In what will be a battle for international bragging rights PokerStars has announced its 2009 Americas Cup of Poker. This inaugural Americas Cup of Poker (ACP) will bring together teams from 16 different nations to battle toward the live final, to be held at the Cerro Catedral Ski Resort in Argentina’s Patagonia region.

Up for grabs is $250,000 in prize money, with $100,000 to be split among the winning team’s players. Daily freerolls and online qualifiers priced as low as $0.20 assure that every PokerStars player has the chance to take part. These qualifiers have just begun at PokerStars.

The 16 teams who will participate in the ACP are split into four groups, consisting of 13 American continents nations and three “wild card” entries, comprised of players from the rest of the world. The four groups are as follows:

• Group A: USA, Mexico, Ecuador, Wildcard 1
• Group B: Canada, Columbia, Uruguay, Wildcard 2
• Group C: Chile, Venezuela, Peru, Costa Rica
• Group D: Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Wildcard 3

Over the next three weeks, each group’s teams will compete in a series of head-to-head, round-robin matchups. The top eight teams overall – the two teams with the best records from each group – will move on to the live final in Argentina. Each team in Argentina will be comprised of the top five players from each nation, based on points earned during the qualifiers, and each team in the final will also be joined by a live member of Team PokerStars Pros. Qualifying points are earned by placing in the top 100 during any of the ongoing first round’s qualifying events.

Stay up to date with the Latest PokerStars News and Reviews

Stay up to date with all the latest PokerStars News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including the latest from Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

We have experienced the frills of the World Series of Poker 2009, with 56 events and a punishing 13 days of play in the Amazon Room at the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, the final table of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event was been decided.

At the start of Day 8 we had a total of 27 players back to the Amazon Room at Noon on Wednesday with dreams of being at the final table of the most prestigious poker tournament in the world. Everyone remaining would receive a minimum of $352,832, but the true aim was on making the November Nine final table. Leading the pack was poker newbie Darvin Moon, a logger from Maryland, who held slightly over 20,160,000 chips as play began.

Leo Margets is the last female standing, who came to the start of play as one of the shorter stacks in the room, she was the first to depart in 27th place. She was shortly followed by notable players including Antonio Esfandiari (24th place for his largest WSOP cash ever) and Day Six leader Warren Zackey, who dropped from the tournament in 22nd place after his pocket deuces were out-floped by Ian Tavelli’s [Qs] [Js]

Tavelli’s aggressive play eventually caught up with him, the 21-year old was eliminated in 17th place ($500,557). Almost immediately after Tavelli’s departure, one of France’s top professional players, Ludovic Lacay, was defeated by Jeff Shulman in 16th place.

As the field continued to dwindle, both Darvin Moon and Steve Begleiter used their large stacks to climb to astronomical levels at the tables. Moon never seemed to be in any trouble during play on Wednesday and Begleiter, continued his march up the leaderboard. For all of their work, however, most of the eyes in the Amazon Room where following Top poker professional Phil Ivey.

Ivey has had one of his best World Series of Poker's ever with his skills at their highest level for some years. He has captured two bracelets during the six weeks of the WSOP tournament and had been at or around the top of the Main Event leaderboard since Day 1 started. Starting the day with over 11 million in chips, Ivey seemed happy to sit back and manage his stack, being aware of the 2 hour blind levels and plenty of chips in front of him. I am sure he is scouting potential opponents should they reach the November Nine final table.

After over 11 hours of battle, the final table of the Main Event was determined. The unlucky Bubble Boy was pro player Jordan Smith, who fell in tenth place ($896,730) at the hands of our November Nine Chip Leader Darvin Moon, his Pocket Ace's losing to pocket 8's with a [8c] [4d] [2d] flop.

World Series of Poker 2009 - November Nine

These are the nine players who will gather at the Rio in November to determine the next WSOP Main Event Champion:

• Darvin Moon (Oakland, Maryland) – 58,930,000
• Eric Buchman (Valley Stream, New York) – 34,800,000
• Steve Begleiter (Chappaqua, New York) – 29,885,000
• Jeff Shulman (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 19,580,000
• Joe Cada (Shelby Township, Michigan) – 13,215,000
• Kevin Schaffel (Coral Springs, Florida) – 12,390,000
• Phil Ivey (Las Vegas, Nevada) – 9,765,000
• Antione Saout (Paris, France) – 9,500,000
• James Ankenhead (London, England) – 6,800,000

With our some of the top poker professional players including Ivey, Shulman (Editor of CardPlayer Magazine), and Ankenhead in the mix, some are reporting that this will be one of the strongest Main Event final tables of the past few years.

Play will pause on the Las Vegas leg of this year’s WSOP, however focus is now turn to Europe in London, with four events to go. The 2009 WSOP Europe, beginning in September, will offer a chance for the survivors of the Main Event to tune up their games. The November Nine then will emerge from their respite. All are now dollar millionaires, but the eventual winner will take the $8.5 million first place prize.

Stay up to date with the Latest Poker News and Reviews

Stay up to date with all the latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

The Magic Moments of Poker continue with their tour of this year’s greatest events. The most recent stop was on PokerIsland, where special guest Luca Toni and a program packed full of excitement were waiting at the poker villa. Young Spaniard Ivan Garcia Garcia triumphed at the poker table and will now be playing for a $100,000 bwin Poker team membership.

Guest at the PokerIsland villa was Luca Toni, star player of FC Bayern Munich. The program included poker sessions on the sailing yacht and visits to the most exclusive clubs and beach parties. The highlight of the event: a visit to PokerIsland, where stars by the likes of the Pussycat Dolls or Lady Gaga have already been guests. “It was the best week of my life! This is how real poker superstars must feel”, said Ivan Garcia Garcia, who also scored a success at the poker table during his Magic Moment on PokerIsland.

More information on this event is available at www.magicmomentsofpoker.com.

Main prize: $100,000 bwin Poker team membership

One player will get to qualify for the Grand Final at each one of the Magic Moments of Poker events. There, the winner will walk away with a membership on the bwin Poker Team. This means all-inclusive packages (accommodation, participation fees, etc.) valued at $100,000 for the world’s most important international poker tournaments such as the WSOP and WPT.

The players also star in their very own Magic Moments of Poker show. The action at the televised poker tables is broadcast to millions of viewers tuning in around the world.

Next stop FC Bayern Munich

The next stop on the Magic Moments of Poker tour will take us to the recordbreaking champions FC Bayern Munich. Qualification via Freeroll tournaments is possible until 18.07.2009, at www.bwin.com/magicmomentsofpoker.

The bwin Magic Moments of Poker tour will be stopping off at some of the biggest football clubs and top sporting events in Europe: Real Madrid, AC Milan and FC Bayern Munich, EuroBasket 2009, a MotoGP racing weekend in Jerez or even an action-packed stay on PokerIsland. With the cameras rolling, the qualifiers will get to put their poker skills to the test.

Stay up to date with the Latest Poker News and Reviews

Stay up to date with all the latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

World Series of Poker WSOP Event 3 $1,500 Omaha Hi Low 8-or-better

It's been another year of records so far at the 2009 WSOP and only fitting that Event 3 $1,500 Omaha 8-or-Better, concluded with another history-making performance. Last year's defending champion, Thang Luu, eclipsed a record-breaking field of 918 entrants to capture his second World Seris of Poker bracelet! Not only is this Luu's second bracelet, it's his second in the same event in consectutive years.

Back in 2007, Luu took second place in this same event for $147,726. Last year, Luu topped that performance with a win in the same event for $243,342 in what was the largest Omaha tournament ever played. This year, Luu came out on top of a larger field than last year and earned himself $263,135. In total, Thang's earned over $650,000 for all three of those finishes!

Ming Reslock Eliminated in 3rd ($106,373)

In Round 27 the Blinds are 30000/60000, on a flop of [3h] [4h] [Kc], Reslock check calls Luu. The turn is the [6h] and Reslock check-raises all in she turns over [9c] [8s] [7c] [8h] with a gutsho straight draw. Luu shows [6h] [7d] [3s] [Tc] for two pair with a blank on the river. Ming Reslock earns $106,373 and a 3rd place finish

Thang Luu 2,300,000 and Ed Smith 1,800,000 are very closely stacked at the start of heads-up play.

Ed Smith Eliminated in 2nd ($162,110)

Ed Smith limps in from the button, he only has a little over one small bet left. Thang Luu tries to get Smith all in with a raise. Smith simply calls with only a few thousand chips behind.

The flop came down [Qd] [5s] [4h] and Luu bets to force Smith all in and he makes the call. Luu is holding [Qc] [9d] [8c] [7d] against Smith's [Jc] [9h] [9c] [3h]. The turn is the [5h] and the river the [Td] and that is the end of this historic event. Ed Smith is this year's runner up and earns $162,110.

Thang Luu wins back-to-back Bracklets in the same event

Winning 2 consectutive events in the WSOP equalled Johnny Chan performance back in the 1980s. Luu was the chip leader at the end of Day 1. He was never really the big stack at the final table, but commanded the action and picked his spots wisely. When play got down to three handed, Luu simply took over and began crushing the competition. From there, it was smooth sailing. Congratulations to Thang Luu for his win and amazing back-to-back performances.

We have the seating for the final table.

Seat 1 - Ming Reslock
Seat 2 - Jordan Rich
Seat 3 - Pascal Leyo
Seat 4 - Robert Price
Seat 5 - Freddy Deeb
Seat 6 - Senovio Ramirez
Seat 7 - Thang Luu
Seat 8 - Ed Smith
Seat 9 - Jim Geary

For a third straight year, Thang Luu has made the final table of this event.

WSOP 2009 Event 3 $1,500 Omaha Hi Lo 8-or-better Results

Stay up to date with all the latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

To celebrate the 40 year anniversary of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) we have witnessed arguably the strongest field in a live poker event EVER! The 40th Anniversary No Limit Holdem event was run over a gruelling 4 days with 201 Entrants paying the $40,000 Buy in.

At the end of 3 days with the elimination of Tony G in 10th Place taking $172,120 The final table was as follows :

Seat 1 - Ted Forrest (560,000)
Seat 2 - Noah Schwartz (660,000)
Seat 3 - Alec Torelli (2,340,000)
Seat 4 - Isaac Haxton (5,955,000)
Seat 5 - Greg Raymer (3,345,000)
Seat 6 - Justin Bonomo (1,685,000)
Seat 7 - Lex Veldhuis (3,805,000)
Seat 8 - Dani Stern (1,300,000)
Seat 9 - Vitaly Lunkin (4,565,000)

After 110 hands all 3 players were seperated by less than 50,000 chips

Greg Raymer with 8,025,000, Vitaly Lunkin 8,010,000 and Isaac Haxton with 7,980,000

The Fossilman is eliminated with pocket 5s v pocket 9's

Hand 113 - Greg "The Fossilman" Raymer has the button, he raises 400,00, Lunkin folds and Haxton three-bets to 1,250,000. Raymer makes a move all in for his 8,105,000, Haxton has him covered and makes the call.

Raymer [5h] [5d], Hayton [9h] [9d] The flop comes down and its [Kc] [Qd] [Ts], Raymer needs a 5 or a runner, runner mirage to stay in the tournament. The turn is the [3h], the river is [3d] the crowd go crazy for "the Fossilman" as one of the true gentlemen of the game.

At the start of Heads up play, Haxton has 70% of the chips with 16,495,000 against Lunkin's 7,520,000. During the course of the next 50+ hands, we have 4 hands that gave Vitaly Lunkin his 2nd World Series of Poker bracklet following last year's win which he described as the highlight of his poker career.

Hand 154 - Lunkin Doubles through Isaac Haxton

Isaac Haxton has the button. He rauses to 400,000 and Lunkin comes in with a three-bet to 1.4 million. Haxton moves all in and Lunkin calls all in for 7,940,000. Haxton has Lunkin covered.

Lunkin [Th] [Tc], Haxton [Kc] [3c]. The flop is [Ts] [4s] [2h] Lunkin flops top set of tens. The turn is the [Jh]. Haxton is drawing dead, the river is a meaningless [Qh]. This is a hugh double up for Lunkin. Following Raymer's elimination Lunkin has 15,940,000 against Haxton 8,155,000.

Hand 160 - Isaac Haxton Doubles through Lunkin

Isaac Haxton has the button. He opens for 400,00 and Lunkin calls.

The flop is [Kc] [5c] [3h] Lunkin [As] [Ad] check-raises Haxton's 525,000 bet to 1,450,000, Haxton Calls. The turn is a [6s]. Lunkin bets 1.5 million, Haxton moves all in and Lunkin calls.

Haxton nees a king or a ten to survive. The river is a [Tc] and Haxton doubles to 13,970,000 while Lunkin drops down to 10,125,000

Hand 162 - Lunkin Doubles through Isaac Haxton

Isaac Haxton has the button. He makes it 400,000 to go and Lunkin reraises to 1.4 million. Haxton calls. The flop is [Ac] [5c] [4c], Lunkin leads out for 2,000,000, Haxton moves all in and Lunkin calls

Lunkin [Qc] [Ts], Haxton [Qs] [8c] Haxton is in big trouble he needs to hit an eight or running non-clubs straight cards to survive. The turn is the [8d], Haxton has gone from 11% to 77% with the river to go. The river is a [2c] leaving Haxton with 5,505,000 against Lunkin sits with 18,590,000 chips.

Hand 167 - Pocket Aces hold for the Lunkin and the win

Vitaly Lunkin has the button [As] [Ah], he limps in, Haxton [3d] [8c] raises an additional 600,000. Lunkin makes the call

The flop is [Qd] [Td] [8d], Haxton leads out with 1,200,000 with a pair of eights and 4 to the diamond flush, Lunkin moves all in and Haxton calls all in for 5,635,000.

Lunkin is 49% against Haxton's 47%, the turn is the [7c], Haxton needs a diamond, an eight or a three to stay alive. The river is the [Ks] and Vitaly Lunkin wins the tournament.

Haxton earns $1,168,566 as runner-up while Lunkin takes home $1,891,012 and his second WSOP bracklet

WSOP 2009 Event 2 40th Anniversary $40,000 No-Limit Hold'em Results

Stay up to date with all the latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

The first event of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a modest affair only available to Casino Employees Texas No Limit Holdem. The event was run over 2 days with a total of 866 Entrants paying the $500 Buy in.

Andrew Cohen was the first recipient of a World Series of Poker Bracklet and a first prize of $83,833, runner up was Paul Peterson who received $51,787.

The winning hand was a coin flip with Cohen marginally ahead with his [6c] [6h] against Peterson's [As] [Qc], the board came [4h] [Jc] [Td] [Th] [7d]

WSOP 2009 Event 1 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em Results

Stay up to date with all the latest World Series of Poker (WSOP) News at LTDPoker.com, Top Poker Room Reviews including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker, PokerStars and our exclusive Online Poker Bonuses.

It's that time of year again and we only have a few more days wait until the Rio All-Suite Hotel and Casino will open its doors for the 40th Annual World Series of Poker (WSOP). Thousands of poker players and railbirds will be filling the Amazon Ballroom to watch the biggest event of the poker year.

Harrah’s officials have announced that people all over the world will be able to keep up to date with all the action as it develops over the next seven weeks.

In an announcement last Thursday, WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack announced that two websites - ESPN360.com and BluffMagazine.com - will be offering live streaming video broadcasts of 24 of the WSOP Live tournaments. Via the two sites, fans from around the world will be able to view the action in almost real-time.

Commissioner Pollack commented, "We are proud to provide the culminating action of so many prominent events to a worldwide audience in real-time. This online initiative will complement our spectacular television package on ESPN and deliver even more of this year’s milestone WSOP to fans who want the most immediate coverage possible."

For US Players ESPN will be broadcasting 32 hours of action on television, however this will be be limited to two bracelet events, the special anniversary $40,000 No Limit Texas Holdem tournament and the Main Event. It will also air two non-bracelet events, the WSOP Champions Invitational and the Charity event - Ante Up for Africa charity tournament.

The streaming video feed of the WSOP will feature other highly prestigious tournaments on the schedule, including four of the $10,000 World Championships, the Ladies’ Championship, and the $50,000 HORSE tournament.

This news will allow thousands of people to see the events as they unfold in Las Vegas on the internet and is a huge step forware not only the WSOP, but also for the players and fans themselves.

The schedule of events that will either appear on Bluffmagazine.com or ESPN360.com is as follows:

History of the World Series of Poker

The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is "the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media-hyped poker tournament in the world". It is held annually in Las Vegas, NV. The first WSOP occurred in 1970 it was an invitational event, Benny Binion invited six of the best known poker players to The Horseshoe Casino. In the beginning, the WSOP grew slowly. It took twelve years before the event drew 52 participants in 1982. In the early 1980s satellite tournaments were introduced allowing people to win their way into the various events for less than the full entry fees. By 1987, there were over 2,100 entrants into the tournament. The highest number of poker players was in 2006, with 8,773 people participating in the Main Event alone with the winner Jamie Gold taking home a first prize of $12,067,292.

The first World Series of Poker was not a freeze out tournament, but an event with a Set time limit, the winner was determined by secret ballot. In 1973, a second event, five-card stud was added. Over the years most of the major poker variants have been played at one time or another. Since 2007, the WSOP has consisted of 55 events. While events traditionally take place over one or more consecutive days during the series throughout June and July, in 2008 the Main Event final table was delayed for the first time until November. The winner of each WSOP event wins a World Series of Poker bracelet and a monetary prize based on the number of entrants and buy-in amounts. A World Series of Poker bracelet is considered the most coveted prize a poker player can win, with one from the Main Event revered above all others. Since 1976, a bracelet has been awarded to the winner of every event at the annual WSOP. WSOP victories prior to 1976 are also known as "bracelets". Most of the major poker variants are featured, though in recent years over half of the events have been variants of Texas hold 'em.

The World Series culminates with the $10,000 no-limit texas hold'em "Main Event", which since 2004 has attracted entrants numbering in the thousands. The victor receives a multi-million dollar prize. The winner of the World Series of Poker Main Event is considered to be the World Champion of Poker. Since its inception, Stu Ungar is the only player to have won the Main Event three times. Johnny Moss also holds three Main Event titles, however the first win was not played in the current tournament format but by a vote making Ungar the only three-time champion in terms of actual victories. Moss (if the first time win by vote is counted), Ungar, Doyle Brunson, and Johnny Chan are the only people who have won the Main Event for two consecutive years. Johnny Chan's second victory in 1988 was featured on the 1998 film Rounders. Phil Hellmuth holds multiple WSOP records: most bracelets (11), WSOP cashes (68) and most WSOP final tables (41).

The current Main Event bracelet winner, Peter Eastgate is the youngest person to win the Main Event. Since 2005, the WSOP has been sponsored by Harrah's Entertainment.

WSOP Winners

Winning the World Series of Poker Main Event not only brings you an exclusive World Series of Poker bracelet and a handsome cash prize -- it also provides the select few with a permanent place in poker history as one of a select group who have won the world’s most prestigious poker tournament.

Year	Winner	Winning Hand	Prize (US$)
2008	Peter Eastgate		9,152,416
2007	Jerry Yang		8,250,000
2006	Jamie Gold		12,000,000
2005	Joe Hachem		7,500,000
2004	Greg Raymer		5,000,000
2003	Chris Moneymaker		2,500,000
2002	Robert Varkonyi		2,000,000
2001	Juan Carlos Mortensen		1,500,000
2000	Chris Ferguson		1,500,000

Swedish Player Sven Ragnar Astrom Wins WPT Venice, powered by bwin

397 poker players competed for more than $2 million in prize money at the first-ever World Poker Tour® tournament in Italy

Last week, 397 players participated in the first ever World Poker Tour event in Italy — WPT Venice, powered by bwin. The €4,000 tournament kicked off May 6 at Casino di Venezia, with a diverse international playing field, including poker pros Carlos Mortensen, Vanessa Rousso, Chad Brown, Surinder Sunar, Steve Sung, Patrick Bruel, Max "the Italian Pirate" Pescatori and WPT Season VII Player of the Year, Betrand “Elky” Grospellier.

After five days of play, 22-year old Ragnar Astrom took home more than $542,000, a $25,000 seat in the WPT World Championship in Las Vegas, and an official WPT bracelet on Sunday when he defeated fellow Swede, Martin Jacobson. Jacobson received $325,000 as runner-up, and Frenchman Vincent Pasdeloup placed third to win $217,000, having reached the final table after qualifying for WPT Venice as a freeroll qualifier on bwin.

"This was our first event with World Poker Tour, and we are delighted with how well things worked out,” said Manfred Bodner, Co-CEO of bwin. “The combination of the online and offline player experience coupled with the information systems and being able to offer bets on the tournament adds a whole new dimension to both sides."

"We are thrilled that our first event in Italy was a success and well-received by the players,” said Steve Lipscomb, WPT CEO and Founder. “We are pleased with the high player and pro turnout and also with the unique elements that bwin brought to the table for this event. We hope to continue this level of success as we expand further into Italy, the rest of Europe and into other continents."

In addition to holding the event in the oldest casino in the world, bwin developed and introduced a Live Tournament Information System, which provided real-time streaming information such as leaderboards and bust-out updates throughout the tournament. bwin also created "Tournament Achievements," which awarded players who reached certain milestones, such as certain chip levels, first player to knock out an opponent, and the “Bubble Buster” award.

The May 10 final table was videostreamed live, and bets on the final table were offered on www.bwin.com, including overall winner bets, country bets and headto-head bets.

Andy Hindmarsh is CEO of LTDPoker.com, a Leading provider of Free Bankrolls, Free Online Poker, Player Sponsorship and the Latest Poker News. For the Best UK online poker rooms check out our Top sites including Betfair Poker, Bwin Poker and PokerStars.