Poker News @ ICUFISH

Basketball players and poker seem to be going hand in hand these days, Florida is working on getting online poker legal in the state, and a new couple alert; it’s all in tonight’s Nightly Turbo.

Since the tragic 8.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on Feb. 27, there have been a lot of questions regarding the upcoming PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour stop in Vina del Mar, Chile. Today, PokerStars.net answered those questions…

This week on the PocketFives.com Podcast sponsored by the USA-friendly site Carbon Poker, we sit down with Taylor taypaur Paur (pictured at right). The California poker player recorded the show just hours removed from winning the Absolute Poker $150,000 Guaranteed, a $1,000 buy-in tournament, and defeating fellow PocketFives.com member Brock t soprano Parker heads-up. Paur collected nearly $50,000 for his efforts and broke down the tournament and his successful online poker career with Podcast host David Huber.

On March 3rd, Paur entered the top 10 of the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings on the strength of the seventh largest PLB score worldwide. Given his recent Absolute Poker victory, his position will likely climb when the Rankings are calculated again next week. Paur gave his thoughts on the $150,000 Guaranteed: “The $1K on Absolute Poker is a really good tournament. It always seems to play really deep-stacked, which is fun and I enjoy playing with a lot of chips in front of me.”

Paur finished 37th in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic and cashed for $33,000. His ride through the $10,000 buy-in tournament at the Commerce Casino ended on Day 4 and he shared his experience: “It felt good. I was fortunate to run pretty decently in the $10K. Live poker is always a little bit different than online. It gets the blood flowing a little bit and it’s just an exciting experience. It was a great tournament, a great structure, and a lot of fun.”

Like many online poker players, Paur had to make the adjustment from the fast-paced virtual world to the live arena, where the action moves at a snail’s pace. Paur broke down the adjustments he’s had to undergo: “I’d say the biggest thing is that it’s so much slower live. The first couple of times I played in live tournaments, I had a lot of trouble being patient because I felt like I wasn’t doing anything and needed to make moves when in reality I just wasn’t seeing as many hands. Still, I’m not an experienced live player.” Paur competed in the last two PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Events, finishing 110th in the 2009 installment for $15,000.

Now that he’s cracked the top 10 in the Rankings, the game’s elite players surround him. He’s sandwiched in between Mark dipthrong Herm (pictured at left) and Canada’s Russell rdcrsn Carson and recognized the company that he’s currently in: “I actually know a lot of the guys in the top 10. dipthrong, who is right ahead of me, is a guy I’ve learned a lot from. He and Jamie pokerjamers Armstrong are the two guys I’ve learned the most from. Steve gboro780 Gross, who I’ve been fortunate enough to play with a little live and meet recently, is a great player and I always have trouble with him.” Gross is the top-ranked player in the business.

Many members of the online poker community will be camped out in Sin City in a few months for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) and Paur is no exception. On his plans for the 57-event series, Paur told the PocketFives.com Podcast, “I will be there for at least part of the Series. I’d like to play a large number of No Limit events. I’m hoping to play in the Main Event. It’ll be a new experience. I’ve never been to Las Vegas.” There’s a first time for everything. The 2010 WSOP Main Event begins on July 5th and plays down to its final table 12 days later. Then, for the third straight year, the action will pause until November to coincide with the tournament’s airing on ESPN.

Check out the rest of this week’s PocketFives.com
Podcast featuring Paur.

It’s a brand new month and you now have one-thousand more reasons to sign up for Carbon
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On Wednesday night, the UB.com sponsored poker news show “Poker2Nite” made its Season 2 debut. Unlike the first cycle, which aired on Fox Sports Net, the second season appears on cable station Versus, which carries a bevy of National Hockey League (NHL) games. Several noticeable changes occurred for the Season 2 kickoff episode, including the launch of a new “Girls of Poker” segment with Dana Workman. Its first installment featured an interview with PocketFives.com member Lauren locoenlacabeza Kling.

Kling (pictured at left) finished 63rd in the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic, cashing for $23,000. She was one of the final females to be bounced from the $10,000 buy-in Commerce Casino tournament and told Workman, “I don’t really care about being the Last Woman Standing. As long as I’m the last person standing, that’s all that matters. I play to win.” Kling also cashed in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event and the Ladies No Limit Hold’em Championship during the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) for a combined $9,000.

Kling is dating PocketFives.com member Mike SowersUNCC Sowers (pictured at right), who finished second in a PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) High-Roller tournament last year for a colossal $448,000. Last month, he took down the site’s Super Tuesday for $81,000 and, one week prior, won the PokerStars $200 rebuy for $53,000. On having a well versed poker player as a significant other, Kling explained to “Poker2Nite” viewers, “We help each other a ton. We discuss hands, go over any questions I have, and talk about the game a lot.”

Online, Kling finished second in the Main Event of the Ultimate Bet Online Championship (UBOC) in January for $163,000. In the middle of that month, she grabbed third in the Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday for $44,000. All told, Kling has amassed nearly $300,000 in tournaments tracked for the Online Poker Rankings since the beginning of 2010.

“Poker2Nite” also airs on SportsNet in Canada and The Poker Channel in Europe. Although it currently holds an 11:00pm ET time slot each Wednesday in the United States, the poker news show could move back depending on Versus’ coverage of the NHL playoffs. The league recently took a two-week break for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Scott Huff and Joe JoeSebok Sebok (pictured at left) host “Poker2Nite,” which runs for 30 minutes.

“Poker2Nite” debuted on Fox Sports Net last November and included an interview with ESPN WSOP analyst Lon McEachern. Its original run featured in-depth interviews with World Poker Tour (WPT) Host Mike Sexton, Poker Players Alliance (PPA) Executive Director John Pappas, 11-time bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, prop bet master Gavin Smith, tournament director Matt Savage, and “Seinfeld” actor Jason Alexander. On February 10th, its season finale aired on Fox Sports Net, with no official announcement given on the franchise’s future until last week, when a post appearing on PokerRoad revealed that the show was moving to Versus.

UB.com continues to host the “Poker2Nite” Pro Challenge, which qualifies users to win WSOP prize packages. Each includes entry into the 2010 WSOP Main Event at the Rio, up to $4,000 to offset expenses, access to UB.com parties and events in Las Vegas, an evening with Huff and Sebok, and an exclusive training session with Hellmuth or top female pro Annie Duke.

Sebok boasted a beard on the Season 2 premiere and “Poker2Nite” officials leaked a video of in-studio guest Trishelle Cannatella storming off the set. However, the rampage turned out to be staged, as no such blowup occurred when the show aired.

Other changes from Season 1 to Season 2 include the disappearance of Workman’s “Weekly Misdeal,” which has been replaced by the “Girls of Poker” segment along with a new vignette called the “Online Roundup.” On-screen graphics covering the hosts’ and guests’ main points now air throughout every segment. Finally, “On the Clock” features guests being asked a series of fast-paced questions for one minute in a season-long contest to see who can get the most number correct.

Season 1 episodes are currently posted on the official website of UB.com. However, as of the time of writing, the Season 2 debut had not yet been posted.  Check out UB.com’s “Poker2Nite” every Wednesday at 11:00pm ET on Versus.

Almost two weeks ago, over 500 celebrities, poker players, and media descended upon the Commerce Casino for one of the most fun-filled tournaments on the poker calendar. Essentially a free roll, with a one time add-on being donated to charity, the…