Dennis Philips, the current chip leader in the 2008 WSOP, has announced that he will donate 1% of his winnings to cancer research. That could be as much as $182,000, if he goes on to win the $9,119,517 first-place prize. His sponsor, PokerStars, will match his donation dollar for dollar.
“I am thrilled to contribute a portion of my WSOP earnings to the Prevent Cancer Foundation,” said Phillips. “Charity involvement has always been an important part of my life, and hopefully more poker players and final table participants will follow suit in upcoming poker circuits like the European Poker Tour and the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.”
Philips is also involved in charity work for multiple sclerosis. His brother was diagnosed with the disease, and he’s been involved ever since. It’s good for the game of poker to see charitable guys like Dennis Philips leading the way for the other players.
Excalibur Casino chips
The first casino has taken the plunge and converted their poker room into a completely automated environment. There will be no more dealers in the Excalibur poker room. They are being replaced by Twelve PokerPro electronic tables, made by PokerTek, the number one manufacturer of automated tables.
“I’m excited to see the turnout,” says Neil Bard, floor manager for the Excalibur. “We are going to have several famous poker pros come to help launch the tables.” He also said that both tournament and cash games will be offered, but limits and game variations have not been worked out yet.
Considering the recent decline in Vegas revenues, these tables could be a needed boost to the casinos’ bottom line. The table game plays 50% more Texas hold’em hands, and a 100% more Omaha, than a game with dealers and chips does. I just can’t see these tables being popular for long.
The WSOP Europe will attract a lot of the best players in the game. Last year’s event saw superstars like Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, Annie Duke, and many others make their way over to play in London. Any big name poker star could potentially win it.
But the name that everyone will be watching will be defending champion Annette Obrestad. She will turn 20 the day before the tournament starts, and everyone will be interested to see if the online phenom can repeat as champion before she’s even allowed to play in a casino in the United States. She won over $2M last year, making her the highest winning female ever.
Phil Ivey is another player with a history of doing well in Europe. He has had good finishes in Spain and Monte Carlo in years past. It’s unknown if Phil will be making the trip to London this year.
The WSOP Europe schedule has four events this year, with four WSOP bracelets up for grabs, and all the events will be played under the same roof. The tournaments will be played in the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square London. The schedule looks like this:
September 19 – Event #1 – £1,500 – No-Limit Hold’em Day 1A (3-day event)
September 22 – Event #2 – £2,500 – H.O.R.S.E. (3-day event)
September 24 – Event #3 – £5,000 – Pot Limit Omaha (2-day event)
September 27 – Event #4 – £10,000 – World Championship No-Limit Hold’em (6-day event)
“We have enhanced the schedule to provide more variety and game play, greatly broadened the worldwide television exposure and have brought the event under one roof to better the player experience for this prestigious and premiere event.” said Ty Stewart, World Series of Poker Director of Marketing.
Would you like to see what all this Togel Hongkong Macau fuss is about? The Chinese gambling resort is getting more press than Vegas lately. It’s a little out of the way for the average guy to go to, but Bodog poker room has a promotion that could get you there.
The poker room is offering two different ways to win your way over there, including entry into an APT event. Macau will host the first APT event of Season Two, and you could be there. You can either play in their regular qualifier tournaments (from July 7 – August 3) to win one of three seats, or play in their Seat Giveaway series (the finale is on August 2) to win one seat.
If you win a seat you’ll join Team Bodog in Macau and you’ll stay at the Galaxy Star Hotel and Casino, plus you get entry into the $5300 event.
