Fine Dining

EPT Berlin: The big one (for me)

EPT Berlin. The Big one. For me.

Often I went deep in tournaments but did not quite get the result I expected. But it never hurt more than in Berlin. One year I got a big stack of chips and then made a superb hero call for it. He had the nuts.The next year I got a big stack of chips. Then I got it in with over 90%. He rivered two pair.

But this year I am going to win it. No doubt.

And Berlin is going to be the best place to have that celebration. That ONE TIME has to be in a city where I can choose the music I want to hear, the drinks I want to have, the price I want to pay and still have a couple of options to go out.

Even close to the Casino and Hotel there are a few choices. Rebuilt not long ago the Potsdamer Platz features modern architecture that I can accept and a few places to dance that are ok. I rather go shopping there or to the movies at the Sony Centre and get my portion of indie later, but for a poker tournament it’s a fine place.

For a meal I go across the street, a burger or fine dining at the Hilton. They say Berlin is the best place to have a Döner. A German/Turkish dish. But with the choice of food in Berlin I would eat that one in Mannheim and instead go for the small international restaurants. For example the Taiwanese Lemongrass in Anklamer Str. is a good example. Just off the grid multikulti flair that makes Berlin what it is.

Before the tournament starts I’ll go for a tour at the Pergamum museum. That will root me to old mythology and make me unbeatable. Probably not. But it’s a great place.

A quick change of clothes, as the German casinos often feature a coat and tie policy not seen in American casinos. They are a little less stiff nowadays with the poker crowd, but a shorts and tanktop style that would not lift an eyebrow at the Rio in Las Vegas does not get you in.

Sitting down in my scarf I will play that analytical German poker, right in between the ego + math American and the ego + maniac Scandinavian. If you subtract that, I am going to be a math-maniac. That gets you far. Or not.

All in all it is going to be a big one. For everybody.

Follow George on Twitter: @trickyscarfy

No comments

Public can bet outcome of 2011 WSOP Main Event Final Table

Martin Staszko is the preference to prevail at 14/5

Nevada Gaming Control Board approved changes to sports book betting earlier this year with the addition of action on non-sports events. Although odds have been posted in the past on non-sporting events the bookmakers could not accept wagers and did it for fun only. The earliest non-sporting meet that bequeath courier peculiars besides indeed receive chances is the latter defer of the 2011 Creation Series of Poker Leading tournament to be played in November.

foretell additional

No comments

2011 WSOP November Nine Photos

November Nine chasing the chain

The stage is set and the final nine players from a WSOP Main Event starting field of 6,865 players are now on break until the final able reconvenes November 5-7 to determine the 2011 WSOP Championship winner. The November Nine was stubborn in the pristine sunrise hours on Wednesday, July 20th, whereas John Hewitt pushed total-in also was eliminated in 10th seat, $607,882.

study additional

No comments

ANZPT Melbourne: Levels 7 & 8 (blinds 400-800, ante 75)

9:30pm: Ten-minute break

9:25pm: Lunardi flushed

PokerStars qualifier and Dutchman Roel Pijpers has just sent local young gun Kristian Lunardi to the rail.

The action went down on a flop of [kc][jd][4d] when Lunardi fired a bet and then called the all-in shove of his opponent. Lunardi table [jc][ks] for top two pair as Pijpers was on the draw with his [ad][2d].

Pijpers connected with the [9d] turn card to complete his flush before the [6c] bricked the river. Lunardi final tabled this event last year but couldn’t better that performance as Pijpers is now up to a commanding 100,000 chips.

9:10pm: Maklouf leaves door wide open

John Maklouf has recently lost his battle with his short stack to throw the ANZPT Player of the Year race wide open. Maklouf is the current leader, but he may be overtaken by either Tony Hachem (2nd) who is still alive and kicking with 32,000 or Andrew Scarf (3rd) who is up to 45,000.

While many of the top twenty in the ANZPT POTY race have either been eliminated or didn’t play here in Melbourne, those who still have a chance of moving up the leaderboard include Vesko Zmukic (9th), Liam O’Rourke (15th), Brad Bower (17th) and Dan Neilson (18th).

With $90,000 in added cash and prizes the ANZPT POTY is a race that’s certainly worth winning!

8:52pm: Morton motoring

After eliminating Brendon Rubie earlier in the day, David Morton has put his new-found chips to work and currently sits behind 140,000 chips as our tournament chip leader.

David Morton is the man with the stack

Bruno Portaro (95,000) and Simon Watt (90,000) are both progressing well, while Billy Jordanou (86,000), Dan Neilson (85,000), Aleks Brkovic (83,000), Jason Wicks (65,000), Raj Ramakrishnan (58,000), Qi Xu (53,000), Andrew Scarf (47,000) and Ali Khalil (42,000) are also in good shape.

8:45pm: Have you got what it takes to play high stakes?

On a side note to tournament developments, a massive cash game has just started up in the High Rollers area of the Crown Poker Room. It appears to be a 100-100-200 Pot Limit Omaha cash game with some of the known players including Jay Kinkade, Matthew Kirk, Billy The Croc, Sam Youssef, Tino Lechich, Tony G and Jarred Graham.

We’ve decided that if any more Saturday night strays walk into the poker room and ask us how to get a game, we’re going to send them over to pull up a chair on that table!

8:30pm: Level up, blinds 400-800, ante 75

8:26pm: Table of deaf

“Mate…I just got moved from David Saab’s table, and now I have to put up with this guy?!?” exclaimed Tony Hachem after being moved to the table of Steve “The Jeweller” Lindeblad.

“I’ve been standing up for you Steve. People have been saying you’re a super-spastic, and I told them yes you are!” said Hachem.

“You’re a banana Hachem!” retorted Lindeblad before hitting Hachem in jest with his cap.

“Doesn’t he get a penalty for that? Five minutes!” declared Hachem as the two continued to exchange barbs that were a little too colourful to blog.

“Can I get some headphones?” sighed Nik Lackovic who has the pleasure of also being seated on this table.

8:02pm: Joe Hachem Eliminated

2005 World Champion Joe Hachem will have to wait a little longer to claim a major title on home soil after he was recently eliminated from the PokerStars.net ANZPT Melbourne Main Event.

After losing a chunk of chips with ace-four against an opponent’s ace-queen, it was again kicker problems that got Hachem when his final chips went into the middle on an ace-high flop. Hachem tabled ace-five but was out-kicked by his opponent’s ace-nine. Hachem couldn’t find the three-outer five to survive and was bounced out of the tournament.

Joe Hachem has been eliminated from the ANZPT Melbourne Main Event

7:55pm: Another young gun on the rail

The eliminations keep coming post-dinner and this time its young gun Andrew Hinrichsen who has joined his buddies at the Vegas Bar.

Hinrichsen found himself racing with [ac][kd] against Leo Boxell’s [qc][qs] but a third lady on the board of [qd][jc][6s][6c][5d] shipped the pot to the tournament veteran and eliminated Hinrichsen from the tournament.

7:38pm: Rubie run bad
Another young gun has hit the rail with Brendon Rubie coolered with a rather vicious flush over flush.

After raising preflop to 1,200 and finding three callers, Rubie fired another 3,600 on the [4h][9h][2h] flop. David Morton made the call in position as the two blinds slipped out of the way.

The turn was the [7c] and Rubie fired another 7,500. Morton responded with a min-raise to just 15,000. Rubie tanked for a long time before committing to a call to see the [js] complete the board on the river.

Rubie checked it again over to Morton who moved all in with Rubie making the call for his last chips. Rubie opened [kh][8h] for the second-nut flush but it wasn’t enough as Morton had flopped the nuts with his [ah][7h].

“Maybe I should have waited two more hands before I came back from dinner!” sighed Rubie as he crashed out of the tournament to leave Morton stacking up a huge number of chips, somewhere in the vicinity of 100,000 and our tournament chip lead.

7:35pm: Benton busto

Straight back into the swing of things and it didn’t take long following the break for us to lose 2009 APPT Sydney champ Aaron Benton. He was down to his last 6,000 and moved it in preflop with [2d][2h] but ran into the [as][ah] of Justin Cohen.

The board ran out [7s][kc][qc][6h][qc] and Benton couldn’t find a lucky deuce and was sent to the rail as Cohen moved up to 44,000.

7:30pm: Play resumes

Most of our players seem to have safely navigated their way through the busy Saturday night queues here at the Crown Casino’s finest establishments and have returned with stomachs satisfied. The Crown Casino has a number of fantastic dining options, from fine dining to casual restaurants to the nearby food court which the blogging team has mercilessly attacked with delight over the years.

As the players returned to the felt, the Saturday night railbirds have also started to drift into the Crown Poker Room to check out all the action. Despite being located at the basement level of the Crown complex, the poker room receives a steady stream of interested onlookers as, at times, our blogging desk acts more like an information booth. This is especially true on a Saturday night as the hour wears on and the drink consumption increases. We love nothing more than a rowdy Saturday night crowd, and we look forward to seeing them on the $2/$3 tables later this evening!

With the scene set the cards are now back in the air with four more levels to play this evening.

No comments

20% off at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant (Las Vegas locals only)

Sample a

No comments