The Nightly Turbo: Greg Raymer Rules Heartland, Tony G on Negreanu's Bet, and More
Before 2012, most of Greg Raymer's success had come at the World Series of Poker. But "Fossilman" is having his way with a different tour this year. We'll cover that story, plus Tony G's take on Daniel Negreanu's Global Poker Index bet, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Jon Aguiar captured his first World Series of Poker bracelet on Monday. Read about that, plus Phil Hellmuth's surge in the WSOPE Main Event, in our Day 11 recap.
On Monday, Brandon Cantu blamed WSOP officials for "robbing" him of a bracelet. Rich Ryan tackles that subject and more in his latest Five Thoughts piece.
Many of poker's best online players never get a chance to shine in the spotlight. We're here to change that. In the latest edition of Online Chat, Eric "jakz101" Crain discusses his recent WCOOP win, his lucky grinding chair, and more.
Raymer Wins Again
Greg "Fossilman" Raymer won the Heartland Poker Tour Missouri Main Event on Monday, claiming his second HPT title of the year along with $121,973. The win in St. Louis came less than three months after Raymer won the Heartland Poker Tour Albuquerque Main Event, propelling him to the top of the HPT Player of the Year leaderboard.
Raymer outlasted a field of 336 players in St. Louis, including well-known pro Dennis Phillips, who finished as the final table bubble boy in seventh place. Joining Raymer at the final table was former HPT champ Shawn Roberts, but his exit in fourth place left Raymer eyeing tour history.
“Winning two of three tournaments is unreal and unexpected,” said Raymer, who finished out of the money at the HPT Colorado event last month. “I’m just very excited.”
Raymer becomes the second player in the HPT's eight-year history to win two titles in the same season. Jeremy Dresch was the first to accomplish the feat, winning back-to-back events in 2009. Dreshch later added a third title in 2011.
Here's a look at the final table results from the Heartland Poker Tour Missouri Main Event:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greg Raymer | $121,973 |
| 2 | Ryan Hickey | $69,034 |
| 3 | Alona Sushynina | $43,908 |
| 4 | Reginald “Shawn” Roberts | $37,810 |
| 5 | Penelope Banhidy | $29,272 |
| 6 | Stan Jablonski | $23,906 |
Get a full event recap at HPTPoker.com.
Tony G Offers Lines on Negreanu Bet
On Monday, we brought you the story about Daniel Negreanu looking for action on his Global Poker Index bet. Negreanu currently sits 31st on the GPI leaderboard and is taking bets he'll crack the top 20 by the start of the 2013 World Series of Poker.
I'd like to bet that I crack the top 20 in the GPI http://t.co/ZXWaumPC by WSOP 2013. I'm currently ranked 31st. Get at me for action.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)
I'm also willing to take 3.5-1 that I crack the top 10. You can also have action on ANYONE behind me.Whoever ranks higher by WSOP wins #GPI
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker)
After learning about the wager, Tony G listed odds for Negreanu on his new betting site, TonyBet.com. Tony is offering 2-1 odds that Daniel will make the top 20 by the start of the 2013 WSOP, and he is laying around 6-1 that Negreanu can make the top 10 by that time.
TonyBet also has GPI-related lines for Vanessa Selbst, Phil Hellmuth and Marvin Rettenmaier. Rettenmaier is fourth in the rankings as of Tuesday, trailing only Bertrand Grospellier, Jason Mercier and Dan Smith.
GlobalPokerIndex.com has more.
The Face of Full Tilt Poker
On Tuesday, Full Tilt Poker announced that Danish poker legend Gus Hansen will be the first player to endorse the new site when it relaunches in November.
"I’m very excited to represent the industry’s most authentic poker brand," Hansen said in a press release. "Full Tilt Poker has the best games, most innovative software and the strongest poker community; to me this feels like coming home.”
Hansen, a former Full Tilt Pro, returns to represent the brand after the company's assets were purchased by PokerStars in July. He told PokerNews in an exclusive interview that his job will be to represent the brand online and in major live tournaments around the world. "They’ll be paying me to do what I love to do," he said.
The 38-year-old was one of Full Tilt Poker's leading faces for several years before the site was shut down last year. He boasts career tournament earnings of nearly $11.2 million with three wins on the World Poker Tour and one World Series of Poker bracelet. Hansen was also a prominent figure at FTP's high-stakes cash games, and told PokerNews that he looks forward to "crushing the high-stakes games" again when the new site launches.
To read the entire interview with Hansen, check out the story here at PokerNews.com.
EPT's New Sponsor
European Poker Tour (EPT) President Edgar Stuchly announced Tuesday that paysafecard, the leading internet prepaid payment solution, will be the official payment provider sponsor of the EPT's ninth season.
The sponsorship will see paysafecard branding in and around the tournament area at events during Season 9, beginning with EPT San Remo this week. Players who use paysafecard to make a deposit into their PokerStars account will then be eligible to play in a series of exclusive EPT-themed freerolls.
In addition, paysafecard will be the title sponsor of the PokerStars.com and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final Players Party and will be inviting a group of PokerStars players to the event in Monaco in an exclusive EPT Grand Final “VIP Experience,” which will include travel and accommodation.
"Paysafecard was the winner of the Paybefore Awards for 'Best Digital Currency' and 'Most innovative Prepaid Solution,' and we are proud to be working with such an industry leading brand," Stuchly said. "We look forward to a successful and mutually beneficial partnership.”
Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
WSOP on ESPN Gets Interactive
Caesars Interactive Entertainment, Inc. (CIE) and ACTV8.me, together with Insignia Sports & Entertainment, have joined forces to launch a fully interactive companion application to accompany original episodes of World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event telecasts on ESPN. Beginning Tuesday night, anyone with an iPhone or iPad can download the WSOP-ACTV8 app and participate in the WSOP television program like never before. The app will be available on Android devices in the coming weeks.
Once users download the app, they will get to play along with the other viewers during the broadcast, as well as with professionals on the show. The app will recognize you are watching an original WSOP telecast and will engage you with interactive and social content.
“This app is tailor-made for the poker enthusiast,” said World Series of Poker Executive Director Ty Stewart. “It is a masterpiece of interactive ingenuity that we believe will bring a whole new dimension to viewers watching the WSOP on ESPN.”
ESPN's coverage of the World Series of Poker resumes tonight at 9:30 p.m. ET with back-to-back hour-long shows. The broadcast will focus on the remaining 59 players, including Maryland poker pro Greg Merson, who had to overcome a drug addiction and Black Friday to pursue his dreams. Here's a sneak peek:
Read more about tonight's broadcast at WSOP.com.
Explain This: Daniel Negreanu
Sarah Grant loves to find dirt on professional poker players. This week, Sarah stalked the Facebook and Twitter accounts of Daniel Negreanu for the latest edition of Explain This.
Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.
