Poker News @ ICUFISH

In tonight’s Nightly Turbo we’re bringing you news on betting odds for this weekend’s NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, the scoop on a charity poker tournament, and more.

The finale of the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) Venetian Main Event featured Sam KingKobeMVP Stein (pictured at right) squaring off against Tom Marchese. In the end, Marchese emerged victorious and banked $827,000 from the $5,000 buy-in poker tournament, while Stein walked away with $522,000. Stein finished fifth in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) Legends of Poker last August and was the runner-up to Stefan IamSound Huber in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event held during the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for another $168,000. All told, he’s recorded three six-figure live cashes in the last seven months.

PocketFives.com: Talk about the hand where you doubled up Marchese with J-5 against K-9 on a board of 6-K-5-4-10. Marchese pushed on the river and you called with a pair of fives. What was going through your head in that hand?

Sam Stein: Early on, he min-raised the button. Normally, I wouldn’t defend, but I felt like I was outplaying him post-flop, so I was defending with any playable hand. I had a big chip lead then and felt like that was pretty standard for my overall plan. Heads-up, any pair is decent and I don’t think many people would check-fold that flop.

It was read-dependent on the turn. I played with him a bit online and knew he was capable of anything. I had a solid read throughout the tournament, but don’t know if he was using reverse tells or anything like that against me. I check-called the turn and thought he maybe had a draw or just nothing.

On the river, everything bricked. I checked and he went all-in. For that kind of money, I usually don’t make a decision that quickly, but there was not any way I was folding with the read I had. I was stunned to see that I was beat. I thought he was bluffing. Overall, I was winning the majority of the hands I played against him. When he won that hand and took the chip lead, I didn’t know if he had talked to friends or happened to be doing something different.

PocketFives.com: Talk about the final hand of the tournament. On a board of 4-5-9-3-10, you called all-in with 2-4 against Marchese’s set of tens. Did you think Marchese (pictured at left) was bluffing?

Sam Stein: He also min-raised the button and I defended with 2-4 of spades. I called on the flop and turned an open-ender. On the river, I checked, he overbet the pot with an all-in, and I took at least eight or nine minutes to call.

There was a lot going through my mind and I was thinking of all of the hands we played during the tournament. Everything on the J-5 hand was going through my head too. I wasn’t going based on read, but on how often I saw he was bluffing in the other hands we played. I leveled myself to calling and regret both of those hands.

Earlier, I was chipping away at him and had good control of the heads-up match. I felt like I played the best poker of my life and have been playing well recently. There were 872 players and I ran well, but to accumulate chips without showdown, I was playing really well too.

PocketFives.com: You’ve been on a live poker tear to open 2010 coming off your fifth place finish in the WPT Legends of Poker last year. Are you in the zone right now?

Sam Stein: It’s gone well for me recently. I’ve been playing live tournaments for slightly over a year. I don’t take my success for granted. I really want to keep riding this wave for as long as I can. A lot of friends have been saying to keep doing what you’re doing. Not many people have had a year like that in their lives.

PocketFives.com: Talk about your online game. How are you balancing your very successful live game with a solid online game?

Sam Stein: I’m mainly focusing on live poker right now. It’s been a good start to the year. There’s some chance I could go for the Player of the Year and I’m planning to play in a ton of live tournaments. I’m still going to play online every Sunday, but I’m definitely willing to skip some to play live.

PocketFives.com: How did you get started in poker?

Sam Stein: I played poker when I was 16 in home games, never putting that much time into it. I didn’t get hooked on it until I was 18 or 19 and playing online. I played cash games at first and didn’t get into tournaments until later. I had a good group of friends who were all playing tournaments and told me not to get in them because of the variance, but they were doing really well. I play live cash games in Las Vegas and feel so much more comfortable when playing them. You can win consistently, but can’t win the money that you can in a tournament.

PocketFives.com: Are you looking forward to the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP)?

Sam Stein: That was my big downswing last year. I played in the big No Limit Hold’em events other than the $40,000 one. I felt like I wasn’t running well at all. I definitely want to win a bracelet this year.

After soliciting feedback from the online poker community in a thread in Poker Discussion, the world’s largest room, PokerStars, stepped up to the plate and revamped its schedule for the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP). Now, the tournament series, whose first installment was held in 2009, features 38 events and a colossal $45 million in guaranteed prize money. The 2010 SCOOP once again offers an all-stakes format, with buy-ins at three different levels.

PokerStars received nine pages of feedback from PocketFives.com members alone. As a result, the 2010 SCOOP schedule will now begin on a Sunday and feature a $2.25 million purse on the first day. Several guarantees have been upped per requests from the community and each Sunday now features prize pools that are double what they would normally be. There are also full ring and six-max Pot Limit Omaha tournaments for PocketFives.com members to get their feet wet in the rapidly-growing poker genre.

More turbo and rebuy tournaments are included in the finalized 2010 SCOOP schedule and many days now boast three events in order to accommodate players who hold traditional 9:00am to 5:00pm jobs. Finally, the champion of the Main Event is guaranteed to walk away with at least $1 million unless a deal occurs like the massive seven-way chop of the Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) Main Event.

Here’s a look at the updated 2010 SCOOP schedule:

Sunday, May 2nd at 13:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Six-Max
Event 01-L: $22 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 01-M: $215 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed
Event 01-H: $2,100 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed

Sunday, May 2nd at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Two-Day Event
Event 02-L: $22 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 02-M: $215 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed
Event 02-H: $2,100 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed

Monday, May 3rd at 14:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Six-Max with Rebuys
Event 03-L: $5.50 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 03-M: $55 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 03-H: $530 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed

Monday, May 3rd at 17:00 ET: Badugi
Event 04-L: $16.50 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 04-M: $162 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 04-H: $1,575 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed

Monday, May 3rd at 20:00 ET: Pot Limit Omaha Cubed Turbo
Event 05-L: $11 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 05-M: $109 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 05-H: $1,050 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 4th at 14:00 ET: Pot Limit Five-Card Draw
Event 06-L: $11 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 06-M: $109 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 06-H: $1,050 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 4th at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
Event 07-L: $16.50 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 07-M: $162 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 07-H: $1,575 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 4th at 20:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em
Event 08-L: $11 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 08-M: $109 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 08-H: $1,050 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Wednesday, May 5th at 14:00 ET: Mixed Hold’em Six-Max
Event 09-L: $22 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 09-M: $215 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 09-H: $2,100 buy-in, $400,000 guaranteed

Wednesday, May 5th at 17:00 ET: Seven Card Stud
Event 10-L: $33 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 10-M: $320 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 10-H: $3,150 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed

Thursday, May 6th at 14:00 ET: Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
Event 11-L: $22 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 11-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 11-H: $2,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed

Thursday, May 6th at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em
Event 12-L: TBD buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 12-M: TBD buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 12-H: TBD buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed

Friday, May 7th at 14:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Ante Up
Event 13-L: $16.50 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 13-M: $162 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 13-H: $1,575 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed

Friday, May 7th at 17:00 ET: Limit Omaha High-Low
Event 14-L: $55 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 14-M: $530 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 14-H: $5,200 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed

Friday, May 7th at 20:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em 2X Chance Turbo
Event 15-L: $16.50 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 15-M: $162 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 15-H: $1,575 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 8th at 14:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Quadruple Shootout 10-Max
Event 16-L: $22 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 16-M: $215 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 16-H: $2,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 8th at 17:00 ET: Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max with Rebuys
Event 17-L: $16.50 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 17-M: $162 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 17-H: $1,575 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 8th at 20:00 ET: Limit Hold’em Turbo
Event 18-L: $22 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 18-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 18-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed

Sunday, May 9th at 13:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Big Antes
Event 19-L: $22 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 19-M: $215 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed
Event 19-H: $2,100 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed

Sunday, May 9th at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Two-Day Event
Event 20-L: $22 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 20-M: $215 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed
Event 20-H: $2,100 buy-in, $2 million guaranteed

Monday, May 10th at 14:00 ET: Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha
Event 21-L: $16.50 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed
Event 21-M: $162 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 21-H: $1,575 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed

Monday, May 10th at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Four-Max
Event 22-L: $33 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 22-M: $320 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed
Event 22-H: $3,150 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Monday, May 10th at 20:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Turbo with Rebuys
Event 23-L: $11 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 23-M: $109 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed
Event 23-H: $1,050 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 11th at 14:00 ET: Triple Draw 2-7
Event 24-L: $11 buy-in, $25,000 guaranteed
Event 24-M: $109 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 24-H: $1,050 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 11th at 17:00 ET: Seven Card Stud High-Low
Event 25-L: $22 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 25-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 25-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed

Tuesday, May 11th at 20:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em
Event 26-L: $11 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 26-M: $109 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 26-H: $1,050 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Wednesday, May 12th at 14:00 ET: Razz
Event 27-L: $22 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 27-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 27-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed

Wednesday, May 12th at 17:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys
Event 28-L: $11 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 28-M: $109 buy-in, $400,000 guaranteed
Event 28-H: $1,050 buy-in, $600,000 guaranteed

Thursday, May 13th at 14:00 ET: Eight-Game
Event 29-L: $33 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed
Event 29-M: $320 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 29-H: $3,150 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed

Thursday, May 13th at 17:00 ET: Pot Limit Omaha High-Low
Event 30-L: $11 buy-in, $75,000 guaranteed
Event 30-M: $109 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed
Event 30-H: $1,050 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed

Friday, May 14th at 14:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em Cubed
Event 31-L: $22 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 31-M: $215 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 31-H: $2,100 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed

Friday, May 14th at 17:00 ET: Limit Hold’em Six-Max
Event 32-L: $55 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 32-M: $530 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 32-H: $5,200 buy-in, $300,000 guaranteed

Friday, May 14th at 20:00 ET: No Limit Omaha High-Low Turbo
Event 33-L: $22 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 33-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 33-H: $2,100 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 15th at 14:00 ET: Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
Event 34-L: $55 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 34-M: $530 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 34-H: $5,200 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 15th at 15:30 ET: No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up Two-Day Event
Event 35-L: $270 buy-in, $250,000 guaranteed
Event 35-M: $2,600 buy-in, $500,000 guaranteed
Event 35-H: $25,500 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed

Saturday, May 15th at 17:00 ET: HORSE
Event 36-L: $22 buy-in, $50,000 guaranteed
Event 36-M: $215 buy-in, $100,000 guaranteed
Event 36-H: $2,100 buy-in, $150,000 guaranteed

Sunday, May 16th at 13:00 ET: No Limit Hold’em
Event 37-L: $22 buy-in, $200,000 guaranteed
Event 37-M: $215 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed
Event 37-H: $2,100 buy-in, $750,000 guaranteed

Sunday, May 16th at 17:00 ET: SCOOP Main Event Two-Day
Event 38-L: $109 buy-in, $1 million guaranteed
Event 38-M: $1,050 buy-in, $3 million guaranteed
Event 38-H: $10,300 buy-in, $5 million guaranteed

Visit the feedback thread in Poker Discussion for full details. PokerStars happily accepts players from the United States.

The final two episodes of ESPN’s World Series of Poker-Europe Main Event coverage aired Sunday night, bringing poker fans all the drama from what was one of the most exciting final tables of the year. Multiple themes were at work on this final day…

A total of 22 players remain in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, which is playing out at the Commerce Casino. Carlos Mortensen, who won the 2001 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event, paces the field with a stack of 1.67 million, one of five players to boast a seven-figure tally. Owning the seventh spot on the leaderboard is Dan Wretchy Martin (pictured at right), who will come armed to Day 5 on Tuesday with a stack of 684,000. Let’s recap the day that was on Monday in the WPT tournament.

Play began with 72 players, all of whom had made the money. By the end of the day, 50 had fallen by the wayside. Taylor taypaur Paur (pictured at left), the Day 2 chip leader in Los Angeles, exited in 37th place and took home $33,000. Paur ran pocket queens into the pocket kings of Jim jimbo1420069 Casement in his final hand and neither player improved. Casement held just 10,000 chips more than Paur to send the PocketFives.com member to the rails. It was Paur’s first WPT cash.

WSOP bracelet winner Peter Belabacsi Traply (pictured at right) was sent packing in 46th place for $29,000. Traply came out on the short end of a race with A-K against Greg Mudd’s pocket tens. The flop came five cards eight or lower and that was all she wrote for the Hungarian poker player. Traply became the first bracelet winner ever from the European nation after taking down a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout last year. In April 2009, Traply finished eighth in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final for €170,000.

Jeff JaffaCake Kimber was bumped in 54th place from the L.A. Poker Classic. Kimber had doubled up John Cautela with A-Q against A-K to cut his stack to just 8,500. Then, he made a full house on the river against UB.com pro Annie Duke (pictured at left) before ultimately being eliminated. Kimber is a sponsored pro of the popular online poker room Ladbrokes and finished as the runner-up in a $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament during the 2009 WSOP for $145,000.

Lauren locoenlacabeza Kling (pictured at right) finished in 63rd for her first WPT cash. Kling was all-in for six big blinds with 8-4 and received a call from Martin, who flipped up Q-J. Kling flopped a pair of eights, but Martin spiked a queen on the river to win the hand. She’ll deposit $23,000 into her checking account as a result of the deep run in the $10,000 buy-in tournament.

Martin, Casement, Duke, and Dylan ImaLucSac Linde will help comprise a talented final 22 today beginning at Noon PT. The tournament will crown a champion on Thursday:

1. Carlos Mortensen – 1,669,000
2. Mark Newhouse – 1,308,000
3. Raymond Dolan – 1,229,000
4. Masa Kagawa – 1,129,000
5. Andras Koroknai – 1,002,000
6. Tri Huynh – 942,000
7. Dan Wretchy Martin – 684,000
8. Jean-Claude Moussa – 672,000
9. Steve Sung – 671,000
10. Jim jimbo1420069 Casement – 609,000
11. Tim Begley – 603,000
12. Gevork Kasabyan – 594,000
13. Jamie Brown – 552,000
14. Mari Lou Morelli – 456,000
15. Dylan ImaLucSac Linde – 447,000
16. Bob Kairnes – 421,000
17. Johnny Chan – 406,000
18. Danny Fuhs – 379,000
19. Michael Kamran – 327,000
20. Connor Allisen – 324,000
21. Annie Duke – 241,000
22. John Cautela – 219,000

Play ended for the day with blinds at 6,000-12,000 and an ante of 2,000. PocketFivers who finished in the money in the WPT L.A. Poker Classic included:

32nd Place: Vivek Psyduck Rajkumar – $39,340
34th Place: Craig craigthedeac Boyd – 39,340
37th Place: Taylor taypaur Paur – $33,610
46th Place: Peter Belabacsi Traply – $28,610
54th Place: Jeff JaffaCake Kimber – $28,610
63rd Place: Lauren locoenlacabeza Kling – $23,600
67th Place: Jon PearlJammer Turner – $19,310
68th Place: Matthew mlagoo LaGarde – $19,310
72nd Place: David Bakes Baker – $19,310

The $25,000 L.A. Poker Classic High-Roller event is down to its six-handed final table, with a top payday of $425,000 up for grabs. PokerStars pro Jason treysfull21 Mercier (pictured at right) sits in third place with a stack of 225,000, with the field trailing Scott Seiver’s 645,500. Every player remaining is assured a payday of at least $50,000. Others in the hunt for the title include Daniel Alaei, Victory Poker pro Lee Markholt, Tommy Vedes, and Will Molson.

Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest WPT coverage of online poker players.