Joe Hachem

APPT Cebu: Aussie Aussie Aussie…

We’re down to 18 players as the players head on their first break of the day. Poring over my table draw (rife with scratches as each successive player busts), I noticed a surprising distribution of nationalities left in the event. Take a look:

Australia – 5
Korea – 3
India – 2
Canada – 1
China – 1
Hong Kong – 1
Philippines – 1
Sweden – 1
Thailand – 1
UK – 1
Vietnam – 1

It’s not surprising that a third of the remaining field is from Australia. The Aussies have always been strong supporters of the APPT and boast the oldest, most entrenched poker culture in the Asia Pacific region. It helps when one of the “boom year” WSOP Main Event champions is from your country, I suppose, but that pays short shrift to all that Aussie poker was even before Joe Hachem’s landmark win in 2005.

More interesting to me is the rest of the spread. Three Koreans, despite the fact that Koreans can’t gamble within the borders of their own country. Two Indians, even though there has almost never been a major buy-in live poker tournament held in South Asia. And then a host of singletons, ranging from as near as Hong Kong to as far as Sweden. There’s even an American in there, disguised as a Thai. And of course one last Filipino, carrying the standard for the home team.

American-Thai-Cambodian Carter Gill

Half of the field is from East Asia; a third is from Australia. Toss in a few South Asians and this is shaping up to be a strong regional final table. Gone are the days when the Americans would come over to Asia and dominate the fields. The APPT, slowly but surely over the course of five seasons, has become a showcase for the region’s local poker talent.

It’s still too early to know who’s going to win this one. It could be Macau regular Bobo Chen. Maybe Indian newcomer Amit Varma. Perhaps Korean Sungsik Bae will continue a tradition of strong play from his home country. Or maybe Jacky Wang, an Asian-Australian, will bring the title down under.

What we do know is that this international final 18 players shouldn’t be surprising. Yesterday American Carter Gill noted that his entire table came from different countries. Carter himself now claims two countries as home. Given how things are going today, if Carter makes the final table we could have 10 countries represented tomorrow.

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Will 2012 be the Year of the Women for ANZPT?

Poker tour destinations afford poker pros, cashed-up entrepreneurs and satellite winners the opportunity to tick off some dream travel destinations around the globe. While the current hype surrounds the glitz and glamour of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final, on the other side of the map, there are plenty of ladies adding a little glamour to the tables on the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. Taking a look back at the history of the ANZPT since it began in 2009, there have been several impressive and consistent performances from females on the tour, but we are still looking for our first female ANZPT champion to be crowned. This could be the year to make it happen.

The inaugural season of the ANZPT was the biggest year for women on the tour, with two final table results. In the very first event in Adelaide in 2009, it was Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin who added some glamour to the final showdown. Lin managed a seventh-place finish, taking home AU$23,475 for her efforts. It wouldn’t take long until the Shanghai-born beauty would hold a major trophy, as the first female to win a Macau Poker Cup later that year. The $50,932 lion’s share is Lin’s biggest live tournament score to date and helped her get within a sniff of the top 100 Australian All Time Money tournament earners. Over the past 12 months Lin has focused more on the growing live poker scene in her home base of Macau where she has been regularly spotted at Macau Poker Cup events and on the Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

Team PokerStars Pro Celina Lin

But it was a 49-year-old mother-of six from Australia’s sunshine state of Queensland who would give us the closest chance to a female ANZPT championship. One well versed in risk-reward and investment strategies, mortgage broker Lisa Walsh banked AU$162,690 for her runner-up finish in the 2009 ANZPT Sydney to a courageous victor in Paren “Puzz” Arzoomanian.

The highest female to rank on the Australian All Time Money List tournament winnings is Amanda De Cesare. The speech pathologist from Melbourne burst on to the local poker scene when she won The Poker Star, a reality TV show hosted by Joe Hachem. The then 34-year old single mother of two was crowned the winner of the show after proving herself to have the ideal characteristics of a poker player. De Cesare won the juicy prize of $100,000 and entry into four major events (Aussie Millions, APPT Grand Final, EPT Monte Carlo and WSOP Main Event). Within the poker community, De Cesare’s poker skills were scrutinized on public forums, however hosts and mentors, Hachem along with Lee Nelson, saw star qualities in their new protégé. Their decision was validated just one week after the final episode was aired, when De Cesare took down the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series 3 Main Event for AU$77,500. In a dream year, De Cesare also final tabled the 2010 ANZPT Melbourne, finishing in 4th place for AU$52,261 to squash any lingering doubts of her ability.

Amanda De Cesare

Other ladies to get close to ANZPT immortality include Kristina Jenney (Griffiths) who shared the 2010 ANZPT Melbourne final table with De Cesare. Jenney finished in 6th place (AU$33,846) that year, and more recently finished in 15th place (AU$9,220) at the ANZPT Sydney last month. Selina Bodel also finished just shy of an ANZPT final table, with her 10th place at the 2010 ANZPT Canberra worth AU$6,878.

The 2012 ANZPT kicked off last month, with the Main Event in Sydney outlaying a tempting AU$922,000 prize pool. Perth, the capital of western Australia, is the next stop on the tour and while it may not have millionaires zooming around stunning Mediterranean cliff tops in ridiculously expensive fast cars like Monte Carlo, it does have a certain charm all its own. If it’s sunshine, white sandy beaches, the freshest seafood and top surf in a laid-back sun-kissed rhythm that you’re after, Perth delivers in spades. And if it’s poker immortality, by re-writing this history and becoming the first ANZPT female champion you’re after, then I’d gladly document your glory.

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A day in the life of a PokerStars Blogger

Seven years ago today, the PokerStars Blog published its first post. In honor of the seventh anniversary, we’ve chosen to republish a bit from a recent PokerStars Caribbean Adventure magazine that outlines a bit about how we…ahem…work when we’re on the road.

The following is a day in the life of a PokerStars Blogger at the PCA, a writer who goes to countless poker tournaments but never touches a card or a chip. The bloggers never play one hand, but they know almost everything that happens from the first flop to the last river. This is how they work.

***

9:00am: On the floor sits a backpack stuffed with chicken-scratch notes, unopened from the late finish the night before. In the bed lies a member of Team PokerStars Blog. He has a decision: breakfast or another 30 minutes of sleep. The decision he makes will factor into whether he eats a proper meal on this day or subsists on potato chips, Jamba Juice, and Atomic Fireball candy.

9:05am: The decision made, the blogger dreams of playing heads-up with Liv Boeree. Breakfast is for school children. The dream will soon end with the blogger being beaten up by Joe Hachem. Always does. Off to work.

11:00am: The bloggers arrive before most people. There’s a lot to the job that most people don’t see. It goes beyond tracking chip counts and standing around poker tables. There’s the matter of photography, videos, writing, keeping track of winners, and getting it all done in a fast enough fashion it could be considered live. Moreover, they know that what they produce will be the definitive chronicle of that happens at the PCA. They may look like a bunch of ruffians, but they take the job seriously, so they arrive early, bleary-eyed, and hungry.

Bleary-eyed bloggers

12:00pm: Somebody shouts “Shuffle up and deal” and the bloggers descend into maze of tables to mark down where the notable players are sitting. During the first few minutes, they are likely to see aces versus kings, set over set, and someone going broke with ace-king all-in pre-flop. World-weary, the bloggers nod in sympathy as they mark down the first bust-outs of the day.

3:00pm: With the first three hours of the day gone, the bloggers have recorded and written more hands than they can remember. They are haunted by that guy who went busto with ace-king, but the rest of it is a blur of clubs, hearts, diamonds, and spades. They’ve already met about 100 players they’ve never seen before and assigned them code names like “Flat-Brim Hat Blair” and “Suzy the Girl Who Looks Like My Fifth Grade Girlfriend.” This is the only way they will keep everybody straight until the end of the day.

3:00pm-9:00pm: The bloggers would look like ants if ants moved like mercury spilled on ice. It’s a chaotic scene, but professional at the same time. Despite how it may look, the bloggers are pros. One comes from a national newspaper background. Another spent ten years on-air as a radio and TV news reporter. The photographers are the undisputed best in the industry. The team as a whole has played and seen more poker hands than can possibly be calculated. The PCA is just one of the dozens of tournaments the bloggers will cover during the year and just a sunny addition to the daily updates on everything that happens online at PokerStars. And so they report with an eye toward accurate, comprehensive, and entertaining coverage.

9:01pm: As the surviving players and staff file from the room, the bloggers remain behind. They are sweating from the previous 15 minutes of running around the room and making sure they know without question who has the chip lead. They will use that information to compose the overnight wrap-up on the PokerStars Blog. No one will leave until it’s finished. At some point long after everyone is gone, the bloggers will shuffle out with cramped hands, aching feet, and the knowledge that they have about 12 hours until a dreamscape version of Joe Hachem beats them up again. This is what they do.

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2011 PokerStars Year in Review

In all the years I’ve been writing the PokerStars Year in Review, I have never seen a year quite like 2011. Anyone with a true love for the game has spent the past twelve months on a roller coaster ride the likes of which we had never before experienced. Like a poker game itself, this year has seen its ups and downs. Now, as we prepare to close the books on 2011, it’s worth it to take a look back at the highlights from the year gone by.

In the face of what could’ve been a tough year, PokerStars and its players persevered and found success all over the world. Bumper live fields impressed the circuit rounders. Online players broke world records. PokerStars celebrated its tenth anniversary, and its loyal players celebrated in kind. Now we look forward to 2012, a year that already promises big live events, a brand new turbo online tournament series, and the final steps along the Road to 100 Billion.

Once again, thanks to you, the loyal PokerStars player and PokerStars Blog reader. You make our jobs fun, and you make PokerStars what it is. We wish you peace, success, and prosperity in 2012.

Happy New Year.

Previous years: 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005

Click the headlines to read the whole story

JANUARY

ISILDUR1 BEATS TONY G IN SUPERSTAR SHOWDOWN–Just a few days before he revealed his true identity once and for all, Isildur1 sent the notorious Tony G. on his bike in the first SuperStars Showdown of 2011.

VIKTOR BLOM COPS TO HIS SECRET IDENTITY–As part of his new life as a Team PokerStars Pro, Viktor Blom announced he was, indeed, Isildur1. The big reveal happened at the 2011 PCA. Afterward, Team Pro’s biggest 2011 signing spent the next year playing his SuperStar Showdowns and frequenting the nosebleed games.

Blom waves to the crowd during his unveiling

KATCHALOV DEFEATS NEGREANU IN SUPER HIGH ROLLER–For the first time, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure held a $100,000 Super High Roller event. It drew 38 of the biggest names in high-dollar poker. Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu got heads up with Eugene Katchalov. That was as far as it went for Kid Poker. Katchalov came out on top for the $1.5 million win.

Eugene Katchalov after winning the Super High Roller

JONATHAN DUHAMEL JOINS TEAM POKERSTARS PRO–In what was probably an inevitability, 2010 WSOP champion Jonathan Duhamel officially announced he was joining the ranks of Team PokerStars Pro. Duhamel almost immediately went to EPT Deauville and won the High Roller event there for $200,000.

POKERSTARS UNVEILS HOME GAMES–Always at the forefront of new innovations, PokerStars used the first month of the year to reveal one of the biggest innovations in years. PokerStars Home Games was an immediate hit among players and became even more so after it was announced Lee Jones was returning to PokerStars to head up the effort.

ITALY WINS WORLD CUP OF POKER–With as much energy as any World Cup of Poker team before it, Team Italy won its first World Cup championship at Atlantis during the 2011 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

GALEN HALL WINS $2.3 MILLION AT 2011 PCA–Cerebral, reserved, and a student of the game, Galen Hall staged an historic comeback at the 2011 PCA main event final table to win $2.3 million. He defeated the biggest field in PCA history, one that saw 1,560 sign up to play. Hall was the biggest star of the 2011 festival, but he was joined on the winners’ podium by High Roller winner Will Molson, Ladies Event winner Kristin Bihr, and Bounty Shootout champ Andrew Chen. This year’s PCA also saw Chris Moneymaker make a deep run and nearly make the final table.

Galen Hall after winning 2011 PCA

BLOM DEFEATS CATES IN SUPERSTAR SHOWDOWN–Letting little time pass after beating Tony G., Viktor Blom resumed his SuperStar Showdowns and beat Daniel Cates for more than $50,000.

WBCOOP CROWNS BLOGGER CHAMPIONS–For the past five years, PokerStars celebrated its players who spent as much time writing about poker as playing it. That happened again in the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker.

LUCIEN COHEN WINS EPT DEAUVILLE–In a story for underdog lovers everywhere, Lucien Cohen astounded the field at EPT Deauville to win €880,000 and the main event championship.

Lucien Cohen after winning EPT Deauville

FEBRUARY

OCTAVIAN VOEGELE WINS ANZPT ADELAIDE–A year after placing third at the ANZPT Adelaide main event in Season 2, Octavian Voegele returned and finished the job, taking first place and winning nearly $150,000.

LIV BOEREE WINS SUNDAY WARM-UP–No one ever accused her of being just another pretty face. Liv Boeree took care of that with her EPT San Remo win. Just in case anybody forgot, Boeree took the opportunity to win a Sunday major.

TEAM ONLINE ANNOUNCES CLASS OF 2011–The were already bright stars among PokerStars’ online ranks, but in February, Team Online made it official when it named players like Dale Philip, Shane Schleger, and Andrew Brokos to the ranks of Team Online.

Team Online’s Shane Schleger

BLOM BEATS KATCHALOV IN SUPERSTAR SHOWDOWN–Still on his early 2011 heater, Viktor Blom took on Eugene Katchalov in the SuperStar Showdown series and beat him for more than $100,000.

GARETH WALKER WINS UKIPT NOTTINGHAM–More than 1,000 players showed up to UKIPT Nottingham, and Gareth Walker managed to outplay them all for the title and £109,000.

ALEX MANZANO WINS LAPT SAO PAULO–It was the first time the LAPT had visited Sao Paulo, and the Brazilians were looking for a chance to win their first LAPT title. Chilean Alex Manzano made sure that didn’t happen when he won the record-breaking LAPT main event.

BLOM TAKES ON QUALIFIER–Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom likes to spend most of his time playing against the people in the high stakes rooms. In February, he stepped down in stakes for an afternoon to give a qualifier a shot.

MICHAEL TURENIEC WINS EPT COPENHAGEN–One-time EPT main event runner-up Michael Tureniec could still taste the victory he missed in London. He settled that score with an EPT Copenhagen title.

Michael Tureniec

MARCH

ANDREW LI BECOMES FIRST 2011 SUPERNOVA ELITE–It seems to happen earlier every year. This year, Andrew Li broke the record for first Supernova Elite of the year by three weeks.

Andrew Li on his way to Supernova Elite stardom

SUNDAY MILLION BREAKS RECORD–Though it was a record that would only last for nine months, the Sunday Million’s fifth birthday broke all the event’s previous records with a prize pool worth $11,825,600. Luke “Bdbeatslayer” Vrabel won the title.

CHRIS MONEYMAKER GOES DEEP AT HEADS-UP CHAMPIONSHIP–Proving once again that he’s not some flash in the pan, Chris Moneymaker finishes runner-up at the NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship.

Chris Moneymaker

VICTOR RAMDIN WINS THE BIG EVENT–Heads up against then fellow Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem, PokerStars’ Victor Ramdin won half a million bucks at the Bike in Los Angeles.

Victor Ramdin

POKERSTARS REVEALS SUNDAY STORM–What was once known as The Sunday 1/4 Million got a new name: The Sunday Storm.

BLOM WINS ROUND 1 AGAINST NEGREANU–In the first of two SuperStar Showdown matches, Viktor Blom won $150,000 off Daniel Negreanu in fewer than 1,500 hands.

JOHNSON WINS FIRST EUREKA POKER TOUR EVENT–In March, PokerStars debuted the Eureka Poker Tour and saw its first champion Keith Johnson win €58,400.

FIGUEIREDO WINS LAPT CHILE–After Chile’s devastating earthquake, the LAPT was forced to take a break from hosting events there. In 2011, the LAPT made its return for Chile’s National Poker Championship.

POKERSTARS SIGNS KATCHALOV TO TEAM PRO–In a match made in heaven (and cemented at the PCA after a Super High Roller win) Team PokerStars Pro and Eugene Katchaov made it official.

GESHKENBEIN WINS EPT SNOWFEST–The EPT made its return to the Austrian Alps for one of the best poker vacations of the year. Vladimir Geshkenbein won the title.

Vladimir Geshkenbein

GRANT LEVY WINS ANZPT PERTH–Already an APPT champion, Grant Levy went to Perth, Australia as a PokerStars qualifier and won the ANZPT event there.

Grant Levy

NEGREANU GETS BLOM IN ROUND 2–After losing $150,000 to Viktor Blom in the first of two SuperStar Showdown matches, Daniel Negreanu broke Viktor Blom’s winning streak and beat the young gun for $26,500.

POGO650 WINS POKERSTARS 60 BILLIONTH HAND–In a year that would see more than a few big PokerStars milestones, March saw the 60 billionth hand come out. it was worth more than $100,000 to PokerStars player Pogo650.

APRIL

BLOM DROPS A FEW BLINDS TO PALMER, BUT WINS THEM BACK, AND MORE–In a highly-anticipated SuperStar Showdown match, Victor Blom played Scott Palmer in the first of two rounds. Blom lost, but only $5,245. In the next round, Blom came back to win more than $61,000.

WILINOFSKY WINS EPT BERLIN–In Season 8, the Germans would begin to dominate the EPT, but toward the end of Season 7, the EPT invaded Germany, and Canadian Ben Wilinofsky defeated Germany’s Maximilian Heinzelmann for the title and €825,000 first prize.

Ben Wilinofsky

LIN WINS MACAU MILLIONS–After battling though 1,329 people, the largest poker field in Asian history, Hung-sheng Lin won the Macau Millions in the PokerStars Macau Poker room.

SELBST WINS SECOND NAPT TITLE–In a stunning repeat performance, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst traveled to Mohegan Sun for the NAPT (the site of her first NAPT title) and won the event again.

Vanessa Selbst after winning NAPT Mohegan Sun

MERCIER MATCHES SELBST WITH BACK-TO-BACK WIN–As if to say, “Oh, yeah, I can do that, too,” Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier followed up his 2010 NAPT Mohegan Sun victory with a second at the same venue in 2011.

Jason Mercier after his High Roller title

KANAAN WINS ANZPT SYDNEY–In a lighting-fast final table performance, Daniel Kanaan won the ANZPT event in Sydney, Australia.

HOMETOWN BOY DOES GOOD–When the Latin American Poker Tour made the trip to Lima, Peru, local player Kemai Ferri made sure the trophy didn’t leave town.

BLOM GIVES ANOTHER QUALIFIER A SHOT–After a bunch of high-profile matches, Viktor Blom gave an online qualifier a chance to win some big money. It worked out better for Blom.

TURBO TAKEDOWN RETIRES–After a great run that saw a lot of people win a lot of cool cars, the PokerStars Turbo Takedown played its last match and quietly left the PokerStars tournament schedule.

MAY

ELDER WINS EPT SAN REMO–Max Heinzelmann, fresh off his near-win at EPT Berlin, once again tried (and once again failed) to win a championship. Instead the title went to Englishman Rupert Elder for the €930,000 first prize.

Rupert Elder

ELKY WINS EPT MADRID HIGH ROLLER–Proving once again that there is simply no place in the world he can’t win, Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won the EPT High Roller in Madrid for more than half a million euros.

ElkY after winning the High Roller event

SCOOP RETURNS, KELOPURO RIDES HIGH–The Spring Championship of Online Poker came back to PokerStars and finished with more than $43 million in prize money. In total, SCOOP hosted 114 events with more than 107,000 unique players, 403,378 buy-ins, and 156 countries. Riding high among the biggest winners was Sami Kelopuro who won the big-buy-in main event, while Anders Berg grabbed Player of the Series honors.

IVAN FREITEZ WINS EPT GRAND FINAL–For the first time in its seven-season history, the EPT moved its Grand Final to Madrid, Spain. There, Ivan Freitez put on an unorthodox display to win the title and €1.5 million.

Ivan Freitez after winning Grand Final

BRITO WINS EPT PLAYER OF THE YEAR–After a startling season-long performance, businessman Fernando Brito won the EPT Player of the Year award.

MERCIER WINS CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS–As if to prove he could win any event you put him in, Jason “When Will It End” Mercier won the EPT Champion of Champions event to close EPT Season 7.

RODRIGUEZ SCORES WINS ON EUREKA POKER TOUR–Just a couple of months after finishing runner up in Prague, Antonio Rodriguez won the Eureka Poker Tour’s event in Nova Gorica.

MATUSIK WINS ANZPT GOLD COAST–Chewing Gum Pete Matusik beat out a field of 245 players over four days to win the ANZPT Gold Coast main event.

UKIPT CORK GOES TO RAZAVI–Worth €71,000, the UKIPT Cork battle put Sam Razavi heads up against David O’Connor. After a two-hour man-on-man battle, Razavi came out on top.

JUNE

BRENES HITS 60 IN TWO WAYS–Humberto Brenes not only turned 60 years old this year, but he also finally crossed the mark for 60 career WSOP cashes.

KATCHALOV WINS FIRST WSOP BRACELET–Proving he is more than a hold’em guru, Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov won a seven-card stud bracelet for $122,000.

MAH WINS RED DRAGON–In another stellar Red Dragon main event at the Macau Poker Cup, Kwan Mah won the title and nearly a million Hong Kong dollars.

POKERSTARS AND PLAYERS DONATE NEARLY HALF-MILLION TO JAPAN RELIEF–After the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan, PokerStars and its players donated nearly half a million dollars to the relief effort.

MONEYMAKER DEFEATS FARHA IN RE-MATCH–In a series of made-for-TV rematches, ESPN replayed a few of the heads-up matches from historic WSOP events. Among them was the Chris Moneymaker vs. Sammy Farha battle. Moneymaker, once again, emerged with the victory.

HUANG WINS ANZPT CANBERRA–After a long weekend of celebrating the Queen’s birthday in Australia, Sammy Huang found a way to call himself King of Canberra.

Huang in Canberra

ELKY COMPLETES TRIPLE CROWN, WINS WSOP BRACELET–ElkY needed only a WSOP bracelet to complete poker’s triple crown. He got it after a WSOP 7-card-stud championship win.

ElkY at the 2011 WSOP

BLOM TAKES CAO FOR $150,000–After a two-month layoff, Viktor Blom resumed his SuperStar showdowns to felt Rui Cao in fewer than 2,300 hands.

SINCLAIR RIDES ACES TO UKIPT NEWCASTLE WIN–Richard Sinclair became the first man from Scotland to win a UKIPT event, helped in part by getting dealt aces heads-up.

BRAZIL GETS ITS OWN POKER TOUR–After becoming one of players favorite stops on the LAPT, Brazil got its own circuit, the Brasil Poker Tour.

COSSETTE GETS ANOTHER PORSCHE–Bucking the trend of buying just one Porsche with FPP points, longtime PokerStars player Spencer Cossette bought a second Porsche.

Cossette with his two Porches

MERCIER WINS SECOND WSOP BRACELET–Jason Mercier continued to amaze in June by winning his second WSOP bracelet.

BIG GAME RETURNS FOR SEASON 2–After a successful inaugural season, the PokerStars Big Game returned to the small screen for another season of high-stakes action.

GREENBERG WINS IN BULGARIA–Israel’s Idan Greenberg took his lead at the start at the final day of the Eureka Poker Tour event in Bulgaria and used it to win the €55,000 first prize.

AKKARI WINS FIRST WSOP BRACELET–Fulfilling a career-long dream, Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari won his first WSOP bracelet and $675,000.

Andre Akkari and his bracelet

JULY

BLOM TOPPLES TERKEN89 FOR $150,000–After winning eight of his ten previous matches, Viktor Blom notched another SuperStar Showdown win for $150,000.

LYKOV WINS WSOP BRACELET–After watching four other Team Pros win WSOP bracelets, Team PokerStars Pro Max Lykov won one of his own.

ROWSOME JOINS TEAM ONLINE–After years of being a loyal player and qualifier, Adrienne “talonchick” Rowsome joined Team PokerStars Online.

Adrienne Rowsome

POKERSTARS DEALS 65 BILLIONTH HAND–After letting its players know the Road to 100 Billion was now paved and open for travel, PokerStars dealt its 65 billionth hand to New Zealand’s “yllams.”

SUNDAY CUBED GETS MAJORS SPOT–In July, PokerStars launched its newest Sunday major, the Sunday Cubed.

AUGUST

JP KELLY GOES DEEP IN WSOP MAIN EVENT–Though he just missed the WSOP Main Event final table in July, Team Pro JP Kelly’s deep run in the WSOP Main Event was worth a lot of money and a great story. The title link will take you to Part One. You can find Part Two HERE.

BOXELL WINS APPT MELBOURNE–It was the first time the Asia Pacific Poker Tour had visited Melbourne, Australia, so it was only fitting that the title go to a future Australia Poker Hall of Famer, Leo Boxell.

Leo Boxell

PAGANO WINS IPT SAN REMO–After years of promoting poker in his home country of Italy, Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano won his first Italian Poker Tour event.

KAISER REIGNS AT EPT TALLINN–In the first event of EPT Season 8, 21-year-old Ronny Kaiser won the title.

Ronny Kaiser

DANNY MCDONAGH MAKES HALL OF FAME–Normally reserved for players, the Australian Poker Hall of Fame decided to induct its first administrator, Danny McDonagh, head of the APPT.

CANADA WINS AMERICAS CUP OF POKER–Just a year removed from winning the inaugural Americas Cup of Poker, Team Canada came back and did it again.

KOMAROMI WINS LAPT PUNTA DEL ESTE–Although the LAPT had been to Uruguay every season it existed, no one from Uruguay had ever won a title until Alex Komaromi did it in August.

Alex Komaromi and friends

PATRICK KAR KENG LEE WINS RED DRAGON–Singapore’s Patrick Kar Keng Lee took down the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon event after winning a satellite in the PokerStars Macau poker room.

FINTAN GAVIN WINS UKIPT EDINBURGH–Irishman Fintan Gavin may well have been known for his conversational abilities, but his poker prowess seemed just as strong in Edinburgh when he won the UKIPT title there.

WORLD CUP OF POKER SETS FINAL TABLE–After a series of online playoffs, the PokerStars World Cup of Poker determined its seven finalists, all of which will fight for a title at the PCA.

BODIS WINS IN CROATIA–31-year-old entrepreneur Richard Bodis beat out 254 people to win the Eureka Poker Tour event in Croatia.

SCHREINER SHIPS THE SNOWFEST–Not only did he get to go on one of the best poker vacations in the world, but Marcel Schreiner won the title in Queenstown.

Marcel Schreiner

SEPTEMBER

MARTIN SCHLEICH WINS EPT BARCELONA–In what proved to be a record-setting main event in Barcelona, Martin Schleich triumphed over the field in Barcelona, Spain for the €850,000 first prize.

Martin Schleich

WCOOP HOSTS $47 MILLION IN EVENTS–Once again, WCOOP returned to the PokerStars world. Over the course of 62 events, WCOOP put up more than $47 million in prize pools. Among he biggest stars in the series was Joel Adam Gordon (aka 2FLY2TILT) who won the Player of the Series Award. Meanwhile, Thomas “Kallllle” Pedersen won the main event.

Thomas Pedersen, 2011 WCOOP main event winner

MICKEY PETERSEN JOINS TEAM ONLINE–In another late-year signing, PokerStars’ Team Online signed up the famed Mickey “mement_mori” Petersen.

ZANDVLIET WINS SECOND UKIPT TITLE–He had already done it once before. In September, Joeri Zandvliet won another UKIPT title. This time it happened in Dublin for €83,500.

VIVIAN IM JOINS TEAM POKERSTARS PRO–After winning APPT Cebu, Vivian Im seemed destined for greatness in Asia. It only made sense that she would hook up with Team PokerStars Pro.

GOSK WINS AT IBIZA–It’s always a party in Ibiza, but Grzegorz Gosk showed everyone how to party in style with his €92,000 win on the Estrellas Poker Tour.

LEE NELSON WINS IN MELBOURNE–He already had a reputation for big finishes.They didn’t give him that “Final Table” nickname for nothing. In Melbourne for the ANZPT, Lee Nelson did it again with a title-winning performance.

OCTOBER

SPINDLER WINS EPT LONDON–Benny Spindler set out to prove he could do well on his home continent, and prove it he did with a £750,000 win at EPT London. Meanwhile Philipp Gruissem won another EPT High Roller title.

Benny Spindler

JACK DRAKE WINS IN DARWIN–The ANZPT finished its third season in Darwin where Australia’s Jack Drake took home the championship.

KAN WINS MPCC TITLE–In a dominant performance the likes of which tourney vets hadn’t seen in some time, Raiden Kan won the Macau Poker Cup Championship.

MENENDEZ WINS LAPT COLOMBIA–For the first time in its four-season history, the LAPT traveled to Colombia where Julian Menendez took the title.

Julian Menendez

POKERSTARS LAUNCHES TIME TOURNEYS–In one of many improvements PokerStars made to its software during 2011, the company launched Time Tourneys in October and gave time-crunched players a chance to play tournaments whenever they like.

BARRY GREENSTEIN NAMED TO POKER HALL OF FAME–It was a long time coming, but team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein was finally voted into the Poker Hall of Fame.

PATEYCHUK WINS EPT SAN REMO–The EPT once again traveled to the always-popular San Remo stop where Andrey Pateychuk pulled off a sick runner-runner beat on Dimitar Dachev to win the title.

Andrey Pateychuk

NOVEMBER

POKERSTARS DEALS 70 BILLIONTH HAND–As PokerStars got ready to kick off its 10th Anniversay party, it dealt its 70 billionth hand to a man from Germany. The milestone earned the winner $73,380.

POKERSTARS BLOG LOOKS AT ITS BEGINNINGS–As part of the PokerStars 10th Anniversary celebration, the PokerStars Blog looked back at how it got its start.

HEINZ JOINS TEAM PRO—Does PokerStars know how to pick’em or what? Nine guys at the final table of the WSOP Main Event and PokerStars signs just one of them….and then this happened…

PIUS HEINZ WINS WSOP MAIN EVENT–Worth more than $8 million, the WSOP Main Event first prize went to the newly-dubbed Team PokerStars Pro.

Pius Heinz after winning WSOP Main Event

MARCUS HELLNER BECOMES POKERSTARS SPORTSTAR–As winter got ready to settle in over Europe, one of its Winter Olympics stars became part of the PokerStars family.

ANOTHER FREE PORSCHE–Just because it’s been happening for years doesn’t mean people aren’t still buying Porsches with their FPPs. This was the latest of those stories.

POKERSTARS MACAU ANNOUNCES ACOP–As poker continues to rampage across Asia, PokerStars Macau announced that it would host the Asia Championship of Poker in November of 2012.

ZIYARD WINS FIRST EPT LOUTRAKI–Season 8 of the EPT added Loutraki, Greece to the schedule. Zimnan Ziyard won the title.

Zimnan Ziyard

VELDHUIS KNOCKS OUT ELKY–A little sidebar between Lex Veldhuis and ElkY ended up with the Team PokerStars Pros in the ring together. It ended badly for ElkY.

Les Veldhuis in fighting mode

LEW WINS APPT MACAU–It was his first time in Asia, his first time playing an APPT event, and his first major live win, but PokerStars Team Online’s Randy Lew made it look easy when he took down APPT Macau.

Randy Lew

STASZKO JOINS TEAM POKERSTARS PRO–Not content to have only the winner of the WSOP Main Event on the roster, Team PokerStars Pro signed runner-up Martin Staszoko to its roster, too.

DECEMBER

POKERSTARS CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY–After ten years of dealing billions of hands to millions of people, PokerStars threw a month-long anniversary party that was worth millions and millions of dollars. As the party rolled on, PokerStars released a 10th Anniversary magazine; broke the world record for the largest tournament with 200,000 players; awarded special milestone money for the winner of the 72 billionth hand; and hosted a giant Sunday Storm. The end of the month saw the biggest part of the celebration, a $10,000 High Roller event and the world’s richest online tournament and biggest-ever Sunday Million won by Kyle “First-Eagle” Weir.

Kyle Weir, winner of the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million

POKERSTARS INTRODUCES CORPORATE BLOG–Now it’s no longer just we pro bloggers who write here on the PokerStars Blog. In December, we introduced the Corporate Blog, with words from some of the top dogs at PokerStars.

FINGER BAGS PRAGUE—To cap off the 2011 portion of the EPT’s eighth season, Martin Finger became the third German to win an EPT title in Season 8.

Martin Finger

MERCIER WINS ANOTHER $700K–To cap off another amazing year, Jason Mercier won $700,000 at the Bellagio in a $100,000 buy-in High Roller event.

SELBST CAPS A MILLION DOLLAR YEAR–Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst proved for another year that she is among the best in the game. After a final table finish at the WPT Five Diamond, Selbst secured her second-straight million-dollar year.

POKERSTARS ESTABLISHES PLAYER TRUST FUND–In its on-going effort to protect its players funds in regulated markets, PokerStars established a fully independent trustee to oversee player funds.

POKERSTARS TURBO CHAMPIONSHIP OF ONLINE POKER–After wooing the online poker world with the World Championship of Online Poker and Spring Championship of Online Poker, PokerStars announced that in 2012 it will host the Turbo Championship of Online Poker, 50 turbo events that will give players a chance to win a true online championship in record time.

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2011 WSOP November Nine – Sunday Live Blog

By Pauly
Las Vegas, NV

Photo courtesy of Flipchip
For a seventh year in a row, I’m covering the final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event Championship. I’m fortunate to have witnessed the last final table inside Benny’s Bullpen inside historic Binion’s in 2005 when Joe Hachem got the sugar passed his way amidst an omnipresent chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oy! Oy! Oy!” Since then, I caught final tables played out inside the Amazon Ballroom and had ringside seats during the apex of the poker boom when Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang respectively won their championships. I have also been in the orchestra pit for each incarnation of the November Nine — Peter Eastgate, Joe Cada, and Jon Duhamel.

Now you can add this year’s November Nine to my resume. Technology is improving, demand is vacillating, and the world’s financial system is in ruins. Who knows if the November Nine will continue to exist (check out Change100′s stellar article on that very subject), or if the WSOP Main Event reverts back to how it used to be played out — from start to finish — without any layoffs. Call me a purist, but that’s how the Main Event should be played out. I never liked the concept of the November Nine because it weakened the integrity of the Main Event. Big Business entities determined that the most prestigious poker tournament of the year should be a made-for-TV event like the Oscars or Presidential elections. But as far as fabricated events go — the November Nine is still one of the best spectacles you’ll ever see.

The lines between sports and entertainment have always been blurred since the inception of televised poker. But something happened this summer during the Main Event that revolutionized poker coverage — the live feed. It became insanely popular so the same concept has been added to the November Nine (with only a 15-minute delay and ALL hole cards instead of a 30-minute delay and hole cards past the flop). For the first time, the WSOP Main Event felt like a real sport because it was being covered like one on ESPN and ESPN2.

Generally speaking, Americans want their entertainment and art spoon fed to them. Best example is the popularity of the juvenile Jersey Shore, or why Michael Bay makes gajillion-dollar mind-numbing blockbusters (I admit, I like seeing shit get blown up) and Woody Allen has been banished to Europe to do his artsy-fartsy existential films.

TV programs are only in existence to sell shit. Just look back to the first “soap operas” that dominated the airwaves after the introduction to the TV. Dramatic stories with tepid acting were only created to sell… soap. Fifty years later, the same concept applied to the poker industry. Televised poker was created to sell online poker, masked as the grandiose American Dream. Alas, Black Friday squashed the lucrative televised poker market. Without PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker fighting for the hearts and minds of online poker junkies, a vacuum was created. Even though Ty Stewart is a masterful salesmen, he’s really been the only one to persuade non-gambling companies to join the WSOP as a major advertising partner. The bottom line is that most Fortune 500 companies don’t care about poker, otherwise all of the November Niners would look like NASCAR drivers with ads peppering their entire accouterments.

Without the proverbial carrot stick in front of the donkey cart, it’s been hard to sell “packaged” poker programs to the masses. But, rabid poker fans love everything that has to do with poker. They’ll flock anywhere to get their poker fix. The ratings during the live stream of the Main Event proved that watching poker “now” (even though it’s on a delayed feed to protect the integrity of the game) is a profitable product. Let’s put it this way, if it wasn’t, there’s no way ESPN would dedicate an entire Sunday during football season to a poker tournament. Yet, that’s what happened. If the live feed continues to be a smashing and profitable success, the November Nine’s future is in jeopardy. Alas, the future of the November Nine will come down to the fate of so many projects in Hollywood — ratings.

You can watch the final table on ESPN2 this afternoon on a 15-minute delay. You can stream it online on ESPN3 and if you live outside America, you’ll find options at WSOP.com.

I will be tweeting from inside the Penn and Teller Theatre. I will be also be providing some updates here on Tao of Poker. I gotta be honest — the November Nine scheduled on a Sunday is utter torture for a sportsbettor and NFL fan like myself. It will be hard to focus on the final table while NFL games are in action. I can’t promise I’ll stay inside the Penn and Teller Theatre. It won’t be surprising if you find me walking back and forth between the press box and the sports book. Besides, between Twitter and ESPN2, there’s really no reason for me to add to the static and regurgitate information you already know about. But on a good note, that will allow me to float around and dig up the juicy dirt behind the scenes, in the hallways, and in the farthest corners of the Penn and Teller Theatre.

But the November Nine is always a wild ride so stay tuned. We’re playing from 9 players to 3 tonight. Get ready…

* * *
I have to run to the sportsbook and check on some lines. Stay tuned…

Support indie writers by buying Pauly’s book Lost Vegas.

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SCOOP: Stavros staves off opposition to win 8-Game title

SCOOP logo.gif An octopus navigates the sea in a fluid motion seeking out prey while avoiding mortal enemies. When caught in a life or death situation, an octopus dispatches a few bluffing techniques to throw off their opponent. Depending on the species, an octopus can camouflage their skin to blend into the surrounds of the ocean floor. Of course, the standard weapon of choice for an octopus under distress is to squirt a cloud of ink to blind their foes and cloak their next move.

The octopus-poker metaphor is also an easy way explain 8-Game. Just like an octopus has eight tentacles, they each act individually but the octopus is as strong as its weakness tentacle. Mixed games, particularly the 8-game format, tests supreme excellence in all fields and formats of poker. You really have to be on the defensive at all times because your opponents will exploit any weakness they can.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

Event #29-H $3,150 8-game featured a short but powerful, stacked field of 63 runners. Only the top 9 players would earn a slice of the $189,000 prize pool, with $56,700 set aside to the champion.

The tournament completed a full round every two hours with 15-minute levels per game. With multiple games in play, the constantly changing conditions never gave any one player an edge for more than a level. At the same time, it favored consistent players who had deft skills across the board.

Slew of Team PokerStars Pros and Team PokerStars Online bought into the event, but only Only PokerStars Team Pro Noah “Exclusive” Boeken made the money. His fellow members of Team PokerStars Pros and Team PokerStars Online in the field all failed to make the cut. That list included Ville Whalbeck (49th), Nacho Barbero (45th), Sebastian Ruthenberg (36th), Anders “Donald” Berg (34th), Juan Maceiras (33rd), ElkY (25th), Joe Hachem (16th), and George Danzer (12th).

Former world champion Joe Hachem got knocked out in 16th place during Stud hi/lo. Boeken’s pair of Aces won the pot (with no qualifying low) and he took out Hachem.

George Danzer made the final two tables, but busted shortly before the money bubble. Danzer moved all-in on the flop of [9s][8d][4s] and holding a flush draw with [Ah][Ks][Qs][6s]. LuckyGump called with [Qh][Jh][9c][8c] for two pair and a gutshot. The turn was the [8s] and Danzer made his flush, but LuckyGump improved to a full house. Danzer hit the road in 12th place, three spots off the money.

Fred_Brink from Denmark was seeking his 13th cash in a SCOOP event. However, he failed in his quest after he bubbled off the money in 10th place when he ran into el_Batong’s trip Aces.

Noah Boeken eliminated in 9th place

During Razz, short-stacked Noah Boeken busted when his 9-8-6-3-A lost to SirWatts’ 9-4-3-2-A. Boeken won $7,560 for 9th place.

Noah Boeken circa 2008 on the EPT

Aces vs Aces: tunnny bubbled off final table in 7th

With seven players to go, the final two tables were playing hand-for-hand. During PLO, short-stacked tunnny found himself in a battle of Aces vs. Aces. Tunny moved all-in on flop of [Kc][Jc][3c] with [As][Ah][Qs][Jh]. He trailed Stavros, who called with [Ad][Ac][7s][5c] for a flopped nut-flush. The turn and river did not help tunny, who bubbled off the final table in 7th place.

Zacpacker eliminated in 6th

During hand-for-hand while playing a level of PLO, two players busted on different tables while on the cusp of the final table. While tunnny was knocked out, over on the other table, Zacpacker and SirWatts were involved in a sizable pot which culminated into an unexpected knockout.

On a flop of [Jh][5s][6c], SirWatts and Zacpacker were both all-in. SirWatts showed [9c][6d][5c][4h] for two pair, while Zacpacker trailed [Kh][Kc][Th][9h]. Zacpacker turned a flush draw when the [2h] fell, it also gave SirWatts a gutshot draw. The [3c] sealed Zacpacker’s fate and SirWatts won the pot with a six-high straight. Since Zacpacker had more chips going into the hand, he placed in 6th, which earned him a $10,395 paycheck.

Event #29-H 8-Game Final Table chip counts:
Seat 1: LuckyGump (21,884)
Seat 2: SirWatts (110,593)
Seat 3: Sirocko (28,103)
Seat 5: ozenc (68,283)
Seat 6: Stavros (86,137)

The final table was supposed to be six-handed — bur Zacpacker’s elimination in 6th during a rare hand-for-hand double-elimination — meant this final table was five-handed. SirWatts held the overall lead, while Sirocko brought up the rear.

Sirocko eliminated in 5th place

During Triple Draw, Sirocko made a final stand against ozenc. On the first draw, both players discarded two. Sirock bet and ozenc called. On the second draw, Sirocko discarded one, and ozenc drew two. Sirocko bet, ozenc raised, and Sirocko called all-in. On the final draw, Sirocko discarded one and ozenc stood pat with with a J-8-6-3-2. Sirocko showed 5-4-3-2-2 for a pair of deuces and ozenc won the pot. Sirocko from Sweden was knocked out in 5th place for a $14,175 score.

LuckyGump eliminated in 4th place

LuckyGump lived up to moniker during the last two tables as he held on with the thinnest of stacks to make the money and advance to the final table. Once he arrived at the final table, he avoided elimination on two timely hands. But then… he ran out of luck.

During Omaha hi/lo, LuckyGump three-bet preflop and got two callers (ozenc and Stavros). On the flop of [Kd][Js][2d], LuckyGump led out and both ozenc and Stavros called. When the [7d] fell on the turn, LuckyGump bet and was all-in. Both ozenc and Stavros called. The river was the [Qd] and with no qualifying low, ozenc won the pot holding [Ah][Ts][7s][6s] for a Broadway straight. LuckyGump from Russia busted in 4th, collecting $18,900.

With three to go, ozenc increased his lead to 176,574, ahead of Stavros (76,433) and SirWatts (61,993).

ozenc eliminated in 3rd place

For almost an hour, the final three passed the lead back and forth to each other. In a couple of instances, all three were virtually even in chips. It wasn’t until the game switched to PLO before we finally saw a bustout.

On a flop of [Ad][7h][6h], ozenc got it all-in against Stavros. Stavros flopped a gutshot draw and a flush draw with [Kh][9h][7c][5s]. However, ozenc was ahead with a set of sixes and [8h][6d][6c][2s]. The turn was the [3d], but the [4h] spiked on the river to give Stavros his flush. He won the pot because ozenc could not boat up. Ozenc was knocked out in third place, earning $28,350 in the process.

RSS readers must click thru to view replayer

Heads-up: SirWatts (Canada) vs. Stavros (United Kingdom)

Heads-up chip counts:
Seat 2: SirWatts (68,693)
Seat 6: Stavros (246,307)

Stavros held approximately a 3.5 to 1 advantage, but their battle did not last very long. On the 15th hand of heads-up play, it was all over. On an action-induced flop of [Qd][9d][7s], fireworks ensued. Stavros check-raised SirWatts, who was not about to be bullied, and pushed back, Stavros responded by moving all-in. SirWatts was covered and called. SirWatts flopped second pair and a nut flush draw with [Ad][9s][3d][3s]. Stavros led with [Kh][Qs][Qh][7h] after flopping top set. Stavros faded a diamond on the turn and river to win the pot.

RSS readers must click thru to view replayer

SirWatts won $37,800 for a runner-up performance. Meanwhile, Stavros won a SCOOP title, $56,700 for first place, and a brand new watch!

Event #29-H $3,150 8-Game Final Table results and payouts:
1st – Stavros (United Kingdom) – $56,700
2nd – SirWatts (Canada) – $37,800
3rd – ozenc (Netherlands) – $28,350
4th – LuckyGump (Russia) – $18,900
5th – Sirocko (Sweden) – $14,175
6th – Zacpacker (Canada) – $10,395

By the way, if you can’t get enough SCOOP, then visit our SCOOP page. Don’t forget to tune in to PokerStars daily highlight show, Inside SCOOP. You can also keep tabs on the Player of the Series.

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Fernando Brito wins EPT Player of the Year award

Portuguese businessman Fernando Brito is the new EPT Player of the Year after putting in a consistent performance throughout Season 7.

Brito, 52, worked hard to snag the title, winning or cashing in event after event and dominating the season’s POY race. As well as a sixth place finish in the EPT London Main Event, Brito has won four €1,000 NL Turbo Random Bounty events, come second in another one, won back-to-back €10k events and finished fifth in the last €10k in San Remo.

Brito, who runs a string of businesses in Brazil, has cashed everywhere except EPT Tallinn and Berlin and ended Season 7 with a flourish – a deep run worth €30,000, and an extra hundred award points, in the EPT7 Grand Final Main Event.

Brito first seized the POY lead in London and never relinquished it from that moment on. He ended the season 1,600 points ahead of his closest rival, Swedish pro Martin Jacobson who was runner-up at EPT Vilamoura and Deauville.

Brito said: “We can only sing victory when it’s achieved, so I didn’t believe I had won until yesterday when I cashed in the Grand Final Main Event. I am very thankful to my family and friends – I couldn’t have done this without them. Now I’m going to try to do it again next season!”

Fernando Brito

At an awards ceremony at the world-famous Pacha nightclub in Madrid hosted by Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree and Joe Hachem, the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Awards recognised the achievements of players from all over Europe. A total of eight EPT Awards were up for grabs. Six of the Awards were based on points accrued from all 13 EPT Season 7 Main Events and $1,000+ side events. The EPT Achievement of the Year and Players’ Choice Awards were voted on by EPT players at the end of the season.

The other award winners were:
EPT Omaha Player of the Year: Italian Dario Alioto, who final-tabled three Omaha events in EPT Season 7, triumphed despite fierce competition from Irishman John O’Shea.

EPT Mixed Game Player of the Year: British player Matthew Ashton narrowly snagged this award despite tough competition from Italian Dario Alioto.

EPT Heads-Up Player of the Year: Portuguese player Diogo Veiga, who won the £1,000 Heads-Up tourney at EPT London, narrowly beat Richard Gryko to take the Heads-Up Player of the Year Award.

EPT Country of the Year: Ireland is EPT Country of the Year after gaining the highest average-points-per-cash. There were 70 Irish entries in EPT Main Event in Season 7 with 16 cashes, a winning 22.86%. All Irish players who cashed in Season 7 Main Events will be invited to compete in a special €10,000 prize pool freeroll taking place during EPT Season 8.

EPT Online Qualifier of the Year: Swedish pro Martin Jacobson qualified for six EPT events in Season 7 and final-tabled three including runner-up finishes at Vilamoura and Deauville. He has earned more than €1 million.

The EPT Achievement of the Year: Players voted in droves for German pro Max Heinzelmann, who was runner-up at back-to-back EPT events in Berlin and San Remo, earned €1.1 million during Season 7. The 20-year-old has playing poker for around two years after a friend sent him a few dollars to deposit online and has previously won both the PokerStars Sunday 500 and the $100 Daily rebuy tourney. His online winnings now total more than $450,000.

EPT Players’ Choice Award: It was Max Heinzelmann again for the Players’ Choice Award. Heinzelmann, who endeared himself to many with great performances, and gracious tributes to his rivals, said: “This means a lot to me. I’m very happy.”

All Season 7 individual award winners receive a full prize package for the first event of Season 8.

Up-to-date standings for each Season 7 EPT Award category can be found at
the EPT awards page.

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Fernando Brito wins EPT Player of the Year award

Portuguese businessman Fernando Brito is the new EPT Player of the Year after putting in a consistent performance throughout Season 7.

Fernando Brito

EPT Mixed Game Player of the Year: British player Matthew Ashton narrowly snagged this award despite tough competition from Italian Dario Alioto.

EPT Heads-Up Player of the Year: Portuguese player Diogo Veiga, who won the £1,000 Heads-Up tourney at EPT London, narrowly beat Richard Gryko to take the Heads-Up Player of the Year Award.

All Season 7 individual award winners receive a full prize package for the first event of Season 8.

Up-to-date standings for each Season 7 EPT Award category can be found at
the EPT awards page.

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EPT Madrid: Day 2, level 10 & 11 updates (blinds 800-1,600, 200 ante)

3.25pm: That’s the break
The level ends. Players are on a 15 minute break. — SB

3.20pm: Wow. Seriously, wow
For only the second time in EPT history, a player has made a decision to call based on a coin-flip, not a percentage calculation of the likelihood of their winning the hand, I mean an actual coin-flip, with a real coin, flipped in the air.

The manoeuvre is officially called “An Ulusu.” First, because it is named after its creator, Cengizcan Ulusu, who famously deployed it when calling for his tournament life at the final table in Dortmund, in season five. Second, because after using it, you tend to lose. Ulusu lost that Dortmund hand, and crashed out in eighth.

It’s the same story for Artem Litvinov.

If Michael Tureniec was struggling earlier he’s back in the saddle now. On a board of [j][4][2][q][9] Tureniec bet, leaving the action on Litvinov. He thought for a moment, then stood up, which was unusual enough as it is. Then, reaching into his pocket, Litvinov pulled out a small coin, about the size of a 10cent piece, flipped it, looked at it, and made the call, folding immediately when Tureniec showed [k][j].

Tureniec up to 210,000. – SB

3.15pm: Pastor doubles, celebrates wildly
Juan Manuel Pastor shoved his last five blinds in from late position with [qd][th] and was called by Alex Gomes on the big blind with [5d][4s].

Pastor is a Team PokerStars Pro on home turf so naturally the TV cameras came rushing and Pastor was not to disappoint. He started with an over the top comedy shake, then riffed with Ana Marquez before winning the hand on the [8d][jc][kh][js][tc] board and declaring himself chip leader. Pastor will need to go this process a few more times if he’s to make the money (the top 104 places). — RD

ept madrid_day 2_juan manuel pastor.jpg

Chip leader with 15,000? I don’t think so

3.05pm: Victor the victor
Victor Ramdin just eliminated Roy Lebbe. On a flop of [ks][3s][8d] the chips went in, Ramdin showing [kc][qc] to Lebbe’s [ad][qh]. The turn came [5s], the river [tc] to bust Lebbe. – SB

3pm: More words to the Weisner
Melanie Weisner is having a very active day and part of those activities just involved busting Pieter de Korver. She raised and called when the Team PokerStars Pro three-bet his short stack all-in. He was in great shape with pocket queens to her sixes but the New Yorker made a straight to a seven.

His empty seat was filled by the big stacked Mattias Bergstrom and she wasted little time getting involved with him. She raised to 3,500 from the button and Bergstrom defended his big blind to see a [qh][js][9s] flop. Both players checked to the [5s] turn where the Swede led out for 4,000. Weisner was having none of it though and raised to 10,900 to force a fold from her opponent.

She’s up to 210,000 now and Bergstrom is cruising high as well on 240,000. — MC

2.55pm: Identity compromised
Michael Tureniec has doubled-up. On a flop of [kc][9c][6s] Tureniec shoved with [kd][js] and was called by Jesus Cortes Lizano with [ac][2d].

The turn came [4s] and the river [8c]. Lizano tapped the table and allowed the dealer to take his chips and give them to the Swede, who moves up to around 150,000.

“You are a pro?” asked a player at the end of the table wearing a gold watch the size of a helicopter pad.

“I like to think so,” replied Tureniec. “In my own mind.”

The EPT Copenhagen winner’s cover may be blown. – SB

2.45pm: Pot to Gomes
Alex Gomes opened for 3,800 before Mikhall Shakhnovich raised to 11,600 in the hijack. Gomes then raised to 22,500 forcing the fold from Shakhnovich. Gomes showed [6h]. – SB

2.40pm: Frustrated Tureniec on the decline
I watched Michael Tureniec dominate a great swathe of EPT Copenhagen on his way to victory and I really can’t remember him ever looking irritated or annoyed. Some cracks appear to be showing today though.

After leading 14,500 into a [9h][6h][7s][6s] board and then calling a check-raise of 30,500 from Ivan Freitez, both he and Freitez checked the [5h] river. Freitez showed [ac][6c] for trips and Tureniec mucked with irritation, flicking the cards angrily at the board.

It’s the closest I’ve come to seeing the Swede tilted. He has dropped to 80,000. — RD

2.30pm: An unlikely story
On a board of [4h][jh][5d][6h] Joel Nordkvist checked to Melanie Weisner, who bet 8,800 and then did that thing where she stares, her eyes heavily mascara’d, at her opponent. Nordkvist called for a [3c] river card. Nordkvist checked, Weisner staring, before she lumped 16,400 forward.

Nordkvist was unsure, and separated the call from his stack of chips. Finally, he convinced himself to call, dumping the chips in with a kind of “what the hell” flourish. Weisner turned over [5c][8c]. For Nordkvist? [5c][8h].

Weisner laughed involuntarily. “Real life,” she said.

Back to all square. – SB

2.18pm: Brenes busts,
Mr Sharkie-Sharkie Humberto Brenes is out after failing to catch with [as][js] against pocket tens. Despite the histrionics of clapping at the dealer and waving his plastic sharks about the board ran [2c][2s][3d][kh][7s] to bust the Costa Rican. — RD

2.10pm: Back into it
The players are back in their seats and playing that poker-game-thing-that-all-the-kids-are-talking-about-these-days. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 800-1,600, ANTE 200

1.55pm: End of level
It’s a 15-minute break for the players. Plenty of table breaks have already taken place and we’ve lost plenty of players including EPT Vilamoura winner Toby Lewis. — RD

1.50pm: Baby face sharpening his blades
Our Day 1B chipleader Ole Kristian Nergard is a mere slip of a lad, just 19 years old from what I understand, but he plays like a man, man. Opening pots, three-betting others; it’s easy to see why he amassed close to 200,000 yesterday. In the few minutes I stood near his table he was the active player in all three hands that I saw. Two went in his favour, one the other way. It should get messy if we get him on a table with another aggressive big stack. — RD

ept madrid_day 2_ole kristian nergard.jpg

Ole Kristian Nergard

1.45pm: Visser’s bubbles run flat
Ruben Visser came back with just 13,200 chips today so wasn’t too upset to bust when I spoke to him just now. He told us that he shoved for 11 big blind with pocket jacks from the cut-off and was called by the small blind holding king-queen, who hit on the turn. The Dutch Team PokerStars Pro was considering jumping into a side event. — MC

1.35pm: Killing him softly
Diego Ivan Arbuello opened for 3,000, which Ayaz Manji raised to 8,000 from the cut-off. Arbuello paused.

“What do you want to do?” asked Manji. “Do you want to push all-in? What do you want to do.” This, one imagines, was something along the lines of what Arbuello was thinking already. He called.

The flop came [4d][js][tc] which both players checked. The turn came [qd] and both plaeyrs checked again. On the river card [jh] Arbuello checked once more, leaving it to Manji to bet 5,000.

“I told you I show you,” said Manji. “I like you. That’s why I’m talking to you.” Thing is, he said it in a way that you’d imagine a serial killer would after he tied you to a wooden chair in a basement somewhere, before he got his knives out.

As if to remind Arbuello, he took his bet back and threw it back in, closer to the Argentinian, a reminder of what was at stake. Then he called the clock. Arbuello passed.

“Wanna choose?” asked Manji (a card, not the knife he’d use on him). He picked and saw the [qs].

“That’s enough.” — SB

1.30pm: More for Lyall
Dean Lyall is approaching the 200,000-chip mark after eliminating Aliaksei Vesialou. I approached the table as the cards were on their backs but all the chips went in pre-flop and Vesialou was all-in for his last 50,000.

Lyall: [ah][kh]
Vesialou: [as][qc]

The board ran [8h][6c][jd][th][td] to send the pot the Scot’s way. — MC

1.20pm: No mercy for Mercier
Jason Mercier had the look of a despondent man as he wandered out of the Mandalay room and I don’t know about you but that signified bad news to me. The Team PokerStars Pro confirmed the worst and explained how he got eliminated.

He was involved in a battle of the blinds and holding seven-nine. There was betting through the streets and the last of the money went in on the river when the board read [t][7][2][7][q]. Mercier’s trips were no good against his opponent’s [q][7] for a full house. — MC

1.08pm: Mattern a lover, not a fighter
Arnaud Mattern was one of our first players out and quickly posted on his Facebook page: “EPT Grand finale Madrid, busted on the very first hand (flip for 35k) : I guess I’m made for love.”

Does it show that Mattern is a Frenchman? — RD

1pm: Against the norm
On the way to the Casino this morning our “Swedish” blogger Lina Olofsson was talking to Tobias Reinkemeier who spoke only of his bad luck against David Sonelin. Then, at the casino, Olofsson, ignoring conventions regarding confidentiality, told this to Sonelin, who laughed, claiming that Reinkemeier always gets it in good against him. Well, the pair just played a hand together, with the German coming out best.

Sonelin opened pre-flop and Reinkemeier called for a flop of [6c][qc][2d]. Sonelin then bet another 2,800 on the flop which Reinkemeier raised to 6,700. Sonelin then called for a [ks] turn card. He check-called that for 11,800 ahead of a [ac] on the river.

Now Sonelin checked before Reinkemeier raised to 26,700. Sonelin then put him all-in. Reinkemeier paused, perhaps thinking back to his conversation this morning, but then called. Sonelin flipped up [kd][ks] but the German had him beat, turning over [7c][5c]. A double-up for Reinkemeier which takes him to 150,000 chips. That’s where Sonelin drops to. – SB

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The TV room is now open for business

12.52pm: Table draws
Let’s not get into that table of death thing. I’ll let you choose your own by clicking on this link here. As play kicked off I set myself up between table 53 and 54 which contains three former EPT winners in the shape of Team PokerStars Pros Liv Boeree, Pieter de Korver and Sandra Naujoks as well as big stack Alex Gomes.

Unsurprisngly it was the Brazilian big stack Gomes that was busy getting involved from the off; raising and successfully c-betting into Humberto Brenes on a [4d][7c][tc] flop before losing that and a little more to Imre Leibold who triple barreled a [kd][6c][5d][3d][js] board for 3,200, 5,600 and 15,500. Gomes gave up on the river. Estonian Leibold has $450,000 in love tournament winnings and has cashed in two EPTs previously, including last year’s Grand Final. — RD

12.45pm: Slight return on investment
Pieter de Korver got his chips in, then got his chips back again. Louis Pouliot opened for 2,600 from under-the-gun before the Team PokerStars Pro moved all-in. Two seats along was Jose Nadal who lumped in what looked to be around 70,000, forcing Pouliot to fold. De Korver turned over [ad][kd], while Nadal turned up [ah][kh].

The board was uneventful, coming [6c][9s][qd][3h][3s]. Split pot. Almost back to where they started from. – SB

12.40pm: One down
Arnaud Mattern is out. He moved in for 17,300 with [3d][3h] and was called by the cut-off with [ad][tc], who had raised for a second time in a row.

The board came [kh][qd][7c][kc][qc], sending Mattern to the rail. – SB

12.35pm: Play begins
Cards are in the air and chips are on the table. Knockouts and poker gubbins to be festooned in your direction for the next nine hours or so. We’re in the 75 minute level section of play now. — RD

12.25pm: Calm before the storm
In those moments before ‘shuffle and deal’ is announced you can tell a lot about a player and their intentions. Those that have been here many times before tend to be sat yawning or gazing into their iPhone. The players that haven’t been in many big buy-in tournaments tend to look a bit antsy, knowing full well that they could be in the money come the end of the day with the chance for a run at some major cash-dollar.

There’s usually more of the latter than the former at most EPTs, but here that’s not the case. At every table there’s a smattering of well-known players and recognisable online grinders. Today should be interesting, ladies and gentleman, very interesting. — RD

12.05pm: From the tournament floor
Gloria Balding introduces Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final main event, with a little help from Pieter de Korver…

11.55am: Minutes away
Play should be under way shortly. In the meantime get a recap on the events of yesterday here. — SB

11.45am: A new look
There’s a slight change for players on Day 2. For some it will start in the same tournament area as yesterday, but as the day progresses they’ll be moving into the Mandalay room, where the bulk of the players will be from the start. — SB

10.30am: Welcome to Day 2
After two full flights, Day 1 is now over. Day 2 is about to begin. Today the field of 299 combines to play on towards the money, which kicks in when only 102 players remain in the EPT Grand Final in Madrid. That figure could be reached today.

We’re back in the Casino Gran Madrid, an out-of-town parlour of fun and games, topped by big skies and surrounded by magnificent views across the Hoyo de Manzanares. That we can see only as far as the drinks machine is beside the point, we know that it’s out there and that’s good enough for us.

Leading last night was the Norwegian Ole-Kristian Nergard, who bagged up 198,200. But the overall lead is held by Day 1A leader David Sonelin, some way ahead of Nergard on 275,900. A full list of chip counts can be found on the Official Chip Count Page.

Play is due to begin at 12 noon, with six levels of 75 minute duration on the schedule. Live coverage of all of them will appear right here. — SB

The tournament room at Casino Gran Madrid

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Madrid (in order of animosity towards the half-hour shuttle bus ride from the hotel to casino): Stephen Bartley (Detests it, claims it feels like five hours), Rick Dacey (Fine as long as he doesn’t have to listen to Joe Hachem playing Chris Rock snippets again) and Marc Convey (can fall asleep anywhere, generally oblivious). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

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EPT Madrid: Day 1B, level 5 & 6 updates (blinds 200-400, ante 50)

6.40pm: Important announcement
An announcement has just been made that there are not one, nor two but three great options for dinner. You can order food from the bar, go to the quality buffet or hit the barbeque that has been set up outside. Fantastic news. After the passing showers of yesterday the beautiful weather is fast returning to Madrid. Chunk a shrimp on the goals for me, Juan…

In other news, Martin Jacobson squeeze-jammed with [6][7] suited and was called by pocket sixes and more than doubled to 28,000.

And it’s break. Back in 75 minutes. — RD

6.30pm: Johansson, C, knocks out Finn
Christer Johansson is up to 58,000. After Joni Jouhkimainen opened for 900 Johansson raised to 2,800 before Jouhkimainen shoved for 25,000. Johansson, being in the possession of aces, duly called, up against Jouhkimainen’s pocket jacks. There were three kings on the flop but nothing else of interest and Jouhkimainen fell to the rail. — SB

6.22pm: Akkari building, Demidov stacking
Andre Akkari is up to 60,000 but fellow Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov, who is sat just a few seats around, is up to 95,000. — RD

6.15pm: Happy hour
Don’t forget you can send us your comments in the box below this post. From now right up to the dinner break, we’re having a special period during which we’ll waive grammatical mistakes and poor spelling. Get in touch. — SB

6.10pm: Black in the Black
Andy Black is up to more than 100,000 after eliminating Lee Goldman, who confessed to looking forward to a bit of sight-seeing after busting out.

On a flop of [9h][2s][6s]. Goldman, in the small blind, checked to Black who bet 2,000. With the action back on him Goldman raised to 7,400 prompting Black to insta-shove for about 60,000. Goldman called for the remainder of his stack and turned over what looked to be a hand winning [9s][9d].

But all was not lost for Black, despite the odds. He missed the [js] turn card, which gave Goldman outs to the flush, but Goldman, charitably, called for a queen. It came, the [qd] landing on the river. What was even more incredible was that it was the only queen to save Black.

“The queen of spades would have been no good,” exclaimed Black, realising how fortunate he’d been and thanking Goldman for the call. For his part Goldman was out, but graciously admitted to an itching to see the Madrid night life.

“See you in Vegas,” said Black, shaking his hand. Goldman is out, but Black moves into six figures. — SB

6.02pm: The highs and low of Benny Spindler
Benny Spindler is a young German pro who first hit the live scene with a scintillating third place finish at the PCA in 2009 ($1,100,000). Yesterday he almost clinched his first high roller title but lost heads up to Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier despite taking a commanding lead into the heads up. His second place finish paid out €316,000.

He’s currently down to 8,000, just 20 big blinds, in this main event. For every high… — RD

6pm: Three hands with Thorson
William Thorson is feeling a little under the weather today but he is still above his starting stack with 33,000. He just opened three pots in-a-row and Team PokerStars Blog followed the action.

Hand one: Thorson limped in from the cut-off and called when Japanese Businessman Masa Kagawa raised to 1,150 from the small blind. Both players checked the [5h][3d][qs] flop before Kagawa led for 1,200 on the [4h] turn. Thorson raised to 3,000 and Kagawa conceded defeat and folded.

Hand two: Thorson min raised from the hijack and was called by Kagawa, Nam Le and Eugene Katchalov en route to a [9s][ad][2h] flop. All three players checked to the [8h] turn and Le led out for 1,200 from the small blind. He took the pot as everyone folded.

Hand three: Thorson opened to 750 and the big blind defended to see a [ks][9c][3h] flop. A Thorson bet of 1,050 was too much for the big blind as he check-folded. — MC

5.50pm: Lodden down to fumes
Johnny Lodden is down to his last few thousand and he didn’t look very happy about it. Myattention was drawn to his table by the sound of chips in one hand being angrily thumped down into a small stack of some other chips. I arrived just in time to see Lodden’s [a][q] getting called down on a queen-high board by the nut straight. He’s down to fumes now. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, ANTE 50

5.45pm: Binger busto
Nick Binger is out and was last seen sat in a hunched position on a cushioned bench outside the tournament room. “I played bad and ran bad – classic combination,” he said.

He also Tweeted the following: “Sigh. Bad read (unrelated to last tweet I swear) to get me short then shoved A9 with 14bbs over lp open. He had JJ. 2k turbo in 30 min.” – MC

5.40pm: Don’t bluff Wu
Team PokerStars Raymond Wu is up to 57,000 after catching an opponent bluffing. He called a raise preflop and 1,300 and 4,000 bets on the turn and river. The final board read [qh][6h][5c][4h][5c] and his opponent mucked when called on the river. — MC

5.35pm: Spanne in the works
Dario Minieri continues into level five, his stack up to around 40,000 despite a recent setback against Christian Spanne.

On a flop of [7s][jd][qd] Spanne, in middle position, checked to Minieri in the cut-off who bet 1,525. Spanne called for a turn card [8s].

Spanne checked again and Minieri went on the offensive, again, betting 3,325. Against what seemed to be the run of play, Spanne pulled a raise from up his sleeve, making it 8,025.

Minieri checked the amount with the dealer, eventually passing and tapping the table. Minieri down but still on course. – SB

5.25pm: Team Pro battle to the death
EPT winner Victoria Coren linked to our blog earlier and we’d like to thank her for that by publicising her exit. She fell at the hands of fellow Team PokerStars Pro Joe Hachem. Her most recent tweet read:

“Good old poker. Aces for me, flush draw for Mr Hachem… AND it’s time to see the sights of Madrid!” — MC

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Vicky Coren, now in holiday mode

5.20pm: You got to fight for your right
Roland De Wolfe, who appears to be in fancy dress as one of the Beastie Boys circa 1986, was in early position when he opened the pot for 800. He quickly found calls from Neil Channing and Bradley McFarland, both in middle position.

All three players checked the [6h][4h][2s] flop but upon the [ad] turn it was McFarland who took the initiative with a 2,100 bet. Wolfe quickly mucked his hand and left the table – probably to go breakdance or spray some graffiti somewhere. Channing stood his ground and made the call, but he couldn’t do the same on the [4c] river. McFarland’s 9,650 was too much. Channing passed to leave himself with 35,000, McFarland up to 75,000. De Wolfe on a little over his starting stack. — RD

5.10pm: Weisner well up
Melanie Weisner has been in action again, this time increasing her stack to more than 45,000.

On a flop of [js][3c][9h] Ivan Demidov and Weisner had checked to the button player who then bet 1,700 from the button. Demidov, in early position, called, but Weisner, in the hijack, raised to 3,950. The button called but Demidov passed taking things to the turn card, [9s].

Weisner paused, then went to her stack, lumping 8,475 forward. The button’s expression didn’t change, only his plan, which went from one of winning the hand, to folding. He did so, smiling. Weisner winning chips. – SB

5.05pm: From the tournament floor
Gloria Balding brings you the midday update, with a little help from Victor Ramdin.

5.02pm: Pagano takes the pot
Luca Pagano bets 6,000 into a [3c][4s][jh] flop and takes the pot, which returns him to his starting stack of 30,000. — RD

4.55pm: Negreanu busts
Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is out. I’m not sure of the action but I reached the table just when Negreanu raised all-in from the small blind on the turn of a [9s][7d][js][3h] board. His opponent was on the button and called with [9d][9s] for a set.

Negreanu tabled [jd][6d] and said, “Yeah, that’s what I was worried about – a big hand.”

The river came [2c] and the Canadian wished everyone luck and made a hasty exit. — MC

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Kid poker joins the rail

4.40pm: Players starting to return
Among the players returning to their seats are Martin Jacobson and Daniel Negreanu. Last level Jacobson lost a 33,000 flip with queens to ace-king to drop to 25,000, while Negreanu has clawed his way back to around 24,000 after dropping to 11,000.

Players that won’t be returning to a chip stack include PCA champion Galen Hall and EPT Snowfest winner Vladimir Geshkenbein, who failed to catch with his shoved flush draw against an over pair. — RD

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The stars are out at PokerStars EPT Madrid

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Madrid (in order of ailments today): Rick Dacey (back and neck pain), Stephen Bartley (tension headache) and Marc Convey (annoyingly chipper and carefree). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

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