English poker player Jake Cody followed up his title in the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) Deauville event in January (he gained a € 847,000 prize outstanding a field of 768 players) winning the first World Poker Tour stop in London. The 21 years-old racked up £ 273,000. “This is crazy, I am so happy to win my first WPT title. It’s been an amazing year for me so far and to win a major tournament on U.K. soil is very special” told Cody, while WPT commentator Mike Sexton commented: “He is an outstanding young player. The WPT final table that Cody played was something very special. I rate it as among the best poker I have seen in nine years commentating for the WPT”.

Asian Americans living in the United States are almost 11 million. They represent close to 5 % of the population and are the third largest minority group in the country. As Asia itself is the world's most populated continent, with approximately four billion people, online poker websites have long looked at the area as the new frontier for gaming. So the online poker industry is always looking for some Asian poker players who have glamorous personality. People like Cuong (Soi) Nguyen, a 37-year-old Vietnamese-American medical-supply company employee and amateur poker player from Orange County, California, came out of nowhere to book a spot at the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event this summer, where he left his mark with his aggressive style and strong reads.

Little wizards of chess Magnus Carlsen, a Norwegian teenager (born in 1990) who has become Grand Master at the age of thirteen, declared during an interview for German newspaper Der Spiegel he’s an online poker enthusiast. Talking to the German journalist, the chess genius (he’s the third youngest Grand Master ever) revealed which are his interests outside chess: “I do not usually go out for a drink at night. I prefer to chat with friends or play poker online”.

From Friday 26th February to Sunday 7th March 2010 The London Poker Masters Festival will take place at the International Club. A ten-day live poker action – the Main Event has a buy in of £ 500 + £ 50 – that is going to offer a wide range of poker tournaments and games (Texas Hold'em, Omaha and H.O.R.S.E.) in both no limit and pot limit versions.

Joe Cada and Phil Ivey will face up at the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship that will take place on March 5th at Caesars Palace (Las Vegas). Cada, who is the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion and the seventh place finisher, Ivey, will be in the field of 64 pro poker  players who will battle it out for the victory until the final table. After becoming the youngest WSOP Main Event winner on November 9th 2009, 22-yearold Cada appeared in several TV programs including the David Letterman Show,  bringing him celebrity even outside the world of poker. Ivey on the other hand,recently became poker’s all-time tournament prize leader with $12.8 million in cash winnings.