To watch the live stream please visit: http://deepstackspokertour.com/turlock/

3rd Annual Central California Summer Poker Classic Day 2 Players

Minh Nguyen             $127,300
Cheri Svenson           $84,050
Mary Turnbough         $72,500
Rick Peterson            $70,250
Mario Bravo               $60,100
Todd Machado           $58,200
Jaime Esquivel           $55,625
Roger Bailey               $53,600
Chris Gonzalez            $50,400
Brent Bixby                  $44,650
Rudy Gonzalez            $42,725
Doug Cox                   $42,600
Jesse Rios                 $39,800
Daniel Ortiz                $39,300
Randy Smith              $39,275
Scotty Nguyen           $38,575
Chris Torina               $38,500
Chris Howard            $38,100
Miguel Lopez            $36,100
Anthony Winters       $32,900
John Rogers             $32,000
Mario Olgvin             $30,600
Louiegi Baclig           $30,575
Shayne Heine           $29,425
Steven Geralis           $29,000
Vas Cherukuri            $28,550
Thomas Ackley          $28,300
Thomas Tran            $26,400
Seay Vaj                   $25,950
Jeff Houston              $24,100
Jaime Pena                $22,100
Hector Ramos            $21,800
Francee Dodd            $19,700
Kapil Karki                  $16,600
John Bettencourt        $15,650
Richard Gonzalez       $14,500
James Hutchinson      $10,750
Justin Borrego            $9,500
Lon McEachern          $9,400
Cesar Hernandez       $7,100
Jason Lee                   $6,200
Sheila Pace                $6,200
Efren Ayala                 $5,100
Eric Mizrachi               $3,075

MIAMI — Miami Heat practice had ended, and LeBron James lingered under a basket, fetching free throws for two teammates as he awaited his turn to shoot.

At the other end of the gym, Dwyane Wade shook his head as he watched the NBA’s most valuable player engage in the most mundane of drills.

“He doesn’t — you can see him — rest on his greatness,” Wade said. “He continues to work at it. That’s what makes him special. He leaves nothing to chance.”

The formal announcement of James’ fourth Most Valuable Player award is planned for Sunday, the eve of the Eastern Conference semifinals for the Heat. The honor will vault him into an elite category shared by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, the only other players to win the award at least four times.

James said he was humbled to keep such company.

“I’m a historian of the game,” he said. “I know the game. I know these guys paved the way for myself and the rest of us.”

James’ other MVPs came in 2009, 2010 and 2012. He and Russell are the only players to win the award four times in five years, and he and Abdul-Jabbar are the only players to twice win the award in consecutive seasons.

James, 28, isn’t resting on his laurels. That’s why he kept shooting with teammates Ray Allen and Mario Chalmers after practice Saturday, while the other Heat players had headed for the showers.

“I don’t know my ceiling,” James said. “I don’t stop trying to improve my game — just like today, being in here with Rio and Ray, the last guys to leave the court. I want to continue to maximize what I have.”

James said his primary goal remains helping the Heat win a second successive NBA title. They’re scheduled to open their conference semifinals series at home Monday against the winner of the series between Chicago and Brooklyn, which went to Game 7 on Saturday night.

The Heat have been idle since Sunday, when they completed a series sweep of Milwaukee. The most scrutinized subject during the layoff has been Wade’s sore right knee, and while he expects to play in Game 1, he said he’ll likely have to cope with discomfort for the rest of the playoffs.

“I told the coaches, ‘Don’t ask me how I’m doing,’” Wade said to a cluster of reporters. “The mind is a powerful thing. Everything is mind over matter. So when you’re dealing with something, you’re dealing it. You understand what it is.

“But when people continue to pat you on the back and ask you if you’re doing all right and how you are feeling, you start to feel like, ‘Well, something is wrong with me.’”

Wade smiled at the media scrum.

“So I would like for you all not to ask me anymore. Thank you.”

Injuries to Wade and other stars around the league this postseason stand in contrast to James’ durability, one of his most remarkable traits. In a 10-year career, he never has missed more than seven games in a season, suggesting he’s likely to remain a force — and an MVP contender — for years to come.

Jordan was 35 the last time he was chosen MVP, in 1998. Abdul-Jabbar won for the final time at 33, Chamberlain and Russell at 31.

“Who wouldn’t love to continue to play at an NBA level in the mid-30s?” James said. “We all would want that. Health is always the No. 1 thing.”

A healthy James keeps improving, and the consensus among the Heat and their opponents is that this season was his best yet. He averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists while shooting a career-best 56 percent for a team that won a league-high 66 games, including 27 in a row.

That’s after leading Miami to the 2011-12 NBA championship and then helping the U.S. win a gold medal at the London Olympics.

“We tell our organization and our fans, ‘Don’t take this for granted,’” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s a once-in-a-generation player, and you knew it when he came into the league. There are No. 1 draft picks, and then there are No. 1 generational draft picks that are heads and shoulders above everybody else. They don’t come around very often.”

While James pledges to be even better in 2013-14, teammates wonder what part his game can improve.

“I don’t know,” Udonis Haslem said. “I’m running out of stuff, man.”

“Maybe next year he’ll shoot 70 percent,” Chris Bosh said.

In search of his ceiling, James hung around after practice Saturday, shooting extra free throws.

“He’s on the verge of winning four MVPs in five years, and he’ll be the last one to leave the gym today,” Wade said. “He understands the gift God gave him. He understands that not many have it and it doesn’t last for too long, and he wants to make sure he maximizes all of it.”
Story by The Associated Press

After Ramirez had surgery March 22 to repair a torn tendon in his right thumb, doctors predicted he would be out roughly eight weeks.

Ramirez will play at least three games at Class A Rancho Cucamonga, Mattingly said.

Speeding Ramirez’s return has been a flexible splint that allows him to hit and make throws without further injuring his thumb. He will continue to play with the splint after he returns, Mattingly said. Dodgers shortstops have batted .176 with one home run in the 21 games Ramirez has missed.

The Dodgers entered Friday having scored just 67 runs, second-fewest in the major leagues ahead of the Miami Marlins.

Story by ESPN.com

Ramirez’s return to shortstop could set back the Dodgers’ infield defense. The player who has been getting the majority of time as a fill-in, Justin Sellers, is a premium defender but a .204 lifetime hitter.

Mattingly said Ramirez has made progress throwing the ball while wearing the splint.

“In Baltimore four or five days ago, it was rough. The ball was coming out funny,” Mattingly said. “Then a couple days later, in New York, his throwing was great. It was a huge improvement.”

The Dodgers are giving away a Ramirez “I See You” bobblehead figurine Tuesday, a date he has said he hopes to return by.

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The DSPT Northeast Penn. Poker Open drew a field of 111 entries, with a total buy-in of $107,670.  We saw two players in the field from the most recent DSPT final table at The Patriot Poker Classic, as both Frankie Flowers (Pleasant Valley, NY) and Ari Engel (Las Vegas, NV) showed up to try and better their previous performances.  Other notable players in the field included Thomas Cooney, Ethan Dolan, and Dennis Zollo.

Ari Engel would come into Day 2 as the chip leader, with 433,000, and looked to be cruising as the field of 28 dwindled down.  He found himself involved in a pot with Murphy after the money bubble burst, which would eventually propel Murphy, and send Engel trending downwards.  The final table was reached early in the evening on Day 2, as Engel would be sent home in 10^th ($2,407).  The players would bag their chips for the final table on Day 3.  That would be following a huge four-way all-in pot, in which Anthony Casagrande’s aces would hold up against kings, queens, and tens.  Casagrande would be the chip leader going into Day 3 with 716,000.

The final table would start slowly, but eventually the players began to drop one by one.  Michael Murphy would quietly build his stack, without major confrontations, or putting himself at risk.  Tom Koral quickly chipped up and at one point took the lead at the final table.  It wouldn’t be long though before the players were three handed, and Murphy held over 65% of the chips in play.  The three would get there money in on the deciding hand, and watch as Murphy would collect the pot, and the trophy.

Murphy chose this event because of, “Its great structure and proximity to my hometown.  It was fun to have my family watching on the live stream, and I’m just really happy right now.”  Murphy also won a seat into the DSPT National Championship at Mohegan Sun (Uncasville, CT) in November.

Here are the ITM results of the DSPT NEPA Main Event.

1st Michael Murphy $33,180  Wilkes-Barre,PA
2nd Thomas Koral  $16,747  Skokie,IL
3rd Anthony Casagrande $11,514 Medford, NY
4th Matthew Tumminia $8,374 Binghamton, NY
5th Jason Kwartler $6,804 S. Fallsburg,NY
6th Ethan Dolan $5,234 Hazelton,PA
7th Dennis Zollo $4,187 Middletown,NY
8th Ronald Malinchak $3,140 Carbondale, PA
9th Thomas Cooney $2,618 Wilkes-Barre,PA
10th  Alan Engel $2,407 Las Vegas, NV
11th Frank Flowers $2,093 Pleasant Valley,NY
12th Tanner Millen $2,093 Cortland,NY
13th Francesco Sorace $2,093 Dingmans Ferry,PA
14th John Delay $2,093 Phoenixville,PA
15th Luis Diaz $2,093 Hazelton, PA

Final table kicks off at 12p EST. Follow at the action here: http://deepstackspokertour.com/nepa/

Thomas Cooney Seat 1 351,500
Mike Murphy Seat 2 338,500
Jason Kwarter Seat 3 233,000
Ronald Malinchak Seat 4 143,500
Dennis Zollo Seat 5 371,000
Anthony Casagranda Seat 6 716,000
Ethan Dolan Seat 7 264,000
Thomas Koral Seat 8 361,500
Matthew Tumimina Seat 9 660,000

Play resumes at 12p EST.

Table 1:
2) David Greene 42,900
3) Joseph Tracy 94,700
4) Tanner Millen 171,100
5) Francesco Sorace 37,200
6) Thomas Koral 181,200
7) Michael Policastro 145,600
8)  Adam Jones 40,000

Table 2:
2) Joseph Gorel 122,000
3) Matthew Tumminia 155,100
4) Ronald Malinchak 127,900
5) Alan Engal 433,500
6) John Delay 71,600
7) Douglas Fry 120,200
8) Jeremy Cline 104,000

Table 3:
2) Anthony Casagrande 94,700
3) John Aquilina 91,200
4) David Manzi 71,300
5) Dennis Zollo 129,100
6) Michael Pempin 148,300
7) Gregory Scherger 48,800
8) Michael Murphy 70,700

Table 4:
2) Frank Flowers 341,900
3) Michael Berardesco 61,300
4) Luis Diaz 137,200
5) Jason Kwartler 50,800
6) Thomas Cooney 214,000
7) Ethan Dolan 124,700
8) Frank Fratzola 3,500

LOS ANGELES — Chris Paul held up the red T-shirt reading ‘Can’t Stop Los Angeles’ for a quick post-game photo. He didn’t put it on, and neither did his Clippers teammates.

There was no celebrating on court or in the locker room after they beat the Lakers 109-95 on Sunday to clinch the Clippers’ first Pacific Division title in franchise history against a team that has long overshadowed them.

“It just feels like something we were supposed to do,” said Paul, who had 24 points and 12 assists. “It means we’re headed in the right direction. We’re not satisfied. We understand this is something small compared to the big picture.”

Blake Griffin had 24 points and 12 rebounds as the playoff-bound Clippers swept the Lakers 4-0 for the first time since Donald Sterling bought the team in 1981.

The 1974-75 team, known as the Buffalo Braves, had the franchise’s only other sweep of the Lakers.

Fans chanted, “Sweep! Sweep!” in the closing seconds.

Sterling accepted a congratulatory handshake from a fan after the game.

“It’s always good to sweep a team in your division, in the West,” said Griffin, savoring the first division title of his young career. “I’m proud of how we won the game a little bit differently. We kept up a nice tempo the whole game.”

Jamal Crawford had 20 points off the bench, DeAndre Jordan had 13 rebounds and Caron Butler scored 14 points for the Clippers, who knew that even if they lost, they could have clinched later Sunday if Utah won at Golden State. Utah defeated the Warriors 97-90.

“We didn’t want to do it that way,” Paul said. “We wanted to clinch on our own terms.”

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said, “You have to earn it and today we did.”

As the division winner, the Clippers are guaranteed a top-four seed but will only open the playoffs with home-court advantage if they finish the season with a better record than the team in fifth, which currently is Memphis.

“Hopefully, we’re playing well at the right time going to the playoffs,” Crawford said.

He chalked up winning the division title at home against the Lakers to “the basketball gods set it up that way.”

Dwight Howard scored 25 points, including 9 of 13 free throws, for the Lakers, who played without injured starters Steve Nash and Metta World Peace. Kobe Bryant added 25 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds, and Pau Gasol had 12 points and 13 rebounds as the Lakers’ three-game winning streak ended.

Playing as the home team, the Clippers dealt their Staples Center co-tenant’s playoff hopes a serious blow.

The Lakers fell into a tie with Utah for the eighth and final playoff berth in the West. If the Jazz won later, they would move a half-game ahead of the Lakers, who have five regular-season games left. The Jazz own the tiebreaker with the Lakers.

“We’ve got a bigger challenge than worrying about beating the Clippers in one game,” Bryant said. “They obviously performed extremely well against us all four times. Our concern is playing well in order to get into the playoffs, get guys healthy, and go in there and see what we can do.”

The Lakers led by seven points to start the game before the Clippers took the lead for good. The Lakers owned a two-point edge in the paint, but Clippers had more second-chance and fast-break points. They also controlled the boards, 50-36.

“They made some pretty tough shots, and they had players come in and make some big baskets under duress,” Bryant said. “They kind of kept us at bay and they would get some turnovers and get out in transition.”

The game featured three of the NBA’s top-five dunkers in Griffin, Howard and Jordan. They all got some alley-oops in, although the Clippers’ usual Lob City show didn’t emerge in force until the fourth.

That’s when Paul fed Griffin on a fast break late in the game and Griffin raced in for a one-handed jam. Paul stole the ball from Howard and sped up court before flipping it to Jordan for a monster slam. Griffin got the fans on their feet with under 2 minutes to go on a put-back slam that he followed with a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock.

“That’s how we’re supposed to play,” Jordan said. “As long as we bring that type of energy from jump ball to the end of the game, we’ll be OK.”

The Lakers closed within single digits once in the fourth on a three-point play by Earl Clark. Bryant had 12 points in the fourth, including six free throws.

The Clippers stretched a seven-point halftime lead to 14 points in the third on a 3-pointer by Butler after leading 56-49 at halftime.

Game notes

The Clippers need one more win for the most at home in franchise history. They also had 30 in 1974-75. … The Clippers have won the season series against the Lakers twice in franchise history, including this season. … Clippers G Chauncey Billups missed his fifth straight game with a strained right groin. … Nash missed his third in a row with a strained right hamstring. … World Peace is ahead of schedule in recovering from left knee surgery and could return sooner than the six weeks he was expected to be out. … Rihanna, Billy Crystal and Regina King attended the game.

360 live streamed Main Event hosted by The Grinder, Tristan Wade and Jennifer Leigh.

*** Download Event Flyer ***

*** Structure Sheets ***
$100 Nightly | $175 Bounty | $175 NLH/PLO | $175 NLH | $225 Turbo | $230 NLH | $280 NLH | $340 Black Chip | $1,100 Main Event

Players receive $25,000 in Tournament Chips. Cash Buy-In registration will begin February 1st 2013. Players winning multiple satellites to this event may transfer their ticket to another player. Players winning an entry to this tournament via any type of satellite will be registered immediately following the satellite in which they win an entry. All levels will be 50 minutes in length.

This is a 3 day Main Event tournament. Day 1 will end at 2am or at 27 players, whichever comes first. Day 2 will start at 12pm and play until 2am or the final table is established, whichever comes first. Players will redraw for seats at the beginning of Day 2 and for the final table. Day 3 will start at 12pm and play until completion. Late sign-ups or re-entries will be allowed to enter until the start of level 7. Ten minute breaks after every two levels. Sixty minute dinner break after levels 6 and 18.

Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs and DeepStacks Poker Tour reserve the right to change, alter, or cancel tournament. Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs or DeepStacks Poker Tour will not be held responsible for errors or misinformation on the website or any printed material in relation to this event. Tournament Supervisor decisions are final. This tournament, including the final table will be played 9-handed. Seating may be limited. $3,000 will be deducted from the prize pool and go to the winner in the form of an entry to the $2,500 2013 DeepStacks Poker Tour Championship at Mohegan Sun and $500 cash.The main event and final table will be live streamed by DeepStacks360. 3% of prize pool will be withheld for staff. An optional $5 Dealer add-on will be offered. Any players participating in the Dealer add-on will receive $5000 additional tournament chips.

We are offering poker rates for hotel rooms during the Northeast PA Poker Open Series.

*** Hotel Information ***: Best Western East Mountain Inn, 600 Wildflower Drive at Route 115, Wilkes Barre Pa, 18702.

Phone: 570-822-1011

Room rate: $79.00 + tax Includes complimentary breakfast. To reserve a room email directly to EMI@themanorgroup.com  & mention: the DeepStacks Poker Tour event, your name, phone number, room type and dates of your stay.