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Saturday, February 27, 2010

2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship Roster




Feb 27, 2010 San Jose Costa Rica ~ Wise Gaming Sports News, The field has been set for the 2010 National Heads-Up Poker Championship at Caesars Palace and it is stocked full of your favorite poker players. The 6th running of this incredibly popular event will feature a 64 player bracket which will include online qualifiers from Full Tilt Poker. All former winners of the event are set to compete including Chris Ferguson and defending champion Huck Seed.

The rest of the field includes many other members of Team Full Tilt including Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Patrick Antonius and Gavin Smith. The prizepool will be $1,500,000 with the winner taking home $500,000. Even though the field is set the players will not know their opponent until the bracket assignments are drawn on March 4th. The tournament will start on March 5th and finishing up on March 7th with a winner.

Former champions:

2005 – Phil Hellmuth
2006 – Ted Forrest
2007 – Paul Wasicka
2008 – Chris Ferguson
2009 – Huck Seed

NBC Broadcast schedule:

April 18 – Noon – 1PM ET/9:00-10:00 AM PT
April 25 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00AM PT
May 2 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 9 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 16 – Noon – 2PM ET/9:00-11:00 AM PT
May 23 – Noon – 3PM ET/9:00-Noon AM PT

You can find the complete player roster after the jump: Wise Gambling ~ Poker News

Canadian Study Shows Poker Reduces Stress


FEB, 27, 2010 San Jose Costa Rica- Play Poker Canadian University has recently released a study indicating that poker may reduce stress. This may come as a surprise to many people since poker, as many top professionals will tell you, is a rather stressful game.

Cortisol is commonly called “the stress hormone.” Canadian scientists monitored the cortisol levels of online poker players as they played poker. They discovered that the human body produced less cortisol as the player became increasingly engaged in the game. In fact, the cortisol levels were found to drop by up to 17% from the start of the game to the end.

The Canadian scientists believe that cortisol may have been reduced due to the focus given to the game. Poker, being the complex game that it is, requires full attention from any thinking players. As a player becomes increasingly focused on the game, they forget about their daily responsibilities. This affects the brain and the brain will release less cortisol.

Scientists have previously shown that online gambling also improves the cognitive function of the brain. With so much to learn and think about in poker, it can be seen as training or exercise for the brain. In summary, poker is a stress reducer and helps exercise the brain. This definitely improves the mental health of players in the long run. \