Filling The Void
The forums are buzzing this week as the main event victor at this year's World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars is suspected of playing multiple accounts. The winning player, known as 'TheV0id' and claiming Monte Carlo residency, is said to be former EPT Champion Mark Teltscher, although this has yet to be confirmed.
Rumour has it that the $1.22 million 1st prize has been frozen until the matter has been fully investigated, but, as of yet, no official reports have been released. Other names, such as Andy Black and Gus Hansen, have been thrown into the melting pot, but the general consensus appears to be focused on Teltscher. If Teltscher did indeed win, then we could see a repeat of the infamous ZeeJustin situaion as the Londoner is known to play under the moniker 'play2kill', an account which also partook in the $2,600 main event.
This year's WCOOP was the biggest yet, 23 events and many millions of dollars culminating in a 2,998 strong main event. The $7.5 million prizepool was the largest in online history, and is unlikely to beaten for at least another year.
Playing in his/her first tournament on the PokerStars software, TheV0id fended off a tough final table which included Vanessa 'Lady Maverick' Russo, the former WPT winner finally finishing in 3rd place for $463,940.50. However, the day belonged to TheV0id, the final hand seeing 2nd place finisher ka$ino rivered by a straight with A-K v K-Q.
Tuff Job
Former International cricketer Phil Tufnell is the latest sports celebrity to move into the world of poker, joining forces with the Great British Poker Tour (GBPT) to provide expert analysis on the Tour's upcoming broadcasts commencing from October 4th on ITV4.
Hosting the series of 12 1-hour shows will be Alex Jones. Meawhile, Tufnell will be joined by poker veteran and Dusk Till Dawn sponsored player, Simon 'Aces' Trumper, as the two assess all the action from various Gala venues from across the nation.
Rhyniestone Cowboy
Rhynie Campbell has become the latest player to take down a World Poker Tour (WPT) event, the amateur poker player snapping up the title in his home country as the Tour hit the sunny shores of Turks and Caicos for the 2007 Turks and Caicos Poker Classic.
With only 137 entries and a diminished buy-in of $7,500, this is one of the few times that a prizepool for a WPT main event has slipped underneath the million dollar mark, the reward for first prize being a paltry in comparison $436,675.
Consequently, the event was a rather lowbrow affair with few famous faces taking their seat. One big name who did reach the final table was Nam Le, the poker pro eventually falling in 6th place for $30,000.
Not world renowned, but perhaps familiar to those on the American circuit, Canadian Eric Cajelais took the runner up spot, Campbell re-outdrawing his more experienced opponent on a Q-9-3-K-T board with T-T versus Q-9.
Trouble in Sweden
Following the raid of the European Poker Challenge back in March 2007, organisers of the tournament are being faced with up to 4 years of jail time for holding an unlicensed poker tournament.
The defendants have denied the charges.