Poker News Daily spoke with Jared Detwiler, who signed up for Absolute Poker in hopes of playing in a freeroll on the site. He told us that when he logged onto Absolute Poker, “My anti-virus asked if I wanted to allow the Trojan. I figured Absolute Poker was reliable and allowed it. After this, Absolute Poker was completely disabled and there was no way for me to log on.”

The e-mail sent to Poker News Daily from Absolute Poker stated, “With the implementation of the new banners on the AP application, the AVG antivirus recognized the interaction between those banners and the Microsoft Internet Explorer as a potential virus.” The e-mail noted that Absolute Poker developers have been in contact with AVG programmers in order to update the virus definitions and stop the error from occurring. When AVG starts, the program typically checks for updates automatically in order to ensure that users are protected. AVG offers both a free and a paid premium version.

In order to reinstall Absolute Poker properly, customers are instructed to go to “Start,” “Control Panel,” and “Add / Remove Programs.” Then, select Absolute Poker and uninstall the file. Once this is complete, open “My Computer,” access the C Drive, and then open “Program Files” to delete any straggling Absolute Poker files. Then, open Internet Explorer and click on “Tools” in the top menu bar. Delete all temporary internet files and cookies. Download Absolute Poker and run it.

Absolute Poker’s statement to Poker News Daily continued, “To perform a [virus] update, the customer just needs to right click over the AVG icon located at the bottom right of the Windows Taskbar and select Update.” AVG will then take a few minutes to download and install updated virus definitions. If this is performed manually, the software will oftentimes prompt a user before it updates the definition file. Players with additional questions are urged to e-mail Techsupport@AbsolutePoker.Com.

However, for many poker players, having to uninstall programs, delete cookies, and erase internet files can be a burdensome task, especially for users who are not particularly computer savvy. Detwiler explained that he had not yet contacted Absolute Poker “because I wanted to try them out with the freeroll and hopefully everything would work out. Basically, I just gave up and figured it was their loss.”

The issues with potential Trojan Horses seem to be isolated to AVG, as opposed to other anti-virus software programs like Norton and McAfee.

Absolute Poker is owned by Tokwiro, the same company that has ownership interest in online poker room Ultimate Bet. Its flagship tournament is a $150,000 guaranteed prize pool event that runs every Saturday at 16:30 ET. The tournament comes with a $530 price tag and regularly sees an overlay, which means that the $150,000 guarantee exceeds the actual prize pool. Last week, the tournament attracted 280 entrants and was won by Jon apestyles Van Fleet, who cashed for $37,500. Heads-up, Van Fleet defeated World Poker Tour Bellagio Cup IV winner Mike “SirWatts” Watson, who finished second for $24,000. The top 36 spots paid out.

The move should be welcome news to users on Sun Poker. According to the statement, the new software’s capability will be a selling point for customers: “As you may know, the Playtech software is one of the most popular in the world due to its award winning game offerings, multiple currency and multiple language features, and unparalleled innovation in the online gaming world.” Playtech was founded in 1999 and produces software for the iPoker Network, which it owns and operates.

Sun Poker is currently on the CryptoLogic Network. According to an FAQ posted on the online poker room’s affiliate website, players will have new accounts opened for them on the iPoker Network and will need to download new software in order to play. Customers will then transfer their balances over, which can be done “directly within their account on Cryptologic.” Current online poker rooms that make their homes on the iPoker Network include Betfred Poker, CD Poker, Chili Poker, Expekt Poker, Kiwi Poker, Noble Poker, Poker Ocean, Titan Poker, and VC Poker.

My Poker Points, or MPPs, will not transfer to the iPoker Network. Instead, Sun Poker is hosting a “special promotion once we move which will be based on the number MPP’s you have accumulated on the Cryptologic network.” The iPoker Network is currently gearing up for the third European Championship of Online Poker, or ECOOP as it’s commonly known as. Last year, a total of $2.85 million was up for grabs and over 44,000 players hit the virtual felts to play in its events. This year, the ECOOP III Main Event takes place on December 7th and boasts a $1,060 price tag. The tournament has a $1.5 million guaranteed prize pool.

Also in 2007, iPoker integrated the Tribeca Poker Network into its offering. Playtech is traded on the London Stock Exchange under the symbol “PTEC.” At the time of writing, it had closed the day down ₤3.75, or 1.02%, to land at ₤363.25. It has traded in a window during the past 52 weeks of ₤308 to ₤558. In October, Playtech announced that William Hill had acquired the “assets, businesses and contracts comprising an affiliate marketing business, customer services operation and gaming brands and websites, from Playtech,” according to a press release. The “integration” of Playtech and William Hill is slated to occur within eight months from now. William Hill Poker is also a member of the CryptoLogic Network.

Another change for players on Sun Poker is that the iPoker Network does not allow rakeback, which is a popular program whereby players recoup a percentage of their rake paid to the online poker room. Various “no rake” sites have popped up to take advantage of the high level of interest in rakeback. Sun Poker is expected to introduce a loyalty program in lieu of rakeback, although the specifics of it were not available. Players can remain on the CryptoLogic Network until January 31st. When they wake up the next day, they will officially be brand new customers of iPoker.

Sun Poker officials declined to comment further on the move. We’ll have more information as it unfolds right here on Poker News Daily.

Makhija has made the transition from the online poker world to the live arena fairly effortlessly. He won the $100 rebuy online in March on PokerStars for $46,000, which is often considered to have of the most talented tournament fields. He also took down the $100 cubed on Full Tilt Poker for $19,300. Makhija received a considerable amount of face time on cable station ESPN over the summer by virtue of finishing fifth in Event 1, the $10,000 Pot Limit Hold’em championship. In August, he was the runner up to poker pro John “The Razor” Phan at the World Poker Tour’s Legends of Poker event, pocketing over $560,000.

On Sunday, Makhija nearly matched his WPT payday by outlasting the 500 person field in the Two-Day Event. The tournament was played six-handed and the final table panned out as follows:

1st Place: amak316, $550,000
2nd Place: KaKeTKa, $362,500
3rd Place: PureCash25, $262,500
4th Place: Buster Love, $195,000
5th Place: NEONPILS99, $137,500
6th Place: dpowell, $90,000

The highest finishing pro from Team Full Tilt Poker was Brandon Adams, who bubbled the six-man final table and finished seventh. Adams, who graduated college at just 19 years-old, finished 69th in the 2007 World Series of Poker Main Event and cashed for $130,288 in the process. He also took sixth in the $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Championship during a 2006 WSOP Circuit Event stop in Tunica, banking $114,475. He’s well-known for writing “Broke: A Poker Novel,” which poker pro Phil Hellmuth commented was “Excellent, entertaining, and extremely well written … I couldn’t stop reading,” according to the review provided by Amazon.com.

2008 WSOP November Nine member Craig Marquis finished 24th. He was the first person knocked out at the final table of the Main Event when it resumed last weekend. On the final hand, Marquis found all of his chips in the middle holding pocket sevens against Scott Montgomery, who held A-Q. The flop came A-10-7, giving Marquis bottom set and Montgomery top pair. Montgomery caught a running J-K for a straight which sent Marquis, who was a dominant favorite statistically after the flop, packing in ninth place, $900,000 richer for his efforts.

Coming in 11th place in the Two-Day Event was Kevin “GetPWN3D” Saul, who is more commonly known in the online poker world as “BeL0WaB0Ve.” He notched a pair of six-figure cashes during FTOPS IX, finishing in second place in the $300 rebuy event for $167,000 and adding a fourth place showing in a $1,060 buy-in tournament for $105,000. Saul won the World Poker Tour’s Bellagio Cup III in 2007 for $1.3 million, besting Full Tilt Poker pro Mike Matusow heads-up in that event. He has three WSOP in the money finishes on his poker resume for a grand total of $27,261.

A number of high-profile online poker players landed on the leader board when all was said and done in the FTOPS Two-Day event including Davidp18 (12th place), kwob20 (28th place), cheesemonster (44th place), bigdogpckt5s (48th place), and SowersUNCC (86th place). David Benyamine and Kristy Gazes, who are both Full Tilt sponsored pros, also finished in the top 54.

The Two-Day tournament premiered during FTOPS V and was won in its first running by Grndhg25. Recent winners have included wuddacooler, csimmsux, Halfrek, and hAAyd. Besides the Main Event, it is one of the most popular tournaments held as part of the FTOPS. This year, the event became a six-max tournament and the buy-in was doubled to $5,000 + $200.

Dan “imabigkidnow” Kelly took control of the FTOPS X leaderboard by making a pair of final tables and taking down Event #14 ($200 No Limit Hold‘em Turbo) for over $104,000. Kelly also made a deep run in Event #1 and has accumulated 497 points through 18 events.

Trailing in his path is LaTanyaWilliams, who won Event #13 for $69,570 and followed it up with a fourth place finish in Event #14. LaTanyaWilliams is currently second on the FTOPS X leaderboard with 340 points heading into the homestretch. Jeff “GrampaJeff” Gray is third with 310 points.

Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, Nick “agriffrod” Mitchell, and Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek were also victorious, with Mitchell’s $322,500 cash in the $1,000 No Limit Hold‘em event being the biggest so far. Here’s a look at the results from Events 6-18:

Event #6: $500 + $35 Pot Limit Omaha Six-Max
1st Place: Broberts85 - $79,250
2nd Place: thecranium - $49,350
3rd Place: xquadfourskinx - $35,455
4th Place: d3fault - $26,950
5th Place: BubonicPlague - $19,250
6th Place: pu-sdeah - $12,250

Event #7: $100 + $9 No Limit Hold ‘em Rebuy
1st Place: cane3418 - $123,600
2nd Place: Tomsk400 - $81,600
3rd Place: 4XTRADER - $60,600
4th Place: van voot - $47,400
5th Place: Hixx - $35,400
6th Place: FromThaGroundUp - $24,600
7th Place: the aviator1 - $15,000
8th Place: Stinky Budz - $10,200
9th Place: ICGOODTHINGS - $7,200

Event #8: $240 + $16 No Limit Hold‘em Knockout Six-Max
1st Place: whatariver1 - $137,153
2nd Place: Emansnrg - $86,075
3rd Place: Fzth1 - $58,783
4th Place: gogogivestack - $45,487
5th Place: EddyStoefs - $31,840
6th Place: zapatero - $21,693

Event #9: $300 + $22 No Limit Hold ‘em
1st Place: bigdogpckt5s - $277,929
2nd Place: xTheory - $168,349
3rd Place: megax82 - $108,259
4th Place: Stammdogg - $84,577
5th Place: lapozie - $63,634
6th Place: pocketrockets11 - $47,524
7th Place: Wachovia - $37,053
8th Place: SN8WMAN - $28,192
9th Place: Fdidier8 - $20,943

Event #10: $300 + $22 Mixed Hold ‘em
1st Place: MrMudd76 - $57,500
2nd Place: –DONKEY1965– - $36,250
3rd Place: Hooligan Sponge - $26,875
4th Place: BACKDOORHITTER - $20,625
5th Place: swd805 - $15,625
6th Place: Don_Timon - $11,250
7th Place: tysonm - $7,500
8th Place: AllAboutHonour - $5,850
9th Place: roundhouse22 - $4,250

Event #11: $1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold ‘em
1st Place: agriffrod - $322,500
2nd Place: RHINOWNED - $204,000
3rd Place: MlapSnarf - $151,500
4th Place: daCav04 - $120,000
5th Place: coronel - $90,000
6th Place: Kupokupo - $64,500
7th Place: Schoitl - $42,000
8th Place: Misconduct44 - $30,000
9th Place: Jagz7 - $21,000

Event #12: $200 + $16 HA (Half Pot Limit Hold ‘em, Half Pot Limit Omaha)
1st Place: losebigpots - $39,967
2nd Place: hmeister - $26,208
3rd Place: JonStephenson - $18,720
4th Place: Biggest Donkey - $14,227
5th Place: Transeporter - $10,108
6th Place: satfat - $6,458

Event #13: $500 + $35 HORSE
1st Place: LaTanyaWilliams - $69,570
2nd Place: POCKET FIVE - $45,750
3rd Place: HelloCity - $31,800
4th Place: Vortex2099 - $20,400
5th Place: hmeister - $12,600
6th Place: FOsubliminaLD - $8,700
7th Place: AmazingChase - $6,600
8th Place: slumptown - $4,500

Event #14: $200 + $16 No Limit Hold ‘em Turbo
1st Place: imabigkidnow - $104,869
2nd Place: wallstreet3 - $67,674
3rd Place: SirWatts - $50,110
4th Place: LatanyaWilliams - $37,711
5th Place: scrubbyz - $26,346
6th Place: amrasaralond - $17,564
7th Place: zurc3 - $11,881
8th Place: kor44 - $8,265
9th Place: Dutchalicious - $6,199

Event #15: $200 + $16 Omaha/8
1st Place: JohnnyBax - $46,125
2nd Place: danielle123 - $29,212
3rd Place: Raposa Felpuda - $21,627
4th Place: Ram Vaswani - $16,812
5th Place: STEALTH714 - $12,812
6th Place: evil eye 22 - $9,225
7th Place: hilokunto - $6,150
8th Place: satfat - $4,612
9th Place: Will_B_D - $3,280

Event #16: $300 + $22 No Limit Hold‘em Six-Max Rebuy
1st Place: frankly perfect - $235,625
2nd Place: xMONSTERxDONGx - $157,083
3rd Place: David Pham - $111,879
4th Place: govshark2 - $83,627
5th Place: bundas1 - $59,895
6th Place: eisenhower1 - $38,895

Event #17: $200 + $16 No Limit Hold ‘em 4 x Shootout Six-Max
1st Place: BigDaddyKing - $43,750
2nd Place: Shoomie - $27,500
3rd Place: SNACKERS - $18,300
4th Place: justakid69 - $12,500
5th Place: DLizzle - $8,750
6th Place: TerentzHill - $6,000

Event #18: $300 + $22 Razz
1st Place: Crisp86 - $38,962
2nd Place: TYGOP - $25, 810
3rd Place: ShawnFrie - $18,084
4th Place: OnTheRail15 - $11,179
5th Place: pbdrunks - $6,904
6th Place: Rainman1989 - $4,767
7th Place: imabigkidnow - $3,616
8th Place: Browndog19 - $2,466

FTOPS X resumes Friday with Event #19 ($200 + $16 No Limit Hold‘em) and Event #20 ($200 + $16 Stud/8). The series will conclude Sunday, November 16th with the Main Event, a $500 + $35 No Limit Hold’em buy-in tournament with a $2,500,000 guarantee.

The statement from Microgaming sent to Poker News Daily in an e-mail read, “Several of Microgaming’s licensees, who represent the majority of the U.S. business, last week decided that the current commercial uncertainty of investing in business from the United States no longer justified accepting new player registrations.” In addition, several Microgaming sites have elected not to allow players from the United States to play at all, as opposed to blocking just new registrations.

Initiatlly, Microgaming announced to its affiliate partners that it would begin the enforcement of an existing ban on online poker players from 13 states where internet gambling is problematic legally: Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, Wisconsin, and Utah. Then, the website Microgaming.com was not accessible by any person in the U.S. When players tried to access the site, they were simply greeted with “Site not available.”

Microgaming plays host to a bevy of online poker rooms including Wild Jack Poker, Crazy Poker, Golden Riviera Poker, Purple Lounge, NordicBet Poker, Spin Palace Poker, 32Red Poker, IntertopsPoker, Betway, PokerShare, BetOnBet, Unibet, Poker Host, Gnuf, Jennings Poker, Eurolinx, and Doyle’s Poker. The Fortune Lounge Group, which owns Microgaming sites PokerTime and Royal Vegas Poker, had elected on Monday to halt new U.S. registrations. Americans with existing accounts on either of these two rooms are able to play as normal.

The statement from the online poker network continued, “In the light of these decisions, Microgaming did not believe it was worth the remainder of U.S.-facing licensees keeping their systems available for new registrations, given the technical difficulties of maintaining an effective screening for all circumstances. After consultation with these remaining licensees, Microgaming will from today be implementing the licensees’ decisions not to accept new U.S. registrations.”

Microgaming.com, DoylesRoom.com, PokerTime.com, and PokerHost.com are among the 141 domain names that were seized by Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear. Others that are also in jeopardy, but are not part of the Microgaming Network, include PokerStars.com, UltimateBet.com, AbsolutePoker.com, FullTiltPoker.com, BodogLife.com, CakePoker.com, and TruePoker.com. A final forfeiture hearing in the case is scheduled for December 3rd, although a three judge Appeals panel will potentially act on the case next week when it meets for the first time. On the internet gambling squabble in Kentucky, the network added, “Microgaming cannot comment on the order for seizure of domain names by a court in Kentucky, as the matter is in the hands of lawyers.” Legal counsel representing the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) have also played key roles in the case.

Specific arguments made by iMEGA as to why the higher court should intervene, according to its website, include “the misapplication of Kentucky’s own ‘gambling devices’ statute to include domain names; that there is no basis for civil forfeiture in the Kentucky statute, which is a criminal statute; and that Justice and Public Safety Secretary J. Michael Brown lacked the authority to bring this action, instead of the commonwealth’s attorney-general.”

The site gives its players rakeback incrementally on the basis of how much total rake is generated. The graduated scale is as follows. All dollar amounts given are in terms of rake accrued:
50% Rakeback – Under $25.00
55% Rakeback - $25.01 - $50.00
60% Rakeback - $50.01 - $75.00
65% Rakeback - $75.01 - $100.00
70% Rakeback - $100.01 - $125.00
75% Rakeback - $125.01 - $150.00
80% Rakeback - $150.01 - $175.00
85% Rakeback - $175.01 - $200.00
90% Rakeback - $200.01 - $210.00
95% Rakeback - $210.01 - $220.00
100% Rakeback - $220.01 and up

PayNoRake.com calculates a player’s rakeback on a daily basis and then pays them accordingly. As such, players do not have to wait until the end of a calendar month to reap the benefits of rakeback. Payments are made every day at 12:00 Midnight ET and are based only on the rake received from real money games; tournaments do not count towards a player’s rake total. A Rake-O-Meter allows PayNoRake.com customers to see how much rakeback they’ll be receiving.

Rake is paid on a contributed basis, which the site explains as follows: “If for example, a pot reaches $25 and you put in $5 of that money, then $5 divided by $25, i.e. 20% of the rake which the room took from that pot ‘belongs’ to you.” Another basis of calculating rake is called “shared basis,” whereby a player receives credit for rake regardless of whether or not they were involved in a hand.

The new online poker room is owned by Playsafe Holding, which also runs popular sites Action Poker, Tiger Gaming, and Poker in Canada. PayNoRake’s software is similar in look and feel to these three sites. The site runs a bi-weekly $10,000 guaranteed prize pool tournament with a $33 buy-in. Satellites are available and begin at $1. The next installment is scheduled to run on Sunday, November 23rd at 6:00pm ET.

Playsafe also owns and operates six branded online casinos with nearly one million registered members. They include Grand Bank Casino, Sterling House Casino, Black Widow Casino, SciFi Casino, Breakaway Casino, and Connect 2 Casino. Like its partner online poker rooms, PayNoRake does not accept real money customers from the United States. A customer service representative responded, “Due to the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, we no longer take real money action from U.S. customers. You can only enjoy our play money games. We apologize for the inconvenience.” Its parent company is traded on the OTC list in Norway under the symbol “PLAY.”

Its vast offering of games includes Texas Hold’em, Omaha, Seven Card Stud, Guts Poker, Chinese Poker, Big 2 Poker, and Pan.

SharkScope is a database website for online poker Sit-and-Gos that has tracked over 180 million tournaments across 17 networks. The website independently tracks the results of tournaments, which is considered to be information available to the public. Sharkscope allows five free player searches per day to users and offers a subscription service for those wanting a larger number of searches. The use of the database was allowed by all sites up until recently, when PokerStars added it to its list of prohibited programs.

PokerStars opposes the distribution of a player’s profitability data for two key reasons. First, many of its players don’t want their Return on Investment (ROI) information to be publicly available. The site feels the player has a right of privacy to this information. Secondly, it gives an unfair advantage to those players that are able to get hold of ROI data about players that have not granted permission for their information to be displayed to the public.

PokerStars has been working with third-party database sites for a long time to make sure that its players’ privacy isn’t breached. Many have agreed to display player data for only those who have specifically given their consent for their data to be available, but SharkScope refused to remove player statistics. Therefore PokerStars stepped in by monitoring the Sharkscope internet protocol (IP) to find out which players were using the site. The attempt to obstruct a violation of player privacy resulted in a privacy breach itself.

The site feels it made an error, however, and made a statement regarding its recent decision:

“We understand that players have expressed concerns regarding our recent detection methods, and we recognize that we made a mistake. Consequently, we will explain the error, and correct it.

“We detected players who visited the SharkScope website by having the PokerStars Client monitor active network connections using built in Windows functions for that purpose.  The data returned by this function is similar to that which is returned by the Windows accessory called ‘Netstat‘.  A periodic query to Windows determined whether the SharkScope IP was being accessed. This was a YES/NO query, purely regarding access to the specific SharkScope IP address.  If a connection to the SharkScope IP was detected, this fact and only this fact was sent back to the PokerStars server.  We then sent warning emails to players who had accessed SharkScope in conjunction with the PokerStars Client.”

“This technique ensured that players accessing the SharkScope website were detected without breaching their right to privacy. At no stage was a player’s internet browsing history ever queried, or transmitted from the PokerStars Client to the PokerStars Server.”

Based on the feedback from players, PokerStars elected to disable the detection feature from its software. Sharkscope will remain a prohibited service on PokerStars, but only while players are involved in a game on the site. Meanwhile, PokerStars will continue to attempt to limit datamining sites from gathering player information without permission of PokerStars or its players.

An e-mail sent to Eurolinx affiliates on Monday stated, “We regret to inform you that after long and careful deliberation, Eurolinx has decided to accept no new registrations from the U.S., effective immediately. The market has become turbulent, as evidenced most recently in the Kentucky case.” According to the final list of the 141 internet gambling domain names in jeopardy in Kentucky, Eurolinx.com was not among them. However, Microgaming.com and PokerHost.com do appear on it.

Live chat with Poker Host support indicated that the decision was made by Microgaming and imposed upon its partner sites: “Unfortunately due to reasons out of our control and by decision of our software provider and network coordinator Microgaming, we have been forced to disallow any new accounts from players that reside within the United States.”

As reported on Poker News Daily on Friday, a reliable source within Microgaming has stated that the Network may leave the U.S. entirely. However, no official announcement has been given. Existing Eurolinx players in the United States will be able to play as usual. Microgaming’s public relations firm was not reachable after hours in Europe.

A similar move was also made by the Fortune Lounge Group, which owns online poker rooms PokerTime and Royal Vegas Poker. Both of those are also on the Microgaming Network. The ban on new U.S. customers by Fortune Lounge Group sites also went into effect today. The website Microgaming.com simply reads “Site not available” if visited from the United States. However, there is no official statement on the site outlining its departure from the U.S. market.

The e-mail from Eurolinx, like others that have come from online poker rooms that no longer allow new U.S. players, remained upbeat on expansion elsewhere in the world: “The shift in market focus is only positive, as the U.S. market was approaching maturity and growth was beginning to stagnate. By relocating the focus to new markets, Eurolinx seeks to educate new players to the game, thus keeping growth healthy and upwardly mobile. To poker players, the quality of the game is the most important factor, and the quality of the game is only improved when bringing new players to the game.” The e-mail stated that Asian and European markets were now the focus.

Recently, the Merge Gaming Network also blocked access to new players from Kentucky. A final forfeiture hearing in the case of 141 internet gambling domain names is scheduled for December 3rd. However, the Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA) and Interactive Gaming Council (IGC) have both filed petitions directly to the state’s Court of Appeals to intervene. A three judge panel is scheduled to meet on November 18th, one week from tomorrow, to decide the future of the appeal.

Other Microgaming Network sites include Unibet, DoylesRoom, Gnuf Poker, Purple Lounge, Betway Poker, CanBet Poker, BetOnBet Poker, Golden Riviera, Wild Jack Poker, and Spin Palace Poker.

The Main Event of the LEOCOP is a $250,000 added tournament. Instead of a guaranteed prize pool like the ones you’d find in other tournament series, Ladbrokes adds money to its events. The starting stack for each player will be 10,000 chips and blinds begin at 10-20. The blind levels will run 30 minutes each and every person has a 120 second time bank to use if needed. It’s one of the richest tournaments ever to be held on Ladbrokes and boasts a healthy $1,100 buy-in. All eyes of the online poker world will be focused squarely on Sunday’s Main Event, which will occur at nearly the same time as the major tournaments on online poker rooms like Bodog, Ultimate Bet, and PokerStars.

The $550 buy-in short-handed championship took place on Friday and had $15,000 added to its prize pool. A beneficiary of the added money was ThomasToget, who took down the tournament and pocketed $32,700 for his efforts. Finishing in second place was empty-house, who cashed for $21,800. Other top finishers in the short-handed championship were FlushyP4C (third place for $13,080), slim_boy (fourth place for $7,848), BustOrRobust (fifth place for $5,450), BallybayKid9 (sixth place for $3,270), Moerchovich (seventh place for $1,853), Obbe (eighth place for $1,853), Terminator (ninth place for $1,853), and 3oo3er (tenth place for $1,853). There were 180 entrants and the top 24 finished in the money.

As is the case in other tournament series, a wide variety of poker games are held. One of the most exciting tournaments held so far as part of LEOCOP IV was the $10,000 added Pot Limit Hold’em championship, which attracted 150 players. Emerging victorious from the pack was GamblingPays, who pocketed $19,470. The runner up was Ladbrokes player Jysky123, who took home $12,655 for his efforts. Other players who finished near the top of the leader board included jack0 (third place for $7,788), Icepack (fourth place for $5,192), Jampe78 (fifth place for $4,218), RED-DOG (sixth place for $3,245), rugster (seventh place for $2,271), Reraise (eighth place for $1,622), hotrod7 (ninth place for $1,135), and Decision (tenth place for $811).

The LEOCOP has been running since October 26th. On November 22nd, the site will play host to the LEOCOP IV Masters event, an invitation-only tournament with $120,000 in the prize pool. The winner will also pocket a Poker Million VII Semi-Final Seat, which is worth $120,000 according to the poker room’s website. The Poker Million guarantees a $1 million first place prize and has $500,000 added to the prize pool. The Poker Million VII is currently airing on the Sky Sports television network and runs on Tuesday nights. The upcoming November 11th episode features Thomas Tyszkiewicz, Roy Brindley, Mike McDonald, Juha Helppi, Ian Frazer, and Tony Bloom.

Ladbrokes also allows its players to have an opportunity win their way into the Irish Festival, World Series of Poker, and the European Ladies Championship.

Event 1: $200 + 16 6-Max NL Hold ‘em

Mike Matusow got FTOPS X underway by hosting the $1 million guaranteed Six-Max event Wednesday evening. With 5,124 entries, the total prize pool eclipsed the $1 million mark by nearly $25,000. Matusow was joined by Full Tilt Poker pros Allen Cunningham, David Pham, Jeff Madsen, Huck Seed, Phil Gordon, and Isaac Baaron, who all finished out of the money. Aaron Bartley was among those that cashed in the event, along with Chip Jett and Adam Schoenfeld.

Dan “imabigkidnow” Kelly and cheesemonster also made deep runs in Event #1. Halfrek, who won two FTOPS VIII events earlier this year, finished in ninth place, while Kelly let a massive chip lead slip through his fingers and busted out in seventh. Cheesemonster, the first ever winner of the FTOPS Main Event, was eliminated in 71st.

The winner of the tournament, davin77, took home $195,757.30 for his efforts. Here’s a look at the final table members and payouts:

1st Place: davin77 - $195,757.30
2nd Place: Bog25 - $119,901.60
3rd Place: smoothustler - $83,213.76
4th Place: SisterSue056 - $61,488.00
5th Place: AlwaysTrustMe - $45,091.20
6th Place: FaGi     - $30,744.00

Event #2: $240 + 16 PL Omaha Knockout

Sigi Stockinger hosted the $200,000 guaranteed event Thursday, which drew a turnout of 1,165 players for a total prize pool of $233,000. Chip Jett led the charge of Full Tilt Pros by cashing for the second time in as many events, but it was Gary Jones who made the most noise by placing seventh for $6,757. Jon “PearlJammed” Turner also made the money.

TeamShizz won Event #2 for $51,260. The final table results were:

1st Place: TeamShizz - $51,260.00
2nd Place: wes1279 - $32,620.00
3rd Place: Fbonacci - $23,591.25
4th Place: xxd33pxx - $18,931.25
5th Place: Shimoney21 - $14,282.90
6th Place: WHY_1 - $10,485.00
7th Place: Gary Jones - $6,757.00
8th Place: DSchec - $4,893.00
9th Place: knickadam55 - $3,495.00

Event #3: $500 + 35 NL Hold’em 3x Shootout

A prize pool guarantee of $300,000 was attached to Event #3, hosted by CardRunners team member Andrew Wiggins. The 729 participants resulted in a $364,500 prize pool. Aaron Bartley earned his second cash of FTOPS X, while online pros Greg “DuckU” Hobson, Michael “mossified84″ Skomac and Anthony “holdplz” Spinella also made their way into the money.

The winner of the tournament was mrvogt, who found $76,545 in his account following the victory. Here’s a look at the final table results of Event #3:

1st Place: mrvogt - $76,545.00
2nd Place: runemowgli - $51,030.00
3rd Place: zman2224 - $36,450.00
4th Place: MIsTeRLiQUor - $27,337.50
5th Place: hockeymaniax - $20,047.50
6th Place: Bubbagump29 - $14,580.00
7th Place: Faborizer - $10,206.00
8th Place: Tiahuanico - $6,925.50
9th Place: FromAbove - $4,920.75

Event #4: $300 + 22 NL Hold’em 1 rebuy and 1 add-on

Russia’s Vitaly Lunkin played host to the $600,000 guaranteed event which saw several well-known pros make deep runs. Aaron Bartley continued his impressive streak through the first week of FTOPS events by taking third place for $64,500, but Jeff “GrampaJeff” Gray stole the show by defeating a field of 815 players and taking home a prize of $138,000. Fellow online star darrenelias took seventh for $18,000 while colson10, The Universe112, Halfrek, and CrazyZachary were among the 90 players that cashed. Full Tilt Poker pros Jeremiah Smith and Ali Sarkeshik finished in 23rd and 72nd place, respectively.

1st Place: GrampaJeff - $138,000.00
2nd Place: mightypirate - $87,000.00
3rd Place: Aaron Bartley - $64,500.00
4th Place: mrcall912 - $49,500.00
5th Place: dbones6 - $37,500.00
6th Place: djmanga - $27,500.00
7th Place: darrenelias - $18,000.00
8th Place: raidalot - $14,040.00
9th Place: Shakar513 - $10,200.00

Event #5: $200 + 16 Limit Hold’em Six-Max

Limit specialist Matt Hawrilenko sat in as host of the $150,000 guaranteed Event #5, which ended up drawing 879 entrants for a total prize pool of $175,800. Scott Fischman was the lone Full Tilt Team Pro to cash, placing 78th place $369. Tommy2tyme was the eventual winner of a lengthy final table, earning $37,533.30.

1st Place: tommy2tyme - $37,533.30
2nd Place: Kometen1 - $24,612.00
3rd Place: voguepergola - $17,580.00
4th Place: jallajalla12 - $13,360.80
5th Place: thankstwink     - $9,493.20
6th Place: torskii - $6,065.10

FTOPS X resumes Saturday with Event #6, a $500 +35 PL Omaha Six-Max event with a $350,000 guarantee that kicks off at 2:00 p.m. ET. The series runs through November 16 with 25 events totaling $15 million in guaranteed money.