And for all of the talk about how Phil Ivey could find his way to the title despite sitting 7th in chips or how Darvin Moon would choke his big lead away because he wasn’t a veteran players, the final showdown is set: Darvin Moon versus Joe Cada.

Much was made about Darvin Moon coming into the Main Event final table because he held 30% of the chips in play and was simply known as the logger from Maryland.  He had no flashy tournament resume or heroic online feats to back up his journey to the final table.  Instead, Moon’s prior poker experience was relegated to playing in small tourneys around his area.

One of the small tournaments Moon played in (a $130 satellite in Wheeling, West Virginia) would change his life since it earned him a spot in the WSOP Main Event.  After grabbing his spot in the Main Event, Moon was able to gather 58,930,000 chips before the final table – 24,130,000 more than the next closest competitor.

Moon’s opponent, Joseph Cada, had a much different road to the WSOP.  He definitely fits into the college-dropout-turned-poker-pro class of players that have been popping up in recent years.  However, unlike a lot of these players, Cada didn’t earn his success on the Internet but rather through live play at Casino Windsor and later in bigger tournaments.  Cada already has 11 WSOP cashes to his credit which is astounding for a 21 year-old, and he is guaranteed to add a big one when his duel with Darvin Moon concludes.

If you had to give one player the experience advantage then it would definitely be Cada, but Joseph is also at about a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage going against Moon.  The odds are definitely on Moon to come out on top, but don’t count out Cada since he survived elimination several times to make it this far.

As well as these great freerolls, following us on Twitter will give you the inside track on some of our newest promos, exclusive contests and much more.

So, how do I get in the tourney? I bet you’re asking that. Everyone asks me that. Here you go:

1. Follow Us!

2. Verify your account on the Secure Twitter Page (you’ll need to scroll down and enter your Twitter username; helpful image below)

3. Sign up!

Tourney Details:

• Saturday October 24th, 2009 – 14:30 Server Time (registration opens on Thursday @ 14:30)
• 2,500 Starting Chips
• Texas Hold’em
• Breaks every 60minutes

Since everybody with the internet/cell phone/big mouth (see: everyone in the world) is on Twitter nowadays, there are a lot of folks eligible for the tourney. Get in on the action and slug it out with a ton of our followers.

Here is an update from one of our Australia correspondants. As you know, CarbonPoker was proud to send some online poker winners to the PokerNews Cup – Australia. Here’s what Shane in Melbourne has to report on the action from Day 1A:

With the Carbon team decimated by 2 late withdrawals there was only one runner on day 1A, impser.

After watching a fair chunk of his play today I have renamed impser “The stone faced Estonian”, he is a rock at the table giving nothing away in his demeanor. Hour after hour after hour he can’t be broken.

Through to the dinner break impser was just under the average stack, still well alive but not moving to far ahead.

With the blinds at 200/400 impser limps in from middle position only to have a know blind thief raise it up to 4k. Without blinking impser plonks down a stack of his biggest chips, roughly 20k. The original raiser went into the tank thinking long and hard before folding and showing pocket 8’s. The stoney faced impser didn’t show his hand, never giving away more information than he has to.

After hitting a low of 13k impser had a late rush in the last session of play and has survived day one and with 65k in chips he is just under the average of 69k with 49 players remaining in flight 1A.

So with a perfect 100% record from day 1A expectations will be high when flight 1B kicks off tomorrow!

We’ll be sure to keep you posted on all of impser’s action throughout the PokerNews Cup. GL, man.

With the newest release of CarbonPoker software, things have been pretty busy around here. One of the great new features that has been keeping us busy is the Double Up SnG.

For those of you that haven’t played one of these bad boys, here are the general details:

Standard SitnGo beginning – the tourney begins when the pre-determined number of entrants have registered.

The big difference comes in the payout. Let’s use a 10 person SnG as the example. The payout structure awards the top half of players with double their buy-in and for the bottom half… nothing!

In the 10 person example, once the field is down to 5 participants, the tourney is over and payouts are awarded. Instead of a smaller percentage of winners, 50% doubles up while 50% cries quietly.

There are some interesting strategies that go on during this style of play. Staying tight near the bubble is a must — letting other players be the table hero and finally bouncing out the final competitor.

Thoughts on the new tourneys? Hit up the comments and let us know!

I know I work here, but CarbonPoker’s software was great already. With industry-leading features, tables and game play in place, these new refinements will definitely enhance your gaming experience.

My favorite new feature is the All In or Fold No Limit Texas Hold’em SnGs. The AIOFNLTHESNG are exactly how they sound: with each hand you either go all in or fold. Sure, it’s a definite gamble, but they’re really fun to play. During beta testing, I was all over that.

Levels for the AIOFNLTHESNG:

• $2 + $0.16
• $5 + $0.40
• $10 + $0.80

Other features involve new No Limit and Pot Limit Omaha tournaments, Half Pot Limit cash games, and Double Up SnGs.

Login to your account to see the new features and updates in action. Trust me; you’re going to love them.

The new CarbonPoker blog is bigger, brighter and newer than anything else on our site. Stay tuned for strategy, poker industry news, reports on pros and all of the latest and most exclusive promos that CarbonPoker has to offer.

I’d also like to take a second to introduce myself. If you’ve been a reader for the last few weeks, you’ll recognize me — I’m Alan and I’ll be locking this new blog down. Expect half-assed work, guest posts and the occasional nugget of pure, sweet gold. Gold is sweet, right?

After winning an unopposed hand, CarbonPoker gives you the power to show the table the unrevealed cards, or hide them forever.

How it Works

Basically, if you win a hand unopposed, you can choose to “rabbit” and show the table the final cards that would have been dealt (but in no way affect the hand).

Ie: if your aggressive betting took the pot after the flop had been dealt, using the Rabbit Hunt option will show the rest of the players the Turn and the River.

The only catch here is that you’ll also need to expose your two hole cards.

Why Would I do This?

While this is usually only a feature found at home games, CarbonPoker lets you take your psychological online poker game to the next level by showing that table you were bluffing, or that you had the nuts all along. This type of transparent play can actually keep your opponents guessing.

Also – this is a great way of rubbing your buddy’s nose in it when you beat his hand with rags.

1. Live Seat Tournaments – Ever wanted to go to Australia? Germany? Los Angeles ? You can now as every month there are several ways to score yourself a seat to one of the biggest live poker tournaments in existence. The MTT leaderboard, the SitnGo Leaderboard, and the Live Seat Satellites all give you chances to win massive live seat packages.

2. The VIP program. I know the carrot has been dangling for a while but the strings about to be cut so to speak. This is coming sooner than you think, and will change the way you play poker at Carbon. Well…the poker is still the same, but the rewards are awesome and..did I mention awesome?

3. New Release Software. The next version of the software client is coming very soon, this new release has a whole bunch new features and added awesomeness. Mini-mode, a table that you can make it look anyway you want. Its going to be an exciting time for poker at Carbon.

4. Special Tournaments – There’s a number of special tournaments coming over the next month or two. There’s also been some great poker action for all the forumer’s in the forum only tournaments

Poker on the hand held device. Iphones, blackberry’s and devices that allow us to be forever plugged into the system (and big brother), are also very capable platforms for us to extend our favorite game to. While poker phone games and similar apps have been around for quite some time, now with 3g and all the other networks we have access to constantly, it is likely you will see your favorite online poker rooms make the cross over to incorporate new gaming platforms into their mix and allow players to log on and play from their pocket computer.

As the tech wave washes over, stats and poker *accounting* will be sure to be swept up in the wake. Currently at live tournaments the world over, their is always a detailed display of information floating around, expect this to continue, to the point where chip counts become automated at each table.

Poker regulation and tax – its a big one at the moment with multiple actions going on in the US. The latest arguments come with the collapse of the economy, in that as governments look for more sin taxes to augment the coffers and other sin taxes, gambling and poker is a prime candidate…

What are your thoughts for the future of poker? Id love to hear them. $5 in your player account for the best response. Dont forget to post using your player name.