Not a super exciting week in poker news, but some stuff has been going on, so here's a brief recap:

2009 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Cada continued his media blitz that has so far featured him ringside at Madison Square Gardens for WWE Raw, on the Late Show with David Letterman, on SportsCenter on ESPN and now on the American Morning show on CNN. He may not be the most effusive guy on camera, but he definitely seems to be getting more camera time than that guy that won last year, … John? Matthew? Mark? Luke? Wait, we know this… Dennis! That's right, Dennis Phillips. What? He didn't win? Well, then we have no idea.

Joe Cada on CNN American Morning

Tom "durrrr" Dwan has been taking on some of the worlds highest-stakes poker players in the heads-up Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge at the Les Ambassadeurs club in London. Each opponent ponies up $250,000 to tak eon the online prodigy in their choice of No Limit Holdem or Pot Limit Holdem. For the first day of the challenge, Dwan took on Marcello “luckexpress” Marigliano in No Limit Holdem for 11 hours and Pot Limit Holdem for the last hour. At the end, durrrr ended up down $25,500. The next day he took on notorious aggro Swede Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies in a match that saw both of them rebuy for $250,000 and end up so close that Dwan only managed to eek out a $68,000 victory. The challenge concludes when he takes on Sammy “Any Two” George tomorrow/today, or however these timezone things work.

Bluff Europe: Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies' Turn in Durrrr Million Dollar Challenge

The LAPT Playa Conchal is already halfway through Day 2 in the beautiful town of Playa Conchal in Costa Rica. Honestly, who cares about poker in a place like this. Instead of reciting boring chip counts, just take a deep breath, look at the pic at the top of this post, close your eyes and just imagine being on that beach. Your welcome. For the rest of you, there are 60 players left out of the original 259. The only person we feel like is worth mentioning that is near the top of the chip counts is Maridu Mayrinck cos she's a super cool Brazilian chick. Further down the chip counts is Bodog online poker regular Bolivar "ramux" Palacios, for whom we are also rooting.

LAPT Playa Conchal Live Reporting

When the final nine players were decided and the final table set, they then travelled south to Uruguay to play face-to-face as part of the LAPT Punta del Este festivities. Among those nine players was Bodog regular Bolivar "ramux" Palcios.

Palacios has represented Team Bodog numerous times, including the last three World Series of Poker, and this time was no different. Palacios showed up in Uruguay decked out with Bodog patches to try and do the Black and red proud.

He went into the final table in seventh place and – along with every other player – was trailing the chip leader Rory Cox, who had gone on a hot streak at the end of the online session and racked up a chip stack that added up to as much as all of the other players combined. On top of that noted poker pro Victor Ramdin was seated at the table.

The Bodog online poker player fought hard but was unable to improve his standing and finished the tournament in seventh place, earning $2,000 plus the trip to Uruguay. Congrats to "ramux" for reaching the final table and we'll look for him soon at another LAPT final table.

If you want to win a seat in an LAPT event, qualify online for the LAPT through Bodog Poker and the Bodog Flight Club promotion

First, on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 4:00 pm EST, Bodog will host a $125 + $10 buy-in Special Flight Club Semifinal that will award one $6,000 LAPT Punta del Este package for every 48 players who enter the tournament, with at least one package guaranteed. The $6,000 Flight Club package includes the $3,700 buy-in to the LAPT Punta del Este Main Event and $2,300 for travel and accommodation.

On the big day itself, just as the pre-game coverage is starting at 4:00 pm EST, Bodog will host its Super Bowl Special tournament with $20,000 in prize money added. So tune out the talking heads on television and tune into the amazing value Bodog Poker is offering for this event. By juicing the prize pool of this $100 + $9 buy-in event with an extra $20,000 in prize money, your buy-in becomes worth more the instant you sit down at the table.

And for those looking to score big this weekend but want to do so on the cheap, you're in luck. Just like the Super Bowl itself, which hosts a Media Day on the Tuesday before the big game, Bodog will host a Media Day Combo Qualifier on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 9:43 pm EST. The $27 + $2 buy-in No LImit Holdem qualifier will have players suiting up for their chance to win a seat into both big tournaments over Super Bowl weekend. The top two finishers will each be awarded a guaranteed seat into both the Special Flight Club Semifinal and the Super Bowl Special with $20,000 Added. Another package will be awarded for every additional T$244 in the prize pool.

For more details on the Bodog Poker Flight Club, check out the Flight Club tournament overview and the Flight Club qualifying schedule to see when your next chance is to win a package to travel to some of the world’s most exotic locations and play in the world’s finest poker events.

Below are more details on the special Super Bowl tournaments at Bodog:

Name:  Special Flight Club Semifinal
Date:  Saturday, January 31 at 4pm ET
Buy-in:  $125 + $10
Prizes: 1 player for every 48 entries will win a $6,000 Bodog Flight Club Prize Package to the LAPT Event in Punta Del Este, Uruguay from March 18 to 20.  Prize package includes $3,700 buy-in to the Main Event and $2,300 for travel and accommodation. 1 prize package is guaranteed!
Chips:  3,000
Levels:  15 minutes

And on Super Bowl Sunday, Bodog will replace the "$100,000 Guaranteed" with:

Name:  Super Bowl Special – $20K Added
Date:  Sunday, February 1st at 4pm ET
Buy-in:  $100 + $9
Bonus:  Bodog will add $20,000 to the prize pool
Chips:  2,500
Levels:  15 minutes

Bodog will also run a "combo qualifier" during Super Bowl's Media Day where winners will get an entry into both of these Super Bowl specials.  Here are the details for this qualifier:

Name:  Media Day Combo Qualifier
Date:  Tuesday, January 27th at 9:43PM ET.
Buy-in:  $27 + $2
Payout:  1 player for every $244 in the prize pool will win a seat to the "Special Flight Club Semifinal" and the "Super Bowl Special – $20K Added".
Chips:  1,500
Levels:  12 minutes
Note:  The guaranteed prize pool will be T$488, meaning at least two T$244 prizes will be awarded.

The LAPT San Jose has reached the final eight players that will compromise the final table and here they are with their countries of origin and chip counts: Ryan Fee (USA – 481,000), Joel Micka (USA – 336,500), Andrew Chen (Canada – 313,000), Jesus Bertoli Juarez (Venezuela – 265,000), Claus Rasmussen (Denmark – 254,000), Brent Sheirbon (USA – 186,500), Maria Stern (Costa Rica – 151,000) and Jeffrey Petronack (USA – 122,00). The $285,773 first-place prize will be awarded later tonight.

Meanwhile, up where it's much colder and all election-y, the WPT Foxwoods World Poker Finals gets underway today. Last year's event, which drew 575 players and awarded $1.7 million to winner Michael Vela, featured a final table that was, to say the least, formidable in its talent level. Poker pros Nick Schulman, Nenad Medic, Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Freddy Deeb all reached the final nine.

Day 1A is already underway and, as always, the Bodog Beat will be here to provide you with daily updates on the action. Plus, if you want a chance to win a $12,000 Player's Choice package to play in a WPT, we're always here to help with links pointing you on where to qualify online for the WPT. Aren't we the best?

Unfortunately, that's pretty much where the story ends. The rest of the field is just a big shoulder shrug combined with a quizzical look. Apparently, local hero and poker pro Humberto Brenes played in Day 1 but did not survive the melee. So, here we are.

The money bubble will burst at some point today and the field will most likely get down to the eight-person final table by the end of day. Stay tuned for more super-inspiring, thrilling and dramatic LAPT San Jose updates from the Bodog Beat.

Qualify online for WPT, EPT, LAPT and APT events with a $12,000 Player's Choice VIP package.

Added to the schedule for this new season is an LAPT championship event that will sport a $5,000 buy-in instead of the $3,500 that usually accompanies the LAPT events. The location for this event has yet to be determined but is sure to be a huge draw, especially since the tour will now run through the high-season for tourism in that region, giving players even more reason to head south for some poker action.

If you would like to be one of the players that heads south to get in on the LAPT prize pools then check out Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice packages. Satellites run daily for as little as $1 and give online poker players plenty of opportunities to qualify online for the LAPT, EPT or WPT.

Heading into the final table, Espinar was in third place behind Canadian Gylbert Drolet and Brazilian Alexandre Gomes with his eventual heads-up opponent, Costa Rican Alex Brenes, sitting in fifth. After three quick eliminations, three of which were sent home courstesy of Espinar, the chip counts had changed dramatically. Gomes fell victim to Brenes, going home in fourth, putting the Tico's chip stack almost equal to the Spaniards. This almost equalit in chips led to a four-hour marathon long heads-up battle, which finally ended when Espinar flopped a pair of kings to take it down. Brenes won $126,625 for second.

The Spanish poker player has reportedly only been playing for just about nine months now but already has two major poker tournament cashes under his belt. His first came back in January when he placed 44th at the EPT Caribbean Adventure. Something tells us that we'll be seeing a lot more of him around the poker circuit.

If you want to travel the world, visit exotic locations in luxurious style and play poker for millions, then make sure to check out Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice package. Satellites are running daily to qualify online for the WPT, EPT, APT or LAPT events

Out of the 351 players that signed up and made the trip down to Uruguay to play, only 93 were left standing after the ten blind levels of play yesterday. The current chip leader is Jorge Gonzalez from Argentina, sitting on a stack of 129,975 in chips. Behind him are several notable players, including Alex Brenes (104,600), brother of Costa Rican poker pro Humberto Brenes (53,800), who is himself sitting a lot further down the leaderboard. Also coming back today are WSOP champ Greg Raymer and female poker pro Vanessa Rousso.

The payouts have been released, but contrary to the press conference held yesterday by tournament officials guaranteeing a $1 million prize pool, they only add up to $851,175 according to the LAPT website. Not quite sure what happened there, maybe they'll bump it up once we get closer to the final table, which pays out as follows:

1. $241,735
2. $127,675
3. $93,630
4. $68,100
5. $51,070
6. $34,045
7. $25,535
8. $17,025
9. $12,765

Play resumes at Noon local time, which means that through the magic of time zones they are actually already starting. Make sure to grab all your live updates from PokerListings.com and head back to the Beat for a wrap-up on the tournament next week.

If you want to travel the world and play poker for millions then make sure to check out Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice package. Satellites are running daily to qualify online for the WPT, EPT, APT or LAPT events. Or several other acronyms that we may have forgotten.

Several big name poker pros made the trip down to Uruguay to be part of the LAPT Punta del Este, the finale of the inaugural season of the LAPT. Included among those poker pros are Greg Raymer, Humberto Brenes, Barry Greenstein, Chad Brown, Vanessa Rousso, Brandon Cantu and WSOP Final Tablist David "Chino" Rheem. There are also three Team Bodog poker players who are playing in their own backyards at this event. Jose "Head2782″ Severino, Jose "papadelpoker" De La Guardia and Bolivar "ramux" Palacios are all from Panama and made the quick hop to Punta del Este to take part in the tournament and represent the Black and Red in the Southern Hemisphere.

Courtesy of our friends over at PokerListings.com, we can tell you that there are now currently 305 players remaining and the tournament is in level four out of the ten levels that will be played today. The LAPT president has also guaranteed and $1 million prizepool, which should make for a very happy winner come Saturday when the final table will play out.

If you want to travel the world and play poker for millions then make sure to check out Bodog Poker's $12,000 Player's Choice package. Satellites are running daily to qualify online for the WPT, EPT, APT or LAPT events. Or several other acronyms that we may have forgotten.

Kwaysser arrived third in chips at the tough final table that included several well-known online poker pros in Steve Silverman, Alex Griffin, Alec Torelli and Joe Ebanks. The 24-year-old proceeded to take advantage of as many situations as possible and, according to PokerListings.com, get very, very lucky many times over. One of those lucky hands was a runner-runner flush to put Silverman out of the tournament and give Kwaysser a 3 to 1 chip lead going into heads-up play and that's just a taste of the bad beats delivered by the Hungarian.

Luck box or not, Kwaysser negotiated his way through a 397-player field that featured poker pros Daniel Negreanu, Humberto Brenes, Victor Ramdin and Isabelle Mercier, TV personality Montel Williams and baseball greats David Wells and Orel Hershiser to take home only his second major tournament cash and most definitely his largest to date.

Here's the final payouts for the rest of the final table:

1. Valdemar Kwaysser – $274,103
2. Max Steinberg – $144,773
3. Steven Silverman – $106,167
4. Alexander Soderlund – $77,212
5. Alec Torelli – $57,909
6. Pawel Sanojca – $38,606
7. Ashton Griffin – $28,955
8. Joe Ebanks – $19,303

The next LAPT event takes place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in August once the madness that is the 2008 WSOP has calmed down. Oh, by the way, that starts in three days. Three. Days. Unbelievable.