2010 NAPT Venetian Main Event Day 1 | 2010 NAPT Venetian

02-20-2010 07:45 UTC-12

The Wait is Over

[user75032]

For as long as we can remember there have been rumors of an "imminent" North American Poker Tour. It only made sense -- after the success of the European Poker Tour, Asia Pacific Poker Tour and Latin American Poker Tour, why wouldn't PokerStars.net start an NAPT?

So it was with excitement and anticipation that we greeted the announcement at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January that the NAPT had finally come into being. And now here we are, six weeks later, about to kick off the latest mega poker tour in the luxurious Las Vegas Venetian Hotel and Casino.

The festivities started yesterday with a celebrity charity poker tournament and a typically extravagant welcome party at the night club TAO. T-Pain was in the house to dazzle the crowd, and the drinks were flowing long past the midnight hour.

Today it's down to business. The 48 tables in the Venetian poker room have been joined by another 40-odd tables in front of the poker room, to the side of the poker room, and behind the poker room. This event is going to be massive.

Keep your browser pointed at PokerNews.com throughout the week for continuing live updates, starting roughly twenty minutes from now and ending some time on Wednesday night.

02-20-2010 08:04 UTC-12

PokerStars Raises $43,000 for Local Charity

donpeters

Zak "Zakooza" Alameddine takes first place!

Last night, the NAPT Venetian hosted a chairty poker tournament to benefit Three Square here in Las Vegas.

From Three Square's website:

"Three Square is the valley’s food hub; a central location where donated and rescued food can be collected and distributed. We provide bakery, produce, dairy, non-perishable products and ready-to-eat meals to non-profit and faith-based organizations. We also facilitate childhood and senior nutrition programs. We are a place for members of the community to meet, serve and collaborate as part of the food solution.

"To provide wholesome food to hungry people, while passionately pursuing a hunger free community.

"The vision of Three Square is simple: No one in our community should be hungry. By bringing together the resources, experience and passion of the people and businesses of Southern Nevada, we can make sure no one has to. When we work together, we don’t just serve food. We serve hope."

The charity event was a rebuy tournament and some of the biggest celebrities in the world came out to play for a great cause. Slash, Tony Hawk, Christian Slater, Brad Garrett, Jason Alexander, Orel Hershiser, Montel Williams, Donnie Wahlberg and Marlon Wayans.

Daniel Negreanu had a special bounty on his head and whoever was the lucky player to bust him, earned an autographed guitar by the legend Slash himself. Wahlberg was the player to bust Negreanu from the tournament and won himself an awesome prize.

All together, the tournament raised just under $43,000 for Three Square. Zak "Zakooza" Alameddine won the event, taking home the first-place prize of a $15,000 package to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure next year. Hershiser was the second-place finished, winning a $5,000 seat to the NAPT Mohegan Sun in April. John Beveridge finished behind him in third and earned a seat to this NAPT Venetian event.

For more information, check out the PokerStars Blog. Be sure to check out some of the photos in the gallery and special thanks for photographer Michael Kovac for the awesome pictures!

02-20-2010 08:09 UTC-12

Tweet Tweet

[user116926]

Follow our NAPT Venetian and EPT Copenhagen live feed on Twitter so you don't miss a single hand!

And while you're at it, why not become a fan on Facebook too:

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

02-20-2010 08:11 UTC-12

Shuffle Up and Deal!

donpeters

THe cards are in the air for the PokerStars.net NAPT Venetian! There's already over 800 players signed up and in the field. Registration will be open for a little while so that number will surely grow.

02-20-2010 08:37 UTC-12

A Smashing Success

[user75032]

"Massive" cannot begin to describe the scope of the event that's shaping up today here at the Venetian. Global Live Events Head Jeffrey Haas confirmed just after Jason Alexander called "Shuffle up and deal!" that more than 850 players were registered for the tournament. Given that the tournament was only announced six weeks ago, that is a staggering number.

We're slowly making our way across the acres of poker tables in a search for familiar faces. Some players are straggling in late, of course, but hopefully we won't miss anybody (we've definitely spotted Marco Traniello, to whom we apologize profusely *again* about that whole thing in San Remo where we didn't spot you until Day 2.)

We've already seen one 10-hand penalty meted out to a player who inadvertently exposed his hand on the turn, thinking that he was already at showdown. A floor supervisor was summoned to the table.

"Unfortunately, sir, you're on a 10-hand penalty. The good news is that you won the pot."

02-20-2010 08:45 UTC-12

Searching for Tough Draws

[user75032]

With so many players in action and so many pros in attendance, it's hard to pick out one table that is notably tougher than any other. So far a front-runner has to be Table 41, conveniently located near the poker room rail. Former WSOP Main Event champion Greg Raymer is in the 2-seat; online guru Jon Turner is in the 6-seat; and two to Turner's left is Hevad Khan.

02-20-2010 08:49 UTC-12

Formatting Notes

[user75032]

You might be wondering how this tournament is all going to play out. Here's what we know:

* Play is starting out 10-handed. This almost certainly has to be a function of space and a desire to allow as many people to enter the tournament as NAPT and Venetian can fit.

* As players are eliminated throughout the day, tables will move to 9-handed play.

* The schedule for today is to play eight one-hour levels.

* Tomorrow the players will play six levels or down to 56 players remaining. Play will be 9-handed.

* From Day 3 onwards, play will be 8-handed.

02-20-2010 08:53 UTC-12

Player Spotting

[user140525]

There's not a cash game to found in the Venetian at the moment. Every last inch of space in the giant poker room is filled with tournament tables. Earlier we identified the starting table of doom (Hevad "Rain" Khan, Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, and Jon "PearlJammed" Turner). It's even scarier now that Robert Mizrachi has joined the mix.

Other tough tables we found:
• Miami John Cernuto and Dennis Phillips
• James "Mig.com" Mackey and Adam Junglen
• Daniel Negreanu, Will "the Thrill" Failla, and Joe Serock
• Andrew "LuckyChewy" Lichtenberger, Jon Friedberg, and Johnny Neckar
• Justin "BoostedJ" Smith and John Duthie
• Carter King and Blair Hinkle
• Erica Schoenberg and Josh Arieh

Also seated in the main poker room: Shane "Shaniac" Schleger, Tony Korfman, Theo Tran, Vanessa Rousso, Jimmy "Gobboboy" Fricke, Matt "AllInAt420" Stout, Brandon Cantu, Gavin Griffin, and Kevin Schaffel.

02-20-2010 08:53 UTC-12

Bracelet vs. Bracelet

donpeters

Reigned WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada is seated with a fellow bracelet winner in Andrew Brown. After Cada raised it up to 250 preflop from early position, Brown called out of the big blind and the two took a flop of {Q-Hearts}

.

Brown checked and Cada fired 500. Brown made the call and then turned to tip the cocktail server a few bucks for bringing him a drink.

The turn card was the {9-Clubs}

and Brown checked again. Cada fired 1,050 and Brown hesitated for a bit before folding his hand.

Tags: Andrew Brown Joe Cada