Your tank is full of fuel. You’ve packed a cooler full of snacks. The in-dash navigation system is ready to roll. For you and the rest of the world, the next leg on the Road to 100 Billion starts today.

Sometime around 16:00 ET today, the milestone hands in the 80 Billionth hand celebration will kick off. The milestone hands begin at 79,700,000,000 and will hit every million hands until PokerStars deals its 80 billionth. When you get dealt into one of the big hands, you’ll earn big money. If you manage to hit the 80 billionth hand and win it, you’ll earn at least $20,000

As you might know by this point, your VIP Club status can earn you more money in the milestone hands celebration. The higher your status in the VIP Club, the bigger your payday. That’s because your prize is based on the number of VIP Points you have earned at the table in the hands leading up to the big hand.

Again, it all kicks off in about four hours, so buckle up and get ready to roll.

For all you need to know about this week’s celebration, check out the Road to 100 Billion information page.

Get ready, folks, because you don’t want to be left behind.

Tags: 10th anniversary | 2011 | harrah's | italian poker tour | pokerstars | SCOOP | tournaments | wbcoop | world-series

Jason Wheeler is one of a number of Mexamericans who have become regulars on the EPT over the last year and has certainly been one of the more successful ones. Eleven EPT cashes, three of which have been in main events, have totted up to $175,746 but it’s looking like he saved the best for last.

The American is currently chasing down Ben Vinson’s 2,260,000 chip lead with a burgeoning 1,700,000 stack with just 20 players remaining in the main event. We caught up with Wheeler at the break, just before his rush to the top knocking out Tudor Grangure with kings holding against ace-king.

“It’s going pretty well. I’ve only been in a couple of spots, won one and lost one so I’m down slightly but I feel I’m playing well. The table’s decently tough but there are some spots on it for sure,” said Wheeler, not knowing that he’d be on the right side of a cooler shortly after.

There have been plenty of non-Europeans on the EPT over the last few seasons but a spike in US players since last April has reinvigorated the tour with the likes of Wheeler, Steve O’Dwyer and Olivier Busquet tearing up these events.

“I really started last Fall after Black Friday. That kind of forced me to start travelling. I came over, made some runs and decided to keep coming over until I win something. I’m living in Mexico but I’ve been over in Europe for six of the last twelve months. If you travel the live circuit you’re on the road a lot. The biggest change for me since two years ago is that I used to be mainly online but I’m now translating that into live,” said Wheeler.

That transition seems to be going well so far but was there much to adjust to?

“At first definitely, but after a while I found that I preferred live because I feel I can define player’s ranges much better across multiple streets. It’s one of the strengths of my game post-flop. My edge live is much better live than it is online. I’m definitely surprised that there are the soft spots that are (still in) but that’s what happens at these things that you have a few big names and a few slip through. Definitely I like my chances if I can make the final table,” said Wheeler.

News has just come through that Wheeler has bust out after hitting top two-pair against top set. Out in 18th for €40,000.

Tournament snapshot
Level 24: blinds 12,000-24,000, ante 3,000
Players: 20 of 665
Average stack: 997,500
Click here for live coverage and more features from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Tags: archives | Battle of the Planets | belgian poker series | delicious | estrellas poker tour | eureka poker tour | european | napt | russian poker series | tournaments | wbcoop | world-series

Grab a cup of coffee, put a pillow in the seat of your computer chair, and get ready to get back on the road, because PokerStars just opened up a new highway on the Road to 100 Billion.

Today, PokerStars announced that its 80 billionth hand will be hitting some time very soon. If you’ve been a player on PokerStars for very long, you know that when big things start happening, big money starts flying. It’s more than a big paper cut risk. It’s a chance to win a small fortune.

Between now and the time the 80 billionth hand hits, PokerStars will be giving away up to $1 million in prizes. Every millionth hand from 79,700,000,000 to 80,000,000,000 will be worth thousands of dollars to the people lucky enough to be seated in the right place at the right time.

And, of course, PokerStars has something big planned for the 80 billionth hand. Whoever wins that one will get at least $20,000.

Note the words “at least” in that last sentence.

See, the way this thing works is that you get paid more for your milestone hand victories based on the number of VIP Player Points you have earned at the tables since you sat down. The more you play and the higher your VIP Club level, the more you can win.

When the 75 billionth hand hit, it ended in a split pot, which meant two people ended up with big cash instead of one.

Now it’s time to turn our attention to the 80 billionth hand. Keep your eye on the corner of the PokerStars lobby to see when the next milestone hand is going to hit.

For more information, examples of how you can win, and all the details you need, visit the Road to 100 Billion information page.

Good luck!

Tags: 2011 | gambling | harrah's | italian poker tour | latin-america | russian | SCOOP | wcoop

I really love to play the Spring Championship of Online Poker. The ability to play for three different buy-ins often means playing three different styles of poker inside of one event. I often find myself focused on the high buy-in tournaments where I’m usually matched up against players I know much better. I’ve had more chances to play against them, and they’ve gotten to know me, so there is a lot of meta-game, deep-level thinking going on.

For example, last year I was facing Iftarii for the title in the finals of the heads-up event. A few years ago I played countless heads-up hands against him on PokerStars back when I was racing to become the first SuperNova Elite. When we met in the SCOOP event, it was a completely different thing than playing someone for the first time. I managed to get very lucky. I got it in with a king-high flush draw vs. his ace-high flush draw on the flop. I hit the king on turn and it held.

I felt exceptionally blessed to be able to do so well and pick up the SCOOP title that was missing from my resume. I’m definitely coming back for more this year. I’m on the road a lot more these days playing in big live events like EPTs, FPS and others. Sometimes it’s hard to get into a good online routine. SCOOP tournaments are definitely the perfect opportunity, so I’m going to play all of them at every buy-in in order to get that second title.

I’m sure it will be even harder this year than last. I’m counting on all of you guys to compete against me, and I definitely expect the series to have bigger numbers than last year. That is all the fun of it, though, and it will make it taste even sweeter if I succeed.

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Tags: business | elky | estrellas poker tour | facebook | france poker series | latin-america | micromillions | pca | tournaments | twitter

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.

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.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | ept | eureka poker tour | European Poker Tour | girl | pca | rio | SCOOP | tournaments | twitter

I had been to Lake Como once a few years back and was absolutely mesmerized by it, so to find out Campione was close by and a similar setting to Como (perched on the shore of Lake Lugano) excited me very much. It really did not disappoint either. I met Mantyvdas, my Lithuanian cameraman at the airport in Milan and from there we took an hour cab to Campione, through winding roads and picturesque scenery. One moment we were in Italy and then the next, we found ourselves in Switzerland. I was confused at first with what country we were actually in and what language we should speak, but after a little investigation work, it became clear Campione, although in Switzerland was an Italian territory and was definitely much more Italian than Swiss. Thank god, I thought as my preference for Italian food was way higher than Swiss. Yep, I’m always thinking about food.

I woke early the next morning as the sun streamed through the curtains. As I pulled them back I stood in awe of the beautiful view of Lake Lugano from my window. It was absolutely breathtaking and I couldn’t wait to get out and explore. A little more investigation work down the line and I discovered that actually 68% of the lake was in Switzerland, while the remainder in Italy. That could only express the immensity of this stretch of water. Little sailing boats glided peacefully along and a few older people were spotted out walking their canine pooches, though it was surprisingly quiet out and about. It was such a tranquil setting though, quiet and peaceful was just as it should have been.
Luckily for you, we took our video camera out.

It was decided that EPT Campione would have 2pm starts, instead of our usual 12pm, which suited me down to the ground (and more than likely the players as they are never of the variety to rise early!) I had brought my tennis racket with me as I had just started to pick up the hobby from years back, so one morning it was great to get out and play before the tournament started and the clay courts were literally right next to the lake. I had never played with such beautiful scenery next to me. Needless to say I didn’t win, but I picked up a great tan!

The weather was sublime every day and I am bringing a little golden glimmer back to London town. One tip I must offer though, if you are thinking of making it out to Campione in the future, try not to ever get a taxi, they are the most expensive taxis probably in the world! There is a little bus that goes back and forth from Campione to Lake Lugano which costs a few euros and it is much more economical!

As always many Team PokerStars Pros joined us for this Italian leg of the tour, the majority taking part of Day 1b. As we were approaching the end of Season 8 too the race for points for EPT Player of the Year was also heating up, with just a few hundred points separating Czech player Ondrej Vinklarek and the notorious Welshman Roberto Romanello. I took to the tournament floor to find out who people thought deserved this title the most.

By Day 4, no Team PokerStars Pros remained, Liv Boeree made it the furthest with a 51st place finish and cash for €9,000. Yet still we had an interesting field of players with a lot of playing experience including the likes of Fabrice Soulier, Per Linde and David Vamplew. We had all just escaped our hangovers by this time too as the EPT Players party was on the evening of Day 2 and on a boat. Yes! A boat! Forgive me for acting like a bit of a fruitcake in this video, but I just felt the need to re-enact that scene from Titanic. I probably should have saved your poor eardrums and not sung though.

As the final table emerged it became clear we had a great line up with a lot of experience and all players from different countries, which was interesting really seeing as 42% of the field were Italian. The final table was no breeze and four-handed play seemed to last a lifetime as the big stack went to the short stack and then kept doubling up.

It was not until 4am that the end was night and Jannick Wrang became the third consecutive Dane to win an EPT. Mickey Petersen took down EPT Copenhagen; Frederik Jensen had Madrid under his belt and now Wrang had Campione in the bag.

He was extremely happy to have beaten American pro Olivier Busquet heads-up, for Busquet had the reputation as one of the best heads-up players in the world. Wrang had also qualified online on pokerstars.com in a €109 rebuy satellite, claiming his €640,000 first place win had initially only cost him €309. Not a bad profit! Here is our video with him moments after he took down EPT Campione.

Just around two weeks back at home in London, time to un-pack the bags, put the washing on, catch up with some car-crash telly, see my friends and then its back on the road to Berlin for a three-week trip covering back-to-back EPTs for the end of the season. Bring. It. On.

Tags: food | france poker series | lapt | london | pca | pokerstars | rio | SCOOP | tcoop

When Isaac “philivey2694″ Haxton returned to the felt this afternoon to resume his $1 million match with Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom, he seemed determined to reign in the frenetic pace that defined yesterday’s session. Haxton didn’t mind taking a small-ball approach; even as Blom expanded his lead by another $127,000 within the first hour. Haxton stuck to his guns and clawed his way back, pulling nearly even with Blom before the Swedish sensation turned the match around again by doing what he does best. Attacking quickly and relentlessly, Blom whittled Haxton’s $500,000 challenge bankroll down to only $118,000 before ending their second four-hour session with a $281,365 lead.

HOUR ONE: BLOM’S LEAD BLOOMS TO $325K

Haxton did his best to keep the pace steady and the pots small in the early going, but Blom clearly had other ideas. The third hand on Showdown 2 resulted in a $57,600 pot, Blom bluffing the flop with nothing, catching third pair on the turn and backing into a ten-high straight on the river. It took another half-hour before an all-in pot materialized, Blom flopping top two with [Ad][Kh] on an [Ac][Ks][2h] board against Haxton’s [Ah][Tc]. Haxton check-called $2,000 on the flop and another $5,600 when the [4h] hit the turn. The [Td] on the river was a disaster for Ike and he check-called Blom’s shove only to watch another buy-in disappear. With that $80,800 pot, Blom’s lead was up to $299,786.

After that unlucky run, Haxton successfully picked off a bluff to take down a $41,000 pot. Holding [3c][6c] on a [Jh][7h][4h][6d] board. Blom check-raised Haxton’s turn bet to $4,768 and Haxton smooth-called with [6h][7c] for two pair and a flush draw. Blom fired another $15,000 at the [Kh] river and Haxton called, taking it down with his flush. Although that pot trimmed Blom’s lead to $259,728, he quickly bounced back when Haxton’s combination draw missed against his top pair-no kicker:

By the end of the first hour, Blom led with $331,294 profit after 2,313 hands. His entire challenge bankroll spread across the four tables, Haxton had only a little more than one buy-in per table remaining and a seemingly insurmountable task ahead of him.

HOUR TWO: HAXTON NARROWS THE GAP

An $80,400 coinflip saved Haxton from ruin on Showdown 4, his [Js][Jd] holding up against Blom’s [As][Kd]. Blom, however, quickly answered that pot with a river overbet Haxton couldn’t call, raking in $49,200 without a showdown. It was a minor setback for Ike, who maintained focus and chipped away, using Blom’s signature move against him in several instances. Haxton had shaved $100,000 off Blom’s lead when they got it all-in on the turn, Haxton holding [Qh][7h] for a flush and Blom [Kc][Ts] for two pair on a [8d][3h][Th][Kh] board. The [9c] river locked up the $81,600 pot for Haxton and suddenly these two were almost back where they started the day, Blom with a $199,608 lead.

Haxton changed gears again and reverted back to his original plan– small-pot poker. He ground out plently of them over the course of the next twenty minutes, nabbing a couple of big ones as well. In a textbook case of kicker trouble, Blom and Haxton both rivered top pair on a [4d][5s][7c][4h][Kc] board. Blom called Haxton’s $34,200 river shove, but his [Ks][Js] couldn’t top Haxton’s [Ac][Kh] for the $86,400 pot. Then, a classic suck-resuck saw Haxton make away with a $70,800 pot. Blom’s [Qc][8c] hit bottom two pair on a [Kh][Qs][8d] flop and he check-raised Haxton’s $928 bet to $3,200. Haxton called with [Ks][7c], only to hit the [7h] on the turn. Blom bet $6,400 and Haxton called. Blom fired a hefty $25,000 at the [6c] river and Haxton called, taking it down with kings up.

Within 372 hands, Haxton had successfully reduced Blom’s lead from more than $331,000 to $116,850. Blom quickly went to work and ground back about $30,000 before Haxton detonated this $148,200 daisy-cutter of a pot to reduce Blom’s lead to $85,000:

HOUR THREE: HAXTON HOLDS OFF BLOM’S ADVANCE

Within five minutes, Blom roared back to life. In a pot that Haxton three-bet pre, Blom hit top pair when the flop fell [Kd][Qh][8d]. Haxton continued for $4,800, Blom raised to $11,600, and Haxton called. Both players checked the [Jc] on the turn, but when the [2h] came on the river, Haxton shoved for $34,000. Blom sensed something was afoot and called him down despite the dangerous board, Haxton turning up nothing but a busted flush draw with [5d][9d]. Haxton’s [Ks][9s] earned him the $99,616 pot and left Haxton with only a $15,000 stack on Showdown 1. Haxton pushed it in a few hands later with [Ad][9s], but could not outrun Blom’s [Qc][Qd]. Forced to split the $163,000 he’d worked up on Showdown 2, both stacks were reset to $40,000.

Haxton went back to chopping out medium-sized pots with an unhurried pace until the two went to war on a [9d][8c][2c] flop. After flopping straight and flush draws with [Qc][Jc], Haxton check-raised Blom’s $2,000 flop bet to $6,800. Blom wasn’t going anywhere with [Td][Th] and fired back, making it $13,600 to go. Haxton shoved and Blom called all-in for $40,274. Although Haxton blanked the turn with the [Ad], the [Tc] on the river completed his flush to take down the $110,148 pot.

Blom’s lead was down to $72,882 after 2,926 hands and by the 3,000-hand mark, Haxton had reduced it even further to $39,856. Haxton came oh-so-close to closing the gap entirely when Blom four-bet pre only to fold to Haxton’s check-raise shove on the [Jh][9c][3c] flop. But just as Haxton raked in that $31,000 pot, Blom threw some spikes on the road and ended his run. In this $82,400 pot, Haxton picked the wrong time to run a three-street bluff as Blom flopped trips and turned deuces full:

Minutes later, the two got their money all-in preflop, Blom’s [Ks][Kh] holding up against [Th][Tc] for $81,600. Just like that, Blom was back in the black to the tune of $95,120 with another game-changing pot just around the corner.

HOUR FOUR: BLAST-OFF

Holding off Viktor Blom is like trying to hold off a tornado. You can throw your weight against the door for as long as you can, but there’s still going to be some serious damage when it’s over. Haxton couldn’t have known the severity of the storm awaiting him down the road when he picked up [Kd][6d] and decided to three-bet to $4,800 behind Blom’s 3x raise. Blom smooth-called with [Ad][8h] and they saw a [Ac][Jc][Td] flop. Haxton continued for $7,200 with his gutshot straight draw and Blom called with top pair. The [8d] turn hit both players, Blom making aces up and Haxton adding a flush draw. Like he’d been wont to do all day, Haxton pushed his draw hard, making it $19,200 to go. Again, Blom called. The [Kh] on the river made Haxton second pair and it was just enough rope for him to craft a noose. He moved all-in for $94,712 and Blom called. At $169,696, the largest pot of the match thus far went to Blom with aces and eights.

A short time later, Haxton check-raised all-in on a [Jh][9c][2h] flop, holding only [Ks][Qh]. Blom quickly called with [Qs][Js], his top pair holding through the [4h] turn and [2s] river to earn the $82,756 pot. Haxton tried for a quick double-up on Showdown 2, shoving a [2c][3s][7c] flop with [8c][Tc], but Blom looked him up with [As][Ts], his ace-high good for the $45k pot when Haxton’s flush draw missed. Nothing was working for Haxton. It seemed like he couldn’t catch a hand. And that’s when the wheels really came off the proverbial wagon.

Haxton tried to check-raise Blom off the flop with king-high in this $110k pot, but our Swedish friend turned over [As][Ac] and turned top set for good measure:

Then, Haxton shoved the turn with top pair, only to run headlong into Blom’s flopped flush:

Haxton recovered a little when he doubled up on Showdown 3, his [Ac][Ah] good against Blom’s [Kh][Js]. Blom, however, was relentless and busted Haxton’s short stack on Showdown 4. Just as Haxton reloaded another $40,000 on that table, Blom claimed it in a single hand, turning a set of sixes against Haxton’s flopped bottom two. With that $80,000 pot, Blom was out to a $382,320 lead and had Haxton firmly on the ropes.

Had this $75,600 coinflip gone the other way, we’d be writing a much different story tonight, but Haxton’s [Td][Ts] hung on against [Ac][Qd], staving off near-total ruin. Haxton followed that hand up by taking down a trio of mid-sized pots to reduce Blom’s lead to $262,317, but the Swede came back strong in the session’s final minutes, winning $44,800 on the penultimate hand when Haxton folded to his river shove.

Blom and Haxton made it through 1,733 hands in their second session, bringing the grand total to 3,634 hands so far. Blom increased his profit by $82,927 to bring his overall match lead to $281,365.

He may be a bit battered from today’s bruising, but Haxton still has $218,635 to work with and another session ahead of him tomorrow. We’ll be right with you on the rail, starting at 1pm ET Monday as this million-dollar battle continues.

Tags: 10th anniversary | belgian poker series | European Poker Tour | guns | harrah's | latin-america | news | UKIPT | wbcoop

The impeccably dressed Faraz Jaka is among the Day 1B field. What with his violet check shirt, neat trousers and elegant shoes, Jaka single-handedly raises the bar on sartorial standards among poker players, with the possible exception of that guy in the blue sequined hat and orthopaedic shoes.

Even more incredible is that this veneer is put together using the contents of a suitcase and nothing else, for Jaka is among the growing group of players living out of a bag as they travel the world playing poker and making a living.

“When I graduated university I was in Europe for about a year and a half and back in the states every two months,” said Jaka. “I was homeless, just travelling to EPT events, and it was amazing. But the last four or five months started getting very draining. So I moved back to the US and started playing WPTs. It was a lot easier to have a good routine, eat healthily and work out. But then I got real sick of being normal.”

Sick of being normal is how Jaka describes living in permanent fear of running out of fresh unmentionables. But it’s a lifestyle he’s happily embraced, forgoing a permanent address, subscriptions to shopping magazines and neighbourhood watch meetings in favour of a hotel key card, replaceable neighbours and a turn down service.

It’s all clean!: Faraz Jaka

“So now I’m back on the road. I figured the older I get I’m going to need to be a little more settled but I go through these phases. I didn’t’ plan on doing this but I got the bug and then all of a sudden boom, I’m on the road.”

But what of the practicalities? Again, it’s difficult to get past the laundry issue.

“Laundry’ is always a big problem but you know, when you’re in major cities you can go find self-service place where you put a few coins in,” said Jaka with the level headed logic of an urban adventurer.

“I’ve even had times where I’ve grabbed detergent and literally put detergent and water in the tub or in the sink and cleaned my clothes. It works! Who the hell cares?!

Jaka is not alone in this department. EPT winner Kevin MacPhee is of the suitcase kind, in a state of permanent travel, and doing his best to survive it.

“I don’t really have time to do laundry so I have laundry detergent in my toiletries bag,” admits MacPhee. “So if I get in a pinch and need to do some underwear or socks of something like that…

MacPhee has another ingenious solution. “For my EPT packages I just wear the shirts until they stink and then throw them away. Whenever I go to a new city I’m obsessed with doing laundry. It’s like a cleansing experience because it’s so hard to do all the time, and it’s so expensive at hotels, so you definitely don’t do that.”

Living out of a bag also means ditching all that’s not essential. No books, no picture frames or lampshades. It all has to fit in the bag.

“My laptop is the main thing I have,” said Jaka. “I also have two start-ups so that’s probably the biggest challenge; trying to play a part in my business with my partners. We’re on backwards hours so a lot of times I’m getting up in the middle of the night to do a business call, or something like that. It’s fun, it’s exciting.”

Can the suitcase life last forever? Perhaps poker players, and characters in thoughtful novels from the 1960s, are the exceptions. There’s always another tournament to play, somewhere else to go.

“I’ve no idea when I’m going back to one place,” said Jaka. “I have my travel schedule planned from now to the end of the World Series. I plan my whole year to the end of the World Series, that’s such an intense month and things can change for you a lot, but I plan my year up to it.”

So while the business can be run from the other side of the world, and while someone will still deal cards to him in the casinos of Europe Jaka will find his own peculiar version of contentment with a laptop, a suitcase and a boarding pass. And for those thinking of ditching a permanent address in favour of the road, Jaka’s advice is to ditch any notion of luxury and get stuck in.

“It’s really fun to see the non-touristy side of cities, what the real culture is like. Go out and interact with people and meet locals. That’s how you get to have a lot of fun.”

Getting outside and meeting people? Sounds like a big ask of some poker players. Jaka though will be leading by example.

Tournament snapshot
Level 7: blinds 250-500, ante 50
Players: 270 of 391

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | Battle of the Planets | campione | ept | facebook | festival | france poker series | italian | russian | russian poker series | season 8

Not many sports are played out on tables, but Giovanni Rodriguez is on his way to master them all.

Rodriguez, 47, is a world-class paralympic table tennis player.

The Costa Rican table tennis star is currently ranked 21st in the world and has his eyes set on gold in London 2012.

The last time Rodriguez got a taste of gold was at the 2007 Panamerican games.

But, unlike poker, his accomplishment had nothing to do with luck.

Rodriguez started playing table tennis at the age of 14, when he was still able to walk. Rodriguez was starting to make a name for himself in the table tennis community until a car accident took away the use of his legs in 1992.

It would be years before Rodriguez would pick up a paddle again, but, nearly a decade later, he was back at it.

And he was good.

Rodriguez started traveling across the world with other paralympic athletes, playing as much table tennis as he could. It was during one of these trips where he was introduced to another table game, poker.

About three years ago, one of Rodriguez’s teammates, Domingo Argüello, introduced him to the game and taught him the ropes. He’s been playing ever since.

According to Rodriguez, there aren’t many similarities between the games in terms of physical effort, but mentally, that’s a different story.

“Both games exhaust your mind,” Rodriguez said, “and they’re extremely competitive.”

And the competitive aspect is what draws him into the game.

“I don’t play cash games. Only tournaments, there’s more competition,” Rodriguez said. “I love competition.”

What else would you expect from a world-class athlete?

Some competition Rodriguez has to face is Rodrigo Argüello, the father of the man who taught him poker. As fate would have it, these two players got seated right next to each other, with Argüello to Rodriguez’s immediate left.

Rodriguez likes to play in Costa Rica’s largest poker tournaments when he’s home, but on the road, he gets his fix on PokerStars.

He goes by the screen name “giorto” and won his seat here to Viña through one of PokerStars’ many satellites.

Rodriguez is currently below average with 11,000, but he’s not too worried.

“I’m hanging in,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been taking it easy these first few levels.”

Tags: Battle of the Planets | latin-america | london | micromillions | napt | planets | team pokerstars pro | twitter

After you’ve been doing this job for a while you get used to living out of a suitcase. Life on the road certainly has its perks, but the ability to have a diverse range of fashion options isn’t one of them. This evening I find myself landing in Sydney for the first stop of the new season of the ANZPT, and the final stop of a month-long road trip.

It started back in late February with the bright lights of Macau for the Macau Poker Cup, before we were greeted by sub-zero temperatures in South Korea for the return of the APPT Seoul. Since then I’ve been fortunate enough to hit the beaches of Thailand (thanks to a friend’s wedding) where I was greeted by scorching heat every day that required the consumption of copious amounts of fruity cocktails just to stay hydrated. As you can imagine, my suitcase is currently a mismatch mess of dress pants, ski jackets, dodgy t-shirts and board shorts.

Thankfully landing in Sydney I was greeted by a perfectly mild 24 degree Celsius afternoon where the weather chart read nothing but “comfortable”. Comfortable I can do.

It’s typical of Sydney. The Southerners hate to admit it, but they do a lot of things right up here. Sydney is renowned for its iconic landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Opera House and Bondi Beach, its vibrant city, wonderful shopping and sensational eating. They’re even finally getting things right with their choice of football codes as the brand new Greater Western Sydney franchise are set to debut in the AFL this weekend in the 2012 season opener.

Then there’s the beautiful Darling Harbour, with a huge range of restaurants and entertainment, all just a short stroll away from The Star – the recently redeveloped casino and hotel where we will be perched for the next few days. The Star has also done a lot right in recent times and we look forward to sharing more about the fantastic redevelopments here throughout the week.

For now, we look ahead to the four days of poker that will kick off Season Four of the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour. A restructured schedule will see fewer events, but bigger prize pools on the tour this year. The preliminary events have showed great numbers as Sydney is set to once again push towards a one million dollar prize pool, with first place looking to get close to a quarter mil.

The $2,200 ANZPT Sydney Main Event kicks off in The Star Poker Room at the working-man-friendly start time of 6:15pm Thursday evening. Join us on the PokerStars Blog as we bring you all the live updates and the stories from behind the stacks as we look to crown the first ANZPT champion for 2012.

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