Poker Stars Prepare for Biggest Online Poker Tournament

PokerStars.com has announced that its fifth annual World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is to take place on September 16, with players from more than 80 countries competing in 18 tournaments for a guaranteed prize pool of $10 million.

The WCOOP will run over the course of 16 days, starting with the $200 buy-in Razz (Seven-Card Stud Low) tournament, and ending on October 1st with the $2,500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em tournament, offering cash prizes of $3 million. One of the highlights of this year’s tournament is set to be the online tournament debut of H.O.R.S.E., a rotation of five varieties of poker which is expected to draw some of the sport’s top names.

Team PokerStars spokesperson Barry Greenstein said, “Prestigious tournaments such as the PokerStars.com WCOOP are the ultimate way to improve your game and experience the excitement of big tournament play. The WCOOP is a popular event with the established stars of online poker, and the H.O.R.S.E. tournament is bound to attract the elite.”

The 2005 WCOOP tournament series attracted 19,727 players and generated $12,783,900 in prize money making it the third largest online and terrestrial poker spectacle in the world.

How to ... Play poker with the big boys

Don't deny it. You're tempted. Everywhere you look there is an article about Positively Fifth Street, the story of James McManus going to cover the World Series of Poker for a magazine and playing instead, finishing fifth and winning $247,000 against the world's top pros. You think: "I could do that."

Before you hop that plane to Vegas, you better be ready. Be like Mac--read plenty of poker primers by pros David Sklansky and TJ Cloutier and practice on computer programs for countless hours. Then, when you're going head-tohead with these pros, be ready to face intimidation. The pros will push you to bet over your head or overplay your cards. Don't do it. "If the pros see you as a conservative rock who only plays pots with strong cards, they'll give you more respect than you often get in a friendly home game," McManus says. Then, when you raise them, they'll actually fold.

And don't forget poker requires lots of luck. McManus brought a half-dozen

lucky hats and kept pictures of his wife and kids in his shirt pocket or on the table. It worked for him.

From the lab to the net--French connection

If springtime in Paris sets you daydreaming about Roland Garros instead of romance, make a date with Babolat. U.S. tennis pro Andy Roddick loves Babolat's Pure Drive racket. So, when the French company came out with the VS NCT Drive (unstrung $209) and VS NCT Control ($199) aimed at us normal folks, Fanscape checked it out.

NCT stands for Nano Carbon Technology--the rackets were built with carbon tubes using nanotechnology, which is the spaceage manipulation of materials on an atomic level. Though it's strange--actually incomprehensible--that NASA scientists spend time moving molecules to improve Fanscape's forehand, the racket certainly works wonders, especially when combined with the old-fashioned natural gut strings that made Babolat famous.

With these light but well-balanced rackets, the ball stays on the strings longer, giving extra control and more spin, yet it still jumps off with zing. Getting the power of a stiff racket without the awkward can't-feel-the-ball effect apparently comes not just from nanotubes but also from Babolat's Dual Woofer shock absorbing system. Sometimes it's better not to ask.

Sultan of swap: rare Bambino jersey up for bids

There are only six known Babe Ruth Yankees uniforms, and Lelands.com is auctioning off a flannel, pinstriped one with "G.H. Ruth" stitched beneath the collar. Bids are being accepted online and by telephone until May 30; Lelands.com president Michael Heffner says the winner may have to shell out $500,000. You can get a genuine, live major league rookie for less than that.

E-mail comments or suggestions to fanscape@sportingnews.com.