The Nightly Turbo: Tilly and Shak Enter $125K Tournament, Negreanu Appearing on Sitcom

February 28, 2013

Brett Collson Chief Editor

Pamela Maldonado

Miss any of the day's top poker stories? Well, you've come to the right place. In this edition of the Nightly Turbo, we're bringing you the latest entries for the PartyPoker Premier League VII, Daniel Negreanu's upcoming appearance in a Candian sitcom, and more.

In Case You Missed It:

A final table was reached at the World Poker Tour L.A. Poker Classic on Thursday. Paul Volpe led the way with a $1 million prize up for grabs.

Marvin Rettenmaier reclaimed the top spot in the Global Poker Index this week. Mickey Doft takes a look at the biggest movers and shakers in the GPI rankings.

Need a book to read while you're at the tables? Chad Holloway reviews the book about the Ship It Holla Ballas! featuring Phil Galfond, Andrew Robl and Tom Dwan.

The Global Poker Index made some noise this month when it banned two players from its ranking system. The PokerNews Podcast crew caught up with GPI CEO Alex Drefus to discuss his reasoning behind the decision.

Premier League Lineup Filling Up

Dan Shak, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Jennifer Tilly have been added to the list of players for next month’s PartyPoker Premier League VI. The three will join an impressive lineup that already includes Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Tony G, Phil Laak, Dan “Jungleman” Cates, Scott Seiver, Luke Schwartz, and newcomer Jonathan Duhamel. The event kicks off at Aspers Casino in London on March 17.

Shak is on quite a roll in 2013, already making three final tables and cashing for more than $900,000. He hopes to tack on even more to that total in London. “I’ve been following the Premier League since its inception six years ago, and I’ve always been interested in playing and very pleased to finally be able to participate this year,” Shak told the PartyPoker Blog. “I always like the challenge of playing against the best players in the world and this certainly qualifies!”

“Mad Marvin” Rettenmaier is a back-to-back World Poker Tour winner who should be adding spice to the $125,000 buy-in game. He told the PartyPoker Blog, “It’s great to be in a position to play in the PartyPoker.com Premiere League this year. I’d be mad to turn down the offer! I hope I can do myself and my sponsors justice.”

And of course, there’s Jennifer Tilly: “The Premiere League is always a fantastic show filled with surprises. This year I am thrilled to be invited to be a part of this elite group.”

The 16-player event is part of the World Poker Tour National Series London festivities and will award the winner a cash prize of $450,000.

The PartyPoker Blog has more.

Negreanu on Mr. D

On Wednesday, March 20, Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu will appear on the hit Canadian sitcom Mr. D. The show stars a former physical education teacher and hockey coach, played by Gerry Dee, who placed third in Season 5 of NBC’s Last Comic Standing.

Here’s a summary of the episode from the CBC (the Canadian Broadcast Company, which airs Mr. D):

In an upcoming episode of Mr. D entitled "Poker Night" airing on March 20 at 8PM, Canadian professional poker player Daniel Negreanu is guest starring as himself. When Gerry comes across a down and out Daniel Negreanu, he orchestrates a staff poker night in order to get Daniel back on his feet. The plan ends up going awry when Lisa, with Bill’s help, wins the poker night.

Affectionately known as Canada's favorite TV teacher on the weekly sitcom, Dee reached a sponsorship agreement with PokerStars last year that saw the comedian serve as a brand ambassador, which included a trip to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. It was there that PokerNews caught up with Dee for an interview, which you can read by clicking here.

From now until March 30, PokerStars is running the “Meet Gerry” promotion for Canadian players. The promotion allows players to compete for three prize packages, which include flights to Toronto, hotel accommodation and $500 spending money, along with tickets to see Dee’s stand-up and a private meet-and-greet with the comedian.

For more information about the promotion, visit PokerStars.com.

PokerStars to Premier Zoom Tournaments During MicroMillions IV

On Thursday, PokerStars announced the fourth installment of MicroMillions, a popular online tournament series that gives micro-stakes players the opportunity to win huge cash prizes. The 100-event online poker festival will run from March 14 through March 24 and features a range of buy-ins from 11 cents to $22.

The $22 MicroMillions Main Event is set for March 24 with a $1 million guarantee prize pool and $150,000 guaranteed to the winner. The series will also feature a wide variety of formats like turbos, rebuys, shooutouts, and two $11 Sunday Storm specials.

Zoom Poker will also makes its tournament debut with two events taking place on March 14 and March 17. It will have the same option to ‘Fast Fold’ and instantly be moved to a new table with the shared pool of tournament players. The difference is, during the final three tables, the remaining players will play out the tournament in standard fashion.

“As part of my $100 to $100,000 bankroll challenge this year, I’ll be playing a lot of MicroMillions tourneys over the next couple of weeks," said Team PokerStars Online Pro Andre "acoimbra" Coimbra, who played all 100 MicroMillions events in the debut festival last year. "It’s such a fun series and it’s one where players of all abilities and bankroll levels can take part to win huge prizes.”

The third MicroMillions festival set a record as the largest online poker tournament series with a total of 1,308,994 entries. The biggest individual winner to date is MicroMillions II Main Event winner “SoyDelGlobo,” who turned his $22 buy-in into a $157,000 cash prize after besting 65,063 players.

For the full MicroMillions tournament schedule visit PokerStars.com.

Iowa's Push for Online Poker

On Thursday, an Iowa Senate subcommittee approved a bill that could eventually legalize online poker within state lines. The poker-only bill will be discussed by the Iowa Senate State Government Committee next week.

Senate Study Bill 1068 would allow licensed Iowa businesses to operate Internet wagering on poker. Once legalized, the industry would be regulated by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission.

Study bills in Iowa are generally developed to evaluate political reactions to a proposal before it is formally introduced in the legislature. Last year, the Iowa Senate approved a similar study bill to legalize and regulate intrastate online poker. However, the bill never moved through the House of Representatives because of a general lack of interest.

The legalization of online poker in the Hawkeye State could generate between $3 million and $13 million in state tax revenue, according to a study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission last year.

The Des Moines Register has more.

PartyPoker Big Game VII in Barcelona

Last year, the PartyPoker Big Game took place at the Montesino Casino in Vienna, Austria. This year, there will be a change of scenery. The PartyPoker Big Game VII will take place at Casino Barcelona in Spain on April 8 and will run as a 12-hour cash game.

Past participants of the PartyPoker Big Game include Tony G, Mike Sexton, Scott Seiver, Jennifer Tilly, Sam Trickett, and Phil Laak. Last year, Laak finished as the biggest winner but only after he felt the effects of a 48-hour session when he famously mucked a €64,000 winning hand. The year before that, it was Tony G who was the biggest winner at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham.

The blinds will start at €25/€50, but the stakes will be determined by the players at the table. The game will be filmed for television in the U.K. before being distributed worldwide. Jesse May will anchor the commentary with the action presented by PartyPoker.com’s Kara Scott.

WPT Barcelona will also be kicking off and running from April 5 through April 10. Qualifiers, including daily freerolls, are running on PartyPoker with several $7,000 packages being awarded. The package includes a WPT Barcelona Main Event buy-in, hotel accommodations, spending money, and even a deep-sea fishing trip provided for all qualifiers.

Then on April 11, the action will move south from Catalonia to Andulucia for the €1,650 WPT National Marbella Main Event at Casino Marbella. In 2012, the event attracted 377 entries, making it the largest WPT National ever in Europe. In addition to the Main Event there will be more than 20 side events during the week-long festival.

acePLAYpoker Charity Championship: Episode 2

The parent company of the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower recently celebrated the official launch of the free-to-play acePLAYpoker.com with the first acePLAYpoker Charity Championship. Among the players competing for $5,000 in charity money were poker pros Liz Lieu and Tony Dunst, two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, BMX pros Ricardo Laguna and TJ Lavin, and Bellator Ring Girl Jade Bryce.

Here's a look at episode 2 of the event: