The Nightly Turbo: Tzvetkoff Spotted in NYC, ElkY Wins Another High Roller, and More
Major poker tournaments have been popping up all over world of late. The European Poker Tour has made its way from Berlin to Monaco, the World Poker Tour has events winding down in Florida and Marbella, and the World Series of Poker Circuit is going strong in St. Louis. Meanwhile, a Black Friday informant has been spotted strolling the streets of the Big Apple. We'll bring you that story and more in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Christina Lindley was one of countless poker pros affected by the events of Black Friday. PokerNews caught up with Lindley to find out how Black Friday changed her life.
Did you miss Sunday's World Poker Tour coverage on FSN? Read our WPT recap to get caught up.
Another sign that Full Tilt Poker is preparing for a re-launch? A software company known as New Full Tilt Limited was incorporated in February.
How has life changed for Steve O'Dwyer since Black Friday? Find out that and more in the video version of the Black Friday Chronicles.
A final table was reached at the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown on Sunday. Joe Serock led a handful of notables vying for the $779,520 top prize.
How did the Sunday Majors play out on PokerStars? Who took down the biggest score? Find out in the Sunday Briefing.
Tzvetkoff Found
Daniel Tzvetkoff, the man accused of ratting out several colleagues who helped him become a multi-millionaire, was reportedly spotted in New York City this week after months of hiding under FBI protection.
A reporter at the Courier Mail discovered Tzvetkoff on Mott Street in Chinatown, where the former online poker payment processor was out with his family. When approached by the reporter, Tzvetkoff denied his identity and fired multiple threats.
"Look, you're going to get in a lot of trouble," Tzvetkoff told the reporter. "There are people with us who you're going to be in trouble with.''
Tzvetkoff, 29, facing up to 75 years in prison after his arrest in Las Vegas in 2010, struck a plea bargain with prosecutors and provided vital evidence incriminatingPokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. He was set to appear as a witness in the trial of Black Friday defendants John Campos and Chad Elie on April 9 in New York, but both men entered guilty pleas last month.
Read the full story at the Courier Mail.
High Roller Extraordinaire
Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier won his third European Poker Tour High Roller event on Sunday, defeating a field of 57 players to claim the €231,000 top prize at EPT Berlin.
The €10,000 High Roller tournament took place at the Grand Hyatt Berlin and attracted a slew of the game's top players, including Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, Tobias Renkemeier, David Peters, Marvin Rettenmaier and Chris Moorman, all of whom made the final. Moorman dominated the tournament most of the way and held a 2-to-1 lead over Grospellier when the heads-up match began, but Grospellier won three critical all-in confrontations to take it down.
Grospellier previously won the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure High Roller and two High Roller events at the 2011 EPT Grand Final in Madrid. The Frenchman now has more than $9 million in live tournament earnings. His victory in Berlin moved him past former world champs Pius Heinz and Joe Cada for 17th on the all-time money list.
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin High Roller Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier | €231,000 |
| 2 | Chris Moorman | €145,200 |
| 3 | Marvin Rettenmaier | €85,800 |
| 4 | David Peters | €62,700 |
| 5 | Tobias Reinkemeier | €46,200 |
| 6 | Oleh Okhotskyi | €33,000 |
| 7 | Viktor “Isildur1” Blom | €29,700 |
| 8 | Martin Jacobson | €26,400 |
For more on the EPT Berlin High Roller, visit the PokerStars Blog.
Changes at Poker Table Ratings
Last week, Poker Table Ratings said it would comply with PokerStars' cease and desist notice by removing all PokerStars player profiles. Now, the data-mining website has agreed to introduce an "opt-in" option for players to share their information and statistics if they so choose.
PokerStars' Head of Home Games Lee Jones told PokerNews last week that PokerStars had attempted to negotiate with PTR to provide its service on an “opt-in” basis, but PTR refused. PTR says the recent legal action taken by Stars has forced the company to kick the new "opt-in" project into high gear:
The latest action by Stars has forced us to re-evaluate our place in the market. Do we agree that we destroyed online games? No. Millions of hands continue to be played each and every day across every major network and those who are quick to blame PTR for industry trends put too much weight on our reach and the impact we may have.
That said, we do want to change the perception of us held by an influential segment of the industry that includes both players and operators.
Read the full statement at PokerTableRatings.com.
WPT Nears Final Table in Marbella
Day 2 of the €1,650 World Poker Tour National Series Marbella Main Event began with 158 hopefuls still in contention for the €150,000 top prize, but only 48 survived on Sunday evening.
Pete Linton took a sizable chip lead into Day 3 after compiling a massive stack of 658,000. The U.K. pro won a 300,000 chip pot toward the end of the day against Mohamed Hadu to vault him up the leaderboard. PartyPoker Team Pro member Tomeu "amatos" Gomila was also among the leaders heading into Day 3.
Luis Rufas, Ruben Velasco, Raul "Bull" Paez , Jorge Ufano , Pablo Rojas and Sergio Brown were among the many who fell short of the money on Day 2. With the top 36 spots receiving cash, 12 would fall short on Monday.
Here's a look at the leaders heading into Day 3:
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pete Linton | 658,000 |
| 2 | Daniel Keller | 423,500 |
| 3 | José Carlos López Manas | 295,500 |
| 4 | Antonio Gonzalez | 288,500 |
| 5 | Jose Angel Latorre | 273,500 |
| 6 | Manuel Exposito | 260,000 |
| 7 | Jesper Winzerling | 242,000 |
| 8 | Tomeu Gomila | 230,000 |
| 9 | Philip Porter | 222,000 |
| 10 | Rodolfo Gebaver | 208,000 |
We'll have a Day 3 recap for you on Tuesday. For live updates from Marbella, check out Poker10.com.
A Grand Event
The inaugural €100,000 buy-in Super High Roller is under way at the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final. PokerNews' Lynn Gilmartin caught up with several participating pros before the even kicked off.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
