Posts Tagged ‘bad beat’
Andy Frankenberger Leads WPT Legends of Poker Final Table
Andy Frankenberger owns a slight chip lead over the rest of the pack entering the final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker. His stack of 3.02 million represents the lone tally at the table over three million. At stake are a $750,000 grand prize and a seat into the end-of-season WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
The Bicycle Casino in nearby Los Angeles is playing host to the Legends of Poker. Since WPT final tables are played six-handed, the distinction of Bubble Boy went to Steve Reitzfeld, who busted in seventh place for $45,000. Reitzfeld moved all-in on a flop of 5-4-3 holding A-7 for two overcards and a gutshot. Tom Lee looked him up with a wired pair of nines and a running 3-J cemented the six-handed finale.
Online poker player Wade Woelfel hit the rail in eighth place after running pocket tens into the pocket queens of Lee. Following the back-to-back eliminations, Lee vaulted to 2.92 million in chips, good for second place at the Legends of Poker final table behind Frankenberger. The chip leader told WPT hostess Kimberly Lansing, “My strategy has been consistently inconsistent, so I’ll try to keep that up.”
Tyler “brainwash” Cornell was ousted from the WPT Legends of Poker in 11th place and picked up $24,000. Cornell open-shoved all-in pre-flop with A-8 and received a call from Frankenberger, who held pocket rockets. No help came for Cornell, who picked up his second WPT in the money finish. Cornell’s elimination set up the unofficial final table, as the 10 players remaining combined into one group.
Victory Poker’s Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little was gunning for his record-tying third WPT title on Tuesday. However, his bid ultimately came up short, as Little found the exit in 12th place. In his final hand, Little called all-in on a board of Js-6h-2d-7s-10s. Frankenberger flipped over 8s-6s for a runner-runner flush and Little exited stage right. He Twittered after the fact, “Ran into runner-runner flush of the table clown twice. Guess I just suck.”
The good news for Little is that, according to his Twitter feed, he won $1,500 in the Los Angeles airport while waiting for his Southwest Airlines flight back to Las Vegas: “Flying to LAS. Wheeeee. Somehow won $1,500 online in the airport despite being on monster tilt. Shiiiiippp.” Little has 11 cashes in WPT tournaments and was the Season VI Player of the Year after logging two final tables and bubbling a third.
Perhaps the most memorable ride on Tuesday belonged to Adam Schiffer. In a span of just three hands, Schiffer lost pocket queens to Lee’s A-Q and pocket kings to Jared Jaffee’s A-Q of clubs. In the latter hand, Jaffee flopped a pair of queens, but rivered a flush to deliver the bad beat. One player at the table noted, “[Schiffer] built up this great image where everyone thinks he’s bluffing, and then he traps them with strong hands – and loses.”
Here are the chip stacks of the six players remaining in the hunt for the WPT Legends of Poker title:
1. Andy Frankenberger – 3,015,000
2. Tom Lee – 2,915,000
3. Kyle Wilson – 2,854,000
4. Jared Jaffee – 1,006,000
5. Tom Braband – 968,000
6. Franco Brunetti – 800,000
The experienced final table includes Jaffee, who made the finale of the WPT Southern Poker Championship in January. Kyle Wilson took sixth in the Legends of Poker two years ago, while Lee finished sixth in this tournament 2004. For Frankenberger, Tom Braband, and Franco Brunetti, this year’s Legends of Poker marks their first WPT final table.
We’ll have full results from the WPT Legends of Poker on Thursday right here on Poker News Daily.
Comfort Zone: Wilson Deep At WPT Legends Again
Canadian Kyle Wilson, a high school and college basketball star who found millions in online poker at the start of the boom, found himself in all too familiar territory today.
Wilson made sixth at Legends two years ago, and with a legitimate shot at a second final table at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, he says he's really feeling the California vibe.
"It's weird," he said. "I guess everybody has some place that they are comfortable.
"I actually didn't even play (Legends) last year, so I feel like every time I come here I'm going to go deep. I feel that way about Bay 101 too. Certain spots you're just comfortable."
For some players in Wilson's position, that might not be the case.
The 2008 Legends of Poker final ended for him in sixth place when he got it in very good, holding kings against ace-jack.
However, an ace on the flop crushed his hopes.
Two years later, Wilson has put the bad beat well behind him.
"It hurt really bad," he said. "But you get over it eventually. The truth is I still had a good payday there."
Now, his sights are firmly set on this year being even bigger than 2008.
"I want to beat my result from two years ago," he said. "That's my goal right now. Just make the final table, beat my sixth place result and try to win a title."
While relatively unknown outside of two-time WPT title holder Jonathan Little, Wilson says the remaining 15 players at Legends are tough.
As a result, one of online poker's first millionaires will try to add to his $627,400 in career live tournament earnings the old fashion way.
"I'm just going to play my game and try to get through to the final table," he said.
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Date change for GUKPT Brighton
Tags: bad beat
Ivey Clashes with Dwan
The pair played for over two hours, recording 132 hands in $300/$600 Pot-Limit Omaha, 108 hands of $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold'em and 66 hands of $500/$1,000 Cap PLO.
Ivey was unstoppable in each game as he won a total of $210,160 from Dwan over all three variants. He did most of his damage in the $500/$1,000 Cap PLO game where he won $79,974 alone.
Dwan, who didn't seem to be running particularly well in the matches, decided to eventually quit after receiving two consecutive bad beats.
In the final hand of the match Ivey rivered a flush against Dwan and that was enough to finally send the pride of Edison, New Jersey, packing.
Ivey, who seems to be hell-bent on draining every account on Full Tilt, was not finished and went on to play a three-handed match of $300/$600 PLO against CardRunners instructor Cole South and Finnish cash game wizard Jani Vilmunen, where he picked up $196,761.
Add in another $28,977 from Limit Hold'em against IHateJuice and deprimiert and Ivey finished the day with $435,899 in profit. That takes him up to $2.8 million for 2010.
Of course there is one player still ahead of him on the earnings leaderboard. Despite losing 69,961 last night, Dwan is still up $4.5 million for the year.
Dan "Jungleman12" Cates, who didn't play yesterday, is still third with $2.4 million.
Below are some of the biggest pots from the Ivey and Dwan match. For more hand replays head to our online poker stats page.
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Ziigmund loses $600,000 in six days – may take a break
WSOP broadcasting begins on ESPN (spoilers inside)
Phil Gordon Video Interview
Phil Gordon joins Dan Cypra from the floor of the red carpet special in honor of the recently completed Ante Up for Africa charity tournament. Gordon is a professional poker player that was already independently wealthy before coming into the game. Born in Texas, he graduated from Georgia Tech at the age of 20 in computer science and went to work in Northern California for Lockheed Missiles and Space Company. He became the first employee of NETSYS Technologies and earned a ton of stock options. When Cisco Systems purchased the company for $95 million, Gordon was financially set.
Gordon is well known from his stint as the color commentator on Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo and his various deep runs in WPT and WSOP events. His crowning achievement was winning the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Stars. He is also an accomplished writer, having written the very popular “Gordon’s Little Green Book: Lessons and Teachings in No Limit Hold’em”. His books can be found in various bookstores both at your local mall and online.
From the floor at the Rio during the World Series of Poker, Gordon is interviewed by our own Dan Cypra. The first question settles a debate of whether Phil Gordon or Erick Seidel is taller. He then talks about the Rochambeau Championships, which is a charity event costing players $500, with proceeds going to the “Put a Bad Beat on Cancer” foundation. The game is essentially Rock, Scissors, Paper and Cypra throws down a challenge, which is played out for our cameras.
Gordon’s first poker book was called “Poker: The Real Deal” and sold over 100,000 copies in just a few months time. Besides poker, Gordon is an avid player of the card game known as Bridge and has won two national Bridge competitions in his life. He is married with one child and resides full time in Las Vegas, Nevada.
2010 November Nine: Filippo Candio
"Now that I'm a part of the November Nine, I feel it's my great opportunity," he said. "I'm the first Italian that has even made the final table of the WSOP Main Event. It's amazing."
The 26-year-old of Cagliari, Sardinia, has already secured $811,823 but in November he will try to parlay his 16 million chips into $8.9 million.
In many ways Candio is the biggest darkhorse at the final table. Despite some success on the Italian Poker Tour, Candio has had very little experience playing poker in North America and there isn't much information on his game.
Candio studied Greek and Latin in school and had plans to study law, just like his father who is a well-known lawyer in Sardinia.
Instead Candio decided to pursue the dream of poker and developed into a solid cash game player. Before making the final table of the Main Event, Candio played middle-stakes No-Limit Hold'em including 2/5, 5/10 and occasionally 10/20.
"Even though I'm a cash game player my dream was to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event," he said.
A close friend of established Italian pro Max Pescatori, Candio actually met the "Italian Pirate" by knocking him out of a tournament Candio went on to win in San Remo for €140,000.
"At the time players were saying he made a bad play against me," said Pescatori. "He's just an aggressive player though. I defended his play."
Candio had the dubious distinction of being on the winning side of the one of the biggest suckouts of the 2010 WSOP Main Event.
In the hand Candio cracked Joseph Cheong's pocket aces with a paltry 7-5 in a bad beat that will almost certainly be shown on ESPN.
Candio mentioned he was going to have to elevate his game if he wants beat players like Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi, Joseph Cheong and Jonathan Duhamel.
"I want to study a lot for this final table," he said. "I'm going to find a coach. I worked hard to get here."
Although Italy has a strong stable of well-known pros, which includes Team PokerStars members Dario Minieri, Luca Pagano and Pescatori, Candio has the chance to become the Italian Chris Moneymaker and he's well aware of the fact.
"I want to [promote] poker in Italy," he said. "Poker is a great thing. When you study and you work hard, you'll make a score."
Whatever happens, it's obvious Candio is enjoying every minute of making the 2010 November Nine.
"It's an incredible situation and I love it."
The 2010 WSOP Main Event final table begins Nov. 6, with a winner crowned on Nov. 8.
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Joseph Cheong November Nine Video Interview
Joseph Cheong joins us hours after making the 2010 November Nine from the Rio in Las Vegas. Many feel that Cheong might be the most dangerous player left in the field, even more so than Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Cheong, who goes by the online name “subiime” is part of the World Series of Poker Main Event’s final nine players who will resume play in November to crown the world champion. He originally hails from La Mirada, California but went to the University of California at San Diego and got his start in live poker at the local Oceans 11 poker room.
The 24-year-old pro comes into the 2010 WSOP November Nine with the third highest stack with many picking him to win it all. To his credit, he already has a Mini FTOPS crown on his resume, earned in May of 2009 which made him $55,000. In July of 2009 he won the $75,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker and the $22,500 Guarantee for a combined amount just over $50,000. He also has won a $340 No Limit Hold’em WSOP Circuit Event at Harrah’s Rincon in San Diego county for a first prize of $17,000 in March 2010.
In this interview, Cheong talks about his very impressive education and how he got his start into poker. He reveals his roots in live poker at the Oceans 11 room in Oceanside, CA and how he started in the $1-$2 and $5-$5 cash games. He also explains how he now lives on the road chasing the tournament trail and talks about what is in store for him now that he’s part of poker’s elite. Finally, he answers some questions about key moments in the final days of the WSOP Main Event including take a sick bad beat at the hands of fellow November Nine member Filippo Candio which would have given him the chip lead.
2010 WSOP November Nine
The 2010 WSOP November Nine is finally set and the anticipation can now build towards crowning poker’s next world champion. After a grueling 18 hours played on Day 8 that whittled the field from 27 down to the final nine, the following players have secured their place in poker history. Below the player chip count you will find a running journal of the events that determined the November Nine when play started with 27 players.
1. Jonathan Duhamel – 65,975,000
2. John Dolan – 46,250,000
3. Joseph Cheong – 23,525,000
4. John Racener – 19,050,000
5. Matthew Jarvis – 16,700,000
6. Filippo Candio – 16,400,000
7. Michael Mizrachi – 14,450,000
8. Soi Nguyen – 9,650,000
9. Jason Senti – 7,625,000
The 2010 WSOP November Nine will mark their place in history and become instant poker celebrities, along with enjoying the perks of what promises to be high value endorsement deals. Play began on July 17th at noon from the Rio at the World Series of Poker Main Event with 27 runners left in the world’s biggest tournament.
The first big hand of the day came on the very first hand as Ronnie Bardah shoved on the button for 2.215 million with both the small and big blind folded. On the first hand for Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, he 3bet Redmond Lee which elicited a fold and showed off pocket Kings.
About 30 minutes into Day 7, Johnny Lodden, a Norwegian pro sponsored by PokerStars, moved in which amounted to 1.47 million. He was looked up by Matt Affleck who flipped over A-T offsuit against Lodden’s pocket Eights. The board came K-Q-2-T-7 which paired up Affleck and sent Lodden to the rail in 27th place for $317,161.
The next casualty of the day was Matthew Bucaric who finished in 26th place. On a flop of J-8-7 with two hearts, Bucaric got the money in with pocket Nines with one heart. He was looked up by 8-6 with two hearts that made a flush on the turn and held up to send Bucaric out of the tournament.
Mads Wissing came into the day playing some great poker but in the end, it was one great read and one horrible bad beat that took him out. Wissing checked the big blind with T-8 with two spades and the flop came 6-3-T. William Thorson, who had limped in from the small blind, check raised and was looked up by Wissing’s top pair as Thorson revealed J-3 for bottom pair. The turn, however, proved fateful at Thorson spiked a Jack and improved to two pair which eliminated Wissing in 25th place.
24th place will show Ronnie Bardah’s name in the standings as he was eliminated at the hands of Italian pro Filippo Candio. Bardah got all his money in with A-K suited and Candio happily insta-called with pocket Aces. The board didn’t hit Bardah at all and he was sent to the rail for a great cash in his first Main Event.
Many fans on the rail felt that Robert Pisano was one of the odds-on-favorite to make the 2010 WSOP November Nine, but instead, they will leave disappointed. Crippled by an earlier hand, Pisano was forced to put in his stack with J-9 offsuit and was called by Pascal LeFrancois who held Q-8. With a flop of Q-T-2 LeFrancois hit top pair which held in the end, sending Pisano out in 23rd place.
About ten minutes after that elimination, William Thorson’s great run in the Main Event would end as well. John Dolan opened and got two callers who were both in position. Thorson had J-T of diamonds and made a huge squeeze for all his chips, but was immediately called by John Racener who had a concealed monster of pocket Kings. Thorson ends his run in 22nd place.
—– Update: 7/17/2010 4:30pm PST —–
After three and a half hours of play, Redmond Lee continue to ride the shortstack for his life. After biding his time, he found a hand worthy of his shoving range and raised all-in. Michiel Sijpkens called on the button and both players turned over their hands. Unfortunately for Lee his pocket fours were dominated by Sijpkens and his pocket tens. The board of 7-6-J-A-Q didn’t improve either player and Lee was eliminated in 21st place.
The sickest hand of the Main Event might have just been played at the ESPN featured table between Filippo Candio and Joseph Cheong. The hand began with Candio raising and Cheong 3betting to 1.12 million and Candio making the call. The flop came out 6-6-5 with two clubs and Cheong continuation bet for 1.55 million. Candio took some time and announced a raise to 4.425 million that sent Cheong into the tank. After a good amount of time he moved all his chips in the middle, forcing Candio to make a decision for all of his chips. After some time, Candio made the call with 7-5 for two pair, but Cheong flipped over pocket Aces for a huge lead in the hand. The turn brought the 8 of spades, which was not a good card for Cheong as it gave Candio new outs with a straight draw. The river spiked the 4 for the rivered straight for Candio who won a massive 27 million chip pot to take the lead with fans in the crowd going wild at the result of that hand.
Only three minutes later we would have another casualty in Patrick Eskandar who was eliminated in 20th place. The fateful hand would have Eskandar putting all his chips in pre-flop and being called by two players. When Soi Nguyen made a bet at the Q-9-T flop his opponent folded, with Eskandar showing A-7 and needing help in order to survive. With the turn T and the river K, Eskandar was eliminated from the Main Event.
—– Update: 7/17/2010 6:00pm PST —–
Two of the top chipstacks tussled when Filippo Candio raised to 510,000 and got 3bet by Jason Senti for 1.275 million. With a call from Candio, the two saw a flop of 9-8-7 rainbow and both players checked through. The 3 on the turn came and Candio checked and Senti bet out for 1.525 million, which was called. Finally on the river, a 7 hit and Candio checked again and Senti fired what proved to be a value bet to 2.7 million with Candio folding quickly. Senti was gracious enough to show pocket Queens to the table after the hand was done.
Michiel Sijpkens came a long way to play in the Main Event, but will leave having failed in making the final nine players. He open-shoved for 2.5 million with pocket Jacks and was called by John Racener with K-Q offsuit. The flop brought 4-Q-9 with two clubs to put Racener in the lead. The 7 of clubs game Sijpkens the flush draw, but with the deuce of hearts on the river, he was eliminated in 19th place.
With the field now at just two tables, tournament officials consolidated the field down to just two tables. The good news for those players that remain is that they all will enjoy a pay increase from here on out which will be at least $396,967.
The 18th spot in the tournament would go to Full Tilt Poker pro Scott Clements. With action in the hijack seat, Michael Mizrachi raised to 485,000. Clements moved in on the button for 4.9 million but Matthew Jarvis was in the big blind and reshoved all in. Mizrachi tanked and eventually folded, and Jarvis showed A-K against Clements and his A-Q. The better hand held up and Clements was sent to the rail.
—– Update: 7/17/2010 11:45pm PST —–
The next elimination came when David Bake, Matt Affleck and Jonathan Duhamel tangled. Baker checked a Q-2-4 two spade flop to Jonathan Duhamel who bet 1.175 million. Affleck folded and Baker shoved in all his chips for the check-shove maneuver. Duhamel called with pocket Kings and Baker was facing J-7 of spades for a flush draw. The turn and river didn’t bring a spade and Baker left in 17th place.
The next player to hit the rail was Benjamin Statz who moved all in from the big blind for a total of 4.98 million, which was called by Matthew Jarvis. Statz showed A-5 of hearts and Jarvis showed K-Q, and with a monster flop of K-K-Q, Statz couldn’t find running Aces to stay in and left in 16th place.
In one of the most shocking eliminations of the night, Matt Affleck busted out in 15th place in a huge pot. Affleck had the button and 3bet to 1.55 million and was 4bet to 3.925 million which was flatted by Affleck. The flop came T-9-7 rainbow and Affleck bet and was called. A Queen came on the turn and Affleck got all the chips in. After a ton of time in the tank by Duhamel he made the call with Affleck showing pocket Aces and Duhamel turned over pocket Jacks. The crowd gasped in absolute horror as an eight spiked the river to give Duhamel the sick suckout for a ridiculous 42 million pot.
After another hour of play, Hasan Habib finally wasn’t able to leverage his shortstack any more. he shoved all in pre-flop for 1.805 million with A-9 suited and was called by Racener who had A-K suited. The flop came T-9-3 with two spades which gave Racener the flush draw and Habib the pair. The ten came on the turn to give Racener some outs but the Ace on the river spiked and sent Habib to the rail in 14th place.
Duy Le had his run end in 13th place for $500,165 when his A-Q offsuit was outflopped by John Dolan’s K-6 on the board of K-4-J. Le needed a ten or Ace to improve but the turn came a 5 and the river brought another 5, sending Le out of the tournament.
One of the recognizable pros left in the tournament exited in 12th place as Adam Levy got his money in before the flop with K-Q. Chip leader Jonathan Duhamel was the next player to act and insta-called with pocket Aces. Levy’s massive following groaned in disbelief and after the board ran, Levy left the tournament but took home $635,011.
—– Update: 7/18/2010 2:45am PST —–
One player that looked primed for a November Nine seat went out in dramatic fashion. Jonathan Duhamel opened to 750,000 and fellow Quebec native Pascal LeFrancois called the raise on the button. Joseph Cheong then 3bet from the small blind to 2.55 million which folded out Duhamel. LeFrancois made a read that Cheong was squeezing light and pushed all in which was immediately called by Cheong who flipped over pocket Kings. LeFrancois shrunk in his chair holding Q-J suited to spades, but gained a glimmer of hope when 6-J-2 flopped. However, the turn King gave Cheong a winning set and shockingly sent LaFrancois to the rail in 11th place.
—– Update: 7/18/2010 5:47am PST —–
The final player has busted and it turned out to be good guy Brandon Steven who shoved in all his chips with A-K. He was looked up by Matthew Jarvis who showed pocket Queens. For his tournament life, Steven needed to win a race and didn’t get any help on a flop of 4-3-T. The turn of 4 didn’t help Steven improve and he would need a six outer to save his tournament run. With the 5 on the river, Seven was eliminated in 10th place and our November Nine were set.
Channing leave in 31st place.
Tags: bad beat
Moritz Kranich WPT Bellagio Cup Interview
Moritz Kranich joins us after winning the World Poker Tour‘s Bellagio Cup. He came into the final table with an impressive resume, having already won $1.2 million at the EPT Deauvile event as well as a 3rd place finish at a PokerStars WCOOP event. This might have been the most difficult final table in recent memory for the WPT with both Phil Ivey and Justin “BoostedJ” Smith in the mix. In the end though, the German’s mix of great reads and heads-up aggression paid off for the win. He joins us and answers questions about how he maintained his confidence against Ivey and Smith as well as how well he handled the two bad beats he took before delivering one of his own on the fateful final hand.
The Nightly Turbo: World Series of Poker Circuit Schedule Announced, Tom Dwan on the Poker Show, and More
Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship Airs on GSN
On Saturday night, the Heads-Up Championship at the Aussie Millions aired on GSN. Only one hour of coverage was devoted to the event, which attracted 50 players. Once again, Paul Khoury and Grub Smith had the call.
Each match-up was played in a best of three format and GSN producers displayed the final hands made by players on the screen. Because of the short time devoted to the event, many of the hands that made it to air were all-ins and the action began with Barry Woods facing off against Vanessa Selbst, who was rocking a Full Tilt Poker logo. Selbst doubled Woods up with pocket sevens against pocket nines and then again after flopping trips against Woods’ boat.
Women like Amanda da Cesare, Jessica Dowley, Leo Margets, and Marsha Waggoner were profiled at the Aussie Millions. Then, Selbst 4bet all-in with 7-6 of hearts on a flop of 2-K-8, all hearts. Woods held K-7 and watched in glee as a king hit on the turn and a deuce hit on the river, giving him a runner-runner full house. Selbst hit the rails after the bad beat and Woods moved on to face Norway’s Martin Gudvangen.
Woods continued to receive the blessings of the poker gods, making a runner-runner straight against Gudvangen, leaving Khoury to remark, “Sometimes raising at the wrong time really pays off.” Then, Woods’ 10-8 held against Gudvangen’s 9-5 to ship him the title in the first match.
Gudvangen struck back in match #2, however, doubling up with A-J against A-8 before finally putting his opponent away with A-3 against J-9 all-in pre-flop. In the rubber match and holding Q-3, Woods moved all-in over the top of a bet by Gudvangen, who had pocket nines on a board of 5-8-5. Gudvangen made the call as an 87% favorite only to watch Woods spike a queen on the river to double up. Khoury exclaimed, “Barry is nodding his head, but he knows he’s run well in this tournament.” Gudvangen was eliminated shortly thereafter.
In the finals of the Aussie Millions Heads-Up Championship, Woods faced off against Canadian Kyle McMurphy. Woods whiffed on a straight draw on the river to give McMurphy the edge in round #1. Then, on a board of 9-Q-7-J, McMurphy checked with pocket jacks for a set and Woods bet 3,200 holding 10-8 for the second nuts. McMurphy check-raised all-in and Woods happily called. The river failed to pair the board and Woods claimed round #2.
In the deciding match of the event, McMurphy open-shoved all-in pre-flop with K-10 and Woods made the call with A-9 of hearts. The situation was looking grim for McMurphy until a nine hit on the river to give him a straight and a critical double up. McMurphy doubled one more time after coming out on the winning end of a race with A-10 against pocket deuces before finally putting Woods away with J-7 against K-2 all-in pre-flop. McMurphy banked $69,000 for the win, while Woods earned $46,000.
New episodes of Aussie Millions coverage on GSN air at 9:00pm ET on Saturdays as part of Power Poker Weekends on the cable station. You can catch poker on GSN according to the following schedule each week:
Saturdays on GSN
9:00pm ET: Aussie Millions
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 5
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: World Poker Tour Season 6
Sundays on GSN
10:00pm ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
11:00pm ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
12:00am ET: Aussie Millions
1:00am ET: High Stakes Poker Season 6
2:00am ET: PokerStars Million Dollar Challenge
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Poker Community Reacts to Phil Hellmuth WSOP Entrance
“I’m glad I’m not playing today so I won’t see Hellmuth make a fool out of himself with his entrance. I can’t help thinking it’s terrible.” That was the Tweet of 10-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Doyle Brunson shortly before UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth made his grand entrance to the Main Event on Wednesday. This year, Hellmuth dressed as an MMA fighter.
Hellmuth’s entrance was scheduled for around 1:15pm PT in front of the doors to the Rio Pavilion, site of the 2010 WSOP. A media representative told the assembled crowd to “watch for the stage” and, to our amazement, one rolled in being towed by a black pickup truck from the valet area. A group of male and female dancers put on a rather elongated show before Hellmuth finally turned out dressed in a black and yellow UB.com hooded robe.
Brunson in part recanted his controversial Tweet, saying, “I got scolded by PH for my last Tweet. Sorry Phil, but I got 103 responses. 99 agreed with me, 4 didn’t. I love you anyway, gl in the WSOP.” Brunson played in the WSOP Main Event on Thursday for Day 1D, ending the session with 62,000, or twice the starting stack. On July 3rd, “Texas Dolly” was spotted railing Dan “djk123” Kelly in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max final table; Kelly ultimately took down the bracelet and became the newest Brunson 10 member.
Watching the Hellmuthian-sized entrance on Wednesday were a variety of pros including Joe Sebok, Sam Chauhan, Gavin Smith, and Mike Matusow, the latter of whom jokingly told the crowd that he had been paid $50,000 to show up. Smith and Sebok, meanwhile, contemplated what the reaction would be if they showed up to a major tournament like the Main Event in the same fashion as Hellmuth.
On his way up to the Pavilion doors, Hellmuth picked up two escorts, his mom and his dad, who watched their son start his Main Event run. UFC’s Bruce Buffer, donning Full Tilt Poker logos, introduced Hellmuth to the crowd before his microphone stopped working. Then, girls holding up cardboard cutouts of WSOP bracelets trailed Hellmuth down the hallway to the Amazon Room as a mass crowd pursued.
Despite his titanic-sized introduction, Hellmuth was sent packing from the Main Event on Day 1C. Bluff Magazine painted the picture of the scene on Twitter inside the Rio when the 11-time bracelet winner’s run ended: “Phil Hellmuth has been eliminated from Day 1C of the Main Event. Entire Pavilion room applauded as it was announced over the PA.”
For his part, Hellmuth seemed rather calm about being ousted from the $10,000 buy-in tournament, Tweeting, “Out! Still feel calm (not freaking out); did autographs + pics 4 45 mins str8 after busting. 2010 WSOP: played great, cards were not great.” Hellmuth finished the 2010 WSOP with four cashes and one final table for a total haul of $110,000.
While Sebok snapped Twitpic after Twitpic of the sea of poker media and fans enduring 110-degree heat to watch Hellmuth enter, tournament reporter B.J. Nemeth objectively guessed, “I’d bet that >50% of the media reports on Hellmuth’s entrance are negative or mocking in tone. What more needs to be said?” Meanwhile, Annie Duke, who also began her Main Event journey on Day 1C, noted, “Damn. I think I am in the wrong room for Phil Hellmuth’s entrance. Bad beat.”
Perhaps the best summary of the scene, appropriately, went to the always insightful Sebok, who succinctly Twittered: “Holy effing eff. Phil Hellmuth entrance. Wow. Just wow.” With reigning WSOP Main Event champ Joe Cada seated at the feature table, Hellmuth took his spot at Table 2, facing the room that his legacy has, in part, helped to fill. Hellmuth ate sushi with his parents on the dinner break, when his stack had dwindled to around 12,000, and he exited shortly thereafter.
Around 2:30pm PT on Wednesday, Poker News Daily caught up to Hellmuth inside the UB.com suite at the Rio to discuss his entrance. Click here to watch.
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, bad beat, Doyle Brunson, interview, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, tournament, WSOP
WSOP Main Event Attendance Up 34% After Three Starting Days
Three starting days are in the books in the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Today at Noon PT, Day 1D will kick off after being the first to sell out its pre-registration. Overall, attendance through the first three starting days of the Main Event is up a colossal 34% year over year.
In 2009, there were 3,685 entries after Day 1C officially closed its doors to new players. A total of 1,116 entered on Day 1A, while just 873 took to the floor on Day 1B, which fell on the Fourth of July. Day 1C saw 1,696 entrants in 2009. This year, the first of three starting days in the Main Event occurred on Monday, July 5th, safely removed from the holiday festivities one day prior. Day 1A this year featured a starting grid of 1,125 players, while Day 1B attracted 1,489. Yesterday, Day 1C saw a field of 2,314 show up for a three-day total of 4,928.
Among those who took to the felts on Day 1B was Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, a Full Tilt Poker pro, who was seated at Table 2. Meanwhile, Poker News Daily witnessed Tiltboy Rafe Furst make his exit after an opponent flopped a set of threes. Jeff “yellowsub” Williams, who finished third in a $5,000 No Limit Hold’em event, told us to bet on the Netherlands in the Fifa World Cup; sure enough, “Sub” was right, as the European country outlasted Uruguay 3-2. Unfortunately, we did not make it to the Rio sports book in time.
At the table next to Full Tilt pro Jeremiah Smith’s was an all-in and a call with A-K versus aces, one of several pots that featured Big Slick running into the superior hand. This time around, however, the player with A-K made a straight a busted his opponent. A bevy of players donned blue 888 logos, including Leo Margets, the Last Woman Standing in the 2009 Main Event.
Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo, Matt “mcmatto” Affleck, Drag the Bar instructor Dusty Schmidt, and Marco “CrazyMarco” Johnson were among those who carried the banner for the internet poker community on Tuesday during Day 1B. On Day 1C, online poker pros in the room included DoylesRoom’s Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka, free agent Lauren Kling, Kling’s beau Mike “SowersUNCC” Sowers, and Jordan “Octavian_C” Rich.
Furst and Joe Sebok were among those who donned an all-white jump suit in support of Bad Beat on Cancer, whose green 1% patches can be seen on a bevy of players in the Amazon Room.
Day 1D of the Main Event has a capacity of 3,800 and, as of 5:00pm PT on Wednesday, nearly half of those seats were sold. In 2009, a total of 6,494 players entered the Main Event, meaning that we’re already guaranteed to have a field larger than last year’s, a welcome sign given the depressed economy. The 2009 attendance would have been even larger had 500 players not been shut out after Day 1D reached capacity. Whether today will have any similar drama remains to be seen.
Wednesday began with PokerStars pro Joe Cada issuing the command to start play. Then, it was UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth’s turn to shine. Several hundred spectators endured 110-degree heat in the Rio parking lot to watch Hellmuth enter as an MMA fighter, including Mike Matusow. When asked by Hellmuth why he was in attendance, Matusow responded that he wanted to watch the “idiocy.” Meanwhile, 2010 bracelet winner Gavin Smith caught a pink UB.com hat tossed to the crowd by several dancers.
Finally, we’d be amiss if we didn’t discuss the trials and tribulations of Illinois native Stuart Nitzkin, the first player eliminated from the Main Event back on Day 1A. He lost a pot with pocket aces when the final board came K-K-10-10-10. Then, he donated his remaining chips with pocket kings after a player with K-10 made a straight. So it goes in poker’s richest tournament.
The survivors from Day 1A and Day 1C will convene for Day 2A on Friday. Those who made it through Day 1B and Day 1D will assemble for Day 2B on Saturday. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest news, notes, and nuggets from the 2010 WSOP.
Tags: 2009, 2010, bad beat, european, full tilt poker, Justin Bonomo, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, pokerstars, tournament, woman, WSOP
Pros Put Bad Beat on Cancer
The Bad Beat on Cancer Initiative began as an idea between poker professionals Phil Gordon and Rafe Furst at the 2003 World Series of Poker event to fund cancer prevention research.
The pair had been raising money for the cause prior, but knew they had hit the jackpot when they came up with the idea to ask poker players to give one percent of their winnings to the foundation as a tax-deductable donation.
Since 2003, participation in the initiative has only grown and to date over $3.2 million has been raised for the Prevent Cancer foundation, proving just how charitable the poker community is.
Some of the more notable names on the pledge list this year include Phil Ivey, Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Annie Duke, Chris Moneymaker, Andy Block, Phil Hellmuth, Adam Levy, Phil Gordon and Toby Maguire.
"Poker players lead very lucky lifestyles, so it is good to give back when you can," said Adam Levy, an accomplished Ultimate Bet pro.
It is clear many share Levy's generous outlook with 94 players already listed on the Prevent Cancer Foundation's pledge list.
"It's important for all of us to realize that there is a lot of people in unfortunate situations... a lot of us have relatives or might even have cancer ourselves," said Andy Bloch, Full Tilt pro and former member of the MIT blackjack team.
"I didn't go to school thinking I was going to be a poker player; I thought maybe I'd be an engineer or a lawyer. I wanted to help save the world and this is one way I can do that by still being a poker player."
Prevent Cancer's CEO Jan Bresch Mahrer mentioned how impressed she was with the players.
"I think it's terrific because poker players are not known for their philanthropic endeavors but in reality they are very philanthropic," she said. "They go out of their way for us."
Players at the 2010 World Series of Poker aren't the only one's contributing to this worthy cause. By building awareness through the use of social media tools, such as Twitter and MySpace, there are now weekly events on Full Tilt, home games and tournaments all benefitting the cause.
However, if you are looking to spot a do-gooder on the tournament floor who has already donated they're wearing a green 1% pledge badge.
With files from Crecia Page and Geoff Fisk
The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage of the WSOP tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
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Matt Keikoan Captures Second Bracelet, Miguel Proulx Wins First At WSOP
A busy Thursday at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) saw one of the most underrated players in the game capture his second bracelet and the crowning of a fresh face from north of the border.
In Event #28, the $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha tournament, 12 players from the original starting field of 596 returned for play on Thursday afternoon to determine a champion. The survivors of two days of battle reflected the international nature of the WSOP, with five Americans, two Frenchmen, two Germans, and Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, and Canada also represented among the players. Canada’s Miguel Proulx was at the head of the field with a chip count of 877,000, but he faced a serious challenge from France’s Patrick Hanoteau.
The action at the table started as soon as the cards hit the air, with the final table determined in slightly under two hours. Once Matthew Reid, top professional grinder Joe Serock, and Dilyan Kovachev were eliminated short of the final table, Hanoteau was able to seize a slim 1,000 chip lead over Proulx. Hanoteau would not enjoy his chip lead for long, however.
Once the final table began, Hanoteau became a victim of tough cards and tougher players. After turning the straight against Tommy Le’s set, Hanoteau was a victim of the river when Le filled up his boat, doubling up Le. He then doubled up actor Michael Greco and Karl Gal in a ten-minute span, chopping his chip stack down to 115,000. He would depart the tournament soon afterward in ninth place.
Hanoteau was the only player to depart before the dinner break, with Le assuming the lead of the tournament with eight players remaining. After the players came back, the action ratcheted up as Le fell victim to the same circumstances as Hanoteau, departing in eighth at the hands of Proulx. The Canadian continued to apply the pressure to the final table, eliminating four of the remaining players to reach the heads-up fight against L.J. Klein.
Klein held an approximate one million chip lead over Proulx at the start of heads-up play, but over the span of the 45-minute heads-up match, Proulx was able to assume the lead. On the final hand, Proulx was able to trap Klein into committing his chips while Proulx held the nut flush. After the three days of play, Proulx walked away with his first WSOP bracelet and the third bracelet for Canada.
1. Miguel Proulx (St. Charles, Quebec) $313,311
2. L. J. Klein (Golden, CO) $195,147
3. Michael Greco (London, United Kingdom) $129,691
4. Stephane Tayar (St. Mande, France) $96,243
5. Joerg Engels (Cologne, Germany) $72,227
6. Karl Gal (Munchen, Germany) $54,736
7. Trevor Pope (Gainesville, FL) $41,850
8. Tommy Le (Tustin, CA) $32,254
9. Patrick Hanoteau (Chauconin, France) $25,044
The marquee event on Thursday was the finale of the $10,000 Limit Hold’em World Championship. Thirteen players returned to the felt Thursday afternoon from the 171 players who began the tournament to determine the champion. There were no weak players in sight, with Kyle Ray and Daniel Idema leading a field that included Jameson Painter, Player’s Championship bracelet holder Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi, David Chiu, Brock Parker, and Matt Keikoan.
After two hours of play, the remainder of the field made the final table with the elimination of David Baker (eleventh) and Anh Van Nguyen (tenth) as the unfortunate bubble players. Painter held a 300,000 chip advantage over Ray when the final table started, but Idema was able to seize the lead over the duo at the dinner break. When the players came back to the table, Keikoan began his drive to take his second bracelet.
After an hour of play, Keikoan surpassed the chip leaders and continued to apply pressure. He eliminated Painter in fourth place and dispatched Ray in third to reach heads-up competition against Idema. After an hour of heads-up action, Keikoan lost his chip lead, as Idema worked his way to a 3:1 advantage. Keikoan was able to reverse his fortunes over the next hour, however, and the duo continued to swap the chip lead as the final table worked into the early hours of Friday.
After a five-hour heads-up fight, Keikoan was able to seize the advantage and eliminate Idema. After being crippled, Idema tabled an innocuous 4-2 and Keikoan showed a suited A-7; the board brought no miracles for Idema and gave Matt Keikoan his second WSOP bracelet.
1. Matt Keikoan (San Rafael, CA) $425,969
2. Daniel Idema (Vancouver, British Columbia) $263,243
3. Kyle Ray (Fayetteville, GA) $190,701
4. Jameson Painter (Las Vegas, NV) $140,760
5. Brock Parker (Silver Springs, MD) $105,782
6. Zvi Groysman (Thornhill, Ontario) $80,884
7. Simon Morris (Victoria, Austria) $62,897
8. Michael Mizrachi (Miramar, FL) $49,732
9. David Chiu (Las Vegas, NV) $39,959
Four other events were in action inside the Rio on Thursday, with several top pros in the hunt for WSOP bracelets. In Event #30, the $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Christopher Gonzales heads the 21 players remaining in the battle. Top pros Neil “Bad Beat” Channing and Jean “Prince” Gaspard are lurking in the middle of the pack, both looking for their first WSOP bracelet.
The $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. tournament has 24 players remaining, with Russia’s Konstantin Puchkov leading the remaining field. There are plenty of challengers for Puchkov, with several notable names in hot pursuit. Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy, Robert Mizrachi, Allen Kessler, Al “Sugar Bear” Barbieri, James Van Alstyne, and Chip Jett are all involved in what should be an exciting final table.
Event #32, the $5,000 Six-Handed No Limit Hold’em event, finished Day Two with 116 runners remaining from its 568 starters. Christian “charder30” Harder is the chip leader over Tony Dunst, but none other than Phil Ivey is holding down eighth place when play continues today. Also still on the front page of the leaderboard are Isaac Haxton, Jennifer Harman, Chad Brown, and Men “The Master” Nguyen.
The $2,500 Pot Limit Hold’em/Omaha mixed game drew 482 players for its Day One action. Justin Smith holds an approximate 45,000 chip lead over Tyler Patterson, but what is most impressive is that Ivey is also in this event. He currently sits in 35th place, but will probably have to make a decision early as to whether to pursue the Event #32 bracelet or play for this one. Also in the mix in Event #33 are Andrew Black, Ross Boatman, Rob Hollink, and defending WSOP Player of the Year Jeffrey Lisandro.
Two tournaments will be initiating play on Friday, the $1,000 Seniors (50 and over) No Limit tournament and the $10,000 Heads-Up World Championship. The latter should be a pro-laden field, as it is capped at 256 players and offers an excellent opportunity at a bracelet. Even if the Heads-Up tournament weren’t occurring, there is still plenty of action for the railbirds at the Rio as the World Series of Poker rolls on.
Tags: aced, bad beat, Canada, canadian, Jennifer Harman, Online Poker, Phil Ivey, poker player, Russia, tournament, vegas, WSOP
News from Bluff @ The Mint
Women Take Center Stage at 2010 WSOP
1,054 players came for the start of the Ladies Championship Friday, and although a few males registered for the tournament, the field was an overwhelming female majority, with many big names in the house.
Liv Boeree, Shannon Elizabeth, Sara Underwood and Tiffany Michelle were all in the tournament for Day 1, and the field is a mix of celebrities and some of poker's female finest.
Also in the field were Kathy Liebert, Evelyn Ng, Leo Margets and Vanessa Rousso, with a first-place prize of $192,132 on the line.
"I think for a professional poker player it's a good value, because a lot of the ladies playing aren't experienced players," Michelle said during the first break.
"I like my odds. It's a fun event and fun to sit down with a bunch of women."
Michelle, who broke through on the poker scene with her 17th-place finish in the 2008 Main Event, has mixed feelings about the Ladies Championship.
"I think the reason it was created is wonderful, to promote more women getting into poker," Michelle said.
"I'm on the fence about it. I feel like women are always wanting equality. So I know that we'd be pissed if they had a men only event."
"There's kind of a double standard, but I think the purpose of it is to make it a stepping stone for women to be more comfortable playing with men."
The field of the Ladies Event is almost identical to last year with only six less players than in 2009. Last year Hawaiian Lisa Hamilton outlasted a field of 1,060 players to win a $195,390 first place prize.
The event peaked in 2007 with 1,286 players but the drop off hasn't been as steep as many other tournaments that have seen fewer numbers thanks to the economic downturn.
The female-only High Heels Poker Tour is also on hand, with a hospitality suite in the Brasilia Room right across from the Pavilion Room.
The HHPT qualified more than 20 women for the $1k Ladies Championship, with a dozen qualifiers coming from Thrusday's HHPT Sit-n-Go Extravaganza event.
HHPT founder Lauren Failla remains a fervant supporter of the event, despite taking a bad beat to be eliminated from this year's edition.
"It's been amazing," said of the HHPT promotion at the WSOP.
"Everyone embraced it, thought it was a really good idea to offer these women in the poker industry an opportunity to basically show their wares."
The weekend wraps up with the HHPT/Pink Ladies Poker Tour event, taking place Saturday at Hard Rock Hotel.
The 2010 WSOP continues through July 17. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates and News.
Visit PokerListings.com
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, aced, bad beat, ladies, poker player, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, vegas, women, WSOP
The Nightly Turbo: Putting a Bad Beat on Cancer, ESPN’s The Nuts, and More
Tags: bad beat
Samantha Ryan Interview with Poker News Daily
Recently, the CEREUS Network online poker room UB.com announced that it had signed adult film star Samantha Ryan to a sponsorship for the ongoing World Series of Poker (WSOP). Ryan sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss her new gig.
Poker News Daily: Thanks for joining us. How did you get started in poker?
Samantha Ryan: I started playing when I was in real estate, which was the last professional job I had before the adult industry. The guys I was in real estate with were also blackjack players and were making excuses to go to Las Vegas every weekend. I was sweating them and that’s when I got the itch. They taught me how to play and I started beating them.
Four years ago, I started playing online. Without playing higher stakes online, I had success here and there and final tabled a few things. I started getting back into it about a year and a half ago and am definitely looking forward to it now.
PND: We’ve noticed that you’re tight with UB.com pros Annie Duke and Tiffany Michelle. How did you come to meet them?
Samantha Ryan: Annie and I have become much better friends over the last few months. We have quite a few mutual friends. I met Annie way back when. I actually dabbled in blackjack a few years ago on a team and one of the guys was playing on the same television show as Annie. Then, I kept running into her. Over the last few months, I started playing in a lot of the charity tournaments around town and she invited me to hers.
I’ve always had great respect for Annie. She’s intelligent and a go-getter. “Celebrity Apprentice” allowed us to see how well she adapts to different situations. I sat down next to [Duke’s boyfriend] Joe Reitman in a charity tournament recently and busted him, but we were chitchatting because he had seen me around a few other events. He introduced me to Bikram, which is the kind of yoga that I do with Annie.
PND: Do you see the partnership with UB.com continuing beyond the WSOP?
Samantha Ryan: It depends on how well I do. If I were to bust out of every tournament and not cash, I don’t think it’d continue. I have to earn my own respect. I haven’t gotten lucky yet and have had a lot of bad beats so far.
PND: Talk about being a woman in a male-dominated sport like poker.
Samantha Ryan: I’ve been playing more live poker recently and have a bigger history online. I’m definitely starting to see the dynamic at the table and it’s almost a challenge to me. Everyone wants to immediately judge me, but I can probably outtalk anyone in about five minutes on any topic. People quietly underestimate me. In cards, there’s always that luck factor.
PND: How has your experience at the WSOP been so far?
Samantha Ryan: It has been a lot of fun. I’ve been around for the past few years and have been itching to play. It’s cool how the Amazon Room is the secondary room now and it’s fun to be back at the WSOP as a player. It’s something I’ve been planning to do for the past few years. I’m glad to get the jitters out of the way.
PND: You’re playing in the $1,000 buy-in Ladies Event. What are you expecting in it?
Samantha Ryan: It’s going to be a lot different and I almost prefer playing with the guys. I’m playing it because it works better with my schedule. I guess at the same time I should because I’m a lady. I don’t know if I’ll like playing with all females, but there won’t be that dynamic of being a target. There won’t be those hands where people play aggressively against me.
Tags: Annie Duke, bad beat, charity, interview, ladies, Online Poker, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, vegas, woman, WSOP
Team UB’s latest Tweets at the 2010 World Series of Poker
Arguably the hottest discussion at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) presently is Phil Hellmuth’s deep run in the $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘em event (#6), where Hellmuth was fifth in chips going into the final day of play with 25 players left. Hellmuth was updating progress on Twitter throughout Day 2, including this Tweet he sent after going on a rush at the featured table: “I have over $400,000 in chips now. Cracked 200k about an hour ago, then heated up: had A-A, nut flush, and won the chips fast. 40 or 50 left.”
Following a long 13-hour Day 2, during which Hellmuth increased his stack from 84,000 to 556,000, he Tweeted the following: “Will tomorrow be the day I win bracelet number 12?” The remaining 25 players are playing down to a champion on Friday.
Hellmuth last won a bracelet in 2007, which also came in a $1,500 No Limit Hold ‘em event. He’ll have plenty of support during his hunt for bracelet #12 on Friday, especially from fellow Team UB members Scott Ian and Annie Duke. “Sending all my positive energy to @phil_hellmuth”, tweeted Ian early Friday morning. “Good luck tomorrow!!”
Duke, who arrived in Las Vegas on Thursday, got word of Hellmuth’s success and offered her best wishes as well: “@phil_hellmuth good luck today Phil. I’m rooting hard for you!” Duke missed the first week of WSOP events, but arrived in time to play the $10,000 Seven Card Stud World Championship (Event #10) on Thursday evening. “My first event at the 2010 WSOP and I get a sweeeeet draw! That’s @Erik_Seidel to my right,” Duke tweeted. Unfortunately, her stay in the prestigious event didn’t last long: “My debut at the WSOP was very brief. I was out in 2 hours flat in the $10K stud. I am proud of the efficient use of my time.”
European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champion Liv Boeree also arrived late to the WSOP and has seen some good poker go to waste. Tweeted Boeree after exiting the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold ‘em event, “bubbled the PLH on the last 6 hands of the day, bloody marvelous.” Friend and fellow Team UB member Joe Sebok quickly came to her aid: “@liv_boeree nooooo, that’s sick. sorry livvy. thought you were for sure gonna cash… always another tho.”
Team UB pro Brandon Cantu, who won his second WSOP bracelet last year and signed a one-year extension with the online poker site on Friday, hasn’t been faring too well this summer either. Along with a few early bustouts in tournaments at the Rio, Cantu is apparently running well below expectation at home and shared one particularly entertaining bad beat with the Twitter community: “Unreal just got in a bb gun fight with my gf in the house and missed her and shattered my computer screen… What luck!!”
The Tweet of the day goes to the ever-popular Sebok, who may or may not have been pounding Jaeger bombs and eating protein bars when typing up this doozy: “Haircut and a beard trim. Check. I look like a right sexy me bastard. That’s how we do it. Johnnie hooked it up today.”
Tags: 2010, Annie Duke, bad beat, european, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Peter Gelencser Lowballs To WSOP Bracelet, Joshua Tieman Takes Event #6
Completing its first week of action at the Rio in Las Vegas, the World Series of Poker (WSOP) awarded two bracelets on Thursday night, with three other tournaments in action and two set to start their Day Ones on Friday.
Event #6, the $5,000 No Limit Hold’em Shootout, began on Tuesday with 358 runners coming to the line. The unique format of the event – where a player has to defeat his entire table to move onto the next round – drew some of the top players in the game. Top players such as 2009 Main Event final tablist James Akenhead, Tom “durrrr” Dwan, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Faraz “The_Toilet” Jaka, Dario Minieri, and Blair Hinkle all walked away with an official cash from the tournament, but fell short of the final table.
The six-handed final table was split between the countries represented, with top English pro Neil “Bad Beat” Channing leading fellow countrymen Stuart Rutter and Nicolas Levi against a trio of Americans that included Brent “bhanks11″ Hanks, Joshua Tieman, and Joseph Elpayaa. Because of the Shootout format of the event, each player began the final table with 1.5 million in chips, but the players wasted little time in shifting the sands of chip counts over the course of the four-hour final table.
After eliminating Hanks in sixth place, Levi took on Tieman in one of the biggest hands of the final table. Showing pocket jacks against Tieman’s pocket eights, Levi was crushed when an eight appeared in the window, leaving him drawing thin to two outs. Once the board ran out with no help, Levi took the fifth place prize and, barely an hour and a half into the final table, play was four-handed.
It would take an additional two hours before the bustouts came fast and furious. Over the course of the final 50 minutes of the tournament, Tieman eliminated Elpayaa (fourth) and Rutter (third) to reach the heads-up battle against the veteran Channing. Holding a 7-1 chip advantage, Tieman ground Channing down during a 35-minute fight. In the final hand, the chips went to the center with Channing holding an inferior A-7 to Tieman’s A-J. The board provided no miracles for Channing, giving the gold and diamond WSOP bracelet and $441,692 first place prize to Tieman.
1. Joshua Tieman (Chicago, IL) $441,692
2. Neil Channing (London, United Kingdom) $273,153
3. Stuart Rutter (Moseley, United Kingdom) $179,617
4. Joseph Elpayaa (Forest Park, IL) $125,387
5. Nicolas Levi (London, United Kingdom) $92,543
6. Brent Hanks (Fillmore, NY) $71,998
Another final table – for Event #7, the $2,500 Deuce to Seven Lowball Triple Draw – also closed action on Thursday. Top cash game pro David Chiu led the eight players who survived the 291 player field, with experienced lowball players such as Raphael Zimmerman (sixth in last year’s lowball event won by Phil Ivey), Leonard Martin (second in 2007’s version of the tournament), and Tad Jurgens. When Jurgens was eliminated in eighth place, the final table was set for action.
After another eight hours of battle, it was Peter Gelencser, a Hungarian pro who came to the final table with the second largest chip stack, going up against Zimmerman for the WSOP bracelet. After an hour-long heads up match, Gelencser was able to capture the crown when, holding an excellent 9-7-4-3-2, Zimmerman paired on his last draw.
1. Peter Gelencser (Budapest, Hungary) $180,730
2. Raphael Zimmerman (Henderson, NV) $111,686
3. Don McNamara (San Jose, CA) $73,803
4. David Chiu (Las Vegas, NV) $50,157
5. Jameson Painter (Las Vegas, NV) $34,843
6. Leonard Martin (Las Vegas, NV) $24,723
7. Shujiro Uchida (Kamodaminamimachi, Japan) $17,903
8. Tad Jurgens (Tempe, AZ) $17,903
Three other tournaments were in various stages of their play on Thursday. The $1,500 No Limit Hold’em tournament, Event #8 on the WSOP schedule, will come back for its final day of play on Friday with Phil Hellmuth in the hunt for Bracelet #12. Hellmuth is sitting with 556,000 chips, good for fifth place among the 25 players remaining. Israel’s Saar Wilf leads the pack with his 1.2 million chip stack.
Event #9, the $1,500 Pot Limit Hold’em tournament, brought out a strong crowd of 650 participants for its first day of action. In a particularly brutal day, the money bubble was burst by the close of business late Thursday night. 65 players come back on Friday for the continuation of the tournament, with the U.K.’s James Dempsey leading a field that includes such notable players as Joanne “J. J.” Liu, Melissa Hayden, Chris Moore, Cornel Cimpan, and Victory Poker pro Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little.
Event #10 is one of the World Championship events, the $10,000 Seven Card Stud tournament, which brought out 150 of the strongest Stud players in the world. Coming off his victory in the $50,000 Player’s Championship, Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi is at the top of the 88 players that remain in the tournament. Challenges await the recent WSOP bracelet winner, however, as none other than Doyle Brunson sits in fifth place. Others who could be an obstacle to “The Grinder’s” second bracelet this year include Men “The Master” Nguyen, Nick Shulman, brother Robert Mizrachi, and the dreaded Phil Ivey.
Two events will kick off action in the crowded Pavilion Room at the Rio today. Two $1,500 tournaments, Event #11’s No Limit Hold’em and Event #12’s Limit Hold’em, will start at Noon and 5:00pm PT, respectively. Along with the tournaments in action, five events will be running simultaneously this afternoon, making this the first truly “busy” Friday as the World Series of Poker closes out its first week of play.
Tags: 2009, bad beat, Doyle Brunson, israel, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Ivey, poker player, tournament, vegas, WSOP
The Nightly Turbo: Brian Townsend Steps Down, Doyle’s Latest Blog, and More
The $50K Players’ Championship, Insomnia, and Doyle Tries Vegan from Poker in Twitter
Over the course of the weekend in the Twitterverse, poker players were naturally discussing the start of the World Series of Poker (WSOP). With the $50,000 Players’ Championship starting on Friday for the high rollers and the $1,000 No Limit Hold’em tournament picking up action on Saturday, the top pros on Twitter kept their fans informed of their status in the events.
Railing boyfriend David Baker was PokerStars sponsored player Maria “Maridu” Mayrinck, who was torn between his deep run in the $50K and her contractual obligation to attend a Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) event. “I keep changing my flight to Peru, now I leave at 5am. We’re going all the way in the 50K 8 game, DAVID BAKER FTW!,” Maria tweeted late last night. Once the chips were bagged at the end of play, Mayrinck gave a last report before heading to the airport, “End of day 3, David finished with 725K, 21 players left, 16itm.”
Another player who was railing people close to his heart was Eric Mizrachi, who hustled between his brothers Robert and Michael to inform his followers of their status. “Both my brothers still in @WSOP event #2 50k buy in,” Mizrachi was pleased to report Sunday night. “22 players left, @TheGrinder44 is chip leader with 1.5m and @PokerRob24 with 1m!” Other players reporting their success in the $50K included John Juanda (“End of Day 3. I’ve got $788K and we are 5 players away from the money.”), Erik Seidel (“End of day 3. 374k. 21 left”), and Andy Bloch (“Ended day with 418k, about half average. We restart the 50k tomorrow at 3pm with 21 players remaining.”).
One of the best exchanges over Twitter during the $50,000 Player’s Championship developed between Daniel Negreanu and Lex “RaSZi” Veldhuis. “Earlier @texdolly tasted a piece of my Seitan,” Negreanu Tweeted after Doyle Brunson tried some of Negreanu’s Vegan meal prepared by his personal assistant. “You know it’s gotta be alright when a BBQ eatin’ Texan says he likes it.” This led Veldhuis to admonish, “@realkidpoker stop trying to convert people!” Negreanu replied, “@RaSZi ya cause Doyle is totally going Vegan now, right.”
Of particular interest in the $1000 No Limit Hold’em tournament was a battle between Gavin Griffin and Terrence Chan. “Out, my AA v @tchanpoker QQ, Q on river,” Tweeted Griffin after the particularly bad beat, which led Chan to respond, “First time in my life I’ve been genuinely unhappy to win an all-in in a big tourney.” Chan then chirped, “The seat of the departed @nhgg has been replaced by one Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture,” recognizing the arrival of one of the best MMA fighters in the world. The former UFC champion didn’t last long at the tables as, two hours later, Chan reported his demise: “Randy is out. Got it in drawing dead on the turn, J7 against AT on KJQx.”
Not surprisingly, many poker players are having sleep issues as the WSOP gets up and running. “So bummed. bad time for insomnia,” Phil Laak Tweeted early Monday morning. “I hear the birds chirping. need to sleep. had it all timed. oh no! 4 hrs now past bedtime. need to sleep!” Victory Poker’s Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little was another player battling sleep issues when he Tweeted, “Ugh. I am up way too early. Good thing I have business to attend to. Going to work out after that. Wsop day 2 of $1000 event later.” Devin “TranquilChaos” Porter was having trouble getting his WSOP clock worked out also: “Up since 6 am Vegas time… Safe to say I’m not on the right sleep schedule for WSOP yet.”
Jeff Madsen asked a particularly interesting question though the Twitterscape about the banners of previous WSOP Main Event champions that hang throughout the Rio. “So I want to get to the bottom of this, why is Bill Smith the 1985 world champion the only one without a banner around Amazon room?,” Madsen inquired about one of the most obscure World Champions the WSOP has crowned. Noted poker reporter B.J. Nemeth solved the mystery for Madsen when he Tweeted, “@JeffMadsenobv Nobody has any photos of Bill Smith to use for the banner. Binion’s won’t let Harrah’s use the pic from the Wall of Fame.”
Absent from the start of the WSOP was Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, who apparently was taking some time to spend with family before she comes to Las Vegas. “Visiting aunt and cousin. Goin home in a bit. Just gonna watch tv tonight and go to bed early,” Obrestad stated yesterday on Twitter. Obrestad did Tweet that her arrival was forthcoming: “Shooting for the documentary all day today, then Vegas tomorrow weee!”
Another player noted by their absence was David Williams. The former Bodog sponsored pro and current World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship titleholder let his followers know that he is deep in preparation for the WSOP: “Been gone a while. Resting up for the WSOP in Puerto Rico playing Magic. Finally home tomorrow. First event Tues. 5k NL shootout.” Williams also alluded to some big news over the next couple of days when he chirped, “Will be tweeting again and have should have some HUGE news to announce in the next day or so. Life is great!”
On the humorous side of poker players on Twitter, Annie Duke asked a philosophical question: “Here’s a weird but semi serious ? If an alien culture found a VHS tape, would they be able to reverse engineer a way to play it? CDs too?” Michele Lewis was preoccupied with her workout when she Tweeted, “Clearly my medication has worn off.. I watched the Braves for ten minutes before realizing it was the Twins. On stairmaster-doesn’t count.” Finally, UB.com pro Bryan “badbeatninja” Devonshire asked a pertinent question to users of iTunes: “Why in the hell would anybody pre-order an album on iTunes? I mean Dierks Bentley is dreamy and all, but they’re not gonna run out.”
Tags: aced, Annie Duke, bad beat, bodog, Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, poker player, pokerstars, tournament, vegas, WSOP
Phil Ivey Joins World Series of Good, Supports Budding Ivey Foundation
Earlier this month, Poker News Daily reported on the efforts of Michael Karnjanaprakorn, an entrepreneur from New York who is looking to raise his buy-in for the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event from contributors, with any winnings given to charitable causes. Through his World Series of Good, Karnjanaprakorn has enlisted many of the top players in the game to join him in contributing to their pet charities.
Last week, KickStarter – the site Karnjanaprakorn is using in his charitable drive – announced that 2009 WSOP Main Event final table player Phil Ivey has joined the fray. Ivey, who captured two bracelets on his way to the Main Event final table last year, will be coaching Karnjanaprakorn in preparation for his Main Event drive along with UB.com pro Annie Duke, Full Tilt Poker’s Andy Bloch, and Rafe Furst. Ivey will also be promoting his personal charitable cause, the Budding Ivey Foundation, through the efforts of the World Series of Good.
Ivey created the Budding Ivey Foundation two years ago to continue the philanthropic goals that his grandfather, the late Leonard “Bud” Simmons, pursued throughout his life. Along with his mother, Ivey continues to promote many of the charitable ideals that his grandfather had advocated for. The mission statement for the Budding Ivey Foundation is “Providing educational opportunities to empower at-risk children.”
The organization has given greatly to the community in an attempt to reach the goals inspired by Ivey’s grandfather. The Budding Ivey Foundation has been instrumental in organizing major book drives, donating over 2,500 books to children in New Jersey and Las Vegas. The foundation has also stepped up to help the homeless, contributing 1,200 meals to the roughly 4000/5000 feed program in Las Vegas.
2009 beneficiaries of the Budding Ivey Foundation include the Roselle, New Jersey Pop Warner leagues, the Roselle Back to School Book Jam, Junior Achievement of New Jersey, Spread the Word Nevada, the Las Vegas Rescue Mission, and the Be Pure/No More Tears Feeding Program.
In 2008, the Budding Ivey Foundation held a charitable poker tournament and barbecue that raised $260,000. These funds were dispersed to charities such as a re-development project in New Jersey, Empowered to Excel, Living Waters, Northern Educational Services, and the 4,000/5,000 Feeding Program.
Karnjanaprakorn’s World Series of Good efforts are proceeding well. With 35 days to go to the start of the Main Event, Karnjanaprakorn has raised approximately 25% of the $10,000 buy-in, with 32 backers contributing amounts ranging from $5 to $250 through KickStarter.
The charitable causes that Karnjanaprakorn will donate any WSOP winnings to include a charter school beset by embezzlement, the Langston Hughes Academy in Louisiana, Bad Beat on Cancer, Ante Up for Africa, and CharityWater.org, a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Players such as Bloch, Furst, and Daniel Horowitz have also pledged to donate to various causes.
Tags: 2008, 2009, 2010, Annie Duke, bad beat, charity, full tilt poker, Phil Ivey, poker player, tournament, vegas, WSOP
May 26th – Daily Deal
On today’s Daily Deal, PokerStars announces the Baltic Festival, the CEREUS Network regains its post in the top ten, the Brunson Beer Pong invitational is upon us, and we all celebrate the seventh anniversary of Chris Moneymaker’s historic win.
Hello, I’m Sean Gibson and welcome to the Daily Deal by Poker News Daily.
The PokerStars Baltic Festival will be held at the Olympic Casino at the Swissôtel in Tallinn, Estonia from June 16th to June 19th. While the Main Event starts on the sixteenth, the poker action gets going a day before with cash games and Sit-and-Gos, as well as a cocktail hour in the PokerStars lounge. Tallinn will also be the site of the European Poker Tour’s first stop. Tying both events together, PokerStars will give away an EPT Tallinn prize package to the player who survives the longest in the Baltic Festival Main Event while wearing a PokerStars logo.
Two weeks ago, the CEREUS Network dropped from sixth to ninth position on the list of the largest poker networks worldwide. According to PokerScout.com, CEREUS has just reclaimed its spot at number six, sending Everest Poker, the International Poker Network, and the Microgaming Network down one place.
PokerScout.com staff speculated: “A larger than usual bad beat jackpot may have contributed to the late-week climb.” This Monday, a CEREUS player spiked a bad beat payout of nearly sixty thousand dollars, and at the time of our taping, the CEREUS bad beat jackpot stands at nearly a hundred thousand dollars. In the past week CEREUS also fully implemented OpenSSL encryption, ensuring that hole cards, passwords, user names, and data are secure.
The third annual Brunson Beer Pong Invitational is coming up on Wednesday at Hogs and Heifers in Las Vegas. For those who forgot what beer pong was about, the top names in poker will be tossing ping pong balls into plastic cups partly filled with beer, and their opponents will have to drink up whenever a ball falls inside a cup. The event will be hosted by UB.com pro Phil Hellmuth and Absolute Poker diva Trishelle Cannatella. Last year, Dan “Wretchy” Martin and Peter “#1PEN” Neff bested Todd Brunson and Brett “gank” Jungblut in the finals. We can only wonder if Brunson and Jungblutt have been training to win this year.
In two thousand and three, a little-known Tennessee accountant named Chris Moneymaker took down the World Series of Poker Main Event and forever changed poker. This week marks the seven-year anniversary of his win, and Moneymaker celebrated the occasion on the ESPN.com poker news show “Inside Deal”. When hosts Laura Lane and Bernard Lee asked Chris if he thought there was a way to repeat the “Moneymaker effect”, he said: “A woman winning the Main Event would do phenomenal things for the game. It would bring another boom and definitely spark a lot more interest.”
Since Moneymaker’s victory, there are six times as many entries into the Main Event, while total entries into WSOP tournaments have increased sevenfold.
Thanks for joining me on The Daily Deal. Don’t forget to visit PokerNewsDaily.com and be sure to follow us at Twitter.com/PokerNewsDaily for the latest in poker news. I’m Sean Gibson wishing you deep runs in your tournaments!
Tags: absolute poker, bad beat, european, jackpot, Phil Hellmuth, poker player, pokerstars, tournament, usa, vegas, woman, WSOP
CEREUS Rebounds to Sixth Largest Online Poker Network Worldwide
Plagued by encryption issues and major tournament series on other online poker sites, the CEREUS Network dropped from the sixth largest worldwide to ninth according to PokerScout.com. Two weeks later, the network, which consists of UB.com and Absolute Poker, has reclaimed its spot at number six.
The PokerScout.com Weekly Online Poker Traffic Update revealed that CEREUS leapfrogged Everest Poker, Boss Media’s International Poker Network, and the Microgaming Network on its march to the sixth spot in the rankings, which are determined by real money ring game traffic. What caused the spike in traffic remains to be seen.
PokerScout.com staff speculated on what may have spurred players to return to CEREUS after a two-week hiatus: “The reason for the bounce is unknown, but it does not appear to be related to the network’s announcement a week earlier that it had patched all remaining security holes in its client-server communication. A larger than usual bad beat jackpot may have contributed to the late-week climb.” On Monday, May 24th, UB.com member “POKEHER0706” spiked a bad beat payout of nearly $60,000. At the time of writing, the CEREUS Network’s bad beat jackpot stands at nearly $100,000.
In the interim, CEREUS also fully implemented OpenSSL encryption, ensuring that hole cards, passwords, user names, and data are secure. Whether the conversion from XOR to OpenSSL had any bearing on CEREUS’ traffic growth remains to be seen. PokerTableRatings.com, which originally uncovered the security vulnerability, urged players to avoid UB.com and Absolute Poker entirely until the hole was plugged. If players insisted on logging in, they were encouraged to do so by plugging directly into their modems and avoid using wireless networks.
Complicating matters were the Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (MiniFTOPS) and PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP), which wrapped up on May 16th.
According to PokerScout.com, the USA-friendly CEREUS Network boasts a seven-day running average of 2,350 real money ring game players with a 24-hour peak of 3,250. Its average daily traffic is on par with that found on the Ongame Network, whose family of sites includes Betsafe, Hollywood Poker, PokerLoco, and RedKings.
CEREUS saw a peak of more than 4,000 cash game players on May 21st and 22nd, a threshold that had previously been crossed just three times in the last two months. Over the first 24 days of May, the CEREUS Network features an average daily maximum of 3,358 real money ring game players. During the same period in April, that number was 3,355, which means that traffic month over month has remained relatively flat.
UB.com offers a roster of pros that includes reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship winner and Poker News Daily Guest Columnist Annie Duke, 11-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, former “Amazing Race” contestant Tiffany Michelle, and recent European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo champ Liv Boeree. The site happily takes action from the United States and has qualified 70 players for the 2010 WSOP at the time of writing.
On June 6th, UB.com will hold a 25-Seat Guarantee to send even more players to Las Vegas to compete in the world’s most prestigious poker tournament. Two weeks later, another 50 seats will be up for grabs. Each tournament comes with a $530 price tag and qualifiers begin as low as $0.10.
UB.com is also offering players an extra incentive to show up donning the site’s gear at the WSOP. Up to $5,000 per player will be put into a prize pool that will ultimately be divided among players who show up to and cash in the Main Event. The progressive prize pool currently stands at $350,000.
Tags: 2010, absolute poker, Annie Duke, bad beat, european, Hollywood, jackpot, Online Poker, Phil Hellmuth, pokerstars, Tiffany Michelle, tournament, usa, vegas, WSOP
Rafe Furst – Poker Player Profile
With an M.S. in Computer Science and a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, it’s pretty safe to say that Rafe Furst is one smart dude. He began his career as an artificial intelligence researcher. After a few years in the workforce, he left in 1996 to form his first company, Pick’em Sports, which he later sold for a profit in 1999.
On the tables, Furst has been playing poker for 17 years, primarily in a weekly home game with a group of friends who called themselves ‘The Tiltboys’. In 2005, he made waves on the live tournament circuit, taking 1st in the $1500 in the Ultimate Poker Challenge in Las Vegas for $35K. A year later, he really hit it big by winning his first World Series of Poker bracelet – a $1500 Pot Limit Hold’em event for $345K. In January of 2008, he took second at the Aussie Millions $10K HORSE Special Event for $35K. He made his second WSOP final table at the 2009 series, taking third in the $5000 Ante Up for Africa Charity event for $72K. All told, Furst has over $500 K in live tournament winnings.
Away from the felt, Furst sits on a number of Boards for both non-profit and profit organizations. He is on the Board of Directors for the Prevent Cancer Foundation and serves as a member of the Advisory Council for the Decision Education Foundation. In 2003, he and Phil Gordon founded the Bad Beat on Cancer Foundation, which is a program that encourages poker professionals to donate 1% of their winnings to fight cancer. In 2007, he received the Excellence in Cancer Awareness award and was recently given the 2010 Cancer Champion Award from the Prevent Cancer Foundation.
Online, Rafe Furst plays on Full Tilt Poker, where he is a sponsored pro.