This Week in Poker -- Oct. 24-30

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: Eric Baldwin — 5,898
2: Yevgeniy Timoshenko — 5,463
3: Vitaly Lunkin — 4,337
4: Brock Parker — 3,772
5: Jason Mercier — 3,711
6: Cornel Cimpan — 3,570
7: Mike Leah — 3,497
8: Angel Guillen — 3,492
9: Daniel Negreanu — 3,342
10: Alexandre Gomes — 3,120

This Week in Poker

Eric Baldwin Increases his POY Lead Again at Caesars Palace

Eric Baldwin held 5,596 before the beginning of the 2009 Caesars Palace Classic. He has since increased that lead by scoring points four times at Caesars Palace. He made two finals last week and this week he made another two. His first cash this week came at a $300 no-limit hold’em event final table, where he captured $2,590 and 72 points. Two days later, he made his fourth final table in seven days, this time placing fifth in a $500 no-limit hold’em event to score $4,656 and 80 points. He now holds 5,898 points total, and he has won $1,220,111 in prize money playing tournament poker in 2009.

The biggest point-winner at the Caesars Palace Classic this week was, surprisingly, not Eric Baldwin. That honor went to the champion of the $5,000 no-limit hold’em championship event, Isaac Baron. He was awarded $246,928 and 768 POY points, which bumped his point total up to 1,729 for 2009.

Tommy Vedes Books a Big Win at Bellagio

The World Poker Tour Festa al Lago Classic $15,000 no-limit hold’em main event awarded a huge chunk of POY points this past week and the player that walked away with the bulk of them was the champion, Tommy Vedes (pictured above right). The resident of Queens, New York, has been a rising threat on the tournament trail during the past couple of months and the win at Bellagio earned him 1,680 points. When combined with his five previous POY-point earning cashes in 2009, this gives Vedes a point total of 2,918, which is good for 14th place on the leader board.

Vedes has made half a dozen final tables in 2009, and he made a huge splash at the World Series Of Poker this summer when he finished in 19th place in the $10,000 no-limit hold’em main event. He also cashed in fifth place at the final table of event No. 48 ($1,500 pot-limit Omaha eight-or-better) at the Rio. Vedes followed up his strong summer with deep runs at the WPT Merit Cyprus Classic, where he finished in 18th place, and PokerStars European Poker Tour London main event, where he finished in 54th place.

Headlines

WPT — Tommy Vedes Wins the Festa al Lago Classic Main Event
WSOP Circuit — Dan Livingston Wins Horseshoe Hammond
Christophe Benzimra Wins European Poker Tour Warsaw Main Event
Isaac Baron Wins Caesars Palace Classic

Looking Ahead

WSOP Circuit – Southern Indiana

Event Schedule
Event Preview

WSOP Circuit – Harvey’s Lake Tahoe

Event Schedule

World Poker Finals

Event Schedule

Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza IV

Event Schedule

L.A. Poker Open

Event Schedule

U.S. Poker Championship

Event Schedule

Heartland Poker Tour – Mahnomen, MN

Event Schedule

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