The Nightly Turbo: Timoshenko Shines at Premier League, EPT Champions Event, and More
You've made it to the weekend, but before you begin your big plans we've got the biggest stories of the day here in the Nightly Turbo. We'll bring you the latest update from the PartyPoker Premier League V in Vienna, plus the EPT's Champion of Champions Freeroll, and more!
In Case You Missed It
How was the high-stakes action at the PokerStars tables this week? Read the Online Railbird Report to find out the week's biggest winners and losers.
@AsianSpa was back with his latest blog on Friday. This week he talks about Daniel Negreanu, Vince Neil and the Palms, and his trip to Chicago.
How is Caesars Entertainment Corp. tied to the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers? Find out that and more in this week's Inside Gaming.
Browsing poker forums can be a daunting and time-consuming task. To help you out, Rich Ryan takes a look at some of the top threads on the Internet in his This is How We Troll piece.
Are you planning a trip to Monaco for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final? Lynn Gilmartin tells you everything you need to know about the glamorous country in the latest PokerNews Jet Set.
Did you miss anything from the past week? Don't worry, we've got you covered. Sarah Grant and Kristy Arnett break down all the big stories in the PokerNews Weekly.
*Photo courtesy of the PartyPoker Blog.
Timoshenko Wins Heat 2 at PartyPoker Premier League V
Yevgeniy Timoshenko finally got the monkey off his back at the PartyPoker Premier League V on Friday. The tournament specialist took down the second heat of Group B to pick up 16 points and move into a tie with Dan "Jungleman" Cates for second place. Patrik Antonius (22 points) leads the group with two heats left before the final.
Antonius held a massive chip lead with four players left on Friday but his hot run ended when Timoshenko's K♥Q♣ bested his A♣7♥ after all the chips went in preflop. Antonius earned six points for his fourth-place finish.
Timoshenko then busted Vanessa Selbst and Cates within a matter of minutes to put an end to a short day for Group B. On the final hand of the match, Cates limped the button with A♠J♠ and Timoshenko moved all in with A♦K♦. Cates called, and the board ran out king-high to give Timoshenko the win.
Timoshenko finished sixth in Heat 1 on Wednesday. He's coming off a 10th place finished (out of 12) at the Premier League IV event held in Las Vegas in 2010, but is now in great position to earn a seat to next week's final.
Heat 3 of Group A got under way Friday night in Vienna, so the results weren't available as of press time. Here's a look at the PartyPoker Premier League V standings through Friday evening:
GROUP A (through two heats)
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Laak | 20 |
| 2 | Tony G | 20 |
| 3 | Sam Trickett | 14 |
| 4 | Andy Frankenberger | 13 |
| 5 | Erik Seidel | 13 |
| 6 | Eugene Katchalov | 9 |
| 7 | Mathew Frankland | 8 |
| 8 | Luke Schwartz | 3 |
GROUP B (through two heats)
| Place | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Patrik Antonius | 22 |
| 2 | Yevgeniy Timoshenko | 19 |
| 3 | Dan Cates | 19 |
| 4 | Scott Seiver | 11 |
| 5 | Vanessa Selbst | 10 |
| 6 | Tom Dwan | 9 |
| 7 | Bertrand Grospellier | 8 |
| 8 | Ben Wilinofsky | 2 |
All the action from the PartyPoker Premier League V can be found at PartyPoker.com.
We Are The Champions
When the European Poker Tour Grand Final returns to Monaco for the Grand Final later this month, the Main Event and Super High Roller titles won't be the only prestigious honors up for grabs.
Winners from the first eight seasons on the EPT will congregate for the invite-only Champion of Champions event, a €100,000 freeroll during the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final in Monaco on May 1. The six-handed tournament will be filmed for television and hand out EPT Passports to the top six finishers.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €35,000 |
| 2 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €25,000 |
| 3 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €17,500 |
| 4 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €10,000 |
| 5 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €7,500 |
| 6 | Live Event EPT Passport worth €5,000 |
Past EPT Main Event champs include Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier, Liv Boeree, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Arnaud Mattern, Vicky Coren and Max Lykov, as well as Patrik Antonius, Jake Cody, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Galen Hall and Roland de Wolfe.
Mercier won last year's inaugural EPT Champion of Champions at the Grand Final in Madrid to collect €50,000 toward future EPT events. Hall, Lykov and Coren were the others who cashed out of the 50-plus former champions who participated.
Read more at PokerNews.com.
PokerStars Sunday Storm Anniversary
April 15 is a day most poker players will want to remove from memory, but PokerStars is giving its players a reason to hit the virtual felts on that day next week.
On April 15, 2012, PokerStars will celebrate the first anniversary of the Sunday Storm. The special event will have a $1 million guaranteed prize pool, with at least $150,000 going to first place. The weekly tournament usually guarantees $300,000.
PokerStars has featured an $11 "major" tournament on its schedule for many years, but last year this particular tournament was rebranded from the "Sunday Quarter Million" to the Sunday Storm.
The PokerStars Blog has more.
Canadian Government Creating Online Gambling Site
The Canadian province of Manitoba will soon be opening an online gambling site that will offer poker and other games to residents within the province. The site, expected to be launched by early next year, will be regulated by the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission and operated by Manitoba Lotteries.
"There are 2,000 sites currently (and) an estimated $37 million that goes into online gaming, much of it which goes out of the province," Lotteries Minister Steve Ashton said to the Canadian Press. "We view (the new site) as a way of keeping that in the province."
Manitoba Lotteries announced it has teamed up with the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC), which has been providing regulated online gambling to British Columbians through the PlayNow.com website since 2004. BCLC will provide site design, development and testing services and will manage most aspects of the website.
Ashton added that the government-regulated site will be a safer option than sites that operate from offshore locations. "In the case of these sites, you can't really know who's behind them," he said.
The Canadian Press has more.
Scott Seiver Dodging Quads
Scott Seiver didn't have much luck at the PartyPoker Premier League V on Friday. It doesn't help when you run into quads — twice. Seiver and Ben Wilinofsky explain the action:
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