Posts Tagged ‘bellagio’
Sorel Mizzi Wins 2010 Bluff Magazine Player of the Year
January 3rd, 2011
Mizzi’s success in 2010 was good enough to earn him honors from Bluff.
Pro poker player Sorel Mizzi has been named the 2010 Player of the Year by Bluff Magazine.
Mizzi’s year started off with a bang when he took third place in the Aussie Millions Main Event, good for $659,000. He followed up that performance with a preliminary event win at the Wynn Classic and two preliminary event wins at EPT Snowfest in March and a victory at the Borgata East Coast Poker Championship in Atlantic City in April. A string of big finishes in high roller tournaments followed, with the EPT Grand Final (6th place), WPT Rendez-Vous a Paris (2nd), EPT Tallinn (2nd) and EPT London (5th) big-ticket tournaments providing him more than $525,000 in winnings.
Mizzi didn’t slow down as the end of 2010 approached. He was the TV table bubble boy at the WPT World Poker Finals at Foxwoods in October, good for nearly $89,000, and he made two final tables at the LA Poker Open, including a win in a $1,585 bounty event. The Five Diamond World Poker Classic at Bellagio was the site of Mizzi’s fina impressive performances of 2010: he finished sixth in one preliminary event and then took ninth place in the WPT main event there. All told, his take in 2010 added up to nearly $1.9 million, ranking him 12th on the year’s money list even though he didn’t win a major title.
Finishing in second place in the Bluff Player of the Year race behind Sorel Mizzi was Tom Marchese, who won the 2010 Player of the Year award from Card Player magazine. Other top performers included Fernando Brito, David Peters, Vanessa Selbst, Eric Baldwin, Dwyte Pilgrim, Chris Bjorin, Bluff’s 2009 POY Jason Mercier and Chris Bell.
Man Steals $1.5 Million in Bellagio Chips
December 15th, 2010
Las Vegas police released this video of the Bellagio robbery suspect on YouTube.
A gunman robbed a craps table at Bellagio early on Tuesday, making off with $1.5 million in chips from the world-famous casino.
Las Vegas police say that the man, dressed in a leather jacket and full-faced motorcycle helmet, walked into the casino’s pit area around 3:50 a.m. and demanded the chips from the pit crew. The crew complied, giving him chips of numerous denominations, including the $25,000 “flag” chips. Once he had the chips in hand, he fled the casino and sped away on a motorcycle. “It was a very quick, in-and-out type of job,” Lt. Mark Reddon told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Gordon Absher, a spokesman for MGM Resorts International, which owns the Bellagio, noted in a statement to the Las Vegas Sun that casino chips aren’t the same as cash and that they have no monetary value until they are redeemed. Absher also failed to confirm whether or not the Bellagio uses RFID radio frequency devices in its casino chips, meaning that the thief – or whoever buys the chips from him, assuming he can sell them – might be caught the moment he tries to redeem the chips.
The scene at Bellagio was very similar to that of a robbery at the Suncoast poker room just last week, where a man in a motorcycle helmet made away with some $20,000 in chips. That was the ninth casino robbery in Las Vegas this year, making the Bellagio heist the tenth.
Antonio Esfandiari Makes Birthday Magic at Bellagio
December 10th, 2010
Imagine the birthday party those stacks of cash would buy in Vegas!
At Bellagio in Las Vegas, Antonio Esfandiari outlasted one of the toughest final table lineups in recent World Poker Tour history to grab his second WPT title at the Five Diamond World Poker Classic – and he did it on his birthday, no less.
The 32-year-old Esfandiari entered the final table second in chips behind Vanessa Rousso, who scored the day’s first knockout with Q-Q to Ted Lawson’s 9-9, busting Lawson in sixth place ($126,693). Andrew Robl stepped up next and sent Kirk Morrison home in fifth place ($168,924) when his 5-5 flopped a set against Morrison’s top pair with A-J. Then Esfandiari eliminated 2010 November Niner John Racener in fourth place ($232,271) with K-Q against Q-8 to set up a three-way battle for the top spot.
Robl and Rousso tangled again and again while Esfandiari sat back and waited for a good spot, with Robl getting the better of the confrontations. Eventually Rousso shoved all-in with Q-2, only to run into Esfandiari’s A-Q and hit the rail in third place ($358,964). The two remaining competitors traded the chip lead several times before Esfandiari’s K-J outlasted Robl’s Q-T, sending Robl to the payout cage to collect his $549,003 runner-up reward.
The $870,124 Bellagio win is the first tournament victory for Antonio Esfandiari since he beat the field in a $500 event at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi back in 2007. More importantly, it’s his first major victory since 2004, when he won both the WPT’s LA Poker Classic and his first WSOP bracelet in the $2,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em event. Those wins helped to catapult him into poker’s spotlight, where he’s managed to stay ever since. Only time will tell whether The Magician capitalizes on his recent success the way he did back in the day, but for now, at least, he’s enjoying the moment.
TV Table Lineup Set at WPT Festa al Lago
October 20th, 2010
Legends of Poker champ Andy Frankenberger can win his second WPT title today.
The final TV table is set at Bellagio’s Festa al Lago – and the lineup is a bit more anonymous than you might have expected given the 13 players who started Day 4 with chips.
Incoming chip leader Annette Obrestad’s hopes for a big WPT score went south in a hurry as she doubled up Skip Wilson twice, first when his nut flush draw came home on the turn and then when her A-K couldn’t outrace his Q-Q. That gave Wilson, who entered Day 5 as one of the short stacks, all the spark he needed to make the TV table. Obrestad, meanwhile, was left short-stacked and eventually busted in 13th place when her Q-T couldn’t beat Brandon Steven’s A-T.
Jeff Madsen joined Obrestad on the rail in disappointing fashion, finishing in 11th place when his A-Q fell to Jason Koon’s A-4 thanks to four spades hitting the board to give Koon a flush. November Nine bubble boy Brandon Steven also fell short, busting in 9th place when his 8-8 couldn’t outrun Bobby Suer’s A-K. That didn’t help Suer much, though; he was the next to go in 8th place when he moved his short stack all-in holding A-8 but ran into Noah Schwartz’s Q-Q.
Finally Allen Kessler, who is enjoying the best year of his decade-long poker career, busted on the final table bubble. He moved all-in with A-K, only to find himself up against Koon’s A-A. No miracles meant the final table lineup of Skip Wilson, Michael Benvenuti, Jason Koon, Noah Schwartz, Randal Flowers and Andy Frankenberger was set.
Flowers and Frankenberger will each be seeking his second career WPT title at Festa al Lago – Frankenberger won the Legends of Poker just a few months ago, and Flowers won last season’s WPT Spanish Championship. Schwartz, meanwhile, will be looking to improve on his third-place finish at the Borgata Poker Open back in Season VI. The other three players are each making their first WPT final table and will be looking to upset the world to lay claim to the $831,500 first-place prize. Action gets underway at Bellagio today at 4 p.m. PT today.
Dan Harrington, Erik Seidel Named to Poker Hall of Fame
October 19th, 2010
Erik Seidel was drawing dead to this pot, but drawing live to a storied career.
One of this year’s new Poker Hall of Fame members has won the biggest tournament of them all – and the other came close in one of the most famous clip in WSOP history.
Dan Harrington was the 1995 WSOP Main Event champion, though his poker career since then has perhaps been more memorable. He made back-to-back final tables at the Main Event in 2003 and 2004, then the two largest fields that high-stakes tournament poker had ever seen, finishing third and fourth, respectively. He then went on to finish second at the 2005 WPT Doyle Brunson North American Poker Championship at Bellagio before winning his first WPT title at the 2007 Legends of Poker in Los Angeles. In between those feats, he wrote one of the most influential books in the history of poker, Harrington on Hold’em. Harrington has won $6.6 million in his poker career, ranking him 31st on the all-time money list.
Erik Seidel came close to victory in the 1988 WSOP Main Event, but his fall to Johnny Chan in heads-up play became the most famous second-place finish in the game’s history once it was immortalized in the movie Rounders. Never one to dwell on a missed opportunity, Seidel has since made the most of his time at the tables by winning eight gold WSOP bracelets in five different poker games. He also added a WPT title to his resume in 2008 at the Foxwoods Poker Classic. All told, Seidel ranks 10th on the all-time money list with $10.35 million in lifetime earnings.
“I’m very honored to be elected to the Poker Hall of Fame this year and it’s an extra bonus for me to be going in with Dan Harrington,” said Erik Seidel. “We have played together and have been great friends for my entire poker career. Both of us refined our games at the Mayfair Club in New York. I have such a high regard for the many members of the Poker Hall of Fame that I have played with over the years and it’s a real privilege to be able to join them.”
The two men will be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the Rio in Las Vegas held during the November Nine weekend next month.
Annette Obrestad Leads WPT Festa al Lago With 13 Left
October 18th, 2010
Can Annette put together her first WPT title run at Bellagio?
Another day of poker at Bellagio is in the books, this time taking the field at the WPT Festa al Lago from 41 players down to just 13. The overnight chip leader is none other than online poker legend and former WSOP Europe Main Event winner Annette Obrestad. Fresh off a heads-up tourney win at EPT London, the diminutive Norwegian bagged up 2,009,000 in chips at the end of the night to put her name in everyone’s overnight headlines.
Right behind Obrestad is Andy Frankenberger, the equity derivatives trader who won the WPT Legends of Poker main event in Los Angeles back in August. He finished the day with 1,820,000 chips. Close behind are Jeff Madsen (1,500,000), Allen Kessler (1,275,000), and John Monnette (1,271,000), with November Nine bubble boy Brandon Steven (977,000) a little further back. Other notables among the 13 remaining players include Florida poker pro Noah Schwartz, former WPT Southern Championship runner-up Bobby Suer and WPT Spanish Championship winner Randal Flowers.
Steve O’Dwyer came into the day with the chip lead, but after finding himself short-stacked he busted in 25th place when his queens fell to Brandon Steven’s 4-4. Also among the fallen on the day were Barry Greenstein (38th place), Tom Marchese (35th), Daniel Alaei (31st), Erik Cajelais (26th), Matt Affleck (22nd), Matt Stout (18th), McLean Karr (17th), Chad Batista (16th), Mark Newhouse (15th) and Lauren Kling (14th).
The plan for Day 5 is to play down to the TV table, which theoretically shouldn’t take long since the field only has to drop from 13 players to six and the uberaggressive Annette Obrestad is the chip leader. But this is tournament poker we’re talking about, and with a guaranteed $80,000 pay jump over 13th place money for everyone who makes the final table there could be plenty of incentive to slow things down, depending on who makes it close to that bubble. Action gets going at noon PT and as usual the WPT is covering the whole enchilada.
Steve O’Dwyer Leads, 41 Remain at WPT Festa al Lago
October 18th, 2010
Steve O’Dwyer seeks his second Bellagio WPT final table.
Three full days of poker are in the books at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, where poker pro Steve O’Dwyer leads the field at the 2010 WPT Festa al Lago.
O’Dwyer started slow with 157,100 chips and fell back a bit before doubling up in back-to-back hands, once through Jared Jaffee and the next through Matt Affleck, to move over the 500,000-chip mark. From there he used his stack to move up to a day-ending lead of 844,500 chips. He’ll be looking to use his advantage to make his second career final table at Bellagio, and hopefully to improve upon his sixth-place finish from last year’s Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic main event.
Right behind Steve O’Dwyer is everybody’s favorite conspiracy theorist/rapper/pro poker player, Jeff Madsen, who finished the day with 814,000 chips to lead the other 40 remaining players. Other notables with above-average stacks when play resumes today include WPT Spanish Championship winner Randal Flowers (795,500), former WPT chairman Lyle Berman (458,500), two-time WPT final tablist Jared Jaffee (426,500), used-car salesman and November Nine bubble boy Brandon Steven (425,000), Bay 101 champ McLean Karr (388,500), online MTT specialist Matt Stout (382,500), 2010 Legends of Poker champ Andy Frankenberger (360,500), reigning Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic champion Daniel Alaei (355,000), and 2007 WSOP Europe winner Annette Obrestad (343,500).
Cards get back in the air at Bellagio at noon PT (or shortly thereafter). You can follow the slow advance to the final table via the WPT site.
Matt Affleck, Annette Obrestad Lead WPT Festa al Lago
October 17th, 2010
Matt Affleck is hoping to write his major tournament redemption song at Festa al Lago. (Photo: WSOPPhotos.com)
Matt Affleck has made deep runs in the WSOP Main Event for the last two years now, with this year’s run coming to a tearful conclusion with a horrible beat that sent him home in 15th place instead of on to the November Nine. Now the online star from Washington has another shot at a major tournament title just down Flamingo Road at the Bellagio, where he’s the chip leader as the third day of the WPT Festa al Lago begins.
Affleck ended the second day of play with 585,300 chips, good enough to put him ahead of the other 98 players set to return for Day 3. Right behind him was Annette Obrestad – perhaps looking to avenge her boyfriend Scott Montgomery’s robbery at Bellagio last week, she ran over the field as she accumulated 536,800 chips by day’s end. Other notable players in the top 20 include David Williams (278,300), John Monnette (271,400), Jeff Madsen (269,200), Men Nguyen (263,500), Vladimir Shchemelev (244,000), Joseph Elpayaa (226,300), Matt Stout (223,300), McLean Karr (221,600), Ryan Young (219,800), Daniel Alaei (217,700) and Barry Greenstein (217,600).
The tournament drew a total of 335 players this year, up from 275 in 2009. The first prize of $831,500 is lower than last year’s $1.2 million, though, thanks to the decision to reduce the buy-in from $15,000 to $10,000. The top 50 players will cash – you can follow Matt Affleck and the rest of them with live updates straight from the WPT.
WPT Festa al Lago Main Event Starts Today
October 15th, 2010
It’s major-league tournament time at Bellagio once again.
The Festa al Lago poker tournament festival has been running at Bellagio since late last week, and the list of winners so far reads like a roll call for poker pros. Among the winners of the 11 preliminary events were “Miami” John Cernuto, James Van Alstyne, John Phan and Scott Clements. Also in their company was Matthew Jarvis, the November Niner from Canada. He won a $1,000 no-limit hold’em with rebuys event, taking home $71,895 for defeating a final table that included NAPT Venetian champ Tom Marchese and 2009 Card Player Player of the Year Eric Baldwin.
Now that all the prelims have been completed, it’s time to move on to the World Poker Tour main event, which begins at noon PT today. The buy-in is $10,000 this year, down from $15,000 in previous years. It remains to be seen whether that will help the event improve on its total of 275 entries from 2009; Bellagio tournaments are notoriously tough because of the high percentage of the field that’s made up of skilled poker pros. One thing that seems certain is that the top prize will be smaller than the $1,218,225 won by Tommy Vedes last year.
As usual, the WPT will be providing live updates for the duration of the Festa al Lago main event.
Former November Niner Scott Montgomery Robbed at Bellagio
October 11th, 2010
What’s two grand when you’ve got one of these? (Photo: Rob Mathis)
Life has been good for Scott Montgomery over the past couple of years. He made the WSOP Main Event final table in 2008 and won more than $3 million, won a bracelet at the WSOP this summer, and most recently was linked romantically to Norwegian poker phenom Annette Obrestad. But yesterday he caught a bit of success’ flip side when he was robbed at the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas.
Montgomery was at Bellagio to play in a Festa al Lago preliminary event and went to the bathroom on a break from the tournament. As he described it on his Twitter account, “Got mugged today at Bellagio. Black guy pulled a knife on me in the restroom. I gave him the $2k in my wallet and he left.”
“I called security, but they took like 15 mins so they didn’t catch him. They are useless twits. Didn’t even ask me to look at camera footage,” Montgomery continued. “Security pretty much just said oh well, life sucks, have a nice day. I’m pretty annoyed.”
There’s not much more in the way of details right now, unless you count the thread about the robbery at 2+2, which has mostly turned into a discussion of whether the ex-November Niner is racist because he mentioned that his attacker was black. Getting robbed certainly sucks, but Scott Montgomery should cheer up. It’s definitely better to be annoyed and out $2,000 than stabbed and out a pint or two of blood – especially when you’ve won $4.1 million in live poker tournaments since 2008.
