FYI

It’s September, which means that another month has come and gone for 2008. A new month means a new start for monthly leaderboards all over the internet, including those at Bodog Poker. Who was the lucky player to win it all for August? Read on to find out!

The following people won leaderboard prizes in August:

1. vinnyb9 - 4497 pts
2. manderbutt - 4324 pts
3. Panicked - 4182 pts
4. gotzballz - 4131 pts
5. thatsNice - 3971 pts
6. whatever877 - 3852 pts
7. ParliGod - 3721 pts
8. Troy111 - 3671 pts
9. TonySoprano - 3524 pts
10. EddieOB - 3521 pts
11. WillyNilly - 3485 pts
12. cusee - 3473 pts
13. Swany420 - 3394 pts
14. michaeleahci - 3390 pts
15. grewsum2sum - 3349 pts
16. Balla686 - 3345 pts
17. The Destroyer - 3332 pts
18. nevertilt22 - 3316 pts
19. deadmoney627 - 3314 pts
20. neffro - 3246 pts
21. srmdjt - 3245 pts
22. The Maven - 3219 pts
23. scarface0928 - 3141 pts
24. good82 - 3123 pts
25. Killa_Tyven - 3016 pts
26. WARI0 - 3009 pts
27. boozeorlose - 3007 pts
28. Pdiddy100 - 2938 pts
29. UppyTime - 2850 pts
30. andyvanslyke - 2819 pts

Congratulations to vinnyb9 for winning the Monthly Leaderboard for August! For his efforts he will receive an entry to a 2-table SnG for the chance to win a $12,000 Players Choice prize package. This tournament will take place in January 2009 - for more information and for a list of prizes that the other 29 players won, please click here. Vinnyb9 has been very consistent on the Bodog leaderboards ever since I started covering them. He won the weekly leaderboard a few weeks ago at the start of August, and this past month he has been in the top ten on the monthly leaderboard, 28 days out of the past 30. This is the longest current streak out of all the Bodog players right now.

Last Friday I also wrote about the weekly leaderboard that was happening at the time. Here’s how that one ended up:

1. michaeleahci - 2215 pts
2. vinnyb9 - 1553 pts
3. Swany420 - 1342 pts

Michaeleahci, for his first place efforts, won the chance to play a Bodog pro heads-up for $1,000. When I wrote this article last Friday, I mentioned that he had the largest lead I had ever seen - it was nearly 1,000 points! My prediction ended up correct and no one could catch him before the week was over. He even finished almost 700 points ahead of 2nd place by the time it was all said and done! Vinnyb9, who finished in 2nd place, had a great last few days of the week. When I wrote last week, he was in 14th place. Swany420 moved up from 4th to 3rd, rounding out the top 3.

If you’re ready for some new standings, here is the current top 10 for this week’s weekly leaderboard:

1. iNcOgNiTo888 - 1529 pts
2. Troy111 - 1379 pts
3. Panicked - 1169 pts
4. RezinLife - 1107 pts
5. vinnyb9 - 1101 pts
6. michaeleahci - 1076 pts
7. The Maven - 998 pts
8. rm81 - 983 pts
9. hahaustink - 969 pts
10. Pick6man - 929 pts

INcOgNiTo888 is a new name to me - he has only been in the top 10 three times in the last 30 days. Troy111 isn’t a new name at all, but he has yet to win a leaderboard since I started covering Bodog 5 months ago. Panicked, who took third for the month in August, isn’t a new name at all either. Michaeleahci is in 6th place - perhaps he will make a late week run and try for two weekly leaderboards in a row! I haven’t seen a player do that yet.

And for our final set of standings, here is the current top ten for our new monthly leaderboard:

1. Troy111 - 1547 pts
2. iNcOgNiTo888 - 1529 pts
3. Panicked - 1224 pts
4. rm81 - 1145 pts
5. RezinLife - 1143 pts
6. vinnyb9 - 1101 pts
7. michaeleahci - 1076 pts
8. The Maven - 999 pts
9. hahaustink - 969 pts
10. Pick6man - 930 pts

Troy111 is currently in 1st place for September with 1547 points. Our currently weekly leaderboard leader, iNcOgNiTo888, is in 2nd place, and Panicked rounds out the top 3. Seeing as we are less than a week into the month so far, it is no surprise that the top 10 resemble the top 10 for the week very closely right now. This is sure to change in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back every Friday. See you next week!

P.S. To see complete data for today, please click here. To check out the Bodog network page, click this link: http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/Bodog-Poker-Network.php

If you are running hot right now, head on over to Titan Poker and play some sit-n-go tournaments. Since 2005, Titan has been running special jackpot sit-n-gos, which are growing in popularity every day. Since they were started, over $7,000,000 has been awarded! “This shows that Titan Poker’s jackpot tournaments are very popular and are continuing to grow at a fast rate,” manager Robin Steele commented.

To win the Fort Knox Jackpot, you must win six 6-max sit-n-gos in a row. The jackpot starts at $50,000, but if it is not won by the end of each week, it grows until it hits $200,000! If you find it difficult to win 1st place 6 times consecutively, but you’re able to place 1st OR 2nd 6 times consecutively, you will be awarded $750 instead.

There are also Rio and Maui Progressive Jackpots, both starting with smaller starting jackpots. Like the Fort Knox jackpot, they grow each week if they are not claimed by a player winning consecutive sit-n-go tournaments.

If sit-n-go tournaments aren’t your thing and you’re looking for a chance at a huge multi-table tournament score, get ready for the first weekend of this coming September. That is when the highly anticipated $2.5 million guaranteed tournament on the iPoker network takes place, with a $1500+$80 buyin (good deal for those looking to pay less rake). The first prize will be around $500,000. There are plenty of satellite available on Titan Poker right now, so be sure to hurry over if you want a piece of the action!

To sign up at Titan Poker through FlopTurnRiver.com, simply click any of the links on this page. Doing this will give you a chance at FTR’s exclusive sign up Bonus; click here for details.

Welcome to this week’s version of the Bodog Poker Leaderboard update. We’re a mere two days away from the end of the month which means that the August leaderboard is coming to a close. Who is in the lead right now and is that lead safe? Read on to find out!

As always, let’s see who won last week’s weekly leaderboard first. Here were the top three when it was all over:

1. Balla686 - 2304 pts
2. vinnyb9 - 1839 pts
3. Panicked - 1792 pts

Congratulations to Balla686 for winning the weekly race and the chance to play a Bodog pro heads-up for $1,000. He moved up from 4th to 1st in the last few days of the week, taking the top spot away from Panicked. Vinnyb9 was in 3rd when I wrote last Friday and moved up to finish in 2nd by the time the week was over.

Now for some current standings - here is this week’s top ten so far:

1. michaeleahci - 2035 pts
2. manderbutt - 1094 pts
3. ParliGod - 939 pts
4. andyvanslyke - 933 pts
5. Swany420 - 844 pts
6. WillyNilly - 835 pts
7. bigShelton - 790 pts
8. whatever877 - 789 pts
9. scarface0928 - 764 pts
10. RayRay26 - 763 pts

Michaeleahci has a huge lead with 2035 points, almost 1,000 points ahead of 2nd place manderbutt. This is by far the largest lead I have seen since I started covering the Bodog leaderboards - it’s hard to imagine that anyone will be able to overcome it in the last few days of this week. We can’t rule it out completely, however, especially with so many good players in the top ten right now. ParliGod is more than capable of stringing together a few good tournament finishes, as is andyvanslyke, who won a weekly leaderboard this year back in April.

Now for what you’ve been waiting for: some updated monthly standings for August!

1. manderbutt - 4324 pts
2. vinnyb9 - 4281 pts
3. thatsNice - 3965 pts
4. Panicked - 3937 pts
5. gotzballz - 3861 pts
6. ParliGod - 3709 pts
7. whatever877 - 3700 pts
8. WillyNilly - 3485 pts
9. Troy111 - 3432 pts
10. cusee - 3410 pts

The names in the top ten haven’t changed all that much, but the order of the names has. Manderbutt was in 3rd place last week with 3781 points, but after a great past week of tournaments, he has shot up to 1st place and 4324 points. Vinnyb9 kept 2nd place, and thatsNice, last week’s 1st place, dropped down to 3rd place with 3965 points. The only new addition to the top ten this week is that of cusee; he moved up from last week’s 13th to this week’s 10th. So now the question is, what will the standings look like a couple days from now when August is over? Manderbutt is in the lead right now, but his lead is slim as vinnyb9 is less than 50 points behind him. In fact, less than 100 points separates 1st place from 10th, so anyone in the top ten could potentially move into 1st.

Be sure to come back next week to see who ends up winning it all for August! To see what these players are racing for, please click here for the first ever Bodog Leaderboard article on FlopTurnRiver.com. If you just can’t wait until next Friday to see who ends up winning the monthly leaderboard, feel free to visit the Bodog network page here: http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/Bodog-Poker-Network.php.  To see the complete standings for today, please click here.

It’s Sunday which means that it’s time for another Titan Poker Update. Today’s article features an online tournament success story, information on satellites for Poker Cup Australia 2008, and a story about two Spanish brothers who both won prize packages to APPT Macau through Titan Poker.

Every Sunday night, the sites on the iPoker network host a $250,000 Guaranteed multi-table tournament with a $200+$15 buyin. At the start of this month Reimer Koester, a Germany native, decided to sign up at Titan Poker, and four days after signing up, he decided to play the $250,000 Guaranteed as his first ever online tournament.

To say that Koester ran good during his first tournament attempt is an understatement as he was fortunate enough to place 2nd for $27,500 in prize money. The tournament lasted almost 8 hours and he outlasted almost 2,000 players. “I’m very happy that I did well in my very first tournament at Titan Poker,” he said. “The tournament went smoothly and was a lot of fun - from the very start I managed to play well. Next time I’ll try for first place!”

If you have been keeping track with me as I write these articles every Sunday, I’m sure you will have noticed that Titan Poker really enjoys sending its players to exciting live events. To add to the other events around the world that Titan players are being sent to, players can now compete for prize packages to the Poker Cup Australia 2008, a series taking place between October 12th to 20th in Melbourne.

The Poker Cup Australia 2008 prize packages include accommodations, flight costs to Melbourne, a guided tour to the Healesville Sanctuary, a two-course lunch at the Debortolli Winery, a wine testing seminar, a Yaara River cruise, and (of course) a seat in the Main Event. The Yaara River cruise will have plenty of food, drinks, and a tour of Melbourne’s sites including the MCG and the National Tennis Centre.

The prize packages that Titan is offering to the Poker Cup Australia are worth $8,000 each. To win a package, you must win a seat via the weekly super satellites that are available. If you are looking to get in cheap, you can qualify for a super satellite by playing in another satellite for only $1.50+$0.15. That means that you can win one of these fantastic prize packages by risking less than $2!

Two brothers in Spain recently cashed in by playing some satellites. Instead of Australia, though, they are both going to China to compete in the Asian Pacific Poker Tour Macau in September. Antonio Naves and his younger brother, Bruno, have been playing at Titan Poker for two years. Bruno was the first to win a seat via a Super Satellite back in July, and Antonio followed up just recently this month. Their prize packages are worth $9,000.

“Knowing that my brother would be at the tournament was definitely an incentive for me,” 31 year-old Antonio said. “However, we never really imagined that we would both qualify at the same time and for such a big and important tournament!” Bruno, who is 25 years old, said, “I’m very excited about going to this tournament, especially because my brother will be there. Our family and friends can’t believe that we’re both going all the way to Macau to compete in this amazing poker tournament!”

APPT Macau won’t be the first time the siblings have competed against each other - they previously played together at the Spanish Poker Cup in Madrid. Despite being brothers, however, they don’t often play cards together in the same games. While Antonio enjoys the multi-table tournaments online, Bruno would rather play Sit N Go’s instead. And when asked who the better player is, both brothers claim that he, himself, is the bigger card shark. Perhaps they will settle this debate once and for all in Macau with some sort of last longer bet!

If this article has inspired you to play at Titan Poker, be sure to click the links on this page to sign up through FlopTurnRiver.com. Doing this will provide you with an exclusive Bonus - click here for more details.

It’s Friday, which means it’s time for another Bodog Leaderboard update. Three weeks have gone by in August and the monthly leaderboard race is  intense as players rush to get as many points as possible during these last couple of weeks. There are big prizes up for grabs - to see what the players are racing for, please click here.

First things first - here were the weekly leaderboard winners from last week:

1. Swany420 - 1633 pts
2. TonySoprano - 1542 pts
3. nevertilt22 - 1530 pts

Congratulations to Swany420 for winning the weekly leaderboard and the chance to play a Bodog pro for $1,000. He possessed the top spot just one day this past week, and it was at the right time - the end of the week. On the very last day of the week, he rose from 3rd to 1st place, passing both manderbutt and ParliGod. manderbutt fell from 1st to 4th on the last day, and ParliGod fell from 2nd to 5th. TonySoprano made up the most ground at the end of the week, rising from 9th place to 2nd.

Here is the top ten for the weekly leaderboard from this week so far:

1. Panicked - 1461 pts
2. ParliGod - 1411 pts
3. vinnyb9 - 1205 pts
4. Balla686 - 1201 pts
5. TheMicrowave - 1106 pts
6. Troy111 - 1070 pts
7. gotzballz - 1045 pts
8. The Maven - 1011 pts
9. pplayer13 - 955 pts
10. Pdiddy100 - 918 pts

Panicked is in first place right now with 1461 points. He is no stranger to the weekly leaderboard - he won first place back in May. He has a very narrow lead over second place ParliGod. ParliGod will try not to slip this week and hopefully he will be able to stay in the top three by the time the week is over. Another familiar name, vinnyb9, is in third place. vinnyb9 won the weekly leaderboard just two weeks ago, and he has been in the top ten for the week 12 times in the past 30 days.

Let’s take a look at the August leaderboard, now. Here are the current leaders:

1. thatsNice - 3833 pts
2. vinnyb9 - 3796 pts
3. manderbutt - 3781 pts
4. Panicked - 3599 pts
5. ParliGod - 3525 pts
6. gotzballz - 3487 pts
7. whatever877 - 3356 pts
8. grewsum2sum - 3300 pts
9. Troy111 - 3265 pts
10. WillyNilly - 3129 pts

thatsNice is currently in first place with 3833 points, rising two spots from third place last Friday. His lead is very small, however; vinnyb9, who was in first place last week, is close behind with 3796 points. manderbutt, who was in second place last Friday, rounds out the top three with 3781 points. The players that are doing well this week on the weekly leaderboard are also doing well on the monthly leaderboard - Panicked and ParliGod are 4th and 5th place respectively for August right now. gotzballz had a good week, moving up six spots from 12th place to 6th place. The same can be said for WillyNilly, who moved into the top ten for the week after being in 15th place last Friday.

There is just over a week left for the month of August, and it will be very interesting to see who will keep their places and who will lose them! Be sure to come back next week to see how the standings change for both the weekly and monthly races. If you would like to see the complete standings from today, click here. For the Bodog network page, click this link: http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/Bodog-Poker-Network.php

Welcome to another Titan Poker update. As usual for these articles, I will be bringing you up to speed on the myriad on promotions this iPoker room is offering. They’re sending players all around the world, to events in places that include Macau, South Africa, and Ireland.

Playing large volumes at Titan has its benefits. Last month, the top VIP players at the site participated in the Titan Poker $20,000 VIP Race, taking place between July 24th and July 29th. $11,000 of the $20,000 prize pool was set aside for cash prizes, divided up and awarded to 39 different people. The biggest winner of the race was one lucky man who won a prize package to play in the highly anticipated Asian Pacific Poker Tour event in Macau, which will take place in early September of this year.

The winner of the APPT Macau prize package goes by the name Artem Khudaverdiev and lives in Germany. His package, worth $9,000, includes a $5,300 buy-in to the poker event, hotel accommodations to the StarWorld Hotel, and travel expenses. “Once I heard about this Titan Poker promotion, I wanted to participate immediately,” Khudaverdiev said. “I am happy about winning it and am looking forward to Macau. Thanks Titan Poker for this great opportunity.”
 
The chance to get to Macau through Titan Poker has come and gone, but they plan on sending their players to many other events around the world, as well. In celebration of the Summer Olympics in Beijing, Titan is holding the August Olympic Challenge, and the prizes include four packages to some prestigious poker events around the world. This promotion is available exclusively to Silver to Diamond VIP players of the site, and it began back on August 11th. Participants need to earn 10,000 Points and by doing so, they will receive an entry to the Titan Poker Olympic Challenge Tournament.

The Titan Poker Olympic Challenge Tournament will take place on August 22nd and will, as previously mentioned, have four prize packages for its winners. The person making it in first place will have the chance to visit South Africa and play in the Sun City Million Dollar Poker Tour, which will have a guaranteed prize pool of $1,500,000. The event package includes a free round of golf, a trip to the spa, tickets to a concert, and the choice between a hot air balloon ride or a safari game drive. The package is worth a total of $10,500.

The other three prize packages for the Olympic Challenge are trips to Dublin Ireland. Worth $4,500 each, the packages include a buy-in to the Irish Winter Festival Main Event, where players will fight for an estimated €1,000,000 prize pool. There will also be a private Guinness welcome party.

Titan also has an additional $6,000 prize pool for those who finish outside the final four of the Olympic Challenge. While a few extra dollars can’t erase the disappointment of missing out on a great event package, it’s always better than walking away empty-handed!

If this article has piqued your interest in Titan Poker, be sure to click any of the links on this page to sign up through FlopTurnRiver.com. Doing this will give you the chance to earn an exclusive Bonus - click here for more details.

It will be extremely tough to top the talent that made it to the final table of Event 14 of FTOPS IX. The $535 H.O.R.S.E event saw some of the most talented players online work their way through a stacked field, as well as some of the very best falling just short of the final table. The guarantee for Event 14 was set at $300,000. However, with 655 players participating, the prize pool jumped up to $327,500.

Steve Zolotow had the best performance of any of the Full Tilt Pros, finishing 16th for $2685.50. Just missing the final table were Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire (9th for $3,275), Batera (10th for $3,275), and what is 7×6 (13th for $2,685.50).

As mentioned earlier, the final table had an impressive wealth of talent. Rex55, Jason “OUEmoKid” Potter, MoormanI, yuvee04, and HTBJabroni64 (aka FishOnTilt) made this final table extremely tough, maybe the toughest we’ll see during FTOPS IX.

yuvee04 was the one who overcame all the skill at the final table and he emerged victorious, banking an impressive $70,412 for his efforts. However, as many know, this wasn’t the last noise he’d make, as he took down Event 15 as well! Congratulations to yuvee04 and everyone who cashed big in this event.

1 yuvee04 $70,412.50
2 spadez67 $48,470.00
3 HTBJabroni64 $32,913.75
4 NiceJB $21,287.50
5 MoormanI $13,427.50
6 OUEmoKid $9,497.50
7 Rex55 $6,877.50
8 ms12345 $4,617.75
9 badbeatninja $3,275.00
10 Batera $3,275.00
11 vetiver $3,275.00
12 ChasingIdiot $3,275.00
13 what is 7×6 $2,685.50
14 ElectricFence $2,685.50
15 pflippaD12 $2,685.50
16 Steve Zolotow $2,685.50
17 Purple $2,227.00
18 pcketchange $2,227.00
19 Patreee $2,227.00
20 williemcoy $2,227.00
21 WinnerFish $2,227.00
22 John DAgostino $2,227.00
23 pittrounder $2,227.00
24 HoyaSDaxa $2,227.00
25 Mig_com $1,899.50
26 bixiu $1,899.50
27 jnoco $1,899.50
28 SitAndStack $1,899.50
29 TLV42 $1,899.50
30 cane3418 $1,899.50
31 bakku-shan $1,899.50
32 BrandonPL $1,899.50
33 hersom $1,637.50
34 aks47 $1,637.50
35 KudelyKQ $1,637.50
36 Teledonk $1,637.50
37 xTheory $1,637.50
38 HateItOrLoveIt $1,637.50
39 charder30 $1,637.50
40 FU_15 $1,637.50
41 highlandfox $1,441.00
42 cardsharkk $1,441.00
43 ol muggins $1,441.00
44 agriffrod $1,441.00
45 John Cernuto $1,441.00
46 Tapp that Ace $1,441.00
47 doctavius $1,441.00
48 SamENole $1,441.00
49 STIK123 $1,310.00
50 SATO7 $1,310.00
51 hattrick8810 $1,310.00
52 AofHearts $1,310.00
53 Michnak $1,310.00
54 zestfulyclean $1,310.00
55 duvaldb9 $1,310.00
56 f_aAshaof4our $1,310.00
57 HeBrEw_HaMeR $1,211.75
58 theuglypig $1,211.75
59 G6Dragon $1,211.75
60 pga_hopeful $1,211.75
61 Cool Hand Nuke $1,211.75
62 PearlJammed $1,211.75
63 AJB4 $1,211.75
64 WorstPokerEver $1,211.75
65 muscleu $1,146.25
66 frostey $1,146.25
67 jj42 $1,146.25
68 pjgrace $1,146.25
69 padirk165 $1,146.25
70 yrunaway $1,146.25
71 Awful Player $1,146.25
72 mofaux $1,146.25
73 DuckU $1,146.25
74 auntnickie $1,146.25
75 JROBB $1,146.25
76 Madness $1,146.25
77 Phwap $1,146.25
78 Just_Lucker $1,146.25
79 SENORSCOOP $1,146.25
80 Boosted J $1,146.25

Event 4 of FTOPS IX was a $300 No Limit Holdem tournament, with one rebuy and one add-on. 970 players showed up, causing the total prize pool to pass the guarantee. The final prize pool being $694,500, well over the guarantee of $600,000.

As usual, a ton of notable players just missed the final table. Darrenelias busted out in 10th, winning $6,597.75. Carter “ckingusc” King finished in 12th, also for $6,597.75. Other notables include FU_15 in 18th for $3,472.50, and Exitonly in 22nd for $2,708.55. FTR’s own Johnny_fish (playing as busto_soon) finished in 62nd for $1,666.80. Josh Arieh had the best finish of any of the Full Tilt Poker pros, placing 76th for $1,389.

As for the final table itself, here’s how the players looked coming in:

1. Uwannabone - 1,124,822 chips
2. greezhool - 1,005,891 chips
3. jeansasson - 761,492 chips
4. thakilla - 504,684 chips
5. benvo123 - 461,300 chips
6. bmf823 - 454,839 chips
7. Tomif gsd - 201,540 chips
8. DJ_Ponytale - 198,880 chips
9. ryanghall - 193,052 chips

The two most notable players coming into the final table were Ben “bmf823” Fineman and ryanghall. For those not familiar with Fineman, not only is he an extremely good online tournament pro, but he’s also cashed in live events for over $600,000. As for his online successes, just 8 events after this tournament, he took down FTOPS IX Event 12. That was a $1,000 No Limit Holdem tournament, and his prize was an impressive $300,000!

At the start of the final table, the blinds were at 10,000/20,000 with a 2,500 ante, meaning ryanghall, DJ_Ponytale, and Tomif gsd had no time to waste as short stacks. It folded around to jeansasson on the button, who made it 52,000 to go. Tomif shoved for about 200,000 from the small blind, Uwannabone folded from the big blind, and jeansasson snap called with AKs, dominating Tomif’s A3o. The AKT all hearts flop was a big one, as jeans flopped top two pair, but Tomif held the 3 of hearts for the low, but extremely live flush draw. The jack of spades fell on the turn, giving Tomif some more outs for the chop. However the five of diamonds didn’t do it, and Tomif left in 9th for $11,806.50.

With the blinds up to 12,000/24,000 with a 3,000 ante, even more pressure to make a move was put on DJ_Ponytale and ryanghall, as both were around 140,000 in chips. It folded to DJ_Ponytale in the hijack, and he moved in for 142,000 total. It folded to jeans in the big blind, who had about 940,000. Jeans made the call with K9o, and was behind DJ_Ponytale’s A8s. The 9TQ flop was a killer for DJ_Ponytale, as he was not only out flopped, but had only flopped a lone spade as well. The three of diamonds on the turn killed any flush possibilities, and the river 4 sealed it. DJ_Ponytale busted in 8th place for $16,251.30.

The blinds continued their steep climb, increasing to 15,000/30,000 with a 4,000 ante, making each pot 73,000 preflop with the table 7-handed. Bmf823 had dwindled to 330,000 in chips and he was in the big blind. Action folded around to greezhool in the small blind, who had bmf823 covered by about 4 times. Greezhool made it 72,500 to go, and bmf823 shoved over him. Greezhool made the call, and it turned out to be a blind versus blind cooler as bmf823 held 77 to greezhool’s QQ. The Q82 flop left bmf823 drawing to running quads, which didn’t come. He finished  in 7th for $20,835.

Despite being the chip leader coming into the final table, Uwannabone had been blinding away, down to 351,000 as action folded to him on the button. He raised it up to 76,000, and benvo123 shoved over him from the big blind, with just 30,000 less than Uwannabone. Uwannabone made the call with ATo, and was dominated by benvo123’s AKh. The 87T flop with two hearts was an exciting one, giving Uwannabone top pair top kicker and giving benvo123 an over-card and the nut flush draw. The 6 of diamonds on the turn gave benvo123 some more hope, but the deuce of diamonds on the river didn’t help him, and benvo123 busted due to this bad beat. He won $31,252.50 for his 6th place efforts.

After yet another blind raise, this time to 20,000/40,000 with a 5,000 ante, Uwannabone made it nearly 110,000 under-the-gun, with 590,000 behind. It folded to jeans in the big blind, who moved all in with KJo. Uwannabone made the easy call with pocket jacks. The 546 flop with two spades gave jeans some hope, as he held the king of spades. The turn Q of spades made it even more interesting, and the river 9 of spades completed the impressive beat against Uwannabone. jeans made the flush and Uwannabone was knocked out in 5th place for $43,406.25. Ouch.

The next big hand occurred later at 30,000/60,0000 with a 7,500 ante. By that time ryanghall was all the way up over 2 million chips despite coming into this final table with less than ten big-blinds. Thakilla was in good shape with 1.4 million chips in his stack, jeans was in around 866,000, and greezhool was down below ten blinds himself, with 560,000. ryanghall made it 150,000 to go under-the-gun, which greezhool shoved his short stack over from the big blind. Ryanghall snap-called for about 400,000 more and discovered that he was in a coinflip situation with AKo against greezhool’s TT. The Q94 flop was a dry one for ryanghall. The 6 of hearts did nothing for him either, but the king of hearts on the river was huge, as it gave ryanghall the over one million dollar pot, and finished greezhool’s run in 4th place for $57,296.26.

The blinds were up to 40,000/80,000 with a 10,000 ante, as 3-handed play continued. ryanghall was down to about 1.8 million, while jeans was up to 2 million, and thakilla was down to 1.1 million. jeans folded on the button, while ryanghall just called in the small blind. Thakilla checked his option, and lo and behold, the rail got to see a flop. The flop came AQ2 with two hearts, and ryanghall bet the minimum. Thakilla just called, and the board paired on the turn, with the two of hearts, putting three hearts out there as well. ryanghall bet 140k, and thakilla reraised to 365k. ryanghall responded by pushing and Thakilla made the big call, creating a 2.2 million chip pot. Thakilla showed A6 with the 6 of hearts, but he was dominated by ryanghall’s Q2, which gave him the full house. Thakilla was drawing to one of the two remaining aces, but neither of them came. He finished in 3rd place for $74,658.75.

Heads-up didn’t start too well for ryanghall, with his stack down to 940,000, and jeans all the way up to nearly 4 million. The blinds had jumped to 50,000/100,000, with a 10,000 ante. ryanghall moved all in from the button, which was met by a call from jeans. jeans showed QJs, which was (of course) racing with ryanghall’s pocket fives. The A23 flop with two hearts was a good one for ryanghall, as was the ace of spades on the turn. The king of spades gave him the victory, and increasing his stack to 2 million chips.

ryanghall was back down to 1.5 million, with jeans up to 3.4 million, and jeans popped it to 200,000 from the button. Ryan made the call for 100,000 more, and we were off to the flop. The 8TT rainbow was checked by bother players. The 9 of diamonds came on the turn, and ryanghall checked again, which was met by a 310,000 bet by jeans. The river put out another ten, with the board reading 8TT9T, and ryanghall checked yet again. Jean checked, and ryanghall’s Q9 was good enough to win the big pot, beating out jean’s K3.

The blinds increased yet again, this time up to 60,000/120,000 with a 15,000 ante, when ryanghall limped from the button, with about 2.4 million behind. jeans raised from the big blind to 405,000, with 1,981,512 chips behind. Ryan called, and the flop came TT8 rainbow, with 840,000 in the pot. Jeans bet 460,000, and ryanghall cold-called. The turn was a 9, keeping the board rainbow. Jean checked it to ryanghall, who also checked. The 6 of clubs came on the river, and jean moved all-in for 1.5 million. ryanghall instacalled, as he held T9, good for the nuts. Jean’s ten high straight with 73 offsuit was no good, and ryanghall was the winner of the event, after starting the final table as the short-stack!

Jean finished in 2nd place for a healthy $100,702.50. ryanghall, as first place, earned himself $159,735 for his hard work. Congratulations to everyone who cashed in Event 4! Below is the list of all players who cashed in this event.

1 ryanghall $159,735.00
2 jeansasson $100,702.50
3 thakilla $74,658.75
4 greezhool $57,296.25
5 Uwannabone $43,406.25
6 benvo123 $31,252.50
7 bmf823 $20,835.00
8 DJ_Ponytale $16,251.30
9 Tomif gsd $11,806.50
10 darrenelias $6,597.75
11 chico134 $6,597.75
12 ckingusc $6,597.75
13 LuckyDuckyy $4,861.50
14 ace212121 $4,861.50
15 MVPapa $4,861.50
16 krawiec76 $3,472.50
17 the sacker $3,472.50
18 FU_15 $3,472.50
19 Keith_Dodd $2,708.55
20 PatHuntKK $2,708.55
21 ASTON DBS $2,708.55
22 Exitonly $2,708.55
23 OtherSense $2,708.55
24 califorication- $2,708.55
25 TheAssassin3 $2,708.55
26 aZeg $2,708.55
27 xcptmorganx $2,708.55
28 GetPWN3D $2,361.30
29 snackking $2,361.30
30 MrNissan1 $2,361.30
31 RolandThetrault $2,361.30
32 SLmelonman $2,361.30
33 6 feet under $2,361.30
34 derdings $2,361.30
35 nixod $2,361.30
36 terp4444 $2,361.30
37 chubbawubba $2,083.50
38 jkhp $2,083.50
39 KaKeTKa $2,083.50
40 midein $2,083.50
41 HeyImDro $2,083.50
42 DMill90 $2,083.50
43 peterleah $2,083.50
44 Dingo1010 $2,083.50
45 MadSickoHead $2,083.50
46 twoIcebears $1,875.15
47 kasper74 $1,875.15
48 treysfull21 $1,875.15
49 jason jiang $1,875.15
50 eisenhower1 $1,875.15
51 govshark2 $1,875.15
52 Paidu2play $1,875.15
53 Wiscomurray $1,875.15
54 GewissBallan $1,875.15
55 Gettin Daize $1,666.80
56 HouseLover $1,666.80
57 pepsi_zero $1,666.80
58 pu-sdaeh $1,666.80
59 hersom $1,666.80
60 C-D-Goes_woodo $1,666.80
61 bigfishy111 $1,666.80
62 busto_soon $1,666.80
63 I Am Ari $1,666.80
64 OnlyPlayRagz $1,527.90
65 Pankratser $1,527.90
66 yuvee04 $1,527.90
67 mpuskad3 $1,527.90
68 grafyx $1,527.90
69 PXFACTOR $1,527.90
70 FCUK01 $1,527.90
71 psychobenny $1,527.90
72 stpauli111 $1,527.90
73 mrjakopberlin $1,389.00
74 ALMULL22 $1,389.00
75 CheckingAccount $1,389.00
76 Josh Arieh $1,389.00
77 Roccanivo $1,389.00
78 chipmongerAA $1,389.00
79 Z06JOE $1,389.00
80 Hixx $1,389.00
81 PayStation $1,389.00
82 LobiS $1,250.10
83 jacob126b38 $1,250.10
84 Kroko-dill $1,250.10
85 Slutaments $1,250.10
86 Baikal $1,250.10
87 Vitaly Lunkin $1,250.10
88 dreedog $1,250.10
89 rur11 $1,250.10
90 Intervention $1,250.10

Hello readers, welcome to Friday and another Bodog Leaderboard update. We’re now half way into the month, which means that the monthly race is starting to get exciting and we should begin to see who will have the best chance of winning it all for August. To see what Bodog players are trying to win, please click here for the first Bodog Leaderboard article on FlopTurnRiver.com. To see a full list of standings for today, please click here. To see the Bodog network page, please click this link: http://poker-network.flopturnriver.com/Bodog-Poker-Network.php.

As always, let’s first take a look at the winners from last week’s weekly leaderboard. Here were the top three:

1. vinnyb9 - 2052 pts
2. manderbutt - 1937 pts
3. thatsNice - 1894 pts

Congratulations to vinnyb9, who absolutely dominated last week’s race - he was in first place for 6 days out of the week! I’m glad to see him finally win a leaderboard because he’s been in the top ten of both the weekly and monthly standings so often without actually winning. Manderbutt placed 2nd for the week and thatsNice placed 3rd. ThatsNice just keeps showing up at the top of these leaderboard standings - when is he finally going to win something?

Now for some new standings - here is the top ten for the current week:

1. sabonis - 1249 pts
2. mr_dynomite - 1249 pts
3. ParliGod - 1198 pts
4. nevertilt22 - 1175 pts
5. Troy111 - 1112 pts
6. Swany420 - 1098 pts
7. andyvanslyke - 1050 pts
8. jackieboy - 977 pts
9. grewsum2sum - 959 pts

There are many familiar names in the list, but I don’t recognize the name of the person in the number one spot. Sabonis, new to me, is currently tried for 1st place with mr_dynomite. Mr_dynomite, in contrast, is very familiar to me, having won a weekly leaderboard this month already, and also one back in June. ParliGod, in 3rd right now, is also extremely familiar, as he won a weekly leaderboard back in July and placed second on the monthly leaderboard last month, too. One name that I’m a little excited to see in that list is that of andyvanslyke - I haven’t seen him around as much as when I first started covering the Bodog leaderboards. Perhaps he took a break from tournaments and is now just getting back into the game.

Moving away from the weekly leaderboard, let’s now look at the monthly leaderboard for August. Here is the current top ten:

1. vinnyb9 - 3534 pts
2. manderbutt - 3393 pts
3. thatsNice - 3162 pts
4. good82 - 3024 pts
5. Troy111 - 3020 pts
6. grewsum2sum - 2946 pts
7. ParliGod - 281 pts
8. whatever877 - 2705 pts
9. Killa_Tyven - 2649 pts
10. nevertilt22 - 2648 pts

Looking at this updated list, some of the names have shifted around and there are new names that weren’t there last Friday. The one thing that did not change, however, is the name in the first place - vinnyb9’s strong finish on the weekly leaderboard last week helped him hold on to the top spot with 3534 points. Manderbutt, the player who finished second on last week’s leaderboard, is following close behind with 3393 points, and thatsNice rounds out the top 3 with 3162 points. You may notice that the top three for the month right now consists of the same people who won last week’s weekly leaderboard, and I found that strange as well! I assure you that I double checked to make sure that I was, indeed, looking at monthly standings and not weekly standings. Killa_Tyven, the guy in 2nd place last week, slipped down a few spots and is in 9th place this week. Panicked, the 3rd place player last week, slipped all the way down to his 14th spot this week.

Looking at the monthly top ten, the one glaring absence is that of alienface. Where is he? I did a search and he is not even in the top 150 for the month of August right now. So then comes the obvious question: is he playing regularly and running bad, or is he just not playing? It will be interesting to see if he shows up in the second half of August - he’s a great player, so you never know. Be sure to come back next Friday to see if he appears on either of the leaderboards one week from now!

The exciting Latin America Poker Tour, sponsored by PokerStars.net, just crowned its third winner in Punta del Este, Uruguay. 351 people from all over showed up to play, creating a prize pool of $851,175. The tournament was held at the Mantra Resort and Casino.

93 players survived through Day 1. Notable big stacks after Day 1 were Greg Raymer, Alex Brenes, and Humberto Brenes. Raymer was near the top of the leaderboard all day, despite being sat at the ‘table of death’ with both Vanessa Rousso and Andrew Akkari. Akkari actually ended up busting to Raymer, running his QQ into Raymer’s AA after getting it all in preflop.

Day 2 of the three day event saw many people going for big stacks, and over half the field was eliminated within the first four levels of play. Raymer’s big stack didn’t take him all the way and he ended up crippled after getting it all in with AK versus 66 and losing the flip. He wasn’t able to come back with a short stack and he busted outside the money.

Alex Brenes broke the money bubble on Day 2, out-flopping his opponent’s TT with 88. Humberto Brenes made the money but went no further, eliminated by fellow Team PokerStars player Alexandre Gomes. Another notable bust was that of Vanessa Rousso, who was eliminated in 10th place. Carlos Alberto Curi was the final elimination of Day 2, not quite making it to the 8-person final table. Alexandre Gomes finished the day with the chip lead.

Here were the stacks at the start of Day 3 and the Final Table:

Alexandre Gomes - 763,000 chips
Gylbert Drolet - 691,000 chips
Jose Miguel Espinar - 675,000 chips
Lisandro Gallo - 465,000 chips
Alex Brenes - 457,000 chips
Paulo Cesar Ribeiro - 281,000 chips
Juan Jose Perez - 167,000 chips
Sidney Chreem - 93,000 chips

The final table started out with three very quick eliminations, with Ribeiro being the first to leave after getting it in with JJ versus Espinar’s KQ on a 6KK flop. He took home $17,025 for his 8th place effort. Espinar caused the next elimination, as well, this time with an impressive bad beat. After 3-betting Perez’s early raise with AJ on the button, he called Perez’s push and found himself against AA. It was Espinar’s lucky day, however; he flopped a gutshot straight draw and although Perez made a set on the turn, he hit the gin card on the river. Perez left with $25,535 and a bad taste in his mouth.

Chreem was the third quickie bust at the final table, losing a flip versus Gallo’s 77 with Q9s. He took 6th place and $34,045. Several hours later, Gallo busted another player in another race situation. This time the victim was Drolet, who held JJ and couldn’t hold after Gallo’s AQ flopped the nut flush draw. Drolet won $51,070 for 5th.

Gomes started the day with the chip lead, but he couldn’t hold it and ended up busting in 4th place for $68,100. He got it in after flopping a gutshot straight draw, a flush draw, and even overcards, but he couldn’t hit versus Brenes’s single overcard and open-ended straight draw. Brene hit his straight and Gomes went home.

Two hours went by as the remaining players sat 3-handed. Finally Gallo, sitting with the short stack, was forced to make a move on the button with Q9, but he got unlucky and Brenes had AA in the blinds. Gallo took home a healthy $93,630 for his efforts.

At the start of heads-up play, Espinar had the chip lead:

Espinar: 1,993,000 chips
Brenes: 1,528,000 chips

Heads-up lasted for a very long time, as neither player wanted to make a big mistake and an impressive $241,735 was at stake! They played for so long that they ended up at the tournament’s final blind level, at the point where there were no further scheduled blind increases. When it finally came for a cooler, Brenes was at the short end of the stick, holding A9 versus Espinar’s AT. At this point Brenes found himself crippled, and he ended up pushing his very own AT the very next hand. Espinar called with K3s, flopped top pair with a flush draw, and it held to eliminate Brenes in 2nd place. Brenes won $126,625 for 2nd and Espinar, as the winner, won $241,735.

Congratulations to Espinar for winning the third event of the Latin America Poker Tour. He has only been playing poker for a year, and this is his first major tournament win. $241,735 is quite an impressive first victory!