July 2010 Archives

by Chris Edge The brainchild of PokerStars' very own 'Promotions Bob', All Star Week was given its premier airing in March, 2009 - a series of heads-up matches designed to test the mettle of various members of Team PokerStars Pro, pitted against their slightly lesser-known counterparts, making up The Challengers....more

OK, so here on Team PokerStars Blog we are known to get a little excited by all things poker. So when we described earlier this week how the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour had become one of the most important events in the European poker calendar, some may have chortled and...more

Kevin Thurman is 31 years old, lives a nice life outside of Dallas, and intends to earn more PokerStars VIP Player Points in 2010 than anybody has in the history of the VIP Club. Thurman is also suffering from a potentially deadly disease and in the middle of an agonizing...more

by Chris Edge After enduring a rather torrid start to all Star Week, the Pros managed to dust themselves off and regain some ground on the Challengers on Wednesday. The triumvirate of Ivan Demidov, Joe Cada and Johnny Lodden all registered victories to briefly relent the Challengers' surge and cut...more

There are few better places in Europe to play poker than Venice. Character, history, beauty, water (plenty of that) and the weather make it very pleasant. One man who enjoyed poker in the city more than anyone yesterday was PokerStars qualifier Loccarini Giacomo, chipleader of Day 1A of IPT Venice,...more

by Chris Edge Last year the inaugural All Star week went right down to the wire, with both sides deadlocked at 17-17 going into the final match of the series. The Pros ultimately prevailed to come out on top 18-17 victors. Today the prospect of a repeat scenario seems as...more

by Chris Edge Following their disastrous start to All Star Week on Monday, PokerStars Team Pro lined up Tuesday determined to cut into the Challengers' overnight 4-1 lead in their quest to take home a 2nd successive title. First out of the blocks for the Pros was 2003 WSOP Main...more

PokerStars issued the following press release this morning: PokerStars, the world's largest poker site, welcomes news of the successful mark up of H.R. 2267: The Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act in the House Financial Services Committee by an overwhelming, bipartisan margin of 41-22. The bill, sponsored by...more

by Joanne Haslam The first season of the PokerStars Twitter Poker League has ended after eight weeks of busy point gathering, leader board checking, and lashings of Twitter #tpoker banter. There was so much going on it's a surprise anyone found time to win a poker tournament. 1,244 Twitter poker...more

It's hard to believe we're already well in to season two of the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour. This series has surpassed all expectations and is now one of the most hotly-contested events in the European poker calendar. Tomorrow sees the start of IPT Venice, a €2,000 (+ €200) buy-in tournament...more

The final $1,000 + 50 Super Tuesday of July on PokerStars drew a field of 402 players, creating a $402,000 prize pool This was a slight increase from last week's 384 participants, with the final 45 making the money, with the winner expecting to take down the first prize...more

Take a good look at the young gentleman in this photograph. This is Harrison Gimbel, who became the youngest ever PokerStars Caribbean Adventure winner in January. With victory came respect and admiration from the poker world. Oh, and the small matter of $2.2 million. That's a lot of money for...more

by Chris Edge With the dust settling on the World Series for another year, the focus for many Team PokerStars Pros shifts from the live to the virtual scene, with the second annual All Star Week. Over the course of this week the ranks of Team Pro square off against...more

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Last we checked, Canada Day was earlier in the year. Our Canadian friends took the day off and did a bunch of Canadian things. We remember it clearly, largely because we were a little jealous. So, with the above completely understood, you can probably see why we were like, "Wha?"...more

Like the imminent arrival of a new supply of Atomic Fireballs, the official candy of PokerStars Blog, we look forward to the start of All Star Week. Why? Because starting today it pitches players from Team PokerStars Pro against a challenging team in a series of heads-up matches across all...more

The last Sunday of each month is special. Not only are the regular Sunday tournaments on tap for players looking for the biggest guarantees and best fields on the internet, but PokerStars hosts some special tournaments for its players. There is the Battle of the Planets, a freeroll competition solely...more

Several Team PokerStars pros tried their hand tonight at breaking thru the 17,281 player field of the $1 Million Turbo Takedown but only a handful would break into the top 5,000 to claim a little money. Anders "Donald" Berg (382nd Place - $260.00), Christophe "chrisdm" de Meulder (216th place -...more

The fields for the Sunday Majors here at PokerStars continue to climb back to normal as one World Championship is firmly in the rear view mirror until November, and the other World Championship, as in the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) starts up in September. 4,265 players paid their...more

Hard play before a soft ending is one way to describe today's $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll. 438 players would start out on 81 tables to play down to a winner assuring themselves of at least $195.00. Each made their way here today thru a series of...more

The writer in me loves a good storyline. When play kicked off today for Day 4 of the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, several of those "good storylines" were in play. Could the overnight chip leader, Vesko Zmukic, go wire to wire? How would the Season 2 point races affect...more

9:51pm: Andrew Watson eliminated in 2nd place -- Julian Cohen wins ANZPT Queenstown Main Event! After Andrew Watson started trending downwards, he didn't seem to be able to stop. On the final hand of the tournament, Watson opened all in from the button for about 450,000. Julian Cohen snap-called with...more

7:01pm: Short dinner break The last four players, who have been at it for almost seven hours now, have been given 30 minutes to find something to eat. 6:54pm: Spilkin's check-raise doesn't get the desired result On a paired flop of 8♥T♦8♦, Michael Spilkin checked to the pre-flop raiser, Andrew...more

4:50pm: Break time The remaining six players are on a ten-minute break. 4:48pm: Rewi hanging around The last kiwi in the field, Emmerson Rewi, has been on the short stack all day. When action folded to his small blind, he moved in for about 35,000. Julian Cohen called with A♣6♣,...more

The 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event final table has been decided. The nine players are chasing a first prize of AUD $73,630 and the title of ANZPT Queenstown champion. Play will continue at level 16 (blinds 2500-5000 with an ante of 500) for ten more minutes. From that point we...more

2:06pm: Macbeth out (damned spot) Although he managed to triple up to about 10 big blinds, Tim Macbeth ultimately couldn't out-run the reaper. He was all in again, with the best of it again. His K♥T♠ was looking good to double through Julian Cohen's K♣4♣, but it just wasn't Macbeth's...more

Last night we reached the money at the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. Today the players will decide amongst themselves who will get the lion's share of the prize pool -- the $73,630 first-place prize. The 3rd-place and 4th-place players on the ANZPT Season 2 points leaderboard, Andrew Scarf and...more

My cab driver from the airport into the center of Queenstown last Tuesday was a woman named Jackie. Jackie looked to be in her early 40s, had a smile from the moment I walked up to her cab until the moment I got out of it, and was a font...more

6:52pm: Stephen Smith bubbles; Day 3 concludes It took more than hour, but we finally have the bubble boy of the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event. In a blind-versus-blind battle, Stephen Smith moved all in for an additional 38,600 from the big blind after Bryan Huang was in from the...more

4:01pm: Break 25 players remain. They're now on a short break. 3:56pm: Macbeth happy for the action Action folded all the way to the small blind at Tim Macbeth's table. That player moved all in for about 25,000. Tim Macbeth snap-called with J♣J♥. The small blind showed A♣3♣ and although...more

1:51pm: Break time The players have reached the first break of the day. 1:40pm: Frenette shaking his head Serge Mazza check-called a bet of 11,000 from Yannick Frenette on a 5♣7♥3♣. He snap-called another 11,000 after checking the T♥ turn. When the river fell a scary A♠, both players checked....more

After several light, easy days in Queenstown for the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, the real grind will begin today on Day 3. All 50 survivors (35 from Queenstown and 15 from Auckland) of the 119 starters will finally be in the same room together for the first time. They'll...more

Walk down your local Main Street and ask 100 people to name an expensive, unattainable, luxury sports car. Nine out of ten of them will say, "Lamborghini." Now that you've done that, just for fun, tell them they can win that car for a little as $0 on PokerStars. It's...more

In less than two weeks, PokerStars Macau will attempt to shatter some Asia poker records. August 4-8, PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa will host the inaugural Macau Millions in what is expected to be the biggest poker field ever in Asia. The Macau Millions has a HKD $1,000,000 guaranteed...more

by Julian Thew Well I'm just back from my annual fortnight in Vegas and whilst it wasn't as profitable as my last two visits I really enjoyed throwing myself into two weeks of solid poker. The Brits had a great WSOP this year with five friends all winning bracelets... inspiring...more

On a short Day 2 at the 2010 ANZPT Queenstown Main Event, there didn't expect to be many stories to write about. Three-and-a-half hours of play isn't long enough for sustained skirmishes between players. The short stacks will get it in, sure. Some will double, some will bust, and life...more

4:12pm Play concludes That's it for Day 2. It looks like Team PokerStars Pro Lee Nelson, with a shade more than 115,000 chips, finished play as the chip leader. 50 players will return tomorrow -- 35 from Day 2 here in Queenstown and 15 from Day 2 in Auckland. A...more

2:20pm: Break time The remaining 41 players have been sent on their first and only break of the day. 2:10pm: Hachem frustrated Three pre-flop raises put Tony Hachem in a tough spot. Michael Spilkin (down to 95,000 so far) opened for 1,700. Hachem was next to act and made...more

When I looked out my hotel room window this morning, I spotted a dump truck across the street. It was filled to the brim with recently-split firewood, likely culled from the dense forests of fir trees that carpet this corner of New Zealand. Almost every home and business in Queenstown,...more

Leo Tolstoy opens his epic 19th-century novel Anna Karenina by noting that, "All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy after its own fashion." What was true of families in Tolstoy's day is true of poker players today: the happy ones (the winners) are generally alike, but the...more

5:47pm: Play concludes; Zheng leads Day 1B As we suspected, not much changed on the last three hands of the night. The players were content to bag up the chips and try again tomorrow. The Day 1B field looks to be led by Jackson Zheng, who finished with 74,075....more

4:33pm: Last break of the day The remaining 33 players are on a ten-minute break. 4:29pm: A break for Hachem An all-in brought us quickly over to Table 5, where Tony Hachem check-raised a bet of 1,500 all in to about 6,000 on a flop of 5♠6♠2♦. Once Hachem's...more

2:18pm: Break The players have been sent on their first break of the day. 2:15pm: The luck of John Guthrie Chris Levick opened for 450 pre-flop and was called by Sandy Retallick before John Guthrie bumped things up to 1,400. Levick and Retallick both called, then both check-folded to...more

Last night as I was wandering the streets of Queenstown, I passed a small drinking establishment called Tardis Bar and, being a huge fan of Doctor Who, had to enter. The place was no bigger than about six or seven police boxes and largely devoid of clientele. I wondered what...more

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by Joanne Haslam The Montblanc Mystery Masterpiece takes over a year and a half to create, it's set with 20 carats of rubies, accented by almost 840 diamonds, and will set you back $730,000. You may wonder what all this has to do with Twitter poker? Well today was the...more

As of the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, July 18, the World Series of Poker was a wrap. The November Nine group was in place, and the WSOP was officially on hold until November. And the rest of the poker world moved on, as evidenced by a rise...more

In many cultures, it's considered good luck if a bird should -- pardon the expression -- crap on you. Nobody will be able to tell you why that's so. Some will say the statistical likelihood of such an event is so low it has to be good. Others will just...more

4:44pm: Play resumes The players are back in their seats. This is the last level for today. 27 remain. 4:54pm: Coates runs into Spilkin's straight Any players that might be going out looking for young, single ladies tonight should probably rub Michael Spilkin for good luck before they do so....more

2:32pm: Play resumes Cards are back in the air. 2:40pm: Final entrants The late registration for Day 1A is completed. 38 players entered today's field. They'll play three more hours before bagging up the chips. Approximately the same number are expected for tomorrow. All told, the Day 3 field (when...more

12:15pm: Shuffle up and deal! The players have shuffled into the room and taken their seats. They were addressed by Michelle Baillie, the Executive Director of SKYCITY Queenstown. "Thank you all for coming," Baillie began. "We're really excited to host again. This is a great event. We know that...more

It was 8:30am when the first shafts of golden-orange sunlight set the snow-capped tip of Bowen Peak ablaze. Thanks to a combination of jet lag and sleep deprivation, I was already seated in a local cafe, downing the caffeinated goodness of hot Earl Grey tea and a plate of mouth-watering...more

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by Mad Harper NAPT champion Vanessa Selbst, the latest star to join the elite Team PokerStars Pro, will be competing in her first European Poker Tour event in Tallinn next month. Selbst, 26, made it to Day 5 of this year's World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing 476th for...more

by Mad Harper Satellites for EPT Vilamoura on Portugal's stunning Algarve coast are running now on PokerStars. This beautiful resort is one of Portugal's premier tourist destinations and is surrounded by numerous championship-level golf courses. EPT Vilamoura launched last season and was a huge success, as reported by the PokerStars...more

The World Series of Poker may have wrapped up but the live poker keeps coming with PokerStars. After the UKIPT event ended in Brighton at the weekend, the Australia New Zealand Poker Tour prepares to take center stage in Queenstown. Anyone who attended this event last year will tell you...more

by Nick Wealthall Big time poker is coming to Scotland! The UKIPT hits Edinburgh from August 19 through 22 and I can't wait to see you there for one of the biggest events ever in Scottish poker and one of the most exciting dates on Season 1 of the tour....more

by Nick Wealthall I have to write a blog about my WSOP Main Event, I guess. The sad fact is there isn't much to write. I owe a huge thanks to PokerStars for putting me in but sadly I couldn't return the favor with a long run. On the plus...more

Well, after more than a month of competing directly with the biggest event on the poker calender, the World Series of Poker, things have returned to normal, as the Million broke its guarantee for the first time in weeks. Yes, the day after the November Nine was set 8,027 players...more

Tired? Sleepy? Need a nap? Perhaps a shot of five-hour energy, six pack of Red Bull, or if the World Series of Poker PokerStarsBlog crew is to be believed, a handful of Atomic Fireballs would help you make it through the $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up in one piece. The post-WSOP...more

If the UKIPT Brighton was to be decided on the sharpest suit of the tournament then Jamie Burland would have been a direct frontrunner for the title - probably rivalled by some little chequered number sported by Paul Parker. As it was the £1,000 main event was contested over twenty-six...more

11.05pm: Jamie Burland wins the UKIPT Brighton and £65,400 Jamie Burland raised to 105,000 from the small blind and was called by Tomas Cibak in the big blind. Cibak led the Q♠7♦4♠ flop for 135,000 and Burland raised to 280,000 put his head down and tried to still his heaving...more

10.10pm: Seber doubles through Cibak Bill Seber made it his standard 100,000 from the button, Jamie Burland considered playing the pot but folded. Tomas Cibak though moved all-in from the big blind, Seber quickly called. The American was at risk, all-in for 798,000. Seber: A♠9♣ Cibak: K♠4♥ Flop: 5♥9♥3♠ Turn:...more

7.20pm: Dinner time The remaining six players are on a 45 minute dinner break, Jon Spinks is the current chip leader with 1,100,000. The tournament staff are doing a full chip count and we'll post them as soon as we get them. --NW 7.15pm: Andrew Youens falls in 7th Overnight...more

4.25pm: Break Time Level 21 has come to an end and players are on a 15 minute break. --NW 4.20pm: The July nine With the re-draw to nine players here's whose sitting where for the rest of the tournament. Seat 1: Tomas Cibak Seat 2: Bill Seber Seat 3: Jamie...more

Welcome back to the final day of the UKIPT Brighton main event. Thirteen players are left and it will be an unlucky day for all but one of them. Andy Youens is currently the leader of the pack with 621,000, and although his nearest challenger, Waseem Ahmed, is some way...more

What had to happen has happened. We have a new November Nine. After 79 hours of play over 12 days, a field of 7,319 has been trimmed by 99.88 percent. It means that on the weekend of 6-9 November, the following players will return to the Penn and Teller Theater...more

You may have noticed that things have gone quiet for some time. Since the "last" table began there has been a drought of the all-in excitement that occupied us earlier. Instead, and who can blame them, the players are in no mood to bust out early and give up...more

Ever studied the game of Team PokerStars Pro players and thought: "Well, yes, they're good but I'd give them a good game"? Now's your chance. The PokerStars All Star Week is back, pitching some of the worldwide stars of Team Pro against regular PokerStars players - The Challengers - in...more

In the aftermath of Matt Affleck's departure from the main event one man was left to live with the consequences. Jonathan Duhamel is tearing through the field, and has a block of chips in front of him worth more than 50 million. But for Duhamel it was a bitter-sweet...more

At a conservative estimation, more than two million poker hands have been dealt in this World Series Main Event. But if any single hand is likely to be remembered long into the future of poker, it is the one that has just eliminated Matt Affleck in 15th place. It wasn't...more

Stop press:: Everything below is relevant, but dated. As we hit the publish button, Matt Affleck called all-in with aces against Jonathan Duhamel's jacks. Affleck was ahead, but Duhamel had an up and down straight draw to go with his two jack outs. With one card to come, Affleck had...more

Who would have ever thought that sitting down and playing cards could be such an endurance sport? Surely folding cards and riffling chips shouldn't be that energy sapping, should it? Apparently so and it's no surprise considering day 2 played down from 104 players to a plucky and lucky 13...more

Four months from now, the names of the 17 players currently sitting about 10 yards from where I type will be known across the globe. The ESPN television broadcast will have made them all celebrities, and for a "lucky" nine of them, we'll probably also find out details of their...more

PokerStars Dutch qualifier Michiel Sijpken is a private kinda guy, shy of interviews and protective about things that might get him in any sort of trouble. But, we know his birthday and that was all we needed to make a public spectacle of him. As we told you a few...more

As play started today the running theme was the domination of the Europeans. Scanning the three tables the landscape was dotted with some of the best from the other side of the Atlantic, names like Johnny Lodden, Mads Wissing, William Thorson and Redmond Lee. Then something bad happened. First...more

1.25am: End of day chip counts These are straight from the horse's mouth or rather the player's bags as they wrote down their end of day chip counts. Table One: Ben Martin: 247,000 Jamie Burland: 264,000 Tomas Cibek: 307,000 David Gant: 360,000 Andrew Youens: 621,000 Jonathan Campbell: 151,000 Waseem Ahmed:...more

William Thorson is out in 22nd place - and there was something very sad about seeing him go. While the Team PokerStars Pro waited for his chips to be counted, taken from him and handed to his conqueror, there was a sense that the crowd didn't realise what they had...more

12.10am: TIME! This tournament has been very low on the calls for 'Time!' but we have just had one such shout aimed at the face of one Tony Lee. On a 9♠T♥6♠ flop Beuachamp led for 45,000 and Lee tanked while glancing at the payouts page. Time was called and...more

We never really thought Johnny Lodden was going to start today, turtle his way to a pay jump, and fold every hand until he was anted out. It's not his style. We never thought Lodden would come in here and jam with any two cards on the very first hand...more

Well this is it, until November at least. Today we play down to the last nine players in the World Series of Poker Main Event, meaning that 18 of today's field, each of whom will have dreamt of this opportunity for a lifetime, will have had those same dreams...more

10pm: Three-way raising war William Beauchamp started the action with a raise to 11,000 and Sam Grafton made a swift three-bet to 27,000. John Spinks then waded in with a hefty four-bet to 70,000 asking a huge question of both players. It was one that neither wanted to answer...more

6.40pm: Woodley gone before the break Ian Woodley fell in 24th, just before Liam Flood, and also takes home £2,200 for his troubles. We're now going into a 15-minute break -- RD 6.30pm: Burland busts Flood Jamie Burland has had a good level, his latest victim is Liam Flood. The...more

4.10pm:Bedi bets big Rupinder Bedi raised to 5,100 and Richard Taylor three-bet to 15,000 from late position. Bedi made the call and both players went to the 3♣6♦5♦ flop. Bedi took a 14,600-sized bet and laid it out in front of him. Taylor peeled off 37,900 in response and made...more

2pm: Bedi battered by Drummy Rupinder Bedi has been running his stack up and down more than most and on this last hand it was, unfortunately for him, down. Bedi check-called 9,600 from Joe Drummy on a 5♦J♣3♣ 8♠ turn and a further 13,300 on the 7♠ river. Drummy showed...more

Welcome back to day two of the UKIPT Brighton. We have 104 of the starting 259 field coming back today and the plan is to whittle them down to the 32 who will make the money. Amongst those looking to lock up a minimum of £1,700, but hopefully the maximum...more

When we arrived at the Rio this morning we had no idea how long the day would last. Days like today, when playing down to a number rather than a level, have traditionally been unpredictable, some running into the early hours while others have left players, media and staff...more

There is no such thing as a guarantee in poker. When there's no limit - either to betting or to fear - a major confrontation is never too far away. Even the soundest horses can pull up lame; the safest house can be blown away. Let's get this straight right...more

The table featuring Theo Jorgensen now has two cameras permanently stationed at his table. Jorgensen is in the top five and warrants the attention, especially as he's been playing full on tournament poker, winning chips and looking unbeatable. But while chip leaders usually go deep in other events, to...more

We will not count our chickens before they have done anything but hatch and run around the barnyard like mercury scattering on glass. We may not believe in any sort of jinx, but we're not going to talk about a no-hitter and we're not going to say the "s" word...more

It was no more than one post ago that Stephen Bartley wrote on this very blog: "If you're a regular TV poker viewer, you'll know that what you get on screen is just a sample of what took place in the Amazon Room." That is true, even if it's...more

When it comes to sitting down in front of the box in a few weeks time to watch what we're writing about today, everything you see will look brilliant. Sure, the images will be sharpened by that end of day beer by your side as you lie back in...more

Day two always seems to be a tougher field yet players always clamour to sign themselves up for it. Is it that rest day inbetween that they don't want? The extra day of expenses? Whatever it is we he had 143 players enter today, some 27 more than day 1a,...more

It's amazing how much you can learn after 30 seconds in the Amazon Room. Within just a few steps in the door today, we saw what equated to a giant PokerStars flag flying over Table 376. Stuck to Theo Jorgensen's shirt was the PokerStars logo. Well, well, well. "I mean,"...more

Morning all - it's another hot one in Las Vegas. On the walk over to the Rio Hotel and Casino this morning, the PokerStars Blog team were chewing through their regular subjects of conversation: the merits of sourdough toast, the joys of the Palms Hotel's music collection, and Atomic Fireball...more

9pm: Play had ended: unofficial top five Play has ended for the day, as the dealers were writing down the chip counts we looked over their shoulders and compiled this unofficial top five. Oliver Schaffmann: 109,900 Amir Zahir: 79,200 Waseem Ahmed: 79,100 Daniel Rudd: 77,000 Sam El Sayed 76,500 Not...more

It's a Friday, so you should be cheery. If not, perhaps this news will help a little: PokerStars has just announced the $5,000 Grand Final of this season's Latin American Poker Tour will be held in Argentina! What better place to wrap up the successful season than in Rosario, the...more

6.35pm: Break and bounty It's another 15-minute break as we approach the final two levels of the day. We've also posted up the prize payouts. £65,400 for the winner? Must be nice. Find link on the right of this page shortly. -- RD 6.30pm: Arlott houses up I arrived to...more

4.20pm: Grech not happy Jpe Grech opened the pot with a raise to 550 and was called by Waseem Ahmed to his left as well as the button and the blind. All four players checked the K♠9♣3♦7♣Q♥ board down to the river. Grech showed 4♥4♠ while Ahmed tabled J♠J♥ surprising...more

2pm: Break time That's a fifteen-minutes break. We've started scouring the floor for chip counts already and will update the big names as soon as possible. Check the chip counts page. -- RD 1.55pm: Brammer's river bet Chris Brammer opened for 250 from the cut-off and was called in the...more

'Four seasons in one day' went the popular song by Crowded House. We don't know what day two and three will bring but if day 1a was autumnal, today summer has arrived in Brighton. Being beside the sea there's of course a bit of wind and we expect some big...more

Among the world's motorcycle riders, there is a subculture of outlaw bikers like Hell's Angels, Mongols, and such who consider themselves to be one-percenters, aka, the one percent of bikers who don't answer to the man. Here at the WSOP, we have our own version of the one-percenters. They are...more

With the field slimming quicker than a dose of diarrhea, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find unique stories in the World Series at the moment - especially as the tension is building up like a half-mile walk to the nearest bathroom. This is all the more reason to celebrate the...more

Back from the dinner break, full and slightly sleepy. There are various ways the Blog team will reinvigorate themselves for the two levels of play that lay ahead - an atomic fireball perhaps or a few push ups in the media room hallway. But for players they'll be relying...more

This was a bloody, cold hour. We'll give it to you in pieces, because that's how it's left some of our PokerStars players. We'll begin with the tale of a man who at one point yesterday was literally down to one chip and a chair. He managed to finish Day...more

Rather like Atomic Fireballs or picking at scabs, people tend to either like Twitter so much that it becomes an addiction, or hate it so passionately that 140 characters = 10 four-letter words. It's difficult to think that civilisation survived 2006 years before they were able to share photographs of...more

With 150 players left in the Main Event the divide between familiar and not so familiar faces becomes apparent. For years the $10,000 feature of the World Series attracted the best in the game, plus a few hopefuls and celebrities, and was generally won by the best player on...more

The man looked hungry. He walked with purpose down the long hallway leading away from the Amazon Room, turned on his heel, and faced the door leading into the Poker Kitchen. For the past seven weeks, the giant ballroom had served as a lunch counter and convenience store for the...more

'He said there's a storm coming,' said the gas attendant to Sarah Connor at the end of The Terminator translating for the young Mexican urchin who had just hustled her out of $4 for a Polaroid picture. If the same craggy old petrol pumper ambled up to us and...more

Yes, yes, it's predictable, but at the very start of day six, there's no way we weren't going to do an "A Round With..." the table that had the Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden sitting to the immediate left of James Carroll. Across the table was Imari Love and the...more

Welcome to day six of the World Series of Poker, or day ten if you'd prefer to count it by the number of times you've switched on to read live coverage. Players are pacing up and down the corridors of the Rio hotel right now waiting for the green...more

9.10pm: Bag and tag time Play has ended for the day. 52 players remain and the chip leader looks to be Joe Drummy. Only Drummy and Ben Martin appear to have over 100,000. Tournament staff are currently racing off the green 25 denomination chips. --NW 8.55pm: Late Night Fireworks? Just...more

6.55pm: Break time In the last hand before the break the unlikely named Costa Rican Steve Thompson limped under the gun for 300 and was called by Sam Grafton before Darren Hendley pushed the price up to 2,200. Thompson then unleashed the check-raise hound making it 5,300. Hendley made the...more

PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa recorded its most successful Macau Poker Cup (MPC) to date awarding a record HKD $4,257,400 in prize money through six events (July 7-11). PokerStars qualifier Kenichi Takarabe from Japan outlasted 295 players in the featured Red Dragon main event and won HKD $617,700 in...more

3.45pm: More Quads With the board reading 4♥9♠9♦T♥8♦ Karim Kamel bet 1,625 into a pot of 2900 after a long dwell Quoc Nguyen folded. He was rewarded for his fold as Kamel showed 9♣9♥. -NW 3.40pm: Unhealthy Medesan Alain Medesan is not looking good but he's not one to go...more

Oooo, we do like to be beside the seaside, we do like to be beside the sea! Yes, that's right we're at the seaside surrounded by deckchairs, seagulls and sticks of teeth rotting rock as the UKIPT hits destination six; Brighton. Although we're currently enjoying a typical British summer...more

It's one of the ironies of the World Series of Poker. Just as things get tense and interesting fewer people are here to experience it. Sure, there remain the long lines of spectators railing tables, but in terms of players the experience of busting is a good enough excuse...more

It's getting to that stage of the World Series Main Event when some really big stacks emerge. Not just big in a numerical sense (although plenty are that too) but physically big, tower upon tower of multi-coloured chips behind which their owner appears to shrink. Some people suit the big...more

With all due respect to the people who follow these things, we must take some issue with the concept with the honor of "last woman standing" in a poker tournament. I mean, first, there are some women who might take issue with the fact that they are being singled out...more

The feature table is the main focus of attention for the spectators flocking into the Amazon Room. As play begins hundreds of people, dressed in the traditional holiday clothes, wait patiently outside the Amazon Room until a big security guard gets the all clear to send them in, where...more

It might look as though it's been cobbled together by a rabble of hungover oiks, but there's more efficiency to PokerStars Blog than you think. Today, for instance, we have a German reporter who is wearing a tracksuit. Robin Scherr, for it is he, expends most of his energies on...more

After more than a week of poker, a week of features, a week of the tales behind the tales, we have reached the point at which the action is going to move faster than the blog. It's a fact of life, with Tootie, Blair, and Mrs. Garrett. With that in...more

They call Imari Love "Doctor" Love. I did check, but could find no line in the KISS track "Dr Love" that wouldn't be grossly inappropriate. Imari Love has been known as "Doctor" since he was ten years old, a title that we should stress carries no medical qualification or...more

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"You guys know what to do." Tournament Director Jack Effel has spent every noon-time for more than a week standing on a platform in the Amazon Room of the Rio Hotel and Casino running through rules and regulations of the day's play at the World Series of Poker Main Event....more

There wasn't any getting out of Day 4 without a little self-congratulatory, holy-cow-wasn't-that-awesome, we've-already-won sort of innocent arrogance. Really, who wouldn't give themselves a big, fat pat on the back after making the money in the second biggest WSOP of all time. But now it is time for everyone to...more

With the 2010 World Series of Poker reaching exciting levels in Las Vegas, the coverage was being monitored by poker fans around the world. But most poker players were already back in the comfort of their homes after their Las Vegas summers, checking out the WSOP updates from their laptops....more

As soon as organisers published the schedule for this year's World Series Main Event, it seemed likely that day four would be when we reached our first major turning point. So it proved. This was bubble day, when 747 players stood up, hugged one another, cheered their appreciation and breathed...more

"Please be patient," said Jack Effel, WSOP Tournament Director. The Amazon Room and its 847 players were momentarily silent. Of all the things Effel would say all day, this was the most important. After all, it was about money. Thousands of dollars, in fact. The players had just returned from...more

At the start of play on day four, Team PokerStars Pro - and its associated "Friends" and "Online" divisions - had 16 players left in the Main Event field. That was slightly above an average projection based on the number of entries on day one. It was a remarkable...more

There's a lot to write about when the subject is Pieter de Korver. The man stands out. It's not just that as an amateur player turned pro, he was the season five European Poker Tour champion, since amassing tournament winnings of nearly $3.2 million. But he also stands out...more

"I had a lot of chips this time last year, too," said Kia Hamadani. The man from Los Angeles sits in the red section of the Amazon Room behind a better-than-average stack of chips. His black wrap-around shades hide his eyes, his earphones might be more for show, because he...more

Around about November Nine time, commentators start discussing the relative merits of winning the damn thing against the "lesser" achievement of coming second, third or fourth. For every glory hunter who considers second to be the first loser, there are at least two voices supporting the alternative point of view....more

There was a time when the Pavilion Room of the Rio Convention Center was a mad place full of cash games and Day 1 hopefuls sitting around 200 tables. Today, the same room is a morgue. Its remaining few players have been left behind by the packed out Amazon...more

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As a team of poker reporters with 20 years combined experience in the business, we have seen a lot of bubbles. We've researched the various phenomena that go along with the day that players make the money in a big tournament. We've coined phrases related to bubble day (Howard Swains'...more

They had won the men's tennis championship at Wimbledon and the soccer World Cup, so it was not surprising that in poker a Spaniard should win the Estrellas Poker Tour's latest event in Madrid. Despite the distraction of that huge soccer match in South Africa on Sunday night, to say...more

You could forgive a player for feeling a little fatigued tonight as they trudge back up the corridors of the Rio to the taxi ranks. After what must seem like an age each still has nothing to show for 12 and a half levels at the table and must...more

Nicolas Babel may never know Billy Kopp's name. He may never again look the man in the face. Their destinies may continue to operate independent of each other. Even if all of that holds true, Kopp will never forget the hand he played with Babel, and Babel will never forget...more

It's difficult to believe, but less than five years ago you would still hear established poker professionals talking in disparaging terms about "internet players" as if the online tanks were merely propagating fish. These days it's largely the other way round. The sharks swimming around the PokerStars tables are chomping...more

In many ways the worlds of poker and Alpine skiing are very different. For a start one involves going downhill and the other up - the summit for poker being the tournament's final table. Neither do many poker players don lycra body suits for their day at work, nor...more

There is no doubting the talent of Team PokerStars Pro. Among the members of the team are so many WSOP bracelets and cashes, it requires a supercomputer to keep track of them all. In the middle of that giant spreadsheet of glory, there are seven main event champions. To question...more

In a field of more than 7,000 poker players, it's easy to overlook a couple of faces that ordinarily might feature prominently. On the other hand, in a blog post about a total of four players, it's pretty much unforgivable to miss one out. PokerStars Blog tries its hardest, but...more

I was all set to write a post about Gualter Salles chock full of cliché, dubious comparisons and quips about winning races. Then I realised we'd already done that last year, when Simon Young detailed his adventures so far in the World Series in this post. But as things...more

"The PokerStars party claims another victim." Those words were heard here just a few minutes ago after photographer Joe Giron returned from his assignment to record an image of 2010 WSOP chip leader David Assouline. Giron is the most capable photographer in this business, so we had no worries he...more

It's the morning after the night before in Las Vegas, and after spending two hours apiece tangling, ripping, stretching, fighting to remove a PokerStars party wristband, we're back at the Rio for day three of the World Series of Poker Main Event. You can take a look back at last...more

Snoop Dogg played PokerStars party on Sunday night, tweeting to his 1.5 million followers that he was, 'Live at the Pokerstars party in Vegas for WSOP and rockin the red n yellw spain jersey. U hear me', writes Joanne Haslam. The World Cup final match kicked off at exactly the...more

by Ivan Marti Today, we had a strange day. Actually, I don´t know if I should talk about poker or soccer. I hope I can find a balance between both. The thing is, as I'm sure you can understand, is that we are supporting the Spanish team in the Word...more

Once again, action in the live world may have effected by action in the online one; meaning that the Sunday Million had a slightly overlaid $1.5 million dollar prize pool after attracting 6,375 runners. Nevertheless, some of the most popular PokerStars Team pros ponied up the $215 entry fee to...more

by Ivan Marti Like every other Wednesday, tonight we have poker on TV. While Antena 3 broadcast another EPT episode last week, today we're having a new PokerStars: Estrellas en juego series, which will start at 1:30, featuring a known face from last season, Fonsi Nieto. He'll return to the...more

1:02am: It's over We have chip counts of our eight finalists. We´ll be back tomorrow at 5.30pm for the final table. Final table Seat 1: César Palacios Seat 2: Najib Tahiri Hassani Seat 3: Ka Kwanm Lau Seat 4: Adrian Veghinas Seat 5: Álvaro Marino "Drácula" Asiento 6: Mustapha...more

7.58pm: Soccer match We have just started the first break of the evening and it's now time to support the Spanish team. Yes, we also love soccer so we are going to support 'la Roja' (the Spanish team are wearing red shirts) on its last step to World Cup glory....more

The only way these days to succeed consistently at top level poker is to treat it like a job. Slave over the books, put the hours in at the tables, watch, learn and refine. But for as long as people have been working, people have been insisting that they stop....more

The celebrations from the beginning of the World Series of Poker's Main Event last week seemed to have left a bit of a hangover on the Sunday Majors. PokerStars $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up had to use a bit of that guaranteed money tonight as 2,990 players lined up their $215...more

We don't know who will be the WSOP Main Event champion, but we do know this: we will be in the same room with him or her in 36 hours. There has been no day to this point during the Main Event that we have enjoyed such certainty. Day 1...more

It wasn't just red backpacks, Connecticut and a carpet burn on our photographer Joe Giron's forehead* that made their poker debuts at the NAPT Mohegan Sun tournament in April this year. Three new members of Team PokerStars Pro Canada also strolled into the media's glare that week: Anh Van Nguyen,...more

If you believe Jan Heitmann this is his first good summer at the World Series of Poker. After seven World Series the German Team PokerStars Pro is finally getting the results he knows he's capable of and that spirit was summed up a Tweet a few days ago: Ich...more

Stand close to Gabe Walls and try to figure how he's climbed his way to the chip lead. Lean over if you need to. Try to steal a peek at his cards. Oh, sure it's not ethical, but there has to be a reason the PokerStars player keeps popping up...more

Arguments rage in the television world as to the first ever "reality show". The Dutch producers of the original Big Brother franchise have a decent claim, as does MTV's "The Real World". But flies carrying cameras have actually been landing on walls all the way back to the 1940s. People...more

The Royal Tower bar at the Atlantis Resort in the latter stages of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January. Ready to call it a night and bid farewell to the bar tender, a group of us were heading back to our rooms when the figure of William Thorson, and...more

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Talk to most people in the World Series of Poker, and they will tell you why they think they should be here. They have earned it, they say. They deserve it. They are owed it. Robert Solock, a PokerStars qualifier, isn't one of those people. "I think my story is...more

If I was Bruce Buffer's accountant, I'd advise him to be paid by his time, not by the word. He doesn't actually say all that many, but his trademark delivery is such that he's up on the stage longer than most. "We arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre live!" Buffer bellowed from the temporary stage...more

It being Friday every square foot of the Palms hotel was heaving when players made their way back to their lodgings last night. The Palms, where PokerStars players and qualifiers are lodged, is a primary target for anyone with a young mind and the patience to wait in line...more

Peek between the shimmers of the Las Vegas skyline and you'll see the skeletal evidence of a faltering economy. Among towers of blazing extravagance are a handful of constructions halted in their tracks; abandoned cranes loom over slabs of exposed concrete and rusting girders. They all got started on their...more

The crowds of spectators who make their way along the ten minute corridor from the Rio's casino floor to the Amazon Room each day is a constantly moving example of how hugely popular this World Series really is. Men, women and even a few children in all shapes and...more

Two days before the start of the 2010 World Series Main Event, Juan Naranjo was playing some decidedly smaller action. He was deep in the Caesar's $225 Megastack event. He'd started at noon and, over the course of the next 14 hours, made his way to the final table. One...more

If Las Vegas was in Norway and not Nevada, Thor Hansen would be a megastar. Second only to Doyle Brunson in the race to be the person most frequently described as "The Godfather of Poker", Hansen is widely regarded as the most important figure in the history of the Scandinavian...more

Travel back with us to Prague, Christmas in 2008. It's freezing cold outside with snow coming down sideways and gusts of winds blowing the faces off of people bracing themselves against the season of good will. Despite this the town had come to life with Christmas markets, mulled wine,...more

Major League Baseball player Wade Boggs might have been the most superstitious athlete of all time. He ate poultry before every game, took no more and no less than 150 ground balls during infield practice. Before going to the plate, he wrote the word "Chai" (life) in the batter's box...more

What do one mother, one mother's friend eating a sandwich, one cameraman, one sound guy, one producer, two chip counters, two dealers on break, eight poker players (seated), three or four poker players (standing) and this reporter have in common? Ordinarily, not a great deal. But for about 15 minutes...more

It's day two of the World Series Main Event and the routine of it all is beginning to feel comfortable and familiar. Each day the blogging team divides duties, one of us dispatched to record the introductions made by Jack Effel and the handpicked guest invited to say the...more

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We've been told it's Friday morning. It came as a surprise. If we'd not been told, it would've been evident by the bigger crowds, bikinis lined up for Ditch Fridays, and the fact we saw our former chip counting monkey shooting craps with Nelly this morning. It certainly looks like...more

For poker players days like today are days to dream. Excitement was turned up when, after two levels, registration was closed on this year's main event, sending officials back to their calculators to work out what that would mean financially. The outcome was enough to make your drop your...more

I'll admit it. I've spent a lot of time on this job being unreasonably terrified of Alex Kravchenko. Let me explain. The Team PokerStars Pro is built like a Russian tank commander, has the steely expression of a Russian tank, and even though I've seen him laugh during a...more

By Mad Harper In April 2008, a little-known online poker professional from Florida took down EPT San Remo, one of the biggest tournaments ever held in Europe, for the euro equivalent of $1.3 million. It was an astonishing victory for Jason Mercier, who was playing only his second ever...more

There was an empty seat at table 49 in the Pavilion Room, which was a bummer because I wanted to talk to its supposed occupant. Amanda de Cesare was listed as starting her day right there, but it seemed for all the world as though she was out before the...more

The final numbers of the 2010 WSOP have just come across the wire and we're officially looking at the second-biggest World Series of Poker in history. The good folks with the abacus at the WSOP have crunched their numbers and have delivered these vital statistics that every player with chips...more

Madness. That's how some people have described it. For generations, wide-eyed and uninspired populations of dullards have looked upon the greatest minds of their generation as, putting it nicely, positively mad. Goofy. Nutjobs. For most poker players--even some very good ones--that's a category into which they can pigeonhole one of...more

Poker can be a cruel game. It can also be one of great cheer. It follows that one should never be too disheartened when one is at ones lowest ebb, just like one should never crow to loudly when things are going ones way. A young PokerStars qualifier named Peter...more

So this is it, the culmination of a long journey that for some started with the laptop "On" button, then a password and the opening up of the PokerStars tournament lobby. Move the mouse over to the satellite tab and away you go, maybe checking emails or playing 27...more

It's an undecorated hallway with exposed pipes, catering trays, and folded tables against the walls. The floor is concrete and the rafters overhead are uncovered. It's a labyrinth that can get one nearly anywhere he wants in the Rio convention center. If you know which doors to enter, you have...more

It's day 1D of the World Series Main Event, and by the end of the third level of play today, we will have definitely walked past our new World Champion. This is the last opening flight, typically also the biggest, and it means that when registration closes today, that is...more

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Until just moments ago, all the news in the poker world was coming out of the World Series of Poker. Just now, PokerStars has released the schedule for the 2010 World Championship of Online Poker. Last year's WCOOP saw nearly $52 million in prize money awarded to PokerStars players, including...more

David Williams is no dummy. He knows that when you get a job, it's best to make a good impression on your very first day. Last night, Williams joined Vanessa Selbst as they were both announced as PokerStars newest Team Pros. Today, Williams walked into the Rio and pretty much...more

by Jo Haslam How to set the scene for week 5 of the Twitter Poker League? I know I'll check the date. Ah yes, July 4th. It's a special day for many; a day that deserves parades and celebrations...  I love WSOP Eve. OK, the day before the WSOP...more

Three Dutch poker reporters were given one word to describe the tournament style of the Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis. "Volatile," said one. "Crazy," added another and "suicide" from the third earned a fist pump. There's certainly no mistaking the man known as "RaSZi" for a shrinking violet. He's one...more

Back from the dinner break with a level and a half still to play on day 1C. Before we sped off for bread and banter it seemed Charlotte Roche was in the ascendant over in the Pavilion Room, using the skills bewstowed upon her by her poker teacher and...more

I don't normally stand outside the ladies bathroom during the breaks, but for Charlotte Roche I was prepared to make an exception. The musician, television presenter, actor and author, was about to tell me about her new love of poker, and of her flight over from her native Germany...more

Tom McEvoy is a lot of things to poker. He's the 1983 World Series of Poker Champion. He was the first satellite qualifier to win a bracelet. He is among the longest-serving members of Team PokerStars Pro. He is the author and co-author of a number of books. He has...more

The fact that tweets are flying must mean Vicky Coren is playing today. The Londoner is known in numerous guises depending on how late in the day you turn on the television, or which English newspaper you take. To some she's a columnist for the Observer and Guardian newspapers...more

Scattered through the Amazon and Pavilion Rooms today are countless red shirts of the Spanish national football team. They won their World Cup semi-final in South Africa this afternoon and they're happy. (The pain is reserved for any German face in the room; their white shirts are stained with the...more

It would be perfectly reasonable for a poker player to hit a big score--something in the millions, say--and then escape into obscurity. It would be just as reasonable for a poker player to do achieve something fews others have--say, make the final table of the WSOP Main Event--and never do...more

Late yesterday, the media co-ordinator at the World Series of Poker updated the news board in the press room with the following information: "Shuffle up & deal: Joe Cada." It's a tradition as old as the hills that all eyes focus on the returning champion as they start their title...more

If the idea of day 1C at the World Series of Poker Main Event makes you wonder if you haven't already seen all this before then think again. It's tempting to assume this is a ground hog moment, and in some ways it is - the same crowds, the...more

The PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour in Spain has already been a huge hit, but the latest tournament in Madrid, which kicks off tomorrow (Thursday), may well be the biggest so far. Sitting down for the €1,000 event at the Gran Casino Madrid will be more than 150 PokerStars qualifiers battling...more

by Nick Wealthall, UKIPT Tour Host This time tomorrow I'll be playing the main event of the World Series of Poker. As a poker fan and player it simply doesn't get any better than this. The anticipation is amazing and every single player of the 7,000+ feels the same thing...more

The first Tuesday in July found many poker players winding down from a big holiday weekend in the United States and gearing up for - or already playing in - a little poker tournament going on in Las Vegas called the World Series of Poker Main Event. But for dedicated...more

After five weeks and 56 preliminary tournaments, the Main Event comes at the end of a long, long jamboree. There's a massive amount of expectation centred on the $10,000 Championship Event: everyone is wound up for fanfares and fireworks right from the off. The problem is that the Main Event...more

"Was just reminded that last year I had 9k at this time and ended day 1 w over 100k." This was George Lind III about an hour before the dinner break. Then this one: "18k @ dinner phone battery almost dead." The Team PokerStars Online Pro still has about...more

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It's beyond the half-way point of day 1B and everyone is talking about numbers. Will we get more than last year? Won't we get more than last year? Will we get near to 2006? Won't we? Until registration closes on day 1D, no one will really know. But we can...more

German Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann can make the impossible happen. If there is anything he does better than play poker, it's perform magic. One heady evening in Monte Carlo, I watched Heitmann casually bewitch an unsuspecting table of 12 young ladies with a series of card tricks that had...more

If one day someone writes a book called "The Story of Portuguese Poker", there will be a few unusual chapter headings. In the opening stages, there was focus would be on "Basketball", later on there's "The Daniel Negreanu Barcelona Incident" and latterly "Photos in Microsoft Paint". It'll be a bestseller....more

Two figure heads of European poker are playing today. One is partly responsible for creating the largest and most prestigious poker tour anywhere in the world, the other for officiating it. EPT creator John Duthie comes into bloom when released to play a major poker tournament, rather than being...more

Brazilian Team PokerStars Pro Maria "maridu" Mayrinck is not a quiet woman. It is expected that she will chat, coffeehouse, or yell at almost every opportunity. It's always entertaining, usually important, and, again, almost inevitably loud. So, when maridu whispers, she might as well be E.F. Hutton. This afternoon, she...more

A Brit in Berlin, another in Barcelona, an American in Austria, a Vietnamese in the Bahamas. Travelling the circuit following PokerStars tours around the world introduces some disparate characters in some far-flung districts. And then you meet them all again in Las Vegas. Laurence "rivermanl" Houghton is playing day 1B...more

There being four days of day ones un' all, the Jack Effel introduction for players arriving at the Amazon Room for the first time was already becoming familiar. Yesterday we got the original version. It was new and exciting. Greg Raymer was up on stage, his big arm raised...more

In 2008 he became the poker world champion and a superstar. Now, Peter Eastgate is taking a break from the limelight as he strives for a more relaxed lifestyle. A job as an elite poker player demands exercise, preparations and a tremendous amount of mental energy. After years of hard...more

For the people who watch every waking moment of the World Series of Poker, every Day 1 seems the same. Tournament Director Jack Effel gives the same speech. Someone says something about shuffling up and dealing. The starting stacks and blinds are the same. Bill Murray is filming a sequel...more

It's the end of day 1A and to be blunt, there's not a lot we can tell you about it. In a tournament room so vast, filled with more than a thousand players, it's not always obvious who's doing the winning and who the losing. Instead, the World Series...more

"Hello, everyone!" If you had your back turned or your chin on your chest, you would've been startled. You might have even thought someone was heckling the feature table. Turns out it was just one of the players, not surprisingly Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, screaming at the near-silent gallery. "Hello,...more

The Day 1A players are returning from dinner break for three more hours of play. Here is a quick round up of odds and ends from this afternoon. HE IS A QUALIFIER? We have all come to expect qualifiers with varying bankrolls, but this one sneaked up on us. Veteran...more

It's been documented many times before how the field of multi-day poker tournaments tends to be unevenly balanced. There's usually a healthy number of players on day 1A, considerably fewer on day 1B, a sharp incline on day 1C and then the most on day 1D*. Today 1,125 joined the...more

What to do with a post about Chris Moneymaker? Can we really get away with saying how he changed the nature of the game, again? Can we really talk of the thousands of players around the world; millions in fact, that now play poker online? Can we joke about...more

People change. We know that. Some players will lose weight in between World Series Main Events. Others might buy a new pair of spectacles. Few change so much, however, that our keen blogger eyes can't pick them out of a crowd. We're professionals after all. We'd heard German Team PokerStars...more

Poker has a habit of making stars from unknowns. On day one of the 2003, 2004 and 2005 World Series, few outside the immediate Moneymaker, Raymer and Hachem families would have been able to pick their now-famous sons out of a crowd. These days, they're mobbed in the halls. However,...more

Shortly before handing over to Greg Raymer, who then gave the order to shuffle up, tournament boss Jack Effel suggested that with 100 million poker players around the world every player in the Main Event represented roughly 20,000 of them. It's an admirable spirit, one of a world brotherhood...more

No one was ever going to mistake Greg Raymer for Eva Peron. Their cheekbones are slightly different. But there stood Raymer on a riser high above the Amazon Room floor, his hand waving slowly back and forth in front of his face in silent welcome to the legions of fans...more

Good afternoon all and welcome to the Rio Hotel and Casino Las Vegas for the start of the World Series Main Event. As ever, this is the big one. It's poker's richest tournament, its biggest field, its most prestigious prize. It's also typically the tournament that launches poker's newest stars:...more

While fireworks abound in the live world--due to some sort of Revolutionary War celebration or something--the online world was not to be out done, as exciting play and big pots highlighted the final stages of this week's Sunday Million. Of course the weekend's festivities coupled with more World Series events...more

The 4th of July holiday in the United States meant a smaller field than what is usually expected for the Sunday Warm-Up this afternoon. The field of 3,189 players meant an overlay of over $110,000 for the 495 players who made the money, with the winner taking down a...more

Nothing tells the story of a celebrity invasion better than a crowd-control rope stretched across a patch of carpet it has never been stretched across before. Every day for the past two weeks, this reporter has boldly headed down the central aisle of the Pavilion Room on his commute into...more

There are numerous ways to detect the imminent arrival of the World Series Main Event: The opening of poker lounges in busier corridors at the Rio, a longer line of reporters at the media desk collecting credentials, and the slow to a crawl of hotel internet services as online tables...more

Every six-max table at the World Series of Poker always has seven people around it, and when they're ten-handed, there will always be 11 chairs. Even when the November Nine assembles to play down to a Main Event multi-millionaire later this year, the ESPN crew will draw up ten seats...more

In the highest echelons of sports - be it football, baseball, soccer - no team is ever so dominant that they can rest on their laurels. Coaches and owners are always out to improve their teams regardless of standing, and fans are always gripped by the gossip surrounding transfers and...more

Everything--even something that's already really good--is better with a little PokerStars involved, isn't it? If you need proof, check out the Empire State Hold'em Championship next month. It was already going to be great, and now it's going to be better, because PokerStars is now sponsoring the event and running...more