CPT Dusk till Dawn Road Trip Fund £615
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Upcoming tournament's
Tuesday 7th September - Edgcliff - £5+£1 Freezeout with optional rebuy / add on - 2010 Memberships Required
Registration for all live tournaments is 6.45-7.25pm
* Membership of all host clubs is a legal requirement for player participation.
* call 07809677422 for details
CPT Champions
2006
Brian Bazeley
2007
Dave Wheeler
2008
Ben Pittock
2009
Dan Parsonage
Poker News
5th April
Parsonage wins Carbon $60 rebuy and then finishes runner up a few days later for $2,000+
Dan Parsonage picks up over $2,000 for winning and finishing in second a few nights later in the Carbon Poker $60 rebuy to take his online tourney profits on Carbon to beyond $4,000.
Joe Pascoe comes 4th in Joe Hacham Deep Stack Main event in Australia for $30,000
After five days of gruelling tournament poker, we have finally concluded the fourth instalment of the Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series with Sam Welch being crowned champion of the Main Event!
Today saw just ten players return to the Crown Poker Room after the initial 784 players had been whittled down over three day ones and a long day two that saw 72 players – including two on the bubble – walk home with some extra padding in their wallet as a reward for their tournament efforts.
Englishman Joe Pascoe headlined the final table holding a monstrous 3,790,000 in chips which was nearly double his nearest rival. Although there were a few relative short-stacks the final table was fairly evenly poised as the first hand was dealt just after the clock struck 2:00pm.
Ten minutes into the final table we lost Michael Bouskila when he check-raised all in on a Kc10h2c flop holding KhQc against Pascoe’s KsQc. Unfortunately for Bouskila, the board would hit running clubs to send him out the door $4,500 richer. Just a few hands later we would lost the short-stack Michael Mifsud when his Ah7c was unable to stay ahead of Sam Welch’s KcJd to be bundled out in 9th for a $6,000 collect.
On the very next hand high-stakes cash game player Michael Spilkin was unable to win a race holding AdJh against Konrad Janica’s snowmen to exit in 8th place. Unfortunately for Janica he would fall a few hands later. Opening for 325,000 from the button, Janica found a caller for an additional 225,000 from the big blind by Sam Welch to see a As5hAd flop fall. Janica fired out a continuation bet of 550,000 only to be check-raised by Welch to 1,500,000. Janica moved all in for a further 1,165,000 and Welch called tabling his Ac6h to be in great shape against Janica’s 10d10c, and when the turn and river blanked, Janica fell in 7th place for a $11,000 payday as Welch took control of the final table with over 40% of the chips in play.
Alex Kostic was unable to gain any momentum during the final table and eventually was forced to commit his short-stack with just Kd9h against an opponent’s Jacks. No help on the board saw him leave in 6th place, earning himself $14,500 in the process. Esan Tabrizi then gained some chips to challenge Sam Welch when he found a huge double holding Queens against Tens, before local tournament veteran Frank Mizra was straightened out by Welch’s QhJd against his As10c to finish in 5th place and a $20,000 collect.
Overnight chip leader Joe Pescoe then called down Sam Welch with Ah4d on a 5h9h2s9cJd board to best Welch’s Kd8c to take back the chip lead before Esan Tabrizi made a straight-flush on the young Englishman and then enjoyed a double up when his AdKc bested Pescoe’s KdQd on a King-high board. Pescoe was then forced to call off the remainder of his chips holding just Qd10c against Tabrizi’s Ah4c. An Ace on the turn ended the one-time chip leader’s run as he bowed out in 4th place collecting $30,000 for his deep run in Melbourne.
Only a few hands later Henry Chan open-shoved blind from the button and was called by Sam Welch. Chan would need some help with his Qs10c against Welch’s KcJc, and when the Kh10s3s flop fell, Chan was left drawing even slimmer. That was until the Qc landed on the turn, but with Welch drawing to nineteen outs, the Jh would land on the river to send Chan to the rail in 3rd place for a $41,500 payday as play now was heads up after just two hours of final table action.
Esan Tabrizi – 9,500,000 Sam Welch – 6,200,000
Tabrizi flew out of the blocks firing out some check-raises to take a few pots from Welch before he joined in on the tricky trapping play taking 3.5 million chips in one hand on the turn by check-raising all in for his tournament life.
With the momentum well and truly in Welch’s favour both players committed 600,000 preflop to see a Ah5h6s flop fall. Tabrizi made the first move firing out 1,000,000 at the pot before Welch re-raised to 3,000,000 total. With the action now back on Tabrizi he quickly moved all in, and being rather committed, Welch made the call tabling his 8s7s to be drawing live against Tabrizi’s Jh9h. With all but a million or so of chips in the middle of the pot, the dealer burned and turned the 9d to push Welch squarely in the lead, and when the river was unable to deliver a heart for Esan Tabrizi he was sent to the rail in 2nd place earning himself $56,000 for his deep run.
Sam Welch now joins the likes of Luke Santo, Daniel Botta and Amanda De Cesare as Joe Hachem Deep Stack Series Champions after besting a 784-player strong field to walk away with $80,050 in prizemoney and coveted trophy.
Welch played a fantastic tournament full of great calls, well executed plays, composure and patience as he pushed his way past some of Australia’s most talented tournament players to become Australia’s newest poker champion.
29th March
Canadian Steve comes 5th in GUKPT London Main Event
Cuong Tran from London has won the 3rd leg of the London GUKPT, outlasting a field of 318 players to secure the first prize of £127,800. He defeated Neil ‘Bad Beat’ Channing after a short heads up battle in the £1,500 NL Hold’em tournament at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London. After Channing had eliminated Leon Bui in 3rd place he held a 2-1 chip lead over 30-year-old Tran, but the outcome was decided in the final two hands of the four-day tournament. In the first of these Tran doubled up and took the chip lead when making a straight on a turn that had improved Channing’s pocket eights to trips. On the very next hand Channing had pocket nines and Tran found himself all-in against him holding T-7. It looked like the former Irish Open champion was going to get right back into it, but a ten on the turn concluded matters in favour of Tran.
Vietnam born Tran, a former beauty salon owner, placed fifth in this same event last year, but was elated to have secured victory this time. Third placed Leon Bui, who was also born in Vietnam is also a former beautician, but like Tran, now spends most of his time playing poker. Tran humbly commented afterwards
“Leon should have won, but I got lucky on the day. Sometimes the cards fall the right way, but hey, that’s poker.”
Tran now intends to play more tournaments on the GUKPT and in particular he has his sights set on the £2,500 Grand Final in November. He has also ensured his participation in December’s £150,000 Champion of Champions tournament.
Property developer Rumit Somaiya, who finished in 4th place went into the final as the chip leader, but was eliminated after losing a massive pot to Channing when holding a straight draw against pocket aces. Canadian student Steven Ducharme finished 5th, while Salman Behbhani from San Diego was 6th. Former greyhound trainer Mick McCool was 7th and Darren Annis, who was the only previous GUKPT winner on the final table exited in 8th place. Broadcaster and journalist Victoria Coren, who four years ago won the EPT London main event went into this final with the lowest chip stack and finished in 9th place. Laurence Houghton, participating in his third GUKPT main event final table completed the line up, exiting in 10th place.
The tour now heads north to Manchester when the G Casino, Bury New Rd hosts the 4th leg from 17th – 25th April. But before then, the second round of GUKPT Club Championship tournaments takes place on Saturday April 10th. New for 2010, the Club Championships are a series of £200 freezeouts, which take place in all 23 G and Grosvenor casinos with poker rooms. The April 10th events are being held at the G casinos in Bolton and Dundee and the Grosvenor casinos in Stoke and Southampton.
3rd March
Marc Wright wins $300k+ in 48 hours on Stars
It was the second day of March. While some of us wondered how in the name of calendars and clocks we catapulted into the third month of 2010 already, online poker players had their eyes focused appropriately on The Super Tuesday, one of the most exciting poker tournaments of the week.
The no-limit hold'em tournament is a unique event held each Tuesday on PokerStars because of its high stakes, immense prize pool, and star-studded lineup. Its requirement of a $1,000 + $50 buy-in brings some of the greatest online poker players to the virtual felt, though satellites offer players of more modest bankrolls to win their seats at a fraction of the cost. And they all gather for the $250,000 guarantee. This week, a total of 390 players registered, which again surpassed the guarantee by more than a few bucks, as it landed at a solid $390,000. That allowed the last 45 players standing to be paid, but it would be the top seven players walking away with five-figure payouts.
As the tournament found its way to its last two tables, one name stood out as a representative of Team PokerStars Argentina. Veronica "Princesa" Dabul was playing a solid game and looking toward the final table when she faced a few bad beats to relegate her to the sidelines. The first happened when APowers1968 doubled through her with A-Q over Dabul's A-K. On the very next hand, she put her last 10,807 chips at risk with K♦[Qh. JBurleson called with K♣Q♣, but what looked like a potential chop went awry when the flop came 4♣2♣J♣. The board finished with A♦T♦ to eliminate Dabul in 18th place with $3,900.00 to show for it.
Veronica Dabul at the recent LAPT Punta del Este
Play was quick for some time, that was until the actual final table approached and the money jumps became more significant. It ultimately took awhile to get there, but the 11th place elimination of mullaghorn took them to hand-for-hand play, which led to the all-in move from DonkCommited from the big blind. Original raiser dean23price made the call with Q♦Q♠, and DonkCommited showed A♦4♣. The latter took the lead on the 8♦5♥A♥ flop, but the Q♣ on the turn gave dean23price the set. The K♦ on the river ended the hand with DonkCommited out in tenth place with $5,850.00.
Sunday Million second place not good enough for dean23price
With that, the final table was set in the midst of Level 27, with blinds at 1,800 and 3,600 with a 450-chip ante. The starting counts and seat assignments were as follows:
Seat 1: dean23price (625,700 in chips)
Seat 2: jus2awsum (176,095 in chips)
Seat 3: jiacstrap (126,462 in chips)
Seat 4: oncommand (321,675 in chips)
Seat 5: danskemann (74,880 in chips)
Seat 6: JBurleson (88,057 in chips)
Seat 7: LUHMAN (217,750 in chips)
Seat 8: Pokerl)eviL (163,407 in chips)
Seat 9: Siervos (155,974 in chips)
The chip leader coming into the last stage of the tournament was dean23price, and that position was not unfamiliar. Only two evenings prior, dean23price took a significant chip lead to the final table of the Sunday Million and kept it through to heads-up play, where orionrg finally got the best of him and took down the title. Still eyeing the ultimate first place finish, dean23price undoubtedly had a victory in mind in The Super Tuesday.
Extending the lead to more than two-to-one over the rest of the players wasn't easy, but dean23price made it happen. When short-stacked JBurleson pushed his last 58,157 chips all-in preflop with A♦Q♣, dean23price called with A♥J♥, which didn't have great odds to win until the flop came J♦3♥9♥. The pair of jacks then held up through the showing of the 4♣ turn and 7♣ river cards. JBurleson exited in ninth place with $6,825.00, and dean23price sat comfortably atop the leaderboard.
Devilish deeds and double-ups
It was bound to happen that someone else would take the reins and gather some momentum at the table. That person happened to be Pokerl)evil, who decided to call the short-stacked all-in of danskemann. In fact, Pokerl)evil reraised all-in to prompt a fold from original raiser oncommand, which worked. Pokerl)evil showed 6♦6♥, which was up against the A♦9♠ of danskemann, and the racewas on until the board brought Q♦2♠K♣K♥4♠. That left danskemann out in eighth place with $9,360.00.
The next few rounds consisted of two of the short stacks making their moves and doubling up. Siervos doubled through LUHMAN, and jus2awsum did the same through oncommand. Both remained short as compared to the rest of the field, but they were far from out...
The name says it all
The next to move all-in from jiacstrap, who pushed for his last 101,212 with pocket kings. But Luhman looked down at pocket aces from the big blind and called. The board brought nothing of significance with 7♦4♥9♥Q♣Q♠, and jiacstrap was eliminated in seventh place with $13,260.00.
Beyond the million mark
With six players left, dean23price stayed in a dominant chip position and continued to aggressively use that lead to intimidate the shorter stacks.
The next key hand started innocently enough with Siervos raising and dean23price calling to see a 8♦5♥4♣ flop. But that prompted a bet from Siervos and much raising and reraising until Siervos finally called all-in for his last 81,720 chips with pocket queens. However, that overpair was no good against the pocket fives of dean23price that turned into a set on the flop. The rest of the board came T♥K♠, and Siervos was gone in sixth place with $17,160.00.
Not long after, Pokerl)evil was able to double through LUHMAN with A-J over A-5, which put the latter player in a must-move position. Several hands later, LUHMAN pushed with 89,044 chips and pocket threes, and dean23price was there holding K♥Q♠. The board came 7♣9♣Q♥A♦2♣, and the flopped pair of queens was good enough to eliminate LUHMAN from the tournament in fifth place, which was worth $22,230.00 in prize money.
And that was when dean23price soared beyond the million-chip mark. And with a subsequent 200K-pot from jus2awsum, the stacks grew. In addition, the lead that dean23price held over the other three players was significant, as each of them possessed less than 300,000 in chips.
The command post
Fairly quiet until this point, it seemed time for oncommand to...well...take command. The first opportunity came when the short-stacked Pokerl)evil made a preflop reraise, so oncommand pushed all-in. Pokerl)evil called for his tournament life with A♦Q♣, and oncommand showed the pocket fours. The 8♣3♣4♦ flop gave oncommand the set, and the 7♥ turn and 8♠ river made that into a full house. Pokerl)evil was eliminated in fourth place with $32,175.00.
A short time later, oncommand got involved with jus2awsum to see a flop of 5♥5♠2♠. jus2awsum bet, but oncommand check-raised, and the two went back and forth until oncommand put his opponent to the ultimate test by pushing all-in. jus2awsum called for his tournament life with 6♠6♦, and the overpair was good against the 8♥7♥ of oncommand. But wait, there was a 7♦ on the turn to give oncommand the better two pair, and the Q♦ on the river ended the pain for jus2awsum, who took home $42,900.00 for the third place finish.
Only a win will do
Seat 1: dean23price (1,262,082 in chips)
Seat 4: oncommand (687,918 in chips)
Over the course of the first 13 hands, oncommand had nearly evened the chip stacks, climbing to almost 900,000 and chipping dean23price down to just a bit more than 1 million.
Add another few hands and some serious aggression on the part of oncommand, and the lead changed. dean23price lost the lead to his opponent.
But that didn't last long. The thought of another deep run that resulted in a second place finish likely prompted the following hand.
RSS readers click through to see replay
With that double-up, dean23price propelled himself back to a solid lead, while oncommand was relegated to a stack consisting of little more than 160,000 in chips.
It was only a short time before oncommand decided to push all-in for 150,346, and it was done with Q♥8♠. The call from dean23price came holding A♥5♣, and the board brought nothing of significance with its 3♣K♥6♥3♦T♠. That left oncommand with a second place finish and $56,550.00.
No more second places for dean23price. Only days after finishing second in the Sunday Million, dean23price claimed a prestigious victory in The Super Tuesday and was awarded $75,465.00 for it.
Copenhagen has never really conformed to the eight-handed, eight-hour thank-you-very-much final. An early hours finish in season two, the flip-flop heads-up of Grospellier-Petersson in season three, and the five-hour marathon in season four. Casino Copenhagen seemed to have shed its malingering reputation when Jens Kyllonen made easy work of winning on home-ish turf last year.
But season six may have proved that the old curse never left, it just took a one year sabbatical. Anton Wigg, a 22-year-old PokerStars qualifier from Stockholm, Sweden, won 3,675,000 DKK tonight (€493,754), after an often debilitating final table, one featuring moments of sheer panic, separated by long periods of abject folding.
In a three and three-quarter hour heads-up match against Francesco De Vivo, the Swede finally put one of the longest running EPTs to bed for another year. In some sports the equivalent would have required a referee to make a points decision, but here the Danish judge said this one would continue to the death.
It was Wigg's perseverance that won it. Going into the heads-up Wigg caught and then pulled away from De Vivo, a former Italian player of the year. That was until one hand 90 minutes in flipped things back to De Vivo whose seven-eight caught the turn, trumping Wigg's ace-ten.
The full list of prizewinners is as follows:
1 - Anton Wigg, Sweden, PokerStars qualfier, 3,675,000 DKK
Marc Wright wins $42,480 in Full Tilt $1,060 freezeout
Marc Wright (51st in 2009 CPT rankings) had a shot at the 354 runner Full Tilt $1,060 freezeout and it paid off as he clinched third place after hitting the FT to claim $42,480. This is Wright's second largest online cash following his $99,000 takedown for 6th place in the Sunday Million on Poker Stars last August.
26th January
Cody wins in Deauville
The European Poker Tour is no stranger to breaking new ground and welcomes players from across the globe. Last week it was in the Caribbean, soon it will be the ski-slopes of Austria, after it hits Berlin for the first time. Its 51 champions hail from 15 countries, and today in Deauville, there was the chance to jab a flag in even more virgin turf.
We thought we were going to get our first double champion, then we thought we would see the first man from Romania to clinch one of these events. But when push came to shove there was no getting past a 21-year-old named Jake Cody, who produced a miraculous comeback from the brink of elimination to become the seventh British player to enter the EPT winner's enclosure.
"This is so overwhelming," Cody said. "It's the sort of stuff I dreamed about with my mates just a few weeks back. I feel like I should be asleep as I can't believe this is happening."
It was his first time at an EPT but few would deny him the plaudits. This kid can play.
Jake Cody, EPT Deauville champion
Cody takes €847,000 and a buy in to the Grand Final in Monte Carlo. He also has the satisfaction of emerging victorious from arguably the most compelling final table in any poker event in years. Cody found himself utterly crippled by a massive coup against the Canadian Mike McDonald when they were six handed: ace-king against tens, king on the flop. But Cody simply would not die and eventually got it heads up with Teodor Caraba, the aforementioned Romanian, who was chip leader going into the final table, as he was when there were 24 players left.
Teodor Caraba came out of the wings to take centre stage
Caraba played an almost strategically perfect match, mostly sitting out the opening exchanges of the final table as players around him bust. He stayed out of trouble until his chip lead cruised him to the final three. But even after pulling out all the stops when it got short-handed, he could not overcome the fearless tenacity of Cody, who embraced the variance, rode the volatility, and only broke into a smile once the deal was sealed.
The final hand came after they had played two hours mano-a-mano during which Caraba had Cody strangled, then the Brit had the Romanian scratching the felt, and then honours evened out again. But after massive chip leads in each direction, the death knell sounded at 11.45pm local time. Caraba found ace-king and Cody had kings. All in. Game over.
Heads up play
Before that, McDonald had carried the hopes of the sentimentalists. No one has ever won two EPT Main Events, but the young Canadian, known as "Timex", had the best chance to break that hoodoo since Mark Teltscher finished second in Barcelona in 2007. Still too young to play cards in Las Vegas, McDonald is an online and an EPT sensation: this was his third final table and he is still only 20 years old.
Mike McDonald: Timex made to wait for his two-time
McDonald assumed the chip lead at one point today, prompting the engraver's hand to hover over the trophy, looking for the stencil of "Mc". But he hadn't accounted for Caraba, who enjoyed the first major suck-out of the final table, taking A♠T♦ against McDonald's jacks and flopping an ace. Timex and history will need to wait.
Going into the final table, the other story featured a man named Peter Eastgate. The Team PokerStars Pro had the chance to add an EPT title to his glittering resume - something that no other former World Champion has managed, despite six seasons in the attempt.
Indeed, no other former World Champion has ever made an EPT final table, but this was Eastgate's second in the same season - and he was keen to go one better than his second place in London in October.
However, it was always going to be a tough ask with a short stack, and although Eastgate set it to work in the opening level, he eventually ran pocket tens into Craig Bergeron's K♣9♠ and a king flopped. Eastgate's own quest for an historic double was put on ice. He was out in eighth.
Peter Eastgate, pictured on day three but in day five pose
A division in the chip stacks soon developed, with the likes of Michael Fratty, Stephane Albertini and Claudiu Secara languishing way behind the big four. And although they all jousted and doubled up a couple of times apiece, the big stacks found big hands at the right time to pick them off.
Fratty ran A♥Q♦ into Jake Cody's kings; Albertini's K♣9♣ couldn't beat Cody's aces. And then when McDonald's cowboys held on over Secara's jacks, pins seven, six and five had been quickly skittled.
Michael Fratty, out in seventh
Stephane Albertini, sixth
Claudiu Secara, our fifth placed finisher
Amid the wanton culling of the short stacks, there had also been some violent swings at the top of the ladder, with McDonald and Cody chomping at one another's throats like pit-pulls in the back-room of a pub. Timex was actually all in and with his tournament life on the line when he flopped a king holding A♦K♦ to beat Cody's T♣T♥. They had three, four, five bet it pre-flop as the shorties looked on in glee.
Jake Cody suffers a set-back
"The flip I lost against Timex was a big moment as I felt I would have a great chance of winning if I won that hand," Cody said. "It wasn't to be and I had to grind to get back in to it, which I did."
No kidding. The Cody fightback was terrific, starting with a major pot against the lone American Bergeron, who will probably regret limping from the button with 9♠6♠ and flopping a nine. Cody, who had checked his big blind also had a nine, but flopped two pair and they got it all in.
Bergeron could not recover and fell in fourth, two places short of fulfilling the wish of his online screen-name to play HU4ROLLZ. But he had played his part particularly in the tournament's later days, where he had never been far from the chip lead.
Craig Bergeron: HU4ROLLZ will wait for another day
No one had any clear advantage when they went three handed - each of Cody, McDonald and Caraba had about the seven million mark. Caraba had been the quietest of the three at the final table, but loosened up as befitted the situation when the octet was reduced to a trio. He re-raised McDonald out of a decent pot to be the first through the ten million mark. And he certainly looked comfortable and at home amid the madness of a fearlessly fought three-handed battle.
But Cody. There was no denying Jake Cody.
Jake Cody celebrates the winning moment
25th January
Marc Wright finishes 5th in Bolton GUKPT
Marc Wright who finished last season in 51st place in the CPT league claimed his third major live cash as he finished the £1,000 GUKPT Bolton main event in 5th place after coming through a field of 146 players and 3 days of poker. This was the moment he was eliminated....
I sensed this was going to happen after Priyan de Mel’s earlier warning, and perhaps it was one too many three-bets from Marc Wright in the end. But, in fairness, both players had a valid hand, and considering they were in the blinds, it was inevitable that the chips would be finding their way in.
Despite shouts of an “ace from space” from the crowd, the board drew a blank, and Wright was gone.
21st January
Bahamas Glory for Gimbel
At nineteen years old, Harrison Gimbel takes over as the youngest PCA champion in history. Five days ago, we introduced you to him as he cracked Barry Greenstein's aces with six-four offsuit, all-in pre-flop. Today, he can hold a trophy and millions above his head.
Gimbel (aka gibler321) is an online grinder for the most part, but was confident going into this final table. A one-time high school wrestler, Gimbel recalled his coach once telling him to see victory in his head.
"One of the things my coach always used to say was to envision something and it will come true," Gimbel said.
The winner of a $1,000 live satellite here at the PCA, Gimbel parlayed a seat into $2.2 million, a result that few poker pros will ever see.
The final result
1 -- Harrison Gimbel, USA, $2,200,000
2 -- Tyler Reiman -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $1,750,000
3 -- Barry Shulman -- USA -- $1,350,000
4 -- Benjamin Zamani -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- $1,000,000
5 -- Ryan D'Angelo -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- $700,000
6 -- Aage Ravn--Norway -- PokerStars qualifier -- $450,000
7 -- Zachary Goldberg -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $300,000
8 -- Thomas Koral -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $201,300
20th January
CPT Season 5 changes, new features, CPTSOP line up and CPT Championship 2010 format
Bad Beat / Royal flush jackpot
It is an optional £1 at the start of every tournament. You can win 50% of the pot with a royal flush (one hole card required and the hand must to go to showdown) OR if you lose a pot with quad’s or better (Both hole cards must be used). A straight flush is worth 10% of the pot.
This should generate quite a healthy pot. Whatever is left in the pot (which will probably be everything) will be used as additional prize money at the 2010 CPT Championship. Only players who have paid into the pot in a minimum of 10 tournaments over the course of the season will be eligible to play for a share of the Bad Beat / Royal Flush bonus.
End of year tournament.
The CPT Championship 2010 will feature the top 100 players. Each player will start with FIVE TIMES their 2010 ranking points. The event will have a £20 buyin to generate a prize pool and players eligible for the Bad Beat / Royal Flush fund will play for 50%/30%/20% on a last player standing basis. The tournament will be held on Sunday 12th December and will play down to the final 9 players. The final 9 (the New Year Nine) will then comeback on Sunday 19th to fightout the final table with the blind levels rolled back a few levels. The venue for the Championship FT is still to be determined but I am looking to base it on something akin to that of the WSOP main event final table (i.e. seated area for crowd and camera above the table to show FT action on screens around the venue). In the week leading up to the New Year Nine coming back to fight it out on the FT, the CPTSOP will take place.
Venue Champions
The winner of each league in 2010 will receive £100 & a Silver CPT Card Guard
UKIPT qualifiers
After the successful BMPT qualifier which saw Dave Wheeler win a seat at the £500+£50 Bristol grand final last year, we will again be running qualifiers to the UKIPT Nottingham at Dusk till Dawn (£500+£50 buy in May 13-16). This event has a £100,000 guarenteed prize pool. Each package on offer will be worth £650 (tournament buy in + £100 towards expenses).
The qualification format is as follows:
When registering for a CPT tournament players have the chance to buy in to the qualification league for £3. All the £3 go towards the buy ins to UKIPT Nottingham.
If a player who has bought into the qualification league hits the final table and secures CPT ranking points, the ranking points secured transfer to a separate UKIPT qualification league.
The top 10 players in the ranking league then compete in a sit and go with 10 x their ranking points in the league as their chip stack on Friday 4th May 2010. If there is only enough money for 1 seat then the winner takes it with 2nd place receiving any residue above £650. If there are more than 1 seat generated then the top however many seats generated qualify with any residue going to the next highest finisher.
Change to blind structure
All events will now feature antes as standard.
The 7,000/14,000 level will now be replaced by 5,000/10,000 becoming a double level
End of Season Play off and CPTSOP dates and details
Sun 12th Dec - £20+£3 Championship play-off (open to any player in top 100) – Plays down the the final 9 players
Mon 13th Dec – CPTSOP Event #1 – Online Freezeout
Tue 14th Dec – CPTSOP Event #2 – NL Holdem Small Stakes Freezeout @ Edgcliff
Wed 15th Dec – CPTSOP Event #3 – NL Holdem £10 Rebuy @ Newquay Town FC
Thur 16th Dec – CPTSOP Event #4 – NL Holdem Deepstack Freezeout @ Bodmin Town FC
Fri 17th Dec – CPTSOP Event #5 PL Omaha @ TBC Sun 19th Dec – CPT Championship Final Table
New Year 9 comeback to play off for the title @ TBC
17th January
Former CPT player takes online profits to over $130,000 in just over a year
Former CPT player and online cash game specialist Steve 'Candian Steve' Ducharme came 6th out of 2457 in Sundays $500 buy in Full Tilit Million claiming an amazing profit of $38,777. According to Sharkscope Steve who plays under the username 'Iamsmartsmrt' has taken his tournament profits on Full Tilt to £66,082. This amazing statistic also runs alongside his cash game profit on Full Tilt of $55,935 (and $8,348 as well in rakeback) for a total profit of $130,365 in just over a year of online play. Some plaaaaaaaaayer. Candian Steve will now be using some of his profits to play the main event at ($10,000 buy in) at the upcoming Australian Millions.
13th January
European Poker Awards Nominations Announced
The candidates for the 2009 European Poker Awards have been be announced, to be awarded on the 12th of February at the ACF in Paris.
2009 European Poker Awards Nominations:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Jeff Lisandro (Italy/Australia)
Dragan Gallic (Croatia)
Vitaly Lunkin (Russia)
Antoine Saout (France)
Bertrand Grospellier (France)
EUROPE’S LEADING LADY
Leo Margets (Spain)
Sandra Naujoks (Germany)
Kara Scott (England)
Annette Obrestad (Norway)
Lynne Beaumont (England)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Antoine Saout
Martin Silke (Ireland)
Jens Kyllonen (Finland)
Tristan Clemencon (France)
Benjamin Spindler(Germany)
OUTSTANDING TOURNAMENT PERFORMANCE
Antoine Saout
Jeff Lisandro
Pieter de Korver (Holland)
Vitaly Lunkin
Ville Wahlbeck (Finland):
INTERNET PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Patrick Antonius (Finland)
Chris Moorman (England)
Jude Ainsworth (Ireland)
Ilari Sahamies (Finland)
Bertrand Grospellier(France)
POKER STAFF PERSON OF THE YEAR
Edgar Stuchly (Austria)
Thomas Kremser (Austria)
Paul Spillane ( England)
Simon Trumper (England)
Gerard Serra Retamero (Spain)
ROB GARDNER AWARD FOR INNOVATION
Eddie Hearn and the Matchroom Sport Team (England)
Gene Gioa (USA)
Tony Guoga (Lithuania)
Bahamas glory for Gimbel
At nineteen years old, Harrison Gimbel takes over as the youngest PCA champion in history. Five days ago, we introduced you to him as he cracked Barry Greenstein's aces with six-four offsuit, all-in pre-flop. Today, he can hold a trophy and millions above his head.
Gimbel (aka gibler321) is an online grinder for the most part, but was confident going into this final table. A one-time high school wrestler, Gimbel recalled his coach once telling him to see victory in his head.
"One of the things my coach always used to say was to envision something and it will come true," Gimbel said.
The winner of a $1,000 live satellite here at the PCA, Gimbel parlayed a seat into $2.2 million, a result that few poker pros will ever see.
The final result
1 -- Harrison Gimbel, USA, $2,200,000
2 -- Tyler Reiman -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $1,750,000
3 -- Barry Shulman -- USA -- $1,350,000
4 -- Benjamin Zamani -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- $1,000,000
5 -- Ryan D'Angelo -- USA -- PokerStars qualifier -- $700,000
6 -- Aage Ravn--Norway -- PokerStars qualifier -- $450,000
7 -- Zachary Goldberg -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $300,000
8 -- Thomas Koral -- USA -- PokerStars player -- $201,300
Great start for great Dane
The Great Dane, Gus Hansen, has had a brilliant start to the New Year and has so far racked up a profit of $194k online. Gus had a record loss online for 2009 and is yet to complete a profitable year according to online records which begs the question, how does one of the world’s greatest poker players have such a bad run online? He gives a lot of action and I’m sure many railers are hoping his latest winning streak continues. He won $130k last weekend with a hot run at the $100/$200 PLO CAP tables.
Gus showed plenty of gamble when he called all in with 9 high in a 3 way pot. Browndog19 was in the lead preflop but Gus spiked a two-pair on the flop which improved to a higher two-pair on the turn, and it held up on the river to take the $24k pot.
Gus hit a great action flop when he limp-raised preflop with a pair of kings. The money all went in on the flop where Gus picked up the nut flush draw to go with his kings that were still in the lead against PixKim’s dominated flush draw and geoff7878′ top pair with a gut shot straight draw. Gus hit his nut flush on the river to win the $24k pot.
Gus flopped the nut straight-flush draw and wasn’t shy about pushing all in when first to act. He got 2 callers, geoff7878 with top pair top kicker, and Urindanger with a dominated flush draw. Again, the ‘Great Dane’ hit the nut flush to take down a $22k pot.
At the wrong end of variance last weekend was geoff7878 who dropped $300k which was most of his profit recorded so far. His worst session was on Friday night when he played around 1200 hands of $100/$200 PLO CAP heads up against Urindanger, and then others joined the tables for another 600 hands to finish him off. Geoff7878 finished this disastrous session with a deficit of $225k.
Geoff7878 had his pocket kings cracked numerous times throughout the session, and this hand was no exception. He picked up a straight-flush draw on the flop but Urindanger out-flopped him with a two-pair. This action flop had them both betting the max and Urindanger’s two-pair improved to a full house on the river to win the $16k pot.
Geoff7878 got caught in the middle of an action flop when he flopped 3’s full of jacks against Urindanger’s 3’s full of aces, but they were both trumped by UgotaBanana’s 4 of a kind. Geoff7878 pushed all in on the flop, getting 2 callers and UgotaBanana’s monster hand held up to win a $24k pot.
Geoff7878’s bad luck continued when he managed to get all his money in preflop with aces in a 3 way pot. Geoff7878 flopped trip 6’s, furthering his lead, but PixKim spiked a back door flush to take down the $21k pot.
Over on the Cereus network XBLINK continues to crush the tables, finishing last weekend’s games with a $62k win and is now within reaching distance of the holy grail of poker, PTR’s $1m profit ‘top hat’ badge. He has been mostly grinding the Limit Holdem tables recently but his greatest success is still found in his heads up NLH games.
He played 546 hands of $50/$100 NLH with PAPIPAPI on Sunday evening, finishing the session with a profit of $16k.
XBLINK showed a lot of heart at the wrong time when he fired a 3 barrel bluff into PAPIPAPI’s flopped set of 6’s. PAPIPAPI slow played the hand to perfection and won a well deserved $27k pot.
XBLINK showed the railers how to win a big pot with a mediocre hand when he flopped top pair. PAPIPAPI called a reraise on the flop with a gut shot straight draw, and called the turn when he also picked up flush draw. XBLINK bet small on the river and PAPIPAPI reacted with a big reraise to steal the pot. XBLINK called to take down the $20k pot. XBLINK’s bet on the river may have been a ‘block bet’, but it also induces bluffs which makes it a great play to learn from.
XBLINK hit a lucky turn when he reraised the flop with pocket 7’s against PAPIPAPI’s pair of aces. XBLINK spiked his set on the turn and carried on betting with PAPIPAPI calling all the way, sending the $20k pot to XBLINK. Poker doesn’t get much sweeter than reraising, only to spike your set on the turn.
XBLINK proved poker does get sweeter as he spiked a gut shot nut straight on the turn against PAPIPAPI’s top two pair. XBLINK bet his nut straight fast and took down the $34k pot.
16th December
Padraig Parkinson wins the UKIPT Galway!
Ladies and gentlemen, sharks and fish, hometown hero Padraig Parkinson has won the inaugural UKIPT Galway scooping an enormous €125,000 as well as bagging a bonus £5,000 seat into the EPT London. Parkinson, who was born just down the road in Galway, beat Paul Marrow in a short but entertaining heads up session. Chip stacks were fairly even going into the heads up but the ensuing battle always looked like it was going to be short lived. After a few small pots either way it wasn't long before the pair got it in for a classic race with Parkinson's AQ getting there against Marrow's pocket sixes. The loss crushed most of Marrow's stack, but not his spirit, and the Brit kept shoving, winning a double up with J♠ Q♠ before Parkinson knocked out his good friend with K♥ Q♥ against Marrow's 2♣ 5♥.
Christmas came early for Parkinson who triumphed in the town of his birth, there's a festive parable in there somewhere we're sure
The ensuing winner's presentation was an emotional affair with runner up Paul Marrow welling up and saying that even though he really wanted to win the heads up he wanted Parkinson to be Irish champion just as much. Parkinson, who is never one to be short for word, said, 'I was born just down the road so I can't believe that I won it. If anyone wants a drink, I'm buying!'
Padraig swaps his usual Guinness for a microphone during the trophy presentation
It was a great final table with a fascinating mix of old school and new school. PokerStars qualifiers Ben 'Chong94' Lefew and Michael 'BIGMICKG' Graydon played some great poker and could have gone all the way if the cards have played out differently and a little thought has to be spared for PokerStars player Michael McFadden who got it all-in with Aces against Marrow's QT and lost a huge tournament changing pot. The action came so thick and fast in the opening levels that it seemed that a winner could be crowned within the hour but inevitably the knockouts started to slow. Parkinson played a cagey game at the start of the final table leaving it to the short stacks, Ben Lefew and Paul Marrow to get their chips in before ramping up the aggression towards the later stages showing experience can get you a long way.
Parkinson's win was enthusiastically greeted by the home crowd with notables players such as Nicky Power cheering on from the sidelines. Celebrations are expected to run long, long into the night. If it is indeed possible to drink Galway dry of Guinness it's likely to happen tonight!
FINAL RESULT for UKIPT Galway:
1. Padraig Parkinson €125,000
2. Paul Marrow €82,000
3. Ben Lefew €52,000 (PokerStars Qualifier)
4. Michael Graydon €36,000 (PokerStars Qualifier)
5. Michael McFadgen €22,000 (PokerStars player)
6. Paul Dooley €17,000
7. Vinny Cosgrove €13,000
8. Cat O'Neill €11,000
9. Trevor Bulless €9000
10th December
Brian Hastings Steamrolls Isildur1 for $3.2 M
Brian Hastings sent Isildur1 plummeting back into the red on Tuesday evening in the latest high stakes action on Fulltilt. They began their session by playing 4 tables of $500/$1000 PLO when Isildur1 eventually persuaded Brian to play 6 tables, a move Isildur1 would come to regret as Brian finished the 5 hour session $3,234,543.20 better off.
Brian hit a runner runner to win a big pot, betting all 3 streets to set Isildur1 all in. The flop brought air for Brian but the turn gave him numerous straight and flush outs. The river cooperated filling Brian’s straight and winning him a $505k pot.
Brian’s good luck continued when he put all his chips in on the turn with a straight draw and bottom pair. Isildur1 had flopped a two-pair and caught a bigger one on the turn but the river once again filled Brian’s straight to take down the biggest pot of the session worth $683k.
Isildur1 attempted a creative bluff that back-fired as Brian called down all 3 streets with his J high flush that he hit on the turn. It looked like Isildur1 was trying to take advantage of the fact he had the Ace flush card, and was hoping Brian would have to fold without having the nuts. It was not to be and Brian won a $402k pot with a good call.
Isildur1 won the 2nd biggest pot of the session when he flopped middle pair with the nut flush draw and moved in against Brian’s top two-pair. Isildur1 turned a higher two-pair then rivered the flush to win a $608k pot.
Brian Hastings is certainly proving that he too has the medicine for Isildur1’s style as he peaks no.1 in worst enemies to Isildur1’s bankroll.
Isildur1’s Worst Enemies
Opponent
Hands
Profits
Brian Hastings
8,463
$-3,841,151.95
Phil Ivey
6,372
$-2,910,133.50
Patrik Antonius
22,230
$-2,181,212.00
Brian Townsend
15,644
$-1,316,517.75
But the question still remains, how is Isildur1 still defeating one of poker’s greatest online pros, Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan, for over $5.5m?
8th December
2010 GUKPT Schedule
The Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) will be returning in 2010 for a fourth year. 2010 will see new events and new venues added to the schedule of the UK’s biggest poker tour. Once again Grosvenor/G Casinos and their online partner gcasino.com are adding significant prize money to the tour. The added prize money in 2010 will be at least £200,000!
The 2010 schedule includes:
The Main Tour - 8 legs, a grand final and the Champion of Champion's festival.
The Summer Series - launched in 2009, it has now been extended to include ten mini-festivals, taking place from May – August.
The Club Championships - New for 2010, the GUKPT Club Championships is a series of one-day £200 tournaments, taking place in all 23 Grosvenor and G Casinos with a poker room.
The 10% Online Series – New for 2010, a series of one off events taking place the day after each festival on the Main Tour and the Summer Series concludes. The buy in will be 10% of the cost of the main event at the festival that has just concluded. These tournaments will be available on Blue Square Poker, Grosvenor Poker and the poker room of gcasino.com.
200,000 Pound Added Prize Money
The Champion of Champions tournament will be taking place again, for the third successive year and the prize money is being increased to a massive £150,000. The event was launched in 2008 with a £75,000 prize pool and this was increased to £100,000 in 2009. The stakes have now been significantly raised and only way to get into this prestigious tournament is to win a GUKPT event in 2010. Main events and side events on the Main Tour, the Summer Series, the Club Championships and the 10% Online Series all count as qualifying events. There are also a limited number of additional qualifying events (such as the GUKPT Student Championship and the GUKPT Press Championship) which will be detailed on GUKPT.com early in 2010.
The GUKPT Rankings. As per 2009, £50,000 is prize money will be paid out to the 20 players who top the GUKPT leader board by the end of the year. Points are awarded for all open events on the GUKPT. Details of how points are earned will be listed on gukpt.com
Online qualification will be available at the online poker room of gcasino.com (which is being launched in early 2010) and also continues on the site of the tour’s previous sponsor, Blue Square Poker and on Grosvenor Poker.
The Main Tour Schedule
The Main Tour this year will consist of 8 legs, the Grand Final and the Champion of Champions festival. The first leg in January sees the Bolton returning as a main tour venue, while the Coventry hosts it’s first GUKPT main tour event in May.
Main Tour
Dates
Main Event Dates
Leg 1 - G Casino, Bolton - £1,000 Main Event
January 18th - 24th
January 22nd - 24th
Leg 2 - Grosvenor Casino, Walsall - £1,000 Main Event
February 20th - 28th
February 25th - 28th
Leg 3 - Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London - £1,500 Main Event
March 18th - 28th
March 25th - 28th
Leg 4 - G Casino Bury New Road, Manchester - £1,000 Main Event
April 17th - 25th
April 22nd - 25th
Leg 5 - G Casino, Coventry - £1,000 Main Event
May 17th - 23rd
May 20th - 23rd
Leg 6 - G Casino, Luton - £1,000 Main Event
August 7th - 15th
August 12h - 15th
Leg 7 - G Casino, Brighton - £1,000 Main Event
September 11th-19th
September 16th - 19th
Leg 8 - G Casino, Blackpool - £1,000 Main Event
November 6th - 14th
November 11th - 14th
Grand Final - Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London - £2,500 Main Event
November 18th - 28th
November 25th-28th
Champion of Champions Festival - G Casino, Coventry
December 1st - 5th
December 4th-5th
Summer Series
The Summer Series has been extended for 2010 to include ten events, each with a main event of £300-£750. Throughout the Summer Series, two events will take place simultaneously in different parts of the country.
The Summer Series
Dates
Main Event Dates
1a - G Casino, Blackpool - £500 Main Event
May 26th - 31st
May 30th-31st
1b - G Casino, Thanet - £300 Main Event
May 28th - 31st
May 30th-31st
2a - G Casino, Luton - £500 Main Event
June 9th -13th
June 12th-13th
2b - G Casino, Aberdeen - £300 Main Event
June 10th - 13th
June 12th-13th
3a - Grosvenor Casino, Walsall - £500 Main Event
June 23rd - 27th
June 26th-27th
3b - Grosvenor Casino, Newcastle - £300 Main Event
June 24th - 27th
June 26th-27th
4a - G Casino, Sheffield - £500 Main Event
July 21st - 25th
July 24th-25th
4b - G Casino, Dundee - £300 Main Event
July 22nd - 25th
July 24th-25th
5a - Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London - £750 Main Event
August 23rd - 30th
August 29th-30th
5b - G Casino, Bury New Road, Manchester - £500 Main Event
August 26th - 30th
August 29th-30th
The Club Championships
New for 2010, the Club Championships are one-day events that will take place in all 23 poker rooms throughout the Grosvenor/G Casino estate. They will take place on five dates throughout the year in up to five locations on each day.
Locations
Date
Event
Swansea, Thanet, Leeds, Blackpool, Stoke
February 13th
£200 NL Hold'em Freezeout
Luton, Dundee, Bolton, Coventry
April 10th
£200 NL Hold'em Freezeout
Cardiff, London, Newcastle, Salford, Sheffield
July 10th
£200 NL Hold'em Freezeout
Portsmouth, Southampton, Aberdeen, Manchester, Great Yarmouth
October 16th
£200 NL Hold'em Freezeout
Plymouth, Brighton, Huddersfield, Walsall
October 23rd
£200 NL Hold'em Freezeout
Leg 1 – G Casino, Bolton
18th- 24th January
Bolton was the venue for the very first GUKPT main event in January 2007, which was won by Praz Bansi. As per the 2007 event, this leg will only have one starting day.
Date
Event
Start Time
Length
Monday 18th January
£30 NL Holdem Rebuy Super Satellite to Main Event
2pm
1 day
Monday 18th January
£150 + £15 NL Hold'em Freezeout
7pm
2 days
Tuesday 19th January
£30 NL Holdem Rebuy Super Satellite to Main Event
2pm
1 day
Tuesday 19th January
£100 + £11 NL Hold'em Rebuy
7pm
2 days
Wednesday 20th January
£30 NL Holdem Rebuy Super Satellite to Main Event
2pm
1 day
Wednesday 20th January
£300 + £30 NL Hold'em Freezeout
7pm
2 days
Thursday 21st January
£50 NL Holdem Rebuy Super Satellite to Main Event
2pm
1 day
Thursday 21st January
£100 + £11 PL Omaha Rebuy
5pm
1 day
Thursday 21st January
£150 + £15 NL Hold'em Freezeout Super Satellite to Main Event
9pm
1 day
Friday 22nd January
£1,000 + £70 NL Hold'em Main Event
2pm
3 days
Friday 22nd January
£100 + £11 NL Hold'em Freezeout
8pm
1 day
Saturday 23rd January
£200 + £20 NL Hold'em Freezeout
7pm
2 days
Sunday 24th January
£100 + £11 NL Hold'em Bounty Freezeout
5pm
1 day
Please note that all the above dates for GUKPT events in 2010 are subject to confirmation. Final confirmation will be made by mid December.
2nd December
Cascarino at the double
Former professional footballer Tony Cascarino has won the Grand Final of the 2009 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. The ex Republic of Ireland international scored a £168,800 payday by outclassing a field of 183 players in the Blue Square Poker sponsored GUKPT’s showpiece event at the Grosvenor Victoria casino in London. The tournament included some of the best poker players from the UK and Europe, who all paid £3,000 to enter the four day tournament. This was the second time that Cascarino has tasted victory on the UK’s largest poker tour. His first victory came just over a year ago when he won the Bolton leg of the 2008 tour. It was his third GUKPT main event final table, having also finished in 6th place in last year’s Grand Final. His win takes him to the top of the all-time GUKPT money list, with almost £250,000 in winnings.
His heads up opponent was Frenchman Antoine Arnault, a keen amateur from Paris who is the Head of Communications for avant-garde fashion house Louis Vuitton. Both players went into the final with the lowest chip counts of the final nine, but remarkably ended up as the last men standing. After Arnault eliminated Philip Patrick in 3rd place the two players went head-to-head for the title with Cascarino enjoying a chip lead of 2.1m to 1.4m. It was an intriguing conclusion to the tournament, which saw the Frenchman fight back and reverse the chip count. However the former Chelsea and Celtic striker drew level and then recaptured the lead with a commanding 3m to 0.6m chip lead. He was then one card away from victory when holding A-2 versus Q-T, but just when they thought it was all over, his opponent spiked a fourth spade on the river to make a flush. Arnault continued to fight back and was almost level once again when the final hand took place. Again Cascarino held A-2 (both hearts) in a pot that saw almost a third of the chips find their way into the middle preflop. Arnault moved all in on a T-J-8 (one heart) flop and Cascarino called. Arnault held T-9 of hearts for one pair and a straight draw. The turn card was the jack of hearts and the five of hearts on the river gave Cascarino the nut flush and with that he took down the title.
During post-match analysis Cascarino commented on his win.
“I’ve been moaning all year, ‘cos nothing good has really happened to me. I’ve won something (in poker) every year for the last four years, but until now 2009 has been frustrating.”
Making reference to the break down of his marriage he went on to say
“I got divorced earlier in the year and I’m delighted that she won’t be getting her hands on any of this. She’s already had enough out of me.”
On a more upbeat note he then philosophised on his poker playing abilities
“Getting respect from your peers and being acknowledged for being good at whatever you do with your life means a lot to me…I think I have proved myself now.”
His opponent Antoine Arnault was gracious in defeat and will be heading back to France with £107,100 for his second place finish. Small change it may seem, as his father Bernard Arnault is the 14th richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $16.5 billion.
The final table also included World Heads Up Champion Bambos Xanthos from Cyprus, who is one of London’s most successful high stakes cash game players. He finished in 6th place while another high stakes cash game player Albert Iversen from Denmark exited in 5th. 21-year old online tournament pro Daniel Millar was 4th. Italian Romano Pizzo, went into the final table as the runaway chip leader but played wildly, getting involved in almost every pot during the first hour of play. He dusted off most of his stack, then regained much of it before being eliminated in 7th place when running A-K into Cascarino’s pocket aces. Manchester bookie Mike Hill was the eighth place finisher while Stuart Rutter, who finished 5th in last year’s Grand Final completed the final table line, departing in 9th place.
Isildur1 stuck for $2.7 million in just a few hours
Isildur1 is again struggling to keep his head above water as Ziigmund and Brian Townsend slash his bankroll by $2,697,767.70 in just 9 hours of play. Isildur1 must have been feeling pretty good when he got up this morning having annihilated Ziigmund in their PL Omaha session the night before, but his luck turned, resulting in the worst day he has had at Fulltilt’s tables so far.
When Ziigmundsits at the poker table, there’s a good chance there will be some 7 figure swings, and he certainly hasn’t disappointed the railers this week. He lost $1.7m to Isildur1 in 1060 hands of $500/$1000 PLO on Sunday evening only to rake it back from him today with interest, winning $2.25m in just over 3000 hands.
Ziigmund won the biggest pot of their Sunday session when he slow played the K-high straight to perfection. Isildur1’s aggression backfired when he shoved all in on the river and he could only show a pair of 3’s, winning Ziigmund a $708,987.50 pot.
The 2nd largest pot of Sunday evening was won by Isildur1 when 2 great starting hands hit a flop where neither of them could back down. Ziigmund hit a two-pair but Isildur1 trumped it with his trip 6’s. It all went in on the flop and Isildur1’s trips held up to win him a $559,980 pot.
Ziigmund claimed the biggest pot of today’s action when he flopped middle pair with the nut-flush draw and a gut shot to Isildur1’s two-pair with a gut shot. Again, it all went in on the flop, and although Isildur1 had the best hand when the money went in, he was actually a small underdog to win the hand. Ziigmund hit his flush on the turn and the river brought no significant help for Isildur1 as he lost a $652,972.50 pot.
Another crushing defeat for Isildur1 occurred today when the turn yet again favoured Ziigmund giving him top two-pair and a flush draw against Isildur1’s pocket aces. It all went in on the turn and the river brought Ziigmund a higher two-pair winning him a $515,978.50 pot.
Brian Townsendwas back on form today to take another bite out of Isildur1’s bankroll, this time it was a $565,656.50 bite in 618 hands of $300/$600 PL Omaha.
Brian won his biggest pot this year when he managed to get $170k of his $215k stack in preflop with As Ah 6h 3c to Isildur1’s 9s 8c 6c 5s. Naturally the other $45k went in on the flop which only brought Isildur1 a few straight draw outs, but Brian’s aces held up to bag him a $430,992 pot.
Isildur1 lost an unlucky pot to Brian when he flopped a straight flush draw to Brian’s top pair with a nut flush draw and gut shot. This action flop had all their money in the middle, the turn improved Brian’s hand to trips and the river completed both their flushes, but giving Brian the nut flush and sending a $343,797 pot his way.
This latest action leaves Isildur1 with a profit of nearly $500k over 141,000 hands for his efforts with the pros on the virtual felt. With such a big sample, it’s hard to overlook the fact that he’s up nearly $2m playing NL Holdem, but down $1.5m playing PL Omaha. One can’t help but wonder if the enticement of PL Omaha’s massive swings and guaranteed action will be sending him to the rail soon.
26th November 2009
Sbrugby Scrums Down With Isildur1
Brian Townsend, formally known as sbrugby, made an epic comeback to the nosebleed stakes yesterday to take Isildur1 for $1.1m during a 90 minute session of $200/$400 PLO. Brian Townsend took the reins from the start and didn’t look back as they logged 1018 hands over 4 tables and yet another devastating blow was taken by Isildur1’s dwindling bankroll.
A few years ago, a name you were guaranteed to see playing the highest stakes on Fulltilt was ’sbrugby’. He ground his multi-million dollar bankroll from just $50, and has since become a Fulltilt pro. He found TV stardom when he appeared on High Stakes Poker Season 3 and Poker After Dark and has had some good tournament winnings amounting to over $350k, but cash games have always been his main game. It has definitely been a slower few years for Brian Townsend’s online action, but hopefully this latest session will wet his appetite for more.
In this latest session, Isildur1 was a bit unlucky when he flopped a 10 high straight to Townsend’s J high straight. A smooth check-raise saw Townsend get his money in the middle as a better than 4/1 favourite to win. The turn and river drew blanks and Townsend raked in a pot worth $304,371.
Another cold-deck flop built a huge pot when Townsend flopped a nut straight-flush draw with a back door flush draw to Isildur1’s two-pair with a lower flush draw. Again, a sly check-raise from Townsend on the flop eventually saw them both all in with Townsend as a slight favourite. The turn gave him the nut straight, but a twist on the river saw Isildur1 spike his full-house to take down a $242,740 pot.
It looks like Isildur1 has found yet another nemesis as he struggles to keep a grip on his bankroll which has taken a $4.7m dive in just a matter of weeks.
25th November 2009
Matias wins EPT
PORTUGUESE BUSINESSMAN WINS EPT VILAMOURA
VILAMOURA, PORTUGAL, November 22, 2009: Portuguese businessman Antonio Matias has won EPT Vilamoura, the richest poker tournament ever held in Portugal, for a first prize of €404,793.
Matias, 54, who runs a travel agency, beat some of the best players in the world to win the €5,300 main event, the richest poker tournament ever held in Portugal. As well as the champion's title, Matias wins a seat into the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo next April.
Matias was the first player to win on home soil since Team PokerStars Pro Sandra Naujoks in Dortmund last season. He said: "I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world but it is very satisfying win an EPT in my home country. I wasn't intimidated by the competition because I play a lot of very good players in cash games. I just decided to play the way I play, and hope that luck didn't turn its back on me. I play poker just for a hobby but when I got the chip lead yesterday, at that point, the only thing I had on my mind was winning."
The runner-up was Belgian PokerStars qualifier Pierre Neuville. The retired businessman has played numerous EPT events and had his heart set on victory after bubbling the final at EPT San Remo last season. At 67 years old, he was the oldest finalist in EPT history.
Third place finisher was the former chess whizz Jeff Sarwer from Canada. Sarwer has run deep in back-to-back EPTs after finishing tenth at EPT Warsaw last month. French veteran Michel Abecassis came sixth for €62,468 while PokerStars player Ryan Franklin, 18, from Lake Tahoe in the USA came seventh for €46,851.
A total of 322 players took part in the €5,300 main event, including 69 players who won their seats online. The total prize pool was €1,561,700.
More than 20 Team PokerStars Pros took part and among those who cashed were Ruben Visser from Holland, who came 13th, and Irish pro Jude Ainsworth who came 14th. Also in the money were German Team PokerStars Pros Jan Heitmann and Johannes Strassman.
PokerStars players also enjoyed success in the numerous side events that took place during EPT Vilamoura. New Team PokerStars Pro Rino Mathis from Switzerland won the €1k Pot Limit Omaha side event for a first prize of €15,932 while Polish Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki beat a 97-strong field to take down the €330 NLHE Turbo for a first prize of €10,303.
EPT spokesperson Kirsty Thompson said: "It's always exciting when the European Poker Tour visits a new destination and we have wanted to hold an EPT in Portugal for some time so we are delighted that so many players took part including 63 players from Portugal. It's been a superb week of poker."
For blog reports, please see the PokerStars blog and video blogs on PokerStars.tv.
Name Country PokerStars status €
1 Antonio Matias Portugal €404,793
2 Pierre Neuville Belgium PokerStars qualifier €257,681
3 Jeff Sarwer Canada €156,170
4 Jan Skampa Czech Republic €117,128
5 João Silva Portugal €78,085
6 Michel Abecassis France €62,468
7 Ryan Franklin USA PokerStars player €46,851
8 Andrei Vlasenko Russia €31,234
Isildur1 Loses $3.3m in Disastrous Weekend
Isildur1 has lost the lion’s share of his last few months’ winnings in just one action packed weekend playing NLH and PLO with the Fulltilt pros. His recent battles cost him $2,424,663.40 and $2,225,832.50 to Patrik Antonious and Phil Ivey respectively, consoled only by a $1,360,095 win against Durrrr, but none the less leaving Isildur1 stuck for a total of $3,310,504.
Last weekend’s action dwarfed any previously online as the stacks got deeper and for the first time, pots started to exceed the $1m mark. A new record was set when Patrik Antonious flopped a wheel-straight against Isildur1’s straight draw, and it all went in on the flop. Patrik’s straight held up to bag him a $1,356,947 pot , smashing his previous record and setting the bar even higher for ‘biggest pot in poker history’.
Patrik Antonius has definitely caused Isildur1 the most trouble recently but Isildur1 did manage to win some epic pots back from him. There was a great hand for Isildur1 when he flopped the nut trip aces against Patrik’s top pair with an open-ended straight draw. Naturally it all went in on the flop and Isildur1’s trips held up to win a $682,760 pot . Isildur1’s biggest win against Patrik happened when a lucky turn for Isildur1 gave him a two-pair against Patrik’s over-pair and nut-flush draw. Patrik had already committed $207k to the pot before getting the ‘bad news’ all in from Isildur1. Patrik called and Isildur1’s two-pair held up to win a much needed $815,975 pot .
The railer’s patience was rewarded as Isildur1 and Phil Ivey tangled at the tables again, logging another 4970 hands along with some gigantic pots. Isildur1 got all his money in on the flop as a 3/2 favourite when he flopped trips against Ivey’s top pair with the flush draw. Unfortunately, Isildur1’s luck ran thin as Ivey rivered his flush and took down a huge $832,940.50 pot. However, Isildur1 had his revenge when Ivey turned the nut-straight and flush draw against his straight draw. All the money went in with Isildur1 needing a lot of help, and he got it, as a sick 5-outer gave Isildur1 a higher nut-straight and an $827,960.50 pot.
As Isildur1 starts to lose grip on his bankroll, it’s becoming pretty clear what devastation a few thousand hands with Fulltilt’s elite pros can do. Here are the stats for Isildur1 versus his recent nemeses:
Isildur1’s Worst Enemies:
Opponent
Hands
Profits
Patrik Antonius
13,604
$-3,559,628.50
Phil Ivey
6,174
$-2,995,533.50
But what is remarkable is that Isildur1 is usually battling these pros simultaneously! Phil Iveyand Patrik Antonious are well known for probably being the no.1 and no.2 of the poker world. Taking them on at all is a bad idea, but taking them both on at the same time is surely bankroll suicide!
Isildur1 reached for that bar again early Monday morning when he flopped a full-house against Phil Ivey and decided on playing it slow. Phil Ivey took the bait, calling the check-raised turn and a huge river bet whilst Isildur1 took down the 2nd biggest pot in poker history, raking back a $1,126,955.50 pot from Phil Ivey.
Veronica Dabul at the recent LAPT Punta del Este
Teodor Caraba came out of the wings to take centre stage
Heads up play
