Crown Casino have announced an exciting partnership with the worlds largest poker brand, the World Series Of Poker. Set to take place at Crown Casino in Melbourne from April 4-15 2013, the World Series of poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC) is a natural extension in the worlds largest gaming market.

WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart said, “Our goal is to establish the worldwide grand slam of poker and use our platform to elevate the game through a series of major championships,”

“With WSOP Las Vegas growing annually and WSOP Europe poised for long-term success after five years, the time is right to turn our attention to the dynamic poker scene in Asia and Australia. Given Crown’s success with the ‘Aussie Millions Poker Championship’, we couldn’t ask for a better partner than Crown to establish the Asia-Pacific’s definitive poker festival.”

Crown Casino in Melbourne already plays host to the worlds largest tournament series outside of the World Series Of Poker in Las Vegas with the Aussie Millions series each January attracting the worlds premier players. Crown Melbourne's CEO Greg Hawkins said, “This exciting partnership brings together two industry leaders, and two strong brands, to create a premier poker event in this region,”

“Our agreement firmly aligns with our objective of attracting the very best local and international players, all vying for a coveted WSOP bracelet. We are incredibly proud of what we have achieved with the Aussie Millions and look forward to featuring WSOP Asia Pacific on our poker calendar in April 2013.”

The WSOP brand is one of the worlds most iconic and every poker player in the world dreams of someday being the proud owner of coveted WSOP Bracelet. The WSOP brand is 42-years old and in 2007 it expanded beyond the USA with the launch of the WSOP Europe in London (2007-2010) and subsequently into France (2011). The WSOP APAC is set to tap into the tremendous growth of peer-2-peer gaming in this region.

As part of the agreement with the WSOP, the WSOP APAC events are expected to be televised globally across ESPN.

One person who is no stranger to ESPN and the WSOP is Aussie local hero, Joe Hachem. In 2005 Joe won the most prestigious poker event in the world, the World Series Of Poker Main Event.

“It’s thrilling to think the World Series of Poker is coming to Australian soil,” said Joe Hachem. “I know first-hand what a life-changing moment winning the WSOP gold bracelet was and how it served as a catalyst for the growth of poker in Australia and Asia. It will be a dream come true to host a worldwide poker event such as this at Crown. I can’t wait.”

The full WSOP APAC schedule is set to be released later this year.

THE poker community has a new world champion and that man is 22 year old German Pius Heinz. Heinz becomes the first German to ever win the WSOP Main Event and he collects a massive $8,715,638 for his troubles. The 1st place payout was the fourth highest in WSOP Main Event history behind Jonathan Duhamel 2010 WSOP $8,944,310, Peter Eastgate 2008 WSOP $9,152,416 and 2006 WSOP Main Event winner Jamie Gold $12,000,000.

The World Series of Poker is the premier poker event in the world, and the one tournament every player dreams of winning. Pius Heinz is a Team PokerStars Pro from Germany and is set to ignite a mini poker boom in his home country when he returns later this week.

Play began yesterday with the final three players taking to the felt.

While Heinz held a commanding chip lead over the other two players heading into play, it would take over 300 hands to crown the eventual winner, featuring one of the longest heads-up battles in 10 years.

While the heads up action seemingly took ages, the action at the final table didn't take too long to get started.

Incredibly on the first hand of play, Pius Heinz folded from the button which then prompted WSOP Player of the Year Ben Lamb to raise the action to 3 million out of the small blind. Martin Staszko then three-bet out of the big blind to 7.5 million. Action back over to Lamb and he showed that he was not here to be pushed around, he was here to push and moved all in. Incredibly, Staszko made the call and the crowd was stunned to see such a massive pot on the very first hand of play.

With 85.6 Million in the middle the players were heading to a Poker Showdown

LAMB: K ♥ J ♦ - 46%

STASZKO: 7 ♠7 ♣ - 54%

While Staszko held the best hand percentage wise, Lamb had him covered and the potential to make the tournament heads up on the very first hand of the battle.

The final Poker Showdown board ran out 9 ♠3 ♥2 ♦3 ♠T ♣

STASZKO doubled up and Lamb was on life support with only 12.7 million remaining.

As if the action on the first hand wasn't enough to get the crown on edge, the second hand was sure to set the tone.

On hand 180 of the final table, Ben Lamb folded his button and Czech Martin Staszko raised to 3 Million from the small blind. The German Heinz called from the big blind and both players were to see a flop for the first time of the days play.

FLOP 9 ♥A ♣6 ♠

Staszko was first to act and he followed through with a continuation bet of 3 million. Heinz called and both players went to the turn.

TURN 9 ♥A ♣6 ♠9 ♦

The Czech was first to act again however this time around he checked it over to Heinz, who in turn also checked. Down the river they went.

RIVER 9 ♥A ♣6 ♠9 ♦J ♣

This time around Staszko led out with a 4.5 Million bet. Heinz came into the final table as the chip leader, and he was determined to muscle his stack once again. Heinz sent in a big raise into the middle of 14.2 Million which put the Czech onto the back foot. After a while though, he made the call and it was certainly a very good one.

HEINZ K ♥Q ♦

STASZKO K ♣K ♦

Incredibly the Czech had gone from worst to first in just two hands at the final table and was sitting with an impressive stack of 106.2 Million.

The third hand of play was somewhat semi-climactic with a simple raise pre-flop and two folds, but by the fourth hand, the action was back to level that the crowd was now used to.

Hand number four at the three handed final table and hand number 182 of the final table saw Heinz fold from the button allowing Ben Lamb to move his last 12.5 Million into the middle. Action over to the Czech who woke up with a monster in the big blind and he called. We had our second Poker Showdown of the day and it was only the fourth hand of play!

SHOWDOWN

LAMB Q ♠6 ♥ - 28%

STASZKO J ♦J ♣ - 72%

The World Series Of Poker Player of the year had found himself in a precarious position and things were not looking good for him as Staszko was set to eliminate him over 70% of the time with the hands they were going to showdown with.

The final board played out

5 ♣5 ♥2 ♠2 ♣7 ♠

Lamb entered the final three as second in chips and easily the crowd favourite, however his WSOP Main Event campaign was over and we were now heads up for the title.

Lamb would have to be content with his $4 Million+ pay day to help console his bad run three handed. Something tells us, we haven't seen the last of this incredible player and you can expect to see him at the final table of a tournament in the not too distant future.

Head up the action began with both players having a relatively even chip count. For those expecting the final table to be anything like the first four hands, they were soon to proven wrong when play went back and forth for the next couple of hours.

On the penultimate hand of the heads up battle, Staszko had a chance to win it all when on hand number 293 the following occurred.

BLINDS 1.2M/2.4M - 300,000 Ante

Stszko limped in from the button and Heinz raised his option to 7.9 Million. Staszko called and players were off to the flop.

FLOP T ♣7 ♣K ♠

Heinz sent in a continuation bet of 8.2 Million which then prompted the Czech to raise to 17.5 Million. Incredibly Heinz then moved all-in for his last 72.95 Million and Staszko made the call. This was the first all in and call of the heads up action and we were set to crown a new champion.

POKER SHOWDOWN

HEINZ A ♥Q ♥ - 54%

STASZKO Q ♣9 ♣ - 46%

Matin Staszko was behind the Ace high of Heinz, but was a virtual coin flip away from being crowned the 2011 World Series Of Poker Main Event Champion.

The crowd fell silent at the Rio as the dealer burned and turned.

TURN T ♣7 ♣K ♠3 ♥

Only one card to go and Heinz was looking stronger for the double up.

HEINZ A ♥Q ♥ - 73%

STASZKO Q ♣9 ♣ - 27%

RIVER T ♣7 ♣K ♠3 ♥6 ♠

Incredibly Heinz's Ace high held up and Staszko's quest to take the title slipped away just like that.

Revised Chip Count Heads Up

After that crippling hand, it wasn't long before the epic heads up battle came to an end when on hand number 301 of the final table the following hand played out.

Martin Staszko open-raised all in for his last remaining 39.5 Million and was insta-fist-pump-snap-called by the German.

Poker Showdown

HEINZ A ♠K ♣ - 62%

STASZKO T ♣7 ♣ - 38%

The German was attempting to win the final hand of the WSOP Main Event for the first time with the hand known in poker circles as 'Anna Kournikova - Looks good, never wins' Ace King. He was a solid 62% favourite to win the world title and we were off to a poker showdown.

FLOP 5 ♣2 ♦9 ♠

Not the worlds most exciting flop, but Heinz was still in the lead, only now more so.

HEINZ A ♠K ♣ - 72%

STASZKO T ♣7 ♣ - 28%

TURN 5 ♣2 ♦9 ♠J ♥

The turn made things a little more exciting with Staszko now adding a straight draw to his outs. The German Heinz however was still well and truly in the lead.

HEINZ A ♠K ♣ - 77%

STASZKO T ♣7 ♣ - 23%

The river landed and we had our first German World Series of Poker Main Event Champion.

RIVER 5 ♣2 ♦9 ♠J ♥4 ♦

The World Series Of Poker is the one event that stops the poker world and the November Nine is the spectacle that everyone waits for each year. Today the team at the RIO did not disappoint and the action and production from the team at ESPN and Poker Productions was truly world class.

The 2011 World Series Of Poker Main Event began four months ago and started with 6,865 players who ponied up the $10,000 buy-in creating a massive prize pool of $64,531,000. Today saw the final nine players take to the felt to play down to three players. The final three will be back tomorrow to play down to the World Champ.

Tony G has once said, "Winning the WSOP Main Event is the equivalent to seeing or touching God"

Today, nine players embarked on their poker journey towards the ultimate goal in poker. At the start of play today, the line up looked as follows.

At the completion of play however, only three players remained and these three will be returning to play tomorrow to see who will be the next WSOP Main Event Champion.

Here are the remaining players as well as their respecting chip counts.

Play gets under way Tuesday at 1730 PST (0130 GMT) and you can view the action live on ESPN starting tomorrow morning if you are after complete hand for hand analysis until a winner is crowned.

Miller's Guide is proud to have world class photographer Tom Donoghue on the floor of the Rio capturing all the action as it unfolds.

The 2011 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars continued on Wednesday, Sept. 7, with Event No. 10, $265 buy-in pot-limit Omaha knockout tournament.

This WCOOP event drew a field of 1,271 entrants, with the top 162 places paid. The total prize pool amounted to $524,200, with a bounty prize pool totaling $63,550. Throughout the tournament, any player who busted an opponent automatically received a $50 bonus paid from the bounty pool.

At the final table was another Aussie, this time little known player "kysah" was there trying to replicate "Monster_Dong" performance in WCOOP event 6 a few days earlier. In the end however, it was the Finish player "Olkku" who outlasted "kysah" to win the WCOOP tournament and 1st place prizemoney of $43,214. After a back-and-forth battle in the heads-up portion of the event, "kysah" settled for the second-place money of $31,775.

Third-place finisher "Totti500" of Sweden, who collected $24,123 in prize money, was eliminated on a key hand to set the stage for the exciting finish. "Totti500" got all of his chips in after the flop with a set of sevens, but "Olkku" made a flush on the turn to knock out the Swede. "Iteopepe88" of Hungary had finished in fourth place to earn $17,285 in prize money.

When heads-up play began, "Olkku" held a big chip lead of 5.5 million to 824,000 against "kysah." The Australian fought back, however, going on a streak in which he won 10 of 11 hands to build a chip lead of 3.7 million to 2.6 million.

Kysah gained momentum and went on a rush, winning 10 out of 11 pots. He erased the deficit and seized the lead -- 3.7 million to 2.6 million. The two traded the lead back and forth several times, before Olkku snagged it back and surged to a 2-1 lead.

The Australian fought back, however, going on a streak in which he won 10 of 11 hands to build a chip lead of 3.7 million to 2.6 million. The two then traded the chip lead back and forth for a while before Olkku managed to get back to a 2-1 lead.

On the last hand of the WCCOP event, both players went to the flop without a raise. The flop was A♦8♣4♦. Olkku checked, kysah bet 120,000, Olkku check-raised to 420,000, kysah re-raised to 1,380,000, Olkku shoved all-in for for 4,046,984, and kysah called all-in for his last 808,016.

FLOP A♦8♣4♦

Olkku: A♥5♣4♥4♠

kysah: A♣Q♥J♥8♦

Olkku had flopped bottom set, while kysah had flopped top two. The turn was the Q♠, giving the Aussie a few more outs but he was still behind. The river was the T♥ and the 2nd Aussie WCOOP win was not to be.  Australia's kysah busted in 2nd and had to be content with the $31,775 that came along with it. Not bad for a few days work at the virtual felt.

The 2011 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) at PokerStars includes 62 events and runs through Sunday, Sept. 25.

For those players who do not yet have a Pokerstars account, you can check out the official Millers Guide review of Poker Stars here. Pokerstars are offering all new players an incredible 100% deposit bonus up to $600. POKERSTARS REVIEW.

So far to date, the Pokerstars WCOOP has been an overwhelming success for online players all over the globe, and the Aussies are hopeful of a few more titles before the series is out.

2011 WCOOP RESULTS

Over the past 10 years Poker has exploded in popularity. The biggest Poker Event in the world is the annual World Series Of Poker, held each year at the Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas NV USA. The World Series Of Poker (WSOP) features a series of poker tournaments over a series of weeks and culminates in a Main Event that features a $10,000 USD buy-in. In 2002 the Main Event for the WSOP had 631 participants. In 2003 there were 839. In 2004 the number of entrants exploded to 2,576, a 325% growth rate. In 2005, the Main Event had 5,619 players, and in 2006 8,773 players sat down in the $10,000 buy in Main Event.

The growth of poker is attributed to a number of factors, the biggest two factors being Television and Online Poker. In the 2003 World Series of Poker, Chris Moneymaker won the Main Event and took home $2,500,000. It should be noted that Chris had never actually played poker in a casino in his life, and had learnt to play poker by playing the game online. He actually qualified for the WSOP via what is known as a satellite. A satellite is small buy-in poker tournament that awards the winners with a ticket to a bigger buy-in poker tournament.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker qualified for the $10,000 Main Event for $33 online at PokerStars. (View the Official Miller's Guide PokerStars Review Here). His win was also televised globally on the worldwide sports network ESPN. Once Chris’ win went public on television, online poker exploded.

The win of Chris Moneymaker in 2003 was the primary factor behind the epic growth of the online poker industry, and in 2004 the number of players in the $10,000 buy-in main event grew by 325% when 2,576 players entered for their chance at poker immortality. That year, Greg "Fossil Man" Raymer was the eventual winner and took home the $5,000,000 USD first prize.

One of the key factors behind poker's growth and popularity is the ease at which players can learn the game. Miller's Guide has developed a comprehensive Poker Rules section where you can learn how to play the game that everyone is enjoying. Wether you are looking learn Texas Holden (the worlds most popular form of poker) or Seven Card Stud, check out the Poker Rules section below.

If you are up to speed with the poker rules yet you don't yet have an online poker account, Millers Guide offers you the best Guide To Online Poker. There are literally thousands of websites now offering online poker to prospective online poker players. The Millers Guide to Online Poker helps you choose the best online poker site by reviewing the top 5 sites globally. The top 5 online poker sites are selected based on a number of very important criteria. There are a number of important factors that you should consider when looking to play online poker for the first time.

Jonathan Duhamel has become the first Canadian to take home home pokers greatest prize, Almost 9 Million USD and the WSOP Main Event Championship bracelet.

After 8 grueling days at the table and some seriously luck breaks Duhamel held his nerve on the final table to become Canada's first world champion. With the crowd on their feet as the final card hit the table, The Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino erupted as the new World Champion leaped into the crowd and his many supporters.·