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One of online pokers greatest stars "Banned" for 3 months
Online poker room PokerStars has once again banned access to one of the game's most high-profile players. The site suspended Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi for three months last week after the online star had been red flagged for previous cheating allegations. Several established online poker players have confirmed the three month ban from PokerStars to Poker News Daily. Mizzi has not played on the online poker site since October 5th.

According to Mizzi, who plays on PokerStars under the handle "zangbezan24", he was in an airport in Barcelona preparing for a flight to London for the WSOP Europe when he realized that he was registered for a WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) event that began later that day. Mizzi had a friend log into his account and play under his name until he arrived at his hotel in London, at which point his friend logged out and Mizzi played the rest of the tournament. This is a violation of the PokerStars Terms of Service, which states that any instance in a tournament in which a player hands off his seat to a different player will be disqualified.

While most would likely receive a warning for such action, Mizzi's troubled past resulted in a suspension. He has been linked to Josh "JJProdigy" Field, a verified multi-accounter on PokerStars who was banned from the site in 2006. Mizzi has credited Field in the past for the enormous improvements in his game, but the 18-year old "Prodigy" is widely regarded as the biggest rogue ever to play on the virtual felt.

Mizzi also received a life ban on Full Tilt Poker late in 2007 following an investigation regarding an incident in the Sunday $1 Million Guaranteed Tournament. Chris “BluffMagCV” Vaughn sold his account to Mizzi with three tables left and Sorel won the event under Chris’ name. This violated the rules of Full Tilt; Vaughn was disqualified from the tournament (and had his winnings seized) and both players were banned for life from the site.

Sorel's suspension on PokerStars was originally set at six months but after a series of back-and-forth emails between the two parties it was reduced to three.

PokerStars prides itself on its first-class customer service and security. The site's security team has cracked down on anyone tied to Josh "JJProdigy" Field, recently handing out suspensions to a handful of players that had been sending money to and from Field through the site's "transfer funds" option.

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Daniel Negreanu Goes BUST On HSP!
Episode three of GSN's "High Stakes Poker" hit the airwaves on Sunday night. The well-known cash game featured the same lineup as during the first two episodes. This week featured a meltdown of sorts for Team PokerStars Pro member Daniel Negreanu, who lost his $200,000 buy-in.

The first hand of the show saw Doyle's Room namesake Doyle Brunson put his entire chip stack at risk. Holding pocket kings, Brunson called a raise to $2,500 pre-flop by Negreanu. Show commentator Gabe Kaplan noted, "Doyle thinks this is an aggressive table. He's hoping to catch someone holding a marginal hand putting in a raise." Eli Elezra made it $13,300 pre-flop holding pocket nines and Brunson shoved for $95,600. The two poker veterans decided to run it twice, meaning that in order for a player to rake the pot, they must win both boards. The first ran out J-7-8-Q-7, giving the win to Brunson. The second came 5-4-3-10-6 with four hearts. Elezra held the only heart, giving him a flush and resulting in a chopped pot.

The show featured very little action by Tom "durrrr" Dwan, who had been featured heavily over the previous two weeks. Instead, much of the buzz was around Daniel Negreanu, who came out on the losing end of a $151,000 hand. In it, Barry Greenstein raised with J-10 on the button and Negreanu called holding A-8 of spades. The flop came 8-9-Q, giving Greenstein the nuts. He led out and bet $5,500 and Negreanu called. The dealer flipped over an ace on the turn. Negreanu checked, Greenstein fired out $15,000, and Negreanu called. The river was a king and Negreanu once again checked. Greenstein bet $50,000 and Negreanu went into the tank before calling. Kaplan noted that, upon seeing Greenstein turn over J-10, Negreanu "is going to see the last thing he thought he would."

Shortly thereafter, Negreanu (A- was involved in four-way action to the flop with Brunson (A-9), Greenstein (2-2), and Elezra (K-Q). The four poker veterans saw a flop of A-K-Q, giving Elezra bottom two pair and Brunson and Negreau top pair. Brunson bet $9,000, Greenstein folded, and Elezra called. Perhaps on tilt from the previous hand, Negreanu raised to $24,000. Brunson got out of the way and Elezra called. The turn came a jack. Negreanu checked while acting extremely frustrated and Elezra bet out $35,000, prompting Negreanu to fold. Kaplan explained, "Daniel is making a fundamental mistake that I've never seen him make before: He's giving up."

Coming back from a commercial break, Negreanu spoke on his influences in poker: "The biggest influences on my game are the guys I grew up with: Guys like Phil Ivey, John Juanda, and Allen Cunningham. We were the young guns. We'd go to dinner and discuss strategy."

Another out of character move by Negreanu came after reigning World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Peter Eastgate inadvertently bet $32,000 into a $13,000 pot. Negreanu commented, "You have the wrong color" and then quickly covered his mouth and laughed. Elezra then promptly made it $140,000 and Eastgate folded. Kaplan said, "Daniel really influenced the action in that pot. If Eli didn’t know that Peter bet the wrong amount, he might not have raised and Peter could have won the pot. It was a mistake by Daniel that should not happen in a game like this."

On the final hand of the evening, Negreanu raised with pocket jacks pre-flop to $2,800. Eastgate called with pocket threes, David Benyamine called with pocket fours, and Elezra splashed around with 3-2. The flop came 2-4-7 with two diamonds, giving Benyamine a set. Negreanu was the first to bet, firing $8,000 into the pot. Eastgate called and Benyamine raised to $41,000. Kaplan commented, "Daniel knows that David is capable of making this raise with a hand like A-5 of diamonds." Negreanu called and Eastgate got out of the way.

The turn came the four of clubs, giving Benyamine quads. Benyamine bet $35,000, which Kaplan described as a "really good bet. If Daniel is drawing to a flush, he wants him to continue to draw. If Daniel has an overpair, he wants him to call." Negreanu shoved for $156,200 and Benyamine insta-called, scooping the $416,200 pot. Negreanu asked Dwan if he had $200,000 to reload with and the credits rolled.

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Jean Robert Bellanded Renews his deal with Bodog
In the current day of professional poker, players look to find ways to alleviate the pressures faced by everyone who works for a living. Many times this is done by being the spokesperson or sponsored player for one of the multitude of online poker sites that crave a vibrant face to place on their product. These sponsorships - which can pay the players’ buy ins for tournaments, and offer them the possibility to offset the variances inherent in poker - are very difficult to come by and, when you do have them, it can be in your best interests to keep active. It was announced earlier this week that one such deal between a top pro and an online room has been renewed, although details were not released.

After one of the better years of his career, professional poker player Jean-Robert Bellande recently renewed his exclusive sponsorship deal with Bodog, one of the sites that still cater to American action. As a part of the Bodog team, he participates in much of the action online with the site and - along with fellow professionals David Williams, Evelyn Ng and Justin Bonomo - is sponsored into many worldwide tournaments and made-for-television events.

A press release from his management company Poker Royalty pointed out the reasons for Bellande’s continued sponsorship by Bodog. James Sullivan, President of Poker Royalty, told Poker News Daily, “Jean-Robert is a perfect fit for Team Bodog. His charisma and personality embody the Bodog lifestyle.”

Bellande’s history of success in poker dates back to 2001, but it wasn’t until 2005 that the poker world began to take notice of him. In 2005, he made the final table of a WSOP Circuit event and scored a nearly $150,000 victory at the 2005 Winnin’ O’ The Green at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles. He barely missed winning his first WSOP bracelet last year with a second place finish in the $1500 No Limit Hold’em Shootout and also cashed in the Championship Event, finishing in 442nd place of the massive 6,844 player field. All totaled, Bellande has won nearly one million dollars since he began playing in 2001.

While his success on the poker tables has earned the sponsorship from Bodog, his association with Poker Royalty has earned him notoriety beyond just being a poker player. For example, he has appeared on the made-for-television productions of the World Poker Tour’s “Bad Boys Of Poker." In 2007, Bellande also became the first poker player to participate in a reality show when he was a part of "Survivor: China." He finished in eighth place on that program and admitted that he used many concepts and strategies from his poker background to his advantage on the show.

Bellande’s renewal of his contract with Bodog caps what has been a busy month in the sponsorship world of poker. Earlier this week, Betfair signed 2007 EPT Poland champion Peter “Zupp” Jepsen to a deal that will give the site an excellent roster of young talent, including 2007 WSOP Europe titleholder Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad. Additionally, former World Champion Jamie Gold stunned the poker world with his reported eight figure deal with online poker newcomer Aced Poker in early February.