SPO tradition dictates that at the close of every season, we get together and celebrate the great, the crazy, the unbeleivably funny parts of the Season.  Its our homage to the gala events of Hollywood.

This season's Awards Ceremony will feature more Player Voted awards, and some new categories at that.  Its your job to decide who deserves these awards.  Cast your ballot |here|.

Once everything is tabulated, we'll hold the festivities on a nice cool night in August.  Stay tuned for details.

And for those that missed last season's awards, you can see photos and winners |here|.

Saturday July 22nd had our second Special Event for the Season. Players were able to experience the other form of poker - the "cash" game, or ring game. Over 30 players had the gamble to stake points they had won previously in the Spring 06 season to earn some of their opponents points.

Some of the day's highlights included a full table for the Omaha game, Mark Pratt and Jason Mizuta playing heads up at the No Max Hold 'Em table, And the last 90 minutes of the day having 2 tables going of the No Max "big game".

Some notable points increases/decreases:

Josh Herring's over 500 point gain
Roy Hammock's 230 point gain
Kevin Baker gets staked by Teague Ashburn and earns himself over 100 points
Mark Pratt losing over 450 points in less than an hour
Debbie Roscher getting staked by Jan Parker and losing all Jan's points
Jeff Paul sitting at the Low Limit NL Hold Em table all day and earning himself 143 points
Umair Bashir proving he's the Special Event specialist by earning 112 points (he previously won the |Head's Up Tournament|)

Over all, it was a tremendously fun day, and a great way for everyone to beat the record temps in Seattle. It was also good information on what kind of games the league is interested in playing.

Thanks for making it a successful event!

A recent lawsuit filed by 7 professionals point out some of the details that the World Poker Tour forces on the players and casinos - details the television audience would never have seen. Among them, they have the right to use any participant's likeness for any medium (book, video game, etc.).... without compensating the player (this creates a conflict with players that have signed deals with other companies, meaning they cannot play in WPT events anymore). Also, they have full control over the blind structure and regularly change it mid-tournament to create good television. Makes one think that the WPT may not have poker's interest at heart....

"Seven poker players have joined together and filed a lawsuit against World Poker Tour Enterprises today, claiming that the company behind the World Poker Tour has violated antitrust laws by demanding players sign away the rights to their likelinesses before taking part in WPT events.

The lawsuit also claims that WPTE and casinos that host WPT tournaments have unlawfully conspired to eliminate competition and opportunities for the world’s top poker players because casinos that host WPT events are not allowed to host other large-scale tournaments for broadcast."

Read more |here|

The "Cash" Game Special Event is this Saturday, July 22nd. The point ratio's for each Division have been |posted|. We will be opening the tables at 1 p.m. and play will continue until 8 p.m.

SPO H.Q. has determined that we will allow players to "stake" other players. Simply put, you can let another player use your points to play with in this event. Keep in mind that the points withdrawn from the Divisions must be replaced FIRST with any winnings. It will be the discretion of the players involved to determine how any points won by the staked player are delegated. It is possible that the player you stake will lose all of your points.

The list of games has been expanded as well. Limit and No Limit Hold Em, Omaha, Stud, Pineapple, Draw. If you are looking for a fresh experience and want to try your hand at something other than NL Hold Em, this is a great event to do that.

If you have points in Divisions that will not get you into qualifying range for the Championship, what better way to use those points than to try to increase your chances at making it in the Division you are competing in? Any points won in this event can be put in the Division of your choice!

Thursday July 13th we will be giving away 2 tickets to see the Rat City Rollergirls. Come and play at Dante's this coming Thursday, and the highest hand of the night, regardless of what it is or how many hole cards are in play, will win tickets to this Saturday's Roller Derby bout. For more information about the Rat City Rollergirls, or specifics about this Saturday's bout, click here. This is an exhibition bout between Seattle's Rat City Rollergirls and Portland's Rose City Rollers.

Trevor Trifiro, Seattle Poker Open's League Director, has joined Team Fult Tilt. After a lengthy legal battle, lawyers from both sides were happy about the agreement that was reached between all parties. "I was just heading into Vegas to check out the World Series for a couple days. I never expected this at all," commented Trifiro. "Wait 'til you see the commercial we just shot!"

"I really don't see what the rest of these shmucks see in him," Mike Matasow said. "I mean, I understand I'm the one carrying this team, but really? Do we need this amateur at all?"

Howard Lederer claims "I've watched Trevor play, and can honestly say that his style is something that I haven't seen, and am studying with great curiosity. If nothing else, the rest of the team can learn from the addition of this unique player."

When asked what he thought of the addition of Trifiro to the team, Phil Ivey replied "Trevor who?"