As many readers are aware, Duhamel was recently a victim of a home invasion, robbery and assault after his ex-girlfriend and poker player Bianca Rojas-Latraverse, along with 3 accomplices, fooled Duhamel into letting them into his condo. The poker champ was tied up and physically assaulted, forcing him to reveal the combination to his home safe. The thieves then made off with $40,000 Canadian dollars, 74,000 Euros, a personalized Rolex watch and his prized WSOP bracelet.

The other half of the stolen cash, along with the WSOP bracelet, has not yet been recovered. There seem to be no conclusive information on how much the bracelet is worth in monetary terms – the mainstream media is reporting a value of $40,000 – but in any case a personally engraved WSOP Main Event bracelet which has been reported stolen does not seem a liquid asset that one could easily sell without incriminating the seller, unless the metal was melted down, effectively destroying the collectible value of the bracelet. The bracelet is most likely made of precious metals like gold and platinum, but the melt value of the bracelet would certainly be far below the reported $40,000. (At today’s gold prices, the bracelet would need to be made of 1.7 lb in pure gold in order for it to have a melt value of $40,000 making for a pretty uncomfortable piece of jewellery to wear!) The other piece of jewellery stolen, the Rolex watch, was also personally engraved and thus just as difficult to sell. Combine this with fact that the invasion and robbery was committed brazenly in the presence of the victim and was apparently orchestrated by an ex-girlfriend gives the crime the appearance of being motivated by personal vendetta rather than financial gain. Seeing that Rojas-Latraverse has claimed in court to be a professional poker player herself, jealousy of Duhamel’s tournament success might be speculated to be an underlying motive.

Rojas-Latraverse, along with co-perpetrators Anthony Bourque, John Clark, and André-Robert Perron, were arrested facing charges of conspiracy, assault, kidnapping, and breaking-and-entering a few days after the home invasion. Clark and Rojas-Latraverse, the latter of whom is accused of masterminding the robbery, have been denied bail. The accused are to make a court appearance on Feb. 21.

The WSOP is a series of poker tournaments sponsored by Caesar’s Entertainment Corporation. The series dates back to 1970 when Benny Binion invited the six best poker players in the world to compete in a tournament. Since then, the series has expanded to 57 tournaments and its main event is the most recognized poker tournament in the world.

Microgame’s network, called The People’s Network, is the largest network in Italy. Founded in 1996, Microgame  provides fixed odds betting, horse race betting, skill games and poker, instant lotteries and bingo to more than 1.9 million people on over 120 sites.

Microgame will also be the satellite provider for exclusive WSOP events created by the two companies and will help Italian players gain entry into Las Vegas based WSOP events.

Mitch Garber, CEO of Caesars Interactive Entertainment, believes the agreement is a great way to market the WSOP internationally.

“This agreement is a logical step in our European and global expansion strategy to partner with leading local companies as we look to expand the WSOP brand. Microgame is a clear leader in Italy and we look forward to working hard together to grow the poker market.”

Coming into it we had seen a very aggressive Jonathan Duhammel amass a mighty stack of chips, eventually building an enormous chip lead as he eliminated Joseph Cheong in third place. Racener had been taking a more conservative approach, being careful about when his chips ended up in the middle. This strategy served him admirably, carrying him into head-up play, but did leave him somewhat short of chips as Duhammel enjoyed an over 6:1 chip advantage as the two sat down.

When heads up play got underway we didn’t see too many surprises, Duhammel continued his aggression raising most buttons, whereas Racener knew he had to protect his chips and tended to just call preflop. The times that Racener raised over Duhammel’s bets and got folds made up for his folded big blinds, and the chips stayed roughly equal until one hand in which, as usual, Racener just limped preflop. Duhammel checked his option, and both players checked down to the river on a board that read J934T, the river Ten completing both straight and flush draws. Duhammel bet, Racener raised and Duhammel called, flipping over J4 for two pair, enough to beat Racener’s lone pair of fours which he had turned into a bluff.

This hand left Duhammel up nearly 11:1 in chips, and things were starting to look pretty dire for Racener until he picked up pocket queens in the big blind. Duhammel moved all in preflop and Racener quickly made the call, flipping his queens and seeing he was up against King Four offsuit. The board played out with neither player improving, allowing Racener to double-up and be sitting roughly back where he started.

Duhammel continued to press his chip advantage and apply aggression, and was able to slowly but surely get the better of Racener, whittling down his chip stack until the first scheduled break. As play resumed Racener found himself with only around ten big blinds and Duhammel started open shoving most hands, pushing his now nearly 12:1 chip lead. Shove, fold, shove, fold, was the established pattern until Racener found a hand he was willing to go with, shoved, and was met by a fold from Duhammel.

The very next hand, however, Duhammel shoved yet again and was called by Racener who showed King Eight of diamonds. Duhammel’s Ace Jack offsuit was in good shape, and the two would see a board. The 944 flop sported one diamond, but beyond that was no help to Racener. The offsuit Six on the turn was equally as innocent, and finally the Five on the river was enough to seal the deal and eliminate Racener in second place, for which he received $5.5 Million.

With this win Jonathan Duhammel wins $8.9 Million in first place prize money, plus the millions of further dollars in sponsorships and other deals that a first place World Series of Poker Main Event inevitably brings. In addition to the money he will walk with the title of 2010 World Champion of Poker, the gold and diamond World Series of Poker Bracelet, and the fame and glory that can only be achieved by a massive win of this nature.

Duhamel will go in with a monstrous chip lead of 189 million to Racener’s 31 million thanks to winning the largest pot in the history of the WSOP. The hand happened against third place finisher, Joseph Cheong.

Cheong seemed to be the best player at the table. Playing a very aggressive style, Cheong chipped up quickly and became the chip leader. When the action got down to three handed, Cheong revved up his aggression. He became the first player to reach the 100 million chip mark. The hand in question, though, crippled Cheong. In a blind versus blind battle,the hand started with Cheong opening and ended with him 6-betting all in with A7 offsuit. Jonathan Duhamel made the call with QQ.  No A fell for Cheong and Duhamel won the massive 180-million chip pot. Cheong was left with just 10 million after the hand and was eliminated  shortly afterward, winning $4 million in the process.

When asked about the hand, Cheong stated, “It was 3-handed, blind-versus-blind and Duhamel was a really aggressive style of player so I think he was very capable of 5-betting and folding there. I thought I had a read and I went with it. I just tried to trust my instincts.”  He also said he would play the hand the same if he had the chance to do it over. It will surely make for great television.

Italian player Filippo Candio went out in fourth place. He got it in with KQ of diamonds, but couldn’t get there against Cheong’s A3 of clubs. Finishing in fourth won Candio $3.09 million

The biggest remaining name in the tournament, Michael Mizrachi, went out in fifth place. After doubling Racener up with A8 vs Racener’s AK, Mizrachi got it in with Q8 on a Q high flop. Unfortunately for Mizrachi, Duhamel had slowplayed AA. Mizrachi won $2.33 million in a WSOP where every Mizrachi brother (Michael, Robert, Donny and Eric) cashed.

John Dolan was eliminated in sixth, despite starting the day second in chips. Dolan could not get much going throughout the day and ended up shoving Q5 of diamonds and losing a race against Duhamel’s 44. A bit before Jason Senti was eliminated in thrilling fashion. Senti got it all in with AK vs Cheong’s TT. When the flop came KKQ, it seemed a lock for Senti. When a J fell on the turn, though, it gave Cheong some outs.  A 9 on the river gave Cheong the hand and lost the race for Senti in brutal fashion.

Canadian pro Matthew Jarvis was the eight place finisher. He got all in with 99 and made a full house, but Michael Mizrachi’s AQ made a better full house on the river.

Cuong Nguyen, the table’s only amateur, finished ninth. His AK got no help from the board against Jason Senti’s QQ.

Action will resume Monday night. Tune in to see all the action and find out who will be the 2010 WSOP champion.

The World Series of Poker Circuit was introduced in 2005, and is essentially a lead-in to the World Series of Poker. The Circuit stops in a range of cities all around the world, and depending on the size of the stop there can be a number of tournaments of differing poker variants, although the Main Event of each stop is always No Limit Texas Hold’Em. Just as the winner of WSOP events receives a bracelet in addition to prize money, winners of WSOP Circuit events are awarded with a gold WSOP Circuit ring to commemorate their success.

While the World Series of Poker Circuit held its first event way back in 2005, it was just last month in 2010 that South Africa was first home to a stop, as the inaugural World Series of Poker Circuit Africa took place just south of Johannesburg. There was a three-day Pot-Limit Omaha tournament preceding the main event, which was won by Felipe Mojave Ramos. The Main Event itself was of course No Limit Hold’Em, and sported a $5,000 buy-in which attracted 187 hopefuls to the tournament tables of Emerald Resort and Casino.

Among said hopefuls was a 43 year old Johnnesburg local. Warren Zackey, who makes his living selling plumbing supplies, has shown that he has a fair bit of poker talent, by outlasting the 186 other players and taking down the WSOP Circuit Main Event. This is the first major tournament win for Zackey, but he’s experienced some measure of success from poker in the past, most notably at the 2009 World Series. At the 2009 WSOP Main Event Zackey came into day six with the chip lead, and fought hard before eventually busting in 22nd place for a score of just over $350,000.

The $230,000 he picked up for his first place finish last week in South Africa may not be as much in monetary terms, but his mind was surely on the WSOP Circuit Ring as play became heads-up against another South African, Melanie Banfield. It was by no means a short match, and the chips slid back and forth between the players for some time. Eventually, however, Zackey came out on top, winning the tournament with two pair as his Queen Eight off-suit proved good enough for the win. With his victory he receives $231,956, the WSOP C Gold Ring, and goes down in history as the first ever WSOP Circuit Africa Champion.

While there can be no question that Warren Zackey will be feeling an immense amount of pride over his tournament win, he’s not the only one happy with his achievement by any means. Martin Rice, CEO of the Emerald Resort and Casino where the stop was hosted, commented, “It’s particularly appropriate that the inaugural WSOP Africa Main Event has been won by a South African, and that he had played for the title against a compatriot,” summing up the feeling of national pride that South African poker fans are currently enjoying. He then went on, pointing out that “it proves that South African players are a force to be reckoned with in the world of poker.” This is undoubtedly true, and Warren Zackey has shown that he alone is also a force to be reckoned with, so we shall almost certainly be hearing more from him in the future.

The official final table results are as follows:

1. Warren Zackey — $231,956
2. Melanie Banfield — $143,348
3. Kyri Patsalos — $103,845
4. Raj Aiyalavajjala — $76,650
5. Rob Fenner — $57,603
6. Maria Ho — $44,045
7. Hugh Todd — $34,250
8. Jason Strauss — $27,081
9. Muaaz Gani — $21,759

Harrah’s will no longer allow one entity to put their patch on more than three players at the final table. This comes as really bad news for Full Tilt Poker. They have managed to sponsor seven of the final nine players at the final table, one being Michael Mizrachi. Full Tilt Poker must rip their patches off four players. It has been speculated that as some players get eliminated from the tournaments, Full Tilt Poker would be allowed to transfer badges to a remaining sponsored player. However, another WSOP rule will not allow a player to add a patch once filming has begun. Michael Mizrachi will obviously don the Full Tilt Poker logo with the two next biggest chips stacks being the most likely to be wearing the FTP patch.

Make sure you don’t miss the World Series of Poker’s November Nine, this weekend on November 6th at 12:00pm ET. All players at the table will be chasing poker’s most coveted prize, the WSOP Main Event bracelet, along with the $8,944,138 top prize. It will certainly be one of the most exciting final tables in ages!

Patgorski, who posts on FTR as “gabe”,  started a stacked final table that included Brandon Adams, Shannon Shorr and Bernard Lee, with a sizable chip lead. He added to that chip lead early by eliminating Tony Hartmann in 8th when Gabe’s A3 beat Hartman’s 42 unimproved. Patgorski continued his momentum when Shannon Shorr’s JJ failed to improve against his AA. The hand sent Shorr to the rail in 6th place.

Heading into 3-handed play, Patgorski had over half the chips in play. Unfortunately, a bit too much aggression crippled his stack. Anderson raised to 90,000 on the button and Gabe 3-bet to 300,000 from the small blind. Anderson 4-bet to 650,000 and Patgorski 5-bet shoved over the top. Anderson called and showed J J. Patgorski was caught 5-bet bluffing with A6 and failed to outdraw Anderson as the board ran out J 9 3 Q Q. The pot gave Anderson a commanding chip lead.

Anderson’s chip lead proved to be too much to surmount during heads-up play. The end came when Anderson and Patgorski got into a raising war preflop. After 3-betting to 325,000 before the flop and being 4-bet by Patgorski, Anderson 5-bet shoved all-in. Patgorski called and showed AJ, but was way behind Anderson’s AA. The board was no help to Patgorski and Anderson became the first Regional Champion of the WSOP Circuit season.

Here are the results from the WSOP Regional Circuit Final Table:

1st: Jim Anderson – $525,449
2nd: Gabe Patgorski – $324,770
3rd: Bernard Lee – $236,368
4th: Curt Kohlberg – $174,807
5th: David Sands – $131,299
6th: Shannon Shorr – $100,151
7th: Brandon Adams – $77,556
8th: Anthony Hartmann – $60,952
9th: Mark Owens – $48,615

And when the cards finally hit the air on Day Three, it was FlopTurnRiver’s own Gabe Patgorski in the lead. His stack of 729,000 chips  bested a field which included such names as Steve Zolotow, Brandon Adams, Bernard Lee, and Justin Smith. Twenty-four players were still alive, all having made the money.

Leading throughout the day, Patgorski was involved in several of the game’s largest hands. One of particular note came midway through the session, when Bernard Lee and Curt Kohlberg squared off with the big stack. Patgorski limped in from the cutoff, followed by a completion from Kohlberg in the small blind and a check from Lee. The flop came 8h8s5c, inducing a check from the entire table. After the Kh landed on the turn, Lee then placed a bet of 21,000 chips, which called quickly by Patgorski. After Kohlberg declined to continue, the river card came – 7c. Lee took a stab with 28,000, and was again quickly called by Patgorski.

But here’s where things get interesting. Following the call, Lee snap-mucked his cards, and Patgorski turned his cards into the dealer, face down. Unlike many states which require the winning player to reveal their cards, Indiana does not require a showdown. Once things were explained to Lee by the floor, the game was allowed to move forward.

The action has moved swiftly along, and has now reached the final table. Patgorski has maintained his lead, and is currently the only player with more than 2,000,000 chips. Here’s how the rest of the table shaped up…

#1 – Gabe Patgorski (2,263,000)
#2 – Dave Sands (1,360,000)
#3 – Shannon Shorr (905,000)
#4 – Curt Kohlberg (863,000)
#5 – Bernard Lee (401,000)
#6 – James Anderson (345,000)
#7 – Mark Owens (270,000)
#8 – Anthony Hartmann (194,000)
#9 – Brandon Adams (155,000)

The bubble man in the equation was poker legend Steve Zolotow, who was knocked out by Dave “Doc” Sands after pushing all-in preflop with Ks2s. Sands called immediately with Ah4d, and the board went Tc9c5sAdKh. For his efforts, Zolotow takes home $39,346.

As voted upon by the public, the final voting results were as follows:

1. Chris Ferguson
2. Barry Greenstein
3. Jennifer Harman-Traniello
4. Dan Harrington
5. Phil Ivey
6. Linda Johnson
7. Tom McEvoy
8. Daniel Negreanu
9. Scotty Nguyen
10. Erik Seidel

The above listing is arranged alphabetically, not in accordance with the amount of votes received.

A gaming institution since 1979, the Poker Hall of Fame has been a part of the Harrah’s Entertainment family since 2004. Only the best in the game are considered for enshrinement in this virtual establishment. Currently, there are 16 living players, bringing the inductee total to 38. According to the WSOP (which was another of Harrah’s purchases in ’04), the induction ceremony is held annually, at a time concurrent with the running of the Main Event’s final table.

The requirements for induction, as listed on the WSOP’s website, are as follows:

* A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition
* Played for high stakes
* Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers
* Stood the test of time
* Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results.

Following their selection by the public, each of these candidates will then be evaluated by each of the living players already in the Hall of Fame, as well as a 17 person media panel. Only they can decide whether or not a nominee will be enshrined.

It is the most anticipated day for poker fans: the day the Main Event first day airs. ESPN, of course, began the WSOP shows with four weeks of the $50,000 Players Championship and Tournament of Champions. However, it is the Main Event that everybody is waiting for. There is no better man to be featured at the feature table than Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. The three-time bracelet winner will have plenty to say after losing $2 million to Ted Forrest in their famous weight bet.

Another player guaranteed to get a lot of camera coverage is Michael Mizrachi. After winning the $50,000 Players Championship, he continued his WSOP by playing in day 1A of the Main Event and finishing with over 100,000 in chips after his first day. Other famous people taking part in day 1A are comedian Ray Romano and basketball player Shawn Marion. Make sure to watch tonight and every Tuesday night until November 9 from 8pm to 10pm ET for all the poker action!