Poker News

War of words between Tony G and ‘_FullFlush_’ hots up

Tony G joins Team PartyPoker

Top 5 of 2009: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top 5 Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we continue today with No. 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year.

Yevgeniy Timoshenko started playing poker online when he was just 15 years old.

With wins in the PokerStars Sunday Million, the daily $100 rebuy and the Sunday $200 rebuy online, plus solid live results in prelims at the Irish Poker Open, Paris Open, the Aussie Millions, World Series of Poker Europe, EPT Barcelona and a win in the 2008 APPT Macau main event, he was a poker-made millionaire even before his 21st birthday.

But it’s the feats he accomplished soon after turning 21 that suddenly has the entire world convinced he is one of poker’s brightest new stars.

With the smell of spring in the Las Vegas air, the Ukranian-born and Washington State raised Timoshenko proved he was a force to be reckoned with this past April, winning more than $2.1 million and one of poker’s most prestigious crowns at the Season 7 WPT Championship.

This one win would have been enough to cement his status as one of the game’s young greats, but Timoshenko’s year had just begun.

His summer was spent collecting close to $100k in cashes from the 2009 World Series of Poker, but another massive score was right around the corner.

The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event is by far the most coveted online title in the game and this September, Timoshenko booked the win, adding $1.7 million to his online MTT winnings.

PokerListings caught up with the budding superstar just weeks later as he found himself among the leaders in the final 36 of the WSOPE main event.

At the time, he explained how his game was designed for both the virtual felt and the kind you can touch and feel.

"I think my game is very adaptable to both online and live play," he said. "If you are just good at reading people you are not going to have as much success online and if you're only good at the math and playing ABC, you might do well online, but you're probably not going to do well live."

Winning two of poker’s biggest tournaments in a single year has obviously helped Timoshenko earn a few fans, especially among his peers.

“Yevgeniy is one of, if not the best tournament player around,” said EPT San Remo and WSOP Bracelet winner Jason Mercier. “I really like his game. I got the chance to play against him for the first time live deep in a 1k event at Bellagio a few weeks ago. I was pretty much plowing through the entire field until he showed up at my table. We have similar styles, which makes him tough to play against.

“One of the things that makes him so good is that he is almost always one level above everyone else at the table. In my opinion, there is no one better at No-Limit Hold’em tournaments.”

With more than $2.2 million in live tournament earnings this year, and another $2.2 million won online, including two of the most prestigious titles on either stage, Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s year was an easy choice for No. 4 on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

PokerListings' Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009:

• No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz
  

Top 5 of 2009: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we will start today with No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz.

By March of this year, the name __FullFlush1__ was on the tip of the entire poker world’s tongues.

The ever brash and always outspoken UK based player had jumped up to the highest stakes games online and was posting massive profits against the likes of Tom "durrrr" Dwan, David "Raptor" Benefield and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond.

But it was the way he was doing it that had him dominating poker headlines. Coming seemingly out of nowhere, the unknown Brit challenged poker’s best and brightest not just on the virtual felt, but in the chatbox as well.

Calling Dwan things like "durrrr-balls" and the rest "OMGweNerds," FullFlush’s visceral brand of chat provided endless entertainment for railbirds and an image for himself as poker’s next bad boy.

When PokerListings finally talked to the man behind it all for an exclusive interview at the end of March, his real life persona was far from disappointing.

A 25-year-old Londoner by the name of Luke Schwartz who had built a massive roll on Euro sites like Betfair before taking a shot at the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt, he called durrrr a “nonce-cake,” trashed-talked high stakes mainstays like the Dang brothers and threatened to send the lot of them broke.

An interview with Schwartz read just like some of his best chatbox rants and the public, who either loved him or hated him, lapped it up.

"Poker needed a new kind of bad boy and Luke fit the bill," said noted author and the voice of poker in Europe Jesse May. "I can't even remember now how we could talk about poker without using terms like 'railtard', 'woteva', and 'got the jakey on.' His mouth and style got him his first five minutes of fame, but what will ensure that Luke stays around is the fact, surprising to some, that he is clearly one of the top poker players in the game."

By September, Schwartz had pulled seven figures numbers out of Full Tilt and bought himself some property in London, stepping away from the high stakes online games – But not the headlines.

Barred from playing at the World Series of Poker Europe for an incident at London’s Victoria Grosvenor Casino where he’d refused to remove his hat, PokerListings found Schwartz on the rail at the event.

It took all of one minute before he launched into a tirade against his online nemesis Dwan.

“I just can't stand durrrr,” he said. “I can't stand durrrr's face, durrrr's voice, and durrrr's eyes. I can't stand anything about durrrr.

“I'm sending him broke before the end of 2010. That's my goal.”

With a little help from some friends in the industry, Schwartz got the ban lifted just weeks later, in time to play at PokerStars EPT London, where he made headlines once again for something other than playing cards.

This time it was a sandwich he refused to pay for after busting out of the event, claiming he’d paid enough in tournament fees to cover it, was a VIP and should be treated as such.

The result was another ban from UK casinos and one of the most talked about events of the poker world’s annual fall pilgrimage to London.

But those who thought “Sandwichgate” would be the last they’d hear from Schwartz were sorely mistaken.

By the end of the year his poker playing skills were back on display as he managed to final table both the Full Tilt Poker Million and PartyPoker World Open, two of the biggest televised tournaments in Europe.

Plus, although he hasn’t stepped back into the high stakes games yet, a little advice from him helped an unknown Swede going by the name Isildur1 take a huge chunk out of Dwan’s online roll.

"Luke has shown that he has the walk to back up the talk," added May. "And in a feat of true deception, behind all the bluff and bluster, Luke Schwartz happens to be a very good guy. He is an Ali G of poker for the decade to come."

Poker fans love a winner, but they love a character even more.

Luke Schwartz appears to be both and as a result, his emergence as poker’s next bad boy is No. 5 on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

PokerListings has criss-crossed the planet this year bringing you the biggest and best poker news from every corner of the globe.

Now that 2009 is coming to a close, we’ve decided to sift through the literally thousands of headlines searching for the year’s top stories.

With an eye on the great poker personalities that have made the scene and the interesting fodder they’ve provided for us over the past 12 months, we’ve come up with our very own Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

The plan is to present them to you every other day from now until New Year’s Eve and we will start today with No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz.

By March of this year, the name __FullFlush1__ was on the tip of the entire poker world’s tongues.

The ever brash and always outspoken UK based player had jumped up to the highest stakes games online and was posting massive profits against the likes of Tom "durrrr" Dwan, David "Raptor" Benefield and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond.

But it was the way he was doing it that had him dominating poker headlines.

Coming seemingly out of nowhere, the unknown Brit challenged poker’s best and brightest not just on the virtual felt, but in the chatbox as well.

Calling Dwan things like "durrrr-balls" and the rest of his crew as "OMGweNerds," FullFlush’s visceral brand of chat provided endless entertainment for railbirds and an image for himself as poker’s next bad boy.

When PokerListings finally talked to the man behind it all for an exclusive interview at the end of March, his real life persona was far from disappointing.

A 25-year-old Londoner by the name of Luke Schwartz who had built a massive roll on Euro sites like Betfair before taking a shot at the nosebleed stakes on Full Tilt, he called durrrr a “nonce-cake,” trashed-talked high stakes mainstays like the Dang brothers and threatened to send the lot of them broke.

An Interview with Schwartz read just like some of his best chatbox rants and the public, who either loved him or hated him, lapped it up.

By September, Schwartz had pulled seven figures numbers out of Full Tilt and bought himself some property in London, stepping away from the high stakes online games – But not the headlines.

Barred from playing at the World Series of Poker Europe for an incident at London’s Victoria Grosvenor Casino where he’d refused to remove his hat, PokerListings found Schwartz on the rail at the event.

It took all of one minute before he launched into a tirade against his online nemesis Dwan.

“I just can't stand durrrr,” he said. “I can't stand durrrr's face, durrrr's voice, and durrrr's eyes. I can't stand anything about durrrr.

“I'm sending him broke before the end of 2010. That's my goal.”

With a little help from some friends in the industry, Schwartz got the ban lifted just weeks later, in time to play at PokerStars EPT London, where he made headlines once again for something other than playing cards.

This time it was a sandwich he refused to pay for after busting out of the event, claiming he’d paid enough in tournament fees to cover it, was a VIP and should be treated as such.

The result was another ban from UK casinos and one of the most talked about events of the poker world’s annual fall pilgrimage to London.

But those who thought “Sandwichgate” would be the last they’d hear from Schwartz were sorely mistaken.

By the end of the year his poker playing skills were back on display as he managed to final table both the Full Tilt Poker Million and PartyPoker World Open, two of the biggest televised tournaments in Europe.

Plus, although he hasn’t stepped back into the high stakes games yet, a little advice from him helped an unknown Swede going by the name Isildur1 take a huge chunk out of Dwan’s online roll.    

Poker fans love a winner, but they love a character even more.

Luke Schwartz appears to be both and as a result, his emergence as poker’s next bad boy is No. 5 on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.

Akenhead Aces Full Tilt Poker Million VIII

It was little more than a month ago Akenhead entered the 2009 WSOP Main Event final table as one of the short stacks, couldn’t get anything going, and finished in ninth place.

Akenhead also finished in ninth place at the 2009 WSOPE Main Event and back in 2008 he finished second in a $1,500 WSOP No-Limit Hold’em event, thanks to a heart-wrenching bad beat.

In addition to getting the monkey off his back, Akenhead picked up $500,000 for his effort in the Poker Million VIII.

“It’s been such a great year and ever since I came second for a bracelet in such a brutal way I’ve been striving to win a big tournament,” Akenhead said. “I’ve made lots of final tables but not come first so to win an event as big as the Poker Million is fantastic.”

Akenhead outlasted some stiff competition with pros like Juha Helppi, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Luke "FullFlush" Schwartz, Taylor Caby and online qualifiers Craig Wakeham and Peter Vasiliou gunning for first place at the prestigious final table.

CardRunners instructor Caby was the first player eliminated, much to the chagrin of fans who took part in the “Piece of Caby” promotion.

Both of the internet qualifiers soon followed Caby to the rail and Schwartz, who entered the final table as the chip leader, looked primed to take down the tournament.

Instead Akenhead won a large number of his chips and Mikkelsen finally busted the trash-talking Schwartz in fourth.

Mikkelsen's victory was short-lived as he was eliminated in third, which left Helppi and Akenhead to fight it out for the title.

Although Helppi held a slight chip lead heading into heads-up, it didn’t take long for Akenhead to draw even.

In the final hand Akenhead bet with pocket tens, Helppi shoved all-in with pocket sixes and Akenhead made the call.

The tens held and Akenhead became the latest Poker Million winner joining the likes of past winners Marty Smyth, Joe Beevers and Donnacha O'Dea.

Here are the complete final table payouts for the Poker Million VIII:

1. James Akenhead - $500,000
2. Juha Helppi - $250,000
3. Dag Martin Mikkelsen - $200,000
4. Luke Schwartz - $150,000
5. Craig Wakeham - $100,000
6. Peter Vasiliou - $75,000
7. Taylor Caby - $50,000

Poker Million final live on Sky Sports tonight

Full Tilt Poker Million Final Table Airs Live Friday

The live finale of the Full Tilt Poker Million is on the horizon, which means the last of its pre-taped episodes are airing on the Sky Sports channel in Europe.  The most recent installments have focused on the last of the Turbo preliminary heats and the two semi-final heats of the prestigious invitational event.  The live finale is set to air on Sky Sports on Friday.

The eighth installment of the event featured 72 different players, including Annette “Annette_15” Obrestad, Gus Hansen, Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko, Nam Le, David Chiu, Allen Cunningham, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Jennifer Tilly, and Tom “durrrr” Dwan.

The heats played out in London in recent months.  In the first round, there were 12 six-handed preliminary heats.  Each of the winners advanced to the semi-final round, while the runners-up were put into a consolation Turbo heat.  The first of the two Turbo heats was taken down by online qualifier Peter Vasiliou, while Antonio Esfandiari took down the second Turbo, which aired on Tuesday on Sky Sports.  Esfandiari defeated a lineup that included Hansen, Timoshenko, Christian “charder” Harder, Michael Tureniec, and Bradley “FatsoFat6969” Craig.  Heads-up play got down to Craig and Esfandiari.  On the final hand of play, Craig moved all-in with K-2, Esfandiari called with pocket sevens, and the wired pair held.

The first of two semi-final heats is set to air Wednesday night and will feature Le, Obrestad, Vasiliou, Luke “Full Flush” Schwartz, Juha Helppi, Tony Bloom, and Paul Zimbler.  Bloom had experience on his side, as he made the final table of this event in 2000 and 2001, but would fall short of final table number three.  The top three finishers in each of the semi-final heats advanced to the finale’ that honor went to Vasiliou, Schwartz, and Helppi.

The second semi-final heat airs on Thursday and will feature Esfandiari, Chiu, Dwan, CardRunners instructor Taylor “GreenPlastic” Caby, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, James Akenhead, and Daniel Bowden.  The second semi-final saw Caby, Mikkelsen, and Akenhead advance to meet the other three qualifiers in the final round.

As Poker News Daily previously reported, Caby is offering members of Truly Free Poker Training a chance to win 1% of his earnings, which could range between $50,000 for seventh place and $500,000 for first.  The contest is still open and people are automatically registered once they enroll with the free site, which offers users a chance to earn CardRunners and StoxPoker subscriptions based on the number of Full Tilt Points they earn in a given month.

Though the episodes are playing daily on Sky Sports, the various heats and semi-finals of the event took place over the course of a couple of months.  Caby spoke to Poker News Daily about the long breaks in between action and acknowledged that it took a little time for him to adjust to the unusual format.  “It’s the first time it ever happened to me.  It’s kind of weird to fly back home and then fly back [to London] knowing I can bust on the first hand, but I am excited to go back,” he explained.

Players will begin the final table with the same amount of chips they ended with in the semi-final round.  To add another twist to the event, there is also supposed to be a seventh online qualifier thrown into the mix at the outset of the final table.

In a press release revealing details of the semi-final and final rounds of the tournament, Matchroom Sport’s Eddie Hearn commented on the excitement and prestige surrounding the event’s live finale: “The Poker Million final is always one of the most exciting dates for the poker diary. We staged poker’s first ever live televised final back in 2000 and since then it’s been an event that all the top players want to take down. With the likes of Tom Dwan, Nam Le, Luke Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Juha Helppi, and James Akenhead in the semi finals, Friday night is set to be an electric night of poker.”

The live final table is set to begin at 7:30pm GMT on Friday, December 4th.

Late Night Poker final airs: Luke Schwartz wins biggest pot

Marc Goodwin likens Internet players to “subnormal primates”

Poker News in Brief: Oct. 12-18, 2009

The relatively unknown Brandon Hall became the champion in Aruba while the very well-known Phil Laak took down the World Open V.

But there were several stories that didn't make it to the front page of PokerListings.com and as part of our ongoing Poker News in Brief feature, we've presented them below.

This week we'll take a look at the Poker Professor holding class, Doyle Brunson getting some recognition and Vladimir Geshkenbein becoming a heads-up champion.

Lederer wins $10k H.O.R.S.E. prelim at Bellagio

Howard Lederer added another poker title to his resume this week and he only had to beat 19 players to do it.

The $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. WPT Festa al Lago preliminary event wrapped up on Thursday after drawing a small but skilled field that included Eli Elezra, Michael Binger, Andy Bloch, Scott Clements, David Singer and several other established pros.

Lederer beat Russian pro Ralph Perry in heads-up play to secure a first place prize of $92,150. Despite two final tables at the WSOPE this year, Lederer hadn't won a major tournament since taking down the $100,000 buy-in event at the 2008 Aussie Millions.

Lederer, who is sometimes known as the "Poker Professor", now has over $5 million in career tournament earnings.

Doyle Brunson inducted into Athletics Hall of Fame

Doyle "Texas Dolly" Brunson is perhaps the most famous player in poker, but this week he was recognized for his athletic achievements.

After years of waiting patiently, Brunson was finally inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame at his alma mater, Hardin Simmons University.

Before he started playing poker for a living Brunson competed in track and played basketball at HSU.

Brunson was a key member of an HSU basketball team that won its conference championship for a spot in the NCAA Division 1 playoffs. Brunson scored 412 points and was the only HSU athlete in any sport to be named the MVP of the Division 1 Border Conference.

Brunson was initially passed over for Hall of Fame recognition because of his involvement in the poker world.

The Texas Dolly is still one of the most popular poker players in the world and his twitter account "TexDolly" recently hit over 41,000 followers.

PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam for Vladimir Geshkenbein

Vladimir Geshkenbein outlasted some of the biggest names in poker to win the PKR Heads-Up Grand Slam this week.

The Russian beat Juha Helppi in the final heads-up match to take down a first place prize of $120,000.

The field was comprised of 32 players including Tony G, Tom Dwan, Luke Schwartz, Annette Obrestad, Peter Eastgate, Sammy George, J.C. Tran and numerous other high profile poker players.

Fans were hoping for a live resurrection of the online rivalry between Dwan and the trash-talking Schwartz, but were disappointed when Dwan busted out in his first match. Schwartz didn't make it much further, busting in his second match.

No one could figure out a way to beat the lesser-known Geshkenbein, who did win the high roller event at APPT Macau earlier this year. Geshkenbein has now earned nearly $400,000 playing poker in the last few months.

Forum tournament winner to play Ziigmund

A series of Online Forum Challenges are set to take place on Power Poker over the next few months with the ultimate winner getting a shot at celebrated high-stakes player Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies.

Power Poker will be hosting a series of tournaments over the next three months as part of the Online Forum Challenge and any player that takes part in every event will be entered into the Heads Up with Ziigmund freeroll.

The freeroll will offer a prize pool and a bounty in addition to the winner getting a chance to play Sahamies heads-up for $1,000.

All poker forum members are welcome to take part in the challenge and you can learn more by going to the Online Forum Challenge website here.

Unabomber blows up at World Open V

"This was a wild roller coaster ride and I am proud to have shared it with this amazing cast of characters," said Laak. "They were a tough bunch. Wow - what an honor."

Laak beat Austrian qualifier Jan Veit in heads-up play to win the $250,000 first place prize.

The invitation-only World Poker Open V began with 48 players, including Tom Dwan, Roland De Wolfe and James Akenhead, all of whom were eliminated in the preliminary heats.

By the time the dust had settled in the prelims, Laak, Schwartz, Sexton, Tilly, Andy Black, Bodo Sbrzesny and Veit had booked seats at Thursday's final table.

After a slow start to the final, Black jumped out to the early lead, but was surprisingly the first casualty when he dipped into short stack territory and shoved K-J into Laak's A-7.

Sexton, who was also officially announced as the lone 2009 inductee into the Poker Hall of Fame Thursday, was the next to go when he shoved pocket eights into Veit's pair of kings.

Tilly then found her way to the rail after going all in with A-J and having Veit wake up with pocket nines.

Veit continued to pick up steam when he eliminated PartyPoker grassroots pro Sbrzesny in fourth place, leaving himself, Laak and Schwartz to fight it out three-handed.

The always-controversial Schwartz endured several bad beats at the final table, including getting it in with A-T against Veit's K J in his final hand. Veit went runner-runner to river a flush and bust him third.

Laak and Veit entered heads-up play with nearly equal stacks, but it took just one hand to decide their fate.

Veit got all-in with A-4 on the first hand heads-up and Laak made the call with A-8. An eight on the flop was enough to give Laak the checkmark and a severely out-chipped Veit was forced to shove with J-7 the very next hand.

Laak made the call with Q-9, the board bricked and that was enough to secure Laak the title and $250k prize.

Here are the complete final table payouts for the PartyPoker World Open V:

1. Phil Laak - $250,000
2. Jan Veit - $100,000
3. Luke Schwartz - $40,000
4. Bodo Sbrzesny - $30,000
5. Jennifer Tilly - $25,000
6. Mike Sexton - $20,000
7. Andy Black - $15,000

Phil Laak Wins PartyPokerWorld Open V

The latest installment of the London-based PartyPoker World Open featured a little bit of everything.  The fifth World Open had controversy, excitement, big names, and even a little romance at a seven-person final table that included Mike Sexton, Phil “The Unabomber” Laak, Jennifer Tilly, and Luke “Full_Flush1″ Schwartz.  In the end, it was Laak who prevailed over the tough field, defeating online qualifier Jan Veit to take the $250,000 first place prize.

The $10,000 buy-in invitation-only event featured six preliminary heats and a runner-up consolation round, with the winner of each heat advancing to the final table.  The event got off with a bang before the cards were even in the air.  Schwartz, a brash online poker pro, arrived at the Palm Beach Casino only to learn that he had been banned from the property and was not going to be let on the premises.  The ban stems from Schwartz’s behavior at the European Poker Tour (EPT) London stop earlier this month, where he stole a pickle and cheese sandwich and then refused to pay for it, claiming he was a VIP and deserved to be treated as such.

Initially, it seemed as though the fallout from “Sandwichgate 2009” was that Schwartz would be banned from all Grosvenor-owned casinos, but the Palm Beach incident suggests that many other venues in Britain have followed Grosvenor’s lead.  Schwartz was eventually admitted into the casino to participate in the tournament, but only under the condition that an escort accompanied him at all times.  The drama did not appear to have any affect on Schwartz’s play, as he won the first heat to advance to the final table.

Veit, Laak, Tilly, Sexton, and Andrew Black also prevailed in their preliminary heats to advance to the final table, while the final seat went to PartyPoker sponsored pro Bodo Sbrzesny of Germany, who won the runner-up heat.  At the outset of the final table, longtime couple Tilly and Laak were seated side-by-side, with Laak having position on his paramour.  The two clashed in a couple of pots, including a blind versus blind confrontation in which Tilly moved all-in with pocket aces and Laak doubled her up with K-Q, but the lovebirds would be separated early on when Tilly was eliminated in fifth place.

Sexton also made an early exit when he was eliminated in sixth place, but received an exciting consolation prize, as news broke on Thursday that he would be the 38th member to be inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame and the only person selected for that honor from this year’s list of nine nominees.

Online qualifier Veit took the lead early in the event and picked up even more chips when he eliminated Schwartz in third place.  Heads-up play between Laak and Veit was a crazy affair, with the chips flying early on.  The two players got it all-in shortly after heads-up play was underway, with Laak holding A-8 to Veit’s A-4.  Laak doubled up to take a massive chip lead and Veit could not recover from the big hit.  He was ultimately eliminated in second place when his J-7 could not prevail over Laak’s Q-9.

The entirety of the event will begin airing on the British Five network on October 28th and will be hosted by Kara Scott.

Here are the complete results from the final table of the PartyPoker World Open V:

1st Place: Phil Laak – $250,000
2nd Place: Jan Veit – $100,000
3rd Place: Luke Schwartz – $40,000
4th Place: Bodo Sbrzesny – $30,000
5th Place: Jennifer Tilly – $25,000
6th Place: Mike Sexton – $20,000
7th Place: Andy Black – $15,000

Luke Schwartz Lands in Trouble Again at World Open V

Luke Schwartz exits as Alec Torelli Makes PKR HUGS Quarter-Finals

Where is Luke Schwartz?

A battle of the Old Skool – Frazer vs Devilfish

Luke Schwartz and Annette Obrestad make Poker Million semi final

Full Tilt Poker Million heats under way

Full Tilt winners and losers 1.1-4.7.2009

Patrik Antonius has been the dominant player on Full Tilt during the past six months. His winnings are a staggering 4,7 million dollars and if his run continues like this he will make a 10 million dollar year. Second biggest winner is Hac “trex313″ Dang with a bit over 3 million dollars so far.

Finnish power poker has been proven effective as Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is currently keeping the third place with $2,3 million winnings even though he has had huge swings this year.

Not so surprisingly Tom “durrrr” Dwan have had great past months as he has managed to build up from -4 million to 1,5 million dollars. Hard work pays off as he has played almost twice as many hands than Antonius with 137403 raked hands when Antonius has only 87304.

Biggest loser so far is the Finnish youngster Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro with a bit over three million dollars. Kelopuro has had big swings this year as well and to be honest, his luck hasn’t been that good. You can read about his luck from (http://www.coinflip.com/blog/larsluzak) his blog.

Full Tilt High Stakes Games 2009-01-01 to 2009-07-04:

Winners:

Patrik Antonius $4.731.281
trex313 (Hac Dang) $3.003.226
Ziigmund (Ilari Sahamies) $2.229.891
Mark Vos $1.889.981
durrrr (Tom Dwan) $1.499.868
FullFlush1_ (Luke Schwartz) $1.011.667
Phil Ivey $854.013
DIN_FRU (Erik Sagström?) $723.620
PostflopAction (Aleksander Kostritsin) $533.008
SirWatts (Mike Watson) $490.911

Losers:

LarsLuzak (Sami Kelopuro) -$3.129.598
papa ninja $-1.245.031
Brian Hastings -$1.060.871
ahtata (Guy Laliberté) -$971.744
HarrisMP -$-865.907
MR B 2 U SON (David Benyamine) -$731.128
world1969 (John Hennigan) -$674.313
Chau Giang -$624.043,95
Howard Lederer -$457.476
NEKOTYAN $-449.360

Source: Highstakesdb.com

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Full Tilt winners and losers 1.1-4.7.2009

durrrr Challenge: Dwan good for $100k

Dwan said he was willing to play some marathon sessions this week, but if last night was any indication, it's doubtful they will be even close to finished before the series gets going.

The pair played a paltry 310 hands before calling it quits in their latest session last night.

Antonius went in with a $500,000 overall lead on Dwan and immediately won a couple of big pots.

Then it was Dwan's turn to bring the heat and after landing several $50k pots of his own, he won a pivotal $144,383 hand.

Dwan was dealt T 9 4 2 and he fired a bet pre-flop. Antonius called, and after the flop came 9 7 3, he bet $6,000.

Dwan called and the turn came Q. This time Antonius checked and Dwan bet $15,600. Antonius called and the river came 9.

Antonius checked, Dwan put him all-in for $50,400 and the Finn called, immediately mucking when Dwan flashed trips.

In the end, it was a short-but-good session for durrrr as he forced Antonius to reload a total of three times, winning close to $100k before they called it quits for unknown reasons.

There's a good chance we'll see more of the durrrr Challenge this week with both players expressing an interest in logging some serious time on Full Tilt Poker.

However, they have said that before only to go on week-long breaks from the 50,000-hand match.

As always, keep checking MarketPulse for all your high-stakes updates and exclusive durrrr Challenge coverage.

durrrr Challenge by the numbers:

• 83,339,179: Total amount wagered in the challenge
• 13,500,000: Cost of Britney Spears' house in 2007
• 391,704: Amount Antonius is ahead
• 96,358: Amount Dwan won in the latest session
• 13,556: Hands played
• 7,152: Hands that Dwan has won
• 4,425: Average pot size
• 2,050: Blue book value of a '95 Geo Metro
• 43: Hours played in the challenge
• 3: Number of other opponents interested in doing the challenge (Phil Ivey, David Benyamine and Luke Schwartz)
• 0: Times Antonius is interested in playing the durrrr Challenge during the WSOP

Check below to see how the biggest hand of the session played out:

That's durrrr-ty.

Related Articles:

• durrrr Challenge: Antonius solidifies lead
• Antonius dishes on the durrrr Challenge
• durrrr Challenge: Antonius crushes for 140k
• durrrr Challenge: Swing swonging along
• durrrr Challenge: Over 10,000 hands played
• durrrr Challenge: The 2,000 hand session
• durrrr Challenge: Dwan makes a small profit
• durrrr Challenge: Dwan implodes against Antonius
• durrrr Challenge: Dwan gaining momentum
• durrrr Challenge: Dwan erases Antonius' lead

__FullFlush1__ strikes again: “I’m the best heads-up No Limit Hold’em player in the world.”

Think about this: you are playing a €25,000 buy-in highroller tournament and you are seated in a same table with Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Phil Ivey. Most people would call that table tough, Luke “__FullFlush1__” Schwartz calls it “fishy”!

Luke know how to use the force.

“I didn’t find the table tough at all,” commented Schwartz about the table “It was fishy, that’s why I doubled up. Then I got moved to an even fishier table.”

Even though Schwartz thought the table was fishy, there was one player who he think played ok:

“Gus played alright actually,” Schwartz said. “He played pretty tight and did well to bust Negreanu.”

Obviously almighty Luke knew what Gus had in the hand he busted Negreanu out of the tournament:

“Hansen busted Negreanu with an overpair,” he said. “I knew he had an overpair, Gus knew he had an overpair, the whole table knew he had an overpair. Gus’ hand was face-up, but Daniel still called. I thought that was a bit fishy.”

Phil Ivey, one of the players who have accepted to play in durrrr challenge, asked if he could play same kind of challenge against Schwartz, 50,000 hands in $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em tables, with handicap of course, propably in Ivey’s favor.

“I think I’d have no problem winning (against Ivey),” Schwartz says confidently “But with a handicap, I may as well play Durrrr and get 3-1 on my money.”

We’ll see if __FullFlush1__ will indeed accept the challenge issued by Tom Dwan. If performing well was due to the high self-esteem, Luke Schwartz would be at least king of the world. Still, I somehow highly doubt it. Maybe because words have never been bigger than deeds.

Source: pokerlistings

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

__FullFlush1__ strikes again: “I’m the best heads-up No Limit Hold’em player in the world.”

Luke “__FullFlush1__” Schwartz: “I’m done trash talking - time for OMGweBROKE.”

The 25-year old Brit has been playing poker only for the past four years, but he has already catapulted to the biggest online games! Self-proclaimed “the best player in the world” Londoner Luke Schwartz has caused havoc at the tables both because of his skills and his spewing on the chat.

Mysterious __FullFlush1__ looks, well, mysterious.

Schwartz built his bankroll at Betfair Poker, but people knew much about him until he joined the games at Full Tilt Poker. In 2009 Schwartz turned his attention to Full Tilt Poker and deposisited $10k and ran that to over million dollars quickly.

That is an exceptional rise, but what is the most exceptional aspect of Schwartz is his complete disregard for other players. His endless trash-talking is something that has made him legendary.

Schwartz is not afraid to play heads-up against anybody in the world, even Tom “durrrr” Dwan. Actually, he don’t give much credit for Dwans abilities:

“I do have a huge heads-up No-Limit edge on every player on this planet,” he said. “[Dwan] has run like god the last few sessions and I’m beating him for like $500,000 so far.”

Other players who he doesn’t care much are Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Di “Urindanger” Dang and Hac “Trex313″ Dang or like he has labeled the whole group with dwan included, “OMGweNerds”.

“The Dangs are quite weak,” he said. “They ***hunt Gus [Hansen] and Guy [Laliberte] and that’s in mixed. Their No-Limit heads-up game is weak.”

Ok, there is some players who Schwartz think are quite skilled, Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro being one of them. Schwartz also likes player called INTERNET POKERS. But one thing is for sure, he don’t like players like Dangs and Galfond:

“I’d like to send a lot of nits broke all over the world,” he said. “I’m done trash-talking - time for OMGweBROKE.”

Source: Pokerlistings

You just read Poker News from HighStakesNews.com

Luke “__FullFlush1__” Schwartz: “I’m done trash talking - time for OMGweBROKE.”

FullFlush1 spews: The Luke Schwartz interview

The trash-talking __FullFlush1__ has already tallied big wins against Tom "durrrr" Dwan, David "Raptor" Benefield and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond while playing at the highest stakes available online.

It turns out the man behind the myth is Londoner Luke Schwartz.

Although he's only been playing poker for the past four years, Schwartz built his bankroll and reputation by dominating the cash games on Betfair Poker.

"When I started I was just a donk, but I somehow managed to beat the fish," Schwartz told PokerListings.com. "I went broke a couple times, but I had a couple MTT wins to get me back in."

Since then Schwartz has primarily played cash games, and he's been incredibly successful at it.

Starting in 2009, Schwartz turned his attention to the ultra high-stakes games on Full Tilt Poker. He deposited just $10,000 at first, but has since run that up past $1 million.

The 25-year-old Brit immediately started getting noticed for his complete disregard for some of the most elite online players.

In a recent interview with BBC radio, Schwartz mentioned he had no fear when playing the best players. He's also been known to trash-talk whomever he's playing.

"Some of these spazzes on the Full Tilt rail seem to hate me since I've been making their gods all look like fish," said Schwartz. "It's [funny]."

Although he wouldn't talk about any specific strategies he uses against the top-tier players, Schwartz says he is confident he can win against anyone, even the vaunted Dwan.

"I do have a huge heads-up No-Limit edge on every player on this planet," he said. "[Dwan] has run like god the last few sessions and I'm beating him for like $500,000 so far."

While beating some of the best players online, Schwartz has continued to unleash a barrage of insults against them, including referring to Dwan as "durrrr-balls" and the rest of his crew as "OMGweNerds."

When asked where he comes up with this stuff, Schwartz responded simply, "It comes naturally when the truth stares me in the face."

Never one to shy away from controversy, Schwartz has already said he'd like to take on the $1.5 million, 50,000 hand durrrr Challenge, and pretty much anyone is a fair target.

"The Dangs [Di "Urindanger" Dang and Hac "Trex313" Dang] are quite weak," he said. "They ***hunt Gus [Hansen] and Guy [Laliberte] and that's in mixed. Their No-Limit heads-up game is weak."

One might begin to think that Schwartz has no respect for any other poker players at all, but he did mention there are a number who are very skilled. Sami "LarsLuzak" Kelopuro was one, and he said he likes INTERNET POKERS' game as well.

"Some of the $50/$100 players I think are much better than the OMGweNerds crew and company," Schwartz said.

He was even able to dig up at least one compliment for Dwan, albeit a slightly backhanded one.

"I respect durrrr's stamina and willingness to gamble, even though he's still a nonce-cake," he said.

Schwartz's live tournament results to date amount to under $35k in cashes, and when asked what he would like to accomplish in poker over the next couple years he mentioned he had some interest in winning a major tournament.

A frequent player on the PokerStars European Poker Tour, he also said he hoped to see a few other Brits find the same success he has.

But more than anything, he said he wants to keep dominating the nosebleed cash games online.

"I'd like to send a lot of nits broke all over the world," he said. "I'm done trash-talking - time for OMGweBROKE."

Related articles:

• FullFlush1 back to challenge durrrr
• __FullFlush1__ passes durrrr in Hold'em profits
• __FullFlush1__ trades pots with aejones