Poker Tournament

Poker tournament news and information from around the world

Sit n’ Go with the Dough - On Hollywood

Hollywood Poker’s Sit n’ Go tournaments are the perfect way to start building your bankroll - without a major cash investment! These tournaments are very affordable and will easily fit into the schedule of any player at any skill level. You can get into a Sit n’ Go tournament for as little as just $2+.25!

11/20/2008 06:31 PM

Players cruise for cash at Caribbean Poker Classic

The ship left port Sunday and will hit locations in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten before returning back to Miami this Sunday. For poker players, however, the action is all on board.

Only a few hours after disembarking, the action got started in the cruise ship's poker room with a No-Limit Hold'em supersatellite. Since then, Caribbean Poker Classic has also hosted a $300 and a $400 No-Limit Hold'em event, as well as another supersatellite.

Today there is a $500 No-Limit Hold'em tournament as players settle in one more time before the $2,500 main event kicks off on Friday. The main event is where the big action will be.

Poker players from all over the world won prize packages for the main event in online poker qualifiers. Some players won packages that just got them on the seven-day cruise and some cash for travel and expenses. Others won full $10,000 packages that included the cruise, money for travel and the buy-in for the main event, plus $2,300 in tournament vouchers.

In previous years the Caribbean Poker Classic has taken place on land. The past three years it was hosted at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort and The Royal Beach Casino. Before that it was at the Maho Beach Casino Resort in St. Maarten.

No matter where it's been, however, the money has always been good for participants.

In 2004 at the Maho Beach Casino Resort, the buy-in was set at $2,500 and the event drew 104 players. They competed for a $150,800 prize pool, and Grant Lang from Danbury, Conn., walked away the winner with $111,000.

With a change of venue to St. Kitts in 2005, the event also saw a boosted buy-in. Players posted a $6,300 buy-in, and when all 249 players were settled in, the prize pool was $1,458,480.

Bjorn Arild Wiik, from Norway, was the winner that year. He earned a $347,880 top prize.

In 2006, 155 players put up the $6,300 to play, resulting in a slightly lower $930,000 prize pool this time around. Fredrik Haugen from Gothenburg, Sweden, got the best of that prize pool, taking home the $221,000 first-place prize.

Last year, the prize pool was $970,000 after 153 players came out to play. Brian Jensen, from Denmark, picked up $237,500 for the win.

On Friday, poker fans can find out how many players came out for the 2008 Caribbean Poker Classic and who will triumph over them as our very own Matt Showell sails the open waters to cover the event for the Live Tournaments section.

11/20/2008 04:37 PM

Barbosa does Portugal proud at EPT Polish Open

An Italian may have held the chip lead coming in to the final table, but it was the tiny Iberian nation of Portugal that produced its first major poker tournament winner last night when Joao Barbosa won the EPT Warsaw main event.

To make the day even more special, Barbosa's come-from-behind win occurred on his 26th birthday.

Barbosa entered the final table seventh in chips and faced a tough fight given the strength of the remaining field.

French professional player Ludovic Lacay, EPT Prague champion Arnaud Mattern and the incoming chip leader, Team PokerStars Pro's Dario Minieri, loomed large as the day began at 2 p.m. local time yesterday, but the day would see the cards turn against them all as Barbosa climbed to the top of the heap.

After the usual jittery final-table opening rounds, Swedish short stack Michael Muheim was the first to go. After Sergey Shcherbatskiy limped in, the Swede shipped in his stack holding A-9. His timing couldn't have been any worse; Shcherbatskiy held pocket rockets, and they stood up to send Muheim home in ninth place with 78,120 PLN.

Not long afterward Lacay became the next casualty, thanks to a hand gone wrong in the big blind with pocket aces. Germany's Nico Behling opened the pot and then called a Lacay out-of-position reraise holding pocket eights, and when all the money got in the middle on the eight-high flop he was in fantastic shape.

The board ran out bricks and the Frenchman retired for the day in eighth place with 121,520 PLN. Behling, meanwhile, used Lacay's chips to begin running over the table.

The German would come back a little closer to earth but still manage to retain the chip lead. Minieri, meanwhile, decided to take out the only other Italian at the table coin-flip style. Super Dario's #Ah#Qh was racing against Andrea Benelli's pocket jacks, but two hearts on the flop and a third on the turn sent Benelli home in seventh place with 169,260 PLN.

Minieri would try to deliver another knockout blow with a suited ace, but his #Ad#Jd was in bad shape against Barbosa's pocket jacks.

Barbosa doubled his stack there and then quickly caught another break. The short-stacked Shcherbatskiy made a move with #Ad#5h and Barbosa called with pocket queens, which held up to send the Russian packing in sixth place. He earned 212,660 PLN, quite a return on a $7.50 PokerStars satellite investment.

After a Minieri double-up to take the chip lead away from Behling, the next player on the chopping block was EPT Prague champ Mattern. The Frenchman would bow out early despite getting in way ahead on two big hands.

On the first, his A-K fell to Bulgarian Atanas Gueorguiev's A-8 to take away half his stack; on the second, his pocket tens fell to Barbosa's pocket eights when the turn produced a set for the birthday boy. Mattern's dreams of becoming the first-ever repeat EPT champion were dashed in fifth place, earning him 269,080 PLN.

Gueorguiev had survived domination to double through Mattern, but when he got in ahead things didn't turn out nearly as well. The Bulgarian's #Ac#Kc was in fantastic shape on a king-high board against Barbosa's #Ks#Qs when all his money went in the middle, but a queen on the river was all it took to send him home in fourth place. He earned 325,500 PLN for his finish.

Following the dinner break Barbosa held the chip lead three-handed, but the more experienced Minieri was still a threat despite sitting on the shortest stack. The Italian even found a pocket pair to get his stack in the middle, but his sevens were dominated by Barbosa's pocket nines.

The two-outer never came, and just like that, Super Dario was done. He took home 455,700 PLN for another fine EPT performance.

Down to the final two, play slowed once more as both would-be champions played very carefully. Barbosa held a chip lead of 2-1 over Behling when they began, and worked his advantage up as high as 3-1 before crashing back down to even again.

It briefly looked like Barbosa might lose his lead when he shoved A-9 into Behling's A-J, but the board produced a split pot and Barbosa stayed ahead.

From there it was just a matter of time before Barbosa put Behling away. The final hand saw the German make a desperation all-in reraise holding #Js#7s and Barbosa call with #Ah#Th. They both paired on the flop, but Barbosa caught the best of it with his ace.

The deck couldn't save Behling on the turn or river, sending him home as the runner-up with 759,500 PLN. Barbosa, meanwhile, took home 1,358,420 PLN and a couple of sweet trophies, not to mention the honor of being Portugal's first major tournament winner.

To find even more coverage of the EPT stop in Warsaw, visit the Live Tournaments section.

The EPT will take a few weeks off before returning to action in Prague on Dec. 9. As usual, PokerListings will be on hand with the top-notch tournament coverage you've come to expect, so be sure to join us then for all the action live from Eastern Europe.

11/20/2008 02:17 PM

Chili Poker Players Take Home the Cash in Budapest

History was made when Chili Poker’s unmatched loyalty program sent nine players to the first major tournament event ever to take place in Hungary. The “famous 9” were flown to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, compliments of the Chili Poker Loyalty Program. The prize they won was a full blown prize package, which paid for of all their buy-ins to the events and spending money as well!

11/20/2008 12:09 PM

PokerStars.net EPT Warsaw, Final Table: Barbosa Celebrates Birthday with Win

Joao Barbosa became the second player in a month to make the final table of an EPT tournament on his birthday, but he bested Gino Alacqua's feat by a mile when he took down the title and the €367,141 top prize at the PokerStars...

11/20/2008 05:30 AM

Watchman secures GUKPT Blackpool win

Brian Clarke, a night watchman from Scotland, was on guard last weekend and defended his chip stack at what the GUKPT is calling one of its most incredible final tables ever to take place in the United Kingdom.

There were 341 players in the GUKPT Blackpool main event that stretched over four days. The final table came down to Clarke, Damian Evans, Zachary Ford, Darren Hickman, Andreas Hoivold, Guy Johnson, Gareth Jones, Eddie Lundon and Alan Vinson.

Evans was the first one out at the final table, followed by Johnson. Jones, who is a two-time British champion, hung on until seventh place.

Lundon and Hickman were the next to hit the rail, while Vinson took fourth place. Vinson's son Ben also made the final table in this event during the previous GUKPT season.

Hoivold and Ford both held the chip lead at various stages of the final table, but Hoivold eventually fell in third place. Had he won, the Norwegian would have become the first Scandinavian winner of a GUKPT event.

Ford had a massive chip lead going into heads-up. It looked like it was going to be a short match as Clarke's tournament life was on the line with 6-5.

Ford had him beat with K-T, but a five on the river gave Clarke a pair and a new lease on his tournament life. According to the GUKPT, Clarke was unstoppable in all-in hands from that point on.

A few more double-ups later, Clarke had the lead. An hour into heads-up play he had the win as well.

On the final hand Ford held A-K against Clarke's pocket queens. Ford seemed to look good when he hit a king on the flop. An ace on the turn looked even better, but then the river brought a queen to give Clarke trips.

This was Ford's second GUKPT final in 2008. He finished third at the Manchester leg in April. The final-table results were:

There were a few other events during the nine-day stop in Blackpool as well. The G casino played host to a £150 Pot-Limit Hold'em Freezeout that maxed out at 200 players, and another 37 players joined the game as alternates.

With a total of 237 players, it was the largest side event so far in the GUKPT's two-year history.

There was also a £300 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout that saw 207 players enter. Marc Goodwin posted another win with this event, which also puts him atop the GUKPT leaderboard for the season.

There's only one more stop on the tour left, the Grand Final, so Goodwin is the favorite now to be the GUKPT player of the year and earn the £10,000 prize that goes with it.

Sam Trickett also posted another win in Blackpool by taking down Saturday's £300 No-Limit Hold'em event.

The £3,000 Grand Final will take place at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. The main event is scheduled to take place Nov. 27-30, and warm-up events begin Thursday, Nov. 20.

Related Articles:

• GUKPT to host championship in December
• Online pro secures GUKPT victory
• Ex-footballer wins GUKPT Luton stop
• Trickett or treat: Sam Trickett wins GUKPT Leg 6

11/19/2008 05:10 PM

Gap Concept Assignment

It's Not All About The Cards Now that we have a basic understanding of the Gap Concept, let's do an assignment that will better help you understand it.For this assignment you are to do the following: Play 3 NLHE tournaments at an online poker site such as Pokerstars or Full Tilt Poker.

11/19/2008 12:58 PM

Full Tilt floats $3k to PokerListings players

Menezes, who is currently living in Australia, is a 23-year-old business student who mainly plays poker in between going to classes and studying. He said he's been playing a lot more lately, and that paid off with a ticket to the weekly $3k freeroll at Full Tilt Poker and his eventual $750 win in the event.

All it takes to qualify for the weekly freeroll is to have signed up at Full Tilt Poker through a PokerListings.com link and then to earn 100 player points during the week before the freeroll.

Menezes, who plays as Nilius85 at Full Tilt Poker, qualified for the Nov. 8 freeroll and went on to top the field of 91 players.

"Oh, I would say the field was pretty decent," Menezes said about the freeroll. His skills, and a bit of luck, helped pull him to a victory though.

"Before the final table, when around 10 were left the guy to my right made a raise, and I reraised him all-in," Menezes said. "I was holding A-Q here and he turned over A-K, but a queen on the flop and blanks on the turn and river gave me a nice stack entering the final table."

He said that by the time he was heads-up at the final table, he had a $108,000 stack compared to his opponent's $27,000.

"In the final hand I was dealt #Qc#3c. I put pressure on my opponent by going all-in, forcing him out of the pot as he limped, but he did call with suited #Kh#8h," Menezes said. "The flop came #Jc#Qd#2s, turn was #5h and the river a lowly #4d. I won with a pair of queens."

The final-table results were:

Menezes has only been playing poker for about a year and a half. The freeroll win is his second-biggest win to date, the first being a $786 win in $2,000 guaranteed Razz tournament.

This wasn't his first shot at the weekly $3,000 freeroll at Full Tilt Poker either. He also qualified and played in the Nov. 1 freeroll, though he didn't make the money that time.

It may be fairly easy for Menezes to qualify for the freerolls since he primarily plays at Full Tilt Poker when he finds the time to play online poker each week.

"I think the software and the variety of tournaments at different buy-in amounts are really great," Menezes said about Full Tilt Poker.

He's also a regular at PokerListings.com. He said he's on the site quite regularly to see what's going on in the poker world.

"I think it's a great, with the bonuses and their coverage on the international poker scene. It's a great site," Menezes said.

Menezes isn't the only one who's been benefiting recently from the exclusive freerolls at Full Tilt Poker. Here are winners from other recent weeks as well.

Nov. 15 $3,000 Freeroll - 93 players

Nov. 1 $3,000 Freeroll - 89 players

Oct. 25 $3,000 Freeroll - 100 players

For your chance to participate in these special events for PokerListings players as well as many other things the poker site has to offer, visit Full Tilt Poker.

Related Articles:

• JohnnyBax picks up FTOPS X win
• FTP, ((WPT)) sign a new deal

11/18/2008 12:52 PM

Editor wins first-ever PKR Live main event

The poker magazine editor walks away with a $20,000 first-place prize after 20 hours of play over two days. The playing field was seeded with players from all over the world who made their way to London's Loose Cannon Club to play for more than $90,000 in prizes.

According to PKR, the event was a success, and player comments included "better than sex," "a success of mammoth proportions," and "an awesome weekend."

The PKR Live weekend got off to a start with a $60 buy-in tournament that had 138 players. The prize pool was more than $8,000 and the top prize went to Gareth "ChivalrousGent" Rees.

The next day of the series saw the start of the main event. It was filled to capacity and had a prize pool of $75,000. It took two days of play to find a winner, and the final-table players on the second day were:

• Barry 'Bazultra' Cole (Southampton, U.K.)
• Philip 'escalope' Conneller (London, U.K.)
• Kent-Ivan 'GreenFaith' Danielsen (Arendal, Norway)
• Henrik 'Pokey85' Eklund (Stockholm, Sweden)
• Thomas 'OleEinar' Gunia (Weimar, Germany)
• Andrew 'Alfiemyster' Miles (Southampton, U.K.)
• Daniel 'Dappadan777' Moosah (London, U.K.)
• Raymond 'callmebabe' O'Mahoney (Dublin, Ireland)
• Michael 'TheSqueeze' Panayiotou (London, U.K.)
• Pieter 'EurootJE' Salet (Tilburg, Netherlands)

Conneller headed into the final table with a $219,000 stack of chips. According to PKR he showed solid play to become the clear chip leader and build a wall of chips during the three-and-a-half-hour final table.

Prior to the start of the final table, Conneller said his favorite hand had to be pocket sixes looking to improve to trips. It was proof he had a slightly sinister side, which made it no surprise when he ended up winning the tournament with 7-2 offsuit.

On the final hand, Conneller called his opponents' all-in pre-flop.

"I've always wanted to win a tournament with seven-deuce," Conneller said as he turned up his 7-2 offsuit and was facing J-8 from Henrik 'Pokey85' Eklund, from Sweden.

Eklund had top two pair after the flop, and then Conneller hit runner-runner on the turn and river to come up with a straight.

The final-table results were:

While the main event concluded, PKR Live also hosted a third event, a $10,000 bounty freeroll that offered extra prizes for players that eliminated one of 12 PKR staff playing in the tournament.

Demetris "magicmoves" Theophanous was the last player standing in that tournament, bringing a close to the first-ever PKR Live.

There's still plenty of action at the virtual felt, however. If you're interested in playing online and potentially getting to go to one of the live events as well, sign up at PKR.

Related Articles:

• PKR helps players find love
• PKR Live set to debut in November
• PKR poker up to two million users

11/18/2008 12:08 PM

Marcus beats APPT Manila field

On his way to victory at the final table Van Marcus looked like he could do no wrong. He got lucky on what many might say is an unfair proportion of hands, but don't let that distract you from the skill this player does have.

"I was saying to my friends I don't know what I did the last few weeks but someone up there must be looking out for me because this was amazing," Marcus said in his post-game interview.

"It was like I could feel the card coming. It was an unbelievable adrenaline rush. I was speechless. It's pretty hard to explain unless you were there. It was one of the better moments of my career and maybe even of my life."

According to PokerStars, this young pro from Melbourne has been earning consistent results on the real and the virtual felt for several years. Not only was this his third APPT cash, all have been final-table finishes.

Marcus also has numerous cashes in Australian events as well as at the World Series of Poker. Finally adding a win in a major international event puts Marcus firmly in the spotlight PokerStars believes this player deserves.

If Marcus hadn't won the tournament, his streak of good fortune may have been lost among other compelling stories from the final table. With three Koreans in the mix, three Filipinos at the table and Team PokerStars Pro's Lee Nelson looking for a win, it was a tough call as to what would grab the most headlines at the table.

"The performance of the Filipino players in their home event cannot go without mention," said PokerStars in its blog on the tournament.

"Of the 32 players who cashed, 10 were from the Philippines with Ramil Tandoc's fifth-place surpassing the performance of Derick Hernandez (ninth) in the 2007 APPT Manila main event."

Korea no longer has to look to expatriates such as David Saab or Kevin Song to get its poker inspiration. The three Koreans at the final table - Tai Jun Noh, Hyoung Jin Nam and Chang Yong Suk - put on a show at the final table with their bold, aggressive play.

In the end it came down to Marcus versus Noh in heads-up play. Marcus had the advantage when play began as he held $1.6 million in chips to Noh's $1 million.

It was a lead Noh would be unable to overcome. After a long battle, it came down to Marcus going all-in after a flop of #8h#6s#3c and getting a call from Noh.

Marcus was looking at an open-ended straight draw with his #9d#7d, and Noh had a pair with his #Jc#8d. Even though Noh had the edge with the pair, you almost had to give Marcus the advantage because of the lucky streak he'd been having.

And that streak did continue as a #Td hit on the turn to give Marcus his straight. There wasn't anything that could save Noh on the river, and Marcus picked up $162,856 for the win plus a seat in the APPT Championship event in Sydney, Australia.

The final table played out as follows:

The next stop for the APPT is the Championship in Sydney. The tournament has a $6,300 AUD buy-in and is scheduled for Dec. 2-7 at the Star City Casino.

Along with the online qualifiers from PokerStars, you can bet Marcus will be there to try to earn another APPT title.

"Yeah," Marcus said. "100% you'll see me at the final. I would have been there even if I hadn't cashed in this event because I love playing APPT events. They're great events with great structures."

For more of our live coverage from the APPT Manila, check out the Live Tournaments section.

11/17/2008 05:20 PM

Michael Binger wins WSOPC Tahoe

Chris Ferguson did make a good return to the Lake Tahoe event. He ended up out in 11th place, leaving Michael Binger, Allen Kessler and Scott Clements to represent the pros at the final table.

Binger looked to be the clear favorite when the action got under way. He went in as the chip leader, but it was Ty Stewart who took control and soon looked to be the man to beat.

Stewart's first casualty was Clements. The two clashed early on in the final table and Clements couldn't muscle his way to a winning hand. Binger worked to keep up, taking out Bill Bostick when he sucked out an ace on the turn.

But for the most part it was "The Ty Stewart Show," as Martin Derbyshire so aptly put it in his recap of the final table.

Stewart is a relatively unknown cash-game player who was playing in his first major tournament. The only other cash he has on his Hendon Mob record is an eighth-place finish in a small tournament in San Pablo back in 1999.

The deck was very kind to him at the final table in Lake Tahoe, and Stewart seemed on the fast track to victory. Binger hung in and managed to make it to heads-up against Stewart.

Stewart was looking at a chip advantage when heads-up began. His $1.1 million in chips was hedging out Binger's $825,000.

According to the PokerListings Live Updates for the event, Stewart went to work fast, using his advantage to push Binger around. It got to the point where Stewart was sitting with about $1.7 million in chips in front of him to Binger's $200,000.

Binger kept his cool despite the huge disadvantage and started clawing his way back into contention. He started shoving in with an ever-growing stack of chips and soon he was taking the chip lead.

On the final hand, Stewart raised $40,000 pre-flop, and Binger called. They saw a flop of #9d#8c#4h, and Stewart bet out again to make it $60,000 to go.

Binger popped it up $180,000 and got an all-in from Stewart. Binger nearly insta-called and turned up #Qh#9h for a lead over Stewart's #Ah#8h.

The rest of the board came #Td#Qs to give Binger the win, a $181,379 top prize and a $10,000 seat in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event.

The final-table results were:

11/17/2008 03:18 PM

durrrr, WSOP champ join

Eastgate and Tom "durrrr" Dwan are the latest pro poker players to announce they'll be playing in the Premier League III. durrrr is considered one of the hottest young guns on the poker circuit, and Eastgate may be joining him on that list after winning the Main Event.

Not only did Eastgate earn the second-largest tournament payout in WSOP history last week, he also broke Phil Hellmuth's record as the youngest player to win the Main Event.

"This is my first event since the WSOP Main Event final table, so I am delighted to be part of a world-class lineup," Eastgate said. "I am the man in form and want to show people why I am the World Champion."

Some of the other pros who've signed on for the PartyPoker Premier League III are Tony G, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Annette Obrestad, Roland De Wolfe, Andy Black, Juha Helppi, J.C. Tran, Nenad Medic and Victoria Coren.

The event will have a definite international flair with all sorts of countries represented, and the field is a good mix of old-guard versus new players.

Eastgate brings some new blood to the mix, as does his fellow 22-year-old player Dwan. durrrr is well-known for his online play, where he's believed to have won more than $6 million in 2008.

#img: tom-dwan_16091.jpg: left: durrrr is no stranger to high-stakes action.#

If you want proof of durrrr's high-stakes action, all you have to do is take a look at some of the biggest pots ever played online in the PokerListings MarketPulse section. In October he played a big part in some record-setting hands, though not always on the winning end of those hands.

Along with his online reputation, Dwan has been building a reputation on the live poker circuit as well. He had two eighth-place finishes in 2008 WSOP events, plus he's been logging in cashes all over the world from the Aussie Millions to World Poker Tour events to ((PokerStars.com)) European Poker Tour events.

"I'm really excited about coming to play the Premier League and am honored to be invited," Dwan said. "The line-up is simply world class and I am coming to London determined to win."

A win will mean a pretty good payday for one of the pros. The buy-in for the Premier League III was raised to $75,000, and PartyPoker is also adding in another $350,000 to create a total prize pool of $1.25 million.

Twelve players will be taking their shot at that money. All 12 will play six times in the preliminary stages to earn points. The top four players from the preliminaries will then move on to the final table.

That still leaves two seats open at the final table. The next four players in the leaderboard will battle in heads-up matches to earn a spot at the final table.

Related Articles:

• Tony G, Devilfish join Premier lineup
• Premier League begins in November

11/17/2008 12:35 PM

durrrr, WSOP champ join

Eastgate and Tom "durrrr" Dwan are the latest pro poker players to announce they'll be playing in the Premier League III. durrrr is considered one of the hottest young guns on the poker circuit, and Eastgate may be joining him on that list after winning the Main Event.

Not only did Eastgate earn the second-largest tournament payout in WSOP history last week, he also broke Phil Hellmuth's record as the youngest player to win the Main Event.

"This is my first event since the WSOP Main Event final table, so I am delighted to be part of a world-class lineup," Eastgate said. "I am the man in form and want to show people why I am the World Champion."

Some of the other pros who've signed on for the PartyPoker Premier League III are Tony G, Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Annette Obrestad, Roland De Wolfe, Andy Black, Juha Helppi, J.C. Tran, Nenad Medic and Victoria Coren.

The event will have a definite international flair with all sorts of countries represented, and the field is a good mix of old-guard versus new players.

Eastgate brings some new blood to the mix, as does his fellow 22-year-old player Dwan. durrrr is well-known for his online play, where he's believed to have won more than $6 million in 2008.

#img: tom-dwan_16091.jpg: left: durrrr is no stranger to high-stakes action.#

If you want proof of durrrr's high-stakes action, all you have to do is take a look at some of the biggest pots ever played online in the PokerListings MarketPulse section. In October he played a big part in some record-setting hands, though not always on the winning end of those hands.

Along with his online reputation, Dwan has been building a reputation on the live poker circuit as well. He had two eighth-place finishes in 2008 WSOP events, plus he's been logging in cashes all over the world from the Aussie Millions to World Poker Tour events to ((PokerStars.com)) European Poker Tour events.

"I'm really excited about coming to play the Premier League and am honored to be invited," Dwan said. "The line-up is simply world class and I am coming to London determined to win."

A win will mean a pretty good payday for one of the pros. The buy-in for the Premier League III was raised to $75,000, and PartyPoker is also adding in another $350,000 to create a total prize pool of $1.25 million.

Twelve players will be taking their shot at that money. All 12 will play six times in the preliminary stages to earn points. The top four players from the preliminaries will then move on to the final table.

That still leaves two seats open at the final table. The next four players in the leaderboard will battle in heads-up matches to earn a spot at the final table.

Related Articles:

• Tony G, Devilfish join Premier lineup
• Premier League begins in November

11/17/2008 12:35 PM

GUKPT to host championship in December

The tournament is a freeroll only open to players who won Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour events during the 2008 season. So far that's a pretty select field, as only 76 players have qualified for the event.

Twenty more places are still available though for players who win events at the two remaining festivals on the tour.

Leg 9 at Blackpool is already under way and will crown a main event champion on Sunday. The final chance for players to earn their way to the Champion of Champions event is at the Grand Final in London.

The Grand Final events run from Nov. 20 to Nov.30. The £3,000 buy-in main event will find a winner on Nov. 30.

The Champion of Champions tournament will be a unique event on the tour not only because of the limits on who's eligible to play, but also because of its structure.

The number of starting chips each player receives will depend on the buy-in of the event they won to qualify for the Champion of Champions. Players who won side events with a buy-in of up to £300 will receive 5,000 in chips to start with.

Players who won side events with a buy-in of more than £300 will start the Champion of Champions with 7,000 in chips.

The main event winners will have a bigger advantage, starting with 10,000 in chips. The winner of the £3,000 buy-in Grand final will get to start with 15,000 in chips.

There's good news for multiple winners as well. Those players who won more than one qualifying event during the season will start with the combined total of starting chips for the events they won, up to a maximum of 25,000 in chips per player.

Only a small handful of players have managed to earn multiple wins on the tour this season. They include Jeff Kimber, Dave Penly, Jerome Bradpiece, Derek Miller, Glenn Ashworth and Andy Andreou.

There are a couple other familiar names who will be in the Champion of Champions as well. Julian Thew was the first main event winner of the season, and Ian Frazer also picked up a win on Leg 6 of the tour.

One other twist to the GUKPT Champion of Champion event is that players will be asked to vote on two possible prize structures before the action gets started. The structure with the most votes will be used for the event.

For more information about the GUKPT and the list of qualifiers so far for the Champion of Champions, visit www.grosvenorukpokertour.com.

Related Articles:

• Online pro secures GUKPT victory
• Ex-footballer wins GUKPT Luton stop
• Trickett or treat: Sam Trickett wins GUKPT Leg 6

11/16/2008 12:13 PM

Government Bullshit Strikes Again

Just think, I played poker tonight on Full Tilt Poker, a charity tournament “Bad Beat on Kidney Failure” to help someone that is in need and in a lot of pain. But it’s a criminal act because the government doesn’t want us to play poker online. And what did they really accomplish with all the [...]

11/12/2008 10:59 PM

Get in the Game

This is about poker and LIFE! Life as we go through our daily schedules and routines and manage as we fade sickness, poor health, and trying to survive feeling like shit, and trying to find a way to pay our bills and even our rent. There’s a charity tournament kicking off tomorrow at Full Tilt [...]

11/11/2008 09:06 AM

Back Down to Earth

When I finished fourth in the £1500 nlh event at the WSOPE I won £44,588. That is, at least, what it says on numerous websites and in most of the enormous number of poker magazines. In none of them does it say that I swapped 3% with five different people, four of whom doubled to 6% shortly before their untimely exits. There's also no mention on any of the sites, or in any of the magazines, of the seven people I staked in this tournament, all of whom gave me nothing but a...

11/03/2008 07:41 AM

Tomorrow is…

once again the glorious day that we’ve all waited for for the last two weeks is here. It’s POKER TIME! Let’s meet at PokerStars, 2100 EST, in a private tournament requiring the password ‘donkeys’ and a $5+$.50 entry fee on Sunday, the 2nd. Don’t be late and bring your chatter box fingers with you. We [...]

11/01/2008 08:20 PM

24th of October

If you’re one of the most successful internet poker players in the world, being banned from both Full Tilt and Pokerstars is going to be a very serious handicap to your earning potential, yet that is exactly what has happened to Sorel Mizzi. The man who for the past few years has been tearing up the online tournament scene with over a million dollars worth of cashes on Pokerstars alone now finds himself excluded from both the big two sites. Back in October 2007 Mizzi was banned from Full...

10/24/2008 12:13 PM

Shane Warne Foundation

I will be playing the Joe Hachem & Shane Warne Charity Poker Tournament on Monday. This is a very important event and I want everyone that’s been playing at the Crown during the PokerNews Cup to come out and make it even bigger and better than last year. Warnie and I have become [...]

10/23/2008 06:58 PM

The PokerNews Cup and More

I’m in Australia right now playing the PokerNews Cup. Everyone seems to be extremely relaxed and having a great time with the tournament and yesterday we played 10k H.O.R.S.E. event just for fun. It was a pretty big money game for most of the people in the casino and there were just a [...]

10/14/2008 07:28 PM

Win an Irish Open EPT Seat at Cake Poker

Celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style while jetting to Dublin, Ireland for the 2008 Irish Open with CakePoker. With a prize pool guaranteed at €3 Million this annual tournament is on target to upholding its 2007 status as Europe’s largest...

01/01/2008 08:40 AM

Pruning the Crap

One thing I have noticed is that most poker blogs suck! There are some amazing ones out there, but for the most part, they suck! Why do they suck? Because they are mostly about how much or how little somebody won or lost last night. They are mostly about a hand history and some text about why Hero is great or Villain is terrible and most often about how Villain caught a river card against Hero. So very tiresome. It is boring because poker players are writing blogs for poker players who are playing poker constantly. Nothing in a hand history can be more compelling than the hand that a poker player can be currently playing.

A poker blog is good when it accomplishes something fresh. Give people information like Iggy does so well. Tell a great story that is more interesting than a hand history. Put some bit of poker wisdom down in a form that is more interesting to read than a computer generated hand history. If you are going to copy from an hand history, the hand history should tell a story. Don't post your bankroll. Don't post your bad beats. Try to tell someone something or convey a feeling or capture a moment.

Then I thought about why I stopped updating mine. The answer was obvious. My poker blog sucks too. Big time. Huge honking loads of sucking. Why? Because it is filled with all of the same crap I talk about above. Boring hand histories. Bragging about winning tournaments. Bad advice! All kinds of really stupid boring shit! I am a boring fuck! That simple.

So I cut it all out. Everything I thought was not worth the pixels it is printed on hit the trash. I am restarting. I am going to make posts that I think are worth reading if I make posts at all.

Below are all my previous posts that I thought were at least not the usual crap. Some are very good! Others are at least interesting. Otherwise, everything is gone. I will begin posting again as soon as something worth telling a story about comes up.

Regards

08/10/2007 12:48 AM

Poker League Launches the 2007 Global Open

Thursday February 1, 8:58 pm ET

LAS VEGAS - The National Poker News League (NPL), announced today their 2007 Global Circuit Tour beginning with The Paris Open in France on May 13th at the Cercle Gaillon Casino in the heart of Paris.

As a sports brand focused on servicing the global poker playing community, NPL www.npltv.com has partnered with international host online casinos and online sites to promote and establish qualifying satellite tournaments throughout the year. NPL's comprehensive series will lead to four televised World Cups: Paris Open (May), UK Open (August); Asia Open (October) and the 2nd annual "Vegas Open" in November. "NPL is not an American or European tour, it's a true worldwide poker circuit open to everyone," says NPL VP of poker Operations, Edna Dalton. NPL is the newest and most aggressive poker organization in the world.

The NPL circuit kicks off with The Paris Open, a 4,000 (euros) buy-in event from May 13 - 22nd and expected to reach Europe's highest attendance and prize pool. For The Paris Open, NPL has created the ultimate poker experience, offering players six one hour episodes from each tour stop that will be aired on international markets. Women Poker Players will enjoy 100,000 (euros) of ADDED MONEY, a welcoming VIP gala party, as well as travel discounts.

"NPL wants to redefine the tour. As a strong advocate of poker tournaments, we feel it's no longer a game but an established sport," says Dalton. In order to assist players attending from abroad, the NPL has established a pre-registration method on the NPL site, www.npltv.com, or directly at Cercle Gaillon www.cerclegaillon.net. Players are encouraged to sign-up early for a seat.

NPL has extensively grown its member base and media exposure since its inception two years ago. The 2007 World Opens will be entirely produced in High Definition and will be aired on the INHD Network (Time Warner, Comcast, Cox Communications and Cablevision) and in standard definition in U.S. Syndication reaching over 100 million households. International markets include Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Eastern Europe, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.

The National Poker League (NPL) is a media-focused company -- creating poker tournaments and poker related content for worldwide distribution. NPL does not own or operate any online gambling sites. NPL embraces the online gambling community as advertisers and partners in some ventures -- maximizing our content creation capabilities without any government interference. NPL is a division of New Vision Media Corp., a Nevada Corporation with administrative offices in Los Angeles at 404 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 500, Los Angeles, CA 90071.

gambling asia - poker news - poker blog - online casino

02/01/2007 08:51 PM

Poker cards on the table

From casinos and shops to television and the internet - the poker craze is taking off in France, leading to huge growth in the industry

Philippe got hooked four years ago, with his group of childhood friends. A group of forty-somethings who played games together, they were mad for the games console rather than the casino chips.

'During one of our weekly meetings, our playstation broke down, so we looked for something else to do,' jokes the photographer. A few clicks on the internet later, the time to learn the basics of the game, and from then on it's all passion for the cards, the strategy, luck and bluffing. 'It's crazy, you get totally hooked. We choose to limit the bets to 10 or 20 Euros, but we've had to change the day of the get-together - we can't keep going to bed at 4 or 5 in the morning mid-week.'

They're not the only ones. 'Le Club Poker news ' is a website created in 2002, which aims to 'create a network of good players whilst debunking the negative image of poker.' It claims 5, 688 official members – profiles from Marseille to Brussels, from ages 14 to 67, from ministry employees to shop assistants and students, from single and young parents, to an increasing number of women too.

Between 100, 000 to 500, 000 French take part in one of the many variations on the classic game, in private, in groups or online. 'It's very difficult to know the number of players,' explains Francois Montmirel, international player and scientific director of the École Française de Poker. 'As far as I know, there were 15, 000 regular players in 2000: today it's close to 150 000. With an increase of 50% each year, France is at the heels of Great Britain and Scandinavian countries.'

Hollywood cool

This growth in numbers began to take off after 1998, and the singer Patrick Bruel, world champion in 2004, greatly contributed to the popularity of the American game in France. 'John Dahl's film Rounders had a very big impact,' recalls Montmirel, author of several works including Poker for dummies. 'Matt Damon plays an amateur who decides one morning to live off his winnings. Just like Steve McQueen as Eric Stoner in The Cincinnati Kid thirty years earlier, it celebrates what poker players feel deep inside: the influence of luck, the inevitable result, the passion to win, the panache.' In short, emotions which struck right at the heart of young generations. This mirror effect, enhanced by literature as well as cinema, is not about to fade: even recently, James Bond took up the cards for a few frenetic games.

Off the back of the first filmed tournaments in the United States, the real trigger of pokermania, TV programmes and projects are growing. The pioneers were Canal Plus, who saw their viewing numbers rocket for poker on Friday evenings. Now it's the turn of the channel Direct 8 to broadcast 25 weeks of tournaments live in 2007. Meanwhile with the Cartouche group, TF1 is planning a grand competition open to the public and to anonymous players. Magazines are also cashing in: released in June 2006, the now monthly 'Live Poker' and 'Poker Magazine' sell 50 000 copies. DVDs, video games and books flood the market, and the shelves are also filled with imports of professional cards, chips and carpets.

Even taking into account only those hooked on poker, Francois Montmirel estimates the income to be 150 million a year. Without counting the internet, for which poker is gold dust! There are 350 poker sites which connect to 120, 000 players in a moment around the world and about 300 million dollars changes hands every day. Some sites are even quoted on the stock xchange. The biggest organise daily tournaments with more than half a million dollars up for grabs.

Virtual addiction

But beware of the potential consequences. 'The purest game that you can imagine,' warns Marc Valleur, director of Paris's Centre Médical Marmottan. 'Poker is different from most addictive games, which are governed by chance. It's when you emphasise this too much and put everything down to skill that you can lose control. There are less risky ways of playing, whether you earn your money by picking on weaker players, which is not very admirable, or whether you, more sportingly, rate yourself against other players to fix the first bets, thereby limiting winnings.' He defines the crux of the problem as being related to the definition of games by the state.

By an incredible anachronism, poker has in theory been illegal in France since 1930, because it is considered a game of chance. It's only by special dispensation that it can by played in certain clubs and will soon be allowed in casinos, it is also tolerated in private as long as it is not publicised. As for websites, Nicolas Sarkozy would like to make them illegal and ban all advertising. 'We ask for a games monitoring body put together by an independently regulated authority. It is to take the realities of the Internet into account, and to standardise European legislation,' explains Valleur. A work under construction, where some persist in bluffing.

poker news - online casino - poker blog

01/30/2007 11:18 AM

Jack Schanbacher - Wins $192,975 at Borgata Winter Poker Open

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., Jan. 24 -- Tuesday's poker tournament began with the $500 buy-in No Limit event at Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa. The large crowd of 661 was ready for action and anxiously waited for the first cards to be dealt. The energy continued to build as poker players took their seats at the Final Table of the $2,500 buy-in event. The final table featured expert play from some of the best players in the world. However, it was Jack Schanbacher of Pittsburgh, PA, who won the event taking home $192,975.

Schanbacker outlasted several renowned players to capture the title. Jon "Pearljammed" Turner of Henderson, NV, finished third taking home $59,138. Turner is known as one of the top internet poker players in the world and was disappointed with his finish; "I am still surprised at my last hand, and know I could have won this event."

Richard "Knucklehead" Friere of Miami Lakes, FL, finished in second with $108,937 in prize money. Friere is an up and coming pro who played exceptionally well throughout the final table. "It was an exciting two days of poker. I can't complain about second place because I am still taking home over $100,000 from Borgata."

Tuesday morning at the Borgata Winter Open featured the start of the $5,000 buy-in event. The field featured well known professional women poker players such as Barry Greenstein, Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi, "Wild" Bill Edler, Eric Lingren, Ted Forrest, Steve Danneman, Amnon Fillipi, and many more.

The World Poker cruise Tour Kick-Off Party will be held at Gypsy Bar on Thursday, January 25th starting at 8:00PM with free admission for all. The event features a hosted bar from 8:00PM-10:00PM and music from DJ Trip. There will also be a Heads Up poker tournament sponsored by Poker Pro with prizes for winners.

poker news - online casino - poker asia - poker blog

01/24/2007 07:14 PM

Broken Reality

How does it happen that money doesn’t become money any more? When is it that the only thing you see is chips? The stakes are going up, but the game is the same. When betting $20 all-in once used to be a big deal, and shelling out $100 in a NL Tournament home game was once one of the scariest thing you ever did, and then suddenly you are at a place when calling a raise with 78s for $40 is not a big deal and re-raising $200 on a stone cold bluff is completely natural, and playing nightly $100 MTTs is as easy as breathing.

When is it that you start thinking of expenses in terms of Big Blinds and going to dinner in terms of a re-raise. When is it that the money from gambling justifies whatever expense you have because an expense might be covered by the next all-in bet. When do you start worrying?

I ask because it’s all becoming intertwined. Money on the table is just chips and money in real life is just bets on the table. It’s an odd feeling. Strange days indeed.

To catch you up. I took most of my profit from my big MTT win, $3000, and cashed it out. I then continued to win at reasonable stakes ring games and cashed out again, another $2000. So, from my low a couple of months ago of $22, I have cashed out $5K. I had $1600 left on Party and $400 on Noble poker that I put there to try to cash on their bonus. So I was up $7000 total if you count the virtual dollars.

… and that is part of the worry, isn’t it? They are virtual dollars to me. It’s all twisted. Money is chips and purchases are big bets and, oddly enough, real money online is starting to feel virtual to me, like health points in a video game…

But when does virtual money become real money with my mind in this confused state where money is chips and chips are frags and frags are not anything like money at all? Why is it all melding together yet staying so damn disjointed? I am confused. Up and winning but confused and scared of what I might be becoming.

$400 on Noble poker isn’t real money anymore, my mind tells me. What is the justification for that thought? My bankroll is $1500 on Party. That is my stake. The money on Noble was just put there to get some free cash. Since I played the site and didn’t like the site, the $400 has just been sitting there, untouched and … well, a little forgotten. It isn’t money any more. It is some credits on a video game I don’t like.

I took a loss on Party, dropping down to $1100 and I needed to get away. Away from Party because my mind was starting to connect those 500BB’s back to reality. I dropped $500 bucks. My mind was starting to realized that just three months ago dropping a half a grand would be heart breaking and life altering. I would have quit poker then. But now, it felt too natural and I didn’t care.

So, this warped mind of mine, where reality and virtual reality are starting to merge together, where a tank of gas is nothing more than re-raise and giving my kid $2 for an overpriced hotdog at a ballgame is nothing more than a laughable big blind, came up with a plan. That Noble money isn’t money anymore my broken mind begins to reason. I have my stake on Party, it is damaged but still more than Greg Raymer’s wife gave him to start his gambling career. So the Noble money was ‘free’ money, just a little chunk of what I had already won, and if I dropped it all it would be no big deal.

It became my official gamble it up fund. And I did. This weekend, I put the whole wad on a single NL game and won $600. So my Noble stake became $1000. I followed that up again by gambling that $1000 in another single game of NL Hold’em. I killed. I turned $1000 into $2600 in a matter of an hour. I was sky high.

… but was it money at all. It was my gambling fund. A pool of money that was there just to play with. But suddenly it was more than double the amount in my bankroll. My mind began to connect again. $2600!!! Just take it out. Back to reality…

That was not to be. It didn’t take long, but my mind began to justify again. It is earmarked money, I justified. Earmarked to take a shot. Earmarked to gamble it up. When were these gamble it up credits going to become money again? The answer is never. $100K or bust. WSOP or bust. It’s not part of my BR at all. It was not real money!

Of course I lost it… well most of it. That’s what playing $1000 tables without a bankroll will do. You can’t absorb the blips. And I blipped back down $2000 and then another $200 and I have $400 left. I am back to where this insanity started. Or am I? My holdings are. But how about my mind, and my heart, and my sensibility.

About a month ago I told a story about losing $1000 and being torn up. About thinking about it a week. About my heart pumping and about being humiliated. What is strange now is that this didn’t hurt. Not in the least. That can’t be good, can it?

So I am worried. $1K on Party. $400 on Noble. $5000 in the bank. Vacation coming from the wins. Everything seems OK in the greater scheme of things. But the underlying cracks are there. I liked gambling it up. I really liked it. Getting beat didn’t hurt me at all. How could so much change so fast?

Where am I now? What will the future hold? If I drop my remaining $1400, what will I do then? I am scared and I am wondering how I will adjust. Will grinding out $100 NL tables be acceptable for me any more? I am determined to try to get myself back to reality.

… we shall see

06/21/2005 03:33 AM

The Borgata!!!

The combination of circumstance that could drive a low stake internet poker hack to get in his car at 11PM on a Friday night and make the one hour drive to Atlantic City by himself to sit down at a poker table in his first ever live game is unquestionably unique. But, by some manner of fate, that combination of circumstance happened this Friday night and I found myself driving down to AC for an unplanned all-night initiation into “real” poker.

I arrived at the Borgata at a little after 11PM with only a MAC card in my pocket. I hadn’t been into a casino in 15 years, so it took me a few seconds to adjust to the magnitude of what I planned to do. I shuffled around the floor of the Casino looking for the poker room. Finally, after two laps, I found the secluded stairway that led down to the Borgota’s poker room. At 11:30 I put my name on the list, 1-2 No-Limit Hold’em. The problem was that the list was 45 names deep with only 5 tables running as 1-2 No-Limit tables. After waiting a little while, seeing the slow progression of 3 names off the list in 45 minutes, I added my name to the 2-5 No-Limit list grabbed a bite to eat, and sat back to wait it out.

An hour later my name was called: it was 1:30 in the morning. The max buyin at the table was $500 and I bought in for $300. I had to get my chips from the cashier because the dealer was out. I was more nervous than I have been in quite a long time and by the time I got back to the table I was literally shaking. The chip tray was rattling as I set it on the rail. I tried to pull the chips out of the tray and set them casually against the rail, but my hands were shaking so badly that chips were falling over and I knocked over my own stacks. The other players were looking at me with little sly smiles. Finally, after getting my chips arranged, I found myself sitting there with an empty tray and no idea what to do with it. After a minute or so, one of the pit people let me know that I could put it under the table. I really felt stupid at this point.

It was at this time that I made my first intelligent decision of the night, I told the dealer than I wanted to wait for the big blind. I needed time to get my act together and a little time to get a feel for the table and what I was supposed to do. I didn’t even know the mechanics of betting properly yet and I hadn’t been willing to ask anyone.

One thing that waiting for the big blind did for me was let me know how incredibly loose this table was. In the four or five hands that led up to my first bet, I saw every hand raised pre-flop with four or five callers. One guy, who I will call Boisterous, was raising 2 to 3X the standard BB on every hand with any two cards. One hand saw a raise to 20, a re-raise to 50, and another raise to 100 which both original raisers matched. Sure enough, the third to act had the Aces and took down a large pot. But other hands had raising going on and then people betting the second pair like it was the nuts. I was convinced that this was a table I could make a lot of money at.

On the last hand before the BB hit me, the player to my right, who we will call Johnny Buyin, raised pre-flop to 40 and got one caller, a player two to my left who I will call The Maniac. The flop hit with a Queen high and a couple of low cards. Johnny Buyin bet $100. The Maniac called. The turn was an Ace and Johnny bet 200. The Maniac went all-in. Johnny, down to his last 100 called. There was excitement over this hand because they both obviously had something large. Johnny turned over his AQ to claim top two pair. The Maniac did not turn over. The river came a 7 and The Maniac flipped over his pocket 7’s to take down the $1000 pot. I was floored. Venom came into Johnny’s eyes and he looked for a moment like he was going to jump over the table to kill The Maniac. After a second, Johnny got his composure and stepped away from the table. He would return a few minutes later with another $500. It was the worst play I think I saw all night by far.

Finally, I started playing some hands. Every hand was raised pre-flop and I folded my first 6 hands until I found myself in a late position holding QJ off-suit. I called the $15 bet. The flop was 893. Two players in front bet and called $20 respectively and I called with two over cards and a straight possibility. The turn was a 2. This time everyone checked. The river came a Jack. Both players checked and I decided to make my first play for a pot. I wanted to bet $40. I was still nervous as hell, and I couldn’t keep my hands from shaking. I wanted to bet $40 so I weakly grabbed what I thought was $40 and put it out. Realizing it was only $35 I tried to go back and get $5 more. The player 3 to my left, Slick, called out, “You can’t do that”. I wasn’t sure what I had done wrong. But he explained that I had strung my bet. I replied, “Oh, OK. I am used to just clicking a button.” But, after understanding the explanation, I pulled $5 back and left my original bet out there; $35. Player one folded, and the second player looked at me. He said, “You are shaking like crazy, you don’t have a hand.” I replied, “Think what you want, I have been shaking like this since I got here.” He called and I showed my top pair. He mucked his cards and I won my first pot of the night, which was pretty big. I was up to about $400 already.

I began folding like crazy again, until I found KK in my hand and orbit later. This could be good. Someone bet $20 and Boisterous raised to $40. He had been raising almost everything and winning some pots with low pairs. I raised to $80. He called. The flop came out either very bad for me or very good. QJQ. This was when I made my first and last mistake of the night. I bet: $80. He went over the top of me, betting $160. I took a minute, thought about it, figured I still hand the best hand, and… folded. He turned over his A4s but wrong suit and took the pot. I would have been mad, but his showing the cards taught me a lesson. My mistake was that I bet at all. On the flop, I should have taken my time and then checked. There is no way he could have bet in that situation, knowing that I could be slow playing a hand like AQ, AA, or KK. He would have had to have checked too. If he had bet, even if he was bluffing, I could have folded right then, only losing my original bet. I made an awful play and lost and additional $80 on it to a bluff. I put myself in a bad spot. I got angry at myself and vowed not to do it again… but I was down $50 overall at this point.

I won a small pot a little later when my AQ flopped ace high and I didn’t get any callers and was back to even.

I found myself on the button a little while later holding 89s. The pot was raised to $15 in front of me. Knowing that raises meant next to nothing in this game, I called. The flop came QJX rainbow. Three players were in and three players checked. The turn was nothing and everyone checked again. The river came a 10. There was a $40 bet. Boisterous called and I called. They turned over a lower pair each and I showed my straight, winning a nice sized pot and putting myself in the green again.

I won some smallish pots when my top pair bets drew no response and I ended up at about $500. I was pretty excited at this point and… was really excited that my shaking had finally stopped.

Johnny Buyin blew out of the game soon afterwards losing his second $500 buyin and getting up and walking away in a huff. The one thing I don’t know that I will be able to get used to sitting at these real tables is seeing people lose money that you just know they can’t afford to lose. Johnny lost $1000 in the span of an hour and a half. He dressed like he could afford to lose that money, but in reality, and judging by his reactions, it was clear that he couldn’t. Taking money from other people is a lot harder than taking it from the house in a game like Black Jack. I guess you can’t think about it, but if you do, the thoughts can be really sad.

A new player, Young Gun, joined in Johnny’s place. He was about 25 and set down $400 in chips. He was confident and measured in his play and he played OK, winning and losing some pots and working his way up to around $500. I was folding hand after hand at this point. Waiting for something at least decent to play.

Again, I found myself on the button holding Qd10d. Four people were in the pot in front of me and I called the $20 bet. The flop came Kd, Jd, 4d. I had flopped the second to nut flush and an open ended straight flush draw. I had a royal flush draw too. A small bet up from and Young Gun raised to $50. With two cards to go I decided I needed to take this pot down right here with the Ad out there. I bet $100 thinking he would realize I had the flush and drop out. Everyone folded to Young Gun and… instead… he re-raised by $100. Again, I wanted the pot right here. If he had the nut flush, I would have expected a flat call from him. Coming over the top could only drive me away. He was TRYING to drive me away and therefore I KNEW he didn’t have the nut flush. I suspected he was drawing to it and his bet was a semi-bluff. I wanted him gone. I made it $400, leaving my $85 sitting in front of me. He thinks for a second and says all-in. Now I wonder if I have read this right. He seemed so confident. But with my last $85, I call. No diamonds on the turn or the river and I turn over my flush. I see him deflate. His eyes go blank and he mucks. He is absolutely despondent. As he mucks, one of his cards turns over. The 7 of clubs. Either he had the Ace of diamonds in his hand or he had top pair and put me on a draw. Either way, he made a terrible play and I cleaned him out. He left the table with his shoulders hung low and a look of panic on his face. Again, the thought that I am taking money from people who can’t afford to lose it strikes me. But when I look down at the nearly $1000 that are being pushed in front of me, the thought slides out of my consciousness. Young Gun dug his own grave. This hand officially constitutes the largest bet of my life. $485 bet on one hand. AND I DOUBLED UP! Very cool!

I hit almost no big hands for the next hour. I fold and fold and fold. I play a couple of marginal hands for small pots, losing a couple winning one or two and find myself at right around $900. It is 5:30 in the morning and the table is getting short handed. We are down to four players left. I find Ah6h in the small blind. The bet is $20 and I call. Again, a perfect flop hits, Jh, 10h, and 4h. I have the nut flush! Two players are in with me. I check, player A bets $20, and player B raises to $40. I check my cards again. I am now shaking again, this time on purpose. I call. Player A calls. This pot is getting big. Someone must have the flush too. Better for me! The turn comes, no hearts. I check. Player A bets $40 and Player B calls. I call. This pot is going to be huge. I plan to check the river again. Let them bet and I will come over the top by just enough to force them to call. I’m already counting the chips. The river comes, a 7… of hearts damn it! Now, the cat is out of the bag. Player A checks. Player B checks. I pointlessly make a 100 chip bet and they both fold. I rack in a pretty big pot, and show my nut flush on the flop. They both proclaim how the 7 saved them. Each was playing two pair. It was a nice pot, but not anything like what it could have been. In two more hands the table breaks up and I am done for the night.

I cash out for $1076, up over $776. Maybe I will try this again some time.

I am now officially a winning poker player, by a long shot. I have way more than offset my Party Poker losses. With a 9th in a huge field tournament and a triple up at the casino, I am feeling pretty confident these days. That could be dangerous.

10/25/2004 04:10 AM

Actor Win's $1 Million Tournament

Joe Reitman beat out 2,773 other players on January 15th in Ultimate Bet\'s $1 Million Guaranteed Poker Tournament. The tournament payed out over the top 20

11/21/2008 01:32 PM

$3.5 Million in Guaranteed Tournaments.

How many Poker rooms do you know that offer $3.5 Million in Guaranteed Tournaments...EVERY MONTH? Can\'t think of one? We\'re not surprized! SunPoker has taken

11/21/2008 01:32 PM