The first three incarnations of the Deep Stack Extravaganza series this year varied in size and tournament type and were held in February, April and June and July, during the 2008 WSOP. The tournaments awarded thousands in prize money and have become very popular with tournament poker player due to the value for buy-in dollar with cash prizes at times exceeding 100 times the buy-in.

This newest addition to the schedule will consist of 25 No Limit Holdem events with buy-ins of $330, $540, and $1,060. The championship event features a $2,500 buy-in.

Players will start with 10,000 in chips for the $330 event, 12,500 for the $540 and $1,060 events and 15,000 for the championship event. A 2,000, 2,500 and 5,000 add-on will be available for each event, respectively, with the purchase of a $10 Staff Bonus.

If you're not going to be in Vegas in November for the Venetian Deep Stack but still want to get exceptional value for your poker tournament buy-in dollar, then make sure to check out the Bodog Poker $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament. Qualifiers run daily for as little as $1 in the Bodog Poker room.

The Venetian announced recently that "The Real Deal!" (exclamation mark theirs, not ours) stage show will be coming soon to its casino and will be "the first ever live, interactive poker-themed stage show,"

*cringe*

This is how the game will work:

Two members of The Real Deal! professional poker team compete live with six amateur players selected from the audience in a tournament-style game of Texas Hold'em. Along with the game on stage, the rest of the audience will use their ultra-mobile touchscreen PCs to try to accumulate points through wagers on the action (everyone will be dealt a ‘ninth’ hand’) and various side bets (a.k.a., prop bets). An elimination process will result in the chip-leading pro, the final surviving amateur, and the point leader from the play-along audience, on stage for a three-handed finale.

Audience members will also get the chance to win $1 million by drawing for a Royal Flush.

The professional poker team, or Poker Superstars as they are also referred to, is actually quite an impressive list of pros. Somehow, they convinced Doyle Brunson, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Jr., Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Jennifer Harman, Phil Laak, Scotty Nguyen, Gavin Smith, and Todd Brunson that this was a good idea and that at least two of them could be there six nights a week.

There's no word as to when opening night will actually be, but they are already planning a "To Go" version for corporate events and an online version.

For more information visit: http://www.therealdeallv.com/#/home

Team Bodog poker player Johnathan "UFPokerStar" Westra wins Event No. 8 at the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2008 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza (!! wild! crazy! extravaganza!!!) has now wrapped up eight events, which included (obviously) Event No. 6 – $540 buy-in No Limit Holdem.

That event was taken down by Team Bodog's own Johnathan "UFPokerStar" Westra.Westra faced down a pretty big field for a preliminary event at the Venetian, 398, to walk away with the $59,537 first-place prize.

Added to his WSOP Circuit preliminary event win last month and Westra is starting 2008 off with a bang. The online poker pro will no doubt find his way back to the top of more tournaments in the months to come and will look to make a splash for the Black and Red at the 2008 WSOP.

If you want to join Team Bodog at a major international poker tournament, check the Bodog Poker Tournament schedule to see when the daily qualifiers run (some for as little as $1) and get in on your chance to qualify online for an EPT or WPT event or the 2008 WSOP.

Team Bodog poker player Ari "BodogAri" Engel finished second in a preliminary event at the Venetian's Deep Stack Extravaganza. (Bodog Beat Image)

The 2008 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza (!! wild! crazy! extravaganza!!) is well underway and the first two events are in the books. The second event on the schedule was a $540 buy-in Pot Limit Omaha w/rebuys poker tournament and Team Bodog's own Ari "BodogAri" Engel took second place after a hard fought heads-up match..

The event drew 67 people who combined to make an astounding 171 rebuys, which built up the prizepool close to what one might expect from a much larger tournament. The field was no pushover with poker pro Andy Bloch spotted on the floor and another Bodog pro, David Williams, also participating in the madness. For his second-place finish Engel received $16,116, with first-place finisher Paul Lui getting $26,591.

Expect to see even more of Team Bodog as this event and the LA Poker Classic ramp up toward their respective championship events. If you want to join the proud wearers of the Black and Red at a major poker tournament, seats are always available as part of a Bodog "Player's Choice" package. So, head over to the Bodog Poker room and qualify online for a WPT, EPT event or the 2008 WSOP.