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WPT vs. EPT: Which Poker Tour is Best? (Infographic)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:17:13 -0800

Photo Recap of Ivey’s Epic $2 Million Win

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:30:48 -0800

Phil Ivey was a man possessed after busting out of the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event in 12th. The $250k Challenge went until 6 a.m. but Ivey didn't miss a beat.

John Juanda was partially responsible for getting four Chinese businessmen in on the game.

Patrik Antonius came in second place and cashed for $1.2 million. Despite his notable cash game winnings, it was his biggest ever live score.

Daniel Negreanu busted in fourth and experienced one of poker's worst bubbles. Instead of making $823k, Negreanu lost $250k. Gus Hansen snagged the min-cash for $823k.

The $250k Challenge took place entirely in Crown Casino's TV friendly studio 3. The event began at 4:30 p.m. and ended just after 6 a.m. the next day.

After the last hand was dealt, Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey agreed to go get breakfast together. Ivey just asked that Antonius wait while he sorted out how he was going to get paid.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Black Friday Bulletin Board - US Online Poker Legal Updates (Updated 02/02/2012)

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:00:00 -0800

February 2, 2012

In an exclusive statement to PokerStrategy.com, the lawyer for Groupe Bernard Tapie said that money still owed to Full Tilt Poker by Team Pros like Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, and Erik Lindgren could pose problems to the acquisition deal.

Behn Dayanim, the lawyer, said the money owed is between $10 and $20 million.

Dayanim said:

"GBT doesn't want to acquire assets which will need to be litigated over later. In total, the sum owed to the company is between $10 and $20 million.

"Several of the players who owe money and have not yet expressed a willingness to pay their debts include Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, and Erik Lindgren. Barry Greenstein, Mike Matusow, and others owe a smaller but still significant amount."If the money doesn't come in, it creates a serious obstacle to completion of the deal.

"This isn't the only issue with the takeover, and the deal won't end on any one issue - but this is a substantial item."

Read the whole story here.

February 1, 2012

In an interview with IGamingFrance, Laurent Tapie fires back at rumors that Chris Ferguson is holding up Groupe Bernard Tapie's attempts to acquire Full Tilt Poker.

Tapie called the the story “totally false” and said the deal is on track to be completed by the end of February.

Get the whole story with quotes from Laurent Tapie right here.

January 25, 2012

Online poker news site Subject: Poker reports that former Full Tilt Poker co-owner Chris “Jesus” Ferguson had “secret” accounts into which he funneled money prior to Black Friday, and that it could hamper FTP's acquisition by Groupe Bernard Tapie.

Get more on that rumor here.

January 17, 2012

Adding to Ultimate Bet's worries is a new lawsuit brought against the online poker room by a group of players that includes Brad Booth, Dan King and Dustin Woolf. The group claims more than $20 million was stolen in connection to the site's superuser scandal, and they're seeking to recoup their losses plus further damages.

Get the details on that lawsuit right here.

December 20, 2011

Absolute Poker co-owner Brent Beckley pleaded guilty to the federal charges laid against him in connection to online poker's Black Friday this past April. Beckley was charged with bank fraud and breaking US Internet gambling laws, charges which carry a maximum sentence of 30 years. Under his plea agreement, however, Beckley is reportedly serving between 12 and 18 months.

Click here for the full story on Brent Beckley's plea agreement.

December 16, 2011

PokerStars announces a new process for protecting player funds, called The PokerStars Player Protection Plan. Introducing the strategy in the regulated French market, it will involved appointing a third party financial services company to oversee the segregation of player funds. PokerStars hopes this will become the standard in online gaming in Europe.

Click here for the full story on PokerStars' Player Protection Plan.

December 15, 2011

Full Tilt Poker has voted to further the transfer of its assets to Groupe Bernard Tapie, by way of the US Department of Justice. A two-thirds majority by FTP owners was satisfied to reach the agreement, marking another important step towards players getting repaid and GBT getting Full Tilt back on its feet.

Click here for the full story.

November 18, 2011

Group Bernard Tapie has officially acquired Full Tilt Poker, paying $80 million and agreeing to repay all FTP's former non-US customers while the DOJ will manage the repayment of American players.

The deal will also see FTP assets voluntarily forfeited to the DOJ who will then transfer them to GBT.

Click here for the full story on the official acquisition of Full Tilt Poker.

November 15, 2011

Chris Ferguson, whose name was added to the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker in September, has filed a new group of motions with the US District Court of Southern New York.

The motions are on behalf of the companies that comprise Full Tilt Poker, and seeks to return assets seized by the US Department of Justice on and before Black Friday. One of the motions also seeks to add Los Angeles-based attorney Ian J. Imrich to Ferguson's defense team.

Get the details plus links to the motions right here.

November 1, 2011

Subject Poker publishes an email sent from Ray Bitar to Full Tilt Poker shareholders, announcing that the Department of Justice and Bernard Tapie Group have reached an agreement in principle that could facilitate BTG's acquisition of Full Tilt Poker.

Here is the email in full:

Dear members,

I am pleased to announce that today the Department of Justice and Groupe Bernard Tapie have reached an agreement in principle regarding the acquisition of the companies comprising FullTiltPoker. My understanding is the deal provides that in exchange for an agreed upon payment by GBT, and a GBT commitment to assume responsibility for payment of ROW players, DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the outstanding civil litigation with the companies comprising FTP. Beyond these conditions, issues like the time frame and process for repayment of players remain unclear at this point and time.

With DoJ’s consent now in hand, GBT may now proceed to finalize an agreement to acquire the companies or assets that comprise FTP. That agreement will very likely address the status of your shares or interests in the successor company. When I receive that agreement, I will coordinate with our attorneys to ensure the terms of that proposed agreement will be shared with the membership and voted on.

-Ray

October 20, 2011

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission amends its original tribunal report regarding the amount of money Full Tilt Poker had seized by the US Department of Justice.

The original statement put that sum at $331 million USD but the revision explains that this number more accurately represents the total money "unavailable" to FTP, only a part of which is a result of DOJ seizures.

The AGCC says that the DOJ has seized roughly $159 million from Full Tilt, $115 million of which was seized prior to Black Friday.

Read the statement and an explanation here.

September 30, 2011

Full Tilt Poker signs an acquisition agreement with the Bernard Tapie Group. The acquisition is contingent on a few conditions being met, chief among them being a "favorable resolution" with the US Department of Justice.

The agreement explicitly includes the repayment of Full Tilt Poker funds to its former customers.

Read the statement in its entirety here.

September 29, 2011

After a six-day long hearing the Alderney Gambling Control Commission has revoked Full Tilt Poker's gambling license. While this does not preclude FTP from seeking another license elsewhere, it does end the AGCC's jurisdiction over the now defunct online poker room.

Click here to read excerpts from the statement.

September 22, 2011

Two of the lawyers representing Full Tilt Poker fire back at US Attorney Preet Bhahara's suggestion that Ful Tilt was operated as a "global Ponzi scheme". FTP's lawyers call that description careless and inflammatory.

Read the whole story with quotes from Full Tilt's lawyers right here.

1pm - September 21, 2011

Epic Poker League announces the decision to suspend Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson based on the amendment to the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.

Read the whole story right here.

12pm - September 21, 2011

Rafe Furst releases a statement addressing his inclusion in the US civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker.

Read the full statement here.

September 20, 2011

The Department of Justice makes an amendment to the civil complaint against Full Tilt Poker, adding Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst to the list of defendents.

The amendment names the three prominent members of Team Full Tilt and describes Full Tilt Poker as a "global Ponzi scheme".

Read the whole story with excerpts from the amendment right here.

August 30, 2011

Full Tilt Poker releases a statement addressing player funds and the key obstacles standing in the way of repayment. They also discuss potential investors and new management if and when the site re-opens.

Click here to read the statement in its entirety.

August 5, 2011

Full Tilt Poker pays the Alderney Gambling Control Commission outstanding licensing fees totaling £250,000.

Click here for the story.

July 26, 2011

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission holds a hearing in London described by the AGCC “to make public evidence from both AGCC and Full Tilt regarding the suspension of Full Tilt’s licence and to adjudicate the findings transparently.“

The hearing was later adjourned to a date no later than September 15, 2011.

Read about the original hearing here.

Read about the decision to adjourn here.

June 30, 2011

The LA Times reports, erroneously, that Full Tilt Poker was sold to a group of European investors.

Read that story here.

June 29, 2011

PokerStars and the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission issue statements assuring customers that PokerStars has and will continue to adhere to regulations, and that their license is not in jeopardy.

Click here to read the full statement.

May 31, 2011

Phil Ivey announces that in support of US online poker players he will not be playing at the World Series of Poker. Ivey also announces he is suing Tiltware, one of the principle companies behind Full Tilt Poker.

Read Ivey's statement here.

Read Tiltware's response here.

Read Daniel Negreanu's thoughts on Tiltware's response here.

May 24, 2010

U.S. Attorneys in Baltimore, Maryland announce two new federal indictments, charging two internet gaming businesses and three individuals with money laundering and illegal gambling.

In association with the charges ten internet gaming domains have been seized, including Doylesroom.com, Bookmaker.com, 2Betsdi.com, Funtimebingo.com, Goldenarchcasino.com, Truepoker.com, Betmaker.com, Betgrandesports.com, Betehorse.com and Beted.com.

Read our full story on the new indictments right here.

9am - May 10, 2011

Absolute Poker reaches an agreement with the Department of Justice. Under the agreement, the US Attorney's Office has agreed to provide all necessary assurances that third parties may work with Absolute Poker to facilitate the return of funds, currently held by third party processors, to players located in the US.

Read the full press release here.

Read our story on it right here.

12am - May 6, 2011

Federal prosecutors file a supplementary fortfeiture in Manhattan's federal court, outlining the seizure of five properties in connection with the Black Friday indictments.

Click here for the details.

9am - May 5, 2011

Blanca Games, operator of UB/AP, issues a press release announcing the liquidation of its workforce and the rehiring of 20% of personnel in key positions.

This release contradicts apparently mistaken reports yesterday that UB/AP had filed for bankruptcy in Norway. The confusion arose from a release in which Blanca announced it would cease its debt repayment to Madeira Fjord who then filed for Bankruptcy.

Absolute Poker and UB to Focus on Non-U.S. Business St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda (May 5, 2011) — Blanca Games Inc. (“Blanca”), operator of online poker rooms Absolute Poker and UB, issued the following statement today:

As previously stated, Absolute Poker and UB ceased their U.S.-facing operations due to recent legal developments in the United States. The company is currently restructuring and is focusing its resources on consolidating its non-U.S., rest-of-the-world operation and software business. In order to have a more efficient and successful future business, an immediate need to downsize and streamline operations significantly at both online poker rooms has been required. Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S.-facing business.

This decision comes after considerable review and analysis of the impact that ‘Black Friday’ has had on the business as a whole. The workforce has been liquidated, and the process of rehiring approximately 20% of staff in key positions has commenced. All affected employees have been informed of this necessary restructure.

A company spokesperson said: ”We regret that we have been compelled to take these actions. We have worked tirelessly to create a truly amazing company that is filled with extraordinary people. We have always been and still remain fully committed to our employees and players. At the same time, we are confident that this restructuring will strengthen the company and its future.”

The Company spokesperson also addressed erroneous reports that Blanca has filed for bankruptcy. The apparent confusion over this issue stems from the fact that Blanca recently informed a debt holder, Madeira Fjord, that it was terminating debt payments to, and its relationship with them. As a result, Madeira Fjord apparently filed a notice of bankruptcy in Norway. This notice has no negative impact upon Blanca, the operating company, or its brands. As stated previously, Absolute Poker and UB continue to operate their non-U.S. facing business around the world.

For non-U.S. players, Absolute Poker and UB have increased their maximum withdrawal limits to $1000 for Visa withdrawals and $500 for all other methods. The number of transactions being processed per day has been significantly increased as well. Players are still restricted to one transaction per week, but we are working to return non-U.S. withdrawals to normal service levels as quickly as possible.

As confirmed earlier this week, the company’s legal counsel is in continuing discussions this week with the U.S. Attorney’s office to formalize an agreement that would facilitate the return of funds to U.S. players.

9am - April 29, 2011

Full Tilt Poker representative "FTPDoug" posts answers to forum users questions.

Originally Posted by FTPDoug

Hi all, I've been collecting your unanswered questions and asking around for the answers. The questions that I've "ignored" aren't answered below either because I don't have any kind of answer yet, I can't give any kind answer yet, or they're more general questions that I'll answer in the next "normal" Answers thread. Apologies for the long delay in posting again here. Unfortunately the process of posting is drawn way out when my answers need to be double and triple approved instead of my normal one man show. We're also working on getting a FAQ page up on the US site soon. 1. Any estimate on when we [US players] can begin cashing out? - Here's the official statement about this question: "Full Tilt Poker is diligently working on return of US Players funds which is a top priority and will have a further update for US customers by early next week." 2. What is the procedure for assessing the value of USA player accounts?Tournament tickets (including IM freeroll tickets) - Tournament tickets will be converted to their real money value before withdrawal. I don't have a final answer about freeroll tickets, but my best guess is they will be left untouched (not converted, but not taken from the account).Cash game tickets (soon will be "expired cash game tickets") - All Ring Game ticket balances will be converted to real money, even if they've expired since the 15th.FTP points (as if converted to tourney tickets?) - We're still looking into this one. It's unclear what we can do with FTPs, but they definitely won't just "go away."IM medals (as if converted to tourney tickets?) - We're still looking into this as well. My guess is they will be converted to FTPs once we determine what will be done with FTPs. Bonuses in progress (pro rata as if points/medals refunded?) - Bonuses purchased with points or medals will likely have their "unused" points/medals refunded. First time deposit bonuses (or any other non-purchased bonuses) will probably just expire.IM progress in April (as if purchased up to 4 days for next level? medal value of freeroll?) - We're looking into this as well, but I think we'll give a pro-rated April status (and medals) of some sort. The details still need to be worked out.Unpaid rakeback (or cashback or whatever) - This will be paid out as soon as possible. Almost definitely before cashouts are turned on.Progress toward promised mid-year bonus - This is still under discussion, but I think it's unlikely we'll pay out a potential bonus in cash. What might happen is that we preserve the "potential" from January through April and add it to the next one of those bonuses that our US players might be eligible for.Accumulated months in IM - These will be frozen in time until a player starts playing again. You won't have your streak broken because you can't play at the moment.FTP Academy points - Academy points will be treated the same as Iron Man medals, and likely be converted to FTPs.Take 2 promotion - Take 2 will be paid out (on a pro-rated basis of some sort since US players couldn't participate in the final day or two) as soon as possible, again before cashouts are turned on. 3. Will United States players who move to a new country be allowed to resume play at the site and/or withdraw their funds to a non-US bank account? - I needed to get a very official answer on this one as well: "Yes. But your existing account and balance will not yet be available on logging in. You will be required to provide sufficient proof of relocation, including your photo identification and proof of residency at your new address. You can then use non-US funds to play from outside the US. And, after return of your US funds, you will be able to use those funds as well from outside the US." I know that's still a bit fuzzy, sorry about that. We'll work on clearing up all the details as soon as possible. 4. but Moneybookers are unavailable as a cashout option - Sorry, this was my mistake. The MB issue is separate from other issues, and we're working with them to resolve the situation as soon as possible. I don't have an exact timeline for when it will be available again, but we're hopeful it will be soon. 5. I am a canadian player and it looks like Instadebit is disabled. Im just curious if you plan to use Instadebit in the near future? - Instadebit should be up and running now. Let us know if that's not the case. 6. What about the money that the payment processors BOUNCED us in checks? And pending withdrawals via check that have not been received? Do we e-mail support with the bounced checks? Are the checks requested prior to 4/15 going to be received? Are they good? - Definitely email cashier@fulltiltpoker.com if a check bounced. If you already emailed them a while ago and they haven't gotten back to you, PM FTPSean and he will see if there's anything he can do to help speed things along. You should also email cashier with the other questions so they can look into the specific case for you as I don't think there's a general answer that covers all cases. 7. Is there an estimate time table for withdrawals to Neteller? - Many players started getting their Neteller withdrawals late last week. There have been a couple of hiccups along the way, so there is still a bit of a delay until that clears up, but things are looking good to resume normal withdrawal speeds within a week or so. 8. cashed in medals for points last night but still haven't been credited my points. - If you are in the US, we aren't currently processing Iron Man purchases. It's likely the order will be cancelled and you'll be refunded the medals. If you aren't in the US, there's currently a bit of a delay in the processing because of the US block. Sorry about that. 9. Can players in the US still buy things from the FTP store? - Not at the moment, no. 10. What is going to be done with the multiple US players who were previously able to change their location? - They have been reset back to have the United States as their country. They won't be disqualified from any tournaments they happened to enter, though. 11. Address the PMI issue - We haven't forgotten about this. I haven't seen an update in about two weeks, as you might imagine, but I know we are still looking into it. 12. am I gonna get my tv i ordered last monday before Black Friday? - For the moment the store isn't shipping to any US address. If your item already shipped it will get to you. If it was ordered but not yet shipped, it's been placed on hold. If it turns out we have to cancel those orders, your FTPs will be returned to your account. If you want more details about your specific order, please contact the FTP store at customersupport@fulltiltpoker.com and they can look up the status of your order. 13. when are you paying the take 2 money ? - Non-US players should have already been paid for Take 2. For US players, see question 2. If you are a non-US player and haven't gotten paid for Take 2 yet, contact support and they will look into it for you. We were pretty conservative when it came to identifying players as US players so it's possible you were wrongly tagged and that's why you haven't gotten paid yet. 14. I'm very curious as to what will happen to players that made deposits that have not yet been collected from their bank accounts? - At this point it's not clear what will happen here. We're looking into it and as soon as we know more we'll inform the affected players. 15. i just cashed out large parts of my roll via local bank transfer because i'm still not sure whats happening and i obviously wanna be rather safe than sorry. rumours say that full tilt went bankrupt and is going to have problems to pay out euro players once they start paying the players from the u.s. can you comment on that and explain why my money is supposed to be safe? i dont wanna go to stars or something bc i hate that site but when it comes to security/reliability stars is looking way better these days than full tilt. how can i be sure that my funds are really safe? - We are not bankrupt. While there is some fallout from the US situation on non-US withdrawals (mostly in the form of delays), we won't have any problems paying out Euro (or any other) players, even after players in the US have their withdrawals processed. 16. why Webmoney still not working, sir? - I'm hearing the Webmoney issue will be resolved within a week or so. Sorry for the delay. 17. What about FT [transaction] history. When will that be back up? - Transaction History should be working again for US players tomorrow I think. If not tomorrow, then by next week at the latest. Sorry about that. 18. can us players still play the race to the main event freeroll? - No, I'm afraid not. 19. We all need an answer to when and how long it should take for FTP support to get back to us. - There are a couple of issues here. One is for US players getting nothing back except for a generic template explaining the current situation (or, worse, nothing at all). This was the advice given to support by our legal team, so their hands were tied. We're trying to get more clarity here as soon as possible as to what exactly they can and can't say (as opposed to the current "don't say anything" approach) so that support can be more helpful to US players. I do apologize for the length of silence coming from Full Tilt. It's a sensitive situation and I think we probably were a bit overly cautious here. 20. What will happen with my bankwire I req in early march that still hasnt gone thru? - Contact cashier@fulltiltpoker.com (or FTPSean if the cashier people haven't gotten back to you in a reasonable amount of time) with all of the details and they will look into it for you. Again, let me apologize for the length of time it's taken to give these answers (and apologize for the fact that many of the answers aren’t very satisfying yet). I'm going to do my best to keep everyone as up to date as possible as often as possible, but the situation is complicated and I'm pretty limited in what I can say without a bunch of approval. Doug

9am - April 28, 2011

Ira Rubin, another of the 11 individuals indicted by the Department of Justice, has been arrested and is being held in Miami. Rubin was arrested in Guatemala on April 25th and was since extradited to the US.

Rubin was a payment processor and is facing nine federal charges including conspiracy to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act; three counts of violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act in connection with Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker; three counts of operation of an illegal gambling business in connection with Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker; conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering conspiracy.

Click here for the story.

9am - April 27, 2011

PokerStars begins processing withdrawals for its former customers from the US.

Click here to read the story.

9am - April 22, 2011

Absolute Poker issues its first statement. Absolute Poker nor UltimateBet will be entering into similar agreements with the DOJ as PokerStars or Full Tilt, but Absolute stresses that refunding US players' accounts is a top priority.

Absolute Poker has retained Blank Rome LLP as United States counsel to provide legal advice in relation to civil and criminal matters filed in federal court in Manhattan and made public on April 15, 2011," the statement reads.

Absolute Poker is aware that on April 19, 2011, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York entered into separate agreements with Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars. These agreements concern the use of the respective www.fulltiltpoker.com and www.pokerstars.com domain names. The US Attorney, in a press release dated April 20, 2011, stated that the government is willing to enter the same agreement with Absolute Poker and UB.

At this time, Absolute Poker’s top priority is, and must be, the refund of balances to its and UB’s U.S. players. However, given the far-reaching consequences of the U.S. Attorney’s actions for Absolute Poker and for the entire poker community, Absolute Poker believes that the responsible course of action is to review with its attorneys the relevant court filings before taking any action.

Absolute Poker believes that the U.S. Attorney shares the view that refunds to U.S. players are an immediate and pressing concern, and Absolute Poker wishes to make clear that it wants to work cooperatively with the U.S. Attorney to safely and efficiently return its players’ funds. To that end, Absolute Poker’s counsel has initiated communications with the U.S. Attorney’s office and plans to continue proactively advancing those discussions.

2pm - April 20, 2011

PokerStars posts an FAQ, answering common questions for US players with real money accounts.

Click here for the PokerStars FAQ.

10am - April 20, 2011

PokerStars releases a statement in a pop-up in their poker client outlining the agreement they've struck with the DoJ. It includes continued real money poker for players outside the US, and the refund of US players' account balances.

PokerStars.com is pleased to confirm that the US Department of Justice has agreed to release the www.pokerstars.com domain name for use by PokerStars outside the US.The company categorically denies the allegations brought by the US Department of Justice on 15th April 2011 and is taking all steps necessary to robustly defend itself, and the two named individuals.Meanwhile, the company has stopped offering real money poker services in the United States.PokerStars' services outside of the US are not affected. The company has received assurance from the Isle of Man regulator that its license status is unchanged. The company remains compiant with all of its other international licenses.Following discussions with the US Department of Justice, PokerStars has now entered into an agreement which has been publicly filed. The US Department of Justice Agreement expressly states that the domain can be used by PokerStars outside the US to facilitate the provision of real money poker services, and that PokerStars can pay out balances to its former customers in the US.Returning US players' funds is a top priority for PokerStars and the company can now start the process of returning money to its former US customers.All PokerStars deposits are completely safe. The Isle of Man's strict licensing laws (similar to other jursdictions where PokerStars holds licenses) require all funds to be held in accounts that are segregated from company assets. PokerStars has always complied with this requirement and continues to do so. This money is readeily available to meet withdrawal demands, indeed the company continues to comply with withdrawal requests from players based outside the US as normal.Outside the US PokerStars continues to operate business as usual.

9am - April 20, 2011

The US Department of Justice releases a statement announcing that the .com domains for PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and AP/UB will be returned to the companies in order to facilitate the return of American players' funds.

The DoJ will work with the poker operators to create a process for these refunds, since the payment processors used previously are compromised.

Furthermore, the DoJ emphasizes that no player accounts were ever seized in connection to the recent criminal and civil charges.

Click here to read the story.

Click here to read the DoJ press release.

4pm - April 19, 2011

Chad Elie, another of the 11 individuals named by the DoJ, was released on bail after pleading not-guilty. Elie is a payment processor from Illinois.

Click here for the story.

11am - April 18, 2011

Bradley Franzen, one of the 11 principals named in the federal indictment, surrenders to FBI and pleads not-guilty. Franzen subsequently released on a $200,000 bond.

Franzen is President of Chicago-based IJ International, and acted as an agent for First Data Corp of Atlanta, one of the big processors of e-commerce payments.

Click here for the story.

10am - April 18, 2011

John Pappas of the PPA appears on Bloomberg to discuss the developing situation. Click here for the interview.

9am - April 18, 2011

Absolute Poker releases a pop-up in their poker client.

As you may be aware, we have suspended real money activity for online players based in the U.S. due to legal developments. Players outside the US are not affected by these developments, and they can continue to access and play in our poker room.

The Absolute Poker website has been moved to www.absolulepoker.eu and our Support email is now support@absolutepoker.net. We ask for your patience as we endeavor to attend to all player enquiries.

We apologize for inconvenience or concern caused by these circumstances. We will update you as soon as possible.

3pm - April 16, 2011

PokerStars begins calling players to assure them in person that their money is secure, as reported by a forum poster on Two Plus Two.

Originally Posted by MattC

PokerStars gave me a call today. Not a whole lot of new information but figured I would share what I was told. I was told they are calling all players to relay this information. 1) They again reassured me that player's funds are safe. 2) They plan to have more information to give us on Monday or Tuesday. 3) I asked them if I made a foreign bank account if that would help me retrieve the funds more quickly. They told me it was their general policy that you can't cash out anywhere but the country you reside in but given the special circumstances that new options may be made available.

11am - April 16, 2011

Working Full Tilt Poker client available for download on new FTP domain.http://www.fulltiltpoker.co.uk/

10am - April 16, 2011

Full Tilt Poker addresses withdrawals and money in players' accounts.

Statement from Full Tilt Poker Regarding Recent Check Withdrawal Issues

In light of recent events involving the freezing of certain accounts, Full Tilt Poker would like to assure all players that their funds remain safe and secure. Processing of both deposit and withdrawal requests is proceeding as normal and is still available to all of our players.

All players who were affected by the current situation have had their funds returned to their accounts and all new withdrawal requests are proceeding normally. We assure all players on Full Tilt Poker that your playing experience will not change and that you will be able to both deposit and withdraw funds as needed. Your money remains safe, secure and accessible at all times.

Full Tilt Poker remains committed to the protection of our players' security and legal rights, and will continue to provide the best and safest online poker room available worldwide.

8:30pm - April 15, 2011

PokerStars releases a pop-up in their poker client.

Important Notice from PokerStars

As you may have heard, we have had to suspend real money poker services to people based in the US due to legal developments there. The developments are confined to the US and do not have any impact on your ability to continue using our services.

Please be assured player balances are safe. There is no cause for concern. For all customers outside the US it is business as usual.

The PokerStars website has been moved to www.pokerstars.eu and our support email address is now support@pokerstars.eu. We apologise to our players for any inconvenience caused by this disruption.

Please be aware that we are currently experiencing a very high volume of emails, so response times are delayed. We will answer player emails as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.

7pm - April 15, 2011

Full Tilt Poker drops a press release addressing the situation.

Dublin Ireland (April 15, 2011)- Full Tilt Poker is saddened by today's charges against its CEO Raymond Bitar and offers its full support to Mr. Bitar and Nelson Burtnick. Online poker is a game of skill enjoyed by tens of millions of people in the United States and across the world. And, Full Tilt Poker remains as committed as ever to preserving the rights of those players to play the game they love online. Mr. Bitar and Full Tilt Poker believe online poker is legal - a position also taken by some of the best legal minds in the United States. Full Tilt Poker is, and has always been committed to preserving the integrity of the game and abiding by the law. "I am surprised and disappointed by the government's decision to bring these charges. I look forward to Mr. Burtnick's and my exoneration," said Mr. Bitar. Unfortunately, as a result of this action, Full Tilt Poker has decided that it must suspend "real money" play in the United States until this case is resolved. However, Full Tilt Poker will continue to provide peer-to-peer online poker services outside of the United States.

5pm - April 15, 2011

In response to federal charges Wynn Resorts pulls out of its partnership with PokerStars.com and Station Casinos pulls out of its partnership with Full Tilt Poker.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704628404576265060852516194.html

4pm - April 15, 2011

PokerStars.com relaunches site on http://www.pokerstars.eu/

2:30pm - April 15, 2011

Cash play is locked for US players on PokerStars.

The FBI seizes the domain names PokerStars.com, FullTiltPoker.com, AbsolutePoker.com, UltimateBet.com and they are locked by the registrars.

2pm - April 15, 2011

The US Attorney's office in New York communicates in a press release that federal charges including bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling have been brought against the three biggest online poker rooms, PokerStars.com, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute/UltimateBet.

Click here for our news story with quotes from the US Attorney.

View official document here.

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Trickett, Mercier, Negreanu Crush Aussie Millions Cash Game

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:12:51 -0800

Antonius was all-in for about $80k, Negreanu for $148k and Mercier had both players covered. This was all pre-flop and they ended up running the board three times.

Incredibly Negreanu tabled A♦ A♣ and the aces held up all three times.

Antonius whiffed with K♠ K♦ and Mercier outright mucked his hand.

Unfortunately for the TV crew the cameras weren’t rolling at the time and they missed the whole sequence.

“The cameras weren’t rolling?” asked Mercier. “Well, that’s a relief.”

Antonius merely shrugged and told the nearest floor manager, “I would like another $100k.”

Considering Negreanu’s bad fortune on High Stakes Poker he might want to consider never playing when the cameras are rolling.

A bit later on we talked to Mercier briefly while the game was still going on and he gave us his thoughts on the experience.

“This game is so sick,” he said. “I lost $100k in the first hour and now I’m up over $200k.”

When the game finally broke it was actually Sam Trickett who was the big winner. “Tricky” bought in for $200k and left with an astounding $648k.

Mercier left with about $160,000 in profit and Negreanu ended up approximately $160k.

Negreanu later Tweeted he now plans on playing the $250k later this week.

The rest of the players? Well let’s just say they can try and make it all back tomorrow.

Here’s a few photos we snapped:

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HPT Founder Todd Anderson - Full Interview Transcript

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 04:00:00 -0800

PokerListings.com: What was the original vision and goal with Heartland Poker Tour, and has that changed as a result of all the changes poker has gone through in recent years?

Todd Andersen: It’ll be seven years almost to the day right now and in the beginning we really didn’t have any lofty goals. We just wanted to create a poker television show that normal people could play.

My business partner and I had been friends for a long time and we were playing a lot of poker casually in local casinos and stuff. We live in North Dakota and there was a casino about 80 miles away where we used to play at once a week or something.

At the time the only thing on TV really was the WSOP Main Event and the World Poker Tour, and it just seemed impossible for regular players to get into a $10,000 event. So we were just kicking around the idea of creating our own show and that was the genesis of it.

Is that sort of the overriding tone of these events, that it’s accessible and comfortable for the recreational player? How have people reacted to that idea?

I remember the first tournament we did and we had like 200 players and people loved it. I think people were excited to see a tournament that could attract a good-sized field and generate a fairly big prize pool but I think a lot of people were skeptical about the idea.

"I know a lot of the casinos we worked with in the beginning were very skeptical about the idea that these two guys from Fargo were going to get a TV show produced."

I know a lot of the casinos we worked with in the beginning were very skeptical about the idea that these two guys from Fargo were going to get a TV show produced. And they should have been skeptical. In retrospect it was a lot more difficult than we thought it would be.

But it’s worked out. I think a big part of why it’s working is because we really try to foster an environment where people get together to have fun, and poker is the thing that’s bringing them together.

The biggest prize we’ve ever had was almost $300,000, which is a big contrast to the first tournament we did where first prize was $30,000.

With so many recreational players in these fields, and a manageable buy-in, are there many professionals following the tour?

I’d have to say the range of players is about as wide as it can get. You’ve got players that have never played a live event before in their lives all the way to some very exceptional players.

The very first final table we had there was a kid named Cody Slaubaugh and he’s gone on to great things as a professional poker player. He’s had great results since but he was just an 18-year-old kid from Fargo back at that final table.

I remember thinking he was some punk kid back then (laughs), but it turns out he’s a really nice guy and we’ve become friends.

I’d say 80 percent of our players are what I’d call enthusiasts. They have nine to five jobs and they play poker for fun. But that other 20 percent are making a living playing poker, and you’re usually going to see a few of them at the final table.

How has Black Friday Changed Things for Heartland Poker Tour?

Since Black Friday we’ve definitely seen an uptick in our events. We had our biggest event ever in October in Colorado where had our first million-dollar prize pool.

A final table on the Heartland Poker Tour.

I think there are a lot of players who used to be able to play online, whether it’s for fun or to make a living, and now they’re forced to come out to the casino to play tournaments.

And our events offer a lot of value. You can win a lot of money. The idea of winning $300k from a $1,500 buy-in is pretty exceptional.

Let me put it this way, a pro in our field is going to have an advantage. I’m sort of surprised our events haven’t been targeted more by the sort of low to mid-stakes grinders because they do offer such great value.

Do you think HPT is showing poker in a positive light, and showing it to people who might otherwise not be exposed to it?

I would definitely say that our tour has brought poker to a lot of mainstream players. We’ve had in excess of 60,000 unique players that have played in HPT events. This is a great way for beginner players to sort of slide into the game.

You can come and play qualifiers for as little as $40, or a $180 super satellite where 10 percent of the field gets into the main.

It’s a great way to get out and play live comfortably and not get overwhelmed and make sure you have a great experience.

It’s a really social atmosphere so people are making friends and coming back to events and seeing each other. It’s really great to see that happening.

It’s different than the big buy-in events where you really feel that pressure, because it’s a lot of money and people have so much riding on it.

HPT’s growth has been very healthy. What are the predictions for the next few years?

I foresee very significant growth for us in the next few years, and I’m not just blowing smoke, there are some very definite reasons.

Every day we’re exposing new people to this brand and our merger with Epic Poker has opened up a lot of new doors for us in that department.

We’ve added six new levels to our main event structure and we’re just going to continue to expand to new locations, and continue to improve our tournament experience for our players.

The other thing is that we have a very unique syndicated television model which makes us a very durable show. It’s basically free to any station that wants to pick it up so we reach a whole variety of audiences.

As long as we’re putting on fair tournaments and as long as we’re putting on a good quality TV show I don’t see any end in sight for the Heartland Poker Tour.

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Ride a Unicycle, Win $10,000

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:01:00 -0800

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A Picture is Worth $100,000?

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 21:09:45 -0800

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Guide to Poker Hand Nicknames in Australia

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:45:05 -0800

– Qantas Airlines

– Crocodile Dundee

– Paul Hogan

– Little Crocodile Dundee

– Kingaroo Jack

– Queengaroo Jack

– Aceroo Jack

– Foster’s LAGer

– Crocodile Dundee

– Crocodile Dundee 2

– Linda Kozlowski

– Kangaroo Jacks

– Wallabies

– the four-be-two

– Vegemite on toast

– Big Crikey

– The Kiwi

– Chopper Reid (Don't ask why he has three cards)

– Quigley Down Under

- Boomerangs

To lose a hand and throw a telephone at your opponent – The Russell Crowe

Keep an eye on our Live Coverage section for Live Updates and News from the 2012 Aussie Millions.

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Nathan "Blackrain79" Williams - Full Interview Transcript

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:18:33 -0800

PokerListings.com: Hello Nathan! Let’s start with your backstory. Please tell us a bit about where you came from, before getting into poker.

Blackrain79: I grew up in Maple Ridge which is a suburb of Vancouver, BC and I was really into sports growing up as a kid. I was really competitive.

I went to Simon Fraser University and did a degree in History and Philosophy and I ended up getting into poker when I was about 24.

It was pretty much the same story. A friend of mine showed us Hold’em at a party and I ended up getting really lucky and winning, and found Party Poker online the next day, this is in 2004, and started playing with play money.

"At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL."

I played that for about a year and was winning a lot just playing tight and I ended up finding a way to sell play chips so that’s how I got my first small bankroll. I sold like 5 million play chips for $60.

Eventually I moved to PokerStars and started playing the lowest stakes they had which I think was 1c/2c and just employed my strategy of playing super tight and it worked.

I bought some Two Plus Two books from the PokerStars store, Theory of Poker was the first book I ever read, and I saw the address to the forums on the back.

I started really learning a lot from the forums and I started playing a lot and mass multi-tabling and moving up.

I quit my job in 2007 to play NL100 and I ended up playing millions of hands at the lower stakes. I guess I didn’t really have the right work ethic and I kind of just hung around the micros.

And then when PTR came out my exploits at the lowest stakes became public knowledge and it became interesting for people to talk about.

I’ve been blogging for a long time and in 2010 I got involved with coaching and now I work with DragTheBar.com.

Then I had an idea for a book and wrote Crushing the Microstakes in 2011.

You mention your ‘exploits’. Tell us more about why you caught people’s interest.

I guess because no one was playing as many hands as I was and getting such high winrates. And people just thought it was crazy.

I think it was just the sheer number of hands. I’ve played about 6 million hands online. And most of those are at NL25 or below.

At the very lowest stakes I have the most winnings ever on PokerStars, at 2NL and 5NL.

Are there other people putting in that kind of volume at the micros?

There are actually yeah. In a lot of countries out there where the American dollar goes a lot farther there are a lot of “professionals,” even at the lowest stakes.

If the dollar goes four times as far where you live it’s definitely possible to get by playing these really low stakes.

By writing a book like Crushing the Microstakes you’ve got to be contributing to the rising average skill of the players, essentially making it harder for you to earn money. Do you believe that there will be a time that games are unbeatable, or at least much harder to beat?

For years I actually stopped posting in strategy forums, so did a lot of players, because everyone was kind of scared the games would just get too tough.

But after a while I just realized that the players you make the most from playing lower stakes are just recreational players.

"Recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros."

They’re not joining training sites or reading forums or buying my book.

Sure, the regs in these games will continue to get better by using books like this, but the recreational players really aren’t doing anything to improve, and that’s where most of your money is coming from at the micros.

And I don’t subscribe to the opinion that anyone can just join a training site or get some coaching and expect to be as good as the best regs.

There’s always going to be a pecking order in poker.

Dusty Schmidt said in a blog post about a year ago that he thought the games are as hard now as they’re ever going to get and I agree with that.

These recreational players are always going to be there to play.

Now that you’ve been making a living playing poker for a while how happy are you with your decision to pursue it professionally and spend a big chunk of your life playing?

I got into poker for the same reason as a lot people. I loved the freedom and the independence that poker offers.

I haven’t exactly gotten rich playing poker but I don’t regret it at all.

I knew that the corporate nine-to-five gig wasn’t for me even though I did get a degree so the freedom and the control over your own destiny that poker has was really appealing.

In poker if you’re willing to take some calculated risks and put in the work you can play all day and all night and move up stakes and give yourself a pay raise.

There’s a ton of benefits if you can make it work.

Do you feel like poker is a viable way to make a living for young people who have the brains and the work ethic that it takes to play poker day in and day out?

Five years ago it looked more optimistic to play poker professionally but even now in 2012 I don’t think my opinion has changed all that much.

If you’re young and disciplined and want to take a shot at this I don’t think there’s any reason not to. You don’t have to give up your life to try poker or anything.

I really feel strongly about going after what you want, that’s how I’ve tried to live my life, and I don’t regret getting into poker.

I’m in my thirties and I’m really happy with the decisions I’ve made.

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Poker Goals and Questions for 2012 – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 10:49:58 -0800

I’d love to make a profit goal, but I don’t like the idea of it due to the unpredictable nature of the game.

I mentioned that I had a profit goal of $30k last year, but I’m not even sure where I came up with that number. I think I just pulled a random number out of a hat and decided that it was my goal.

So I don’t want to make a profit goal. On the other hand, however, I really don’t think I want to continue playing online poker unless I can start making decent money.

In late 2011 I said to a friend, “If I don’t make at least $50k next year, I’m quitting professional poker.” He seemed surprised that I would say that.

Maybe it was a stupid thing to say and maybe it’s an empty threat, but I feel like playing poker and just scraping by with bills is silly. Poker has no benefits and no job security.

The situation with online poker in the U.S. has shown that online poker can just disappear without warning. Is it really worth this risk to make $40/hour? And then there’s also the fact that playing poker for a living isn’t very fun sometimes.

Actually, it’s often downright infuriating.

For the amount of stress that I sometimes feel playing this game for a living, I would hope to make more than what I made last year.

So while I’m not going to set a profit goal, I’m going to guess that earning less than $50k (pre-rakeback) next year is going to make me seriously rethink poker as a career.

The one thing I have 100% control over is the number of hours I play, so that seems like a good goal to make. My goal is to play an average of 30 hours of poker per week.

Realistically I think that I will play around 40 weeks of poker this year, so that’s 1,200 hours of poker. I played around 900 hours last year, so it’s a decent upgrade.

When everything is considered, I hope to make at least $50/hour playing poker in 2012. That includes rakeback, but it also includes time spent reviewing. I usually review between 2 and 4 hours per week.

So there are my hopes and dreams for 2012! I look forward to blogging about my experiences along the way.

What are your poker goals for this year? Feel free to leave a comment and thanks for reading.

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IG tester

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:50:54 -0800

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Top 5 Real Winners from Isildur1's PCA Title

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 12:08:04 -0800

5. Andreas “Skjervoy” Torbergsen

Andreas “Skjervoy” Torbergsen may not be the most well-known player on this list but historically he’s one of the biggest winners against Isildur1.

Torbergsen torched Isildur1 for $612,718 in 9,102 hands on PokerStars so there’s a good chance he would be willing to resume the battle against his Scandinavian rival.

Tempers have flared between the two opponents before with Isildur1 calling Skjervoy a “…stupid ugly nit…” and accusing the Norwegian of hitting and running on several occasions.

4. Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond

Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond did not have the best 2011 and after some pretty heavy swings finished with only $2.5k in profit.

That doesn’t mean Galfond is afraid of playing Isildur1, however. Back in the day Galfond was one of the bigger winners against Blom and even booked a $1.6 million session against the Scandi.

In addition Galfond is one of the few players in online poker who has the bankroll to play the highest stakes.

3. RaiseOnce

RaiseOnce is a bit of wildcard in the high stakes games on PokerStars.

Many players believe the account belongs to Phil Ivey but since hitting the high stakes games on PokerStars he’s done nothing but lose.

In just 546 hands over the last few months RaiseOnce has lost a total of $256k.

Phil Ivey and Isildur1 have done battle in the past, however, and there’s no reason why they won’t renew acquaintances over the next few months.

2. Ilari Sahamies

Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies was the biggest winner on PokerStars in 2011 and so far he’s shown no signs of slowing down.

Despite having somewhat similar styles, Ilari Sahamies and Isildur1 have never been the biggest rivals.

Perhaps now that that they both have a considerable amount of money on PokerStars railbirds will finally get what they’ve been waiting for and will see a massive session between Sahamies and Blom.

1. Fake Love888

Outside of Brian Hastings (who Isildur1 simply won’t play anymore) Patrik Antonius was the one player Viktor Blom could not beat.

Antonius famously raked in a $1.3 million pot – the biggest in online poker history – against Isildur1 during the huge 2009 sessions.

Fake Love888 hasn’t exactly lit PokerStars on fire since reactivating his account in late September and has lost over $700k.

Still, Antonius actually has the cash to survive those losses and he’ll likely be hungry to make a big comeback.

If the Fake Love888 is actually Antonius, as is rumored, it’s all but guaranteed the two action-loving players will face off in the near future.

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Sergio Garcia Might Be Good at Poker

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:46:12 -0800

If you want evidence, consider that one year ago Garcia also played in the PCA main event but lasted just a few short levels on his Day 1 heat.

This year he's managed to advance to Day 3 in the same tournament.

That's three times as far at least, indicating to us that he’s at least three times as good as he was in 2011.

He hasn't increased his speed much, according to a few reports from his table, but we'll give him a pass on that as that's how he plays golf too.

“Any time you try do something at a high level it’s going to be tough and there are going to be some similarities,” Sergio told us when we spoke to him a year ago.

“There’s a huge mental game in both and it’s important to have mental strength,” he said.

While it is true that Sergio Garcia has no real poker results per se, he did win a televised celebrity event sponsored by PokerStars in Spain.

Check out Garcia here deftly folding A-7 when his opponent had pocket aces. Spanish fluency not mandatory.

And a few pictures we picked up in the Bahamas last year.

Sergio Garcia at the 2011 PCA main event

Sergio Garcia

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Isaac Haxton Might be Good at Poker

Fri, 06 Jan 2012 11:43:24 -0800

Interestingly it was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure that first brought Haxton to our attention, and it’s the PCA that put him on our radar today.

The first entry on Haxton’s tournament record is an $861,789 runner-up finish in the 2007 PCA main event.

Since then he’s earned roughly $2.7 million playing live poker tournaments and he’s looking to build on that big-time today in the Bahamas as he leads the final 16 in the $100,000 buy-in Super High Roller event.

The Backstory

When you find players excelling in poker at a young age more often than not they excelled at other mental athletics as well. Such was the case for young Isaac Haxton.

Born in New York and raised in Syracuse, Haxton was the son of an English professor and started playing chess at four years of age.

Haxton was too cool for school, or at least the fifth grade.

Like some sort of Tenenbaum replicant Haxton skipped the fifth grade and was absorbed by Magic: The Gathering by age ten. Swept up in the wave of MTG players making the switch to poker, Haxton was making trips to the Turning Stone Casino in New York as a high-school senior. It wasn't long after that he found online poker.

Haxton started winning and, using the knack for gaming excellence he had acquired early on, applied himself to poker in a big way.

The Evidence

Isaax Haxton has been providing evidence that he might be good at poker for years, starting chiefly with the aforementioned $861k PCA score five years ago.

As we reported all those years ago, Haxton ran extremely bad to have transferred his winnings from his PokerStars account to Neteller. That’s because the day after the funds hit his Neteller account, the online payment processor’s funds were seized by the Department of Justice and its owners arrested.

It took many months for Haxton to recoup the money, but luckily for him he went on to earn another $214,000 before the end of 2007. That mini-heater included a final table at the WSOP, and extended straight into 2008 with four more World Series cashes and a six-figure payday at the EPT London High Roller event.

Haxton’s biggest score to date came at the 2009 WSOP when he finished second to Vitaly Lunkin in the $40,000 40th Anniversary event. Haxton earned $1,168,568.

In 2010 Haxton fared well with two more six-figure finishes, winning a $2,500 Venetian Deep Stack event and finishing ninth in the $25k WSOP Six-Max Championship.

His most recent windfall before today’s PCA Super High Roller came in the way of a third-place finish in the $100,000 buy-in event at the Bellagio’s Five Diamond series in Las Vegas. That result earned him $581,806.

Keep an eye on our Poker News section for ongoing updates on the 2012 PCA Super High Roller event.

And now we treat you to the photo reel of Isaax Haxton we’ve compiled over the years.

Haxton used to have long hair, like really long.

Looking very Jim Morrison at the 2007 WSOP.

2008 and the hair remains.

2009 was the first time we saw Haxton 2.0

After a while it just started to look normal.

One year ago in the Bahamas.

Read More Posts About People Who Might Be Good at Poker:

Praz Banzi Erik Seidel Vanessa Selbst Liv Boeree Arnaud Mattern Tobias Reinkemeier Andrew Lichtenberger Ludovic Lacay

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2011 Year in Review – Courtney Gee Poker Blog

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 11:15:28 -0800

I started playing poker around 6 years ago back in university, but I definitely played more poker this year than the other 5 years combined. I played almost 370k hands which is pretty low compared to the average grinder but quite a lot for me.

In past entries I mentioned that my goal for online poker profit this year (before rakeback and bonuses) was $30k. At the end of November it looked like making the goal was going to be pretty easy since I was less than $500 away. But I forgot one minor detail: it’s easy to lose money playing this game. Oops. Here were the (somewhat disappointing) final numbers for 2011:

# MTTs: 2,290 # SnGs: 3,850 Total online profit: +$29,077.18 (before rakeback and bonuses)

Actually I would have just barely made the profit goal if I hadn’t decided to play MTTs on the very last day I played this month. But I couldn’t skip the 10th Anniversary Sunday Million, right?! It was actually fun playing MTTs for the first time in ages. I went deep-ish in a $55+R, but unfortunately I busted 41st and still ended up losing a bunch for the day.

While I’m annoyed that I fell short of my goal, I’m happy with how the year went. I had some live winnings, bonuses, and rakeback, so overall I made ~$40/hour. I survived my first real year of being a pro grinder, increased my bankroll, and became a better player in the process. And I achieved Supernova for the first time :)

I also improved my life outside of poker, which is equally important. I started working out at the gym three times a week, and I eat much healthier. I think that maintaining a healthy diet and eating properly is something that many poker players overlook. I will probably write an entry about food one of these days.

Anyway, I’m obviously not going to get rich making $30k/year, so I’m looking for a bigger year in 2012. I’ve been thinking seriously about my goals for next year, and I will share those with you in my next entry.

Thanks to everyone that supported me in 2011 and to everyone that has followed this blog. I really look forward to sharing my experiences again in 2012. Happy New Year!

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Kevmath > Klout: The Real Top 10 Social Media Players in Poker

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 13:45:11 -0800

Note: The list doesn't include members of the poker media.

1. Daniel Negreanu

The obvious top choice as the main face of PokerStars. Negreanu influences the poker community through his blogs, tweets and relentless media effort.

Twitter Followers: 142,812

Facebook: Interest Page - 27,824, Athlete Page: 19,688

2. Matt Savage

The World Poker Tour head tournament director combines responses to questions regarding rulings, busting Matt Affleck's balls on the links and his wife's obsession with Tim Tebow into an entertaining Twitter feed.

Twitter Followers: 15,959

Facebook Fans: 1,236

3. Doyle Brunson

The Poker Hall of Famer has cut down on the blonde jokes but he's not afraid to offer his thoughts on sports, poker or the world around him.

Twitter Followers: 382,777

4. Jean-Robert Bellande

He's allegedly broke, but he's not living like a dollar millionaire.

Twitter Followers: 30,913

5. Jason Mercier

He may not have created the #whenwillitend hashtag, but he made it his own after another seven-figure year. Also good at #mashing.

Twitter Followers: 33,970

Facebook: 9,697

6. Erik Seidel

Winning over $6.5m this year hasn't stopped the Seiborg from dropping amusing Tweets.

Twitter Followers: 35,140

Facebook Fans: 3,525

7. Jack Effel

THE go-to guy for all questions, problems and concerns at the World Series of Poker.

Twitter Followers: 7,742

8. Phil Hellmuth

Worth the "follow" for his name-dropping and random usage of quotation marks.

Twitter Followers: 105,394

Facebook Fans: 32,685

9. Matt Glantz

The high-stakes regular stepped up his Twitter game in 2011 with his jabs at his fellow pros, especially Allen Bari.

Twitter Followers: 9,132

10. Shane Schleger

This online grinder typified players affected most by Black Friday. Schleger's adventures in Canada and Mexico along with his popular blog make his Twitter feed popular.

Twitter Followers: 3,675

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Steve O’Dwyer Might Be Good at Poker

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:21:56 -0800

O’Dwyer has been cashing in live majors since 2007 and though he’s never exactly struggled, he’s seriously hit his stride in 2011.

He once told us he got started online as a beta-tester for Full Tilt Poker, bug-reporting in exchange for tournament tickets.

This past year he’s made 10 final tables in events with a buy-in of $1,000 or more, including such highlights as:

1st - €1k PLO rebuy at EPT Loutraki - $25,439 1st - $1,500 Epic Pro-Am - $43,810 1st - $5k No-Limit Hold’em at Bellagio Cup VII - $259,452 2nd – WPT Venice €3k Main Event - $128,063 2nd – EPT London £5k Main Event - $726,790 4th – Wynn Classic $2k No-Limit Hold’em - $17,227 5th – EPT Barcelona €10k NLHE Single Reload - $67,568 5th – WPT Championship $5k No-Limit Hold’em - $26,715 6th – WSOP Europe €3k Shootout - $48,568 8th – NAPT Uncasville $5k Main Event - $32,330

O’Dwyer has total lifetime earnings in excess of $2 million, thanks to a long list of cashes between his recent heater and the event in which he recorded his first live result, the 2007 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Those years were highlighted by eight WSOP cashes, including a final table in the 2009 $10k Heads-Up Championship for $92,580. He also made the final table of the 2009 $15k WPT Five Diamond main event for $202,362.

O’Dwyer is also an accomplished online poker tournament player under the screenname “Mr. Tim Caum”.

Check out the photos of Steve O’Dwyer we’ve collected over the last four years.

O'Dwyer at the 2011 EPT London final table.

Steve O'Dwyer at the final table of the €3k Shootout, 2011 WSOPE

Steve O'Dwyer on Day 5 of the 2011 EPT London main event.

Steve O'Dwyer on Day 1B of the 2011 EPT London main event

Stephen O'Dwyer on Day 1a of the 2010 PCA main event

Steve O'Dwyer on Day 2 of the 2010 EPT London Main Event

Steven O'Dwyer on Day 2 of the 2007 WPT World Poker Finals.

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$1 Million Big One at 2012 WSOP: Player List and Bios

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:04:57 -0800

We’re going to go through the list of confirmed players, updating it as more people jump on board, and we’ll be using our network of insider contacts to make a few educated guesses about who else might be able to afford the most ballingest buy-in in poker history.

In addition to player bios we’ll be looking at the projected prize pool and the event’s One Drop charity component.

Tournament Stats

$1 million buy-in 10% of buy-in automatically donated to One Drop 48 player maximum 3 million starting chips

Confirmed Players for the $1 Million 2012 WSOP Big One

Guy Laliberté

Who he is: Founder of Cirque de Soleil, Guy Laliberté got his start busking on the streets of Montreal. Since then he’s grown his circus into a worldwide phenomenon that's been seen by more than 90 million people, been named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young and taken a vacation into space. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: As Canada’s 11th wealthiest man, with an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion, Laliberte is one of the few players in this event that can eat a $1 million loss without breaking a sweat. Fun Fact: Even if Laliberte wins this tournament it won’t fully make up for his online poker losses.

Bobby Baldwin

Who he is: The Owl, the 1978 world champion of poker, President of the Golden Nugget, Bellagio and Mirage. These are just a few of the things Bobby Baldwin has been called. A casino industry fixture for the last 30 years, there’s a reason the biggest cash game in Las Vegas is played in “Bobby’s Room”. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: According to the Casino Journal the average gaming CEO made $750,000 in 2007 and Baldwin has been a top-level executive since the 80s. And just think, he’s probably getting comps to the Bellagio buffet 365 days a year. Fun Fact: Despite having limited presence at live poker tournaments, Baldwin is the proud owner of four WSOP bracelets, including the world championship in ’78.

Phil Ruffin

Who he is: An American businessman with interests in casinos, oil production, convenience stores and real estate, Phil Ruffin is best known as the owner of the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: In 2008 Ruffin was named the 215th wealthiest man in the US, with a net worth of $2.1 billion. Even though the casino industry’s had some tough times we’re pretty sure he’s got a spare million lying around somewhere. Fun Fact: At 72 years old Ruffin married 26 year old Oleksandra Nikolayenko, his fourth wife and 2004's Miss Ukraine. Even more impressive? They just had their first child together.

Andy Beal

Who he is: Andy Beal started with nothing and built a banking and real estate empire. Noteworthy to us for playing some of the highest-stakes cash games in history against the absolute best in the world, Beal has little to no public presence, meaning we'll be doing our best to get an interview this summer. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: The 39th wealthiest person in the US, Beal has an estimated net worth of $7 billion. $1 million is inconsequential to him. Fun Fact: Beal, who fancies himself something of a math geek, put up a $100,000 prize for anyone who can prove or disprove “Beal’s Conjecture”, a generalization of Fermat’s famous last theorem.

Patrik Antonius

Who he is: Partrik Antonius holds a unique position in the poker world. Equal parts demi-god and superhuman, Antonius has proved that his good looks are matched only by his ability to win at poker. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Antonius has over $3.3 million in live earnings which represents one of the smallest parts of his net worth. Antonius has consistently been among the biggest winners online, profiting almost $12 million over the last five years. He was also one of the main faces of Full Tilt Poker. Fun Fact: Antonius was on the winning end of the biggest pot in online poker history, a $1.35 million behemoth against Viktor “Isildur1” Blom.

Gus Hansen

Who he is: Gus Hansen, the Great Dane, old-school Euro tournament crusher and pioneer of the super-LAG style that’s now old news. Gus Hansen was a big part of poker’s growth in Europe, and one of the big names that helps fight the stereotype of the slobby, malcontent grinder. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: A full patch member of Team Full Tilt, Hansen was likely compensated well for his endorsement. Hansen has won over $9.3 million playing live tournament poker but he’s down roughly $3.2 million playing cash poker online. It’s unlikely Hansen is truly rolled for this event. Fun Fact: Hansen was voted one of the 50 sexiest men alive in 2004 by People Magazine. We think People needs to get its eyes checked.

Daniel Negreanu

Who he is: Arguably the most recognizable face in poker, Daniel Negreanu has been among the winningest tournament players in the world for more than ten years. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: With $14.65 million in live tournament earnings Negreanu is number two on the all-time live money list. He’s also the flagship of Team PokerStars Pro, a position which has probably been as lucrative for him as every hand of poker he’s ever played. Fun Fact: Negreanu is no stranger to dropping money in poker tournaments. At the 2006 WSOP he reloaded a record 48 times in the $1k rebuy event.

Johnny Chan

Who he is: Back to back world champion Johnny Chan has ten WSOP bracelets and legend-status in the poker world. Chan was immortalized in Rounders, which is basically the poker player’s bible, if the bible was a movie from the 90s with Matt Damon. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Chan has made more than $8.5 million playing live tournament poker but if the rumors are true, that’s just the tip of the iceberg compared to what he makes playing high-stakes cash in Macau. Despite his earnings, dumping $1 million with nothing to show for it will sting. Fun Fact: Despite being born in China, and having a legitimate Chinese name, Johnny Chan is often referred to as “Chen Qiangni”, a transliteration of his adopted English name.

Tom Dwan

Who he is: In many ways Tom Dwan defined what it is to be an uber-successful, fearless, talented and young online poker professional. He’s part of a very small group looked upon as the absolute best of their generation. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Estimating Dwan’s net worth isn’t easy but considering he was willing to put $1 million up on two separate occasions for the durrrr Challenge, it should come as no surprise that Dwan was one of the first to commit to the Big One. Fun Fact: Dwan doesn’t just play on the internet. He won the biggest pot ever played on GSN’s High Stakes Poker, a $919,600 monster he took from Barry Greenstein in Season 5.

Tony Guoga

Who he is: Poker media magnate, tilt-inducing ego-maniac, Lithuanian child Rubik’s Cube champion. Real name Antanas Guoga, Tony G has a long list of tournament scores and a Trump-esque air of business acumen. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: A businessman who describes himself as being “from the street”, Tony G is nothing if not involved. Pokernews.com is the flagship of his media network, but it’s probably just the tip of the G’s corporate iceberg. Fun Fact: Tony G is a major sponsor of Lithuania’s national basketball team and reportedly paid a large part of the €500,000 entry fee to get them into the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

Jonathan Duhamel

Who he is: 2010 world champion of poker, Montreal poker poster boy, new BFF of Guy Laliberte. Jon Duhamel played a comfortable and hospitable poker ambassador during his tenure as world champ, and looks to have a staying power not shared by main event winners of late. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Duhamel snatched nearly $9 million for winning the 2010 Main Event, and he also secured a PokerStars endorsement deal that is still in place today. Despite having close to $10 million in tournament earnings it’s extremely unlikely he’ll have 100% of himself in the Big One. Fun Fact: Duhamel donated $100,000 to the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation when he won the main event.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Who he is: Rock star in Korea, recreational kickboxer, Guiness World Record Holder. Real name Bertrand Grospellier, ElkY has been one of the winningest players in poker since 2008. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: ElkY has $8.6 million in live tournament earnings and over $1.1 million online. In addition to a bloated bankroll he has the confidence of every potential staker in the world. It will not be hard for ElkY to sell action for the Big One. Fun Fact: He got kicked in the head by Lex Veldhuis just a few weeks ago.

Justin “BoostedJ” Smith

Who he is: From wheelchair to wealthy, BoostedJ has been winning at poker since an injury put him out of work at age 17. Since then he’s been a reserved but omnipresent part of the poker world. He’s a well-rounded, high-stakes veteran who plays many games and succeeds in both tournaments and cash games, online and live. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Smith has only been playing live tournament poker since late 2008 but already he’s earned more than $2 million. He’s definitely not afraid to play high. He took fourth in the $100,000 buy-in High Roller event at the 2011 Five Diamond in Las Vegas. Fun Fact: It appears Smith was involved in the 2011 horror movie Detention as an executive producer. The movie “starred” Dane Cook.

Daniel Shak

Who he is: Dan Shak is known in the poker world as a hedge fund manager, but he’s probably known as a poker player by his fellow financiers. Specializing in gold futures Shak has been finding more and more time to play live major poker tournaments. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Shak’s New York City apartment sold earlier this year for $7.5 million and judging by the number of super high roller events we’ve already seen Shak playing, his commitment to the Big One isn’t surprising. Fun Fact: Shak has the rare ability to say he beat Phil Ivey at poker. Shak won the $100,000 buy-in event at the 2010 Aussie Millions, defeating Ivey heads-up.

Loto-Québec satellite seat

Who he is: A random person from Quebec who wins the lottery draw for a seat to this event. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: He stopped trying to secede from Canada long enough to buy a lottery ticket. Fun Fact: He will probably be eating poutine when he discovers he’s won.

Caesars satellite seat

Who he is: Hopefully a degenerate Las Vegas local who goes on a ridiculous dice heater, culminating in him entering and winning the Big One satellite. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: Increased oxygen levels and free cocktails clouded his judgment, stopping him from leaving the casino mid-heater. Fun Fact: He will probably be watching Nascar when he discovers he’s won.

European satellite seat

Who he is: Probably named Jacques, or Soren, or Jan, this player will band together with fellow Euro-high rollers ElkY and Gustav. Why he can afford a $1M buy-in: He took a shot at the satellite despite having to put up with boorish Americans in order to cash in the prize. Fun Fact: He will probably be wearing a shirt with a popped collar when he discovers he’s won.

PokerListings.com will be on location in Las Vegas this summer so keep an eye on our 2012 WSOP live coverage section for video, news and live updates of the $1 million WSOP Big One .

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Game Review: Poker Drop for iPad and iPhone

Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:39:54 -0800

Cards don’t have to be arranged in sequence in order to count as hands. For example, the cards 2-3-4-5-6 will count as a straight regardless of their position to one another, as long as they’re in the same row or column.

Hands are scored on difficulty and you can super-charge your score using multipliers for speed and cascading hand combos.

While it does take a few minutes to wrap your head around the game-play it’s easy to pick up. And after playing for a few days we’ve yet to pass all ten levels.

This is a game you’ll pick up and play when you have a few minutes to burn, and it’s entertaining enough that you’ll continue to do so for more than a few days.

One thing you’ll notice is it’s very easy to make flushes and two-pair hands, and that they’re scored accordingly. To play this game well you must go after high-value hands, and that’s when things get complicated.

You must manage the board well to deal with the randomness factor of cards coming off the deck, setting yourself up to score big when the cards do come. Just like real poker!

Poker Drop is available for $1.99 in the iTunes App Store

Check out the screenshots below to get a feel for the game.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

The Basics of Online Account Security (Infographic)

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:02:23 -0800

If you’re looking for a program to help keep your computer secure and your mind at ease, here are a few apps we recommend:

AVG Free – Fully featured, high-quality, free virus protection. Housecall - Online virus scanner Snoop Free – Makes sure no one is snooping on you

If you’re looking for more detailed information on how to put together a strong password, you can find a great little guide on darknet.org.uk:

How to Make a Strong/Secure Password

Check out the infographic below and share it with your network of friends.

Visit www.pokerlistings.com

Six Days from Supernova! - Courtney Gee Poker Update

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:45:22 -0800

I ended November with a profit, but not as much as I was hoping for.

# SnGs: 1,150

Hours: 95

Net result: +$3,031.48

The November result means that I am just short of my profit goal for the year:

# online MTTs: 2,277

# online SnGs: 3,152

Net profit: +$29,539.43

It seems like it should be easy to hit it by the time I’m done playing this month, although December is going kind of badly so far. Sessions have been pretty frustrating, and it was topped off the other day by my power going out.

I had been playing for less than an hour and was building tables up, so I thought I only had like 9 tables at the time. A report from PokerStars says that 11 of my SnGs were affected, though. It was around $600 in buy-ins, which seems like a lot of money to just punt off because I have no backup solution for power.

Courtney also occasionally goes outside.

The problem was two-fold because my laptop had no juice and I also had no Internet. I probably could have tried to tether my laptop to my phone if I’d actually had battery on my laptop, but…

I ended up driving to Starbucks with my laptop. Obviously I got there and realized I’d left my RSA token at home, though. SIGH. Yes, I am a moron. I drove back home to get the damn RSA and by the time I was logged in, I had three SnGs left.

I was ridiculously short in all of them and could only double up in one. Eventually I had a solid stack but ran a little bad on the bubble, so I had to settle for 3rd. I salvaged $200, though, which is lucky!

I feel really stupid for letting a problem like this cost me money and time. It’s pretty easily preventable, but I just hadn’t bothered. I used to subscribe to mobile Internet, but I wasn’t using it often so I cancelled the monthly service. The Internet stick is just sitting in a box unused, and it’s kind of tilting to think that I could have paid for an entire year of the service with the amount of money I lost.

Being able to tether my phone is probably a good enough short term solution as long as my laptop is in okay condition. It would be way more ideal to continue to play on my desktop, though, so I might buy a generator in the new year.

If anyone reading this has some ideas for backup power/Internet for online poker, please comment and let me know. It’s definitely something every professional poker player should think about.

Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables! I’ll be back with a report once I finally hit Supernova.

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Top 10 Biggest Social Media Players in Poker

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:59:39 -0800

1. Daniel Negreanu

Twitter Followers:139,951

Facebook Fans: 27,507

2. Phil Hellmuth

Twitter Followers: 105,394

Facebook Fans: 32,685

3. Phil Ivey

Twitter Followers: 86,165

Facebook Fans: 85,802

4. Howard Lederer

Twitter Followers: 35,141

Facebook Fans: 1,671

5. Erik Seidel

Twitter Followers: 35,140

Facebook Fans: 3,525

6. Jennifer Harman

Twitter Followers: 33,141

Facebook Fans: 3,701

7. Matt Savage

Twitter Followers: 15,959

Facebook Fans: 1,236

8. Liv Boeree

Twitter Followers: 29,165

Facebook Fans: 6,083

9. Joe Sebok

Twitter Followers: 1,039,556

Facebook Fans: 5,549

10. Andy Bloch

Twitter Followers: 20,256

Facebook Fans: 1,239

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Hold The Button, Fry Howard Lederer (Flash Game)

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 06:21:53 -0800

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Q & A with Pius Heinz, Poker's Newest World Champion

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 11:21:50 -0800

PokerListings: It’s been a few weeks now, what’s changed for you since winning the 2011 Main Event?

Pius Heinz: It’s been a surreal experience since I won. Obviously a lot has changed for me.

I’ve had a lot of media attention over here in Germany. I’ve met a lot of cool, interesting people, a great deal of whom I’d only seen on TV before.

PL: What’s the reception been like from the German media?

PH: It’s been pretty good. I’m quite happy about it. You’re always going to have a few negative articles but most of it has been very positive.

The German media, in general, has been quite supportive. I’m really happy about that.

PL: What do you think your victory will do for German poker?

PH: I hope it helps grow the game in Germany. I want to do my part and be an ambassador for the game.

Poker is such a great, interesting game that has a unique psychological aspect to it. Hopefully I can relate that to the general public.

PL: How have your friends and family reacted?

PH: They’re all super happy and very proud of me. A lot of my friends and family came out to support me in Las Vegas and that made winning the title even better.

PL: If the money was the same would you have just taken second place and avoided dealing with the media and the various World Champion responsibilities?

PH: It’s a pretty big honor to be the WSOP champion. In 20 years when you have kids you can tell them you were the World Champion once.

Being the World Series of Poker Main Event champion is something no one can ever take away from you.

It’s like winning an Olympic gold medal or something like that. I’m really proud that I was able to achieve that and happy with how things turned out.

PL: Your white hoodie became one of your signatures at the table. Did you plan that all along?

PH: I just started wearing it at the poker table because it was comfortable. Once my Main Event started going well it became my good luck charm though.

PL: Did you know all your friends and fans would be wearing them at the Main Event final table?

PH: No, they surprised me with that. I thought it was really awesome. (laughs)

PL: Who helped you out most heading into the final table?

Timex was on the Heinz team.

PH: I got coaching from Mike “Timex” McDonald so he definitely helped me out the most.

I’m also friends with a lot of high-stakes tournament players from Germany, Austria and the United States and we all help each other out and talk about various hands.

It’s really important if you want to grow as a player.

PL: It seemed like you didn’t check the live stream very much during the final table, did that affect your game?

PH: I actually checked the live stream quite a bit. Not every 15 seconds or anything but every time there was a big hand I would go talk to my friends.

It definitely helped. It gave me a lot of confidence because I watched the Day 1 coverage and felt that almost every big decision I made was the correct one.

PL: So I guess you’re happy ESPN decided to go with that coverage format?

PH: Yeah I was never against it. I mean it’s the same for everyone.

Everyone is seeing the same thing so no one has an unfair advantage. It’s also good for poker and anything that’s good for poker is eventually good for the player.

PL: Your fans had a very memorable chant during the Main Event. Where on earth did that come from?

PH: It was a friend of mine from Scotland that came up with it. I don’t know how.

I guess he had a few beers and that made him really creative (laughs).

It’s from that song “Baby Give it Up” (by KC & the Sunshine Band). It just caught on. I thought it was really funny.

Pius Heinz, Pius Pius Heinz!

PL: What’s your average day been like over the last few weeks?

PH: Usually getting up in the morning, having some breakfast, doing some phone interviews. Later in the day I do TV interviews.

The TV interviews tend to take a whole day because there is quite a bit of preparation involved.

I spent last week in London and I’m in Cologne right now. I head back to my home in Vienna, Austria next week.

Later in the month I’m going to be on a German poker show, which is sort of our equivalent of High Stakes Poker although obviously the stakes are smaller.

It’s been a pretty busy schedule and whenever I get a day off I thoroughly enjoy it.

PL: Have you played much online poker recently?

PH: Honestly I haven’t played a single hand of online poker in over a month.

I’m really looking forward to playing again when I get the time. When EPT Prague is finished I’m going to go on a little vacation and I think I’ll schedule a little online poker in that time.

Does Staszko ever show up light there?

PL: Perhaps the most talked about hand at the Main Event final table was when Ben Lamb jammed with K-J three-handed. What were your thoughts on the hand?

PH: I don’t think either player played it that well. I definitely see where Ben was coming from though.

I think it’s usually fine but the fact that it was the first hand of three-handed changed things a bit. I tend to feel that players are not light on the first hand back.

Everyone is nervous and usually plays tighter. That’s not to say Martin (Staszko) is not capable of being light there but I would definitely tighten up a bit there.

I also would have preferred if Martin flatted with sevens there. I certainly would have played it differently.

PL: Outside of poker and considering you grew up in Cologne, Germany, are you a pretty big football fan?

PH: Yeah I’m definitely a fan of the Cologne soccer club. I used to go to the Stadium every home game for around three years.

I used to be a pretty big fan but I haven’t followed it as closely over the last few years as I’ve been quite busy. I’m still a fan though.

The NBA finals were actually much more important to me than the Champions League or something like that.

PL: Do you think Germany is a favorite in the Euro Cup this summer?

PH: I hope so. They’ve definitely been playing really well. I mean Spain is always really tough though. They are probably the best team in the world right now.

I think Germany and Spain are the big favorites for sure.

PL: Germany could potentially legalize online poker next year but you live in Austria. Do you feel legalized poker in Germany is still quite a ways from reality?

PH: I honestly don’t know. I’m not really an expert on the topic.

I really hope it’s legalized and I’m going to try and do my part to make that happen. I want to show the German people how beautiful the game of poker is.

PL: What did it mean for you to sign with PokerStars?

PH: It was a really big deal for me. I’m really happy to be a part of the team.

To me PokerStars is probably the best company in the industry. It’s always great when you can work with the best.

It’s an honor to be a part of a team that includes Sandra Naujoks, Jan Heitmann and Johannes Strassman.

Carrying the flag for a new generation of German greats.

PL: You’re known as an online grinder, did you have any money stuck on Full Tilt in the Black Friday ordeal?

PH: I did have a little but not near as much as some of my friends. I know people who have a lot of money stuck on there.

PL: Who are the best German players in the world right now?

PH: As far as tournaments go Benny Spindler is really, really good. Sebastian Ruthenberg and Tobias Reinkemeier are really good as well.

PL: What kind of tournament schedule do you think you’ll play in the upcoming year?

PH: I’m going to play quite a few EPTs starting with Prague next month. I’ll definitely play the PCA.

I’ll probably play around 10 the rest of this season. I’ll also be heading back to the Las Vegas for the 2012 WSOP, probably for the whole summer.

Looking forward to the mixed events at the WSOP.

PL: Thanks Pius, great to talk to you.

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The VPP Grind Continues – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Thu, 24 Nov 2011 15:32:38 -0800

I need 21.5k more to make Supernova, which means that I probably need to play around 15 more days of poker.

Last time I wrote about the importance of game selection. I thought I might have to drop down in stakes to avoid regs as much as possible, but it hasn’t been as much of a problem as I thought (so far).

In fact, I’ve been able to add a handful of $100s to my schedule every day.

Game selection is everything. I am astounded by the number of regs that obviously do not game select at all.

Yes it is a pain in the ass, but it both increases your ROI and decreases your variance. I really think that most poker players underestimate the importance of game selection.

I haven’t talked about profits at all this month so far! Here are the numbers:

# SnGs: 775

Hours: 65

Net result: +$1,905.32

I’ve played only one MTT so far this month, so I didn’t bother to include it.

I went on a little downswing but managed to mostly recover. My ROI for the month is lower than it should be so far, but I can’t complain about a profit.

It’s pretty crazy how boring SnG results are compared to MTT results. Gone are the weeks of losing $4k or winning $10k.

It’s more boring to blog about for sure, but my life can live without that kind of excitement :P

I sometimes miss the rush of going deep in a big MTT and having friends rail my final tables, but trading that stuff for a lower stress level is worth it for me.

It’s not to say that SnGs aren’t frustrating sometimes. I will admit that I have tilted just as hard playing SnGs as I have playing MTTs!

I think a lot of it had to do with my expectations, however.

When I started playing SnGs, I had this ridiculous vision in my head that it would be variance-free poker and that I would start winning almost every day.

I didn’t realize that losing 40+ buy-ins in a day is completely standard, which caused me to become upset and confused when these days happened.

I hope that I will soon get used to SnG swings and understand when a losing day is nothing to be concerned about.

Good luck for the rest of the month if you are also grinding away.

I’ll be back soon for a recap of November. Thanks for reading!

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Impress Your Friends with a $150k Poker Chip Set

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 23:49:29 -0800

The entire thing is priced at $150,000 but it could break that number at Christie’s auction at the end of the month.

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Down Goes ElkY! RaSZi Wins Long-Awaited Kickboxing Match

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 17:10:04 -0800

ElkY and Veldhuis, who both played Starcraft professionally before finding poker, had been training for the fight since 2009 and decided to finally get it done as part of a TV show that was filming in the area.

We even talked to Grospellier and Veldhuis earlier this year about the fight and they gave us a few quotes that now seem somewhat prophetic.

“I think his biggest advantage is his reach,” said ElkY. “That’s definitely the hardest thing I’m going to be able to counter. Even though getting hit isn’t very nice, I think it’s going to end well.”

In the end Veldhuis’ reach proved to be too much for ElkY to handle and two roundhouse kicks sent the French pro to the mat.

The match also provided an interesting Thai vs. Dutch angle as ElkY studied Thai kickboxing. At the time Veldhius downplayed the significance of being Dutch.

“Holland is the tallest nation in the world so my genes have given me good reach, which will help a lot,” he said. Holland does do well in kickboxing but it’s not like in Thailand where it’s really part of the culture. It’s not like all kids learn to kickbox in Holland.”

There was a substantial amount of money riding on the event including a $50k wager between the participants. Earlier in the year ElkY said pride was the bigger concern.

“Man I really don’t want to lose to him,” he said. “I will be so ashamed. The money is definitely not the most important thing.”

Unfortunately for ElkY he definitely lost. We’ve found one clip of the fight that you can watch above. That second roundhouse kick looks painful.

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Why Lederer and Ferguson (Maybe) Took Your Money

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 23:12:42 -0800

Howard Lederer

Perception is Skewed by Environment

Some Boy Scout that everyone likes and thinks of as a good kid goes into a school and shoots up the cafeteria. A respected businessman and pillar of the community is indicted for operating a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme. A trusted neighbor and father of two is arrested for running a child pornography ring.

Everybody scratches their heads and wonders how could this “wonderful young man,” “respected financier” or “valued member of the community” do such a thing – just like poker players are wondering about the folks at FTP.

Psychologists who've studied these cases have found that the context, the environment within which we live, is more compelling than we often realize.

We tend to label people based on the things we see them do. So our poker-playing friends at Full Tilt Poker get thought of as smart, caring and sensible because we see them doing smart, caring and sensible things – and we wonder how they could have been scamming us.

But making these attributions neglects the role of the environment -- the kid who seemed so nice, like a Boy Scout should be, turns out to have been bullied for years by school mates and decided to pay them back. The revered investor turns out to be a Bernie Madoff who was consumed with greed and the desire to play with the big boys. The father of two is discovered to have serious money problems and was peddling child-porn to get out of debt.

Corruption is Just an Opportunity Away

The message here was captured nicely by the famous "Prison" study carried out some years ago by Phil Zimbardo at Stanford University.

Students were divided into two groups, prisoners and guards and a mock jailhouse was set up. Zimbardo was stunned at how easily perfectly ordinary, caring kids who just happened to have been put in the role of guards could turn really ugly and sadistic when the setting was right for it.

If you’re curious, go here for details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

Even Jesus prays.

So, maybe our very smart and sensible poker "friends" found temptation in large, unregulated stacks of cash. Maybe they just got notes from executives at FT asking them if they’re comfortable having a couple of million dollars shipped to their bank accounts from time to time. Who knows?

But it’s worth asking yourself what you would do in such a situation.

Everyone Has a Price

I’m sure that the vast majority of you are saying you wouldn’t be tempted, that you’re above board and honest. But the evidence is quite clear: Some would be and some would not. Greed does things to cloud the mind. Circumstances can be compelling.

There’s an apocryphal story about Abe Lincoln. He was apparently meeting with a wealthy businessman who offered him a hefty bribe to push for some legislation.

Lincoln just stared at him and stroked his beard. The businessman hesitated and then doubled the offer. Lincoln still looked at him, stroking his beard. So the guy doubled it again. At this, Lincoln got up, grabbed him by the collar and shoved him out the door.

Lincoln’s chief of staff smiled and said, “Mr. President, that was noble of you. That was a very substantial bribe.”

“Indeed,” replied Lincoln, “but nobility had nothing to do with it. Every man has his price and the son-of-a-bitch was getting awful close to mine.”

And so it goes. Remember, Lederer and Ferguson are innocent until proven guilty. But no matter what, their reps are in the toilet and that's gonna be forever. Just like another really smart guy we used to admire and respect, Russ Hamilton.

For ongoing updates Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Full Tilt Poker keep an eye on our Black Friday Bulletin Board.

Author Bio:

Arthur Reber has been a poker player and serious handicapper of thoroughbred horses for four decades. He is the author of The New Gambler's Bible and coauthor of Gambling for Dummies.

Formerly a regular columnist for Poker Pro Magazine and Fun 'N' Games magazine, he has also contributed to Card Player (with Lou Krieger), Poker Digest, Casino Player, Strictly Slots and Titan Poker. He outlined a new framework for evaluating the ethical and moral issues that emerge in gambling for an invited address to the International Conference of Gaming and Risk Taking.

Until recently he was the Broeklundian Professor of Psychology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Among his various visiting professorships was a Fulbright fellowship at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. Now semi-retired, Reber is a visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

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Nine Thoughts From Behind the Scenes at the 2011 November 9

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 23:43:02 -0800

1. Badih Bou-Nahra Had Amazing Fans

Considering Badih Bou-Nahra had to fly most of his fans in from Belize he had some incredible support.

We counted more than 100 fans cheering on Bou-Nahra wearing a variety of Belize paraphernalia. Bou-Nahra was the biggest showman at the final table and definitely played off the energy of his fans.

Ben Lamb, Phil Collins and Matt Giannetti also had tons of fans but it was a little more understandable considering they live in the U.S.

2. Chants Were Odd but Great

Almost every player got their own specialized chant and some of them were pretty amazing.

Personally we were a big fan of the way Eoghan O’Dea’s fans cheerfully sang “Olé, Olé, Olé” except “O’Dea, O’Dea, O’Dea.”

Of course every time Phil Collins raked a pot his fans serenaded him with renditions of his famous namesake’s hits like “In the Air Tonight.”

Perhaps the best and oddest one was the Pius Heinz one. For some reason it was sung to the tune of KC & the Sunshine Band’s “Baby Give it Up” and would go “Na na na na na na na now, Pius Heinz, Pius, Pius Heinz.”

We’re still humming it in the shower.

3. Lamb and Collins Talked Frequently on the Break

Not sure what they talked about but knowing that Collins and Lamb are friends it could have been a small bit of strategy.

4. Allen Bari Got Kicked Out

It’s not exactly a surprise that out of all the poker players on location it was the always-controversial Allen Bari who got kicked out of the Penn and Teller Amphitheater.

We didn’t hear the exact reason but we’re to bet it involved alcohol and shouting. No shoe throwing this time though. We think.

5. Ben Lamb Accidentally Received Payout Sheet for First Place

Apparently when Ben Lamb when to get his third place payout he accidentally received the sheet for first place. He Tweeted a picture of the sheet and said "Wow biggest needle ever. Gave me this instead of one that said 3rd."

Lamb should have just taken the first place payment and ran.

6. Matt Giannetti was Most Visibly Upset About Busting

Sam Holden received the minimum payout at the final table and was generally in good spirits.

Matt Giannetti on the other hand finished in fourth place for $3 million and was, quite honestly, pissed off.

It’s tough to feel bad for a guy who just won $3 million but Giannetti was gunning for the final three and likely would have gotten there if not for bad luck.

7. Staszko and Heinz Have Limited Wardrobes

Not sure if you caught this but Pius Heinz and Martin Staszko appeared to be wearing the exact same thing they were this summer when they made the final table.

It was unclear if it was a superstition or if they just don’t like to switch it up that often.

8. The Poker Hall of Fame Ceremony was Surprisingly Moving

You can get a bit jaded as a poker journalist: Everybody owes each other money, there’s always a scandal of some sort, so many well-known players are broke, etc.

That’s why it was somewhat of a surprise that the Poker Hall of Fame ceremony that saw Linda Johnson and Barry Greenstein inducted was actually quite heart-warming.

The honor obviously meant a lot to Linda Johnson as she talked in detail about how different the industry was when she broke onto the scene.

Meanwhile Barry Greenstein mostly talked about various ways he would change the way the Hall of Fame system works and pushed hard for cardroom manager/poker player/innovator Eric Drache to be nominated for the hall of fame.

9. Daniel Negreanu was on Team Lamb

Daniel Negreanu was Tweeting heavily throughout the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table and later revealed he was a part of the team that analyzed hands on the live stream for Ben Lamb.

Negreanu even claimed he had picked up tells on Martin Staszko and Pius Heinz but by this point Lamb was already out of the tournament.

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Game Selection and October Recap – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 17:49:54 -0800

# Online MTTs: 32 (-$1,594)

# SnGs: 659 (+$3,287)

# Live MTTs: 4 (+$1,343)

Net result: +$3,036.00

The live MTTs include two satellites, the BCPC $550, and the BCPC $1,100. I went deep in the $550, but I ended up the final table bubble girl in 11th place. It was very disappointing because I was chip leader at my table when it was down to 12 people, but I got coolered blind vs blind for 25% of the chips in play. So sick.

I made day 2 of the $1,100 too, but I couldn’t make it to the money. I was actually going to play the $3,000 since I had cashed the $550 and could almost freeroll it, but I decided against it in the end because I needed to play online. I had already spent four days playing the $550 and $1,100, and the $3k was a four day event. I decided I couldn’t risk getting behind in the Supernova grind.

Moving back to online poker, here are my results for 2011 so far (excluding rakeback and bonuses):

# online MTTs: 2,276

# online SnGs: 2,002

Net profit: +$26,512.95

Inching closer to that $30,000 online poker profit goal for 2011. Would be awesome if I could hit it by the end of November.

I’m going to have to be pretty patient and disciplined for the rest of the month. The games are gonna get worse as we get closer to December, and I’m going to have to be very flexible with my playing hours. So far I’ve found that there are less regs earlier in the day and then later in the day, which means that I’ll probably be working split shifts.

I might also need to drop down in stakes when the games are really bad. Sometimes the $60s are just unplayable because they are filled with profitable SnG regs. Skipping the $60s means that I need to play longer hours, though, because I’ll need higher volume to make up for the loss in VPPs.

If everything goes well, I’ll play tons in November, somehow find a bunch of soft games, and then be almost home free in December! If you are also on the grind, good luck at the tables.

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2011 WSOP November Nine Final Table Picture Book

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 21:00:29 -0800

The biggest final table of the year is happening right now.

Martin Stazsko could become the first world champion from the Czech Republic.

Germany's Pius Heinz salutes the crowd.

Start of day chip leader Martin Staszko in the spotlight.

Anton Makiievskyi is looking to become the first Ukrainian world champion.

Bob Bounahra is representing Belize at this final table.

Vegas model Dana Lauren armed with tee-shirt cannon.

The truest Ben Lamb fan in the building and it's not even close.

Apparently Santa Claus is a Giannetti fan, but not a jolly one.

Norman Chad and Jack Effel kick off the finale by announcing "Shuffle Up and Deal!"

Eoghan O'Dea followed in his father's footsteps by making this final table.

Sam Holden rounds out a very international final table.

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Sam Holden in London - Full Interview Transcript

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:35:13 -0700

First things first: What’s changed in your life since making the November Nine?

Yeah things are definitely different. Everything’s strange in my life since Las Vegas.

I was a professional poker player before so obviously the game was already a big part of my life, but I was very much grinding online sort of thing, and playing the odd live tournament but very low-key.

And now I’ve got a lot more to do, interviews, commitments for 888.com, and it’s a lot of fun.

I’m getting the chance to play a few more of these big buy-in tournaments and do all the media stuff which is really cool as well.

Sam Holden at the 2011 WSOP Europe main event.

I’m obviously thinking about November a lot but right now I just feel really excited and focused on it and I’m really looking forward to it.

The last few months I’ve tried really hard to just be chilled and let it sink in and not play tons of poker, but now I’m getting ready.

Being the shortstack, how much are you focused on giving yourself a chance to win versus moving up the payouts?

I think it’s just important for me to play as well as I can. The thing I don’t want to do is turn up and punt away my stack playing really badly or something. If I come ninth but I’ve played a big hand well or whatever then I’ll be happy.

There are loads of things outside of your control in poker so I’ll just keep control of what I can and how I play my cards.

Also, going in as the shortstack there’s not really a benchmark where I’ll be disappointed if I don’t come third or something, which would be a bad thing for anyone. It would be really difficult psychologically to be going in third in chips and go out in ninth, and that’s going to affect their play.

For me as long as I’ve played well I’ll be happy and I already feel lucky to have made it this far.

What opportunities is this money going to give you in your life away from poker, depending on how high you finish?

Right now my main aspiration is to buy a house. I’ve actually just moved to London and I’ve been renting so the idea of being in a position to buy something is really exciting for me.

As a poker player you can’t really get a mortgage in the UK so the money will come in handy.

As far as business opportunities in the future are concerned, thatt’s something I’ll be thinking about in the next few years I’m sure and I’ll be trying to tuck a bit of money away for something like that.

Right now I’m really thinking about poker and the money allows me to play a few more big tournaments, plus the opportunities as far as endorsements go.

I’m definitely not trying to spend all the money anytime soon.

Like you said, you were a pro before making the November Nine, but how have people’s attitudes changed towards you since getting this level of exposure? Did it legitimize it in some way for the skeptics, or for people who didn’t really get it to begin with?

Sam Holden is on the verge of the biggest score of his life.

Yeah definitely. There were a lot of people who knew what I was doing and were happy for me to be doing my own thing, and my parents could see that I was happy before, and that I was doing fine and making decent money, but now they’re a lot more excited about it because they’re seeing me on television and gaining a better understanding of what it’s all about.

But for the skeptics, or more importantly for the guys who don’t really know what poker is but they know that’s what I do. Now they see me on the TV playing or in some interview they’re able to grasp it a bit better.

I mean, looking at this one thing as somehow legitimizing my career as a poker player is pretty results-oriented but no one knows any better. They don’t get it.

But they can see that I’m doing well and that I’m not wasting my life too much playing poker.

So it’s a good feeling for sure but at the same time I’d like to think that the people who are close to me and the people who are important to me were happy as long as I was happy and they hopefully won’t be changing their thoughts too much about what I’ve been doing.

And I think for the most part, other people’s skepticism is coming from a lack of understanding so they can’t be blamed too much for having some doubts. They’re just looking out for me.

What are your thoughts on the caliber of this final table and how it stacks up historically? Who are the players in particular that you think are the most dangerous?

Yeah I think this is one of the toughest final tables ever. It might even be the toughest.

There are so many good players in the world now, especially Texas Hold’em tournament players, and with a structure as good as the main event they really shine through.

There are a lot of really tough spots at the table but I don’t really want to single anyone out. I have to play against all of them and I feel pretty good about it so I’m not really worried about anyone.

It’s going to be an exciting final table.

Click through here for the feature news story we did on Sam Holden with excerpts from this interview.

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Going Supernova - Courtney Gee Poker Update

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:02:35 -0700

Intuitively, it seems like games should get easier around the holidays because pros take time off for Christmas and recreational players have time off work and school. The problem is that I play on PokerStars, and the end of the year means the Supernova/Supernova Elite deadline, as well as the end of the Tournament Leaderboard race.

Games in December are gonna be filled with regs trying to get in as many games as possible anywhere they can because they need the VPPs.

I didn’t play as many games as I’d have liked to since I last blogged. Here were the numbers:

# MTTs: 17 (-$1,145.00) # SnGs: 419 ($+1,561.49) Hours: 40 Net result: +$416.00

Hey I made more than minimum wage this time!

As I talked about last time, I did end up getting sucked into playing a few high buy-in Sunday MTTs. This obviously hurt the bottom line quite a bit. The rest of the MTT losses are mostly from $35 180s. I just lump these into MTTs because the variance is so much higher than with the other SnGs I play.

The SnG results are pretty much as positive as I can expect for the volume I played. My average buy-in is $40 right now, and I can’t really expect to achieve an ROI greater than the 9% I have here. So I just need to increase my volume (easier said than done for me, unfortunately).

I’m going to be spending a portion of the next couple weeks playing in the BC Poker Championships, a series of tournaments taking place at River Rock in Richmond. I live around 30 minutes away from the casino, so it’s nice to have some worthwhile tournaments close by. I haven’t really played any live tournaments since WSOP.

They have a $550 event (which starts today), a $1,100, a $3,000, and a $5,000. My bankroll can support the first two no problem. I haven’t decided about the $3,000. I could just sell half my action if I’m worried about my bankroll, but I’m leaning toward staying home to play online instead. I’m skipping the $5,000 no matter what happens because I think it’s going to be a very tough field.

If you are also playing in the BCPC, good luck to you. I’ll try to update again soon with a summary of online poker in October. Thanks for reading!

Courtney Gee is on a quest to never work a 9-5 job again by playing poker professionally both online and live. Follow her progress on her blog right here at PokerListings.com.

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Photo By Numbers: Seven Sharks and a Mark at WSOPE Main Event

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:23:45 -0700

1. Chris “Moorman1” Moorman: Chris Moorman is not just one of the best online MTT players in his home country of England, he’s one of the best in the world.

His online accomplishments are too many to number and total over $7.4 million in earnings. This summer Moorman had his biggest live cash yet - a runner-up finish in the $10k Six-Max Hold’em Championship for $716,282. He also bagged a third-place finish in the $2,500 Six-Max event worth $271,800 plus two other small cashes. With well over $1 million playing live tournaments this year alone, Moorman should always be considered a threat.

Hoyt Corkins, Alabama's most recognizable poker pro.

2. Hoyt “Alabama Cowboy” Corkins: Hoyt Corkins is a bona fide old-schooler but that doesn’t mean he can’t hang with the best of the new generation. Corkins has over $5.5 million in live tournament earnings and a record that includes two WSOP bracelets and two WPT titles.

This is his 32nd time cashing in a WSOP event and he’s made an astounding six WPT final tables.

3. “Fast” Freddy Deeb: Freddy Deeb is respected by the best live players in the game as a wily opponent, as evidenced by his more than $7.6 million in live tournament earnings. Deeb has two WSOP bracelets including a win in the $50,000 HORSE event in 2007. He won the WPT’s Ultimate Poker Classic in 2005 for $1 million and took down the WPT Celebrity Invitational in 2009. He’s also got WSOP cashes going all the way back to 1990.

4. John “johne147” Eames: John Eames has been a successful online player building more than $1.5 million in earnings since 2007.

While he’s also built a long list of significant live scores, totaling over $1.2 million, he’s yet to secure his first major title. He has had three six-figure paydays in his young career however.

He won a €2k side event at EPT Vienna for $172,000, placed second in a €2k side event EPT Barcelona for $107k and finished third at this year’s EPT Copenhagen main event for $257,011.

Jake Cody, proud owner of poker's Triple Crown.

5. Jake Cody: To say Jake Cody has had a successful few years in poker would be an understatement. In just two years Cody has completed poker’s Triple Crown, the honor bestowed upon those who have won titles on the EPT, WPT and WSOP. Cody won EPT Deauville in 2010 for over $1.2 million, WPT London for $426,000 and the $25,000 Heads-Up Championship at the 2011 WSOP for $851,192.

6. Melanie “Callisto 5” Weisner: Melanie Weisner hails from Houston, Texas and has earned close to $600,000 playing online poker since 2007. Weisner is an up and comer and perhaps most telling about the young pro is the respect she gets from some of the best online poker tournament specialists in the world.

With almost $400k in live earnings, Weisner is just getting started.

7. Maria Ho: Maria Ho has the distinction of taking down the single biggest score by a woman in the history of the World Series of Poker.

She holds that record thanks to a runner-up finish this year in the $5k No-Limit Hold’em event for $540,000. Previous to that windfall her biggest result was 38th in the 2007 WSOP Main Event. That earned her over $237,000. With over $1.1 million in earnings and a turn on the popular reality show The Amazing Race, Maria Ho is already one of the most recognizable females in the game.

8. Giuseppe “Random Itali-Donk” Sammartino: Listen, we’re not here to badmouth anyone but with just a single min-cash in a $1k donkament at the 2011 WSOP we’re thinking this guy’s the target

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Kevmath Presents: Awkward Moments with Tatjana Pasalic

Sat, 15 Oct 2011 13:52:52 -0700

My dilemma was what exactly did I want to do? Since being let go from my last position, several sites contacted me about working with them, but it was for things I didn't really feel comfortable doing. Eventually after a flurry of emails between me and Matt Showell, we eventually came to an agreement. I'll admit the title "Kevmath Presents: Awkward Moments with ..." is a bit … awkward. But I pitched the idea and title to Matt and he liked the idea. For those about to view this video and many others (fingers crossed), the plan is to run the interview using Skype and my inexpensive webcam without any editing. Apologies in advance for any issues with the quality of the video, I was using some new software and hopefully future editions will look much better.

For those that have come in contact with me on my various journeys on the poker circuit the past year, the idea of me doing video interviews may seem strange as they're aware I can be incredibly shy in most social situations. My appearing on camera was sort of a big deal when people saw me for the first time just over a year ago. It has been an interesting experience. When I worked this year at the WSOP for BLUFF Magazine, the one assignment I dreaded the most was the idea to do a brief audio interview with a player for my daily recaps. Fortunately, most of them went off without a hitch (with some notable exceptions). For obvious reasons, I knew the first interview for this series was going to be with Tatjana Pasalic (@tattytats). Yes, because she's the one that convinced me to come out of hiding, and she's very attractive (WPT Magazine and Gambling911.com can't be wrong, right?).

The reason Tatjana was my first interview was because when she interviewed me, I was incredibly nervous and it showed. Some may consider the seven minutes or so cute, but it's something I've had a difficult time watching again. This was a chance to prove to myself that I have evolved to a point when I can be the interviewer instead of the interviewee. When I told her of my plans, she was certainly willing to do the interview, now the only problem was to actually have it take place. Unfortunately due to a series of miscommunications and scheduling, it would take two weeks to finally get it done. Thursday afternoon, before I was going to go out and take a walk, still frustrated from an attempt the day before that fell through, I got a DM from her on Twitter saying she would be able to do the interview in a few minutes. After finally figuring out how to record video, what you see is the finished product, for better or worse. Hopefully you'll like it. Also included is a special bonus clip featuring Tatjana and her boyfriend, McLean Karr (for those that didn't see it earlier when I posted on Twitter) where McLean enjoys some home cooking while answering questions about love of bacon and other questions. Any ideas on who I should talk with next, I'm always open to suggestions, so hit me up on Twitter @Kevmath.

Kevmath Bonus Clip with Tatjana and McLean Karr

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Online Poker = Minimum Wage Job? – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:59:34 -0700

# MTTs: 30

# SnGs: 1237

Hours: 115

Net result: +$982.78

Hmm… maybe I should get a job at McDonalds ;)

There are at least three reasons for the bad results:

1) I was learning a new game. SnG shoving ranges are quite different from MTT shoving ranges once it gets close to the bubble. I was definitely making a lot of mistakes at the start, especially in pots without antes. It’s also worth noting that even when there ARE antes in SnGs, they are usually much smaller than those in MTTs.

2) My MTT buy-ins could not be supported by my SnG winnings. I was playing low to medium stake SnGs and high stake MTTs. Doing this may maximize my hourly, but it doesn’t really help to reduce poker variance (which was my reason for switching to SnGs in the first place). Right now I am willing to sacrifice EV for reduced variance.

3) I ran badly. Not much to say here.

It wasn’t the month I was hoping for, but I guess I should be happy to end the month positive while also having learned SnGs. I still make lots of mistakes on bubbles and I have a long way to go before I’m excellent at them, but I am definitely a winning player. Many SnG regs make very blatant ICM mistakes, which makes it easier to win money despite making mistakes myself.

Here are my online poker results for the year so far (excluding rakeback and bonuses):

# online MTTs: 2,244

# online SnGs: 1,343

Net profit: +$24,819.42

Because I was sick, I’ve only played a few days of poker this month so far. The numbers are not bad:

# MTTs: 10

# SnGs: 240

Hours: 24

Net result: +$1,313.44

I don’t expect to play many MTTs this month, so I hope to see a steady increase in profit as October goes on. Although PokerStars is running an extra version of the Warm-Up and Sunday Million this coming Sunday, which is admittedly hard to resist! And an extra few hundred dollars in MTTs every day can really add up quickly…

I’m just happy to be healthy and back on the grind. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables!

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Niall "onehandturks" Charlton Full Interview Transcript

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:28:16 -0700

PL.com: Let’s start at the beginning. When did you get into poker and what’s the development of your game been like since then?

Niall Charlton: I’ve been playing for about seven years-ish. When I got out of University in Nottingham I was playing online and making money and instead of getting a job I just kept playing and did some traveling.

Niall Charlton created a computer program for making preflop decisions for his university dissertion ... obsess-much?

About four years ago I started focusing on Omaha and I think because I got into it before it started getting really popular my game progressed a lot faster than the average Omaha player.

And now I play high-stakes online.

What were you doing in University at the time, when you got into online poker?

I studied business and computer science but poker just sort of fell into my lap. My final year’s dissertation was on game theory and poker, sort of trying to solve poker and see if a computer could do it.

It was a rudimentary program but the theory was okay.

You’ve spent a lot of time in the HSPLO forums on Two Plus Two. How much did that help the development of your game?

I’ve been part of the Two Plus Two community for about four years and it’s definitely helped a lot. I’ve met a lot of great players there and the discussion and talking over hands it’s allowed me to do has helped.

It was good in the early days but not much posting about hands seems to go on there anymore.

When you talk about the learning curve in Omaha, is it really getting hard now that the game’s becoming so much more popular?

Yeah it really is. The No-Limit players that are coming across and beginning to take Omaha seriously are improving so fast.

I think within a year or two a lot of these guys will be the best, better than all the PLO players who have been playing for a long time.

Are the games beatable now? And will they continue to be as the level of play continues to go up?

Well, I think so. I mean, I hope so because I don’t know what else I would do. (laughs)

Talk about sick, Charlton comes to live majors to "take a break".

But the games at the moment are great. The $50/$100 and $100/$200 games are really good right now.

You went deep in the Main Event at the WSOP this year and you’ve had some other good live results. Is live poker something you’re interested in doing more of?

Yeah, actually I just moved to London and things have been busy, a lot of drinking and a lot of partying, so I look at these events as a time to sort of take it easy and get a break.

So I’ll definitely be playing more events when I have the time to get away.

What do you see in your future? Will you be playing poker forever or do you have aspirations outside of the game?

I don’t think I’ll be able to beat the game forever so I want to make as much money as I can now, and use that to try some business ideas and investments.

It’s really hard to sit down right now and invest time in stuff like that when I can make a lot of money playing poker.

You talked a bit about the skills you learned in University helping you in poker. Do you think the skills you’ve learned in poker will help you down the road when you decide to turn to other projects?

Definitely. Bankroll management is obviously a huge skill. New business owners will often put all their funds in their first big idea which is dangerous, just like poker.

Understanding risk and being honest with yourself are really important in poker and I think the experience I’ve got will be a big help in business.

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Welcome to Our 2011 WSOP Europe Headquarters

Sun, 09 Oct 2011 15:47:14 -0700

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What Not to Do with a Huge Poker Tournament Score

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 21:32:24 -0700

Special thanks to twoplustwo user sqwerty12 for sharing what might just be the best graph we’ve ever seen.

Also: This is what you should probably do with your first big poker score.

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Photo By Numbers: EPT London Table of Death

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 20:08:51 -0700

Tony Cascarino is a legend in Irish football (the European kind) and has proved he’s got what it takes to compete on the poker felt as well. Cascarino has earned almost $600,000 since getting his start in low buy-in tournaments back in 2003. His first major win came in a $1,000 side event at the Caribbean Poker Classic in 2006, good for $28,400. In 2008 he took down a GUKPT tour stop for $96,000 and won the Grand Final on the same tour one year later for $283,412, his biggest score to date. Cascasino’s best finish on the European Poker Tour was 14th right here at EPT London in 2007, earning him just under $45,000. Tristan “cre8tive” Wade has made over $1.4 million playing tournament poker online and over $700,000 playing live. This past WSOP was especially lucrative for the Florida native, with a fourth-place finish in the $10k Six-Max championship for $292,866 and a seventh-place finish in a $1,500 donkament good for $94,700. Wade is a passionate blogger and an instructor at Deepstacks University. Steve “MrTimCaum” O’Dwyer has earned over $1.1 million playing live and hundreds of thousands more playing online. O’Dwyer’s record begins in 2007 with a $17k score at the PCA and four WSOP cashes worth roughly $70,000. One year later he made over $100k at the WSOP, including his first final table. His biggest scores are a sixth at the 2009 WPT Five Diamond at Bellagio for $202,362 and a win at the 2011 Bellagio Cup in a $5k side event for $259,452. Barny Boatman is a legitimate London old-schooler and full patch member of the Hendon Mob with over $1.7 million in live tournament earnings. Jason Mercier is the favorite in almost any tournament on earth, evidenced by his more than $6.7 million in live tournament earnings. He’s got two WSOP bracelets, an open EPT title, numerous high roller wins and a long list of significant cashes. And all that’s in addition to the huge success he’s enjoyed playing cash and MTT poker online.

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Luke "Full Flush" Schwartz Flaunts New Sandwich at EPT London

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:01:26 -0700

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Doyle Brunson EPT London Picture Book

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 15:46:39 -0700

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$0.23 Per Hour Ain't Good - Courtney Gee Poker Update

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:33:16 -0700

I’m really looking forward to the end of September! Not only because I want a day off, but also because I am running terribly this month. Since I last wrote, I’ve played 13 or so days of online poker. Here’s how they ended up:

# MTTs: 20

# SnGs: 980

Hours: 88

Net result: +$20.27

No I do not enjoy earning $0.23 per hour, thank you very much :P

In those hours I made a profit of $2,043.87 playing SnGs but I lost $2,023.60 playing MTTs. The losses playing MTTs are pretty standard so I’m not too concerned about that. In that volume, though, I should usually expect to make $1,000 to $2,000 more playing SnGs.

A big problem I have is the desire to always know the results of all the hands that I’m playing. For example, if I go all-in at one of my tables, I HAVE to know whether or not I won the hand and who called me with what.

This is a very bad habit. For one, it makes it much more difficult to play lots of tables. Secondly, who the f cares? It doesn’t matter whether I won the hand. And while it MIGHT help to know what people are calling me with, I would probably make more money per hour by not bothering to look and just adding more tables.

I probably developed this habit because I tiled when I first learned to multi table. Tiling allows you to see the results of every hand and I got used to it. I really need to try to break this habit, though, because it only serves to tilt me more when I’m running badly.

So far this month I’ve played 1,237 SnGs, so I have 263 more to go to reach my goal of 1,500. I’ve earned over 20k VPPs so far in September, so Supernova is well on pace. My volume per month the rest of the year will be less, but I should still hit Supernova before Christmas. I definitely don’t want to be one of the many grinders on PokerStars on New Year’s Eve.

The last thing I want to say this entry is that I’m really sorry to the people who have taken the time to email me but haven’t gotten replies. I’ve completely neglected my poker email account the last couple of months, but I’ll start checking it more regularly. For anyone interested, I can be reached at courtneygeepoker at gmail.com.

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Great Poker Rivalries: Daniel Negreanu vs. Annie Duke

Fri, 23 Sep 2011 12:35:31 -0700

There are very few ongoing conflicts between poker players that have gotten as malicious and continued as long as the one between Kid Poker and the former Celebrity Apprentice contestant.

Although the feud has calmed down over the years, it seems very unlikely that either player will be sending Christmas cards to the other.

Here are some of the highlights, or maybe lowlights, from the decade-long battle between Negreanu and Duke.

1990s: First Contact

Back in the late ‘90s Daniel Negreanu was making his first trips to Las Vegas in an effort to make it as a professional poker player.

Over that time Negreanu was an active member of the rec.gambling.poker community, which included famous members such as Chris “Jesus” Ferguson and Howard Lederer.

In 1999 Negreanu made a post that listed the 10 best Limit players in the world based on his experience in the $500/$1,000 game at Bellagio.

It was arguably the toughest game in the world at that point and Negreanu listed Annie Duke as the sixth-best player in the game and was extremely complimentary of her game at the time.

Sept. 9-18, 2002: Shots Are Fired

Negreanu starts making vague accusations on rec.gambling.poker about an “expert” that acts like a bully in the Bellagio game.

At first the comments are about an anonymous person but Negreanu later starts adding “she” into the thread.

Howard Lederer, a member of the community and brother to Annie Duke, realizes who Negreanu is referring to.

Howard Lederer

September 27, 2002: Big Brother Steps in

Later in the month Lederer posted an open letter to Negreanu accusing him of waging a public smear campaign against Duke

Lederer focused on the following issues:

Negreanu constantly referring to Annie Duke as “Annie Puke” when she’s not at the table Negreanu’s “obsession” and obvious bias for Jennifer Harman over Duke in terms of successful female poker players Negreanu’s “desperate” need for public recognition Lederer also alleged that Negreanu called Duke “digusting” and made fun of her wardrobe.

Lederer finished the letter by saying he never wants anything to do with the Canadian pro unless he’s trying to bust him at the poker table.

Daniel Negreanu

Sept. 28, 2002: You Wouldn’t Like Kid Poker When He’s Angry

The next day Negreanu posted a response, and it’s safe to say he wasn’t very happy when he wrote it.

Negreanu got downright nasty as he said that Duke went out of her way to ridicule him from the moment he met her when he was 22 years old at the 4 Queens.

According to Negreanu, Duke referred to him as “cupboy” thanks to his habit of always having a Styrofoam water cup at the table and frequently criticized his play.

Negreanu called Duke a “horrible person” and maintained there were numerous players that felt the same way.

The post hit a low when Negreanu accused Duke of always wearing the same dirty clothes with no shoes in the casino.

At one point he even said that no one wanted to sit in $2,000 chair that has "urinated foot sweat soaked into it."

He also said that she had been causing harm to many players for years and it was time someone said something about it.

Feb. 19, 2003: “Annie Duke is a low life.”

A few months later Negreanu would yet again post on RGP about the various reasons he thinks Annie Duke is a low life.

He separated the post into seven points:

He accuses her of angle-shooting in Stud-8-or-Better games by not splitting the pot when she said she was going to. He says she habitually looks at the hands of players next to her and once swore on her kids that she didn’t look when she had, in fact, seen the cards. Negreanu referred to a three-handed satellite to the WSOP Main Event where she picked up an opponent’s cards from the muck and looked at them. She apparently said “Just checking” and threw the cards back into the muck. Negreanu accuses Duke of looking at his hole cards during a $300/$600 mix game. According to Negreanu, Duke used to steal other player’s seats. In the 1999 WSOP Main Event Negreanu claimed Duke was involved in a hand where another player made a string bet. Another player at the table, Steve Kaufman, who wasn’t involved in the hand made the dealer aware of the string bet. Duke lost it on Kaufman and said “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me in a tournament.” Negreanu talked in detail about how Duke treated him when they first met at the 4 Queens.

Negreanu finished the post by saying that a couple years later he had started to win tournaments and all of a sudden she was nice to him.

Finally he apologized to his friends who are also friends with Duke for the awkward position he has put them in.

2003-2005: The Professor and Kid Poker Make Up

It’s not exactly clear when it happened but apparently Lederer and Negreanu patched things up enough they can tolerate each other at numerous poker tables around the world.

Negreanu still seems to have some strong feelings about Duke, however.

Annie Duke

Jan. 15, 2005: Well, this is Embarassing

The aforementioned rec.gambling posts began to circulate on the TwoPlusTwo poker forum and Negreanu posts a blog that says the posts were “nasty” and he was “embarrassed” by them.

Negreanu goes on to say that he always speaks his mind but it’s not his place to judge others.

He doesn’t go so far as to say he actually regretted making the posts but did say that they embarrassed him.

Sept 8, 2005: You Can Read About it in My Book

The autobiography Annie Duke: How I Raised, Folded, Bluffed, Flirted, Cursed, and Won Millions at the World Series of Poker is released and a small portion speaks about Negreanu.

She refers to him as her “online tormenter.”

Throughout their entire feud Duke rarely publically acknowledged Negreanu’s strong words for her.

Daniel Negreanu

July, 2010: Hello Neighbor!

Negreanu and Duke are seated right next to each other in the Tournament of Champions at the WSOP.

Despite the proximity and media attention, nothing of consequence happens. A couple weeks later however…

August, 2010: Did You Just Use the “C” Word?

In an interview with PokerPlayer.co.uk Negreanu allegedly called Duke a c@#$ for belittling the Ladies Event.

Duke would later say she was shocked by the language and wrote an open letter to Negreanu’s online sponsor, PokerStars, demanding a reprimand.

PokerStars responded by saying they don’t support the use of derogatory or hurtful language ever.

Eventually Negreanu would say that he thought he was speaking off the record to the writer of the article and apologized to all women who were offended.

He never apologized directly to Duke, however.

March, 2011: I Don’t Care for UB, Never Have

Throughout the late 2000s Negreanu is also very outspoken in his contempt for UB Poker, a site where Duke was heavily involved as a member of Team UB and as the UB Cardroom Consultant.

UB was tarnished when a super-user was found to have cheated players out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Duke finally left the site in early 2011.

The Epic Poker League

Aug. 11, 2011: Your New Tour Sucks

Negreanu writes a blog post titled “Why I Don’t Play the EPL” that blasts Duke’s newest venture – the Epic Poker League.

Negreanu mentions he doesn't think the tour will be a success without a legitimate source of revenue.

Outside of online poker being legalized in the U.S. and the Epic Poker League starting a poker site, Negreanu says he can't see a way for the tour to be profitable.

He also mentions the lack of big name old-school players like Phil Ivey, Chris Moneymaker, Scotty Nguyen and Doyle Brunson that will seriously hurt any chance the tour has to succeed.

Duke is the commissioner of the league and has yet to respond to any of Negreanu's recent criticism, although she has mentioned on numerous occasions that the league has some very wealthy and committed investors.

The Future?

This is just a brief history of the war of words between the two well known poker pros.

If you really want to get into the nitty gritty of the mud-slinging then you should check out this thread on TwoPlusTwo, which also has the majority of the old RGP posts.

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Tom "durrrr" Dwan Talks Full Tilt Poker on FOX Business - VIDEO

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 22:11:24 -0700

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Who's Not Named in the Full Tilt Poker Civil Complaint?

Tue, 20 Sep 2011 20:31:32 -0700

No one was more central to getting players to play at FTP than Phil Ivey. He's also the best candidate for the individual referred to as "Player 1" by the Department of Justice.

Andy Bloch has been part of the Full Tilt crew since the very beginning. (Photo from 2005)

Andy Bloch was still repping Full Tilt Poker post-Black Friday. (Photo from 2011)

Not you too Erik Seidel!? Say it ain't so. (Photo from 2005)

Unlike Andy Bloch, Seidel took off his FTP patches after Black Friday. (Photo from 2011)

FTP got some of its best exposure ever thanks to Allen Cunningham's appearance at the 2006 WSOP Main Event final table. Cunningham's been wearing the patch since the beginning.

Jen Harman has been a patched member since the beginning, although she took it off after Black Friday. (Photo from 2005)

John Juanda was an original Full Tilter, and didn't take the patch off until Black Friday. (Photo from 2005)

Phil Gordon was central to Full Tilt in the early days but has taken steps to distance himself from the company as of late. (Photo from 2005)

Erick Lindgren has certainly done his part to get people playing on Full Tilt.

Mike Matusow and Full Tilt have always been joined at the hip. (Photo from 2005)

Gus Hansen has always been tight with the Full Tilt crew.

Patrik Antonius didn't join Team Full Tilt until 2008, putting his ownership status in question.

Despite representing the poker site, Tom Dwan has said explicitly that he is not now, and never has been, an owner of Full Tilt.

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Brian Hastings in Vancouver - Full Interview Transcript

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 18:55:18 -0700

PokerListings.com: So, why Vancouver?

Brian Hastings: Well, I’m from the East Coast so it wasn’t exactly close for me, but the proximity to Vegas and LA are good things. I can see myself heading down there a lot to play poker or just hang out with friends.

I knew I wanted to live somewhere that was fairly normal to me, something similar to the US. I lived in Rome for the spring and I wasn’t trying to do somewhere that has a foreign language again.

I was seriously thinking about Montreal even though it is bilingual. It sounded really cool but Vancouver just seemed more like a city I’d want to live in. It has the reputation of being really laid back, with lots of outdoor stuff to do. I’ve always heard that the people here are really nice.

You’ve only been here a week but how is it meeting those expectations so far?

Hastings the man meets Hastings the street.

I like it a lot. My place is really nice and it’s in walking distance from everything downtown which is amazing. A few days ago I walked to Stanley Park in about 25 minutes. All the main areas for going out are walkable. I’m just a few blocks from the harbor and I went for a run there the other day.

How smooth was the set-up as far as getting up here and getting your online poker accounts up and running?

PokerStars wanted a landline phone number, a non-US bank account statement, a copy of the apartment lease and a utility bill.

It honestly wasn’t that bad. I got here on Thursday night and didn’t do anything that evening, then got a bank account on Friday and had my Stars account up and running by Sunday to lose $10k (in the WCOOP high roller event). (laughs)

Is there something special going on right now that got you to make the move up here or were you planning it for a while?

I knew I wanted to play online from somewhere just because it’s so much more profitable than playing live. Online you get so many hands in and there are games to play. Since I’ve been here I’ve been playing over 2,000 hands a day which would be impossible live.

I do like live poker but the games are kind of sporadic, even in Las Vegas. So with the options online you’re able to set your own hours and play when you want to.

You have history online with Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and he’s been playing a lot on Stars. Was that part of the reason to get back in the games right now?

Yeah I’ve played with him a little bit since I’ve been here but it doesn’t seem like he has all that much money on Stars. He seems to be taking shots in games and I actually saw him in a $3/$6 PLO game trying to run it up.

When he does have money though he’s super fun to play with and he brings a lot of action to the games.

Are the games changing with people like you starting to relocate?

I think the games are getting tougher as more players relocate but they will be running more which is good. The higher games are fun to play in but it’s definitely a challenge.

Do you feel like it’s kind of backward that you’ve had to leave the United States in order to pursue your chosen profession?

Yeah, I mean, the US bills itself as the land of the free and prides itself on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and they’re certainly not letting online poker players do that right now.

Phil Galfond is back in the high-stakes online games from his new apartment in Downtown Vancouver.

What’s your line on when that’s going to change?

I don’t have any inside information on the situation or anything but I would take the under on two and a half years for some sort of bill to be passed that regulates online poker.

I don’t know if that means online poker will be available immediately at that point but I definitely see this as a short term thing. It’s a billion dollar industry and with all the budget problems the government is facing I can’t see them ignoring this for very long.

You mentioned a Facebook page for uprooted poker pros here in Vancouver so tell us a bit about who you’ve been hanging out with since you got here.

I’m good friends with Phil Galfond and I met up with him and his roommate Mikey Stotz and went out for dinner and some drinks on Saturday.

I’ve been chatting with Phil pretty regularly. We play in the same games so it’s great to have someone here to talk to and bounce ideas off.

Yesterday it was NFL opening day and I went out with a group of mostly poker refugees.

Do you think this sort of relocation is viable for a lot of poker players or is it only an option for high-stakes players that can afford all the expenses?

A lot of the guys I’ve met are pretty regular tournament grinders and I think if you do it properly and split a place with a bunch of people, not trying to go for the super high end, it is possible.

I feel like the rents aren’t terrible in Vancouver. I’m paying $3k a month for mine but if I had the same place in New York it would be double or more.

If the lockout continues in the US do you see yourself moving somewhere else, and using online poker as a way of living and working all over the world?

Yeah that’s exactly what I’m leaning towards now, moving around and living in a lot of different places. I like it here now but that might change when winter really gets going.

I have a buddy who’s moving to Panama to play which sounds amazing. Costa Rica is pretty popular. I’m thinking somewhere like that for the winter.

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The Top 7 Guiltiest Howard Lederer Photos

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 17:29:01 -0700

We'll let you decide what was actually going through Lederer's head (and what it means for your FTP money) when these photos were taken:

Hold on, I thought heard a siren.

I miss the Mayfair club.

Phil Ivey did what?

I wonder what Department of Justice federal agents look like.

Alright, I'll loan you some money. Only $150 million though.

I'll eat TWO cheeseburgers if you buy Full Tilt.

I did a bad thing.

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This Day in Poker: Sept. 9, 2006 - Clear Skies Ahead

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 23:42:10 -0700

Touting poker as the driving force behind the company's success, Party Poker and the rest of the poker industry had no idea what was in store.

Less than three weeks later the House and Senate passed the Safe Port Act, which included the devestating Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA). Party Poker, as a publicly traded company, was forced to pull out of the US market.

An estimated 77% of Party Gaming's revenues came from customers in the United States. The company's stock fell dramatically to 60% of its former value as Party Poker's player base was cut off at the knees.

But even before getting knocked out of the number one spot in online poker, Party Gaming was making decisions that would give them a leg-up in the post-UIGEA poker world.

In our story from today in 2006 Party CEO Mitch Garber emphasized the importance of international markets.

"PartyGaming has delivered a strong first half performance. These results demonstrate the strength of our business model and also the potential to grow our business through investment in the development of new products and new territories outside North America," said Garber.

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August in Review and September Goals - Courtney Gee Poker Update

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 18:09:52 -0700

# online MTTs: 2,214

# online SnGs: 106

Net profit (online MTTs and SnGs): +$23,836.64

Not bad so far, especially considering that it doesn’t include bonuses or rakeback. I should easily be able to hit $30k profit for the year as long as I play proper hours and don’t run terribly.

I hadn’t bothered with trying to make Supernova this year due to the fact I played such terrible volume at the start of this year. I took a look at how many VPPs I was earning through SnGs, though, and realized that I could almost certainly make SN if I switched to them full-time.

I know that last entry I stated that I probably couldn’t play SnGs full-time, but I think that perhaps I was wrong. I actually enjoy them so far, and making Supernova for 2012 would really help boost the bottom line. So I have decided to put MTTs on the back burner and play mainly SnGs for the rest of the year.

Here were the numbers last week:

# MTTs: 10

# SnGs: 257

Hours: 26.5

Net result: +$962.51

I actually lost money overall playing SnGs. The profit I made was from final tabling the Big $162, one of the few MTTs I played. Someone suggested that while I’m playing SnGs, I should play a few high stakes MTTs on the side. I’ll be playing mostly $109s, $162s, and $215s.

In order to make Supernova, I’m gonna have to grind pretty hard. I’ve added an extra half day of online poker to my schedule, which means I’ll play 4.5 days per week. I won’t be able to take many extra days off for the rest of the year.

My September goal is 1500 SnGs and then a random number of MTTs (probably 10-15). I’m trying to get used to waking up earlier so that I can actually play a few WCOOP tournaments (they start very early for me since I live in a PST time zone).

That’s it for me for now. Thanks for reading and good luck at the tables!

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Top 7 Best Photos from WSOP 2011

Fri, 02 Sep 2011 21:41:34 -0700

Rast and Antonio Jump for Joy

Caught in mid-air forever Brian Rast and Antonio Esfandiari literally jump for joy seconds after Rast took down the $50k Players Championship, his second bracelet of 2011.

Rast pocketed $1.72 million and handed Phil Hellmuth his third runner-up finish of 2011.

(Photo by BJ Nemeth)

The Summer of Jason

To say we're Seinfeld fans seems like an understatement of fact so when we got the chance to shoot an installment of The Circuit with Jason Alexander we jumped at it.

Someone like Alexander going deep in the Main Event could do a lot for the game of poker. Unfortunately this year it was not to be.

Check out the video companion piece here.

(Photo by Alexander JE Bradley)

The Truth Will Set you Free

Celtics star Paul Pierce played his first WSOP event this summer, and more than held his own against a table that included the likes of Dwyte Pilgrim.

I personally spent four hours and multiple attempts getting this interview, and the pictures here.

(Photo by Matthew Showell)

Hellmuth Oversleeps

Phil Hellmuth had reason to face-palm on Day 2a of this year's Main Event. The Poker Brat actually slept in, with his "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door, and missed almost two hours of play.

Hellmuth, short even before his stack was blinded away for a level, failed to make the money.

(Photo by BJ Nemeth)

Two Outs Over the Line

With eight players left and $600k waiting for first place McLean Karr was in a great spot to double up and make a run at his first WSOP bracelet.

Karr had got all-in racing A-J against Sam Stein's pocket fours. Karr hit a jack on the flop, and faded the turn ... you can probably guess what happened on the river.

(Photo by BJ Nemeth)

Runner Runner for the Stunner

This picture was captured during the Ladies Event, the moment Jennifer Cowan hit a mirace runner-runner double inside straight draw.

Cowan had gotten it in with A-K on a ten-high flop against an opponent who flopped a set. The turn was a queen and the river a jack to give Cowan something to scream about.

(Photo by BJ Nemeth)

Beware the Landfish

We'll let you decide whether this photo has been altered in any way.

We're pretty sure this is how Steve Landfish looked when he went on a nice little heater this summer, earning over $330,000 thanks to two $10k final tables.

(Photoshop by Arthur Crowson)

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Downswings Make Poker Not Fun – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 17:26:04 -0700

There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to a downswing like this. Where should I start?

In my last entry, I talked a bit about bankroll requirements for playing full time online MTTs. Several readers disagreed with my suggestion that 1,000+ downswings are more than possible. Some people suggested that they could only be possible if you’re playing badly.

I can’t really disagree with the latter statement. We are obviously much less likely to endure downswings that big when we are playing well. The problem is that playing well all the time is extremely difficult. We are human and bad days are going to happen once in a while.

And then when you suffer a downswing and start losing daily, it becomes even more difficult to continue playing as well as before. Once you lose your first 300 buy-ins, the next 300 are gonna be that much easier to lose because you’re probably mentally tilted to some degree. And then the next 300 buy-ins after that are even easier to lose. Unless you are a robot, bankroll requirements need to account for this type of tilt.

In somewhat of an example, this past Friday I was running really badly when calling people down. People’s lines just kept making no sense so I just kept calling, and they somehow had it every single time. This caused me to unfortunately adjust my calling ranges so that in future hands with similar situations, I didn't call when I should have.

So now the challenge becomes trying to get back to playing well. I noticed this past week that I was becoming easily frustrated while playing a high number of tables. So the first step is to play fewer tables.

The second decision I made was to add some sit-and-go tournaments to my weekly schedule. Many months ago I added 180s to help reduce MTT variance, but right now I’m in a ridiculous 180 downswing. Clearly they have not helped much!

I’ve decided to spend half my days playing sit-and-go’s in September in an effort to lower my variance significantly. I played around 100 of them last week and they seem okay so far. I don’t think I could ever play them full time (which is unfortunate), but a 50/50 split for now is fine.

In my opinion, being a winning player is not the toughest part of playing poker for a living. The toughest part is overcoming the mental battle. Obviously you need to be a winning player to make money, but that’s the (relatively) easy part. For me, the mental part is a thousand times more difficult.

Next week I’ll do an August wrap-up and talk about my September goals. Hopefully I both run better and play better this week!

Oh and by the way, thank you to everyone that takes the time to leave comments in this blog. I really appreciate the feedback and encouragement :)

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Poker Graphed: Which November Niner is Best for Poker?

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 19:02:47 -0700

Understanding the Graph

There are four values represented above.

First off, each player is represented by a circle. The size of the circle corresponds to that player’s chip stack. Next, the color of the circle indicates what part of the world that player represents, and the current state of its poker market.

Thirdly we have each player’s chances of winning, as estimated by the Bodog Sports Book.

And finally we have our own estimation of how big an impact each player is capable of making should he become the 2011 world champion of poker.

Since none of these players would be patently “bad” for poker, we’re going to talk about impact in positive terms. This includes growing the game, legitimizing poker as a recreational activity as well as a way to make a living, and adding to the overall development and establishment of poker culture.

Ben Lamb could do serious good for the poker world should he become world champion.

The Best Potential Champion

We’re singling out Ben Lamb as having the biggest potential impact on poker. Luckily for us, he’s among the most likely to actually win this thing.

One interesting thing that this graph helps show is that Lamb shares the same odds to win as Matt Giannetti, and better odds than Phil Collins, despite having the smallest chip stack of the three.

The reason for that is obvious if you were following the WSOP this summer, and it’s also the reason we’re picking him as the best candidate for world champion.

Ben Lamb’s performance at the 2011 WSOP was perhaps the greatest in history. He won the $10k PLO Championship, came second in the $3k PLO event, final-tabled the $50k Players Championship and narrowly missed the final table in the $10k Six-Max No-Limit Championship.

Including the money he’s guaranteed for making the final table of the Main Event, Ben Lamb has already earned well over $2.1 million at the 2011 World Series of Poker.

And that seemingly impossible run could be capped off by winning the biggest event of the year.

Sports need stars. The media needs someone to paint as the superhuman. Not only is it noteworthy, which will translate to more media exposure, it reinforces the idea that poker is a skill game.

If Ben Lamb can crush to that extent by being among the best in the world, we can all expect to succeed at least moderately with the small edges we’ve honed in our own games.

All of that, and the fact that Ben Lamb is a clean cut, personable and articulate young man, makes him the best possible face for the game in the 12 months following the final table.

Continuing to Appeal to Poker's Biggest Demographic

The ranks of the poker playing world are dominated by men and I don’t think it should be underestimated how big an impact having a world champion that matches that demographic represents.

For teenagers and twenty-somethings, watching Jon Duhamel win an astronomical amount of money can be a powerful thing. And it’s not the same thing as knowing that Joe Cada did it just one year before.

A winner like Ben Lamb, or Phil Collins, or Matt Giannetti, perpetuates the real possibility of success in poker.

And having clean cut, well-spoken individuals representing the game to the mainstream only legitimizes it as an honest and real way of making a living.

Phil Collins is a self-described “family man”, and being able to tell the world that his hard work playing poker has given him the opportunity to begin a family without financial worry is a nice bullet point for any interview.

But this line of thinking has some problems. For one, there is no online poker in the US. Also, America experienced its poker boom years ago so how much of an impact could yet another young, American world champion really have?

Martin Staszko, in our opinion, will not impact the poker world in a meaningful way as Main Event champion.

November Niners from Emerging Markets

So perhaps Martin Staszko and Anton Makiievskyi actually stand the best chance of making a difference in poker’s growth, not in North America but on a global scale.

Representing the Czech Republic and Ukraine, respectively, Staszko or Makiievskyi might act as the fuse for a new explosion in the game’s popularity in Eastern Europe. After all, the area has always produced intensely competitive mind-gamers.

This premise is sound, but Martin Staszko won’t be the man to prove it.

Having potential has never been a guarantee of reaching it and we don’t have a lot of confidence in Staszko’s ability, or desire, to act as an effective poker ambassador. Our prediction is that if Martin Staszko wins this tournament, he’ll be the least visible world champion in a long, long time.

Makiievskyi is a different story. He is personable, young, and appeared to us at least to be much more interested in spending time with the media. Anton Makiievskyi already has the opportunity to do great things for poker in Eastern Europe. He’ll be able to do even more should he become a world champion.

November Niners from Developing Markets

Pius Heinz represents Germany, a more developed market than Czech and Ukraine but one with much untapped growth potential.

Poker is already big in Germany, which could make Heinz a very influential champion. The infrastructure is already in place to promote him, and mainstream Germany is already aware of the game which makes major media opportunities in that country a reality.

A little further along the scale of development are the UK and Ireland, homes to Sam Holden and Eoghan O'Dea, respectively. Poker is an establishment in both these countries, but just like Germany, there's still plenty of room for it to get even bigger.

Both O'Dea and Holden will be in good positions to impact the poker world if they win the Main Event in November.

Questionable Impact as World Champion

If Martin Staszko will be hard to see as a world champion, Bob Bounahra will be invisible. Our perception of him may be skewed, however, by a particularly painful November Nine video interview. Cut together it plays as a punchy one-minute short, but it’s important to note that it took 10 minutes of questions to compile the material.

And while poker is getting big in South America, Boudahra’s native Belize, and the surrounding countries, represent a relatively small poker market.

In just over two months we’ll find out who the 2011 Main Event winner will be, and over the following year we’ll see what that person can do to grow the game in their own region and around the world.

Another interview on David Letterman would be nice.

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2011 WSOP November Niner Sam Holden: Full Interview

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:25:23 -0700

PL: What’s it been like for you since making the November Nine?

SH: It’s obviously been pretty cool. I’ve been doing a lot of mainstream interviews here in the U.K. but that’s finally died down a bit and I’m starting to a more poker interviews. It’s generally a lot more fun doing the poker interviews because the questions tend to be more interesting.

I just got back from UKIPT Edinburgh as well. That was really the first live poker I’ve played since Vegas.

It was fun to get back to playing poker again.

PL: Can you talk a little bit more about your experience with the media so far?

SH: It’s been great. I’m just trying to take it all in stride. I’m obviously not used to it at all and didn’t really know what to expect.

It’s been a lot of fun and generally the attention is pretty nice. Everyone seems very interested in the story, even people that don’t follow poker.

PL: What was the reaction from your friends and family when you got back to the U.K.? They must have been pretty excited...

SH: Yeah absolutely. I mean they were following along online when I was out there so I was even getting reaction from them when I was still in Las Vegas.

Everyone was very excited and as soon as I got home I was getting a lot of phone calls. It was great catching up with everyone that I could.

Obviously they all had their own questions, wondering what it was like. Everyone is obviously delighted and very excited.

PL: Did you find a lot of friends you hadn’t seen in awhile coming out of nowhere to say hello?

SH: (Laughs) No, not too much. There have been a few people on Facebook I wouldn’t normally hear from but it’s really just been nice comments. Generally the people who were congratulating me were close friends before I went to Vegas.

PL: Were your poker friends fairly amazed you made the November Nine?

SH: Yeah definitely. I mean lots of them had a piece of me so they were extra, extra happy. Obviously it’s what every poker player dreams of. Making the Main Event final table isn’t something any poker player expects to do.

It’s probably more real to my friends than it is to me because it still hasn’t sunk in completely. It’s all pretty crazy.

PL: Could you talk a little more about your upbringing and where you grew up?

SH: I was born near a place called Eastbourne in East Sussex. The actual village I grew up in (Herstmonceux) was very small and only had a couple of shops.

When I turned 18 and I went to university in Canterbury. I’ve lived in Canterbury for the last four years.

I graduated from university last June. I’ve been playing poker professionally since then. Obviously I’ve been playing poker longer than that.

PL: What were you into when you were growing up? Did you play sports? Any hobbies?

SH: I played a lot of sport when I was growing up, especially at school when I was younger. I was never particularly good at one sport. I just enjoyed playing all of them. I wasn’t bad but I never really excelled either.

I just enjoyed the competition and exercise like most kids. I enjoyed school too, though, I always did pretty well. I guess I stopped playing most sports when I was about 18 because I was playing poker by that point.

PL: How did you actually get into poker?

SH: I think I saw it on TV when I was in university and then started to play for free online. Just sort of teaching myself the rules and very basic strategy.

I met a few other guys that played and we talked about online poker. I made a few deposits and would usually lose them after a month or so.

Eventually I got better and started beating the micro stakes.

It turned into kind of a part-time job for me. I just used it to essentially fund my life instead of going back to the bar I was working at.

PL: What initially attracted you to the game?

SH: I’ve always enjoyed maths and statistics and that side of the academic world. I definitely understand and enjoy that part of the game.

I’ve always enjoyed competition as well. I liked card games and strategy games. It was a combination of those things.

I like the way poker players think and constantly try to improve.

PL: What do you think is your best attribute as a poker player?

SH: I think removing emotion from decisions and thinking rationally is probably the best part of my game. I was quite surprised at the WSOP that I could break hands down just like any other game of poker even though there was a lot of pressure.

I just tried to think about the situation, the players, the chips and the cards and what the optimal decision was.

PL: Are you primarily an MTT player online or do you play cash games as well?

SH: I play mainly tournaments. I’ve played a bit of cash over the years but tournaments were always what I enjoyed the most.

It could have been because I had the most success in tournaments but after awhile I just focused primarily on them.

PL: Did you have any big scores in the early stages of your poker career?

SH: Not big scores. I final tabled the Sunday Million earlier this year. Finished sixth. That was my biggest score before Las Vegas.

I was doing OK at MTTs but I was nowhere near crushing it. I was making a good living but I definitely had a lot more to learn. I mean, really, I still do.

PL: What did your parents think when you told them you wanted to play poker professionally?

SH: I think they sort of saw it coming because I was playing through university and taking it more and more seriously.

They’d heard I was doing quite well, although I guess they really had no proof at the time.

When I graduated I just wanted to give it a go for a year and see if I still enjoyed it and what kind of living I could make.

My initial plan was to go back to university after a year and maybe go for a Master's degree.

As I carried on through the year I started making good money and really enjoying myself and once my parents could see that I was making money and could pay my bills they were happy.

Obviously they were worried I would go broke because they don’t really know much about poker.

PL: This was your first World Series of Poker. Why did you decide to play?

SH: Tournaments had been going very well online and I’d started to play a little bit live. I knew live games could be a lot softer and there were a lot of recreational players, especially in the World Series.

I knew there was a lot of value out there. I knew I could beat the games. Plus it’s the WSOP and every poker player wants to be there.

I was very excited to get out there and play it.

PL: Did you play any prelims?

SH: I did play three events. I didn’t cash in any of the big tournaments I played but thought I was playing well and was encouraged by the amount of players in each tournament.

To be honest I expected a higher standard of play in general at the WSOP but there were just so many poker tourists.

Obviously there is so much variance in table draws because the pros are there as well. I definitely had some luck in the Main Event to draw some softer tables.

PL: Heading into the final table this year you are one of the shorter stacks, is that a situation you feel comfortable with?

SH: Yeah absolutely. Having an online MTT background I’m pretty used to playing a 20-30 big blind stack. I feel it’s one of my strengths.

Whilst I’m ninth in chips, I’ve still got 24 big blinds. There’s some room there. I’m definitely not heading out to Vegas just to stick it in on the first hand.

I feel I’ve got a good chance to win or go very deep. We’ll see what situations arise.

PL: Could you talk a little bit your preparation leading up to the final table? I’m assuming you’re going to be watching as much footage of your opponents as possible.

SH: This year there is even more footage around because of the live stream so I’ll be taking a close look at that and I’m sure everyone else will be.

Obviously I’ll be trying to work on my own game as well. In my opinion every poker player has things they can improve.

I have a lot I can improve. Hopefully I’ll be able to use my time wisely. I definitely want to get some live practice in other tournaments.

PL: Some players distance themselves from the game in the months leading up to the November Nine, I take it that’s not going to be your approach?

SH: Personally if I didn’t play before November it would all feel very foreign to me. It would feel quite unnatural to be playing poker for the first time in four months. I wouldn’t feel very comfortable.

I’m trying to get as much live experience as I possibly can against good players.

Someone who is more experienced might take a different approach.

PL: What do you think of the table draw?

SH: My seat is kind of tough because on my direct left is Pius Heinz, who’s a very good player, and on his left is Ben Lamb and then the chip leader Martin Staszko.

To be honest the whole table is tough and anything can happen.

PL: Are there any players at the final table that particularly impressed you during the play down?

SH: (Laughs) Pretty much all of them. I think these days there are so many good players in the world and the structure is so good in that tournament I don’t think we’ll ever see a weak final table in the Main Event.

That said, I guess I’d have to say Pius really impressed me. The only reason I say that is because I didn’t see him show down many of his hands, which is usually a good sign.

PL: Winning the Main Event is a huge and obviously there would be a ton of media attention that would come with it. How would you feel about receiving that kind of attention and essentially acting as an ambassador for poker?

SH: Obviously it’s what every poker player dreams of. The ambassador role would be kind of intimidating but it’s something I’d try to enjoy and do as best I can.

Poker has done a lot for me and I enjoy the game and the industry behind it so I would be very proud to represent it.

It would be fantastic and present a lot of opportunities for me I’m sure.

PL: Are there any players you look up to?

SH: At the moment it’s guys like Isaac Haxton and Scott Seiver. They think on such a high level and they do a great job of taking their emotions out of the game.

I love how rationally they tend to think and the way they break decisions down.

PL: Do you think the U.K. poker scene is fairly strong?

SH: Yeah there are some awesome U.K. players at the moment. People like Jake Cody and EPT winner David Vamplew have been crushing it.

I love how Vamplew thinks about the game. He’s so consistent. He doesn’t take any spot for granted. He never disregards any spot he’s in as “standard” whereas so many players just make instant assumptions.

PL: You currently live in Canterbury, are you planning to stay there for the near future?

SH: No I’m actually hoping to move to London in September. I was planning on doing that anyways but making the November Nine makes it a lot easier financially because London is such an expensive place.

I’m really looking forward to it.

PL: Have you had any unusual media requests yet?

SH: Most of it's pretty standard. I’ve been watching some of the other players do skits and such and I’ve been thinking that doesn’t look like too much to me (Laughs).

Haven’t really had any odd requests yet.

PL: What did you think about being referred to as the “Jobless Brit” in the The Sun?

SH: Yeah that was one of the first stories I did with the mainstream media over here. They phoned me up for an interview, which was fine, and the story was fine as well but they went for a headline of “Jobless Brit” and then told readers I’d been playing poker professionally for a year so they contradicted themselves a bit.

(Laughs) I didn’t take it too personally. I think they were just looking for an eye-catching headline. Lots of my friends do now call me “The Jobless Brit.” It’s all in good fun.

PL: What tournaments are you planning on playing over the next few months?

SH: I’ve already made plans to play the WSOPE in France and I’ll probably play EPT London as well. I’ve also been thinking about playing WPT Paris but we’ll see what happens. There are a couple more maybes in there as well.

PL: Thanks Sam, we’ll see you at WSOPE.

SH: Sounds good.

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Back to Reality – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Thu, 18 Aug 2011 18:06:47 -0700

The numbers:

# MTTs: 155

Hours: 24

Net result: -$3,397.94

It was a pretty bad week. My biggest problem was running bad in 180s.

Actually I haven’t been able to win (or even come close to winning) any 180s for weeks now, but my deep runs in regular tournaments have prevented me from noticing the problem.

Since I didn’t go deep in anything significant last week, I noticed my lack of success in 180 tournaments much more. I was concerned that I might be making some costly mistakes, so I decided to review a few of them with a turbo specialist. 180s are pretty basic, but missing +EV shoves or calls on a regular basis can be a huge problem.

The good thing is that I’m not really making any big mistakes and that I have mostly been running badly. There were definitely a couple missed shoves in the tournaments we reviewed, though, so I’ll be looking to correct those this week.

I think one of my problems is that I have been pushing myself to play more tables because I am trying to increase my volume. This has lead to me time out sometimes and also to miss spots in my hurry to get to other tables.

When you look at one week from the next in tournament poker, the swings are astounding. This past week was bad, but it wasn’t exactly out of the ordinary.

This means that a 100 buy-in loss when playing MTTs is perfectly normal and almost to be expected on a regular basis. I think that many casual players would be shocked to learn this because I sure was. I’ve only recently gotten used to it.

I was talking to a friend that stakes a number of players for tournaments. He has around 10 horses and they all play a mix of small and large fields.

He told me that he has gone on two 1,000+ buy-in downswings in his career so far, and I believe that he has been staking for less than two years. This blew my mind. It means that the bankroll necessary to play MTTs for a living is huge. It borders on ridiculous.

I’m not even sure what it is, but it is clearly over 1,000 buy-ins assuming that 1) you can’t afford to go bust, 2) you aren’t extraordinarily good at poker, and 3) you don’t want to have to drop down in stakes.

Some people exercise very aggressive bankroll management because they are willing to drop down in stakes if things don’t go their way. I think this is fine. Even with this strategy, I still wouldn’t be comfortable without a bankroll of at least 600 buy-ins. I’m a huge bankroll nit though :)

Hopefully I get back to my winning ways this week. I’m on pace to meet my volume goal of 650 tournaments this month, which is the most important thing for now.

Thanks for reading!

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Running Hot Makes Poker Fun – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:27:14 -0700

# MTTs: 171

Hours: 34.5

Net result: +$10,300.65

That’s an ROI of 180%, so I somehow don’t think it’s sustainable :P

I made all the money the first two days that I played last week, which were Thursday and Friday. Interestingly, I only cashed a total of three tournaments both those days combined. That amounts to a 3.5% ITM (in the money) rate, which is extremely low.

On Thursday I bricked everything until I was 1-tabling the 4 pm ET $162 freeze-out. I just recently put the $162 into my daily MTT schedule, so I feel fortunate to have made a final table already. I placed 5th for $4,685.62.

On Friday I cashed just a $35 180 before I made the final table of an $11 Rebuy/Add-on (which also takes place at 4:00 pm ET). I had a pretty healthy stack at what ended up being a pretty funny final table.

Most of the players were very bad with the exception of one very good reg. We were both trying to build stacks off the weak players while also trying to stay out of each other’s way as much as possible, so it was an interesting dynamic. The bottom line was that neither of us wanted to lose too many chips to each other when there were so many easier chips to be won elsewhere.

I ended up losing a big flip short-handed and then having to double up off a poor guy with J4 versus his Ax (I runner runnered a flush and he then proceeded to berate me from the rail for being a fish). When it got down to 3 players, it was with the reg and a very inexperienced player. We decided to do a chip chop 3-handed, with all of us cashing for ~$9.5k.

The best thing about the larger buy-in freeze-outs is that the fields are much smaller. I had to beat just 586 players to make the final table of the $162 as opposed to the 2,672 I had to beat to make the final table of the $11 rebuy. And then consider that the prize pool of the $162 was bigger than that of the $11 rebuy and it’s a no-brainer as to which I’d rather play.

Obviously there are downsides to the higher buy-ins. A higher buy-in means that you must, of course, have a bigger bankroll.

And then there’s the fact that the field is much tougher in the higher buy-in freeze-outs. You really have to adjust your play quite a bit when playing an $11 rebuy compared to a $162. Sometimes you have to try to build your stack in different ways depending on the tables you draw because the players can differ so much in skill.

I’ll continue to work on my game and to build my bankroll so that I can keep adding new tournaments to my schedule. And if I can also keep running hot, that would be a fantastic bonus!

Have a good week at the tables :)

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Forex Trading: Legit Plan B for US Online Poker Players?

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:21:19 -0700

The hard fact is thousands of people who made their living playing online poker are out of work.

Considering the lifestyle online poker offered – financial independence, massive earning potential, international travel, a tight community of friends and fellow diehards – it’s a double or triple blow for most.

With big gaps in their resumes, specialized skills in a misunderstood field and a less-than-booming job market, it’ll also fairly unlikely most players will find work right away. Especially work that offers a comparable level of autonomy and income.

With that in mind, we went looking for Plan Bs.

Given the natural and well-documented connection between poker and trading, we consulted an expert in the field to see what the crossover potential is.

By Tom Cleveland

For those online poker players that have devoted countless hours to improving their game, maximizing their edge and grinding out a living in online poker over the last 6-8 years, right about now you might be wondering if all those hours invested have been a waste of time.

The upside is your analytical skills are finely honed, you can manage key probabilities to gauge expected value and you’re not risk averse or afraid to follow your instincts.

But is that skill set easily transferable to another discipline - especially one where you can make comparable money?

Andrew Frankenberger: One of several crossover successes from trading.

Same Same But Different

The correlations between playing poker and trading currency pairs in the Forex market are fairly consistent.

Forex trading is high risk and does require specialized training, but the factors for success – knowledge, experience and emotional control – are the same required at any poker table.

A few other similarities are also worth mentioning:

The Table Game

You won’t be focusing on one specific game like Texas Hold’em or Pot-Limit Omaha, but you'll instead choose between currency pairs.

The major currency pairs are all linked to the U.S. dollar, and each has an individual style and personality to adapt to in order to gain a psychological advantage.

The Euro and the Yen are steady and most heavily traded, but the Pound Sterling can be erratic and more volatile, requiring a deft touch to warrant your time.

The Players

You're competing against other traders, large hedge funds and major global banks - all with more capital and experience - so you have to pick your spots carefully and latch onto predictable trends when they appear.

There is a psychology to trading, and the “tells” appear in the form of recognizable patterns of pricing behavior.

You must learn these various patterns to anticipate the moves of other traders.

The Deck

The Forex market is the largest and most liquid market in the world with over $4 trillion in daily volume.

No one is big enough to stack the deck, so to speak, but events on the global stage can influence the market to move in expected ways.

Luck does factor in at the Forex table, but there are many ways that you can make your own luck happen.

Success is all about risk/reward calculations and money management principles.

As in poker you will have losses, but you must cut your losers early and let your winners run.

You won't achieve this end through following a Martingale strategy, for example, but you do limit your bets until an obvious trend can provide a larger than normal payoff.

Practice Regimen

As with online poker, you must invest the hours on practice systems to gain the confidence and the consistency with your trading plan for the “real game” down the line.

Most Forex brokers offer free demo systems where you can wager virtual cash with real-time quotes to fine tune your individual trading plan and develop familiarity with the market and your choice of currency pair or pairs.

If you’re serious about getting started in Forex trading, take advantage of these offers.

The Edge

Technical analysis (“TA”) will be your primary tool, supplemented by pattern recognition, to assess whether you hold on to or drop your currencies.

Eugene Katchalov: Knows his markets.

Most academics believe the market is totally random, but traders rely on techinical analysis to provide an edge when it comes to picking market entry and exit points.

Markets are driven by fundamental economic data, but traders must interpret that data and make decisions about where the market will move.

The inability of the entire trading community to agree causes volatility, which produces predictable trends and opportunities for gain.

The simple fact is that the analytical skills, ability to assess probabilities at hand quickly and the intuitive recognition of repeating patterns is the essence of both online poker and Forex trading.

The First Steps

If your interest's been piqued, here are a few steps to take to make a deeper personal assessment whether Forex might be right for you:

Preparation: Immerse yourself on the topic of Forex and read everything you can find on the Internet or in your local bookstore.

The objective here is to become familiar enough with terms and strategies before you take a tutorial or formal class on currency trading.

Knowledge: Enroll in a formal class. Many are offered online. Forex brokers often hold free clinics in major cities.

Your instruction will typically cover the necessary topics of fundamental and technical analysis, Forex brokers and order management, trading systems and strategies, risk and money management and other rules of the road.

As with poker there are no shortcuts, but finding a mentor to guide your efforts is highly recommended.

Experience: A free demo system is your avenue for gaining experience before you put any real capital on the line.

Successful traders claim to have invested months of “practice” trading before ever venturing out into the real market.

Your actual market experience may vary due to time lags in order execution and other factors, but begin with small positions and work your way up before “turning on the green light”.

Emotional Control: Currency trading is about managing the numbers in a business-like fashion, devoid of any emotional considerations.

You must follow your heavily practiced, step-by-step trading plan to block your mind from undermining your logical decision-making process.

Sound familiar?

Emotional control is key in both trading and poker.

Similar Risk, Similar Reward

Make no mistake, Forex trading has a high-risk profile.

There is a high failure rate among beginners because they become impatient or lack the experience necessary to survive and thrive.

Successful trading is not about gambling or luck. It’s about playing the odds, cutting your losers, and letting your winners play out based on a disciplined approach to the market.

If you need a break from poker, or you’re being forced to take one, it may be worth looking at Forex as a substitute.

Author Bio:

Tom Cleveland has over 30 years of experience in executive management, corporate governance and business development. Tom served as CFO for various Visa International entities from 1980 until his retirement in 1999 and was instrumental in expanding the global reach of the Visa system. Tom’s writing on business issues has appeared in the NY Daily News and BusinessInsider among others.

Editor's Note: We know. It’s not a solution for everybody. And there are a lot of spammy Forex systems and sites out there. Proceed with caution. We’re just throwing the idea out there.

Us, we’re holding out for online poker.

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Huck Seed Hits $670k Video Poker Royal Flush

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 18:39:44 -0700

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Vanessa Selbst - The Circuit: Photo/Video Combo Bonus

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 21:03:46 -0700

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July in Review and August Goals – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:33:47 -0700

# MTTs: 101

Hours: 20

Net result: +$6,873.00

It was definitely a good week. On Tuesday I concentrated on small fields and had quite a few little cashes, including a $27 KO win that I was particularly happy with.

I lost a bunch of money on Saturday but then I had another great Sunday that included ten cashes. Considering I only played 41 tournaments, that’s a high rate of cashes. I won the afternoon $44 turbo that day for $6.6k.

Sunday capped off a very nice month that saw me run pretty hot! Here were my total numbers for July:

# MTTs: 329

Hours: 69.25

Net result: +$8,736.69

The net total doesn’t include rakeback or bonuses, so my take home is a bit higher.

And to wrap up the stats, here are the numbers for 2011 so far:

# online MTTs: 1620

Net profit (online MTTs only): $20,695.53

Once again the total doesn’t include live wins or bonuses or rakeback.

I am quite happy with the yearly net profit considering it’s ~40% ROI and very likely higher than expectation. I am obviously not so pleased about the volume, but I won’t get into that yet again.

I have a couple goals for August. My poker-related goal is to play 650 tournaments. This should be pretty easy to do if I don’t skip any playing days and play four days per week. It will be difficult to do if I take any extra days off, though, so it will be a good exercise in discipline.

A friend of mine recently asked me if I ever reward myself for making my goals. I don’t, but his question made me realize why doing so can be very good. Even if it’s just a small reward, having a reward makes your goal more real (for lack of a better word).

It’s really easy to set a “goal” but just not bother with it because there’s no reason to care whether or not you achieve it. If there is a reward in place and you don’t achieve it, at the very least you think to yourself, “Well I don’t get my reward because I didn’t achieve my goal.” Just thinking this to yourself can be enough dissonance to motivate you to achieve it next time.

I think it also works the other way for when you do achieve your goal. Rather than just patting yourself on the back for a job well done, you get something tangible for it. Even if the reward is just small, I think it helps cement the good feelings associated with achieving the goal.

Anyway, enough rambling. I’m going to find a sweet upscale restaurant to go to as a reward for playing 650 games. My other goal for August is to eat much healthier throughout the day, especially on days I play poker. This is getting long, though, so I’ll talk about that next time. Good luck at the tables!

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WSOP Photo By Numbers - The 2011 November Nine

Thu, 28 Jul 2011 23:07:51 -0700

2008 WSOP Player of the Year Erick Lindgren is interviewed by the great Kara Scott for the ESPN live broadcast. ESPN aired 10 telecasts on ESPN2 that reached over 415,000 viewers per episode and streamed over 23 million minutes of live WSOP action online at ESPN3. Ben Lamb has had perhaps the greatest single WSOP run in history and it’s far from over. Before the Main Event began Lamb had made over $1.3 million this summer alone, including a bracelet in the $10k PLO championship. Lamb enters the November final table fifth in chips. Just like each November Niner Lamb is guaranteed at least $782,115. Mori Eskandani is best known as producer of poker TV mainstays like High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark and he can now add the World Series of Poker ESPN broadcast to his list of accomplishments. Eskandani’s outfit Poker PROductions took over the WSOP’s television broadcast from 411 Productions who had handled it for nearly a decade. Jack Effel is the head tournament director for the World Series of Poker and despite having a stellar reputation before this year’s WSOP, Effel took things to a whole new level this summer. Using his Twitter account to handle player issues, Effel astounded the poker community with his dedication, commitment and straight up hard work. Eoghan O’Dea is the only Irishman among the 2011 November Nine and he’ll be taking almost 34 million in chips to the final table, good for second position. Eoghan’s father Donnacha O’Dea is a two-time bracelet winner who has had multiple deep runs in the Main Event, finishing 25th in 1996, 27th in 1994 and ninth in 1991. Sitting in the stands watching what could have been are David “Doc” Sands and Erika Moutinho. Amazingly this couple both made the top 30 of the 2011 Main Event, finishing 30th and 29th respectively. They each left Las Vegas with $242,636. Phil Collins is one of the best known November Niners of 2011, although he’s likely a fresh face for the casual WSOP fan. Collins has won well over $3 million playing online poker under his screen name USCphildo. Collins is fourth in chips with 23,875,000. Badih “Bob” Bounahra is another international addition to this year’s November Nine. Originally from Lebanon, Bounahra lived in the US before moving to Belize where he currently resides. Bounahra has 19.7 million in chips, good for sixth position going into the final table. Martin Staszko is the first player from the Czech Republic to make the final table of the Main Event and he’s headed into November as the chip leader with over 40.1 million. A former auto-plant worker, Staszko now has a shot at over $8.7 million.

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Another Close Call – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Tue, 26 Jul 2011 23:43:52 -0700

I didn’t post last week because I didn’t play much poker during my first week back, but I was able to get some decent volume in the week after. Here are the numbers since being back from Vegas:

# MTTs: 228

Average buy-in: $33.03

Hours: 49.25

Net result: +$1,863.53

I was actually down quite a bit the first five sessions back, losing >$4k over 186 games. Part of it was definitely being rusty since I hadn’t played online for a few weeks. Most of it was standard MTT bad variance.

Another portion of my losses was due to the fact I experimented a bit with some hands preflop, and it got me into some unfamiliar situations post flop. I definitely spewed a couple stacks and lit some money on fire doing that! (I don’t regret it though)

This past Sunday got me into the profit zone. I chopped the $22 500 cap 6-max tournament heads-up for ~$1.7k and then I placed 7th in the Bigger $55 for a bit over $5k.

I was really disappointed that I didn’t do better in the Bigger $55 because the final table was one of the softest I’ve ever played. A large percentage of the table had NO idea what they were doing! It was incredible.

Unfortunately I had a short stack going into the final table thanks to shoving into AA on the final table bubble, so I wasn’t able to take advantage of the weak players. I picked my spots well and gave myself a great chance, but in the end I lost two flips and busted earlier than I would have liked.

Tournaments are strange because you’re almost always disappointed with the result if you don’t finish 1st. I busted that tourney in 7th place for $5k and felt terrible about it because 1st place was ~$30k.

On the other hand, if I had won the same amount but had taken 1st place in a different tourney instead, I would have been very happy. In fact, I felt much happier about my 1st place finish in the 6-max than I did about the Bigger $55 despite the fact I won over $3k more in the Bigger $55. Isn’t that ridiculous?

Now that I’ve gotten my sleep schedule back to normal, I’m ready to work hard and actually put some volume in (for the first time this year). I’m slowly improving my multi-tabling skills, so I should have no problem getting in a few thousand more tourneys before the end of the year.

This week is a really busy one but I’m going to try very hard to play four days. Hopefully I’ll be back next week to report some good results!

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John Hewitt: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:18:25 -0700

His largest cash appears to be $7,105.00 in a PokerStars Nightly $70,000 guaranteed event on Nov. 5, 2009 - the date of which may be significant as that's the day the November Nine is set to resume in 2011.

Hewitt also reportedly learned how to play the game from another feared online poker star, Felipe "Improved" Montenegro.

John Hewitt

Age: 23

Online Handles: SicTheory/simple play/SpinItUp

Twitter: n/a

Home town: Chicago, Illinois

Current Residence: San Jose, Costa Rica

Hewitt enters the final table in xx position with xxxx in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

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Bryan "Devo" Devonshire: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 02:18:16 -0700

A former wilderness guide in Colordao, Devonshire got his start in poker playing $2-5 spread-limit games while serving on a Search and Rescue team.

He hit the poker scene in 2006, but first as a profesional dealer.

It didn't take long for it to pay off as he came second for $66,478 in his first-ever WSOP event, the 2006 Casino Employees' Event.

He followed that up shortly after with a second in a Omaha Hi-Lo event at the WSOP in 2007 for $140,336 and another second-place at the World Poker Challenge on the WPT in 2008 for $271,625.

Last year he won the WSOP Rincon Circuit event in San Diego for $114,975.

To date, he has cashed for more than $1.2 million in live tournaments and for over $700,000 online. He had two cashes so far in the 2011 WSOP for about $7k coming in to the Main Event

A Southern California native and now Las Vegas resident, he's a also a coach Poker VT and well known on the tournament circuit for his creative chip stacking.

Bryan “Devo” Devonshire

Age: 30

Main Online Handle: badbeatninja

Twitter: @devopoker

Hometown: San Dimas, California

Current Residence: Henderson, Nevada

Bryan Devonshire enters the final table in xx position with xxxx in chips.

Check our news report for a full recap of the 2011 November Nine.

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Martin Staszko: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:59:55 -0700

Staszko is guaranteed to make at least $782,155 for making the November Nine, which will move him up to fourth on the all-time Czech money list.

Staszko was down to just 12,000 in chips on the money bubble in this tournament but apparently folded “40 hands in a row” (according to Erick Lindgren) to survive.

He’s the first player from the Czech Republic to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event.

Right in line with PokerListings.com's 2011 WSOP predictions, he's also a competitive chess player.

Martin Staszko

Age: 35

Online Handle: filfedra

Twitter: n/a

Home town: Trinec, Czech Republic

Current Residence: Trinec, Czech Republic

Staszko enters the final table as the chip leader with 40,175,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Martin Staszko a little better through the magic of video below.

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Eoghan O'Dea: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:59:22 -0700

O'Dea's largest live cashes are a 2nd-place finish at the 2008 Ladbrokes Poker Million for $260,000 and a second-place finish at the 2009 WPT Marrakech main event for $388,532.

He also has five WSOP cashes in total, including three this year, putting him in 18th place on on the all-time Ireland money-earners list (his dad is 8th with $1.13 million).

Online, O'Dea also won the iPoker European Championship of Online Poker III main event for $315,000 - actually in the exact same week in Dec. 2008 that he earned his runner-up finish in the Poker Million.

Eoghan O'Dea

Age: 26

Main Online Handle: intruder123

Twitter: n/a

Home town: Dublin, Ireland

Current Residence: Dublin, Ireland

O'Dea enters the final table in second position with 33,925,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

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Matt Giannetti: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:58:12 -0700

His best performance in the WSOP Main Event came back in 2006 when he finished 521st for $22,266.

Giannetti's highest WSOP finish is fourth in a $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha event in 2009 for $66,544.

He also took 35th in the 2006 WPT Championship for $65,000

Giannetti's big move to get in position for the final table came on Day 7 when he twice hit a full house to beat a flush from Brazil's Hilton Laborda.

The two big hands moved him up to the top of the leaderboard with over 16 million in chips and he held on, despite becoming the short stack near the end of Day 8, to make the final nine.

If anyone doubts his resilience, Giannetti has also won a $15,000 prop bet by standing in a pool at Club Med for 12 hours.

From midnight until noon the next day no less.

Matt Gianetti

Age: 26

Online Handle: hazards21

Twitter: n/a

Hometown: Austin, Texas

Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada

Giannetti enters the final table in third position with 24,750,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Matt Giannetti through the magic of video below.

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Phil "USCphildo" Collins: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:57:58 -0700

The USC in his well known online moniker "USCphildo" is actually the University of South Carolina, not the University of Southern California.

Collins graduated from USC back in 2006 before moving into poker full-time.

It didn't take long for him to assert himself in the poker world once he took up the game full time.

He hit for some good scores very early in his career, winning the Full Tilt $1k Monday tournament and a PokerStars $100 rebuy tournament in 2008.

He's followed that up with countless online scores, including a win in the Full Tilt $1k for $89,750 in 2010 and another recent win in the Full Tilt $75k Guarantee.

In recent years he's also expanded his live game and now has at least 16 listed live cashes - six of them at the WSOP - for about $125k.

As you might expect, Collins is super popular with the 2+2 poker forum crowd and counts several online poker young guns among his close friends, including Brent Hanks and Jason Mercier.

Off the felt he says he loves all sports, especially college football and basketball.

For more with Phil Collins from the WSOP, check out our video interview.

Phil "USCphildo" Collins

Age: 27

Online Handle: USCphildo

Twitter: @USCphildo

Hometown: Aiken, South Carolina

Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada

Collins enters the final nine in fourth position with 23,875,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Phil Collins a little better with the video interview below.

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Ben Lamb: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:56:11 -0700

To recap his success so far this summer:

Won the $10k Pot-Limit Omaha Championship for $814,436 Took second in the $3k Pot-Limit Omaha event for $259,918 Final-tabled the $50k Players Championship, finishing 8th for $201,338 Finished 12th in the $10k No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event for $56,140 Leads the Player of the Year race over Phil Hellmuth heading into the World Series of Poker Europe

All told, he’s won over 2 million already this World Series including now at least ninth-place money in the Main Event.

If you think Lamb came out of nowhere to do this, however, you might be surprised.

Lamb has been one of the most solid all-around grinders for the last four or five years with dozen of cashes to his name including eight cashes in previous WSOPs.

If the cards broke a little differently two years ago, we also might have heard a lot more about Ben Lamb by now as he made it to the final two tables in the 2009 WSOP Main Event.

He eventually busted in 14th, taking home $633,022.

He’s now #1 on the all-time Omaha money winners list for the WSOP and 211th on poker’s all-time live tournament money list with just over $2.5 million in earnings.

Oh - he's also won over $1.1 million online.

Ben Lamb

Age: 26

Main Online Handle: Benba

Twitter: @BenbaLamb

Hometown: Tulsa, Oklahoma

Current Residence: Las Vegas, Nevada

Lamb enters the final nine in fifth position with 20,875,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Ben Lamb a little better with this November Nine video interview:

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Badih "Bob" Bounahra: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:54:30 -0700

He has eight listed cashes on the Hendon Mob database with the biggest being a first-place finish in a $1,020 No-Limit Hold’em Second Chance tournament on the LAPT in 2008 for $30,054.

His massive cash in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is now his second official WSOP cash. His first came in 2008, when he finished 51st in a $2,000 No Limit Hold’em event for $7,500.

Along with 35-year-old Martin Straszko from the Czech Republic, he has to be considered the other real wild card at the final table with not much known about his play.

He is the first player from Belize to make the final table of the WSOP Main Event.

Badih "Bob" Bounahra

Age: 49

Main Online Handle: LEB_BEL

Twitter: @BobBounahra

Home town: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

Current Residence: Ambergris Caye, San Pedro Town, Belize

Bounahra enters the final nine in sixth position with 19,700,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

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Pius Heinz: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:52:17 -0700

Heinz has already had a fairly successful WSOP, finishing seventh in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event for his first major live score and $83,286.

Online, Heinz also took down the Full Tilt Poker Sunday Mulligan in July 2010 for $61,000 and won the PokerStars $150,000 Guarantee for $29,000.

According to his profile on PocketFives, his hobbies include “playing unlimited Hold’em donkaments, partying, and what not.”

Pius Heinz

Age: 22

Main Online Handle: MastaP89

Twitter: n/a

Home town: Cologne, Germany

Current Residence: Cologne, Germany

Heinz enters the final nine in seventh position with 16,425,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Also, get to know Pius Heinz a little better with the video interview below.

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Anton Makiievskyi: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:51:00 -0700

Only receiving his travel visa in late June to come play in the WSOP, Makiievskyi is a very unlikely candidate to have made the final Nine.

"I just don't believe everything that's happening now," Makiievskyi told ESPN yesterday. "I understand that I may not have any other chances in life like this, but I don't feel it.

"I just play my game. "

He did exactly that on Day 8, gradually chipping up throughout the day with the exception of one big pot again against Moore when he hit an ace on the flop to top Moore’s pocket kings.

Throughout the last few days of the tournament, Makiievskyi has worn the baby blue and gold Team Ukraine jacket of close friend Oleksii Kovalchuk, another 21-year-old Ukrainian who won a WSOP bracelet this year.

Makiievskyi would become the youngest player to win the Main Event should he go on to take the title in November.

Anton Makiievskyi

Age: 21

Main Online Handle: Unknown

Twitter: n/a

Hometown: Dnipropetrousk, Ukraine

Current Residence: Kiev, Ukraine

Makiievskyi enters the final table in eighth position with 13,825,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

Additionally, get to know Anton Makiievskyi through the magic of video below.

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Sam Holden: 2011 WSOP November Nine

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 23:50:00 -0700

Holden learned how to play seriously through his college years at the University of Kent, playing home games and at a poker society.

Towards the end of university he started doing well online, and he decided to take poker on full time in 2010 after he graduated with his degree in forensic science.

Holden warmed up for the Main Event by playing a bunch of live tournaments in England and Ireland and it seems to have paid off.

Sam Holden

Age: 22

Online Handle: SamDMND

Twitter: @SamDMND

Home town: Herstmonceux, East Sussex, UK

Current Residence: Canterbury, UK

Holden enters the final table in ninth position with 12,375,000 in chips.

For a full list of players who have made the final table, check our November Nine recap.

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So, You Come Here Often?

Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:56:07 -0700

Moutinho is currently slightly ahead of Sands with 2.5 million chips to his 2 million. Sands does have position on Moutinho so we could see some fireworks between the love birds.

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Joe Sebok - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:01:20 -0700

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Kara Scott - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:43:11 -0700

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Lamb Looks for Lead in 2011 WSOP Player of the Year Race

Sun, 17 Jul 2011 12:41:53 -0700

Phil Hellmuth also had an impressive WSOP with five cashes, three second-place finishes and $1.5 million in profit.

Hellmuth, however, is not still in the Main Event while Lamb very much is.

If Lamb can survive to 138 players remaining, he will officially pass Hellmuth in the 2011 Player of the Year.

Keep in mind that this year's results from the World Series of Poker Europe in France will be included in Player of the Year consideration so this battle could continue until October.

Either way it’s been an exceptional race between the two skilled pros.

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Jason Alexander: The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 07:32:41 -0700

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Joe Cheong Goes Deep in 2011 Main Event

Sat, 16 Jul 2011 05:38:02 -0700

Cheong has already earned bragging rights over his 2010 November Nine tablemates, but now we’re going to see if he can become the first player in WSOP history to make back-to-back November Nine final tables.

He’s currently stacked with nearly 900,000 chips.

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Reza Kashani is the 2011 Main Event Bubble Boy

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:10:34 -0700

This year that player is Reza Kashani. He’s from California and was friendly enough when he was doing his exit interview with Kara Scott. At one point he even mentioned he was lucky to make it as far as he did.

Luckily this year Kashani won’t go home completely empty-handed as Caesars Entertainment has decided to give him a seat in the 2012 WSOP Main Event.

Of course, that just means the player who finished in 695th place - a Dylan Linde - is the last player to leave without any sort of consolation prize.

There’s always next year, Mr. Linde.

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Final Thoughts on the Big Game – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 12:00:45 -0700

Let me first talk about the pros at my table.

Back in February I specified my dream line up: “Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Doyle Brunson, and a rich businessman.”

I have to pat myself on the back and say that three out of five ain’t bad! Both Daniel and Phil were at my table, along with Rick Salomon (the so-called “rich businessman”).

The bad news was that the other two players, Bryn Kenney and Randy Lew, were both poker superstars.

When I found out they were going to be playing, I was not happy since I knew they would make the table even tougher.

I had an extremely fun time, though. The footage that made TV makes it appear I didn’t talk much, and it’s probably because I tend to keep quiet while there’s a hand going on.

In between hands there was a ton of great table talk, though.

I told Rick that I love movie stars, I confessed to Daniel that I would snap marry Bono (that was before I got married, obv), and I called my fiancé an unemployed bum (by accident, though, I swear).

Overall I am happy with how I played. I have received some criticism for playing too tight, and I certainly can’t disagree with this sentiment.

At the time, however, it felt like the right thing to do. The entire table was extremely loose, and I can’t remember any hand that got to me in late position unopened.

I am not a cash player, so playing pots with garbage or without position was certainly asking for trouble.

I feel that my strategy gave me the best chance to avoid making big mistakes while waiting for a good opportunity to play a big pot and book a profit.

In the end I was able to get in the bulk of my stack as a 4 to 1 favorite, which I am extremely happy about. It was very interesting for me to watch my expression on TV as the flop came down because I wasn’t sure how I reacted.

While I looked less stricken than I thought I’d look, my body language clearly showed how disappointed I was. At the time I remember my heart sinking and hearing a collective “ohhhh…” around me from the producers, crew, and Amanda Leatherman.

While I wasn’t particularly looking forward to my shows being aired, I have to say that I am relieved that it’s finally over.

Now people won’t be looking at me trying to guess whether or not I won on the Big Game based on what I am buying, how happy I look, or what tournaments I’m playing!

The biggest thing I learned by participating in the production of a “reality” TV show is that the producers can make people appear any way they want.

I have to admit that I will never watch another TV show again without looking at the way someone is portrayed and wondering, “Is that how she REALLY is in real life? Or did they just want her to appear that way?”

I would like to thank everyone that has supported me since I found out I was selected for the Big Game.

Special thanks to Ben Sulsky, Thomas Leudke, and Isuru Silva for giving me hours of help with hand histories and cash game strategy.

Thanks to Melanie Urbanski for helping me make an awesome audition video. Thanks to my husband for all the emotional support.

I’m finally back to some online poker this week after two weeks off in Vegas for the WSOP.

I’ll be back next week to let you know how it goes. Good luck at the tables!

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David "DevilFish" Ulliott - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:19:50 -0700

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Elky - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 01:06:39 -0700

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It’s a Family Affair at the 2011 WSOP Main Event

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 06:14:51 -0700

Eric is by far the more experienced player with eight cashes at the WSOP while Donny only has the one from last year.

It’s Donny who’s killing it today, however, as he’s up to 140,000 chips while Eric is severely short-stacked with only 14k.

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Phil Ivey Has Officially Skipped the Entire 2011 WSOP

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 22:18:59 -0700

For now it looks like WSOP fans will have to wait another year to see the famous pro in the halls of the Rio.

Most rumors place Ivey still in Ireland working to sell Full Tilt. He might want to stick around. The World Series of Poker Europe in France begins in September.

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Phil Hellmuth Made One Critical Error Today

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 20:55:52 -0700

According to his Twitter, Hellmuth thought he was playing on Tuesday and had his phone off and a “Do Not Disturb” on his hotel door.

Eventually close friend Mike Matusow called security and made them run into the room and wake him up.

Hellmuth related what happened text via Twitter:

Security broke into my room, I'm like, "What's going on?!?" SGuard says, "You're playing in the World Series of Poker today."

Hellmuth burned rubber and made it to the Rio nearly two hours late and his stack had been blinded down to 7,000 chips.

Nguyen had a good laugh but Hellmuth quickly went to work.

At the dinner break he had 12,000 chips while Nguyen had hit the rail. He will still need a huge run if he hopes to see the light of Day 3.

If he does make it to Day 3, let's hope he sets a couple of alarms.

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WSOP 2011 $25K Fantasy Poker League Update

Mon, 11 Jul 2011 08:59:05 -0700

But what if a draft player makes it to the November 9? an observant reader may ask.

Well, observant reader, it doesn't matter. If any of the players in the draft make it that far, the points will be distributed according to chip counts.

The chip leader will take points for 1st, second in chips will earn the points for second place and so on and so forth.

In the Lead

Jason Somerville and Jason Mercier are currently in the lead, their team has a total of 636 points.

65 per cent of those points come from another dynamic duo, Ben Lamb and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.

Ly and Hellmuth earning Brunson 174 points at the $50K Championship.

Lamb has scored the team a total of 207 points and ElkY has contributed 204.

Second place is currently occupied by Erick Lindgren.

He trails Mercier and Somerville by 160 points, for a total 476. Lindgren owes most of his points to three of his draftees: George Lind, Eric Froehlich and Shawn Buchanan.

Coming in for the surprise third is Team Brunson.*

*Team Brunson is led for and paid for by Todd Brunson.

Brunson was actually in the bottom-half of the field until after the $50,000 Poker Player's Championship.

Not only did Brunson have Phil Hellmuth, he was lucky enough to have drafted Minh Ly.

Hellmuth's second place finish earned the team 92 points and Ly's third place finish gave Brunson another 82.

These extra 174 points boosted Brunson up from 277 to 451, where he currently stands.

This bumped Scott Seiver and his team out of the money, a fact he noticed while play was nine-handed at the $50K Championship.

Payout Structure

The full payout structure looks like this:

1st – $225,000

2nd – $93,750

3rd – $37,500

4th - $18,750

Seiver and his team, which included Justin Bonomo and Eric Froehlich, was knocked down to fifth place.

The last paying spot belongs to James Bord and Toby Lewis' team.

They had no deep runs in the $50K, but they had a fair amount of good, consistent players.

Richard Ashby, Nick Shulman, Shaun Deeb and Anthony Lellouche provided the team with 17 cashes and 382 of their 420 points.

"You paid what for me?!"

The Less Profitable Bunch

While all these players have proven valuable, others have not.

Vladimir Shchemelev is currently in last place with only 88 points.

Penultimate place belongs to Frank Kassela and Shaun Deeb. The former Player of the Year recruited himself, but only earned 20 points this year.

Team Kassela/Deeb also spent $89 – all teams started with budget of $200 that they could not exceed – on drafting Daniel Negreanu.

Despite playing 32 events, Negreanu only cashed twice for a total of three points.

But the worst investment of the draft was Phil Ivey.

Ivey was the most expensive player in the draft, costing Barry Greenstein $108.

As you may know, Ivey did not play a single WSOP event.

Huck Seed also went for a hefty amount of draft dollars. He was drafted by Ashton Griffin and Justin Smith for $50. Seed played 19 events but didn't manage to get a single cash.

Shannon Shorr was also less than impressive for his team. Even though he sold for a single draft dollar, Shorr played 37 events and only managed to cash once.

The Race is Still On

Despite a commanding lead by Team Somerville/Mercier, it's still anyone's game.

While the Main Event is only one of 58 events, it's a game changer.

A cash in the Main Event will give a player 70 points.

That means, hypothetically, if all eight players in Shchemelev's team cash – and no other players in the draft do – he can jump into first place.

And if a player makes the November 9 with the chip lead, then they'll earn their team 168 points.

That means a few cashes in the Main Event can stir up the field yet again.

The league isn't over yet!

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Dr. Pauly - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Sun, 10 Jul 2011 21:40:27 -0700

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Kevin "Kevmath" Mathers - The Circuit: WSOP Edition

Sat, 09 Jul 2011 01:58:53 -0700

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Is Doyle Brunson Done?

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:35:34 -0700

Brunson busted out of the $50k Players Championship on Day 2 and, despite making several claims to the contrary, decided to make an appearance in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.

Unfortunately he also busted out of that earlier today.

It seems that Brunson may not have the desire or the mental or physical endurance to play poker for 12 hours at the Rio anymore.

He’s also mentioned that he’s lost a lot of motivation for poker since Black Friday and even took a shot at the Department of Justice, asking them to buy him into the Main Event.

Brunsons results over the last while have also declined considerably and he has zero cashes at the WSOP over the last two years.

It’s hard to put into words how much Brunson has meant to the game of poker. Brunson literally wrote the book on poker with his renowned Super System 1 & 2.

Despite being known more as a cash-game player Brunson’s results speak for themselves with 10 WSOP bracelets and over $6 million in lifetime live tournament earnings.

On a deeper level, Brunson is perhaps the last, best, link to the game’s underground, back-room beginnings.

It’s hard to picture a WSOP without Brunson. Although Phil Hellmuth has more bracelets and Johnny Chan is tied with Brunson, the Texas Dolly is really in a league of his own when it comes to the amount of respect he has in this industry.

Poker fans can take heart that Brunson could very well return to the WSOP, however.

He’s mentioned several times that he’s had a lot of personal problems in the last eight months but that might just be temporary.

He’s still playing cash games and if he had one change of heart about playing the WSOP, he can definitely have another.

If Brunson does decide to take a permanent leave of absence from live tournaments, at least those that were at the 2011 WSOP can say they saw one of the greatest in his final WSOP appearance.

The 2011 WSOP continues through July 19. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas check PokerListings' Live Updates brought to you by PartyPoker.

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The $1.7 Million Dollar Moment

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:37:11 -0700

The 2011 WSOP continues through July 19. For comprehensive coverage live from Las Vegas check PokerListings' Live Updates brought to you by PartyPoker.

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New PokerListingsBlogEntry

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:28:09 -0700

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Can Phil Hellmuth Pull This Off?

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:28:35 -0700

OK, scratch that, without beating Johnny Chan in the 1989 Main Event, there’s a good chance Hellmuth wouldn’t be nearly as well-known.

Outside of that table, however, this is an absolutely pivotal final table for the Poker Brat.

Consider that Hellmuth lost his major online sponsorship deal with UB earlier this year and, as previously mentioned, has not won a bracelet for nearly four years.

You should also take into account that the biggest knock on Hellmuth has always been that he’s only won Hold’em events and usually against weaker fields.

The $50k Players Championship is not a Hold’em tournament, although the final table is, and it’s widely considered to be the most pro-heavy tournament in the poker world.

If Hellmuth actually pulls this off and wins the tournament he’s going to finally get the respect from pros he’s always craved and he’s also going to once and for all prove that he deserves all the sponsors he can get.

We’re not sure the poker world is ready for a Phil Hellmuth with 12 bracelets.

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WSOP Photo By Numbers: The $108,000 Bubble

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 23:09:23 -0700

Robert Mizrachi, this year's $50k bubble boy. Mizrachi has cashed at the WSOP 25 times and made nine final tables, including winning the $10,000 PLO Championship in 2007. To date his career earnings total almost $4.2 million. Unfortunately he was unable to add any more to that in this year's Player's Championship. Alexander Villegas, PokerListings.com reporter, observes and records the details of the bubble hand. Live coverage of this event can be found right here. Phil Hellmuth busted Robert Mizrachi in this hand of Seven Card Stud. Hellmuth is the all-time leading bracelet winner and is looking to extend that lead with a 12th bracelet in this event. So far this summer Hellmuth has already notched two runner-up finishes in $10k non-Hold'em events. Nine players remain and Hellmuth is sitting in fifth in chips. The bubble hand. Mizrachi was all-in on fourth street, showing (X-X)7♣ 2♦ 8♠ 4♠ to Hellmuth's (X-X)J♠ 9♠ 7♦ 3♦. By the time all the cards were out Hellmuth had made a pair of nines, good against Mizrachi's pair of deuces. Two ESPN cameramen capture the action for their television broadcast. ESPN has enhanced their coverage of the WSOP this year and will be airing action from the $50k final table.

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Hello from Las Vegas – Courtney Gee Poker Update

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 21:50:21 -0700

I was card dead for the last two hours I played, which is unfortunate because the antes were huge. When Day 2 started, we were pretty much on the money bubble. I got a spot to push on the button immediately after the bubble burst, but the SB woke up with JJ and busted me.

It was the first time I was all-in the entire time I played that tournament.

The other event I cashed was the $1k Ladies event. I knew I was going to cash it because I have a 50% ITM rate in ladies tournaments and I didn't cash the Venetian ladies event ;)

I was very short stacked for around 4 hours of Day 1 and felt lucky to make it to Day 2. I started Day 2 with 20bb but busted after hitting TPTK versus a set.

As I said in my previous entry, this is first time I have had the opportunity to play in the WSOP. It's been an awesome experience and I've had a lot of fun! Since it is also the first time I’ve had the chance to play a series of buy-ins $1k and higher, it has also been a good learning experience.

The biggest thing I have had to learn is how to prevent exaggerated disappointment due to the increased buy-ins.

While I don't play differently in higher buy-ins, I feel significantly worse when I bust. This also has to do with the fact that once I bust a live tourney, I can't just load a new one up like I can when I play online.

Mistakes are also highlighted in higher buy-in events.

For example, I failed to get full value with a strong hand in the last half hour of the WSOP Ladies event. This really ticked me off and I couldn't stop silently berating myself about it for the rest of the day. Obviously berating myself isn't the right thing to do, especially when there is still poker left to be played.

I needed to learn from the mistake and move on. I hope that I can learn to do this in tournaments of all buy-ins in the near future.

I'm playing Event 56 today, which is a $1.5k tourney and my last of the series. I plan to play great and hope to run even better! See you next week.

Follow all the action from Las Vegas on our 2011 World Series of Poker Live Coverage page.

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Can I Get a Hell Yeah?

Sun, 03 Jul 2011 23:04:23 -0700

Jack!

Cowan cheered loudly shaking her fists in the air while the entire crowd either gasped or shouted happily.

She would go on to make the final table and finish in seventh for $22k. If she’d lost the hand she would have been finished in 15th and won considerably less.

Just another day at the Rio…

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Five Most Underwhelming 2011 WSOP Performances

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:07:49 -0700

Daniel Negreanu: 2 Cashes, $29,940 Earned

Daniel Negreanu is one of the best poker players in the world but you wouldn’t know it if you just looked at his 2011 WSOP.

The 2010 WSOP wasn’t spectacular for Negreanu either but he did cash four times and earn over $100k.

In 2011 Negreanu has only two cashes with just under $30k in winnings.

Negreanu, who was so frustrated by his WSOP he snapped a pair of headphones in a tournament, has readily admitted on Twitter it hasn’t been his summer. This was one of his most recent Tweets:

“Glad the WSOP prelims are over its been a complete disaster. Fresh start with the 50k and the main event on the horizon.” @RealKidPoker

Best of luck, Kid Poker.

Shannon Shorr: 1 Cash, $4,743 Earned

In many ways Shannon Shorr is the ultimate grinder.

He has nearly $4 million in lifetime live tournament earnings and an exceptional online pedigree.

Shorr cashed five times in last year’s WSOP for over $50,000 but even that was a relatively quiet Series for the Alabama native.

The 2011 WSOP, however, has been a train wreck for Shorr. He’s played well over 20 events and he has just one cash for a paltry $4,473.

Considering Shorr has over 18 cashes since he started playing the WSOP in 2006, it's safe to say 2011 has been a very underwhelming year.

We hope Shorr makes some noise in the 2011 Main Event or he may have to take the whole “There’s always next year…” cliché to heart.

Annette Obrestad: 0 Cashes

Annette Obrestad burst on to the poker scene in 2007 by winning the WSOPE for $2 million. Just months later she finished second at EPT Dublin for $429,181.

By that point it was safe to say the hype train was running pretty high for the one known as Annette_15 online.

Since then she’s had a handful of significant cashes including the Aussie Millions final table and a deep run in the EPT Grand Final.

Her success, however, has not exactly translated into results at the WSOP and 2011 isn’t proving to be an exception.

The young Norwegian has zero cashes and has earned exactly nothing at the 2011 WSOP.

On the bright side she did finish second in the Wynn Classic earlier this Spring for $215k so her Series was pretty much paid for.

Frank Kassela: 2 Cashes, $22,169 Earned

Let’s be honest: Frank Kassela has not had the worst WSOP.

He’s cashed a couple times and he’s picked up over $20,000. He even finished 13th in the $1,500 NLHE Shootout Event just missing the final table.

Not bad. It's definitely better than a lot of players at the WSOP.

When compared to last year, however, Kassela is having an incredibly soul-crushing WSOP.

Last year Kassela cashed six times, made three final tables, won two bracelets and earned over $1.1 million.

Then to top it all off he picked up 2010 WSOP Player of the Year honors, which means there is still a banner of him in the Rio hallways.

So yeah, a somewhat disappointing year for the Tennessee native.

Allen Cunningham: 1 Cash, $8,191 Earned

There was a time when Cunningham absolutely crushed the WSOP.

Back in 2006 Cunningham put in one of the most impressive performances ever recorded at the WSOP with six cashes, three final tables, one bracelet victory and appearance at the Main Event.

In total he raked in over $4.2 million for his efforts and won WSOP Player of the Year.

Things have changed.

At this year’s WSOP Cunningham has cashed once for a total haul of $8,191.

All is forgiven, though, if he can just win the Main Event this time around.

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The 2011 WSOP Ladies Event Picture Book

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:58:37 -0700

Lisa Vanageatigul shows girl power during the WSOP

Maya Antonius, wife of poker pro Patrik Antonius, plays the Ladies event.

An unknown man in a dress is ridiculed by the women in the field after busting from the WSOP Ladies Event.

Rebecca McAdam in the WSOP Ladies Event.

Ebony Kenney in the WSOP Ladies Event.

Gloria Balding doubles up with pocket aces in the WSOP Ladies Event.

Lana Maier received an ovation from the entire room after eliminating a man in the WSOP Ladies Event.

Maria Ho skipped part of the WSOP Ladies Event because she was the last woman standing in WSOP Event 52 $2,500 Mixed Hold'em.

Annie LePage is in the background as Michele Lewis spies the photographer during the WSOP Ladies Event.

TD Bob Smith mugs for a photo with Donna Varlotto during the WSOP Ladies Event.

One of poker's great ambassadors, Jan Fisher kicked off the WSOP Ladies Event by honoring past winners.

Annie LePage plays in the WSOP Ladies Event while her boyfriend Mike Matusow plays Day 2 of WSOP Event 52 $2,500 Mixed Hold'em.

Karina Jett has final tabled the WSOP Ladies Event twice, finishing 4th in 2003 & 2004. In 2010, Jett finished 4th in an open WSOP event, 7-Card Stud Hi-Lo.

Erica Schoenberg plays her first WSOP Ladies Event as a pregnant Mrs. Lindgren, but looks radiant as always.

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Who's Still Repping Full Tilt Poker at the WSOP?

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:59:32 -0700

Peter Feldman is still wearing a patch, but seemed to be trying to cover his identity while he did.

Joe Cheong and Lee Watkinson weren't as bashful.

And then there's the players whom we've never seen without a patch.

Apparently Tom Dwan, Carlos Mortensen, Greg Mueller, Michael Mizrachi, John Juanda, Lee Markholt and Matt Jarvis thought better of it this morning.

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Twitterverse Reacts to Full Tilt Poker Shutdown

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:53:34 -0700

@Tom_Dwan - 5:05am

"Seems like alderney regulatory body (where ftp's license is) just shut down ftp. Wow I think?"

@Tom_Dwan - 6:00am

"Some pretty objective ppl who's opinions I respect are worried now that FT can't payout or find a buyer. Me too more I think about it"

@Tom_Dwan - 7:00am

"I'm pretty sick about all this. Its ridiculous that players weren't paid weeks ago. I feel pretty sick to my stomach."

@Tom_Dwan - 7:00am

"Just heard some rly good news that I'd love to trust, gonna go to sleep instead of making my head explode w/ various extrapolations."

@Tom_Dwan - 7:00am

"I'll try to tweet my take on the situation in a few hours when I wakeup- which'll be more educated, and hopefully contain more good news"

@TexDolly - 11:00am

"I'm not going to comment on Full Tilt. Just that it's a crying shame this happened. Don't worry democrats, you can do it again next year."

@brianchastings (Brian Hastings) - 8:00am

"I'm far from the best source, but all of this FTP news sounds pretty terrible. Keeping fingers crossed...."

@scotmont (Scott Montgomery) - 2:30pm

"Wow, so Full Tilt has been shut down. Not sure what this will mean in the long run. Have I just been fired as a Full Tilt Pro? No idea..."

@gunslingerbach (David Bach) - 12:30pm

"I have a sense of humor like everyone, BUT the FTP jokes are in poor taste. This is ruining many many lives."

@amak316 (Amit Makhija) - 10:30am

"Dear FullTilt Poker : I am THIS close to telling Liam Neeson that you kidnapped his daughter. Pay up."

@adamjunglen - 2:57pm

"I played on FTP and all I got was this lousy T-shirt."

@compncards (James Guill) - 2:15pm

"UB's new slogan: At least we're not Full Tilt"

@taopauly (Pauly Maguire) - 10:30am

"I wonder if Uncle Tilty has Bernie Madoff on speed dial?"

@coolwhipflea (Paul Ellis) - 2:07pm

"I will say this, guys wearing their FTP patches/gear are sticking out more than they ever have before."

@MarieLizette - 2:00pm

"Another Tool just walked onto the @WSOP poker kitchen w/ FTP patch... um check your twitter buddy."

@WeinPoker (Jonathan Wein)

"Maybe its time we donate 1% of our winnings to FTP players at the @WSOP? Lets help people in our backyard, first."

@KevMath - 6:00am

"I'd like to see if the guy who usually patches FTP players shows up"

http://twitter.com/#!/gunslingerbach

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