Poker News / Short-Stacked Shamus / 24 December 2010 / Leave a Comment

'Tis the season, once again. That time of year when everyone is making lists -- and I'm not just talking about those made to help with the gift shopping. Rather I am referring to those year-end compilations looking back on the top stories from the previous 12 months.

The poker world experienced another year of remarkable growth, dramatic personal triumphs, legislative battles, and other memorable moments. Here are the top ten poker stories of 2010 -- a necessarily subjective ranking, of course -- followed by an addendum listing 20 other notable happenings from the past year. So, 20 and 10 from 2010.

As most players do when first playing the game, let's start at the bottom and work our way up, why don't we?

10. High-stakes cash games in Macau
As the Asian Poker Tour's Macau event completed in November, some of the biggest cash games in recent memory were being contested nearby, lasting for a couple of weeks before being restarted again in early December. The games eventually moved over to the StarWorld Casino in Macau and involved Tom "durrrr" Dwan, Phil Ivey, Chau Giang, John Juanda, and several rich Chinese businessmen. The games included no-limit hold'em being played with blinds at one point climbing as high as 50K/100K HKD (about $6.4K/$12.8K). Dwan was said to be a big winner, reportedly having ended the November sessions up something like $9 million. Among the many jawdropping highlights from the epic sessions was Giang winning a single hand worth around $20 million HKD -- that's more than $2.5 million!

9. Robbery at EPT Berlin
The poker world was stunned in March when an armed robbery took place during the late stages of the European Poker Tour's Berlin stop. Four masked men waving knives and at least one gun stormed the tournament, causing a panic before making off with nearly €250,000. Fortunately no one was seriously injured, and the event was able to be resumed with Kevin MacPhee taking the title. The thieves were eventually apprhended and sentenced to prison. Ilya Gorodetsky, one of the players still in the tournament when the robbery occurred, described the chaotic scene to me in an interview shortly after the event.

8. U.S. online poker bill emerges, fades
For a short time there was a chance -- perhaps as slim as hitting a two-outer, perhaps much greater -- for this bit of last-minute legislation, being pushed as the U.S. Congress finished its current session, to have (easily) become the poker story of 2010. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat representing Nevada, proposed a federal bill to license and regulate U.S. sites to offer online poker, a bill that if passed would fundamentally change the poker world as we know it, affecting not just U.S. players but the entire global industry. The bill did not find its way through the House and Senate and to the President's desk, however, and thus will 2010 end without any such legislation being passed.

7. Men play in WSOP Ladies Event
For the first time since the World Series of Poker first began including a ladies-only tournament in the schedule in 1977, men registered for and played in the event. Explanations varied, though the most commonly advanced message from the men who played -- including Shaun Deeb, who began the day dressed in drag -- was that they intended to protest the inclusion of a bracelet event that excluded players based on their sex. I interviewed WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla afterwards, who noted that the WSOP has every intention to keep the Ladies Event on the schedule going forward.

6. Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel elected to Poker Hall of Fame
Two more of the game's most respected players joined poker's most exclusive club as Dan Harrington and Erik Seidel became the latest inductees into the Poker Hall of Fame. Harrington earned his spot thanks not only to his 1995 WSOP Main Event title and three other WSOP ME final tables (in 1987, 2003, and 2004), but also for his significant contributions to poker strategy, highlighted by his Harrington On Hold'em series co-authored with Bill Robertie. Seidel's election came after building an impressive resume filled with eight WSOP bracelets, 33 WSOP final tables, 60 WSOP cashes, and over $10 million in career tourney winnings. Interestingly, both started their careers in the same club, too, the famed Mayfair Club in New York frequented by both in the 1980s.

5. Tom "durrrr" Dwan finishes runner-up in WSOP preliminary event, misses on massive side bets
For those who saw it, the night produced both an unforgettably electric atmosphere as well as one of the stand-out stories from this year's WSOP. Tom "durrrr" Dwan had final tabled Event No. 11, one of the several $1,500 no-limit hold'em events on the schedule. As the evening wore on players began to fall. Then Dwan seized the advantage. The surrounding buzz grew to a fever pitch thanks to the considerable side action over Dwan's winning a bracelet, action which involved many of the game's top players. Exact figures were impossible to come by, but some estimates suggested Dwan stood to earn $10 million or even more should he come out on top. Whatever that unofficial prize really was, it certainly outweighed the $614,248 due the winner. Dwan came up short, however, ultimately finishing second to Simon Watt, a finish some allege to have preserved the so-called "poker economy" for the time being.

4. Compliance with UIGEA made mandatory
As various legal "games within games" continued in the U.S. with regard to online poker, compliance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 was at last made mandatory on June 1, 2010 -- more than three-and-half years after the bill was signed into law. The date came and went with relatively little fanfare, eclipsed at the time by the start of the World Series of Poker. Also, changes brought on by the UIGEA were not immediately felt, as not all U.S. banks and other financial institutions immediately began blocking their customers' transactions with online gambling sites. However, as the year comes to a close the effects are starting to be felt. Some U.S. online poker players have already experienced difficulties moving money on and off sites, and without any new legislation to counter the UIGEA, many observers believe such troubles will only increase in 2011.

3. Winning Women
The year saw breakthrough performances by a number of women on the tourney circuit, prompting some to dub 2010 the "Year of the Woman." While the WSOP saw no women winning any open events, the rest of the calendar was filled with notable triumphs by the ladies. Leading the way was Vanessa Selbst with victories at both NAPT Mohegan Sun (for $750,000) and the Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final (another €1.3 million). Those wins helped Selbst earn nearly $3 million for the year, putting her in contention for player of the year honors. Other big scores by women this year included Liv Boeree's win at EPT San Remo, Annie Duke's victory in the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, and Vanessa Rousso's third-place finish at the WPT Five Diamond Classic.

2. Jonathan Duhamel wins WSOP Main Event
When the first hand was dealt at this year's WSOP Main Event final table, he had the chip lead. And when the final river card was dealt, Jonathan Duhamel was still on top, poker's newest world champion. But the path between those two hands was anything but smooth for the 23-year-old, marked as it was by numerous difficult challenges, most especially from Michael Mizrachi (who momentarily wrested the chip lead from Duhamel before finishing fifth) and the fearless Joseph Cheong (who after losing an epic hand with Duhamel exited in third). Duhamel carried a massive chip advantage into heads-up play versus John Racener, and eventually emerged victorious, the first-ever Canadian Main Event champion.

1. The Mizrachi brothers' WSOP
By the time the WSOP Main Event began, it had already been a special year for the Mizrachi clan. Michael -- a.k.a. "The Grinder" -- had kicked things off by winning his first WSOP bracelet in the justly-heralded $50,000 Player's Championship (8-game mix), a cool $1.559 million score. And his brother, Robert, had final tabled that one as well, finishing fifth. Both Michael and Robert would make two more final tables, too, prior to the Main Event. That's when two more brothers -- Eric and Danny -- joined the fun. Setting a record that it is hard to imagine will ever be matched, all four Mizrachi brothers cashed in the Main Event, with Eric finishing 718th, Danny 345th, Robert 116th, and Michael making it all of the way to the final table for a fifth-place finish.

And now, here are 20 other poker stories of note from 2010. Since we aren't trying to rank these -- i.e., they are presented here in no particular order -- let's turn this list right-side-up...

1. In January, the much liked and respected Amir Vahedi passed away at the age of 49 after a career in which he earned more than $3 million in tournaments, including a WSOP bracelet and Main Event final table in 2003.

2. Phil Ivey won his eighth WSOP bracelet, taking the $3,000 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. event.

3. Several British poker players enjoyed remarkable success in 2010, among them Sam Trickett (six WSOP cashes; won Party Poker World Open VI), Jake Cody (won WPT London and EPT Deauville; earned more than $1.7 million for year), Toby Lewis (won EPT Vilamoura), and James Bord (won WSOPE Main Event and WPT Marrakech High Roller).

4. The two biggest U.S.-facing online poker sites, PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, closed their doors to players from Washington thanks to that state's Supreme Court upholding a ruling making online poker a felony.

5. The North American Poker Tour debuted, with stops in Las Vegas, Connecticut, and Los Angeles (plus a nominal one in the Caribbean).

6. In June, Phil "the Unabomber" Laak set a new world's record for playing the longest ever poker session, putting in 115 consecutive hours at the Bellagio.

7. After enjoying much success and high-profile careers, Gavin Smith, Phil Laak, and Gus Hansen all won their first WSOP bracelets in 2010, together joining Michael Mizrachi in their leaving behind the "best without a bracelet" club.

8. The mysterious Swede, Isildur1, returned to the online tables in the spring, then again this month after being signed as a Team Pro by PokerStars. Adding further intrigue, Viktor Blom -- thought by many to be Isildur1 -- made a deep run at the WSOP Europe Main Event, finishing 16th after spending some time atop the leaderboard with Phil Ivey.

9. An incident of cheating was discovered at the Partouche Poker Tour Grand Final, resulting in the disqualification of German player Ali Tekintamgac just prior to the final table.

10. Frank Kassela won the WSOP Player of the Year after winning two preliminary events and cashing six times overall, including in the Main Event. He was nearly caught by Michael Mizrachi, who would've tied Kassela had he won the ME.

11. A new form of online-only poker, Rush Poker made its debut on Full Tilt Poker in January

12. Two-time WSOP Main Event winner Johnny Chan was still among the chip leaders on Day 6 of this year's ME before finishing 156th.

13. There were record turnouts at the 2010 WSOP, with 72,966 total entries (besting last year's record of 60,875) playing for a whopping $187,109,850 (also a record).

14. Several U.S. states contemplated their own online gambling legislation -- most particularly California and New Jersey -- with varying degrees of progress.

15. Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad made her WSOP debut, cashing in four events and just missing a final table in the $1,500 no-limit hold'em shootout.

16. Jose "Nacho" Barbero scored back-to-back Latin American Poker Tour victories at Punta del Este, Uruguay and Lima, Peru.

17. The World Series of Poker made a stop in South Africa in October.

18. The first "Durrrr challenge" between Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius continued while a second one between Dwan and Daniel "Jungleman" Cates was begun.

19. 2008 WSOP Main Event champion Peter Eastgate announced he was stepping away from poker, and even auctioned off his WSOP ME bracelet for charity.

20. Tom Marchese won Card Player's player of the year, while Sorel Mizzi has the Bluff Magazine POY locked up.

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