Johnny Moss was the very first World Series of Poker Main Event champion, back in 1970. Earning roughly $30,000 for first place for each of his wins, he was actually won the event back to back in 1970 and 1971. In 1974, he would go on to win a third time and he was regarded as one of the greatest poker players of all time.

Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson is another famous past winner. Brunson earned a total of $560,000 for his efforts by winning back-to-back titles in 1976 and 1977. Brunson would be considered the grandfather of Texas Hold’em. He would go on to have a long and illustrious poker career.

The number of repeat champions dropped considerably once the field size of the Main Event grew. Back in 1987 and 1988, when Johnny Chan won his two Main Event titles, it was the time these World Series of Poker had a repeat champion. Chan only had to beat 151 and 166 other poker players to win his two titles, while this is still an amazing accomplishment. This is a much easier feat when one compares it to today’s fields where there are thousands of players and this has been the main reason why we have not seen a repeat winner since Chan.

In the modern era of poker, still one of the most notable World Series of Poker winners is Chris Moneymaker. His 40 entry-fee at an online poker site into $2.5 million and a Main Event bracelet is what made him the most popular. The field sizes at the Main Event exploded in the following years, after Moneymaker won his Main Event title. Year 2003 saw 839 entrants when Moneymaker took home the title and the following year saw 2,576.

The 2006 World Series Main Event drew 8,773 poker players, the largest number of entrants putting up $10,000 each to compete in the tournament. In World Series of Poker history, this enormous field of players led Jamie Gold to become the single largest prizewinner. The field sizes level out around 6,800 entrants in the last five years, which is what the tournament is estimated to draw yet again this year.

Following a couple of Day 1 flights the money bubble burst on Day 2 as the top 30 finishers made the cash in this $1,600 buy-in event. Jim Devaney (10th, $7,523), Eriquezzo (13th, $6,182), Allen Kessler (15th, $6,182), Huy Nguyen (20th, $4,355) and Kevin Saul (28th, $2,861) were among those making the money but not quite getting to Tuesday’s final nine-handed table.

Sitting with over 1.48 million or about one-fourth of the chips in play with nine left, it was Stanko carrying the chip lead to the final table. Stephen Ma was Stanko’s closest challenger with 928,000 when the final table began, with Pejman Niyati not far back in third with 875,000.

Iowa Main Event to claim the Circuit ring and the $101,266 first place payday, Stanko defeated a field of 290 players in the $1,620 WSOPC Council Bluffs. The event still managed to see growth over last year in spite of the schedule. It ran over Easter weekend and even took Sunday off so players could celebrate the holiday. In 2011, champion Blair Hinkle earned just over $88,000 for the victory and the event drew 252 players. This year, on the WSOPC schedule, the field saw 16% growth after moving from the fall to the spring.

Dennis Phillips, Jacob Bazeley, Chris Bell, Scott Clements and Kevin Saul were some of the notable names who made the trek to Iowa. Saul finished in 28th place and managed to make the money. Ryan Eriquezzo (13th), Allen Kessler (15th), WSOPC Ring Winner Huy Nguyen (20th) and Will Souther (22nd) also finished in the money. A piece of the $421,950 prize pool was earned by the top 30 finishers.

Stanko, before claiming his ring and his title had to deal with a formidable foe heads-up. He was contesting against Charles “Woody” Moore. Stanko defeated Moore after a nearly two-hour heads-up battle. Moore added yet another big score to his WSOPC resume and he earned $62,584 for the runner-up finish.

The next stop for the WSOPC is already underway in St Louis. From April 21st thru April 23rd, the Main Event of that series is scheduled to run. For the series over last year, the attendance at the 2012 WSOP Circuit Council Bluffs was up 35 percent, with the main event seeing a 16 percent increase.

Casino d’Evian on the French side of Lake Geneva was where the third and final day of the 2012 PokerStars.fr France Poker Series Snowfest Evian Main Event kicked off. the final 13 players were led by Gilles Mellet and the 13 players’ day began with hopes of taking home the trophy and €70,000 first-place prize. 18-year-old Veronika Pavlikova had topped the field by the end of the day.

The PokerStars qualifier overcame all odds to defeat several seasoned adversaries in the 296-player, €1,100 buy-in event, which was an unexpected, though relentless rise to victory. no one was able to stop her on her way to the title, once she ousted French favorite and WPT champion Guillaume Darcourt. This win marks her first major victory.

Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder (ninth, €4,200) and Thibaud Guenegou (10th, €4,200) did not made it to the official final table. With the big players eliminated, the road to victory was wide open for Darcourt. He ousted Damien Denis (sixth, €12,000) and soon took the lead, thanks to an ace on the river. This was the last time of Darcourt’s exploiting. Pavlikova took him over with a straight, and then eliminated him later by making a flush on the turn, ending the pink-haired Frenchman’s run in fourth place.

Pavlikova did not flinched and she was unstoppable while she ran over her last two opponents, snatching the win after a one-sided heads-up match. She crushed Ludovic Marguerat’s preflop. She had a fearless run to victory with a well-deserved €70,000 payday.

At the end of the event, standing were – Veronika Pavlikova – €70,000; Ludovic Marguerat – €43,500; Serge Didisheim – €27,500; Guillaume Darcourt – €21,160 ; Gregory Raffalli – €16,000 ; Damien Denis – €12,000 ; Gilles Mellet – €8,500; Morgan Franz – €6,000.

In the market, Deq’s EZ Pai Gow Poker is the only stand-alone commission free Pai Gow game. Official state statistics have shown that EZ Pai Gow has been the players’ favorite game, since its introduction in late August 2010 in Missouri.

President and CEO of DEQ, Earle G. Hall stated that when compared to all other forms of Pai Gow, EZ Pai Gow has dictated the floor wherever it is deployed. He added that it is the only true non-commission form of Pai Gow, where by a very alluring optional side bet, the push mechanism is offset.

He added that from the clients and the operators, the response has been very encouraging and he would like to congratulate Lubin-Jones for this groundbreaking invention. Within the scope of Lubin-Jones no commission Pai Gow intellectual property portfolio, these methods are protected.  He added that he is very thrilled about the future placements of this game all over the USA.

According to the company, in EZ Pai Gow, by eliminating the 5% commission on winning hands, this revolutionary method of accelerating the speed of Pai Gow poker has been introduced. When the dealer gets a Queen High Pai Gow (Queen high hand), the commission is substituted by imposing a push. The side bet is trademarked as the “Queens’ Dragon” and players can side bet on the occurrence of the dealer’s Queen high Pai Gow.

This side wager produces an additional way for the player to win and it pays 50 to 1. It has also been a new revenue source for the casino.

Claude Dickerson and his wife decided to kill some time playing their favorite games in the casino after enjoying dinner at the POM restaurant at Fantasy Springs. Claude sat down at a Fortune Pai Gow Poker table. Always making sure to place a side bet on the progressive jackpot, he began with $100 and eventually increased his take to $200. Claude could not believe the hand he was dealt, a straight flush – 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 of Hearts, after about 30 minutes at the table. Claude said he was awestruck that on one hand, he won $163,425.82.

Featuring 30 “Best of Gaming” awards from Casino Player magazine, Fantasy Springs Resort Casino provides an oasis in the desert. Fantasy Springs Resort Casino stands to meet and exceed the needs of its guests and the community by offering world-class table games, 2000 of the hottest slots, hotel, dining, entertainment and golf at Eagle Falls.

With 130,925, James Carroll is also near the top. Florida poker has been great so far for Dorfman. At the Seminole Hard Rock, he ended Day 1 first in chips with 160,000 from his 30,000-chip starting stack. It is too early to tell, for the BLUFF Player of the Year contender if this will be yet another final table, but his latest record of achievement plus his big stack could mean big things for Dorfman in the next few days.

In the event, several other big names are faring well too, including former online poker pro Nick Grippo, who bagged up 149,375. Ending with 124,975, Todd Terry also had a productive day. The event has other distinguished Floridians, including Jason Mercier, Matt Waxman, Rob Mizrachi, young Harrison Gimbel and Adam Levy. Taking advantage of 18, Gimbel is one of a handful of players and he ups being able to play on the property.

With $602,006 in live tournament earnings just four months into 2011, Dorfman has matched his $552,239 score, which still marks his career best.

The WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown runs through May 2.

A prize pool of over $1.23 million was created by the $5,000 buy-in event. To all of the final poker tablists who were playing in front of the televised final table, the prize pool was still up for grabs.

On the other hand, from live tournaments since 2001, Michael Bernstein has made $318,652. Selbst recently on his Cardplayer blog post just accounted for the scathing write-up Bernstein gave Selbst.

Steve O’Dwyer got himself caught up in trouble against Selbst after only three hands had been played. From the big blind, he opened to 60,000 and Selbst three-bet to 215,000. The call was made by O’Dwyer and the flop came down Jc-9d-6s. The Kh turn saw Selbst bet 220,000 and O’Dwyer made the call and the two players checked. Selbst moved all-in and the river bricked. O‘Dwyer, crippling his stack in the process eventually folded, although he tanked for several minutes.

The televised final table was reduced from the field of 387. To the final hand that was dealt, Selbst’s experience and class shone through. She put Steve O’Dwyer to an early decision for all of his chips from the early stages.

In the all time money list, the win bumped Selbst up to third, ahead of Annette Obrestad and behind Annie Duke and Kathy Liebert. One would not bet against her with the WSOP right around the corner, thereby adding a second bracelet to her tournament haul in 2011.

Creating a €1,776,000 prizepool, WPT Vienna drew 555 Players, thereby shattering the previous record for entrants in a European WPT event set at WPT Amneville last November. The winner of this event is entitled to a nice bonus of € 447,840.

24-year-old Italian Alessio Isaia’s name was on the marquee, even though Gromov came into the final holding the chip lead. Last month, Isaia completed as a runner-up on the Malta leg of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour and he had booked a win at WPT Venice for €380,000.

Gromov held the lead all the way through and Isaia could do no better than seventh place. In just five hands, Gromov beat fellow Russian Maksim Kolosov heads-up.

Gromov started the final table and he aimed to conclude it with all the chips. In the ultimate day, the leader became the winner and the top three players on the leader board would be the last three players standing. The third day of the WPT Vienna meeting also marked the elimination of all French players like Yohann comotyelavinia Aubé and Marc LocSta Inizan, who were still in the race. The former player finished at 13 and won € 15,500, while the latter player was eliminated from this poker tournament at the 30th rank.

The World Poker Tour now moves on to Bratislava. The main event begins at the Golden Vegas Casino.

The first four times, Erik Seidel entered this event and he has really struggled. This year he managed to turn his chances around and take down the event for an enormous $750,000 payday, although last year he flared his way through the field to finish second. He lost to Annie Duke in the final. This year, before taking the seat against Chris Moneymaker, Seidel overwhelmed Jennifer Harman, Andrew Robl and Vanessa Selbst.

In 2005, J.C. Train sent Moneymaker packing, although the latter endured to the second round. In 2006, in the opening round he lost to Tuan Le and one year later, he experienced the same fate against Main Event winner Joe Hachem. In 2008, Moneymaker was relegated by Main Event champion Jerry Yang in the first round. Last year, in Sweet 16 of the National Heads-Up Poker Championship, Seidel got rid of Moneymaker.

Into the Poker Hall of Fame, Eric Seidel was admitted at the end of last year in acknowledgment of his dazzling career. His career includes WPT title, $10 million tournament winnings and 8 WSOP bracelets. This year has now accumulated $4,342,284 in winnings already, ever since then Seidel has been on an unbelievable run, including six final tables and now three tournament victories.

In a regulatory filing, Hard Rock Hotel Holdings LLC says that the agreement sets a Feb. 28 deadline for a new agreement. Morgans Hotel Group owns the resort and it is separate from the restaurant chain of the same name.

Morgans Hotel Group Co., which it holds a minority interest in the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Las Vegas have entered into a Standstill and Forbearance Agreement. Under the applicable loan documents, including remedies with respect to Morgans’ management agreement, subject to certain conditions, lender agreed not to take any action or assert any right or remedy. The second mezzanine lender agreed to withdraw its foreclosure notice. It had delivered the same on January 28, 2011.

Morgans Hotel Group Co., which manages and owns a minority stake in the Hard Rock Hotel, in another regulatory filing disclosed its chairman had a conflict of interest. He had rescued himself from any matters concerning the hotel-casino.

The filing said that chairman of Morgans Hotel Group in New York, David Hamamoto is rescued from all board and management discussions and all board determinations regarding the outstanding Hard Rock debt, as the company implemented special governance procedures during the third quarter of 2010.

The company said that all Hard Rock debt related matters were and are being considered by a committee of independent directors of the board of directors.