The Nightly Turbo: Maria Ho's New Job, Viktor Blom Defeats Tom Dwan for $200K, and More
Maria Ho has made appearances on The Amazing Race, American Idol and Anderson Cooper 360 in the past. Which TV program will she be appearing on next? We're covering that story, plus a heads-up match between Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, in this edition of the Nightly Turbo.
In Case You Missed It
Only 26 players survived Day 2 of the WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City Main Event. Adam Teasdale was the overnight chip leader with 1,468,000 in chips, but WSOP Circuit regular Aaron Overton wasn't far behind.
The PokerStars.net European Poker Tour continued on Sunday with Day 1a of EPT Prague. Iosif Beskrovnyy led the way, but several notables advanced to Day 2.
The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) moved past the halfway point over the weekend. Which well-known pros collected big scores on Sunday? Find out in our FTOPS XXI Day 8 recap.
How did Sunday's majors play out at PokerStars? Who took down the biggest score? Find out in the Sunday Briefing.
TiltBook.com is the new social networking site designed specifically for poker players. Find out what TiltBook can offer you here at PokerNews.com.
Ravi Raghavan won the 2012 World Poker Tour Five Diamond World Poker Classic on Sunday for nearly $1.3 million. Raghavan defeated a tough final table that included Antonio Esfandiari, Shawn Buchanan, and Andrew Lichtenberger.
How has life changed for Team PokerStars Pro Randy "nanonoko" Lew since he became a poker star? Find out that and more in the latest Seat Open.
Maria Ho Enters Heartland
The Heartland Poker Tour has added a new voice and some glamour to its popular television program. On Monday, the HPT announced that poker pro Maria Ho will join commentator Fred Bevill in the broadcast booth starting in January when the tour's ninth season kicks off. Ho will replace Chris Hansen, who signed on as a commentator for the HPT in 2005.
“I am thrilled to be joining the HPT family,” said Ho in a press release. “As a player, I am flattered they are welcoming my poker expertise. As a woman, I am grateful to HPT for being the first poker show to offer this strategist position to a female. I look forward to bringing a new and fresh perspective to HPT broadcasts.”
Alongside Bevill, Ho will provide analysis, commentary and strategy advice during each televised Heartland Poker Tour event in Season 9. Ho is already well acquainted with the tour, having played HPT events all over the U.S. during her career. She's cashed once at the HPT, placing 29th at the $1,500 buy-in Main Event at Michigan's Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort in 2010.
“I love what HPT is about, providing lower buy-in, big-value TV tournaments to the average poker enthusiast," added Ho. "I’m excited to travel the country as part of Season 9, discovering new poker talent and watching dreams come true.”
According to HPT Director of Operations Jen Mastrud, Ho's familiarity with HPT’s loyal following across the country was a key factor in the selection process for the role. “She’s already part of the family,” said Mastrud, “She bellies up to the bar and fits right in.”
For more, visit HPTPoker.com.
Dwan Versus Blom
It wasn't quite reminiscent of the battles they had three years ago, but the result was basically the same. On Sunday, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom defeated Tom "durrrr" Dwan in a $400,000 winner-take-all heads-up match at Full Tilt Poker.
It had the makings for a lengthy heads-up duel as Blom and Dwan each sat with $200,000 across four $100/$200 no-limit hold'em tables, but it took less than three hours and 1,381 hands for Blom to take every last cent from Dwan.
Dwan darted out to an early lead when his pocket kings held up against Blom's pocket tens for a pot worth $45,198, but the American's good fortune wouldn't last long. Dwan picked poor spots to bluff Blom, including one bold play that cost him $28,000 — one of the largest pots of the match.
Dwan made another big bluff with ace high into Blom's trips that left "durrrr" with around $50,000 on two tables. Blom grinded Dwan all the way down to $3,500 on the last table, and the match ended when Dwan's pocket tens failed to hold up against Blom's A♣3♣ after the money went in preflop.
We expect these two to duke it out man more times in the future, so stay tuned to PokerNews.com for the latest. For more on Sunday's match, visit HighStakesDB.com.
Return of The Micros
It had been nearly a year since we last heard from Chase, Max, Balls and the rest of The Micros gang. But the silence ended over the weekend when co-creators John Wray and Jay Rosenkrantz released The Lost Episode, the latest chapter in the popular poker video series.
Earlier this year, PokerStars offered to sponsor the episode as a "special holiday present" to the fans, but the release was pushed back due to PokerStars' acquisition of Full Tilt Poker. After months of waiting, The Micros was given the green light on Monday, much to the delight of its thousands of fans.
Originally titled Chase Berger and the Temple of Zoom, The Lost Episode features the usual cast of characters, plus cameos from Daniel "Jungleman" Cates, Vanessa Selbst, Randy "nanonoko" Lew, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Galfond, Liv Boeree, Jonathan Duhamel and Melanie Weisner. Check it out here:
Rivet Wins Eureka Poker Tour Prague High Roller
World Poker Tour Prague winner Marcin Wydrowski wasn't the only champion crowned at the Prague Poker Festival on Sunday. French-Canadian poker pro Guillaume Rivet took down the Eureka Poker Tour's €2,000 buy-in High Roller, besting a field of 195 players to win the top prize of €89,200.
The event brought out some big names, including Martin Staszko, Craig McCorkell, Martin Jacobson and Toby Lewis, all of whom cashed but fell short of the final table. Rivet began Day 2 as the chip leader with 25 remaining and used his chips to crush the final table bubble and go on to win the event.
"The bubble just lasted forever so I built a huge chip stack because people didn't want to bust," Rivet said shortly after his win. "That's pretty much where I got my chips. I've been pretty lucky throughout the tournament, and I'm just glad that I could close it."
Rivet had a huge support group of French Canadians at the final table. Among the players on the rail were Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel, and Marc-Andre Ladouceur, who recently won the Italian Poker Tour High Roller at EPT Sanremo for €132,400.
Here's a look at the final table results of the Eureka Poker Tour High Roller in Prague:
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guillaume Rivet | €89,200 |
| 2 | Robert Haigh | €59,200 |
| 3 | Mikael Erixon | €36,800 |
| 4 | Dmitry Vitkind | €28,100 |
| 5 | Tomasz Cybulski | €21,400 |
| 6 | Michel Abecassis | €15,300 |
| 7 | Dikovic Dejan | €12,200 |
| 8 | Ofer Shechter | €9,200 |
Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
Welcome to Prague!
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Main Event kicked off on Sunday. PokerNews' Sarah Grant took some time away from the tournament floor to explore Prague and found many reasons why the city is a perfect holiday vacation destination.
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