Love Nuke

Collecting his first bracelet and £830,401 James Bord has won the 2010 WSOPE Main Event. The Brit defeated Fabrizio Baldassari heads-up.

The final table standings were as follows:
1. James Bord, £830,401
2. Fabrizio Baldassari, £513,049
3. Ronald Lee, £376,829
4. Nicolas Levi, £208,119
5. Roland de Wolfe, £278,945
6. Daniel Steinberg, £156,530
7. Dan Fleyshman, £118,643
8. Brian Powell, £90,617
9. Marc Inizan, £69,754

As Compared to previous years, the final table was light on star power with Triple Crown winner Roland de Wolfe and Victory Poker CEO Dan Fleyshman arguably the most well-known players to make it to the final.

With an increased field of 346 players this year, it looked for a long time that the final table could be a dream for rail birds however. Both Phil Ivey and Viktor Blom – the man allegedly aka ‘Isildur1′ online – spent much of the tournament in the top ten in chips. Unfortunately, they couldn’t quite make it to the final day however, falling in 19th and 16th place respectively.

With James Bord’s win, another very successful WSOPE from the Casino at the Empire in Leicester Square comes to an end. But doesn’t despair for EPT London has already begun.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, One of the most beautiful Hollywood couples, who recently celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, will throw a posh party in Moscow next month.

This Hollywood couples will hit the Russian capital to encourage not only the local and international showbiz stars and celebrities but also the businessmen and politicians, to raise money for their private charity foundation.

Passions, however, could be running high at a specially-organized auction at Moscow’s Ritz-Carlton.

Among its top lots is likely to be a one-off opportunity to play next to the star of Indecent Proposal and Striptease in her next movie, as well as a dance with The Butterfly Effect lead actor, Kutcher.

Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are also expected to take part in a Moscow poker tournament. Ten lucky punters will get a chance to play with the Hollywood sweethearts – once they deposit a 10,000-euro buy-in.

Meet Jessica Cupini. She’s a senior at West Virginia University, pursuing an MDS degree while working and raising her son with aspirations of attending law school.

In a few weeks, she will have the chance to be a millionaire.

Cupini will make her national TV debut playing against celebrities and professional poker players as part of the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge” Sunday at 4:30 p.m. on FOX.

“It’s completely surreal,” she said. “You look at all these tournaments every day, and you think ‘that will never happen to me.’ I’ve been playing on that site for years, and I’ve seen others do it, and I never thought it would happen to me.”

Cupini was able to audition for the million-dollar competition after entering the Top 10 on the website.

From there, she was able to film an audition video followed by follow-up interviews.

“I loved everything about Jessica,” said Jessica Cummis, casting director for the Challenge. “Her energy, her attitude, her fun nature, her excitement, her obvious love for the game of poker. It really came through in her video and her interview.”

Cupini said she first started playing poker when she was in high school, learning on the very same website.

Despite making the leap from competing online to playing directly opposite professional poker players and “Dancing with the Stars” co-host Brooke Burke, Cupini kept her calm.

“With my personality, I’m really outgoing,” Cupini said. “I love to be the center of attention. I wasn’t intimidated at all. The stars were all really nice; the professional poker players were great. Everyone made me feel really comfortable.”

That attitude helped her land the spot on the show, according to producers.

“Jessica proved on PokerStars.net that she was an excellent poker player, then it came down to how she would come across on TV,” said Mark Mayer, executive producer of the Challenge. “What really set her apart was her personality and her story. She’s smart, fun, has a great smile and a wonderful sense of humor. She was just a pleasure to be around. Plus, we loved her ambition and what she wanted to accomplish if she wins the grand prize. Jessica is a perfect fit for the show and a great contestant.”

Despite never competing alongside players who made their name in high-stakes games, Cupini was able to keep focused and play her game.

“You always want to play your best game against the celebrities and show them up,” she said. “I was definitely on my A-game the whole time and was very focused. I played my best game and played with the cards that were dealt to me.”

If Cupini wins in Sunday’s competition, she will win a free trip to the Bahamas. Should she advance further, she has the chance to play for $25,000, $100,000 and eventually $1 million.

Despite the potential to win big money, Cupini wants to stay grounded.

“No matter how much I won or didn’t win, I’d definitely still want to try to get into law school,” she said. “I’d definitely want to buy a car, but most importantly, I want to contribute to my son’s college fund. He is 14 months old now, so I need to start saving, because I know how expensive it is.”

Clearing up a troublesome matter, Lady GaGa has smoothed over a back and forth lawsuit with ex-boyfriend Rob Fusari.

The pair filed suits against one another back in March, as Fusari was after $30.5 million for earnings which he claims he was responsible for while launch-starting Gaga’s now lucrative career.

Of the decision by both sides to drop the court cases, a rep for Lady Gaga told Gossip Cop, “Lady Gaga and Rob Fusari have agreed to end their dispute amicably and wish each other well. There will be no further comment by either of them.”

The “Poker Face” singer’s rep added, “Rob Fusari is a Grammy award winning producer and co-writer of Paparazzi and a number of other songs on Lady Gaga’s debut album The Fame.”

In a controversial new autobiography, Jerry Hall former model and wife of Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger, has revealed her ex-husband’s addiction for poker and women. The book, “My Life in Pictures”, explains how Jagger’s love for poker caused him to nearly destroy his life, and that of his family, and how his addiction for women finally led to the end of their marriage.

Mick Jagger reportedly gambled away the family home, as well as the farm in poker games. Hall reveals that he was so racked by guilt that he tried to commit suicide, however, he was as successful in that department as he was in poker.

“He succeeded only in breaking almost every bone in his body and losing a kidney, leaving Mama with five children to raise, no home and a husband destined to spend a long time in hospital,” said Hall.

“He detonated our entire existence,” she added.

“My Life in Pictures” reveals a love-affair with one of the most high profile singers in the history of music – a relationship that began in 1977 and ended with an annulment in 1999, mainly due to the singer’s problems as a sex cheat.

“Although I loved him and he wore undying love for me, I felt very unsure of him,” writes Hall. “I had weaned him off drugs, but they had been replaced by sex.”

Hall speaks of her dismay when her husband was linked with other girls in gossip columns, although he denied these encounters at first.

It was only in 1990, after model Luciana Gimenz announced that she was pregnant with Jagger’s child, that the relationship finally came to an end.

Jagger and Hall had four children together – Lizzie, Georgia , James and Gabriel.

Playing poker with a group of friends for money in a house game is legal in most states. In North Carolina, authorities made it clear this past week that playing poker for large amounts of money will not be tolerated.

The North Carolina Alcohol Law Enforcement on Thursday raided a poker game and arrested eight people in the process. Authorities are contending that playing high stakes poker is illegal in the state, thus justifying the raid.

“After receiving multiple complaints from members of the public regarding the illegal games ALE agents promptly investigated,” said John Ledford, Director of Alcohol Law Enforcement, as reported by WTVD. “High stakes card games like this one are illegal in the state, and I commend our agents and officers with the Mt. Olive Police Department for taking action.”

In addition to the arrests that were made, poker tables, chips, cards, and $23,700 were confiscated. The question as to whether the game was a tournament or cash game has yet to be revealed, but either way, there is a chance that the Poker Players Alliance will get involved.

The PPA has successfully helped poker players across the US get their cases dismissed by arguing that poker is a game of skill and not luck. No word has come yet as to whether they will help the eight defendants in this case.

“This is going to be another case where a judge is going to have to rule on the game of poker and determine whether it is skill or luck,” said Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz. “In North Carolina, previous cases have indicated that poker is illegal, but with no clear determination, this could be another case that ends up before a judge to decide whether the game is skill or luck.”

Frenchman Bruno “King” Fitoussi, born September 21, 1958 in Paris, can often be found playing in the biggest poker games in the world. But Fitoussi isn’t your regular high-stakes card shark. An architect by trade, Fitoussi was also a music producer before founding the consulting firm VIP Gaming, where he still holds a position as President. He also created the poker magazine 52, which can be found in casinos all over Europe.

The entrepreneur has said in interviews that he isn’t a professional poker player, but that is certainly debatable based on his results. Fitoussi first made his mark in the poker world by defeating legendary pro Amarillo Slim at the 2001 World Heads-Up Championship in Vienna, Austria. He earned $101,727 for his first title on the circuit, amplifying his love for the game that has continued into the next decade.

In 2004, Fitoussi was voted into the European Poker Hall of Fame, joining superstars like David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Carlos Mortensen, Marcel Luske, and Surinder Sunar. The honor not only rewarded his talent at the tables, but also his contributions to the emergence of Texas Hold’em in France, especially through the Aviation Club. Fitoussi helped bring in some of Europe’s top players to the famous poker club, including David Benyamine, Tony G, Ram Vaswani, Joe Beevers, and the Boatman brothers.

In 2005, Fitoussi made his first final table at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), finishing second in a $1,500 Seven Card Razz event for $70,275. He made another final table at the 2006 WSOP, taking fifth in a $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha event for $54,486.

Fitoussi’s biggest achievement came at the $50,000 HORSE World Championship at the 2007 WSOP, where he faced off against 147 of the best poker players in the game. After five days of play and a 14-hour final table, he came within a few hands of winning his first bracelet, finishing as the runner-up to Freddy Deeb for a cool $1,278,720. The tournament was aired by ESPN and put Fitoussi on the poker map, helping lead to his appearance on more television shows in the future.

Since then, Fitoussi has found a lot of success on the World Poker Tour (WPT). He took second place in a $5,000 event at the WPT Five Star World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas in 2008, collecting $205,385. He then took 10th at the $25,000 WPT Championship in 2009 for $98,050, an event ultimately won by internet phenom Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. In total, Fitoussi has more than $2.4 million in live tournament earnings.

Despite his success, Fitoussi still isn’t one of the more recognizable faces in the world of high-stakes poker. He isn’t flamboyant like Daniel Negreanu, obnoxious like Mike Matusow, or temperamental like Phil Hellmuth. His quiet, polite behavior on the felts hasn’t helped land him any sponsorship deals with major online sites, but the cool-headed “pro” seems to be just fine with that.

Oscar winner Julia Roberts (Pretty Woman) is not the first entertainment celebrity to hug Hinduism or its concepts-symbols-terminology.

Golden Globe winner Marilyn Monroe (Some Like It Hot) once reportedly claimed that yoga (one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy) improved her legs.

Celebrities Greta Garbo, Marlon Brando, Cary Grant, Beatles, Gloria Swanson, Madonna, Mia Farrow, Shirley MacLaine, Britney Spears, John Coltrane, Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, Mary Tyler Moore, Donovan, Jennifer Jones, Leopold Stokowski, Sting, (the list goes on), sometime or the other reportedly had a crush on Hinduism or its concepts-symbols-terminology.

Noted Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, welcomed entertainment celebrities to immerse in Hinduism but taking it seriously and not just using it as a fashion statement. “Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly”, Zed stressed.

Zed, who is the President of Universal Society of Hinduism, further says that if entertainment bigwigs are really serious in their involvement with Hinduism, they are most welcome and he or other Hindu scholars will gladly provide these seekers the resources they need for their study and research.

Entertainment celebrities need to have more patience and go beyond the superficial because Hinduism concepts evolved over thousands of years and need serious study, Rajan Zed argues.

Zed suggests the Hinduism infatuated celebrities to realize the Self. Ancient Hindu scripture Katha Upanishad points out that when wise realize the Self, they go beyond sorrow. Self is supreme and those who meditate on Self are freed from the cycle of birth and death. When one realizes Self, there is nothing else to be known.

According to a report by Washington DC based prestigious Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life few months back, “24 percent Americans believe in Reincarnation, that people will be reborn in this world again and again”, which is basically a Hinduism concept. (ANI)

They broke in with knives and ransacked Paris Hilton, Rachel Bilson and  Linsey Lohan’s mansions, among many others.  The stars testified to a grand jury where the D.A. alleges that the ‘Bling Ring‘ burglarized celebrity homes between October 2008 and August of last year.  The unsealed testimony was only recently revealed by the AP.  One of the suspects is model and reality TV star Alexis Neiers, who is now free after pleading no contest and making a deal.

All the celebrities tell of the same cold-blooded fear after the break-ins.  “That night I went back to the house, I just felt, to be honest, so violated and uncomfortable that I literally packed as much stuff as I could,” Lohan testified, “because it wasn’t about the things that were taken, it was just the fact that someone came into the only private space that I have in my life at this point.”  She hasn’t returned to the house since.

Deputy District Attorney Sarika Kim (handling the prosecution) said while the stars might better afford to replace some stolen items, there were also family irreplaceable sentimentals as well.  But nothing can replace their lost security Kim told the jury. “…I think the one thing that was abundantly clear from listening to the testimony of all of the victims was what they lost most importantly was a sense of security.”

“I wouldn’t sleep in my bedroom for about a month, Bilson said.  “And I was convinced that I needed to sell my house and get out of there, because I was very scared.”  Other victims include Audrina Patridge, Paris Hilton, Orlando Bloom, Brian Austin Green, Shia Labeoug, Emmy Rossum, and Ashley Tisdale.

The semi-celbrity thief who turned state’s evidence, Alexis Neiers, finished her sentence in June after serving a month.  During the final week of her jail stay, Neiers was in the cell next to Lindsay Lohan.

Once again using her celebrity to shed light on a needy cause, Angelina Jolie has released a new public service announcement pleading for help in Pakistan.

The United Nations Goodwill Ambassador wants financial support to try an improve the dire situation resulting from devastating floods affecting a fifth of the country (nearly 17 million people).

Voicing the desperate need for help, Jolie said in the PSA, “This is not just a humanitarian crisis – it is an economic and social catastrophe.”

Jolie, who has already given $100,000 to UNHCR’s Pakistani flood relief work, added, “The more support we can give, the greater number of tents, food, clean water and medicine will get to the people in need.”