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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tags: archives | charity-poker | facebook | interview | lapt | monte-carlo | pca | planets | politics

Mohsin Charania was crowned The PokerStars Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final champion tonight after the type of final that went exactly the way it should have done. Sure, the romantics wanted the first woman to reach an EPT Grand Final, Lucille Cailly, to win in front of a French rail looking for a reason to celebrate. But throughout the week Charania had the edge not just on Cailly, but on the field, becoming the Season 8 Grand Final champion tonight, earning €1,350,000.

Charania took the title after a brief heads-up, and what was a brief final table, with the blinds hoisted high after two long days prior. With play down to two a deal was struck (not as simple as it sounds, it took 20 minutes) and play continued. Charania won one, Cailly won another and so on, until Cailly found ace-king and Charania found queens. There was only one outcome and an uninterested board delivered the title to Charania.

EPT Grand Final Winner Mohsin Charania

“When I’m winning every time I’m all-in it’s of awesome benefit to me. I get to sleep in longer,” said Charania. “I thought they (his final table opponents) were pretty tough but I felt really good. I thought I was the best player going in luckily the cards helped me prove that.”

Cailly’s was a distinctively impressive performance. While others around her struggled to find a rhythm, Cailly was sure of herself, not letting the few setbacks she suffered disturb her focus. Instead she ploughed on, powered by a Francophile rail and a few Marlboros. It is the breakthrough result for the Frenchwoman and we’ll see more of her when the tour restarts in August.

Play goes heads-up

For the others they would do well to follow the lead set by Charania and Cailly.

Frenchman Bernard Guigon finished third after an impressive display of laddering. Every once in a while a player turns up at a final who seems oblivious to the demands of being on television, of being at a final table or playing in front of an audience. Guigon simply played the game he’d loved for decades and earned €545,000 for it. Unconventional, a little slow perhaps and not on a par with the winner, Guigon deserves a hat tip for the performance nonetheless.

It was all over in just six-and-a-half hours, kicking off at 1.30pm this afternoon with a one hour televised delay on EPTLive.

Lucille Cailly

At the start it had all been about Cailly, thanks mainly to the rail she’d amassed who had sourced a dozen blond wigs at €10 apiece, to support their heroine. Cailly thrived on it and the others could only dream of such encouragement.

Wigs on the rail

Play almost got through a level without an elimination until Daniel Gomez went first. With the blinds already steep for the Spaniard, he found himself with ace-queen and did what he had to do, except he ran it into the jacks of Rodrigo Caprioli and more importantly the kings of Sergio Castelluccio. Gomez got a queen on the flop but nothing more.

The final table

Following in seventh was Clayton Mozdzen, whose desire to win this week was never in doubt. The Canadian set off a string of rapid eliminations. He went when his ace-ten was toppled not by Catelluccio’s ace-ten but by Cailly’s pocket nines.

Clayton Mozdzen

The other Canadian at the final, Michael Dietrich followed. Charania found ace-king which swept aside Dietrich’s ace-nine. The dust had hardly settled when Caprioli was also busted. He found pocket queens while Castelluccio took him on with ace-eight. Nothing up to the turn; an ace though on the river.

This left four players who settled into a steady tempo, Charania leading, with Guigon holding on by tightening up even further.

Ultimately Castelluccio would go in fourth. He felt confident when he four-bet shoved with jacks and Cailly paused for an agonising period of time before calling with ace-queen. The flop changed nothing but the queen on the turn sent the Italian to the rail, while arming Cailly with the chips she’d need to take on Charania.

Sergio Castelluccio

It would be wrong to say Guigon came to life, but he doubled up. But his burst of energy could not last for long, and with ace-four he got his chips in, which Charania saw off with king-queen, the flop making him trips.

Bernard Guigon

Both heads-up players put the work in, and like we said, the romantics favoured the Cailly win. But Charania, whose record live begins to rival his online accomplishments, had the edge and merits his EPT Grand Final title, bringing a fantastic season to an end.

The final result:

1st – Mohsin Charania, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,350,000
2nd – Lucille Cailly, PokerStars Qualifier, €1,050,000
3rd – Bernard Guigon, €545,000
4th – Sergio Castelluccio, €400,000
5th – Rodrigo Caprioli, PokerStars Player, €315,000
6th – Michael Dietrich, PokerStars Qualifier, €245,000
7th – Clayton Mozdzen, PokerStars Qualifier, €185,000
8th – Daniel Gomez, €130,000

That’s the quick version, you can read the long version on our live coverage page, which also details all the pay-outs from the main event. For everything else check out the links below:

Profiles of the eight main event finalists

While you’re streaming

Blonde on Blonde on the rail

Spaniards left hanging as Gomez busts in eighth

Season’s greatest moments; “Martin! It is enough!”

Hotting up on the TV table

Season’s greatest players; Gruissem and other overlooked talents

That brings an end to the EPT Grand Final main event, and the season. Well kind of. You can still follow the goings on in the €25,000 High Roller event which is reaching a crucial stage as we speak (and that’s without an hour delay). They play to a winner tomorrow.

Also tomorrow is the Tournament of Champions which you can watch in its entirety on EPT Live, complete with hole cards, as well as following the action on the PokerStars Blog.

Charania celebrates

We’re now heading home to re-introduce ourselves to our wives and girlfriends, after a year of writing about people without wives or girlfriends. It was all rather excellent which suggests Season 9 should be too.

For that, we’ll see you in August. For now, it’s goodnight from Monaco.

All photography &copy Neil Stoddart

Tags: day 5 | delicious | estrellas poker tour | france poker series | monte-carlo | news | pca | photography | rio | SCOOP | twitter

As our American friends tend to enjoy repeating, the great game of cricket can be impenetrable to people who don’t really understand its subtleties. It is indeed the sport in which a game can take five days to complete and even then no one wins.

Another of cricket’s unusual quirks is that for long periods, even the most avid follower will not really be able to tell who is in the lead. “Who’s winning?” someone might ask late on day two, and the cricket fan will likely reply: “Difficult to say really” before rambling on about the state of the pitch, the importance of the next partnership, overcast weather conditions due for day five and such like. You will often be well advised to wander away and leave them to it.

Major poker tournaments can be a lot like cricket in this regard. Once the felt starts cracking early on the fifth day, it can be much more difficult to get a read on the tricky players. And flushes are far more common under overcast skies.

Of course not. That is a joke. That is a cricket joke. But the wider point is this: much like cricket it can sometimes be really difficult to know who is winning a major poker tournament for much of the time. A player can double up on the first hand and surge to the top of the leader board, but the chances of them still being there at the end are very slim indeed.

Similarly we almost never see a pillar-to-post champion. You can be chip-leader at the end of the day before the final, but if you have a stinker when the tournament gets to the business end, your dreams will be in tatters.

The high roller event

As reporters, all we can really do is write what is happening at any one time, without any specific inside knowledge as to its longer-term relevance. A player getting knocked out is terminal for him or her, but the winner of the hand is only marginally more likely to go on to climb the winner’s rostrum.

At the moment, my colleague Donnie Peters is writing the hand-for-hand updates on this EPT High Roller. And he is also updating the chip count page. You can easily follow all that by clicking in the usual place, and that offers the most traditional answer to the question “Who’s winning?”

However we can also offer a brief snapshot, to tell you what’s going on right now in the tournament room. Its relevance is unclear. But it is only marginally less relevant than the chip-counts.

Boeree mixing it with Ivey
Few players over the past few years have been more focused and committed on a career in poker than Liv Boeree. She is the player who went from rank amateur on a reality show to the dizzy heights of EPT champion and Team PokerStars Pro. And almost all of it was due to hard work, persistence, and knowing how to grasp opportunity when it is presented.

Liv Boeree, high rolling

For all amateur poker players in the modern game, the pinnacle of achievement is playing against Phil Ivey, still clearly in the top three poker players alive, and maybe in the top one. Young players have gone to sleep for about the past 10 years dreaming one day of locking horns with Ivey.

For Boeree, that dream is now reality. In this High Roller event, she is now to Ivey’s immediate left – and she is making her positional advantage pay. Boeree has about 30,000 more chips than Ivey and is really putting him to the test.

Just recently, Boeree, on the button, had bet 21,000 on the river, looking at a board of [4d][4c][6d][as][9s]. Ivey was deep in contemplation, his unflappable demeanour visibly undermined. He counting out calling chips, then counted out raising chips, then put them down again. He peeled off his headphones and tossed them on the table. He looked to the sky, then to the ground. Then he called and was shown [6c][6h]. Ivey scooped up the sixes, put them with his own hand, and tossed the four cards into the muck.

Boeree is not only tangling with Ivey, she’s putting him to the test.

Hello, the internet
You might have heard by now that Viktor Blom is the man behind the Isildur1 account. His online performances have probably been watched by more people than any other player’s. Today he is back in the live environment, playing his second $25,000 bullet in the High Roller. And yet it must be like home from home.

Viktor Blom

Also on Blom’s table this evening are Bryn “BrynKenney” Kenney and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, two other huge online players. Alex Kravchenko and Dan Shak, live pros both, are also involved on that table. It could yet get very ugly indeed.

How about this for tough
Lex Veldhuis busted some time ago from one of the most difficult tables ever assembled in live poker. And Mike Watson has also now bust from there. But no worries, because this slab of felt is still a beast: Alex Gomes sits with Sorel Mizzi and Max Lykov and Patrik Antonius and Ivan Demidov.

Rather them than me.

Click here for live updates from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

Tags: 2011 | european | harrah's | lapt | pca | rio | SCOOP | tcoop | team pokerstars pro | UKIPT | wbcoop | world-series

Christophe De Meulder is on my nemesis list. He may smile that twin grin beneath a swoop of well-coiffed hair but I know what’s going on. He’s evil. He must be. No-one with a clear conscious slowrolls aces in a media tournament freeroll surely? Especially not a Team PokerStars Pro who knows that you’re writing an article about the event to appear on their sponsor’s blog. What kind of sadist does that?

De Muelder joins EPT photographer Neil Stoddart on a scribbled piece of paper headed with the title ‘TheY mUSt PAy’. The snapper is another soulless beast: he slowrolled me with aces to bust me out of the last media tournament on tour. Native American Indians used to believe that a camera could steal a person’s soul. They were right, Stoddart has been harvesting them for years. If you’ve played an EPT then chances are a little piece of your humanity is locked up in the photographer’s hard drive. If you’ve played a ladies event then it definitely has, he circles those tables like a vulture.

Christophe De Meulder

Yesterday a €2,000 media freeroll was laid on by the Monte-Carlo®Casino mixing local and tour press with members of Team PokerStars Pro and, as it would happen, some random promotional girls who were just hanging around texting and showing their legs off.

My plan was to sit down, interview a Team Pro at the table, bust and write up the account. My table draw did not permit this. Across the four tables there were Vanessa Selbst, Arnaud Mattern, Richard Toth, Joe Cada, Ville Wahlbeck and, of course, De Meulder. None of them were at my table. I may be one of the only players to ever be gutted that they’ve got a soft draw; the ‘star draw’ at my table was PokerStars Blog video presenter Laura Cornelius. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t last long. Thankfully neither did our table, it was a turbo freeroll after all.

Joe Cada, today at the TV table

I was bumped onto Mattern and De Meulder’s table. This was more like it. Mattern I know well, he’s always willing to help out with the media, a forward thinking sponsored player. I told him as much and asked why he was always happy to get involved. Was it for the PR? Was he bored or was he thinking about his career?

“I have a lot of free time on my hands to be honest. I lead a very boring laugh,” said Mattern with a straight face before laughing. The Frenchman likes to laugh.

“It’s not that I never hang out with players, I do sometimes with normal players like Vanessa Selbst, but a lot of players are making bets all the time or only talking about poker. I like this sometimes but I really like normal people and in this world that means hanging out with the media, the dealers, the interviewers and the TV crew. They’re normal fun people to hang out with. Most of them have good and funny personalities. It doesn’t mean that I don’t like the players, it’s just that when you’re away so much it’s nice to have a break from the game,” said Mattern.

Arnaud Mattern

If he was playing the media long game then he was doing some with aplomb, which is obviously somewhat different from doing so with a plum (which would cost you approximately €12 here in Monaco).

“I think I had the best table draw but not only was it the funniest but I was beside the two cutest chicks and I had Mad (Harper) on my right, which is good value. She’s good to have around,” said Mattern.

I think he meant it in terms of good table chit-chat but given that Harper, the EPT media co-ordinator, tried to fold her option on the big blind and couldn’t get her head around the denomination of chips he could just as easily have meant about her play.

Mattern, having already said that he was ‘not made for gambling, I’m made for love,’ proved his point by getting sent to the rail but, quite possibly still (unsuccessfully) trying to hit on the ladies at the table, the Team Pro took to the dealer’s seat. A couple of misdeals later the Frenchman dealt my short stack pocket sevens and my chips went into the middle.

“Oh, it’s a good one,” said De Meulder, picking up his cards from the big blind, the last player left in the hand.

The Belgian peeled out the second card.

“Hmmm, this one’s pretty good too,” he said with friendly grin.

De Meulder slowly put the cards down on their back, smiling way too much for my liking. Aces. And Mattern was dealing… Okay, false accusations of collusion aside, De Meulder did seem to be a nice guy. But it was true about Stoddart; he is harvesting souls. You have been warned.

Tournament snapshot
Level 11: blinds 600-1,200, ante 100
Players: 252 of 665
Click here for live coverage and more features from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Tags: Baltic Poker Festival | cards | game | joe cada | monte-carlo | napt | news | planets | pokerstars macau | portugal | season 4 | wbcoop

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.

Tags: asia | Battle of the Planets | entertainment | European Poker Tour | events | micromillions | planets | pokerstars macau | russian poker series | UKIPT

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.

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

16 April 2012
California, USA

Dear Ndugu,

I hope you are well. I received all of your letters and read every single one at least a dozen times.

I apologize for not sending you money over the last twelve months. After the events of Black Friday on April 15th of last year, I no longer had the available funds to donate to your orphanage. Before Black Friday, I earned a redonkulous amount of blood money from online poker sites. It was embarrassing that a hack like me should be compensated for writing pedantic trite on Tao of Poker, so in order to feel better about myself, I used a percentage of that windfall to fund humanitarian efforts like feeding organic foodstuffs to hippies, supporting odalisque single mothers twirling on the pole, and of course… sending money to your foster program in Tanzania.

I know it’s been approximately 111 days since my last letter and I have no excuses, expect that I had nothing meaningful to say. Nothing. For the last few years, I’ve felt like a fraud without a sincere message. I hate repeating myself and my schtick is nothing more than a derivative of something I already said much better years before. I’m supposed to be imparting pearls of wisdom to you, but instead I’ve done nothing but brag about what it is like dabbling in the Dionysian lifestyle (smoking too much grass and popping waaaaay too many pills), while promoting the genius of degenerate gambling.

I was a peddler of broken dreams — a postmodern Pusherman — shoving online poker down the throats of whomever wandered into this corner of the web. I should’ve been executed five years ago by a firing squad for crimes against humanity.

There’s something to be said about the Seven Deadly Sins. The Jesuits used Dante’s Divine Comedy to teach them to me in Latin — acedia (sloth), avaritia (greed), gula (gluttony), invidia (envy), ira (anger), luxuria (lust) and superbia (pride). I often indulge in at least four of them at any given time. Sometimes I brazenly juggle all seven and it’s like trying to catch searing fireballs. Even though I release them as quickly as possible, those fireballs of sin still char my flesh.

It’s impossible to wake up every day without being driven by one of those sins, and let’s be honest, living a life of purity isn’t all that much fun. Johnny Hughes once told me, “You need one vice, one drug, and one girl. But never more than one of each, otherwise you have real problems.”

Ndugu, I can’t stress the importance of this: if you realize you’re juggling more than three sins, then it’s time to take a break because each sin is like a vat of acid that corrodes your soul into a bubbling mist of despair.

Life has been good to me. Too much so. In the buffet of life, I overindulged myself. Can you blame me? I’m a curious person, which has often gotten me into trouble, but it’s definitely saved me from living a life of mundane comfort.

I lived in cheap motels in Las Vegas and clients put me up in luxurious hotels all over the world. I spent many hungover mornings sitting in international airports gazing at the beleaguered faces of other harried business travelers. I can’t believe that I’m somewhat sane after jumping more time zones than I can count, acting as a missionary for the Church of PokerStars, blazing trails into uncharted territory and trying to convert the locals by preaching salvation via online poker. When that failed to work, I became an economic hitman resorting to the oldest trick in the Gringo Manual on Latin American Commerce — tempt them with glossy images of the celebrity culture and wave a fistful of cash until they start drooling.

Poker is a game of skill, but greed is a deadly drug. Sometimes it’s not easy to differentiate between the two. Unfortunately, you really can’t become the best at whatever you want to do without being greedy. Conflicts arise when greed spills into other aspects of your life. You want more. You consume more. You covet thy neighbor’s wife. You covet thy neighbor’s oxen. You hate and despise those whom have more. You make fun of those whom have less. It’s just the nature of the game. Once we’re in… we’re in for life. It’s like getting on a superhighway without any off ramps and exits. If you slam on the brakes, then you’re going to be crushed by an 18-wheeler. You have no choice but to keep driving until you reach your final destination… death.

While caught up in the pursuit of material items, humans forget that we’re just a bunch of animals and a single chromosome away from being a chimpanzee. After all, we share something like 98% of the same DNA. Whether it’s God or a bunch of alien geneticists — whoever created us pretty much carved us out of a similar mold.

It’s through greed that they control us. Who is they exactly? The collective cloud of capitalism. The gears of commerce. The massive machine of consumption.

The Ned Beatty character explains it the best in the 1976 film Network, when he rips Howard Beale a new asshole for speaking out against the system….

“It is ebb and flow, tidal gravity. It is ecological balance. You are an old man who thinks in terms of nations and peoples. There are no nations. There are no peoples. There are no Russians. There are no Arabs. There are no Third Worlds. There is no West. There is only one holistic system of systems. One vast, interwoven, interacting, multivariate, multinational dominion of dollars. Petrol dollars, electro dollars, multi dollars. Reichsmarks, Rins, Rubles, Pounds and Shekels. It is the international system of currency which determines the totality of life on this planet. That is the natural order of things today. That is the atomic and subatomic and galactic structure of things today. There is no America. There is no democracy. There is only IBM and ITT and AT&T and DuPont, Dow, Union Carbide and Exxon. Those are the nations of the world today…

We no longer live in a world of nations and ideologies, Mr. Beale. The world is a college of corporations… inexorably determined by the immutable bylaws of business. The world is a business, Mr. Beale. It has been since man crawled out of the slime.

I don’t have to explain to you how absolute power corrupts all institutions. You’ve seen the heavy hand of colonialism come smashing down on your continent. Your rare minerals are extracted to build mobile phones. Your clean water is stolen and converted to Coca-cola. Your glistening gems eventually are draped around the emaciated bodies of cocaine-eyed starlets posing for the paparazzi on red carpets in Hollyweird.

Bad beats are something you experience every single day and the fact that I’m even complaining about my situation makes me a vapid wanker. I don’t have to tell you about tyranny and inequality through imperialism because I’m preaching to the choir. You’ve seen the daily horrors of predatory capitalism disguised as national hegemony. Corrupt officials worldwide padded their overseas bank accounts after becoming perverse corporate-owned puppets. The nefarious rulers of banana republics take bribes in exchange for allowing their lands to be raped, polluted, looted and destroyed by ruthless multinational conglomerates, meanwhile the same unscrupulous leaders are pimping out its powerless citizens as cheap slave labor.

We live in a use and abuse society. If you aren’t using someone, then you’re being abused.

Those atrocities will never end. And how do I try to change the world? I don’t, so I wallow in Catholic guilt which just makes me even more miserable.

For almost a decade, I easily distracted the masses from the maelstrom of evil that has engulfed the world by churning out misogynist rhetoric about the glamorous rockstar lifestyle of a professional poker player. I don’t mean to rag on pros because I have a sincere respect for what they really do. They are an eclectic breed of rebels and rogues, born with an innate and uncanny knack for cards, and the majority of them work their asses off. The day-to-day life of a pro is nothing close to being swanky and upscale, rather it’s utter terror with nonstop pressure and many of them struggle to avoid drowning in their own self-doubt.

The same can be said for anyone running the rat race. Doesn’t matter if you’re Phil Ivey or Lloyd Blankfein, because most of the time, everyone is emotionally beaten by the daily grind so they insulate themselves from reality by adopting the “balla” persona.

Deep down we all know what we’re doing is complete bullshit anyway… so it’s better to live it up now and relish the present (dare I say, carpe diem?) rather than rue the past or be fearful of the unpredictable future.

From that perspective, the prevailing sense of anomie is what justifies the means. We feel devastatingly empty about how we earn a living, so we surround ourselves with material items that are supposed to symbolize and replace intangible feelings of self-worth and accomplishment. If the material items don’t work, then we indulge in carnal pleasures — drugs, sex, rock and roll. And if that doesn’t work, then we turn to religion and find solace worshiping invisible entities.

You never realize how much you miss the sun, until you’re covered in complete darkness. That reminds me of a Bill Withers lyric, “Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone.”

One day I will die. Maybe in 25 years? Maybe tomorrow? The “when” never really matters because we all die. Sometimes I wonder if Neal Cassady was right about life being like driving on the open road… “We are four dimensional beings in three dimensional bodies, looking out two-dimensional windshields.”

I briefly mentioned the car accident in previous letters, but I didn’t want to scare you about the severity of my injuries. In case you were wondering the details… my girlfriend wanted to sleep in, so I drove myself to breakfast. I was completely sober, which is ironic, because had I been a little buzzed, I would have been driving a little more cautious. But then again, almost everything in life is out of our control. All it takes is one jerkoff to run a red light and then you’re done. Fade to black.

The good news is that I’m almost fully recovered, which is a miracle. I still walk with a slight limp, but I thank the universe every day for having the chance to see the sun rise and then set. I’m living on borrowed time. I’m not afraid of dying. Death is inevitable. I’m more afraid of barely being alive. The fact I’m not crippled baffles me. The paramedic took photos of the crushed car and he often shows it to his colleagues. When he was driving my battered body to the ER, he told my girlfriend that I luckiest guy in Vegas because walked away from what should have been a fatal accident. A monster-sized SUV spearing the driver’s side of a mid-size car at a high rate of acceleration usually results in 85% mortality rate. I sucked out big time. I’ll never complain about losing money in Las Vegas again, because last July, I won a priceless jackpot — a second chance at life.

I should’ve perished underneath the blazing Nevada sun and inside a twisted heap of metal and granulated glass. I would’ve been a ghost wandering the Las Vegas valley for eternity, yet for some cosmic reason, it wasn’t my time to go. But, I can’t let an hour pass without thinking… “Why am here?” I’m struggling right now because I’m ashamed that my existence is and was utterly meaningless.

What difference did I really make in this world? What have I contributed to this society?

Nothing. I failed. There’s no way to spice up that glaring and disappointing fact that I lived a shallow life. Warren Schmidt said, “Once I’m dead and everyone who knew me dies too, it’ll be as though I never existed.”

That’s how I feel right now.

Hey, but don’t worry about me. I won’t beat myself up too much, after all, I had an absolute blast. This was one wild ride and one I never expected to take. I fell ass backwards into this nebulous world and for many years, I called it my home. This long, strange trip was fun… while it lasted. I’ve been waiting for a time when I can finally say, “This has all been wonderful, but now I’m on my way.” Alas, I won’t fret too much and I’ll fondly look back at the halcyon moments and allow the infectious smiling faces of friends to become permanent memory burns on my brain. And all the bad beats and petty stuff, like the surplus of assholes who caused me turmoil? They’ll get deleted from my memory banks. Every one of them. You’d be surprised how quick a few rum cocktails helps you forget the sullen times.

I wish you the best, Ndugu. Always remember that you have your whole life ahead of you. I hope you can learn from my mistakes and actually do something constructive and meaningful with your life. Don’t be a selfish tosser like myself. Live a life of integrity. Try to make a positive impact in this world.

Be good. Do good. But most importantly… be yourself, Ndugu.

Death is the eventual end point of life. One day we miraculously show up. Then one day we depart and return to the void of nothingness. So while we’re here, right now, we have to make it count. Life is all about small, simple pleasures. Never forget that. Cherish every single moment. Every. Single. Moment.

I don’t want to say that this is my last letter to you, because I cannot predict the future, but let’s be honest, Ndugu… this will probably be my last letter because I’ve said everything I wanted to say and I can’t keep going on forever. Ken Kesey, the great writer and ringleader of the Merry Pranksters, summed it up the best: “Impermanence is impermanence…. nothing lasts.”

Your friend,
Pauly

Tags: 2011 november nine | black-friday | classic tao | dear ndugu | deg | hollyweird | las vegas | Music | phamily poker classic | philosophy | politics | universe

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.

Away they go… where this stops, nobody knows

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

In the history of the European Poker Tour there has only been one Italian winner. It’s not a lot (still one more than Spain, who must content themselves with the soccer World Cup) given the numbers of Italians who parade themselves on the EPT, not least in the six events already staged on their home soil. It’s a number that’s surprisingly low.

The holder of that single title is the honourable Salvatore Bonavena.

Bonavena was something of a surprise when he fell from the sky, landing on the poker world in Season 5 to win the EPT Prague crown and a first prize of €774,000. With that he lifted the EPT trophy and also a poker nation to its feet, single-handedly (it seemed) opening the doors for Italian players to flood the tour. It was Italian poker’s coming out party. And yet, there has been no winner since.

Italy’s only winner: Salvatore Bonavena

It all started in Season 1 when Luca Pagano reached two final tables. Pagano served as Italian poker’s first poster boy (literally that is, his face still looks out from wall-mounted promotional material). Then, in Season 3, something happened. A pocket-sized Italian named Dario Minieri arrived on the scene, performing polished verõnica against disorientated opponents who, tired of charging him, found themselves clearing a space for him at the final.

Cheeky, chirpy, chipped up and visibly capable, Minieri set about re-writing the book. Suddenly here was someone three and four-betting in ways never seen before, adding a flash of art and some table talk in broken English that was polite yet terrifying for opponents forced to decide whether he was “at it” or not.

For Minieri it was the start of a career that would quickly bloom, and an experience he’ll never forget.

“I was full of adrenaline,” said Minieri, looking back. “I couldn’t believe I’d made a final table in an EPT and it was incredible. When you start to play poker everything is bigger and bigger inside of you. It was amazing. I remember I was so excited.

Dario Minieri

That day ended with Minieri in third, departing with polite handshakes and leaving an impression on those on and off the table who secretly knew that the best man had not won. Minieri though was one of a kind.

Others came close to taking a first title – Cristiano Blanco was second in Dortmund that year, Gino Alacqua was second in Prague a year later while Minieri finished third in San Remo and in Warsaw.

Then Bonanvena, skipping Minieri’s subtlety in place of straight forward ABC poker, won the day, beating another Italian, Massimo Di Cicco to the title. Cue waves of joyous Italians, most of whom made it into the winner’s photo.

Since then, nothing.

Andrea Benelli, whom we wrote about earlier, reached fourth place in Deauville in season five while three others, Alfio Battisti, Francesco De Vivo and Emiliano Bono would runner-up events, falling one short of Bonavena’s achievement. There was also Pagano, plugging away at final table number five, six and then seven. But the quest for that second title continues.

Tags: 2011 | Battle of the Planets | ept | estrellas poker tour | featured-video | france poker series | gambling | russian poker series | tournaments | World Series of Poker

Back in the days when I worked on British national newspapers (not listening in on anyone’s voicemails, I hasten to add), getting scoops was the measuring stick of success. Today is a little like old times: I’ve got my hands on a SCOOP scoop. And while that makes me happy, you should be pretty pleased as well. Why? This breaking news sets out the much-anticipated schedule for the 2012 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker.

Thirty eight events across all disciplines, each played out with high, medium and low buy-in ranges to make 114 tournaments, allow PokerStars players to pocket huge cash prizes throughout a festival that will run Sunday May 6 through Sunday May 20.

How big are those prize payouts? I’m glad you asked, because it allows me to remind you of last year’s SCOOP Main Event (High) champion Sami ‘Lrslzk’ Kelopuro, who took home $505,000, and that was after a five-way deal at the final table. In all, more than $40 million was paid out in SCOOP 2011.

So without further delay, feast your eyes on the SCOOP 2012 schedule below. Satellites will be announced in due course:

PokerStars SCOOP 2012 Schedule

Note: Before the Tournaments Team sets things in stone, they’d like to hear from our players with feedback on the planned events. If you’d like to give feedback on what’s planned, please drop the SCOOP team a line by writing to scoop@pokerstars.com

Sunday, May 6th
11:00 ET – Event 01-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 01-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 01-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (6-Max)

14:30 ET – Event 02-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em
14:30 ET – Event 02-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em
14:30 ET – Event 02-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em

Monday, May 7th
11:00 ET – Event 03-L: $5.50 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Rebuys)
11:00 ET – Event 03-M: $55 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Rebuys)
11:00 ET – Event 03-H: $530 NL Hold’em (6-Max, Rebuys)

14:00 ET – Event 04-L: $7.50 (1) FL Badugi
14:00 ET – Event 04-M: $82 (3) FL Badugi
14:00 ET – Event 04-H: $700 (5) FL Badugi

17:00 ET – Event 05-L: $11 NL Hold’em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 05-M: $109 NL Hold’em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 05-H: $1,050 NL Hold’em (Rebuys, 2x-Turbo)

Tuesday, May 8th
11:00 ET – Event 06-L: $11 NL Draw
11:00 ET – Event 06-M: $109 NL Draw
11:00 ET – Event 06-H: $1,050 NL Draw

14:00 ET – Event 07-L: $7.50 (1) NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)
14:00 ET – Event 07-M: $82 (3) NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)
14:00 ET – Event 07-H: $700 (5) NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)

17:00 ET – Event 08-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 08-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 08-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, Turbo)

Wednesday, May 9th
11:00 ET – Event 09-L: $27 (2) Mixed Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 09-M: $215 (4) Mixed Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 09-H: $2,100 (6) Mixed Hold’em (6-Max)

14:00 ET – Event 10-L: $27 (2) Stud
14:00 ET – Event 10-M: $215 (4) Stud
14:00 ET – Event 10-H: $2,100 (6) Stud

Thursday, May 10th
11:00 ET – Event 11-L: $27 (2) PL Omaha (Heads-Up)
11:00 ET – Event 11-M: $215 (4) PL Omaha (Heads-Up)
11:00 ET – Event 11-H: $2,100 (6) PL Omaha (Heads-Up)

14:00 ET – Event 12-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (Knockout)
14:00 ET – Event 12-M: $265 NL Hold’em (Knockout)
14:00 ET – Event 12-H: $2,600 NL Hold’em (Knockout)

Friday, May 11th
11:00 ET – Event 13-L: $7.50 (1) NL Hold’em (Ante Up)
11:00 ET – Event 13-M: $82 (3) NL Hold’em (Ante Up)
11:00 ET – Event 13-H: $700 (5) NL Hold’em (Ante Up)

14:00 ET – Event 14-L: $55 FL Omaha Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 14-M: $530 FL Omaha Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 14-H: $5,200 FL Omaha Hi/Lo

17:00 ET – Event 15-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (2x Chance, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 15-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (2x Chance, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 15-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (2x Chance, Turbo)

Saturday, May 12th
11:00 ET – Event 16-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (10-Max, Shootout)
11:00 ET – Event 16-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (10-Max, Shootout)
11:00 ET – Event 16-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (10-Max, Shootout)

14:00 ET – Event 17-L: $11 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys)
14:00 ET – Event 17-M: $109 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys)
14:00 ET – Event 17-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (6-Max, Rebuys)

17:00 ET – Event 18-L: $27 (2) Triple Stud
17:00 ET – Event 18-M: $215 (4) Triple Stud
17:00 ET – Event 18-H: $2,100 (6) Triple Stud

Sunday, May 13th
11:00 ET – Event 19-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em
11:00 ET – Event 19-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em
11:00 ET – Event 19-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em

14:30 ET – Event 20-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em
14:30 ET – Event 20-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em
14:30 ET – Event 20-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em

Monday, May 14th
11:00 ET – Event 21-L: $11 Mixed NLHE/PLO
11:00 ET – Event 21-M: $109 Mixed NLHE/PLO
11:00 ET – Event 21-H: $1,050 Mixed NLHE/PLO

14:00 ET – Event 22-L: $55 NL Hold’em (4-Max)
14:00 ET – Event 22-M: $530 NL Hold’em (4-Max)
14:00 ET – Event 22-H: $5,200 NL Hold’em (4-Max)

17:00 ET – Event 23-L: $11 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 23-M: $109 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 23-H: $1,050 PL Omaha (1R1A, Turbo)

Tuesday, May 15th
11:00 ET – Event 24-L: $11 Triple Draw 2-7
11:00 ET – Event 24-M: $109 Triple Draw 2-7
11:00 ET – Event 24-H: $1,050 Triple Draw 2-7

14:00 ET – Event 25-L: $27 (2) Stud Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 25-M: $215 (4) Stud Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 25-H: $2,100 (6) Stud Hi/Lo

17:00 ET – Event 26-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 26-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)
17:00 ET – Event 26-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (SuperKnockout, 6-Max, Turbo)

Wednesday, May 16th
11:00 ET – Event 27-L: $27 (2) Razz
11:00 ET – Event 27-M: $215 (4) Razz
11:00 ET – Event 27-H: $2,100 (6) Razz

14:00 ET – Event 28-L: $11 NL Hold’em (Big Antes, Rebuys)
14:00 ET – Event 28-M: $109 NL Hold’em (Big Antes, Rebuys)
14:00 ET – Event 28-H: $1,050 NL Hold’em (Big Antes, Rebuys)

Thursday, May 17th
11:00 ET – Event 29-L: $27 (2) 8-Game
11:00 ET – Event 29-M: $215 (4) 8-Game
11:00 ET – Event 29-H: $2,100 (6) 8-Game

14:00 ET – Event 30-L: $7.50 (1) PL Omaha Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 30-M: $82 (3) PL Omaha Hi/Lo
14:00 ET – Event 30-H: $700 (5) PL Omaha Hi/Lo

Friday, May 18th
11:00 ET – Event 31-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (1R1A)
11:00 ET – Event 31-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (1R1A)
11:00 ET – Event 31-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (1R1A)

14:00 ET – Event 32-L: $55 FL Hold’em (6-Max)
14:00 ET – Event 32-M: $530 FL Hold’em (6-Max)
14:00 ET – Event 32-H: $5,200 FL Hold’em (6-Max)

17:00 ET – Event 33-L: $27 (2) NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10-Minute Levels)
17:00 ET – Event 33-M: $215 (4) NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10-Minute Levels)
17:00 ET – Event 33-H: $2,100 (6) NL Omaha Hi/Lo (10-Minute Levels)

Saturday, May 19th
11:00 ET – Event 34-L: $55 PL Omaha (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 34-M: $530 PL Omaha (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 34-H: $5,200 PL Omaha (6-Max)

14:00 ET – Event 35-L: $27 (2) HORSE
14:00 ET – Event 35-M: $215 (4) HORSE
14:00 ET – Event 35-H: $2,100 (6) HORSE

Sunday, May 20th
11:00 ET – Event 36-L: $27 (2) NL Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 36-M: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (6-Max)
11:00 ET – Event 36-H: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (6-Max)

12:30 ET – Event 37-L: $215 (4) NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)
12:30 ET – Event 37-M: $2,100 (6) NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)
12:30 ET – Event 37-H: $21,000 NL Hold’em (Heads-Up)

14:30 ET – Event 38-L: $82 (3) Main Event – L
14:30 ET – Event 38-M: $700 (5) Main Event – M
14:30 ET – Event 38-H: $7,500 Main Event – H

Guarantees will be announced when the series is posted to the PokerStars client.

Legend:
(1) accepts Step 1 ticket for entry
(2) accepts Step 2 ticket for entry
(3) accepts Step 3 ticket for entry
(4) accepts Step 4 ticket for entry
(5) accepts Step 5 ticket for entry
(6) accepts Step 6 ticket for entry

- 2x-Turbo: The rebuy period is 60 minutes, twice the normal length for a turbo tournament. The starting, rebuy, and add-on stacks are tailored to fit the format.
- SuperKnockout: Buy-in and knockout amounts are equivalent. For example, in Event 08-L, $13 will go to the prize pool, $13 to the knockout pool ($1 rake).
- Ante Up: In this tournament type, (invented at PokerStars), the blinds do not rise at any point in the structure. Antes are in place from the start and rise steadily.
- 2x Chance: Players may rebuy after having been busted. Each player may rebuy a maximum of one time.
- 1R1A: Players may take up to 1 rebuy and 1 add-on. Rebuys are available at any time during the rebuy period, regardless of the player’s stack size.
- Big Antes: The antes, in place from the start of the tournament, are larger than normal for a NL Hold’em structure.

While that all sinks in, why not get yourself pumped up further by looking back at the PokerStars Blog’s entire SCOOP 2011 coverage here.

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