December 2010 Archives

If someone told us that Harrison Gimbel won the PCA last week, we wouldn't be all that surprised. Though we've since traveled the world of PokerStars tournaments and the labyrinth of the online contests, it seems barely any time has passed since we were sitting at Atlantis in January and...more

I'm not one to argue with Daniel Negreanu about poker. Never have, never will. The man knows poker and is an international poker celebrity and a spokesperson for PokerStars around the world. So when he made some comments about women in poker recently my ears perked up--especially when he was...more

As 2011 approaches most people that I know are making plans to celebrate with a bottle of champagne and maybe a party with friends. Many of them are also trying to locate a last minute designated driver for the evening so they can enjoy a few drinks before heading back...more

Well, this should be good. We'd been hearing for days about a SuperStar Showdown match in the offing just after the first of the year. We'd picked up some rumblings about who might be involved, and just minutes ago it was confirmed for us: Isildur1 will play the notorious Tony...more

The final Super Tuesday of 2010 saw a field of 396 players registered, creating a prize pool of $396,000 with the last 45 players picking up some post-holiday cash. The final table of nine would earn from $6,930 to an expected first place prize of $76,626. The unfortunate bubble...more

Let's be honest. Going to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure is not an experience for budget travelers. It requires a flight to the Bahamas, a room at the high-dollar Atlantis resort, and the buy-in for the event. It all adds up after a while. That's why so many people (688 at...more

As a new decade approaches, poker players around the world will resolve to tilt less, bluff better and check-raise the river more often. This year, I'm going to focus my new year's resolutions on live play. In the flesh, tournaments are pricier and higher variance than multi-tabling online, so mistakes...more

When nearly 9,000 people show up for the PokerStars Sunday Million, you know the holiday celebrations are finished. It is time to get back to work, and that's exactly what happened with the final Million of the year. The prize pool nearly hit the $1.8 million mark, enough to make...more

The days are running out. Not many more chances to add that one last big score to the 2010 ledger. Such perhaps was the thinking of at least some of those who came out for the final Sunday Million of the year. The $215 buy-in no-limit hold'em -- the largest...more

Besides the people in the Lexus commercials with the brand new luxury car wrapped up in a bright red bow out front of their house, there are not many who get a brand new car as a gift for the holidays. There are ways however to make this happen and...more

A festive weekend with Christmas Day followed by Boxing Day being celebrated today meant for a smaller crowd in today's $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up. Not really. 4,366 players follow their way thru Nutter Butter snowman cookies and return lines at the retail stores for returning those Rudolph light-up socks from...more

The year comes to close for the $50,000 Battle of the Planets triple shootout with a couple of nine player chops and others with fierce battles to the end with only one player hoisting the $12,000.00 first place prize. Not to be left out is the nearly $3,000,000 paid out...more

On a cold December night, a man known as Isildur1 walked through the snow of his native (country name redacted) and stared into a starlit sky. He carried a small empty bag into a roadside tavern and sat beside the fire. Over a cup of mulled cider, he watched the...more

The European Poker Tour is just about at its halfway point, and a man from Portugal is running away with the Player of the Year points lead. Businessman Fernando Brito has knocked off everybody's socks with a runaway performance in the EPT Awards POY race. At the latest count, Brito...more

The World Cup of Poker VII finalists now know who will be leading their teams in the fight for national pride and big money. The PokerStars Caribbean Adventure will again play host to the live final of the World Cup of Poker (WCP) at Atlantis Casino in January. Last year,...more

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Until recently, Charlotte Van Brabander was better known for beating the guys at video games than poker. A year ago, at age nineteen, she made a name for herself as a member of a female team who played the game Counterstrike at the World Championship on Online Gaming. Now Charlotte...more

This week's Super Tuesday comes not long after a remarkable occurrence played out against the evening sky -- a night which saw the winter solstice, a full moon, and a lunar eclipse! Was the early 17th century when such a cosmic confluence happened last, and it won't happen again until...more

Isildur1 isn't pleased. It's not necessarily that he lost forty grand over the weekend. It's more about how he lost it and who he lost it to. In short, in the land of good sports, Isildur1 isn't running for mayor. "I want to play this guy again, because I didn't...more

Let's be frank (you be Sinatra, I'll be Lloyd Wright). Anybody who was watching PokerStars on Sunday was watching the first SuperStar Showdown between Isildur1 and Issac Haxton. That was December 19th's main feature and there is no getting around that fact. But, there was a lot more going on...more

For literally thousands of poker players around the world, the PCA is a greatly anticipated New Year's celebration, staged in an idyllic setting at the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. The PCA has also become a reunion of sorts, for some of the top players in in the world, as...more

As a child he played violin and sang with the Boys Philharmonic Orchestra. As an adult, he was a radio and television celebrity and rubbed elbows with the likes of Lauryn Hill, Jamiroquai, Wyclef Jean, and Lenny Kravitz. It's hard to top that kind of life...unless, of course, you have...more

While Isildur1 battled Isaac Haxton with $150,000 on the line in the SuperStars Showdow, the heroes of the Twitter Poker League stumped up $1.10 ready to play for #tpoker glory. The winner was the mysterious F|b|Ce3, and all we know for sure about him is that he's from Greece. Will...more

At the height of this holiday season, people around the world are preparing for family get-togethers, packing for travel, and shopping for gifts. Some are even working on their New Year's resolutions, as less than two weeks remain in 2010. Poker players are among those wrapping up the year, and...more

Tonight's $750,000 Sunday Warm-up had a little side action to go along with this Sunday Major. "Little" meaning a lot, as newly minted Team PokerStars Pro Isildur1 (name pending) went up against Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton in the first Superstar Showdown Four tables of $50/$100 NLHE cash games were laid out...more

They flocked to the rail by the thousands, everyone from tournament greats like Kevin "ImaLucSac" MacPhee and Chad "lilholdem954" Batista, to $1/2 no-limit grinders, to guys who probably earn a chat ban every few days. They came to see if history would repeat itself, if this Swedish wunderkind would once...more

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If anyone thought poker was a game lacking emotion, except perhaps that of over-achieving tub-thumpers; or if they believed it to be a game based purely on money, on ego and of one-upmanship against their fellow man, they need only look as far as the European Poker Tour's newest...more

9pm: Roberto Romanello wins EPT Prague and €640,000 Roberto Romanello opened to 575,000 from the button and Emiliano Bono three-bet to 2.475 million. Romanello quickly announced that he was all-in and his Italian counterpart made the call just as quickly. Romanello turned over T♠T♣ and Bono showed A♦J♣ to set...more

5.13pm: End of the level That's the end of level 29. There is now a 15-minute break. -- SY 5.12pm: Pro Bono Emilliano Bono opened for 375,000 and Peter Skripka moved a stack of black chips into the middle, a raise to 2,000,000. I don't usually use exclamation marks but...more

2.05pm: And relax... That's the end of level 27. Level 28 is up next, but first it's a 15-minute break. -- SY 2pm: Skripka poker The level looks to be running down without further eliminations. Skripka and Romanello flirted in the blinds, Skripka completing, Romanello raising and Skripka re-raising to...more

It's becoming clear that Prague is a home away from home for Italian players. It started two seasons ago when Salvatore Bonavena, accompanied by dozens of high-strung countrymen, dominated a televised event. Each of them in some way marked the start of Italy's poker boom, and each of them...more

We're nearly at the end of the year. For most people that's 31st December - for everyone in 'media' it appears to be something closer to the 14th as that's when it all grinds to a halt! I'm in 'just get things done then we can have holiday' mode -...more

8.20pm: MacPhee out, final table set After the hand below left him with around 60,000, Kevin MacPhee managed to triple up with A♠3♦. But next hand he shoved again for 245,000 with 9♠Q♥ and was called instantly by Marco Leonzio with J♠J♣. The board ran 7♥7♠5♦7♣K♥, giving Leonzio the full...more

4.20pm: End of level It's a 15-minute break as we play down to the final table. 4.20pm: Bevand busts Hollink Kevin Macphee is the sole standing former winner after Manuel Bevand eliminated Rob Hollink. Bevand had queens to Hollink's jacks and the board ran nine high. -- MC 4.19pm:...more

We here at the PokerStars Blog are big fans of the ESPN poker folks (aka 441 Productions). The team is the best in the business, bar none. It's why we've seen them do the WSOP, NAPT, LAPT and more. They are simply without peer. So, it comes as no surprise...more

Here's the seat draw for Day 4 of EPT Prague, where 23 players remain. Play begins at noon on Friday: 1 1 Josh Prager, USA, 141,000 1 2 Zoltan Szabo, Hungary, 253,000 1 3 Haykel Cherif Vidal, Spain,  PokerStars qualifier, 572,000 1 4 Marco Leonzio, Italy, 1,064,000 1 5 Melanie...more

The first three days of EPT Prague involved surprise leaders and challengers, the situation at the end of Day 3 is much clearer. The reason: the gradual dominance of tonight's chip leader Kevin MacPhee. The PokerStars qualifier was already amassing a sizable lead before he won a three-way all-in...more

Season 1 was an experiment. Season 2 was a reprise. Season 3 was the year of Back-to-Back Barbero. Season 4 of Latin American Poker Tour? It's here. Moments ago, the LAPT announced five dates for its fourth season. Season 4 will see a return to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Argentina....more

8pm: Play ends The dramatic events that just occurred brought day 3 to an end. 23 players will return tomorrow where we will play down to a final table of eight. A wrap of the day's play will be up for your reading pleasure shortly, as will the official overnight...more

6pm: Toth at the double Team PokerStars Pro Richard Toth busted Constantin Raducan and more or less doubled up to 440,000.The pair got all-in and Toth's A♠Q♦ overtook Raducan's pocket nines on the 3♥J♠6♥Q♥8♣ board. -- SY 5.55pm: Loud Italian in the house Emilliano Bono has doubled up twice in...more

The table draw for Day 3 is as follows: Table one 1 Nicolas Babel 157,000 2 Riccardo Giacalone 108,500 3 Marius Heiene 219,000 4 Charles Chattha 147,000 5 Manuel Bevand 179,500 6 Felix Bleiker DNR 7 David Stogel 314,500 8 Elias Brussianos 116,000 Table two 1 Ruslan Prydryk 210,000 2...more

Last night, as Day 1B was ending, Roberto Romanello appeared to be the chip leader. Racing ahead of the competition, wearing a red and white striped headband with a spiky grey wig sticking out of the top, he was easy to spot from a distance of up to 50...more

9pm: Play concludes The last three hands passed tonight without any major incidents to report. 93 players will return for tomorrow and we believe Dirk Richter is still top of the pile with 593,000 in chips. The wrap will be up shortly and the official chips counts will follow as...more

5.50pm: End of level It's a 15-minute break as we complete our fourth level of the day. Two to go. 5.48pm: Gork stacking up Marc Gork is up to around 330,000 after rivering two-pair against Vladimir Malak. Gork, who has opened from button for 5,100, had defended a 16,200...more

412 players signed up for this week's Super Tuesday, creating a prize pool of $412,000 to be divvied up among the final 54 players. Unfortunately for Team PokerStars players, it was another Super Tuesday without a cash. The highest placed Team PokerStars pro was Chris "Money800" Moneymaker, with an...more

2.56pm: All rise Break time at the end of level 11. 2.55pm: Kicking off Controversy over on table two where tempers are frayed between Marc Gork and Christophe Pereira. The issue arose after comments made by Pereira during an earlier visit from the floor. Pereira received a penalty for...more

Seat draw for Day 2 is as follows: Table Seat Name Chips 1 1 Nichlas Mattsson 90,500 1 2 Nicolo Calia 20,600 1 3 Antonio Palma 89,500 1 4 Ben Carpenter 43,100 PokerStars qualifier 1 5 Alexis Mathias Fourcade 14,600 1 6 Denys Drobyna 63,100 1 7 Timo Pfutzenreuter 67,700...more

Day 1B has come to an end in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic and one time heart-beat of Bohemia. It's from here that the first Bohemians emerged, travelling through on their way west. The same could be said of Dirk Richter, the surprise leader tonight, taking a week-long...more

11.25pm: End of play The usual bagging and tagging is taking place. End of day chip counts and full wrap of the day's action to come, and it will be saying that Dirk Richter has made a late, late charge for the chip lead. -- RD 11.10pm: Romanello piling on...more

6.45pm: Break time I know a poker player in Las Vegas who when playing poker in a casino will wash his hands before using the bathroom, so concerned he is about the smorgasbord of germs that have travelled through his hands while riffling. Elsewhere tournaments have been populated by...more

Antonio Caponnetto made sure of two things this week: the Italian Poker Tour title was going to stay in Italian hands, and he was going to go home with the most money. Early this morning, the Italian Caponnetto took first place at the IPT San Remo final table for €170,000....more

As always the Twitter Poker League was full of action this week, 1221 players competed for their chance at the $204.93 top prize and those precious leader board points. The chips going into the final table this week were: Seat 1: derryjay (156985 in chips) Seat 2: xsertx (185454 in...more

4.32pm: Level done That's the end of level four and there's now a 15-minute break . We'll be back with a new post shortly, complete with a '10 Hands With Dario Minieri' special, brought to you by Stephen Bartley (who taught Minieri everything he knows). -- SY 4.31pm: The Hairabedian...more

When PokerStars revealed its signing of Isildur1 to the elite roster of Team Pros, the news came with the announcement that the biggest-rolled of PokerStars players would have a special opportunity to take their shot against the notoriously swingy online nose-bleeder. Isaac "philivey2694" Haxton is the first who stepped to...more

1.15pm: End of the level Players are taking the first break of the day. 1.14pm: Sointula and Lykov in action A flop of 4♠A♥K♠. Jani Sointula flicked back his long blond hair and was ready to play. Opposite him sat Max Lykov, riffling his chips in a regular motion....more

Day 1A at EPT Prague had all the hallmarks of a bog standard Monday. Like returning to the office at the start of a new week, today's field had what was the poker equivalent of a nine-to-five shift, a long uneventful slog. With the weekend now gone, the only...more

11.25pm: A cold end to the night Normally this is where we write that last three hands passed without incident and the wrap will be with you shortly as will the official over night counts. Not tonight. The wrap and chip counts will be up shortly but there was an...more

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6.50pm: Don't mess with Kabrhel In the dying seconds of level six most of the players at Martin Kabrhel and Maria Maceiras' table stood up and walked away (out of turn, I must add). This left Maceiras with a clean run to steal the blinds with a raise to 800....more

This is always the busiest time of year. Everyone's always trying to squeeze in one last event whether it be a party, or a poker tournament before the end of the year, and it gets pretty exhausting. This year's exhaustion for me started in Wichita, Kansas. It was a charity...more

If you've seen how packed the Sunday schedule is right now, you'll know that if a new tournament was added it would have to be at a special time, right? Well that's just what PokerStars has done with the addition of the Sunday Kickoff. The $109 Sunday Kickoff, with a...more

Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst has had a year of unprecedented success in 2010 with live tournament cashes that total just shy of three million dollars. It has been an incredible first year for the new member of the elite team, and one that defied even her own expectations. "I...more

4.35pm: End of level That's the end of level four and we'll be back in 15 minutes at which point the antes will kick in. -- RD 4.30pm: Levi likes it Well if this isn't an example for not playing out of position I don't know what is. Nicolas...more

2.15pm: Anyone for the deuce-seven game? You always get a few loudmouths chatty sorts at the beginning of a tournament that you can hear from anywhere on the floor. The two that have leapt out to us are Tim Kahlmeyer and Mike Adamo. Kahlmeyer is talking to his neighbour Jeff...more

Waiting can be difficult. Children anxiously await the holidays and the gifts that may come their way. Poker players look to politicians for...well...something positive. And Sunday Million players look to the flop, turn, and river for the cards that will propel them to online poker stardom. The December 12th edition...more

This week's edition of the Sunday Warm-Up drew 4,603 players, creating a prize pool of $920,600 to be shared among the final 675 players. Among the players who made the money were three members of Team PokerStars: Team Romania pro Toni Judet (below) - 149th, Team PokerStars online player...more

All hail King Karamalikis! The 22-year-old Aussie online phenom known as "xMONSTERxDONGx" is now the toast of the nation after winning the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final. From the moment after the final river card was dealt, the champagne bottles started popping and the well-wishes began...more

Only 25 of the 131 Day 2 starters survived at IPT San Remo, with Italian Giovanni Maresca leading the pack with 628,000 chips, followed by Vittore Brugnera with 610,100. Casualties included Team PokerStars Pros Salvatore Bonavena, Dario Minieri and Pierpaolo Fabretti. The remaining 25 players are already in the money,...more

10:00pm: Ben McLean eliminated in second place, Jonathan Karamalikis wins! With Australian PokerStars Qualifier Ben McLean having been crippled severely in the penultimate hand of this heads-up battle, it didn't take long for Jonathan Karamalikis to be confirmed as the fourth consecutive Aussie to claim victory in the PokerStars.net...more

7:25pm: Level up, blinds 25,000-50,000, ante 5,000 7:20pm: Limp backfires for Stojanovski Peco Stojanovski decided to try something different with a limp from the button, but Tom Rafferty was having none of it as he raised to 120,000 from the small blind. Jonathan Karamalikis folded his big blind but...more

4:25pm: Double for Peco! Peco Stojanovski has found a big double up as Jonathan Karamalikis has taken his first major hit of this final table. Karamalikis started things off with a standard raise before Stojanovski three-bet to 200,000 in the big blind. Karamalikis moved all in and Stojanovski made...more

Imagine, if you will, that you're at the final table of the WSOP Main Event. You're in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, with the roar of thousands of screaming fans ringing in your ears, sitting across from your heads-up opponent....more

Four years ago when PokerStars stepped into Macau, the gaming capital of Asia, no one had ever heard of Texas Hold'em. Week by week and month by month, poker began to spread its reach throughout Asia and hordes of poker fans from all over Asia began recognizing Macau as the...more

Seat 1: Daniel Negreanu, Las Vegas, USA, Team PokerStars Pro Canada (267,000 in chips) One of poker's global superstars, Daniel Negreanu is one of the most accomplished players in the game. Scanning through his tournament resume, you'll notice there are few things he hasn't already done. Negreanu ranks second...more

When Triple Crown winner Roland de Wolfe slipped into the Star City Poker Room in Sydney this week, he told us that the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final was not the reason that he was here - rather, he was backpacking with English cheer squad (AKA...more

10:05pm: Reza Vakili eliminated in 10th place; Our final table is set! After losing the previous pot, Reza Vakili was down to his last 332,000 which he moved in preflop from under the gun. Roland de Wolfe quickly called next to speak and the table folded around. Vakili tabled Q♠J♦...more

IPT San Remo welcomed another 202 runners to the felt yesterday, making the combined field for this event a huge 342 players. The size of the field has exceeded all expectations, and Day 1B has provided another benchmark for live poker in Italy. The total prize pool up for grabs...more

8:15pm: Dong soars! As we approach the end of the level, Jonathan Karamalikis has just taken down a monster pot after sustaining a check-raise and three barrels of fury from George Moussa. It started with Karamalikis raising to 35,000 from the hijack position and Moussa making the call in the...more

5:25pm: Grunter's gone Inauguaral APPT Grand Final champion Grant "Grunter" Levy is no longer with us, having just been sent to the rail in 18th place to pick up $15,610 in prize money. The action folded around to Tom Rafferty who raised to 21,000 from the cutoff before Levy reraised...more

2:40pm: Ten-minute break 2:20pm: Rubie on the rise Aussie online phenome Brendon "brendoooor" Rubie is up to almost half a million in chips after taking a massive pot off Singaporean PokerStars Qualifier Daniel Ling. We caught the action as the board read A♠K♠4♣2♥ with a pot worth more than 100,000;...more

Welcome back to the harbour city and another ridiculously sunny December day (who said it rains up here?) Whether enjoying a stroll along the picturesque Darling Harbour, or a light breakfast in one of the local cafes, there's no better place for our 32 remaining players to relax and soak...more

It was a day of coolers, suck outs and the cream rising to the top as Day 2 of the PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final has come and gone. 163 players hit the floor of the Star City Casino in the hopes of reaching the money but one by one...more

Feature Table Seat 1: Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) 119000 Seat 2: Reza Vakili (Australia) 775000 Seat 3: Miray Badaoui (Australia) 148000 Seat 4: Tyron Krost (Australia) 94500 Seat 5: Heinz Kamutzki (Australia) 131500 Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu (Canada) Team PokerStars Pro 293500 Seat 7: Konstantin Bücherl (United Kingdom) PokerStars Qualifier...more

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San Remo is apparently known as the "city of flowers", and it was Joakim Jagerving who blossomed on Day 1A of the Italian Poker Tour's latest stop to take the overnight chip lead. He finished with 139,900 chips, nicely ahead of Italian Giuseppe Mosca with 106,500. A field of 140...more

11:10pm: That's a bubble hand While everyone was watching Con Angelakis move his short stack all in over on table 24, a brutal cooler was going down as the cry of "ALL IN! CALL!" grabbed our attention. We rushed to the table to see the ultimate bubble horror story....more

9:20pm: Level up, blinds 2000-4000 (ante 400) 9:15pm: Sabat's stack shrinks 2008 APPT Macau champion Eddy Sabat has been crippled by Enh Phengsavanh down to 63,000 only moments before the new level. Sabat raised to 6200 from early position and the action folded around to Phengsavanh who reraised all-in...more

5:55pm: Level up, blinds 1200-2400 (ante 200) 5:50pm: Negreanu chips up again Canadian Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is back in the hunt, eliminating another opponent and is now back up to 170,000. The spectators were once again crushed in as close as possible around table 25 and we just...more

3:10pm: Watt running low Simon Watt is on the short stack after losing a big flip with pocket jacks against ace-queen. The board ran out 2♦K♥9♠Q♦9♦ to pair up the queen and leave Watt with just 2,500 in chips. They were in moments later with Q♠J♥ and once again...more

If there's one thing that we love about this wide brown land, it's summertime. The glorious sunshine on the golden sands of our beaches, the crystal blue waters of the ocean. Could you imagine being down at Bondi or Manly, surfing the waves, or lying there on the beach...more

Here is the table and seat draw for Day 2 of APPT Sydney: Table 6 Seat 1: Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) 35500 Seat 2: Lee Nelson (New Zealand) Team PokerStars Australia 15100 Seat 3: Bassam Habib (Australia) 32900 Seat 4: Jarrad Graham (Australia) 93000 Seat 5: Joseph Moussa (Australia) 16600 Seat...more

The chips have been bagged, the bags have been tagged and from the 289 players who each ponied up AUD $6300 for the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final, only 163 will be returning tomorrow for Day 2. Today's 146-strong field was jam-packed full of the region's...more

I'll admit that at school I was never very good at math. English was more my thing, although some readers of this organ may disagree. Numbers were always a bit of a chore, and as I reached adulthood they were put to use only when I had to work out...more

Well, I finally have an answer to the age-old question of "So, Joe, what did you buy with all your winnings from the World Series of Poker?" For a while I hadn't bought much more than a stack of Blu-Ray DVDs at the local Best Buy, but I'm pretty sure...more

8:00pm: Play concludes That's a wrap from the Star City Poker Room on Day 1c of the PokerStars.net APPT Main Event. The big screen tells us that 87 players have survived the day, but at this stage it's a little uncertain who our official chip leader will be. Over the...more

6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6.45pm: Tony Hachem eliminated Team PokerStars Pro and reigning ANZPT Player of the Year Tony Hachem was determined to do well in this event, despite having recently gone through ankle surgery back home in Melbourne, but he has just limped out on his crutches after being eliminated...more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4.35pm: Reberia reigns supreme As we approach the second break of the day, we walked past Australian PokerStars Qualifier Mark Reberia, who had his chips stacked in tens. There were quite a few of those ten-high stacks and as it turns out, the Sydneysider is the first...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2.15pm: Barry binks a beauty! The cry of "All in, call" went up from the dealer on table nine and we rushed over to see three players on their feet over a flop of 8♦Q♣T♣. Two players rolled up A♣5♣ and K♣6♣ for the nut and second-nut...more

Another glorious day has greeted us here at the Star City Casino in Sydney, but it probably hasn't been well received by the locals as many are nursing sore heads after last night's celebrations at the Acer Arena near the Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, including the hundreds that packed...more

The Russian Poker Series has finished its first season with Russia's Dmitry Gromov winning $201,362 for first place in Kiev. On the last hand of the night, Shashkov raised preflop up to 250 000 chips, Gromov re-raised to 650,000. Shaskov quickly moved all-in and got the call. Dmitry Gromov: T♥T♠...more

Vanessa Rousso's poker career lacks few things. She's made important final tables, earned millions, and cashed more than a dozen times at the World Series of Poker. She's won an EPT high-roller event, the PCA ladies event, and a televised tournament. She's even won a WPT side event. In all...more

Poker Stars has invited all women to put their skills to the test and play in the daily and Sunday women's only league competitions. Winners receive cash and prizes awarded monthly and yearly. Start playing now to win your way to a Poker Stars Ladies Luxury Event. Yearly Standings Mahgenta...more

It was a small field but it produced a big day of poker as Day 1b of the 2010 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final took centre stage in the Star City Poker Room in Sydney this afternoon. 68 players hit the felt, highlighted by four-time WSOP bracelet winner and PokerStars Team...more

This week's Super Tuesday drew a field of 417 entrants fighting over a prize pool of $417,000. First place money would be just over $80,000 as the last 54 players would finish in the money. The unfortunate bubble boy this week was David "dhilton12" Hilton, winner of last week's Super...more

8.10pm: That's all folks! Day 1b of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final has been bagged, tagged and locked away in the vault. Aaron Tran may have been the first past the magical 100K mark today and bagged 147,200 in chips, but it was fellow Sydneysider Daniel Neilson who tops...more

6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: Oh no, Moffo! We've lost Liam Moffett from the tournament in a big clash with Casey Kastle on table 25. Kastle opened with a raise to 1,350 from early position before Moffett three-bet it to 4,500 in the hijack position. The blinds folded and Kastle...more

4:40pm: 10-minute break 4:35pm: Aaron Tran cracks a ton The fast and furious action we witnessed in the early stages of this level has all but disappeared, however we have just discovered Sydney's Aaron Tran sitting behind a stack of more than 100,000, making him the first player to...more

2:30pm: 10-minute break 2:25pm: Oh, the woe of Marcus and Rowe 2008 APPT Grand Final champion Martin Rowe and a young player that only identified himself as Sheldon, called a preflop raise by Sydney's Craig Blight before the dealer spread a flop of K♦T♠3♠. Blight led out, Sheldon folded...more

One of the great things about the universal game of poker is that literally anyone can play. On any given day, if the cards, and luck, go the right way, it's possible for the world's worst player to compete with, and even beat the world's best player. That's why we...more

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Wow! I'm used to PokerStars making big announcements, but this one really made my eyes pop out on stalks... Isildur1, the most infamous name in online poker, has today signed up to Team PokerStars Pro. And to celebrate the hottest poker signing of the year, PokerStars is launching a cash...more

Day 1a of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final is in the books and as the night falls over Sydney, the PokerStars Blog team are putting in the overtime for today's wrap post before attacking the Garden Buffet. 75 players took to the felt this afternoon, including defending champion Aaron...more

8:00pm: That's a wrap! A rather dramatic end to the day has seen approximately 42 players survive to reach Day 2 action on Friday. It the end it appears that Manuel Hansimikali has bagged up the chip lead with 136,600, narrowly ahead of Reza Vakili (129,800) and Brett Bibby (129,300)....more

6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: Grigg disposes of a shorty Tom Grigg is now up to 45,000 with the recent elimination of a short-stacked opponent. Grigg opened from the cutoff with a raise to 1,500 which was called from the small blind to see a flop of A♠J♣8♥. The small blind...more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:35pm: Solemdal sent to the rail New Zealand PokerStars Qualifier Koray Turker has scored one for the Kiwis, eliminating Australian PokerStars Qualifier Torgier Solemdal as we approach the second break of the day. Solemdal moved all-in for the last of his short stack preflop with J♥J♦ and...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:25pm: Any takers for the High Rollers event? As the players in the APPT Grand Final are about to take their first break of the day, the PokerStars Blog team headed downstairs to check out the action in the Sports Theatre, where the APPT Sydney High Rollers...more

By Landon Blackhall A beautiful sunny morning has greeted us here at the Star City Casino in Sydney, and while it may not help those who are nursing sore heads from last night's festivites at the Player Party in the Astral Bar, there's no doubt that the adrenalin rush of...more

After a weekend of division finals, the PokerStars World Cup of Poker VII final table is set. Sunday marked the team score round in which players could earn points for their team based on their individual performance. Those points were added with the scores put together by their teammates. The...more

Danilo1012 has a history in this league. He came close to winning in the first season of #tpoker back in July. His best result was 3rd place but a good run of cashes gave him the chance to win the league - if he could make the final table...more

The hottest player coming out of the Asian poker tour is undoubtedly the very attractive Celina Lin who is omnipresent at all of the top poker games in Asia. Celina won the prestigious PokerStars APPT Red Dragon Main Event at the Macau Cup in 2009, adding $50,932 to her career...more

Ready for some more changes with the PokerStars software? Here's what the newest update has in store Font Changes for Games PokerStars changed the fonts for games to be more distinguishable and more friendly to people with various types of color blindness. Changes include: • Ring games players are waitlisted...more

Here's an experiment. Lock the members of Team PokerStars Pro Canada in a room with Team Online's Anders "Donald" Berg. Make them play poker together and see if anybody loses, because at this point, it seems like they don't do anything but win. Just go check out this week's big...more

December already? The year is nearly spent, and still so much left to do. Never mind all the shopping. Always time for poker, though. Especially when it comes to the PokerStars Sunday Million, that weekly chance to spend a dozen hours so and walk away a couple hundred grand richer...more

Season four of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour has certainly been one to remember. We started way back in March with the special PAGCOR Chairman's Cup APPT Manila event which produced a record breaking prize pool for tournament poker in the Philippines. From there, the APPT has continued to...more

After the past two weekends of holiday shopping there is the rush to pad the poker bankroll before closing the fiscal year. Taking a shot at a Sunday Major like tonight's $750,000 guarantee Sunday Warm-up is a great way to end the year in the black and hand out a...more

Poker tournaments are like symphonies. They shift through different orchestral movements before ultimately ending on one winning note. If last year's UKIPT Galway was a frenetic high pitched Padraig Parkinson-inspired knees up then this year's score sheet delivered a thumping military beat that slowly and inexorably drove Nick Abou...more

9.47pm: Abou Risk wins UKIPT Galway for €67,100 Nick Abou Risk has just scored his second UKIPT title beating Trish Mallin heads up. After leading 375,000 into a 9♥5♠T♦ flop Mallin had moved all-in for 1.64 million on the 4♥ turn putting Abou Risk harshly under the spotlight. The...more

6pm: Olin, moves Mallin off one In the last hand of level 23 Trish Mallin made it 56,000 to play, but despite asking for a count after Eoin Olin had made it 180,000 to play, she folded. And with that fold the blinds have gone up.-- NW 5.45pm: Mallin wins...more

A total of 266 players entered the €1,000 UKIPT Galway main event and after two long, long days we have a nine-handed final table set to provide plenty of firsts. We could have our first female, Lithuanian, Norwegian or double winner. Play is set to start sometime after 2pm. Nick...more

Nick Abou Risk has set himself up for an incredible shot at a second UKIPT title. The Canadian, who calls Dublin home, has already notched a victory at UKIPT Edinburgh and goes into the final table here with a towering 1.32 million stack chip lead. Abou Risk had started the...more

1.18am: Two swift knockouts and play ends In swift succession we have lost Peter Delej (11th) and Ray Maloney (10th) and that's it for the day. Bagging and tagging is now taking place. Full wrap and chip counts to come. Ray Maloney just missed out on the final table...more

8.10pm: Dinner break The remaining 19 players have gone on dinner break for one hour. 8pm: Forkan shows a monster Kenneth Forkan just won a nice pot from chip leader Nick Abou Risk. Forkan opened for 21,000 and was called by Abou Risk in the small blind. The Canadian...more

4.25pm: Level down Level 14 has come and gone. Straight on to level 15 which you'll find as a new post. -- MC 4.22pm: Power poker Michael Hill just guessed that Jason Herbert was bluffing him for almost all his stack but couldn't find the call to back up his...more

Poker isn't a game that you'd normally associate with weather problems. Games run night and day, rain or shine all year round but when extreme snowfall hit the UK and Ireland earlier this week we were left wondering what would happen to UKIPT Galway? Of course we should never...more

1.40am: End of the day After an exhausting 11 levels of poker day one is in the books. Just c.78 of the 266 starters made it through to day two. Chief amongst them appears to be Peter Barrable who has 185,700. Full wrap of the days play to come, join...more

11.16pm: End of level nine Nine down, two to go. 106 players remain.-- NW 11.15pm: There's something about Gavin Vinny Gavin just loves playing UKIPT events in Ireland. Back in Killarney in June he led the field for two days before eventually finishing in 19th place. He's now the chip...more

It's time for the World Cup of Poker division finals and players are just one step away from the the $290,000 freeroll live final in the Bahamas. This Sunday marks the team score round. Players earn points for each of their tournament results this weekend. Those points are then added...more

7pm: Dinner break That's the end of level six and the beginning of a one-hour dinner break. -- RD 6.50pm: Parkinson rivers a set to stay alive Last year's winner Padraig Parkinson was all-in and at risk with pocket sevens against pocket queens and in trouble, however a seven...more

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3.40pm: End of level 3.32pm: Brammer and Brindley beaten back Chris Brammer and Roy Brindley are at the table and have both lost small pots in the last orbit. Brindley's 425 steal from the cut-off was insta-mucked to a three-bet from the big blind while Brammer took a knock...more

They battled through rain, snow and the combined failings of Ryan Air and British Rail to get here, but to the over 220 players that managed it, we salute you. Welcome back to them, and to you, to the PokerStars UKIPT. This season, like last, kicks off in Galway, Ireland,...more

The start of UKIPT Season 2 has been put back a day owing to appalling weather conditions in the UK and Ireland. UKIPT Galway had been due to start at 4pm tomorrow (Thursday), but because so many players were having trouble getting through snowstorms to the venue--airports are in chaos...more

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The final Super Tuesday in November drew a field of 422 players, smashing yet again the $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. The $422,000 prize pool would be shared amongst the final 54 players, with the winner expected to pick up over $80,000. Just a few members of Team PokerStars took...more

I'm currently sitting in the airport looking forward to the eleven-hour flight from LAX to London Heathrow that leaves shortly. I say looking forward because it's true, I actually enjoy the transAtlantic flights as you get to catch up on all the movies, sleep, get fed, sleep some more...more

Fernando Brito, the 51-year-old businessman from Portugal who made the final of the EPT London Main Event, has secured a big lead in the EPT Player of the Year Award race after winning the €10,000 event at EPT Barcelona, writes Mad Harper. Brito is now 660 points ahead of his...more

Germany's Sandra Naujoks, 2009 European Player of the Year, had a varied career of a different sort before getting into poker. She studied German and history at university and became a teacher after graduation. Later she took on graphic design and modeling. But after being introduced to poker, her life's...more