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Just a few days ago, UltimateBetPoker announced a change in the schedule of its UltimateBet Online Championship series. That change involved Event #5, originally featuring a $5,000+$200 buy-in with $1 million guaranteed. To make it more accessible to online poker players, the tournament was reduced to $300+$20 buy-in, $300k GTD.

We cannot say whether Ryan “RYAWELCH16” Welch would have chosen to participate in the UltimateBet.com event with such a hefty $5k buy-in, but he was certainly up to the challenge with a $300+$20 buy-in that resulted in his routing the competition and winning the 1st place prize of $66,000.

The 6-max No Limit Hold’em action drew a field of 793 participants; enough to cover $237,900 of the guaranteed prize pool. It was up to UltimateBetPoker.com to fork over the remaining $62,100 in overlay funds. The top 102 finishers would see a piece of the prize.

The final table came down to 6 commendable online poker players, but only one could walk away truly victorious.

“ERIKTHEKING7” was the first to go, taking with him a 6th place cash of $12,600.

Next on the departure docket was “MADMAX91”, whose honorable efforts earned a 5th place purse of $15,600.

“UPAYMYMORGAGE” became the 4th place victim, collecting $18,600 – surely enough to ‘pay the mortgage’ for quite some time!

3rd place went to the respectable skills of “JBLAZE20”, pocketing $27,060 for a trail-blazing performance.

Finally, it came down to heads-up between “WHITHERED” and the 25-year-old American, Ryan Welch. The cards fell in the young Tennessee native’s favor, awarding “WHITHERED” the 2nd place prize of $38,550.

“RYANWELCH16” was crowned the UBOC Event#5 Champion, taking home the 1st place prize of $66,000.

It was a long, tedious, and monumentally lucrative year for some FullTilt Poker players, especially those taking on the incredibly expensive nosebleed cash tables. After 365 days of online poker mayhem, the year has come to a close, and none could be happier than Full Tilt Pro Phil Ivey.

The 5-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Bracelet winner has earned more than $9 million in live poker tournaments over the course of his sensational career, but in the last year, Ivey has raked in an astounding $7.54 million on Full Tilt Poker. These incredible profits place Phil Ivey at the very top of the Full Tilt Poker Profits list for 2008.

Coming in a close second is Phil “OMGClayAiken” Glafond, whos online poker exploits have earned him more than $6.97 million at Full Tilt Poker. It would be interesting to discover just how much of those winnings came from the 3rd place finisher, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, with an impressive $5.36 million finish.

Claiming the 4th spot is Di “Urindanger” Dang, cashing in for a little over $3.68 million, followed closely by his brother Hac “trex313” Dang, finishing 5th with $3.45 million. In the 6th position comes ex-Full Tilt Pro David Benyamine at $2.93 million.

Rounding out the top ten finishers of 2008 are “howsitfeellike” in 7th with $2.66 million, the UK’s Richard “CHUFTY” Ashby in 8th with $2.36 million, “La Key U” in 9th at $2.14 million and finally FullTilt.net Pro Patrik Antonius bringing up the rear in 10th place with $1.9 million.

Full Tilt Poker Biggest Winners of 2008

Phil Ivey – $7.54m
OMGClayAiken – $6.97m
durrrr – $5.36m
Urindanger – $3.68m
trex313 – $3.45m
David Benyamine – $2.93m
howisitfeellike – $2.66m
CHUFTY – $2.36m
La Key U – $2.14m
Patrik Antonius – $1.90m

There is a flip side to every coin, and in this case, it is the biggest losers at Full Tilt Poker in 2008. The interesting story here is that 5 of the top 10 losing accounts are rumored to belong to the same person – the not-so-frugal billionaire Guy Laliberte. The 5 suspect accounts are “lady marmelade”, “patatino”, “elmariachimacho”, “Bleachbum” and “noataima”, amounting to a grand total of more than $17 million in losses. These same 5 accounts racked up a $24.8 million loss on Full Tilt Poker in the previous year.

Full Tilt Poker Biggest Losers of 2008

lady marmelade – $6.6m
patatino – $4.32m
elmariachimacho – $4.16m
Bleachbum – $1.09m
SteveSung – $1.01m
PostFlopAction – $999k
noataima – $990k
John Juanda – $988k
MSampoerna – $945k
ahtata – $926k

Last week, in a torrential blow to the online poker community, the US government at last completed and declared implementation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), originally passed in 2006. While many questions float in the air about the future of the online poker industry, hundreds of thousands are pondering whether PokerStars.com will relinquish its presence from the US market.

PokerStar.com is currently the world’s largest online pocker room, in part due to its unwavering commitment to US player acceptance.  According to the guidelines of the UIGEA, however, it is unclear what exactly the effect will be on playing online poker for real money over the Internet from within the United States.

The UIGEA guidelines state that all online gambling operations, as well as financial institutions that facilitate monetary transfers to/from online gambling sites, have until December 1, 2009 to comply with the newly implemented regulations.

Does this mean PokerStars will exit stage left by the end of next year, leaving behind a substantial number of its clientele; those being US online poker players? No statement has been released from any of the major online poker brands – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, etc. – but thousands upon thousands of Americans are left with the burning, as yet unanswered, question.

FullTiltPoker.net is already the second largest online poker room in the world in regards to active player traffic, but the prospect of the 10th Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS-X), worth a guaranteed $15,000,000 over 25 events, has brought those numbers to record heights for 2008.

According to reports from independent poker traffic statistic trackers, Full Tilt Poker averaged 9,704 players per 24-hour period last week. The online poker room is nowhere near catching the number-one spot, held for quite some time now by PokerStar.com, but is surely proud to reveal its highest traffic rate of the year. PokerStars is currently averaging near double the traffic of Full Tilt Poker, at almost 18,000.

FTOPS-X kicked off last Wednesday with Event #1, a $1,000,000 guaranteed prize pool NL Hold’em tournament hosted by Mike “The Mouth” Matusow. A field of 5,124 turned out for the grand opening of the 10th Full Tilt Online Poker Series, eventually won by “davin77” who earned a massive $195,757.30 for the impressive win.

Sunday, September 21st was not just the first day of fall, but the grand opening of Poker Stars.com World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event. 2,185 entrants posted the $5k buy-in, or skillfully worked their way into a free seat at the tables, jumping the $10m guaranteed prize pool by nearly another million, to an impressive $10,925,000.

The 2-day WCOOP Main Event is the first online poker tournament to award such a massive guaranteed prize where the top place finisher will actually walk away with $1.7 million to show for it. Overall, 352 participants will eat a piece of that beautiful $10.9 million pie.

Taking an early exit on day one of the PokerStars WCOOP Main Event were several big names in th professional poker industry, including Greg Raymer, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier, Vicky Coren, Dario Minieri, and Annette Obrestad, winner of the inaugural 2007 WSOP Europe.

Action will resume at 4:30pm ET today as the remaining 60 participants reconvene on the tables to write history. “august35” holds the current chip lead with 3,865,986. Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis is currently in fourth position with 2,184,184 chips and Team PokerStar.net’s Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier is still in the running with 482,177.

We can expect tight, fierce action as the final 60 dwindles down. Everyone is eyeing that awesome 1st place prize of $1,775,312.50… may the best poker player win!

Remember, you can practive for the next WCOOP tournament for free at PokerStars.net!

September has been an awesome month across the boards for online poker players and operators alike, but today’s top story comes from FullTiltPoker where five exceptionally talented online poker players have already earned over $1 million in September alone.

Topping the list is professional poker player Phil Ivey, known for his extreme skills, unwavering poker face, 5 WSOP Bracelet wins and nearly $10 million in live tournament cashes over his phenomenal career.

Ivey has experienced a not-so-pleasant string of bad luck this year, including a short-lived run at the 2008 World Series of Poker and some highly expensive proposition bets he would just as soon forget about than further comment on. All of that seems to be turning around for Phil Ivey, now.

Over the last few months, Ivey has been raking in the chips at Full Tilt Poker’s high stakes games, and September has been a month to remember for the young poker pro. With his focus primarily on Full tilt Poker “RailHeaven” and $2k/$4k H.O.R.S.E. tables, Ivey has pocketed more than $1.44 million just in the first 19 days of the month.

Next on the list is Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, drawing in $1.342 million thus far at Full Tilt Poker. Known for his unstable temperament and fluctuating bankroll, “Ziigmund” proved his incredible skills by turning his game around over the year. Prior to September, Sahamies was posting one of the largest overall losses at www.FullTiltPoker.com for 2008. His Omaha Hi-Lo play has made a significant difference, earning him $962k alone this month.

Full Tilt Pro Patrik Antonius is also known for his ups and downs when it comes to chip stacks, but he has made out quite well this September, playing well enough at high stakes games to bring in $1.304 million this month.

Hac “trex313″ Dang takes the fourth spot, having claimed $1.21 million at Full Tilt Poker in September. Dang has been spending his time grinding away at Phil Ivey in heads-up play, and a few other high stakes players at the online poker room. His quarterfinal, $96k victory at the Full Tilt Poker $25k Heads-Up Championship didn’t hurt either. September has not been the only kind month to Hac “trex313” Dang, bringing his total Full Tilt Poker earnings for 2008 to $3.059 million.

Last but certainly not least comes David Benyamine, another Full Tilt Pro with plenty of strategic experience under his virtual belt. A $1.14 million profit this month brings David’s total 2008 winnings at Full Tilt Poker to an intensely impressive $4.616 million.

Let’s hope these sensational poker pros can keep up the good work at FullTiltPoker.com. A round of heartwarming applause goes out to these highly skilled online poker players, along with a sincere pat on the back to everyone who sorrowfully contributed losses to these guys’ exceptional profits.

The long-awaited 2008 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) finally got underway last weekend, and BodogPoker has found a way to keep its members right there in the action without the need to fly potentially halfway around the world.

BodogPoker is offering proposition bets on the outcome of WSOPE Events. For example, who will win one of the first three WSOPE Bracelets awarded this year? What nationality will the bracelet winners be? In its opening season last year, the WSOPE did not award a bracelet to any American players – will that change this year?

Bodog Poker’s WSOPE Main Event prop bets include whether an American can make it further than last year’s 3rd place finish by Team Bodog poker player Matt McCollough. Which pros will get the furthest along – Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, or maybe Team Bodog’s own David Williams? Could another female make an appearance at this year’s final table?

Prop bets are also available on sheer numbers at the WSOPE Main Event. Just how many participants will show up with the €10,000 buy-in, plus those who won their seat in the 2008 WSOPE?

Bodog Poker and the Bodog Sportsbook are proving that it doesn’t take a poker player to profit from one of the largest live poker tournaments in the world.

The online poker tournament action at Full Tilt was as energetic as ever last Sunday as the weekly $750,000 Guarantee tournament got underway. Kudos to “acatlover” who outlasted the sizeable field to claim the top prize of $132,788.

To the elation of its tournament participants, Full Tilt Poker experienced yet another overlay in its most lucrative weekly event, collecting the $200 buy-in from a field of 3,643, which translates to $728,600 of the guaranteed $750k prize pool. The online poker room has not seen the required numbers to boost its purse over the guarantee in quite some time now.

Scheduled for 6:00 pm ET as always, the action kicked off at 2 minutes past the hour. The rails filled up quickly as players fell to the way side, one-by-one, until a final table of 9 was reached. Online poker fans looked on expectantly while the numbers further dwindled.

“RonJovi7” was eliminated in 4th, followed soon after by the exit of “absolute6” in 3rd position, earning $41,400 and $52,500 respectively. This left “nounet” of Belgium to go heads-up against “acatlover” in an all-out battle to the finish.

The blinds reached an impressive $80k/$160k after 9 hours of play when the final hand came down. It was anyone’s game at this point, but favor suited “acatlover” this day, ousting “nounet” to pocket the 1st place prize of $132,788. For the 2nd place victory, “nounet” was awarded a well deserved $80,250.

Full Tilt Poker Sunday $750k GTD Final Table Results

1st – acatlover ($132,788)
2nd – nounet ($80,250)
3rd – absolute6 ($52,500)
4th – RonJovi7 ($41,400)
5th – bighorn1973 ($31,050)
6th – gingabreadman ($23,025)
7th – Nicolak ($17,250)
8th – mirasol ($13,500)
9th – gcnmoo ($10,050)

Practice for next week’s event at FullTilt.net!

BodogPoker held a WSOPE “Euro Main Event Semi-Final” Qualifier Sunday that guaranteed at least 2 seats in the upcoming WSOPE Main Event with prize packages worth $24,000. The top two finishers, Cory “Ozone23” Albertson and “syzygy3732”, will both be on their way to London later this month.

With a $500+$40 buy-in, it comes with some surprise that only 53 players took part in the WSOPE Main Event Semi-Final as BodogPoker.com continues to struggle with player participation. Those low numbers only brought in $26,500 for BodogPoker, barely enough to cover a single WSOPE Main Event prize package of $24,000, let alone two of them.

The WSOPE Main Event Prize Package from Bodog Poker includes the £10,000 buy-in (nearly $20,000 USD), airfare, luxury hotel accommodations with first-class transportation to/from the airport, Bodog branded player gear to wear throughout the tournament and extra spending cash.

Last year, Bodog.net awarded many seats the WSOP Europe Main Event, including the noteworthy seat of Matt McCullough, who went on to finish in 3rd position for $715,967, going down in the history books as the last American standing in the first annual WSOP Europe Main Event.

Relative newcomer Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, at the ripe age of 19 years old, went on to win the 2007 WSOPE, outlasting experienced pros like Jamie Gold, Gus Hansen, Erick Lindgren, Patrik Antonius, Annie Duke, Ian Frazier and Marco Traniello.

PKRPoker.com, reputed as the “next generation” of the online poker industry for its innovative 3D design, reached a historic landmark last week by registering its two-millionth customer.

PKRPoker.com is still considered one of the newer online poker rooms, having launched in 2006. Now, less than one year from announcing its one-millionth registrant, the company is extremely pleased to pronounce the landmark number of 2,000,000 members.

For any site to achieve such a large client base is a feat in and of itself, claimed only by the most popular online poker rooms; but to have reached such a milestone so quickly is truly outstanding. Considering the current state of the economy and legalities of online poker in certain jurisdictions, industry analysts are as shocked as anyone.

The rapid growth rate and overall success of PKR Poker is being greatly attributed to the online poker rooms sophisticated software and three dimensional environment. Instead of the typical aerial view of a 2D table, depicting the cards, maybe some chairs and sometimes even avatars, members of PKR are privileged to the most realistic atmosphere, from the true-to-life avatars right down to the plants and other décor that make up the background scenery.

“Only a handful of poker brands have ever reached this milestone, and none have done it so quickly and without taking US players,” relayed PKR marketing director Simon Prodger. “We are delighted with our progress and look forward to making our third year even better.”

PKR is ranked as the second fastest expanding poker network in the industry, but when you remove US-accepting poker sites from the equation, PKR easily overtakes the number one spot. Without accepting US player deposits, it’s monumentally more difficult to attract players at such a rate.

PKR also recently launched its own poker television series, PKR TV, which runs for one hour and has a potential audience of 15 million viewers across Europe. This could certainly have helped to increase the growth of the PKR online poker room.