Mortensen Wins Doyle Brunson North American No-Limit Championship

Anyone who likes no-limit hold'em should have stopped by Bellagio in October, because there were 10 straight no-limit hold'em events with buy-ins of more than $1,000 at the Festa al Lago III tournament. The last event was the $10,000 buy-in Doyle Brunson North American No-Limit Championship, which will have a different home each year. A total of 312 players competed in the event, which attracted top players from around the world. Carlos Mortensen did something that only a few players have done in poker history. For the second time, he won an event that paid him at least $1 million. Others at the final table were John Juanda, Erik Seidel, David Pham, Hung La, and Thang Pham. Way to go, Carlos!

If you are paying attention to the Player of the Year race this year, it is heating up. John Juanda has been gaining ground on Daniel Negreanu. John made the final table at the last two World Poker Tour events, and won a tournament and finished third in another at the Festa al Lago III. Just to make the race a little more interesting, we at Card Player have decided to award the 2004 Player of the Year a $10,000 buy-in to an event of his choice in 2005. We believe that corporate sponsorship is necessary in order to continue the outstanding growth of poker, and this our way of contributing. There are still two months left to get Player of the Year points. Good luck.

There were a couple of other championship events in the last few weeks. James Van Alstyne won his second championship in two months. He won the WPPA Championship at the Orleans and the Ultimate Poker Challenge Championship at the Plaza.

Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man) also won his first championship. He won $95,000 in the $2,000 buy-in Phil Hellmuth No-limit Hold'em Invitational at Hollywood Park.

In the last issue, I talked about the Professional Poker Tour (PPT) and listed the casinos that are participating. As a correction, Bellagio will not host a PPT event.

Recently I was able to catch up on some poker reading. Both Phil Hellmuth and Phil Gordon have come out with new books, and I loved both of them. Be sure to read Phil Hellmuth's Bad Beats and Lucky Draws to get an in-depth analysis of how great players have played historical hands. If you are looking to get inside celebrity poker and tips for beginners, Phil Gordon's The Real Deal is for you.Finally, we are thrilled to give readers an insight into Phil Ivey in this issue. Phil reveals some of his secrets of being a successful poker player.