The chip leader dipped a bit but became chip leader again. The second place goes to Scott Seiver and they both are just over the 5.000.000 mark. Below them are Roger Teska and Tony Gigantico, oh no Gargano with around 3.500.000. Poker pros Justin Young and Freddy Bonyadi round out the final table, which will get underway Friday at 16:00 PT.

Nine others are bummed out that they are too enjoying a day off without the prospect of returning to the Bellagio for playing at the final table. Will Failla was gone and reigning champ David Williams also lost his stack. The reigning champ rallied but Shannon Shorr rivered a flush with Queen of Clubs and Jack of Diamonds to crack Williams’ pocket Jacks and dash the hopes of a repeat showing for Williams.

Three players were in the race to kick Andy Frankenberger of that number one spot on the WPT PoY Race and Steven Kelly was the first player to fall short of the honor, busting in 13th place. Shannon Shorr was the next contender to fall. Shorr was trying to return to the final table for the second time in three years, but could only manage a ninth place finish. Though he did fall short of the televised table, Shorr did post his third top ten finish of the WPT season.

The most surprising one to fall however was after a long stretch of play with no eliminations and suddenly WPT Amneville winner Sam El Sayed soared as high as 7.100.000. He lost several big pots in a row and was back to the short stack again within one level. Hall and his Ace of Clubs and Ten of Spades got Quads with Tens and El Sayed’s pocket Fives busted El Sayed in 8th place.

Ashton Griffin (12th), Daniel Alaei (11th) and Nenad Medic (10th) and bubbly boy is David Peters in seventh place. When play resumes on Friday, Hall will be playing for money, a second major title, and a nice lead in the BLUFF Player of the Year race. Hall moved into the top spot by guaranteeing himself at least a sixth place finish, but just how big his lead is depends on where he ends up on Friday.

Eugene Katchalov has to prove himself in the Bellagio $100,000 Super High Roller, which got underway today. The expectations were low for this event within the community and it was even suggested this one got cancelled. Against all odds, there were an astonishing 29 players for the event and it now qualifies for BLUFF Player of the Year points. Katchalov, Daniel Negreanu, Erik Seidel, Erick Lindgren, and Gabe Kaplan are just a few of the big names still alive in the event. Justin Bonomo is leading with 1.800.000 and Vivek Rajkumar is second with Lindgren being third. The top five finishers in that event will make the money, with the winner taking home a little over $1.000.000.

The WPT Championship may be taking a day off on Thursday, but the Super High Roller will be back in action starting at 12pm PT.

Here are the chip counts and seat assignments for Friday’s final table:

Seat 1. Galen Hall – 5.095.000
Seat 2. Justin Young – 1.750.000
Seat 3. Tony Gargano – 3.550.000
Seat 4. Roger Teska – 3.600.000
Seat 5. Scott Seiver – 5.075.000
Seat 6. Freddy Bonyadi – 2.470.000

And here are the top ten chip counts in the Super High Roller event headed into Day 2:

1. Justin Bonomo – 1.837.000
2. Vivek Rajkumar – 1.628.000
3. Erick Lindgren – 1.607.000
4. John Morgan – 1.009.000
5. Randy Dorfman – 968.000
6. Sam Trickett – 626.000
7. Gregory Brooks – 611.000
8. Rick Salomon – 582.000
9. Dan Shak – 558.000
10. Daniel Negreanu – 471.000

Professional poker players are very difficult when it comes to giving a straight answer to some questions. The reason for this is not because the players are shady and want to guard trade secrets but there are simply too many variables to account for when making a decision.

We will peer deep into the twisted minds of the top players of today. Hopefully the insight gained from this will help you the next time you are in a sticky situation. You can say, What would Brian Boitano do? Let us commence.

The Pros in question are Jonathan Little, Tommy Angelo and Nick Schulman.

Before sitting down to play a session, what are some of the best ways to prepare yourself mentally and physically?

Jonathan Little: “I try to always make sure that playing poker is the only thing I want to do. If I would rather be relaxing, playing video games, or snowboarding, I simply do not play. I try to do enough of the things that I enjoy in my free time when the major tournaments aren’t happening, so that when they roll around, I am focused and ready to play. Another thing worth mentioning is that I try to get a lot of sleep every night. I have found that when I am tired, I play poorly, and, in general, don’t want to play. If you would rather be somewhere else, your mind won’t be in the game.”

Tommy Angelo: “What works for me are clear skies. If I’m caught up on my obligations to myself and the universe — if my time is all mine — that’s big. And rest. When I’m well-rested — and I mean really well-rested, not just telling myself that I am — that can make a huge difference in how I feel and think when I get roughed up or run hot or whatever at the tables. And food. I don’t eat too much at one time, before and during a session. And then there’s all the stuff I do to get myself mentally and physically prepared before every hand (I play only one table at a time), such as aligning my spine and limbs symmetrically in a relaxed and dignified manner while observing the ins and outs of my breathing. Anytime I remember to do that, I am at maximum possible readiness.”

Nick Schulman: “Playing poker can be taxing, both physically and mentally. When I’m at a tournament, my goal is always to get seven to nine hours of sleep, try to eat right, and get to the gym. I used to have a total disregard for these things, and my results suffered from it, especially around day three or four of an event. Your body is spent after three 10-hour days of poker if you haven’t been taking care of it. Staying both focused and content mentally can also be a challenge. Casinos offer a plethora of distractions to take you off your game, and I’ve found it to be very beneficial for my mind to avoid them. Excessive drinking, pit gambling, and clubbing can suck the life force right out of you, and hurt your poker game tremendously. Nowadays, I’m trying to meditate in the morning, drink a lot of water, and maintain a deep focus on my opponents’ tendencies throughout a day of play. This helps me to stay sharp and immersed in the game. I also try to lay off using my phone while playing, so I usually turn it off. Total immersion in the game is key for me.”

You can really be sucked into the game and tables and before you know it you have gone a whole week without seeing the outside world. What tips do you have to balance your life with your love of poker?

Jonathan Little: “Luckily for me, I have never had that problem. Once you realize that the game will be there tomorrow — unless you play super high stakes, where it might not be — you can freely start and quit whenever you want. If you see yourself doing nothing besides grinding poker, try setting a schedule. Write it down and stick with it. Currently, I live with my girlfriend in New York City, and I make a point to play only online when she is at work. Sure, I may miss some value here and there, but I get to play poker eight hours per day if I want, as well as spend lots of time with her. It’s the best of both worlds.”

Tommy Angelo: “Did you say “love” of poker? I think of it more as lust. And as for the poker cave, I’ve been there a thousand times. OK. Tips. Don’t tug on Superman’s cape. Don’t spit into the wind. And for heaven’s sake, close down those tables and Skype your mother! Seriously, though, if you are an out-of-balance, cave-dwelling poker junkie who longs for a life of physical health, mental health, and balanced activities throughout your days and weeks, there’s no easy way out. It’s like being overweight. The problem is going to take some time to fix. And then there’s the problem of keeping it fixed. We step back, we look at the big picture, and guess what? It’s ugly. So, look at something smaller. Installing upgrades to our poker balance is a lifelong operation that can be performed any hour of every day, one choice at a time. For example, online, you might try separating your poker-playing time and your online socializing time now and then, and see if that improves both. Or, when you’re going to go play live, you might instruct your buddy when he’s on his way to bed, “Come by my table when you wake up, and if I am still playing, please dump a glass of water on my head.” Little stuff like that can make a big difference over time. We really can learn how to be more in control of our lives today than we were yesterday — and then do it again tomorrow.”

Nick Schulman: “I really wish that I were more adept at applying what I know. Balance truly is everything. The funny thing is, everything improves with balance once you’ve built a foundation. In poker, especially cash games, you have the opportunity to make money somewhere at every waking hour, especially in the Internet age. It becomes tough to pry yourself away sometimes, but it’s so important to do so. Maintaining a sense of balance and normalcy is a big key to my being happy. I’ve gone weeks without calling my mom, brother, or friends, and it’s brutal. I live my life in kind of a strange way, because I’ve found that I struggle with this exact question. Basically, I go super hard in poker for a month or two, and then I play very infrequently for a month or two after that. That way, I can focus on maintaining a healthy outlook on life, catching up with loved ones, and exercising. I also have a love for playing pool, and recently became a partner in a poolroom in Manhattan, where I live, which is great. Having outside hobbies is very important for poker players. All I can say is, good luck, everyone!”

Antonius, who has been dominating online poker since Full Tilt and PokerStars left the U.S. market, played 250 hands of $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha against his close friend Gus Hansen.
Unlike Antonius, Hansen has had some challenges since online poker’s Black Friday and was in the midst of an extended downswing.
Last night the tables were turned, however, and Hansen raked several huge pots from Antonius and ended up doing $192k worth of damage.

Unfortunately for the Great Dane, he decided to keep playing after Antonius left and he donated nearly $100k to DrugsOrMe. He still escaped with $97k in profit at the end of the night.
With the victory Hansen moved back up to $2.8 million in profit in 2011. He is still far-and-away the biggest winner of the year.
Antonius dropped down to $1.58 million but he remains one of the top five winners this year.
The high-stakes games were buzzing last night and FinnishNightmre was technically the biggest winner pulling in $106k.
Limit specialist O Fortuna PLS won $62k and is now up over $1 million in 2011.
Some of the other notable winners included Boca do Acre (+$61k), BiatchPeople (+$59k) and XWINK (+$52k).

XWINK, who is rumored to be a Canadian poker pro, continues to be one of the most compelling online stories since losing over $1 million in one day.
After putting in some huge volume at the smaller stakes, he appears nearly ready to hit the high stakes once again.
Antonius was most-well-known player in the losing column last night but he had some company as insyder19 (-$59k), Himan33 (-$58k), Cinderella03 (-$52k) and insyderrr (-$50k) all lost thousands.

Blanca Games the parent company announced that Joe Sebok, Prahlad Friedman, Eric Baldwin, Maria Ho, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Scott Ian, Dave Stann, Adam Levy, Bryan Devonshire, and Trishelle Cannatella all had their contracts terminated. Some only got email notifications to notify them that they were let go.

According to the statement, the fallout of Black Friday resulted in the dissolution of Team UB. The statement also explained that this was not an easy decision for the company to make:

“This was a difficult task for Blanca’s management, and we are very disappointed that we have been compelled to sever ties with our sponsored pros. Over the years, the Company has been successful in gathering a group of young, extraordinarily talented and brand-appropriate poker professionals who have proudly sported its logos. We are truly saddened that circumstances have dictated this course of action, and we regret that we are no longer in a position to partner with our sponsored pros, or to provide them with a source of income for playing the game that they love. We appreciate their significant time and dedication shared with us, and we thank them for the loyalty and patience they have continued to show us even during the unsettling events of the past few weeks. We respect and admire them for their many accomplishments, both at the poker tables and away from them, and we will always be grateful for their valuable contributions to building the UB and Absolute Poker brands and to creating a rock-solid community at the pair of online poker rooms.”

This is one week after the statement the entire staff is released and 20% rehired so that there was a barebones staff. News only got worse for the company from there as Costa Rican authorities raided the UB and Absolute offices over the weekend. PokerStars’ lone office in Costa Rica was raided as well. A statement from Blanca on the matter said the raids were related to an investigation of former AP owner Scott Tom, Innovative Data Solutions (IDS) owner Olamn Rimola, and a third party, Oldemar Vargas. The statement claims the raids had nothing to do with the Department of Justice indictments.

IDS previously ran customer support for UB and AP. According to a blog post from independent reporter Haley Hintze, Cereus defaulted on payments to IDS employees.

Since being let go, several pros have already taken to Twitter to comment on the situation. Bryan Devnoshire was the first to break the news earlier today. He tweeted the following from his @devopoker account:

“UB released me today, has promised return of funds. Go fuck yourself DOJ. We beg for tax and regulation and you claim we’re criminal. FFFUU.”

Adam “Roothlus” Levy and Eric Baldwin also made jokes about their new status on @Roothlus and @basebaldy respectively. Shortly after the announcement, Joe Sebok published a blog in regards to the company’s operations in the wake of Black Friday. Within the post, Sebok apologized for not being able to accomplish more during his stint with UB. He also wrote:

“UB and their legal team is trying to work creatively to get that money back to players, I have been told. I haven’t been promised that that can happen, but I have been informed that is the goal. This was never going to be a short process though, which leaves so much room for speculation. I am trying to not engage in that, hope, and be patient. It’s not easy. ”

The statement from Blanca corroborates Sebok’s blog and Devonshire’s statement that the site is working to return funds to players, sponsored and unsponsored alike:

“The company’s legal counsel continues to move forward in ongoing discussion with the U.S. Attorney’s office with the ultimate objective of reaching an agreement with the Department of Justice that would facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players.”

Someone else moved in and obliterated the competition on the $25/$50 PLO tables, winning $202.000 on Monday alone. The Parisian added another $100.000 throughout the week and finished with a total of $297.000.

A total of $911.000 in the black and with players such as Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Phil Ivey and Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond out of the way he is becoming one of the rising stars in the online poker world.

Cao played real good this week but technically he was not the biggest winner. “vmnielsen” gets that title as he got $307.000 in 2.309 hands on PokerStars this week.

Another winner we find in Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies as he got $161.000. He is still a total down of $600.000 but looking to get back in the race.

Some extra big winners are KidPoker705 (+$152.000) and LuckyGump (+$147.000). KidPoker705 is not Daniel Negreanu but rather a Full Tilt player.

“antonionel” took some massive damage losing a total of $349.000 and it is rumoured that this account belongs to a Romanian businessman Anton Ionel.

Ionel did finish third on 2011 PCA so he has $1.300.000 and there is a good chance he can afford it.

“samrostan” (-$155.000), “le kork” (-$133.000), “KOMIJENDO” (-$117.000) and “anna164″ (-$115.000) all had miserable weeks of online poker.

Jens “Ingenious89” Kyllonen also saw his recent hot streak cooled considerably as he lost $106.000.

There is no subjective selection for the Federated Poker League like other tournaments, this time there is a pre-established formula. The criteria are live tournament cashes for example or the number of major poker titles you have won and the player’s “lifetime adjusted earnings” in qualifying tournaments.

In a press release, the league’s Commissioner, Annie Duke, said, “Our goal in setting the objective qualifying criteria was to capture the best live tournament players – not a certain set of personalities. Keeping the league membership small not only ensures the highest quality of tournament play, but also allows FS&G to provide a superior playing experience and outstanding service levels to our members.”

In a March interview with Poker News Daily, Duke discussed part of the importance of specific qualification criteria, explaining, “Let’s say a committee votes in a player who does not meet the objective qualifying criteria. Now, someone else with the exact same achievements as the player who was voted in will ask why they weren’t qualified. You get into a matter of opinion.”

“Once you decide on your criteria,” she added, “you can set their levels to get around the number of people you want.”

You will get a card resembling a different level of membership. This level corresponds to the number of years the player is guaranteed membership. When those years end a re-evaluation will determine the new membership. The membership levels are as follows:

5-Year Card

At least $4 million in adjusted lifetime tournament earnings, with a maximum of $2 million counting from any single tournament.
At least three major lifetime titles.
At least nine cashes since January 1, 2008 for a total of least $600,000.

3-Year Card

At least $2.5 million in adjusted lifetime tournament earnings, with a maximum of $1.5 million counting from any single tournament.
At least one major lifetime title.
At least nine cashes since January 1, 2008 for a total of least $500,000.

2-Year Card Category A

At least $2 million in adjusted lifetime tournament earnings, with a maximum of $1 million counting from any single tournament.
At least one major lifetime title.
At least six cashes since January 1, 2008 for a total of least $300,000.

2-Year Card Category B

At least $1.25 million in adjusted lifetime tournament earnings, with a maximum of $750,000 counting from any single tournament.
At least nine cashes since January 1, 2008 for a total of least $600,000.

Qualifying tournaments must be open to the public and must have a buy-in of at least $1,500, be announced at least 30 days in advance, and field at least 21 players.

Adjusted lifetime earnings simply meanings that lifetime tournament earnings may be reduced if winnings from a single tournament exceed the cap listed for the applicable card level.

“Major” titles include:

WSOP Las Vegas and WSOP Europe open event with a buy-in of $1,500 or more
WSOP Circuit Main Event with a buy-in of $5,000 or more
WPT Main Event
NAPT Main Event
EPT Main Event
Aussie Millions Main Event
British Columbia Poker Open
European Poker Championships
Any tournament held in 2001 or later with a buy-in of $10,000 or more and a field of 100 or more
Any tournament held in 2000 or earlier with a buy-in of $5,000 or more and a field of 100 or more
Any FS&G Main Event

The calculation room was put to work and then the following results came out for the 2011-2012 season of the FS&G poker league:
James Akenhead – 2 Year B
Daniel Alaei – 5 Year
Patrik Antonius – 2 Year A
Josh Arieh – 3 Year
David Bach – 2 Year A
David Baker – 2 Year B
Eric Baldwin – 3 Year
Praz Bansi – 2 Year A
Jose Ignacio Barbero – 2 Year B
Allen Bari – 2 Year B
Isaac Baron – 2 Year B
Christopher Bell – 3 Year
David Benyamine – 3 Year
Steve Billirakis – 2 Year B
Mike Binger – 3 Year
Nick Binger – 2 Year B
Chris Bjorin – 3 Year
Andy Bloch – 2 Year B
Salvatore Bonavena – 2 Year B
Justin Bonomo – 2 Year A
Dutch Boyd – 2 Year B
Matthew Brady – 2 Year B
Steve Brecher – 2 Year A
Humberto Brenes – 2 Year A
Chad Brown – 2 Year B
Doyle Brunson – 2 Year A
Shawn Buchanan – 3 Year
Eric Buchman – 3 Year
Olivier Busquet – 2 Year A
Erik Cajelais – 2 Year A
Brandon Cantu – 3 Year
John Cernuto – 3 Year
Johnny Chan – 5 Year
Neil Channing – 2 Year B
Andrew Chen – 2 Year B
David Chiu – 5 Year
Cornel Cimpan – 3 Year
Scott Clements – 5 Year
Hoyt Corkins – 5 Year
Allen Cunningham – 5 Year
David Daneshgar – 2 Year A
Roland De Wolfe – 5 Year
Kassem (Freddy) Deeb – 5 Year
Ivan Demidov – 2 Year B
Jason DeWitt – 2 Year B
Quinn Do – 2 Year A
Annie Duke – 2 Year A
Tom Dwan – 2 Year B
Peter Eastgate – 3 Year
Mike Ellis – 2 Year B
Antonio Esfandiari – 3 Year
Chris Ferguson – 5 Year
Amnon Filippi – 2 Year B
Layne Flack – 3 Year
Randall Flowers – 2 Year B
Ted Forrest – 2 Year A
Jimmy Fricke – 2 Year B
Eric Froehlich – 2 Year B
Chau Giang – 3 Year
Matthew Glantz – 2 Year B
Alexandre Gomes – 3 Year
Matthew Graham – 2 Year B
Barry Greenstein – 5 Year
Gavin Griffin – 2 Year A
Dmitry Gromov – 2 Year B
Bertrand Grospellier – 3 Year
Antanas (Tony) Guoga – 3 Year
Hasan Habib – 3 Year
Joe Hachem – 3 Year
Roger Hairabedian – 2 Year A
Dean Hamrick – 2 Year B
Gus Hansen – 2 Year A
Christian Harder – 2 Year B
Jennifer Harman – 2 Year A
Isaac Haxton – 2 Year B
Dan Heimiller – 2 Year A
Phil Hellmuth – 5 Year
Juha Helppi – 2 Year B
Rob Hollink – 3 Year
Alessio Isaia – 2 Year B
Phil Ivey – 5 Year
Alex Jacob – 2 Year A
Fernando Jacobo – 2 Year B
Martin Per Jacobson – 2 Year B
Faraz Jaka – 2 Year B
Sirous Jamshidi – 2 Year B
Peter Jetten – 2 Year B
Marco Johnson – 2 Year B
Theo Jørgensen – 2 Year A
John Juanda – 5 Year
John Kabbaj – 2 Year B
Mclean Karr – 2 Year B
Frank Kassela – 2 Year A
Eugene Katchalov – 3 Year
Matt Keikoan – 2 Year B
Bryn Kenney – 2 Year B
Allen Kessler – 2 Year B
Hafiz Khan – 2 Year B
Hevad Khan – 2 Year A
Davidi Kitai – 2 Year B
Chris Klodnicki – 2 Year B
Alexander Kostritsin – 3 Year
Moritz Kranich – 2 Year A
Andreas Krause – 2 Year B
Alexander Kravchenko – 3 Year
Valdemar Kwaysser – 2 Year B
Ludovic Lacay – 2 Year B
Florian Langmann – 2 Year B
Ted Lawson – 2 Year A
Howard Lederer – 5 Year
Antony Lellouche – 2 Year B
Toto Leonidas – 3 Year
Jason Lester – 2 Year A
Adam Levy – 2 Year B
Andrew Lichtenberger – 2 Year B
Kathy Liebert – 3 Year
Erick Lindgren – 5 Year
Jeff Lisandro – 5 Year
Jonathan Little – 3 Year
Vitaly Lunkin – 3 Year
James Mackey – 2 Year B
Jeff Madsen – 3 Year
Ayaz Mahmood – 2 Year B
Amit Makhija – 2 Year B
Mihai Manole – 2 Year B
Matt Marafioti – 2 Year B
Thomas Marchese – 2 Year A
Lee Markholt – 2 Year A
Michael Martin – 2 Year A
Matt Matros – 2 Year B
Arnaud Mattern – 2 Year B
Mike Matusow – 5 Year
Mike McDonald – 3 Year
Nenad Medic – 3 Year
Jason Mercier – 3 Year
Dario Minieri – 2 Year B
Michael Mizrachi – 5 Year
Robert Mizrachi – 3 Year
Sorel Mizzi – 2 Year B
Will Molson – 2 Year B
Scott Montgomery – 2 Year B
Chris Moore – 2 Year B
Carlos Mortensen – 5 Year
Greg Mueller – 2 Year B
Daniel Negreanu – 5 Year
Men Nguyen – 5 Year
Scotty Nguyen – 5 Year
Annette Obrestad – 3 Year
Luca Pagano – 2 Year B
Jeffrey Papola – 2 Year B
John Brock Parker – 2 Year B
Jean-Paul Pasqualini – 2 Year B
Ralph Perry – 3 Year
Max Pescatori – 2 Year A
David Pham – 3 Year
Thang Pham – 2 Year A
John Phan – 5 Year
Carter Phillips – 2 Year B
Dwyte Pilgrim – 2 Year B
John Racener – 3 Year
Vivek Rajkumar – 3 Year
Annand (Victor) Ramdin – 3 Year
Greg Raymer – 2 Year A
Tobias Reinkemeier – 2 Year B
David (Chino) Rheem – 3 Year
Claudio Rinaldi – 2 Year B
Andrew Robl – 2 Year B
Blair Rodman – 2 Year A
Roberto Romanello – 2 Year B
Farzad Rouhani – 2 Year B
Vanessa Rousso – 2 Year B
Sebastian Ruthenberg – 3 Year
Nichlas Saarisilta – 2 Year B
Nick Schulman – 3 Year
Noah Schwartz – 2 Year B
Huck Seed – 5 Year
Erik Seidel – 5 Year
Scott Seiver – 2 Year A
Vanessa Selbst – 5 year
Daniel Shak – 2 Year B
Soheil Shamseddin – 2 Year B
Shannon Shorr – 3 Year
Barry Shulman – 3 Year
David Singer – 3 Year
Gavin Smith – 3 Year
Jordan Smith – 2 Year B
Justin Smith – 2 Year B
Marty Smyth – 2 Year A
Fabrice Soulier – 2 Year B
Mike Sowers – 2 Year B
David Steicke – 2 Year B
Samuel Stein – 2 Year B
Johan Storakers – 2 Year B
Surinder Sunar – 3 Year
Steve Sung – 2 Year B
Joe Tehan – 3 Year
Mark Teltscher – 2 Year A
Todd Terry – 2 Year B
Julian Thew – 2 Year B
Nam Thien Le – 3 Year
William Thorson – 2 Year B
Yevgeniy Timoshenko – 3 Year
Alec Torelli – 2 Year B
JC Tran – 5 Year
Sam Trickett – 2 Year B
Michael Tureniec – 2 Year A
Dave Ulliott – 3 Year
James Van Alstyne – 3 Year
Tommy Vedes – 2 Year B
Ville Wahlbeck – 2 Year B
Lee Watkinson – 3 Year
Michael Watson – 3 Year
Mike Wattel – 2 Year B
Timothy West – 2 Year B
David Williams – 3 Year
Justin Young – 2 Year B
Ryan Young – 2 Year B

$400.000 Guaranteed prize pools will be at each Main Event and the Championship Event will feature a $1.000.000 prize pool. August 9-12, September 6-9, December 14-18 and February 9-12 will feature the four Main Events. Each will be preceded during the week by a Pro-Am tournament and a Charity event. The Championship will take place February 13-14.

In addition to Annie Duke, FS&G’s leadership includes former WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack as Chairman as well as former top brass of YouBet.com David Goldberg, Michael Brodsky, Jeffrey Grosman, and Eric Faulkner.

The other reward from getting to win the Lock Poker BLUFF Pro Challenge is that you will get to be a LockPRO Elite. He was already a member so second placed “bigguylegend22″ gets the potential to become the next member of the team after earning $90.198 in April.

After learning he won the BLUFF Pro Challenge, Macedo said: “I’m really excited and happy to have won the BPC! I had a very good run at the Lock High stakes tables and now I can only hope to keep working and playing hard in order to improve and build on this achievement. I will keep on playing anyone at any stakes up to $200/400 so if you want some action, come find me at the tables (that goes for you too Durrrr ).”

He also announced the latest promotion the Zero to Hero tournament and who else is better to announce that. The top 10 finishers will receive personal coaching and review of hands by Macedo.

The Finnish poker pro leapt up by $1.700.000 over 2.278 hands.

He did it against notorious bad ass poker players Gus Hansen, DrugsOrMe, Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies, Jens “Ingenious89” Kyllonen, Rui Cao and Andreas “skjervoy” Torbergsen in $300/$600 6-Max PLO games.

He was until recently $500.000 down over the whole year.

Antonius is known for taking breaks from the high stakes but has been almost non stop on the site playing ever since the great Poker Outage and he is the main reason this all is still running.

It seems as if Gus Hansen has passed his good fortune on to Antonius as he himself is having a bad time.

He lost $1.100.000 over 6.954 hands in the last week.

Now he is still up $3.000.000 but he was $4.800.000 up and counting earlier this year but that seems a memory.

This seems to be a pattern of Hansen as last year he was up $2.000.000 early in the year. Then he lost a great portion before the WSOP and then lost all of it and more in the fall.

Now it may seem that Hansen was the only one to stumble but that was not the case. Andreas “skjervoy” Torbergsen (-$1.100.000), Ziigmund (-$236.000) and FinnishNightmre (-$232.000) all fell into the red over the last seven days.

Fellow Finn Jens “Ingenious89” Kyllonen, if you put Antonius in your mind, was another big winner on Full Tilt this week. He pulled in $1.100.000 that should go nicely with his 2009 EPT Copenhagen title.

Rui Cao (+$449.000), ronnyr37617 (+$300.000) and former professional Starcraft player Eunjong Byun (+$166.000) were all amongst the top five biggest winners.

She has 10.000 plus followers and so the news was spread quite quickly. She chirped before a statement on San Remo: “I am thrilled to announce that I’ve renewed my sponsorship agreement with Bodog!” She is now in San Remo on Day 1B and she is there with paramour and fellow poker pro Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis.

Ng is now the longest tenured pro on Bodog with this latest signing. Bodog kicked away 2004 World Series of Poker (WSOP) runner up David Williams after he won World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship in April to sign online pro Amanda Musumeci. Ng together with her are the only two players on Team Bodog at the moment.

Some question the credentials of these two femme fatales that they can earn the sponsorship of Bodog. Ng has had no cashes between July 2008 and July 2010 according to the HendonMob database. She finished 238th in 2008 WSOP Main Event and after that she hit a two year dry spell, at least in poker, and then she came back for the 2010 WSOP Ladies Event for a cash at 29th place and a 445th place in the Main Event. HendonMob is saying that Musumeci does not have any live tournament cashes and approximately $172.000 in online winnings. Then again, if you can sign beautiful women, take the opportunity.

The new deal will probably not set off a firestorm of future signings. Black Friday has made it so future poker sponsorships are not likely. The indictments by the U.S. Department of Justice have already had an effect on sponsored players, as seen at the start of yesterday’s WPT stop in Hollywood, Florida.

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown saw a field of 426 players for the $10.000 Main Event. There are still some pros in the fray but some notables were absent like Team Full Tilt members Howard Lederer, Phil Ivey, Allen Cunningham, and Jennifer Harman. Team UB’s Joe Sebok was also missing from the action and PokerStars was represented by one lone member of its Pro stable, Jason Mercier (un-patched at the tournament).

There were some in the field that were showind their allegiances. Full Tilt pros patched up during the event included Gavin Smith, Annette Obrestad, Scott Montgomery, and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger. Adam “Roothlus” Levy carried the UB flag, although Maria Ho was in attendance for the tournament without adornment by UB. Several sites that still accept U.S. action, including Lock Poker (Matt Stout), Victory Poker (Jonathan Little), and DoylesRoom (Amit Makhija and Steve Gross), displayed their logos proudly.

Eugene Katchalov went to third place after being second to Mercier in the High Roller Bounty Shootout. Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza Main Event and last year’s World Poker Tour World Championship made it so that Eric Baldwin dropped from second place to fifth place.

A final table over at WPT Hollywood (Indiana) made Thomas Marchese leap to sixth place, which is five places upwards and in turn also the biggest jump. 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel moves past Fernando Brito to take seventh place as Dwyte Pilgrim and David Peters complete the top ten.

From position eleven to twenty is less than 100 points difference so that will mean that loads of swappings will take place. James Van Alstyne lost 160 Power Rankings points and ten spots to twentieth. Phil Ivey has not earned BLUFF POY points so far. He fell one spot to thirteenth spot after losing some small cashes last year. The fall of Van Alstyne was for some an automatic boost.

Chris Bjorin leaps up two spots to sixteenth place for min-cashes from European Poker Tour events in San Remo and Monte Carlo last year. Guess who’s back? No not that dumb Eminem, somebody far better, it is Erik Seidel. He is back in the top twenty thanks to his runner up finish at WPT Hollywood (Indiana) and Samuel Stein exits the top twenty.

The top twenty in the BLUFF/ESPN Power Rankings as of April 27, 2011 (change from last update):

1st (-): Sorel Mizzi – 1.545,14 points
2nd (+1): Jason Mercier – 1.376,37 points
3rd (+1): Eugene Katchalov – 1.345,16 points
4th (+1): Vanessa Selbst – 1.189,83 points
5th (-3): Eric Baldwin – 1.174,26 points
6th (+5): Thomas Marchese – 1.133,66 points
7th (+1): Jonathan Duhamel – 1.065,81 points
8th (-2): Fernando Brito – 1.059,33 points
9th (-): Dwyte Pilgrim – 1.045,20 points
10th (-3): David Peters – 1.001,02 points
11th (+2): Daniel Alaei – 971,59 points
12th (+3): Daniel Negreanu – 968,92 points
13th (-1): Phil Ivey – 951,19 points
14th (+2): David (Bakes) Baker – 950,01 points
15th (+2): Michael Mizrachi – 942,70 points
16th (-2): Chris Bjorin – 941,30 points
17th (+1): Jeffrey Lisandro – 935,62 points
18th (+1): John Juanda – 924,58 points
19th (NR): Erik Seidel – 901,49 points
20th (-10): James Van Alstyne – 898,56 points