Though the World Series of Poker made its official debut in 1970, the idea of the Horseshoe Casino’s annual tournament was actually conceived more than two decades earlier. In the summer of 1949, as the story goes, inveterate gambler Nicholas “Nick the Greek” Dandolos approached Benny Binion with an unusual request – to challenge the best in a high-stakes poker marathon. Binion agreed to set up a match between Dandolos and the legendary Johnny Moss, with the stipulation the game be viewed in public.

During the course of the marathon, which lasted five months with breaks only for sleep, the two men played every form of poker imaginable. Moss ultimately won “the biggest game in town” and an estimated $2 million. When the Greek lost his last pot, he arose from his chair, bowed slightly, and uttered the now-famous words, “Mr. Moss, I have to let you go.” Dandolos then went upstairs to bed.

Though significant in its own way as a chapter in poker history, the five-month marathon took on added importance to Benny Binion. He noted that the public had gathered outside the casino each day to watch the game with the fervor of dedicated sports fans, and he was amazed at the attention the event had attracted. But it wasn’t until 1970 that Binion decided to re-create this excitement and stage a battle of poker giants – dubbed the “World Series Of Poker” – to determine who would be worthy of the title “World Champion.” Some of the best players in the country were assembled, and Johnny Moss came out on top. The decision was democratic in that the champion was decided by popular vote.

The following year, the winner was determined by a freeze-out competition, with players being systematically eliminated until one player had all the chips. Moss again became the World Champion. In 1972, when Thomas “Amarillo Slim” Preston won the title and went on the talk-show circuit, the WSOP began to gain a wider following.

It was a year later that Binion participated in the Oral History Project at the University of Nevada-Reno and discussed the World Series of Poker (WSOP) with interviewer Mary Ellen Glass. “This poker game here gets us a lot of attention,” he told Glass. “We had seven players last year, and this year we had 13. I look to have better than 20 next year. It’s even liable to get up to be 50, might get up to be more than that.” Binion then paused, and as if gazing into the future, prophesied, “It will eventually.”

In the early 1980s, with the introduction of preliminary satellite competitions with lower buy-ins, Binion’s prophecy came to fruition and the popularity of the World Series of Poker soared. (A satellite is a tournament whose prize is an entry into another tournament). But even Benny Binion, who passed away on Christmas Day of 1989, would have had difficulty foreseeing the enormous growth the Horseshoe’s annual tournament has experienced since. In 1982, nine years after Mr. Binion participated in UNR’s Oral History Project, the tournament drew a total of 1,253 entrants across all its events. A decade later, there were 7,593 entries and 2008’s WSOP attracted 58,720 entrants. The prize money has increased exponentially as well. In 1982, a total of $2,607,700 was awarded, while in 2008 a staggering $180,676,248 was won. Whereas only 12 events, mostly Texas Hold’em and Seven-Card Stud, were scheduled as recently as 1988, the 2009 tournament offers 57 competitions that feature a wide variety of games.

Today, the legacy Benny Binion left the poker community ranks as the oldest, largest, most prestigious, and most media hyped gaming competition in the world, and no doubt it holds the promise of an even brighter future. But equally important, the World Series of Poker has touched thousands of lives over the years, affording talented players the opportunity to follow their dreams, reach for the stars, and perhaps one day achieve greatness in their chosen endeavor.

It is now almost 4am and I have just returned home from a night out in London town. The evening began at the up-market French restaurant in Chelsea La Brasserie, located at 272 Brompton Road. This is the best restaurant in London for ‘escargots’ or ‘steak and frites’ their specialties. I had a, somewhat acquired taste, sampling of ‘Steak Tartare’, which is of course raw meat but they season and prepare it so well it is truly a delicacy.

Following this, my friend Nick invited me to the opening of a new night club adjacent to the Ritz Hotel called ‘Aura’. This is the hotspot in London where the ‘people in the know’ party and we were not disappointed. A tastefully decorated room with great music and the essential for any club – lots of beautiful girls. The owner of Aura who is a charming chap by the name of Johnny Dodge looked after us all brilliantly.

As our conversation eventually drifted to poker, as it always does with me, he informed me that he had a few people who played poker in the VIP section. Obviously very curious, I wandered over to the area to find none other than Michael Greco seated, and swilling champagne, with EPT London Main Event runner-up and WSOP Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate.

I know Michael very well so I joined them and we enjoyed a nice drink together. Surprisingly through our conversation I learnt that Peter was not the upset at being runner-up but was instead quite philosophical at the thought of playing well and attaining such a good result.

So instead it was American Aaron Gustavson who beat the world champion and Team PokerStars PRO Peter Eastgate heads-up a few hours earlier to take down the EPT London Poker Festival Main Event for a first prize of £850,000.

The £5,300 buy in tournament was the biggest ever held in the UK attracting 730 players from all over the world. Gustavson, a 23-year-old online pro, was one of 149 players who won their seats on PokerStars.

He and Eastgate, who takes home £530,000 for second place, started their heads-up battle straight after the dinner break. The duel could have taken hours but it lasted only seven hands and 15 minutes as Gustavson’s AQ beat Eastgate’s A9.

Gustavson, who plays online as “Aguskb” and has a string of successes on PokerStars, said: “I’m speechless, totally overwhelmed. I don’t think it’s going to hit me for a quite a while. Having this title is amazing – a dream come true.”

Gustavson plans to spend some of his prize money buying a house in Vegas and “perhaps a Porsche”. He also wins a seat to the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo as part of his prize. His online results include winning the PokerStars Sunday Warm Up in July for $135,000 and 12th place in the PokerStars $530 NLHE World Championship of Online Poker event last month.

Eastgate said: “It’s been an amazing ride. I made it to second place, which is far more than you hope for going into a final table. Big applause for Aaron who won – he deserved it. I’m pleased I made it to heads-up.” The final also featured PokerStars qualifier Martin Gudvangen from Norway (4th place, £227,000), British PokerStars player Dominic Cullen (5th place, £173,000) and Raymond Wu from Taipei, a member of Team PokerStars Asia, who finished 7th for £87,000.

Among the 104 players to cash were Kevin Schaffel, the PokerStars-sponsored World Series of Poker “November Nine” finalist, Friend of PokerStars Darus Suharto, Team PokerStars PROs Maria “maridu” Mayrinck and Arnaud Mattern, as well as the PokerStars-sponsored former England footballer Teddy Sheringham.

This season’s EPT London Poker Festival, which took place at the Hilton Metropole for the first time, featured 16 different events spread over eight days. Side event winners included Team PokerStars PROs Joe Hachem, Jason Mercier, and William Thorson. The Main Event numbers staggered players and media alike and topped last season by more than 100 players. In season one, 175 players entered, creating a total prize pool of £524,000; this year the prize pool was seven times that at £3,540,500.

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Former WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate is reinforcing his credentials as a world class player sitting with 1.3m chips. But all eyes are on American Aaron Gustavson who has a massive lead with 6.7m chips, more than double his nearest rival, Martin Gudvangon of Norway, who holds 3.3m chips.

The 2009 EPT London leg is the biggest ever tournament held in the UK and the champion in this £5000 buy-in event will walk away with a phenomenal £850,000 from the £3,540,000 prize-pool.

Below are the remaining 9 players who will battle it out to become EPT London Champion.

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In other news from the EPT, Jason Mercier, a Team PokerStars PRO, won the £2,500 NLHE freeze-out taking home £115,800.

Below are the remaining players who will take their seats on Day 4 to battle it out to become EPT London Champion.

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Chip leader is American Tommy Vedes with close to 600K while Portuguese player Rui Milhomens and Frenchman Jean Montury are close behind with almost 500K. Also in the hunt and the highest placed Brit is former Spurs and Manchester United footballer Teddy Sheringham who also enjoyed a good run at the WSOPE.

One of the last ladies still standing is uber aggressive WSOPE former champ Annette Obrestad and Eastender’ Michael Greco is having yet another good run in a major event. Former WSOP bracelet winner and Vegas regular Lisandro is also in the mix. As Day 3 begins we have some other big names still in the mix and they include;

Name Country Chips

Tommy Vedes USA 585000

Rui Milhomens Portugal 488000

Jean Montury France 485500

Jeffery Lisandro Italy 414000

Peter Eastgate Denmark 393500

Teddy Sheringham UK 378000

John Juanda USA 321000

Annette Obrestad Norway 312000

Michael Greco UK 231500

Chris Ferguson USA 146500

Surinder Sunar UK 87500

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2009 Aussie Millions Main event winner Stewart Scott has penned a deal to represent Party Poker. Scott, 37, from Queensland, Australia, made history in January 2009 by becoming the first Australian in the modern era to take down the prestigious event, scooping US$1,865,724.

Scott is a former gourmet chef turned professional poker player and is a loyal member of Party Poker’s VIP club the Palladium Lounge. He will make his debut representing Party Poker at this week’s PokerNews Cup in Melbourne, where he joins up with the 17 online qualifiers who secured packages for the event.

“It’s great to put pen to paper and sign-up to represent Party Poker – it’s always been my site of choice,” said Scott. “I am looking forward to defending my Aussie Millions title in January and am even more excited that I will be doing this as an ambassador with a large team of online qualifers!”

As part of the new deal, Scott will be taking part in an Australian publicity tour and will be building on his already successful land based ‘Stewart Scott Invitational’ events.

Scott is married with one daughter and started life as a gourmet chef in Adelaide, with a period running a small IT business as he honed his skills online. He made his first impact on the live circuit in 2006 by winning a satellite series at SkyCity Casino in Adelaide that awarded him a $30,000 package for the WSOP Main Event. Stewart is a popular figure on the Australian poker circuit and is well known for his relaxed attitude but killer instinct at the table.

A spokesman for Party Poker said: “We are delighted to have signed up Stewart as a brand ambassador leading up to the 2010 Aussie Millions. As well as being a loyal customer, Stewart is a popular member of the Australian poker community and we look forward to working together.”

Party Poker will introduce qualifiers to win packages for the 2010 Aussie Millions in November.
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Name Country Chips

Surinder Sunar UK 87,500

Chris Ferguson USA 146,500

David La Ronde UK 158,500

Ross Boatman UK 168,500

JP Kelly UK 176,000

Martin Davis UK 225,000

Michael Greco UK 231,500

Annette Obrestad Norway 312,000

John Juanda USA 321,000

Teddy Sheringham UK 378,000

Peter Eastgate Denmark 393,500

Jeffery Lisandro Italy 414,000

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The €4,000 buy-in event drew one hundred seventy-five runners with eventual winner, John Shipley, taking home €291,276 for his victory.

A year later, the buy-in remained the same, but the number of players had increased to 236 thus creating London’s first prize pool that eclipsed €1 million. Mark Teltscher won more than €400,000 as he was claimed champion.

EPT London was now a firm fixture on the world poker calendar and three hundred and ninety-eight people paid an even bigger buy-in that saw Vicky Coren win the then-biggest EPT London prize pool for £500,000.

Last year Michael Martin triumphed over a field of 596 for a money-added £1,000,000 win.

As we begin the 2009 event a team of bloggers, photographers, and videographers is covering a field of 730 players who are all fighting for over a £3,540,500 prize pool. This year’s event is the biggest major poker tournament ever held in the UK.

This year’s event promised to be so big they had to find an alternative to the confined space at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino. A deal was negotiated with the London Hilton Metropole just a few hundred yards away proved a worthy location with a Rio Hotel, Las Vegas WSOP event feel about it.

Over 730 runners will walk into the Kings Suite of the London Hilton Metropole’s West Wing with dreams of EPT glory. With 30,000 starting stacks and a playable 50/100 blinds to begin we are ensured lots of great play.

Among the starters at the Main Event are; Ivan Demidov, Humberto Brenes, Vanessa Rousso, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Jason Mercier, Dennis Phillips, Peter Eastgate, Alex Kravchenko, Sandra Naujoks, Luca Pagano, Marcel Luske, Pieter de Korver, Johnny Lodden, Peter Eastgate, Teddy Sheringham, and Boris Becker.

At the end of Day 1a and Day 1b it is young German Nikolai Senninger who holds the chip lead, just ahead of Jeff Lisandro (236,600) and Andreas Johansson (184,000).

On a related note, Joe Hachem was crowned champion of the ‘eight-game’ side event last night and will be collecting his trophy at a ceremony scheduled for later today.

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Glantz snatched the title and £542,000 first prize shortly after the dinner break.

The final table featured two Team PokerStars PROs – Dennis Phillips from America and Leo Fernandez from Argentina. Phillips came sixth for £60,000 while Fernandez finished fourth for £104,000. 75 players entered the three-day event creating a total prize pool of £1,500,000. It was the first of 16 events taking place during the eight-day EPT London Poker Festival.

Position Name Country Status Win

1 Matt Glantz USA £542,000

2 Erik Cajelais Canada £326,000

3 Eugene Katchalov USA £193,000

4 Adolfo Vaeza Uruguay £141,000

4 Leo Fernandez Argentina PokerStars Team PRO £104,000

6 Ilari Sahamies Finland £74,000

7 Dennis Phillips USA PokerStars Team PRO £60,000

8 Shane Reihill Ireland £45,000

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The WSOPE Main Event is truly about to reach its climax as the final table is down to heads-up play.

I was at the Empire Casino in Leicester Square watching the action unfold but as Praz Bansi (a friend of mine)was eliminated in third position, I took it as my cue to leave as it was getting very late.

As I write this it is now 2:45AM and I am shortly of to bed and the two remaining players are on a 2o minute well deserved break.

The occasion does remind of the day during a US Presidential election many years ago where a journalist or perhaps editor of a major national newspaper, either in order to be the first with an exclusive – or perhaps also ready for bed – allowed his newspaper to print the now infamous headline “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”.

As we all know of course it was President Truman who went on to run America (and the world!).

So in an effort not to join a journalist like the one responsible for the above article I will not proclaim either player a winner – although Negreanu is favourite and has held massive chip leads that have switched back and forth.

So as you wake you may be disappointed not to know the final result but I can assure you not many journalists will be up at this time typing and as soon as I wake I will bring you the result.

For those who can’t wait, and in my attempt to have a world breaking news EXCLUSIVE for POKER CHANNEL EUROPE, please select either of the following that appeals to you most.

NEGREANU WINS 2009 WSOPE

Of course if you don’t like that how about;

SHULMAN CLAIMS 2009 WSOPE

SEAT 1: BARRY SHULMAN

HOMETOWN: LAS VEGAS, NV

Barry Shulman is a former WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won the Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better championship in 2001. Shulman is CEO of Card Player magazine and has been one of the poker industry’s most-respected voices for more than a decade. Shulman’s appearance at this final table means the Shulman family has hit the daily double in WSOP events, this year. His son Jeff Shulman is one of the famed “November Nine” in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, which concludes next month. Shulman’s wife Allyn is a respected player as well, who competed in the championship and is sitting in the crowd today to cheer for Barry. Yes indeed, the entire Shulman Family can sure play poker!

SEAT 2: DANIEL NEGREANU

HOMETOWN: LAS VEGAS, NV

Daniel Negreanu is a four-time WSOP gold bracelet winner. He won his first WSOP title in 1998, then the youngest player in WSOP history ever to win a gold bracelet. He won subsequent titles in 2002, 2003, and 2008. Negreanu is unquestionably one of poker’s biggest superstars and most popular players, appearing regularly on high-stakes poker shows and television commercials. He is about to star in a new TV series in the US, which begins filming when he returns after this event. Negreanu was WSOP “Player of the Year” in 2004. He is also third on the career all-time money list for overall worldwide tournaments, with over $11 million in wins, to date. He hopes to make that $12 million plus, today – but has a big challenge ahead as the shortest stack.

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