When I started poker blogging a few years ago, it was a challenge to find a couple dozen people who were interested in logging in every day to check out the latest poker news. Apparently, that's all changed.
When PokerStars launched the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure blog in January, it floored me when thousands of people popped in several times a day. PokerStars and the European Poker Tour decided to try the same experiment with the EPT blog and were pleased to find the same result.
Now, we've birthed the Official PokerStars Blog and in just five days we've been greeted with tens of thousands of visits. Thanks to all of you who have stopped by. This little place in the ether will always be a work in progress and I always welcome your suggestions. Feel free to e-mail me at any time using the link on the right.
This week has been a very good one to launch this site.
Last weekend, Paul Maxfield, a longtime, high-dollar PokerStars player, battled his way to a second-place finish at the World Poker Tour Championship. Keep your eye on this space for more news abouut Maxfield in the coming weeks.
PokerStars player "brainwash" has been on quite a rush recently. On Sunday night, he took in one of PokerStars' biggest ever weekly payouts in the monthly Sunday $500,000 guarantee tournament.
WSOP qualifiers and wanna-be qualifiers learned the importance of making sure their registered name is the same as the one on their government issued identification.
After months of anticipation, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure aired on the Travel Channel. The broadcast will run again Saturday at 6pm ET.
Finally, PokerStars announced yesterday, players will be able to use their W$ to buy into preliminary events at the World Series of Poker.
Indeed, it has been an interesting and busy week. Be sure to bookmark this page for all your PokerStars news. This blogger in residence has been afforded a lot of inside information and this will be the first place you can read about all PokerStars-related news.
Here's to a good, winning, and profitable weekend to all of you.
The fine folks at PokerStars have decided that PokerStars players will be able to use their W$ to buy into some of the preliminary World Series of Poker events. That means, if you're one of those people with a bunch of unused W$ sitting around, you can now use them for a chance to win a WSOP bracelet.
Now, there are a few things you should know before we move on. This offer will only be available for a specific list of WSOP events.
To satisfy the pre-registration requirements of the WSOP, PokerStars has set a deadline for using your W$ to buy into the earlier contests. If you intend to take advantage of this offer, you must register through PokerStars at least ten days prior to the event.
June 3-Event #2--$1,500 No-limit Hold'em June 4-Event #3--$1,500 Pot-limit Hold'em June 8-Event #7--$1,000 No-limit Hold'em w/rebuys June 10-Event #9--$2,000 No-limit Hold'em June 12-Event #11--$2,000 Pot-limit Hold'em June 14-Event #13--$5,000 No-limit Hold'em June 22-Event #22--$1,500 No-limit Hold'em June 23-Event #23--$5,000 Seven Card Stud June 26-Event #27--$5,000 Pot-limit Omaha w/re-buys June 27-Event #28--$5,000 Limit Hold'em July 1-Event #33--$3,000 No-limit Hold'em July 2-Event #35--$10,000 Pot-limit Omaha, 2p.m. start
Please note, only W$ can be used to buy into the preliminary events. You cannot use your T$ or cash to supplement your W$ account.
Also, please be sure you can play in the event before using your W$ to buy into a preliminary event. Once PokerStars registers you with the WSOP, it is final. You cannot unregister and if you can't play, you will lose your W$.
In exchange for arranging all of this for you, you will be asked to wear PokerStars clothing during your tournament play.
How do you do it? It's pretty easy.
Simply e-mail wsop@pokerstars.com with the event you would like to enter. PokerStars will remove the funds from your account and will then email you with a link to the online registration software. Once the registration is complete, you'll simply need to check-in at PokerStars registration desk in Las Vegas to receive your entry.
Before you ask, I should point out, this promotion is not available for the main event of the WSOP.
For some Frequently Asked Questions about this promotion, click here. For the Terms and Conditions of this promotion, click here.
In a previous life, I spent many years in the TV news industry. Story subjects were often dumbfounded with the amount of time and effort that goes into a two-minute piece. Moreover, they rarely could understand the amount of tape that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor.
That said, it's a little easier for me to understand that the producers over at the World Poker Tour had to make some difficult decisions when they cut down the final table of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure to the two-hour broadcast. Fortunately, I was there for the whole thing.
So, what did you miss?
Mike and Vince: Not omniscient
After I described how close Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten were sitting to the players, quite a few readers of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure blog expressed a little concern that the hosts of the WPT would accidentally give away the players' secrets.
Before the show began, the ever-recognizable Linda Johnson explained to player Patrick "The Hawk" Hocking that while Mike and Vince sit close to the players, there was just one guy locked in a room somewhere on the property and he was the only one who can see the holecard cams. The perceived ominiscience of the hosts comes from some overdubbing done later in a studio. While Mike and Vince do some commentary from table-side, the majority of what you hear was actually recorded later in a studio.
Sure, it seems obvious, but some readers asked, so it seemeed worth repeating.
Wow, that guy will clap for anybody
You might note when you watch the WPT that when the camera pans to the crowd, the railbirds seem to be fickle or very generous with their applause. At one time, they are clapping for the guy in the one-seat. The next moment they are clapping for the guy in the six-seat.
As you might expect, it's all TV tricks. Before play at the final table begins, Linda Johnson warms up the crowd, taking them through a series of "oooohs," "ahhhhs," and wild clapping, which the cameras record. That way, when the WPT producers need a way to edit the final table down to two hours, they can cut to Pete from New York clapping for John Gale. Or clapping for Patrick Hocking. As long as he's clapping.
Happy birthday, Miami John
I was sad that the final edit cut out one of the nicest parts of the final table at the PCA. While not entirely spontaneous, the players all stood and sang "Happy Birthday" to Miami John Cernuto. Later, Johnson asked Cernuto how old he was.
"Thirty-nine," Miami John responded.
"Yeah, me, too," Linda scoffed.
It's not my fault!
Some readers can be quite demanding. I remember one reader firing off an ugly e-mail, telling me to get on with reporting the play at the final table, and stop writing about trivial matters. As it happened, just after we started final table play, the entire island suffered a massive power failure. In short, there was no play going on for some time while power was restored. During that time, Johnson entertained the crowd with trivia questions. For instance:
Q. You know kow what Mike Sexton did in the military? A. He was a paratrooper.
Windy
One problem with having an outdoor final table in the land of the trade winds was the cards. By about 1pm on the final day of play, the wind had picked up so much that concealing the cards became an issue. At one point, the nine of spades just up and blew off the table. Hence, for most of the afternoon, the dealers were forced to deal like they do in France, sliding the cards off the top of the deck with the tips of their fingers, then sliding them individually to the players.
Grumpy Englishman?
For someone who just watched the final table as seen on TV, they might not have understood why John Gale raised pre-flop with J9o and then called Patrick Hocking's all-in bet with, "Patrick, I'm getting tired of you doing that." As far as you'd seen on TV, it was the firt time Hocking had pulled such a move. In fact, Gale raised a few times previously, only to be forced to lay down his hand to a re-raise. At least once before this moment, it had been at Hocking's hands. On TV, it might not have made much sense, but in context, it was a little easier to understand.
So, there's a few things that ended up on the cutting room floor.
I wouldn't subject most people to the conversations I have via IM every day, but an issue has come up that PokerStars players will want to be aware of. If you're one of the thousands of people vying for a World Series of Poker seat, you need to be sure the name you have registered with PokerStars is the same name as is on your drivers license or passport. It may sound sort of obvious, but there are people who play on shared accounts.
Rather than try to fancy up the contents of a conversation I had with Poker Room Manager Lee Jones today, I thought I'd just post it here (with Lee's permission, of course).
Brad Willis says: Lee, I had somebody ask me about what kind of ID they need to play in the WSOP. You know anything?
LeeJ says: Hi Brad - yes, all of our players will have to produce government identification (driver's license or passport) at the WSOP to be seated.
LeeJ says: But there's more...
LeeJ says: When a player wins a WSOP satellite at PokerStars, we use the name on their account to register them with the WSOP.
LeeJ says: It is *EXTREMELY* important that the name on the account matches the name on the driver's license.
LeeJ says: If it doesn't, that person won't be playing in the WSOP
LeeJ says: Furthermore, we will NOT be able to change the registered name once we send it to Harrahs' staff at the WSOP.
Brad Willis says: Wow, that could cause a problem if, say, a guy was playing under his dad's registered name.
LeeJ says: Right. This is exactly what we don't want to happen. Please tell your readers: if you win a seat in a WSOP satellite at PokerStars and the name on your account is not your name, you need to contact security@pokerstars.com immediately and get the problem straightened out.
LeeJ says: If you wait until you get to the Rio, you won't be playing in the WSOP.
Brad Willis says: So, you're saying if it has happened already, they can get it worked out, but it has to be worked out NOW.
LeeJ says: We can usually work out something at this point. We have NO HOPE of working something out in Las Vegas.
Brad Willis says: I suppose we should also let folks know that if they are playing in a qualifier, they should be doing it on their own account so they don't run into this problem.
LeeJ says: That's an extremely good point - thank you for bringing it up. If you and your husband both play on an account, please contact support@pokerstars.com and arrange to get a second account. We're happy to do that, but we need each person to have his or her own account.
Brad Willis says: Great. Anything else you can think of that people should know about this?
LeeJ says: I think that's it - thank you for the chance to get this information out. We don't want any problems for anybody at the WSOP - we want them to concentrate on playing poker!
Brad Willis says: I hear that. Thanks Lee. I'll let everybody know tonight.
You ever realize that epic events always seem to live in a strange dual universe? That is, something huge happens and it was so big, it seems as though it has been a part of lore forever. And yet, it was such a big deal, it seems like it just happened yesterday.
That's sort of what it's like to consider that it's just been a few months since PokerStars hit that beach running and took over the Bahamas Paradise Island. It was during that time that we met some of the best people and, yes, best poker players we've ever had the pleasure to know.
There are countless stories that come to mind, but most of them I already related over at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Blog. As for the others they will have to wait until after Wednesday night.
If you're looking for the inside scoop on both the 2004 and 2005 tournaments, feel free to head on over to the main page for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.
If you can't watch Wednesday night, the Travel Channel has scheduled a re-broadcast on Saturday at 6PM ET.
You know what's fun to do? Hit somebody with a whole buncha questions right after they've won a whole buncha money.
Sunday night, PokerStars player brainwash won one of PokerStars' biggest $500,000 Guarantee prizes ever. For his first place finish, brainwash cashed for a whopping $159,965.
Not 12 hours after winning, brainwash said, "I am still in a state of shock. $160,000 is a lot of money."
The San Clemente, California man has only been playing poker for a couple of years. He started playing online at PokerStars about a year and half ago. Recently, something must have clicked, because he has been on quite a rush. While $159,965 is his biggest win to date, he's had a couple of other big paydays this month, including taking fourth place for $28,000 in PokerStars Sunday $350,000 Guarantee.
It was a stroke of luck in this week's tournament that turned everything around.
Next came the hand that turned the tables for the night. The table folded around the brainwash in the small blind who simply called for another 20,000. Muchjka raised and made it 20,000 to go. Brainwash would have none of that and pushed in his remaining chips, a whopping 895,579. Muchajka called. Brainwash showed a surprising K6o. Muchjka showed AJs. The board put out two sixes, though, handing trips and 1.8 million chip pot to brainwash.
Brainwash, who will readily admit he caught very luck on that hand, said, after that point, "I felt that there was nothing that could stop me."
Now, with a great April almost behind him, brainwash is looking forward to using his winnings to enter some bigger live tournaments, buy a new car, and, in his words, some "other toys."
In short, he says, "I plan on going all out having the time of my life."
Congratulations to brainwash for his great month.
Be sure to head over to PokerStars and sign up for this Sunday's $350,000 Guarantee.
To some folks, the possibility of ending their Sunday afternoon of poker with a $150,000 profit may not seem like that big of a deal. I'd like to meet those folks. I could use a new set of tires on my car.
For nine PokerStars players, that possibility became a face-slapping reality Sunday night in our monthly $500,000 guarantee. In fact, with a field of nearly 1400 players, the total prize pool jumped to a mind-numbing $695,500.
After several hours of battle, the final table of nine looked like this.
Click image for full-size version
FM_103 came to the table with a painfully short stack. His prospects for making it to the bigtime money seemed slim. And so it happened that he ended up tangling with muchajka, the chip leader. FM_103 got all in with AK vs. muchajka's A4. With an ace on the flop and no four on the board, FM_103 doubled through and put himself in a position to see some of the bigger money.
It appeared as though muchajka would double up another player when Richfngr called all-in against muchjka's raise. Richfngr held A4o and muchajka held JTs. The flop, 393, looked favorable for Richfngr, but a jack came on the turn and sent Richfngr packing in ninth place for a $10,432.50 payday.
Northerngent found new life shortly thereafter. Muchajka raised preflop from 30,000 to 120,000. -acrusher- called the raise. Northerngent, seeing a lot of money on the pot, offered "here we go lol" and called for the remainder of his chips, 52,332.
The flop came down Js6d8c. Muchjka came in for 150,000 and -acrusher- moved over the top all in for 727,056. Muchjka folded, leaving the pot for northerngent and -acrusher-. When the cards turned up, it looked like -acrusher- would take it all down with his AJ. -acrusher only held JT of clubs, but runner-runner clubs handed northerngent the flush and tripled him up.
That left souspview as the shortest stack at the table. He doubled through muchjka once, but couldn't hold out much longer. He moved in a few hands later with A8s but ran into brainwash's pair of eights. An ace never appeared on the board and soupsview left in eighth place for $15,996.50.
Anyone familiar with PokerStars PokerRoom Manager Lee Jones will know he is famous (perhaps, infamous?) for his very punny final table quips. Soupsview was treated to the first real quip of the night.
Lee's quip: "$16K will buy you a lot of Campbells, you know?"
It's a soup joke, folks.
Mr Swatch was the next to go. With the blinds at 20,000/40,000/2000, Mr Swatch pushed in the remainder of his 354,071 stack wih a pair of fives. Muchajka called with a pair of nines and Mr Swatch never improved.
Lee's quip: "Looks like you're out of time, Mr Swatch. But $22K - that'll get you a Rolex. Good match!"
That was a watch joke, by the way.
Northerngent could only hold on for so long. After posting the 40,000 big blind, northerngent faced a 40,000 raise from FM_103 in the small blind. Northerngent re-raised all-in to a mere 100,996 and FM_103 called. Northerngent showed J6. Bad luck, as it turned out, as FM_103 had Q6. A flop of TT6 offered the possibility of a chopped pot, but the big cards never materialized and northerngent left in sixth place for $29,906.
Next came the hand that turned the tables for the night. The table folded around the brainwash in the small blind who simply called for another 20,000. Muchjka raised and made it 20,000 to go. Brainwash would have none of that and pushed in his remaining chips, a whopping 895,579. Muchajka called. Brainwash showed a surprising K6o. Muchjka showed AJs. The board put out two sixes, though, handing trips and 1.8 million chip pot to brainwash.
Muchjka, the one-time chipleader, was crippled. He battled hard and doubled though three times while holding an ace. Ultimately, though, he couldn't fully recover an ended up ending it all against the man who took most of his chips.
Brainwash raised from the small blind, making it 200,000 to go. Muchjka came over the top, pushing in his entire 604,496 stack. This time, muchjka didn't have the ace. He held KJo. Brainwash, though, had ATo and paired his ace on the flop. Muchjka left in fifth place for $36,861.
At that point, the contest became brainwash's to lose.
-acrusher- was the next unfortunate soul to run up against brainwash. Brainwash raised pre-flop with KQo and -acrusher- moved in with AJ. It looked good for -acrusher- all the way until the river when a queen came down and sent -acrusher- out in fourth place for $45,207.50.
Lee's quip: "Oof - tough river to get crushed on, aj. But $45K - wow! Good game"
Finally, FM_103, who had arrived at the table with one of the shorter stacks, departed. He got his chips in with the best hand, a pair of sevens, but suffered the same fate as -acrusher-, as brainwash called with KQ and flopped a queen. Lasting until third place grossed FM_103 $61,204.
Lee's quip: "Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen! This is FM_103 signing off, to go party with my $61K. Good night."
To deal or not to deal... (Forgive me, Hamlet is on HBO)
Down to heads-up play, brainwash immediately offered wedlowjones a deal. Brainwash had a sizable chiplead going into heads up play (not quite 3:1)and offered to buy wedlowjones out for $20,000 more than second place money.
There ensued a long debate that often came down to whether brainwash would offer a few more thousand in the chop.
Finally, wedlowjones said, "Let's just play it. Ninety is fine with me."
Lee confirmed, "Okay wedlow - you want me to restart?"
Wedlowjones was sure. "Fire'em up," he typed.
It remained to be seen whether wedlowjones could overcome brainwash's lead. A few times wedlowjones climbed above the one million mark in chips, but he could never find the right nails to close the coffin. As much as that was true, every time it seemed as through brainiwash was about to put wedlowjones away, wedlowjones would battle back. It was a fine heads-up battle.
As always, it came down to one hand. Brainwash held 2.17 million in chips. Wedlowjones had 1.3 million. Brainwash called from the small blind, wedlowjones raised to 160,000, and brainwash called. The flop came down 6h2dAs. Wedlowjones bet out 180,000 and brainwash simply called. The turn brought Kh. Wedlowjones checked and brainwash bet 400,000. Wedlowjones took that opportunity to move all in for 964,448. Brainwash called almost immediately with A4h. Brainwash had top pair with the flush draw. Wedlowjones only had KQs and never improved.
In the end, wedlowjones left in second place for $93,892. That left all of the first place prize to San Clemente, California's brainwash, who cashed for an amazing $159,965.
And that left room for one more quip. It was almost Homer-esque (Homer Simpson, that is).
DOH! King of references, Lee Jones, beat me on this one. Mea culpa. It was "Pinky and the Brain."
Lee's quip: "And, brain, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
In the morning, when the coffee is still hot and the day is still new, the paperboy will ride by on his bike, toss out the daily news, and ride on with his duty duly completed. Then, over Wheaties and orange juice, you can sit back and read the news of the day, the stories of your local heroes and villains, and the scores of all the games from the night before.
Well, at least, that's how it used to be.
Nowadays, the paperboy is more likely a tired father working a second job and driving an old Honda. The breakfast is probably a hastily scarfed Pop Tart. And most of the news comes across a laptop's screen.
Indeed, times have changed.
The same is true for the poker world. Within the reach of most of our memories are the days when news in the poker world traveled via word of mouth or in pulp magazines left sitting in card rooms. It has not been so long that the poker community was a tight-knit group of individuals based in just a few cities.
Now, since the explosion of online poker, the Internet has exploded with poker blogs. The poker community can only be defined with one location: Earth.
But, when I joined PokerStars, I couldn't help but notice that the site had almost organically grown its own community. That is, the players who compete at PokerStars know each other. They have their own heroes and villains. It is a worldwide community that comes together in the best virtual cardroom around.
Only one thing was missing: the paperboy.
Sure, we at PokerStars have ways of talking to our players. We post the news in the virtual card room lobby. We send out occasional e-mails. The thing is, the PokerStars world is so dynamic, so constantly changing, so full of fantastic stories, there remained the necessity for a sort of PokerStars newspaper.
And so this little space on the 'Net was born. And me? I'm your paperboy.
Only time will tell what this effort will become. For now, I expect you'll find regular updates with player profiles, exclusive news from the PokerStars front, and results from big tournaments.
So, welcome. Sit back with your Wheaties and orange juice and read your daily news whenever you like.
And if you feel like bringing the paperboy a cup of coffee, I know it will be appreciated.
You ever realize that epic events always seem to live in a strange dual universe? That is, something huge happens and it was so big, it seems as though it has been a part of lore forever. And yet, it was such a big deal, it seems like it just happened yesterday.
Sunday night, PokerStars player brainwash won one of PokerStars' biggest $500,000 Guarantee prizes ever. For his first place finish, brainwash cashed for a whopping $159,965. 
