May 2005 Archives

"This was a short breath from heaven"--PokerStars player downtheline shortly after winning the $500,000 Guranteed tournament on 5/29/05Why should he have any hope? I mean, many of us have been there before. We reach a final table in a big tournament but have barely enough chips to survive a few...more

When 1293 people entered PokerStars Sunday $500,000 Guaranteed tournament and built a prize pool of $646,500, few would've predicted how the final hand would play out. The difference in prize money between first and second was more than $60,000.Here's a blatant and unapologetic bit of foreshadowing: a two-outer spelled the...more

This time a week ago I was somewhere over the Atlantic, an iPod shooting music into my ears to drown out the three kids two rows in front of me, and wondering if I could stand another viewing of "National Treasure" on the seatback screen in front of me (the...more

Let's be clear from the outset about the real subject of this post. NEW 20% desposit bonus at PokerStars.com Good from now until June 2 at 11:59PMNow that we have that estabished, I have a bone to pick with conventional wisdom.You know, until you really start listening, you don't realize...more

If you're a frequent reader of poker blogs or forums, you've no doubt seen a lot of conversations about people playing as a team online. In an effort to clear up any confusion about the very clear line between team play and collusion, I reached out to PokerStars Poker Room...more

After a week on the road with the World Cup of Poker, the PokerStars blog is back at Blog HQ for a few weeks. That means we're back to high-dollar play and the regular Sunday night final table tournament report.As the final table of Sunday's $350,000 Guaranteed began, the rail...more

Costa Rica wins second title at PokerStars.com World Cup of PokerTeam Costa RicaCosta Rica's team members had spoken of the curse before. The semi-finals proved to be grueling. Though the defending champions moved out to an early 2-0 lead in the semis, Team Scotland had battled back to force a...more

Anders Berg (Team Norway)VS Alex Brenes (Team Costa Rica)In one of the best London matches of the World Cup of Poker, Norway's Anders Berg trounced Costa Rica's Alex Brenes to force a fifth and final match for the championship.The match promised to be a good one, as both players...more

Terrence Chan (Team Costa Rica)VS Age Spets (Team Norway)In the minds of some players, the championship final was already over. As Age Spets and Terrence Chan moved into what might've been the final heat of the of World Cup of Poker Championship Final, bettors had their money on Chan....more

World Cup of Poker Playoffs: Scotland Clinches third place; Austria takes fourth Thomas Pratter (Team Austria)VS Andy Richmond (Team Scotland)After a week of battling across the felt with no match shorter than 11 hands, the deciding contest for third place set a new record here in London. After Teams Austria...more

Tony Stewart (Team Scotland)VS Dietmar Wegerer (Team Austria)Team Scotland had survived falling behind 2-0 in the first two heats of the third place final when Diamond Dave Veich scored a victory in the third heat. Still, the onus remained. If Scotland were to survive, Tony Stewart had to win...more

Sigi Stockinger (Team Austria)VS Dave Veitch (Team Scotland)In the third and possibly final heat of the third place playoff, Team Austria looked to put the contest away. Noted European player Sigi Stockinger faced off against Diamond Dave Veitch.It proved to be a short contest. In one of the two...more

Manrique Quesada (Team Costa Rica)VSAnne Lovmo (Team Norway) After a stunning and quick defeat in the first heat of the finals, Norway needed to stop the Costa Rican tide from running away with the contest. Heat #2 pitted Manrique Quesada, the man who sealed the deal for Costa Rica's...more

NATAN WAGER (Team Costa Rica)VSReidar Monsen (Team Norway)Last night as I departed Riverside Studios, I happened upon the Costa Rican team. They stood at curbside, speaking in rapid-fire Spanish with tense looks on their faces. My rudimentary understanding of the language allowed me an ever-so-simple understanding of the conversation....more

Ian Millar (Team Scotland)VS Bernd Stadlbauer (Team Austria)In the second heat of this third place playoff, two winners from the semi-finals faced off. With Scotland already behind by one game in the playoff, it was up two Ian "Two-Outer" Millar to fend off pilot and poker player Bernd Staldbauer....more

Florian Oberauer (Team Austria )VS Steven McCorquodale (Team Scotland ) As the teams begin play on this Wednesday, Teams Austria and Scotland are fighting for third place after failing to make the finals.The first match of the day pitted Austria's Florian Oberauer against Scotland's Steven McCorquodale.McCorquodale moved out to...more

If you're one of those people who gets up and leaves a sporting event when it seems like a blowout, you would've missed a lot of good action today. It was a day of two-outers, gutty play, and championship brawls at the semi-finals of the World Cup of Poker.In the...more

NORWAY TO FACE COSTA RICA IN WCP FINALS Thomas Pratter (Team Austria) Don't mess with Thomas Pratter. He owns a three-table card casino in Salzburg. That is, he knows cards pretty well. Not only that, but it provides him enough of an income to allow him to play poker online...more

Costa Rica Advances to WCP FinalsSteven McCorquodale (Team Scotland) Steven McCorquodale, beyond having a fairly difficult last name to spell, is a pretty easy going guy. He'd be just as happy in a North Scotland cabin as on some island paradise. He's afraid of flying but doesn't shy away from...more

Florian Oberauer (Team Austria) Call Florian Oberauer the Magic Man. Like a lot of the young up and coming poker players, Oberauer got his start in the game Magic: The Gathering. The strategy card game has led him to poker success, although he still considers poker to be just a...more

Alex Brenes (Team Costa Rica) If the name Brenes sounds familiar, it should. Alex Brenes comes from likely the most well-known poker playing family in Costa Rica. His brothers Humberto and Eric are both well-known players. Alex Brenes is quite well known in poker tournament circuits as well, having scored...more

Anne Lovmo (Team Norway) Funny thing about Anne Lovmo. At one time, she wasn't the biggest fan of the game. In fact, she'll tell you, "I used to hate poker until I learned it." Shy and afraid of heights, the Norwegian woman isn't afraid of playing high-level poker. In her...more

Oftentimes when you reach heads-up play in a multi-table tournament, the blinds have grown so large or the disparity in chips is so great, the nuances of the game evaporate into all-in fests.Here at the semi-finals of the PokerStars.com World Cup of Poker the nuance is alive. Each player is...more

Natan Wager (Team Costa Rica)Natan Wager is a talker. He sort of has to be. He's an attorney and attorneys talk. Wager may love the game he's playing for his country, but says poker is just a hobby. "I love it too much to do it for a living. However,...more

Reidar Monsen (Team Norway) Reidar Monsen is one of those guys that's hard to look at across the table. While genial and friendly off the table, Monsen has an assassin's stare at the felt. He claims to have never played live poker before today. The way he played, I'd almost...more

Jose Rosenkrantz (Team Costa Rica)Jose Rosenkrantz is a member of a well-known cabal of poker players from Costa Rica. Look around the well-known Brenes brothers and this one-time businessman will likely be nearby. Rosenkrantz is a one-time World Poker Tour winner who lives by the philosophy that that true happiness...more

Sigi Stockinger (Team Austria)"I am an open book," Stockinger will respond if you ask him to reveal his hidden personality. Methinks it's a bit of a false tell on his part. Cagey, aggressive, and no slouch at heads-up play the Austrian is no open book at the poker table. Nominated...more

Terrence Chan (Team Costa Rica) Don't get in Terrence Chan's way. That goes for the poker table and in Costa Rican dark streets at night. Not only is the professional poker player very good at his game (he's cashed in every big tournament he's ever played outside the United States),...more

When the World Cup of Poker began, the battles were contested in an ethereal realm. The players sat in their homes, perhaps in the underclothes, perhaps snacking on fried food (okay, that's how I would do it), clicking madly as their heads-up matches played out.Now, the remaining teams, defending champs...more

Please see the links below for an index of coverage from the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IIWorld Cup of Poker Set to beginHeat 1 Scotland v. Costa RicaHeat 1 Norway v. Austria WCP Heat 2: Costa Rica vs. Scotland WCP Heat #2: Austria vs. Norway WCP Heat #3: Scotland...more

Editor's note: The following is a guest post from Denver-area freelance writer and PokerStars friend Lisa Jo Barr.FULL HOUSE CELEBRITY POKER TOURNAMENTTHE MILE HIGH STATION, DENVER, COBy Lisa Jo BarrIt was a classic spring day in Denver, Colorado --not too warm--not too cold. But the temperatures didn't stay that way...more

I've been a guitar player for the better part of the last twenty years. I didn't think the callouses on the end of my fingers could get any thicker. This week proved me wrong. There's been a lot going on and my typing fingers are all but worn out.First off,...more

I woke up today with the World Series of Poker on my mind. Sure, there were other things like, "I really should brush my teeth and find a new brand of deodorant." But those took a backseat to WSOP thoughts. Of course, my dentist and anyone with olfactory senses might...more

Note: We've had a couple new news bits come in at day's end. So, if you were here earlier, be sure to check out the first two items below. With less than two months to go before the World Series of Poker main event (and less than a month until...more

The British Poker Open is in the books and PokerStars players Greg Raymer and Andreas Harnemo walked away with some cash. Our correspondents across the pond report that Raymer was battling toward the top when his ace got out-kicked. Nonetheless, he still took third for 20,000 pounds. Harnemo took fourth...more

Back in the old days, old school reporters would sit chain-smoking next to the newsroom wire teletype, waiting for news from far away lands. My, but we've come a long way. Tonight, PokerStars players Greg Raymer and Andreas Harnemo will be playing at the final table of the British Poker...more

Sunday night's $350,000 Guarantee on PokerStars was a picture of one player heading into the final table with a decent chip lead and carrying it all the way to the finish with little fear of walking away with less than first place money. Riverthenuts hit the final table in first...more

It was a week of numbers here in the land of PokerStars.com. I found myself waking from restless daydreams about a giant Sesame Street version of the number five sitting across the table from me in a heads up match. He flipped over pocket fives to my pocket aces. When...more

At the risk of offending numerologists, pattern-seekers, and fans of the American CBS crime drama "Numb3rs," one can waste a lot of energy in the fruitless pain to find meaning or patterns in numbers of coincidence. Still, upon hearing that today is, in fact, May 5, 2005 (aka 05-05-05), I...more

PokerStars' Sunday $350,000 Guarantee drew a star-studded final table with a few quickly recognizable screen names. It took just a little more than an hour to winnow the field from nine down to the winner.Click here for a larger image taken just shortly after the final table beganChrisnada came to...more