September 2005 Archives

Updated belowIndeed, folks, it appears we have a connection from the home of the European Poker Tour in London. After several hours of running around and sweating, it appears we will not only have a tournament here, but also some tournament coverage. Keep your eyes here. Once things get rolling,...more

With WCOOP barely a memory, PokerStars got back to its big-money Sunday tournaments. Nearly 1600 people ponied up $530 and built a prize pool of nearly $800,000. Here's how the final table shook out.PokerStars Sunday $700,000 Guaranteed Results1. TheTakeover (New York, NY) $175,670.00 2. Foxman (Sweden) $103,805.00 3. koule11 (Praha,...more

2005 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Results and CoverageWCOOP Event #1 ($500 NL Hold'em) ResultsWCOOP Event #1 ($500 NL Hold'em) Final Table ReportWCOOP Event #2 ($200 PL Omaha) ResultsWCOOP Event #2 ($200 PL Omaha) Final Table ReportWCOOP Event #3 ($200 Heads-Up NL Hold'em) ResultsWCOOP Event #3 ($200 Heads-Up NL...more

"You're at the final table of the richest tournament of ANY kind in online history."--PokerStars Card Room Manager Lee Jones as the WCOOP Main Event final table got underwayIt was 3:42am on America's eastern shorelines. The sun was still below the horizon, but the late-night infomercials on television were good...more

Editor's note: A full WCOOP Event #15 Report will be out later on MondayThe fourth annual World Championship of Online Poker has crowned its champion. The 15 WCOOP events generated an amazing $12,783,900 in prize money, making the 2005 WCOOP not only the biggest ever online poker event, but the...more

Something was happening. No one knew it at the time, but PokerStars Championship of Online Poker was on its was to becoming the third biggest poker festival in the world. Ever. It only sits behind the 2005 World Series of Poker and the 2005 WPT Championship events at Bellagio.In the...more

Who says limit hold'em can't be exciting? WCOOP Event #14 was a $1000 buy-in limit event and it turned out to be one of the best poker matches of the entire online festival. It culiminated in a fantastic heads-up match between DietDrPoker and sambot. After a grueling back and forth...more

More often than not in brick and mortar casino tournaments, many of the final table players know something about each other. Chances are, they've been playing together for years. Online, that changes. Time zones, languages, continents, and age are just a few of the things that separate the players.To wit:...more

In one seat was a man who made a European Poker Tour final table this year. In another seat was a member of one of the semi-final teams in PokerStars' 2005 World Cup of Poker. Seven other players rounded out the table for the last Omaha match of this year's...more

$127,805 After four tournaments, a private donation, Barry Greenstein donating his winnings from a WCOOP event, and PokerStars matching all funds 100%, the contributors have put together $127,805 that will be sent to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief.Conceived and hosted by Team PokerStars member Wil Wheaton,...more

Editor's note: After making a WCOOP final table, Joe Sebok, two-time 2005 WSOP final table finisher, professional poker player, and son to Barry Greenstein agreed to let us know what it's really like for a pro player at a WCOOP final table. The following is his account.VIRTUALLY ALL THE RIGHT...more

Online poker is suited for anonymity. It's suited for convenience. It's suited for playing in your underwear. It's suited for being able to convince yourself that, despite any evidence to the contrary, there is a very good chance you are the best player at the table at all times. After...more

Moneymaker. Fischman. A WCOOP bracelet on the line. It was 7-card Stud Hi-Lo and one man stood in the way of the two WSOP bracelet-holders. His name was Matt Mortensen (aka Bunsen), a guy who told the two champions that he spends 12 hours a day playing the game of...more

$29,505.24 + $22,075.76 + $21,295.74=$72,876.74Another night, another twenty grand to the American Red Cross. On Thursday night, PokerStars and Team PokerStars member Wil Wheaton put on the third of four Hurricane Katrina Relief Tournaments and, with PokerStars 100% matching funds, raised another $21,296.74. The total going to the American Red...more

There was a time a a youngster that I stood on the sporting field and heard the phrase, "It's like kissing your sister." I didn't have a sister, nor did I particularly want one. And if I had, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to kiss her. Chances are she would...more

Anyone who has been a parent for any length of time knows, the kids ain't cheap. So, with one on the way in just about a week, PokerStars player "musher" could use a little money. Wonder how he fancies $81, 289? After nearly twelve hours of Omaha Hi-Lo, musher walked...more

$29,505.24 + $22,075.76=$51,581.00PokerStars Hurricane Relief tournaments continued Wednesday night with a $20 tournament for the American Red Cross. Hosted by Team PokerStars member WIl Wheaton, the tournament added another $29,505.24 to the relief effort. The $5 tournament on Monday night seeded the effort with $22,075.76. Here are your final table...more

So, here we are the OK Corral.--Lee Jones as the final table WCOOP Event #10, a triple-shootout, beganIf you listen clearly enough, you'll hear the whistle from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." If you watch closely enough, you'll see a tumbleweed bounce across the screen. If your nose...more

By WCOOP standards, Event #10 was a fast one. It took just more than six hours to thin the field from 635 to one. The triple shootout just moved lightning fast. Of the final three players, two of them had parlayed $17 satellite wins into tens off thousands of dollars....more

Call it what you will. Call it "running well." Call it "lucky." I call it pretty neat. When we reached the final table of WCOOP Event #9, there were names that I'd already written about here during the WCOOP coverage. Ziggy47 had placed sixth in Event #1 for $53,585. Lenny...more

I had this sinking feeling that I'd seen a couple of the blokes before. Sure enough, WCOOP Event #9's final table featured two people who had already made WCOOP final tables this year. Lenny and Ziggy47 were the first two players to make repeat WCOOP final table performance in 2005.Seven-card...more

$22,075.76 That's how much will be going to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief thanks to the 2212 people who signed up and battled it out in the first of four PokerStars Hurricane Katrina relief tournaments hosted by Team PokerStars member Wil Wheaton. Each of them contributed...more

PokerStars and Team PokerStars member Wil Wheaton will host a $5+$0 No-Limit Hold'em freezeout tonight at 9:30pm ET to benefit the victims of Hurricane Katrina. PokerStars will match every buy-in 100% and donate the proceeds to the American Red Cross. Final table players will receive the following prizes: 1st-3rd: Autographed...more

It's the type of thing that could make a brick and mortar casino operator go sleepless. To sleep would mean to dream, and to dream would mean to have nightmares about that million dollar guaranteed tournament looming on the horizon. Maybe there was a day when PokerStars might have cringed...more

FPP qualifier takes WCOOP bracelet and $316,638Talk about a parlay. I mean, seriously, who says you can't get something for nothing? No free lunch? How about $316,638 in free lunches. That will buy a lot of Wendys. Early this morning, VikingVII became the first Frequent Player Point qualifier to win...more

"Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend, step inside, step inside."--PokerStars' Lee Jones channeling Emerson, Lake, and Palmer as Event #7's final table beganSometimes, there are events that happen within events. At this year's World Series of Poker, there were stories...more

What a night. It started with the announcement that poker pro Barry Greenstein (aka crazyplayer) was playing in WCOOP Event #7 and was going to co-host the final table broadcast on PokerStars Radio with Poker Talk Show's Rick Charles. Then Barry told us he was going to donate any winnings...more

The Robin Hood of poker is at it again. Poker pro Barry Greenstein will host PokerStars Radio tonight for the final table of WCOOP Event #7. Click here to listen when the tournament gets down to the final table.As it happens, Greenstein is actually playing in Event #7 today under...more

"It's like watching hummingbirds play lacrosse."--PokerStars Radio commentator Wil Wheaton commenting on the speed of the action in WCOOP Event #6Sure, the fast cars and fast girls are fun. They're exciting and unpredictable. You never know when you start whether you'll be in victory lane or upside down in a...more

From the U.S. to the U.K. to DK, the final table of WCOOP Event #6 was an international affair. Another 12-hour+ tournament ended with ActionJeff taking down first place and the coveted WCOOP bracelet.A full final table report will be out on Saturday. Until then, here are your final table...more

"I want a mouse medium rare. And a side of flies."--Dead Cat, in deal negotiations as the final table began.Few folks will deny that re-buy tournments are crazy. I mean loony, wacky, there has to be a rubber room around here somewhere kind of crazy. Well, WCOOP Event #5 must...more

From Dead Cats in want of mice, to a thousand deal negotiations, to rabid disconnects, to, indeed, poker, Event #5 was one for the record books. Lasting more than 15 hours and into the daylight hours in many parts of the world, the stories behind Event #5 need to be...more

It's last call at a singles bar. It's the end of the model year car sale. It's short-handed no-limit Texas Hold'em. In the words of a old college buddy, "Sometimes, boys, you just have to lower your standards."In the case of WCOOP Event #4, those standards applied to starting hand...more

It was short-handed action at the World Championship of Online Poker on Wednesday. An impressive 2345 players showed up to build a prize pool of nearly $470,000. With four players remaining, the final runners cut a deal and played for $10,000 and the WCOOP bracelet. Here are the final results....more

PokerMillion emerged as a skilled and amazing PL Omaha player in Event #2 of PokerStars.com's World Championship of Online Poker. After running over the tournament for 12 hours, he ended up chopping first and second place money with the eventual winner MR32.Here's how PokerMillion, known as Sam Tiwana to...more

It's the difference between a brawl in the middle of a bar and a one-on-one fight in the back alley. It's the difference between a full-court NBA game and a game of one-on-one between Kevin Garnett and Lebron James. It's a science few understand and even fewer have mastered. It's...more

What a fun evening of poker. I've covered heads-up events before, but covering one that moved this fast and online made for quite a challenge. Nonetheless, I'll fashion some sort of final table report for Wednesday. Until then, here are the elite eight who made it to the final two...more

There were a lot of questions last night about the identity of #1PEN, the third place finisher in Event #2 of the World Championship of Online Poker. As the 18 final table finishers have already found, the PokerStars Blog is the one source for turning these players from faceless, nameless...more

Landmines. They are everywhere. Flop the nuts? No good. There are still two more cards to come. Like a big canister of Planters Mixed, the nuts change every time you look back. That's Omaha and that was WCOOP Event #2.Omaha is a game the rewards both the loosey gooses (er,...more

It was another long night of great poker on PokerStars.com. A full final table report will be out later on Tuesday. Until then, here's the bottom line.PokerStars' World Championship of Online Poker continued Monday with Event #2, a Pot-Limit Omaha with re-buys event. After more than 12 hours of stellar...more

It seemed a silly thought a few years ago. A $500 tournament with a prize pool of more than $1.5 million? Rubbish. Never happen. Even when PokerStars shined the first light on the World Championship of Online Poker, this day was only a vague twinkle in the eye of the...more

The sun is threatening to rise, but for the winners of WCOOP Event #1, it's party time. Expect a comprehensive final table report later today after I catch a couple of winks. Until then, here are the hard numbersPokerStars World Championship of Online Poker broke a record Sunday night with...more

The caffeine is in full supply. The eye drops are at the ready. The broadband access is running on high-octane. All that remains is for the games to begin. Indeed, the PokerStars.com World Championship of Online Poker begins today.Beginning at 4:30pm ET, the first of 15 events will kick off....more

Those of you who dig through the multitude of tournaments at PokerStars might know that the site hosts an Staff Invitational each month for we folks who love PokerStars, but because of our affiliation with the site cannot play for real money. The only prize is bragging rights and the...more

Today offers quite an opportunity. PokerStars opened up a 20% deposit bonus today. It will run from now until September 8th. You can click here for complete bonus details. Frankly, of all the bonuses PokerStars offers, this one comes at a really neat time. First and foremost, Team PokerStars' Wil...more