited flipped versus pocket eights, and Cheng made quads.

Curtis Lim aimed to parlay the same pocket pair into success but Jimmy Torres held up with pocket queens to reduce the field to the final seven in a matter of minutes. Hua-Wei Lin was outflipped by Eric Tsai, and Kien Tat Heng swiftly followed when he ran with jack-nine suited into the pocket kings of Cheng. Evgenii Nekrasov lost a portion of his stack to end up second-best with tens against Pamplona's king-queen.

That wrapped up the first two hours of frantic poker action, and the deep-stacked part of the final table commenced. Tsai pulled ahead of the pack by some margin before a pivotal all-in showdown unfolded. Torres had dropped to a short stack and open-jammed with eight-seven suited, which Tsai called. Pamplona found another premium pair in pocket kings to isolate, and Tsai folded as Pamplona soared to the top of the leaderboard.

Cheng was on the verge of becoming the third-place finisher after his stack plummeted to a mere 12 big blinds. However, he doubled back into contention through Pamplona and chipped up. The inevitable clash between both contenders from Taiwan then followed in which Cheng's ace-queen rivered a flush to crack the pocket queens of Tsai.

Ten hands into heads-up play, Cheng's pocket queens secured a large double against the flopped top pair of Pamplona, and it was all over three hands later. Pamplona slow-played pocket aces in the big blind with a min-raise, and Cheng flopped quads to lock up the victory.

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Chao-Ting Cheng Wins the 2023 APPT Cambodia $1500 Main ... - PokerNews.com

The Annual Toy and Poker Run is back and set for May 27, a chance to come out in the Cold Lake community and enjoy a donation BBQ with burgers and hot dogs.

When a toy is donated you receive a ticket that will be entered into a draw to win a prize, all prizes are donated from local businesses.

This is our seventh year doing the toy run and we have added in the poker run to generate a little bit more money. We collect toys and give them to the Lakeland hospitals, and any money generated through the donation-only BBQ and the poker run will go to Valour Place in Edmonton, said Chris Smithers, Organizer.

I didnt know until a few years ago that when kids are in there overnight or a couple of days that they are given a toy and that toy they can take home with them as a comfort thing and thats the reason we collect.

The Poker Run is $20 per hand, $30 with passenger. Kickstands are up at 10:00 a.m. and the best hand to win gets $200 and a prize.

In 2017 the UN NATO Veterans began a Motorcycle Toy Run to benefit the Lakeland hospitals and Valour Place in Edmonton for the ill and injured veterans, RCMP, Canadian Armed Forces members, first responders, and their family members who require medical treatment in Edmonton, but live elsewhere.

We chose these groups to benefit from our event because they both directly impact the Lakeland community and as veterans, we feel strongly about looking after those in service to Canada and providing comfort to children in need, said Smithers.

Last year we raised $2600 for Valour Place and two large containers of new toys for the Lakeland.

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Cold Lake Toy Drive and Poker Run coming back for 7th year - Lakeland Connect

Stuff

Shane Tamihana, also known as Shane Thompson, was considered Hawkes Bays biggest meth dealer. (File photo)

A jailed poker champ once regarded as Hawkes Bays biggest methamphetamine dealer has failed to convince the Supreme Court he has a reasonable argument for reducing his non-parole period.

Shane Tamihana, who also goes by the name Shane Thompson, was well known on the national poker circuit before being jailed for 13 years in 2018 after pleading guilty to having the lead role in a $4.2 million methamphetamine ring.

At Tamihanas sentencing, Judge Geoff Rea said he was the most comprehensive methamphetamine dealer Hawkes Bay has ever seen and [the offending] puts you up there on a national scale over the last 10 years as well.

Rea imposed a minimum non parole period of 6 years, making him ineligible for parole prior to November 2024.

READ MORE:* Supreme Court throws out slave trader's bid to overturn conviction * Man sentenced to three years in prison after stabbing at Hawke's Bay holiday park* Judge gives meth dealer a chance with 'extremely merciful' sentence

Over an 11-month period in 2016 and 2017 Tamihana had pushed $4.2 million worth of meth into the Hawke's Bay region.

Police found a further 2.6kg of meth at a co-offenders property and more than $170,000 total in cash.

Tamihana was a high-flying poker champ and a frequent visitor of Aucklands Sky City Casino. (File photo)

In 2019, Tamihana was one of six meth offenders involved in a groundbreaking appeal to the Court of Appeal (known as Zhang v R), which resulted in a judgment that opened the door for judges to consider imposing more lenient sentences for offenders who played lesser roles.

Tamihana and Jing Zhang were the only two offenders to have their appeals dismissed. Others had their sentences quashed and lessened.

Following his unsuccessful appeal, Tamihana appealed to the Supreme Court seeking an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal.

Tamihana wanted to challenge the weight that had been given to his personal circumstances and how those factors might affect the term of his minimum non-parole period. He also wanted to argue that the imposition of a non-parole period eroded the impact of a guilty plea.

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Patrick Gower investigates New Zealand's methamphetamine epidemic in Patrick Gower: On P. (Video first published in May 2021)

In a judgment released on Wednesday, the panel of Supreme Court judges ruled that the Court of Appeal had recognised that Tamihanas personal circumstances required closer consideration but, after undertaking that consideration, it was still decided that the minimum non-parole period was appropriate.

Nothing raised by the applicant calls into question that assessment. We see no appearance of a miscarriage of justice in the approach adopted to this case, the judges said.

Tamihanas application for an extension of time to apply for leave to appeal was dismissed.

Last year Tamihana had a house and more than $90,000 confiscated by the Crown under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Read more here:

Drug-dealing poker champ fails in bid to reduce his non-parole period - Stuff

Phil Galfond has written a public statement about Doug Polk, following a significant backlash related to recent news over his legal dispute with Fernando JNandez Habegger, and accusations of bullying made by Matt Berkey and Charlie Carrel. In response, Polk issued a public apology on Twitter.

Galfond's blog post not only highlighted these recent events but also added his own opinions to the matter. He commended those who spoke out about Polk's character assassinations when he wouldn't, and suggested that Polk has always had a cruel streak, even before he gained fame within the poker world. Galfond wrote that Polk's motivation to hurt people emotionally is clear, for some unknown and likely complex reason.

The reaction throughout the poker community to Galfond's blog post has mostly been positive, with many applauding his persuasive, balanced, and elegant writing. It remains to be seen how Polk will respond to this criticism. Galfond's statement insinuates that when we are discussing bullying in the poker community, Polk is often at the forefront.

Read more here:

Phil Galfond Posts Public Statement on Bullying in the Poker Community - PokerTube

Mickey pictured with Muhammad Ali in 1983

Mickey, as he was affectionately known, was a professional poker player from Wolverhampton who, following a long battle with cancer, passed away on April 18 aged 78. And perhaps unsurprisingly, tributes to the man dubbed the "Legend" of poker have been pouring in since his death.

Mr Wernick championed the game throughout his life and was crowned the number one player in Europe in 2005.

Born to a Jewish family on July 2, 1944, in Warsaw, Poland, the poker player moved to Wolverhampton shortly before the Second World War.

After leaving Whitmore Secondary Modern School, Mr Wernick worked at the family business known then as S Wernick & Sons with his father, Solly Wernick.

He grew up a keen boxer, having been crowned the Midlands Lightweight Amateur Champion title at aged 16, and even had the chance to meet Muhammad Ali on his visit to Birmingham in 1983.

And he was in his father's corner when he stepped down as chairman of the family business in 1967 to open Wolverhampton's first casino, The Oasis Club, based at a hotel on Queen Street.

The family were also the owners of two other venues in the city, including the Polynesian Casino on Darlington Street which they opened in the late 70s, and a betting office on Worcester Street.

Mr Wernick was also a familiar face to many in the 1980s at the Monmore Green and Cradley Heath Greyhound Stadiums, where he regularly cashed bets.

But it was later in life when the second stage of his poker career began, frequenting to Las Vegas on a regular basis to compete against players from across the globe.

Nicknamed the "Grandfather" of poker due to his many years of experience, Mr Wernick's skill led him to take home $100,000 after competing in The Grand Prix of Poker, which was introduced by The Golden Nugget Hotel in the 1980s.

He also reached the quarter-finals in the 2003 World Heads Up Poker Championship, where he lost to the eventual winner, John Cernuto.

Though it wasn't just on the poker scene where Mickey was thought of as the best, having been described by his daughter, Vicki, as a "caring" and "loving" father.

She added: "In my dad's later life, I always told him he was the richest man I knew because he was loved by so many people for all the right reasons. No wealth or fortune could ever buy the love that he received he was the King of our hearts.

"Everyone who knew him knew he was so warm and family-orientated, I know everyone says it about their dad but he really was a lovely dad.

"We had a very special relationship. He was always caring and considering, thoughtful and loving. I don't know how to put into words how he was, he was funny, he was everything-in-one a lovely, lovely man.

"He always had a really good outlook on life. If he lost loads of money or things had gone bad he just never gave up. He believed in people and helped people, he was very generous and kind, even if he wasn't doing well or one of his friends was in a worse position than him he always gave what he could he's left a massive hole in our lives.

"He taught us to always do the best you could and always think positive, his cup was always half full and he sort of instilled that outlook in us to always look on the bright side of everything and believe in yourself and other people."

Mickey has been featured in the Express & Star several times over the years, including once for the announcement of his marriage to Miss Helga Maria Coleman on August 10, 1967.

The couple shared two children together, Vicki, 50 and David, 53, and eventually divorced, with the poker player moving to Sutton Coldfield in the 1990's where he met his partner, Dawn Grosevner, who he shares three children with, namely Nicky, 40, Jack, 31, Joel, 29 and Tyler, 28.

Mr Wernick is also survived by his two sisters, Lesley and Janet, and his five grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held to honour his life at the Sutton Coldfield Crematorium on May 22 at 3.15pm.

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Tributes to Wolverhampton's legend of poker Mickey Wernick who ... - Express & Star