WPT to Host Tournament in Honor of Dr. Jerry Buss

In February, one of the most popular “non-poker” poker celebrities, Dr. Jerry Buss, passed away. The former owner of the Los Angeles Lakers had been battling cancer for quite some time, finally losing the battle at the age of 80. This Sunday, August 25th, the World Poker Tour Foundation will hold a tournament in his honor at his home casino, the Bicycle Casino in Bell Gardens, California.
The Frank Mariani & Jerry Buss No-Limit Hold’em Poker Tournament will require a $365 buy-in and will feature a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000. 25 percent of the prize pool will be donated to the Los Angeles Lakers Youth Foundation, which, according to the Foundation’s website, focuses on “on the use of sports to promote education, teamwork and self-esteem among Los Angeles area youth.”
In addition to the prize money, all players who reach the final table

Alexey Rybin is right where he has been for the entirety of the 2013 bwin World Poker Tour (WPT) Merit Cyprus Classic Main Event: on top. With 2.698 million chips, he holds the chip lead going into the six-handed final table by more than 1.1 million over his nearest competitor. Just one more day remains for Rybin to achieve one of the rarest accomplishments in tournament poker, leading wire-to-wire.
Rybin grabbed the lead on Day 1A, the first of two starting flights, and has yet to relinquish it. In today’s game, it is unusual to see the same person at the top of the leader board for two consecutive days, let alone four, as Rybin has done. The fields are just too big, the tournaments are just too long, and enough luck comes into play to the odds of it happening extremely remote.

Blair Hinkle Wins Inaugural Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open Championship

Battling through a monstrous field and a quality final table, Blair Hinkle was able to vanquish Justin Bonomo heads up to take down the inaugural championship of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open late last night.
Going into the final table yesterday afternoon at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, FL, Hinkle and Bonomo held down the top two slots on the six handed final table. With over 41 million chips between the two (Hinkle held slightly more than a four million chip lead over Bonomo), they represented almost two-thirds of the chips in play.