The Bodog Poker room played host to 407 online poker players last night, all who had managed to overcome their holiday-induced comas to play in one of the biggest online poker tournaments available, Bodog Poker's $100k Guaranteed. No matter what he may have received in his stocking, Bodog regular 'kingpinjls' added to his holiday haul by winning the event and taking home the $25,000 first-place prize.

No stranger to the final table of the $100k Guaranteed, 'kingpinjls' has reached the final nine several times but never taken down the whole thing. That all changed last night after a well-fought heads-up battle against 'ours panda.' So, happy holidays to 'kingpinjls' and we hope this portends great things for you in the Bodog Poker room in 2010.

Here are the full final table placings and results:

1. kingpinjls – $25,000
2. ours panda – $15,000
3. DLetterman – $9,500
4. mapsfly – $7,000
5. Ace5Kid – $5,500
6. poker415 – $4,500
7. toddc – $3,500
8. Ponzi – $2,200
9. ValXoXo – $1,700

You can work your way up to a huge payday for as little as $1 with satellites into the $100k Guaranteed offered daily at Bodog Poker. Download Bodog Poker and get in on the action now for your chance to win $25,000 in the $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.

For many years, the CardPlayer Player of the Year award has gone to the player who accrued the most points in qualifying live events. However, over the past few years, the award has been expanded to deal with the explosion of online poker and now there are two titles, Player of the Year and Online Player of the Year. Both carry with them a certain prestige in their respective worlds, but with a divided title… who really is the "Player of the Year"?

In 2009, the similarities between the poker players who look to be locking up those Player of the Year and Online Player of the Year awards – Eric Baldwin and Steve Gross, respectively – are so similar that an argument could be made either way as to which has accomplished more. The folks over at the Bodog Poker mothership broke down those similarities, and differences, to take a look at whether Baldwin or Gross could be considered better than the other.

To see what their expert analysis revelead, head over to Bodog Poker and read:

Player of the Year vs. Online Player of the Year

Well, the dream has died for the New Orleans Saints. Their chance to put together the first undefeated NFL season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins was crushed yesterday by the Dallas Cowboys. However, at about the same time as hope was dying in the The Big Easy it was just being kindled for online poker player 'mattlee3.' The Bodog Poker newcomer managed to work his way through a field of 451 entrants to take home $25,000 as the winner of last night's Bodog Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.

With only a few tournament cashes to his name over the past couple of weeks, 'mattlee3′ has already made a splash in the Bodog Poker room with this win. Taking on a tough field to get the victory, he also took advantage of the incredible value offered by the generous $32,350 overlay, making his win worth much more than the original $150 buy-in. So, congrats to 'mattlee3′ for the win and we hope to see more of you in the Bodog Poker room.

Here are the full final table placings and payouts:

1. mattlee3 – $25,000
2. cbo187 – $15,000
3. Suraj128 – $9,500
4. donkeydic – $7,000
5. elymint – $5,500
6. Catfish4U – $4,500
7. reedybixes – $3,500
8. flatbroke27 – $2,200
9. endLIFE – $1,700

This dream can be yours for as little as $1 with satellites into the $100k Guaranteed offered daily at Bodog Poker. Download Bodog Poker and get in on the action now for your chance to win $25,000 in the $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament.

Bodog Poker is spreading the holiday cheer to online poker players this season with the 12 Days of Poker promotion, which kicks off today. There will be two prizes handed out each day during the promotion that range from seats into the Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament to Sony 52″ HDTVs and home theater packages.

The best part about all of it is, there are no special tournaments and nothing to sign up for, just keep playing the same games you always play in the Bodog Poker room. The more you play the more Bodog Poker Points you will earn and for every 25 Bodog Poker Points you accumulate you will receive one (1) entry into the daily drawing. Then there's the "high level" prizes, which kick in when you have earned 75 BPPs.

For example, in today's drawing the 25 BPP prize package is 10 seats to the $100K Guaranteed and, for the 75 BPP level, a Sony Bravia 52″ TV. Tomorrow, Bodog Poker's got a Sony PlayStation 3 and 5 seats to 100K to giveaway. So, get in on this now and start earning your Bodog Poker Points.

For more details, check out the 12 Days of Poker Overview and the 12 Days of Poker prize list. For even more super-detailed details, head over to the 12 Days of Poker rules and regulations.

Full of turkey leftovers and relaxed after a holiday weekend, 473 online poker players shook off their tryptophan-induced comas and bellied up to the virtual online poker tables of the Bodog Poker room for the Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament. After all was said and done, a very familiar face on Bodog had taken down the $25,000 first-place prize and solidified his place on the 2009 Bodog Poker Yearly Tournament Leaderboard.

Johnathan "UFPokerStar" Westra has been a fixture in the Bodog Poker room and on the live poker tournament trail, sporting Bodog gear, for the last several years. Since late 2006, Westra has racked up almost $500k in tournament winnings in the Bodog Poker room and won more Weekly and Monthly TLB titles than we can be bothered to count. Currently, he is sitting in 8th place on the 2009 Yearly TLB and will only need a few more deep runs to move up to the top spot.

Here are the full final table results from last night's event:

1. UFPokerStar – $25,000
2. Ron2007 – $15,000
3. muzl27 – $9,500
4. ColoradoTim – $7,000
5. MrElPaso – $5,500
6. Sheriff is in – $4,500
7. redsoxkodak – $3,500
8. gusive – $2,200
9. limon – $1,700

You can get started on your way up the Bodog Poker Tournament Leaderboard, earning regular cash payouts on the way, and get the chance to play for, or win outright, a $12,000 seat to the 2010 WSOP Main Event.

If there's one thing I know about the game of poker and online poker players, it's that there's a lot of online crap out there targeted at reeling in potentially new players — and today's tech savvy, proficient and perceptive poker players can see right through that kind of stuff.

Bodog Poker doesn't play that game, either.

From its poker promotions to its online poker tournament schedule, Bodog Poker doesn't pander to its players. Further proof of that can be found on the Bodog Poker home page; if you haven't checked out the "Hot Poker Tips" section yet, I highly recommend that you do. (Today's poker tip deals with working the rocks.)

Another section worth reading on a daily basis is the articles section. Replenished with five new articles per week, Bodog Poker's article section has everything for the beginning and advanced player. Here are a few sample links to some of the more 'cool' poker articles I think you'll appreciate:

How to Make a Poker Commercial (That Doesn't Suck)
Why are Poker Reality TV Shows a Big Bust?
Justin Bonomo's Top 10 Poker Players
World's Top 5 Aggressive Pro Poker Players
How to Prepare for the 2010 World Series of Poker
15 Beginner Strategies for New Online Poker Players
15 Texas Holdem Tips to Take to the Bank

Anyway, you catch my drift. Bookmark the articles section to stay on top of all the new poker articles coming in on a daily basis. Good luck with your game!

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

While Bill Belichick was making the worst clock-management and strategy decisions evar in the New England Patriots miraculous loss to the Indianapolis Colts last night, online poker player "he11raiser" was making much better decisions on his way to winning Bodog Poker's Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament. Beating out 514 other entrants to win the tournament, "he11raiser" beat "elena m" in fierce heads-up battle to win the $25,000 first-place prize.

This is the first tournament win of any kind for "he11raiser" in the Bodog Poker room so we'll just attribute it to beginner's luck… just kidding. A field that large is always a minefield and tough to navigate. Congrats to "he11raiser" for the big win and we're sure we'll see him around the virtual tables much more often now with this huge infusion to his bankroll.

Here are the full final table results and payouts:

1. he11raiser – $25,000
2. elena m – $15,000
3. Zwaffelaar – $9,500
4. AWander – $7,000
5. StinkyBritches – $5,500
6. bigtone52 – $4,500
7. thrtyftj – $3,500
8. skeptix – $2,200
9. perry_04 – $1,700

If you are brand new to poker or a veteran of the online poker tables, the Sunday $100k Guaranteed offers great value to players of all stripes and you can qualify to play in this event for as little as $1. So, get started today and the next thing you know, you could be $25,000 richer.

A huge week of online poker tournament action wrapped up last night with the Bodog Poker Open IV Championship event. Capping a successful week-long series that saw hundreds of online poker players turn out to play for thousands in prize money, the BPO IV Championship event was won by poker's newest superstar "MrElPaso," who walked away with $36,447.50 for first-place and a guaranteed spread in an international poker publication.

The BPO IV Championship drew out a field of 257 players, generating a $120,790 prizepool to which bodog.com added $25,000 for a total purse of $145,790. Part of the crowd that came out to take advantage of this incredible value were Bodog Poker Pros David Williams and Evelyn Ng, and online poker pros "nevertilt22," "UFpokerStar" and "ari," who reached the final table of the event.

Here are the full final table results and payouts:

1. MrElPaso
2. dvbronco
3. Ari
4. JazzyFace
5. bklynzto81
6. naskoxx
7. ello
8. ShuMoneyTonite
9. LIVIN LOUD

The Contender Series Finale also took place last night in the Bodog Poker room, featured $2,500 in added prize money and drew 204 players out to take advantage of that value. Online poker player "hitchchops" was able to best that field to walk away with the $3,268.10 first-place prize. Here are the full final table results from that event.

1. hitchchops – $3,268.10
2. Hoff26 – $2,079.70
3. mainendz – $1,378.54
4. olycrawford – $950.72
5. Jack0fAllTrades – $713.04
6. jason0802 – $534.78
7. larryblizzy – $415.94
8. selachii777 – $308.98
9. RezinLife – $202.02

All told, the Bodog Poker Open IV saw 2,646 total players come out to compete in the 11 events of the Championship and Contender Series and $368,000 in cash prizes with another $65,000 added by bodog.com.

The conculsion of the Bodog Poker Open IV does not end the online poker tournament action in the Bodog Poker room. Bodog.com’s Sunday $100,000 Guaranteed online poker tournament. Qualifiers for the $100,000 Guaranteed event start for as low as $1 and run daily.

Another day of the Bodog Poker Open IV wrapped last night with Event #5 of both the Championship and Contender Series. In total, 199 players came out between the two events – 93 in the Championship and 106 in the Contender – and a total of $21,070 was paid out, including the $5,000 that bodog.com added to the Championship event prize pool. The big winners were online poker players 'Weslo18′ and 'papastacks.'

The BPO IV Championship Event #5 had 93 players with a $13,950 prize pool with $5,000 added by bodog.com making the total prize pool $18,950. First place also received T$500 for a chance to play in BPO IV Championship on Sunday, Nov 8th. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. Weslo18 – $5,685.00
2. DrDankRx23 – $3,790.00
3. gobirds – $2,274.00
4. Frank_Shades – $1,895.00
5. rjrat84 – $1,516.00
6. Troy111 – $1,231.75
7. The Maven – $1,042.25
8. VAFLZ - $852.75
9. vinnyb9 – $663.25

We'd also like to congratulate "vinnyb9″ for reaching multiple final tables so far in the BPO IV. So, congrats, and we hope to see you at the final table of the Championship.

The Contender Series Event #5 had 106 players with a total prize pool of $2,120. First place also received T$500 for a chance to play in the BPO IV Championship on Sunday, Nov. 8th, and places 2nd – 9th received T$50 for a chance to play in the Contender Series Finale on Nov. 8. Here is the final table breakdown:

1. papastacks – $636.00
2. lunarphase – $424.00
3. dukedaddiee – $252.28
4. iliketoplay – $169.60
5. perry_04 – $137.80
6. JHaas07 – $106.00
7. Jack0fAllTrades – $74.20
8. BOSTONRNDR – $55.12
9. Paldon – $36.00

The BPO IV continues tonight at 8:30pm ET with a $150 + $12 Limit Holdem event in the Championship Series that features $2,500 in added prize money. Next up for the Contender Series is a $15 + $1.50 Limit Holdem event at 9:15pm ET. For more details, visit the Bodog Poker Open overview page.