Top News – The Cruise, the Witch and the World Series

While the whole world is going crazy about the World Cup, some people, and quite many actually, are playing poker in Vegas at the World Series of Poker and... watching football, of course, and betting, betting and betting. Unfortunately, OnlinePoker10 will not tell you how Phil Ivey lost 10 million on his bet for England, but what we will tell you is the latest news about the happenings in the poker world. Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein are exploiting WSOP for honorable causes – Ante Up for Africa charity event will take place during the World Series again.

Those who like playing poker and cruising the Caribbean at the same time should start booking their cabins on the Ante Up Poker Cruise; poker and World Cup have now much more in common after PokerStars have signed one of the football stars and french online poker players were in a bit of a shock last week after PokerStars said they can't play cash games anymore – these are the top poker stories we're bringing to your attention this week.

WSOP for Charity

Poker and charity more and more often come together – the number of charity poker events is constantly growing, poker stars are getting involved in various fundraisers, promote charities and donate their winnings for honorable causes. One of the best known poker charities – Ante Up for Africa is once again hosting a special poker event at the World Series of Poker.

This nonprofit organization, founded by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein is dedicated to raising awareness for Africans in need. This year, Ante Up for Africa is launching an online campaign to raise $10,000 by the start of the WSOP Main Event on July 5.

“$10,000 is enough to change one person's life at the World Series of Poker. But in Africa, it can change thousands of lives,” Annie Duke says. “With the poker world focused on the WSOP right now, we're hoping poker players will once again step up and contribute, and even put aside at least the money towards one satellite buy-in, and instead donate it online to Ante Up For Africa, where the money can provide much-needed assistance to those in need in Africa.”

Want to make a contribution? Visit AnteUpforAfrica.org

Online Poker in France – To Be or Not to Be

Last week french PokerStars players were shocked to learn that they will no longer be able to play cash games on the world's largest poker site. An email from PokerStars to a french player was published in a thread on PoketFives saying that all real money games are to be blocked for players from France.

Here's the full text:

Access to real money games will be blocked for player from France on PokerStars.COM at about 9:30 PM CET today, June 24, 2010. Players will be unregistered from the tournaments that start after that time.

All money in PokerStars accounts is 100% safe, and is available for withdrawal. You can choose to cash out now if you prefer.

You may also play on PokerStars.fr for play money now, which you can download from the www.pokerstars.fr web site. We will be running free tournaments on PokerStars.fr this weekend to win seats in live French Poker Series events.

We will provide more information in the near future.

We apologize for this inconvenience, which is mandated by law, and look forward to continuing to serve our French customers at PokerStars.fr

Regards,
PokerStars Team

However, it appears that the french will be able to play online poker on PokerStars after all. According to the press release, the situation is about to change after June 30 as soon as the French government has published the regulations for online poker. Soon after that cash games on PokerStars.fr were to be launched.

“PokerStars.fr aims to be one of the leading online poker operators from the day the French market opens, offering players the best tournaments, promotions and opportunities to win seats at PokerStars world-renowned international tournaments,” PokerStars French Country Manager said.

Want to play a cash game on the world's biggest poker sites yourself? Join PokerStars today.

PokerStars' Witch on the Pitch

We recently told you about PokerStars signing one of the best goalkeepers in the world – Gianluigi Buffon, but since Italy got kicked out of the World Cup so soon, PokerStars decided they need someone who could actually win this and then boast about it. So the new football start to represent PokerStars in the world of football and South America is Juan Sebastián “Brujita” Verón.

The veteran of the game, also known as the “Little Witch” has played for such big European clubs as Lazio, Manchester United, Chelsea, Inter Milan and is now back to Argentina defending his home club colors - Estudiantes de La Plata. Verón is also the member of the Argentinian national football team main squad playing in the World Cup in South Africa.

“It is truly a pleasure for us to have Verón as an Ambassador for PokerStars.net,” said Sarne Lightman, PokerStars' Latin America Marketing Director. “His sporting and competitive spirit embodies the values of our brand and we feel very proud that this great soccer player decided to represent the number one poker site in the world.”

And here's the new PokerStars.net video featuring the newly signed Veron:

Cruising is Amusing

The Ante Up Magazine is cruisin' the Caribbean for the third time and all poker fans are invited. If you want to be a part of the poker crew October 25 through 29 you may book your seat today on AnteUp.com or win one of the Treasure Chest Poker monthly events and choose Ante Up Cruise-for-2 package as your main prize.

Apart from the fact that the Poker Cruise will be spinnin' with poker events – tournaments, live games, sit-n-gos and even a free poker class, the Royal Caribbean's Monarch of the Seas will take you to Nassau, CocoCay and the Bahamas.

So pack your bags and book a cabin on the Ante Up poker cruise for the best holiday mix – poker and the Caribbean.

WSOP Top10's

The 2010 World Series of Poker is heading towards it's end as more and more events reach their finale and new bracelet winners are announced. This week we give you the winners of 13 more WSOP events along with the best 10 in every each of them.

Event #36: $1,000 No Limit Holdem

1. Scott Montgomery – $481,760
2. Mick Carlson – $297,996
3. Adam Richardson – $210,892
4. Daniel Fuhs – $152,655
5. Sebastien Roy – $111,783
6. John Dolan – $82,804
7. Peter Dufek – $62,033
8. Timothy Beeman – $46,985
9. Michael Michnik – $35,986
10. Daniel Carbonari – $27,862

Event #38: $10,000 Pot-Limit Holdem Championship

1. Valdemar Kwaysser – $617,214
2. Matt Marafioti – $381,507
3. James Calderaro – $284,845
4. Konstantin Bucherl – $214,106
5. Dani Stern – $161,934
6. Tom Marchese – $123,264
7. Peter Jetten – $94,394
8. Blair Rodman – $72,754
9. Alexander Kuzmin – $56,404
10. Sam Stein – $44,010

Event #39: $1,500 No Limit Holdem Shootout

1. Steven Kelly – $381,922
2. Jeffrey King – $236,819
3. Derric Haynie – $161,117
4. Dustin Dirksen – $112,214
5. Reagan Leman – $78,361
6. Brett Shaffer – $56,446
7. Paul Varano – $40,887
8. Michael Cooper – $30,119
9. Justin Scott – $22,575
10. Michael Pesek – $17,294

Event #40: $2,500 Seven Card Razz

1. Frank Kassela – $214,085
2. Maxwell Troy – $132,229
3. Melville Lewis – $85,284
4. Vladimir Shchemelev – $61,795
5. Mikko Pispala – $45,433
6. Jennifer Harman – $33,890
7. Stuart Rutter – $25,646
8. Chris Bjorin – $19,686
9. Thomas Tiller – $15,329
10. Arthur Cobb $15,329

Event #41: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Split-8 or Better

1. Steve Jelinek – $245,871
2. John Gottlieb – $151,884
3. Anders Taylor – $97,913
4. Michael Chappus – $71,728
5. Ben Lamb – $53,319
6. Mandy Thomas – $40,169
7. Phil Hellmuth – $30,633
8. Ryan Karp – $23,635
9. Joel Ettedgi – $18,432
10. Jeffrey Baker – $14,544

Event #42: $1,500 No Limit Holdem

1. Dean Hamrick – $604,222
2. Thomas O'Neal – $375,627
3. Ian Wiley – $265,869
4. Niccolo Caramatti – $191,744
5. Aaron Kaiser – $140,013
6. Ryan Hemmel – $103,461
7. Andrew Rosskamm – $77,392
8. Thomas Johnson – $58,571
9. Aaron Gustavson – $44,856
10. Michael Swick – $34,748

Event #43: $10,000 H.O.R.S.E.

1. Ian Gordon – $611,666
2. Richard Ashby – $378,027
3. Eugene Katchalov – $248,831
4. Marco Johnson – $181,503
5. Matt Glantz – $135,040
6. Carlos Mortensen – $102,237
7. Nick Schulman – $78,654
8. Marco Traniello – $61,414
9. Scott Fischman – $48,638
10. Brian Townsend – $48,638

Event #44: $2,500 Mixed Holdem

1. Gavin Smith – $268,238
2. Danny Hannawa – $166,005
3. Timothy Finne – $110,324
4. Michael Michnik – $81,871
5. Jamie Rosen – $61,441
6. Jarred Solomon – $46,562
7. Daniel Idema – $35,601
8. Dwyte Pilgrim – $27,438
9. Mike Santoro – $21,304
10. Alfonso Amendola – $16,663

Event #45: $1,500 No Limit Holdem

1. Jesse Rockowitz – $721,373
2. Raymond Coburn – $446,274
3. Thiago Nishijima – $315,828
4. Kevin Odell – $228,614
5. Michael Goldfarb – $167,405
6. Steven Brown – $124,006
7. Shaun Malough – $92,900
8. Justin Conley – $70,365
9. Johan Jakobsson – $53,892
10. Edward Yoo – $41,725

Event #46: $5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better

1. Chris Bell – $327,040
2. Dan Shak – $202,142
3. Dave Ulliott – $150,925
4. Joe Ritzie – $113,444
5. Erik Seidel – $85,800
6. Leif Force – $65,311
7. Rob Hollink – $50,014
8. Perry Green – $38,549
9. Jeremy Harkin – $29,886
10. David Nowakowski – $23,318

Event #47: $1,000 No-Limit Hold’em

1. Shawn Busse – $485,791
2. Owen Crowe – $300,494
3. Pekka Ikonen – $212,660
4. Chuan Shi – $153,935
5. Wenlong Jin – $112,720
6. Ilya Andreev – $83,498
7. Jason Mann – $62,553
8. Allan Bække – $47,379
9. Adam White – $36,287
10. Manuel Davidian – $28,095

Event #48: $2,500 Mixed Event

1. Sigurd Eskeland – $260,497
2. Steve Sung – $160,952
3. Alexander Wice – $102,314
4. Nikolai Yakovenko – $73,776
5. Stephen Su – $54,032
6. Scott Seiver – $40,175
7. Jared Jaffee – $30,319
8. Kirill Rabtsov – $23,223
9. Matthew Vengrin – $18,045
10. Todd Brunson – $18,045

Event #49: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em

1. Michael Linn – $609,493
2. Taylor Larkin – $378,905
3. Mihai Manole – $268,189
4. Benjamin Smith – $193,418
5. Chadwick Grimes – $141,235
6. Alexander Kuzmin – $104,364
7. Justin Zaki – $78,067
8. Erle Mankin – $59,082
9. Tyler Cornell – $45,247
10. John Myung – $35,051

And that's it for this week's poker news and events, join us next time for more Top News at OnlinePoker10.

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