In Akenhead’s final hand of the 2009 WSOP Main Event, the Brit shoved pre-flop with pocket threes and Schaffel made the call with a wired pair of nines. Each of the 1,000-plus bodies in attendance was on their feet for what could be the first bust out of the tournament in November. The flop came 10-2-7, with the crowd in awe that the deuce was actually a three, which would have given Akenhead a set. Akenhead needed a three or running clubs for a flush, but the board ran out 2-9, giving us our first elimination of the day.

The crowd gave Akenhead a standing ovation, as the former train conductor hugged Schaffel and exited the Penn and Teller Theater at the Rio.

Shortly thereafter, two fans of Michigan pro Joe Cada became immersed in a fight in the seating area right behind the media’s orchestra section. According to coverage found on WSOP.com, “The fans were part of the group of Cada supporters that have been heavily frequenting the bar on breaks. Security made quick work of removing them from the building to keep things under control.”

Then, Schaffel hit the rails after getting his chips in for the second time pre-flop with pocket aces against pocket kings. This time, Eric Buchman held the inferior pocket pair, but spiked top set on a K-Q-J flop. The turn was another king, giving Buchman quads and eliminating Schaffel in eighth place. Schaffel told reporters following his exit, “If you’re not going to shove it in with aces, what are you going to shove it in with? I shoved with aces against kings twice and was right back in it. I would have been right behind Darvin Moon in chips and there’s nothing you can do.”

Schaffel had doubled through Akenhead with kings against aces earlier this afternoon. On his strategy heading into the day, Schaffel explained, “My plan was to play the same way as I had been playing, which was basically playing good cards. I didn’t have any hands until the two aces, so I just played the way I always played.” Schaffel jokingly told the assembled media that he did not want to discuss poker in his post-tournament press conference. A throng of Schaffel supporters gathered around their protagonist in the concourse outside the theater, giving him a rousing ovation when he emerged from backstage.

Moon continues to lead the WSOP Main Event with 58 million chips. However, Buchman is hot on his heels with 53 million. Eight players remain.

Akenhead was all-in on back-to-back hands. He received no action in the first, but on the second hand, he pushed pre-flop and Steven Begleiter made the call. Joe Cada’s supporters called loudly for their hero to call as well. Eric Buchman asked for a chip count, pointing to Akenhead’s stack, and then isolated by re-raising to 12 million. The stage lights brightened up considerably as everyone came to their feet with the first all-in and call of the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table. Begleiter faced nine million more to call and shoved his hand into the muck. Akenhead turned over K-Q, while Buchman showed A-K.

The flop came 2-3-J, helping neither player and keeping Buchman out in front. The turn was a king, giving both players top pair, and Akenhead needed to catch a queen to stay alive. Sure enough, one of the three remaining ladies in the deck hit the river, causing an explosion among the British train conductor’s fans. Buchman gave a small smile and Akenhead survived the all-in.

Shortly thereafter, Saout re-raised to 6.75 million over the top of a raise to 2.3 million by Darvin Moon after the flop came K-J-2. Moon re-raised all-in and Saout snap-called, having already committed two-thirds of his stack, and flipped up J-2 for bottom two pair. Moon revealed A-4 for ace-high and the turn came a three, giving Moon a straight draw to a five. However, another deuce hit on the river, doubling up Saout. The crowd came to life once again, as Saout’s supporters, decked in blue t-shirts, rallied behind their hero. Meanwhile, the French news outlets frantically began typing a story before the army of WSOP and PokerNews reporters could summarize the hand.

An official from Club Poker told Poker News Daily, “If Antoine wins, it will be huge for France.” He speculated that Saout could become the French version of Chris Moneymaker, who ignited the modern poker boom by winning the 2003 WSOP Main Event.

All nine players remain in the hunt for the $8.5 million first place prize payday. During the afternoon’s second break, rapper Ja Rule took to the stage with Lacey Jones and told the Absolute Poker pro that he’s rooting for Phil Ivey. Also taking center stage were Mike Matusow, who promoted his new book, “Check Raising the Devil,” “Celebrity Apprentice” runner-up Annie Duke, and Full Tilt Poker pro Jennifer Harman, who was railing Ivey and Jeff Shulman.

Moon continues to lead the way, although his stack has fallen to below 50 million. Joe Cada, Shulman, Akenhead, Phil Ivey, Kevn Schaffel, and Saout all sit with between 10 million and 20 million chips. Blinds are 200,000-400,000 with a 50,000 ante.

The casino initiative, known as Issue 3 on this year’s Ohio ballot, was a polarizing issue within the Midwestern state, with those opposing the initiative suggesting that it stands to benefit casinos, but not the people of Ohio. Those in favor of the bill pointed to the presence of casinos in the neighboring state of Indiana and suggested that Ohio is missing out on a viable revenue source during this economic recession.

In the end, casino supporters won out and new casinos are scheduled to be built in Cincinnati, Toledo, Cleveland, and Columbus. The two groups behind the new gaming establishments are Penn Ventures and Rock Gambling Ventures, but Lakes Entertainment has a stake in all four of the properties as well. Berman and Lakes tried to spearhead a failed effort to bring gaming to Ohio in 2008 and recently cut a deal with both Rock Gambling and Penn shortly before Election Day to ensure they would be involved in this latest attempt. The deal stipulates that Lakes will fund 10% of the cost of the ballot initiative and, in turn, will have the option to own a 10% share in each of the new casinos.

According to a report from the Associated Press (AP), Lakes filed the deal with the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) on October 29th, just days before the November 4th election. The AP also reported that campaign finance documents of Issue 3 show that the campaign cost $35 million. The SEC filing indicated that Lakes already made an initial payment of $1.9 million to Penn Ventures and $2.4 million to Rock Gambling. Penn will oversee the construction and operation of the Columbus and Toledo casinos, while Rock will handle the Cincinnati and Cleveland sites.

Bob Tenenbaum of the Ohio Jobs and Growth Committee spoke with the AP about Berman’s involvement in the campaign. “At the time this was raised as a campaign issue, which was Oct. 6, Berman had no role in any of this,” he explained. “He never became involved in the campaign, but he did reach out to both Penn National and Rock Ohio Ventures in the last week of the campaign and asked if he could become involved.”

The union between Berman and Penn is an unexpected one considering the two were bitter rivals during the previous campaign to bring gambling to a single destination in Clinton County. The campaign turned so ugly that Berman and Lakes filed a defamation lawsuit against Penn, which counter-sued for defamation, libel, and slander. The AP reported that both suits have since been dropped, but that does not mean Berman and Lakes will have extensive involvement in the day-to-day operations of the new casinos.

A spokesperson for Rock, the business development company of Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert told the AP that Lakes would be playing a purely financial role in the casino projects. Berman and Lakes are not new to gaming in the Midwest and South. They currently own and operate several properties, including the Vicksburg Casino in Mississippi, the Four Winds Casino outside of Chicago, and the Cimarron and Ioway City Casinos in Oklahoma.

Phil Ivey facing a bet by Joe Cada leads to a dramatic uneasiness inside the 1,200 person capacity theater. Many are literally on the edge of their seats watching the action, as the general admission line continues to build outside the door. Only a few flops have been seen so far and a variety of red, white, and blue balloons line the railings around the theater.

In the minutes leading up to the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command, a moment of silence was held for Hans Lund, the runner-up in the 1990 WSOP Main Event to Mansour Matloubi. A hearty round of applause followed before WSOP Commissioner Jeffrey Pollack told the assembled crowd, “This will clearly be a final table for the history books. As we get started, I wanted to thank you, the best fans in all of poker and the best fans in all of sports, for being here and supporting the WSOP.” Pollack introduced Absolute Poker pro Lacey Jones, decked out in a pink cocktail dress, who will serve as the WSOP Main Event’s hostess.

Pollack covered the rules of audience etiquette during a poker tournament, which included encouraging cheering for your favorite players, not interfering with hands in progress by yelling phrases like “go all in” and “don’t do that.” Other than player names, other audible phrases have included “Stack em, stack em, to the top” (playing homage to Julie Schneider, wife of Tom Schneider) and “Let’s play already!”

Jones then interviewed 2008 WSOP November Nine member Dennis Phillips, who told the crowd what sage words of advice he gave this year’s group: “A lot of different things, They were asking me how to handle it from a media perspective and a lot of other things. I told them to play well, be proud of your play, and enjoy.”

Also taking to the stage with Jones was Peter Eastgate, the reigning champion of the prestigious $10,000 buy-in feature tournament. On his latest success, Eastgate told Jones, “I’ve been having some good results lately. I’m still running hot.” His advice to the next Main Event winner: “Be yourself.”

At 1:30pm PT, Ivey pushed all-in facing potential calls by CardPlayer Magazine Editor Jeff Shulman and young gun Joe Cada. Both players folded to Ivey’s all-in and speculation ran rampant that Cada had at least pocket queens and ultimately laid it down, sparking a debate among media members in attendance that will be answered when the proceedings air on Tuesday night. Ten minutes later, Frenchman Antoine Saout, who has a rowdy cheering section inside the theater, shoved all-in, but was also not called.

In the minutes leading up to the WSOP Main Event final table resuming, Barry Shulman, father of the aforementioned November Nine member, was presented with his WSOP Europe Main Event gold bracelet. After a lengthy delay, the national anthem of the United States played, as has been customary in previous bracelet ceremonies.

The final tradition to play out was the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command, issued by 10-time WSOP bracelet winner Doyle Brunson. “Texas Dolly” told fans and others in attendance, “I think we should congratulate Jeffrey Pollack and Ty Stewart for putting this all together. It looks like a football game.”

Those on stage include Chau Giang, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, Brunson, Eastgate, Joe Sebok, Greg Raymer, Chris Ferguson, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Gordon, and Phillips. About 125 people are seated on the Rio’s stage overall.

Among the first in the lobby were Steve Begleiter and Jeff Shulman, the latter escorted through the melee by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla. Meanwhile, supporters of Michigan poker player Joe Cada have donned neon yellow shirts and hats, which will surely create a memorable scene for fans and media in the audience alike. Cada’s agent told Poker News Daily that 150 friends and family are expected, while Eric Buchman will see 100 troops rally around him this afternoon.

Rock memorabilia lines the hallway of the Rio from its casino to the theater and, among those chatting is ESPN announcer Lon McEachern, who will flank Norman Chad on an elevated platform set up to the right of the stage. Media inside are seated on couches with tables usually reserved for VIP guests of Penn and Teller and other acts inside the auditorium and two massive television screens relay the action from the green felt. ESPN “Inside Deal” hosts Bernard Lee and Laura Lane are also perusing the crowd, the latter taking a bundle of pictures on her iPhone.

The Poker Players Alliance’s (PPA) Bryan Spadaro is armed with patches for the one million member strong lobbying organization, soliciting each player to wear one during the broadcast, which will officially air on Tuesday night on ESPN. Cada, Kevin Schaffel, and Buchman are confirmed to be wearing them, while James Akenhead, a Brit, also walked away from Spadaro with one in his hand. The PPA is holding a function at 2:00pm down the hallway to spread goodwill about Congressman Barney Frank’s (D-MA) internet gambling legislation.

Upon arrival, Cada had online poker star Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy in tow, as ESPN cameras roved the hallway catching any memorable moments, including a group shot of Cada supporters. We headed to the front of the general admittance line, which stretches from the Penn and Teller Theater towards the Amazon Room, where Jack Watkins from Bozeman, Montana was the first to be found. He arrived at 6:00am and was quickly approached by Antoine Saout supporters, who offered him guaranteed tickets for the start of play in exchange for wearing shirts and hats touting the French poker player. Watkins and company obliged.

In the yellow wristband line, which is for friends and family, was David Prochik, who hails from Orlando, Florida. One of the fans supporting Cada, Prochik told Poker News Daily, “He’s a good online player. He’s good friends with my friend, Brad, and I hope he wins.” Across the hallway, Ylon Schwartz is seated at the Rio’s Starbucks in a scene reminiscent of his experience in 2008 as a member of the November Nine.

Poker pro David Singer will be rooting on Full Tilt’s Phil Ivey this afternoon. On his show of support, Singer explained, “I’ve been friends with him a long time and he’s a good guy. I’d like to see him win; he deserves it.” Ivey holds the seventh largest chip stack entering play today and despite being on the short stack, Singer was confident: “If anyone will know what to do in that situation, Ivey will know what to do. He’s the best player at the table and I have a lot of faith in him.” If Ivey failed to emerge victorious on Monday night when play concludes, Singer commented that he’d pull for Jeff Shulman.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest from the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table.

205 players of the original 353 runners came back for action on Day Two, with Todd Terry as the chip leader. Terry was facing significant challenges, however, with Adam Lippert and Alan Sasser in hot pursuit. Sasser, who was in the WPT Foxwoods event on a freeroll after winning his seat in an online qualifier on ClubWPT.com, was unable to push into the Day Three action, though, and he was joined on the rails by other top players such as Lippert, former WPT Player of the Year Gavin Smith, Eric “basebaldy” Baldwin, Prahlad Freidman, and Liv Boeree.

Jason Mercier looked to be making his move on the chip lead until an unfortunate bad beat knocked him down the ladder. With Mercier’s opponent all-in on the flop with a pair of nines and an ace kicker, Mercier called with pocket queens and looked to have a stranglehold on the hand. The turn, however, brought an ace and the river another nine, giving his opponent a boat and a key double up. Mercier, who was knocked down to around 80,000 in chips at that point, was able to work his way back up and will start Day Three under the chip average with 139,000.

For much of the final few hours of play on Friday, the action on the felt left many around the tournament arena wondering who was actually in the lead. Day One leader Terry, Soheil Shamseddin, Christian Harder, and Terrence Chan all claimed to have the lead. It took a late run by Merrifield, including a key victory against Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, to drive him to the top of the leaderboard for the start of action today.

As the cards prepare to fly in Foxwoods this afternoon, here are the top ten of the 68 players remaining in the field:

1. Steven Merrifield – 465,100
2. Soheil Shamseddin – 401,000
3. Todd Terry – 396,500
4. Terrence Chan – 394,200
5. Curt Kohlberg – 370,000
6. Frank Calo – 361,200
7. Christian Harder – 330,400
8. Jesse Martin – 329,800
9. Joe Serock – 277,000
10. Adam Gerber – 270,000

Other top names in the field include former WPT champions Cornel Andrew Cimpan, Steve Brecher, and Nenad Medic. Interestingly, Medic has a chance to make WPT history. If the Canadian can come back to win this tournament, it would mark the first time that a player has won the same WPT event twice; Medic also won in 2006. His work is cut out for him, however, as he sits below the average chip stack with 151,000 in chips.

With the top 36 finishers paid in the tournament, the money bubble will most likely burst sometime Saturday afternoon. Poker News Daily will have all the latest from Connecticut as the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals works to its final table on Tuesday evening.

Poker News Daily was privileged to be welcomed to Sexton’s Spanish Hills home in Las Vegas on Friday night, where a small crowd of relatives was gathered 24 hours prior to the icon’s enshrinement ceremony. Among those in attendance were his wife, Karen, and Jon “pokertrip” Friedberg, a family friend. Two slideshows that will be seen during the dinner were previewed, including a 120-image self-developed tribute that Sexton had created by a local photo store.

The slideshows on tap include a bevy of industry personalities, including the other Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 nominees: Daniel Negreanu, Phil Ivey, Scotty Nguyen, Men “The Master” Nguyen, Erik Seidel, Tom McEvoy, Dan Harrington, and Barry Greenstein. Two galleries, Sexton’s and one crafted by the WPT, will actually be shown, one during the dinner and one as part of the actual induction ceremonies. One slide features Ultimate Bet pro Phil Hellmuth and Sexton jokingly told Poker News Daily, “Phil thinks I put it in because of him” (it’s actually because of the appearance of “Keith”). Following the show, the sitting Poker Hall of Fame members will take to the stage of the Penn and Teller Theater to be recognized.

Among those slides that induction attendees will view is his son, Ty’s, first Christmas, which features the youngster draped in a stocking. Also in the mix are images of Sexton alongside a bevy of Hollywood personalities including Paris Hilton, Ben Affleck, and James Garner. Former WPT in-studio announcer Linda Johnson pointed out that several shots feature Sexton in a La Mode shirt or hat. Johnson told Poker News Daily, “Mike was one of the first poker players to have a sponsor.” La Mode is a popular clothing outfit. Sexton noted that he “took every photo around the house I could find” to compile his masterpiece.

ESPN announcer Lon McEachern was one of the many individuals who called to congratulate Sexton on his Poker Hall of Fame nod. Sexton added that his most memorable call was from a poker friend that he was close to when he first became involved in the game.

The festivities in the Rio’s Brasilia Room kick off on Saturday during the dinner break of the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final table, which will likely occur between 7:00pm and 8:00pm after three levels of play have concluded. His brother, Tom, will introduce him to the assembled crowd of friends, family, poker fans, and media. The room is set up for 275 guests.

According to Sexton, a buffet-style menu is on tap and when asked what plated meals he would prefer to serve, Sexton responded chicken and an Italian dish “to satisfy the non-meat eaters.” From talking to Sexton and seeing the bevy of slides on tap, it’s apparent that Ty, now 15 months old, encompasses a major part of the WPT host’s existence. Sexton told Poker News Daily that the expecting couple was looking for a “one syllable masculine name” and Sexton suggested Ty, short for Tyler. He was on the phone with his niece at the time, who approved on the name and it stuck. If the couple’s first child would have been a girl, they had selected Shelby.

We were then treated to the grand tour of Sexton’s spacious home, which overlooks Red Rocks and will soon be on the market, as the family is moving to Los Angeles in the next few weeks. Highlights included 30-foot ceilings in the downstairs area and a dance floor converted into a nursery. Sexton’s office includes five flat-panel televisions and the upstairs features state-of-the-art exercise equipment and a fully-functional massage table. Sexton also owns two dogs, which were kept at a relative’s house on Friday night.

Sexton was the only one of nine Poker Hall of Fame nominees to receive the requisite 75% of the vote this year.

The ESPN Inside Deal host and Poker News Daily contributor will be hosting a special two-hour edition of his long-running poker show dedicated solely to this year’s November Nine. The show, which airs regionally in New England on 1510 AM The Zone and online at RoundersRadio.com, will feature guest appearances from November Niners Steven Begleiter and Kevin Schaffel and promises several other surprise guests.

The WSOP wrap-up show will air on Wednesday from 7:00pm ET to 9:00pm ET, with the first hour featuring Lee’s interviews with Schaffel and Begleiter. The first portion of the show will broadcast on both terrestrial and web radio, while the latter half of the show can be found exclusively on Rounders’ Radio. During the second hour of the show, Lee will field questions from listeners submitted via phone, e-mail, or the show’s chat room. Lee has gained plenty of experience offering his insight into the world of poker thanks to his gig on Inside Deal where he and co-host Laura Lane discuss the latest hot topics in poker news. He also has plenty of experience with the respective members of the November Nine, as all members of both the 2008 and 2009 WSOP Main Event final tables have made an appearance on his radio program.

Rounders’ Radio’s Managing Director expressed his enthusiasm over the special program in an official statement announcing the upcoming show. “We are thrilled Bernard Lee will provide listeners of Rounders’ Radio with detailed poker coverage they can’t get anywhere else – an in-depth wrap-up of this year’s exciting World Series of Poker final table. Lee knows what poker players want to hear, and no one else can deliver the information in such a straightforward, easy to understand manner. We are very excited about the show.”

Typically “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” airs live on The Zone on Tuesdays from 7:00pm ET to 8:00pm ET and is replayed at 5:00pm ET on Saturday, but this special edition of the show will take place live on Wednesday after all of the WSOP action has come to a close. The final table resumes on Saturday, November 7th, when the nine players will play down to the final two, who will then get a day off before returning to the felt on Monday night to play down to a new World Champion. The following day, the final table coverage will air from 9:00pm ET to 11:00pm ET on ESPN.

Those who are unable to listen to the show live on Wednesday can catch the replay on 1510AM on Saturday, or listen to the full episode on the Rounders’ Radio website, which has an extensive archive of past “The Bernard Lee Poker Show” episodes.

A press release from DoylesCasino announced the launch of the newly-redesigned website on November 3rd and outlined some of its major changes over the past few months.  Earlier this year, the online casino switched software providers, adopting the Realtime Gaming platform, which DoylesCasino believes will “offer players a faster, more realistic casino experience.”

The revamped casino lobby features large icons touting the key promotions of the day and tickers logging the more than $5 million in progressive jackpot prizes up for grabs.  The site offers a range of casino games, including roulette, craps, video poker, and slot machines.  DoylesCasino, like its partner site DoylesRoom, currently accepts USA customers.

In addition to staying busy with his DoylesCasino venture, Brunson is also logging several hours on the felts.  Brunson, Mike Caro, and the latest addition to the Brunson 10, Chris “moorman1″ Moorman, have all been spending time at the DoylesRoom cash game tables searching for the next member of the Brunson 10.  Moorman, Alec “traheho” Torelli, Amit “amak316″ Makhija, and Zachary “CrazyZachary” Clark are the first four members of the select group, but Brunson is still searching for six more guys and two ladies to join his squad of young online superstars.

According to his personal blog, Brunson and several other high-stakes pros have also been keeping the action going at Bobby’s Room in the Bellagio.  With the vast majority of poker’s high rollers congregating in Las Vegas to watch the November Nine festivities and tape the latest season of “High Stakes Poker,” it seems likely that there will be more big Bellagio action in the coming weeks.

While most of the poker community is rooting for Phil Ivey to take down this year’s Main Event, Brunson opted to put money on chip leader and professed amateur Darvin Moon.  Brunson explained in his blog that Daniel Negreanu offered him a must-win bet in which Negreanu would take Ivey and Brunson could have Moon.  Brunson explained that the decision to bet against Ivey was nothing personal in his latest blog entry: “I had to take Moon who has 5 times the chips of Ivey. It is a must-win bet so probably we won’t have action. Sorry Phil, I won’t be rooting for you now. Business is business.”  What Brunson means by a must-win bet is that in order for him to win, Moon must take down the coveted Main Event bracelet and vice versa for Negreanu and Ivey.

Brunson will be one of the several spectators on hand for the final table of the Main Event, which resumes play on Saturday, November 7th.  The poker legend will even take part in the event, announcing the “Shuffle Up and Deal” command to kick off the festivities.

If you hadn’t noticed, that is quite a busy schedule for a 76-year old.  Brunson does not appear to be slowing down any time soon and will be spending the coming weeks promoting his official biography, “The Godfather of Poker,” which comes out on November 11th.

During the first five seasons of the high-dollar cash game show, A.J. Benza provided color commentary with Kaplan. Now, Scott, a television veteran, will furnish insight and interviews from the poker room floor. On the change from Benza to Scott, GSN Vice President of Programming and Development David Schiff told Poker News Daily, “We’re into the sixth season and we felt like it was time to freshen it up. Our feeling was that we wanted viewers to be in the room with the players. Gabe and A.J. did a good job, but they were disconnected from the action.”

Scott is one of only two women to cash in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event in back-to-back years and, as such, provides a unique level of insight. She’s fresh off bringing the PokerStars.net Ante Up for Africa charity tournament to life on CBS in the United States and serves as eye candy for ESPN announcer Norman Chad. Schiff explained the allure of hiring Scott, as opposed to other rumored co-hosts like Shana Hiatt and Vanessa Rousso: “Kara is really the full package. She’s a great player and has had deep runs in the Main Event the last two years. We think she can add a lot of insight to the broadcast.”

Seventeen players have been announced as part of the “High Stakes Poker” Season 6 cast, including newcomers Dennis Phillips, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Lex Veldhuis, Andreas Hoivold, and Sammy “Any Two” George. On the stable of pros lined up for Season 6, “High Stakes Poker” Executive Producer Mori Eskandani told Poker News Daily, We are going to have possibly the most colorful and strongest cast we’ve had to date.” The newcomers will take to the felts alongside regulars like Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, Doyle Brunson, and Antonio Esfandiari.

Also in the mix for Season 6 is WSOP November Nine member Phil Ivey, who has only appeared once in the show’s five previous seasons. Schiff examined the addition of Ivey to the impressive lineup of poker pros and recreational players: “Arguably, this is the best cast of players we have ever had. To have Phil Ivey off the November Nine and all of the other great players, I think it’ll be great poker action.” The series premieres on Sunday, February 14th at 8:00pm ET and replays twice each night.

“High Stakes Poker” features a $200,000 buy-in and, as such, includes a bevy of well-known tournament players battling it out in a cash game. Eskandani explained, “We’ve never seen Dennis Phillips in cash games, yet he’s done super in tournaments. Now, he’s coming out to the cash game world to throw punches with the best of them.” Last season’s broadcast featured recent WSOP Main Event winners Peter Eastgate and Joe Hachem; neither will take to the felts this time around.

Music mogul Allan Meltzer, who is among the regulars at Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio, will likely be one of the only so-called “recreational” players on the sixth season of “High Stakes Poker.” During Season 5, “The Notebook” Director Nick Cassavettes and “The Simpsons” Co-Creator Sam Simon were among those who challenged poker superstars like Tom Dwan and Patrik Antonius. Eskandani explained the dearth of recreational players this season: “This year, Meltzer will be playing, but we didn’t want to go to the same recreational players we always went to. Several that we went to ended up having cold feet.”

“High Stakes Poker” will film from November 11th to 13th at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas.