Poker News for the Week Ending October 15, 2010
by Bodog Poker | Oct 15 2010
Las Vegas
The World Poker Tour's $10,000 No-Limit Championship Event kicks off today at noon PST at the Bellagio. This is the 12th on the schedule for the Festa Al Lago Classic tournament series. The preliminaries before today's start have been pretty spectacular: John Cernuto won a $1,000 Omaha eight-or-better event; James Van Alstyne took the top spot in a $1,000 pot-limit Omaha rebuy tourney; John Phan won a $1,000 limit hold ‘em event and Scott Clements won the final preliminary, a $1,000 no-limit rebuy tournament.
The $10,000 finale in this Festo al Lago Classic tournament will only have a single starting day, something that's a little unusual for big tournaments nowadays and the action is expected to run through the final table on Wednesday, October 20 with no interruptions. We'll have updates on this event in Monday's The Water Cooler.
Los Angeles
The Commerce Casino sent out a press release, letting everyone know that the poker mecca for LA's players is hosting a special event on October 23rd: the Second Annual Children's Institute Poker For A Cause. The festivities start at 11:30AM with a meet and greet, followed by a red carpet walk to the Commerce Casino's poker tournament rooms at 12:30 to battle it out for a prize pool of over $15,000, a seat in the 2011 World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational in February, and a host of other prizes.
Hosted by Camryn Manheim, who'll be joined by Jason Alexander, Hank Azaria, Joely Fisher, Kevin Nealon, Cheryl Hines and a flotilla of poker pros, the event benefits the Children's Institute, an organization whose mission is to advocate for children in violent situations, including domestic violence, child abuse or neglect. With over 50,000 reports of child abuse/neglect reported annually in Los Angeles and over 43,000 domestic violence calls, it's easy to see how important this institution is.
Southern Indiana
Charles “Woody” Moore, a longtime presence on the World Series of Poker Circuit Events, finally had his day in the sun, beating a field of 288 other players and banking $99,878 at the latest stop in the WSOPC at the Horseshoe Southern Indiana. Even with a smaller buy-in of $1,600 compared to the $5,000 norm, the prize pool swelled tremendously.
There were some very tough players between Woody and victory: Dwyte Pilgrim, TJ Cloutier, Mark Kroon, Lee Childs, Mark “Pegasus” Smith and Mark Kroon were just a few of the people he was up against. Heads-up action between Moore and Kevin Calenzo determined the victory, with the duo moving chips back and forth for a couple of hours before a hand where Moore's pocket jacks held their own against Calenzo's over cards on a very mixed board, giving him his first ring and a seat in the season-ending WSOPC $1,000,000 freeroll.
Las Vegas
Nick Schulman appeared on MTV's documentary program World Of Jenks, in which the host (Andrew Jenks) follows young people from across the US for a unique look at different subjects. The 26-year-old pro was followed by cameras for a rags-to-riches-to-rags look at his tumultuous history of the game. The pro spoke frankly about is battles with depression and anxiety as well as the possibility of a life away from the tables.
