October 2008 Archives

The corridor between the tournament area and the press room at the Las Vegas Casino, Budapest, is going to need recarpeting at the end of this week. On a day of startling activity at EPT Budapest, the returning day three field of 42 players was trimmed to the final nine...more

The eliminations have come thick and fast today as we edge closer to discovering the eight who will comprise tomorrow's final table. The official counts of the last 13 are on our chip counts page, and we'll be reverting to our time-stamped reporting style from here until the final is...more

It’s a sensation just experienced by Christophe Haller, who tussled with PokerStars qualifier Johnny Lodden and came out of it, well, out. Lodden held K-T and found two more on the board, taking the event down to 15 players. Then came the end of Casey Kastle’s tournament. Kastle, an...more

Robin Keston moved all-in and whilst Marino Serenelli eliminated another player two tables along, Keston waited for a call, got one and doubled up with pocket eights. But the big news for PokerStars is Johnny Lodden’s progress, a near double up that saw him take a big haul from...more

With 7,415 competitors in the October 26th edition of the PokerStars Sunday Million, taking down the top prize is an accomplishment for any player. But for a player with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, it’s an even greater victory. When Darkillermax took down the top prize he...more

The field has reduced to 19 players on three tables, and flops are increasingly scarce. It's possible to stand somewhere in the middle of the three of them for 15 minutes at a stretch without seeing any cards face up. The usual drill goes raise, re-raise, fold, fold, fold, etc.,...more

It’s Halloween and William Fry is proving hard to kill, if you’ll excuse the expression. In a remarkable turnaround Fry, who came out on the wrong end of a hand with Romanian Ciprian Hrisca a short while ago, has now bounced back to the tune of 250,000 – a...more

We are just a little more than a week from knowing who will be the 2008 World Series of Poker champion. Among the November 9, there are six PokerStars Million Dollar Men who have a chance to win the big one. Before they get the chance to win the bracelet,...more

It marks the last of the Team PokerStars Pros. Alex Kravchenko’s attack on an EPT title just ended on the last hand before the break. Short stacked after some earlier clashes brought him back from the heights of 220,000 earlier today. It was a case of threes against nines...more

Table one has rapidly become the table of certain death here today. Dave Hardy, Dwayne Stacey, Brice Cournut, George McKeever, Robert Firestone and Mauro Corsetti have all sat there for at least a couple of hands today, but are now walking the streets of Budapest and out of this tournament....more

As the blinds go up and the players drop out this is the time for critical hands and bigger pots. It’ll be like this all the way through to the final but the latest example featured PokerStars qualifier William Fry and the player to his immediate left Ciprian Hrisca...more

Hevad Khan is not the same Khan we met in 2007 and that's just fine with him. In fact, Khan is not the same Khan we knew this time yesterday. The difference: Khan is a million bucks richer today. Last night, Team PokerStars Pro Hevad "RaiNKhaN" Khan took down the...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts This week, I would like to move on to another topic in our quest to become -- and remain -- a high level poker player. Game selection is a very important; game choices need to consistently be made correctly by every successful poker player. I...more

With Szabolcs Saskoy gone from the Kravchenko table his seat is filled by PokerStars sponsored player Johnny Lodden after his table is broken and it’s not long before the Norwegian is raising, 14,000 pre-flop from the button, getting called by Kravchenko. On the Td-8c-Ad flop Lodden bets again, another...more

One of the more notable players for much of two days here in Budapest was the Italian Mauro Corsetti, who was an early chip leader on day 1b and was top of the pile when the fields merged for day 2. He was hauled back to the middle of the...more

The day three draw has provided its usual array of interesting match-ups, none more so than the positioning of the overnight chip leader Albert Iversen beside the overnight micro-stack George McKeever. And it all ended somewhat predictably for McKeever moments ago, when he founnd a hand in his shoving range...more

This is the sharp end, crunch time. You can use whatever well worn phrase you like to describe today as long as it expresses that critical sense of urgency as the money begins to increase and the number of survivors does the opposite in the EPT Budapest. Today we...more

Typically day two of a major poker tournament is when the most moves are made, the chips fly in huge flocks from one player to another, and plenty of dreams die. Where there are winners, there must be losers, where there's fortune there's misfortune and where there are headline makers,...more

Contrary to standard operating procedure after the EPT bubble there has been no sign of the all-in frenzy associated with that period after the bubble has burst. Aditya Agarwal, a PokerStars qualifier from India, exited in 56th place but it’s some time before the 55th player was eliminated, and...more

The bursting of the bubble always precipitates one of the maddest phases of play. Those people who have just clung on long enough to reach the money now want to double up their micro stacks or get themselves into the side event - or to the bar. It genuinely is...more

Bubble time and a raft of all-in moves, but only one had the result the surviving 56 players were looking for. First Gino Alacqua doubled up a player, his A-Q no good against a flopped set of threes. Then two all-ins at once, both called. The first of the...more

There’s action on both sides of the last break of the day. Before the break, Claudio Pagano busted out, his pocket jacks good against A-5 but not when a second five hit the flop and a third hit the turn. Obviously disappointed, papa Pagano still managed a sporting smile...more

Players have taken what will be their last 15-minute break of the day. That means there are two more levels before we wrap, and about 60 of them remain. We may or may not reach the cash bubble tonight - it's due pretty soon, so my guess is that we...more

A huge, huge pot just played out between the EPT Prague champion Arnaud Mattern and Lukas Benkovic, the PokerStars qualfier from Slovakia. Mattern is out and Benkovic is the probable chip leader, taking down a pot of more than 280,000. There was betting all the way, on a board that...more

Things haven’t exactly been easy for Kara Scott but her tournament hopes live on after picking up a 10K pot, moving in on a flop of Kd-3d-6h which Brice Cournut couldn’t bring himself to call. As Scott raked in her chips the table next to them was experiencing its...more

Time was when a stack of 100,000 was good for a monstrous chip lead. Those days are gone, however, with at least 15 players reporting stacks in six figures and one of the earliest to reach that number - Annette Obrestad - hitting the rail. That elimination first: in a...more

A quick glance around the tournament ball room and you’ll notice quite quickly how the field has shrunk; meaning the painfully tense moment of bubble play cannot be far off. Still more than 80 players remain. PokerStars sponsored player Kara Scott, who found herself drawn on the immediate right...more

Level 12 has recently just ended, and there have been some major movements in the past couple of hours. In the literal sense of that word, Johnny Lodden has been relocated to sit next to Sorel Mizzi and opposite Luca Pagano, offering a real treat for the online poker-obsessed rail...more

Like the blaze of glory performed at times yesterday by Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri, Arnaud Mattern is displaying similar flare at his table which features Danny Ryan, Paul Testud and the last remaining Polish player Jecek Ladny. The Frenchman just won three of four pots simply by raising...more

The Irish player Fintan Gavin scored the biggest success of his poker career when he came second to Sebastian Ruthenberg at the recent EPT event in Barcelona, earning him €792,000. He did so by endearing himself to the Catalan poker gods by kitting himself out in the immediately distinctive red...more

Play is progressing at a breakneck pace, with players sliding out the door like greased pigs down a fireman's pole. Among those notable fallers are William Thorson, Alan Smurfit and Denes Kalo, all of whom started with small stacks, and Pierre Husson, who was one of the overnight leaders but...more

The Paganos, or “Pagani” as one person quipped, are still in contention albeit with stacks at opposite ends of the favourable scale. Whilst son Luca is one of the short stacks at a table that features tournament leader Sorel Mizzi, father Claudio just escaped elimination with a fortunate double-up...more

With the blinds getting steeper the pace of the action seems to be increasing. Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko just pulled off one of those world class calls, holding A-5 against A-Q. When the A-Q player bet on the five river card, Kravchenko’s read told him that his opponent...more

“My name is Kenny Rogers! I’m the gambler!” Actually his name is Ivo Donev and he was talking to one of the chip leaders, Annette Obrestad, explaining to her his intention to raise from the button regardless. Obrestad was in the cut off and made a bet of 1,800....more

Often poker is a non-verbal pursuit. As long as you make your intentions clear, don't under-raise, don't act out of turn, and don't get embroiled in any unnecessary controversy, then you can pretty much play as a mute. Plenty of players like to talk around the table, of course, but...more

Someone had to do it, hang around to see whether William Thorson’s 3,400 day two starting stack would be the beginning of something great, or the end of something that could have been. Sadly it was the latter. Not that Thorson had much choice on a table featuring Alex...more

Day two on the EPT, and here are a few facts about today's play, sprinkled with fairly safe predictions: The remaining players from the two day ones are now merged in the ballroom of the Las Vegas Casino, Budapest. That's a total of 182 in the field, who will hope...more

Sunday night, we mentioned here that ElkY had managed to win the World Poker Tour Festa al Lago. As it happened, ElkY won his first WPT event in the same year he won his first EPT event (the PCA in January of this year). Of course, we had to ask...more

We spend a lot of time here talking about the people who routinely play every Sunday major event every week. They're all great stories and deserve to be told. Every once in a while, though, it's nice to take a look at how folks get started. Recently, we received an...more

Day 1b of the EPT Budapest had a slow start, a frenetic middle and a finish that mixed everything together. Between the victorious and the defeated there will be those simply happy to be alive. A day on the EPT can be a harsh and unforgiving environment but 94...more

There are certainly always a lot of similarities between any two days at the European Poker Tour. But sometimes we also get day ones that are massively distinct from one another. Although they take place in the same town, with the other half of the same field, they are as...more

The grapevine has spoken and apparently PokerStars sponsored player Johnny Lodden has decided to restrict his natural flow and only play premium hands. It comes as an act of penance you might say, following a crazy hand that saw him forced to call an all-in with 8-7. Lodden had...more

He’s been peroxide blond, he’s been bright green, and today his hair was jet black. ElkY cuts a striking jib everywhere he plays and arrived this afternoon with the halo of success hovering above his head following his WPT win at Bellagio still a matter of hours ago. But...more

One of the quiet men of the day has been Barcelona winner and PokerStars shooting star Sebastian Ruthenberg. The German pro has worked his stack up to 25,000 by virtue of an all-in move that saw off one opponent. On a flop of 3h-Ah-Jh the seat nine player raised...more

The multiple-flight format of the modern major poker tournament presents a handful of unique problems that the average poker player is only sometimes able to solve. If you're playing day 1b, what do you do on day 1a? And if you're playing day 1a how do you fill day 1b?...more

Any mention of Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is loaded with expectation, to a point where it’s hard to sound original. The thing is there is little you can do but kow-tow to adjectives like crazy and fearless that are bandied around so easily around Minieri. It’s the same...more

The tournament is progressing as tournaments do: some stacks are building nicely while their previous owners head for the hotel room, bar or airport. The latest, selected chip counts have recently been updated, and a quick glance shows some unfamiliar names at the summit, with some of the EPT's best...more

Poker has always been a generational game; old against young have pitched in together in a way few other contests cannot recreate. A notable example of father teaching son is right here at the EPT Budapest. Yesterday Pagano the younger played, today Pagano the elder, Claudio, does the same....more

If there was ever such a thing as a soft table in an EPT, and I doubt there is, Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren’s line up wouldn’t be it, featuring as it does World Series bracelet winner, and fellow Londoner, Praz Bansi. The two are familiar with each others’...more

One player everyone on the blog team watched closely during the World Series last summer was Kara Scott. The EPT presenter slogged away with an indefatigable run that saw her bust out just a few places short of the top 100. It was a result that pinned her name...more

Players are taking their first 15-minute break of the day at the end of level two. As usual, it's been a mostly sedate opening, interrupted by a couple of bust outs and one seemingly unlikely story. It prompted utter disbelief in the press room, and at least three repetitions of...more

Tournament poker is the perfect arena for making overnight superstars. Put in a decent performance under the studio lights and you can rapidly become a sensation on the world stage. If you've been tuning into the broadcasts of the 2008 World Series Main Event - or if you were reading...more

The Norwegian player Johnny Lodden is wearing the PokerStars colours in Budapest, hoping to prove once again why he is among the best young players in the world game by securing a place on his first EPT final table. Lodden is widely tipped to become one of the all-time poker...more

It’s hardly surprising but the first level is a mostly tentative affair. Sure, you hear about the occasional big pot that catapults a player into an early lead and another to the rail, but by and large the road so far has been smooth. That would go for PokerStars...more

Taking the first initial stroll through the tournament area Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko starts the day sharing a table with Anthony Lellouche whilst another player who has found success so far this season Davidi Kitai sits next to Jonas Klausen. The most notable table sees Thomas Fougeron line...more

There might have been better debut seasons on the European Poker Tour, but probably not. In his first year playing in the major tournaments across Europe, the Hungarian Denes Kalo finished in second place on two of the largest tournaments going: EPT Baden, won by Julian Thew, and the EPT...more

As we mentioned yesterday, the tour has come to Hungary for the first time and Budapest has delivered - a sell out field in one of the most stunning locales inside and out and it looks set to carry on. It’s day 1b so we’re ready to do things...more

We're not even a quarter of the way through this thing, but already it's safe to say that EPT Budapest is a success. This might be the first time a major poker tournament has visited Hungary, but so far there hasn't been a foot put wrong by anyone, and it...more

The board was already reading Tc-As-8d with Paul Testud, Stephan Engler and Ramzi Jelassi among the cast of this hand. Checked to Jelassi the Swede bumped it up to 2,500 which Testud and Engels both called. The turn card 9c saw Testud check whilst Engler, who was responsible for...more

Blinds have just gone up to 300-600 with a 75 ante as we enter the final level of the day. There were 109 players still remaining as the level started, but in one fell swoop there were soon two fewer. Their assassin, as so often, was Annette Obrestad, who vaulted...more

Marcel Luske’s day is over, eliminated half way through level six. It’s a fate shared by many others including a former EPT winner (Deauville in season two) in Mats Iremark. Keith Hawkins joins them. He was short stacked and moved in with A-8 only to be called by a...more

The clock ticks down, the last break of the day is minutes away. Whilst some players eye the clock and count the seconds before their next cigarette break PokerStars qualifier Danny Ryan is deep in a hand. The seat six player had made it 1,500 on a board of...more

With just 155 players remaining from the monstrous field of 262 on day 1a, all the tables in the overspill tournament room have now been broken and everyone is seated around 18 tables in the main ballroom. Although many of the tournament's biggest names are still in and prospering -...more

As reported on the chip counts page the current leader on day 1a is Frenchman Arnaud Mattern. The EPT Prague champion now has 64,000 after a pivotal hand against a fellow Frenchman. Mattern made a flush on the turn as his opponent moved in with a straight, a figure around...more

On one side is PokerStars qualifier Danny Ryan. Slight beard, long hair, the look of carefree youth about him. On the other Marcel Luske in his tailored nine yards and, well, slightly thinner hair. Call it youth over experience, a generational contest, but either way they just tangled in...more

The players have taken their second break of the day, at the end of level four. For some the break is no such thing: the Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano, for instance, has just spent at least 14 of his 15 minutes recording a series of interviews with various media...more

PokerStars Shooting Star Johannes Strassmann is one of the EPTs potential superstars and would have attained grand master status already had it not been for a habit of busting on final tables, or thereabouts. Actually it’s hardly a habit, more colossal bad luck. His day so far has been...more

As reported on our chip count page Team PokerStars Pro Katja Thater is down to less than 4,000. But it could have been worse for the bracelet winner were it not for a painful but disciplined lay down. With a board reading 6-4-2-3 Katja had flopped a set but...more

There's an empty chair next to Luca Pagano and a mountain of chips in front of him. These two facts are undoubtedly connected, although it doesn't seem right to interrupt the EPT Player of the Year for details since he is clearly on a tear at the moment. In the...more

Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki is down to 3,700 after an escapade on his table, putting a dent in his hopes of a second deep run. He flopped two pairs but was chased down by his opponent who had made the nut flush on the turn. Elsewhere Annette Obrestad...more

Marcel Luske is back. After a spell away from the EPT the Flying Dutchman has landed in Budapest, a welcome sight in his trademark suit, accompanied by a salmon pink windsor-knotted tie, mirrored shades and a PokerStars badge on his breast pocket. He made call of 125 on the...more

Of all the players in this field who are dangerous with a huge stack of chips, there are few more fearsome than Annette Obrestad. And in these very early stages, the former teenage sensation (note the "former"; she has just turned 20) is possibly our chip leader. Obrestad has just...more

A few regular faces to the European Poker Tour are playing their first hands of this new event, including a few of its former winners and near winners. EPT4 Dublin champion Rueben Peters plays today as does Fintan Gavin, who finished runner-up in Barcelona last month, and Team PokerStars...more

Cards are in the air in Budapest on the first-ever EPT in Hungary. The news is reassuringly predictable: this is a sell out. The tournament director Thomas Kremser announced that 540 players are registered - already more than the advertised capacity - and they're playing ten handed in these early...more

As unlikely as it might sound, there are still some spectacular destinations in this rich and varied continent so far unvisited by the European Poker Tour. Of course, we will always have Barcelona, London, Copenhagen, Prague, San Remo, Monte Carlo and all the others, but there's no particular reason that...more

PokerStars Macau hosted yet another successful Macau Poker Cup (MPC) and set a new record for participants and prize pool in the Red Dragon Event. The first prize, in excess of HKD $142,000, is the biggest yet in the MPC signature event. China continued to show its continued growth in...more

On the last Sunday in October, 7,415 players were looking for treats in the Sunday Million and hoping not to get tricked by a bad beat to prevent them from getting their share of the $1.5 million prize pool and the $184,500 first place prize. Play from three tables down...more

Time once again to make something for nothing as 5,000 Frequent Players Points (FPPs) will earn one lucky (and/or skillful) player tonight $100,000 simply for “buying in” with FPPs. With eight players getting over five figures this evening its well worth the time invested in satellites if you do not...more

The starting time for the Sunday Warm-Up was bumped up 45 minutes tonight, and the result was the guarantee being broken. Helping to smash the $750,000 guarantee by PokerStars was the 3,806 players who contributed to the $761,200.00 prize pool. GravityPilot is skydiving into the final table of the Warm-up...more

Since it seems impossible to overstate a performance by Team PokerStars Pro Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier, let's just lead this post with a simple understatement. ElkY is having a pretty good year. Without going too far into the praise and burying the lead, we should point out right now that ElkY...more

The October edition of the Battle of the Planets $50,000 Triple Shootout saw 426 SnG specialists drop by the special tournament tab on your PokerStars interface after qualifying for the event through the weekly points race in which additional prize pools of $3,000 for the Mercury division up to $10,000...more

In just a couple of weeks, we will know who will be the 2008 World Series of Poker champion. There is a pretty good chance that one of the PokerStars Million Dollar Men will win the big one. Before they get the chance to win the bracelet, however, the PokerStars...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts I would once again like to thank you all for your positive feedback on my blogs, as well as suggestions on what topics to cover and explain further. Our most recent discussion has been about various forms of money management, both on and off the...more

Just last week we told you about a PokerStars player who managed to turn 1,000 Frequent Player Points into a $13,300 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure prize package. Modfan might have been the first to do it, but he certainly wouldn't be the last. Since Modfan's accomplishment, we have been flooded...more

It's time for another Macau Poker Cup this weekend at Grand Waldo Casino in Macau, China. This quality series of tournaments at Macau's first live poker room always draws a crowd. If you find yourself in that part of the world this weekend, you've got a great shot at winning...more

Not everyone was glued to their television sets Sunday afternoon watching NFL football. Nearly 7,500 players came out for the weekly Sunday Million on PokerStars to try their hand at the $1.5 million guaranteed pool. The final tally was 7,446 players, with 1,080 of those getting paid and first place...more

3645 players took to the virtual felt Sunday afternoon for the $750,000 guaranteed prize pool in the Sunday Warm-Up. The top 540 players picked up at least $375 each, but the real money was at the top of the pyramid, with a guaranteed $101,250.00 for first place. After eight...more

It's not been too many weeks ago that PokerStars sent out word it was kicking off satellites to the 2009 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. With the announcement came the news the event would once again be held on Paradise Island in the Bahamas (January 5-10 of 2009). This time, however, the...more

It was Sunday again, a day that online poker players look forward to all week long. The early parts of the day might consist of spending time with family or watching football, but the afternoons are meant for PokerStars tournaments. And one that is on the must-play list of most...more

No, its not the Sunday Million wrap up’s early edition as that will be coming your way a little later on tonight. For the early birds, the Sunday Warm-up provides the big MTT experience for most players without having to explain to your boss why there’s a keyboard imprint on...more

Well the party is over, we have crowned our champion, Kiwi Daniel Craker, and now it is time to reflect on yet another great event from the Asian Pacific Poker Tour. The PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker has certainly rocketed poker’s profile in the country. SkyCity Auckland has...more

By James Potter and Eliot James 8:28pm: Daniel Craker is the APPT Auckland 2008 Main Event Champion! Daniel Craker, $257,040 NZD ($153,399 USD), Matthew Konnecke eliminated in 2nd place, $162,792 ($97,153 USD) The Trans-Tasman battle between New Zealander Daniel Craker and Australian Matthew Konnecke has finished after only eight minutes...more

By James Potter and Eliot James The final table has been decided and we have taken a chance to chat with all of our playes. We will be bringing you updates of critical hands and knockouts throughout the final table as they happen. Here is an introduction to our final...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Within 30 minutes of play today we have lost both our 11th and 10th placed players, Edward Holdcroft and Eric Mutrie. Holdcroft, who started the day as one of our big stacks on 297k, was eliminated early after open-raising in middle position and facing...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Good morning all and Welcome to the final day of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker. We have 11 combatants ready and later today one will be crowned the inaugural APPT Auckland champion and will walk away with over quarter of a...more

By James Potter and Eliot James We have come to the end of Day 2 of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event. It has been a long day with 9 levels being played. The poker, however, has certainly been first rate. The SkyCity Poker Room has...more

By James Potter and Eliot James In a rush of activity we have just lost 3 players in record time and we are now down to our final two tables. Trevor Saunders from Sydney Australia has just been eliminated in 16th position and has walked away with over $7,000. Trevor...more

By James Potter and Eliot James W Yuan has just put Mat Wall out of the tournament. Wall pushed all in with 9-9 and was quickly called by Yuan who turned over A-K. An ace on the river had Yuan jumping for joy and Wall was eliminated in 20th place....more

By James Potter and Eliot James Eliminations are coming thick and fast here at the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Casino Festival of Poker. Having just broken the bubble before the dinner break players have now returned to the tables to battle down to at least our final two tables tonight....more

By James Potter and Eliot James While the players enjoy their dinner break you might like to catch up with a few interviews. We have Teresa Nousiainen one of Finland's finest poker exports. Followed by Mark Oosterveld from Canada who qualified for the tournament on PokerStars for $6 and last...more

By James Potter and Eliot James In the space of two minutes we lost two players in what might have otherwise been a long and painful bubble battle. It was a sad time for the room as Kiwi G made his departure to the rails, lamenting what might have been....more

By James Potter and Eliot James We have just gone to only 40 players. The room is starting to be filled with "ooohhh"s and "ahhhh"s as we really get down to the business end. Eight is a lucky number in Chinese culture but we are about to find eight very...more

By James Potter and Eliot James The game of poker can certainly be a cruel one. In fact for 305 of the 306 players in this tournament there will be a bad beat story to tell. Today was always going to be a challenge for the short stacks to build...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Ejaaz Dean, Executive Manager of Table Games here at SkyCity Casino here in Auckland, has taken the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker under his wing and should be credited with a large percentage of its success. He took a little time out...more

By James Potter and Eliot James People would be forgiven for thinking that there were only two players at Table 9 here in the SkyCity Casino poker room. Player Nathanael Seet from Singapore, our Day 1A chipleader, has been butting heads with PokerStars Sponsored player Grant Levy through the course...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Friend and confidant of the biggest names in poker, Australia’s very own international playboy Tony Hachem, has made it into the poker room on time. From all accounts he fell asleep during a morning massage but has had a shave and a shower and...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Welcome to Day 2 of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event. With Day 1A and Day 1B over, 106 players remain and today the gloves will come off. This is where the real poker starts as the blinds start to...more

Do you want a piece of PokerStars Million Dollar Man Darus Suharto? You can't buy a share of his winnings right now, but you can win it this weekend. It is understood, buying a piece of someone in a tournament is always a tricky proposition. Even if you have a...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts In last week’s blog, we began to cover money management, specifically in “per session” situations. This week, I would like to address this important issue in broader terms. I am a big believer in playing as many “quality” hours as I can, as opposed to...more

Our tireless reporters at PokerStars.tv have got a couple of entertaining interviews to tickle the most discerning of any poker followers. Firstly we have Andrew Scott and his good mate Kelly Flynn talking blackjack, poker and all things interesting. Then we have the Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson’s co-host...more

By James Potter and Eliot James PokerStars.net APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker Day 1B has come to a close, locking in our contenders for Day 2 tomorrow. After a great day of poker we have 47 players left out of the 142 that started the day. That brings the...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Amant Nauhria considers himself a local Aucklander who is from India. What he most certainly is at the moment is the chip leader of the Pokerstars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event. He currently has 94K in chips and is terrorizing his...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Kelly Flynn, the American born native who resides in Hong Kong, has just departed the poker room. Flynn got involved in a 4 way raised pot pre flop and shoved his small stack in on the flop in late position on a bluff. In...more

By James Potter and Eliot James We are down to 65 players and it has certainly tightened up in the last hour after a flurry of eliminations. The room is starting to fill up and the spectators section is 10 deep as the locals pour in to cheer on their...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Paul 'The Voice' Khoury has unfortunately blessed the table with his last warm tones as he eventually succumbed to a lack of chips. Khoury lost a few early pots and found himself very short before fighting back to over 6k. He drew an up...more

By James Potter and Eliot James The inaugural World Poker Seminar that we brought to you yesterday finished last night in a tournament that saw the winner put into the APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event by Team PokerStars Pro’s Joe Hachem and Lee Nelson. The winner was...more

By James Potter and Eliot James The winner of the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event will walk away with $257,000 NZD. The top 32 will get paid which will make 33rd the dreaded bubble to avoid at all costs late tomorrow. Mark “the Ginger General” Vos...more

By James Potter and Eliot James There is a big charge of local hopefuls here taking on the world. We all know the exploits of Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson but we would like to introduce you to some of New Zealand’s biggest names and best poker players who are...more

By James Potter and Eliot James In contrast to yesterday’s slow morning, with subdued action, today looks to be filled with bloodlust. Chips are riffling incessantly throughout the poker room, and a good number of them have already made their way into the middle on the felt. Young Aussie legend,...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Welcome all to the Pokerstars.net APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker as players prepare themselves for Day 1B. It looks like we are well on our way to the $800,000 NZ dollar mark, with 159 players confirmed for today’s flight. Registration will remain open...more

The boys from PokerStars.tv have done it again with a couple of highly interesting and entertaining interviews. Firstly with David "Superman" Saab and the charming Celina Lin and if that wasn't enough another one with PokerStars online qualifier Carter Gill. Watch APPT Auckland 08: Celina Lin and David Saab on...more

Throughout the day the team from PokerStars.tv managed to steal a few precious minutes from previous APPT Champions Eddie Sabat and Grant Levy. The video blogs and the insights from these players are here: Watch APPT Auckland 08: Eddie Sabat Interview on PokerStars.tv Eddie Sabat, APPT Macau 2008 Winner. Watch...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Day 1A of the Pokerstars.net APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker has come to a close after playing a friendly seven levels. After a great day of poker we have 59 players left out of the 168 that started the day. After starting with...more

By James Potter and Eliot James The last level today is 300/600 with a 75 ante. This is always an exciting time as some of the good players try and build a stack as other players desperately try and make it through to Day 2. There have been many short...more

By James Potter and Eliot James One of the interesting things going on at the PokerStars APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker is the inaugural World Poker Seminar. This exciting concept was developed by Team PokerStars Pro's Joe Hachem and Lee Nelson. Joe and Lee host the events, with the...more

By Jenn “Yes I speak Japanese” Barr Last month Yasuki Shino busted out of the APPT Seoul main event and vowed to change the way he thought about poker. A modest businessman from Tokyo, Shino used to always want to make sure that the people around him were having a...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Players are back from their break and the blinds are starting to become of interest at 150/300 with a 25 ante. There are now only 108 runners left and some big and small stacks starting to appear. The action is still happening on the...more

Our PokerStars.tv Video Bloggers have been hard at work capturing the sites and sounds of not only your favourite poker players but also of the wonderful country of New Zealand and the harbor city of Auckland. Watch APPT Auckland 08: Promo on PokerStars.tv Watch APPT Auckland 08: Welcome Party on...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Andrew Meldrum from Sydney has stormed to an early chip lead and has just under 40k in chips. Meldrum, who has been a quite achiever in the Asian poker scene, is hot off a successful campaign in America after the WSOP. Andrew Meldrum looking...more

By James Potter and Eliot James There are certainly some great stories here at the PokerStars.net APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker. The first of these may be Canadian Mark Oosterveld. The Canadian won his way through to the tournament for only $6 in a $2 Rebuy, one of the...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Starting bank for the PokerStars.net APPT Auckland SkyCity Festival of Poker Main Event is 10k. The first early mover is Team PokerStars Pro Greg Raymer who has moved up to 18K. He just won a very nice pot with 9-7 suited. He made both...more

By James Potter and Eliot James Welcome all to the Pokerstars.net APPT SkyCity Auckland Festival of Poker Day 1A. It looks like we are well on our way to the NZD $1 million mark as we approach 180 players for Day 1A. As the players drifted into the poker room,...more

By James Potter One of the great things about the all APPT events is the hospitality on offer. Season 2 has followed the lofty heights set by Season 1 when it comes to the Opening Party. They are never quiet affairs and they are not reserved for the VIPs –...more

By James Potter The Pokerstars.net APPT Celebrity Poker Invitational, hosted by Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson and Brooke Howard-Smith, was the perfect way to kick-off a big week of celebrations culminating in the APPT Auckland main event here at SKYCITY Auckland later this week. Some celebrity events lack that x-factor,...more

By James Potter KiaOra or welcome to the Land of the Long White Cloud. New Zealand is one of the world’s hidden gems. Comparable in size to Great Britain or Japan, the country is packed with some of the world’s most stunning scenery – from vast mountain chains, steaming volcanoes,...more

Daniel “Allanon85” Drescher outlasted 7,244 opponents to take down first place in the October 5th edition of the PokerStars Sunday Million. Coming into the final table as a short stack, Drescher quickly doubled through former Sunday Million champ Soren Kongsgaard, fresh off an appearance at the PokerStars EPT London Main...more

High roller events on the European Poker Tour are some of the most expensive side events in the world. The Million Pound Showdown at EPT London this week was the richest we've seen on these shores. It cost £20,000 to enter, somewhere between $30,000 and $40,000 and the Million...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 10,000-20,000 with a 2,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. Click REFRESH to see the lastest up-to-the-minute updates 12.10am:...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. Click REFRESH to see the lastest up-to-the-minute updates 11.20pm:...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. 10pm: Players take a break That's the end...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. Click REFRESH to see the lastest up-to-the-minute updates...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. 6.45pm: That's the dinner break and we'll be back...more

When low-stakes sit n’ go player Tuffy Cat used 450 FPP to win a satellite seat into the Sunday Million, she almost didn’t register. But finally, during late registration, she bit the bullet and signed up. Many hours later, she clawed her way to victory over a field of 7,133...more

Seat 1: Peter Jetten, 23, Toronto, Canada – 347,000 chips Only minutes before the bubble, a stunning hand against John Juanda turned Peter’s fortunes around in the EPT London £1 Million Showdown. He got dealt aces in the small blind, was raised by Scotty Nguyen, re-raised by Juanda and...more

The final table of the £1 Million Showdown event at EPT London is underway. Blinds are 3,000-6,000 with a 1,000 ante. Full details of the payout structure can be found here and you can follow all the action on EPT Live. 5.40pm: Peter Jetten bets form the button and gets...more

How many times are we going to have to recognize this? It feels like a broken record in an echo chamber with a parrot. Regardless, we can't let the day go by without mentioning Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari yet again making two final tables during PokerStars big Sunday tournaments....more

The EPT £1 Million Showdown coverage continues here. Yesterday 86 players started, each paying a £20,000 buy-in. Now just 14 remain. Play will resume with blinds now 2,000-4,000 with a running ante of 400. We'll play on until we reach a final table and then pause before the action...more

If you were up late last night in London, kept the computer on during Sunday night football or the Championship game back in the States, or just logged in this morning to check out the latest news, you’ll know that the biggest buy-in tournament on the EPT, the EPT...more

On a lazy Sunday afternoon, with a football game on in the background and the windows open to catch the fall breeze, poker players all over the world gathered at their computers on PokerStars to play the Sunday Million. Well, the setting may not have been so dramatic for all...more

3,264 players took the field in the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up this week, creating a $750,000 prize pool. After eight hours of tough no limit hold’em play, royalfishfly took a commanding chip lead into the final table after sending marcdehark home in 10th place ($4,800). The final table kicked off relatively...more

The high roller event coverage continues here. This afternoon 86 players started, each paying a £20,000 buy-in. Blinds are now 1,500/3,000 with a running ante of 300. The updates will continue through the night until the order to halt for the night is given. Click refresh to see the...more

They came eyeing a £1m first prize and tonight it has become the opening deposit into the new European bank account of Michael Martin, the 24-year-old from Washing Cross, PA. The popular young American went from hero to zero to hero again and eventually stood firm against the buffeting of...more

The high roller event coverage continues here. This afternoon 86 players started, each paying a £20,000 buy-in. They’ll play until just nine remain tonight, returning for the final tomorrow afternoon. Blinds are now 800/1,600 with a running ante of 200. We'll be bringing updates here alongside our EPT London...more

We're now into level 31 where the blinds are 60,000-120,000. Two players remained at the start of the level. Updates will be posted here until we have a champion. Click refresh to update the page. Don’t forget you can also watch the action live on EPT Live and click here...more

We're now into level 30 where the blinds are 40,000-80,000 with a running 10,000 running ante. Two players remained at the start of the level. Updates will be posted here until we have a champion. Click refresh to update the page. Don’t forget you can also watch the action live...more

The high roller event coverage continues here. This who's who of poker started with 86, each paying a £20,000 buy-in and they’ll play through to a last nine tonight, returning for the final tomorrow afternoon. Starting stacks of 20,000, blinds now 200/400 with a running ante of 50. We'll...more

We're now into level 29 where the blinds are 40,000-80,000 with a running 5,000 running ante. We play uninterrupted from here all the way through to a new EPT London champion. Updates will be posted here level by level with the latest information at the top. Click refresh to update...more

The high roller event coverage continues here. This who's who of poker started with 86, each paying a £20,000 buy-in and they’ll play through to a last nine tonight, returning for the final tomorrow afternoon. Starting stacks of 20,000, blinds now 200/400 with a running ante of 50. We'll...more

We're now into level 28 where the blinds are to 30,000-60,000 with a running 5,000 running ante. We play uninterrupted from here all the way through to a new EPT London champion. Updates will be posted here level by level with the latest information at the top. Click refresh to...more

The high roller event coverage continues here. This who's who of poker started with 86, each paying a £20,000 buy-in and we’ll play through to a final table tonight. Starting stacks of 20,000, blinds now 150/300. We'll be bringing updates here alongside our EPT London coverage. Click refresh to...more

We're now into level 27 where the blinds are to 25,000-50,000 with a running 5,000 running ante. We play uninterrupted from here all the way through to a new EPT London champion. Updates will be posted here level by level with the latest information at the top. Click refresh to...more

The high roller event is underway, a £20,000 buy-in tournament to rival any other. This who's who of poker event has started with 86 players and will play through to a final table today, as long as it takes. Starting stack of 20,000, opening blinds of 50/100. We'll be...more

We're now into level 26 where the blinds are to 20,000-40,000 with a running 3,000 running ante. We play uninterrupted from here all the way through to a new EPT London champion. Updates will be posted here level by level with the latest information at the top. Click refresh to...more

Tournament officials have pegged the blinds back to 15,000-30,000 with a running 3,000 ante for the start of the final. But from there we play uninterrupted all the way through to a new EPT London champion. Updates will be posted here level by level with the latest information at...more

The final table was set late last night and here's how they line up, in search of the £1 million first prize at the Victoria Casino today. A reminder that prizewinners to date can be found on the prizewinners page. Seat one: Eric Liu, 23, San Francisco, USA – 1,308,000...more

There are picture postcard images of London available on every street corner for about 30p each; red buses, the palace, phone booths, etc, etc. But few capture the one true image of Britain, a traditional stereotype that is bandied about most in reference to this country – the rain....more

Before plan started today we suggested it might be a good idea to clear the decks, cancel all appointments and do everything you could to ensure nothing took your focus away from this pivotal day in the EPT London. If you were able to do that then well done...more

Level 24 began at 10.50pm BST. The blinds are 15,000-30,000 with a 3,000 running ante. We started the level with nine players, we need to lose one more until the final table is set. 11.40pm: Sjodin's renaissance is over as he runs another A-J into the kings of Eric Liu....more

There were 10 players remaining at the start of level 23. They're playing on two tables and will play down to a final table of eight tonight. 10.45pm: Erik Sjodin made it 50,000 to go and Johannes Strassmann slid in another tower of chips, putting the Swede to the test...more

We're into level 22 in London, where the blinds are 6,000-12,000 with a 1,000 ante. The plan is to play to a final eight tonight. 9.30pm: And that's it for Busch. He gets his very small stack in pre-flop and is knocked out by whoever made the mandatory call. He...more

There are 14 players at the midpoint of level 21, with the plan to play down to the final eight this evening. We'll be shifting the coverage to a time-stamped style update from now on. 8.10pm: That's the end of the level and they're taking a 15 minute break. 8.05pm:On...more

Two eliminations and two crazy double ups since the return. The first player to go out was the PokerStars qualifier Joe Elpayaa, who gave one of those rueful post-elimination interviews that often come from a man who has spent six card-dead hours and then runs into a genuine hand when...more

The players have returned from the dinner break and they have redrawn for seats. We have an all new feature table over on EPT Live, featuring, among others, the Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki, the previously-profiled Gualter Salles and the bigtime professional David Benyamine. The video bloggers of PokerStars.tv used...more

The TV cameras are picking up all the big hands, particular the all-ins which this time featured PokerStars qualifier Robert Firestone. This one was different to the many others than had preceded it though because Firestone got a caller, and that man was PokerStars sponsored player, and former racing...more

Walking along the side street that separates the Grosvenor Casino from the Marriot Hotel this morning was a familiar figure clutching a PokerStars player bag and wearing a characteristic mile-wide grin. This was Gualter Salles, and if the street had been in Rio de Janiero, it's unlikely that he would...more

We’re into level 20 now with blinds at 5,000/10,000 with a 1,000 ante. Things are still moving quicker than expected with fewer than 20 players remaining. You can keep tabs on the payouts by visiting the prizes page and official chip counts will be update as we get them....more

Play has tightened somewhat after a rash of early eliminations. We've lost Justin Truesdell and then Carter Gill; the full payouts are here. In other news: We're into level 19, where blinds are 4,000-8,000 with a 1,000 ante. Anthony Lellouche accounted for Gill in what ended up being a bitter...more

Alan Smurfit gets his chips in, the quiet man at a chatty feature table that also features the talkative Johannes Strassmann. The hand started with a Joseph Elpayaa raise, followed by a re-raise from Strassmann, making it 61,000 in total. Smurfit moved now, in hindsight perhaps not believing his...more

The feature table has been set up today and the three other remaining tables are lined up close by, creating a tight clump of concentrated excitement. Every player left is deep in the money and every decision mean the difference between thousands of pounds. Here's a quick gallery of some...more

When Lebanon's Joseph Mouawad won this tournament this time last year, he became the first non-Brit to win the event, breaking a tradition that started with John Shipley through Marc Teltscher to Victoria Coren. And there won't be a Brit winning this year either as the final British representative Ian...more

Four players have already collected a receipt and found their way to the cashier, the latest being Tyler Reiman. He pushed in with K-J only to be called by the player behind the white rimmed wraparound sunglasses, Max Pescatori, with A-Q. Pescatori was ahead on the flop turn and...more

There are a lot of statistics in poker and the most obvious way to determine the identity of the top players is to look at the column usually on the far right of the many league tables, the one headed "tournament winnings". There we'll find that Jamie Gold is the...more

So here’s the reason why you might want to clear a good block of your day. Cancel the shopping, the fishing trip or the ball game and the lawn can wait until tomorrow. You need to hand over your time, without reservation, to crunch time at the EPT London....more

Morning has broken on day three of the EPT London, and whilst the city awakes for the first of two days of weekend relaxation there’s an altogether different atmosphere around the confines of the Victoria Casino card room –or at least there will be in a few hours time....more

There are days on the European Poker Tour that seem to last so far past midnight that you can walk out of the casino and straight into a bagel and an orange juice. And then there are days that pass in the blink of an eye. Mercifully for the press...more

An abrupt end to the day and the tournament for two Team PokerStars Pros. But that’s been the way for everyone on what has been a quick fire day two on the EPT. First it was Vanessa Rousso in with the best of it, relying on her A-K to...more

Something that always happens immediately following the bubble is a quick procession of all in moves from the short stacks. They're in the money already, so now they might as well go for the top end, and the tournament director has just announced that we'll play down to 32 whatever...more

Time again to announce the unluckiest man in London. His name is Hafiz Khan and he's just left the tournament floor of the Victoria Casino with nothing. Several hundred others have gone the same way before him over the past two and a half days, but Khan's particular misfortune is...more

PokerStars qualifier Sorel Mizzi is quickly making a reputation for himself on the live poker scene after dominating online but just took a knock in one of the biggest hands of the tournament so far. After Mizzi made it 16,000 to go pre-flop from the small blind the action...more

Three massive hands just played out across two tables, with the net results being these: Gus Hansen and Julian Thew are out and Marcin Horecki now has a massive stack. Firstly, there was this: the Polish Team PokerStars Pro showed Q-Q on a board of 8s-10c-9d-Qh-Qc. That was quad queens,...more

Another hand, another player eliminated. This time it was Fuad Serhan sent packing by Frenchman Anthony Lellouche who called with A-K against Serhan’s tens. A king duly arrived on the turn to reduce the field by one. Per Mattsson soon followed. He moved in with pocket jacks, jokingly requesting...more

Today's EPT dinner is brought to you by chicken stir-fry and something brown with rice. The Friday night casino crowd are also in the house, adding a certain degree more excitement as the bubble approaches. In other news: Play is just entering level 14, where the blinds are 1,200-2,400 with...more

Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko just tangled in a three-way pot, notably against young Swede Jonas Molander. Molander had raised to 4,100 from under-the-gun plus one and got calls from the button and an all-in shove from Kravchenko in the big blind. That’s normally the end of it but...more

Michael "SirWatts" Watson already had a sizeable following in the world of poker before he flew to Las Vegas from his native Canada this summer. Last year, he came to the attention of most of us at the PokerStars blog when he skippered the Canada team in the World Cup...more

The history of poker as one of the most popular pursuits on the planet - among players and spectators alike - is peppered with landmark moments that shaped the modern game. There's the invention of freezeout tournaments, widely credited to Puggy Pearson and then Jack Binion, who combined to create...more

by Adam "STUDstood" Roberts Prior to beginning this week, I would again like to thank all of you for your positive support with regards these blogs. I appreciate your feedback, and that many of you find these blogs useful. But I would like to make clear that the concepts...more

Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki has begun to turn around a downward spiral that has seen him drop from 40K to 20K already today. Horecki made it through day 1b yesterday with a stack of 42,500. He carried on in the same way when play resumed this afternoon but...more

The heady pace has continued. Into the second level of the day more than 30 players have been eliminated. And where elimination does not occur major damage does instead, just ask Gunnar Rabe. He just lost a pot measuring in the tens of thousands to fellow PokerStars qualifier Tim...more

And finally, we now know what they are all playing for. The bean-counters have counted everything up and announced the full official payout structure for this week's event. There were 596 players, generating a prize pool of £3,349,200. It is broken down as follows (pay particular attention to the £1m...more

Local player Ian Frazer pushed all-in within minutes of the start, among those with a decision to make Barry Greenstein who passed. On the next hand Greenstein tried a move from the button on an unraised pot after a limp by the cut-off player Neil Suarez. With the action...more

You don't get to day two of a major poker tournament without being at the top of your game. But to get to day three, you have to at least continue in the same vein and probably also discover that little bit extra to set yourself up for a crack...more

Now things really start to pick up. 596 players came here to conquer on day one and now just 158 remain. Today there’s a blank sheet, when fortunes are made and lost on the turn of a card. You can expect to see liberal use of the word “busted”...more

We said it would be a day chock full of the big names today, and we weren’t disappointed. This morning the greatest concentration of poker power since, well, yesterday, made its way to London’s Victoria Casino on Edgware Road for a battle royale on the baize. Nearly 300 came...more

We mentioned it in the blog earlier today that two players were unable to make it to day 1b this afternoon. Both Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu and Million Dollar Man Ivan Demidov were all set to play the EPT London this week, but both had a pretty good...more

Poker is a game of margins, small details that can be the difference between thousands, perhaps millions, of bucks. And it pays to keep close attention to the most miniscule factors to ensure the inevitable variance is kept to an absolute minumum. In short, don't tempt the poker gods. But...more

In the far corner of the tournament area, where parts of the casino restaurant have been annexed to accommodate more tables, local pro Neil Channing just moved all-in, finding no takers to tackle his ace-king. Channing has had success all over the place but the EPT has always proven...more

Apparently the pink jumper that Andre Akkari is wearing today is a lucky one. That’s why he bought it yesterday, or so a suspect rumour went. You can rely on luck if you want but depending on your own skill tends to take you further, and Akkari’s recent form...more

We’re back from the break. The early fog of war has dispersed enough for some important numbers to emerge, mainly that the player count today is official at 309, with 175 players returning from the evening break to play on. That makes 134 players banished to the rail, one...more

Danny Ryan hit the EPT in season four becoming something of a minor celebrity on the tour with his relentless ability to qualify and his results in both online play and live tournaments. Those are the kinds of qualities that get you noticed. Before play started today he spoke...more

The early skirmishes are over and now there are some serious stacks starting to develop. This is where there's enough in the middle from the blinds to make them worth picking up, and there are some players with sufficient chips to get involved with some sub-standard holdings and mix it...more

A busy spell on the tournament floor. Incident in all corners have made the details often sketchy but here’s the latest. Noah Boeken’s demise, as reported earlier, was a pre-flop duel. Noah moved in with A-J against pocket eights, losing the race to bust out of the tournament. The...more

In between tables breaking, plates of food being passed around and the blinds going up, the landscape of the tournament is beginning to change now, with severe ramifications for the familiar faces. Here's how it all looks on the tournament floor. Andre Akkari took his turn trying to double...more

They’re on adjacent tables and both are perilously close to the felt, but Team PokerStars Pros ElkY Grospellier and Noah Boeken did their dwindling fortunes some good, even if it wasn’t dramatic. ElkY’s improvement on a stack of just a few thousand could have been more were it not...more

The tables of these EPT events are habitually occupied by the stars of the game, and anyone who has spent any time in the tournament areas has grown accustomed to seeing countless familiar faces from magazines and television riffling chips and joining the fray. Even so, it has been a...more

As yesterday, the players are enjoying a complimentary glass of wine served at their seats by the Vic's waiting staff. We still don't have the full, final number, although we've recently been told that yesterday's total was 289. There'll be about the same today, if not more. We do, however,...more

We’ve already mentioned perpetual PokerStars qualifiers Danny Ryan and Stephen Chidwick today. In terms of getting a seat in an EPT event it’s certainly the best way, coming as it does with hotel accommodation and spending money on top of your place in the main event. And who knows...more

As more players arrive, including Team PokerStars Pros Isabelle Mercier and Dario Minieri, there were two quick hits for PokerStars. First it was Team Pro Greg Raymer, making his way to the rail after a short day at the office. Raymer flopped the nuts and moved all-in only for...more

Well you give it a few minutes and when the late arrivals take their seats tough tables just get tougher. For instance Phil Ivey just took his seat next to Noah Boeken and Chris Bjorn also lurks in seat ten. It’s little wonder that a few pots have been...more

We're back to the Vic for this second day of the EPT London event. As yesterday, we can't be sure of the total number of runners until they stop taking alternates at the end of level two. But it's fair to assume that we'll be getting somewhere near 300 again,...more

Play has just started allowing us a first glimpse of how the early stages of the day will shape up. Typically the draw has thrown together some intriguing match ups. EPT Barcelona winner Sebastian Ruthenberg has only a player between him and another EPT winner Julian Thew; Team PokerStars...more

It’s one the EPT’s most interesting unofficial trivia questions, one bandied about by the game’s chattering classes time after time. How many times has the second ‘day one’ felt, well, a little more like a who’s who of poker? It feels like that in London today. Not that day...more

That's it. More than 200 eliminations, some ups and downs, one or two euphoric rises and the odd tragic collapse. After three courses for dinner and nine levels of play day 1a has finally come to a close in London. Outside Edgware Road is still alive, never a place...more

We're deep into the final level of the day and the big screen says that 90 players remain. If they continue to fall at the same rate they have been for the past eight and a half hours, there will probably be about 85 players bagging up chips tonight. Among...more

A full eight levels have now been played. We’re now on the last break of the day with the green chips, each worth 25, being raced off. We play just one more one hour level this evening before bagging up. Then we come back here tomorrow to do it...more

We recently conducted a sweep of the room to see who was in possession of the big stacks. The latest chip count can be found HERE, where we'll update any major moves as and when they happen. Of course, in order for there to be this many chips in front...more

One minute you’re up, the next you’re down. So it goes for Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso. Fresh from a hand that crippled Annette Obrestad, Rousso mixed it up with a hand against the player known as Suarez on her immediate right. The board was already reading Qc-Td-5d-As-2s when...more

First indication that we’d lost a big name was when Vanessa Rousso almost apologetically reached over the table to shake hands with Annette Obrestad. The Norwegian wunderkind had got her chips in, pushing on the flop, chasing away another player in the process. Rousso called, holding 3c-2c to Obrestad's...more

Players have just returned from a 45 minute break - not a dinner break, you understand, because that was served in bowls around the tables, but just a chance to grab some fresh air, move an illegally-parked car, call home, or watch 45 minutes of the Champions League match on...more

Players have returned from the 45 minute break with more than half of the starting field now either watching from the rail or in some other place trying to forget the last six hours. The latest on what’s happening on the tournament floor... Of the 294 players who started...more

Moments ago, the PokerStars German bloggers - whose work, in their native language you can find here- tapped on the shoulder of the .com blog to say "Gavin Griffin has just doubled up." This was one of those neat moments of serendipity that sometimes occur, since moments earlier our video...more

Team PokerStars Pro are out in force in London, although the draw has been somewhat lop-sided and considerably more will play tomorrow than have played today. That's also when all the PokerStars Six, or http://www.pokerstars.com/wsop/novembernine/">Million Dollar Men, will join the fray, having jetted into the country this week. Most of...more

It was like a cage match in which metal chairs, chainsaws, and howitzers were fair game weapons. Competing were the Pattons 21st century poker. Four of them had World Series championship bracelets. The other five have a chance at one in just a few week. In what PokerStars billed as...more

Chad Brown just sent another payer to a lonely fate on the rail. Limping under-the-gun plus one, Chad then called an all-in move for 3,100 from a player in late position who then turned over Ad-Kh. For Chad, a lesser As-Th. But the board was Chad-friendly, bringing a ten...more

Players are taking a 15 minute break at the end of level four. When they return, they'll be playing blinds of 150-300, the last level before the ante kicks in. Here's another quick run down of what's going on: The current biggest three stacks seem to belong to Walid Rizkallah,...more

There are a few tough tables her on day 1a, but among the tougher ones is the current home of Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Rousso. Richard Ashby sits on her right, Isaac “WestmenloAA” Barron on her left. Filling the gaps are Alexia Portal and Irishman Donnacha O’Dea. This is...more

And so the carnage begins. The Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson is the first faller from those we're following closely here. He was deeply involved in countless pots early on, getting to the flop and turn and missing them all, having to fold to sizeable bets from his opponents. Evenutally,...more

It may be early but there's still room for 'drama' hands, like pocket aces calling a king-queen all-in. Making that death rattle noise that anyone would make holding the king-queen, Mr Saurez, the player whose tournament life was at stake, stood up ready for an honourable exit. He picked...more

PokerStars qualifier Nik Persaud is out. The details are sketchy but from what he told me it was a cavalier move. "At least I went out in style" he said. A different path for Alex Kravchenko. He may not play in a cavalier fashion but Kravchenko also cuts an...more

As alternates still buzz around the building, including the likes of Erica Schoenberg and David Benyamine, both of whom are on the waiting list for a seat, the early chip leader seems to be the former EPT champion Mark Teltscher, who already seems to have doubled to 20,000 which probably...more

The frantic, frenetic action of the EPT has begun. As usual, we'll be bringing you all the colour and features from on and off the tournament floor, but sometimes it's better to just out point all the crucial facts in a list. Here's the first of our regular bullet-point bulletins...more

The first big pot of the day erupts, breaking the seal on the day. Well, not that big come to think of it. When the hand got to the river I counted six green chips in the pot. That made for a haul worth 150. It featured Team PokerStars...more

You might have heard that PokerStars held a little get together last night. You may even have been there. Either way the photographic evidence is here in all it's glory, telling the story of how the EPT was greeted on its way in to London... Team PokerStars Pros were...more

The red buses and telephone boxes, the policemen in funny hats, the black cabs, the palace and Her Majesty peeking out through the curtains; Oxford Street, Parliament, the Thames, Marble Arch, palace guards in red tunics and bearskins, heavy traffic and bookmakers on every corner. They're all getting mentions...more