August 2008 Archives

$100,000 and there’s no amount of money that can be spent to enter this tournament. The monthly Turbo Takedown is proof that you can make some serious money with those Frequent Player Points (FPPs). If getting the 5,000 FPPs while playing cash games and SnGs is too much, consider hitting...more

467 Sit and Go champions for the past month gathered today for the biggest share of the monthly Battle of the Planets giveaway. The players earned their way to the triple shootout with a $50,000 prizepool by winning a weekly race for points by playing a certain amount of SnG...more

By Steve Paul-Ambrose WCOOP is coming and I'm already getting excited. I've had a month now to forget about the disappointment of the WSOP and now have another to get ready for this year's new and improved version of WCOOP, featuring a few new games and several higher buyin tournaments....more

Macau: the world's fastest growing gaming destination. Macau is often called as the "Las Vegas of the East", and for good reason. More gambling dollars flow through the doors of Macau's 28 casinos (approximately USD $6 billion each year) than any other gaming destination on the planet, including Vegas....more

If the rock singer Pink was here, she'd be singing "Get this Party Started!" The atmosphere is building in the Grand Waldo casino. The players can almost taste the anticipation in the air as they prepare their poker faces for the biggest ever poker party in Asia... Season 2 of...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts In last week’s blog, I began covering the various necessities that you should adhere to in order to have a fighting chance to play poker professionally. One of those items is bankroll. To reiterate, as a budding (or even established) pro, you should have at least...more

The PokerStars European Poker Tour is giving you a chance to pick your favorite player poker on the EPT. The first-ever EPT Awards are just a couple of weeks away in Barcelona. On September 9, the eve of the Season 5 opening event in Barcelona, some of the best players...more

The second season of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour is about to begin in Macau and now PokerStars has kicked off satellites for the second stop on the tour. PokerStars is now running satellites for the APPT event in Seoul, Korea. The event runs September 26-28 at the Paradise Walker-hill...more

Well, we don't know about you, but we're exhausted. This was one big Sunday of tournament poker, and we watched a goodly portion of it. If you missed it, we spent Sunday live-blogging the whole of both the PokerStars Sunday Warm-UpPokerStars Sunday Million. Over the course of fourteen hours, we...more

It’s one of those things you’ve just come to expect in life. Birds gonna fly, fish gonna swim, dogs gonna bark, and PokerStars gonna beat the guarantee in the Sunday Million. With a symmetrical 7,557 players in the field, the prize pool for the biggest weekly tournament in poker was...more

For a little fun today, we're going to live blog the PokerStars Sunday Million. Over the next eleven hours or so, Carol Kline, Johnny Kampis, Jen Newell, and John Hartness will be on hand to bring you the latest information on the Sunday Million. Have a story for us?...more

There's no justice in tournament poker; there's only survival. At the end of a grueling tournament, the winner isn't the player who knocked out the greatest number of other players, or the player who was dealt the best starting hands most frequently, or even the "best" player (if such a...more

For a little fun today, we're going to live blog the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up. Over the next eleven hours or so, Brad Willis, Martin Harris, David Aydt, and Dave Behr will be on hand to bring you the latest information on the Sunday Warm-Up. Have a story for us?...more

PokerStars has just announced an unprecedented line-up of champion poker players who will be bringing world-class poker action to Macau in the People's Republic of China on September 1st for the launch of Season 2 of the PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour. Joining the field of 20 world class champions...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts Last week, I began a discussion with regards to the different types of poker players, and what their goals are. I broke that down into three categories. They are: 1) Recreational players 2) Players who use poker to try and earn some extra money 3) Professionals,...more

If it's Tuesday, it must be time for PokerStars to pump up its guaranteed tournament schedule again. To be fair, it's not every week PokerStars gives its guarantees a shot in the arm, but it does seem like it's happen more often these days. Just in to the PokerStars Blog...more

As we count down the days to the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, we continue to be amazed by the kind of money being made on any given Sunday at PokerStars. Top honors this week go to Gunslinger3, who picked up more than $140,000 after a five-way deal (REPORT)....more

People playing the Sunday Million tonight may be looking for some buy-ins to the World Championship of Online Poker that starts here at PokerStars on September 5th. With 7651 players creating a $1,530,200.00 prize pool, almost all of our final tablists tonight could afford to take their shot at the...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts I am a consultant for PokerStars in the stud section. I oversee the 10-20 and 30-60 limit Stud high, Stud Hi/Lo, and Razz games. For those of you who do not know me, I have been a highly ranked player for many years, and have had...more

If you didn't spend last month under a rock, you probaly know PokerStars had a bit of a promotion (read: its biggest ever) during the month of the July. The end of the PokerStars 2X promotion saw tons of people win tournaments that bumped up their PokerStars VIP Club level....more

July was a month that saw PokerStars tournament fields grow to record heights. A combination of PokerStars 2X and a new tournament guarantee schedule has lifted the site to a whole new level. With such massive fields, and giant prizes, it was no surprise that July produced some memorable moments....more

With just a few weeks to go until the start of WCOOP, the Sunday majors on PokerStars are getting quite a work out. The biggest WCOOP warm-up came in the form of this weekend's Sunday Million. A two-way deal gave ziggy47 the first place prize and more than $182,000 (REPORT)....more

Another Sunday, another massive field in the Sunday Million, and another $1.5 Million guarantee shattered. This week 8,236 players built a prize pool of $1,647,200.00, with the top 1260 players taking home a piece of the pie. After nine hours of play, the final nine competitors gathered ‘round the...more

All good things must come to an end, and now the first season of the Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT) is in the record books. After Julien Nuijten in Rio de Janeiro, Valdemar Kwaysser in San Jose, the third and final champion has also been decided. And he is also...more

11.40pm -- Jose Miguel Espinar, Spain, champion of LAPT Punta del Este, earning $241,735 Alex Brenes, Costa Rica, eliminated in second place, earning $127,675 It all goes in next hand and Brenes has A-10 against Espinar's king-five. But a king flops and it stay good, giving the title to the...more

11.10pm -- We have a ten minute break at the end of the level and white chips are coming into play. 11.05pm -- After a period of small-ball jousting, there's a raise and a re-raise pre-flop with Espinar repopping Brenes to the tune of about 250,000. Brenes thinks and thinks,...more

10.10pm -- King high good. They get all the way to the river, and see a board of A-9-5-3-5. Espinar bet the turn but Alex called, and after they both checked the river, Brenes showed jack high. That was no match for Espinar's king. 10.05pm -- There's more to think...more

8.30pm -- The level is over, and we're off to dinner. It was a largely uneventful first hour of heads up action and the stacks are almost level. We'll be back for level 25 soon. 8.20pm -- We've been playing heads up for about 50 minutes and the players are...more

7pm - Lisandro Gallo, Argentina, eliminated in third place, earning $93,630 After the huge hand against Espinar, Gallo was left with just 10,000, putting him all in in the big blind. Remarkably, he doubled up twice, with nine-six and then ace-king, but the third time he tries it, he can't...more

5.25pm -- Alex Brenes and Jose Miguel Espinar are at it again, with Espinar raising from the button pre-flop (to 55,000) and Brenes reraising 220,000 from the big blind. Espinar calls. The flop is 8s-Jd-9h and both players check. The 7s comes on the turn and Brenes moves all in...more

4.50pm-- That's the end of the level, with the chip counts something like this. Jose Miguel Espinar -- 1,063,000 Alex Brenes -- 880,000 Alex Gomes -- 815,000 Lisandro Gallo -- 620,000 4.40pm -- Alex Brenes wins a pot of about 250,000 from Lisandro Gallo. Brenes flops a full house with...more

3.10pm -- The level ends with Lisandro Gallo taking another pot, this time from Alexandre Gomes. The tactics are the same: Gallo calls a button raise in the big blind, then check calls all the way to the river. By that point, the board features two aces, a three, a...more

2.05pm -- Sidney Chreem, Brazil, eliminated in sixth place, earning $34,045 The tournament short-stack Sidney Chreem moves all in pre-flop for his last 50,000. Lisandro Gallo reraises from the button and everyone else folds. They're racing, as Gallo flips pocket sevens and and Gallo shows Q-9d. The all-in player picks...more

It's the final day on the first season of the Latin America Poker Tour. The final table action is due to start at 1pm local time. These are the contenders still standing in Punta del Este, Uruguay: Seat 1: Sidney Chreem, 38, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Known as “flintstom” on...more

Once there were 351, now there are eight. The final table for the LAPT event in Punta del Este, Uruguay, has been set. Before we describe how we got there, here are the players who made it. Each is now guaranteed at least $17,025, although all will be eyeing...more

We are into level 19 in Punta del Este. The blinds now are 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante. 12.15am -- The final eight are set, and tomorrow these players will return to play for the LAPT championship: Alexandre Gomes, Brazil, Team PokerStars Pro, 763,000 Gylbert Drolet, Canada, PokerStars qualifier, 691,000...more

We are into level 18 in Punta del Este. The blinds now are 4,000-8,000 with a 500 ante. 11.40pm -- The big stacks are pushing, the small stacks are clinging on. So it always is. Here's something from the video blog team to take some attention as the war of...more

We are into level 17 in Punta del Este. The blinds now are 3,000-6,000 with a 500 ante. 10.35pm -- Right at the end of level 17, the lone Spanish contender Jose Miguel Espinar busted Pablo Stella from the feature table. Espinar had 5-6s and loved the flop of 4s-Qs-3d,...more

With the tournament now reduced to its final three tables, we'll be changing our coverage at LAPT Punta del Este to just the nitty gritty. They will play down to eight players tonight. 8.55pm -- We have a new force here in Punta del Este in the form of PokerStars...more

We were all just getting ready for our dinner break when all hell broke loose on the feature table. Team PokerStars Pro Humberto Brenes was involved -- that explained the increase in volume -- and so was his Team PokerStars team-mate, Alexandre Gomes. Gomes had sat beside Greg Raymer for...more

And there we have it. The bubble has burst. After a relatively short period of hand-for-hand combat, it was a sick outdraw that ended it. It usually is, if the truth be known, and so it was in Punta del Este. Alex Brenes, who was comfortably stacked, raised under the...more

Well, the bubble hasn't yet burst but still the day is done for Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer. It's been brutal at the feature table this afternoon with chips flying one way and then the other, but, ultimately, away from the World Champion. He doubled up the South African player...more

Poker tournament reporters are really no different from anyone else who has to work for a living. They try to enjoy what they can from a day in the office, but all they really want to do is go home. As a result, they are acutely aware of any looming...more

The tournament has just entered level 12, where the blinds are 1,000-2,000 (150 ante) and the field has been trimmed to the final 58 players. Fifteen of those will still go home empty handed, with the money kicking in at 32nd place. Among the high profile departures this afternoon was...more

Before clichés become clichés, they are usually astute truisms and while their repetition can become infuriating it doesn't reduce the accuracy. Poker is something of a breeding ground for clichés -- "chip and a chair", "any two cards", "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master" etc, etc, -- but...more

It's day two of the LAPT Punta del Este in Uruguay and we're expecting it to be a long one. Yesterday we started with 351 players, we played for nine hours and ended it with 93. Today we need to thin that even further, all the way down to a...more

Something like a month ago, the chances are that most poker players will have never heard of Punta del Este, Uruguay. Similarly, most residents of Punta del Este, Uruguay, probably didn't know that much about poker. But this week, thanks to the PokerStars Latin America Poker Tour (LAPT), the two...more

Every poker tour has its own identity that differentiates it from many of the others. Most obviously, the various tours visit numerous different cities where they charge differing buy-ins catering for every bank balance. But there is also something less tangible, a feel or a flavour that characterises the different...more

Gone are the days when a new poker tour can turn up, get through its entire first season, and not find itself at the centre of a media storm, probably ending up on TV. Although the opening two events on the LAPT both passed by without television's intervention -- our...more

For several years PokerStars-sponsored tournaments across the globe have introduced us to numerous fresh faces in the game. And some players who earned their first bricks and mortar wings courtesy of PokerStars online satellites have gone on to become established "names" in both environments. They, to coin a phrase, found...more

As play progresses and competitors get a feel for the tournament conditions, so the bust outs continue while other stacks continue to grow. In the first category, the latest notable scalp was Jason Mercier, the PokerStars qualifier from the United States, who won't be adding LAPT glory to his EPT...more

How much sympathy can you have for a poker player who'll sit down at a table in Las Vegas in November and walk away with at least $900,000? As a member of the so-called November Nine who will contest the 2008 World Series main event final table, David "Chino" Rheem...more

The second level of the day has just drawn to a close, giving the players a 15-minute window to get out into the cool winter air and smoke a cigarette, else dash to the bathroom, pick up a drink, do a few press ups, call home, or sometimes all of...more

After a brief delay at the start of the day, action has begun in Punta del Este. Not long after we began, the first player departed - his pocket kings emphatically outdrawn by A-Q on a flop featuring two aces. No worries, his seat was soon occupied by an alternate,...more

It's day one of the PokerStars Latin America Poker Tour tournament in Punta del Este, Uruguay. And what better way to start than with a gross understatement: the LAPT has been a great success. Rio attracted more players than we could possibly have hoped, Costa Rica broke that record, and...more

A couple of hours ago at the Mantra Beach Club in Punta del Este, the President of the Latin American Poker Tour Glenn Cademartori picked up a microphone and tried to sum up his feelings about the opening year of the LAPT. "This season has been an unbelievable experience," he...more

Punta del Este might just be the finest resort you have never heard of. Perched on the southern coast of Uruguay, about 90 minutes by road from the capital Montevideo, the town boasts the miles of sandy beaches familiar to Rio de Janeiro, the mansion-sized yachts and luxury apartments of...more

Well, so much of the sterotype of online poker players sitting around getting chubby and rich. We've found some PokerStars players who are not only getting outside for some exercise, but becoming quite a success in the process. The PokerStars softball team out of South Dakota put on a stunning...more

The PokerStars Blog is proud to introduce a new offering this week. Adam "STUDstood" Roberts will be featured here weekly on Fridays. He introduces himself below. by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts Hi, my name is Adam Roberts. I have been a world ranked stud poker player for many years in both...more

It was a big weekend for the PokerStars Sunday Million. This week marked the first weekend of the Million's fulltime $1.5 million guarantee. More than 8,400 players meant a $1.6 million pool and a first prize of more than $204,000. With no deal at the end, that meat Denmark's Fred_Brink...more

The Sunday Million at PokerStars has taken on a new, improved life this week. As announced here at the PokerStarsBlog a few days ago, the Sunday Million’s guarantee has been boosted to $1.5 Million starting this week and continuing as long as people can earn their way into this massive...more

There is a lot to get excited about in the poker world. In fact, sometimes there is so much, it's hard to get really pumped up. The PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker changes all of that. It is one thing that seems to get poker players universally excited. In...more

The European Poker Tour has long been home to high-rollers. The Grand Final buy-in of the tournament series is impressive in itself at €10,000. The rest of the events are nearly as big. However, we always knew there were people in the room who wanted to play bigger. After the...more

When Aryan “avkid86” Virabi won a satellite into last week’s Sunday Million, he never imagined that his second try at online poker’s biggest weekly tournament would end with him in first place and taking down $138,101.00 for his evening’s work. The top prize was the result of a four-way deal...more