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.

The poker world slowly seems to be becoming more and more associated with scantily clad attractive young women (See this month's item on Abi Titmuss for example) so it didn't come as too big a surprise when our good friend Catman sent us a press release featuring his better half Catgirl wearing little more than a smile. He assures us he would be more than happy to do the same to redress the balance. Up and coming player 'Catgirl' is used to setting tongues wagging in the poker world. Ask anyone who saw the 23 year old Russian contortionist when she met Doyle Brunson last year at the WSOPE. In celebration of her birthday this week, she had planned on playing in the Party Poker World Open in her

'birthday suit'. Unfortunately Channel 5 enforced a 'no nudity' policy at the final hour and instead it was to be a full body paint outfit for her heat. It was probably a good thing in retrospect, her heat included Surinder Sunar, Liam Flood, World Series of Poker Europe Runner Up John Tabatabai, and Ian Woodley, all of whom we are sure would have acted perfect gents. We are not sure, however, about the Devilfish, who is also in the heat. In the words of Catman "This heat is going to bring a new dimension of glamour to TV poker, which can often be dominated by not quite so attractive male poker faces. Who wouldn't want to watch the flushing face of the Devilfish as he tries to get a read on Catgirl's body language, then tries to bluff this lady in the buff, this will be must watch TV Poker." Catgirl said, "I've played poker for two years now and have had a lot of success in high stakes cash. Poker is about entertainment as well being a very serious business, I want to go forward as a professional player, so why not give the world something to talk about - There is a lot at stake, but I want to have some fun and if it is my lucky day, then the sky's the limit. I am grateful to my sponsors Poker Trillion for giving me this opportunity, I am playing to win." We are yet to see if the Catgirl's choice of attire is the ace up her sleeve she needs or if the Devilfish will literally explode trying to control himself. Poker Trillion CEO Andy Pryah commented "Catgirls heat is like a who's who of poker, she's going to need to have all her talent on display if she's going to take down this table", Pyrah continued to comment, "Let's just hope the likes of Flood and Devilfish don't decide to go topless!"

Manchester has been chosen as the surprise location of the UK's first "super-casino". But what are super-casinos, and why are they so controversial?
What are super-casinos?
The Gambling Act 2005 allows for three new types of casino, the most controversial of which is the regional or "super-casino".
The main variation between the three types - the super-casino, large casino and small casino - is the size of the customer area allowed, the number of slot machines and size of the jackpot.
The super-casino will have a minimum customer area of 5,000 sq m and up to 1,250 unlimited-jackpot slot machines.
The government also expects the super-casino to have hotels, conference facilities, restaurants, bars and areas for live entertainment.
Las Vegas, in the US - the gambling capital of the world - has 30 such casino and hotel complexes, according to the Good Gambling guide website.
How many UK super casinos will there be?
Originally, the government said there would be up to 40 super-casinos but this number was cut - firstly to eight, and then to just one - in the face of heavy opposition.
Some 27 local authorities applied for the right to play host to the super-casino.
The independent Casino Advisory Panel (CAP) whittled the applicants down to a shortlist of eight, announced in May.
On the shortlist were Blackpool, Wembley Stadium, Cardiff, Glasgow, the former Millennium Dome in the London borough of Greenwich, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield.
But the Wembley bid was later withdrawn after local opposition.
Why was the Dome's application so controversial?
There were a series of rows about the Dome's application.
Firstly, it emerged that the Dome's redevelopers - Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) - had already started building work on a super-casino ahead of the licence being awarded.
And in August 2006 AEG was accused of distorting what local religious groups thought of plans for a Dome casino.
The bid also attracted controversy after it emerged that Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott had been a guest of AEG boss Philip Anschutz at his ranch in the US. Mr Prescott insisted he was not involved in the casino application process.
How was the contract for the successful super-casino decided?
The Casino Advisory Panel - whose five members include experts in planning and regeneration - had to take several factors into account before giving its final recommendations.
The casino had to address a need for regeneration in the area, which was likely to have high levels of unemployment and social deprivation.
The panel also had to take account of the new casino's social impact and ensure that it was not harmful, following concerns that people living close to proposed sites may have been vulnerable to gambling addiction.
The panel said they were particularly impressed with the way Manchester had put its bid together and met the criteria of social impact, regeneration, benefits and willingness to have a licence.
It also promised the "highest standards of social responsibility", with an independent Community Trust overseeing its workings.
What about the large and small casinos?
The CAP made recommendations for eight large and eight small casinos, from an original shortlist of 31, taking into consideration social impact and regeneration issues.
Large casinos will have a minimum area of 1,000 sq m and up to 150 slot machines with a maximum jackpot of £4,000.
The small casinos will have a minimum customer area of 750 sq m, up to 80 slot machines and a jackpot of £4,000.
Why is the Gambling Act 2005 so controversial?
Campaigners have warned that more Britons are getting into difficulties with gambling, particularly with the explosion in online casinos. They worry the new casinos will make the problem worse.
But Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has defended the introduction of new casinos, saying the government has modernised and tightened the laws on gambling, which would now be "the most protective legislation in the world".
She says she does not think the casinos will increase problem gambling, but says she is prepared to close them down if they do.

In the movie Rounders, Matt Damon's character asks, "Why do you think the same five guys make it to the final table of the World Series of Poker EVERY YEAR? What, are they the luckiest guys in Las Vegas?" With the huge expansion of the WSOP Main Event field, we may never see the same five guys make the final table again, but five former WSOP Champions have made the money this year. Scotty Nguyen, Carlos Mortensen, Berry Johnston, Huck Seed, and Robert Varkonyi not only survived the bubble, but all will have chips when Day Four of the 2007 WSOP Championship event begins today. The WSOP Championship draws former champions back like a family reunion. According to Harrah's preliminary entry

lists, nineteen former WSOP Champions were among the 2007 WSOP Championship starting field. Along with those mentioned above, they included Amarillo Slim Preston, Jim Bechtel, Doyle Brunson, Tom McEvoy, Johnny Chan, Phil Hellmuth, Brad Daugherty, Dan Harrington, Chris Ferguson, Bobby Baldwin, Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem and Jamie Gold. As a whole, former champions represented less than 0.3% of the starting field, but their relative representation has been growing as the field has been dwindling. As Day Four begins they now represent almost 1.5% of the field. Over all, 26% of the starting former champs have now made it to the top 5.3% of the field. In other words, being a former WSOP Champion gave you almost a 5-to-1 edge on the rest of the starting field in 2007. While it is no longer an era where the "same five guys" make it to the final table, this year poker is well represented by its former champions.