This Week in Poker: Poker Tournament News Dec. 13-19

Check out CardPlayer.com every Friday for a weekly wrapup of the news from the live poker tournament trail.

Card Player Player of the Year Update

POY Standings:

John Phan — 6,704
David “The Dragon” Pham — 6,022
Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier — 5,510
Ivan Demidov — 4,940
Erik Seidel — 4,754
Michael Binger — 4,416
David Benyamine — 4,376
Peter Eastgate — 4,320
Vinny Pahuja — 3,918
Jack Schanbacher — 3,855

John Phan Wins the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year Award!

With the elimination of Michael Binger in 67th place at the World Poker Tour $15,000 Doyle Brunson Classic Championship on Tuesday, Dec. 16, John Phan clinched the 2008 Card Player Player of the Year title. This is the first time that Phan has won the POY award, and he joins a fraternity of players that includes Men “The Master” Nguyen, T.J. Cloutier, Tony Ma, David “The Dragon” Pham, Daniel Negreanu, and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Phan took home poker’s most respected annual award by amassing 6,704 points.

Here is a look at the past winners of the Card Player POY award:

1997: Men “The Master” Nguyen
1998: T.J. Cloutier
1999: Tony Ma
2000: David “The Dragon” Pham
2001: Men “The Master” Nguyen
2002: T.J. Cloutier
2003: Men “The Master” Nguyen
2004: Daniel Negreanu
2005: Men “The Master” Nguyen
2006: Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi
2007: David “The Dragon” Pham
2008: John Phan

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This Week in Tournament Poker

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Classic Championship

At press time the final table of the World Poker Tour Doyle Brunson Classic Championship $15,000 no-limit hold'em event was set, and action will begin today at 4 p.m. Here is a look at the final-table seating chart with chip counts:

Seat 1: Chino Rheem -- 4,240,000
Seat 2: Amnon Filippi -- 2,750,000
Seat 3: Hoyt Corkins -- 2,295,000
Seat 4: Steve Sung -- 5,885,000
Seat 5: Justin Young -- 2,410,000
Seat 6: Evan McNiff -- 4,805,000

CardPlayer.com will be providing live updates, chip counts, photos, and videos until the winner has claimed the $1,538,730 first-place prize at Bellagio.

Doyle Brunson Classic Championship day-5 recap

Card Player Live Coverage Event -- European Poker Tour Prague

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Prague was won by Italian Salvatore Bonavena, who collected  €774,000 for topping the 570-stong field at the Hilton Hotel Casino in the Czech Republic. The final table comprised three Italians, one Canadian, one German, one Spaniard, one Finn, and one Greek player:

Salvatore Bonavena: 1,402,000
Alexiou Konstantinos: 1,382,000
Francesco Cirianni: 807,000
Fredrik Nygard: 666,000
Massimo Di Cicco: 429,000
Nasr El Nasr: 376,000
Raul Mestre: 309,000
Andrew Chen: 309,000

In the final hand of the evening, Massimo Di Sicco moved all in on an 8 3 2 flop with A 4. Salvatore Bonavena called with 8 7.

The turn was the 6, and the river was the J. Bonavena's pair of eights held, and the EPT had its first-ever Italian champion.

Dario Minieri, among other Italian notables, were there to congratulate him as he picked up the cheque worth €774,000, the trophy, the title, and, of course, the honor.

Di Sicco finished runner up for €445,000.

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WSOP Circuit Harrah’s Atlantic City

The $5,000 no-limit hold’em main event at the World Series of Poker Circuit event at Harrah’s Atlantic City concluded on Tuesday, Dec. 16. Brent Roberts won the final WSOP Circuit event in 2008, and he took home a first-place prize worth $280,040. The tournament attracted 179 entrants and created a total prize pool worth $867,100. Roberts defeated an impressive final table that included professional players Allen Bari, Kyle Bowker, Robert McLaughlin, and Scott Zakheim.

Final-Table Results:

1: Brent Roberts -- $280,040
2: Phillip Reed -- $147,407
3: Kyle Bowker -- $86,710
4: Robert McLaughlin -- $69,368
5: Allen Bari -- $52,026
6: Tim Kelly -- $43,355
7: Dwyte Pilgrim -- $34,684
8: Scott Zakheim -- $26,013
9: Alex Camejo -- $17,341

The next WSOP circuit event will take place in 2009, when Harrah’s Tunica hosts the next circuit event from Jan. 20-Feb. 4. The $5,000 no-limit hold’em championship will run from Feb. 2-4.

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Looking Ahead

2008 Trump Classic

Event Schedule

2008 Foxwoods Mega Stack Challenge X

Event Schedule

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