If there was ever a time for a poker player to mix business with pleasure, the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final in São Paulo, Brazil, is the event to do so. It is taking place Feb. 17 through 20, colliding head on with the annual festivities of Brazilian Carnival, which is affectionately known to natives as the, “Greatest Show on Earth.”

The Basics

Language: Portuguese
Currency: Brazilian Real. 1 BRL = 0.58 USD.
Visa: Citizens from the United States, Australia, and many other countries DO need Visas. Make sure to check Brazilsf.org to find out.
International Calling Code: +55
Weather: At this time of year, the average temperature is between 70-78 degrees Fahrenheit. Umbrellas are suggested since rain showers are frequent.

Tournament Information

Buy-in: R$3,700 (Approximately $2,146 USD)
Location: Sheraton WTC São Paulo
Schedule: February 17 – Day 1, February 18 – Day 2, February 19 – Day 3, February 20 – Final table.
Party: February 20 from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. at ‘Museum’ Dining Club.
Last Year’s Winner: Alex Manzano (Defeated a field of 536 to win the top prize of R$615,840)

Getting There

For travelers who are flying in, it’s the Guarulhos International Airport you want to land at. It’s about a 50-minute drive from there to the location of the tournament, but depending on the notorious São Paulo traffic, it could be much longer. Scheduling a prepaid taxi is the most convenient option to get you to your destination.

Carnival

First-time Carnival goers should prepare for an all-sensory, unforgettable experience. The celebration in São Paulo includes massive organized parades, music, and of course, Samba dancing. Friday and Saturday (Feb. 17-18) are the main days of the São Paulo Carnival, and that’s when the top Samba schools compete for the prestigious championship trophy in front of 30,000 spectators.

If you’re looking to experience Carnival in a more calm, tame atmosphere, visiting a smaller, neighboring town of São Paulo is a great option including Sao Luis do Paraitinga and Sorocaba.

Other Fun Stuff

São Paulo is a multi-dimensional city with tons to offer in addition to its Carnival celebration. Not only is it the largest city in the Brazil, but it is also the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere and South America.

Head downtown to the city center to find a New York-like concrete jungle. The metropolis also houses many of the city’s historical monuments, popular parks, and museums.

When you’re done sightseeing, there are endless options for entertainment. If you have a weakness for animals, head to the Zoological Park of São Paulo. It is the largest zoo in Brazil with more than 3,200 animals.

For those who prefer sports, check the schedules for the three major São Paulo soccer teams: Corinthians, Palmeiras and São Paulo FC. Soccer, or football as its known in Brazil, is the country’s most popular sport. (As a quick side note, Brazil is set to host the 2014 FIFA World Cup. )

But of course if you are held up playing the event, there’s always time to check out the amazing sights and sounds of São Paulo after the tournament ends. If you can’t make it out this year, you can follow the live coverage of this event on the PokerStars Blog beginning on February 17 at 12 p.m. local time.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | delicious | entertainment | estrellas poker tour | latin-america | planets | portugal | tcoop

The LAPT and BPT Grand Finals will soon be upon us and this time we don’t just have a poker main event tournament lined-up, but a big poker festival taking place during one of world most exciting festivities, the Carnival in Brazil!

Whether you’ve earned your spot to the LAPT Sao Paulo through one of the PokerStars satellites or you are a player that has planned your trip to buy-into direct to the LAPT tournaments, I’m really proud to write a short guide giving you an idea of what you will find in Brazil and how exciting your trip will be to our wonderful country.

Carnival is known worldwide, and I can assure now, that the majority of foreigners that travel to Brazil during this period will become regular “grinders” of our Carnival. But it is with pleasure that I get ahead of this and tell you what you’ll find here, helping to make your trip even more enjoyable.

For starters, let’s talk a little bit about São Paulo.

São Paulo is the financial, gastronomical and cultural center of Brazil, with an amazing nightlife and with a mix of cultures that is hard to find anywhere else in the world. The Italian, Middle Eastern and Japanese communities, among others, live peacefully here in São Paulo, and all of them having contributed a lot to the growth of this special city.

Your arrival in São Paulo will be at Cumbica Airport, which is far away from the event venue -approximately one hour cab ride, which will cost you something like R$180.00, so around US$100. When you leave the airport’s main hall, you’ll find a taxi cab office. Don’t worry these services work perfectly well here in São Paulo and my recommendation is the company Guarucoop, you can even pay them in advance with your credit card.

I would like to start my tips trying to change your mind regarding some “myths” that exist about Brazil and the city of São Paulo. Those myths were created by distorted images in movies and they have spread some unreal views that I would like to dispel.

The first one is related to violence. Yes, we do have violence here, but it is infinitely less than what the vast majority of people believe, and it can be compared to any big metropolis around the world. In the neighborhood around the Grand Finals venue, you’ll find amazing quality of life, total security and beautiful, kind people. But it’s not only in the places around the venue that you’ll find this, there are amazing places all around São Paulo, so please don’t come here worrying about violence, just enjoy all the fantastic places I’ll list for you.

Another important aspect I’d like to highlight is the unreal perception around the Carnival festivities. Some foreigners picture the Carnival with naked women, complete lack of organization – chaos essentially. Forget this. Carnival, our biggest party, is very well organized!

There are two big Carnival parades happening in the country during the LAPT Grand Final Carnival Poker Festival, one parade in Rio and the other in São Paulo. Those parades take place in specially created areas for the parties, with lots of security and organization. The biggest companies in the world book special VIP Box’s so their guests can watch the world biggest party. At the parade, a lot of samba schools will be showing their happiness, joy and friendliness, so that everyone can leave Sambódromo feeling like a parade winner. There are thousands of people that dedicate all the days of the year to that competition, looking to win that title. So, besides respecting this aspect of the party, have a lot of fun with it, share the happiness with of all the people and try to understand the competition and everything around it.

To participate in the Samba Schools Parade, you can buy tickets online or at the box offices at the Sambódromo. But it’s really important that you do that in advance, because all the parades usually get sold out. For more information, please visit this page or look for the LAPT Travel/Poker Reps who will have offices in the tournament venue to help all the players navigate the city.

If you are going to “Samba Avenue”, you’ll come across a lot of beautiful, happy people – a party like you never seen before, anywhere else! You will feel the emotion of all the performances by wonderful musicians. However, be careful not to drink too much, as excess will be punished by the police authorities who are very strict this time of the year, to prevent any kind of trouble.

Something that happens a lot with the Carnival newbies is to misinterpreting the signals of happiness and warmth towards strangers participating in the carnival, and are in return disrespectful. Keep in mind that a lot of the beautiful women and men there are accompanied by their husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, so have fun but always be respectful. The natives know exactly how to deal with that during Carnival, so if you follow along you’ll have one of the best times of your lives.

If parties like these are not your thing, you can always check out the multitude of other opportunities that São Paulo has to offer, to make your trip special.

Now, one of the thing we aren’t proud of is traffic. Although this is a problem worldwide in big cities, my advice is for you to be very strategic, like we are at the poker tables. The streets have less traffic during the period between 10am and noon, and after 8pm. But even during those periods you can still find some traffic jams, so try to book restaurants and go shopping in places near Sheraton Hotel.

Time to talk gastronomy!

Here in São Paulo you can find all kinds of different foods and cuisines, with many excellent restaurants near Sheraton’s neighborhood.

We have wonderful Japanese restaurants, like Mori Sushi, Italian restaurants like Cantina do Lellis, and especially the world famous Barbecue Houses, where they serve our traditional “churrasco”, which is Brazil’s most typical dish along “Feijoada”. To eat a top quality barbecue, go to “Fogo de Chão”, located at Av. Bandeirantes, really close to the event venue, a fantastic restaurant.

Another place that is worth to visit for really good meals is Rua Amaury, a street located 10 minutes away from the Sheraton Hotel. There you can find really nice restaurants, where you can try risottos, pasta, and meat dishes, and where you will certainly have an amazing time.

Maybe the city’s really outstanding characteristic is the nightlife. In São Paulo you can find all kinds of different nightclubs open every day of the week and always packed with beautiful people. From more traditional places with electronic music try DISCO and PINK ELEPHANT – both really close to the venue) to places where the play reggae, samba and country music – all of them with nice music and beautiful people. All those clubs are usually packed, with long lines at the door, so get yourself on the guestlist through the Concierge in the hotel lobby – so you don’t waste too much time waiting to get in! Here is a great website where you can find out more about São Paulo’s best parties.

If you like sports, São Paulo is also the place for you. Find some time to visit Parque do Ibirapuera, the city’s biggest park where you can play basketball, football, ride a bike and rollerblade but also enjoy nature. Parque do Ibirapuera is also near the tournament venue (10 minutes cab ride) and it’s worth to visit. It’s open from 6am to 10pm, but my advice is that you go earlier in the morning or late in the afternoon, because at this time of the year the heat is really intense.

Almost beside Sheraton you’ll find ‘Shopping Morumbi’, a shopping mall that is widely regarded as one of São Paulo’s best. They offer lots of clothes and department stores. However, if you like something fancier, go to Rua Oscar Freire, that is a dream come true for the fashion conscious crowd. Here, the world’s most renowned brands of clothing have their shops, so if your wife or girlfriend decides to go there, hide your credit card!

I’ll be looking forward to helping our visitors and PokerStars players around the world in everything they need. I’ll be at the Sheraton playing all the LAPT and BPT events, so don’t be shy: look out for me and ask for more tips about the city, sporting events, carnival parties and anything else. Come with your heart open, and be ready to experience one of the most amazing parties in the world and to know people that are looking forward to welcome you here in the best possible way.

See you at the PokerStars events during the Carnival!

Follow Andre on Twitter: @aakkari
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Tags: advice | archives | Baltic Poker Festival | brazil | credit | ept | gambling | pca | planets | pokerstars macau | rio | Super Tuesday

The rebuy tournament. There’s not another creature like it in all of poker, which is enough to scare some players away all by itself. But for everyone else, there’s just something about the rebuy. Some players see it as an opportunity to go crazy. Others see it as an opportunity to sit back and pick off people who have gone crazy. The beautiful thing is that no matter which camp you fall into, you have plenty of reason to love rebuy tournaments.

No surprise, then, that things got off to such a roaring start in Event 32. More than 8,500 players were registered as the tournament began – and within the confines of the first blind level, there had already been more than 4,300 rebuys. By the time Level 4 rolled around the guarantee had already been broken – and with another 70 minutes of rebuys and late registration still available, no less. If this tournament were the new kid in an 80s teen movie, it would have been hanging out with the jocks and cheerleaders. By the end of late registration the total numbers had swelled to 16,951 entries with 60,638 rebuys and 8,494 add-ons, building a stunning total prize pool of $429,065. That would be split up among the top 2,250 finishers, with $50,195 set aside for the winner.

Team Online only had one player cash in Event 32, but it was a good run for Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin (155th place, $210.24). Team PokerStars Pro fared a bit better, collecting decent cashes from Martin Staszko (175th, $201.66) and Henrique Pinho (592nd, $120.13) – and a far better result from Alex Kravchenko. He had the good fortune on Level 43 (100K/200K/25K) to pick up pocket queens with a player all-in in front of him; he called and was up against [As] [2d], which he easily dispatched to move up to 7.34 million chips. From there he used his stack as leverage to pick up pots uncontested and move up to more than 12.4 million chips, good enough to rank him 2nd in the field with 125 players remaining.

Run, Alex, run

Kravchenko: Russian for “plays well in big fields”

The former WSOP Main Event final tablist then focused on maintaining his stack before being moved as the field shrank to its final 7 tables. On Level 49 (400K/800K/100K) Kravchenko held 10.5 million chips. And unlike on his previous table, he wasn’t the big stack: there were three players with enough leverage to potentially eliminate him, including one on either side of him. The chip stacks around the table tended to flatten as the blinds continued to rise over the next two levels; with the occasional short stack falling aside, most of the players held steady in the 5-to-10-million range. Kravchenko was slipping, holding just 6 big blinds on Level 52 (700K/1.4M/175K), when he picked off BentBetjent‘s [Ah] [8h] with [Ac] [Js], for a 13.4-million-chip pot that took the field down to just 32 players.

Now, as the tournament’s fifth break ended, most of the table had Kravchenko and his 19th-ranked stack of 12.07 million chips covered. The good news was that the chip lead – currently held by India’s Donkab0mber with 34.4 million – was less than two double-ups away. Soon, though, that lead would recede a bit further when Kravchenko’s neighbor, Romania’s i.love.ri, scored on this hand:

i.love.ri picked up [Kc] [Kd] two hands later and knocked out the United Kingdom’s SpoS Im GoOd, who over-shoved with [Ad] [Td], to move all the way up to 66.5 million chips. Kravchenko, meanwhile, seemingly couldn’t pick up a hand. With blinds all the way up to 1M/2M with 250K antes, he finally saw the action fold to him on the button and shoved for 4.32 million with [As] [7d]. Lex West called from the big blind with [Kh] [Qd], hit one king on the flop, and hit another on the river to end Alex Kravchenko’s run in 19th place ($793.77).

The show must go on

Lex West would vault into the lead not long afterward at the expense of i.love.ri in an 81-million-chip pot, shoving over the top of i.love.ri’s raise to 5 million with [Ah] [Ks] and getting called by [Ac] [Ts]. i.love.ri managed to keep pace, though, picking up a few smaller pots before knocking sia76 out in 16th place ($879.58) with pocket eights against [Ad] [Jh] to retake the lead with 76.18 million chips. The final table bubble eventually popped on this hand:

With that there was just one table remaining, playing on Level 58 (2.5M/5M/625K). The final nine players were:

Seat 1: coach0783 (37,477,920 in chips)
Seat 2: DarrenStyles (70,715,664 in chips)
Seat 3: Lex West (59,312,316 in chips)
Seat 4: PiRaToS14 (33,721,674 in chips)
Seat 5: Pipo0705 (10,938,018 in chips)
Seat 6: olehan (81,055,294 in chips)
Seat 7: Jinky6677 (22,067,228 in chips)
Seat 8: LEAO66 (45,984,776 in chips)
Seat 9: i.love.ri (125,504,110 in chips)

Both Germany’s Pipo0705 and Finland’s PiRaToS14 managed to double up in the first orbit. Pipo0705 suggested a deal but there were no takers, and just one orbit later the German player would be the first eliminated from the table after shoving from the cutoff with [Ac] [8s]. Canada’s Jinky6677 called with [Ad] [Js], which paired on the flop and held through the river to send Pipo0705 out in 9th place ($2,574.39).

The i.love.ri wrecking ball claimed another victim on the very next hand. The Romanian player called with [Ad] [3h] after the short-stacked coach0783 had moved in for 17.3 million chips with [Kd] [Js]. The board was no help to either player and coach0783 left in 8th place ($3,861.58). With the addition of two of the next three pots – each worth at least 63 million chips and taken down uncontested on the flop – i.love.ri had moved up to 210 million chips.

That, along with the 4M/8M blinds and 1M antes, meant the rest of the table had to do everything they could to keep pace. Germany’s olehan was the first to step up, calling in the big blind with [Kh] [Tc] after Lex West shoved for 28.81 million holding [Jd] [8s]. The board was all blanks and Lex West left in 7th place ($7,294.10). The chip leader then went back to work on this hand:

That sent DarrenStyles out in 6th place ($10,726.62). He was followed five hands later by PiRaToS14, who was crippled with [Ah] [Js] against olehan’s [9d] [9h] before being knocked out by Portugal’s LEAO66. PiRaToS14 finished 5th for $15,017.27.

Four players enter, one player leaves

That left just four competitors, stacked like so:

Seat 6: olehan (135,163,732 in chips)
Seat 7: Jinky6677 (33,385,492 in chips)
Seat 8: LEAO66 (100,626,756 in chips)
Seat 9: i.love.ri (217,601,020 in chips)

Jinky6677 managed to double through olehan with pocket kings against [As] [6s], stacking up to 77 million chips with blinds at 6M/12M. Then the i.love.ri express continued to roll after LEAO66 shoved from the small blind with [As] [7s]; i.love.ri called with [2c] [2h], which held up through a board of [Qh] [8h] [Qd] [Th] [4h] to bust LEAO66 in 4th place. Only six hands later came this hand, which set i.love.ri up with a big lead for heads-up play:

Despite one double-up on the first hand of heads-up play, the uphill climb would prove to be too much for olehan. On the third hand, i.love.ri opened for 36 million on the button with [Kh] [Qh] and called when olehan moved in for 83 million with [Qc] [4c]. olehan never got close as the board ran out [Ac] [5d] [8d] [Qs] [Kd], shipping the final pot – and this TCOOP championship – to i.love.ri.

TCOOP Event 32 $5.50+R No-Limit Hold’em (3x-Turbo)
16,951 entrants, 60,638 rebuys, 8,494 add-ons
$429,065 prize pool

1st place – i.love.ri (Romania) – $50,195.55
2nd place – olehan (Germany) – $36,470.52
3rd place – Jinky6677 (Canada) – $27,889.22
4th place – LEAO66 (Portugal) – $19,307.92
5th place – PiRaToS14 (Finland) – $15,017.27
6th place – DarrenStyles (Sweden) – $10,726.62
7th place – Lex West (Netherlands) – $7,294.10
8th place – coach0783 (Belgium) – $3,861.58
9th place – Pipo0705 (Germany) – $2,574.39

At 7 hours and 47 minutes this event lasted a bit longer than the average TCOOP event so far – and for the winner it was less than a regular day’s work for 50 grand. There’s plenty more turbo goodness where this event came from, though your time for participating is beginning to run low. Check out the full TCOOP schedule for the scoop on how you can grab your piece of the pie.

Tags: alex kravchenko | estrellas poker tour | facebook | gambling | italian poker tour | romania | russian | UKIPT | united-kingdom | world cup of poker

The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is supposed to be one of the premiere events in the poker world. It did not disappoint! It was absolutely gorgeous and I got to share hosting duties with the lovely Kristy Arnett. Just in case you haven’t seen the white sandy beaches, the palm trees, the water parks, or Kristy in a bikini, check out this video.

PokerStars kicked off the tournament series in style with the $100,000 Super High Roller. The action was intense and there were even two re-buys; one by businessman and Big Game regular Bill Perkins, the other by Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel. It worked out for Duhamel because he ended up in the top five that cashed. He also ended up having an incredible PCA in general, but, more on that in a bit.

Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and last year’s Main Event champion Galen Hall also cashed this huge event. Heads-up play ended up being Dan Shak against Team PokerStars Pro Viktor ‘Isuldir1′ Blom. Blom shipped the first-place prize of $1,254,000. Prior to this win, Blom had never appeared in a video interview before. However, in light of this huge live victory, he finally spoke.

Blom really proved that he has a presence in the live tournament circuit. And I finally got a better glance at what it is like to grind online. PokerStars Team Online’s Randy Lew set up a grind station right by the media row and proceeded to set a Guinness World Record. He played almost 24,000 hands in eight hours and made a profit. It was insane to watch. He NEVER stood up in the entire eight hours.

Of Course the Main Event attracted a huge field of 1,072 players. Like bees to honey, poker players love the PCA. The final table ended up with quite a few online players. But, the winner was day trader John Dibella.

Meanwhile Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel was leading the way in the $25,000 dollar High Roller. He played five events and final tabled four of them! And he shipped one of the $5,000 side events. He ended up besting the incredible High Roller field to get heads-up with Russian player Leonid Bilokur. Bilokur took down the event. But it was definitely a profitable trip for the 2010 WSOP Main Event winner.

Needless to say, even though I didn’t get too much time in the sun, I had a ball. I treasure the opportunity to spend some quality time with the best players in the world. Hopefully next year, I get to go to the party!

Tags: elky | ept | eureka poker tour | france | gambling | italian poker tour | news | pius heinz | planets | team pokerstars pro | TOC | wcoop

A thousand poker players gathered around 100 tables on Wednesday morning for Event #29 of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, a $109 buy-in no-limit hold’em Shootout. With five-minute levels and starting stacks of 5,000 (reset each round), the one among them who would win three ten-handed sit-n-gos — each likely to take between an hour and 90 minutes — would claim a nifty return of $18,250 on that $109 investment.

All told the prize pool added up to an even $100,000 for this one (beating the $75K guarantee). Winning the first-round match would get you into the money, assuring at least a $385 payday. Winning two rounds and a seat at the final table meant a minimum cash of $1,400 (10th-place money). But winning one more match would get you the first-prize money as well as one of those coveted TCOOP gold-plated card cappers.

Round 1 (1,000 to 100)

Among the 1,000 competitors were 11 representatives of Team PokerStars, including Johnny Lodden who just a few hours before had turned in an oh-so-close runner-up finish in last night’s Super Tuesday to earn a $63,412.50 score. Here’s a quick rundown of how the first round went for the PS players:

Pat Pezzin — eliminated in 10th by rashy21 at a table won by huge.fishh

Jude Ainsworth — elim. in 9th by PAROOVKA; table won by sentin7

Martin Staszko — elim. in 8th by VladLungu; table won by prebz

Grzegorz “DaWarsaw” Mikielewicz (Team Online) — elim. in 8th by Kleinas24; table won by J_Kenish

Johnny Lodden — elim. in 6th (after sitting out the first 45 min.) by claypole, who went on to win the table

Anders “Donald” Berg (Team Online) — elim. in 6th by hamburg; table won by AdrianoK20

Victor Ramdin — elim. in 4th (after sitting out the whole match) by Asul KO; table won by ricky17

Shane “shaniac” Schleger — finished runner-up to sakalxx

Marcin “Goral” Horecki — won, defeating TAROO13 heads-up

Alex Kravchenko — won, defeating ash4simone heads-up

Ana Marquez — won, defeating Jamaikaner04 heads-up

Marquez’ match was one of the last of the first round to complete, taking about an hour and 20 minutes. Not long after icf043 finally took the last of Twinface82′s chips on their table to advance, and the second round was immediately underway.

Round 2 (100 to 10)

The first of the ten second-round matches finished over on Table 5 where AleksZy needed just over an hour to win the table, using [Ad][Kh] to wipe out louve205′s [Ks][7h] on the final hand. Moments later it was joszunabot18 taking down Table 4, beating Marcius155 heads-up to win his seat at the final table.

Soon the other tables wrapped up as well. On Table 8, Aaron “JeanGrae” McCready and mumu12345 were close in chips when they got it all in with McCready holding [8d][8s] and mumu12345 pocket aces. An eight flopped, and JeanGrae‘s hand held to win him the table.

On Table 2 it was P121YAN advancing after outlasting J_Kenish heads-up. Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko managed a sixth-place finish there. twirlpro then took the last of 19Boris73′s chips to win Table 7, Mr Negreanu (not that one) knocked out Boartskjepke to take Table 9, and -shameLi- won Table 10 by eliminating Skowronekpro who had early on sent Ana Marquez to the rail in eighth.

Next it was czlol winning Table 1 where Hasn82 finished second and Marcin “Goral” Horecki fifth. wasjaxjey took Table 3, beating out thawright at the end. And finally, about one hour and 20 minutes after the match had begun, in was KOSEC510 advancing at Table 6 after whittling away at ricky17′s short stack, then winning the last of the chips with [Ad][Td] over ricky17′s pocket deuces when a ten hit the board.

The last of the ten-handed sit-n-gos was ready to go!

Round 3 (10 to 1)

All reverted back to 5,000 chips as the last of the three shootout matches began, the blinds once again starting at 25/50.

They made it all of the way to Level 9 (35/150/300) before the first elimination at the final table, nearly 50 minutes into the match. By then twirlpro had pushed in front with more than 10,000 chips while -shameLi- and P121YAN were sitting on the short stacks with a little over 2,000 each.

It was Mr Negreanu, however, pushing all in from the cutoff for 4,400 and getting a reraise from czlol in the small blind to isolate. Mr Negreanu held [Ac][8h], but czlol had woken up with [As][Kc], and after the [Jd][Qd][Jh][7h][Tc] board they were down to nine.

A couple of hands after that P121YAN would lose most of his chips to fellow short-stack -shameLi- after running [Ac][Jc] into -shameLi-’s [Ad][Kc]. Down to just 611 chips, P121YAN would get them all in with [Kc][9c] versus AleksZy’s [Tc][Td], and when the community cards came [8h][4c][3c][9h][Ts], P121YAN became the next to go in ninth.

The match hit the one-hour mark, then came a tourney-changing hand involving three players, -shameLi-, joszunabot18, and twirlpro.

With blinds up to 250/500, -shameLi- raised all in from under the gun for 4,675, joszunabot18 called with the 3,445 he had left, then twirlpro reraised over the top from the small blind to force a fold from JeanGrae. The trio’s hands were revealed:

twirlpro: [Th][Ts]
-shameLi-: [Ah][Jh]
joszunabot18: [9d][9h]

The flop came [Ad][5h][4s] to put -shameLi- in front, but the [Tc] turn gave twirlpro a set, and after the [Kc] river the field had been swiftly trimmed by two, with joszunabot18 taking eighth and -shameLi- finishing seventh.

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Three more eliminations rapidly followed, coming on three consecutive hands.

Just three hands after twirlpro’s double-knockout the blinds were 300/600 when KOSEC519 raised all in for 2,414 from UTG and saw Aaron “JeanGrae” McCready reraise all in from a couple of seats over. It folded back around and KOSEC510 showed [Ah][Tc] to JeanGrae’s [9d][9h]. Five cards later — [7h][Qd][Jd][Qc][3h] — they were down to five.

On the very next hand it folded around to AleksZy in the small blind who pushed his short stack of 1,962 in the middle, getting a call from chip leader twirlpro who by then had pushed over 21,000. AleksZy had [Qh][7h] and twirlpro [Ks][5s]. The board brought no pairs for either player, coming [2d][6s][Ac][3s][9d] to send AleksZy out in fifth.

And right after that it was wasjaxjev opening with a 4x raise to 2,400 from UTG, leaving himself just three chips behind. It folded to czlol in the big blind who reraised and wasjaxjev put in those last chips, showing [Ks][Js] to czlol’s [As][3h]. The board came [8s][Kd][3d][Ad][8c], giving czlol the better two pair and knocking wasjaxjev out in fourth.

The dust from that rush of activity settled to show twirlpro in front wiht 23,511, JeanGrae next with 14,004, and czlol third with 12,485. Those three would battle for about 15 more hands, then it would take just two hands more to settle TCOOP #29.

First czlol minimum-raised to 1,600 from the button, then twirlpro raised to 4,260 from the small blind. Aaron “JeanGrae” McCready had fallen to just 2,219 to start the hand, and he pushed his stack in from the big blind then saw czlol fold. McCready had [As][Qh], but twirlpro had him pipped with [Ac][Ks], and after the cards came [Td][6s][Jd][9s][7h] JeanGrae was out in third.

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The stacks were 29,730 for twirlpro and 20,270 for czlol for their single heads-up hand.

twirlpro opened for 1,600 from the button, czlol made it 4,000, twirlpro shoved, and czlol called. twirlpro held [Ac][5c] and czlol [9h][9s], and when the flop came [As][3c][6s] czlol was in need of help to survive. But the turn was the [3h] and river the [Qc], giving the chips, the third-round match, the gold-plated TCOOP card capper, and the first-place prize money to twirlpro.

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Congratulations to twirlpro for winning three ten-handed tables to turn $109 into a cool $18,250!

TCOOP Event #29 Results ($109 NLHE Shootout):
1st: twirlpro ($18,250)
2nd: czlol ($12,700)
3rd: JeanGrae ($9,450)
4th: wasjaxjev ($7,050)
5th: AleksZy ($4,950)
6th: KOSEC510 ($4,000)
7th: -shameLi- ($3,150)
8th: joszunabot18 ($2,500)
9th: P121YAN ($1,900)
10th: Mr Negreanu ($1,400)

Still plenty more TCOOPing going on. Check the Turbo Championship of Online Poker site for details.

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There is a village in southern India with no electricity, medical care, or proper infrastructure. You’d be lucky to find one person there who has even heard of poker, let alone poker played on something called the internet. This is where Andy Ganapathy grew up.

There is a kind of family dynamic in which playing cards is considered an irresponsible pastime. This is the kind of family in which fathers do not teach their children the rules to five-card draw, Texas Hold’em, or anything else that has to do with the game. This is the kind of family in which Andy Ganapathy grew up.

So, you might wonder how Ganapathy (known as Andy123460) ended up this week as the champion of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker’s Event #23 defeating nearly 3,000 opponents for a $58,753 payday.

Frankly, Ganapathy sort of wonders than himself. He’s a 31-year-old corporate sales manager for Electrolux Canada who came from the middle of nowhere to win an online poker championship event.

“If you look at my background I have nothing to do with poker,” he said, “but yet somehow ended up with the wonderful world of poker.”

A couple of years ago, Ganapathy was at his buddy’s cottage for a night of card-playing. He’d never played before, so his friend gave him a card that showed the ranking of hands. He ended up wining that night.

“They call it beginners luck,” Ganapathy said.

To understand how he became a champion, it’s instructive to look at how Ganapathy has lived the rest of his life. He started school in a building that had no roof. He ended up graduating from a top engineering college and moving to Canada to pursue his MBA.

“It was a roller coaster ride with ups, downs, twists, and turns,” he said.

It spoke to hard work, determination, and will. Most people who grow up in such villages never leave. Ganapathy is not one of those people, and he ended up treating his poker game like his professional life.

“I’m mastering it every day,” he said.

The new TCOOP champion plays cards on the weekend, follows heroes like Daniel Negreanu, and dreams of one day hitting the big time.

Someday, Ganapathy would like to be a member of Team PokerStars Pro. For now, however, he’s happy to continue his success in the business world. Meanwhile, he’ll work on his game and pay off his debts with some of his winnings.

And the rest of the cash?

He’s going to give it all to his family.

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The Turbo Championship of Online Poker was announced in December 2011, and players all over the world have been waiting for the tournament series to kick off. The wait is over. The inaugural 2012 PokerStars Turbo Championship of Online Poker kicked off on Jan. 19 with a $22 no-limit hold’s six-max event. Throughout the 50 events on the docket, there’s $10 million in guarantees up for grabs. Since the series has already kicked off, we decided to take a look at what some of the players are saying about TCOOP — through their social media outlets, because we’ve already told you what they think about turbos.

On Wednesday, Team PokerStars Online’s Kristian “CharismA3″ Martin tweeted, “#TCOOP tomorrow!!! WE SO EXCITED.” We’re excited too. In fact, we’re so excited we can’t decide which seat we should take.

On Thursday, Marty Mathis was getting his grind station ready for TCOOP. He tweeted, “Just hung the lucky #TCOOP poster in our apartment. Do you recognize it @PokerStars?” He attached the following photo to the tweet. Actually Marty, we do recognize it, and we’d like it back. KThnx.

Marty Mathis and his pilfered TCOOP poster

And just 20 minutes before things kicked off on Thursday, Team PokerStars Online’s Dale “Daleroxxu” Philip tweeted, “Guarantee = smashed.” Just two hours later, Philip’s Event #1 was smashed — but not in a good way. Philip did make the money in Event #2 though. He finished in 165th place.

Team PokerStars Pro Canada’s Pat Pezzin wasn’t too excited about his TCOOP Day 1, tweeting, “Not so great in Day 1 of #TCOOP. Played all 4 events with 1 min cash, but I’m deep in the Daily $215 Turbo 14th/24 left…$14k for 1st.” An hour later, he tweeted, “Just won the $215 Daily Turbo @pokerstars for $14,500 beating 378 players. Bring on #TCOOP. #loving turbos.” So the day didn’t end that bad.

Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree kicked off TCOOP with a bang, finishing in 38th place in Event #3 — good for $1,200. Shortly after her win, she tweeted, “mUST stop WATCHing BrEaking BAD and go to SLEep aaarH.” We’re going to blame sleep depravation for the interesting format, but she’s not going to let a lack of sleep stop her from TCOOP. She assured her 31,000+ followers, “…Yes, I will be playing mucho #TCOOP this coming week.”

Team PokerStars Online’s Kevin “WizardOfAhhs” Thurman was scheduled to host the first three events of TCOOP, but his flight was grounded in Seattle due to a massive snowstorm. His fellow team members tweeted their sympathies when he tweeted the picture of the bench (in a children’s playroom) that would be his bed for his overnight stay, and even helped him out with his hosting duties.

Thurman’s bed for the night

How’d he awake? To squeals of delight of course. For those of you wondering, Thurman made it home Friday night — after 40 hours in the Seattle airport.

Shane Schleger and Daniel Negreanu are a few of the members of Team PokerStars who have yet to make an appearance on the TCOOP felts, but don’t you worry, Schleger has made it clear he’ll be on the felt on Sunday. Negreanu hasn’t given us an exact day, but we’re sure he’ll be gracing the tables soon.

TCOOP runs through Sunday, Jan. 29 and the PokerStars Blog will be providing updates from all of the events. You can also follow Team PokerStars on Twitter for updates straight from the pros.

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