Harrah's License Company, LLC, an affiliate of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. , will launch the fourth season of its popular World Series of Poker Circuit with an expanded schedule of 12 tournament stops that will bring high-stakes poker action and excitement to players at nine Harrah's casinos around the country.

"Strong customer demand prompted us to add another event to the Circuit schedule," said WSOP(TM) Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack. "Each event brings the thrills and excitement of the WSOP to poker players & women poker players at the local and regional level."

Players who win the $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'Em Circuit championship at any host property will receive a seat in the 2008 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas. Each Circuit stop offers events with affordable buy-ins and even lower- priced satellites, which award winners seats in official events for a fraction of the official buy-in. Play route 66 poker.

The 2007-08 World Series of Poker Circuit begins Aug. 29, 2007, at Grand Casino Tunica and includes stops at Harrah's casinos in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, New Orleans, Indiana, Iowa and California.

Beginning November 2 at Caesars Indiana, Bluff Media will provide live online poker television hole-card coverage of final-table play at each Circuit Main Event.

The schedule for the 2007-08 WSOP Circuit includes:

Property - Dates*
Grand Casino Tunica Aug. 29-Sept. 13, 2007
Caesars Indiana Oct. 17-Nov. 2, 2007
Harvey's Tahoe Nov. 3-13, 2007
Harrah's New Orleans Nov. 26-Dec. 5, 2007
Harrah's Atlantic City Dec. 8-18, 2007
Grand Casino Tunica Jan. 3-22, 2008
Harrah's Rincon San Diego North Jan. 27-Feb. 7, 2008
Horseshoe Council Bluffs Feb. 18-27, 2008
Caesars Atlantic City Mar. 5-15, 2008
Caesars Indiana Apr. 2-16, 2008
Caesars Palace Las Vegas April 20-May 1, 2008
Harrah's New Orleans May 9-21, 2008

*Circuit schedules are subject to change. More information on individual Circuit events, including event schedules and structure sheets, can be found at www.worldseriesofpoker.com.

The WSOP brand is owned by Harrah's License Company, LLC an affiliate of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc., and WSOP Circuit and poker tournament events are operated by a various subsidiaries and affiliates of Harrah's Entertainment, Inc. . Harrah's is the world's largest provider of branded casino entertainment through its operating subsidiaries. Since its beginning in Reno, Nevada, nearly 70 years ago, Harrah's has grown through development of new properties, expansions and acquisitions, and now owns or manages casinos on four continents. Play $500 match poker bonus. The company's properties operate primarily under the Harrah's(R), Caesars(R) and Horseshoe(R) brand names; Harrah's also owns the London Clubs International family of casinos. Harrah's Entertainment is focused on building loyalty and value with its customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence and technology leadership.

Poker News Source: CNN Money

Poker has been spoiled by TV tournaments and players schooled online. In the battle for the big payoff, wit and camaraderie have been trumped by computer logic and greed.

A week and a half ago, Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old Southern California psychologist and social worker, won the 2007 World Series of Poker championship -- and $8.25 million. A pretty impressive feat, considering that Yang has played poker for only two years, and won his $10,000 entry fee via a local Indian casino $225 satellite tournament (a spectacular parlay in which winning a smaller tournament provided the entry fee for the larger tournament). Like the other winners in the past four years, he was a relative novice who honed his successful aggressive style by playing online poker.

Winning the World Series of Poker championship is every poker player's dream. When you have outplayed over 6,000 players, you are, if only until the next tournament, "the world's best." Unlike soon-to-be-anonymous lottery winners, the WSOP champion is guaranteed a life-altering series of financial arrangements, ranging from online poker site endorsements that have paid millions per year, to $50,000-a-day corporate guest appearances, to a free Las Vegas penthouse condominium in return for plastering one's face on Vegas airport billboards. Tournament-winning players like the notoriously self-marketing Phil Hellmuth have become household names, hustling everything from poker video games to instructional DVDs on how to beat other players selling similar DVDs. In the few years since poker has been prominently televised, major U.S. poker tournaments have become the third most-watched "sport" on TV, trailing football and NASCAR.

But this is not the same game that once was America's Friday-night kitchen table staple -- a group of guys and gals gathered over chips, beer, cigars and swaggers, laughing and bluffing. Poker now bears little resemblance to serious cash-game poker once played in a dimly lit Las Vegas backroom by a Damon Runyon-esque collection of high-octane gamblers, bookies, off-season oil riggers, rodeo champs, denizens of the underworld and slumming celebrities who gave poker its color. That was a time when the best players & women poker players were those who knew both cards and people, sly self-promoters like Amarillo Slim and Stu Ungar who lived off their wits and cunning, including peddling the romantic image of the professional gambler.

Back then, those of us who loved poker would fly to Las Vegas to learn the game from the best, patiently watching and gathering experience, studying how Johnny Moss or Jack Strauss played a particular hand, until we had our personal memorized database of what was thought to be optimal play. Experience was considered a form of wisdom; improving one's game required much face-to-face poker playing, observation of players' styles, patterns of betting, tells, and sharing of stories and strategies. Download poker wallpapers. Poker was a social game; good playing required an understanding of probabilities and psychology. Equally important were the social skills that would attract lesser (losing) players.

Not anymore. The vast majority of new young players have primarily learned to play poker online. They have honed their skills with the aid of computer simulations and data mining -- complex software programs that monitor the play of their opponents and provide a detailed categorization of each style of play. This new breed of successful players comes from the virtual arena; they are likely to spend most of their playing time either alone or with similarly inclined computer geeks. As people do in the digital community Second Life, players develop virtual personas, fictitious avatars and cartoonish social skills, and are seldom accountable for their behavior. Other players aren't colleagues, comrades in crime or even casual social acquaintances; they are obstacles to be overcome on the way to the big score. Play route 66 poker.

The massive popularity of tournament poker has irreparably altered the tenor of the game by introducing the lottery aspect of the big win. Unlike cash games in which you can quit whenever you want, in tournament poker, all entrants pay a single entry fee. You cash out only by beating at least 90 percent of the field; only the top 1 percent of participants get a significant payout. To create exciting megaprizes, poker tournaments are structured to pay huge sums to the top few finishers, while leaving the rest empty-handed -- a sharp contrast with traditional poker games, in which a single table can host multiple winners.

Last year, in bed delirious with the flu, I entered and won a $39 online satellite tournament to the 2006 WSOP main event. A couple of days later, still feverish, I found myself at a table with nine strangers. No one introduced him- or herself. Few bothered to make eye contact, preferring dark glasses and baseball caps, as though hiding in plain sight. During the first day -- 15 hours of grueling play -- I did not hear a single joke, an engaging story or even collegial banter. Once, when a player was criticized by another for endless badmouthing, the player responded by saying, "Hey, I'm not here to make friends. This is all about money."

Poker News Source: Salon

Poker News: RicardoDB had a long to-do list Saturday and, even though he'd qualified for a freeroll through PokerListings.com and Full Tilt Poker, the 24-year-old online rounder from São Paulo, Brazil, decided he was too busy to compete. Play online poker

But, poker fan that he is, the student and part-time player couldn't resist taking a peek at the action 15 minutes into the poker tournament.

He jumped into the fray after noting everyone at his table had $1,500 in starting chips. After stealing enough blinds to boost his stack to more than $10,000, RicardoDB had long forgotten his weekend errands. Read poker blogs

Nearing the final table, he got lucky on a few hands to pick up more than $100k in chips, easily besting his nearest competition's $60,000. Play route 66 poker

"Then I just played aggressive, stealing blinds and pushing the short stacks with strong hands," RicardoDB told PokerListings.com. "When I got heads up I played more aggressive and got a few hands. We played like four or five hands heads up and I won it." Play $500 match poker bonus

Poker News Source: pokerlistings

Huntington Press in Las Vegas publishes some of the best gambling books around, from poker (Kill Phil: The Fast Track to Success in No Limit Hold'em Poker Tournaments by Blair Rodman and Lee Nelson) to video poker (Frugal Video Poker by Jean Scott and Viktor Nacht) to blackjack (Play to Win: A World Champion's Guide to Winning Blackjack Tournaments by Ken Einiger).

But there's more than gambling to Las Vegas, and Huntington Press, the company that grew out of Anthony Curtis' monthly Las Vegas Advisor, has shown an eagerness to explore it all. The company's first book was Cathy Scott's The Killing of Tupac Shakur, probing the 1996 drive-by shooting that killed the rap star near the Las Vegas Strip.

Once again, Huntington Press is off the gambling beat and onto the seamier side of Las Vegas with Cullotta: The Life of a Chicago Criminal, Las Vegas Mobster and Government Witness, by Dennis N. Griffin and Frank Cullotta (291 pages, softcover, $19.95). Play online poker.

Cullotta was back in Chicago in late June as a state's witness in the "family secrets" trial of five reputed mob figures alleged to have been involved in long-unsolved murders. Included are the 1986 slayings of Tony "The Ant" Spilotro and brother Michael Spilotro. The Spilotro case is one with which Cullotta is well acquainted. Cullotta was Spilotro's top lieutenant in Las Vegas, stealing, strong-arming and, yes, killing in service of the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas.

That ended when Cullotta discovered Spilotro had turned on him and planned to have him killed. Cullotta turned government witness and continues to live anonymously under the witness protection program. Download poker wallpapers.

In the book, Cullotta pulls no punches, neither about his own crimes nor those of his boss. Still, the way Tony Spilotro was killed bothered Cullotta. At the time the FBI knew only that the Spilotros had disappeared and suspected Tony had fled to avoid prosecution, Cullotta told FBI investigator Dennis Arnoldy he was certain they were dead. The book quotes Cullotta in the conversation:

"Tony's caused the Outfit a lot of problems and he'd stopped generating money. Michael is cocky and has caused problems, too. They aren't needed anymore. If you whack one, you gotta whack them both. I guarantee you they're both dead." Play route 66 poker.

Publisher Curtis says it took about three minutes to decide to take the book when it was offered. The only hesitation: Huntington Press previously published Of Rats and Men, John L. Smith's biography of Oscar Goodman, once attorney for Tony Spilotro and other crime figures, and today mayor of Las Vegas. Goodman may not like "Cullotta," but for the rest of us, it's a powerful, fascinating read.

* * *

Back on the gambling track, the July issue of the Las Vegas Advisor says Huntington Press will be publishing a follow-up to Rodman's Kill Phil, which gave players & women poker pros a method for combating that one standout player at every table. The follow-up is to be called Kill Everyone. Just in a poker sense, of course.

Rodman himself is on a roll, having just won his first gold bracelet and a check for $707,898 as a champion at the World Series of Poker at the Rio in Las Vegas. He won Event No. 47, a $2,000 buy-in hold'em championship that attracted 2,038.

It was an event he almost didn't enter. He had been playing in Event No. 44, an Omaha Hi-Lo Split championship, the night before. It wasn't until he busted out in 24th place that Rodman's way was cleared for the event that would give him his first championship.

* * *

A little local interest at the World Series of Poker game from Ben Ponzio, ad sales manager at Chicago radio station B-96, WBBM-FM, sister station to WBBM-AM and WCKG-FM, where I do my Chicago radio show.

Ponzio, who earlier this year finished third in a World Series of Poker Circuit event at Caesars Indiana in Elizabeth, Ind., found himself at the final table in Event No. 25 at the Rio, a $2,000 buy-in Hold'em championship. Not only were the finals on Father's Day, it was Ponzio's first Father's Day, his daughter having been born last July.

A profitable Father's Day it was. Ponzio won the event, taking home $599,109, and a champion's bracelet he's barely taken off since. He didn't stick around for the final event, the big $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em championship that started July 7. Not quite enough vacation time to cover that and leave time for his family. That'll be in the cards for some other year.

One small sidelight: There's a Huntington Press connection in Ponzio's event, too. One of the other players at the final table was Ken Einiger. Einiger, who finished eighth, is a former world blackjack champion and author of Play to Win. Stay tuned to our poker blog for latest updates.

Poker News Source: Casino City Times

Poker News: In a match of wits between man and machine last week, a software program running on an ordinary laptop computer played a close game but lost to two well-known human poker professionals. Play online poker

The contest, which was billed as the "First Man-Machine Poker Championship" and which offered prize money totalling $US50,000 ($57,000), pitted Phil Laak and Ali Eslami against a program written by a team of artificial intelligence researchers from the University of Alberta. They gave it a name probably no gambler would ever choose: Polaris. Read poker blogs

Poker is thought to be a more difficult challenge for software designers than, say, chess. Computer scientists have to develop different strategies and algorithms to deal with the uncertainties introduced by the hidden cards held by each player, as well as difficult-to-quantify risk-taking behaviour such as bluffing. Play route 66 poker

Jonathan Schaeffer of the Canadian university's computer science department launched the poker-playing research effort 16 years ago. He said the advances being made in the development of poker-playing software are likely to be more applicable in the real world than chess research. Play $500 match poker bonus

The version of poker used in the match last Monday and Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence was Texas Hold 'Em heads-up no-limit poker, a two-player game. After four rounds of 500 hands each, lasting about four hours, the player with the most money would be the winner. Play strip poker

Poker News Source: theage

Poker News: They didn't blink. They didn't tell. Even after Polaris took the second round, the Unabomber and his accomplice stuck to their game. Finally, deep into the night, after four rounds of Texas hold 'em, Polaris folded once and for all. The game was over. The humans had beaten the machine. Just. Play online poker

Far away from the kitsch glamour of Las Vegas, with not a showgirl or a hustler in sight, two professional poker players from Los Angeles took on a computer program in a hotel in Vancouver on Monday and Tuesday. Billed as the "First Man-Machine Poker Championship", the event staged at the annual meeting of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence offered prize money of $50,000 (£25,000) to the winner of four hands of poker. Read poker blogs

For Ali Eslami and Phil "the Unabomber" Laak - so named because he wears a hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses - the money was small change, but the stakes were high. Play route 66 poker

"I literally felt the same feeling that you would have if you beat 500 people in a poker tournament and won a million dollars," Laak said after the game, which ended to the sound of whoops and cheers from the watching crowd of hundreds as the humans vanquished the computer. "We won, not by a significant amount, and the bots are closing in." Play strip poker

Playing against the computer was more exhausting than any other game he had played, Eslami said. "I really am happy it's over. I'm surprised we won ... it's already so good it will be tough to beat in future." Play full tilt poker

Poker News Source: guardian

For some poker players, appearing on High Stakes Poker may be just another day at the office, but for others, being selected to play on the show represents far more than that. Besides having the opportunity to win enormous amounts of money, HSP provides a venue that can potentially establish a player’s reputation within the poker community, catapult him to stardom, and generate more publicity for him than a successful year on the poker tournament circuit ever could. More players than ever wanted to participate in the hit GSN show’s fourth season because of this, making the selection process all the more difficult.

Ultimately, 22 players were chosen to participate in the three days of tapings from May 12-14 at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, seven fewer than in Season Three, giving the competitors more playing time and a greater opportunity to increase their bankrolls or to recover their losses if they got stuck. This also means that viewers will have more time to become familiar with the styles and personalities of the players, and to see what leads up to potentially interesting confrontations between them.

This season also has a couple of different “twists.” For example, all of the players & women poker pros who played during one of the three sessions had an interesting prop bet going for the entire day, as they agreed that anyone who won a pot holding the dreaded 7-2 would receive an extra $500 from everyone else at the table upon showing the hand. This special incentive to play the worst starting hand in Hold ’Em added another element of drama to the game that fans are sure to enjoy.

Another example is that on the final day of action, the minimum buy-in was raised from the normal $100,000 to a staggering $500,000, putting more than $4-million on the table in what surely will go down as one of the biggest cash games in history. An additional blind was also established, meaning the blinds were $300/$600/$1,200 with a $100 ante on every hand, and $2,400 live straddles were often in play as well.

Some of poker’s most recognizable names played at this exclusive table, including Doyle Brunson, Patrik Antonius, David Benyamine, Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Farha, Jamie Gold, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu. Also playing with this group was Guy Laliberte, the co-founder and CEO of Cirque du Soleil and a man for whom a half-million-dollar buy-in is mere pocket change. Suffice it to say that several pots in this game surpassed previous HSP records.

ALL IN is again pleased to provide brief profiles on all of the players appearing in the upcoming season (which will contain 17 episodes, four more than last year). When the show begins to air in late-August, fans will recognize many of their favorites, and should know this about the newcomers they don’t recognize: None are strangers to high-stakes cash games. Download poker wallpapers.

Brandon Adams
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1978, teaches Behavioral Finance at Harvard
• Semi-professional cash-game player, playing NLHE as high as $200/$400
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $168,000, including a final table at the 2005 Tournament of Champions
• Has written two books, one entitled Broke: A Poker Novel

Patrik Antonius
Previous HSP Appearances: Season Three
• Native of Finland is considered one of the best short-handed cash-game players in the world
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $2.19-million
• Former male model and tennis player drives an Aston Martin automobile
• Impressed viewers on HSP3 with his aggressiveness, despite limited playing time

Mike Baxter
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Works as a hedge fund manager in California
• Born in 1963, has played poker since he was a kid, No-Limit Hold ’Em for about 10 years
• Strictly a recreational high-stakes cash-game player
• Loves to give action, and feels he is considered fearless by his opponents

David Benyamine
Previous HSP Appearances: Season Three
• Originally from France, but spends a great deal of time in Las Vegas
• Owns one WPT open title and one WPT invitational title, with lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $1.06-million
• Recent addition to Team Full Tilt, along with his fiancée, Erica Schoenberg
• Frequent player in the “Big Game” at Bellagio

Brian Brandon
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1970 and lives in downtown Chicago, where he’s a Eurodollar options trader
• Career tournament winnings just under $64,000, including a cash in the 2006 WSOP Main Event
• Spends an equal amount of time between tournaments and high-stakes cash games
• Not shy about engaging in verbal confrontations at the table

Doyle Brunson
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• At the age of 73, regarded as perhaps the greatest poker player of all-time
• Back-to-back World Series of Poker Champion in 1976 and 1977, and owns a record-tying 10 bracelets in all
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $4.9-million
• Has played well in previous seasons of HSP to the delight of his many fans

Todd Brunson
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Highly feared high-stakes cash-game player
• Owns one WSOP bracelet, for $2,500 Omaha Hi-Lo in ’05
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $2.88-million
• Wrote the Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo section in his father’s book Super/System II

Eli Elezra
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Israeli-born Las Vegas businessman who regards poker as a hobby
• Winner of one WPT title and one WSOP title
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $1.64-million
• Has shown a propensity to gamble in previous seasons of HSP

Antonio Esfandiari
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Nicknamed “The Magician,” has impressed players and viewers over the last three seasons with almost magical reads
• Winner of one WSOP bracelet and one WPT event
• Career tourney winnings exceed $2.7-million
• Shares the screen with Phil Laak on the reality show I Bet You

Sam Farha
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Houston-based pro known as a player who loves to give action to get action
• Owns two WSOP bracelets and finished second in the 2003 Main Event
• Lifetime tournament winnings just under $2.1-million
• A classic high roller and one of the game’s best dressed players

Phil Galfond
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1985 and resides in Madison, Wisconsin
• Full-time poker professional who primarily plays online poker, where he engages in No-Limit games as high as $300/$600
• Specializes in heads-up play
• Recently started doing poker writing on the side

Jamie Gold
Previous HSP Appearances: Season Three
• Former Hollywood talent agent turned television producer
• 2006 World Series of Poker Champion
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $12-million, earning him the number-one all-time ranking
• Known for his loose-aggressive style of play and for his frequent bluffs

Barry Greenstein
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• “The Robin Hood Of Poker” excels in both tournaments and cash games
• Winner of two WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $4.93-million
• Lost a memorable aces vs. kings encounter with Sam Farha on Season One of HSP

Jennifer Harman
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Only woman to regularly compete in the “Big Game” at Bellagio
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $1.76-million, including two WSOP bracelets
• Wrote the section on Limit Hold ’Em in Doyle Brunson’s book Super/System II
• New parent to twin boys along with poker-playing husband Marco Traniello

Phil Hellmuth
Previous HSP Appearances: Season One
• Known as “The Poker Brat,” his verbal tirades have made him a star of televised poker
• Has won a record 11 WSOP bracelets, including the 1989 Main Event
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $9-million
• Trying to rebound from a disappointing showing on HSP1

Phil Laak
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons Two and Three
• Nicknamed “The Unabomber,” which spawned the nickname “Unabombshell” for his girlfriend, Jennifer Tilly
• Won the 2004 WPT Invitational
• Career tournament winnings over $1.23-million, plus he won big on HSP2
• Known for his manic mannerisms and spirited chatter at the table

Guy Laliberte
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1959 and is a resident of Montreal, Quebec
• Co-founded the Cirque du Soleil in 1984, and now serves as its CEO
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $747,000, thanks to a fourth-place finish at the 2007 WPT Championship
• A relative newcomer to poker, but loves playing against the game’s best. Play $500 match poker bonus.

Mike Matusow
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons Two and Three
• Known as “The Mouth” for his constant chatter and trash talking at the tables
• Owns two WSOP bracelets, and also won the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions and finished third in 2006
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $4.86-million
• Proclaims himself to be one of the unluckiest players in the world

Daniel Negreanu
Previous HSP Appearances: Seasons One, Two, and Three
• Outgoing “Kid Poker” has become one of the game’s biggest stars
• Owns three WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles
• Lifetime tournament winnings in excess of $9.6-million
• Was involved in a $575,700 pot during HSP2, which he lost when his full house was topped by quads

Bob Safai
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1962 and owns a successful real estate company in Los Angeles
• Considers poker a hobby, and is strictly a recreational player
• Has played high-stakes cash games for 10 years, competing in No-Limit Hold ’Em as high as $500/$1000
• Describes himself as the loosest guy at the table. Play route 66 poker.

Tony Salorio
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1970 and resides in Coral Springs, Florida, where he owns a general contracting business
• Follows the tour one week a month to play in high-stakes side action
• Has been playing poker for only three years
• Strictly an amateur player who is perceived as loose-aggressive at the table

Haralabos Voulgaris
Previous HSP Appearances: None
• Born in 1975 in Canada, he now lives in the Hollywood Hills
• Professional sports bettor since age 21
• Career tournament winnings in excess of $1.2-million, mostly from a second-place finish at the 2005 L.A. Poker Classic
• Likes to talk at the tables, and prides himself on having a dry sense of humor

Poker News Source: All in Mag

It was a high-tech variation on one of the oldest tricks in the book, dating back to the Wild West saloon days - cheating unsuspecting poker players & women poker players by rigging the game.

But the tools in a scam broken up by New Jersey State Police were decidedly 21st century, including tiny video cameras and earpiece radio receivers designed to be undetectable, and laptop computers.

One of the four men arrested is a well-known consultant who charges people for advice on how to detect and thwart casino cheaters. Download poker wallpapers.

In arrests carried out June 7, but made public Wednesday, police charged Steve Forte, 51, of Las Vegas, with using a computer and cheating devices to commit theft, attempted theft by deception and conspiracy.

His Web site describes the services and products offered by his company, International Gaming Specialists, including a four-part video series "designed to help protect all those that play in private games from card and dice cheaters."

Forte did not immediately respond to phone and e-mail messages left at his Las Vegas office on Wednesday. Play route 66 poker.

The site also says Forte produced his own half-hour television show titled "Gambling's Invisible Thieves."

Yet that's just what New Jersey authorities allege Forte and his co-defendants were. Joseph T. Ingargiola, 50, of Playa del Rey, Calif., Stephen Phillips, 52, of Las Vegas, and James C. Harrison, 41, of Duluth, Minn., are facing the same charges. All are free on bail.

Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, said the men rigged hidden cameras in a hotel room at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa so that they could peer at players cards, and rely information on what each player had to players who were in on the scam. Play $500 match poker bonus.

"They were also using computer programs to further enhance their odds of winning, entering what they had and helping them decide what to do next," he said.

One concession to old-school card cheating was allegedly used: a marked deck with certain cards identified from the back.

Although the games took place at the same time the Borgata was holding a poker tournament, authorities and casino officials were quick to point out that the alleged scam took place in a private hotel room, away from the casino floor.

"None of the casino-generated games or tournaments was targeted or compromised," Aseltine said.

It was not immediately clear how many people were victimized and how much money was involved. But Aseltine described the games as "high-stakes."

"They were big players," he said. Play online poker.

The investigation is ongoing, and has spread to several other jurisdictions where gambling is permitted, including Las Vegas, Aseltine said.

The Borgata is a joint venture of Boyd Gaming Corp. and MGM Mirage.

Poker News Source: Forbes

Poker News: Everest Poker www.everestpoker.com today announced the winner of the online poker room's first direct entry poker tournament for a seat at the upcoming World Series of Poker Europe main event, "jujumalo" from France. The WSOP Europe event is a six-day £10,000 No-Limit Texas Hold'Em Championship held on September 10th in London. The participating casinos are The Empire, The Sportsman and Fifty. The playing field will be consolidated beginning September 13 at The Empire. Play online poker

"Getting to send our players to a historical event like the first World Series of Poker Europe event is fantastic," said Jonathan May, Everest Poker property manager. "We fully believe that the WSOP Europe is going to become a rival to its American counterpart very quickly." Play route 66 poker

We fully believe that the WSO Poker Tournament Europe is going to become a rival to its American counterpart very quickly. Play $500 match poker bonus
France had the heaviest participation in this past weekend's tournament, with 107 players competing for the WSOP Europe seat. Germany, Italy, and The Netherlands also sent a significant number of players. The next WSOP Europe direct entry tournaments willl be held on Saturday, 4 August, 2007, and Saturday, 18 August, 2007. There is one guaranteed seat at the WSOP Europe main event per direct entry tournament and the prize package includes travel and hotel expenses, along with that famous Everest Poker hospitality. Play full tilt poker

"We look forward to seeing more players take a shot at winning a seat at the biggest European poker event so far," added May. "Our satellites for these poker tournaments start out low and give players with any size of bank roll the chance to win big!" Play strip poker

Poker News Source: emediawire

Poker News: As I noted in my checkers piece last week, computer scientist Jonathan Schaeffer is currently pitting his poker playing program Polaris against ptoo--I mean, two--top human card wranglers, Phil "Unabomber" Laak (above) and Ali Eslami. Play online poker

For a few more hours you can still get live updates (*) of the match, which consists of four 500-hand rounds of Texas hold 'em. Read poker blogs

Polaris drew one round yesterday and won the second. As of 2:16 Pacific time, after 275 hands in the penultimate round, Laak was up but we don't yet know the details for Eslami. (To minimize the effect of chance, Eslami gets the cards Polaris drew against Laak, so the Eslami-Polaris game occurs in private.) Play route 66 poker

The fourth and final round is schedule to begin at 6pm Pacific. Play $500 match poker bonus

Play strip poker. I asked Schaeffer last week by email if he thought this match would settle the superiority of man v. machine at poker. He said no: "Humans are probably better than computers, and the match next week is likely to show it. So... we will need a match next year (and the year after that...) until the result becomes completely clear." Play full tilt poker

Poker News Source: sciam

What Jerry Yang may not have realized as he put down his $10,000 buy-in for the World Series of Poker Main Event is that winning comes with a lot more than just a bracelet and money. It also means taking on the responsibility of being the face of poker for the next year.

The poker world will be watching to see how he does in other poker tournaments and if he really has what it takes. The whole world will also be looking to him as the primary example of what a champion poker player is like.

So will is this a good or bad move for the future of poker? Lets take a look at the pros and cons of Yang representing the game.

Pro: Because he is an older, stable, family man, Yang comes across as trustworthy. He'll give poker a good image once again and hopefully erase some of the damage done by Jamie Gold's behavior.

Gold took a lot of credibility away from the profession after going back on his word in a deal to split his Main Event winnings. Professional players and bettors rely on the credibility of their word, and Gold gave the world the impression that poker players aren't trustworthy.

Con: Like Gold at the 2006 WSOP, Yang's actions at the table were off-putting to some people. Gold came across as a bit arrogant and obnoxious. Download poker wallpapers.

Yang came across as obnoxious in a different way with his talk of destiny and God wanting him to win. Some spectators found him a bit annoying.

Pro: He pledged a percentage of his winnings to charity. More and more poker players & women poker players are looking to give back through their winnings - Barry Greenstein, Phil Gordon and more - and Yang continues a trend that helps give poker players a good image.

Con: While his image is that of a stable, honorable person, Yang isn't the kind of guy who potential young players are going to look up to and want to emulate. Most men in their early 20s aren't going to think a religious man with six children has a glamorous lifestyle they want to emulate.

From an online poker room perspective, Hevad Khan would have been the ideal person from the final table to win. Young, energetic and definitely a strong personality at the poker table, he would have been a great ambassador for the sport for them.

He's also already got a strong presence online after proving that he can multi-table more than 20 tables at a time. That's a person that will be easy to market to the young public looking for some fun and cash all in one.

Pro: He has the rags to riches story that will capture the world's attention. From his humble beginnings in Laos, to his trek to America and his eventual success in business and poker, Yang has the type of story that news outlets clamor for. He'll bring a lot of attention to poker for that reason. Play route 66 poker.

Poker can definitely use the positive press, especially with online poker under attack as part of the banned online gambling in the United States.

I think if you're only looking short term from a business perspective, Yang may not have the cool suave image needed to get more young players into the game. But in the long run, he's exactly what poker needs to continue to move away from the old, negative gambling image it used to have.

Poker News Source: Poker Listings

Poker News: The program, called Polaris, will play four games of ‘Texas Hold Em’. Its opponents are Phil Laak and Ali Eslami, gamblers from Los Angeles who are among the top players in the global high- stakes cash poker circuit. Play online poker

The competition will begin with humans receiving $5,000 for each match they win against Polaris. Read poker blogs

But the cash is modest, noted Eslami, who said he agreed to come to this western Canadian city to compete because he’s interested in artificial intelligence. Play route 66 poker

The man-machine poker game is billed as one highlight at the annual global conference of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. More than 1,000 scientists from universities and corporations pre-registered for the event in this western Canadian city, said an organizer. Play $500 match poker bonus

Poker News Source: dailytimes

With pre-registration for the World Series of Poker open for two weeks now, some of the biggest and brightest players in the world have signed up to play already.

"There are over 60 WSOP bracelets between the pre-registrants so far," said Jeffrey Pollack, WSOP commissioner. "The inaugural World Series Europe will have a world-class field."

Some of the players already registered include: Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Erik Seidel, Roland de Wolfe, John Juanda, Allen Cunningham, Todd Brunson, Eli Elezra, Howard Lederer, Humberto Brenes and woman poker player Jennifer Harman.

"I'm going to London to make history again by winning the first WSOP bracelet ever awarded outside of Las Vegas," said Phil Hellmuth who recently broke WSOP records by winning his eleventh bracelet. Download poker wallpapers.

The 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold has also said he plans to play at the London event.

"We want to have a strong presence on the ground at this event," said Ben Fried, head of poker for Betfair Poker, presenting sponsor of the WSOPE. "It's a fantastic opportunity for our players to compete against some of the greatest in the world." Play online poker.

The WSOPE will take place in London, Sept. 6-16. The events will take place in three casinos - Fifty in St. James; The Casino at the Empire, in Leicester Square; and the Sportsman at Marble Arch. Stay tuned to our poker blog for latest updates.

Poker News Source: Poker Listings

In some circles, famous poker players are genuine celebrities.

They don't attract the same level of attention as their silver-screen pals one state over - that much was evidenced by the animalistic wail of the crowd along the Ante Up for Africa charity tournament red carpet when Ben Affleck made an appearance, while Victor Ramdin breezed by like the rug was a moving sidewalk.

Nonetheless, the pros spend plenty of time at the World Series of Poker posing for photos with fans in the hallways, enjoying the affections of poker groupies (Gus Hansen and Devilfish, I'm talking about you) and, if you're a legend like Doyle Brunson, sending lifelong poker fans away and wiping tears following a hug.

Any fan of poker could make a game of spotting pros at the Rio, or at any of the number of parties and side events running concurrent with the prestigious tournament each year.

For a poker fan but relative newcomer to pro-watching, my first World Series was packed full of possibilities for rubbernecking.

Away from the Amazon Room, one of the best places for picking off players & women poker pros was at the Full Tilt Poker-sponsored World Series of Barbecue.

The barbecue was hosted by Howard Lederer but held at Full Tilt Poker Pro Steve Zolotow's Las Vegas home. Packed with pros, the evening included plenty of free food and drink, fireworks and the so-called World Series of Karaoke.

Some were talented, but none more memorable than Annie Duke's boyfriend, poker player and actor Joe Reitman. His frizzy hair in two pigtails and shirt knotted under the chest to reveal abs worthy of a seasoned rounder, Reitman offered an enthusiastic rendition of Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back."

A short while later, Duke responded with rousing version of "Love Shack." At midnight and the arrival of the Fourth of July, poker pro Phil Gordon hit a patriotic note by singing the Star Spangled Banner a cappella.

Just seeing so many professional poker players in one place was a sight to behold. The hallways of the Rio were like a breathing Full Tilt ad as players streamed out of the Amazon Room on breaks. Most told bad beat stories or grabbed a snack at the Poker Kitchen - so not a highlight - while the most famous (and rich) pros ducked across the hall to the VIP lounge. Download poker wallpapers.

Escorted into the room to do an interview with David "Devilfish" Ulliott, I came as close as I likely ever will to speaking to Phil Ivey (he walked by quickly) and caught a glimpse of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson sans his omnipresent cowboy hat.

More pros and some celebrities - Jason Alexander and Shannon Elizabeth - were up for ogling at the PokerStars.com media tournament and roundtable with the pros.

The media event was interesting, if only to see professional players being forced to interact with the press. Seated at the table with three PokerListings.com players was Chris Moneymaker, who warned players repeatedly not to raise his blinds as Noah Boeken dealt the cards. Online poker.

As PL.com reporters Owen Laukkanen and Jesse Clark advanced to the final table - Jesse thanks to following the suggestions of Moneymaker to the letter - Arthur Crowson hit the bricks to join me at the rail where we chatted with a fellow reporter from a rival site. He suggested we play Chinese poker - a game Vicky Coren would later describe as "the best game in the world" as she walked by.

None of us knew the game, so we enlisted the help of Bill Chen whose Ph.D. in mathematics couldn't save him from busting from the media event.

He taught us the basics and, no doubt, shook his head at our ineptitude at Chinese poker strategy. I after several embarrassing gaffes, I managed what I thought was a decent hand.

"That's actually okay," he said after inspecting my cards. His lukewarm praise was enough to make my day.

Chen was friendly and helpful with the game strategy and - although reluctant to discuss the rumors of a possible think-tank with like-minded poker pals - he was happy to learn we were from Vancouver, British Columbia, the hometown of his friend, Terrance Chan. Play $500 match poker bonus.

"I heard he got f*@#ked at the Playboy Mansion," said the reporter to Chen.

"Well, that's the point when you're there, isn't it?" the math whiz replied.

Poker's most unlikely candidate to show up at a Playboy party, newly minted world champion Jerry Yang, might not have been a celebrity three days ago but he is now and one suspects he'll enjoy it.

Yang took the microphone with the confidence of a seasoned public speaker at press conference prior to the final table Tuesday. His words sent the media into a storm of scribbles as he gave a buttery rendition of his days as an impoverished child in the mountains of Laos, to his years doing God's work as a missionary to pinching pennies as a father of six to afford buy-ins at poker games over the last two years.

"If it is God's will, I will win this poker tournament," he said. The Lord responded in the affirmative several hours later when Yang took down the championship title. He'd later tell ESPN that he prayed for a set and God gave him one.

But that doesn't work for everyone in Las Vegas. If it did church bells would rival the chiming of the slot machines on Sunday morning and the pews would be the best place to spot professional poker players.

Poker News Source: Poker Listings

Poker News: Online gambling group Betfair has been chosen as the presenter for the inaugural European World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker action in Vegas may have been centre stage in the media last week, but for UK gambling group Betfair the focus was probably on gearing up for the inaugural European version of the poker epic later this year. Read poker blogs

Betfair has been selected as the presenter for the first WSO Poker Tournament outside the boundaries of the United States, and the company has already announced that it will be sponsoring at least 125 players to the $10 000 buy-in main event in London in September. Play route 66 poker

The poker wing of Betfair will be the main driver of the World Series of Poker Europe 2007, providing online satellites and making sure the big event meets the high standards established by the original tournament in the States. Play full tilt poker

“As presenting sponsor I want Betfair to have a strong presence,” says Head of Poker Ben Fried, “There are a limited number of seats and at Betfair Poker you can be assured that you will have a place at the tables in London.” Play route 66 poker

Pro player Ben Grundy said: “There are so many issues these days with online poker qualification, particularly for the World Series. It’s worth going with Betfair Poker just for the value they provide, but also your seat is more secure.” Play $500 match poker bonus

Internet player Stuart Drysdale alias “CreamBun” was one of Team Betfair’s first online qualifiers. He is used to playing in MTTs from $5 to $20 so the WSO Poker Tournament Europe is a significant step up. “I am only a break-even player at those levels,” he said. “If I can do it, that must mean that plenty of other low-stakes players can as well.” Play women poker

Poker News Source: onlinecasinos

Poker News: Jon Kalmar is a 34-year-old professional poker player, who plays mostly in clubs located in the north and the Midlands region of England. He is married with one child. Among his prior accomplishments, Kalmar was once the lead singer in a punk rock band. Before entering this year's world championship. Play online poker

Kalmar admitted to enduring a "terrible" run of bad fortune at this year's World Series of Poker. He failed to cash a single time in the preliminary poker tournaments. But everything changed the night before the main event began. Dejected, Kalmar tried to switch his airline ticket and return home early. Read poker blogs

Play $500 match poker bonus. But he was told the cost to change his departure from Las Vegas back to England would be about $600. So instead, Kalmar decided to enter the last mega-satellite poker tournament at the Rio just before the start of the main event. He ended up winning a $10,000 seat. And now, here he is at the final table ten days later – third among the poker chip leaders. Play route 66 poker

Poker News Source: allinmag

Poker News: Canadian Tuan Lam is $4.84 million US richer today after finishing in second place at the main event of the World Series of Poker. Play online poker

While Lam fought his way through the 6,358 entrants and women poker players who put up a $10,000 entry fee for a shot at fame and fortune, he entered heads-up play with a significant chip deficit to leader Jerry Yang. Read poker blogs

According to poker Web site Cardplayer.com, play ended early Wednesday morning when Lam was forced to move all his poker chips in the pot with ace-queen, while Yang showed a pair of eights. An update described Lam’s supporters waving a Canadian flag while California-based Yang’s friends shouted “USA” as the final hand was dealt. Play $500 match poker bonus

Yang took home $8.25 million US for his efforts. Play route 66 poker

Lam immigrated to Canada when he was 19 years old and now calls Mississauga, Ont., home.

The World Series main event is widely considered to be the biggest poker tournament in the poker world. It is also a card-playing marathon, having started on July 6. Play full tilt poker

Poker News source: canada

Four players remained at the final table of the World Series of Poker's main event in Las Vegas late Tuesday night.

Four players remained at the final table of the World Series of Poker's main event after British player Jon Kalmar lost a head-to-head bet against South African Raymond Rahme on Tuesday.

Kalmar, 34, said he was thrilled to have made nearly $1.26 million with his fifth-place finish, and said he intended to use his winnings to pay bills and perhaps buy a car back home in Chorly, England.

His failed gambit to double his dwindling cache of chips boosted Rahme, a 62-year-old former bed and breakfast inn owner from Johannesburg, to a distant second behind Jerry Yang.

Yang used aggressive play to eliminate three other players in the first five hours of the no-limit Texas Hold 'em poker tournament.

Only minutes earlier, Hevad Khan, 22, from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., became the fourth player eliminated when his ace and queen of spades couldn't top a pair of jacks belonging to a surging Yang.

Khan didn't seem disappointed with sixth place and his $956,243 payday as he celebrated with friends in the audience.

When play resumed, Jack Effel, tournament director, offered congratulations to the remaining five players. Play online poker.

"You are all millionaires," he said before guards brought in metal cases and unloaded the winner's $8.25 million share on a table.

Kalmar bet all his chips on an ace of spades and king of hearts, but lost to Rahme's pocket jacks when the common cards provided neither player any help. The pot was 10.4 million chips.

Yang, a Hmong psychologist from Temecula, Calif., who says he uses his ability to read players as a weapon, piled up a 71.3 million in chips by Kalmar's ouster. He faced an eclectic group of poker unknowns including Rahme, a grandfather from South Africa who vowed not to be bullied, and Tuan Lam, a Vietnamese Canadian who once couldn't get hired as a dishwasher but read through a bluff by former champ Scotty Nguyen on his way to the final table.

Rahme had 30.1 million in chips, followed by Lam, a 40-year-old online poker player from Mississauga, Ontario, with 17.5 million. Alex Kravchenko, a 36-year-old businessman from Moscow, had 8.7 million.

The elimination of Kalmar and Khan followed exits by poker pro Lee Watkinson and computer engineer Lee Childs, who both lost head-to-head, all-in bets against Yang. Yang, 39, started the day eighth in chips before quickly building his pile.

"I was playing for the bracelet," Watkinson, a 40-year-old animal rights activist from Cheney, Wash., who finished eighth and took home $585,699. "I wasn't going for third, fourth or even second. I wanted to make a play and be a contender."

Childs a 35-year-old from Reston, Va., who quit his job a month ago to play poker for a living won $705,229 for his seventh-place finish. Play $500 match poker bonus.

"My goal when I came in to the tournament was to trust my instincts, make the right decision and hopefully not get unlucky," Childs said. "I was that close to doubling up."

First to fall was Philip Hilm, a 31-year-old Dane who lives in England. He won $525,934 for his ninth-place finish after busting out on the day's 15th hand.

Watkinson's exit left Kravchenko as the only one at the table with a World Series bracelet. Watkinson won a pot-limit Omaha event last year, while Kravchenko, a 36-year-old businessman from Moscow, became the first Russian to win a bracelet with the $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low event this year. Women poker players.

Play began shortly after noon and was expected to continue into the night. The finalists ranged in age from 22 to 62, and hailed from five nations: the U.S., Canada, Russia, England and South Africa. By birthplace, players also were from Laos, Vietnam and Denmark.

"The final table says a lot about the globality of poker and the globality of our fans," said Jeffrey Pollack, World Series of Poker commissioner for event owner Harrah's Entertainment Inc.

The nine players who began the day were all that remained from a field of 6,358 players that began to play down in stages July 6. Everyone paid or won $10,000 to enter the main event, the biggest poker tournament of the year.

Poker News Source: Star Tribune

Poker news: The similar chip colors were confusing, but unlike last year the chip count was right on target going into the final table of this year's World Series of Poker Main Event. Play online poker

"This year, we had much better procedures in place," says Jack Effel, poker tournament director for the event operated by Harrah's Entertainment. Read poker blogs

There were 127,424,000 in poker chips in play going into Tuesday's final table, and Jerry Yang held 70.13 million to take a substantial lead over the remaining three players five hours into play. There were no women poker players this year. Play route 66 poker

"I guess it's just his day," said Hevad "Rain" Khan, who won $956,243 for placing sixth. "You can't complain. Most people lose money at the end of the trip." Play $500 match poker bonus

Poker News source: usatoday

Poker news: Canada will be represented at the final table of the World Series of Poker.

Tuan Lam, 40, of Kitchener, Ont., made the nine-man final table after finishing the main event second in total chips with 21.315 million. Philip Hilm ended up first with 22.07 million chips. Play online poker

The final begins this afternoon. Read poker blogs

The winner will receive US$8,250,000. But even the ninth-place finisher won't leave empty handed, receiving $525,934. Play route 66 poker

Earlier yesterday, Scotty Nguyen, 'The Prince of Poker,' ended his remarkable run through the tournament's main event with class, busting out two places short of the final table and ending hopes for a repeat winner for the first time in a decade. Play $500 match poker bonus

Nguyen, the 1998 main event champion and fan favourite as play wound down to a final table, had as many as 15.5 million in chips but lost three huge pots in a disappointing collapse. Play full tilt poker

"When you're playing good, you get too cocky and too confident and you give players and women poker players no credit," the 44-year-old said after busting out in 11th with a $476,926 payday. "That's what happened. That's taking nothing away from all these players. They're great players. That's the reason they're here." Play poker tournaments

Poker news source: edmontonsun

The dust has cleared and the last person has been busted out to give us our final nine players for the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event. With Scotty Nguyen getting the closest in 15th place, no well-known pros managed to make the cut this year.

So the big question on everyone's mind is, "Who are these players?" PokerListings.com has the answer for you.

Seat 1: Jon Kalmar, $20,220,000
The last Brit standing in the Main Event is Jon "Skalie" Kalmar. From Chorley, Lancashire in the U.K., Kalmar has had a successful online poker career for the past two years.

The 34-year-old previously worked full time in an IT job and worked as a consultant, but quit to have more time to play poker. His new career, in his own words, is "poker geek."

He's had cashes in small events here and there, and cashed in the 2005 Main Event in 82nd place to win $91,950. He also has a 10th place finish in the 2005 European Poker Tour Irish Winter Festival of Poker.

Neither of them helped him meet his goal of winning "The Big One" that would set him and his family up for life. He is married with on child.

In his quest he managed to not cash in any of the preliminary poker tournaments before the Main Event, but instead of spending the $600 to change his plane ticket and return home early, he decided to enter the last mega-satellite for the Main Event.

He's parlayed that into a final table seat, third in the chip count, and a real chance at finally winning the big one he's looking for.

Seat 2: Lee Childs, $13,320,000
As one of three players at the Main Event final table with no live poker history in the Hendon Mob database, Lee Childs appears to be one of those unknowns who pop up every year and gets their time in the spotlight at the WSOP.

Childs was raised in Virginia where he now resides in Reston with his wife. He was working as a software engineer, but recently gave it up to pursue a full-time poker career. His specialty is online multi-table tournaments and this is his first appearance at the World Series.

It's been a good tournament for the 35-year-old, whose run so far has included busting Jennifer Tilly and now guaranteeing himself at least $500,000 for making the final table.

Seat 3: Philip Hilm, $23,070,000
Philip Hilm began playing poker in late 2003 when a friend who was a former professional backgammon player introduced him to playing online. He was selling coffee machines in supermarkets to bring in money at the time, and he was willing to explore any alternative.

After a month of study and reading up on poker and playing online poker, Hilm was making more money in the evenings playing poker than he was during his day job. The decision to quit and go full-time pro was an easy one.

He prefers to play heads-up cash games online, and heads to the live world for tournaments.

His success in the live poker world includes two cashes in European Poker Tour events: a fourth place finish at the Scandinavian Open in 2006 and 15th place at the Grand Final in Monte Carlo in 2007. He also has a cash in the 2005 World Series in the $2,500 Short-Handed No-Limit Hold'em event.

In 2006 he was also the star player and team captain of the Polish team of the PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker. He eventually led his team to victory ahead of Team U.S.A. and Canada.

Coming into the final table on Tuesday with the chip lead, perhaps Hilm will be able to duplicate that win and earn himself a WSOP Championship bracelet as well.

Seat 4: Jerry Yang, $8,500,000

Jerry Yang is one of the short-stacks coming into the final table on Tuesday, but perhaps his Masters Degree in health psychology will give him the edge needed to pull back up into the running.

Born in Laos, 39-year-old Lang eventually moved to the United States where he now lives in Temecula, Calif., with his wife and six children and works as a psychologist and social worker.

He won his way into the Main Event via a $225 satellite at the Pechanga Resort and Casino in Temecula. Play $500 match poker bonus.

Yang has pledged 10% of his winnings from the Main Event to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Feed the Children and the Ronald McDonald House.

Seat 5: Raymond Rahme, $16,000,000
PokerStars.com has three players representing the site this year at the final table. Raymond Rahme is one of them.

The semi-retired entrepreneur from Johannesburg, South Africa, has only been playing No-Limit Hold'em for two years during. Before that, he was a lifelong Seven-Card Stud player.

At 62, Rahme is the oldest participant at the final table, and h