Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find poker pro Mike "SirWatts" Watson taking over the GPI POY throne, Jay Rosenkrantz sharing the release details for the highly anticipated BOOM online poker documentary and Barry Greenstein making an emergency blog post about cheating on the open-face chinese poker app.

1) Mike "SirWatts" Watson Takes GPI POY Lead

The latest Global Poker Index update is out and there's a new name at the top of the POY rankings - Canadian Mike "SirWatts" Watson.

SirWatts: Off to good start.

 

After a very successful 2012 that Watson himself said would be hard to top, he's started 2013 off with a win and two third-place finishes already to overtake Dan Shak at the top of the POY list.

A legendary online crusher, Watson has turned himself into a live terror over the last few years and now has over $6m in career cashes.

Also making huge jumps up the POY chart this week were Bryn Kenney and Tim Reilly. The current top 10 on the GPI POY:

Check the full top 100 on the POY list or the current top 300 list here.

2) BOOM Documentary Out By This Summer

Despite a rejection from the SXSW festival, producer Jay RosenKrantz says the much-anticipated BOOM: The Incredible True Story of Online Poker documentary is on the verge of release anyway.

The approach will depend on whether it makes the cut at two other film fests, but the movie itself will be "picture locked" by March 1 and out before the end of the summer someway, somehow:

"We'll be going live with a new trailer and the ability to digitally pre-order the film, as well as join our mailing list. The important thing to note here is that regardless of our film festival results, we will be distributing the movie online, globally, in a wide variety of standard digital formats, so you can buy the film directly from us and watch it wherever and however you want to.

"We will be rolling this out no matter what happens, so the only thing in question now is a timeline (which depends on the festival results and distribution deals we could be offered). At the latest we hope to be available in wide release by this summer."

Count us among the poker fans really looking forward to it. Read more about the release plan(s) here; watch the old trailer below:

3) Greenstein Finds Major Holes in OFC App

BarryG: Knows when things aren't right.

 

Caught up in the new Open-Face Chinese Poker craze?

If you are, and have played against anyone for money on the mobile app, you might have been getting fleeced says poker icon Barry Greenstein.

In an emergency blog post Greenstein put up this morning, Barry shares a few questionable sessions he's had on the app and a quick investigation he did that definitely showed the door was open for non-fair play.

He also says the signs he thought something was amiss as he was losing are a good general rule to apply to all gambling situations:

"...if you go somewhere and you lose and you don't understand why you're losing -- especially if you seem to be losing in ways that don't seem right to you -- you have to quit.

"If there's one game where you think the players are better than you but you do okay, go and play in that one even if there might be another game where the players seem really bad, but you don't win."

Check the full post here.

Players who sign up for PokerStars through PokerListings currently get a shot at over $3,000 in exclusive tournaments in addition to regular bonus offers. 

First up there’s a massive $1,000 monthly freeroll that awards two Sunday Million tickets and $570 in cash.

There are no requirements as long as you are already a PokerListings player or signed up for an account in the previous month. Use the marketing code: pl.com.

Meanwhile the weekly PokerListings tournaments cost $2.20 to buy into but PokerStars kicks in an extra $500 to fatten the prizepool.

Both offers are played out in No-Limit Hold’em with a turbo structure.

This is in addition to the numerous promotions PokerStars already runs for new players including the massive $100k Privilege Freerolls promo where new players receive access to four $1,000 freerolls per day for 31 days.

PokerStars also offers a 100% deposit match up to $600 to PokerListings players. To learn more check out our PokerStars review.

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet can be left in the comments.

This week we bring you behind-the-scenes footage of two-time WSOP bracelet winner JP Kelly getting his groove on, UK legend Chris Moorman scoring a record 13th online Triple Crown and Sam “SamSquid” Grafton joining Phil Galfond's elite roster of coaches.

1) JP Kelly Does a Gene Kelly

JP Kelly is one of the greatest poker players that the UK has ever produced, but did you know he is also one of the coolest dancers? It’s a well-known fact that Gene JP Kelly has been known to punt off his chips if there is a doubt he will miss a major party, when on tour, due to his love of his disco music.

He recently celebrated his birthday by coming 13th in the Sunday Million, just a fortnight after his good mate James Akenhead also came 13th. Here is JP getting down with the boogie!

2) Lucky 13 For Moorman

Chris ‘moorman1’ Moorman this week beat his own record by claiming his 13th online Triple Crown.

It started on the 9th Feb on his beloved Full Tilt Poker where he won the $30,000 Guaranteed for $9,800. Two days later and Moorman grabbed his second set of pins in the $15,000 Guaranteed Speed on bwin for $3,900.

With one more leg to go Moorman tweeted:

@mickeydp two legs complete on ftp and party though so got until Saturday to finish off the job, shame @pokerstars is rigged

The Triple Crown was completed after Moorman took down the $109 No Limit Hold’em Turbo 2X Chance on PokerStars for $12,000. The victory takes him three Triple Crowns clear of his nearest rival Belabacsi from Hungary.

3) Galfond Adds Sam Grafton as RunItOnce.com Coach

Success is felt when you are working towards your goals and there is no doubt that Sam ‘SamSquid” Grafton is enjoying his time grinding the world of live and online poker.

Sam Grafton joins Phil Galfond at RunItOnce.com.

 

But these days he is busy smashing those goals to pieces and I reckon he is enjoying life just that little bit more.

It was 2012 when the Elton John/Timmy Mallet lovechild finally binked a big online score, and what a big one it was.

Grafton won a SCOOP title for $230,000, quickly followed by the biggest live score to date, a win at the  GUKPT Grand Final a few months later for $163,953.

Grafton’s winning ways were spotted by none other than Phil Galfond, who quickly snapped him up as an elite pro for the training site RunItOnce - Grafton joining the inner sanctum where he shares thrones with the Dang Brothers, gboro780 and MrSweets himself.

Just to celebrate his move into coaching, Grafton won the The Sunday Brawl on Full Tilt Poker for $40,160 where he defeated a field of 1,004 players.

Buss, a long-time poker player who was a regular at both high-stakes cash games and major poker tournaments in the LA area, was 80 years old.

A very popular figure in Southern California, Buss purchased the Lakers in 1979 from Jack Kent Cooke and encouraged the fast-paced, "Showtime" Lakers basketball of the 80s.

Passing over control of the team in recent years to his son Jim and daughter Jeannie, Buss spent much of his later years playing poker, including several appearances at the World Series of Poker and on GSN's High Stakes Poker.

Also among Buss’ poker credits were appearances on NBC’s Poker After Dark and the $25k National Heads-Up Championship.

Third-Place Finish at 1991 WSOP

An accomplished poker player Buss had several tournament cashes in his career, mostly around the Los Angeles area.

His top cashes include a 3rd-place finish in a $2,500 Seven-Card Stud event at the 1991 World Series of Poker and second in the 2003 WPT Celebrity Invitational. Most recently Buss finished 25th in the $2,500 Omaha/Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo event at the 2011 WSOP.

Buss learned how to play poker at an early age from his mother and grew up in Kemmerer, Wyoming. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Poker players who knew Dr. Buss have turned to Twitter to express their condolences:

RIP Dr. Jerry Buss. He was always a shining example of humility, kindness and generosity to those who knew him.

Sad news about Jerry Buss. He was a true friend to many poker players. Big hearted guy

RIP Jerry Buss ! One of my favorite Celebto ever play poker against. With a great sense of humor ...

My condolences to the family and friends of Jerry Buss :(

RIP Jerry Buss. One of my favorite people to ever play poker against. #Boss

RIP Jerry Buss.. was always one of the nicest guys at the poker table and never heard of anyone that didn't love the guy...

RIP Dr Jerry Buss @lakers: Best NBA owner ever, and a Great Ambassador for Poker. You will be missed by many.

My thoughts &prayers go out to the Buss Family. Truly enjoyed played poker w Jerry Buss the#of times we played just a truly sensational guy.

Boeree fell just shy of a Sunday Million final table while Mathews claimed outright victory in the biggest tournament on Full Tilt Poker. 

It was a busy weekend for online poker as the Sunday Million, Full Tilt $350k GTD and iPoker $200k all smashed their respective guarantees.

Check below to see highlights from some of the bigger events over the weekend.

PokerStars Sunday Million

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree put on an inspired performance in this week’s Sunday Million outlasting nearly 8,000 players to make the final three tables of the tournament.

Boeree wasn’t the only Team PokerStars Pro to play the event as Jodden Lodden, Eugene Katchalov and Marcel Luske all made the money. Boeree ultimately got last-player standing bragging rights over her teammates, however.

A total of 8,024 players in the tournament created a rather sizable $1.6 million prizepool, easily smashing the $1 million guarantee.

Apparently Boeree had some Internet problems while playing the Sunday Million from Cork but that didn't hold her back.

Internet in Cork is NOT WORKING. Therefore am onetabling the million on the @pokerstars mobile app like a hero (on rollerskates)

Boeree finally hit the rail in 27th place when she made her final play by shoving all-in with A♣ T♣. She was up against K♣ Q♣ and looked primed for a double up but her opponent spiked a straight on the turn.

She still received a good return on her $215 investment by picking up $3,530 for her efforts.

The Czech Republic’s Zábry would go on to win the tournament for $151,644 after a six-way deal.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table results:

Full Tilt Poker $350,000 Guaranteed

Kevin "kice32" Iocofan finished fourth.

 

Scottish pro Rory “Mafews” Mathews vanquished a field of 1,955 players to win the $350k GTD for $74,290 on Full Tilt Poker this week.

Mathews, a former PokerStars Sunday Million winner, is one of the top 10 biggest winners all-time in Scottish poker. He also beat up Phil Ivey in the $200/$400 PLO games on Full Tilt back in 2006.

The Scot beat online player Dezar heads-up to claim the title in Full Tilt’s biggest weekly tournament.

Meanwhile Kevin "kice32" Icofano, who has a couple of EPT final tables and a WSOP final table on his record, finished fourth in the event to cash in for $27,370.

Matt Frankland, Bryan “enterthewu19” Piciolli, jochee, Joey Weissman, Kevin “GetPWN3D” Saul, Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi and Jeff “YoungSupremacy” Hakim were also among the notable pros who made the money.

Since dropping down to $350k GTD instead of $500k, Full Tilt’s big weekly tournament has consistently been beating its guarantee and this week there was $391,000 up for grabs.

Here are the complete final-table results:

iPoker $200,000 Guaranteed

Skilled Belarusian Aleh “oleg12345” Plauski went on a rampage in iPoker’s biggest tournament this week. Plauski outlasted over 1,000 players before falling just short of the final table, finishing in 13th place for $1,452.

Fra220623 went on to beat 24Caliber heads-up to pick up a $36,312 first-place score.

Rayan “rkchipmeup” Nathan, Brenden “Brendooor” Rubie and Jeff “YoungSupremacy” Hakim were also among the notables to make the money.

The $200k GTD is available on most iPoker network sites including Titan Poker, Winner.com Poker and William Hill Poker.

Here’s a complete look at the final-table results:

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Patrik Antonius heading for a sweep of his $1m challenge with Rui Cao, a new ploy by the ISPT to get players into seats at Wembley Stadium this May surfacing  and a new Game of Thrones-inspired card deck out in the world.

1) Antonius Up $650k in $1m Challenge

Rui: In trouble.

 

So, we stand corrected on our original report from the Patrik Antonius/Rui Cao $1m challenge.

Shortly after announcing the matchup the two played a big session of 2-7 Triple Draw that seemed to be Round 1 of the 3-part challenge.

It turns out that was just a warm-up. The real challenge officially started on Saturday with two rounds now complete and the No-Limit Holdem portion underway.

Unfortunately for Cao, who won big in that 2-7 warm-up session, things didn’t go quite as well this time.

According to highstakesdb.com the two powered through the full $300k 2-7 and $350k PLO sessions over the weekend and briefly worked their way through some NLHE hands.

Antonius tore up Cao in both the PLO and 2-7 sessions to take a commanding lead and, with a couple of intermittent NL Holdem sessions worked in, even has a $60k lead in the last segment.

The two are expected to finish things off today.

2) ISPT Joins With DTD, Offers €1m Guarantee. Maybe.

The ongoing ISPT saga got a touch weirder this weekend with a new rumored “guarantee” surfacing.

ISPT "guarantee." (photo: PokerIreland)

 

According to a PDF posted at PokerIreland.com, the ISPT has a new deal with Dawn to Dusk poker in the UK to offer a 1m guarantee for the winner of the inaugural event planned for Wembley in May.

Still, as always with the ISPT, everything should be taken with a grain of salt.

One of the biggest discrepancies so far is the guarantee is listed in both euros and GBP on the poster (see right).

No official announcement has been made and the deal is yet to appear on the ISPT website, although a Wembley press conference and official press statement are rumored to be arriving this week.

Keep track of all the melodrama via the epic ISPT thread at 2+2.

3) New Game of Thrones Card Deck For Sale

Ever since we profiled David Goldklang and his awesome Polaris card deck a couple of months ago we’ve seen playing cards in a whole new light

Game of Thrones deck. (photo: Technabob)

 

Why settle for just a run-of-the-mill deck for your home game when a little bit of character can add so much joy to the game, we say.

We found another deck we like – as will fellow fans of HBO's Game of Thrones - here.

The cards were designed by Paul Nojima but inspired by a concept from artist Jim Tuckwell.

The four major houses obv. make up the primary face cards with the Starks, Lannisters, Targaryens and Baratheons ably represented. Jokers are Lord Baelish and Lord Varis, naturally.

You can pick them up on Etsy for $20 here. Or at least you could - not sure if there was only one deck for sale, but you may be able to talk him into making another if so.

A long-time poker player who appeared on televised poker shows like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark, Buss was also a regular at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

Originally reported by TMZ, the idea of honoring Jerry Buss with a memorial event was confirmed by WSOP Communications Director Seth Palansky.

“Buss has played at the WSOP for 25 years,” Palansky told PokerListings.com.

“At the right time we'd like to reach out to his family and see if they support an idea of renaming one of our championship events after him and awarding the victor a perpetual trophy in Dr. Buss' honor."

But while the WSOP is interested in pursuing the idea, it's not something that's going to happen overnight.

“There's no time-frame for this though,” said Palansky. “It's an idea and we'll see if it can be executed.”

Buss, who owned the Los Angeles Lakers since 1979, passed away at the age of 80 after an extended battle with cancer.

The World Series of Poker released this official statement:

We're sad to hear about the passing of Dr. Jerry Buss. A class act whose kindness and intelligence always stood out at the poker table. Jerry epitomizes what makes the game of poker so great.

Everyone is on equal footing when you enter a poker tournament. And Jerry Buss acted and carried himself as a dignified gentleman throughout. There is no doubt he was competitive and liked to win, but to anyone who had the pleasure of interacting with him at the World Series of Poker, you left better for the experience and rooting for him and his Lakers.

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Buy-ins will range from $109 to $2,100 with a variety of poker games including Hold’em, PLO, Razz, HORSE and Seven-Card Stud on tap. 

Interestingly Full Tilt listed all 38 events except the first tournament of FTOPS XXII and Event 25, which the site will apparently announce at a later date.

The $2-million guaranteed FTOPS XXII Main Event is schedule to take place on March 31.

Online player yadio1111 outlasted 4,766 entrants to win the last FTOPS Main Event for $453,229.

Some of the highlights of the FTOPS XXII schedule include:

Competition for player of the series will likely be fierce as Full Tilt is offering some huge incentives to the player that finishes on top of the FTOPS XXII leaderboard, including a buy-in to every event of FTOPS XXIII except the two-day.

Satellites have already begun on Full Tilt and it’s possible for players to qualify for various FTOPS XXII events for a few dollars or event frequent player points.

Here's the compete FTOPS XXII schedule:

March 17, Event 2 $200+$16 No-Limit Hold’em Re-entry - $850,000 GTDMarch 18, Event 3 $200+$16 Pot-Limit Omaha Rush - $85,000 GTDMarch 18, Event 4 $1,000+$60 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max RET - $500,000 GTD March 19, Event 6 $200+$16 Pot-Limit Hi-Lo 6-Max - $75,000 GTD March 19, Event 7 $300+$22 Razz - $50,000 GTD March 19, Event 8 $200+$16 No-Limit Hold’em Rush Turbo - $150,000 GTD March 20, Event 9 $240+$16 Pot-Limit Omaha Knockout - $75,000 GTD March 20, Event 10 $300+$22 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy - $250,000 GTD March 20, Event 11 $207+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Rush - $100,000 GTD March 21, Event 12 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em - $100,000 GTD March 21, Event 13 $200+$16 Seven-Card Stud Hi-Lo - $35,000 GTD March 22, Event 14 $200+$16 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max - $150,000 GTD March 22, Event 15 $500+$35 10-Game 6-Max Multi-Entry - $100,000 GTD March 23, Event 16 $500+$35 No-Limit Hold’em Heads-Up - $100,000 GTD March 23, Event 17 $300+$22 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Max Triple Chance - $100,000 GTD March 23, Event 18 $200+$16  Hold’em Limit Rush - $50,000 GTD March 24, Event 19 $120+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Knockout RET - $500,000 GTD March 24, Event 20 $300+$22 No-Limit Hold’em RET - $850,000 GTD March 25, Event 21 $100+$9 Pot-Limit Omaha Rebuy - $100,000 GTD March 25, Event 22 $1,000+$60 No-Limit Hold’em Double Chance - $250,000 GTD March 25, Event 23 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo Multi-Entry - $150,000 GTD March 26, Event 24 $200+$16 Pot-Limit HA 6-Max - $75,000 GTD March 26, Event 26 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Turbo 1 Rebuy, 1 Add-on - $60,000 GTD March 27, Event 27 $300+$22 Pot-Limit Omaha Heads-Up - $50,000 GTD March 27, Event 28 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy - $200,000 GTD March 27, Event 29 $310+$12 NLHE Super Turbo Knockout Re-Entry - $250,000 GTD March 28, Event 31 $200+$16 HORSE - $60,000 GTD March 29, Event 32 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Rush - $75,000 GTD March 29, Event 33 $300+$22 2-7 Triple Draw Limit 6-Max - $50,000 GTD March 30 (Two-day), Event 34 $2000+$100 NLHE 6-Max Ante from Start RET - $1m GTD March 30, Event 35, $200+$16 Omaha Hi-Lo Limit - $35,000 GTD March 30, Event 36 $100+$9 No-Limit Hold’em Rush Rebuy - $250,000 GTD March 31, Event 37 $240+$16 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Knockout RET - $750,000 March 31, Main Event $640 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em - $2m GTD

In 2012 the WPT returned to Canada after a four-year absence, setting the record for the biggest Canadian WPT ever, and the biggest tournament in Canadian poker history with a buy-in bigger than $1k.

This year the WPT will visit the Playground Poker Club twice more including the brand-new Canadian Spring Championship May 3-9.

The record-setting WPT Montreal will return November 29 to December 5 but this year it will include a High Roller event and will be televised alongside the World Poker Tour's other flagship events.

As the official sponsor of both tournaments PartyPoker.net will be running freerolls and qualifiers leading up to both events.

The entire WPT broadcasting team will be on location including Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten on commentary as well as Tony Dunst, Kimberly Lansing and the Royal Flush Girls providing supporting material.

Last year French-Canadian Jonathan Roy defeated a field of 1,173 to win $779,710 and a seat in the $25,000 WPT Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Roy is from Boucherville, Quebec, the same town that claims 2010 WSOP Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel.

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Dan “Jungleman12” Cates back for another stab at the Party Poker Premier League title, Randy “nanonoko” Lew making his contribution to the Internet meme of the moment and Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt finding out multi-tabling online poker may have fried his brain.

1) Cates, Schwartz Added to Premier League Lineup

One-man pigeon police!

 

Despite losing the final heads-up match to Scott Seiver, Dan "Jungleman12" Cates still walked away with $300k from last year's Party Poker Premier League.

Not surprisingly, then, Cates is back for more this year. Cates and Brit Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz were named yesterday as the 7th and 8th members of this year's 16-player Premier League lineup.

Said Cates: “I really enjoyed the Premier League last year and am really looking forward to its unique format and personalities. One thing I do want to change from last year though is I want to finish first not second!”

Said Schwartz: “I cannot wait for the PartyPoker.com Premier League VI. From what I see there isn’t a single shark in the line-up yet so they’ll all be getting completely steamrolled. I’m a one man pigeon police.”

The new two join Seiver, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak and Tony G. More info (and bad PR quotes) here.

For some actual things Cates has really said, check the Easy Game mini-documentary we filmed with him last year at the PokerListings Battle of Malta.

2) Nanonoko Does Harlem Shake

One of poker's most regular and imaginative video bloggers, it was only a matter of time before PokerStars pro Randy "nanonoko" Lew jumped on the Harlem Shake train.

If you've somehow missed it, the senseless internet meme of the moment basically involves a guy in a mask thrusting among people going about their business before the beat kicks in and things get weird.

Nanonoko's put his own twist on it with some homemade special effects, a robot costume and his APPT Macau trophy. It's very enjoyable.

Check his contribution below (and our personal favorite version):

3) Dusty Schmidt Says Multi-Tabling Changed His Brain

Ever wonder if massive online poker multi-tabling is detrimental to your health? Poker pro Dusty "Leatherass" Schmidt says it is -- and that he's now paying the price for his obsession.

Bad news for ElkY.

 

In a new blog post Schmidt says he's learned the crazy concentration required for multi-tabling created a loop in his brain that helped him perform at the tables but was damaging to other aspects of his life.

So much so, even, that he's now retiring from online poker and warning other massive mulit-tablers about the possible long-term damage:

"The bad news is that what poker puts the human brain through is unsustainable. I was told that if I choose to play online poker as a full time career, I will likely die of a stroke before the age of 50.

"They said that the human brain simply does not have the capacity to put itself through 8+ hour days of mass multi-table online poker.

"They said that playing online poker to that degree was quite literally one of the very worst things you can do to your brain and body."

Some key points of note: This doesn't apply to most poker players obv. And Dusty Schmidt is definitely not a doctor. In fact his doctor may not even be a doctor. Read more here.

The settlement will see Ferguson pay back at least $2.3 million along with all the cash in an account simply referred to as the “Ferguson Account.” At one point the U.S. government was seeking $42 million from Ferguson. 

Imrich has posted the entire settlement on jdsupra.com but here are some of the highlights:

Ferguson, along with other Full Tilt owners, was charged with running a Ponzi scheme after the site was unable to pay back players after Black Friday.

The amended civil complaint alleged that Ferguson, along with Howard Lederer and Rafe Furst had “lined their pockets with funds from their most loyal costumers while blithely lying to both players and public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited."

Ferguson, easily one of the most well-known poker players in the world, has not been seen on the poker circuit since Black Friday on April 15, 2011.

O’Dwyer, an American who has basically dominated on the European poker circuit since Black Friday drove him out of the US, is again back up at the top of a tourney leaderboard with 118,000 chips – good for sixth place.

Rettenmaier, the first-ever back-to-back winner on the WPT last year, was also up to his usual standard and made it through the day above the average stack at 86,000.

Finn Kimmo Kurko is the chip leader at 149,700 followed by Russian Andrey Shatilov at 134,700.

Berglund, Blain and Scott Carry On

The fairly small turnout saw a somewhat limited list of marquee names at the felt although the youngest-ever WPT champ Lukas Berglund (78,900), Irishman Dermot Blain (55,000) and Party Poker rep/ESPN host Kara Scott (41,800) were among them.

Scott: Has chips.

 

Notables to arrive and bust out included Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen and former November Niner Scott Montgomery, although we can expect to see them back in the field for Day 1b tomorrow

The top 10 in chips after Day 1a:

Follow along live from Casino Baden at 2 pm local time with the WPT Live Updates team.

Part of the ongoing Vienna Mind Sports Festival, several other events have been running/are due to run alongside WPT Baden including an Open-Face Chinese Poker main event and backgammon, chess, CounterStrike, Risk and Scrabble tournaments.

Galfond fired off 2,514 hands on the site and beat almost every table he played, according to highstakesdb.com. 

The games weren’t exactly soft with Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius, Phil “Polarizing” Ivey, Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver and Hac "trex313" Dang among the willing combatants.

It didn’t matter to the red-hot Galfond, who pretty much beat everyone to win $389k. Ivey, Seiver and Antonius all lost over $100k each.

With the victory Galfond hit a total profit of $1.5 million on Full Tilt Poker in 2013.

The Maryland native initially went on a $300k downswing after resurrecting his OMGClayAiken account in early January but since then he’s been lights out. Galfond is currently the third biggest winner on the site this year.

Galfond’s good friend Tom “durrrr” Dwan stands on top of the leaderboard with $1.7 million, thanks to a recent hot streak.

Meanwhile Viktor “Isildur1” Blom is in third place with $1.3 million but that may not be for long.

At the time this article was published Blom was in the midst of crushing $200/$400 PLO and $1,500/$3,000 Triple Draw.

The swingy Scandinavian was up over $600k and could very well top a million before the day is over. You can follow live on Full Tilt Poker.

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Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find more great reflections on the life of Jerry Buss from Phil Hellmuth, Gavin “Birdguts” Smith making his return to the airwaves via Wicked Chops and the PokerStars World Blogger Championship back on the radar.

1) Hellmuth on Buss: "Held His Own Against the Best"

The poker world is still struggling with the death of Lakers owner and friend Dr. Jerry Buss on Monday and the personal memories continue to trickle in across the web.

From Doyle Brunson to Layne Flack to John Juanda to Jeff Madsen, pros across the spectrum have chimed in with the same universal message – it’s hard to imagine a kinder, more genuine person to share some time with at the tables, billionaire or otherwise.

One of the more interesting reflections/recollections? From the fingertips of Phil Hellmuth:

RIP Jerry Buss.I never ever heard Jerry say anything negative about anyone.JB turned around the Lakers & won 10 NBA Championships!

(2) Jerry was a great limit Hold'em player & he held his own against the BEST players in the world.Jerry, I will miss you my friend...

Jerry Buss: 1997 I found myself at Lakers Training Camp in Hawaii w @huckleberryseed @shaq @kobebryant& Johnny Chan. We played $400-$800

(2) Hold'em in Jerry's Presidential Suite at the Prince Hotel.Huck and I each lose $35,000, (Chan even) and Jerry wins $70,000!I was

(3) prickly for a day, then Jerry gives Huck & I floor seats (Lakers & Supersonics training) and puts a smile on my face.JB class act!

2) Gavin Smith Back On Air with Wicked Chops

Remember how much fun the old PokerRoad Radio shows were with Joe Stapleton, Joe Sebok and Ol' Gavin "Birdguts" Smith?

If you remember them as wistfully was we do, you'll want to know Ole G Smith is bringing his husky pipes and questionable mental stability back to the airwaves this Thursday via the Wicked Chops podcast.

Looking fw to doing Wicked Chops podcasts with @olegsmith -- will be fun.

What can you expect? Given the primary participants we're gonna go with boob analysis, old drinking stories and insider poker secrets. Check it out here.

3) World Blogger Championship Back in March

It's hard not to love an event like the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

Back for its eighth edition from Mar. 1-11, the WBCOOP is 10 days, 31 tournaments and plenty of prize money distributed among those that keep the poker spirit alive in the smallest corners of the web. All you need to participate?

"WBCOOP is open to anyone who submits a 500-word blog or short video before March 9 detailing the best moment they have had while playing on PokerStars.

"The blogger must then share the blog/video with friends and followers on social media to get ten free tickets to play in one of 30 eligible tournaments."

Each tournament also hands out SCOOP tickets to high finishers and all cashers get a seat in the WBCOOP Main Event with a $5k prize pool.

Also on the table: Best Blogger will win $5k, Best Live Tweeter $1k and Best Female Blogger $500. For extra fun, PokerStars Team pros will make appearances in several events with $22 bounties on their heads.

Get in the game here. Check PokerStars Team Online member Tyler Frost's best moment and WBCOOP plans above.

A bustling 254-player field hit the tables for Day 1b today, beefing up the prize pool to over $1m and locking in $271,258 for the winner.

Party Poker pro Sbrzesny, third-place finisher at WPT Prague in December, was one of the few notables to get off to a good start.

Sbrzesny bagged up 124,800 to end the night in fifth overall - just 10k back of chip leader Senadin Cosic. Italians Daniele Scatragli (135,700) and Paolo Compagno (133,800) and Brit Mitchell Johnson (132,200) round out the top 5.

Staszko, who has kept a pretty low profile for a WSOP runner-up but pops up here on there on the European circuit, also made it through to Day 2 with a decent stack of 61,500.

Mizrachi, Luske Hit the Bricks

The biggest name to hit the felt yesterday, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, didn't last long before hitting the exit.

Rolling in with an impressive entourage, the heavily-patched Mizrachi juiced up his table's action immediately, got it in on a draw shortly after and bricked to end his day.

All or nothing for Grinder.

 

Decidedly less patched, Flying Dutchman Marcel Luske also hit the felt but met the same fate in the last level of the day.

Dane Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen managed to hang on to see Day 2 with 19,400

The top 10 in chips from Day 1b:

For a full recap of the day's action, check the WPT Live Updates. Tune in for Day 2 tomorrow at 2 pm local time.

City of Dreams is one of the biggest properties in Macau and includes Hard Rock, Crown Towers and Grand Hyatt.

The new PokerStars LIVE room at the venue will offer cash games and daily tournaments at 13 permanent tables.

It will play host to upcoming Asia Championship of Poker (ACOP), Asia-Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) and Macau Poker Cup events.

“The PokerStars online brand drives more traffic to live poker events than any other,” said Danny McDonagh, PokerStars Director of Live Operations for Asia-Pacific.

“Players know that PokerStars is synonymous with integrity and high quality. That makes this collaboration a natural fit because City of Dreams has been at the forefront in providing the most innovative and premium gaming experience that is second to none in Macau."

PokerStars Now Up to Three Live Venues

City of Dreams marks the third PokerStars LIVE property including the Casino Gran Madrid in Spain and the London Hippodrome in London, England.

Interestingly the Hippodrome just launched an online casino with future plans for an online poker section provided by PokerStars.

PokerStars has become heavily invested in live poker over the last year and is also in the process of acquiring the Atlantic Club in New Jersey.

Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet, feel free to drop a note in the comments.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Gus Hansen and Daniel Negreanu taking pot shots at each other over Twitter, Survivor’s Amanda Kimmel and The Real World’s Trishelle Canatella’s new reality show trailer and the WPT profiles its players to watch for Season XI.

1) Gus Pokes Daniel, Daniel Pokes Gus

Remember that super sick hand on Season 5 of High Stakes Poker when Gus Hansen hit quads with pocket fives and wins $300k from Daniel Negreanu, who had a full house with pocket sixes?

Gus does, of course, and took a moment to gently remind Daniel about it this morning with a playful rib and an offer of a rematch:

Hey @realkidpoker remember this hand youtube.com/watch?v=_ufZ-D… - Wonder if I ever get another chance to take your money ;-)

Hey @realkidpoker come play me on @fulltiltpoker for a HSP rematch :)

Negreanu’s response? More than fair enough given Hansen’s $780k downswing on FTP so far in 2013:

.@gushansen I was going to congratulate you on your graph for 2013 but then realized I was looking at it upside down. Ouch!

If the two do hope to resume the battle they’ll have to wait for Gus to wrap up his match at the Copenhagen Bridge Invitational where he's plying his game wares at the moment. Watch it live via Bridge Base Online, if that's your bag.

2) Living the Life Trailer Debuts

Remember that Amanda Kimmel/Trishelle Canatella reality show we mentioned that was filming last year at EPT Barcelona?

The loose concept, if we remember correctly, was the two "semi-pro" poker players hit the poker circuit as a duo and see what lewdness/conflict arises.

By the looks of the trailer that's surfaced, seems like that's about what happened. Haven't heard much about it since, though, so if you're a fan watch it closely as it could could be all you get:

3) Meet the WPT Season XI Ones to Watch

The WPT’s Season XI Players to Watch were introduced earlier this year with a great list of names.

Shaun Deeb, Jason Somerville, Brian Hastings, Xuan Liu, Amanda Musumeci, Jason Koon, Dee Dozier and A.P. Phahurat are the chosen ones and it's hard to argue with any of the picks -- all great players and personalities in their own right.

If you're unfamiliar with any or all of them, a new introduction video was released by the WPT today to help put some faces to the names.

Watch the vid below; catch the latest episodes from Season XI every Sunday on Fox Sports Net at 8 pm and 11 pm local time.

For more on Shaun Deeb, watch our own Easy Game mini-documentary on him here.

The Nevada legislature today fast-tracked an online gaming bill that would allow the state to move ahead with online poker and join interstate compacts.

The legislature declared an emergency measure to get it to Gov. Brian Sandoval for signature. Later in the day Sandoval signed the bill.

Nevada not only wants online poker, but also wants it fully legal before New Jersey, according to a story with The Las Vegas Sun.

“We’re going to do it now,” said Assembly Majority Leader William Horne, D-Las Vegas in the article. “We’re going to beat New Jersey.”

Earlier this month New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave the greenlight for online poker in New Jersey with a few conditions.

Gov. Sandoval called the Nevada online poker bill his biggest priority and urged lawmakers to pass it within the first 30 days of assembly.

Pete Ernaut, lobbyist for the Nevada Resort Association, even went so far as to call the burgeoning battle between Nevada and New Jersey as the “gaming version of the space race.”

A federal online poker bill failed to pass in late 2012, which has left individual states scrambling to pass their own poker bills.

New Jersey, Delaware and Las Vegas are the only states that already have online gambling laws in place, but other states are starting to consider their own proposals.

The Nevada bill would ban operators who illegally offered online poker in the U.S. between 2006 and 2011 for five years.

Feeling severely under the weather, Sbrzesny still managed to run his stack from around 125k to a towering 403,000 to end the night first overall in chips.

The Party Poker-sponsored Sbrzesny, third-place finisher at last year’s WPT Prague, will have a very narrow margin entering Day 3 though as fellow German Vishal Pundjabi also had a big day to bag up 401,000 and sit second, right on his heels.

Day 1a chip leader Kimmo Kurko (395,500), Irishman Ryan O’Donnell (361,000) and Austrian Stjepan Jokic (342,500) round out the top 5.

Staszko, Rettenmaier and Scott Survive

WSOP Main Event runner-up Martin Staszko also had a successful day in snowy Austria, bagging up 287,500 to sit sixth overall.

Party Poker pros Marvin Rettenmaier and Kara Scott also survived, although Rettenmaier much more successfully than Scott.

Staszko: Still got it.

 

The only back-to-back winner in WPT history will start tomorrow with 248,500 while Scott is the true short stack with just 35,500.

She’s better off than pros Steve O’Dwyer and Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen, though, who saw their runs end today.

The top 10 in chips after Day 2:

Just 44 of the 350+ starters remain as they head into Day 3 with the money set to hit at 27th place. A min-cash in Baden is worth $8,634 will the top prize sits at $271,258.

Action picks up again at 2 pm local time tomorrow and will play down towards the final six. Tune in for the live updates at WPT.com.

The revamped tournament schedule, which starts Feb. 25, will offer a comprehensive list of daily tournaments including 28-30 Rush tournaments, 15-20 multi-entry events and 6-8 multi-chance tournaments. 

Full Tilt Poker says that from now on at least one guaranteed tournament will begin every 10 minutes. During the month of March over $25 million will be guaranteed in prizes. 

"Full Tilt Poker’s scheduled tournaments already offer round-the-clock action every day of the week with a wide range of buy-ins and guaranteed prize pools to choose from," Lightman continued.

"The new schedule is another market first offering our players the only fully guaranteed schedule of any online site."

There will be up to 225 guaranteed tournaments every day with numerous satellites into each event.

Full Tilt Poker will also be launching a new tournament lobby in March that will make it easier for players to find specific tournaments.

FTOPS XXII also begins March 17 with 38 events spread across two weeks of action.

Players who sign up for Full Tilt through PokerListings currently get a 100% deposit match up to $600.