The WPT is now a truly global affair, with Season XI set to frequent seven countries including Malta, Denmark and Morocco with buy-ins ranging from $3,500 to $10,300.

There are 11 events on the Season XI itinerary in total, with the $4,000 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic set to bring the curtain up on another potential classic series on August 4th. There will be a further nine stops covering America, Europe and Africa before the Five Diamond World Poker Classic plays down to the wire from December 17 through 22.

“World Poker Tour is committed to extending its global reach. Not only will Season XI feature new stops in the United States and abroad, but World Poker Tour is also widely expanding our Regional and National Series to deliver the WPT experience to as many players and fans as possible,” WPT CEO Steve Heller enthused.

There will be 13 events on the WPT Regional and National series calendar that will get underway on June 7th with the WPT Regional: The STAX Poker Lounge Summer Series. The $400 buy-in event will be followed by the $2,000 WPT Regional Florida Seminole Hard Rock Tampa Bay Open and the €1,500 WPT National Series Madrid. Poker players will return to Florida in November for the final $2,000 tournament.

The full 2012 World Poker Tour Season XI Schedule:

Deeb has been a human wrecking ball in Stud tournaments and he proved to be a cut above once again in Event 26 as he bested a field packed with star names to win the Stud-Hi Lo for a $40,330 first prize.

Deeb’s heroics did not stop there, as he also had time to final table the Stud-Lo event for another five-figure score. The talented American has now cashed in a remarkable eighteen events and is currently cruising at the top of the leader board in the 2012 SCOOP Player of the Year race after increasing his points tally to 645. That figure is 245 more than his closest rivals, which include double 2012 SCOOP champion Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom.

Event #26-H Stud Hi-Lo final table results and payouts:

Uruguayan pro ‘Joacowalter’ is also on a hot streak and would be the series’ stand out performer if it were not for Deeb’s superb run. ‘Joacowalter’ bested a final table featuring recent European Poker Tour Grand Final Super High Roller winner Justin Bonomo, Dylan ‘ImaLucSac’ Linde and Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson to triumph in the $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7 event and procure a $30,680 first prize.

Event #26-H $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7 final table results and payouts:

‘Hefty.TILT’ was the other big winner in midweek after taking down the $100 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball event. Tom Marchese, Marcin Horecki, Ana Marquez and Phil Collins were among the notable names who departed during the latter stages before ‘Hefty.TILT’ defeated ‘Filthy999′ heads up to land the $10,260 jackpot in Event 25-M.

The illustrious duo have already secured two 2012 WCOOP titles each and narrowly missed out on a remarkable third after crashing the top twenty in the $2,100 No Limit Hold’em event.

Blom topped the star-studded field for a short time before eventually frequenting the rail in 20th place. The Swedish sensation landed a $7,820 prize for his run and enough points to move into second position on the 2012 SCOOP Player of the Year list. Deeb strengthened his position at the summit of the SCOOP leader board after adding a 16th placed finish to his online resume. Deeb currently holds a 170-point advantage over Blom.

Former European Poker Tour London High Roller champion Jose ‘nachobarbero’ Barbero and James ‘mig.com’ Mackey both managed to ride the final table bubble and secure a five-figure payout, though they were both unable to stop ‘SUNDAYKING’, who dominated the latter stages and bested ‘brianm15′ in an epic heads up battle to secure the $293,250 first prize in Event 20.

Event #20 final table results and payouts:

Swedish high stakes cash game player, ‘MaiseE’, who is rumoured to be talented pro William Thorson, was the other big winner on Day 9 after outlasting a 282-runner field in the $1,050 Turbo Pot-Limit Omaha with Rebuy and Add-Ons event to earn a $107,422 jackpot. Kevin ‘ImaLuckSac’ MacPhee was the only other notable to run deep after exiting in thirteenth place.

Event #24 final table results and payouts:

Deeb bested 68 runners and a final table featuring Eugene Katchalov, Brian ‘$tinger 88′ Hastings and Stephen ‘stevie444′ Chidwick to secure the $44,200 top prize in Event 19.

It completes a remarkable week for Deeb, who won out in the $2K Limit Stud event on Wednesday. The talented grinder never looked troubled as he dispatched several players en route to a heads up battle with British pro ‘stevie444′. Deeb eventually prevailed to secure the six-figure first prize and accumulate enough points to take the top spot on the 2012 SCOOP Player of the Series leader board.

Event #19 final table results and payouts:

Deeb is now in front of Viktor ‘isildur1′ Blom, who recorded two victories in less than 24-hours during the opening weekend of the marathon online tournament series earlier this month. Despite his heroics, Blom is only third on the leader board with the incredibly consistent ‘joacowalter’ currently hot on the heels of the dominant Deeb in second.

Jason ‘Jason Mercier’ Mercier and Phil ‘MrSweets28′ Galfond starred in the other event that played down to the wire on Sunday. However, neither of the illustrious two was able to record a memorable win after Julian ‘MrCoco’ Gardner ran wire to wire at the final table to land the $118,606 first prize. Galfind and Mercier brokered a similar sum, after agreeing to a three-way deal with Gardner.

Event #18 final table results and payouts:

Cates has struggled for form during recent weeks but finally posted several upswings during a marathon session under his ‘w00ki3z’ account on one of the leading online poker sites.

Cates’ impressive run saw him crash the high stakes top 10 with a $152,000 profit and the Maryland native is now in the black by $291,000 since his brief hiatus from the nosebleed stakes. It was not such a lucrative few days for Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom who continued to stutter in Pot Limit Omaha exchanges.

Blom won two Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles last week but he could not transfer those tournament skills to the cash game tables after donating almost $200,000 to his opponents. The London based pro is now down by more than half a million for the calendar year.

‘EireAbu’ was the biggest winner after crushing several opponents for $298,000. The unknown alias has now earned $1.6 million during 2012 and there are no signs of his winning streak ending any time soon. David ‘Deldar182′ Eldar also prospered after posting a huge $267,000 profit to increase his profits for the year to $725,000.

Ben ‘Sauce123′ Sulksy remains the biggest winner in 2012 after adding another $245,000 to his haul. The PLO specialist has now taken down $1.7 million in total. ‘LUFCBas’ (+$211,000), ‘!P0krpartyi’ (+$204,000), ‘H@££INGGOL’ (+$187,000), ‘Terken89′ (+$163,000), ‘Terryhsu’ (+$133,000) and ‘Glosik’ (+$121,000) rounded out the top ten.

Ben ‘Ben86′ Tollerene was the biggest loser after being burned for $336,000 on the virtual felt while European Poker Tour London champion Benny ‘toweliestar’ Spindler struggled after crashing to a $220,000 deficit. Phil ‘MrSweets28′ Galfond (-$115,000) and Randy ‘Nanonoko’ Lew (-$192,000) also stumbled.

Lesniak believes Christie’s political ambitions may prevent him from signing the bill that is currently passing through the state legislature.

Christie had previously indicated that he was on board with the idea of online gaming websites being hosted by Atlantic City Casinos after vetoing similar legislation last year. Christie’s support had prompted Lesniak to redraft a new bill with several tweaks but the State Senator now believes he may now have changed his stance on the subject.

“He is certainly wavering in his support and it is my belief that it is because of presidential politics…I had a meeting with Christie’s staff at the end of April to discuss technical amendments to get the bill in its final form and one of his staff members said they were getting a lot of opposition to this from, a lot of powerful people.”

Christie is currently being considered as a potential running mate for Mitt Romney, who could also offer the 49 year old a position in his administration if his presidential campaign is successful in elections later this year. Romney is opposed to online gaming along with Las Vegas Sands Chairman, Sheldon Adelson, who is also a big Republican donor.

“I think at the end Gov. Christie has to be more concerned about the future of Atlantic City than how this adversely affects support for his national political ambitions. He can always legitimately say, ‘I did what was right for my state. I’m not asking any other state to do it. I wouldn’t support it at the federal level, but for New Jersey’ it’s the right thing to do,” Lesniak concluded.

The showpiece WSOP Main Event and several new events will be broadcasted on the world’s leading sports network every Tuesday starting on July 3rd.

ESPN has decided to axe the near live-coverage of the days leading up to the WSOP Main Event final table. The coverage was introduced last year but it received a lukewarm reception from regular viewers of the show. ESPN will now air two one-hour episodes of the world’s biggest poker tournament on a weekly basis.

It will also broadcast a live feed of the final table when the remaining eight runners return to the Rio Suite and Hotel on October 30 to play down to the wire for a potentially life-changing jackpot. The feed will run on a fifteen-minute delay. Two new events will also feature on the ESPN itinerary later this year.

The Big One for One Drop, which features a $1 million buy-in and a star-studded field, will also air on a 15-minute delay on ESP3 and ESPN during the final day of action on July. ESPN will also provide viewers with a recap of the action during two one-hour episodes on July 31. Near-live coverage of the WSOP National Championship on August 7th completes the festival of poker coverage.

“Fans know Tuesday night is poker night on ESPN. Beginning with the Big One for One Drop and the WSOP National Championship, and continuing on Tuesdays with the WSOP Main Event, we will set the stage for this intense competition and continue the excitement through the Final Table in October,” ESPN Programming and Acquisitions Senior Director, Doug White revealed in a statement.

Bonn started the defining session as one of the shortest stacks but a resolute display during the early levels provided a platform for the talented pro to attack the remaining runners. Bonn eventually eliminated the dangerous Tuan Phan with a flopped flush and Eugene Fouksman with a set of sevens en route to a heads up battle with Ken Silverstein.

Bonn outlined his intentions immediately by making a series of aggressive pre-flop raises and Silverstein soon began to wilt under the pressure. Bonn chipped up steadily before the final hand played out. Bonn opted to open for 200,000 and Silverstein, in an attempt to wrestle back the initiative, made a bold all-in shove.

Bonn went into the tank before deciding to make the call but he was taken aback when his opponent revealed A-9os. Bonn’s K-9os needed to hit the board hard and he edged ahead when the K-T-2 flop hit the felt. Silverstein had several outs but failed to find any salvation on the final two streets as Bonn landed the six-figure jackpot and National Championship seat.

The WSOP Circuit will now travel to Harrah’s New Orleans for the final leg of the 2011-2102 tour. The 11-day festival of poker is set to run from May 10 through 21.

The final table results and payouts:

Three hundred and twelve runners anted up for the two scheduled starting flights, but Overton stole the show after amassing a stack almost twice the size of his challengers.

There were scores of notable names aiming to cruise through to Day 2, and it proved to be a fruitful session for talented duo Cory Mascagni and Tuan Phan. Phan topped the leader board early on after misclicking with a two pair. Phan only meant to call down an opponent’s all-in shove but made a re-raise after dropping several grey chips onto the felt.

His unorthodox move was eventually ruled as a legal raise and another player opted to make the call with a flush draw. However, Phan prevailed after rivering a superior full house to send both players to the rail. Several other pros also prospered. Andy Frankenberger, Rachel Kranz, Bryan Devonshire and Dennis Phillips will all return on Monday.

Tripp Kirk was among the 154 players who departed. Kirk took down the WSOPC St. Louis Main Event last month but his hopes of scoring a remarkable back-to-back triumph were dashed after being eliminated twice on Day 1. La Sengphet, Ari Engel, Jamie Kerstetter, Manh Nguyen and Craig Bergern also exited stage right.

Kyle Cartwright is hot on Overton’s heels after benefiting from a huge exchange with Craig Bergeron during the final level. Bergeron took the post flop initiative with a couple of sizeable bets before re-raising all in on the river. Cartwright insta-called before tabling a straight flush to snare the spoils and end an entertaining day on a high.

The top ten and respective chip counts:

1. Aaron Overton     172400
2. Cory Mascagni     123000
3. Tuan Phan              121800
4. Rachel Kranz        94000
5. Kyle Cartwright   89600
6. Ryan Tepen           86500
7. Rex Clinkscales   81800
8. Antoine White     80000

Fouksman heads a talented final 11 in Chester, Pennsylvania ahead of a defining session on Tuesday.

One hundred and fifty-eight runners had returned on Sunday but a frenetic 14 level session saw a wealth of notable names frequent the rail as the event neared its business end. Amanda Musumeci, Rachel Kranz, Allen Kessler, Everett Carlton, Kenny Milam, Dennis Phillips, Todd Terry, Bryan Devonshire and Tim Finne all departed on the wrong side of the money bubble.

Kyle Cartwright had crashed the top five chip counts on the opening day but his hopes of taking down the $109,760 jackpot and coveted WSOPC Championship ring ended abruptly after making a huge play with pocket queens. An opponent who flipped over A-Qos and promptly improved to quad aces to snare the spoils called down Cartwright’s pre-flop shove.

Aaron Overton began the day at the top of the leader board and looked in total control until an unfortunate exchange with Rex Clinckscales. Overton inst-called an all-in bet from Clinckscales on a T-K-7 flop but was dismayed to find his set of sevens had been bettered b Clinckscales set of Kings. Overton failed to recover from that setback and eventually headed home in 24th place.

Several other pros managed to procure a pay cheque before exiting stage right. Michael Shasho ($2,788), Brandon Fish ($5,623), Joshua Weizer ($8,206), Peter Ippolito ($3,545) and Mike Sica ($4,077) all added a four-figure sum to their respective live tournament resumes.

The leading players and chip counts: