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

Whilst housebound with the flu bug, I also signed up with William Hill Poker, I’ve been meaning to check them out for a while. Good games, great deposit bonus, always seems to be action there no matter what time of day or night I logged on. What I really liked were the first time depositors freeroll tournaments. Every new depositor gets 4 entries into Wednesday’s $1,000 New Depositors Freeroll @ 18:00 (lobby time) and 1 entry to the New Depositors Prize Freeroll Saturdays @ 18:00 (lobby time). New Depositors Freeroll Tournament winners can choose their prize from a laptop computer, Sony Handycam, Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, Canon Digicam G9 or Samsung Omnia phone. And with 100% up to $600 first deposit bonus, I definately reccommend you give William Hill Poker Club a try if you’re a winner at heart.

Here are the official chip counts and seating assignments:-
Seat 1: Dennis Phillips – 26,295,000 – Resides: Cottage Hills, IL
Seat 2: Craig Marquis – 10,210,000 – Resides: Arlington, TX
Seat 3: Ylon Schwartz – 12,525,000 – Resides: Brooklyn, NY
Seat 4: Scott Montgomery – 19,690,000 – Resides: Perth Ontario, Canada
Seat 5: Darus Suharto – 12,520,000 – Resides: Toronto, Canada
Seat 6: Chino Rheem – 10,230,000 – Resides: Miami, FL
Seat 7: Ivan Demidov – 24,400,000 – Resides: Moscow, Russia
Seat 8: Kelly Kim – 2,620,000 – Resides: Whitter, CA
Seat 9: Peter Eastgate – 18,375,000 – Resides: Odense, Denmark
The  schedule for TV coverage for this year’s event is as follows: -
• July 22 – Event 1: $10,000 pot-limit hold ‘em
• July 29 – Event 2: $1,500 no-limit hold ‘em
• Aug. 5 – Event 3: $1,500 pot-limit hold ‘em or Event 4: $5,000 mixed hold ‘em
• Aug. 12 – Event 5: $1,000 no-limit hold ‘em with rebuys
• Aug. 19 – Event 45: $50,000 HORSE
• Aug. 26 – Event 50: $10,000 pot-limit Omaha
• Sept. 2 to Oct. 28 – Event 55: $10,000 no-limit hold ‘em main event
• Nov. 4 – Event 55: WSOP main event final table preview show
• Nov. 11 – Event 55: WSOP main event final table
Remember to check your area tv schedule for the local time of coverage

The Real Deal Show

A new interactive show at the Venetian Resort Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas will let spectators test their poker skills against some of the most famous poker players. The Las Vegas Strip resort is reported to have said that ‘The Real Deal!’ show, which will be starting in the autumn,  will allow members of the audience to play poker against players like Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth Jr. The poker games will be played onstage using touch-screen devices at their seats. The show which is scheduled to run six days a week will be like an interactive game pitting the poker professionals against amateurs and audience members. Some attendees will win prizes.

Legalising California Online Poker

Organisation Committee, and is now on its way to the Senate Appropriations Committee to be voted upon in August. If the bill, ‘The California Gambling Control/Intrastate Online Poker Legalisation Act’ is passed, residents of California could see online poker being legal as early as July 2009. If the bill were to be passed, it could pave the way for other US states to follow. The bill is a direct result of the UIGEA (Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act) of 2006, which specifically provides the option to legalise in-state online gambling by meeting certain requirements, and has been redesigned to meet these conditions before being propelled through Assembly, and then the Senate Governmental Organisation Committee. More on this story as I get it, later in August.

Full Tilt Poker Sit n Go Madness

Full Tilt Poker (they welcome players from U.S.) have announced the launch of SNG Madness Part 1V.  So far these have proved extremely popular, and I’m sure part 1V will be no exception. Starting from 1600 ET (2100 GMT) on Friday 1st August, and ending at 1600 ET (2100 GMT) on Sunday 3rd August, you can participate in Sit n Go Madness for your chance to earn a share of over $75,000 in cash and prizes. To participate in this great event, simply create your account at Full Tilt Poker, then look for Sit n Go’s highlighted in green. The buy-ins range from Group A – £1 to $2, Group B – $5 to $11, Group C – $20 to $33, and Group D – $50 to $110.  This 48 hours of Sit n Go Madness will be split into 24 x 2 hour blocks. Each of the four groups will have a leader board. There is also a madness raffle, where for every Sit n Go Madness you win, you will be entered into the raffle to win cool Full Tilt Gear, as well as entries into the Sunday events.  With more than 1000 prizes in the raffle alone, this is a 48 hour online poker event not to be missed.  Sign up now for Full Tilt Poker.

Also the number of entrants who live outside the United States went up
significantly this year again. In 2004, there were 24 countries represented,
this increased to 41 in 2005, then 54 in 2006.  Last year’s WSOP had 87
countries represented, and this year the number rose to a spectacular 118,
proving the ever growing global popularity of this major poker event.

Excluding WSOP main events, the second event this summer, a $1,500 no-limit
hold’em event, attracted the most entrants of any live poker tournament in
history with 3,929 entrants.

Much is laid on to help WSOP players relax during the 20 minute breaks, as well
as the 90 minute dinner break.  Each year poker player lounges are set up. These
are places where the players can not only get food and drinks, but also check
their e-mails, play video games, or watch their favourite movie. It is said that
the famous poker player Chris Moneymaker makes the most of the player lounge
during the breaks to play his favourite game Foozball.

PKR poker, has announced the launch of its new Club PKR, which is their online
poker player loyalty program. Club PKR has an ‘Always up, Never down’ policy,
and is designed with all poker players in mind, unlike many similar schemes,
which are only beneficial for high rollers, this scheme will benefit all PKR
online poker players.  There are five different levels for members of Club PKR,
those being Member, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and the top level of
Diamond.

The rewards for members of Club PKR vary amongst the different levels, and range
from special level freerolls, free tournament tickets, birthday gifts, monthly
prize draws and competions, private tournaments, VIP access to PKR events and
much more.

Only real money players can become members of Club PKR. Residents of USA not
accepted.

PKR Poker online offers a range of first deposit bonuses. A great one for poker
players who prefer to play less frequently, or prefer to play low limit poker is
to enter bonus code PKR02 when making your first deposit (minimum $50). You will
get $50 credited to your account once you have earned 7,500 PKR points, which
can be done in as few as 50 raked hands. Plus the great thing with this offer is
you have three months to earn the points. Take a look at all that PKR Poker
Online has to offer!

Players will begin play with $20,000 in Tournament Chips. Each level will last
120 minutes. Breaks will be every level and last 20 minutes.

Event 54 actually consists of 9 Days poker play, however the final two days of
play, which will culminate in the $10,000 WSOP final, and ultimately the 2008
WSOP champion, will not be held until November 2008.

The play runs through from 12pm today for 6 days, then on day 7, Monday 14th
July, play will continue and play down to 9 players. Then day 8 will hold over
until Sunday 9th November, 2008 when play will continue, and play down from 9 to
2. Monday 10th November, day 9, sees the final play Heads Up until the champion
is crowned.

The 2007 Reigning Champion is JERRY YANG, who won $8,250,000. He emerged champ
out of 6,358 entries.

EGM Green is the first company to design and manufacture 100% eco-friendly
casino gaming products. Their product range includes Poker Tables, Blackjack,
Roulette, Mini-Baccarat and Baccarat Tables as well as seating for table games
and slot machines. They are made by using sustainable design principals and
manufacturing in a 100% green building with no gas run-off, or chemical run-off.
The eco-friendly poker tables were debuted at the WSOP 2008, and EGM Green will
be giving one of the poker tables as a special prize to the 2008 WSOP Champion.

Action Poker has some of the best online poker action available. Along with the
regular poker games of Texas hold’em, and 7 card stud, they also offer other
varieties of poker games online which include Big 2, Guts poker, Chinese poker,
and the really exciting Pan poker, otherwise known as Panguingue. The objective
to pan poker is to be the first to put down (meld) all 10 cards in your hand, in
addition to the final card drawn. It may seem a little strange at first if you
haven’t played this variety of poker game before, but once you get the hang of
it you may find it quite addictive! You can find more information about all the
poker games at Action Poker, and claim 100% deposit bonus.