Poker News

Young Stars Lead Aussie Millions Final

Betfair Poker pro Sorel Mizzi will come in to the final eight with a massive chip lead and all the confidence that comes with it following a day where it appeared he could do no wrong on the felt.

"Confident is definitely the one word to describe how I'm feeling right now," the 23-year-old Canadian said. "Everything is just going my way. I'm getting hands, I'm making the correct reads. I feel like I'm playing the most perfect poker I know how.

"I might not be playing perfectly, but it's the best that I know how to play and things are working out for me right now."

Using the screen names Imper1um and zangbezan24, Mizzi is one of the most feared tournament players in online poker history.

While he has also amassed more than $1.6 million in career earnings in live tournaments, a major title has escaped his clutches to date, making this shot at Aussie Millions glory even more desirable to him.

"How badly do I want this?" he asked. "On a scale from zero to ten, it's a ten."  

Mizzi holds close to half of the chips in play with eight players remaining, but said he has no plans to bully the table tomorrow.

"I'm just going to adjust to the situations when I see what they are," he said. "I don't really know my strategy going into tomorrow, but I'm really good at just feeling things out. Hopefully I feel things right and hopefully I keep hitting the cards I was hitting today."

In Mizzi's way stands fellow Betfair Poker pro and 2007 World Series of Poker Europe champ Annette Obrestad.

Considering she currently sits fifth in chips, Obrestad is being cautiously optimistic about her chances.

"I can't say I'm too confident, considering Sorel has six times the amount of chips I do," she said.

No less than an online poker legend, Obrestad, otherwise known as Annette_15, is hoping the experience of playing on a big stage in the past will pay off in Australia Saturday.

"I think it helps a lot because I'm not really nervous when I play," she said. "For me it's just another game of poker, just for a lot more money."

She's also banking on the deep structure here at the Aussie Millions allowing her to remain patient despite her stack size.

"I think people are going to be way too aggressive and try to outplay each other," the 21-year-old Norwegian said. "I don't really see the point in that because with my image, people think I'm nuts anyway, so I'll just wait for a hand and probably get it in good."

Also posing a major threat to Mizzi's lead is 24-year-old fellow Canadian Peter "Apathy" Jetten.

With a European Poker Tour High Roller and two World Series of Poker final tables on his resume, including a runner up finish in the 2008 WSOP $10k Pot-Limit Omaha, Jetten is another player hoping experience will help him get over the hump Down Under.

"I think that experience just helps so much, if not in my play then at least in making me more comfortable," he said. "The PLO event eluding me heads-up hurt a lot. It's really nice to be back with a shot at winning again and I want to win this one very badly."

Rounding out the final eight are PartyPoker qualifier's Tyron Krost and Fred Jensen, both of whom have a couple of small WSOP cashes on their sheets.

Plus Aussie Hold'em Poker group qualifier Steven Shelly, fellow local Kosta Varoxis and Reno Nevada's Steve Friedlander.

To follow all the action until the AUD$2 million first-place prize and 2010 Aussie Millions title is handed out, tune in to PokerListings' Live Updates beginning at 2 p.m. Melbourne time Saturday.

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The Top Winners and Losers of 2009

Below are summaries of the top five money earners, and top five losers of the year, including a month-by-month graph of their results.

To see more stats and hand replays from throughout the year, head to MarketPulse.

Patrik Antonius

It only makes sense to have the year’s top earner at the top of the list, so without further ado, we bring you the 2009 story of Patrik Antonius.

Patrik Antonius just might have hit the life jackpot. He was at one-time a model and tennis pro, before becoming one of the most respected, and feared, poker players in the world. He made the list of the top 10 top profit earners in 2007 under the username FinddaGrind with over $1.3 million earned.

In 2008, he made another $1.3 million, this time as part of Team Full Tilt.

This January Antonius made over $2 million and never dropped below that point. His year was filled with million dollar swings, but in the end, the Finnish pro always found a way to come out good.

On top of being the most profitable player on the year, Antonius was also busy breaking the records for the largest pots ever played online. Despite all of his profits, Antonius has fallen behind in the durrrr Challenge and needs to make close to $1 million in the second half to have a chance.

However, he finished 2009 as the top earner with a massive profit of over $8.9 million.

Phil Ivey

This year Phil Ivey has done exactly what Phil Ivey does every year: Win. In 2008, Ivey was the top online earner with over $7.3 million in profit. In 2007 he was the third largest earner with $1.9 million and this year he ends in second place with $6.3 million.

His story is the same every year: Any players, any game, any stakes. He’ll sit, and most of the time he’ll win. But even Ivey isn’t immune to the swings, starting off the year in the red he had to spend a couple of months getting back to even.

After an $800k loss in May, it was pretty much profit from that point on. Add these winnings to his two WSOP bracelets, Main Event final table appearance and prop bets won, and you have one hell of a good looking year.

Brian Hastings

CardRunners pro Brian Hastings has had one of the most interesting years out of anyone online. He started the year with a backing deal for playing the nose-bleed stakes against Gus Hansen.

Even with Hansen bleeding chips for months, Hastings struggled to get even for the majority of the year, finally showing a profit come August.

Come the end of November, it started to look as though Hastings would be having a positive year, but nothing too spectacular, or worth talking about. That was until he sat down with Isildur1 for possibly the biggest session in online poker history.

By the end of the single session with the game’s most explosive player, Hastings had made $4.2 million in profit; effectively ending Isildur1’s run at Full Tilt’s high-stakes tables.

The win was steeped in controversy when information came to light that Hastings, along with two fellow CardRunners pros Brian Townsend and Cole South, merged their hand history databases together to allow for an in-depth study of Isildur1’s heads up game.

For the full scoop on this controversy, head to: Full Tilt Suspends Brian Townsend.

theASHMAN103

Ashton “theASHMAN103” Griffin is only 20 years old, and began playing poker seriously in high-school. His downfall has always been bankroll management and tilt issues.

After a series of massive swings he went broke right at the beginning of the year, but Griffin finally got his head in the right spot coming in to April of 2009 when he was forced to get a stake to get back in the game.

Thanks to winning a prop bet for making $500k playing nothing higher than $25/$50 No-Limit immediately before the event was set to start, Griffin was able to enter into the $25k heads-up shootout, which he went on to win for another $500k.

Griffin’s heater continued over the next two months going from broke to the fifth most profitable player on the year. To read a full interview with Griffin about his heater, and life in poker, head to: Ashman103: The Interview Transcript.

Ilari Sahamies

Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies is one of the most well-known and entertaining online players in the world. Above all else he seems to have a love for gambling with sick amounts of money.

For a few days, Sahamies had convinced a few of the nosebleed players to convert the $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha tables into $3,000/$9,000. Along with all the massive flips Sahamies played over the year, it’s safe to say he is the biggest gambler at the tables.

But despite his love for gambling, Ziigmund is still one of the most profitable players in the world. The occasional swing aside, Ziigmund’s graph is mostly un-eventful, hovering around the $2-$3 million mark for the majority of the year.

It wasn’t until Ziigmund set his sights on Isildur1 that his graph took a violent swing upwards. After taking a few million from the unknown player, Ziigmund finished his year up an impressive $3.2 million.

Isildur1

True identity still unknown, Isildur1 showed up on the poker scene Sept. 16. He splashed around in medium to high-stakes for about a month before starting to take shots in the nosebleed games.

The true story of Isildur1 started on Nov. 7 when he began his first serious upswing by crushing well known players like Haseeb Qureshi and UgotaBanana. After these wins, Isildur1 seemed fearless, willing to play anyone at any stakes.

Soon Isildur1 set his sights on Tom “durrrr” Dwan and over the next three days he absolutely destroyed him for over $4 million. At his highest point on Nov. 15^, Isildur1 sat with over $5 million in profit, only to lose it all, mostly to Ivey and Antonius, by the 21^st.

After making another quick run back up to almost $3 million in just one week, Isildur1 began his largest downswing.

It was during the downswing where Isildur1 shattered all the records for the largest pots of all time. He first broke the record with an $878k pot versus Patrik Antonius, only to break that record a few days later losing the first pot worth over a million at $1,356,947. 

Mostly a result of losing over $4.2 million in a single session to Brian Hastings, Isildur1 saw his roll get almost entirely crushed, sitting down over $2 million for the remainder of the month.

With his only hands being played at the medium stakes tables, it appears at this point as if Isildur1’s run at the highest stakes games online is through.

David Benyamine

In 2008, David Benyamine was the sixth most profitable online player in the world. He finished the year having made almost $3 million profit and had snagged himself one of the most beautiful girls in poker, Erica Schoenberg.

At the very end of 2008, Full Tilt Poker dropped Benyamine as a red-name pro. As a result, he began 2009 playing under the username “MR B 2 U SON”. He played under that username until July of 2009 when his Team Full Tilt status was re-instated.

At the time of the username switch, Benyamine was down $731,128 on the year. Things continued to get worse for the French pro as he struggled throughout 2009, finishing down $2.9 million. To top it all off, many sources have reported an end to his relationship with Schoenberg.

All in all, 2009 might just have been the worst year in Benyamine’s career.

LarsLuzak

Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro is a 22-year-old Finnish poker pro who showed up on the high-stakes scene in 2007. He made over a million dollars in both 2007 and 2008, plus a rumored large profit from $250/$500 No-Limit sessions played on Betfair poker.

Despite hopes of cementing his name as one of the top players in the world, 2009 turned out to be a complete disaster for Kelopuro.

Starting the year with an $810k loss, Kelopuro was almost able to grind his way back to even in February before beginning a landslide of losses.

At no point in 2009 did Kelopuro show a profit, despite his continued efforts at the games highest stakes. After reaching nearly $4 million in losses on the year, Kelopuro disappeared from the high-stakes games, sparking rumors of a busted bankroll.

With a laundry list of impressive results from both cash games and tournaments, it’s safe to assume the poker world will hear more from Kelopuro in 2010.

Tom “durrrr” Dwan

Tom Dwan has to be considerd one of the most entertaining poker players in the world. As a result, there has been more time spent talking about Dwan in 2009 than any other online player.

His year began by losing over $4 million in the first two months, only to grind back up to over $1.4 million in profit just four months later. However, the massive swings were only one of Dwan’s many stories on the year.

The first came with the introduction of the durrrr Challenge. After almost two months of speculation and rumors, Patrik Antonius stepped up as the first competitor, and the challenge was underway.

After a short period of consistent play between the two competitors, the Challenge took a hiatus as both players chose to focus on busting a new fish splashing around at the highest stake tables available.

It didn’t take Dwan, and the rest of the online regulars, long to bust a new fish calling himself Martonas, and the challenge seemed as if it would resume.

But it wasn’t long before another new face showed up on the scene and began stirring the pot. Luke “fullflush1” Schwartz proved to be as strong at the table as he was mouthy, focusing the majority of his insults at Dwan, including the now infamous “cork it durrrrballs”.

Schwartz successfully made over $700k at the tables before cashing out, and buying a house with his profits.

The next big story for Dwan came with the third unknown player to splash around in the big game. Unfortunately for Dwan, this player, Isildur1, would end up taking him for over $5 million, before giving it all away to everyone else.

Shortly after losing the majority of his online roll, Dwan became the newest member of Team Full Tilt, and began grinding his way back towards even. By the end of 2009 Dwan had brought himself back to -$4.3 million from his November low point of -$6.8 million.

On the bright side, he is ahead in the durrrr Challenge by over $937k.

Gus Hansen

This year’s story for Gus Hansen is simple: He made $3 million in the first month, mostly off Tom Dwan, then proceeded to lose almost exclusively for the remainder of the year. Although there were months in which he showed a profit, Hansen’s graph on the year is anything but encouraging.

Due to his consistent negative results, Hansen has become one of the most popular online players amongst the other regular high-stakes grinders. As he explained in an interview with PokerListings, the high-stakes games on Full Tilt simply follow him from table to table.

As a result, Hansen chose to play almost exclusively 7-Game for the remainder of the year, at times killing absolutely all high-stakes action for all other variants.

For a look into high-stakes, and how some of the other players in the game view Hansen, head to: State of the High Stakes Poker Nation.

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Top 5 of 2009: Isildur1 and the Seven-Figure Pots

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 continue today with No. 2: Isildur1 and the Seven-Figure Pots.

An unknown Swedish player using the name Isildur1 first showed up on Full Tilt’s $25/$50 tables in September to very little fanfare.

Before long he was crushing the regulars, most notably taking close to $500k from Haseeb "INTERNETPOKERS" Qureshi.

Soon after he was taking on all comers at $200/$400, $300/$600 and even $500/$1,000 and the poker world began to take notice.

Those who weren’t paying attention were suddenly forced to when the unknown Swede rocked Tom "durrrr" Dwan for $3 million over four days of action in early November.

Isildur1 continued to pound on Dwan, raking in another $2.2 million, as players like Phil Ivey, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, Brian Townsend and Patrik Antonius stepped up.

As he traded pots with the biggest names in online poker's biggest games, rumors of Isildur1's true identity ran rampant and Dwan was left shaking his head and hoping for another shot.

“He’s a big action player and he did very well versus me,” Dwan told PokerListings. “Hopefully we’ll play again in the future and things will swing more in my favor.”

The action really heated up by mid-November, when Antonius and Isildiur1 teamed up to break the one-year-old record for the largest pot in online poker history, tangling over a whopping $878,959.

Less than a week later they did it again, breaking their own record and playing the first ever seven-figure pot online, worth $1,356,947.

Just two days after that, Isildur1 won a $1.1 million pot off Ivey marking the second and only other time in history players have jousted over seven-figures online.

By the time the dust had settled, Isildur1 had helped set a new standard in high-stakes poker online, having found himself in the middle of seven of the ten largest pots in online poker history.

But the action was far from over.

While most of his earnings from Dwan had been dumped to Antonius, Ivey and Sahamies, it appeared Isildur1 had a sizeable enough bankroll to continue to take on poker’s premier high-stakes players.

Until CardRunners’ Brian Hastings came along, picking Isildur1 apart to the tune of $3.2 million on Dec. 9.

It would later be revealed that Hastings used reports and queries on Isildur1’s game put together by fellow CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend to help him destroy the Swede in one massive session, resulting in a suspension for Townsend.

But the damage was done.

Isildur1 posted a few more losses at smaller stakes and by late December was nowhere to be found.

However, by taking part in the seven of the ten biggest pots in online history, including the only two seven-figure hands ever recorded, the unknown Swede had certainly made his mark and earned the No. 2 spot on PokerListings’ Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009.     

 

PokerListings' Top Five Poker News Stories of 2009:

• No. 5: The Emergence of Luke Schwartz
• No. 4: Yevgeniy Timoshenko’s Year
• No. 3: The durrrr Challenge

Visit PokerListings.com

Tom “durrrr” Dwan’s 11th Hour Push

Unfortunately for Dwan, sitting at over $6 million in losses, it would take one of the most spectacular runs in online poker history to bring his head back above the water line.

But don’t count the newly signed Team Full Tilt Pro out for the count quite yet. In an interview with PokerListings earlier this week Dwan was brimming with positivity and confidence.

“It hasn’t been the best year. But if anyone doesn’t think that it’s a downswing then they are welcome to cross book me in any game I play in. That’s all I have to say.”

Dwan began his session this morning playing $50/$100 Pot-Limit Omaha, where he remained for 787 hands, long enough to make just under $5k.

Dwan doubled the size of the stakes to play 1,585 hands of $100/$200 PLO over the next five hours of short-handed play and managed to beat his competition out of over $108k.

Halfway through the $100/$200 session Dwan also accepted a challenge to play DjAdi heads up at $500/$1,000 No-Limit Hold’em. The two high-stakes regulars only battled for 64 hands with the largest pot of the session reaching exactly $200k, When the session ended Dwan left up over $92k.

As of the time of publication Dwan has logged off of Full Tilt, up over $205k on the day.

Below are three of the largest hands from Dwan’s session. To see more hands, head to MarketPulse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Brian Hastings Beats Isildur1 for Over $3 Million

Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Brian Townsend had each taken big portions of the mysterious Isildur1's bankroll over the past month and a half. On Tuesday, it was Brian Hastings' turn. The 21-year-old Full Tilt Pro and CardRunners instructor brawled with Isildur1 at the $500/1,000 Pot Limit Omaha tables on Full Tilt and, five hours later, walked away with more than $3 million of the Swede's money, resulting in one of the biggest winning sessions in online poker history.

Isildur1 had a profitable weekend before colliding with the Hastings buzz saw on Tuesday. He played more than 11,500 hands with the likes of Townsend, Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies, and Tom "durrrr" Dwan, adding close to $3 million to his account and climbing out of the red as a winner on the site, according to PokerTableRatings.com.

As we've seen many times in the short span the Swede has graced Full Tilt's nosebleed games, Isildur1 lost most of it back. Hastings decided to take a shot against him on Tuesday and the action picked up right off the bat. In one of the very first hands of the match, Hastings raised his button to $3,000 and Isildur1 re-raised to $9,000. Hastings put in another raise to $27,000 and Isildur1 called. The flop came 10c-6h-2s. Isildur1 checked, Hastings led out for $40,000, and the Swede check-raised to $174,000, putting Hastings all-in. Brian called off his remaining $89,000 and showed Qh-Js-Th-8c for a pair of tens, but trailed Isildur1's Kc-Ks-Jh-10d, a pair of kings. The Kd fell on the turn, giving Isildur1 top set and Hastings several outs to hit a straight. Hastings would get there on the river, as an ace gave him Broadway and a pot of $311,000.

That hand seemed to presage the rest of the match between the two players. Isildur1 was the victim of a several of unlucky river cards during the session and when Hastings sat out with the intention of quitting ahead, the Swede let his emotions get the best of him in the chat box, saying, "just f off. u know how lucky u are? i can promise this is the worst luck anyone had."

Hastings agreed to play 30 more minutes, but things didn't change much. The biggest hand of the match came with Isildur1 sitting behind a stack of $252,463 and Hastings having more than $471,000. Again, Hastings raised the button to $3,000, Isildur1 re-raised to $9,000, Hastings 4bet to $27,000, and Isildur1 called. On the 10h-3s-3c flop, Isildur1 checked, Hastings fired $18,000, and the Swede called. The 6h came on the turn and again Isildur1 check-called, this time a bet of $72,000. He checked for a third time when the river brought the 4c and Hastings moved all-in. Isildur1 called and mucked his hand when Hastings revealed 8h-7d-5h-4d for a straight. The Full Tilt Pro pulled in a pot worth more than $500,000.

The amount Hastings won from Isildur1 Tuesday ranges between $3.2 million and $4.2 million, depending on which high-stakes database site you look at. Regardless, it was the biggest day of his poker career and he reflected on the massive win in his blog on CardRunners, saying, "Wow. I just had the biggest winning day in online poker history. Did this really happen? For it to happen, one needs a combination of very large amounts of both skill and luck. And here I am, winning a record $4.18 million in one day (well not exactly -- no I didn't have 100% of my own action, and no I am not going into any further detail about this) playing online poker.”

We'll continue to bring you the latest high-stakes action between Isildur1 and the Full Tilt Pros here at Poker News Daily.

ESPN Ranks Top Poker Players; Phil Ivey Number One

Who is the top all-around poker player in the world? Online or live, cash games or tournaments, whose game reigns supreme over the rest of the industry? According to a panel of experts organized by ESPN.com, the answer is Phil Ivey.

The voting block consisted of ESPN’s Andrew Feldman, Gary Wise, and Bernard Lee, along with Bluff’s Lance Bradley and Michael Friedman, Poker News Daily’s Dan Cypra, and PocketFivesLive.com Tournament Reporter Court Harrington. Each of us was asked to name our top ten players in the poker world irrespective of whether we were talking about online or live play, tournaments, cash games, or game type. In the end, the first ever list of “The Nuts” was compiled.

Topping the chart was Ivey, the seventh place finisher in the 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Ivey won two bracelets in preliminary tournaments leading up to the $10,000 buy-in Main Event, one in Deuce to Seven Lowball and one in Omaha/Seven Card Stud High-Low. He owns seven bracelets and over $5 million in career WSOP earnings. Coupled with nearly $3 million in high-stakes cash game winnings off Swedish poker pro Isildur1 alone, Ivey makes a strong case as the top name in the business. Out of the seven pollsters, six chose Ivey as their top dog. The lone exception was yours truly.

My pick for best poker player today was Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko. While players like Ivey have been successful, Timoshenko has dominated high-profile events. In April, Timoshenko took down the World Poker Tour (WPT) Championship for $2.1 million, one year after winning the Asian Poker Tour (APT) Macau Main Event. He finished 25th in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event and proved his online prowess by winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Main Event for $1.7 million in September. He followed that performance up with a victory in the Full Tilt $1K Monday. His stakes aren’t as high in cash games as Ivey’s, but he’s also not a member of Team Full Tilt.

Second overall on “The Nuts” was Patrik Antonius. Another participant in the high-stakes games against Isildur1, Antonius lays claim to winning the largest pot in online poker history, $1.3 million, set last month. Friedman noted, “I know this may be controversial, but I think Antonius may be the best online cash game player out there at the moment.” Going against Antonius is his lackluster performance in tournaments; he has not turned in a live score of over $20,000 since May of 2008, according to HendonMob.com.

Rounding out the top three was Daniel Negreanu, who was not ranked by Poker News Daily. Negreanu has final tabled the Main Event of WSOP Europe in back-to-back years and recorded eight in the money finishes in the Las Vegas series in 2009. Negreanu has been actively involved on televised poker programs like “High Stakes Poker” and the “PokerStars.net Million Dollar Challenge,” serving as one of the game’s top ambassadors. His cash game accolades seem less obvious than Ivey’s and Antonius’, who Poker News Daily ranked as #3 and #6, respectively.

So who did the seven pollsters rank in the first ever edition of ESPN’s “The Nuts”? Here is the illustrious list of today’s top poker players:

1. Phil Ivey
2. Patrik Antonius
3. Daniel Negreanu
4. Tom “durrrr” Dwan
5. Barry Greenstein
6. Jason Mercier
7. Jeffrey Lisandro
8. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier
9. Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond
10. Yevgeniy “Jovial Gent” Timoshenko

Others who received votes included Tommy Vedes, Isildur1, J.C. Tran, Allen Cunningham, Steve “gboro780” Gross, Scott “BigRiskky” Clements, Michael Binger, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little, David “The Dragon” Pham, Phil Hellmuth, Doyle Brunson, Dan “djk123” Kelly, Antoine Saout, Brian Townsend, Brock “t soprano” Parker, and Matt Hawrilenko. Check out the full ESPN list for more details on each player selected.

What do you think? Should Ivey have been number one? Leave a comment here and let us know!

Isildur1 Drops $2.9 Million, Now Down Overall

The wild ride for Swedish online poker pro Isildur1 continued in recent days, as the newcomer dropped a colossal $2.9 million on the felts of Full Tilt Poker. According to Poker Table Ratings, Isildur1 is now a losing player overall.

After being up as much as $5 million, the tide has begun to turn for Isildur1, who now sits at -$892,000 since Poker Table Ratings began tracking the Swede in September. Recently, Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies took Isildur1 for $2.3 million in 3,000 hands of $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha.

In one hand, the Swede raised to $3,000 pre-flop with 3h-6d-2s-Ac and Sahamies made it $9,000 with Qs-Js-9d-Jh. Isildur1 made the call and the flop came 10c-Qh-3c, giving Sahamies top pair and a straight draw and giving Isildur1 a pair of threes. Sahamies bet pot, $18,000, and Isildur1 popped it to $56,000. Sahamies made the call to see the turn come the Ks. Sahamies, now holding a king-high straight, checked and Isildur1 bet out $96,000. Sahamies continued to play it slow and just called to bring the 4h on the river. Sahamies checked once again, Isildur1 bet $322,000, and Sahamies called all-in for his last $193,000, creating a $708,000 pot. Sahamies scooped it with a straight and Isildur1 was left scratching his head.

In another hand between Sahamies and Isildur1, the latter raised to $3,000 pre-flop holding 8d-7s-9h-3c and Sahamies pushed it to $9,000 with 4d-Kd-As-5s. Isildur1 called and the first three cards fell 3s-8s-4h. Sahamies bet pot with his nut flush draw and pair of fours, while Isildur1 made it $56,000 with top and bottom pair. Sahamies re-raised to $186,000 and Isildur1 bet enough to put Sahamies all-in for his last $131,000. Once again, Sahamies made the call for his stack, this time with a $652,000 pot up for grabs. The turn was the queen of spades, giving Sahamies his flush, and no help came for Isildur1 on the river, which was the six of clubs. Isildur1 had absorbed another devastating hit to his bankroll.

Also taking aim at Isildur1 was CardRunners instructor Brian Townsend, who made it $2,000 pre-flop in one hand holding Ah-10h-8c-5d. Isildur1 raised to $6,200 with Qs-10s-6h-5h and Townsend made the call to see a flop of 3h-As-4h. Isildur1 bet about two-thirds of the pot with a straight flush draw, while Townsend pushed the action to $28,000 with the nut flush draw, a gutshot wheel draw, and top pair. A series of raises ensued resulting in Isildur1 having his stack committed and a pot of $343,000 being up for grabs. The board ran out Ad-Jh, shipping the mammoth pot to Townsend with the nut flush.

According to Poker Table Ratings, Isildur1 boasted over $5 million in earnings on November 15th, which has since evaporated. While he has made $5.2 million from Full Tilt Poker pro Tom “durrrr” Dwan alone, he has dropped seven-figures each to 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event November Nine member Phil Ivey, Townsend, Sahamies, and Durrrr Challenge participant Patrik Antonius. His 41,000 hands against Dwan are the most logged by his top “Best Friends” and “Worst Enemies.” Isildur1 has been involved in the eight largest pots in online poker history, winning three of the top six. He came out on the losing end of a $1.3 million hand against Antonius, the richest pot the industry has ever seen.

As can be seen, Isildur1 is an aggressive player on the Pot Limit Omaha felts. Poker Table Ratings candidly questioned, “One can’t help but wonder if the enticement of PL Omaha’s massive swings and guaranteed action will be sending him to the rail soon.” The Swede’s arrival has created a resurgence of high-stakes online poker action on Full Tilt, which has seen its traffic grow by 25% over the last four weeks thanks in part to its Holiday Hundred promotion.

Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest Isildur1 headlines.

Online high stakes: The Isildur1 factor

Isildur1, the unknown Swedish player named after a character from Lord of the Rings, showed up on the high-stakes scene Sep. 16th. Two weeks later, he began to tear it apart.

His first two weeks on Full Tilt were rather uneventful. In fact, he seemed like just another new fish for the $25/$50 No-Limit Hold'em regulars to destroy.

One of his first real matches came versus Haseeb "INTERNETPOKERS" Qureshi. After playing for a while at $25/$50, the two players eventually moved up to $100/$200 where Isildur1 took Qureshi for close to $500k.

This was the first big win for unknown Swede and it was the fuse that lit the fireworks about to come.

Isildur1 spent the next few days playing some of the most well known players on Full Tilt. He picked apart UgotaBanana for $300k and went on to play some heavy sessions of $200/$400 and $300/$600 Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha.

During that time he took over $700k off of Cole South and lost small amounts to Brian Hastings and Brian Townsend. But after a few days, Tom "durrrr" Dwan finally showed up on the scene. It was the moment high-stakes railbirds were waiting for and all bets were on Dwan breaking the Swedish fish in short order.

Over four days of action - the majority of which was played at $500/$1,000 - Isildur1 won over $3 million, putting Dwan into a bankroll tailspin.

With his newly found riches, Isildur1 has played at the highest stakes available online almost every day since and the action has been ground breaking

While he has taken over $5.2 million from Dwan, Isildur1 has lost $3 million to Phil Ivey, $1.1 million to Townsend, $840k to Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and $578k to Patrik Antonius.

And in his sessions with Antonius and Ivey, Isildur1 has been involved in all ten of the largest online pots ever played.

First Antonius and Isildiur1 teamed up to break the one-year-old record for the largest pot in online poker history when they tangled over a whopping $878,959.

Isildur1 then became the first person to lose a seven-figure pot online when he and Antonius broke their own record for the largest pot ever played less than a week later. This $1,356,947 pot went to Antonius after his flopped straight held up on the river.

Just two days, later Isildur1 beat Ivey in a pot worth $1.1 million, making him the only player online to have both won and lost a million dollar pot.

Seven of the ten largest pots in online poker history have come in the last week, all between Isildur1 and either Antonius or Ivey. However, through all of this action, Isildur1's true identity is still unknown. The high-stakes world has come up with a variety of theories, the leading one being that he is Blom90.

Viktor "Blom90" Blom burst onto the high-stakes Euro-site scene in early 2009 building a massive bankroll before virtually disappearing. Many sources have claimed Isildur1 is Blom90, but to this day, Blom has neither confirmed nor denied the rumors.

Others have claimed he is the same person behind the "martonas" account, another player who burst onto the high-stakes scene earlier this year before dissapearing. There have even been rumors he is retired Swedish footbal legend Henrik Larsson.

The only thing that can be confirmed is the action created by Isildur1 has completely re-arranged the look of the year's biggest winners and losers online. Thanks to the $3 million he's won from Isildur1, Ivey now tops the charts with over $6.3 million - $600k ahead of Antonius, who is now at $5.7 million.

In third place on the year is Sahamies with $5.7 million. Fourth place belongs to Ashton "theASHMAN103" Griffin who has remained at $3.6 million ever since his original heater in early August.

Thanks to the $1.1 million he's won off Isildur1, Brian Townsend sits in fifth place with $3.3 million. And finally, in sixth place is Isildur1 himself, who who has made just over $3 million to date.

The majority of the money made by the top earners has come from Isildur1's profit off of Dwan, who is the year's top loser, down a whopping $6.8 million so far. Gus Hansen takes up second place with $5.8 million, $2 million ahead of third place loser LarsLuzak.

Finally, in fourth sits French professional David Benyamine and his $2.3 million in losses.

To see all of the largest pots played by Isildur1 since his arrival on the scene, head to MarketPulse.

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Haseeb Qureshi Comments on Isildur1 and High-Stakes Poker

Swedish newcomer Isildur1 has dominated the action on Full Tilt Poker in recent weeks, helping grow the eight largest pots in online poker history. One of his opponents, CardRunners instructor Haseeb “INTERNET POKERS” Qureshi, sat down with Poker News Daily to discuss Isildur1’s recent dominance.

Isildur1 has largely competed in Pot Limit Omaha against high-stakes Full Tilt regulars like 2009 World Series of Poker (WSOP) November Nine member Phil Ivey, Durrrr Challenge namesake Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Power Poker front man Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies. Qureshi has dropped $452,000 to Isildur1; according to PokerTableRatings.com, Dwan has lost 10 times that amount.

On the newcomer’s No Limit Hold’em game, Qureshi told Poker News Daily, “He doesn’t trip up nearly as often in No Limit Hold’em [as in Pot Limit Omaha]. Of course, one of the biggest differences in No Limit Hold’em is that you can bet larger than pot and it’s in his over-betting strategy, which has become his trademark, that he really differentiates himself.”

Many have questioned when and if Isildur1 would go broke, including a poll that appeared on the popular online poker forum TwoPlusTwo.com revealing that 18% of those who responded stated that the Swede would go bust before 2010. Qureshi weighed in: “He’s a high-stakes poker playing degenerate who is very good and wants action. As long as nobody busts him, he’ll keep playing. I’d say it’s more likely than not that he goes bust relatively soon, but it’s still quite likely that he manages to rage on for a very long time.” PokerTableRatings.com began tracking Isildur1 in mid-September. This month, the eight largest pots in online poker history have played out.

On what types of strategies players could use to overcome opponents like Isildur1, Qureshi revealed, “Every basic strategy you could come up with is all too small and naive to be used. You should wait for hands and yet beat his aggression with more aggression. You should make fearless calls and yet be cautious in big pots. Choosing one pole or the other is basically handing him the match before it starts.”

Antonius laid claim to the largest pot in online poker history, $1.3 million, at the expense of Isildur1. The Full Tilt Poker pro also defeated Isildur1 in a massive $878,000 pot, which took place one week ago. Isildur1’s win over Ivey in a $1.1 million pot, the second largest of all-time, helped right the ship. The Swede has taken down three of the top six richest pots ever, while Antonius has scooped two of the top three.

Qureshi is an instructor for the poker training site CardRunners.com and recently tackled the Isildur1 phenomenon in an informative blog entry. On how he got started in the game of poker, Qureshi recalled, “In the PartyPoker days, there was a free $50 signup bonus deal running. I got on that and somehow donked up my money to $200 and then I started my ‘poker career,’ per se, at $0.05/$0.10 No Limit Hold’em ring games. I worked my way up the old fashioned way with 20 to 30 buy-in bankroll management. There were no tournament scores or trust funds for me, unfortunately.”

Finally, Qureshi explained that he never would have thought he’d be part of something as historic as Isildur1’s entry onto the poker scene: “My dream was to be playing $1/$2 and by the end of the first year, I had made over $100,000 and was just moving up to play $5/$10 six-max games.” Besides Qureshi, others who have tangled with Isildur1 include David Benyamine, Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Brian Hastings, and Brian Townsend.

Antonius, Isildur1 hit record $1.3 million pot

In fact, in an epic session on the Full Tilt tables Saturday night, squaring off against both Antonius and Phil Ivey, Isildur1 found himself involved in five of the six largest pots ever played online, all over $800,000.

Antonius and Isildur1 set the mark for the largest pot ever recorded online at $878,959 on Nov. 16, smashing the previous record of $723,000 set by Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Di "Urindanger" Dang in October 2008.

In another session Friday, the two played what was then the second- and third-largest pots in online poker history at $783,985 and $774,910 respectively.

But Saturday on the Pot-Limit Omaha tables, they put all that to shame.

Almost half an hour after playing an $815k pot to set a new mark for the second-largest pot ever played online, Isildur1 woke up with 9♠ 8♥ 7♦ 6♦ and Antonius held A♥ K♥ K♠ 3♠.

Isildur1 opened up with a raise, Antonius three-bet and Isildur1 made it four. Antonius five-bet to $81k and the Swede made the call.

The flop came out 5♣ 4♠ 2♥ and Antonius had flopped the wheel. Isildur1 had the open-ender and when Antonius led out for $91,000, he potted it to $435,000.

Antonius re-potted to $779,000, which covered Isildur1. Isildur made the call for his stack, creating a $1,356,947 pot and breaking the seven-figure mark for the first time ever online.

The 5♥ turn and 9♣ river were bricks for Isildur1 and, just like he did five days ago, Antonius raked the largest pot in online poker history.

Less than 10 minutes later, Isildur1 took an $827,960 pot from Ivey when he rivered a higher straight against the one he'd turned. He gave that back less than two hours later, losing an $832,940 pot when Ivey turned a flush against his set.

Those two pots set the marks for the third- and fourth-largest pots in online history.

Antonius also dragged an $810,984 pot from the clutches of Isildur1 within a half an hour of setting the record, rivering a straight against his kings - all told beating him out of $2.1 million in a 4,470-hand PLO session.

Meanwhile, Ivey raked $1.2 million from Isildur1 playing both PLO and No-Limit Hold'em to knock the Swede's profits down to just $750k on the year.

After bursting on the high-stakes scene this past September and taking over $3 million from durrrr, Isildur1's profits hit a $5 million dollar peak Nov. 15.

Now it would seem he's all but done.

Below are the three largest pots of the night - the biggest in online history and the third and fourth largest. To see them all head to MarketPulse.

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Patrik Antonius and Isildur1 Play Largest-Ever Online Pot at $1.3 Million

For the second time in less than five days, Patrik Antonius and Isildur1 broke the record for the largest pot in online poker history. At just before 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday night, Antonius and Isildur1 were in the middle of a...

Isildur1 loses over $1m to Ivey and Antonius

The Swedish mysteryman known only as Isildur1 to the poker world has been once again causing a scene on the high stakes tables at Full Tilt Poker. This time he took on Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey, losing over a million dollars and the second largest pot in online poker history.

Ivey stomps Isildur1 for $1.2 million

The match between Ivey and Isildur1 had been brewing since September, when Isildur1 burst onto the high-stakes scene and took over $3 million from Tom "durrrr" Dwan.

The two played briefly a few days ago, with Ivey taking close to $900k from the unkown Swede.

And when the match between the two finally got underway last night, Ivey did not disappoint his leagues of fans.

The two players started the session playing a combination of $500/$1,000 Pot-Limit Omaha and No-Limit Hold'em. After just half an hour, the two took a break with Ivey already up close to $100k.

When they returned, Ivey came out of the gates strong, winning a $354k pot just two minutes into the session.

In the end, the Team Full Tilt Pro remained at the tables for just over three hours, long enough to take another $1.1 million from Isildur1's roll.

But while he was getting destroyed by Ivey, Isildur1 also decided to take on Patrik Antonius.

Antonius stuck around almost twice as long, but was only able to make $400k, despite all five of the night's biggest pots being played out between the two, including the second and third largest in online poker history.

At $783,985 and $774,910 respectively, the pots marked the third time in a week Antonius and Isildur1 had beaten the previous record for online poker's biggest pot ($723,000).

They set a new record of $878,959 Nov. 17.

After losing $1.6 million total on the night, Isildur1's high-stakes profit has dropped down to $2.2 million, less than half of his $5 million dollar peak on Nov. 15.

Below are the three largest pots of the session. To see more hands, including Isildur1's largest pots versus Ivey, head to MarketPulse.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Patrik Antonius Defeats lsildur1 in Largest Online Poker Pot Ever

The high-stakes world of online poker has received a shot in the arm in the month of November. With online wunderkind Tom “durrrr” Dwan currently taking on fellow high-stakes players in a live Durrrr Challenge in London, the online world also sprung to life this week, with Finnish professional Patrik Antonius capturing the largest pot in online poker history, $879,000.

Earlier this week on the high-stakes tables at Full Tilt Poker, the unknown Swedish newcomer lsildur1 has been taking on several of the top pros in the Full Tilt Poker stable, including Phil Ivey, Dwan, and Antonius. In some cases, lsildur1 has had approximately $4 million dollars in action, sending the railbirds buzzing about a new high-stakes player in the online community. On Monday night playing $500/$1,000 Pot Limit Omaha, Antonius and lsildur1 hooked up in what has become one of the most discussed hands on the internet.

With Antonius sitting behind $439,479 and lsildur1 stacked with $450,494, the hand started with a raise on the button of $3,000 from lsildur1 holding a strong Omaha hand of As-Ks-Qd-Th. Antonius made the call with a respectable Ah-Qc-9s-6h and the duo saw a flop of 5h-7h-Qs. This set the fireworks off, as both had hit top pair-top kicker, but Antonius had the edge with flush and straight draws.

Antonius check-raised to $21,000 and was met with a call from his opponent. The action increased further as the Ad fell on the turn, giving both players two pair, with the edge still tilted towards Antonius, and making for a likelihood that the twosome would split the pot. Known in his short time online for his aggression, lsildur1 pounded the pot with a $192,000 check-raise after Antonius had bet $48,000. Antonius 3bet back at lsildur1 with the remainder of his stack and was called. The resulting river sent a shockwave through the online world.

Although odds favored a split pot, Antonius could win the hand with any heart or an eight. When the 8d fell on the river, Antonius took the massive $878,959 pot by making a miraculous straight. It only furthered a downswing for the Swede who, after earning a great deal of money against arguably some of the toughest opponents in the game in his short online poker career, has recently dropped $2.25 million, according to PokerTableRatings.com.

Some in the online poker world believe that lsildur1 may have been a bit overaggressive with the potential draws available. On the popular TwoPlusTwo forums, there have been discussions of who lsildur1 is and an entire thread has been dedicated to discuss the new online phenomenon. There has also been some discussion of how wise it is to take on such powerful players as Antonius, Dwan, and Ivey. TwoPlusTwo poster “kepatsa” perhaps said it best when he stated, “I don’t think it’s a great strategy to multi-table Ivey, Durrrr, and PA at the same time. That just cannot be a winning proposition. I give Isi credit for balls, maybe not brains.”

At the PocketFives forum, there have been those who echoed the sentiment that it isn’t in lsildur1’s best interest to keep butting heads with some of Full Tilt’s top guns. On the site, “MrH” said, “I still think it’s a horrible decision to play all three,” but after looking at some of the success that lsildur has had against them, added, “I have even more respect for the kid.”

Whether lsildur1 can continue to absorb such losses as the $2.25 million that he has taken this week is difficult to ascertain. Little is known about the Swedish player, who drops $4 million on the table and tackles some of the toughest poker players on the planet today. What is known, however, is that online railbirds will be watching for the next battle to rage across the virtual felt, presumably soon.

The Online Railbird Report Special Edition: Antonius Wins $2.9 Million from Isildur1 in Battle Royale

In one of the greatest heads-up battles in online poker history, Patrik Antonius halted “Isildur1’s” spectacular November run, relieving the young Swede of nearly $3 million over the course of a 2,189-hand, nine-hour match that ran from...

Antonius takes biggest pot in online poker history

At a whopping $878,959, the pot totally crushed the old record of $723,000 set by Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Di "Urindanger" Dang in October 2008.

The game was $500/$1,000 heads-up Pot-Limit Omaha and both players sat with over $400,000 on the table.

Nothing extraordinary happened pre-flop or post, but when the A♦ came on the turn the action went nuts with both players raising until all the money - $878,959 - was in the pot.

When the money went in, Antonius and Isildur1 both had aces up, but both also held the chance to hit cards on the river to scoop the insanely large pot.

PokerListings' odds calculator shows it was a 62.5% chance for a split pot when the money went in.

Thanks to his flush draw and gutshot straight draw, Antonius had a 25% chance to win, while Isildur1 had just a 12.5% chance with his seperate gutshot draw and a shot at a non-heart king for a higher two-pair.

In the end, the 8♦ river came down giving Antonius his gutshot and the outrageous pot.

At press time, the heads-up session was still ongoing, but thanks to the record-breaking pot Antonius was up over $2.5 million on Isildur1 in a battle between online poker's two biggest winners so far this year.

You can see how it all played out in our hand replayer below:

 

 

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Patrik Antonius Wins Largest Pot In Online Poker History

Moments ago, a few lucky railbirds witnessed Patrik Antonius win the largest pot in online poker history. Fresh off his recent battering of Tom "durrrr” Dwan, mystery Swede "Isildur1" took to the virtual felt against Team Full Tilter...

Antonius crushes Isildur1 - Wins the biggest online pot ever, $879k

We all thought Isildur1 (or who we think is “Blom90″) would be unbeatable, well, then came the flying Finn, Patrik Antonius. Isildur1 has taken the worst beating in his life, and they still continue their epic heads up match.

Isildur1 has been losing for the last 24 hours, and he is losing fast. According to Highstakesdb he has lost about 3,5 million dollars to Patrik Antonius. His losses have come in only few thousand hands.

There was some history made as well as Antonius managed to win the biggest pot in online poker history. Both players flopped the top pair, turn gave them boat and Antonius got lucky on the river as his gutshot hit the nut straight which crushed Isildur1 and gave the record breaking $879.000 pot to Antonius.

Antonius with a $1.5 million stack

Some hands:

The biggest pot in online history, $879k pot

Antonius hits his open ended straight, $571k pot

Both have flush draw, but Isildur1’s has the better hand, $434 pot

Monster draw for Isildur1 against Patrik’s set, $409 pot

Want to rail their match? Join Full Tilt through HighStakesPoker to get the best rakeback. Click here

UPDATE: Antonius and Isildur1 finished up their last session and they both had about even numbers on the tables. Antonius had around $1.7 million and Isildur1 quite much the same. Antonius ended up winning a nice amount from Isildur1 even though the last session was about break-even for both.

Source: Highstakesdb

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Antonius crushes Isildur1 - Wins the biggest online pot ever, $879k

Tom Dwan is the newest member of Team Full Tilt

There has been some speculation about Tom Dwan and Full Tilt Poker. Well, now it’s official, Tom Dwan is the latest addition to Full Tilt Poker’s Pro Poker Team.

Full Tilt Poker announced about their newest Team Full Tilt member. FTP’s announcement was praising Dwan quite highly:

“Dwan, best known by his online player handle “durrrr”, is one of the most influential and successful players in online poker history. Known for his prolific play in high-stakes games at Full Tilt Poker, he has proven himself to be an unstoppable force any time he sits down at a table.”

Dwan has won $1.1 million from live tournaments, these include 3 WSOP cashes and one WPT final table.

Dwan became the youngest member of the Team Full Tilt. Other members are: Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham and Patrik Antonius.

You can visit Dwan’s team page here.

Source: PR Newswire

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Tom Dwan is the newest member of Team Full Tilt

durrrr signs with Team Full Tilt

The site is calling the 23-year-old  New Jersey native and former Boston University English major "one of the most influential and successful players in online poker history," and there's really no doubt about it.

While he's down around $1.8 million playing in online's biggest games this year, Dwan took over $5.4 million off the virtual tables in 2008.

Plus, there is whatever he's been raking in at the biggest live cash games around the world, $1.1 million in live tournament earnings, and some of the biggest pots and largest winning sessions in televised poker history to consider.

After dominating the last season of GSN's High Stakes Poker, this past September he raked in a $1.1 pot at million at Full Tilt Poker's Million Dollar Cash Game in London - the largest ever.

Since much of Dwan's online work has been done on Full Tilt's tables and his $1.5 million durrrr Challenge has been one of the biggest railbird draws in online history, he is an obvious choice for the team.

But while the site has a large stable of Red Pros sponsored to play on the site, Team Full Tilt is a group largely made up of the game's most elite players, including Phil Ivey, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Jennifer Harman, Phil Gordon, Erick Lindgren, Erik Seidel, Andy Bloch, Mike Matusow, Gus Hansen, Allen Cunningham and Patrik Antonius.

"Team Full Tilt doesn't take adding a team member lightly," said Lederer. "But, Tom Dwan has proven, through skill and dynamic play, that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.

"We are proud to count Tom as one of our own."

While he will continue to prowl Full Tilt's highest stakes games, Dwan will also be lending his knowledge to the Full Tilt Poker Academy and blogging for the site.

Dwan is now Team Full Tilt's youngest member.

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The Online Railbird Report: Sahamies Stings Ivey, Dwan Weathers a Downswing

It’s been over two weeks since “martonas” departed the high-stakes scene, ending one of the wildest stretches in online poker history. The games have settled down, way down, the action at a trickle as the dog days of summer slip away. Many...

Full Tilt Poker Nearly Kills Ring Games

In what had to be one of the biggest blunders in recent online poker history, popular online poker room Full Tilt Poker (currently ranked second in the world in terms of overall ring game traffic) conducted an “action update” with the idea that adding cash games with antes would create action tables.  The update revealed that ante tables were only coming to the highest limits, with future expansion likely.  Also included with this update are Ring Game Lobby Icons and Synchronized Breaks for multi-table tournaments, meaning that players can enter several tournaments at the same time and all would break simultaneously.

What Full Tilt Poker did, unwittingly, is put in a new feature that nearly killed the site for every regular in low- and mid-stakes ring games. Affectionately known as “Deep-Gate” within the online poker community, Full Tilt Poker added a new type of lobby filter system that forced “Deep” tables down to the bottom of the list for any given stakes.  The deep tables allow a minimum buy-in of 40 big bets and a maximum buy-in of 200, meaning that short-stackers can’t buy into this game and play their brand of ball-busting poker.  This would also allow solid regulars that play a standard buy-in game the ability to be free of short-stackers at their tables and for recreational players to easily sit down with the pros and play poker.

With the deep tables segmented from the rest of the lobby, all of these tables effectively (and rather immediately) died a horrible death.  Online poker forums went ballistic with regulars threatening to burn the Full Tilt fortress down to the ground, or worse, move en masse to PokerStars.  With no places to play without massive amounts of short-stackers sitting at the tables, Full Tilt regulars simply couldn’t find anywhere to play. Some players tried to start deep tables, as they usually do, but because they remained segmented at the very bottom part of the lobby, nobody would join.

Zach “Umbrella Man” Hall commented that the deep tables at Full Tilt make the room a better option for low- and mid-stakes players over PokerStars because of their widespread use in comparison to the “50BB minimum” tables at PokerStars, which aren’t as populated.  He estimated that at $200nl ($1-$2 blinds), he could get around 16 “deep” tables running during peak hours.  After the update?  Exactly zero.

Fortunately, after two days of flaming on the forums and numerous threats of bankrolls being pulled from the site, a Full Tilt Poker spokesperson announced that an update would be released fixing the issue.  True to his word, an update was released Friday morning that once again placed the deep tables intertwined in a given stake and all has returned to normal.

The update, beyond the issue with the deep table segmentation, was applauded by the industry for upgrading the lobby and playing experience.  Tournament players were ecstatic at the notion of synchronized breaks, meaning that they could better make use of time management and play in more tournaments.  The ante tables are also something that most ring game players are excited for because it means more action at the tables; however, their implementation at the micro- and low-stakes has yet to occur.

The one missing element from the update being asked for by users is additional security features beyond the simple login/password to access the site.  Players are begging the site for a PIN code (similar to PokerStars) and a synchronized security token that would guarantee that the account on the site would remain secure.  Given that Full Tilt Poker is now taking extra steps to listen to its customer base, there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel that the features players are clamoring for are on their way.

CEREUS Unveils $530,000 Points Race

Starting on Wednesday of this week, players on CEREUS Network sites Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker began competing in a high-stakes two month Points Race worth $530,000. The prize pool will be divided among the top Status Point earners.

While many people in the United States were busy scrambling at the last minute on Wednesday to file their taxes, players on Tokwiro-owned online poker rooms Absolute Poker and Ultimate Bet, both part of the CEREUS Network, were racking up Status Points and watching their names climb the UB 500 and AP 500 leader boards. The Points Race concludes on June 15th with the top 500 earners splitting a $500,000 prize pool. First place will grab $25,000, second place takes home $22,000, and third place will see their online poker bankroll grow by $20,000. Everyone who makes the leader board will receive at least $150 and the top 10 will pocket five-figure paydays.

Tokwiro Chief Operating Officer Paul Leggett told Poker News Daily, “Our players truly enjoy rake races and we wanted to give them one of the largest races in online poker history. Our $500,000 rake race is just one of the many promotions we will run this year to make online poker more exciting and competitive.” That’s not all, however. The top 1,000 Status Point earners will receive an invite into a special $30,000 freeroll scheduled for June 28th at 2:00pm ET. In total, $530,000 is up for grabs as part of the promotion, which more than doubles the prize money given away in last month’s CEREUS rake race.

Just a few days into the competition, SOUTHCJAY7 leads the pack in the UB 500, generating 14,116 Status Points. Right behind him is MAKE_IT_RAIN, who holds 10,679 Points. If the contest were frozen today, VOSS1313 (8,967), ANEW (8,862), MERKER1 (7,860), AIRKID3 (7,558), Z06FANATIC (6,699), MINUTEMAN233 (6,287), DURZAAAA (6,180), and JAMESRED111 (5,790) would all take home over $10,000. A total of 74 players will earn at least $1,000.

CEREUS was formed in November with the merging of the player bases of Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. According to PokerScout.com, which ranks traffic across the major sites, CEREUS is the seventh largest worldwide with a seven day running average of 2,250 real money ring game players. Its 24 hour peak is 3,416 and at the time of writing, which is mid-afternoon Eastern Time, there are 2,561 cash game players on its virtual felts. A press release distributed by Tokwiro this week reads, “Thanks to CEREUS, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker's Rake Race promotion continues to deliver on the promise of a bigger and better online poker experience for players at both online poker sites. So, settle into the driver’s seat and just keep earning STATUS Points to participate and secure a share of the $530,000 prize money up for grabs.”

“Celebrity Apprentice” candidate Annie Duke and 11-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth serve as the front men ultimate Bet. This week on the popular NBC reality show, the two may square off on national television. In an ongoing task that asks teams to raise money for charity by auctioning off pieces from Ivanka Trump’s jewelry line, Duke’s opposition has solicited Hellmuth to come to New York and place a bid. Whether Hellmuth will actually turn out for the show is unknown. “Celebrity Apprentice” airs at 9:00pm ET on Sunday nights on NBC.

At the end of March, Ultimate Bet signed Matt “mattg1983” Graham to become the newest member of its Star Player Team, which also includes Adam “Roothlus” Levy, “Hollywood” Dave Stann, Tiffany Michelle, “Best Damn Poker Show” Season 1 winner Tracy Scala, and Michael Binger.

Online Poker — Interview With Sunday Mill Winner Carter ‘ckingusc’ King

Last September, Carter "ckingusc" King made history by winning the tournament with the largest prize pool in online poker history. After the final hand was dealt, King walked away from his monitor with a whopping $1,265,432 and the title of 2008 World Championship of Online Poker...