Poker Blog - Poker.com

Phil Ivey wins #7

2009-06-14T21:55:00.003-04:00

Phil Ivey apparently doesn't even enjoy playing poker tournaments. The long hours and relatively small payouts (small to him anyway) make tournaments seem like too much work compared to a high stakes cash game.

That's why he's been making side bets with other pros about how many bracelets he can win.

He's won two already at this World Series. Firstly he won $96,637 in Event #8, the Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball (No-Limit) event. Then on Saturday night, he won event 25, the $2,500 Omaha 8-or-better/Seven-card Stud 8-or-better event for $220,538.

There were rumours that his side bets with other pros were to net him as much as $12 million after the first win alone! The actual amount was probably much lower than that, but after upping the ante to get a second bracelet, there's a good chance that some pros were not very happy at all to see him win again.

This is what Ivey had to say to ESPN after the win.

"Well, before last year I pretty [much] skipped a couple of years at the World Series," said Ivey.

"I didn't play in as many tournaments as I used to because I figured, it's doesn't really make much difference, you know. But then, as I started getting older I started to realize this does matter. Winning bracelets, it does matter. Just having the chance to put myself in poker history and I know I have the chance to win and be the all-time bracelet leader if I can continue at this pace. So, I'm looking forward to the opportunity."

"I think [last year] I really wasn't into it," he continued.

"I don't know, I am just feeling good right now. I think last year I had a lot of distractions, especially in my personal life. And there were a lot of things going on outside of poker. I wasn't able to focus as well. Also, I think I am a better tournament player now than I was a year ago."

Let's hope he gets another one to add to his legacy as one of the greatest poker players to ever live.

Don't forget you can play against and learn from the great one at Full Tilt Poker. You can also still qualify for the WSOP main event this weekend at Full Tilt, where they are guaranteeing at least 150 seats to the world's biggest poker tournament.

Kris

The poker blog resurrection

2009-06-03T23:50:00.002-04:00

Things have been quiet on the blogging front here at Poker.com lately... So I've invited a few other poker fans to come and post from time to time.

The infamous Paul @ Poker.com is one of them. He is the creator of one of the most popular pages ever on the website - how to build a poker table. Hopefully he'll stop in soon to bless us with the poker wisdom gained from hosting some of the best home games in town over the years.

Another is Shad, or 'The Shad' as I like to call him. His forte is math and poker theory. He likes getting into the nuts and bolts of probability of different poker games when he's not betting on MMA.

We're also bringing back more bonus tournaments and freerolls which I'll post about very soon.

I'm looking forward to playing some poker again over the next few weeks. The WSOP starting has re-ignited my passion for the game!

Kris

It's WSOP time again!

2009-05-10T22:08:00.003-04:00

The 2009World Series of Poker satellites have started getting into full swing at online poker rooms all over the internet in preparation for the world's biggest poker tournament, which starts on July3.

Full Tilt Poker is once again running their 150 seat main event guarantee on June 21st, where at least 150 seats to the main event will be given away - that's $1.8 million in guaranteed prize money!

And if you qualify at Full Tilt, then happen to go on to win the main event, they'll give you another $10 million!

The 150 seat guarantee is just one of many ways to qualify for the WSOP at Full Tilt. There's also daily shootout tournaments, multiple weekly cash qualifiers and the popular race for the bracelets tournaments where you can qualify for the preliminary WSOP events. During the WSOP you can play the mini-series of poker which replicates the WSOP schedule with events at 1/100th of the buyin. Full Tilt is THE PLACE to experience the best WSOP 2009 action. I haven't spoken about all the promotions they are offering - it's poker heaven over there if you're a fan of the series like me.

European players might prefer to qualify at Titan Poker or Party Poker. Like Full Tilt, both are offering WSOP packages, and the competition may not be as fierce as at Full Tilt, but there's also not as many ways to qualify.

I'm going to be trying my luck at Full Tilt and maybe PokerStars. I'll keep you posted about how I go.

Ed.

Rousso through to semi final

2009-03-08T21:53:00.002-04:00

Vanessa Rousso is through to the semi finals of the National Heads Up Championship, and will face fellow PokerStars pro, Bertrand Grospellier at Caesers Palace for a place in the grand final.

Rousso has been having quite a year in 2009, appearing in both the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and GoDaddy television ads.

Her road to the semi final was not an easy one either - defeating poker legends Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu so far!

In the other semi final, Huck Seed will play Sam Farha.

Go Vanessa! It'd be good for a lady to win this event.

Congrats Redmailman

2009-02-23T04:32:00.002-05:00

Redmailman won our $250 added tournament Sunday at Full Tilt Poker. Congrats!

There ended up being 88 players, which isn't bad for a day's notice. :)

Yours truly busted out in 66th spot after donking off on a draw.

We're going to be holding money addded tournaments more often in the future, so keep eye an eye on this poker blog, our twitter feed and the newsletter for details of the next one. (you can sign up for the newsletter on the index page of Poker.com)

Have a good week!

Ed

$250 - Just for Poker.com visitors

2009-02-21T19:39:00.003-05:00

We've organised a tournament at Full Tilt Poker on Sunday night for Poker.com visitors.

It's on at 19:00 EST and is called Poker.com $250 - tournament # 80925015.

It's just $1 buyin and the password is pokerdotcom - the same as our bonus code that will get you 100% up to $600 with your first deposit.

It's called Poker.com $250, because we've added $250 to the prize pool. There probably won't be many players because of the short notice - so get in there for an easy chance to win a share of the cash.

Happy Sunday!

Jamie Gold losing a lot

2009-02-15T06:00:00.004-05:00

2006 WSOP winner, Jamie Gold is now a regular on the merge gaming network, home to two of our favorite online poker rooms - Carbon Poker and PDC Poker.

I happened to be online whilst he was playing some $25/$50 hold'em the other day and stopped by his table to sweat the rail a little.

He wasn't doing too well....

The featured screenshot just one of the many big pots he dumped to the other players at his table. It looked like he was trying to bluff a lot - but it wasn't working and he wasn't catching any cards. He was buying in for $10k at a time...

He's still the all time WSOP prizemoney leader after the massive field in 2006 delivered a first prize unlikely to ever be repeated in the main event. But in this session he was doing a good job of throwing it away.

Maybe he just needed some blueberries? I'm gnna tell the merge guys they should code a bowl of blueberries into his player box for him....

You may catch him on merge rooms anytime now - we recommend Carbon & PDC Poker where you can play in $1000 freerolls every month, exclusive to players from here at Poker.com.

Godaddy sponsoring poker

2009-02-10T21:15:00.004-05:00

Domain name registrar, GoDaddy has announced they will be sponsoring the National Heads Up Poker Championship at Caeser's Palace in Las Vegas this March.

I always remember GoDaddy fondly, because it was the first registrar I ever used. The were also responsible for the first (& only) time I have ever clicked through from a spam email. Yes they were spammers back in the day, but now they're a big company with super bowl ads and a poker tournament sponsorship.

Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson always does well at the heads up, making the final table three out of four times, winning it last year to be the current reigning champion. Phil Hellmuth & Ted Forrest beat him in the other years.

Some people are claiming that it's ground-breaking to have a domain registrar sponsor a poker tournament, but I don't see the big deal. They're just another business sponsoring a live event, which happens all the time... There's really no correlation between the event and online poker or GoDaddy and online poker.

More newsworthy is California's push to legalize online poker within the state. It's just a blatant grab for tax dollars to try and prop up their failing economy, so it looks like it might just get through the legislative process.

Would it be a good thing or a bad thing for online poker players? How much would it be taxed? Would rake have to increase to pay the taxes? Would only Californians be taxed? Who knows how it would all work.... It will be interesting to see how everything pans out for online poker in the USA over the next few years.

Ed

Poker now a skill game in USA?

2009-01-18T22:19:00.002-05:00

Last Friday a Pennsylvania judge ruled that Texas Hold'em is a game 'where skill predominates', therefore removing it from the definition of illegal gambling in the state.

Judge Thomas A James Jr of Columbia County made the ruling that sets an important precedent for poker players of the United States.

In his ruling, the judge examined the relative merits of the skill vs luck argument, summarizing the decision as: 'Simply, if chance predominates, Texas Hold’em is gambling. If skill predominates, it is not gambling.'

He also referred to the extensive literature on winning strategies for the game, and quoted a well known poker author's words that 'the money flows from the bad players to the strong players.'

He reached the conclusion that in Texas Hold 'Em, 'It is apparent that skill predominates over chance.'

The case in question involved one Walter Watkins, who was charged with running a $1-$2 no limit holdem game out of his garage, with no rake, and only dealer tips taken. Watkins and his dealer were arrested after an undercover Pennsylvania State Trooper took part in the game as a "sting" or entrapment operation.

Watkins subsequently told Associated Press reporters: 'It’s unfortunate we had to go through all this. We were arrested, taken out of our home. Shackled and spent a night in prison. All for playing poker.'

It's good to see that common sense has prevailed in a US court case for a change. I always said that the easiest way to determine if the game is based on chance or skill is to have a judge play Phil Ivey Heads up 20+ times. If the results are close to 50/50 then it's chance. But if Ivey kicks his ass, it's definitely skill!

But that might not be needed now that Judge Thomas has declared the game based on skill as it should be. Now all you US citizens playing at Players Only and Full Tilt can tell your friends to join you in a game of skill - online poker!

A Caribbean Adventure

2009-01-12T04:42:00.003-05:00

I was lucky enough to be in the Bahamas this past week for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. I'd never been to the Bahamas before and the Atlantis resort is spectacular. It's a like a Las Vegas strip casino has been picked up and transplanted to a tropical beach.

As a part of the week's celebrations we played a tournament with some of the PokerStars pros yesterday. Joe Hachem, Victor Ramdin, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier and Alexander Kravchenko joined us for a quick freezeout. Hachem & Moneymaker were at my table and it was loads of fun, with not much serious poker played. It was more of a 'pick a hand and push' type tourney. I ended up finishing 4th after getting very lucky on some draws and Joe was the best placed pro, finishing 2nd I think...

I met a lot of the PokerStars staff at Atlantis too and I was really impressed with how much they love the company they work for - everyone seems happy to be a part of the 'PokerStars Family'.

Thanks for putting on a great event PokerStars! I highly recommended getting to one of their live events if you get a chance. Right now you can qualify for the European, Australian & Latin poker tours by playing online at PokerStars.

Clonie Gowen Lawsuit

2008-11-17T23:10:00.003-05:00

One time poster girl for Full Tilt Poker, Clonie Gowen, has filed a lawsuit in the Nevada courts demanding $40 million.

Apparently Full Tilt Poker decided recently that Clonie was not a good representative of their brand, and ended their relationship with the former "Miss Teen McAlester".

This upset Gowen, whose full first name is "Cycalona", and she is claiming that an oral contract existed between herself and Tiltware, while admitting no written contract had ever been signed, and that most of the alleged promises took place over the telephone or in meetings with executives in Las Vegas in 2004.

It'll be interesting to see what happens, but my money would be on the Full Tilt people having their ducks in a line and dealing with this out of court if there is even the slightest chance they could lose. The terms of verbal contracts are hard to prove, but in civil cases you don't always have to actually prove anything....

Full Tilt has issued this statement:

"Tiltware, LLC, has been made aware of the recent filing of a meritless lawsuit by a former Full Tilt Poker endorser - Ms. Cycalona Gowen. All claims have no merit and there are many inaccuracies improperly and unlawfully asserted by Ms. Gowen within her frivolous complaint. Tiltware LLC expects that this lawsuit will be dealt with accordingly by a competent court in due course."

From the rumors doing the rounds at other poker forums, it sounds as though her termination was probably deserved. Personally I'll never begrudge a company the right to decide who represents them as an endorser. Any endorsement contract would always have strict behavior and grounds for termination clauses anyway, so she most likely could have been fired under the terms of a written contract anyway!

It certainly didn't dulled the excitement for the FTOPS X, which concluded on the weekend, with Julian Verse winning over $450,000 in the final tournament. You can still play for $750,000 every Sunday in the big guaranteed tournament at Full Tilt Poker.

---------------
Talk about Clonie Gowen in Poker.com's poker forum.

Was the WSOP better?

2008-11-12T01:14:00.002-05:00

So the World Series of Poker final table has come and gone. It was delayed 117 days so that the 'November 9' could be promoted in the lead up to the grand finale televised via delayed telecast on ESPN.

Do you think it was any better? Was it promoted more? I certainly didn't see much going on...

But I don't live in a major poker market like the USA or Europe. What happened there? Did you see much about the November nine?

I almost forget that the WSOP was on again... The final table used to be one of the things I looked forward to every year like the NBA finals or the Superbowl. It was a premier sporting event. This year it felt more like the life had been sucked out of it. It was an ati-climax...

But that's just me... Maybe other people got more excited than usual?

Congrats Peter Eastgate. Enjoy spending your millions!

Ed

Duplicate Poker goooonnee

2008-10-05T21:00:00.006-04:00

Wow... Duplicate Poker is gone...

It happened so fast!

One minute they were the best new kid on the block, offering a cool alternative way to play poker online. And the next they are history!

They're blaming the global credit crisis on the closure... Which seems a little weak. Who knows what the real reason is, but my bet would be that it's more to do with the owners consolidating during tough times (and stock portfolio losses) and cutting the purse strings on any investment not yet turning a profit.

It's a shame because it really was a unique concept that would have fared well long term.

If you have an account at Duplicate, don't worry I'm sure they will do the right thing and get your account balance back to you. On the homepage at www.duplicatepoker.com right now they have a form where you can request a withdrawal.

I guess it's back to the old faithful poker rooms like Full Tilt for anyone that played at Duplicate!

Congrats to our winners

2008-08-24T22:47:00.004-04:00

After only talking about it here on the blog a few days before, we had a good turnout to our first tournaments at Full Tilt Poker.

Four hundred and forty-one players took part in the freeroll. In the end, ptrmichals took out first place.

In the $100 added tourney, klrhole took out first place from bredstik and ladibugg22. Poker Forum moderator, Skinski took 10th place.

We're going to be keeping a leaderboard for the $100 added tourney, and will award a prize to the top three on the leaderboard at the end of the year.

The tourneys are held every Sunday night at Full Tilt - the password will be the same again this week - pokerdotcom.

Bye Bye Chan

2008-08-21T23:43:00.002-04:00

It was sad to see Chan Poker announce that it was closing it's doors this week. Although we never promoted them here at Poker.com, the site was run by a good bunch of people and we had thought about recommending them a few times.

If Johnny f..'n Chan played there, they had to be okay right?

It's inevitable that many online poker rooms will close their doors due to consolidation of the market. The big fish will eat up all the little fish eventually.

Everyone should smell an orange today in memory of Chan Poker.

If you're a Chan Poker player looking for somewhere else to play - try any of these online poker rooms.

And have a good weekend!

Free money tournaments at Full Tilt

2008-08-20T21:52:00.003-04:00

Sunday night is Poker.com tournament night!

From this weekend, Poker.com is going to start hosting two weekly tournaments at Full Tilt Poker - a $50 freeroll and a $1 tournament with $100 added to the prize pool.

Sunday August 24 7pm - $50 Poker.com Freeroll
Sunday August 24 8pm - Poker.com $100 Added

Both are 6 handed, No-Limit Texas Hold'em tournaments.

To play the tournaments, follow these steps

Download the free poker software and sign up for a Full Tilt account.
Navigate to the Tournaments > Private section of the software
Find the tournaments in the list - they start at 7pm & 8pm on August 24
Register for the tournaments with the password 'pokerdotcom'

We realize that these tournaments may be a little late for some of our European visitors, but if you let us know when would be a good time, we'll organize some European focused tournaments for you guys soon also.

We purposefully put the $1 tournament after the freeroll so that anyone who busts out of the freeroll early immediately has another game available to play, and the chance to win a share of the extra $100.

These tournaments will be scheduled for every Sunday, and I'm planning to play in them too.

See you there!

Ed

WSOP anti-climax?

2008-07-14T19:08:00.003-04:00

Mid July used to be exciting for poker fans. It was when the biggest prize in poker was decided - the World Series of Poker Main event.

Now it's a anti-climax...

I briefly got excited when catching up with the main event chip counts, until I realised we wouldn't get a winner until the made-for-TV final table is played in an ESPN studio in November.

And between now and then we'll have to endure endless pimping of the nine players that make it.

It was kind of sad. No more co-workers huddling around a often refreshed page of chipcounts this July, or trying to project the final table stream on a projector so everybody can watch while they work.

At first I thought it was a good idea, that was worth a try. But now I really wonder if this attempt to re-invigorate poker on TV will work. It's beginning to feel like people will become less interested in the event every July and then not really care about the final table when it rolls around a few months later.

People like poker, there's no doubt about that. But in my experience, it's something that the general population will like when they have nothing better to do at the time. I can't really see it becoming a must watch TV event. I don't see WSOP final table parties taking place like it's a big football, soccer or basketball game.

Maybe I'm wrong - perhaps it will turn into a bigger event than I foresee. One thing is for certain though, and that is that the TV execs will have their fingers crossed that the only female remaining - Tiffany Michelle (pictured) - makes the final table. Their ratings will be looking a lot rosier if they have a pretty young girl to advertise!

No more poker love?

2008-07-01T22:02:00.004-04:00

I've got a confession to make.... I was sick of poker.

I hadn't been playing much, and when I did play I was just throwing money away. Chasing pots, making stupid bluffs - I had gone back to being a little fish in a big pond.

It kind of snuck up on me. I'd loved poker for so many years, I couldn't imagine not liking or playing anymore.

It wasn't just online poker either, but with everything to do with the game. I wasn't reading my poker magazines -they still arrived every month, but sat in a pile, their envelopes unopened. I flicked through the cable TV guide, skipping over the poker show listings I once salivated over.

I ignored the emails and text messages from my regular live games. My own table was folded up in the garage gathering dust.

Was it because nothing was new and exciting in poker any more? Had I just gotten bored with it? Why didn't I love poker anymore!

The day I noticed I had been neglecting poker, I had a good think about how it happened. I came to the realization that it was because poker had become a chore rather than a joy. It was going to take some work for me to get any better and I think that had dulled my passion.

I was good enough to beat some games, but had never devoted enough time to my game to become a really good player. I hadn't put any hard work in, not enough to reach that next level.

And I hadn't really expanded my repertoire past Hold'em. Sure I 'know' how to play most poker games. As in I know the rules.... But I wouldn't even think about entering a big Omaha, Razz or Seven Card Stud tournament! The only big buy-in tournaments I had ever played were all Hold'em.

So I made myself a promise. I wouldn't let my love affair with poker die without a fight.

I dusted off the table and invited some friends over for a game - of H.O.R.S.E! Most of them didn't even know how to play some of the games, but it was the most fun we'd had around a poker table in years! We even invented our own game variation - D.H.O.B.S - Draw, Hold'em, Omaha, Badugi & Stud.

So now we have a regular DHOBS game, and I love poker again!

I started playing more Omaha & Stud online in the micro-limits. It was so much fun to go back and play for cents instead of dollars! I realized that the best thing about poker isn't winning money - it's more about making friends, having fun and trying new things. And I'd missed it...

So over the next few months you might see some changes on Poker.com. We're going to start adding a lot more info about games other than Hold'em and start hosting our own tournaments featuring other games. We're going to try and get everyone else enjoying more than just Hold'em. It may be the Cadillac of poker, but everyone knows it's sometimes fun to drive an old Mustang too.

Your in poker,

Ed

What a final table!

2008-06-16T23:12:00.002-04:00

The final table of the 2008 WSOP's 28th event is playing down right now, after starting with a star-studded final nine players.

Noted online player, Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond currently has the chip lead , ahead of David Benyamine, Adam Hourani and Johnny Chan.

Already eliminated today are Kirill Gerasimov, John Juanda, Daniel Negreanu, Phill Hellmuth and Brian "tsarrast" Rast.

How's that for an intimidating lineup to get through for a bracelet? If OMGClayAiken can hold on, he'll have one hell of a story for the grandkids after beating the likes of Chan, Hellmuth and Negreanu at the one table!

Poker pros big golf bets

2008-06-13T00:18:00.001-04:00

Daniel Negreanu and Patrik Antonius played in a high stakes gold match this week. Check out the video below. Their swings aren't that great, but they sure know how to bet!

WPT looking for new home

2008-06-10T02:28:00.002-04:00

It had been reported on a few blogs around the interwebs that the World Poker Tour's deal with GSN (Game Show Network) may not be renewed after it's contract term ended on Saturday.

It seems that the rumours were correct, with the WPT today releasing a statement announcing they are exploring new network options.

GSN's CEO, David Goldhill, had this to say;

"The World Poker Tour has been a great partner and the show continues to perform strongly on our network. We are continuing discussions with WPTE regarding how we may be able to work together – including perhaps broadcasting parts of Season VII."

The show was actually GSN's HIGHEST rating program. But the network has had a change of management and the new team is not as interested in poker, also cancelling the popular 'High Stakes Poker'.

Apparently the WPT has entered discussions with several broadcast networks. The next network they run with will be their third, after the travel channel and now GSN.

WPT CEO and founder Steve Lipscomb said, "We have enjoyed watching the show and our numbers grow on GSN. Our hope is that we can find ways to collaborate with the network long into the future."

"This may allow us the first opportunity to explore diversifying content on multiple networks like most sports leagues. We have already begun those discussions and look forward to making another season of the best and most widely distributed poker programming in the world to our dedicated viewers and fans."

Season seven is scheduled to get underway with the Bellagio Cup, running July 11-17, 2008 at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.

Let's hope they get a TV deal, because it would be a shame to lose this program, which has become a poker institution. And they haven't even had a chance to turn a profit yet!

WSOP Event #11 recap

2008-06-10T01:57:00.003-04:00

Here's the recap of WSOP event #11 - the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout., won by Phillip Tom.

The $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Shootout attracted 360 entrants. The total prize pool amounted to $1,692,000. The top 36 places (which included all players who progressed to the second round) each collected prize money.
A "Shootout" means the objective is to win all the chips at a table in order to advance to the next round. On Day One, the tournament began with 360 players competing in what amounted to a ten-handed Sit & Go. One player from each table (the winner) progressed to play in the second round. On Day Two, those 36 winners were divided into six tables, each playing a six-handed Sit & Go. The six winners from this round progressed to Day Three to take a seat at the final table – which was played six-handed. Essentially, the winner of the tournament was required to win three consecutive Sit & Go rounds.
A Shootout emphasizes short-handed poker skills. This generally requires competitors to play cards out of the standard range of starting-hand requirements. It also makes post-flop skill paramount to victory. In a sense, each round is a "final table" for all the competitors since the objective is to accumulate chips and eliminate opponents.
The tournament was played over three days. On Day Three, the final table was dealt out on the ESPN stage, also known as the "feature table." The secondary final table, located adjacent to the main stage area, featured the conclusion of Event #12 in an intentional scheduling overlap. This year, most days at the WSOP will include two final tables.
This was the first all North American final table of the 2008 WSOP. There were five Americans and one Canadian amongst the final six players. All other 11 events so far this year included a multinational final table composition.
All players started with an equal number of chips at the beginning of each round. Hence, there was no "chip leader" at the start of the final table.
The winner was Phillip Tom, from Las Vegas, NV. He is a 55-year-old financial advisor and investor. He plays poker very seriously, but would still be categorized as an amateur player.
Through the conclusion of Event #11, nine professionals have won WSOP gold bracelets versus two amateurs.
Tom was born in 1953. As a good luck charm, Tom uses a Benjamin Franklin silver half dollar as a card protector, appropriately minted in 1953.
Tom lives next door to the former owners of Binion's Horseshoe, which owned the WSOP through 2003. Oscar Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas, also lives a few houses away.
Tom collected $477,990 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. This was Tom's first-ever final table at the World Series.
The second-place finisher was Greg Mueller, from Vancouver, BC (Canada) who is beginning to feel the effects of going deep in many tournaments without a major win.

"If they gave away gold bracelets for finishing high but not winning, I'd be Erik Seidel", the good-natured former pro hockey player remarked afterward.
Mueller could be proud of his performance. Lesser players would have certainly busted out earlier. He also remarked: "Overall, I was very happy with the way I played. All day, I really did not get too many hands. I thought I played good. But I just didn't close the deal."
Another quote from Mueller: "There's only so much you can do without cards, especially when playing short-handed. If you can't show a hand at some point people are just going to call you down. It's frustrating because I really want to win that gold bracelet... yeah, the money is important but the gold bracelet really matters most to me."
Final Table play began at 2 pm and ended at 9:40 pm. A total of 176 were dealt.
There were a number of notable finishes in this tournament. Places 7-36 were essentially equal in stature, since all players in those places on the official money list performed equally - winning the first round, but losing in the second.
Bill Edler won this event last year. He entered this year's tournament but did not cash.
Eight-time gold bracelet winner Erik Seidel finished in-the-money. This was his 47th career WSOP cash. He now ranks seventh on the all-time list in that category.
Three-time gold bracelet winner John Juanda finished in-the-money. This marked his 40th career WSOP cash. He is now tied for 12th place on the all-time list with Thor Hansen.
Other former gold bracelet winners who cashed included Eric Froehlich, Burt Boutin, and Maciek Gracz. Another milestone was cross by Gracz in this event as he now has over $3 million in lifetime poker tournament winnings.
Through the first 11 events of the 2008 WSOP only one player currently has four cashes. He is Nikolay Evdakov, from Moscow, Russia. One player, Matthew Graham, from New Orleans, LA has cashed three times. There are 74 players with two cashes each.

Thanks once again to Nolan Dalla at the World Series of Poker for the great updates.

WSOP Event #10 recap

2008-06-08T21:48:00.003-04:00

Here's the recap of WSOP event #10 - $2,500 Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low-8 or Better, won by Farzad Rouhani.

The $2,500 buy-in Half Omaha High-Low Split / Half Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split event attracted 388 players, creating a prize pool totaling $892,400.
This tournament debuted at last year's WSOP and attracted 327 players. Hence, the turnout was 16 percent higher this year.
These two games tend to attract more experienced players who appreciate the nuances of limit poker. The average age of players in the tournament was a bit higher than usual, reflected in the composition of the finale table which had four players aged 44+.
The tournament was played over three days. Day Three featured final table play, which took place adjacent to the ESPN stage. Given the presence of a few poker celebrities, a standing-room only crowd circled the table.
When the final table began, Farzad Rouhani was the chip leader. He earned what amounted to a wire-to-wire victory.
The winner was Farzad "Freddy" Rouhani, from Germantown, MD. He is a 44-year-old professional poker player.
Rouhani was born in Iran. He arrived in the U.S. in 1985 to attend college. In fact, he planned to attend medical school. "I came to the U.S. 23 years ago to become a doctor," Rouhani said in a post-tournament interview. "But instead, I became a pro poker player. Go figure."
Rouhani plays mostly in Atlantic City. He once frequented local poker games in the suburban Washington, DC area, where he now lives. But the stakes proved too low for the more serious Rouhani.
Winning a WSOP gold bracelet obviously meant something special to the new champion. While playing, Rouhani wore another bracelet on his left wrist – which was presented to him for winning a tournament at the Jack Binion World Poker Open back in 2003. "I must admit that I really do need the money," Rouhani said. "Everyone needs the money. But this gold bracelet to me means a whole lot more. It is the thing that everyone in poker dreams of."
Rouhani earned a well-deserved victory. He collected $232,911 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. Rouhani came very close to winning a few years ago when he took second place in a No-Limit Hold'em event. To date, Rouhani now has eight WSOP cashes, two final table appearances, and more than $800,000 in career winnings at the WSOP.
Given that high-low split games tend to be somewhat monotonous, the final table was expected to run long. However, the finale concluded in about 6 hours, due largely to Rouhani's dominant stack size throughout, making it the quickest of ten final tables thus far at the 2008 WSOP.
The final hand came at 9:10 pm PST. Rouhani was dealt 9-8-3-2. The final board showed 7-3-3-A-3, giving the new champion quad-threes with an eight-low. After exposing his four-of-a-kind, the often demonstrative poker pro jokingly remarked, "If I knew they would show my hand to the audience, I would play better cards than (9-8-3-2). "
The runner up was Tom Chambers, from Chicago, IL. The former teacher and basketball coach now has four career cashes at the WSOP.
Widely-respected poker pro "Miami John" Cernuto finished third. The former air-traffic controller has won three WSOP gold bracelets. But his bid for his first victory since 2002 fell short.
This marked the 17th career WSOP cash for the fourth-place finisher, Rich Zhu.
While the final table was being played, poker jester Gavin Smith waddled over to the table cheer on his friend and protégé, Greg Pappas. Since Pappas wears full head of very long white hair, Smith nicknamed him "Big White." Meanwhile, longtime poker veteran and ex-horseracing trainer Jim Bucci was standing at tableside and remarked that favorite Big Brown had just lost the Belmont Stakes moments earlier. Smith couldn't resist writing a mock headline and shouted out for everyone to hear: "On the Day Big Brown Chokes in the Big Race, Big White Gets the Bracelet." It proved to be a premature assumption. Pappas, a.k.a. "Big White" ended up fifth.
Sixth-place finisher John Racener won the WSOP Circuit championship event at Harrahs Atlantic City last year.
Michael "the Grinder" Mizrachi has enjoyed astounding success in poker tournaments in recent years. His career winnings total more than $6 million. But for all his accolades elsewhere, Mizrachi has not fared particularly well at the WSOP. This was his first-ever final table appearance. Unfortunately, he went out in eighth place.
Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners cashed in this tournament. The included Hoyt Corkins (14th), Jeffrey Lisandro (19th), Tony Ma (20th), Allen Cunningham (22nd), Gary Benson (23rd), Barbara Enright (26th), Berry Johnston (30th), and Scott Clements (39th).
Eccentric sports bettor and poker convert Alan Boston took 37th place. Boston is widely acknowledged as one of the best college basketball handicappers in the world.
Last year's champion was Tom Schneider, who went on to win the 2007 WSOP "Player of the Year" race. Schneider was unable to defend his crown in this event as he was still alive in another tournament at the time, the Mixed Games championship, which played its Day Two when this tournament began.

WSOP Event #8 recap

2008-06-07T22:46:00.002-04:00

Here's the recap of WSOP event #8 - $10,000 World Championship Mixed Event, won by Anthony Rivera.

"Mixed Games" is a new event on this year's WSOP schedule. This is the first time in history that a major poker tournament has included eight poker games.

These games include:
1. No-Limit Hold'em
2. Pot-Limit Omaha
3. Triple-Draw Lowball
4. Limit Hold'em
5. Omaha High-Low Split
6. Razz
7. Seven-Card Stud
8. Seven-Card Stud Eight-or-Better
Games are played on a rotation basis. Games change every eight hands.
The $10,000 buy-in tournament attracted a stellar field of superstars and arguably the toughest field in poker history for an event of this size, other than the $50,000 buy-in HORSE competition. No less than 76 of the 192 entrants were former WSOP gold bracelet winners. The total prize pool amounted to $1,804,800. The top 24 players collected prize money.
Despite the astral field of poker celebrities, some top players pointed out that the composition of the tournament is not quite as formidable as one might believe. Three players (Sammy Farha, George Abdullah, and Amnon Filippi) argued that younger players in this event did not play "limit" and "high-low" split games as well as some of the more experienced players. Of course, two of those three were standing on the rail at the time, watching and pointing to at least of couple of finalists who allegedly "don't have a clue."
While all 55 WSOP tournaments on the 2008 schedule are categorized as "gold bracelet" events, this is also known as a "world championship" event. This means the winner of this event is the Mixed Games world champion. Beginning this year, all $10,000+ buy-in tournaments are designated as official world championships. This means a total of ten WSOP tournaments are world championships. This includes eight gold bracelet tournaments with $10,000 buy-ins, the $50,000 buy-in HORSE event, and the Main Event.
Four former WSOP gold bracelet winners appeared at the final table of eight players (Sammy Farha, Eli Elezra, James Mackey, and Jeff Madsen). When play commenced on Day Three, the chip leader was Matthew Glantz, a top high-stakes cash game pro who plays mostly in Atlantic City.
The tournament was played over three days. Day Three featured final table play, which took place adjacent to the ESPN stage. Given the magnetic field of finalists, a standing-room only crowd circled the table. In fact, the turnout (and one presumes -- interest) for this finale was significantly higher than for the conclusion for Event #7, which was played at the so-called "feature" table.
The winner was Anthony Rivera. He is a 22-year-old professional poker player from Las Vegas. Rivera is originally from St. Louis, MO. He attended the University of Missouri, but decided to suspend his education and move to Las Vegas to play poker.
Rivera began playing poker about three years ago on the computer. He turned 21 just prior to last year's WSOP and played in a few events. However, this marked his first time to cash at the World Series. He really made this one count as $483,688 was paid as the top prize.
Rivera has become a solid high-stakes player who frequents $200-400, $300-600 limit (and higher) tables in Las Vegas. He remarked afterward: "This was a very tough field. But it did not intimidate me. I am used to playing with many of these players. I know many of them pretty well. I know I can play all the games well enough to win."
The champ wore his lucky t-shirt, which read "Friends Don't Let Friends Play No-Limit." Rivera also pointed out that, for him, it was kind of social statement. While many poker players have concentrated their efforts on No-Limit Hold'em, Rivera has focused his poker development on a much more diverse collection of games. Fittingly, the hard work paid off and he became the first-ever "Mixed Games World Champion."
He said: "I really do not have a 'best' game. I do not really play No-Limit, that much. I prefer the other games. I think I can play all the games well."
Rivera pointed out that David Oppenheim was his most intimidating opponent throughout the tournament. He stated that Oppenheim got unlucky and busted out. "I was glad to see him go," Rivera said later.
The final table began at 3 pm and ended at 10:30 pm.
The runner up was James Mackey, who won last year's $5,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship. At the time, he was the third youngest gold bracelet winner in WSOP history. He came up just short of victory on this occasion.
Matt Glantz took third place. This was his sixth time to cash at the WSOP. He was the runner up last year in the $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em event.
Eli Elezra busted out in fifth place. This marked his 15th career WSOP cash. Last year, the Israeli-born poker pro won the Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split championship.
Dashing and debonair Sammy Farha went out in sixth place. The two-time former gold bracelet winner is perhaps best remembered by casual poker fans for his second-place finish to Chris Moneymaker in the 2003 Main Event.
Jeff Madsen catapulted to superstardom at the 2006 WSOP, where he earned two gold bracelets and very nearly picked up two more, with duel third-place finishes. He obliterated the record for "youngest player ever to win two WSOP victories," achieving the feat at 21 years and 20 days. Madsen sought to add to his WSOP jewelry chest in this event, but ended up as the seventh-place finisher.
Several former WSOP gold bracelet winners cashed in this tournament. They included Gus Hansen (10th), Tom Schneider (12th), Johnny Chan (13th), Lee Watkinson (14th), and Doyle Brunson (21st).
Given that ten-time gold bracelet winners Doyle Brunson and Johnny Chan were both still alive in the tournament with three tables to go, a buzz began to circulate around the Rio that this tournament might be memorable for its historic implications. However, both former two-time world champions were eliminated late on Day Two.
So far, this can be defined as the year when poker pros have rebounded to their former glory, after years of seeing poker rocked to its foundations with so many amateur victories. Bona fide poker pros have now won 7 of the 8 events which have concluded at this year's WSOP.

WSOP Event #7 recap

2008-06-07T22:40:00.002-04:00

Here's the recap of WSOP event #7 - $2000 No-Limit Hold'em, won by Matt Keikoan.

The $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em championship attracted 1,592 entrants. This was an increase over last year's tournament size, which had 1,531 entries. The total prize pool amounted to $2,897,440. The top 153 finishers collected prize money.
The tournament was played over three days. On Day Three, the final table was dealt out on the ESPN stage, also known as the "feature table." The so-called "secondary" final table, located adjacent to the main stage area, featured the conclusion of Event #8 in a scheduling overlap. This year, most days at the WSOP will include two final tables.
This was the first WSOP event of the year to be featured by Bluff Media on the ESPN360 website. Viewers around the world can log on at www.espn360.com and watch final tables live. Bluff will feature 23 more WSOP events to be held over the next month. The broadcasts begin daily at 2 pm PST. Note: On some days, events will begin later due to unforeseen tournament length times on the previous day.
This was only the fifth WSOP event in history ever to be carried in a live broadcast format. The last three Main Events were featured on Pay-Per-View.
The World Series of Poker consistently draws the most diverse fields in the game, attracting players from all over the world. This event included players who cashed from Australia, Canada, Indonesia, England, Romania, Norway, Scotland, Holland, and Russia, and the United States. Furthermore, players cashed from 34 different U.S. states.
Five different nations were represented at the final table – including Canada, England, Indonesia, Romania, and the United States.
When the final table began, Theo Tran was the chip leader. In fact, he possessed nearly twice as many chips as the player in second place. Despite this, Tran ended up as the fourth-place finisher. Tran has developed a well-deserved reputation as a fearless No-Limit player. He dominated play during much of the tournament. However, Tran steamed off his entire stack late at the final table when he went to the felt in less than a dozen hands after having nearly 60 percent of the total chips in play.
The $2,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em champion is Matt Keikoan. He is a 40-year-old professional poker player from San Rafael, CA. Keikoan worked as a "poker prop" for about eight years before phasing gradually into the life of a working poker pro. Keikoan started out playing at Casino San Pablo in the San Francisco Bay area.
While working as a poker prop, some of Keikoan's regular co-workers included Bill Edler, Erick Lindgren, Bill Gazes, Matt Lefkowitz, and others. The poor tourists in that joint must have gotten skinned alive.
Matt Keikoan is the brother of poker pro Todd Keikoan, who lives in Las Vegas.
Keikoan attended San Francisco State University, but did not graduate. His father was interviewed following his son's victory and commented: "We were thoroughly pissed off because he left college and wanted to become a professional poker player. But, it turned out well."
Keikoan collected $550,529 for first place. He also earned his first WSOP gold bracelet. To date, Keikoan now has seven World Series cashes. This was his first WSOP final table appearance. However, he has finished high in several other major events.
Keikoan finished 63rd in the 2007 Main Event. That cash was worth $154,194.
Keikoan was cheered on by several poker pros, including Gavin Smith and Erick Lindgren. While Keikoan was celebrating victory, Lindgren remarked that he has been playing golf with the new champ for several years. "When we used to play golf, we would play for all the money in our pockets until the sun went down. Sometimes, we would be hitting golf balls when it was dark," Lindgren said. "Now, we can play a little higher."
Bad Beat Story of the Year: This one is worth telling (and listening to). Down to three tables and 24 players on Day Two, Theo Tran was heads-up in a pot with Scott Montgomery. Tran was dealt A-A against Montgomery's 5-5. Incredibly, Montgomery flopped quad-fives, yet still ended up losing the hand. The flop came 5-5-4 with two spades. The turn brought the deuce of spades. The river delivered the three-of-spades, giving Tran a straight flush (A-2-3-4-5) with the ace-of-spades in his hand. Perhaps most incredible of all – Montgomery did not go broke on the hand. Tran bet the river for a modest number of chips, and Montgomery could only make the call (instead of raising), despite having four-of-a-kind.
After multiple final tables which lasted past midnight, this finale concluded in a lightning-fast 6 hours and 20 minutes. This was the shortest final table of year, thus far.
The second-place finisher was Shannon Shorr, from Las Vegas. He was fourth in the 2006 WSOP "Player of the Year" race.
A 26-year-old student, Mihai Manole from Bucharest, Romania took sixth place. This marked the highest WSOP finish in history for a Romanian national.
Swedish-born Chris Bjorin, who now lives in London, finished in fifth place. This marked Bjorin's 39th career WSOP in-the-money finish.
Tournament pro J.C. Tran finished seventh. Tran, from Sacramento, CA has a number of major poker titles to his credit. However, he has yet to win a WSOP gold bracelet. Tran rightly deserves a place on the "Best to Not Win" list.
Three former WSOP gold bracelet winners cashed in this event including Dustin "Neverwin" Woolf (15th place). This was Woolf's second cash this year. Others were "Minneapolis Jim" Meehan (81st) and Thomas "Thunder" Keller (83rd).