The Rundown: Poker News for W/E Jan. 28, 2011

by Bodog Poker | Jan 28 2011

Oklahoma

The World Series of Poker Circuit Event at the Choctaw Resort and Casino in Durant wrapped up this week with 808 players taking on the main event. Only 174 were left after a brutal first day and a mere 14 walked away from day two with the top 81 players ending up in the money. The first place finisher was Huy Nguyen, a 25-year-old online poker pro from Norman, OK. Right at his heels, however, was Tracie Brown from Austin, TX, who earned $143,000+ and the Choctaw WSOP Circuit Casino Championship at the same time, meaning that she’ll also be going to the WSOP Circuit National Championship to play.

Las Vegas

While we’re on the subject of the World Series of Poker, fans and players alike rejoiced when the wizards who run the event emerged from their cave and announced the schedule for the big show this year. It’s pretty close to last year’s event, but there’s a new bracelet up for grabs in a high-stakes, limited enrollment $25,000 heads-up No Limit Hold Em championship, open to a maximum of just 256 players.

"Something for everyone is the best way to describe the 2011 World Series of Poker schedule,” said WSOP Tournament Director Jack Effel, who will oversee the event for the sixth consecutive year.  "It’s staggering to think that last year alone the WSOP hosted nine of the 17 largest tournaments in poker history.  We had 44 events produce more than a $1 million prize pool, so we can’t wait to get at it again and offer players at all levels the best poker action on the planet."

Atlantic City

The Winter Poker Open championship at the Borgata Hotel, Casino and Spa kicks off this week.  The six-day no limit Texas Hold ‘Em tournament serves as a finale to the casino’s annual Winter Open. A $3,500 buy-in gives players a starting stack of 30,000 chips and hopefully a chunk of a guaranteed prize pool of $2,000,000.  The event sees pros, celebrities and regular Joes rubbing elbows and while past Winter Opens have been won by Michael Mizrachi, John Hennigan and other pros, the 2009 winner was a guy named Steven Weinstein, a guy that just wanted to play in a big event. 

California

The trial of Ernest Sherer III continued this week with his grandfather describing the odd behavior of the accused double-murderer, including the fact that his grandson showed up at his house the morning after the murder of Ernest Scherer Junior and Charlene Abendroth for a scheduled bridge tournament. 

"He said, 'My two best friends are my dad and my granddad.' In a very emphatic manner. He'd never said that before,” the 94-year-old testified after describing the accused as a “boastful gambler” whose behavior turned odd shortly after the murder of his parents.

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