PokerStars Release SCOOP Schedule

Online poker giants, PokerStars, have announced their latest online poker festival schedule. The Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) will take place at the largest online poker room between May 3rd and 16th and will feature a $10,300 event. Smaller bankrolls are also catered for with some events starting from as little as $5.50.

Omaha; Razz, HORSE and Badugi events will be part of the SCOOP alongside three “main events” with buy-ins of $109, $1,050 and $10,300. $1 million, $3 million and $5 million prize pools will be guaranteed for each tournament respectively.

Fake Tann! Willie Impersonator Hits Facebook

Poker playing Facebook users were scammed, last week, by a user claiming to be the much loved UK poker pro’ Willie Tann. The user, posing as the WSOP bracelet winner, sent messages to hundreds of poker players in an attempt to scam them out of money transfers.

Friends of the real Willie Tann quickly spotted what was happening and made the community aware of the danger. Poker forums also came alive with stories of the scam and some possible victims.

Facebook has since deleted the fake Willie Tann account from their social network pages. The extent of the scam is yet unknown but it looks likely that many players will be out of pocket to the fraudster.

Fort Knox Jackpot Hit at iPoker

One lucky sit n go player hit the big time last weekend on Paddy Power Poker, a popular skin on the iPoker network. The Fort Knox jackpot was hit, releasing a whopping $110,000 jackpot to the lucky winner.

The Fort Knox jackpot is an exclusive bonus paid to $50 buy-in sit n go players should they win six tournaments consecutively. The $50 jackpot sit n gos are notoriously difficult on iPoker so when somebody hits six wins in a row it makes for a very interesting story!

The jackpot winning player in question was Phil “flukesfla” Flavin, a regular at Paddy Power Poker.

Norway to Ban Online Gambling Payments

The Norwegian government announced last week that they are to ban online gambling payment processing for their citizens for June 1st this year. The transferring of funds between residents of Norway and online gaming companies, including poker, will be outlawed according to the Gaming Intelligence Group.

That may throw a spanner into the works of regular online gamblers from Norway but there are a couple of lights at the end of the tunnel. Payment processors Norsk Tipping and Rikstoto will be allowed to continue to process payments. Both organisations are state run, creating a monopoly for the Norwegian government.

Anton Wigg Wins 2010 EPT Copenhagen

The European Poker Tour is synonymous with up and coming young poker stars. Many youngsters have cashed in and even won EPT events previously, illustrating that poker is switching from the “seedy old man” image of years gone by into a modern day game full of fresh faces.

Anton Wigg, the winner of the latest EPT in Copenhagen, is the perfect example of a youngster taking apart a field of seasoned professionals. Wigg, 22 from Stockholm in Sweden, played an aggressive game throughout the final and showed great patience during a gruelling heads-up match to eventually become a millionaire three times over… in Danish Krona.

Eastgate and Helppi Well Stacked after Day 1b – EPT Copenhagen

Day 1a at the EPT Copenhagen may have lacked a little in the ’star name’ department but Day 1b certainly didn’t disappoint. Former WSOP champion Peter Eastgate looks in scintillating form and he currently sits in 3rd place in the chip counts. Hot on his heels is Finnish big hitter Juha Helppi. Not too far behind those two are the likes of Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier, Ramzi Jelassi and Luca Pagano. But, as Day 1b ended, they were all looking up at the current ‘chip daddy’ in the form of Ilkka Koskinen.

Day 2 is just underway out in Norway and we are in for a rare treat as so of the best poker players in Europe cross swords.

Titan Poker Hits the Big Screen in Travolta Movie

Poker has found its way into several movies in the last few decades. Some of the films have been blockbuster successes whilst others…. have not! This reporters doesn’t recall online poker finding a way to the silver screen, though. That, however, is about to change with the release of the latest film called From Paris With Love.

The movie, from director Pierre Morel, the man behind District 13 and Taken, stars John Travolta alongside Irish actor Jonathan Rhys Meyers. The movie is an action film but it has some online poker scenes that feature play at Titan Poker.

Andrew Pantling Leads EPT Copenhagen after Day 1a

A relatively low turn out of just 200 players took their seats for Day 1a of the European Poker Tour in Copenhagen, Norway yesterday. The PokerStars sponsored event was scandinavian player laden as you might expect, but it was Canadian player Andrew Pantling that headed the pack as play stopped for the day late last night.

Pantling, from Ontario, might not be the most familiar poker player around but he has plenty of big tournament experience, including a 3rd place in the 2009 Irish Poker Open which netted him a pay day of over €200,000.

High Stakes Poker Season 6 Underway

Fans of High Stakes Poker are set for a treat every Sunday from now on as season 6 of the popular show has started on the Game Show Network.

The first episode started on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 8 p.m. EST and will now run each subsequent Sunday. The build up to the new season saw GSN airing an eight hour poker marathon. I Love Poker began at Noon and featured highlights of High Stakes Poker games from the past.

Gabe Kaplan has returned for season 6 with a new co-host in the form of Kara Scott.