“I feel like I’ve joined the Yankees,” said Schmidt, who plays as "Leatherass9" on PokerStars. “Getting the opportunity to represent the largest poker room in the world is definitely something that makes all of the hard work feel worthwhile. I couldn’t be more honored.”

On the felts, Schmidt has earned more than $3 million during his five-year career, logging more than eight million hands over 10,000 hours. He posted the world’s highest win rate in both $5/$10 No Limit and $10/$20 No Limit in 2007 and 2008. In a four-month period between November 2007 and February 2008, Schmidt won in excess of $600,000 playing high-stakes cash games. He’s never had a losing month in his career.

One of Schmidt's most satisfying achievements in poker was attaining PokerStars’ Supernova Elite status in just eight months while playing high-stakes cash games in 2007. He said that being named to PokerStars Team Online means he’ll be going for Supernova Elite status again in 2010. “The chase for Supernova Elite is officially on,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, 28, joined DragTheBar.com as a coach in January after spending three years as a lead instructor for StoxPoker. He makes poker videos and actively participates in the site’s member forums. “We’re very happy for Dusty,” said Drag The Bar CEO Hunter Bick, who founded the poker training site nine months ago. “It’s obviously exciting for us to have someone who’s achieved what he has on our team of coaches. He’s a good guy who works hard and he deserves this recognition.”

In addition to his roles with Drag The Bar, Schmidt is a columnist for CardPlayer Magazine and a published author. In December, he released Treat Your Poker Like A Business, which focuses on teaching players how to develop a professional approach to the game, both on and off the felts.

In joining Team PokerStars Online, Schmidt will play exclusively on PokerStars.com. Although he's recognized as a successful cash game player, Schmidt has said he will play several tournaments on the site. He will also keep a blog at PokerStars.com.

PokerStars selected 23 founding members for its Team Online in December, sifting through 2,000 applications to form a team made up of 20 men and three women with 18 countries represented. Since then, the site has added three more to its roster and PokerStars says it plans to add further players to PokerStars Team Online throughout 2010. Here's a look at the full team:

Andres Alisievicz -- lobojiji
Jorge Arias -- JorgeArias
Boumaaza Bachir -- Chiren80
Anders Berg -- Donald
Alvaro Blanco -- VARICO
Thomas Boekhoff -- Boku87
Diego Brunelli -- vgreen22
André Coimbra -- acoimbra
Mathew Didlick -- chipstar1
Ta-Chih Geeng -- socutiesf
Andrew Goetsch -- Kid Nebraska
Martha Gonzalez -- marene
Keiran Harris -- K_Man2307
Steve Jacobs -- stevesbets
Randy Lew -- nanonoko
Karlo Lopez -- elmagopr
Alexey Makarov -- LuckyGump
Kristian Martin -- CharismA3
Grzegorz Mikielewicz -- DaWarsaw
Nichoel Peppe -- NicP
Grayson Physioc -- spacegravy
Sebastien Sabic -- Seb86
Amanda Thomas -- ROXY24
George Lind III -- Jorj95
Denys Shcherbakov -- diatty
Dustin Schmidt -- Leatherass9

In the CNN Money article, Kellner was quoted as saying, “For competitive reasons, the online poker company wishes to go unnamed at this time. As the online poker market becomes more competitive, our brand name and our market become more and more valuable. As a result of these negotiations, the numbers here can get very large, very quickly.” Heads Up Entertainment has built the Canadian Poker Tour to encompass over 50 casinos across Canada and also reached into the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and cruise ships on the high seas of the Caribbean. In total, Heads Up Entertainment provides over 600 casino-based poker events through its partnerships.

In a discussion with Poker News Daily, Kellner stated that the offer was something that he knew would be coming. “Was it out of the blue? Yes and no,” Kellner said in an exclusive interview with Poker News Daily. “We have always figured that the Canadian Poker Tour would be an attractive candidate for acquisition by someone. The management here at Heads Up Entertainment has realized that, with our development of our relationships with casinos and our building of the CPT brand and our other poker outlets such as Canadian Poker Player Magazine and Canadian Poker Player Television, we might be on track for something like this in 18 months to two years.”

“When we started discussing the idea in more depth on Friday with this online poker outlet,” Kellner continued, “we realized that it was happening way before we thought it would.” The CNN Money article states that Heads Up Entertainment, through the ownership of the Canadian Poker Tour, Canadian Poker Player Magazine, and the recently launched Canadian Poker Player Television, has the ability to reach over 40 million people across the North American landscape.

Last year, the former ownership of the World Poker Tour (WPT), World Poker Tour Enterprises, sold the eight year old company to the online gaming giant Party Gaming for $12.3 million. While that was a sizeable amount, WPT management turned down a reported $36.5 million offer from Mandalay Media prior to accepting the Party Gaming offer. The potential discussions by Heads Up Entertainment and the unnamed online poker outlet could lead to another such battle.

Kellner, while not disclosing the online company who could become the potential sponsor or new owner of the Canadian Poker Tour, stated that the deal being discussed was “well into the seven-figure range.” He offered no timetable for the Tour regarding this proposal and indicated that, at this moment, the company was preparing for the next installment of the Canadian Open Poker Championships this fall. In the past, the tournament has featured such popular Canadian players as Gavin Smith and Brad “Yukon” Booth and other top professionals such as Phil Hellmuth, Joe Hachem, Phil Laak, Jennifer Till,y and Antonio Esfandiari. Kellner also stated that the popular Canadian Heads Up Championship (an event won in 2008 by former World Champion and 2009 National Heads Up Poker Championship winner Huck Seed), will be back on the schedule this year.

As of press time, there have been no details released regarding the potential deal for the Tour. “We have built the CPT and other parts of the company through offering the best of everything to our players, from tournament structures to other tournaments and cash games to entertainment outside of our events,” Kellner stated. “We certainly hope that is maintained by the entity that has made the offer to us if,” Kellner emphasized, “we decide to accept the offer.”

Gross sits atop the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings and holds the prestigious leaderboard’s top Pro Poll and PLB scores. In February 2009, Gross took down the PocketFives.com Monthly PLB title by edging out fellow Brunson 10 member Chris “moorman1” Moorman by a slim 0.39 points. Gross is also a Triple Crown winner on PocketFives.com. Capturing that accolade involves winning three $10,000 prize pool tournaments across three sites tracked for the Rankings within a seven-day period.

Gross’ list of tournament victories is quite impressive. Over the course of the youngster’s illustrious career, Gross has won the Absolute Poker $150,000 Guaranteed, Absolute Poker $1K, and multiple PokerStars $100 rebuys. Many will fondly remember Gross’ epic battle heads-up against James “Andy McLeod” Obst at the final table of a $3,150 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) tournament last April. Gross ultimately fell to Obst, but nevertheless banked $128,000. He won the aforementioned PokerStars $100 rebuy in both February and March for a combined $165,000.

No official press release about Gross’ signing has been sent by DoylesRoom at the time of writing. However, officials from the site confirmed his Brunson 10 membership to Poker News Daily and a statement is due out on Wednesday. In two months, Gross will likely take the DoylesRoom flag and head to the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) in Las Vegas. Gross final tabled a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em with Rebuys event two years ago for $57,000. All told, he’s amassed $83,000 in career WSOP earnings.

Also recently added to the Brunson 10 was Alex “AJKHoosier1” Kamberis. Like Gross, Kamberis is a Monthly PLB winner on PocketFives.com. In addition, he’s taken down three Triple Crowns. In 2008, Kamberis made his presence known by finishing third in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event, earning $782,000. Ultimately, that year’s WCOOP Main Event featured a five-way chop. According to DoylesRoom, Kamberis has over $4.2 million in career earnings. The 23 year-old hails from Skokie, Illinois and cashed in this year’s PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event.

Besides Gross and Kamberis, other members of the Brunson 10 include Moorman, Dani “ansky” Stern, Amit “amak316” Makhija, and Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark. The group lost original member Alec “traheho” Torelli, who defected to Victory Poker, but its signings of Kamberis and Gross bring the total number of Brunson 10 members to six. The stable will eventually grow to include 10 men and two women, a play on Brunson’s signature 10-2 hand.

Over the weekend, Moorman won the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Brawl. The win in the weekly high-stakes bounty tournament earned Moorman $109,000 and he knocked out 21 players en route to victory. Moorman, one of the top British players in all of poker, sits at #5 in the PocketFives.com Online Poker Rankings, owning the second best Pro Poll score.

Kamberis, meanwhile, will wear DoylesRoom gear to a bevy of live poker tournaments, including the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship and Grand Prix de Paris. He’ll also head to the European Poker Tour (EPT) Monte Carlo Grand Final in Monaco next month. You can spot Kamberis in 10 WSOP tournaments this year, including the $50,000 Player’s Championship and $10,000 Main Event.

DoylesRoom is a member of the USA-friendly Cake Poker Network, whose roster of sites also includes Cake Poker, Lock Poker, Players Only, Red Star Poker, and Stryyke. The network is the 10th busiest worldwide in terms of cash game traffic according to PokerScout.com, with a seven-day running average of 2,050 real money ring game players.

In early 2009, Italy's State Monopolies Autonomous Administration (AAMS) established new online gaming regulations that ring-fence the country's residents from the rest of the world when it comes to internet gambling.  To abide by the regulations, online poker rooms must allow only Italian players on their sites, house the site's servers in Italy, can only host tournaments, and every tournament must be pre-approved in real time by the AAMS.  Prior to Microgaming, other poker rooms such as PokerStars, Party Poker, and bwin had established Italy-only rooms.

Regarding his company's Italian entry in the online poker race, Microgaming CEO Roger Raatgever said, "With the Italian market set to become increasingly open and competitive in the months to come, we are confident that we have the right resources and alliances to support our operators and help them to succeed. Italy is an important region for the future of gaming in Europe, as it has set the standard for other countries wishing to introduce gaming regulations; it is a crucial gateway for further EU expansion.  We remain committed to the Italian market and are keen to play our part in helping our licensees take full advantage of the opportunities that lie therein, and beyond."

It reference to Raatgever's comment on Italy's importance, it may come as a surprise to some that it is Italy, not the U.K., that is the largest e-gaming market in Europe.  According to eGaming Review, regulated e-gaming and betting activities amounted to €18.7 billion in 2009, a figure that included land-based wagering (the majority of the revenue), offshore internet gambling, and onshore internet gambling.

Ladbrokes is no stranger to Microgaming's services since it has already partnered with the software provider for its non-Italian poker room.  "Microgaming has adapted its services in a way that caters to our specific needs, as we compete in the competitive Italian market," said Ladbrokes Italia CEO Mattia Nicelli.  "We are confident that this partnership will prove mutually beneficial and that Microgaming’s new venture targeting the Italian market will emulate the success it has experienced around the world."

The Microgaming Network ranks as the ninth largest for cash game traffic, according to PokerScout.com, although as mentioned previously, the company's Italian offering will only host tournaments.  The network is home to almost 50 online poker rooms, including Unibet, GNUF, and Crazy Poker.

Over the weekend, the Bay 101 Shooting Star World Poker Tour (WPT) event came to a close with Phil Hellmuth primed to take down his first ever WPT title. Doyle Brunson was firmly in the corner of the UB.com sponsored pro, tweeting, “go Phil...show the boys some “old school” poker!”  Alas, Hellmuth’s chances of winning the tournament disappeared early in final table action.

Coming into the final table second in chips, Hellmuth would be the first to depart due to a bad beat in a hand against eventual second place finisher Andy "BKiCe" Seth. With Hellmuth holding pocket Queens against the suited A-J of Seth, a river Ace sent the 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner out of the event, but not off of his Twitter page. “I handled 1.6 mil bad beat well yesterday, sort of!,” Hellmuth tweeted to his followers the next day. “I didn't go Poker Brat, instead sat there in total shock, shook hands, then collapsed on floor!” He further expounded on his feelings about the tournament in a later Tweet, stating, “I Wanted 2 win SO SO SO badly!! Was down on floor 4 a full min, woulda stayed down 10 more mins, but cameras were on me, & I Needed 2 man up!”

McLean Karr would go on to take the championship at the Bay 101 event, an occurrence that brought congratulations from across the Twitterscape. “Congrats to McLean for winning the Wpt,” tweeted former WPT Player of the Year Jonathan "FieryJustice" Little. “We had dinner on day 1. Clearly he stole my luck. Nice job!” 2007 WSOP Main Event final table player Lee Childs echoed the sentiment of Little when he tweeted, “Congrats 2 Mclean Karr 4 taking down the Bay101 10K! One of the nicest, genuine dudes I've met in poker. Happy 2 see his hard work pay off.” Finally, poker pro Alex Outhred cut to the chase with his Tweet, simply saying, “McLean mothaeffin Karr!”

Outside of the tables, one of poker’s elite was Tweeting about changes he is making to his lifestyle. 2006 WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, a player known for his penchant for fully living life, decided it was time to make a change to his alcohol consumption. “Today is day 5 of on the wagon, have decided to quit drinking indefinitely,” Smith tweeted back on Friday and he seemed to get great support from his friends across the board. “This is awesome GavMasterJam!,” answered Commerce Casino tournament director Matt Savage. “Golf should be your new vice!” Fellow Canadian poker pro Brad “Yukon” Booth supported Smith by Tweeting, “I love Gsmith either way!! drunk or sober.” Smith made it through the weekend, continuing to stay “on the wagon,” and yesterday tweeted, “1 week no drinking, so far not a problem.” Further support on Twitter came from fellow players Joe Sebok and Jeff Madsen.

Potentially one of this year’s best prop bets also got its start on Twitter over the weekend. Recent National Heads-Up Poker Championship victor Annie Duke got the ball rolling by Tweeting on Friday, “Do you think @Joe Ugly (boyfriend Joe Reitman) could eat 4 full sized Cinnabons in 25 minutes? No water. Can't throw up during or for an hour after? I Want to bet no.” Action cranked up on Twitter about this prop bet with Anthrax’s Scott Ian and “Hollywood” Dave Stann saying that Reitman could. “25 minutes too easy for @JoeUgly - if @RealAnnieDuke says no, I want yes - you have action,” chirped Stann, with Ian responding, “U can do it.”

Apparently the bet is on because, later Friday evening, Duke came back with a Tweet that said, “Okay the bet is on as soon as @HowardHLederer @JoeUgly and I are in the same place. I will video tape for sure.” Reitman, however, seemed to think that the prop bet was saying something about him. “Wow. people have a lot of faith that I can eat a truckload of food,” Reitman Tweeted after the prop bet deal was made. “It's making me feel the need to look in the mirror and consider a change.” One Cinnabon roll contains 730 calories and approximately 37% of a person’s daily fat intake, so the prop bet will be a challenge to complete.

While it is informative to hear about poker player’s lives on the tables, the Tweets they send out about their daily activities are just as much fun. Poker News Daily adds to the chirping across Twitter, so be sure to follow @pokernewsdaily for all the latest on the poker world and poker players’ lives on Twitter.

Said Duke, who recently won the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, “We’re struggling with a difficult economy. Charitable organizations have recently experienced a drastic decline in donations. Most people, though sympathetic to charitable causes, have simply cut back.”

The lineup of UB.com beneficiaries this spring includes the San Antonio Aids Foundation, Road 2 Recovery, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and the Sharon Osbourne Colon Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

The Second Sundays inaugural $10 buy-in event begins at 13:00 ET on March 14th with proceeds to be donated directly to the San Antonio Aids Foundation, which is committed to providing medical care and social services to those with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). The Foundation aims to help prevent the spread of HIV through education, counseling, and testing.

Each month, Second Sundays will bring to light various charities, raise awareness around their causes, and provide UB.com members, participants, and interested readers with information and testimonials by those affected. Results and recaps will be posted regularly on UB.com.

For those who participate in the promotional event, but don't finish in the money, UB.com will hold a freeroll the following day for a chance at another $1,025 in tournament entries. Anyone who finishes in the top five spots in the freeroll will be awarded a seat in the following Sunday's $200,000 Guaranteed Tournament on UB.com.

Duke, who is notably recognized as one of the most charitable members of the poker community, is excited about the opportunity to give with the help of players at UB.com. “This is not about individuals each making large donations. It’s about a large number of people collectively donating small amounts of money in order to make a difference.

“UB is a global community. Its members have been very generous and supportive of charitable efforts in the past. This grassroots movement could mobilize more people to join our community in order to effectively make a difference.”

Duke's growing list of charitable foundations includes the ENOUGH Project, the Women's Sports Foundation, Head to Hollywood, and Ante Up for Africa. For more information on Second Sundays, visit UB.com.

Poker News Daily caught up with former room manager Dave Brenes, who stated that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and has not heard from either of the owners. As of now, there have been no updates and no resolutions in the matter, leading many to believe that nothing will ever be resolved in the case.

Representatives for Poker News Daily were able to reach the embattled former poker room manager for Pitbull Poker on Thursday. Brenes told PND that he has moved on from Pitbull Poker and is holding down a temporary job while looking for something long-term. To his knowledge, no employees or customers have recovered any funds since the owners closed the company doors and disappeared. Message boards for casino and poker site affiliates confirm that players owed funds through business dealings with the company have yet to be compensated.

Brenes concluded the conversation by stating that he has not heard anything from either of the owners, Kevin Baronowski and another identified in an earlier article as “Justin.” He claims that he is just as much of a victim as anyone else and was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. His tone was much more upbeat and hopeful now that, in his mind, the controversy is behind him.

The controversy first started back in July 2009, when “chesterboy” from the TwoPlusTwo forums posted that he suspected that there were superusers on Pitbull Poker. Most posts like these are ignored for the most part by the community, but this player was actually a prop player and a respected longtime member of the community. Others stepped forward once he broke his silence and the site was suddenly placed under the microscope of intense scrutiny. While representatives for Pitbull Poker said there were no shady dealings at the site and that they were working to produce hand history files to back up their claims, players demanded their funds en masse.

Pitbull Poker closed its doors in the middle of the night without informing the company's employees. On-site staff called police, who did not stop owners from disconnecting and removing computer equipment. The next day, the poker room was down and all players with account balances were suddenly left in the dark. Scores of players called for justice, with some losing hundreds and others losing tens of thousands of dollars.

Players on the site weren’t the only big losers thanks to the shocking actions of the site's owners. Affiliates stepped up to say that they hadn’t been paid either, with one, “JC Hawk," leading the charge, claiming he was owed well over $100,000 from his poker site NLPT.tv on top of cash investments he made into the site directly. Hawk gathered as many individuals as he could to join his cause and worked with the Costa Rican government to help bring the owners of Pitbull Poker to justice.

Some players, including “chesterboy”, decided that they could no longer be part of the world of online poker. In an announcement on the forums, he stated that he would be leaving poker for good and joining the United States Army. In December, JC Hawk continued to state that he was pursuing legal matters against Baronowski. It was Hawk’s guess that Baronowski had fled Costa Rica and was in hiding in his native homeland of Canada.

Since the turn of the new year, there have been few new developments in the case and at this point, the prospects of affiliates and players recouping any owed funds seems to be low. Many in the industry have claimed that this story is a perfect example of why regulation and legalization of online poker is vital to protect consumers from this type of apparent fraud.

Poker News Daily will continue to monitor the ongoing saga involving Pitbull Poker and report any new updates as they become available.

Much of Chile is still in a state of recovery following the 8.8-magnitude quake that killed at least 500 people and left the region's infrastructure demolished. It was one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded and was followed by a flurry of 30 aftershocks, some measuring greater than a 6.0 magnitude. More than 500,000 homes were destroyed and many highways and hospitals were severely damaged.

At least three more aftershocks struck central Chile on Thursday, March 11th, the strongest with a magnitude of 7.2, which was more powerful than the quake that annihilated the country of Haiti. The first aftershock hit as President-elect Sebastian Pinera was being sworn in during a ceremony in Valparaiso, a city outside of Santiago. A tsunami warning was issued by Chile's Navy immediately after the aftershocks hit. No news on the extent of the damage is known at this time.

Regarding the cancellation of the Vina del Mar event, PokerStars has apologized to all of the players who planned to attend the festival. Anyone who qualified or bought into the tournament will be fully refunded both their buy-in and any out-of-pocket expenses. Any questions about the event can be sent to lapt@pokerstars.com. The next stop on the LAPT will be the Grand Final in Argentina, the date yet to be confirmed.

This isn't the first time an unforeseen incident has shaken up a PokerStars-sponsored tour event. In December 2008, the LAPT Mexico was postponed when government officials shut down the tournament on Day 2 of the three-day event. PokerStars was forced to distribute the prize pool among the 89 remaining players and then hold an online freeroll to decide the final table. The final nine were then flown into Punta del Este to play a televised final table with a $50,000 prize pool.

Just last week, the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) stop at Berlin was raided by armed robbers, who escaped with £250,000 in prize money. The break-in caused panic in the poker room as players fled to the exits and chips scattered all over the tables and floor. Nobody was hurt during the scuffle and players returned to their seats four hours later. American Kevin "ImaLucSack" MacPhee went on to win the Main Event and £1,000,000.

Fundraising for the catastrophe in Chile has been slower than that of Haiti, but President Barack Obama has promised U.S. support for victims and the American Red Cross has pledged $50,000 in aid for the country.

The MiniFTOPS XV schedule mirrors the slate of events of FTOPS XV, but features tournaments with buy-ins that are one-tenth as pricey. The world’s second largest online poker site happily accepts customers from the United States and a flood of participants are expected. In the opening event of MiniFTOPS XIV, a parade of over 16,000 players turned out for a $22 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max tournament. Last time out, the Main Event field numbered 15,987.

The tournament series allows low-budget online poker players to compete in a wide variety of games including Hold’em, Omaha, HORSE, Seven-Game, Stud, and Razz. The priciest buy-in is $266 for the MiniFTOPS XV Two-Day Event, while several tournaments boast entry fees of less than $15. During MiniFTOPS XIV, a $13 No Limit Hold’em Knockout event generated a massive field of 22,240 players, the only tournament in FTOPS history to pass the 20,000-entrant mark.

Like FTOPS XV, MiniFTOPS XV tournaments will feature a Full Tilt guest host. Top female pro Jennifer Harman will serve as the face of the Main Event, while 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Scott Montgomery will host the Two-Day Event. Other hosts include CardRunners instructors Taylor Caby and Andrew Wiggins, Robert Williamson III, John “The Razor” Phan, and Portugal’s Joao Barbosa, who will take to the felts in Event #1.

All told, at least $6 million will be on the line. Let’s get down to business. Here’s the schedule for MiniFTOPS XV on Full Tilt Poker:

Wednesday, March 10th at 21:00 ET
Event 1: $22 No Limit Hold'em
$350,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, March 11th at 13:00 ET
Event 2: $26 Pot Limit Omaha High/Low Knockout
$75,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, March 11th at 21:00 ET
Event 3: $55 No Limit Hold'em 3X Shootout
$35,000 Guaranteed

Friday, March 12th at 13:00 ET
Event 4: $22 No Limit Hold'em Cubed
$300,000 Guaranteed

Friday, March 12th at 21:00 ET
Event 5: $22 Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$75,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, March 13th at 13:00 ET
Event 6: $55 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, March 13th at 15:00 ET
Event 7: $11 No Limit Hold'em with Rebuys
$350,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 14th at 13:00 ET
Event 8: $13 No Limit Hold'em Knockout
$250,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 14th at 15:00 ET
Event 9: $55 No Limit Hold'em Heads-Up
$200,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 14th at 17:00 ET
Event 10: $33 No Limit Hold'em
$600,000 Guaranteed

Monday, March 15th at 13:00 ET
Event 11: $22 Omaha High/Low
$60,000 Guaranteed

Monday, March 15th at 21:00 ET
Event 12: $109 No Limit Hold'em
$400,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, March 16th at 13:00 ET
Event 13: $33 No Limit Hold'em 4X Shootout Six-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, March 16th at 21:00 ET
Event 14: $55 HORSE
$100,000 Guaranteed

Tuesday, March 16th at 21:00 ET
Event 15: $22 No Limit Hold'em Turbo
$200,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, March 17th at 13:00 ET
Event 16: $22 Seven-Game
$50,000 Guaranteed

Wednesday, March 17th at 21:00 ET
Event 17: $33 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max with Rebuys
$350,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, March 18th at 13:00 ET
Event 18: $22 No Limit Hold'em Cashout
$60,000 Guaranteed

Thursday, March 18th at 21:00 ET
Event 19: $22 Stud
$40,000 Guaranteed

Friday, March 19th at 13:00 ET
Event 20: $22 No Limit Hold'em Six-Max
$200,000 Guaranteed

Friday, March 19th at 21:00 ET
Event 21: $33 Razz
$50,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, March 20th at 13:00 ET
Event 22: $266 No Limit Hold'em Ante from the Start Six-Max Two-Day Event
$600,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, March 20th at 15:00 ET
Event 23: $11 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys
$150,000 Guaranteed

Saturday, March 20th at 21:00 ET
Event 24: $53 No Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Six-Max
$75,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 21st at 13:00 ET
Event 25: $26 No Limit Hold'em Knockout Six-Max
$300,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 21st at 15:00 ET
Event 26: $22 Pot Limit Omaha Heads-Up
$40,000 Guaranteed

Sunday, March 21st at 17:00 ET
MiniFTOPS XV Main Event: $55 No Limit Hold'em
$800,000 Guaranteed

Visit Full Tilt Poker for details.

In Berlin, a field of 945 players came to the tables for battle in the latest EPT championship, with defending champion Sandra Naujoks attempting back-to-back wins. What made worldwide news, however, was the attempted robbery on Saturday when play was down to 24 players. The reports zoomed around the globe, with accompanying footage, and the players tried to let their fans know through Twitter what was occurring.

Noted online and live player Shaun Deeb found a report from a German outlet that showed some of the attempted robbery in progress. While he wasn’t in Berlin for the event, the video Deeb found showed that security at the event was vigilant in repelling the audacious attack. “Most badass security guy taking the money back from robbers,” Deeb Tweeted along with the Tweetvid he provided of the incident.

One of the players who was in Berlin for the tournament was English poker professional Vicky Coren. At first, she apologized to her followers for a lack of an article in The Observer (the English newspaper she writes for) by tweeting, “No Observer column from me today, I was away in Berlin and nothing much happened there to write about.” Scant moments later, Coren chirped again, “- apart from the million-dollar armed raid. It only just occurred to me today that might be news. I'm such a bad journalist.”

Fortunately, no one was seriously injured and the money taken was far less than some media outlets’ estimates. The United States’ Kevin "ImaLuckSac" MacPhee went on to capture the title on Sunday, defeating Finland’s Ilari Tahkokallio for the €1 million first place prize.

While the poker world was keeping up on the happenings in Berlin, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was in full swing throughout the weekend. The 64 player invitational tournament was the main focus of several of the poker players on Twitter and they kept their fans fully updated throughout the run of the tournament.

Playing injured for the first round of the event was last year’s runner-up in the tournament, Vanessa Rousso. What she thought was a sprained foot was much worse. “I went for x-ray just now and turns out my foot is broken, right fourth metatarsal... bummer,” “Lady Maverick” Tweeted to her followers. As of yet, Rousso hasn’t stated if the injury will affect her poker schedule.

Another player who was playing at less than 100% was the legendary Doyle Brunson. Originally, it was believed that the two-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner would have to bypass the event due to recent dental surgery, but the longtime Texas road gambler felt strong enough to compete. He went on for one of the best runs he has had in the history of the tournament and was followed on Twitter by many in the poker community.

“Down to the sweet 16 in the NBC heads up tourney. Going to play Annette, I hate playing against women. Hope she doesn’t bat her eyes at me,” Brunson jokingly Tweeted prior to meeting up with the 2007 WSOP Europe Main Event champion Annette Obrestad. After vanquishing the young phenom, the Brunson clan erupted with Tweets. Son Todd, who was in attendance for the tournament, chirped, “Doyle beats Annette 15 for a third time!,” while daughter Pamela responded with, “My Dad @texdolly is final 8 in the NBC heads up! Go Dad Go!” Unfortunately, the Elite Eight was as far as “Texas Dolly” would go, falling to Dennis Phillips in that round.

The final match of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was a dream for those who follow Twitter. On one side was Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, who uses Twitter constantly, versus eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, whose Twitter account is one of the most notable in the industry. The battle over the Twitterverse started off with a jewel from Seidel about the Caesars Palace tournament room as he Tweeted, “Temps so cold in room… guessing this event is part of NBCs extended Winter Olympics coverage.”

Other players in the Twitterscape provided their thoughts to the event as it unfolded, with Alex Outhred commenting, “There are few combinations of 2 players that have a greater mutual respect for each others poker minds than @Erik_Seidel and @RealAnnieDuke.” Seidel’s Full Tilt Poker stable mate, Andy Bloch, noted in his Tweet, “Whether he finishes 1st or 2nd, @Erik_Seidel will have earned over $10M in tournament poker, the 9th player to do so.”

As the battle wore on, Bloch was able to note a way for Duke to gain an edge over the unflappable Seidel. “Annie takes a 1-0 lead over Erik Seidel. If she wants to put Erik on full tilt she should get an orange,” Bloch Tweeted in reference to Seidel’s famous battle with Johnny Chan during the 1988 WSOP Main Event. After tying up the match, Seidel would eventually fall to Duke, but he was gracious in defeat. “Ended 2nd to Annie Duke in the NBC Heads Up. She played an outstanding match. Easiest loss of my career, very happy for her,” Seidel Tweeted at the conclusion of the tournament.

Following the activities on the poker tables this weekend, many players sat back to watch the festivities surrounding the Academy Awards. With the expanded Best Picture category and a battle between Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep for the Best Actress Oscar among the intriguing stories, the television program captured poker players’ attention. Most remarkable in the opinion of poker player Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, however, was the appearance of 47-year-old actress Demi Moore. “"Demi Moore... what a spectacle!,” Mayrinck admired via a Tweet. “She has drank from the fountain or made a pact with the devil. I want too!” High roller Patrik Antonius also weighed in on his Oscar preferences: “rough weekend overall, but at least avatar didn't win the awards that counted at the oscars.”

The world of poker through Twitter has become one of the best ways for fans to keep up with their favorites. Poker News Daily also is a part of the action on Twitter, so be sure to sign up to follow us at @pokernewsdaily.