Featured Articles Archive - Page 613

Can Yang save poker's face?

It seemed odd when Jerry Yang started praying aloud at the final table of the World Series of Poker's Main Event. Poker players don't normally ask for divine intervention while playing a game often associated with the devil. At first, I was incredulous...read more

NETeller strikes deal; will return U.S. money

Financial payment process NETeller will pay $136 million to the U.S. government and admit criminal wrongdoing in the processing American gambling transactions as part of deal reached with U.S. prosecutors, the company announced today. The company will also begin the process of returning money to U.S...read more

ESPN's pay-per-view coverage of WSOP was like a blast from the past

Like legions of other men in their 20s, I feel in love with poker when I watched Chris Moneymaker win $2.5 million and a World Series of Poker title on ESPN in 2003. That tournament introduced me to the tradition and prestige of the poker's biggest stage, and like most other guys my age, it allowed me to dream that I, an amateur player, could someday take down the final table of the WSOP's Main Event. Those dreams have faded for the most part, as I've grown older and wiser and my life has changed to include a wife and son (though I do still hang on to one shred of hope)...read more

Magnus and the Main Event

This year's World Series of Poker Main Event had a little GPWA flair to it. Magnus Karlsson, the general manager of GPWA sponsor PokerHost, was one of the 6,358 players who bought a seat in the WSOP Main Event this month to vie for the second largest prize in poker history. The experienced poker player from Sweden plopped down his $10,000 entry fee on Day 1B in hopes of turning it into a cool $8.25 million...read more

Yang wins 2007 WSOP Main Event

Miracles happen. Amateur Jerry Yang, a 39-year-old former Laos refugee who came to America, graduated from college, and fathered six children, prayed every time his chips went into the pot. And his prayers were answered. He came to the final table as the second-shortest stack and ended up winning the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event handily...read more

Post Vegas: The Aftermath

I am in withdrawal. Maybe you think it's sad, maybe you think it's pathetic, perhaps I need to reevaluate my personal life, but it's the truth. Here I am in Boston, my "home", stuck in between trips...Vegas has come and gone, and now Costa Rica is seven days away...read more

WSOP too close to call

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Unlike a year ago, when the outcome of the world poker championship seemed like a foregone conclusion, any of the nine players going into today's final table in the 2007 World Series of Poker has a chance of winning the game's ultimate title and an $8.25 million payday. Less than $9 million in tournament chips separate the top five players in the $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas hold' em world championship scheduled to begin at noon at the Rio...read more

Different paths to survival

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- Paul Spitzberg and Billy Baxter were a stark contrast in both style and experience Friday at the World Series of Poker. Spitzberg, a retired executive from Tenafly, N.J., was playing in his first tournament. Baxter, a Las Vegas resident and longtime fixture in the city's poker rooms and sportsbooks, has been playing in the World Series of Poker since 1975...read more

Hilm holds chip lead, Nguyen falls short of final table (baby)

Scotty Nguyen, the biggest star left in the World Series of Poker's Main Event, exited the building in 11th place early this morning when he failed to hit a flush draw. Nguyen, who owns four WSOP bracelets and won the Main Event in 1998, won $476,926 and was just two spots away from making the final table. Phillip Hilm, who has just one WSOP cash in his career, holds the chip lead heading into Tuesday's final table with $22.1 million...read more

Bubble bursts at the Main Event; 337 left in hunt for $8.25 million

The bubble burst at the Main Event of the World Series of Poker last night, and 284 players finished the day with at least $20,320 in winnings. The remaining 337 players are eying the $8.25 million first-place prize as play resumes today at noon PST for Day 4. Rome's Dario Minieri, who won €125,780 in a European Poker Tour event last October, will start the day with a healthy chip lead, holding $2.4 million...read more