May 2010 Archives

There's been endless articles written about how much electricity Las Vegas chews up. It's the lights that shine so fiercely you can see them from space, apparently. While most of us think it's pretty cool, there are those who get all hot and sweaty about the 'waste' of electricity, even...more

There may be something rather large going on in Las Vegas right now, but while that annual jamboree is under way, PokerStars is ensuring live poker continues to flourish and entertain all over the world. The LAPT event in Lima, Peru kicks off this week, as does the first Russian...more

While the just completed Sunday Warm-up may have shown a decrease in attendance, tonight's $1 Million Turbo Takedown continued to welcome huge crowds to its tables. 18,655 players gathered tonight throwing down nothing for something as the buy-in for a shot at a brand new Audi TT remains at 3,000...more

The slight downturn in attendance in tonight's $750,000 guaranteed Sunday Warm-up is probably directly correlated with the many high-stakes players from across the globe descending upon Las Vegas for the start of the World Series of Poker this week. Still be noted that the guarantee was not needed once again,...more

So, there is a lot going on in the live poker world, eh? The World Series of Poker is already rocking and rolling. Lima, Peru's first LAPT event kicks off this week. It's almost a surprise that the online games are still drawing such huge numbers. Then again, the Sunday...more

As the PokerStars Blog and Team PokerStars Pros settle in to the next month and half at the World Series of Poker some things during the month long carnival of poker do not change outside of the Amazon room at the Rio. Like tonight's Battle of the Planets $50,000 triple...more

Imagine you are sitting under a Wild Date Palm tree in the middle of the Serengeti, sipping a nice cup of tea while enjoying the awesome view towards a distant mountain range (okay, this is unlikely, but stick with me). As the sun begins to sink below the horizon, and...more

Poker players look forward to the World Series of Poker with as much anticipation as kids waiting excitedly but impatiently for Christmas. While youngsters may get a raw deal, with the fun being over in just a day, the players have two months in which to gorge themselves stupid in...more

If there's one thing we've come to expect from the World Series of Poker, it's that the event's enormity will be a nailed-on eye-opener each and every year. This is my sixth assignment to poker's annual jamboree, and after walking from my home-from-home at the Palms in Las Vegas to...more

Daniel Negreanu has called many places home. He set up shop in the Canadian pool halls in his youth. Then we saw him spend a lot of time at Bellagio. He called The Venetian home for a bit before signing on fulltime with PokerStars. Now, he's such a fixture around...more

Over the years, the World Series of Poker has had a lot of champions. There are the Main Event champions, side event champions, and even Tournament of Champions champions. It's hard to keep it all straight. This year, the WSOP is once again holding the Tournament of Champions and the...more

For most, it was an average Tuesday. But for poker players, it was the Tuesday leading up to the start of the 2010 World Series of Poker. That meant travel for many, last-minute get-togethers with friends and family for some before nearly seven weeks of non-stop poker, and settling into...more

by Nick Wealthall, UKIPT Tour Host So two live tournaments this year and I have one win (did I mention that?) and now a 9th. Which is the definition of running hot. I should probably quit for the year claiming the most awesome ROI in tourney history. Played the GUKPT...more

We know a lot of people in the poker world. We've known many of the stars since before they were stars. Chris Moneymaker, however, is one of the people we didn't know until he was famous beyond words. It's to his credit that he, despite being one of the most...more

When you try something the first time and it goes fabulously right, there is only one thing to do: do it again. With that, PokerStars is brining back the Baltic region's largest poker tournament, the PokerStars Baltic Festival. Held at the luxurious Swissôtel in Tallinn, Estonia, the event will run...more

Ask yourself which is more difficult: the ascent to the top of the poker world or the ascent to the top of the literal world. Sounds like a coinflip proposition to me. PokerStars has other ideas. Today, PokerStars announced it will send of its players on a trip to Mount...more

Well, this feels weird. It's like getting back with an ex-girlfriend after a long layoff. You're not exactly sure what to say. You have so much history together, but things are different now. After two weeks of pur excitement, the familiarity is almost off-putting. Or, at least, that's how it...more

Miss us? We're back! The Sunday Million was on hiatus for a few weeks to give players as many opportunities to play SCOOP tournaments as possible. And it was a fun ride for all involved, though the SCOOP event winners might argue that they enjoyed it more than others. But...more

This week's Sunday majors found themselves sandwiched between the online madness of last week's Spring Championship of Online Poker, and the live insanity of the World Series of Poker kicking off next week in Las Vegas. With all that going on, there was still no decline in the massive field...more

EPT selection for Mixed Game Player of the Year. As reported by Brad Willis a few days ago, such a selection was too difficult to obtain, so the eight finalist are joined here today for a Sit and Go to determine the award's rightful owner. What better way to test...more

Folk will do many things to help bring them good luck. For Victorino Torres that meant shaving off his moustache for the first time in years just before sitting down at the final table. The removal of facial hair worked a treat - he came from second last in chips...more

From the pages of the "woah, that dude is famous" file comes PokerStars newest sports ambassador PokerStars has just announced the newest member of its team of International Ambassadors - Italian national goalkeeper Gianluigi 'Gigi' Buffon, the current Juventus FC goalkeeper and a member of the Italian World Cup winning...more

Hi everyone this is Tom McEvoy, Team PokerStars Pro, with some exciting news of a personal nature. I'm getting married tomorrow (Monday May 24th), but the festivities actually begin on tonight when I will be throwing a big party at my house for some friends and family. The whole McEvoy...more

8.30pm: Victorino Torres wins APPT Macau for $3,246,200 HKD Chong Cheong runner up for $2,088,000 HKD It's over! Victorino Torres, a PokerStars qualifier from the Northern Marian Islands, wins a quick heads-up battle to become PokerStars APPT Macau season 4 champion. Chong Cheong had opened for 125,000 and Torres called....more

4.55pm: Level ends That's the end of level 23. 24 will be up without a break. 4.45pm: Brian Green out in 6th place for $572,900 After the early flurry of eliminations we slowed down until just now when Costa Rica's Brian Green, a PokerStars qualifier, hit the rail. Jeppe had...more

While we wait for the final of PokerStars APPT Macau season 4 to get under way, take a look at our players.... Seat 1: Victorino Torres - Northern Mariana Islands Victorino Torres is a 33-year-old attorney from the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth in political union with the United States....more

The more pessimistic observers looked at today's starting field of 44 and noted we would be in for a long haul. Surely there would be a slow down as the bubble approached? Then once the required 40 were in the money, the journey would be just as slow since no-one...more

7.35pm Housekeeping The final nine players will return tomorrow for a 12.15pm start. We'll have a wrap with you shortly. Take a look at the payouts so far over here, and marvel at the following chips: -- SY Cole Swannack, 1,262,000 Jeppe Drivsholm, 1,223,000 Brian Green, 970,000 Chong Cheong, 904,000...more

4.35pm: End of the level That's the end of level 18. We have a ten-minute break and then move up to level 19 with blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a 1,000 ante. We have 18 players remainnig. -- SY 4.22pm: Yoo falls Young Hyun Yoo saw his remaining chips enter the...more

It was if it was an eight-handed game that went on for 10 months and left everybody with the exact same number of chips. Now it's time to settle the score. At the end of the European Poker Tour's sixth season, there was a curious eight-way tie that included: Katja...more

What a day. First Brendon Rubie ran away with the chip lead, then Kai Paulsen joined him. TJ Vorapanich caught up as well, before both he and Rubie got pegged back. It looked like Paulsen would take the honor of being top dog - until the last hand of the...more

7.55pm: Play finishes That's it. Seven levels are done today and we're left with 46 players, a big drop from the 160 who started. They'll come back tomorrow and we need to lose five more before the money kicks in. A full wrap will be with you shortly, as will...more

3.20pm: Level done That's it for level 10. We move to level 11 with blinds at 800-1,600 with a 200 ante. -- SY 3.21pm: Dinh Le dusted On a board reading A♠2♠4♥7♠J♣, all the chips went in on the river with Dinh Le holding A Q  against his opponent's 7 7 . Unfortunately...more

Men with a much better understanding of calculators and spreadsheets than us have created the seat draw for day 2 of PokerStars APPT Macau season 4. Find yourself/your friends quicker using 'control f'. That much we do understand. 160 players will come back for day 2 - with the cash...more

Getting through the first day of any poker tournament is something of a trial. If you play your best and make the right moves, all you can do is hope the cards go your way and justice is done. You give your opening statements, making your intentions clear to the...more

8.01pm: Play ends! The final hand has been dealt for flight three with the top three chip counts as follows. Darren Judges - 173,800 Brendon Rubie - 114,375 Ralf Westphal - 112,025 Stay tuned for a full recap and updated chip counts as they come to hand. 7.35pm: Five more...more

3.32pm: Level up That's it for level 3. We head in to level 4 3.28pm: Nitsche napped Dominik Nitsche opened to 500 from middle position and Dinh Le and another opponent made the call from the button and big blind respectively. Following a check on the 4♥5♠T♠ flop, Nitsche fired...more

For the most part, today's story was all about David Steicke, the fearsome high roller who makes a habit of tearing up tables, particularly here in Macau. He arrived a little late today, soon hit quad aces to beat the unfortunate Tamas Lendvai's full house - and never looked back....more

Less than 24 hours prior to the start of tonight's Super Tuesday, SCOOP Main Event tournaments were still running. After a somewhat crazy few weeks and 114 events involved in the annual series, one might think that players would be taking a break, relaxing their computers and bankrolls for a...more

8.01pm: Play ends With the final hand being dealt on table three, play has ceased for the night with the top three chip leaders sitting as follows. Henrick Gwinner - 140,700 David Steicke - 124,950 Ramon Cserei - 118,250 Stay tuned for a full recap and updated chip counts. 7.35pm:...more

3.05pm: JC Tran eliminated JC Tran has just been eliminated from the tournament. Unable to gather any momentum today, Tran committed on a ten-high board holding Q T  but ran into an opponent's K T . The river blanked out and the PokerStars sponsored player hit the rail. 2.55pm: Lendvai leaves Tamas Lendvai's...more

Perhaps the fact that there is so much to do in Macau explains why Pan Xiao Long seemed not unduly fussed to lose his 20,000 chips in the first hand he played, his two pair no good against Jan Boyes' flopped set. But whatever he was thinking after that little...more

8.00pm: Play ends! Play has now ended for the night. Stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog for a full wrap and updated chip counts. 7.56pm: Team Pr-owned Vladimir Geshkenbein opened to 1,500 from middle position and was called by an opponent in the small blind before Team PokerStars Pro Asia...more

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3.35pm: End of the level That's the end of level 3. We move on to level 4 and blinds of 150-300 with a 25 ante. -- SY 3.30pm: High roller takes his seat Vladimir Geshkenbein, who beat Johnny Chan heads-up to win the high roller here in Macau last season...more

A million dollars. And then some. More than what most of those winning WSOP bracelets will be taking home this summer. That's what awaited the winner of the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker Main Event ($10,300 buy-in, NLHE) which played to its conclusion on Monday. After yesterday's Day 1,...more

Two-day tournaments have their perks. For the players remaining at the end of Day 1, it allows them to regroup, rest, and develop a strategy for the second day based on their chip stacks and notes they've accumulated about their opponents. The rest keeps them from making decisions based on...more

It would not take long for our final nine to be named, with sizable blinds and short-ish stack our final 17 from yesterday would play down to one in today's $109 SCOOP Main Event-Low. Andre Akkari wasted no time in improving his chip position by doubling up on the game's...more

We like to think of ourselves as seasoned travelers here on the PokerStars Blog, so dragging a suitcase and laptop from London to Macau, the gambling paradise that rises from the South China Sea like a Sim City computer game landscape, would be a breeze. Indeed the 12-hour flight to...more

The PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) live blog coverage of today's Main Event-High final table is brought to you by David Aydt and Martin Harris. 9:59pm: toetagU takes it down! Congratulations to toetagU, 2010 SCOOP Main Event-High champion! Here are the payouts for the final table: 1st place:...more

We knew it was going to be big, and the Main Event of SCOOP 2010 did not let us down. In the $10,300 High bracket, player Toetagu came top of the pile, picking up a bumper $1,162,350 in the process. That, we think you'll agree, is a tasty figure. Here...more

This wasn't just any no-limit hold'em tournament. It was the last SCOOP NLHE tournament with the exception of the Main Event in the 2010 series. It gave players the chance at a $750K guarantee. And it brought some of the biggest names in the game of poker to the online...more

Playing for your part of over $1.3 million dollar prize pool is not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon, really. It's not even a bad way to spend a Sunday night. And frankly, it's a decent way to spend a Monday morning, too. And that's a good thing,...more

There were 111 tournaments before it. The Spring Championship of Online Poker was certainly not short on opportunities for players to find their games of choice at whatever limits their bankrolls allowed. But after two weeks of everything from PLO to stud, it was time for the straight no-limit hold'em...more

A "normal" Sunday would see about 4,500 players lining up for the Sunday Warm-up and 8,500 players for the Sunday Million. But, this isn't a normal weekend at PokerStars, nor a normal last two weeks for that matter as tonight's Main Events were the beginning of the end for another...more

Chad Brown is a man who knows a thing or two about longevity. He's played California card rooms and Vegas casinos, after the boom and many years before it. Brown drew hosting duties for the final table of SCOOP's final low buy-in no-limit hold'em event and as the nine remaining...more

It has all been leading to this. The big one. After two weeks of round-the-clock poker, the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker kicked off its two-day Main Event on Sunday afternoon. As was the case last spring, this year's SCOOP Main Event came with a $5 million guarantee. In...more

Have you ever been in a fistfight? Did you win it? How about more than one? Did you win those? But have you ever won 11 fights... in a row? Heads-up poker is similar to a back alley brawl. Winning a heads-up match requires your full attention and deep concentration....more

Day 2 begins with money in our 16 player's pockets and the big riches of $172,800.00 for first prize within four more victories. But those victories would not come easy with a defending champion and a Team PokerStars pro racking up victories on the live circuit. Round of 16 aejones...more

Yesterday 32 players each ponied up $25,500 in this "High" version of Event #35, a two-day, heads-up, no-limit hold'em shootout featuring many of the poker world's elite. After three rounds and approximately seven hours of play, four players had made it through to today's matches -- SWEGIN, Skämmes, goatboy1, and...more

If you're going to to be the last man standing from a poker tournament of 650 players, you're going to have to hit a few cards. And if you had the choice of when to start hitting them, you'd probably choose "at the final table" when it matters most of...more

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6.10pm: Andrew Couldridge wins UKIPT Nottingham and £80,000 Oliver Schaffmann out in second, winning £46,700 Oliver Schaffmann had won the first two hands of heads-up play but the third and decisive final hand did not go his way. Andrew Couldridge limped from the small blind and Schaffmann made it 350,000...more

3.55pm: Break time Players are now taking a sort-of dinner break. "Sort-of" meaning that they've only got 30 minutes, so good luck with dinner. We'll be back with their full counts in a moment. -- HS 3.35pm: Majewski moving on up The shortest stack at the table, Piotr Majewski moved...more

Everyone has a weak game. A limit hold'em shark can be confounded by razz. A stud specialist may dread Omaha hi/lo and split-pot wizards might find their stomachs clenching when a stud high hand comes up. But here's the thing about H.O.R.S.E. You can't hide from your weak game. It's...more

The final table line up for the UKIPT Nottingham event at Dusk Till Dawm is as follows: Seat 1, 639,000 chips Piotr Majewski, 28, Poland, PokerStars qualifier Piotr Majewski is a familiar face at PokerStars events, having blogged on the European Poker Tour for a number of years. But he...more

I told myself this morning that I was not going to make any "high HORSE" references in the recap of SCOOP Event 36-High, $2,100 HORSE this year. Last year I crammed as any horse idioms - and especially high horse idioms - as I could into the recap. "Spiritual growth,"...more

Versatile. Adaptable. Skilled. Attentive. Patient. These are all skills required to play a HORSE tournament, as players must be ready to change games every eight minutes, change gears to play their best at each game, and note the play of their opponents in five different games. HORSE may be fun,...more

Can you win 11 consecutive heads-up matches spread out over two days? The lucky soul who overcomes that arduous feat will gain recognition as the next SCOOP heads-up champion. The "low" buy-in for Event #35 $270 Heads-Up match play championship expected to draw a huge field, which is why it...more

Doyle Brunson once said that in order to win a poker tournament, you have to win with A-K and you have to beat A-K. Essentially he was saying, "Win your flips." In Pot-Limit Omaha, the flips don't usually involve A-K but they're no less critical to winning the tournament. You...more

There's been a lot said regarding the ever-increasing popularity of pot-limit Omaha, as well as players' love for short-handed action. No need for me to repeat that here. But we will say that this tournament is a testament to those facts. It was a Saturday afternoon in spring, and the...more

As aejones' pocket sixes turned a full house against nofingclue11's flopped flush draw we shut the lights off of this Event #35-Medium Heads-up tournament as we'll resume tomorrow with our final sixteen. Those sixteen are already assured $9,600.00 and will have a chance at taking the biggest chunks of the...more

It all seems so routine, doesn't it? PokerStars throws a party and the whole world shows up, right? You'd think after two weeks of crushed guarantees and deep runs by Team PokerStars pros, it would all get boring, right? Well, not if you're talking about SCOOP Event 34 - Pot...more

The "High" version of Event #35, a 32-player maximum, heads-up no-limit hold'em tourney, came with the largest price tag of all 114 SCOOP events, a hefty $25,500. As such, the field was predictably comprised of poker's elite, with just about every match featuring familiar names from both the live and...more

Ever since the schedule changed mid-way through day two, a lot of vagueness entered UKIPT Nottingham. We might have reached our final table anywhere between about 4pm today and 4pm tomorrow, such had been the haste, then slow, then haste, then slow of the action. No one minded much because...more

10.50pm: Chips That wrap is on its way. Here are the final table counts: Owen Robinson, Ireland, 2,414,000 Graham Giles, UK, 1,807,000 Andros Spyrou, UK, 1,407,000 Andrew Couldridge, UK, 1,206,000 Oliver Schaffmann, UK, 1,018,000 Piotr Majewski, Poland, 639,000 Gareth Walker, UK, 506,000 Nicholas Gavriel, UK, 494,000 -- HS 10.20pm: It's...more

6.40pm: Break time And with that, we're on a 45-minute break. We've just taken a full chip count, which will appear on the chip count page in a moment. Sneak preview: Mark Aldridge has 1.4million and is leading. Oliver Schaffmann has 1,175,000 and is next. -- HS 6.30pm: Wing drowned...more

That's the end of the level. Players are taking a 15-minute break. 4.15pm: New tricks Mickey Wernick has a unsurpassable reputation as king of the grinders. He's been rocking the short stack since before most of his current adversaries were born. But Wernick's glittering poker resume, dating right back to...more

That's the end of the level and players are taking a 15-minute break. 2pm: Spyrou sends Johnson tumbling Mitchell Johnson is out, having just fallen foul of quite a sickener to Andros Spyrou. Spyrou raised to 19,500 from early position and Johnson moved all in for his last 71,500 from...more

We may have used the word action to describe other tournaments, like PLO for example. But there is no more appropriate word for this tournament - No-limit Omaha, the hi/lo variation, with only 10-minute levels. Action, anyone? The tournament was destined to be a fast one, and in relation to...more

Anyone who has followed poker over the past few years knows that PokerStars has been at the vanguard of technology in both the online and live environments. The world's largest cardroom continually raises the bar with the breadth and popularity of its online games, while landmark tournaments across the globe...more

Rebuy! Sure, the word doesn't have the same impact as in a live tournament, because...well...we can't hear anyone saying, "Rebuy!" But despite the process being a bit different in online poker, the outcome is the same: more chances to stay in the game, more chips in play. Excitement all around,...more

Ask any online MTT grinder what's the toughest tournament on PokerStars and chances are the answer won't be the Sunday Million. It won't be the SCOOP Main Event or the Nightly Hundred Grand or even the WCOOP $10k High Roller H.O.R.S.E. (though that one is up there). It's the $215...more

Just another humble little 10,000-plus player tourney to report for you. Another one of those somebody-is-gonna-turn-a-few-bucks-into-a-few-thousand type deals. A total of 10,517 entered Event #31-Low, which had a $22 buy-in plus opportunities for one re-buy and one add-on. Those entrants together took 7,171 re-buys and 6,166 add-ons, making a total...more

"Limit hold'em is a science and no-limit is an art form." The premier NL players consider themselves true artists like Picasso and Miles Davis. In cooking terms, they are celebrity chefs whipping up exotic meals in swanky eateries, while their limit hold'em counterparts are humping the lunch shift at...more

As recently as seven to eight years ago, fixed-limit hold'em was the darling of poker games. It was a stable of brick-and-mortar poker rooms everywhere and was the game that career professionals played for a living and on which amateurs cut their teeth. From one end of the Las Vegas...more

Such a wild animal, this no-limit Omaha Hi-Lo. Putting no-limit betting together with Omaha is volatile enough. Then throw in split pots. Then add still further incentive to action by creating 10-minute levels -- as is the case in these Event #33 tourneys -- and you're looking at a hard-to-tame...more

Sometimes it only takes a slight variation from the norm to attract the players. Full-limit hold'em? And six-handed tables? That's enough to do it. Who are we kidding? Players looking for a SCOOP title and the best tournament action around are likely to register for almost any event. Still, a...more

If SCOOP Event #33 was a live game, the tournament director or MC for the proceedings would have been hoarse from the multitude of "all-in and a call!" after the players returned from just the second hour of breaks. The $2,100 buy-in for the high version of tonight's No Limit...more

No one ever really minds precisely how they win a poker tournament. The big comedy cardboard cheque in their mitts is the substance that supersedes the style. But going pillar to post, leading on every day, definitely earns some extra credit, and here in Nottingham, Aman Atwal could pull off...more

8.150pm: Unofficial top five The players have finished bagging and tagging their chips and tournament staff are importing all the chip counts. Here by our reckoning is the top five in chips. Aman Atwal: 386,500 Paul Ephremsen: 363,500 Oliver Schaffman: 313,500 Parminder Kandola: 304,000 Nicholas Gavriel: 298,500 All five of...more

That's the end of that level - back in 15 minutes. 6.45pm: Ladies not hooked Matt Heasman moved all-in from under the gun+2. Next to act was Helen Turner and she threw her head back and shuffled about a bit before leaning back and agonising over the decision she had...more

Poker writers generally dread covering two types of tournaments: rebuy tournaments and split-pot tournaments. Rebuy tournaments are the number one evil because the rebuys quadruple the number of chips in play, thereby extending the length of the tournament. Our jobs as reporters end when the tournament ends, giving us a...more

4.20pm: Mcauley mauls Aslam Allen Mcauley has doubled through Zahir Aslam and now has around 50,000 chips. Mcauley's last 12,600 went in on the turn of a 6♦A♠K♣2♦ board. Mcauley: K♦K♠ Aslam: A♣T♣ The river was a meaningless 4♣. Level 12 has now come to a close and the players...more

Some play pot-limit Omaha simply because it's not hold'em. While Texas hold'em remains the most popular game, many found themselves overdosed on it and sought a new outlet for their skills, a new realm of strategy, another game to master, and that game was PLO. Others fell in love with...more

2pm: Eating into the break As the clock ticked down to the first break of the day, two of the tournaments big stacks, Daniel Cochrane and Andrew Couldridge, who are sat next to one another, were involved in a pretty sizeable pot. There had clearly been some pre-flop action and...more

They call pot-limit Omaha the action game. Poker players have discovered the clashes, the ups and downs, and the overall excitement that can be PLO, and the last few years have seen a dramatic rise in the game's popularity. It was only natural, then, to make PLO an integral part...more

There will be many champions in SCOOP, but there will be very few who can boast of such a title as the one earned in Event #29-High. The $3,150 buy-in event required not only a big bankroll, but a certain poker mastery that few people can claim. The 8-game mix...more

8. The number is considered very lucky in Asian cultures. In Mandarin, the word for 8 sounds very similar to the word for prosper, which makes the number 8 the most revered digit by superstitious gamblers. The number 8. It's lucky. It's just what it is. The 8-game format on...more

Some Beatles fans know that "Eight Arms to Hold You" was the working title for the group's second feature film. Four of them, eight arms... get it? Of course, the title may just as likely conjure an image of an especially friendly (or not) octopus. In any event, it was...more

Day 1B at UKIPT Nottingham has now come to a close, and the sigh of satisfied relief around Dusk Till Dawn could blow over even this neighbourhood's most sturdy resident, Little John. This was a breakout day for even this mighty successful young tour, with 394 merry men and women...more

9.05pm: Day1b is done The second day one has come to an end, and around 160 players have advanced. During the last couple of hands Team PokerStars Pro Julian Thew doubled up with aces and ended the day with 39,700. Julian's stack is above average but he's not troubling the...more

6.40pm: Fry cooked EPT Budapest winner Will Fry is out. He lost his last 4,000 to Joseph McCormick. Fry shoved over the top of McCormick's raise with the Doyle Brunson hand 10-2. McCormick called with pocket sevens the flop was pretty conclusive as it gave McCormick a set. McCormick...more

The quickest way to earning street cred in the online poker world is to win a $100 re-buy tournament on PokerStars. In prison terms, taking down the $100+R is like winning a fight against the baddest mofo on your first day in the joint. You get instant juice and the...more

4.25pm: Halfway home Level four is in the books and we've reached the halfway point of day1b. The players are on a 20 minute break, during which time the staff at Dusk Till Dawn are doing chip counts of all remaining players so be sure to check out the chip...more

My son impresses me daily. He is five years old. He lectures me on Scandinavian history, the geography of the United Kingdom, and the latest developments in multiplication. Because he is apparently smarter than me, I'm asking him to consult on this massive affair that was SCOOP Event #28-L, the...more

2.05pm: Break time Level two has come to an end and the players are currently on a 20 minute break. Twelve of the 380 who started day 1b have busted. One player who is still in is Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly. He hasn't had a great first two levels...more

What better to do on a Wednesday in May than play some no-limit hold'em...with rebuys? So thought the 341 players who entered SCOOP Event 28-High, with its $1,050 buy-in and $600K guarantee. When all was said and done, the players accumulated 414 rebuys and 305 add-ons, which nearly doubled the...more

"Sick, stupid game." "FML." "Razz pros are grumpy." "It takes razz to get me in a bad mood." It's something of a "thing" in poker to complain about razz. If razz disappeared from the roster of poker games, most players would make a big show of offering it parting gifts...more

Most people don't love razz, nor do they hate it. They have a mixture of both feelings for the game, which translates into a sense that no matter how frustrating it might be, players are compelled to play it. Relationships with razz are complicated, but put such a tournament on...more

Let's get one thing clear: I will not let anyone speak ill of Razz. Sure, you may have jumped on the bandwagon of folks who think Razz is nothing but a practice in frustration, a poker tease the likes of which no fickle romantic interest could ever compete. You may...more

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It's not hard to figure out who is doing well in the 2010 Spring Championship of Online Poker. If you click on this blog once or twice a day, you'll see the names popping up time and again. One name that has been coming up more than everybody else in...more

If there's one criticism that can't be leveled against the 2010 SCOOP series, it's that the structures aren't deep enough. Time and again throughout this series favorable structures have created incredibly protracted final-table battles as talented players dug in against each other and refused to offer any quarter. Event 1-High...more

Whenever a poker tour rolls into a new destination, there's always a slight shiver of apprehension; these things are only natural. Yet by all accounts circling the poker world, there should never have been any fear about arriving to Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, which was installed as one of...more

With Season 6 of the EPT still just a recent memory, the European Poker Tour has released a fantastic and surprising schedule for Season 7. The seventh year of the EPT will add brand new cities and a few unexpected stops along the way. The new season launches with a...more

8.30pm: Day done It's the end of the day and the full wrap of proceedings is here: . See you tomorrow. 8.20pm: Winding down Tournament officials have announced that we're playing the final five hands of the night. Where people will stand and what they have in front of them...more

No-limit hold'em is the staple of tournament series like SCOOP, and that was evidenced by the solid turnout for an event scheduled on a Tuesday night with a $109 buy-in. NLHE brings the people to the online poker tables. Event 26-M was the medium level buy-in with a $200K guarantee,...more

Event #26-L -- an $11 buy-in no-limit hold'em event -- was all about small stakes and big stacks. The tourney attracted the largest field (by far) of all the events that began on Tuesday with 16,498 total entrants. With 10,000-chip starting stacks, that meant the goal for all 16,498 was...more

6.30pm: Over That's the end of level six. It's level seven next. Then eight. (Then home.) -- HS 6.25pm: The old five bet with air This is the kind of stuff we poker watchers like. Karl Snow opened from the hijack, making it 825 to go. James Williams, in the...more

4.15pm: Level over And that's the end of level four, meaning we're half way through the day. Join us for level five. --HS 4.10pm: Action...maybe not A big pot seemed to be brewing on table 23, when Adam Searle opened for 600 from middle position and was flat called Shane...more

2pm: Level over That's the end of level two and we take our first 15-minute break of the day. -- HS 1.55pm: Shabir in shape As ever in these tournaments, the action is aggressive and frantic right from the off and a 15,000 starting stack doesn't mean a great deal....more

The "High" version of Event #25, the Stud high/low event, had a $2,100 price tag. All told, 120 players saw fit to buy seats into this one, making a $240,000 prize pool, thereby meeting and exceeding the $150,000 guarantee. Only the top dozen finishers would get paid, with first looking...more

Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo Split is not a sexy game. It doesn't have the drama of big-bet games like No-Limit Hold'em and Pot-Limit Omaha. It doesn't have the action junkie appeal of Badugi or Triple Draw. It's the frumpy poker game that's always picked last on the playground. Many players find...more

There is apparently some skill element to this game. I'll be perfectly honest. There isn't anything much more boring to watch than people playing 2-7 Triple Draw. However, when in the presence of certain greatness and skill, it makes it worth it. If we needed more evidence that poker is...more

One of the most classic variations of poker is stud, and though it was thought to be a game of the past when hold'em grabbed the poker world by storm, stud has made a comeback in grand fashion. And we can say that because nearly 3,000 players turned out for...more

There were 620 entrants in the $109 buy-in Event #24-M 2-7 Triple Draw, making for a $62,000 prize pool (eclipsing the $50K guarantee). The top 78 spots paid, with first due to receive $11,780. Included among the field were all three winners of the FL 2-7 Triple Draw 2009 SCOOP...more

Thirteen hours is a long time to do anything, even something you enjoy. Like, for instance, try to eat pizza for 13 hours straight. The first few hours might be great, but by the end, you'll probably be puking up pepperoni. Now, even if you like 2-7 Triple Draw, a...more

If the world's shark population had to list its best friends (and, for that matter, knew how to compose a list), Humberto Brenes would be somewhere near the top of the pack. When Brenes sets his mind to something, that something generally gets done. Final tables, WSOP bracelets, and a...more

Playing four-handed is a bit like riding in a crowded elevator. Everyone is in each other's personal space, making the ride at best uncomfortable, at worst downright unpleasant. A favorite of those who enjoy playing a high percentage of hands, the four-handed no-limit hold'em Event #22-High offered especially deep stacks...more

Four. Many a great things have come in fours. Take the Beatles for example. The Fab Four is arguably the greatest and most influential band of all time. It's impossible to enjoy the concept of the Beatles without even thinking about... four. Some of your favorite malt liquor beverages are...more

4-max. It's what the action junkies moved to when they got tired of playing 6-max, when everyone started playing 6-max and the thrill was gone. It's a game that requires playing out of the blinds half of the time, and opening "under the gun" pre-flop from one off the button....more

Half and half. This half pot-limit hold'em and half pot-limit Omaha event tested the best all-around "pot-limit" skills, weeding out the all-in pushmonkeys that infest the no-limit hold'em landscape like feral beasts. Some pros see pot-limit hold'em more a nobles' game, which is why PLH has always been popular in...more

Fish. Donkey. Pigeon. Yes, some people call them pigeons and they're mostly French. Poker players have hundreds of words in dozens of languages for bad players and a lot of them end up in PokerStars screen names. However, our newest SCOOP champion took it one step further when coming up...more

Within the small circle of nerds and degenerates that make up the majority of the poker media (and I mean that in the warmest way possible), some of us like to gamble on how long certain stages of a tournament will last. It usually goes something like this. You're at...more

The mixed game draws a unique crowd to the online tournament tables. Not only does it require solid knowledge of both games involved - pot-limit hold'em and pot-limit Omaha, in this case - but players must be adept to shifting gears quickly and staying atop the action. Both games require...more

Aaand we're back! Day 2 arrived with 49 players, all of whom made it through a tough first day of action in the tournament, only to rest for little more than 11 hours and return to play for the win. A two-day event can lose a little of its excitement...more

Start your engines. It's turbo no-limit hold'em day at the 2010 SCOOP, and that means an incredibly fast tournament - even with rebuys included. 1,838 entries. 4,207 rebuys. 1,367 add-ons. The average player spent about $400 on this super fast-paced tournament. Team PokerStarsPro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier almost made the final...more

Fast isn't usually a word used to describe no-limit hold'em online tournaments. When the money bubble or final table bubble looms, play often slows to a crawl, and money jumps at the final table can turn the action into a true test of patience. Turbo is a different story. Add...more

The second day of Event #20-Medium (no-limit hold'em, $215 buy-in) was a high-paced affair, with a quick rush to the final table, then plenty of fireworks there as well. After the long day of play yesterday to whittle the starting field of 8,266 down to 65, it would take just...more

Despite the long battles of getting thru 21,463 players, our final 18 with TRAANKKA as the day one chip leader, would become just 11 after the first hour of play on day two of Event #20-Low two-day NLHE tournament. Down to 12, pablos181 who was crippled by gamma21 in a...more

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It was going to happen eventually, we just didn't expect it to happen when we're operating with bloodshot eyes, arthritic fingers, and on basically no sleep. But, it's happened, and we're here to report it: Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin has claimed himself a Sunday title. The Spring Championship of...more

A two-day tournament is a welcome option for many players. It removes some of the stress of knowing that playing well could result in a 20-hour day of staring at the computer screen. The two-day event allows players running deep to break after about 12 hours of action, get some...more

What may have seemed like a standard no-limit hold'em fare in the midst of a busy SCOOP schedule was anything but. Event 19 offered players a special circumstance of big antes, meaning that antes kicked in from the very first level and continued to rise throughout the tournament with the...more

The "medium" version Event #20, sporting a $215 buy-in, in a sense replaced the Sunday Million this week, although would run as a two-day event and would carry a $2 million guarantee. A total of 8,266 entered, meaning that unlike most of the events of this year's SCOOP there was...more

Free money? Not many would pass up such things, like betting on the over amount of wins the Minnesota Twins would take this year or that snow will fall at sometime during the winter in the home state of my favorite baseball team. PokerStars was handing out free money in...more

Big Antes. Might sound like oversized relatives. But no, here we're talking a twist in the normal course of things, a change designed to encourage action, adding a little extra significance to every blind steal or preflop three-bet. In terms of the schedule of blind increases, the structure for Event...more

Ante as a word has its origins in Latin. Even if you don't know a lick of Latin, you can probably guess the definition, especially if you play a plethora of poker, because ante means before. The SCOOP Big Antes (simply translated into the "Big Before") lures players with lucrative...more

It was a night of action -- and plenty of "run good" -- at Event #17-Medium, the six-max. pot-limit Omaha with rebuys. Aside from the $162 it took to enter, the 743 entrants further contributed 1,061 re-buys and another 550 add-ons (each $150), making for a $353,100 prize pool all...more

Nothing says "action game" quite like short-handed pot-limit Omaha with unlimited rebuys. While a similarly sized field in last week's 6-max no-limit hold'em rebuy event took more than 18 hours to play down to a winner, it took less than 12 hours for cal42688 to go from just another starting...more

Think of something that goes fast, like say a Lamborghini Diablo and fill the gas tank with rocket fuel and you've got a metaphor for this evening's Event #17 Pot Limit Omaha 6-max with rebuys. If the $1,575 buy in wasn't high enough think of the 161 rebuys the players...more

It's a simple concept. Win your first table, make the money. Win your second table, make the next money rung. Win your third table and there's only one more table to go. By the time the final table of Event 16-Low started, each of the ten players seated at the...more

For a lot of you out there, asking you to go out and win a sit-n-go isn't that big of a deal. You might do it every day. Heck, if you're one of those mass multi-tabling wizards you may do it several times an hour. Even a challenge to win...more

With five-minute levels, the turbo format Fixed Limit Hold'em Event #18-Low presented a stark contrast to some of the 20-plus hour tests of patience we've seen in this year's SCOOP series. With the blinds and stakes increasing so rapidly, every hand saw plenty of action, and indeed the chips were...more

The Double Shootout. 100 enter. Only one survives. Simply put, if you win back to back 10-handed SNGS, then you win a SCOOP title and $60,000 in cash. The price of admission? A mere $2,100. With only 100 seats available, popular event was filled 24 hours before the schedule start...more

When poker players shout "GAMB0000000000L!" things that come to mind are, Pot Limit Omaha, Shortstacked No Limit Hold Em', and busted tournament players making their way to the Craps tables. Turbo tournaments by design are set up to finish quickly as was the case with Event #18's Medium buy in...more

Two hours and twenty-five minutes. That's all it took to complete SCOOP Event 18-High, $2,100 Fixed-Limit Hold'em Turbo. Most American baseball games take longer than that, and in SCOOP the stakes are much higher. Final table host Ivan Demidov remarked, "The World Series Main Event should be held in this...more

I'm going to give you the secret to tournament success, right here in the first paragraph of this post. Ready? Here it is: flip well. Remember that. It'll be important later. Online poker has helped revive some dying games that aren't typically spread in brick-and-mortar casinos anymore. It has also...more

So, when are the blinds going up? After level six or eight perhaps? At the final table? Never. Just five chips are obligated to the blinds in level one and 12 hours later during the cracking of the final table. But, there is a rub for the SCOOP Event #13...more

PokerStars has always been an innovator in the world of online poker. So, it was not a surprise that SCOOP would include a tournament that maintained the same blinds throughout the tournament but with one significant catch... escalating antes. If numbers are any indication, the public was willing to give...more

The war is not won in one day, nor can a battle be won with one shot. Surely, if we poked around a book by Sun Tzu or another great general we'd find similar sayings. Limit Omaha 8 or Better takes time and more patience than most people have to...more

Always. Be. Drawing. No, we won't be repeating the famous sales pitch speech from the movie Glengarry GlenRoss but there's a poker lesson in there that can help you win the Cadillac versus going home with the steak knives or worse during an Omaha tournament. Tonight 2,279 players lined up...more

The idea of the game is to scoop. Scoop the pot. Win the high with no low on board or win both the high and the low. Scoop. Scoop to win a SCOOP. A group of 67 players signed up to scoop in Event 14-H, $5,200 Fixed-Limit Omaha Hi/Lo. They...more

Raise. Keep raising. Don't slow down, don't let up and for the love of all that is holy, don't take a bad beat. Variance isn't just a bitch in this game; it's deadly. That's the attitude most turbo no-limit hold'em players bring to the table. In Event 15-Low, they had...more

If you look up the word "fast" in the thesaurus, you will find over a dozen synonyms, many of which perfectly describe the 2x Chance Turbo event in this year's SCOOP. Accelerated. Breakneck. Brisk. Expeditious. Flying. Quick. Rapid. Swift. Velocious. All of those words are synonymous with Event #15-H $1,575...more

Ask anyone on the SCOOP grind for a few tips on surviving this intense spate of tournaments and they'll probably talk to you about pacing yourself, getting plenty of rest and the wonders of those little five-hour energy shots you can purchase at the local 7-Eleven. SCOOP is about stamina....more

The "High" version of SCOOP Event No. 12 -- a "Knockout" no-limit hold'em event -- came with a $2,600 price tag. Two grand of that went to the prize pool, and $500 would be awarded as a bounty for each elimination. With 418 total entrants, that meant an $836,000 prize...more

If you think life is tough, wait until you play a knockout tournament. See, when you go to work, there are certainly people working to get ahead. They'll probably stab you in the back along the way and lubricate their passage with your blood. Some of them will probably laugh...more

Normally knocking out each player at a MTT means you are one step closer to the money or bigger money. As the "currently playing" tally shrinks, the amount of assured money for yourself goes up as final table and its riches get closer. But, if you have been watching ESPN...more

It was little surprise to see a heads-up PLO tournament as one of the offerings new to the 2010 SCOOP schedule. Heads-up PLO is, in the parlance of our time, "all the rage" for young guns with large bankrolls and out-sized egos - basically, anyone that plays poker on the...more

Two men stood battle-weary across the line from each other and gazed with tired eyes upon their final foe. They said exactly what you'd expect them to say: "Yo." "Yo." They had fought through opponent after opponent, one at a time, and in such a brutal gambler's game, they simply...more

While heads-up No Limit Hold Em' can be described as test of wits and nether regions fortitude, heads-up Pot Limit Omaha is more one part calculus class other part slot machine tilt. Knowing the right formula as to when your draw is ahead, and when it's time to spin the...more

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Aside from the $2,500 buy-in mixed hold'em event at the World Series of Poker, SCOOP's Event #9-High is the richest mixed hold'em event of the year, live or online. Granted, the mix itself is a new one, introduced at the WSOP and the PokerStars tables only a few years back,...more

It's eight o'clock at the cabin and the last of the massive family dinner is being put away while the uncles are chatting on the front porch overlooking the lake until the sun gives way. Soon the circular table big enough for eight players is brought out and the rolls...more

Everyone likes a bargain, especially with the stock markets looking more like a high stakes game of Pai Gow or roulette. At least online poker players can find a source of stability here at the SCOOP tournament series thus far for the low buy-in events. Check out the guarantees and...more

A very, very long time ago, Seven-Card Stud was the game of choice for many professionals and amateurs alike. You'd never see it being played in movies - for some reason, movie always found draw games more dramatic - but if you walked into a poker room, it was Stud...more

I tried to come up with a comparison of Mixed Hold'em to the biathlon, mainly because I find that winter sport utterly fascinating -- a contest testing your ability to ski long distances coupled with the ability to shoot rifles with deadly accuracy. In that regard, Mixed Hold'em is the...more

The world is made up of mixers and dividers. They are easy to spot. Go into any restaurant and look at the plates. See the guy mixing his corn with his mashed potatoes? He's a mixer (and a little gross). See the fellow making sure his meatloaf and peas never...more

The "High" version of Event No. 8, a $1,050 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, kicked off at eight in the evening Eastern time, with 1,145 players having either bought or won their way into seats. That turnout helped the prize pool balloon to $1.145 million -- more than twice the $500,000...more

After two days of Badugi, 5-Card Draw, Pot Limit Omaha, 6-Max, and multi-day tournaments Event #8-medium buy-in brings back the standard No Limit Hold Em' format. No switching between limit and no-limit, no wild cards, and no bounties. Just receive two cards, place five in the middle and bet to...more

by Vanessa Rousso Weeeeee! SCOOP is finally here! This is a time of year that I personally love and very much look forward to. It's great to be able to play some bigger buy-in events from the comfort of my home for once! This is especially true since I have...more

SCOOP is great for offering PokerStars players a wide variety of tournament formats at a wide variety of buy-in levels. But let's face it: if you got into poker any time in the last seven years, you probably were attracted by no-limit hold'em. Not some weird game where you draw...more

Poker players love to play heads-up. In addition to being one of the most skilled forms of poker (due to the constant marginal spots and decision that have to be made), it's also the ultimate ego test. Beat your opponent, and you've got bragging rights. Lose to your opponent and...more

Heads-up poker is the ultimate test of your observational skills, poker acumen, and intestinal fortitude. Many of the best players in the world are admittedly horrible heads-up players, while vice versa, some of the premier heads-up specialists are horrible at a full table. Some of most memorable and compelling scenes...more

A boxing match, or perhaps if you're a little more contemporary, a UFC fight. One-on-one competition built in a ring, the objective is to knockdown your opponent until they submit to your superiority. Those rings are either square or octagon in shape and involve a potential loss of a few...more

Imagine a researcher--some brainiac white coat with an eye for the ever-changing nature of cultural definitions--walking into a poker room. Over a week, he pulls aside as many players as he can extract from their seats and asks them to perform a simple task: define the rules of poker. For...more

The "low" version of Event No. 6, Pot-Limit Five-Card Draw, was itself a pretty nice draw for players looking to try their hand at a version of the oldest, most venerable poker variant. The tourney attracted a sizable field of 4,245 players, making for a $42,450 prize pool (well above...more

Log on to PokerStars at any hour of the day and you'll find at least a dozen pot-limit 5-Card Draw games running. What was once your grandfather's game is now more of a lark for gamblers and grinders looking for a change of pace. Feel like your eyes will fall...more

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by Johnny Lodden The EPT season is now over and with Monte Carlo Grand Final behind us, it's time for some serious online poker focus. Yesterday the tournament highlight of spring started: SCOOP. First up was the No-Limit Hold'em 6 max and No-Limit Hold'em two-day tournament. Let's start with saying...more

by Julian Thew The past two months have seen me put in some significant hours at the tournament tables on PokerStars. I've yet to dazzle but it has been profitable & I'm pleased to have a few final tables under my belt. As someone who has always just played live...more

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We've all heard the old adage more times than we can count. "In no-limit hold'em, all you need is a chip and a chair." Fortunes turn around on a single hand. Chip stacks rise and fall as fast as an elevator car in the Empire State Building. And in a...more

The debut event of the PokerStars France Poker Series saw Team PokerStars Pro Argentina Jose Barbero taking the title, besting his French Team Pro colleagues. Barbero, who already has a PokerStars LAPT win under his belt, was among the chip leaders at Beaulieu-sur-Mer, close to Monte Carlo, from the start...more

4,444. Talk about a pretty smooth number. Well, those four fours represent the exact number of runners in Event #3-Medium $55+R NL 6-Max. The winner would have to fade a field of 4,443 other players in order to win the first place prize worth $102,146.42. In all, a total of...more

I don't remember the first time I heard about Badugi. I suspect it was in a home game, one of those "dealer's choice" affairs that often devolve into all kinds of silliness. At the time it seemed like someone had taken elements from each of his favorite poker games and...more

After introducing Badugi at the 2009 World Championship of Online Poker, it was no surprise to see the increasingly popular draw poker variant turn up as part of the expanded SCOOP schedule. For this "High" version of the event ($1,575 buy-in), a select group of 69 came out to compete,...more

It featured the lowest buy-in -- technically speaking -- of all 114 SCOOP events. Just $5.50 got one a seat into Event No. 3-L, a 6-max., no-limit hold'em event. But one could spend still more. Lots more. This was a re-buy event, with unlimited re-buys for $5 a pop during...more

While walking thru the Bellagio a few years ago to check out the fabled poker room and the back room where the big game is played with chips denominations that equal my yearly income, there was a need to at least watch a live mixed game played. Fleeting thoughts of...more

PLO cubed. That's what the cool kids call it today. I call it pure adrenaline. That's what PLO is after all? An action game for players who want to take a walk on the wild side. One of my friends calls it four card bingo. Another calls it a ticket...more

Pot-Limit Omaha is the game that never did anybody any favors. It's the game that lures you in with the promise of six two-card combinations available in the four starting cards each player is dealt. Then it whacks you over the head when you get your "monster draw" all in...more

You want a fast way to blow a legit thousand dollars and maybe win a prize from the top shelf? Step right up and take a swing at SCOOP's Event #5 high buy-in Pot Limit Omaha Turbo 1R1A event. If you are not willing to try to throw a softball...more

Those who play in these two-day events -- and who make it to the second day together -- tend to exhibit a kind of camaraderie as fellow warriors bound by the shared experience of a lengthy, arduous battle. At the end of play yesterday, lots of congratulations were passed back...more

72 players would start day two of SCOOP's Event #2 Medium buy-in event with no money bubble to worry about, but rather a couple of six-figure paydays sitting at the final table. The road was long enough avoiding 9,560 players from yesterday but the players would also have to endure...more

Most of the rail was confused. According to the tournament lobby, action had started on May 2, 2010 at 17:00 EDT and had been running for over 24 hours. SCOOP being SCOOP and the size of the field notwithstanding, it was certainly a possibility. After all, Event #1-High had finished...more

There was no Sunday Million this week, so our weekly report on what happened in weekend tournament action has been canceled. No, not really. Unless you live in a cave without internet access, you know the Spring Championship of Online Poker started yesterday with something like a bajillion dollars in...more

Six-max. Every seat has a name. Under the gun. The hijack. The cutoff. The button. The small and big blinds. No chance of hiding out in those unnamed "early" or "middle" position seats, folding your way through to the next orbit. No, six-max. is where players come for action. About...more

Last year's SCOOP started off with a 6-max NLHE tournament but allowed rebuys. That tourney was won by none other than Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron who hauled in $97,805.88 with his victory in the $55 medium buy-in event. This year the gambOOOOl rebuy cries would have to wait until tomorrow's Event...more

After 22 hard-fought half-hour levels of play in Event No. 2-H, a two-day $2,100 buy-in no-limit hold'em event, Jason "Xaston" Kaplan ended the day with the biggest stack. He'll be the only player of the 33 remaining to return to more than a million chips. Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin...more

Let's put this into perspective for a moment. The seating capacity of New York City's Madison Square Garden is just over 19,000. In a concert configuration, L.A.'s Staples Center can squeeze in 23,500. And neither of those venues could house the field from the second low buy-in event of SCOOP...more

With 114 tournaments to play over the next two weeks, a two-day event might seem like hitting up a buffet before going over to your mother's place for dinner. But, poker players show time and time again their appetite for poker seems endless. Thus, tonight's Event #2-M with a $215...more

Online poker players have been looking forward to May 2, 2010 for months. That date was announced in February as the date that the 2010 PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker would begin, a 15-day festival of online poker featuring 38 events, each with a low, medium and high buy-in....more

by Henri Frey After more than four hours of play, the final table is set. Today, 26 players said goodbye to the first leg of the France Poker Series. Amongst the players who got paid were Fabrice Jeannet (17th, €1,888), Mylène Cogan (16th, out on a coin flip against José...more

by Henri Frey The first level of the day has been particularly violent. Seven players have already busted, and only 28 players remain. Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern was eliminated at the start of Day 2. After Christophe Gross raised from the button, Fabrice Jeannet just called from the small...more

by Henri Frey The second day of the opening leg of the France Poker Series started a few minutes ago. The 35 players remaining from Day 1 are back, firstly to reach the 22 places paid. Then, the most ambitious players will try to claim a prestigious victory, and consequently...more

Young Russian Max Lykov, who won EPT Kyiv at the start of Season 6, has been named Player of the Year at the EPT Awards in Monte Carlo. The ceremony was hosted by Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren and EPT founder John Duthie and took place at the stylish Karement...more

The European Poker Tour may have been packed up and carefully put back in its box for another season, but PokerStars' other live events continue. One is currently enjoying its first outing, the France Poker Series in the Casino of Beaulieu-sur-Mer. This beautiful Mediterranean venue is just a few miles...more

Following yesterday's main event final table, the European Poker Tour's sixth season wound down with celebrations, big cheques and a few extra takes to get the winner's smile just right. Then, to finish off, there was a lavish EPT Awards ceremony at the Karement Club, a few minutes' walk...more

6.40pm: Tobias Reinkemeier wins €25,000 High Roller at EPT Grand Final Olivier Busquet out in second, winning €956,000 That's that for season six. Tobias Reinkemeier is the champion. Here's how the last hand went. Reinkemeier raised to 100,000 and Busquet shoved all in for just less than a million chip....more

5.10pm: Heads up counts The chip counts going into heads-up play are as follows: Tobias Reinkemeier: 3,136,000 Olivier Busquet: 2,508,000 5.05pm: Dori Yacoub out in third, winning €358,500 Dori Yacoub has just bluffed himself out of this tournament - and Tobias Reinkemeier made a terrific call to pick him off....more

2.40pm: Break time That's the end of the level. Players are now on a 15 minute break. 2.35pm: Reinkemeier continues to roll On a flop of 3♥3♦9♥ Dori Yacoub bet 80,000 and Reinkemeier check called for a 7♣ turn. Reinkemeier checked again before Yacoub bet 142,000. Again Reinkemeier called for...more

Good afternoon all and welcome back to Monte Carlo. It's a peculiar place today: the poker party has all but departed to be replaced by a vast void in the tournament area and a load of people in motor sport jumpsuits awaiting the Formula One jamboree. Poker? What? However Monte...more