Aruba Poker Classic and Ultimate Blackjack TourNew Twist on Blackjack Airs Weekly on CBS |
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The Aruba Poker Classic recently celebrated its fifth year in the making, as hundreds of Ultimate Bet qualifiers and
their guests made the annual trek to Palm Beach to witness the longest running poker tournament on television.
UB representatives Phil Hellmuth, Annie Duke, Antonio Esfandiari, James Worth, Freddy Deeb, and newest team member Devin Porter (better known online as "TranquilChaos"), were in attendance. But this year's events lacked the usual crush of poker and Hollywood celebrities. Fortunately, it had very little affect on the 2006 APC, which has always felt more like a frat party than a poker tournament. Over the years, UB has cultivated several online poker superstars, with players like MrMondo, Johnny Bax, Devilfish, Debo, Knucklehead, and P0kerH0 enjoying a cult-like following.
This year's Aruba events calendar was jam-packed with scheduled and unscheduled entertainment. Upon arrival, the usual suspects and UB celebrities checked their bags with the bellman and headed for the Beach Bar and Grill to welcome tired and thirsty travelers. But that was just a teaser for the shebang of events that followed.
The next morning, Ultimate Bet and Ultimate Blackjack Tour (UBT) conducted a breakfast seminar. Aruba was the first official stop for the Ultimate Blackjack Tour's worldwide tour, and organizers had no trouble introducing Elimination Blackjack to UB participants and their guests. The game puts a new spin on "21," with elements of tournament poker and secret bets added to the mix. By lunchtime, players were already lining the tables.
The side action on Palm Beach was dizzying, as Jack McClelland and his team provided poker players with two tournaments daily, and satellites that ran around the clock. Meanwhile, blackjack-qualifying events were gaining in popularity among poker players, island locals, and tourists. If that wasn't enough, live casino action was available 24/7 along the island Strip.
Day one ended with an evening poolside banquet, with the Radisson offering fine food and decadent desserts, free-flowing beverage bars, and live music (including a blues concert performed by "Devilfish" and the band he hijacked). The disco/retro/line-dancing (we have proof) went on long after the party was officially over, and there was even a parade. (Yes, a real parade, not the mambo-line of colorful UB characters donning wigs, draped in beads, and sporting exaggerated tropical attire.)
The next nine days were just as eventful, with the annual staff catamaran sail, daily shopping sprees, nightly Aruban and Argentinean dinner tours, and a satisfying raid on Phil Hellmuth's private party at the Radisson.
Wrapping up the week's events was the UBT's first world-tour championship, and the trip to Aruba got a whole lot sweeter for Aaron Tribble, an amateur from Kansas City, MO who emerged victorious after taking down a treacherous final table and some of blackjack's best players. Tribble left Aruba with $77,900 in cash and a $10,000 seat at the yearend UBT championship to be played at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino in California. Look for the Ultimate Blackjack Tour to lure more fans and participants, as its network TV ratings have been impressive since the show's launch in September.
Congratulations also go out to this year's APC champion, Devin Miller, for beating out 512 other poker qualifiers, including final table players Cliff Josephy, Terry Eischens, Jared Brintz, Joe Sebok, and Jason Atwood. Miller took home the gracefully designed glass blown trophy, a bracelet, and $744,960 in prize money.
Look to cable network GSN for complete televised coverage of the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic.
Ultimate Blackjack Tour episodes air nationwide Saturdays on CBS throughout 2006 at:
2 p.m.-3 p.m., Nov. 4
1 p.m.-2 p.m., Nov. 18
1 p.m.-2 p.m., Nov. 25
12:30 p.m.-3 p.m., Dec. 25
The UBT Aruba event will air early in 2007.
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