Faustman Triumphs at World Poker Open --  The six-player final at the World Poker Open at the Gold Strike Casino featured a power-packed lineup with four prominent names: Freddy Deeb, Men "The Master" Nguyen, Hoyt Corkins and John Spadavecchia, none of whom won the title.  Instead, the honors went to an unknown former college wrestler, Brett Faustman.  Faustman finished off Corkins for the win to collect by far his largest payday to date, $892,413.  Corkins’ deep run was worth $458,267, while Nguyen took third and Deeb placed fourth.

Tichelman Grabs Tunica Circuit Ring --  The final table for last week’s World Series of Poker Circuit Series main event in Tunica, MS, featured one very big name -- WSOP Player of the Year Tom Schneider, a couple of lesser-known but tough pros and several largely unknown players.  It was one of the unknowns who charged through for the win.  Bart Tichelman of Atlanta started the final table as the second-shortest stack but surged to the win (and a check for $428,210), moving past eventual eighth-place finisher Schneider and the others in the process.  John Devia started the final table with a healthy lead before being reeled in, finishing fourth, while Giovanni Marcacci and Donald Nicholson finished third and second, respectively.

WPT Borgata Poker Classic Under Way --  Another big U.S. poker event now underway is the Borgata Poker Classic in Atlantic City, which had preliminary events last week and began its championship-event run on Friday.  We’ll have a final-table summary in next week’s WPN, but 507 players ponied up the $10,000 entry, generating a prize pool worth $1,401,109.  No way to know who’s going to win it, but we know who’s not: Early eliminations included Phil Ivey, Gavin Smith, TJ Cloutier, Barry Greenstein and Erick Lindgren.

European Union Promises Further Legal Action Against Germany in Online-Gambling Flap --  Calls by internet-based gambling concerns to "fast track" a complaint against Germany for its recently enacted national law banning online gambling were quickly heeded.  European news sources reported this past week that the EU will indeed escalate its current complaint against Germany over the law, as early as this week.  The action will likely result in a "final warning" being issued to Germany, superseding a related complaint already in progress against three of the 16 German states, and will then likely be moved into the European Court for formal proceedings.

L.A. Poker Classic Begins --  California’s biggest and richest poker series began this week with the kickoff of the 2008 Los Angeles Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino.  The LAPC began on July 24th and runs all the way through to March 1st when a celebrity invitational event concludes the fun.  The LAPC’s main event is a filmed World Poker Tour championship stop, and a very rich one at that: Unknown Eric Hershler captured last year’s title and walked away with $2,429,970 for his work.  This year’s championship event will offer a similar payday to its winner.

Binion's, under Fremont roof

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