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WSOP Day 37 - Brian Rast Ruins Helmuths Dreams

Date: Thu, Jul 7, 2011

Well, you have to feel sorry for the guy. Phil helmuh fell just short of his 12 WSOP bracelet (and his first non Holdem bracelet) again in Event #55: $50,000 Poker Player's Championship.

Brian Rast was the man who was there to stop him after a truly exceptional comeback heads up. Helmuth appeared to dominate the early stages of the heads up battle taking pot after pot and really impressing some of the spectators by switching gears and putting the pressure on Rast.

At one point Helmuth held 17m chips to Rast's 3m and the result looked inevitable. Luck was not on Helmuths side however as he got it in 3 times, each of them with a flush draw on the flop, and lost all three. Just like that, Rast was the proud owner of a new WSOP bracelet and $1.7m.

WSOP Player of the Year leader Ben Lamb continued his great run at the WSOP by making the final table. but has now been pushed off the top spot by Helmuth. What odds would you have gotten on him taking that title this year?

I think we have reached the stage where even I have to admit that Helmuth clearly has some skill to silence many of his doubters. If anyone else has finished second in three separate events this year we'd be praising them, so my hat goes off to Phil.

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WSOP Day 36 - Helmuth Makes Another WSOP Final Table

Date: Thu, Jul 7, 2011

I guess it was somewhat inevitable that if Phil Helmuth made yet another final table that it would be the biggest news of the day.

Event #55: $50,000 Poker Player's Championship saw the day start with 29 players in the field which was played down to a final table of nine:

Brian Rast
George Lind
Phil Hellmuth
Owais Ahmed
Scott Seiver
Minh Ly
Ben Lamb
Jason Lester
Matt Glantz

A great field left for a great tournament. This is one of the most highly regarded bracelets at the WSOP, and you can bet all of these players will be hungry to take it down.

Barry Greenstein and Jeffrey Lisandro both fell short of the final table on a long day that continued past 5am. The players will be back tomorrow to battle it out for the bracelet and the not-insignificant first prize of $1.7m...

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WSOP Day 35

Date: Thu, Jul 7, 2011

No bracelets were awarded on day 35 of the WSOP as the events wind down and the Main Event draws ever closer.

Event #54: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em has 45 players remaining heading into what should be the final day of play. Anibal Andres leads the field with 800k in chips, closely followed by Stanislav Alekhin and Terrance Eischens. Team PokerStars pro Maxim Lykov is still in the field with a healthy 340k in chips.

Event #55: $50,000 Poker Player's Championship played down to it's final 29, with the expected notables still alive including Scott Seiver, Josh Arieh, Brian Rast and that man again, Phil Helmuth.

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WSOP Day 34 - Man Makes ladies Event Final Table

Date: Thu, Jul 7, 2011

There have been some funny appearances and lost prop bets resulting in men playing in the Ladies event at the WSOP in recent years but it's now really beyond a joke or any kind of interesting political statement for men to play in the Ladies event.

Unfortunately Event #53 $1,000 Ladies No-Limit Hold'em Championship will be remembered for having the first man make a final table in a WSOP ladies event. On the bright side Jonathan Epstein's showing at the final table (after a decent amount of stick from the announcer) was short lived as he was dispatched in 9th place.

At least now when anyone Googles Epstein they'll see what he's really about. I don't feel as strongly about this as some do, but I really think we should just leave the ladies event to the ladies at this point and let everyone sit back an enjoy the event they way it's supposed to be. We don't see this kind of statement being made in the seniors event.

Karina Jett made a deep run in the event, finishing second to eventual winner Marsha Wolak who took down the bracelet and $192k.

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WSOP Day 33

Date: Mon, Jul 4, 2011

Three bracelets were awarded on day 33 of the 2011 WSOP and there was plenty of action in other tournaments, as the Ladies event, the $50k players championship and the last $1k NLHE event were all in full swing.

Antonin Teisseire took down another event for the Euros as he won his first bracelet in Event #50: $5,000 Triple Chance No-Limit Hold'em for $825k. Another huge prizepool in a $5k so late in the WSOP is a great sign as the Main Event approaches. Frenchman Teisseire brings the French bracelet total this year to three.

Every 21 year old turning up at the Rio for the first time dreams of winning the first WSOP event they play. Unfortunately for me it was the Main Event, and it ended after 12 hours in a 4 bet shove with a draw getting snapped off by middle pair and the longest walk back to the bar in the Rio where I proceeded to drop at least another 20% of the value of the buy-in. David Singontiko however made the dream come true, as the 21 year old won the first ever WSOP he played, which just so happened to be Event #51: $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha Hi-Lo. Singontiko made his way through the 946 player field to take down the event and the WSOP bracelet some people play a lifetime to win.

Event #52: $2,500 Mixed Hold'em (Limit/No-Limit) saw Matt Matros win his second bracelet in two years. The professional from New York won just over $300k for his first place finish.

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The Micros - LOL Cartoonaments

Date: Sun, Jul 3, 2011

Another great episode from 'The Micros'. Lots of guest appearances and some genuinely funny and original stuff.

Check out the video below:

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WSOP Day 32 - Polychronopoulos Has a Long Name

Date: Sun, Jul 3, 2011

Sometimes names seem entirely unpronounceable when you first hear them, but as they become more popular and familiar, they become easier to say. Yevgeniy Timoshenko is a good example - when he first came on the scene it was hard to work out how on earth his name was pronounced. However, if you keep winning things ($25k WPT events, Irish Open, Asian Poker Tour) then eventually people learn the name and can (mostly) pronounce it correctly.

I wonder if we'll ever be saying that about Athanasios Polychronopoulos? My guess is no. However, if 'Tony' Polychronopoulos continues on the run of form that lead to him winning Event #48: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em then perhaps we'll have no choice. Tony took down the event at a tough final table (which included the aforementioned Timoshenko, also in my bracelet pool) to win the bracelet and the $650k first prize.

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WSOP Day 31 - Moorman Misses Out

Date: Sat, Jul 2, 2011

All eyes were on Event #46: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed Championship as Joe Ebanks and Chris Moorman came back to continue their heads up match and battle it our for the bracelet. Unfortunately for Moorman the battle didn't last long, after running a straight draw into top pair and a flush draw a couple of hands in.

Joe Ebanks took down the event, it's gold bracelet and the first prize over $1m so far this WSOP, $1.158m.

Another redemption story (there's been a lot of those this year) in Event #49: $2,500 Limit 2-7 Triple Draw Lowball as Leonard Martin who has finished second and sixth in this very event in the last few years finally made his way to that coveted WSOP bracelet. A pro heavy final table featured Justin Bonomo and Jason Mercier, neither of who were able to stop Leonard Martin from taking down the event and $190k.

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WSOP Day 30 - Ahmed Takes Down Event #47

Date: Sat, Jul 2, 2011

In a battle of the split games Event #47: $2,500 Omaha 8 / Stud 8 was the only tournament to award a WSOP bracelet on day 30.

Another big name made a final table but fell short of a bracelet - this time Michael Mizrachi was in the mix, dominating the play on the final day and getting heads up with eventual winner Owais Ahmed with a big chip lead. Unfortunately for Mizrachi it wasn't to be, and Owais Ahmed won the tournament after a swingy heads up match to take down the bracelet and $255k.

The 'who can 5 or 6 bet the lightest' tournament, otherwise known as Event #46: $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Handed Championship was well underway on day 30, with just 22 players remaining. Well known British online player Chris Moorman made it to heads up against Joe Ebanks after Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier made another deep run, finishing in fourth. The hard stop rule halted play, so the heads up battle will continue on day 31.

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WSOP Day 29 - Akkari, Porter and Griffin Strike Gold

Date: Wed, Jun 29, 2011

Day 29 saw three WSOP bracelets awarded, two in low buy-in NLHE events and one in Razz.

Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari won his first WSOP gold bracelet in Event #43: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em. Brazilian Akkari has some impressive online results, including a second place finish in the $10k WCOOP HORSE event back in 2008. Akkari bested a field of 2,857 players to take down the $675k first prize. Poker is a growing game in Brazil and this win should help motivate a new wave of online and live players.

Another one for the bankers as another former Wall Street employee Rep Porter won his second WSOP bracelet with his victory in Event #44: $2,500 Razz. Porter is a regular on the tournament circuit with a number of previous WSOP cashes and 3 final tables in addition to his first bracelet. Porter takes home $210k for his win, adding to his already impressive $1.5m in live tournament earnings.

Event #45: $1,000 No-Limit Hold'em had the spotlight cast on it's final table due to the appearance of Antonio Esfandiari. The Magician could only manage 7th place though and eventual victor Kenneth Griffin made his way through another huge field of 2,890 to take down the WSOP bracelet and $455k. There is a touching story behind the win though, and this Bluff article from Jess Welman tells not only that, but the story of the final table action too.

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Epic Poker League - Epic Fail?

Date: Tue, Jun 28, 2011

Perhaps I didn't look into this as much as I should have, but I though that the Federated Sports + Gaming League started by Jeffrey Pollack and Annie Duke would be called something like, you know, 'The Federated Sports and Gaming League'.

Alas I was incorrect, and it would appear to have been named Epic Poker League. I'm not sure who was in charge of the naming, but I really think they have got this one wrong.

As far as branding goes, the word is overused these days, especially by the type of people this league is really there to attract. The logo is also a little puzzling:

What were they thinking? If they wanted to be taken more seriously they should have gone with something more official sounding, like 'The Federated Poker League' or similar. The logo looks childish and tacky, and not official at all.

Consider the following:

World Series of Poker Champion

European Poker Tour Champion

Epic Poker League Champion

Which one would you rather be, in order? I thought part of the idea of this league was for the best players, defined by a selection criteria, would play against eachother to determine the true greats of the game. The notion is somewhat questionable of course, but the name now sounds like some small online poker site is running it's own WCOOP-style mini series.

My interest in this organisation is rapidly declining - the idea was that you had to meet the selection criteria in order to play, that was it. Now it seems like you can qualify though a series of mega satellites to earn your place in the $20,000 buy-in tournaments.

The logo is off-brand for this type of event and takes away from the prestige and premium feeling they could have represented with a classier logo and a more official sounding name.

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Unusually busy period for poker...

Date: Thu, Jan 13, 2011

Glad to be back from my studies and blogging again, looking forward to 2011, and it's already shaping up to be an interesting year.

It's been a busy few weeks for the poker community:

Pokerstars pro Daniel Negreanu gets off to a cracking start in 2011 by overtaking Ivey in the all time money list after his second place finish in the $100k super high roller event at the PCA. I have a feeling these two might be swapping places on a regular basis as long as Ivey stays motivated to play tournaments. 38 runners for such a high buy-in and the appearace of Guy Laliberté are both good things for the poker world. Looking forward to seeing the TV shows as this was all filmed for

As much as I hate to give them any more blog space than they already have, Phil and Annie leaving UB is a big story, and I expect the bigger story will be where they end up. I'm not sure how marketable Annie is (and I assume her brother might be able to help her at FTP, where she fits the current team quite well) but Phil clealry has appeal as he's on every TV poker show going, including the big game. Will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if Phil will hold out on legeslation details before signing a new deal.

Pokerstars Home games looks like an interesting concept, I have to admit I haven't looked into this in much detail yet, but the option popped up on the client today and I like the overall concept, great idea for Stars, hope it brings more players to the wider game too. Might even have to get my old home game online!

It's shaping up to be an interesting year already, no new years resoltions from me, but I will be trying to play as much as possible this year, especially before the summer.

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Pokerstars WBCOOP

Date: Sat, Jan 9, 2010

I have registered to play in the WBCOOP PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! You too can Play Poker Online at PokerStars.com and take part in the WBCOOP which is open to all Bloggers by registering on WBCOOP to play.

Registration code: 453802

As ever Stars has put on some good prizes, offering loads of SCOOP tickets as prizes in both the qualifiers and in the main event.

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KK Holds

Date: Tue, Dec 29, 2009

I was on an annual festive pub crawl that we do each year between Christmas and New Year yesterday and one of the games we played was a blind hand of poker where the winner took all the stakes and had to nominate someone to drink a forfeit drink with the proceeds.

We dealt out 9 hands and I got KK. I was explaining that it was pretty unlikely I hold given that 9 hands would see a showdown. Two other players also had a King and there was only one ace out and some nice looking suited connectors. To my complete surprise I actually hold and take down the hand.

Frustratingly I have been grinding tournies today to try to ensure a top 2,000 TLB score for the Stars Passport promo this month and have been dealt KK 11 times. Guess how many won a pot at showdown?

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