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The Aussie Millions is the only major global poker event held in Australia. It is hosted by Crown Casino in Melbourne. The poker tournament is held alongside another global sporting event which is the Australian Open Tennis Grand Slam Event. These two events were combined last year by the pairing of poker professional Gus Hansen and tennis professional Caroline Wozniacki. That affair is now over.

Two of the biggest events of the Aussie Millions are currently in progress. The first is the $10,600 buy in Main Event that will run from January 22 to January 28. One of the notable entries is Tom “Durrrr” Dwan. Dwan was closely associated with Full Tilt Poker. He has maintained a low profile ever since Full Tilt was hauled through the coals after Black Friday. Then Dwan had promised to part with a million dollars of his own money to pay the stranded Full Tilt players, should the online poker room default on its commitments. Full Tilt Poker has not yet paid its players, though it is in the process of striking a deal that would hopefully see the players getting their money. Dwan has therefore stated that he will wait another year to see how the saga unfolds, but has reiterated that his promise stands. On a happier note Dwan is in Australia with his girl friend. They were spotted in tourist hot spots like the Sydney Opera House (see picture). Dwan’s girl friend has apparently been Tweeting the not so personal details about their Australia trip.

Meanwhile the $100,000 Challenge for the high rollers is drawing to a close. At the time of writing five players remain. Gus Hansen is at the number five spot and will need to pull out something special to survive. His ex-girl friend Wozniacki is through to the quarter finals in her sport. Mikhail Smirnov is way ahead of the pack followed by Joe Hachem.

Maria Ho, the poker babe, has also entered the Aussie Millions Main Event. Maria has been the last woman standing in two major poker tournaments, WSOP and WSOPE. Can she repeat that feat in the Aussie Millions Main Event?

Annie Duke and Daniel Negreanu are in the news again but fortunately not together. The last time they appeared in the same news item it did not make good copy.

Annie Duke is now the Commissioner of the Epic Poker League, which is reportedly in the process of an acquisition deal with Pinnacle Entertainment. In an interview given to The Las Vegas Sun Annie was dismissive of the younger poker professionals. Annie said, “When somebody wins the Main Event, in general, they are known for a little while, and that’s kind of it. There are lots and lots of winners in the last five years, yet none of them have become huge stars and none of them have been able to generate the ratings that the original poker players did. The players falling into this class were named as Viktor “Isildur1” Blom, Tom “Durrrr” Dwan, Jonathan Duhamel and Pius Heinz. Incidentally Duhamel has had huge cashes in the big events at the PCA 2012. Annie said that if people from Middle America are asked who the best poker players are, the names that will be mentioned are Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow and Annie Duke. These people are brands unto themselves. Annie made full use of her brand name by reaching the final of Celebrity Apprentice a few years back.

Negreanu had to disagree. He praised Jason Mercier to the limit. Negreanu said, “There is no one in poker today that reminds me more of myself when I was 25 than Jason. He is a winner at poker and life. His consistent success has motivated me to get back on top of the game I love.” The “getting back on top” has motivated Negreanu to make two New Year Resolutions. He wants to regain the top spot on the four major all time money lists. In the Hendon Mob list Negreanu is second to Erik Seidel by almost $2 million. In the WPT list he is second to Carlos Mortensen by almost a million dollars. These goals are unlikely to be met. His second resolution is equally not maintainable. Negreanu has promised not to drink, socialize or engage in sexual activities prior to a major poker tournament.

The year 2011 did not end well for 2010 WSOP Main Event winner Jonathan Duhamel. On December 21 his home in Longueuil, just outside of Montreal, was invaded by assailants. Duhamel was badly beaten and tied up. His WSOP bracelet, a high-end Rolex watch and an unspecified amount of cash were stolen.

Following tip offs from the public, two men and one woman were charged and a fourth man was arrested and questioned by the police. The men arrested were John Stephan Clark Lemay, Andre Perron and Anthony Bourque. However, the woman, who was the first to be arrested, was the most interesting person in the case. She was Duhamel’s ex-girlfriend, 20-year-old Bianca Rojas-Latraverse (in picture), who dated Duhamel a few months ago. She was with Duhamel during the 2011 WSOP Main Event. With her arrest it was confirmed that the attack was not random. Bianca was charged with five offences including conspiracy. Bianca was the only one of the four suspects Duhamel knew.

A few days ago Duhamel spoke to CJAD Radio about the attack. He said that the attackers had entered his home posing as parcel deliverymen and beat him up. Duhamel said, “I’ve played hockey all my life, so I’ve had some fights – but not one like this one.” Duhamel also expressed regret over entering into a relationship with Bianca, and said that he was not surprised about her involvement. Duhamel described his five month relationship with Bianca as “rocky” and said that it included a pregnancy scare. “There’s no relationship that can end on good terms, so of course it was bad, but it wasn’t bad, like, real bad,” Duhamel said.

The Rolex has been traced, but the cherished WSOP bracelet is yet to be found. Speaking about the bracelet Duhamel said, “It means everything. It was a realization of a dream to me to win the biggest, most prestigious tournament in the world. It’s kind of like a Stanley Cup ring for me.” Seth Palansky, a spokesman for WSOP, said that the bracelet can be replaced. “We reached out to Jonathan when this occurred to let him know we’ll be able to replace it if need be. We’re not concerned with that yet. We’re going to let the police continue their investigation.”

Duhamel was in the news recently for promoting the $1 million buy-in bracelet event that will be added in WSOP 2012. Earlier in 2011 he featured in one of the WSOP Classic Rematches.

Last week Pius Heinz overcame odds of 9/1 to win the coveted WSOP 2011 Main Event. But unfortunately, his feat was relegated to the back pages of poker news because Leeann Tweeden thought that this was the best time to bare all in Playboy.

Leeann wears many hats in sports casting. To the poker world she is the sexy hostess of the NBC late night television show Poker After Dark. One of the best episodes was titled Lonesome Shark and featured six of the most eligible bachelors of the poker world. Leeann entered this show in the fourth episode and saw it through till September this year. Poker After Dark went off the air because its sponsors Full Tilt Poker got into big trouble after Black Friday.

Leeann always had plenty of action on the sidelines. Last year she entertained the US Armed Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Leeann had been on the cover of Playboy in 1996 as a host for ESPN’s workout show “Fitness Beach”, but then she had kept her clothes on. The bare all shoot had been a work-in-process for a year, and after September she decided to go for it. For 20 years she has made a living in show business and she reckoned, “…why not do this?”

The 38 year Leeann thinks she looks better now than she did in at the time of her first Playboy shoot. She has always been voluptuous and is not ashamed of her age or her curves. She said, “Everyone is telling me they like a little meat on the bones!” Leeann did this for herself and not anyone else. She had long talks with her husband, an Air Force pilot, before saying yes. Then she saucily adds, “If people don’t like it, they don’t have to look.”

The December 2011 issue of Playboy in which Leeann appears in her birthday suit is already on the stands. The photos were shot by female photographer Odette Sugerman. Leeann said, “The photos are beautiful, tasteful and very artistic. I felt the time was right to do this. And it helps add to my legacy.”

There is something about Annie Duke that ignites the ogre in Daniel Negreanu. Last week Annie was one of the poker babes nominated to the short list from which inductees to the Poker Hall of Fame will be chosen. In an interview given to Poker Listings during the current 2011 World Series of Poker Europe in Cannes, Negreanu questioned the credentials for which Annie was included in that list.

He said, “For what? Robbing people at UB? Owing Russ Hamilton money and never paying him back? For stealing money from people at the poker table? For representing poker in the worst light imaginable when she was on Celebrity Apprentice?” Negreanu added that if one took out the “F” and added a “Sh” in the word fame then he though Annie should be inducted. The clear implication was that Annie Duke, according to him, has been a disgrace to poker and should be listed in a Poker Hall of Shame.

Not content at clawing Annie, Negreanu went after her brother Howard Lederer as well. Lederer has been one of the prime movers of the Full Tilt online poker room, which has remained closed since Black Friday. The US Justice Department has claimed that Lederer was running an elaborate ponzi scheme at Full Tilt. Negreanu said, “Along with her brother, the Lederer family would be the king and queen of the poker Hall of Shame.”

The feud between Negreanu and Annie is said to go back over ten years. It hit an all time low about a year ago when Negreanu called Annie a f****** c*** in a live interview.

Annie is now playing a major role in the Federated Sports + Gaming, which has 218 poker professionals as members. They are grouped into four categories and Negreanu falls in the most prestigious 5 Year Card category. FS+G also aims to enforce a rigid code of ethics on its poker professional members. It cannot be said whether Negreanu’s outburst violates the code and calls for any action against him.

Negreanu was nominated for Poker’s Hall of Fame in both 2009 and 2010 but was not inducted. This year a new rule sets the minimum age for induction at 40 and Negreanu has now to wait for at least three years before he gets a look in. Maybe it is this that has provoked him into that vituperative tirade.