This Week in Poker -- June 13–19

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

Card Player Player of the Year Update

1: Cornel Cimpan — 3,450
2: Brock Parker — 3,132
3: Poorya Nazari — 3,000
4: Eric Baldwin — 2,940
5: Jude Ainsworth — 2,840
6: James Van Alstyne — 2,756
7: Chris Moore — 2,710
8: Angel Guillen — 2,700
9: Panayote Vilandos — 2,640
10: Martin Jacobson — 2,608

POY Movement:

Six New Players Join the Top 10 Thanks to the WSOP

There was a ton of movement at the top of the Card Player Player of the Year leader board this past week thanks to strong performances at the 2009 World Series of Poker. Six new players joined the top 10, and while the top three spots remained unchanged, the 2009 race has a completely new look. Eric Baldwin won event No. 34 at the WSOP on Thursday to score 1,440 points. This brought his total to 2,940, good for fourth place. Baldwin’s other big score in 2009 came at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza II, where Baldwin won 1,008 points for topping a field of 280 players in a $2,500 no-limit hold’em event. Balwdin has won $770,358 in prize money in 2009.

Here is a quick look at how the other newcomers joined the top 10:

6: James Van Alstyne — 3 WSOP final tables and 1 gold bracelet in event No. 21
7: Chris Moore — 1 WSOP final table, 1 WPT final table, 1 title at Wynn Classic
8: Angel Guillen — 2 WSOP final tables and 1 gold bracelet in event No. 32
9: Panayote Vilandos — 2 WSOP final tables and 1 gold bracelet in event No. 24
10: Martin Jacobson — 1 WSOP final table, 1 EPT final table, and 1 WPT final table

This Week in Poker

World Series of Poker

Event No. 19 — Phil Ivey Wins his Second Gold Bracelet of the Summer

Phil Ivey has done it again. He won event No. 25 ($2,500 Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better) at the 2009 World Series of Poker to take home $220,538 and his seventh gold bracelet just after midnight on June 14. This is the second bracelet that Ivey has won at the 2009 WSOP, his first victory came in event No. 8 ($2,500 no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball) on June 4.

Ivey now has seven bracelets in all, placing him in a tie for sixth place on the all-time bracelet list with Billy Baxter. He owns bracelets for wins in Omaha eight-or-better/seven-card stud eight-or-better, pot-limit Omaha, S.H.O.E., seven-card stud, seven-card stud eight-or-better, and no-limit deuce-to-seven lowball events.

Ivey topped Carlos Mortensen, Dutch Boyd, and Jon Turner at the stacked final table, while the Amazon Room buzzed with anticipation and excitement. The final day began with 14 players, and professionals Chad Brown (14th place), Blair Rodman (11th place), and Steve Wong (ninth place) all busted en route to the final table of eight.

Ivey came into the final table in seventh chip position, but he proved his poker dominance once again by coming back to win yet another bracelet. This is the second year in which Ivey has taken home multiple bracelets. He won three bracelets at the 2002 WSOP.

Here are the final-table results:

1. Phil Ivey — $220,538
2. Ming Lee — $136,292
3. Carlos Mortensen — $89,342
4. Dutch Boyd — $69,919
5. Jon Turner — $45,237
6. Eric Buchman — $34,747
7. Tom Koral — $27,993
8. Peter Gelencser — $23,600

WSOP Final-Table Recaps:

Event No. 22 — Jeff Carris Winner Story
Event No. 23 — Nick Schulman Winner Story
Event No. 24 — Panayote Vilandos Winner Story
Event No. 25 — Phil Ivey Winner Story
Event No. 26 — Tomas Alenius Winner Story
Event No. 27 — Roland de Wolfe Winner Story
Event No. 28 — Mike Eise Winner Story
Event No. 29 — Leo Wolpert Winner Story
Event No. 30 — J.C. Tran Winner Story
Event No. 31 — James Van Alstyne Winner Story
Event No. 32 — Angel Guillen Winner Story
Event No. 33 — Greg Mueller Winner Story
Event No. 34 — Eric Baldwin Winner Story

PokerStars European Poker Tour

EPT Releases First Half of Season Six Schedule

Author’s Note: Story courtesy of Rebecca McAdam

The first half of the sixth season of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour schedule has been announced, with new destinations to look forward to. The Tour, which last season proved to be a massive success with an overall prize pool of almost €55 million, kicks off in Russia on Aug. 17 and then moves on to Barcelona on Sept. 4. It then continues on to previous destinations such as London and Poland, but stops in a new addition, Vilamoura in Portugal, on Nov. 17, before heading on to Prague, and the Bahamas for the Carribean Adventure.

Chief Executive of the EPT, John Duthie, said, “The new EPT season includes many events which have made the past five seasons such a triumph with world record breaking fields and prize pools across Europe. We have set very high standards and we aim to improve on this still further in season six — with new additions to the schedule as well as a richer mix of games and buy-ins to cater for more players.”

“Overall, the Tour will visit an unprecedented thirteen countries – an increase of four events on top of last season. As well as Russia, the Tour will include new stops in Portugal this November and other destinations are to be announced shortly.”

Online satellites for the EPT Moscow kick off today at PokerStars.com with buy-ins from as little as $2.22.

Looking Ahead

40th Annual World Series of Poker

Event Schedule

Binion’s Poker Classic

Event Schedule

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III

Event Schedule

Caesars Mega Stack Series

Event Schedule

Borgata Summer Open

Event Schedule

The Golden Nugget Grand Poker Series

Event Schedule

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