Don’t move a muscle, this is the In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: January 16-22, 2012

Phil Ivey for Finally Playing a Tournament: IN

With one small exception in Macau, Phil Ivey has been MIA from the live poker world since he announced he’d be skipping the WSOP back in June of 2011.

This week in Australia, however, he got himself back in action and back in front of our camera. Ivey played the $100,000 Super High Roller and ended up bubbling the final table yesterday.

Luckily the finale is stacked with big names, led by Gus Hansen and rounded out by Joe Hachem, Dan Smith, Sorel Mizzi, Nam, Tony G and Sam Trickett.

Check out photos from the Aussie Millions $100k event right here.

Crown Casino, Melbourne: IN

PokerListings.com has been all over and there’s hardly a casino in the world where we haven’t set up our traveling media headquarters. That said, the Crown Casino is In this week for consistently topping that long list in terms of location, facilities and hospitality.

The Crown Casino in Melbourne enjoys a spot among PokerListings.com's favorite poker locations in the world.

 

We’re from Canada, which means in January things are looking white and cold through the PokerListings office window.

The PCA in the Bahamas is okay to kick things off, but the real winter-summer hits us when we get off the plane in Melbourne.

It may sound like a shameless plug to make sure we continue getting comped at the Crown but it also happens to be true.

The Aussie Millions is always huge and PokerListings.com is on location as we speak. Keep an eye on our 2012 Aussie Millions main event live updates and news for all the action.

Johnny Hughes for Being Super Old and Remembering Things: IN

Johnny Hughes has been regaling the Two Plus Two community for years with stories of days long past and even though the stories may have hints of factual inaccuracy, you have to admit he remembers a lot of stuff from a really long time ago.

His latest post, and the one that gets him a spot on this week’s In List, tells of recently passed R&B legend Etta James having been the daughter of legendary gambler and pool player Minnesota Fats. The resemblance is indeed striking and based on circumstance, it’s entirely possible.

Read the account via Johnny Hughes’ latest forum thread.

Poker’s Out List: January 16-22, 2012

The Beau Rivage Million Dollar Heater for Tiny Prize Pools: OUT

Call us cynical but you should make more than $40k winning two prelims at a legit live poker series these days. That’s how much Joe Tehan profited after two wins this past week at the Beau Rivage’s so-called Million Dollar Heater.

Joe Tehan takes down two prelims in Biloxi, too bad no one showed up.

 

Jonathan Little also won two events and fared little better. We point to economic depression in the area pricing most of the locals out of the action, while bigger events like the PCA and Aussie Millions luring away the US circuit pros that may have otherwise attended.

We’ve been to the Beau and played in the poker room and we can tell you, there’s value to be had in Mississippi, not to mention a waffle house on every corner.

As a bonus it’s Biloxi so you can re-enact your favorite scenes from Biloxi Blues on location.

Sander “Berndsen12” Berndsen for losing $558k: OUT

This week in nosebleed online poker saw big winners, but even bigger losers. Dutch pro Sander Berndsen topped that list, out of pocket some $558,000.

That’s about eight times the average household annual income in the US.

Berndsen is still up over $300k so far in 2012 but another downswing like he experienced this week could quickly change that.

Click here for a full rundown of the Top 10 Weekly Online Poker Winners/Losers.

Advertising for $1,000/hour Coaching with a Sign Like This: OUT

Friend of PL.com Dan Michalski over at Pokerati.com posted this picture from the Jamie Gold poker room at the Tropicana. That’s right, $1,000 an hour to be coached by the 2006 world champion of poker.

Right off the bat we’re calling this whole thing Out since they decided to advertise via a sign that looks like it was printed on Jamie’s home computer. And not even any clipart to spruce it up.

We’re not even going to get into whether Jamie Gold’s time as a poker mentor is worth $1,000 an hour, but let’s just say you’d be better of spending that $1,000 investing in actual gold than Jamie Gold.

He's also making sure all are considered legitimate main events equal to those on American soil.

Today Heller answers seven questions covering the WPT’s European expansion, live poker post-Black Friday and how the American tour will fare against Europe’s own EPT.

1. PokerListings.com: Three years ago, the WPT hosted two tournaments in Europe. Now WPT Season X hosts eleven stops in Europe plus WPT Marrakech.

Has the WPT recognized Europe to be the market of the future?

Steve Heller: World Poker Tour is committed to continuing to expand and extend its global reach.

Not only does WPT Season X feature new European events in exciting places like Malta, Ireland and Prague, we’ve invested heavily in bringing WPT Tour stops in Europe on par with those we host in the U.S.

Our committed expansion means that all European WPT Main Events are scheduled to feature Live Streaming, Live Updates and, for the first time, European Royal Flush Girls.

What’s more, we will display the new WPT Champions Cup—which features engraved plaques with the name of every WPT champion, together with the event they won—at every Tour event thoughout Europe and around the world.

Europe now gets to enjoy the Royal Flush Girls too.

 

WPT now also hosts National Series events in Europe, making the WPT even more accessible through these lower buy-in events. Our goal is to deliver the WPT experience to as many fans as possible.

2. Is the EPT the biggest rival of the WPT in Europe? Is the accumulation of European tournaments a direct attack on the EPT?

WPT’s European expansion is not a direct response or attack on the EPT. We are simply reacting to the incredible demand for the WPT in Europe.

Fans and players around the world love our show and events. As a global brand, we want to make sure everyone gets to experience WPT wherever they are.

3. Despite Black Friday and the turmoil around Full Tilt Poker, the WPT has managed to grow consistently lately. How do you account for that?

In the last two years we feel we’ve made great progress in improving the experience for both the players and the viewing audience.

We’ve added great excitement to the events via talent appearing at the events, Live Streaming every final table, having our Live Updates team at every event, the presence of the Royal Flush Girls and the WPT Champions Cup at every event, as well as more of a WPT presence at the events and a stronger marketing push for the events.

On the TV show, starting with Season IX we changed the way poker TV is produced and viewed, in a way not done since Season I of World Poker Tour.

By adding Kimberly Lansing as the Anchor, bringing on some controversy and analysis with Tony Dunst and the Raw Deal, adding some glamour via the Royal Flush Girls and increasing the context and story around these great events.

All of this has added to the drama and entertainment value of the program. Our efforts have borne out in the 30% year-over-year growth of our ratings in the US, where we’ve become the number one rated show on our network.

Introducing Kimberly Lansing as anchor is one way the WPT has upped its game.

 

We believe these efforts have been recognized by the poker community and have led to a reinvigoration of the brand and of the WPT playing and viewing experience, which has led to more people playing, more casinos wanting, more media covering and more people watching WPT.

4. In the last years, the EPT has been the poker tour with the highest prize pools and biggest fields. Can the WPT reach the same levels or even beat the EPT? How?

We don’t see it as a competition. There is tremendous demand for major poker events around the world and room for more than one company to meet that demand.

We offer many of the world’s most prestigious tournament at some of the world’s most storied venues and those event draw player fields of quantity and quality that set the world standard.

We’ll continue working to make our events the best they can be, expand our Tour and help to grow the poker industry worldwide.

5. Is the merger between Party and bwin a main factor for the consolidation of the WPT’s position on the European market?

While receiving support from bwin.party, WPT operates as an independent entity that has a variety of sponsors and supporters throughout the online poker community.

For at least a couple of years now a concerted effort has been made to tap into the opportunity for expansion into Europe.

6. What are the plans for the WPT in the future? Will there be more/less/different events?

We expect poker to continue to grow—and so will WPT.

We are extremely excited about our European expansion during Season IX and X and the success of our newer events.

We’ll continue to build on that momentum and the poker community can expect to see more events in more markets.

7. Where do you see the future of online/live poker? Is Asia the coming market, or will poker be regulated soon in Europe or the US, and how would that affect online poker?

We see live poker continuing to grow in current and expansion markets.

As more people are introduced to the fun and excitement of poker, more will seek out the live experience, which simply cannot be replicated online.

We’re completely committed to our role of continuing to bring poker to more people’s lives and improving the way they experience WPT, regardless of the method they use to experience it.

Lees de uitgebreide review van PartyPoker.

The tour came out of the gate at a gallop when 3,001 players bought into this season’s first event, a $350 re-buy tournament that built a staggering $873,291 prize pool. Wisconsin native Aaron Bieck earned $124,438 for taking down that event.

And bigger fields mean stiffer competition for the WSOP Circuit National Championship seats that are awarded at each tour stop. Seats go to the winner of each stop’s main event, as well as the player who accumulates the most points throughout the stop’s 12 gold ring events.

The National Championship is a televised tournament that will feature a $1 million prize pool and will award an official WSOP gold bracelet to the winner. Last season’s Championship was won by Sam Barnhardt who earned $300,000 for the victory.

Also heating up is this year’s WSOP Circuit Player of the Year race. Last season’s POY Mark “Pegasus” Smith is looking to go back-to-back and currently sits second in the race to David Nicholson, a poker pro from Biloxi, Mississippi.

Mark Smith holds the record for the most WSOPC gold rings at five.

The WSOP Circuit will kick off the New Year in California at LA’s famous Bicycle Casino, the first time the tour has ever visited that venue. From there the tour heads to the Midwest and will touch down at the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma for the second consecutive year.

Keep an eye on PokerListings.com’s Poker News section for updates from the 2011-2012 WSOP Circuit.

Photo credit: Erik Harkins, IMPDI

Get schooled on who’s cool and who’s a fool with PokerListings.com’s In and Out List.

Poker’s In List: December 12-18, 2011

$12,423,200 Online Poker Prize Pools: IN

Today was the finale of PokerStars’ 10th Anniversary Celebration and they capped things off with a monstrous $10 million guarantee Sunday Million. When registration closed 62,116 had bought in. That’s nearly twice the population of Monaco.

$2 million is waiting for the player who can run this gauntlet but expect a deal to be cut sometime during the final table. That’s because the difference between first and second is almost $1 million.

Check our Poker News section tomorrow for an update on the results.

Free Signed Poker Books: IN

We had a chance to talk with Tri “SlowHabit” Nguyen about his new book that dropped this week How I Made My First Million from Poker.

We're giving away five signed copies of Tri Nguyen's latest book.

 

In addition to a great interview, he also have us five signed copies of the book.

We’re giving them away in a draw so click through here and use the link in the story to sign up.

Ivey Wasted in Montreal Two Plus Two Thread: IN

At some point in early 2011 Phil Ivey was caught on camera partying in Montreal. What followed was 51 pages and 1,273 posts of some of the best content Two Plus Two has ever created.

WickedChopsPoker tipped their hats with a “Thread of the Year” nod earlier this week and we’ve got to back that up with our wholehearted agreement.

Check out the actual thread here.

Poker’s Out List: December 12-18, 2011

Washington State Senator Margarita Prentice: OUT

Hating on a Senator from Washington might seem thin but you may be forgetting what Margarita Prentice said when interviewed about a law passed in her state that made online poker for money a felony.

"I just think some of these arguments are utter nonsense," Prentice told ESPN.com. "You mean you're going to move so you can play poker? Gee, lots of luck in your life. … I have nothing against card playing. That's fine. If you want to do that, but I'm sure not going to worry about someone … you know. Let them go pump gas."

According to this story from the Seattle Times, legislative redistricting could squeeze her out of office for at least two years.

We know it’s petty to celebrate her misfortune but she seems just awful.

Doyle Brunson's lifetime EPL card: Cheap promotion or caring sentiment?

 

Epic Poker League: OUT

Epic Poker is out this week thanks to what many might interpret to be a warm and caring move: Giving Doyle Brunson a lifetime card to EPT events.

For one the EPL can’t say enough about their own legitimacy and auto-qualifying someone for the rest of their lives isn’t exactly in line with that.

Number two, Brunson barely plays live events anymore. We don’t see him playing a whole lot of these $20k buy-ins.

Get the full story here.

Joe Hachem: OUT

The love affair that was Joe Hachem’s PokerStars endorsement deal came to a quiet end as the 2005 world champion parted ways with the world’s biggest online poker room earlier this week.

Since Black Friday we’ve watched Team PokerStars pro lose two more former world champions in Tom McEvoy and Greg Raymer, as well as 2008 November Niner Dennis Phillips.

Hachem said the move was to “pursue other career opportunities” and “have some down time to spend with my family” but it seems unlikely that the termination was his idea.