If you’re a poker player, you’ve definitely heard the term pot odds before. Pot odds are the odds you will get paid off at if you win a hand. They are an invaluable tool for poker players online trying to determine whether to make a call or figure out how much to bet to get an opponent off of a hand. Online you don’t have the same opportunity to read your opponent as you do in a live game.

If you are not familiar with pot odds you should take a minute to learn the basics. A great poker odds calculator is not hard to find online, and it will improve your game significantly. Read the rest of this entry »

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Tomorrow the 2007 PGA Championship will tee off from the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  While the weather there is expected to be blazing, nobody has been playing hotter than Tiger Woods.  Last week Woods smoked the field at the WGC Bridgestone Invitational by winning by eight strokes and being the only play to finish under par.  It is numbers like that, that allow players from other sports to take notes of what he’s doing.  Hours after Barry Bonds hit home run 756, breaking the all-time major league record, he was asked how his record compares to other.  Basically Bonds said that every record was special, just like it will be special when Woods breaks Jack Nicklaus record of major victories.  That just goes to prove that Woods is transcending sports on all levels, and being just six wins away from tying Nicklaus, we better start taking note soon. 

So far this year though, Woods has come up short in both of this year’s Major Events.  Back in April, at the Master’s Woods finished second, and again in June he finished second at the U.S. Open.  For most people coming in second place in two major events would be quite an accomplishment.  But, Woods and “first place” have become so synonymous that it just almost feels weird that he hasn’t broken the second place hump this year.  The first place victory last week shows the Woods is playing great golf, but what’s even more scary to opponents is Woods says he isn’t even playing his best golf.  The problem is though, his average golf is better than most golfer’s best.  Woods, who won the PGA Championship last year, and looks to be more than ready to defend his title.

One player that the Tulsa locals will be keeping an eye on is there very own resident Bo Van Pelt.  Van Pelt has yet to win a PGA event yet, but has been getting closer and closer.  In his last event, the Canadian Open, he finished 15^th.  A reason some locals are also picking him is because he will be used to the sweltering heat that will near 100 degrees throughout the event.  If he won it would defiantly be an upset, but stranger things have happened.

One player that would love to win his first major is Sergio Garcia.  During the British Open Garcia seemed on par to win his first major, but then he couldn’t even manage a par himself down the stretch.  In golf sometimes the mental barriers are harder to break than any hazard that meets you on the court.  Garcia will without a doubt be battling some demons of his own, but a victory for him here would be oh so sweet.  Garcia also played last weeks WGC Bridgestone Invitational, and finished tied for 20^th.

All together the Southern Hills golf club in Tulsa has hosted 13 major tournaments.  The course was designed by Perry Maxwell in 1935 and was renovated by Keith Foster in 1999.  The par 71, 7,198 yard course will be the next challenge for the best golfers in the world, may the best man win!

2007 PGA Championship Live Odds                2007 PGA Championship Betting Bonus

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Shannon Briggs (48-4-1 42 KO’s) has definitely had a roller coaster kind of career. As a young up and coming knockout specialist of a heavyweight boxer, he was unexpectedly TKO’ed by Darroll Wilson, just as he was moving up the top ten list. But, just five fights later, he reached the ultimate peak, as he defeated then heavyweight champion of the world, George Foreman. You can say what you want about that fight as far as questionable decisions are concerned, but the truth remains that Briggs went into that fight as a big underdog and did enough in the eyes of the judges to walk away with a majority decision, and the heavyweight championship. The roller coaster came tumbling down though in his very next fight when he was defeated by future hall of famer Lennox Lewis in five very exciting rounds of boxing. Briggs has Lewis hurt in the first two rounds, but Lewis then found his groove, and sent the champion tumbling to the canvas a few times before the referee waved off the fight.

A draw with Francois Botha, and an unexpected loss to Sedrick Field seemed to put a crashing halt to the career of Briggs. But, then as he had done so many times, he started the ride back up to the top. He Ko’ed four fighters before taking on his first real test in Jameel McCline. McCline defeated Briggs, but it showed that Briggs may have enough for one last chance.

Briggs took full advantage of that shot, and with a new management team, and trainers, he once again regained the world championship in one of the most exciting fashions ever. Down on the scorecards heading into the final round of his WBO championship fight with Sergui Lyahkovich, he rallied to knockout the champion with just two seconds remaining in the contest.

It’s that above experience that would seem to put him at a huge advantage coming into his title defense against Sultan Ibragimov (20-0-1 17 KO’s). Ibragimov, as noted, has only fought 21 times. It’s not necessarily a given that the fighter with more experience will win, but in this case you have to look at who they’ve fought and how they’ve faired. Briggs has hung in with top fighters like Foreman, Ray Mercer, Lennox Lewis, and most recently Lyahkovich. Ibragimov’s toughest fight was against Ray Austin, the same Ray Austin who was just blown out in two rounds against Wladimir Klitschko.

Austin is a fighter who has served as Briggs’ sparring partner, not exactly the type of fighter you want to have problems with heading into a championship fight. Ibragimov walked away with a draw in that match, after being knocked down in the tenth round. True, Ibragimov was able to knockdown Austin two times prior to the tenth, but he was unable to hurt him enough to finish him when he had the chance. In his most recent outing he knocked out the woefully out of shape Javier Mora in one round. Mora is usually rugged, but decided to come out and slug it out with Ibragimov. The fight was over before it started.

One of Briggs’ major weaknesses is his stamina. As he has moved up the rankings he has also moved up in weight. The muscle has appeared to force him to lose energy quicker, and being a life long asthmatic, that doesn’t fair well. But, he was able to last 12 rounds moving at a lumbering pace against Lyahkovich, and chances are he won’t need to go half that against Ibragimov.

If Ibragimov chooses to come out fighting fast against Briggs, the counter punching of Briggs will come into effect. Briggs, despite maybe losing some speed do to size and age, is still one of the quickest fighters in the game. Many of his KO’s have been due to punching a guy while they were in the process of trying to get to him. Also, the height advantage, nearly four inches in favor of Briggs, will come into play because of the subsequent reach advantage it will give me. The way to beat Briggs, as McCline showed is to try to outbox him. That is not something that Ibragimov has in his game plan. He likes to get inside and try to knockout blow. While that provides a lot of excitement for the fans on TV and the fans at ringside it also could possibly provide a short night for the challenger.

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132^nd Preakness Preview

After a wild and crazy Kentucky Derby, the second or the Triple Crown races is just two weeks away.  On Saturday, May 19^th, close to 120,000 people will pack the stands at the Preakness, to see if Street Sense can move one step closer to the ever elusive Triple Crown.

The Preakness also has the reputation of being more of a party atmosphere.  While it is true that the Kentucky Derby also has a fun atmosphere, you won’t be seeing the Queen of England anywhere near the stands of the Preakness.  Instead you will see a college like party with beer flowing freely.  Also, there will be nobody here caring about the funky hat you are wearing, like they do at the Kentucky Derby.  It’s a great tradition, but the only hat the people here care about wearing is one of their local sports teams. 

At the Kentucky Derby 156,000 spectators cheered on as Street Sense made an improbably comeback.  At the start of the race Street Sense immediately fell back to 19^th place, one place out of last.  The crowd and the televisions announcers were shocked that the favorite was probably looking at a very disappointing finish.  It was about that time that jockey Calvin Borel found a sweet spot along the rail and passed all 18 horses in front of him, including Hard Spun, who had held the lead from the gate. 

Racing experts agree that they have never seen anything like that.  If just one other rider would have used their horse to protect the rail then Hard Spun may have been the winner.  It is almost improbably to think that a horse made up that kind of ground on an inside position.  It isn’t anything shocking that a horse came from way back to win; in fact that’s how it usually happens.  But, those horses usually have to take the long way around, the outside, or try their charge by going right up the middle like an NFL running back. Street Sense not only came back to win, but he won by a respectable 2 ¼ lengths. 

The last Triple Crown winner came way back in 1978, Affirmed.  In the years since nine horses have won two-out-of-the three races.  The most recent was in 2003 when Funny Cide came in third place in the Belmont.  Of Course, Street Sense has a long way to go to laying claim to the first Triple Crown winner in nearly 30 years, but if he has the gumption to come from nearly dead last place in the Kentucky Derby then he just might have what it takes.

An official entry list to the Preakness has yet to come out, but it is certain Street Sense will be in it.  Also, second place winner Hard Spun is expected to compete.  The Preakness is the shortest of the three races, at just 1 3/16^th of a mile.  If Hard Spun can get off the line like he did in the Derby he may walk away with the Preakness in a landslide. 

An outside horse to keep an eye on will be Danzig.  His Rider Mario Pino is the winningest rider in Maryland history.  Pino has raced at the Preakness more than any other of his competitors, so he will in a sense, a home-field advantage.  The situation that arises here is that Pino was the jockey for Hard Spun, so Hard Spun will be under a different jockey

Also considering running the Preakness is Curlin, who finished in third place.  Curlin was the morning-line favorite for the Kentucky Derby. 

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The “Super Bowl” of Boxing: Oscar De La Hoya vs. Floyd Mayweather

On May 5^th the world’s most popular boxer will square off against the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It is easy to see, this fight markets itself. The tickets for the event at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas have sold out weeks ago, and some tickets are selling from various other outlets for more than ten times their face value.

This fight has the ability to do something that hardly any other fights do, and that is to make boxing fans out of people who normally do not watch it. That reason, and the fact it is getting so much press in the main stream, is the reason it is being compared to the annual NFL football championship, the Super Bowl.

Skeptics, which there are a few, but not many, will tell you that neither fighter has fought anyone that good for a few years. For “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (37-0 24 KO’s), the critiques have had a field day. Despite being undefeated, and hardly ever being in trouble in a fight, boxing experts are upset with Mayweather’s resume, or lack thereof.

It has been four years since Mayweather has really been tested. In his first fight against Jose Luis Castillo he won what was a comfortable decision on the scorecards, but appeared much closer than they indicated. This outcry caused a rematch just four months later, where Mayweather appeared to have an easy time with Castillo, but the results on the scorecards were even closer than the first fight. Since then, Mayweather’s toughest opponent was last year against Zab Judah, and Judah was coming off of a loss. The person Judah lost to, Carlos Baldomir, ended up being the welterweight champion, and was then defeated by Mayweather in 12 lopsided rounds. One would think that you would get credit for embarrassing the welterweight champion of the world, but Baldomir had nine losses to his ledger and won the championship in an upset to begin with.

One of Mayweather’s toughest opponents to date has not come in a boxing ring but rather it is his own family. His father, Floyd Mayweather Sr., used to be De La Hoya’s trainer. After De La Hoya did not match Floyd Sr.’s contract request he was no longer his trainer and was replaced by the much respected Freddie Roach. After a short stint in jail, the elder Mayweather was greeted with open arms to his son’s training camp, but just as an advisor, not a trainer. Doing the training already was Mayweather’s uncle, Roger (Are you following?). Recently Floyd Sr. and Roger have been bickering in the press, mainly because Dad wants a bigger role in his son’s training, but Roger wants no part of it. One would think this would be a distraction in Mayweather’s camp, but it probably is not. Mayweather has been used to this tremulous feeling for a long time growing up in the Mayweather house.

For only the second time in his career, “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya (38-4 30 KO’s) will be entering the ring as an underdog. The last time he did was also his last loss, a ninth round KO to former middleweight king Bernard Hopkins. While Mayweather has been criticized for his resume for light competition, De La Hoya has fought decent fighters, but has looked vulnerable in some of those fights. In his fight before the Hopkins KO, he fought German Felix Sturm and squeaked away with a decision. In his last fight, which will be over a year ago from when he steps into the ring May 5^th, was against Ricardo Mayorga. De La Hoya stopped Mayorga in six rounds, but by all accounts Mayorga has been damaged goods for quite a bit.

Overall though, De La Hoya has had the most impressive resume since perhaps Muhammad Ali. De La Hoya has fought numerous former champions in numerous weight divisions, including Hopkins, Mayorga, Sturm, Shane Mosley, Fernando Vargas, Felix Trinidad, and a handful more. That is a virtual who’s who in the world of boxing. Mayweather says he is the best boxer ever, but he never tested his theory against the same fighters De La Hoya has.

With that resume, and the fact that De La Hoya is the naturally bigger and stronger man, it is hard to imagine why this fight is not a pick’em. De La Hoya is easily the best fighter Mayweather has ever fought, but the same can possibly be said for De La Hoya. Mayweather’s boxing ability is unmatched and the way he can change his style based on opponents, or even during a fight, is quite remarkable. The guess here is that a lot of late money will go on De La Hoya. One reason is because he is the biggest name in the sport today, and another reason is that it seems like a good value to bet on, as we said, the bigger stronger man.

However you view it, this is the biggest event in boxing in a long time, and has a chance to break all boxing box office records. At 55 dollars, it is the most expensive Pay-Per-View of all time, but is expected to be bought by the most people ever, with the possible exception of heavyweight title fights.

The Current Odds:

Floyd Mayweather JR. -220

Oscar De La Hoya +170

Over 11.5 rounds -265

Under 11.5 rounds +205

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Main Event: Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga (Winner is number one contender for a shot at Randy Couture’s Heavyweight Championship.)

On April 21^st, the world’s best UFC fighters will travel to the historic MEN Arena. This will only be the second time in UFC history that they have held an event in the United Kingdom, and the first time in Manchester. The event will be televised live in the United States on SPIKE TV. The only other time they went to the United Kingdom was back at UFC 38, in 2002. This is also only the seventh time in history that the UFC will hold an event outside of the United States, the first since the 2002 event in Manchester, so it is clearly been a long time coming. The wait will be well worth it, as they get to see one of the best strikers in all of Mixed Martial Arts today, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.

Cro Cop, as he is more widely known, is one of the most feared fighters in the world today. He has a 22-4-2 record in his MMA career. However, he has only had one UFC fight, but it was a dominate win. In February of this year, he knocked out perennial contender Eddie Sanchez in the very first round.

One of Cro Cop’s losses may also be considered one of his best performances. In 2005, at PRIDE-Final Conflict, he lost a decision to Fedor Emelianeko. If Cro Cop is considered one of the best fighters in the world, then Emelianeko is considered the best. Although Cro Cop lost because he was out struck by Emelianeko, he did do something that most fighters do not do, and that is last the distance.

Cro Cop has won his last five MMA fights, all inside the distance. While he is known for his overpowering strikes, he won two of his last five by submission. The man can do it all, and it will be all Gabriel Gonzaga can do to make the fight competitive.

Gonzaga has a respectable record of 7-1 in MMA and is 3-0 in the UFC. At 240 pounds, he will hold a 20 pound weight advantage over Cro Cop. Gonzaga, from Brazil, implores the style of Brazilian Jui Jitsu. He is known both for his striking game, and his ability to end matches quickly with a variety of submission moves. Cro Cop has only submitted once, a fight back in 2003, but has improved in defense since then.

What Gonzaga has going for him is the same thing Matt Serra had going for him against Georges St. Pierre. Serra was not expected to get anywhere near defeating St. Pierre, going into the fight a huge underdog. Instead, he made short work of St. Pierre, knocking him out at 3:25 of the first round. Gonzaga is actually less of an underdog than Serra was (about 3 to 1) and it is not out of the realm of possibility that backers of Gonzaga would cheer in delight as he landed one of his stiff right hands into Cro Cop and earn the victory.

Other Televised Fights

Light Heavyweights David Heath and Lyoto Machadia will fight in a battle of undefeated Light Heavyweights. The winner will go to 10-0-0 and the loser to 9-1-0.

Opening the fight card will be England’s own Michael Bisping (13-0-0) taking on Elvis Sinosic (8-9-2). If England treats Bisping with the same love they show their other fighters, like professional boxer Ricky Hatton, then the arena could get pretty loud. All and all is seems like a great card and a great opportunity for the UFC to get themselves geared for making more overseas fights.

Mixed Martial Arts Odds 

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On May 5^th the Kentucky Derby returns to Churchill Downs for the 133^rd time. The first leg of the elusive Triple Crown is also generally perceived as the most exciting and important horse race in the world. Speaking of the Triple Crown, it has been nearly 30 years since Affirmed won the last one in 1978. Since then seven horses have won the first two legs of the Triple Crown the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, but were unable to win the Belmont. Every year millions of people who don’t normally watch horse racing get intrigue with the idea of a Triple Crown winner. It all starts in Kentucky. Let’s take a look at the likely favorites and a horse that could surprise everyone.

The Favorite

Almost every year a horse stands out more than any other as a clear favorite to win the Derby and to take a shot at the Triple Crown. However, this year no horse has set itself apart from the others. As of right now (April 12) Street Sense is the current favorite at 5-1. Street Sense won the Tampa Bay Derby on March 17^th, defeating Any Given Saturday by the slimmest of margins. Street Sense pulled some bold moves to take away the lead from Any Given Saturday down the stretch in a back and forth race. His performance has horse racing experts thinking that is exactly the type of performance that is needed to win a race that will have a crowded 18-20 participants. Street Sense has won his last two races and hasn’t finished less than 3^rd in his last six outings.

Other Contenders

Nobiz Like Showbiz is just behind Street Sense at 6-1 odds. Nobiz Like Showbiz has won four out of his last six outings, and hasn’t finished worse than third. Just last month he won the Wood Memorial, defeating another Kentucky Derby hopeful, Any Given Saturday. In that race he displayed great stamina, consistently increasing his lead over the last ½ mile. Even in defeat this horse has shown grittiness and determination, the kind that is impossible to not notice if you are a horse lover. Nobiz Like Showbiz will need to rely on that grit and determination in order to muscle past the other competitors on the crowded track.

The horse Street Sense beat at Tampa Bay, Any Given Saturday was at one time considered the favorite to win. The loss at Tampa Bay may have come as a wake up call to team Any Given Saturday, and they are still a prime favorite to win the Kentucky Derby. Any Given Saturday started off quick, winning his debut at Maiden Race Track by a nose. He followed that up by winning the Allowance by displaying a powerful run down the stretch. It was then he began to get the attention of bookmakers as a favorite every time he races. It was also then though that he began to drop off. He has only won one race since the Allowance, and that was a race he was an overwhelming favorite, so it didn’t really prove much. Any Given Saturday is currently hovering around 15-1 odds.

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WBA heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev has a record of 46-0 with 34 knockouts, yet he still can’t get any respect, especially from American fans. The overwhelming fear of many of these fans is the thought that a 7-footer from Russia could beat all-American boy Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 and then retire. Valuev has been called everything in the book, including “Neanderthal, freak show and circus act.”

So far the Neanderthal, freak show, and circus act has done nothing but win, and in pretty convincing fashion. On April 14, from the Porsche-Arena in Stuttgart, Germany, Valuev, 33, will look to continue his unprecedented ride to the top when he takes on WBA #1 challenger, Ruslan “White Tyson” Chagaev (22-0-1 17 KO’s).

Chagaev, 28, was born in Uzbekistan but now lives in Hamburg, Germany. Chagaev had quite an interesting start to his boxing career. In 1997 he took two fights in America against less than stellar opponents, but won them both and they were credited to his professional record. He successfully had these fights changed to “exhibition” fights so he could go back to the amateur ranks, yet these fights are still listed on his official overall record. Because of his professional fights, he was stripped of an amateur title in which he beat the legendary Cuban heavyweight Felix Savon to win the title. He was officially reinstated as an amateur in 1998, where he continued to find success, winning a slew of national and world titles before officially turning pro in 2001.

He gained the nickname “White Tyson” for the way he was knocking out all challengers much the same way a young Mike Tyson did. His only draw came on his record by way of a fight with Rob Calloway in 2002. In what should have been a TKO victory, Camp Calloway said the cut he had sustained had been from a head butt and they had the result changed to a technical draw. Chagaev would get his KO victory over Calloway in 2006, this time no questions asked in a TKO 3 victory.

Chagaev earned his title shot by beating former three time WBA champion John Ruiz in a title elimination shot. It has been said that it is impossible to look good against Ruiz in a fight, and the same thing happened to Chagaev. Much of the boxing world was thinking, and maybe some even hoping, that Chagaev would be able to knockout the fighter who is more known for clinching than his three titles. Ruiz actually came out more active than usual, but still did not stray too far away from his clutch and grab style. At the end Chagaev walked away with a hard earned split decision and a chance to meet Valuev for his title.

Valuev has come under fire of late, particularly for his outing against John Ruiz. Ruiz once again found a way to make the fight close all the way down to the wire, but this time he lost a majority decision to Valuev. In a fight that was hard to score, Valuev did the most damage, which was evident by the swelling of Ruiz’s face. Valuev was also able to hurt Ruiz late in the 12^th round with a counter right hand, something many Ruiz opponents can’t do despite their best efforts.

The Ruiz fight was at the end of 2005 and since then Valuev has looked much more effective. He has beat American fighters Owen Beck, Monte Barrett, and Jameel McCline, not exactly a” murderer’s row” of challengers, but he defeated them all in a manner he should have.

The only questionable result of these three fights came against McCline in his last fight this past January. Valuev had won the first two rounds, but McCline started coming on strong before tripping over the foot of Valuev in the closing seconds of the round. McCline had suffered a serious knee injury which could cause him to be out of action for a year. The fight was awarded a TKO victory for Valuev, but under WBA rules, and I’m paraphrasing, a fight should be ruled a no-contest if a fight is ended by a result other than a punch thrown. Either way, it is impossible to tell what would have happened if the fight would have continued, but as it stands, Valuev is still the champ, and still undefeated.

The bettors are putting their money on Valuev, and that is probably a fair choice. Despite Chagaev’s impressive ride to a title shot, he is still virtually unknown to many fans outside of Europe. Besides that though, Valuev has about a foot height advantage, and could have upwards of a 100 pound weight advantage come fight night. Chagaev may have his moments early, even testing Valuev’s chin a couple of times, but it is not hard to imagine a scenario where Valuev’s size eventually wears down the much smaller man. This is nothing against Chagaev; he clearly has the skills to still make a good run at other championship belts in his career, but he more than likely is not wrestling the strap away from Valuev.

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In two weeks the Bellagio resort and Casino will be home to over 600 poker players.  The whole lot of them, some of them pros, some semi-pros, and some complete novices, will take their crack at winning the 25,000 dollar World Poker Tour No Limit Hold’em Championship.  The buy-in of 25,000 dollars is one of the most expensive buy-in’s in the world, and in turn, produces one the biggest amounts of victory money in any tournament in the world.

Last year Joe Bartholdi entered the final table in second place out of six players.  The tournament had started with 605 players focused on the big money prize at the end. After withstanding charges from all-star players Men “The Master” Nguyen and Claus Nielsen, he walked away from the tournament set for life.  After a pair of nine’s held up against David Matthew’s flush draw, Bartholdi found himself over 3.5 million dollars richer.  Not bad for a week’s worth of work.

Last year some of those players who tried for the grand prize got their chance by winning satellite tournaments with as little as 25 dollar buy-ins.  This year the folks of the Bellagio are even one upping themselves.  On April 6, the first day of the tournament, there will be a super satellite tournament with no buy-in.  That’s right; a freeroll will give one lucky person a chance to play for prize money that is expected to be more than the 3.5 million Bartholdi won last year. 

Even if you are lucky to get into the tournament for free, you will still have to get through many very solid players.  The Bellagio poker room has many pros that play there regularly, in a special room in the back called “Bobby’s room.”  Players you can expect to see playing there at any given time are Jennifer Harman, Daniel Negreanu, and David Benyamine, who are all expected to play in the championship tournament.

The Bellagio Poker room is not only one of the best Las Vegas has to offer, but one of the best the world has to offer.  When the poker craze took off about five years ago the Bellagio was one of the first big time casinos to take notice.  They renovated what once was a fairly small poker room, to the one that has been host of many of the poker tournaments you see on the Travel Channel.  Some of the bigger tournaments that have been played here in just the last couple of years have been the Bellagio Cup I and II, the 4^th annual Five-Star World Poker Classic, and the Fiesta Al Lago V, just to name a few. 

During a regular poker night, the Bellagio poker room holds up to 40 tables, but has plenty of room to expand, as seen on TV, for a big tournament.  Another thing that often gets overlooked, but is very important, is how good the dealers are.  By all accounts, the dealers at the Bellagio are among the best in the business.  The dealers here are often complemented (and presumably tipped well) by both the tourists and the locals.  This is another reason that the World Poker Tour continues to host their bigger tournaments here.

If you are looking for your chance to win millions, now is your chance.  Below is the complete schedule of events:

Fri, Apr 6th Super Satellite – No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons freeroll   Sat, Apr 7th to

Sat, Apr 7th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500   Sun, Apr 8th to

Sun, Apr 8th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,000   Mon, Apr 9th to

Mon, Apr 9th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Tue, Apr 10th to

Tue, Apr 10th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000   Wed, Apr 11th to

Wed, Apr 11th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000   Thu, Apr 12th to

Thu, Apr 12th Super Satellite – No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Fri, Apr 13th to

Fri, Apr 13th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $1,500   Sat, Apr 14th to

Sat, Apr 14th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,000   Sun, Apr 15th to

Sun, Apr 15th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Mon, Apr 16th to

Mon, Apr 16th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $3,000   Tue, Apr 17th to

Tue, Apr 17th No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $5,000   Wed, Apr 18th to

Wed, Apr 18th Seniors – No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Thu, Apr 19th to

Thu, Apr 19th Super Satellite – No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Fri, Apr 20th to

Fri, Apr 20th Super Satellite – No Limit Hold’em
No Rebuy/Add-ons $2,500   Sat, Apr 21st to
Fri, Apr 27th WPT No Limit Hold’em Championship
No Rebuy/Add-ons $25,000

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UPDATE: The Tournament is only five days away.  Satellites are still running, and will continue to run up until the start of the first day of the tournament.  

In just a few short weeks a good majority of the world’s best poker players will embark upon the city of Elizabeth, Indiana for their 2007 World Series of Poker circuit event. The first of the tournament players will arrive March 26^th and stay through the tournaments finale on April 4^th.

Caesars Indiana Casino is located on a riverboat that floats on the Mississippi River. Just a few steps off the boat is the Caesars Indiana Casino that has 503 rooms. As you know though, many poker players have gained fame for their marathon sessions at a poker table, so the poker players probably care a little more about the poker room.

The poker room is host to 33 tables, with plenty of elbow room to go along with it. In case people did not think poker was as popular in the Midwest of the United States as it is on the coasts, they expanded their poker room to over double the size it previously was just last year.

Last year, Quoc Al Vihn, better known as Vinny by his peers, took down 126 other players to win the $10,000 buy-in main event. With the victory, Al Vihn picked up a cool $437,760 and the respect of all his poker rivals. The big difference between this year and last year though is the buy-in. This year participants will only be paying $5,000 buy-in. This does not necessarily mean less prize money, however. Because of the cheaper buy-in, tournament officials expect to shatter the mark of the 126 players in last year’s event.

It is unclear which poker superstars will participate in this year’s main event of the Indiana 2007 WSOP but, if it is anything like last year the competition will be stiff. Regulars on the WSOP tour circuit William Edler, Rico Carli, and Men “The Master” Nquyen all finished in the top ten of last year’s event and are all considered to be ranked among the best handful of players in the world.

If you have a dream of participating in one of these events with the big boys of poker then now is your chance to get into the bigger events, for a fraction of the cost. Satellite events have already begun for this WSOP circuit event. Starting at 9am everyday and running to 3pm single table tournaments will be played for each of the tournaments ten events. The ten events that will be played are all no-limit hold’em games with various buy-ins, with the exception of one H.O.R.S.E. tournament, and a no-limit hold’em event specifically for the ladies.

Don’t forget to check out Poker at Islandcasino.com

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