The final leg of the European Poker Tour (EPT) will feature a number of Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) Poker stars and associates including recent £100,000 Grosvenor tour winner Michael Greco, it has been revealed.

The event, to be held from March 28^th to April 2^nd in Monte Carlo, will once again offer a lucrative prize pool, thought to be around last year’s amount of almost $3 million euros.

The DTD team will include Rob Young, Dave Colclough, Carlo Citrone, Kevin O’Connell and Greco.

“We’re really looking forward to Monte Carlo. With a strong team competing and our famous DTD dancers performing at our party, DTD Poker are about to reveal their hand at Europe’s most prestigious poker event!” said Paul Zimbler of the site. 

Earlier this month DTD Poker’s online network signed up with software provider CryptoLogic. The firm are also thought to be planning a new land venue based in Nottingham. 

The final of William Hill’s Grand Prix tournament will air on Sky Sports this evening as poker continues its drive into the mainstream. 

The eight man final has already been held, but the results of William Hill’s second annual tournament are being kept under wraps, PokerNews reports. 

Players such as Jeff Lisandro from Australia as well as Antonio Esfandiari are among the competitors set to battle it out at the final table. 

William Hill recently announced the extension of a licensing deal with CryptoLogic, and it is through the two firms’ collaborative online poker effort that two skilled online players made it through to the opening rounds of the Grand Prix and now the final. 

Bo Sehlstedt already has a formidable record at various poker tournaments, but Wayne Hutchins has come from nowhere to be in with a chance of winning the Grand Prix, PokerNews advises. 

An amateur poker player has won the fifth annual World Poker Tour (WPT) invitational event in Los Angeles, coming through the ranks to triumph in a field that featured numerous celebrity competitors.

The likes of James Woods, Mena Suvari, Jon Favreau, Hank Azaria and Vince Vaughn all took part in the event, but it was amateur Adam Weinraub who eventually walked away with $100,000.

Weinraub continued his admirable philanthropy, which had begun when he successfully bid for a seat at the event at an auction to benefit the Susan G Komen foundation, by donating a further $20,000 to the cause and promising to add 20 per cent of his winnings at the WPT World Championship, an event for which he now qualifies.

The final table was of great interest to observers as it featured two Hollywood faces in the shape of The Notebook director, and son of famous director John, Nick Cassavetes, as well as 24 star Glenn Morshower.

Paris and Nicky Hilton also played at the event, which eventually saw poker pro John Cernuto lose out to Weinraub in the final hands.

JC Tran is heading the race to become the 2007 Poker Player of the Year following a string of impressive performances during the first two months of the year.

PokerNews has reported that Tran enters March at the top of the pile having overtaken previous frontrunner John Hennigan.

Tran’s performances at event such as the LA Poker Classic, where he came home in second place for the second successive year, have pushed him to the top of the leaderboard.

Hot on his heels is the Poker Classic winner, Eric Hershler, who triumphed at what was his first ever live tournament to become an instant millionaire. Hershler joins Hennigan in second place.

Tran first came to international prominence in 2004 when he finished fifth at the World Poker Finals at Foxwoods. That year he also made two final tables at the WSOP. Notable victories for the player from Sacramento include last year’s World Championship of Online Poker event, from which he took away $670,000.

World Series of Poker commissioner Jeffrey Pollack has said that the schedule for the forthcoming 2007 event “reflects the best interests” of all involved, and emphasised the way in which the event was adapting to keep up with player and spectator demands. 

In an interview with CasinoCityTimes, Mr Pollack outlined his numerous ideas for the tournament, several of which are now set to be implemented at the 2007 event. 

A new $50,000 Horse tournament will feature this year, along with improved facilities for those attending. Relaxed advertising rules mean players can now promote casinos and venues of their choice on their clothing while playing. 

Last year the WSOP banned all advertising in a climate of uncertainty for online gambling, but now online gaming can be promoted again – providing it is not directed at US players. 

Players, dealers and sponsors were interviewed as a way of preparing for this year’s event, Mr Pollack told CasinoCity. 

“By a three-to-one margin, the surveys indicated that the game of choice was No-Limit Hold’em. We have very full palette of games and choices and no matter what the survey said—we were going to take into account the wishes of the players,” the commissioner revealed.

But no announcement was made over prize money, which in 2006 stood at $12 million for eventual winner Jamie Gold.

Day three of the LA Poker Classic saw the remaining 152 players fall to 54 by the end of the day’s play, as a number of big names departed.

Of the starting field of 791, numerous famous faces had already come and gone on days one and two, including Mike Matusow, Kathy Liebert and Phil Laak.

A separate bet saw Joe Sebok and Gavin Smith agree that the first player to exit would get the other’s initials tattooed on their posterior. Smith lost the contest but it is unclear if he has yet gone under the needle.

The more conventional cash-based play on day three culminated in Bill Edler leading the pack with a chip stack worth $696,000. Jason Strasser is not far behind on $677,000, with a host of other players also sitting on at least half a million dollars.

As ever, the worst position was that of bubble boy, with Jimmy Sachindis being the last player to exit before prize money kicked in. The top 54 are all guaranteed at least $22,780, but most will be looking for rather more as day four gets underway.

The inaugural PokerBowl event, which will see a number of teams representing cities from across the US face off against one another, has announced a further list of famous names set to feature in the unique event.

Held from May 1^st to May 6^th, the tournament offers $1 million to the city which manages to successfully see off its rivals.

With 25 cities competing and six players representing each location, the 150-strong playing pool leaves plenty of room for star names.

Jeff Madsen, the youngest ever player to win a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, is the latest professional to sign up for the event. Madsen will join the Los Angeles team alongside Joe Sebok, Joe Cassidy, Theo Tran, Brandon Cantu and Gavin Smith.

The event is being organised by the US Poker League and will be held in Las Vegas, with the home team set to put out a strong showing. As befits the gambling capital, the Vegas team will be made up of a mixture of hardened pros such as Phil Hellmuth and glamorous celebrities such as Jennifer Tilly.

The PokerBowl location will be announced next month, with the likes of the High Roller Room in the Venetian thought to be in the running.

Three intensive days of poker playing at the lucrative Aussie Millions table have ended, with a handful of online players making names for themselves.

The competition, which began with 747 players and offers a main prize of $1.5 million, eliminated a further 66 players on the third day to leave 14 players remaining.

Some major names were among those not to make the cut – recent World Poker Tour (WPT) winner Joe Hachem was among those who did not make the final table at his home event, being eliminated by internet qualifier Jonas Buskas, playing his first live tournament.

The current chip leader, meanwhile, is Jimmy Fricke, another online gambler now using those talents to knock out some big names. Fricke eliminated Shane Schleger and Nathan Bobik on his way to a chip count of $2.6 million.

Buskas also made the final table, which also features Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius.