Finally after a epic 5 day stint the first matches of the Ladbrokes casino one Million poker has closed off.

Tony G is the last man to get through to the semi finals in what was known as the turbo heat for a runners up place, the other guys who got through were Marty Smyth, Dave the rave Ulliott, Anthony Mr tardy Hardy and Roy Brindley, these guys all got through last weekend and cant wait for the next round.

There will be quite a few Internet players who have taken the long journey through 26 qualifying matches to get there place, the Ross and Barny Boatman brothers, Ryan Bowers, Liam Kent, Ken Sorensen, Andrew Johnson, Jane Norman & Ciaran O’Leary.

All of the competitors above have never won the amazing tournament before but a few of them have managed to make an appearance in the final 9. Winning thousands in the process.

Smyth is one of these lucky players and has done it 2 times, a couple of the other guys Ulliott, Flood & Barny Boatman.

For the 3rd year running there will be no celebrities featuring in the semi finals its because the tournament is getting more and more serious with every year, but previous names to note are Helen Chamberlain, Jimmy White, Steve Davis, Zac Goldsmith, Frank Bruno, and Shannon Elizabeth.

I think all the guys are trying to win as the winners last year not only got 1 million dollars but they got to go on the poker millions cruise with these girls?

Will you be entering next year?

So as it turns out strange poker has struck again, tonight I finished work then I went to meet my girlfriend and drop her off at a friends so she could have glass of champagne and not drink drive.

When I got there the girls were already pretty intoxicated and wanted me to stay for a while so they could basically take the piss, but to my surprise two of them were playing poker for small amounts of cash.

I couldn’t help myself and pulled up a seat offering to join in. I played so slow and made lots of stupid mistakes but the more they drank the more I won and in the end I won quite a bit plus even more of a winning situation was I got a bit lost in the play I didn’t realise the time and it went on long enough for me to simply drive my girlfriend home rather than getting out of bed and coming back later.

I’m planning on having the girly night at home from now on and inviting the shy but ever willing poker fiends that want to give me cash and not moan when they loose as they get to drunk.

There have been a few copy cat matches of the WSOP 2008.

One or two famous poker players are still playing on the fact that may have been kicked out of the WSOP but they are the best of the best when it comes to finishing games and they have been attending the odd match which has been named the mini WSOP.

Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, and Shannon Elizabeth have been playing there wits against each other for a come down match after all the hype of the worlds biggest and best poker tournament in the world.

The money was not anywhere near the amount that was gambled at the WSOP but it made a big difference to the winner Shannon Elizabeth scooping a nice £565,000 dollars with a classic bluff to take the final pot.

Im going to host a copy cat WSOP match and I want to try something with a difference so I might make the blinds go up every hand or have a separate pot for the highest hand of the night.

Any suggestions???????????????

AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine local police force have said a Kentucky driver was claiming a crazy excuse when she was stopped, the excuse was she was playing online poker and had a wireless connection, and as she was doing really well in a tournament she couldn’t leave the table so she thought it would be OK to drive and gamble at the same time. I think the main gamble was with her own life.

The man representing her, Steve McCausland announced that a police officer said she was in to a really good hand when he pulled her over and she wouldn’t talk until she finished the hand, he even had to switch the laptop off to get her attention.

The officer Tim Marks had been assigned to watch out for drivers who were not wearing seat belts but when he saw the crazy lady drive past with her laptop open he was compelled to investigate.

The driver has now got away with the charge as the law states that it is illegal to drive and watch TV but it doesn’t cover things like computers in the state of Maine.

So where is the craziest you have ever gambled, I think mine has to be an impulsive poker match in the grounds of a pyramid in Egypt and the lads I was with found some cards and we couldn’t just resist.

The big brother house in the UK have been challenged to eat 8 chili’s and they get certain points, every point adds up per chili eaten and would make each player head of house and immune from eviction, I bet my money on Sarah and it didn’t work out as i planned as everyone beat her and i lost my precious £3.

The funny thing is i would have only won £8 and it turns out Stuart that has the constitution of an Ox. Sarah only got 24 points and she was beaten by 3 others of 10.

Stuart got 34 points and he will be head of house and will rule the roust from now on.

He doesn’t want to rule now he just wanted to win and I cant wait to win my money back when he fails in his role as my local bet company will take a bet on anything.

Did any one else have a crazy bet on anything this weekend?

Shannon Elizabeth is the sexy lady from the funny but brilliant film American Pie - and it turns out that not only has she got skills with cards and pie but she is winning votes and has won on many occasion the title of the sexiest poker player ever.

She orignally came from Houston Texas and her dad was called Gerald Edward Fadal who has Syrian blood and he decided to mix it with Patricia Dianne Abbott the french/american indian hottie.

The funny thing before these guy split Aston Kutcher punked Patricia and fooled her into saying that she had been taped having passionate sex with someone else but in the end it wasnt just a punk it turned out to be true.

Shannon Elizabeth has graced us with her pressence at the05 WSOP main event.

Shannon is said to be dating Kelvin Ayre but no one is quite sure i just know she has some serious beauty and poker skills.

If you fancy playing this title holder of the sexiest poker player you can catch her at bodog poker.

Jessica Simpson has hosted a poker match for a charity and with some of her famous friends and it turned out to be a massive success raising over $500,000 dollars.

Tony Romo the famous quarter back from the Dallas Cowboys co hosted the event and had a few of his wealthy friends compete with some of Jessica’s starlets.

The most notable starlet who made the biggest challenge for the Simpson poker trophy was Mischa Barton also known as the sexy face of the O.C. but she was knocked out by the eventual winner David Hasslehoff who bumbled his way to a strange victory and I only think he won as most of the air heads who turned up didn’t have a clue how to play but then again it was all for charity. Lets hope she hosts it every year and makes plenty of cash for charity.

Over the past few years women’s poker has just simply arrived and there are many regular female poker players contending the biggest prizes in the game. The overall growth of female poker players is now twice the amount of new male players and it is very early in the evolution of the growth but will it continue to grow?

I’m guessing yes?

There are many sites and companies in the gaming industry who have picked up on this and they are now offering female only sites and very expensive sponsorship deals for the best players out there. It was amazing the response Tiffany Michelle received as she was down to the final 20 at the WSOP 2008. The press coverage was amazing and if she had made it to the final table I think the ratings would have gone through the roof. So will horse play and skill be taken over by women and glamour?

There are thousands of gambling male poker players who don’t rate the skills of these women but they all got taught a lesson when Tiffany knocked them out 1 by 1. So watch out fellas, here come the girls.

Now we all realise that the taster for the final event of the wsop 2008 is over there are millions of eager watchers waiting for the full course, the network TV channel ESPN is now airing previous rounds of the first stages. The whole event was more than successful and over $175 million was given out in prize money and amazingly there were over 55000 entrants, but the big question is will it be a massive hit to on TV?

The future and optimist are predicting that the final match will be aired to over 300 million watchers all over the globe introducing poker to every tom, dick and harry. The networks and TV bosses are over joyed and excited at the prospect of TV advertisements and the revenue that they will generate for TV repeats and the actual final.

Poker has gone from a back room sport to an everyday phenom which anybody can play and with a little skill it can be a very prosperous exciting game. Lots of new gamblers are wandering round many games and sites trying to hunt down the magic game that can make there fortune. Poker can be played and dominated by anyone so get your cards out and join the party, you never know you may make your fortune.

Now the flag has been waved and the race is over at the German Grand Prix the fact that Lewis Hamilton grabbed yet another win even though he had a bad start, is paving the way for his form to only to get better. Niki Lauda, the man who ruled formula one at one point announced that Lewis Hamilton is becoming unbeatable plus he was over raising the latest triumph in Germany.

Even though Lewis has been very faithful to his colleagues, the team made a massive mistake when the safety car pushed its way into the party after a really bad crash. Every team made its mind up to pit there cars and take advantage of the party car. McLaren made a bad judgement hoping that the party car would just drive off and Lewis would be able to steal the lead. This did not happen.

Hamilton was made to then stop when the raced resumed and he sled down the group to forth which seemed only to push him and make him pull out all the stops to get his best performance ever, swerving, and dodging all the 3 class drivers in front of him. He won the race and beat Piquet and Massa  in which he has now gained a 4 point lead in the tables championship and many people who said he was a one hit wonder last year are now backing him in the bookies.

So will you join me in a bet?