It's easy to forget about Shannon Shorr.

He's not a flashy kind of guy.

You don't see him much on TV. You don't catch him berating people when he gets sucked out on. You don't hear about him calling people donkeys on the internet forums and challenging them to heads-up matches. You don't see him picking fights in the Rio hallways.

You don't catch him doing much of anything, actually, except making smart decisions at the poker table and putting money in his pocket.

And he can definitely live with that.

At just 22 years of age, with only one full year on the professional poker circuit under his belt, Shannon Shorr has cashed for more than $1.75 million in tournament winnings. He's finished 4th in the race for Player of the Year.

He's handled the rigors and temptations of being a professional poker player like he's wise beyond his years.

But just one year after exploding on the scene with a 4th place finish in the Aussie Millions and a huge win at the Bellagio Cup II $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Championship, Shorr is slipping under the radar at the 2007 World Series of Poker.

And if it wasn't for the back brace and crutches he was hobbling around with at the beginning of the series (compliments of an accident horsing around with his roommates) or a round of eight appearance in the Heads-Up poker tournament, you might not have heard about Shorr yet at all.

But that's a mistake. Despite a surge of young internet pros steamrolling to bracelets at this year's WSOP and taking a bit of the spotlight, Shorr is still one of the brightest young players in poker, and has to be considered a favorite to win a bracelet of his own in the near future.

Grounded, polite and generous with his time - exactly as his reputation leads you to believe - Shannon (and his equally considerate girlfriend, Stephanie) sat down with PokerListings.com just before the $1,500 Mixed Hold'em event and let us know what he's been up to.

Hi Shannon, thanks for taking the time to meet up. So the obvious question to start with is how are you feeling? How's the injury?
Coming along well. I didn't think I'd feel as well as I do three and a half weeks after it happened, especially after they told me I was going to be in the cast for 12 weeks. But I think it's going to be a lot quicker than that. Feels good.

It's not affecting you at the table?

No, not at all actually. I usually forget about it.

Good to hear. So two cashes so far, a nice run in the Heads-up tournament… pretty happy with the Series so far?

Yeah… I mean, I come into these World Series tournaments knowing at best I'm going to cash in like 1 in 7, that's just the reality of it. The fields are so big, there's such a crapshoot element of it. You can only play so well. You're not going to cash 50% over the long term, so I come in realistic. So 2 out of 14 is about right. I had a decent run in the Heads-Up, finishing in the round of eight. It's not like I'm really looking for that six-figure score to cover all the buy-ins. But it's pretty nice to play well, good for the confidence to know you can play still.

How important is a bracelet to you?

A bracelet is definitely at the top of my list of accomplishments I'd like to have. I guess it would be like an athlete winning the MVP or something, you get in that exclusive club if you can take down the bracelet. I'm playing a lot of events but I'm not going in there saying "I have to win a bracelet." I'm just trying to make the best decision every time, and if the bracelet comes, great. I think I'm a favorite to get one at some point in my lifetime. The sooner, the better though (Laughs). Download poker wallpapers.

Do you think the bracelet still has that mystique, that cachet value, as opposed to say a WPT title?

There's so many events now, there are a lot of people I don't even know… like, when I hear they're a bracelet winner, I had no idea… so it's not probably what it was 10 years ago when there weren't quite as many people. But still to have that bracelet is an important thing. I definitely want it.

If you look at the tournament this year, and you see guys like Dan Schreiber and James Mackey, young kids who win bracelets off the top, just like Jeff Madsen last year, do you think they have the same kind of appreciation for it, does it have the same value?

Yeah, I think so… all the internet kids, they're always posting on the internet forums, saying they want a bracelet and they're really popular if they can win a bracelet, so yeah, I think they do, they appreciate it.

Well, that's kind of another thing I guess, you're not so far removed from that yourself. You were one of those "young internet guys" just a short time ago, but you've been around for over a year… do you feel like a veteran now, one of the old guys on the scene?

Yeah, (Laughs) I kind of do feel like I've been around forever, even though it's only been one year. But I've played a lot of tournaments. People tell me I knocked them out of tournaments… it used to be for the first couple months I'd remember everyone I'd ever knocked out and remembered every hand but now someone tells me I knocked them out of a tournament and I don't ever remember playing it. (Laughs) It's like, "I was in Foxwoods… what?

So after all those miles, all those tournaments, how do you feel about poker?

I still love playing poker tournaments. It's a lot of fun, but there can't be many jobs with as much frustration, 'cause almost every day of the week you're going to go home disappointed because you didn't cash. And you got to put the time in at cash games to actually make money, so it's hard to balance all that poker playing and still do something you want to do because this game makes you so lazy.

How does it make you lazy?

(Laughs) I don't know, you wake up at like 1 p.m. and you don't have to do anything, you can just sit around all day.

Do you still play online poker then?

Not really, especially this time of year cause there's already so much poker being played. And online's so hard right know anyway.

So after being around the tournament circuit for a while, being around poker, getting to know poker players, have you picked up some vices? Playing cash games, getting deeper in the network?

Yeah, when I first got on tour there's all these people you saw on TV, except you didn't know them. But now basically any name pro I'm at least acquaintances with, we all like to do the same kind of things, so it's good. I don't hang out with many of them, like all the time, but if you ever want to go get a drink, go have dinner, you always have somebody.

And are they pretty welcoming with questions, with mentoring, or do they keep that stuff to themselves?

Well, there's guys who don't want to give anything away and there's guys who you can talk over hands with and stuff.

Anyone in particular you hang out with?

Jon Little is my roommate, he just won the WPT Mirage… we've been longtime online poker friends, we met like two years ago online, so we talk hands and stuff. He's the player I correspond with most.

What's your plan for the rest of the Series?

I haven't played any events besides Hold'em - No-Limit, Pot-Limit. I said I was going to play some Omaha 8 and some Stud, but now if there's an event at Bellagio, like there is every day, I just go over there and play instead of playing Stud or O8. It's just a better investment of my time and money right now. So I'm just focusing on that. Some of these fields, the $1,500 and $2,000 fields, are just so weak you're doing yourself a disservice if you don't play. Even in the short term you may not win, but you want to give yourself as many chances.

And after the Series?

I'm going to keep traveling, I'm gonna go to the Turks and Caicos for the WPT event, Barcelona, Niagara, do all those. That'll be fun, get back on the road a little bit. Just keep traveling the circuit as long as I've got the money to do it. I need a couple of scores to replenish the bankroll a little bit though.

You've been debating going back to school, I know, going back and forth about that, so how far do you see yourself going in poker?

I really don't know. As long as I'm enjoying it, as long as I have the money to do it, I'm not going to make any long term plans to go back to school at this point. But I really would like to finish school. I'm halfway there, so I can pound it out in like 15 months, I could go straight through school and finish. I'd like to do that, there's something to be said for getting that degree.

But the longer you go on, the better you must be getting at tournament poker… how much would you say you've picked up in just one year?

The thing about playing so many tournaments is you have success one way, like playing one super tight, or you have one where you just play every pot, and then I wrestle with that every other time. Like, which way do I want to play today….? I actually think you can get worse by playing so much. Like David Duval playing golf. He won for so long and he probably just started thinking about so much. When I play my best poker, I think I just kind of play the hands as they come and don't really worry about playing a certain way. I think that's the way to do it.

So you said the $1,500 fields here are pretty weak, but do you think the fields in general are getting tougher?

Yeah, I do. There's so much literature, like 2+2 and stuff, there's not nearly as many weak spots in cash games or tournaments or anywhere, especially in No-Limit Hold'em. People are really educating themselves. People are much more aggressive and fight back now. Like a year ago, you would play a tournament and just raise the pot and no one would play back at you. But you can't do that anymore, you can't just raise three pots in a row anymore without getting re-raised. So people are getting much better. It's definitely to the point where I can tell the difference. But you still got to make it happen.

You have anything to say about the structure of the Series so far, the sequestered final tables, do you care about that?

I would care about the sequestering if I had been at a final table probably, but for the most part it's been ok for me. I hate that they take so much juice though. The $1,500 works out to be $1,365+$135, and that's just insane. And then they expect people to tip the dealers on top of that when there's already a crazy per cent taken out.

So that, and the Heads-Up of course was terribly run, but you can expect that for the first time they have it. But for the most part it's been pretty pleasant. I mean they could make it $1,300+$200 and people would still come back and play 'cause it's the World Series. They have a monopoly on this thing and they're in a great spot. There are things that could be changed, but I'm not going to complain. Play route 66 poker.

Outside of poker, what do you get up to?

Not much. Just relaxing, watching movies, hanging out with Stephanie. That's how I like to spend my time. There's so much poker, particularly at this time of year, you can't find time really to do much else. I need to get out and start doing some more physical stuff. I joined a gym, in fact, like two weeks before I had this accident. I got to go a couple times, so now I'm waiting to get back into that.

What's your perfect table?

I'd be playing in Barcelona probably, a $10,000 event because I love those. You got all the chips to play with, it's not like push-fold after a few hours. So that, with nine unknowns who aren't going to fight back (Laughs)…

So you can just roll over them, no challenge…?

Yeah, I don't care about playing against these certain guys, I don't care about that. I've played with all of them.

So it's just a pure return on your investment proposition.

Yeah.

But there's got to be some kind of… you've got to like matching up against someone like Allen Cunningham and stealing a pot from him.

Yeah, I do. I played J.C. Tran in the Heads-Up and as much as I hated seeing him to play, I was really looking forward to it because I knew I was going to learn so much.

And did you?

Yeah, we battled back and forth, it was a great match. And I really learned some things that I'll take in to tournament poker. Like, I can tell the way he plays heads-up he's had success doing that in the Hold'em tournaments, so there are some things.

Who are some guys coming up we should look out for?

John Racener, for sure. He hasn't had quite that much success yet, but I'm really impressed by his game. He can do big things. There's a lot of online guys, these guys who just grind out the tournaments every day. You play with them every now and then and they're just great players & women poker pros, they know what to do in every spot.

Like Sorel Mizzi, Imper1um, he's sick. And Jon Little. Before he did all this, I said "He's going to be one of the best." He just knew what to do in every spot and he was just getting really, really unlucky. I watched him get so unlucky in so many tournaments. But he ran good at the WPT and won.

A lot of these young guys they're just so educated on tournaments and know what to do, they know how much to bet on every flop, they know how much to bet pre-flop, they know how much to re-raise pre-flop. So I'm going to have to keep educating myself in that way. I'm behind the 8-ball in that respect, as I don't really read the forums that much. I played with James Mackey most of Day 1 of the event he won, and it was just sick. Every spot.

Is that what makes a great tournament poker player? Knowing exactly what to do in exactly every spot?

Yeah, you have to know all the situations. Like there's so many spots in tournaments where people don't realize, like isolating and stuff, things people who don't educate themselves will never know. A guy opens the pot for $600, a guy calls for $600, a guy moves in for $1,200 and they just call the $600 instead of re-raising. There are guys who do that who are just totally wrong. You literally throw away thousands of dollars by making that mistake, especially if it's late in a tournament.

Live pros always talk about how internet players are kind of behind when it comes to live play, reading players, but you see them come into live tournaments it doesn't seem to bother them too much.

I think people overestimate picking up tells and stuff. Like I've probably picked up tells maybe five times (Laughs). People just don't talk and stuff, like everybody makes it so they don't give away stuff talking, people don't move around at the table. For the most part people are just sitting there. There's got to be some things you can pick up, but if you just play solid, correct poker and know the numbers, you're gonna do well over the long term I think.

Do you think the old guard doesn't have enough respect for the young guys?

I think they're realizing it now and they're a little jealous, so they take it out on the young guys. Like I know when I was first coming up there would be a lot of that bitterness coming out, like they'd talk about the "internet punks," but the reality is a lot of these guys have played more hands than a 40-year-old live player.

Were you a little intimidated by that when you first started?

I remembering being intimidated, but now, I don't even think about it. You know the guys so well, they're just another player. I mean, I don't like to sit down and have Erik Seidel to my left, but it's not like I would freak out like I would a year ago.

Any time in particular?

Yeah, Australia I had Mike Sexton. He was the first pro I ever played with. I got moved from the table I was playing at and sat down beside Mike Sexton and I was freaking out, calling my friends and telling them Mike Sexton was on my left.

Now you see that pink shirt beside you and you don't freak out so much…

(Laughs) Yeah, everybody gets two cards. There's not that much of an edge in the long run.

What's the hand that stands out the most for you in the last little while?

The craziest hand I've had in the World Series so far was against Carmel Petresco in the Heads-Up. Somehow we had my kings versus her aces. Like, it was the hand that ended the match. I'd knocked her down, I had about a 2-1 chip advantage and she'd been raising a lot on my limp so I limped in for $3,000 more at $3,000/$6,000 and she raised to $22,000.

I was like perfect, this is working just how it's supposed to, so I raised to $55,000 and she thought for about 30 seconds and she moved in for $190,000. And I like fell out of my chair calling and she showed me two aces and I couldn't believe it. I was like "how do you get kings-aces heads-up?"

And then I ran off a four flush. The flop brought two hearts, the turn and the river were both hearts. It was unbelievable.

What's the biggest thing you've learned on the road this year?

You've got to manage your money well. At the start of it to we'd do some crazy things like just go bet $5,000 randomly on black on the roulette wheel, you just can't do that. I've blown… (Stephanie starts rolling eyes, Shannon stops train of thought….)

Before I let you go, what's something no one ever asks you? What does Shannon Shorr have to say that we haven't heard yet?

For the young guys, just to try and manage your bankroll better, and not play these tournaments. There are guys in those $1,500s that probably don't have more than $5,000 to their name, playing for a third of their bankroll, and you can see when they get bad beat out of a tournament they just go ballistic.

You have to be realistic. Especially if you're new to tournament poker, you're probably not going to do well. For every James Mackey story you get there's about 10,000 guys who come to the World Series and put a third of their bankroll on the line… I don't know.

Play the micro-limits until you have a handle on the game. Or a lot of guys, they'll win a tournament for like $200,000 and go out and buy an $80,000 car. They forget that the money's taxed, that's the funny thing. They definitely need to wait until April comes around. I paid so much in taxes it made me sick to my stomach. It made me consider just moving to Australia and never coming back, never paying those taxes. (Laughs).

With the way Shannon builds his stack in Hold'em tournaments, there are a lot of busted tournament players around the circuit over the last year who wish he had.

At last word, Shannon had made a nice run in the Mixed Hold'em event but busted out in 83rd, just out of the money.

Poker News Source: Poker Listings

The $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em poker tournament event began today at the 2007 World Series of Poker and the scooters were everywhere.

At noon today, the Amazon Room found itself packed with the elder statesmen and women of poker for the $1,000 Seniors No Limit Hold'em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker. The over-50 field of poker players was sat and ready to go right on time at noon today because half the day had already been wasted and they don't like it when things don't start on time.

The shimmering silver sheen that hung over the floor of the poker room was reminiscent of the good ol' days of poker back when 21-year-old online poker players were still out getting drunk on their college campuses instead of playing this hallowed game at the WSOP. Although, we did hear the dealers giving several basic rule explanations, so maybe the kids aren't the only ones new to the game. Download poker wallpapers.

We've heard of several last-longer bets, all being sponsored by Cialis*. However, if a player or women poker players stays in the poker tournament for more than four hours they do have to consult a physician. There has also been a rumor that there will be more breaks than a usual event for bathroom needs*. How many bathroom breaks does a senior's event need? Depends. Play $500 match poker bonus.

In the brief but entertaining battle between walkers and scooters in the hallway outside the poker room, scooters are ahead 12 to 9. Looks like elderly poker players prefer the Doyle Brunson look nowadays and are going with the scooter. We'll keep you updated on the count as we spot more. Play online poker.

Some of these scooters look more like mini-vehicles and are better equipped than the cars that we drive. Overheard in the bathroom were two gentlemen on scooters discussing their own respective scooter technologies and it definitely sounded like one of them was suffering from a case of "scooter envy". Play route 66 poker.

While you may think we're being mean, we do have a tremendous amount of respect for those who have been around this game since before the boom, or even before we were born. So, our hats off to them and good luck today. Stay tuned to our poker blog for more updates.

*Completely fabricated.

Poker News Source: Bodog Poker

London has been named the hottest poker destination in Europe by poker magazine Bluff Europe. The top poker publication praised London for the diversity of games available, from home games to high profile poker tournaments, as well as for the enthusiasm with which the capital has embraced the game. Download poker wallpapers.

London has 24 casinos, not to mention countless cardrooms dotted around the city, as well as exciting new casino, The Empire in Leicester Square, that opened with a star-studded bash just last month. The WSOP Europe -- a European version of the World Series of Poker is set to come to London this autumn - further cements the city's reputation as the premier poker destination in Europe. The city will host the London leg of the European Poker Tour and the Grosvenor Poker Tour Grand Final as one of the biggest poker tournaments in Europe. Play online poker.

Furthermore, the UK government's proactive gaming reform will benefit poker in the UK and will regulate online-poker -- the most popular medium for the game. Play route 66 poker.

"London is super hot right now -- it's really making a name for itself on the poker scene. While other cities like Dublin and Barcelona are benefiting from the growth of poker, its London that is getting the greatest number of big money tournaments. With the WSOP kicking off its European contests here, London is becoming a key destination on the world poker calendar -- it's like Europe's Las Vegas," said Bluff Europe editor-in-chief, Michael Caselli. Play $500 match poker bonus.

Other cities ranked for services to poker were Dublin, Tallinn, Barcelona and Monte Carlo respectively. Stay tuned to our poker blog for updates.

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Poker News Source: PR Web

Team Bodog poker player’s Greg Dockus (left) and Sam Hanson (right) are playing in the $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker Tournament.

The $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the 2007 World Series of Poker began just a couple of hours ago and has drawn 1,619 millionaire hopefuls to the Amazon Room at the Rio. Among that huge field are two Team Bodog members, Greg Dockus and Sam Hanson.

Dockus is the logistics exec that we wrote about in our Road to the WSOP series. The thirty nine-year-old has been playing poker for over five years and is a long time seven-card stud player. Download poker wallpapers.

Hanson is buying into several smaller events and feels confident that he can go deep in one of those poker tournaments and use the winnings to buy into the WSOP Main Event.

We wish both of the players the best of luck and we will keep you updated on their progress live from the 2007 World Series of Poker.

Just for the record, it looks like they have easier tables to start the day than Bodog pro women poker player Evelyn Ng. We just spotted her sitting at a table with 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth and two-time WPT champ and 2006 CardPlayer Player of the Year Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. It’ll be a shame to see women poker pro Evy put them both out of this tourney.

If you want to keep up with Evy straight from the source, she is live blogging her WSOP experience over at CardPlayer.com.

IGA in 3D Advertising Deal with PKR

Online poker room PKR.com has announced an exclusive agreement that will see it place in-game adverts from IGA Worldwide across its play money tables.

PKR.com features real-time 3-D graphics and announced that these ads will reach up to 60,000 players each day from its customer base of over 600,000. As part of the agreement, key space within the virtual poker rooms will be converted into high visibility wall posters and logos that will appear on poker tables.

In addition, IGA Worldwide will provide 15 and 30-second video ad breaks between games in PKR’s free-to-play mode in a way that will see no players over-exposed to the same message.

“Advertising on PKR.com will target the crucial 18 to 35-year-old male demographic providing a great opportunity to market everything from the latest gadgets to men’s grooming products,” said Simon Prodger, Marketing Director at PKR. Play online poker.

“Online poker has seen exponential growth in the past year and we’ve been focused on creating as realistic an environment as possible. Advertising will enhance the player’s experience by further replicating real-world poker.”

“This partnership sees the launch of another exciting and valuable vertical in our already leading in-game advertising network by including one of this year’s hottest gaming titles,” said Justin Townsend, CEO of IGA. Stay tuned to our poker blog for updates.

Paul Phillips. Route 66 poker - $500 match poker bonus.

Poker News Source: Bodog Poker & iGaming Business

CURTIS BIBB made $8,000 an hour, putting on a two-day clinic that might as well have been titled “How to Win an Omaha High-Low Poker Tournament.” BIBB played 15 laborious hours on the first day, plus another eight hours of overtime on day two at the final table, and raked-in the last pot of the tournament – worth $160,000 in prize money.

The poker tournament began with 374 players & women poker players, making it the largest Omaha High-Low field in World Series of Poker history. Big names like Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Sexton, and several other former gold bracelet winners played in the event. But in the end, it was a 47-year-old local poker pro named CURTIS BIBB who won all the chips and captured his first world championship. Download star poker wallpapers.

At 4:00 pm, the nine finalists took their seats at the feature table. CURTIS BIBB enjoyed an appreciable chip lead, with $125K over his closest rival – LOI TRAN with $85K. It took only a few minutes for the first player to go out.

Two-time bracelet winner STEVE ZOLOTOW started the day in decent position. But nothing went right at the final table for the former bar owner and financial consultant from New York City. “Z” was hoping to scoop a big pot with the powerhouse high A-A-K-Q, but was disappointed to see RICK FULLER prevail with J-10-9-8. The final board showed Q-8-4-8-4 giving FULLER trip eights. “Z” was making his 25th “cash” at the World Series (his first came in 1985). He added $10,320 to his lifetime winnings at the WSOP, which now totals $719,845 as per our poker blog report.

Next, another final table veteran went out when GREG MASCIO exited in 8th place. MASCIO, a pro poker player from Fullerton, CA, has a remarkable record in Omaha High-Low events at the WSOP. He has a 16th, an 11th, an 8th, and a 2nd place showing in four Omaha cashes, since 2000. His biggest win, to date, was $90,820 in this same event back in 2002. Low on chips, MASCIO made his last bet of the night when he flopped two pair. But online poker pro JIM MEEHAN rivered a straight, which put MASCIO on the rail with $15,480.

Nearly an hour later, SHAWNE PORTMAN found himself in a desperate situation. Low on chips and running “card dead” at the worst possible time, PORTMAN made his final stand with K-Q-Q-8. RICK FULLER had A-J-J-4 and flopped a jack, which essentially left PORTMAN drawing slim. He failed to hit the queen, and exited the table in 7th place – good for $20,640.

One of the more interesting personalities at the final table was MICKEY “MOUSE” MILLS, who play online poker. Proudly wearing a portrait on the smiling Disney character on his chest, the mouseman infested the final table for three hours before he was finally exterminated by CURTIS BIBB. MILLS went “all in” with a small raise before the flop with A-Q-9-8, and was called by two players. In the end, BIBB’s J-7-x-x stomped MILLS with a full-house when the final board showed J-J-7-7-3. MILLS, an attorney and real estate investor from Ocean Beach, CA, collected $25,800.

JIM MEEHAN was the subject of some controversy at this final table, due to his often lengthy (and presumably intentional) pauses between decisions. MEEHAN’s habit is to ponder each and every decision for several seconds, which sometimes extends past a full minute. Such action might not seem problematic – but when the action is delayed repeatedly over several hours, opponents are sure to become annoyed. That’s exactly what happened at this final table, as MEEHAN repeatedly stalled for time. PAUL PHILLIPS, the flamboyant dot.com multi-millionaire and poker champion became exasperated at several points, hoping to speed up play to a normal pace. PHILLIPS enjoyed some gratification when he finally knocked out MEEHAN – the winner of last year’s $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event. MEEHAN quietly walked away in 5th place, with $30,960 in prize money.

Things moved along quickly as another player went out just four hands later. LOI TRAN, from El Monte, CA had the chip lead at one point, but failed to close out the victory. On his final hand, TRAN made two pair, but lost to RICK FULLER’s higher two-pair, with a made-low. TRAN ran to the moneyman, and received $36,120 for 4th place.

Nearly six hours had passed and it was now PAUL PHILLIPS turn to sparkle as the chip leader. He amassed well over half the chips on the table when play became three-handed. Play $500 match poker bonus.

This was a special day for RICK FULLER. Not only was he playing at his first final table for $160,000 in prize money, it was also his 31st birthday. FULLER received a couple of nice birthday presents along the way, getting chips from unwilling donators at the final table. But CURTIS BIBB spoiled the party when he was dealt K-10-10-8 and made trip eights, effectively eliminating the birthday boy. FULLER, who had two 7th place finishes at the World Poker Challenge in Reno earlier this year was paid $41,340 as the third-place finisher.

The final duel was an “all Las Vegas affair.” The two local pros battled back and forth for nearly an hour before BIBB went on a massive rush and blew PHILLIPS off the table. PHILLIPS enjoyed the chip lead when the showdown began – with a $345 to $216 advantage. But BIBB gradually narrowed the gap and took control of the table in the closing minutes.

With nearly $80,000 at stake (the difference between first and second place), the finale pitted the dot-com millionaire turned tournament pro (PHILLIPS), against a longtime successful cash game player and Omaha High-Low specialist (BIBB). With all due respect to BIBB, who clearly earned his victory, he was pushed across the finish line by hurricane force winds, the benefactor of an enormous rush of cards that bulldozed PHILLIPS chips across the table into BIBB’s steadily growing stack. Close to midnight, the final hand of the tournament was dealt: BIBB: A-J-7-3 PHILLIPS: K-J-10-9

When the flop came A-Q-8, PHILLIPS bet out and was “all in” with the straight draw. BIBB called with top pair, then turned another ace on fourth street. PHILLIPS missed the straight when another 8 fell, which meant CURTIS BIBBS was the new $1,500 buy-in Omaha High-Low champion.

PAUL PHILLIPS has enjoyed tremendous success in tournaments since he sold off his company and took up poker / online poker as a vocation. He steadily improved to the point where he is now one of the game’s most recognizable figures, his fame boosted by appearance at poker tournaments on television. PHILLIPS remains one of the game’s most expressive personalities, although his demeanor was largely subdued while at this final table. PHILLIPS took the defeat well, and collected $82,580.

“Paul could have won this tournament just as easily as me. He played very well,” the victor said afterward, who also plays route 66 poker.

But PHILLIPS disagreed. “He was a stone lock (to win) when we got heads-up because he plays high-limit short-handed Omaha constantly – and Omaha (is not my best game).”

Just as CURTIS BIBB was about to be paid $160,000 in cash, he made some interesting personal observations: “I used to play in only a few tournaments a year. But this year, you’re going to see me a lot more. Television and the Internet have done a lot for poker. It’s brought in so many new faces. Years ago, when I played – there were 70 people in an event like this. You’d look around, and know just about every player. But now, when I play I see new players & women poker stars coming into the game. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Poker News Source: Poker Pages

Everest Poker's latest round of Everest Avalanche qualifiers have been announced as more players prepare to head for the live final event, but remain unaware of exactly where that game will take place. The Everest Avalanche has been a nine month run of online and live qualifiers with the final location a closely guarded secret, and the last batch of Round Three winners will be among those that get to find out and play there. Eleven players will make it there from the last round - four from Germany, one from Italy, one from Sweden and five from France.

Paul Phillips

News Source: Launch Poker