charity

Vicky Coren on her EPT Heads-Up win and more

You could say Team Pro Victoria Coren had a good trip to Monaco. She began the Monte-Carlo®Casino EPT Grand Final with an historic win in the €5,000 Heads-Up tournament over specialist Melanie Weisner. A few days later, Coren was heads-up yet again, this time for the PokerStars Women Grand Final title. Although Spanish pro Leo Margets prevailed, Coren impressed and amused by live multi-tabling the final table of the Women’s Event with the concurrent tournament of champions, a freeroll she qualified for from winning the 2006 EPT Main Event in London.

In this interview, Vicky talks to PokerStars Women about why Melanie Weisner reminds her of herself, changing her mind on women’s events and how she plans to spend the €60,000 she pocketed with her heads-up title.

PokerStars Women (PSW)- Congrats on your EPT Heads-Up Grand Final title! You ended up playing HU specialist Melanie Weisner in the final. What was that match like?

Victoria Coren (VC)- It was really fun with Melanie. I was slightly embarrassed that at one point on the PokerStars blog they ran up a thing going “Oh Vicky and Melanie are talking about boys, and love and what’s the right age to get married.” I was like, “Brilliant, we’ve been playing for four-and-a-half hours and someone walked by at just the bit when we were talking about that kind of thing. And people will be rolling their eyes saying “For heaven’s sake–women in any context . . . Maybe in a women’s boxing match . . . they say in between blows ‘Do you have trouble with commitment?’, ‘I have trouble with commitment.’”

We genuinely did talk about love during a very tough match. It would have really freaked me out earlier in my poker career to try to maintain that level of interesting concentration with that difficult of a game.

PSW- Tell us about one of the most interesting hands against Melanie.

VC- There were a few. There was one where I almost felt sympathy for her. It was her button, she raised pre-flop, I called with [Qh][Th]. The flop came with two hearts. I check-raised, she called and the turn brought the flush. She only had 4500 and I bet 4000. She reminded me of myself when she talked about the agony she was in. She told me she had a pair of queens and knew I either just turned a flush or I didn’t have anything. I loved that Melanie was doing that because I’ll do the same thing. I’ll do it either as a sign of respect for my opponent or to get a tell from them. I genuinely felt sympathetic for her in that situation–there’s no way of knowing, you’re just tossing a coin. You’re either throwing away the huge hand you’ve been dealt as it’s not easy to get queens heads-up, or you’re paying off an exasperating value bet. She did call and that was a turning point in one of the matches. Though we took it in turns to get very low in chips and fight back I remember thinking during that hand “she’s so like I am.”

She is like me in other ways too. She’s in poker because she’s competitive and stubborn and very bright and funny. (I’m not saying I am) but I recognize her way of dealing with the world. She’s flirty, combative, difficult and likeable, and doesn’t like to be pushed around. She plays aggressively, almost to make a point about the World. And in that hand, watching her with queens and not sure what to do, was like looking in a mirror.

PSW- So how cool was it that two women ended up heads-up in a mixed field event, especially in a game type that’s particularly associated with poker skill?

VC- Poker players are obsessed with statistics so in addition to thinking about winning my second EPT event and my first live heads-up tournament win, I was musing that it might be the first time in history that a final table in a major mixed event has been all-female. I know there’s only two of us, but with two or with ten, have there ever been any all-female tables where it’s not a women’s event? I don’t think so.

PSW- Looking back, which was your toughest match overall?

VC- I played Annette (Obrestad) who is obviously very aggressive, but not in a way that’s easy to play against. And Melanie, of course is one of the best H-U players there is. She’s brilliant.

A Finnish guy called Juha Helppi played a style of H-U that I found difficult to play against. He makes very small pots, small raises, even limps the button occasionally. He absolutely won’t put a huge amount of chips in as a big mistake. You’re not going to find him putting in 4000 when you have the nuts. You have to keep concentrating all the time, and outwit him in small pots.

Then I had Dori Yacoub. He’s an older gentleman. He’s the kind of player that I’m grateful that at EPTs, the heads-up tournaments are best of three. It’s not like you play seven or eight hands and figure out “he’s this kind of player,” so it helped that I had more than one match to figure it out.

PSW- How do you describe your own heads-up style?

VC- I try to play in the same style as Juha Helppi, the Finnish guy. That’s why I found it hard to play against him. I try to play more and smaller hands. That’s effective against players who play very aggressively. But if you play someone who plays in the same way, your brains are constantly churning over these small pots. You can feel like you run a marathon.

PSW- It’s tougher for women to get experience in live heads-up because the tournaments tend to be very expensive, I’m sure in part because of the cost of paying the dealers.

VC- It’s tough for anyone to get experience in live heads-up. In the next season of EPT, season nine, the heads-up tournaments are going to be €1000. Of course I know that’s still very expensive if you’re a recreational player but it’s a lot less than €5,000. Anyway, practicing heads-up on the Internet is perfect. Online poker is for two things: 1.) You can play for any amount you want, and 2.) You can play in your pajamas drinking a martini. And this is something I know women appreciate. Get the practice in and the heads-up games you play live will not be as tough as the heads-up you play online.

PSW- You wrote an article about a year ago on your change of heart about Women’s Events. How did that come about?

VC- I’m definitely still of two minds about women’s events. Right at the beginning, when I was a novice player, I loved them. In 2001 I went to Vegas and played the ladies event there–it was a different universe. When the players arrived for the ladies, somebody announced “Let’s have a round of applause for the ladies who are all looking so lovely.” And everyone applauded and we were all given a flower. It was ridiculous but hilarious and I loved it.

Later on as more women came into poker through the Internet, I decided I didn’t like women’s events because I thought it was patronizing to suggest that women needed some sort of handicapped event. My mind was changed by two things. Firstly by a few women writing to me and posting on my blog, “Listen it’s not about thinking we can’t play against men. It’s about the fact that these live tournaments are all male. They said ‘We’re shy. We don’t want to turn up late at night in a room full of men, and have people thinking we’re weird.’” So just for people starting to play live tournaments, women can think of it as a social occasion, a fun way to get started and then play the mixed events later. So I thought “Well, no harm in it, but I won’t play because I don’t need that kind of reassurance, I’m very confident.”

Then I was at the PCA one year, and a Brazilian woman came up to me and said, “Are you insane? Why wouldn’t you play this tournament? Any restricted field you are eligible to play in you should play as it’s bound to be easier.” And a professional player should just think about where they are more likely to win. So I thought, why I didn’t think of that–a dumb obvious thing, I need to get over myself. It’s not just about the politics and the feminism.

So two sides of my brain do battle. When I’m not actually playing, one of the things I do as a writer, as a Team Pro and a commentator, is to encourage women into the game, reassure them not to be scared. So the other side of my brain is thinking “Well after having encouraged all these recreational players to get started, why I don’t sit down and try to take their money?” I’ve played a few since then and thought they were good fun. I played in three and cashed in all three (four after placing 2nd to Leo Margets in the EPT Grand Final Ladies Event).

PSW- That’s a stellar record! I agree that no one should criticize women for playing these events, whether for fun or for value. Besides, the more women who are thinking like you are, the tougher the fields become. At the PCA I had Vanessa Rousso and Ana Marquez to my left. In another I played with Vanessa Selbst and Liv Boeree, and people like Melanie and Xuan always play. You may even find yourself at a tougher table than in an ordinary 1K!

VC- That’s how times change, isn’t it?

PSW- Is it hard for you to find time to write during your poker schedule and keep up with deadlines?

VC- Yes, I have a weird life. I started writing about poker for a Chinese magazine. People who live in Hong Kong are often keen on gambling. I like this idea of a market hungry for poker stories. I was really late with it and was thinking, “How can I write it here, how can I concentrate?” Fortunately, after the heads-up I was so adrenalized by the win that I woke up after four hours sleep. So I found myself sitting out on the balcony at six in the morning, writing this article with another tournament to play at Noon. Probably not the best thing for my game, but good for keeping all the balls in the air.

PSW- So you won €60,000 with the heads-up title. When you have a big score, do you buy something nice for yourself or does it just go into the bankroll?

VC- I generally try to buy something nice, but coincidentally enough the day I won, I had an email from my best friend reminding me that I had to buy a wedding dress, which I keep forgetting about cause I find the idea of a full-length white dress so embarrassing. We were meant to go shopping for one next week, and I told her I was in Monte Carlo. And I thought, “I guess I won this money, it doesn’t have to be a 100 or 200 pound dress from Oxfam. I’m not going to spend €60,000 on a dress, I’m not insane!” But having shouted at my friend that I’m not going to spend a fortune on a dress you wear once and never again, maybe I’ll throw a little more money at the problem.

PSW- Oh yes, congratulations on your engagement (to David Mitchell). Does your fiancé play any poker?

VC- He does not, I am pleased to say. He once played in a charity poker tournament and he found it baffling. It’s kind of perfect; for me it wouldn’t work to marry a poker player. But he’s now at the stage where if he’s sitting next to me watching TV and I’m playing poker, he knows enough to sympathize if I get knocked out of a tournament but not enough to say “If you raised on the flop that may not have happened,” which is just about perfect.

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EPT8 Monaco: Slow playing on the outer tables

As play reaches the critical stage in a competitive atmosphere like this it’s only reasonable to allow players certain allowances. Or at least that’s true in almost every other competitive atmosphere. In poker’s competitive atmosphere it just annoys people and then they start to get cranky and a whole stable full of high horses is let loose.

In this case it’s not altogether unreasonable. Two players in the field could most charitably be described as showing signs of lethargy. Those with no concern for the nature of charity would call it slow playing, gamesmanship, deliberately taking a long time to make a decision in the hope of advancing their own cause.

Slow playing is hardly uncommon, put into practice at times such as the bubble, where the longer you can hang on the more likely you are to cash (even if it is only a min cash), and also now, where the allure of the TV lights, and being able to sit at home watching it with friends and family shouting “There, look! There I am! There!” is too tempting to pass up.

The TV table

The current culprits are Alex Mostafavi (listed in your programme as Reza Mostafavi Tabatabaei) and Georges Dib (listed as Barbara T. Merman*). The two of them are sitting alongside each other and represent the molasses end of the second outer table.

The tell-tale signs were obvious yesterday. Both players developed a habit of waiting until the clock was called before acting. For Gib this meant an elaborate display of chip readjustment before actually looking at his cards. Then, as the floor man ticked down yet another minute Gib would use his best thinking-really-hard face. At which point his hand was declared dead. At which point he would turn over their hand to reveal a low pair.

Players were getting irritated by it, so too the floor staff, who took to hanging around the table waiting for one of the other players to think the word “clock”. No amount of eye-rolling could stop it and signs are it’s continuing today.

*This isn’t true.

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Eureka Croatia kicking off in five days

There are just five days left until the start of the largest poker tour in eastern Europe. The second season kicks of in Zagreb, Croatia. More than 250 players from more than 30 countries are expected to show up for the main event on April 11.

To get the second season started, Eureka held the PokerStars Easter Charity tournament with Herman Vukusic MD. The 82 players raised €4500 to help seven-year-old Tomislav Kaic in his fight against bone cancer. The top four players in the tournament earned tickets to the Croatia main event.

Charity event winner Danijel Kovacic

Those people who make their way to Croatia this weekend will find a poker superstar in their midst. Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein is scheduled to attend the event.

Like any PokerStars-sponsored event, the Eureka tour is ready to party. On Friday the 13th, Eureka will hold an exclusive PokerStars party featuring famed Croatian illusionist Luka Vidovic.

If you’re ready to try out the Eureka tour, book your seat in Zagreb today. You can find the full schedule at the Eureka Poker Tour web page.

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LAPT Viña del Mar: A helping hand

Poker and charity go hand in hand and the LAPT is no stranger to giving back.

In Costa Rica, Humberto Brenes set up a fund to help stop illegal shark finning. In Mar del Plata, the LAPT donated two ambulances to the local hospital.

And more recently, the kids have been benefitting from poker.

PokerStars has teamed up with Children Incorporated to help impoverished children across Latin America.

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Last season, the LAPT raised around $200,000 and helped more than 800 children.

The capacity of a nursery in Brazil was doubled, giving a home to children who were removed from their homes by courts. In Peru, equipment was provided for an English language learning center and more 270 children have been sponsored for two years thanks to funding from PokerStars and players.

And as the LAPT grows, so does support for the children.

Despite being home to some of the most beautiful locations in the world, some areas of Latin America can be a place riddled with violence and poverty.

LAPT president, David Carrion, informed players that for just $336, they can change a child’s life.

This small donation will sponsor a child for one year, providing food, clothing and school supplies.

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A few of the 270 faces helped by PokerStars and LAPT players

But there’s no need to stop at $336, double it and sponsor two kids! Or you can donate to the annual support fund.

This year, PokerStars and Children Incorporated are working with partner organizations in Mexico to help develop a community center to give children and teenagers an alternative to street life and gangs.

For more information on Children Incorporated you can visit their website.

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Eureka tour to host charity event

Eureka Poker Tour – the only live poker tour dedicated to Central & Eastern European players – kicks off in beautiful Zagreb for Season 2 next month. Now players have a chance to win a €1,100 seat to the main event while helping to raise money for a great cause.

On March 31 at 20:00, you can play in the PokerStars Easter Charity event with Herman Vukusic, MD at the Golden Sun Casino, Zagreb. The buy-in is only 350 + 150 HRK (Double Chance, no rake collected) and all funds will be donated to 7-year old Tomislav Kaic, who is suffering from severe bone cancer.

Tomislav Kaic, courtesy of Facebook charity page

Eureka is giving away four seats to the Eureka Croatia main event, plus exclusive PokerStars merchandise to all players from the final table. What’s more, all participants and a guest will be invited to Eureka Players’ Party in Vertigo Bar on April 13.

Don’t miss out on this great opportunity to win a €1,100 seat and help an important cause.

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WBCOOP 2012: The winners

WBCOOP logo.jpg They wrote. They tweeted. They played. Now, three people stand above the world’s poker bloggers as the top dogs of the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

Over the past past couple of weeks, eligible poker bloggers across the globe have been engaged in a battle of poker, blogging, and live tweeting in an effort to pick up thousands of dollars in prizes. Today, we got the final winner envelopes and we can now announce the champions.

Without further ado, here are your winners.

Best Blogger Award

Paul Jones, known on Twitter as TheRoyalRaiser makes his home on his blog of the same name.

When the competition opened, he posted this video announcing what he would do with the $5,000 if he won the Best Blogger category.

In case you missed it, Jones said he would use 25% of his winnings for his family, 25% for a UKIPT buy-in, and then donate the rest to charity.

In the end, his writing throughout the WBCOOP festivities earned him the money and distinction of Best Blogger.

“I’m speechless!” he declared. “It was a great competition from the start. Half of the prize will go to Temple Street Children’s Hospital in Dublin Ireland. The hospital relies so much on public donations.”

Best Live Tweeter

Some folks might argue the world of social media has made Twitter even more relevant than the world of blogging. The full debate is one for another day. For now, we must congratulate Agnes Archibong-Omon who plays and tweets under the name cardkahleesi.

Her posts to Twitter during the event caught the attention of PokerStars’ social media team and earned her $1,000 for her efforts.

“Winning the prize is really a bloody good icing on the awesome cake that was #WBCOOP 2012,” she said. “Thank you to the PokerStars crew.”

Agnes Archibong-Omon

Player of the Series

Finally, WBCOOP paid close attention to how these bloggers and tweeters actually fared at the tables. During the course of the many WBCOOP events, Bartosz Oder, aka wilczybobek, had a stellar series and ended WBCOOP on top of the leaderboard.

There was more than the honor of winning at stake. For his efforts, Oder wins a WBCOOP 2012 trophy, a live event or online package for any global PokerStars sponsored event, a 2012 SCOOP Main Event Medium ticket, and a special edition chip set.

Here’s how he stacked up against the rest of the field.

2012 WBCOOP Player of the Series leaderboard final

1. wilczybobek (Poland) 295
2. murmur666 (Spain) 260
3. AJEI (Dominican Republic) 255
4. LParreira (Portugal) 250
5. mifox (Ukraine) 235
6. AkrilGIRL (Peru) 215
7. nobody777888 (Russian Federation) 215
8. Erdoganas (Lithuania) 210
9. MariusTrif (Romania) 205
10. murmuc75 (Hungary) 205

To see the full results, visit the WBCOOP leaderboard page.

Congratulations to all the WBCOOP winners for all your hard work and the payoffs. We’ll see you again next year for more WBCOOP festivities.

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TCOOP: Black Friday refugees cashing in

Until 2011, for many young American poker players Mexico was a vacation spot. It was the place they spent their Spring Break holidays or a couple of regrettable nights in Tijuana. It was never the place they intended to call home. That all changed on April 15, 2011.

“I was coming into form at the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011,” said Nicholas “Rounder63″ Carrillo. “April 15th was a really bad day for me.”

Like American poker players from coast to coast, Carrillo lost his ability to make a living playing online poker overnight. Though he had Los Angeles’ Commerce Casino nearby, Carillo’s real profit and living money came from grinding tournaments online.

“It ruined my entire WSOP planning and completely put me into a mental lapse,” Carillo said.

To people outside the online poker community, it was hard to understand. But for anyone who paid their bills with poker money, it wasn’t hard to see how Carillo’s life started to get out of control.

Sean “wcsquad3″ Pramuk is one of those people who can understand.

“Due to Black Friday, I have been unemployed for the last few months and just recently had to relocate to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico with friends,” Pramuk said.

Shores of Cabo San Lucas courtesy Stan Shebs

Pramuk has been playing professional poker for the past four years. Now 26 years old, his move to Mexico came at the beginning of this month. Like Carillo, it’s already proven to be a good decision.

Just a few days ago, Parmuk won $85,000 in Event #25 of the Turbo Championship of Online Poker. A day later, Carillo won $30,000 in Event #30.

Pramuk–a near-scratch golfer–is finding a measure of relief south of the border. He’s getting in a few rounds on the links and learning more about poker than he ever expected.

Though Black Friday upended both TCOOP winners lives, it has also had the unintended consequence of creating Mexican poker think tanks. No longer isolated in their hometowns and bedrooms, America’s displaced poker players find themselves constantly surrounded with like-minded and talented pros.

“I just try and get better all the time,” Pramuk said. “Being down here in Mexico with all these great poker minds definitely helps with that.”

Carillo is in the same situation. A lifelong football player and coach, at 32 years old Carillo found his favorite form of competition stripped from him in one day. Now, albeit with a move to another country, Carillo has found a new drive and spirit. Once again, he’s optimistic.

“I want to able to care of myself and make sure that my wonderful mother doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Carillo said. “I dream of one day making a charity foundation that gives back to underprivileged kids in sports.”

In the world of TCOOP, things move quickly. Tournaments can be up and down in a matter of a couple of hours. For American poker players, there is no easy fix. Nothing moves quickly, it seems. A move to Mexico is part of the long game. For some like Pramuk and Carillo, it’s paying off quickly.

“I moved to Mexico with lofty goals and this win puts me even closer to my goal,” Carillo said. “This win is nice because of the money, but mentally it’s like a bunch of weight has been lifted off my shoulders.”

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WCP VIII: Day 1 ends hopes of Italian double, resurgent Germany top

Who would have thought it? Reigning champions Italy out with barely a whimper. After round one and two performances that left them languishing in ninth position on the leader board, Italy limped out of their title defence with a ninth-place exit in the multi-table madness of round three. An ignominious end to a disappointing day for Captain Luca Pagano, an experience somewhat different from last year’s finale.

Italy were first to depart (5 points) and they were followed by Team Rest of the World (10) and Costa Rica (15) before an impressive one-man survival show from Anthony Monestes booked France 20 points for a sixth place finish. That left five nations with Japanese captain Masaaki Kagawa the player shoving but after a solid day they fell in fifth (25) leaving Peru to grind on before falling in fourth (30).

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The round three final table

Three nations battled on past midnight, more than six hours after round three began, with the Netherlands in control but Boeken doubled up Heitmann as plucky Tajikistan fought on. Tajikistan were the next to go (35) losing a flip to Germany setting up a Dutch-German heads up. The captains battled for a short while before Klaus Hornchurch despatched Johan van Til to take the full 50 points completing an epic comeback for Germany who had finished the first round in last place. They now lead Japan by one point.

1. Germany, 105 points
2. Japan, 104 points
3. Peru, 98 points
4. Netherlands, 95 points
5. Tajikistan, 93 points
6. France, 86 points
7. Costa Rica, 75 points
8. Rest of the World, 74 points
9. Italy, 55 points (RELEGATED)

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Team Germany completed an epic Day 1 turnaround

You can catch up with how Day 1 panned out by clicking on the links below. Play resumes at noon tomorrow. In the meantime spare a thought for WCP floorman John Keegan who is running a 5k charity run in less than five hours time.

The World Cup begins, Italy defends its title
How it works, how you win
Japan bossing it, first round dominated by the rising sun
Water boy Jake Schwartz takes on Humberto Brenes
Round two results, another blistering performance from Japan
Multi-table madness as round three begins and Italy busts
The final table tussle for Day 2 dominance

Photos are copyright of Joe Giron (in play) and Neil Stoddart (with black backdrop). Credit and copyright is reserved by them respectively.