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Saturday, August 7, 2010


While vacationing this week, poker pro Phil Laak has been injured in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident in Oregon.

News of the incident was passed along not only by Laak, but also by his best friendAntonio “The Magician” Esfandiari via their Twitter accounts. Earlier this week, the duo teamed up with a group of friends for fun and adventure in the wilds of Oregon.

Over the past few days, the crew enjoyed the Oregon woods, delving into rafting and camping. Laak passed along a Twitpic of the entourage preparing for the rafting portion of the journey, jovially Tweeting, “Hmmm… My crew. Going rafting.” Esfandiari seemed to be enjoying the trip just as much as Laak, Tweeting on August 4th, “Words cannot describe the day we had yesterday. Packed our gear headed upstream on foot and had the most unbelievable adventures 1 can have.”

The trip seems to have taken a turn late yesterday, on 8/5 when the group decided to head out in the wilderness on ATVs. At approximately 8:00pm last night, the first Tweet was sent reporting the incident on the trails and Laak’s injuries. Esfandiari was at the hospital in Oregon, Tweeting, “At hospital with poor @RealPhilLaak in Oregon. We went a little 2 crazy atv’ing in the doons. Broke 7bones. Ouch,” and including a Twitpic of an injured Laak in his hospital bed.

From the photo – which Laak also included on his Twitter account – the accident was fairly serious. “The Unabomber” has severe lacerations around his right eye, with a significant amount of swelling and some bruising. His right arm is immobilized in a temporary cast and the fractures appear to be internal and not compound, which bode well for recovery. In the photos, Laak appears to be in good shape overall, but could also be under some medication to alleviate any pain issues.

For his part, Laak was in good spirits during the ordeal, Tweeting throughout the event. “ATV accident, massive arm injury and lacerations to eye in Oregon. Life is good,” Laak stated around the same time as Esfandiari. He kept a good spirit up throughout the evening, Tweeting about an hour after the incident, “Stitches forthcoming. Could have been worse… I’m lucky to be in one piece.”

Best wishes from all here at Holdem88.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Cake poker security issues

According to a recent report on PokerTableRatings, a security flaw has been found on the Cake Poker Network. It is almost the same flaw as the one found on the Cereus Network, in which players' accounts and hole cards were vulnerable to theft.

The PokerTableRatings sleuths have embedded a video of them successfully stealing hole cards as they were dealt. They've been able to steal passwords and user names from multiple Cake Network skins.

There are a few differences between this security risk and the Cereus Network risk and you can read up on it at PokerTableRatings.com.

Cake Poker Cardroom Manager Lee Jones posted a response onTwoPlusTwo about the issue.

"Sure, when the issue came up in May, I asked our software management team. They told me that we were more secure than Cereus. When this all came to light a few hours ago and they got down into the actual code, it turned out they were wrong (as one of the senior managers just admitted to me)...I owe the entire Cake poker community an apology: I am very very sorry."

Monday, July 26, 2010

Final table info

Down to the final table. Here are the stats:


No-Limit Hold’em World Championship
Buy-In: $10,000
Number of Entries: 7,319
Number of Players Starting Day Eight: 27
Total Players Remaining: 9
Total Net Prize Pool: $68,798,600
Number of Places Paid: 747
First Place Prize: $8,944,138
July 5th to November 9th, 2010

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Huck Seed wins TOC


Huck Seed, who was voted into the World Series of Poker’s 27-player Tournament of Champions by fans, won the freeroll event and the $500,000 first prize.

Seed, who was the 1996 World Series of Poker’s Main Event champion, won the all-star tournament that was played off and on over a week’s time and included a 16-hour final day, played during the July 4th holiday weekend at the Rio.

Seed, who has won four World Series of Poker individual event championship bracelets, captured the non-bracelet event after beating Howard “the Professor” Lederer, in heads-up play.

Lederer, a two-time bracelet winner, battled Seed and third-place finisher Johnny Chan for nearly 90 minutes before losing on the final hand of the night to Seed’s pair of aces.

Lederer collected $250,000 for second while Chan, a 10-time bracelet winner, took home $100,000 for third.

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Shannon Elizabeth signs with carbon


Carbon poker has announced today that actress and poker fanatic Shannon Elizabeth has signed on to represent the brand in the poker community.

Shannon will represent Carbon Poker at major poker tournaments, play regularly on the site, and be involved in the brand's upcoming marketing campaigns.

"We've been on the hunt for a face for our brand who is a recognized star and also a respected member of the poker community," says Peter Hampton, Spokesperson at Carbon Poker. "Shannon easily meets both criteria, and offers a creative edge that we're thrilled to have on board."

"We're launching several promotions that will involve players playing against Shannon and getting to know her both inside and outside of poker," Hampton said. Shannon will be posting regularly on the Carbon Poker Blog, as well as answering player questions and taking the creative lead on a series of videos for the site.

Shannon broke into mainstream film with her starring roll in the classic comedy American Pie and has worked successfully in both film and television since. In the meantime, Shannon has also emerged as a world-class poker talent. In 2007 she played her way to a third place finish at the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and has also cashed at the World Series of Poker four times.

This announcement comes on the heels of a very busy couple of months for CarbonPoker. On April 15th Carbon Poker and Merge Gaming welcomed thousands of new players to the network, and have since experienced substantial increases in action, rake, and player value. The addition of Shannon Elizabeth highlights Carbon Poker's commitment to becoming one of the top ten poker sites by 2011.

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Gavin Smith Wins a WSOP Gold Bracelet

It’s time to destroy the list. Rip it up. Burn it. Torch it.

The unceremonious list captioned with “Best Poker Players Never to Win a WSOP Gold Bracelet,” has become about as outdated as a Pensacola postcard showing pristine beaches.

On June 26th, 2010, when the local clock ticked to midnight, the shiny glass slipper fit. It fit perfectly. And “Cinderella” was none other than a long-haired, half-shaven, partially-balding, pork-bellied, man-child named Gavin Smith.

Gavin Smith. His name is a permanent punch line. Mention Gavin Smith’s name in a crowd of poker players and everyone instantly smiles. Despite never having won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet until this memorable night, he’s been one of poker’s most enchanting personalities for half a decade. His personality is part Jack Black, part Don Rickles, and part Ozzy Osborne -- all wrapped up in a 5-foot, 9-inch dynamo of a poker player with indisputable natural talent for cards and an unparalleled passion to win. In short, Gavin Smith was and is a living contradiction – a devoted professional when engaged in the game as well as a disorderly court jester when away from it.

Gavin Smith is a 41-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas, NV. He is originally from Guelph, Ontario (Canada). Smith has earned a near-astronomical sum of $3 million dollars since turning pro about six years ago. But the one achievement that had eluded the fast-living, hard-drinking, Butterball-shaped poker superstar was the long-coveted WSOP victory.

This time, when the final hand was dealt out, someone else turned into the tournament pumpkin. Gavin Smith was the last player sitting and the newest poker champion standing. His dramatic win in the $2,500 buy-in Mixed Hold’em (Limit/No-Limit) championship paid $268,238, which might put a serious dent in the bar tab at the post-victory celebration. Indeed, what Gavin Smith was really playing for over the past three long days and nights was redemption from past failures and irrevocable affirmation in the shape of a circular sparkling sphere of laced gold. Indeed, in the poker world, boy Cinderella Gavin Smith doesn’t wear glass slippers. He now wears the gold bracelet.