Online Poker: NETELLER News Kills Weekend Turnout

Last weekend was one of the biggest weekends of all time for online poker tournaments. The major tournaments at PokerStars, UltimateBet, and Bodog all shattered their previous records - UltimateBet and Bodog avoided overlays for the first time - and the Full Tilt $350,000-guaranteed tournament had a very strong showing as well.

That was before the news of NETELLER.

This weekend partially reflected the impact of the NETELLER decision to pull out of the U.S. ("partially" because some credit must be given to the big NFL games this weekend). PokerStars was the lone major poker site to avoid an overlay, and even it saw an attendance downswing of almost 900 entrants.

There was a similar downward trend upon the announcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October, but online poker regained its footing and sites that continued to operate in the U.S. ended up stronger than ever in the following months. Whether this situation will produce the same result remains to be seen, but poker players have, time and again, shown their resilience and their passion to play, and these defining characteristics will likely be the ultimate deciding factor for online poker.


PokerStars Sunday Million

The PokerStars Sunday Million had 6,742 entrants yesterday, down 890 from last week's tournament, almost certainly due in large part to the NETELLER pullout. The attendance numbers made for a $1,348,400 prize pool. Despite lower numbers, the Sunday Million final table gained some prestige with the presence of poker pro Chris "brsavage" Savage.

Brsavage sat at the final table in fourth place with $7 million in chips. UMTerp led the final table with $13 million while Mazinho1977 was close behind at $12.5 million. PokiQQ was far behind in ninth place with $1.7 million, but he wouldn't be the first to go.

In the first elimination hand, SUGAR5892 raised to $1.2 million preflop, with the big blind at $400,000, and nikov pushed all in for $6.6 million. SUGAR5892 called and showed pocket kings while nikov held pocket queens and was well behind. The board paired, but otherwise improved neither, and SUGAR5892 took down the pot to eliminate nikov in ninth ($7,956).

PokiQQ's stack eventually dipped below $1 million and he found himself in the big blind, which, at $400,000, was almost half his stack. Action folded to SUGAR5892 in the small blind who raised enough to put pokiQQ all in, and pokiQQ called and showed 9 5. SUGAR5892 was ahead with A 10 as the flop came A K 2, furthering his lead. The turn was another 2 to pair the board and the river was a 7, not enough to keep pokiQQ alive. PokiQQ earned $12,136 for eighth place.

Tango44 was sent to the rail less than two minutes later. He pushed all in preflop for $4.9 million from the small blind (with the big blind still at $400,000) and UMTerp called and showed pocket nines. Tango44 was in a bad spot with pocket sixes and needed to improve. The board ran out Q Q 4 A 7 and UMTerp took down the pot with two pair, queens and nines. Tango44 received $20,900 for his seventh-place finish.

Iberico was the short stack with just $3.4 million and decided to push all in preflop. He was called by SUGAR5892 who showed pocket sevens. Iberico held A 6 and was behind. The flop came A A 8, to give him trip aces for the lead. The turn was the 9 and the river the A, improving Iberico to quad aces to double up. The double-up would last him less than 10 minutes before his final hand.

Roni99 raised to $960,000 preflop with the big blind at $480,000 and Iberico pushed all in for $6.7 million. Roni99 called and showed A Q, while Iberico flipped over pocket tens for the lead. The flop came J 9 8, keeping Iberico in the lead and giving both players straight draws. Roni99 now needed an ace or one of the two remaining tens to win the hand. (A queen would give Iberico a straight.) The turn was the 7, giving Iberico an even greater lead on roni99, who now had only a 5 percent chance to win the hand and eliminate Iberico. Five percent proved to be enough when the river was the 10 to give roni99 a better straight. Iberico left the table in sixth ($29,665).

Roni99 joined Iberico soon afterwards, when he raised all in preflop for $2.5 million from the button, with the big blind at $600,000. Mazinho1977 called in the small blind and showed pocket nines against roni99's 8 6. The board improved neither, aside from pairing itself, and Mazinho1977 raked in the pot to eliminate roni99 in fifth ($40,452).

SUGAR5892 was in the lead with $31.2 million, almost twice as many chips as UMTerp in second. Two big hands would change that. In the first, SUGAR5892 raised enough to put Mazinho1977 all in on a flop of 6 5 4 and Mazinho1977 called and showed pocket kings. SUGAR5892 had 5 3 for a pair of fives and a straight draw. His straight never came and he lost $12.5 million in the hand, putting Mazinho1977 into the chip lead. In the second hand, SUGAR5892 called UMTerp's all-in on a 9-high flop and showed Q 9 for top pair. UMTerp flipped over pocket queens for the lead. The queens held up to double up UMTerp and take a large chunk out of SUGAR5892.

Just two minutes later, brsavage raised all in preflop for $5.7 million and SUGAR5892 called all in for less. Brsavage showed pocket nines and SUGAR5892 held Q 10 and needed to improve. The flop came K 9 8, giving brsavage a set but also giving SUGAR5892 a gutshot straight draw. However, the turn and river were blanks and SUGAR5892 was sent packing in fourth with $53,936.

After a minute had passed, brsavage asked the others if they'd consider discussing a deal. In the midst of reaching a consensus on whether or not to go on break, brsavage saw his final hand. Mazinho1977 raised to $3.2 million preflop and brsavage pushed all in for $15.4 million. Mazinho1977 called and showed A K, and brsavage held a slim lead with pocket deuces. A king on the flop all but ended it for brsavage and the turn and river confirmed his elimination in third ($67,420).

Mazinho1977 now had a decent lead with $40 million, compared to UMTemp's $27.3 million in second. The two stopped to discuss a deal and a by-the-chips chop was agreed upon, with $30,000 remaining to play for, per the PokerStars rules. Mazinho1977 was guaranteed at least $134,009 and UMTerp was assured $121,852. UMTerp pulled into the lead early on when his A-J held up against Mazinho1977's A-10 (the board improved neither), but Mazinho1977 retook the lead before the final hand.

UMTerp ($27.1 million) raised to $3 million, with the big blind at $1 million and Mazinho1977 ($40.3 million) reraised to $24 million. UMTerp pushed all in for his last $3.1 million and Mazinho1977 called and showed pocket eights. UMTerp was behind with A 5 as the board came K J 4 2 7. The board improved neither player. Mazinho1977 eliminated UMTerp to win the tournament and earn the extra $30,000, to put his total winnings at $164,009.

The final standings were:

*1) Mazinho1977 - $164,009
*2) UMTerp - $121,852
3) brsavage - $67,420
4) SUGAR5892 - $53,936
5) roni99 - $40,452
6) Iberico - $29,664.80
7) Tango44 - $20,900.20
8) pokiQQ - $12,135.60
9) nikov - $7,955.56

* Payout reflects a two-way by-the-chips chop with $30,000 going to the eventual winner, per the PokerStars rules.


Full Tilt $750,000 Guarantee

The NETELLER pullout and the pre-Super Bowl NFL games came at a bad time for Full Tilt as its monthly tournament's guaranteed prize pool had been recently upped to $750,000. The $500 buy-in tournament had 1,380 entrants, meaning the player-generated prize pool was $690,000, leaving Full Tilt to cough up the remaining $60,000. However, as with many of the other events this weekend, this tournament's final table had star power with World Series of Poker bracelet winner and Full Tilt-sponsored pro Eric Froehlich.

Froehlich sat at the table fourth in chips. His $466,000 stack was dwarfed by chip leader IWEARGOGGLES, who had $1.5 million. IWEARGOGGLES' lead was such that he had almost three times as much as vegan213 in second.

Froehlich outlasted four other players before meeting his end. Vegan213 raised to $88,500 preflop, with the big blind at $30,000, and Froehlich pushed all in for $326,000. Vegan213 called and showed K Q, while Froehlich turned over A J for the lead. The board ran out 9 5 2 2 K, spiking a king on the river for vegan213 to take the lead and eliminate Froehlich. Froehlich earned $35,250 for his fifth-place finish.

At the time of Froehlich's elimination, vegan213 had amassed a huge stack of over $2.5 million, while IWEARGOGGLES had dropped to just $529,000. IWEARGOGGLES eventually busted in third ($60,375) and it was heads up between vegan213 and cliff819. Vegan213 had $3.4 million at the start of heads up, giving him an almost 5-to-1 chip lead over cliff819's $694,000. The heads-up match lasted just over one minute before the final hand.

Cliff819 called $20,000 from the small blind and vegan213 raised to $135,000. Cliff819 pushed all in for $599,000 and vegan213 called and showed A 8. Vegan213 was behind when cliff819 flipped over pocket queens. The flop came A J 3 to give vegan213 a pair of aces for the lead. The turn was the 10, giving both players gutshot straight draws, but the river brought the 8 and cliff819 was eliminated in second ($87,375). Vegan213 earned a $141,000 payday for his first-place finish in the event.

The final standings were:

1) vegan213 - $141,000
2) cliff819 - $87,375
3) IWEARGOGGLES - $60,375
4) badbeatme - $46,500
5) Eric Froehlich - $35,250
6) JayceMV10 - $25,200
7) Lopov - $18,375
8) jokerz76 - $14,250
9) Bubbagump29 - $10,950


UltimateBet $200,000 Guarantee

The UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament had just 862 players yesterday. After breaking through its overlay streak last week for the first time in quite a while (possibly ever) with 1,006 entrants, this attendance was disappointing but understandable, given the recent news. The entry numbers resulted in a $27,600 overlay from UltimateBet.

The tournament made up for its low entry numbers with big names. Among those at the final table were leggggggggggy, Garrett "GfcukinBecks" Beckman, and Jared "TheWacoKidd" Hamby. TheWacoKidd placed second in this tournament just last week, earning $25,915. Stevie444 came into the table as the big stack with a 3 to 2 chip advantage over bobw630 in second and leggggggggggy, GfcukinBecks, and TheWacoKidd were all mid-stacks.

Leggggggggggy was eliminated in eighth ($5,000) when his queens were cracked by the A J of Shenk0 when an ace came on the flop. GfcukinBecks busted out in sixth ($9,000) when he chose the wrong time to push in preflop from under the gun. His K 10 was up against the pocket aces of then-chip leader bobw630, and the aces held up to take the hand and further increase bobw630's lead.

TheWacoKidd was still in it. He held the chip lead during five-way play and even eventually outlasted bobw630, who finished in fourth ($13,000). TheWacoKidd was in second with $648,000 in chips when it was down to three players. Stevie444 was in first with $1.6 million and stizzle2 pulled up the rear with $159,000. Stizzle22 managed to nurse his short stack until TheWacoKidd's final hand.

TheWacoKidd raised to $67,000 preflop, with the big blind at $24,000, and stevie444 reraised to $524,000. TheWacoKidd called all in and showed A 6 (which, coincidentally, was a hand that he had showed before mucking preflop just moments earlier). Stevie444 flipped up 10 9 and needed to improve. The flop came Q 7 2, no help for stevie444. The turn was the 10, spiking a pair for stevie444 and putting him in the lead. The river was the 7 to end TheWacoKidd's tournament in third ($18,500). TheWacoKidd has earned $44,415 for his two UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed final tables in a row.

It was now heads up and stevie444 had a huge lead ($2 million) over stizzle22 ($157,000). The final hand would occur less than two minutes into the heads-up match. Stizzle22 pushed all in preflop and stevie444 called and showed pocket tens. Stizzle22 had just K 3 and needed a lot of help. The board ran out 10 7 4 9 2, giving stevie444 an unneeded set of tens to win the tournament. Stevie444 pocketed $45,000 for his win in the tournament.

The final standings were:

1) stevie444 - $45,000
2) stizzle22 - $27,000
3) TheWacoKidd - $18,500
4) bobw630 - $13,000
5) Shenk0 - $11,000
6) GfcukinBecks - $9,000
7) fatboy58 - $7,000
8) leggggggggggy - $5,000
9) Two7offsuit8 - $3,500
10) dave118 - $2,000


Bodog $100,000 Guarantee

The results at the Bodog $100,000-guaranteed tournament were similar to those of the UltimateBet $200,000-guaranteed tournament. Whereas last week they had 1,034 and had a prize pool of over $100,000 for the first time ever, this week's tournament lured only 801 players. Bodog was back in Overlayville and had to fork out $19,900 to match the posted guarantee.

Fullpackage1 entered the final table in the chip lead with $384,000 in chips but, within 10 minutes of play, Melvin01's stack had surged to $967,000 and fullpackage1 was in third with $234,000. Fullpackage1 eventually busted out in sixth ($4,400). Melvin01 held the chip lead until three-way play, where each of the three remaining players had a chance to hold the spot. The three-way match lasted a relatively long 40 minutes before PokerMan3 was eliminated in third ($9,000) by Melvin01.

Melvin01 held a small lead in what would be a short heads-up match. He had $1.1 million in chips compared to kingthehustler's $913,000. Only three hands saw flops, and Melvin01 lost all three of them. In the final hand, Melvin01, now with just $345,000, pushed all in preflop with the big blind at $60,000. Kingthehustler called instantly and showed K Q and Melvin01 flipped over 7 4 and was behind. The flop came Q 10 6, leaving Melvin01 with just a 6 percent chance of survival. The turn was a glimmer of home with the 9, giving Melvin01 a gutshot straight draw. However, the river was the K to give kingthehustler two pair to take the hand and win the tournament. Kingthehustler made $25,000 for first place in the tournament.

The final standings were:

1) kingthehustler - $25,000
2) Melvin01 - $14,000
3) Poker Man3 - $9,000
4) hugedog - $6,500
5) Wayupinya - $5,400
6) fullpackage1 - $4,400
7) ongconoi - $3,400
8) smalltimer - $2,400
9) sportsmoney - $1,550



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