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Wimbledon - Federer win over Hewitt!
Defending champion Roger Federer eased past Lleyton Hewitt without ever hitting the heights to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.The Swiss star won 7-6 (8-6) 6-2 6-4 on a sun-drenched Centre Court.Hewitt put up a good fight in a first set in which there were no break points, and Federer needed four set points before taking the tie-break.The top seed then broke twice at the start of the second and raced away to win in one hour 48 minutes.He will play grass-court specialist Mario Ancic or Spain's Fernando Verdasco in the last eight.It was far from a flawless performance from Federer and he struggled to put away Hewitt - struggling with a hip injury - in the first set, thumping a forehand long on one of four set points.But once he finally wrapped it up with an ace there was only going to be one winner - as there had been in the last 11 meetings between the pair.Federer faced break points in four successive games at the end of the second and start of the third sets, but always raised his game when it mattered and never seemed unduly worried.The Swiss had saved eight break points but got a crucial break of his own in game three of the third.That was the decisive blow and Federer sealed victory soon after with yet another heavy serve that Hewitt could not return.
Poker Room Review: Seminole Casino Coconut Creek, Coconut Creek, FL
The poker room on the second floor of the Seminole Coconut Creek Casino has a barren and isolated feel to it. For those looking for a glittering, casino-like atmosphere, it's a disappointment. There is no foot traffic or gambling anywhere near the poker room. But for those looking for poker without any other distractions this might be just the spot. The poker is lively, with 15 tables. Four were going full blast at 8:00 on a recent Tuesday morning. This is a great room for low-stakes no-limit hold'em. There's some limit hold'em action as well – principally $2/4. There's never stud – though they offer it officially. And there's an occasional $2/4 Omaha-8 game. The room offers $55sit-'n'-goes, though those seldom go off. And unlike many of the other rooms in south and central Florida, there are never any multi-table tournaments. Based solely on my three hours of morning play, the action games are the $1/2 and $2/5 no-limit games. As with all Florida games, as per state law, they have a $100 maximum buy-in. (They even offer a $5/5 blind game as well – with that crazy maximum, as well – though none was going while I played.) This is a bare-bones room, with grungy chairs, a few small-screened televisions on the wall, and dirty felt. The carpet was a nauseating orange color, and very dirty. There are no windows. I got the feeling that the management of the casino gives poker a low priority, tucked away as the room is away from all the action. Even so, the poker room management tries to make the best of a bad situation. They try to get things going early by offering all players a free breakfast from 7:00 – 10:00 AM. The prices for food are exceptionally inexpensive even without this freebie. There's an all-you-can-eat breakfast for $4.95 and a lunch buffet for $7.95. Single breakfast offerings are $2 or $3. They also keep the rake low by delaying it until the pot reaches at least $10. That may seem like a small concession, but I can tell you that the quick rake of $1 that some other poker rooms have even when the pot is uncontested pre-flop, greatly increases the difficulty of beating a tight game. When I played there was a player-funded bad beat jackpot and high hand bonus. The jackpot stood at $57,000 – which might explain the plethora of no-action rocks I had at my table. The high hand bonus was $500. In the early hours that I played, the game was very loose and passive. Hands were typically unraised pre-flop. On the few occasions when I decided to raise I got very little action. I was told that if I wanted action I should move to $2/5. So I did. Sure enough, in the hour or so that I played $2/5 I saw many players going all in – catching and not catching – and often laughing at whatever the result might be. It was a game I truly enjoyed – and profited from – at least for a while. When my $2/5 table got a little too lively for me, with players routinely going all in preflop, I moved back to what had become a very juicy $1/2 game. I left considerably ahead for the session. This is the only room in the Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach area that's open early in the day. I got the sense that many regular players came here first (maybe for the free breakfast) and then as the day wore on, they made their way to the bigger rooms like the Hard Rock in Hollywood. If I lived down here on the southeast coast of Florida, I might well do the same thing.
2008 WSOP $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. Event #45 Final: Scotty Nguyen Claims Trophy
It took five days and an amazing final-table performance to do it, but Scotty Nguyen claimed his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet with his victory in Event #45, the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship. He outlasted a final table featuring several other bracelet winners, Player of the Year candidates and some of the biggest cash-game players in the world on the way to the bracelet, the $1,989,120 first prize, and the Chip Reese Memorial Trophy. Nguyen started the final table just slightly behind Erick Lindgren in chips, with the seating assignments and chip stacks as follows: Seat 1: Matt Glantz — 1,445,000 Seat 2: Huck Seed — 1,200,000 Seat 3: Patrick Bueno —695,000 Seat 4: Lyle Berman — 1,430,000 Seat 5: Scotty Nguyen — 3,535,000 Seat 6: Barry Greenstein — 1,955,000 Seat 7: Michael DeMichele — 905,000 Seat 8: Erick Lindgren — 3,680,000 Patrick Bueno started the final table on the short stack after hovering near the top of the leader board for several days. He busted early in the final table when he got the last of his chips in the middle in a razz hand against Erick Lindgren. Lindgren started with 8-7-2, and Bueno held 4-K-A on third street. Lindgren made an 8-low by the end of the hand, while Bueno paired his four on fourth street and bricked out the rest of the way to finish in eighth place ($230,880). Play was deliberate and the stacks were deep, so significant time passed between each elimination. Huck Seed was next to fall when he and Michael DeMichele tangled in a hand of stud hi/lo. DeMichele had the bring-in, and Seed called. DeMichele led out on fourth, and Seed called again. Seed had a pair of nines showing on fifth street when he led out, and DeMichele called. DeMichele called on every subsequent street, and tabled a flush and a low to send Seed to the rail in seventh place ($284,160). Barry Greenstein and Erick Lindgren went into this tournament in heavy contention for the Player of the Year title, and Greenstein took the lead when he was eliminated in sixth place ($355,200). Greenstein, who cashed in this event all three times it was played while making the final table twice, busted to Scotty Nguyen in a stud hi/lo hand that saw action on every street. Nguyen completed with [x-x] , and Greenstein called with the in the door. Greenstein led out on every street, and Nguyen called him all the way down to seventh street, when Greenstein fired out the last of his chips with a board of . Nguyen called and tabled [7-7] [6] for trip sevens. Greenstein held two pair, aces and fours, but no low. Nguyen's trips were good enough to send Greenstein to the rail in sixth. It took a while for the next elimination to take place, and it was multiple bracelet winner and "Big Game" regular Lyle Berman who busted in fifth place ($444,000). The action was capped on third street in razz when Berman, Scotty Nguyen and Michael DeMichele engaged in a raising frenzy. Berman was all in on the last bet, and DeMichele fired on every street. Nguyen called, and both players checked seventh street. DeMichele tabled 8-7-5-4-3, and both opponents mucked. Nguyen still had a healthy stack, but Berman was eliminated. Matt Glantz got all his chips in on the flop in Omaha hi/lo against Scotty Nguyen holding . Nguyen tabled on a flop of , for the nut low draw and a naked A-K to Glantz' pair of tens. The on the turn gave Nguyen a pair of aces and a flush draw, and Glantz was in trouble. The river made Nguyen's flush, and he scooped the pot as Glantz was eliminated in fourth place ($568,320). After Glantz was eliminated, the tournament entered marathon mode. The pace of eliminations had been fairly steady to that point, with 20 or 30 hands going by between bustouts. Here, nearly six hours passed between Glantz' elimination in fourth place and Erick Lindgren's third-place bustout. It took nearly 200 hands of three-way action before Lindgren and Scotty Nguyen tangled for the final time. In his final hand, Lindgren completed on third street with the in the door. Scotty Nguyen raised, showing the , and Lindgren called. Nguyen fired again on fourth street with showing. Lindgren had up and called. The on fifth street gave Lindgren the high board, and he bet out. Nguyen, with showing, raised and Lindgren called all in. Lindgren showed []- for a pair of eights, and Nguyen tabled a pair of nines. Lindgren caught no help on sixth or seventh street, and was eliminated in third place for $781,440. Lindgren also vaulted past Barry Greenstein on the Player of the Year points list with his third-place finish. Scotty Nguyen took more than a 4:1 chip lead into heads-up play with the young Michael DeMichele. The 22-year-old Connecticut native was playing his second WSOP final table, and was guaranteed his largest cash ever just by locking up second place. In fact, his cash in Event #45 was greater than the sum total of his live winnings up to that point. The chip stacks looked like this as heads-up play began: Scotty Nguyen: 12,140,000 Michael DeMichele: 2,660,000 It didn't take long for Scotty Nguyen to put his big stack to use and bust his final opponent to claim bracelet #5. After about ten hands of heads-up play, DeMichele raised preflop in hold'em with . Nguyen thought for a moment before saying, in inimitable fashion, "It's gonna be all over, baby." Nguyen raised with , and DeMichele called all in. The flop came down , and Nguyen was in a dominating lead. The came on the turn, and DeMichele could only win with a three on the river. The showed instead, and Michael DeMichele was eliminated in second place ($1,243,200). Scotty Nguyen earned $1,989,120 for his victory, and the right to call himself the world's greatest poker player… for a year, at least. The Prince of Poker beat one of the toughest fields in poker on his way to his fifth WSOP bracelet and the trophy honoring one of the true legends of the game, Chip Reese.
Frozen Fire takes Irish Derby win
Seamus Heffernan also won the race on Soldier of Fortune last yearAidan O'Brien became the first trainer to win the Irish Derby three years in a row after Frozen Fire claimed a surprise win at The Curragh on Sunday.Jockey Seamus Heffernan timed his run to perfection as the 16-1 chance came through the field with a furlong to go.After a stewards' inquiry, favourite Tartan Bearer was promoted to third place with Casual Conquest in second.O'Brien's victory was his sixth in the race, bringing him level with legendary namesake Vincent O'Brien."It's unbelievable," said Aiden O'Brien, who won the race with Dylan Thomas in 2006 and Soldier Of Fortune last year."We always thought this horse had a lot of class and Seamus gave him a very good ride."This is down to a lot of people - it's been a privilege to have been involved in it."Seamus has worked very hard and is a great judge of a horse. Nobody deserves it more than Seamus and I couldn't be happier for him."This is marvellous. The race was a full, solid mile-and-a-half and there are no excuses."All of ours have run great races, but I think Alessandro Volta got stage-fright when he turned into the straight - he wouldn't have seen a crowd like that in front of him before."The Curragh is probably the greatest racecourse in the world as it is a very fair track and really tests a horse."Hindu Kush made most of the early running as the genuine contenders bided their time, and Johnny Murtagh's Alessandro Volta took over at the head of the pack as the race began to enter the final stages.It looked to be a straight foot race between even-money favourite Tartan Bearer, Alessandro Volta and Curtain Call, but Murtagh's mount suddenly veered left.Curtain Call seemed to be the worst affected and Frozen Fire was in the right place at the right time to seize control of the race and surge to a two-length victory."Aiden always trains them for the big day and this is a big day," said Heffernan."I was riding him to try to get placed and he is a bit weak but I was happy to get a lead and follow some of the fancied ones."It's unbelievable to win this two years in a row - it's a dream."The stewards demoted Alessandro Volta from third place after the race.Ante-post favourite New Approach was withdrawn on the morning of the race with a bruised foot, denying Jim-Bolger's horse the chance to become the first to complete the English-Irish Derby double since 2002.Irish Derby result:1. Frozen Fire (J A Heffernan) 16-12. Casual Conquest 4-13. Tartan Bearer Evens fav4. Curtain Call 8-111 ran
Zimbabwe gathers ICC vote support
The UK government wants cricket to take a hard line against Zimbabwe Support for Zimbabwe appears to be growing in the sub-continent ahead of this week's International Cricket Council meeting in Dubai. The England and Wales Cricket Board has already stated it will not host a tour by Zimbabwe next year. And Cricket South Africa has also cut its ties with Zimbabwe because of the political situation in the country. But India and Pakistan have indicated they will not support any move to expel Zimbabwe from the ICC. "There is no reason to remove Zimbabwe," said Niranjan Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. "We understand England's position because their government wants Zimbabwe out but we will back Zimbabwe to stay in the ICC." The Pakistan Cricket Board, meanwhile, has made it clear that it will send its A team on a tour to Zimbabwe in August as scheduled, irrespective of any action taken by the ICC, who have a board meeting on Wednesday and Thursday. And the Press Trust of India has quoted a PCB spokesman as saying: "We don't think Zimbabwe cricket should face penalties because of political issues in that country. We will not support any sanctions." Seven of the 10 full ICC members would have to vote in favour of expulsion for such a proposal to go through - and Zimbabwe itself is one of the 10. If India and Pakistan line up alongside them, it would only require one more vote in Zimbabwe's favour for the proposal to be defeated. If, however, Zimbabwe Cricket retains its full member status, England's hopes of hosting next year's ICC World Twenty20 tournament could be put in jeopardy. Although the ICC would not take punitive action against the ECB for preventing Zimbabwe touring in the light of a formal government instruction, refusal to allow a full member to take part in the World Twenty20 could result in the tournament being moved elsewhere. Such a move would be a huge financial blow to the ECB, with huge crowds expected at the three grounds chosen to host matches. The tournament schedule has already been published and tickets went on sale at 1000 BST on Monday. The UK government will reassess the situation if the ICC insists that Zimbabwe play in the World Twenty20 but is holding a firm line in its calls for a boycott because of the close links between Zimbabwe Cricket and the regime of president Robert Mugabe. Culture secretary Andy Burnham told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek: "The first step is we'll meet the ECB, listen to their report back of the meeting and consider the arguments. "If we haven't held sway we would listen to the arguments of the other ICC members but our position is completely clear. "We think, in the current circumstances in Zimbabwe, it isn't right for any tour to take place." However, he added: "I would not want to be in a position of overruling a governing body in sport. I vigorously defend the independence of our sporting bodies and will always to that."

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