Now that the World Series of Poker is over many pros have been reporting moving to Canada to play online poker.   Ever since the US Department of Justice locked out the main sites for US players in April, the choices have been somewhat limited for American players online.   They can still play at some selected places, but the action at those sites is much more limited.   By moving to Canada they can play at the big sites like Pokerstars and Party Poker.

Some of the names making the move across the border are Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Daniel Negreanu, and Daniel “Jungleman10″ Cates.

The main procedure involved is to establish a residence in the country, so that you have formal bills going to that address (to be used as proof of address).  And by formal bills I mean either utility bills or a bank statement.   Then with this proof of address and your Canadian IP you will once again be accepted by the big online poker sites.

Event 16 of the WSOP produced a star-studded final table and two of the biggest names of all, John Juanda and Phil Hellmuth, made it all the way to heads-up.

The game was No Limit Deuce Seven Lowball.  A game that Juanda is known to be extremely proficient in.  Hellmuth is no slouch at the game either, particularly in the No Limit format.  However ultimately the cards and possibly skill edge prevailed and Juanda won, denying Hellmth his 12th WSOP bracelet.

1 John Juanda $367,170
2 Phil Hellmuth $226,907
3 Richard Ashby $143,833
4 Steve Sung $97,416
5 Nick Schulman $69,216
6 David “Bakes” Baker $51,485
7 Hasan Habib $40,020
8 Joe Cassidy $32,440
9 Greg “Fossilman” Raymer $27,928
10 Benjamin Parker $27,928
11 Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier $27,928
12 Johnny Chan $24,043
13 Brandon Cantu $24,043
14 Chino Rheem $24,043

On the final hand of the tournament Hellmuth stood on a Queen (Q,T,8,5,2), and Juanda drew one from J,6,3,2,X.  He needed to avoid an Ace, King, Queen, Jack, Six, Three, or Two.  It’s was an eight, and Junada won the pot and the match with J,8,6,3,2.

This year’s EPT Grand Final will take place at the Casino Gran in Madrid, Spain.   The main event will be a 10,000 Euro buy-in and there is expected to be a first prize of around 2 million Euros.  It runs from 7th May until the 12th May and is the finale of the 7th Season of the European Poker Tour.

You can qualify for the main event for as little as 3.33 Euros via satellites at Pokerstars.  You can win a 13,100 Euros package that includes the tournament buy-in, and accomodation, and spending money.

Full Tilt Poker has a new format of tournaments called Rush on Demand.  It is sort of half way between a Sit-and-Go and a Scheduled MTT.    They are available all the time, simply starting when 36 people have registered.  But what makes them unique is that registration then stays open rather than closing as in a SNG.   

People keep registering and the tournament can end up with several hundred entrants, turning them into a reasonable sized MTT.   As it’s a Rush tournament the blind levels are short - just 3 mins.  And late reg stays open for 5 levels.  Mathematicians amongst you will deduce therefore that there are 15 mins of late reg.

There are quite a lot of different buy-in sizes available including $1.10, $4.40, $12, and $24.

So if quick tournaments are your thing, that start very promptly after you register, and get a good field size (aka good prizepool) then they are worth checking out for sure.   If interested sign-up to Full Tilt and receive a $600 bonus.

Daniel Negreanu took on Isildur1 in the Pokerstars Super Showdown last night.  The plan was to play 2500 hands of $50/$100 this week and another 2500 hands next week.   $150,000 is the standard stop-loss of the challenge which would trigger it to end early - and indeed it has!  

After just 1439 hands last night that $150K deficit was reached (Negreanu being down by $150K), with Isildur1 therefore winning the challenge.   It is the first time since these challenges have been running that the stop-loss has come into affect.   Negreanu must be very disappointed as he had been practising a lot for this game.  For it to not even last the planned duration is a bit of a slap in the face.

Early indications are that Negreanu will reload to play a fresh challenge next weekend, as the playing time had already been penciled in.  Let’s hope he runs a little better.

You can watch the challenge and future challenges at Pokerstars

The main event of the EPT Copenhagen has concluded with Michael Tureniec taking down the 3.7 million kroner first prize.  Here is a list of the top finishers:

1 Michael Tureniec DKK 3,700,000 (~$725,000 USD)
2 Per Linde DKK 2,450,000
3 John Eames DKK 1,400,000
4 Kevin Iacofano DKK 1,000,000
5 Nikolas Liakos DKK 750,000
6 Mudassar Khan DKK 600,000
7 Andrea Dalle Molle DKK 450,000
8 Juha Helppi DKK 296,400
9 Joel Nordkvist DKK 220,000
10 Simon Hanninger DKK 220,000
11 Jens Lauridsen DKK 165,000
12 Simen Johannessen DKK 165,000
13 Johnny Jensen DKK 130,000
14 Lars Krogh  DKK 130,000
15 Daniel Johansson DKK 105,000
16 Ivan Freitez DKK 105,000
17 Helge Rahbek DKK 85,000
18 Jan Sørensen DKK 85,000

To qualify for future EPT Events sign-up to Pokerstars

The Pokerstars Carribean Adventure (PCA) has just got underway for it’s 8th year.    11 days in the warm and sunny Bahamas.    The key events are the $10K Main Event which normally delivers a hefty prizepool including a winners prize in the region of $2 million.   There are also a couple of high-roller events, a $25K buy-in and a $100K buy-in.   Also there is a $5K Bounty event.

 Here is the full schedule:

 January 6, Thursday
8:00 1 Fish and Chips - Fishing Derby - Day 1 $2,300
12:00 2 NL - Hold’em - Super High Roller - Day 1 $100,000
 
January 7, Friday
8:00 1 Fish and Chips - Fishing Derby - Final Day $2,300
12:00 2 NL - Hold’em - Final Day - Super High Roller - Day 2 $100,000
17:00 1 NL - Hold’em - Fish and Chips Poker - Day 1 $2,300
18:00 3 NL - Super Satellite to Main Event $1,040 + $60
20:00 4 NL - Turbo $270 + $30
 
January 8, Saturday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 1A $10,000 + $300
13:00 2 NL - Hold’em - Super High Roller - Final Day (ESPN2) $100,000
13:00 1 NL - Hold’em - Fish and Chips Poker - Final Day $2,300
16:00 6 NL - Turbo - Randomized Bounties $800 + $200 + $100
18:00 7 NL - One Rebuy Super Satellite to Main Event $1,040 + $60
20:00 8 PLO - Turbo $270 + $30
 
January 9, Sunday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 1B $10,000 + $300
16:00 9 NL - Turbo - Randomized Bounties $800 + $200 + $100
18:00 10 NL - One Rebuy Super Satellite to $5,000 $550 + $50
20:00 11 PLO8 - Turbo $270 + $30
 
January 10, Monday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 2 $10,000 + $300
12:00 12 PokerStars PLO Championships - “8 Max” - Day 1 $5,000 + $250
14:00 13 NL - Hold’em - Day 1 $2,000 + $150
16:00 14 H. O. E. (Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud Hi-Lo) - $25K GTD - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
18:00 15 NL - One Rebuy Super Satellite to $5,000 $550 + $50
20:00 16 NL - Turbo $270 + $30
 
January 11, Tuesday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 3 (TV) $10,000 + $300
12:00 17 NL - Hold’em - “8 Max” - Day 1 $5,000 + $250
13:00 12 PokerStars PLO Championships - “8 Max” - Final Day $5,000 + $250
13:00 13 NL - Hold’em - Final Day $2,000 + $150
13:00 14 H. O. E. (Hold’em, Omaha Hi-Lo, Stud Hi-Lo) - $25K GTD - Final Day $1,000 + $100
14:00 18 NL - Hold’em - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
16:00 19 PLO - “8 Max” - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
18:00 20 Fiple Draw (A-5, 2-7, Badugi, Baduci, Badacey) - $25K GTD - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
20:00 21 NL - Turbo - Bounty $270 + $100 + $30
 
January 12, Wednesday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 4 - play down to 24 players (TV) $10,000 + $300
12:00 22 PokerStars Heads Up Championships (64 Cap) - Day 1 $5,000 + $250
12:00 23 NL - Turbo - “6 Max” - Bounty $1,000 + $1,000 + $150
13:00 17 NL - Hold’em - “8 Max” - Final Day $5,000 + $250
13:00 18 NL - Hold’em - Final Day $1,000 + $100
13:00 19 PLO - “8 Max” - Final Day $1,000 + $100
13:00 20 Fiple Draw - $25K GTD - Final Day $1,000 + $100
14:00 24 PS.net Big Game Tourney - PL Pre - NL Post - Hold’em - Day 1 $550 + $50
16:00 25 Two Plus Two - Binglaha $550 + $50
18:00 26 8 Game - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
20:00 27 NL - Turbo - One Rebuy $270 + $30
 
January 13, Thursday
12:00 5 Main Event Day 5 (TV - Webcast) $10,000 + $300
12:00 28 NAPT Bounty Shootout - Day 1 (216 Cap) $5,000 + $250
13:00 22 PokerStars Heads Up Championships (64 Cap) - Final Day $5,000 + $250
13:00 24 PS.net Big Game Tourney - PL Pre - NL Post - Hold’em - Final Day $550 + $50
13:00 26 8 Game - Final Day $1,000 + $100
16:00 29 NL - Hold’em - “6 Max” - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
18:00 30 Omaha 8 / Stud 8 - $25K GTD - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
18:00 31 NL - Hold’em - AMFAR Charity Event Invitation
19:00 32 NL - Super Satellite to Women’s NL (Event 37) $180 + $20
20:00 33 NL - Turbo - Bounty $270 + $100 + $30
 
January 14, Friday
9:00   Big Slick Bootcamp - 9:00am - 1:30pm  
12:00 28 NAPT Bounty Shootout - Day 2 - 36 Players (ESPN2) $5,000 + $250
12:00 34 NL - Hold’em - High Roller - Day 1 $25,000 + $500
12:00 35 World Cup of Poker - Day 1 Invitation
12:00 36 NL - Hold’em - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
13:00 29 NL - Hold’em - “6 Max” - Final Day $1,000 + $100
13:00 30 Omaha 8 / Stud 8 - $25K GTD - Final Day $1,000 + $100
14:00 37 NL - Hold’em - Women’s Event - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
14:00 38 NL - Heads Up - 64 Player Cap - Day 1 $1,000 + $100
20:00 39 NL - Turbo - One Rebuy $270 + $30
20:30   PokerStars PCA Party - Royal Deck - 8:30pm - 10:30pm  
 
January 15, Saturday
12:00 34 NL - Hold’em - High Roller - Day 2 $25,000 + $500
12:00 35 World Cup of Poker - Final Day Invitation
12:00 40 PCA Battleship - Main Event $2,000 + $100
12:00 41 NL - Hold’em  - Day 1 $1,500 + $100
12:00 42 PokerStars 8 Game Championships - Day 1 $5,000 + $250
13:00 36 NL - Hold’em - Final Day $1,000 + $100
13:00 37 NL - Hold’em - Women’s Event - Final Day $1,000 + $100
13:00 38 NL - Heads Up - 64 Player Cap - Final Day $1,000 + $100
14:00 43 NL - Hold’em - Women’s Event $270 + $30
16:00 44 NLH / PLO - “8 Max” - Day 1 $550 + $50
16:00 5 Main Event Day 6 - Final Table (TV - Webcast) $10,000 + $300
20:00 45 NL - Turbo $270 + $30
 
January 16, Sunday
12:00 28 NAPT Bounty Shootout - Final  (ESPN2 - Webcast) $5,000 + $250
12:00 34 NL - Hold’em - High Roller - Final Day $25,000 + $500
12:00 41 NL - Hold’em - Final Day $1,500 + $100
12:00 42 PokerStars 8 Game Championships - Final Day $5,000 + $250
12:00 44 NLH / PLO - “8 Max” - Final Day $550 + $50
12:00 46 NL - Hold’em - Unlimited Rebuys + Add-on - $25K Guaranteed $90 + $10
12:00 47 NL - Heads Up - Supernova - VIP (32 Cap) Invitation - 30K FPP’s
13:00 48 NL - Turbo - “6 Max” High Roller $10,000 + $200

To qualify for a trip to the Caribbean playing poker at this year’s PCA or future year’s PCAs then join Pokerstars and receive a bonus of up to $600

The latest session of the durrrr challenge vs jungleman12 (Daniel Cates) took place yesterday.  They played for around 6 hours and completed 2918 hands.  jungleman12 came out on top for the session by $319,103. 

This puts the challenge up to 17108 hands in total, With Cates $819,213.50 up.

They are playing up to 50,000 hands with Cates winnng a $1 million prize if he is an least 1 dollar up at that point.  You can follow the challenge at Full Tilt Poker

RCOOP (Regional Championships of Online Poker)

13 regions, 11 events in each championship.

The Regions and Dates:

Russian - Oct 31st - Nov 7th 2010 - $200,000 guaranteed prize pool

Nordic - November 4-14th - $700,000 guaranteed prize pool

Baltics - November 4-14th - $43,000 guaranteed prize pool

USA - November 21-28th - $3,275,000 guaranteed prize pool

Canada - November 21-28th - $580,000 guaranteed prize pool

Germanics - November 21-28th - €828,000 guaranteed prize pool

Asia Pacific - November 21-28th - $100,000 guaranteed prize pool

Mediterranean - November 18-28th - $80,000 guaranteed prize pool 

UK & Ireland - December 5-12th - $512,500 guaranteed prize pool
 
Central and Eastern Europe - December 6-16th - $150,000 guaranteed prize pool
 
Latin America - December 5-12th - $160,000 guaranteed prize pool

Iberian - February 13-20, 2011 - €113,000 guaranteed prize pool
 
Benelux - February 2011 - €235,500 guaranteed prize pool

If you are interested in giving it a shot then join Pokerstars and receive a sign-up bonus of $600

John Juanda is making a bit of a name for himself in London.   He’s already won the WSOPE Main Event previously, and this year he found himself in the final two of the EPT Main Event in London.   Double WCOOP winner Kyle Bowker finished a notable 3rd.

The event attracted a large field of 848 entrants.  Here are the top prize winners:

1 David Vamplew   £900,000
2 John Juanda   £545,000
3 Kyle “kwob20″ Bowker   £300,000
4 Artur Wasek   £240,000
5 Kayvan Payman   £190,000
6 Fernando Brito   £145,000
7 Tom Marchese   £100,000
8 Per Ummer   £66,800
9 John Hall  £45,000