Yes, even Bodog is in the Holiday spirit.

Bodog is hosting the ‘’12 Days of Poker'’ Series for the Christmas season, giving you more than enough reason to stay at home, enjoy the week off while cashing in on some big pots online.

The online poker room is running a 45-event series aptly called, the ‘’12 Days of Poker.'’ The series will run for 12 days starting from December 21 to January 1.

As a Christmas gift, Bodog Poker will pump $100,000 in bonus money into the series so this should be more than enough reason for poker aficionados to get in the action.

Aside from the prize money you can win, the ‘’12 Days of Poker'’ series will have a leaderboard and a Grand Finale.

The top three finishers in the Grand Finale get to take home a complete package of buy-ins to the Bodog Poker Open III which is happening in the Spring of 2009.

To get into the Grand Finale, you either automatically qualify by being in the top four at the series leaderboard, or you can be in spot 5 to 100 and play in a two-tier playoff where another 18 Grand Finale seats will be awarded.

Bodog will add 1,000 to 20,000 dollars in each tournament. The events are usually titled according to the bonus money…

Read More » Bodog offers 12 Days of Poker Series this Christmas

Yes, royalty sure is hard to come by these days.

And when an agency calls itself Poker Royalty, it will be hard-pressed to live up to its title. It’s a good thing that the high-profile agency for professional poker players is meeting expectations and working double-time to beef up its roster of clients.

Poker Royalty’s newest client is David Chiu, considered by most as the most successful poker player that was born in China.

Players who sign up with Poker Royalty agree that they be represented for all their marketing and promotional needs. Ideally, this enables the players to ignore the gobbledygook that goes on around them and just focus on what is important, winning at the felt.

Poker Royalty handles everything from mainstream media to commercial endorsements. We can assume they also get a pretty hefty cut for all their troubles. It really shouldn’t be a surprise that Chiu was the next in line to join Poker Royalty.

Poker is starting to attract a lot of attention in Asia and someone like Chiu can only strengthen the interest further. Chiu has won…

Read More » David Chiu signs with Poker Royalty

The BC Open Poker Championships is one of Canada’s biggest poker events SINCE they really don’t have much going on up there.

And with Canada native Daniel Negreanu winning it all, the guy clearly is one of the most popular Canadian poker players we have in the game today and I won’t be surprised if his native country looks up to him now as its new hero at the poker tables.

Daniel Negreanu, who has been playing great poker by the way if you look at his record in recent events, won in the main event of the 2008 BC Open Poker Championships.

For his win, Negreanu further pads his bankroll with a cool $371,910 in prize money. He has also made his poker resume even more daunting. Canadians? This tournament was won by one of the most popular players in the world.

Unknown to a lot, Negreanu was originally from Toronto. Although he now lives in Las Vegas (the poker player’s home), Negreanu is tickled pink by his win. In an interview, Negreanu confessed that his victory was extra special since he was a Canadian himself. A little cheesy but it probably made him even more popular in Canada.

Who knows? It might even be true.

Despite the sentimental talk, Negreanu was a killer at the poker table. He had to…

Read More » Canada has a new Hero in Poker in Daniel Negreanu after he won the BC Open Poker Championships

High rollers, they sure get all kinds of attention in places like Las Vegas and Reno.

This guy will too, for sure, after winning the ‘’High Rollers'’ event at Full Tilt. Amit Makhija, who is slowly but surely making a name for himself in the world of poker, has captured the High Rollers title at Fill Tilt’s Online Poker Series (FTOPS X).

Amit Makhija paid the steep $5,000+200 buy-in (after all, there needs to be a reason why this was called the ‘’High Rollers'’ event) and eventually made his way to the top to be crowned champ.

Makhija was a dominant force as he was the overall chip leader among 35 players when action resumed, retaining his lead when the final table was called. When the dust cleared after the feeding frenzy at the final table, only three players remained with Amit ‘’amak316′’ Makhija still holding the advantage with 1,364,684 in chips. KaKetKa had 982,756 in chips while PureCash25 had 652,560.

PureCash25 actually took over chip lead but found himself losing in a race with his A-K against Makhija’s pocket queens. With only…

Read More » Meet the new High Roller in Poker, Amit Makhija, winner of the High Rollers Event at Full Tilt Poker

Good God almighty! Talk about versatility!

After virtually dominating the recently held 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, Aquaman himself proved that not only can he make his mark on water, he can also go toe-to-toe with the best of them on the poker tables.

You read it, multi gold medalist Michael Phelps proved that he can also play poker after scoring a final table appearance at Caesars Palace. Sure, we all know that the guy can swim like a freaking fish and he can win gold medals in effortless fashion in the Olympics, but if we’re going to judge him based solely on event No.2 at the Caesars Palace Classic, yes, apparently, he can play awesome poker as well.

The American swimmer, who as everyone knows, holds the distinction of having his face plastered all over the world for being the world record holder for most medals won in a single Olympics event, is no longer just a fish, at least not on the poker tables.

Phelps used some of his hard-earned endorsement money to buy into a $1,500 buy-in tournament and ended up finishing in ninth place in a field of 150 players. Not a bad payday for Phelps. He won over $5,000 for his feat.

It wouldn’t be fair to think that Michael Phelps is a total newbie when it comes to poker. Amanda Beard, another…

Read More » Olympic Gold Medalist Michael Phelps can Play Poker

Yes, surprisingly, there’s a thing called a Hall of Fame in poker.

And for all ya’ll waiting, I guess the wait is over. We now know the names of the poker luminaries added to the prestigious Poker Hall of Fame list. It has been announced that the 2008 inductees are Duane ‘’Dewey'’ Tomko and Henry Orenstein.

The two will be the Poker Hall of Fame’s 36th and 37th inductees. Tomko and Orenstein will be awarded on November 9 at the Penn & Teller Theater at the Rio All-Suites Hotel & Casino. Just in time for the final table of the 2008 World Series of Poker main event.

Dewey Tomko is a former kindergarten teacher and golfer. He has been playing poker before the age of 19 and is considered a veteran of the game. Tomko has won three World Series of Poker bracelets and has had two runner-up finishes in the WSOP main event.

He also holds the distinction of having participated in the WSOP main event for 35 years. He won two of his bracelets in 1984 for the $10,000 Deuce-to-Seven event and the $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha. He won his third bracelet in 1979 in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold-em event.

Henry Orenstein, on the other hand, is known for both his…

Read More » Tomko and Orenstein to be inducted in the Poker Hall of Fame at the 2008 World Series of Poker main event

Who do you think will win the big one this Sunday?

In case you’ve been living under a rock lately, the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table is ON this Sunday as the final nine players remaining, now dubbed as the ‘’November Nine'’ will play it out to determine who’ll be the 2008 WSOP champion.

One of the final nine participants this Sunday will be Peter Eastgate. Eastgate could become the youngest professional poker champion in the history of the World Series of Poker and yes, history could be made then.

If he achieves this enormous feat, he would surpass the victory celebrated by Phil Hellmuth when he became champion at 24 years old dating back in 1989. Eastgate was just three years old during that time.

Hailing from Odense, he has an association with Ladbrokes Poker though has been wearing PokerStars gear and is primarily an online player.

Peter Eastgate is regarded as one of the top Internet pros in Denmark, where he specializes in short-handed and heads-up high limit cash games ($200/$400 levels). He has had a couple of promising offline showings recently however, most notably finishing 9th in the 2007 Irish Open for…

Read More » 2008 World Series of Poker Part 10: Peter Eastgate

The biggest poker tournament of the year is about to conclude this Sunday.

You read it, the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table is on this Sunday and since it’s merely a few more days away, we will continue to bring you the final nine participants who’ll compete for that elusive WSOP bracelet. Feel free to jump on in their bandwagon.

And this time, we have Kelly Kim. Kelly Kim will enter the final table looking to improve from her short stack status of 2,620,000 in chips. The Korean-born Southern Californian has been successful in professional tournaments for more than 4 years now so engineering a big comeback this Sunday is more than just a possibility.

Kim’s first major cash win occurred in the NL hold’em event at the 2003 Grand Slam of Poker in the form of a first place finish and $21,900. His biggest cash win came in at the NLH L.A. Poker Classic Event in 2006, where he finished 3rd for $62,201.

He also has 2 WSOP cash wins from 2007, in the $2,500 NLH 28th for $12,348 and the $1,000 NLH re-buys 57th for $8,067. His poker resume also includes money finishes in a WPT Event 2006 L.A. Poker Classic; 17th for $46,502 and the Caesar’s Palace World Series circuit event in April this year, finishing 29th for $6,440.

Even if the short-stacked Kelly were to go out in 9th place this Sunday…

Read More » 2008 World Series of Poker Part 9: Kelly Kim

No, this dude is not representing the Democrat nor the Republican party on election night.

And no, he’s not going after any presidential seat whatsoever either. What this guy wants to have is that shiny WSOP bracelet at the end of the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table. And in case you didn’t get it yet, yes, the countdown for the WSOP continues.

And yes, Ivan Demidov is one of the final nine players, dubbed as the ‘’November Nine‘’ who will sit in the final table all looking to claim the big one. In Demidov’s case, he’s looking for his first bracelet with 24,400,000 in chips.

And it doesn’t matter to him too if he’s 2,000,000 behind chip leader, Dennis Phillips.

STILL, Ivan Demidov is tagged as a 4 to 1 favorite by several bookmakers to win the 2008 WSOP. The 27-year-old Demidov from Moscow came in a respectable 11th place at the 2008 39th Annual World Series of Poker, winning nearly $40,0000.

He also has a final-table finish in a 2006 Russian Poker Championship event as well as a third-place finish in the $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em evening event during the Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2007.

Sure, this is his first World Series of Poker event but…

Read More » 2008 World Series of Poker Part 8: Ivan Demidov

Yes, the countdown for that final table in the WSOP continues.

We are merely a few more days away from the 2008 World Series of Poker main event final table as we continue to give ya’ll the final nine participants, all hoping to win the 2008 WSOP bracelet when it’s all said and done.

This time we have David ‘’Chino'’ Rheem. Rheem may not have the most chips going into the 2008 WSOP main event this November but he is arguably the most well-known player among the November Nine group at the final table.

The 28-year-old professional poker player has won over $700,000 in live tournament earnings since he first hit the World Series of Poker circuit in 2005. He already has 5 WSOP wins to his name and finished 2nd in the 2006 $1,000 No Limit Texas Hold’Em Re-Buy event.

The World Series of Poker is not the only place Rheem has taken the prize. He has also won three Bellagio Cups and made it the final table of the 2005 EPT grand final, finishing in 3rd place and earning $10,219. David Rheem qualified for the 2008 WSOP by playing at the online poker room, PokerStars.

However, Rheem’s stellar performance has been scrutinized heavily about past criminal convictions that he was…

Read More » 2008 World Series of Poker Part 7: Chino Rheem