NEWS RELEASE

Harrah’s St. Louis Hosts Its First WSOP Circuit Event April 2-15

ST. LOUIS, MO., (March 31, 2010) - For the first time since the WSOP Circuits began in 2004, St. Louis will play host to the World Series of Poker Circuit Events.

Starting Friday (April 2), Harrah’s St. Louis will welcome poker’s best to the Gateway City.

Harrah’s St. Louis was where truck salesman-turned-November Niner Dennis Phillips made a name for himself in 2008, turning a $200 Harrah’s tournament into his seat in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas.

Phillips went on to make the final table of the 6,844 person field, finishing third and turning his $200 investment into a $4.5 million payday, hundreds of media interviews, an online poker sponsorship and an entree into the professional poker circuit.

Phillips made another deep run in the 2009 WSOP Main Event, where he finished 45th out of 6,494 entrants, taking home $178,857. In back-to-back years at the WSOP Main Event, Phillips outlasted an amazing 13,291 opponents, the best showing in consecutive years in WSOP history.

The St. Louis Cardinals baseball-cap-wearing Phillips is expected to be in attendance during the inaugural Harrah’s St. Louis WSOP Circuit Schedule.
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LuckyDog Note: I met Dan Ross and his lovely wife Camille last spring at the World Poker Challenge in Reno. We had some great chats about poker and some fun sweating each other in tournament action. Dan was back in Reno recently and made the final table of a big charity event. When he offered to write about the experience for posting here, I was very glad to oblige. — Russ Scott

Pros Step Up in Reno to Play for Cancer Research

BY DAN ROSS

The chance to play against top-level poker pros for just a $230
buy-in (plus $100 rebuys) was a great opportunity.

The fact the majority of the proceeds went to the V Foundation for Cancer Research helped solidify my wife Camille and I playing in the March 24 tournament at our favorite Reno location, the Grand Sierra Resort and Casino.

There was also that outside chance of making a televised final table, as
ESPN — one of the sponsors — was filming the event to broadcast later
this spring.

The lineup of pros that Alex Outhred and others recruited was
impressive, including Antonio Esfandiari, Jerry Yang, the duo of Phil
Laak and Jennifer Tilly, Jeff Madsen, Adam “Roothlus” Levy, WPT 2010
Shooting Star champ McLean Karr, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Matt
Graham, Amit Makhija and Dani Stern of the Brunson 10 and more.
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Brett Coplea of Bettendorf receives the champion’s trophy Saturday from the Arsenal Club’s Cathy Harris after topping a field of 67 players in the U.S. Army’s annual spring Texas Hold’em tournament. Click “read the rest” below to see additional photos from the event.

THE 8 OF HEARTS MAGICAL IN KEY DRAMATIC HANDS

Many poker players say the Ace of spades is the prettiest card in the deck. For Brett Coplea of Bettendorf, it’s definitely the 8 of hearts!

In crucial situations Saturday, that lovely 8 of hearts hit the board and propelled him to victory in the annual spring U.S. Army hold’em tournament at the Arsenal Club on the Rock Island Arsenal military base.

Down to just two tables from the nice field of 67 players, Brett found himself all-in with pocket sevens, badly trailing the pocket queens of Ray Hanson of Kewanee. The pot was big and things looked bad for Brett. He was a 4-1 underdog to win the hand.
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ARMY BASE HOLDING 4TH ANNUAL SPRING HOLD’EM TOURNEY


(Editor’s Note: This is one of the coolest poker tournaments in the Quad-Cities Area! And, with 5,000 starting chips and 30-minute levels, it offers great playability, too. Admittedly, I’m a bit partial to this event because the Army folks have me serve as tournament director. But the tourney offers a terrific setting on the Mississippi River, a big-screen tournament clock, high-quality chips and playing cards, stationary trained volunteer dealers and numerous giveaways. Plus, lunch is included in your entry fee! No cash prizes are awarded, but everyone at the final table gets a great trophy and a prize, with gift cards worth $500, $300 and $150 going to the top three. The news story below offers additional details. If you’d like to play but aren’t sure you qualify, shoot me an e-mail at russ@luckydogpoker.com.)

ARSENAL ISLAND — The fourth annual spring U.S. Army Texas hold’em poker tournament is set for Saturday at the Arsenal Club in Building 60 here on Arsenal Island.

Activities begin with sign-up and lunch at noon followed by the tournament at 1 p.m. The $40 entry fee covers both lunch and the tournament.

Trophies and prizes will be awarded to the eight final-table finishers, including non-cash gift cards worth $500, $300 and $150 for the top three competitors. The tournament uses trained volunteer poker dealers.

To reserve a seat, call 309-782-6319. Advance registration at the Information, Tickets and Reservations Office in Building 60 ends Friday, but walk-ins will be accepted on Saturday until the field tops out at 100 players. Participants must be 18 or older. For more details visit www.riamwr.com.

Because of construction on the Moline bridge to Arsenal Island, access to the base is available only at the Rock Island Gate, via the crossing at 24th Street and 1st Avenue in Rock Island, IL. Military base checkpoint guards can direct players to the Arsenal Club on Gillespie Street. You will need to show a photo ID.

The tournament is open to all authorized patrons of the Army’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command and sponsored local players. This includes active and non-active military personnel plus Department of Defense civilians, their family members and guests.

The event is coordinated by Cathy Harris, Jeff McMahon and the Arsenal Club staff, with LuckyDog Poker columnist Russ Scott serving as tournament director.

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The 2010 National Heads-up Poker Championship has crowned a new champ, who promptly credited the win to being “really focused.”

If you want the details, photos, and a fully-completed bracket charting the tournament results, click on “read the rest” below.

If you want to sweat out the results when the tournament is shown on NBC in April and May, here’s the viewing schedule (all times eastern):

April 18 - Noon - 1 PM
April 25 - Noon - 2 PM
May 2 - Noon - 2 PM
May 9 - Noon - 2 PM
May 16 - Noon - 2 PM
May 23 - Noon - 3 PM

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Just 8 contenders remain after Saturday’s eliminations in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship — and one or two of them might surprise you.

(SPOILER ALERT) If you don’t want to see who’s still in, don’t click on “read the rest” below.

Todays’ action at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas includes quarterfinals in the Spades and Clubs brackets at 2 p.m. ET, followed at 4:30 p.m. ET by Hearts and Diamonds quarters.

The semifinals are set for 7:45 p.m. ET, with the best two-of-three championship match being dealt at 10 p.m. ET. The matches will be shown on NBC in April.

Click here for the updated bracket and pics of the quarterfinalists (all pics by Stephanie Moore for NBC Sports):
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All four brackets in the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship now have completed first-round action, with the field whittled from 64 down to 32 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The matches will be shown on NBC next month, so if you don’t want to know any of the results so far, then don’t click on “read the rest”…

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Here are the results of Thursday night’s bracket-draw party held at the PURE nightclub at Caesars Palace. The competition begins today and continues through Sunday.




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