Phil Ivey didn't want his picture taken. He didn't have to say so. His ice-bath stare made it pretty clear. He would've probably rather hit the photographer in the face than hear the shutter click one more time. The problem was this: Ivey was the biggest news that day. When...more
Maybe you've been there: sitting in front of your computer, watching the World Championship of Online Poker, wishing you could compete for big money on a micro bankroll. Now, you have your chance. Today PokerStars launched the MicroMillions tournament series: 100 tournaments over the course of eleven days. The buy-ins...more
The are a lot of things standing between you and a big tournament score: big fields, tons of buy-ins, and that pesky little problem of run-bad. While a lot of us roll around in puddles of self-pity and loathing, a lot of other people have figured out a secret: they...more
A winning poker player never sits still. Just days after bagging his first big live event win at EPT Copenhagen, Mickey Petersen headed to another tournament in his home country of Denmark. Petersen is one of that rare breed who has transferred undoubted online skills--he's a member of Team PokerStars...more
Team PokerStars Pro Pierre Neuville, who narrowly missed becoming the first ever Belgian EPT champion in Copenhagen on Sunday, has shot up to fourth place in the All-Time EPT Tournament Leaderboard. This is not the first time that Neuville, who was also runner-up at EPT6 Vilamoura, has been in the...more
It was a most super Super Tuesday this week, with an enormous turnout that not only smashed the event's $300K guarantee, but may well have established a new record for the weekly $1,050 no-limit hold'em tournament. PokerStars first introduced the Super Tuesday in late May 2007, with Eric "Basebaldy" Baldwin...more
If you thought the contest for best blogger was over, we have news for you today. There are now two more wildcard spots open from the PokerStars Blog team. More on that at the end of this post. But first, a little background. WBCOOP Best Bloggers By: Donnie Peters On...more
Fifty-five bucks. It will buy you a decent meal. It is good for a night out at the movies with your best guy or gal. It might buy you groceries for a few days, if you're frugal and don't mind some generic items. Or, you might consider buying into the...more
Yesterday my son asked me about Leap Year. "If I was born on February 29th," the seven-year-old kid asked me, "how old would I be today?" I wanted to tell him that he was dealing with some heavy existential stuff and that he should finish his dinner. Instead, I just...more
After coming to Sao Paulo last year, I was more than excited to go again for the LAPT Grand Final. Equipped with my visa that I went through a hellish ordeal to obtain last year, that included a last-minute solo trip to New York to track down my passport, I...more
It was a crowded house for this week's Sunday Million, 7,768 grinders taking their shot at six figures and sending the prize pool over the $1.5 million mark. 1,170 of them earned a slice of the pie with first place set to earn $233,043.87. Thirty members of the Red Spade...more
You made it through Groundhog's Day, Valentine's Day, and on Wednesday everyone gets an extra day of February for Leap Year. One day of the week every month, and not just in February is special for online players at PokerStars. The Sunday Major are always a cause for excitement with...more
The Red Spade open would invade our usual action packed line up of Sunday Majors. With a $1 million guaranteed for just a $55 buy-in which over 20,000 players (24,736 to be exact) would pile into the ring looking for a $200,000 pay day along with $100 bounties on anyone...more
PokerStars Women is looking forward to March. Obviously, spring weather will be nice, but there's a little something happening next month that will be even more special. While we can't leak the details now, let's just say that the Women's Sunday will have its first birthday in March. But you...more
Another exciting Macau Poker Cup series has come to a close and a new champion of Asia has been crowned. It's exciting to see new players emerge and although we already knew of Nicky Tao Jin as a fierce online competitor, today marks a breakthrough victory for him on the...more
8:30pm: Cooler flop busts Abhishek Goindi in 2nd place; Nicky Tao Jin wins! After a deal was struck we were expecting some fast play, so we weren't that surprised to see a big hand develop on just the third hand of heads-up play. However when the cards were tabled we...more
7:10pm: Ten-minute break 7:00pm: More for Martirosyan David Martirosyan raised it up an additional 100,000 from the small blind and Nicky Tao Jin made the call to see a flop of 2♥7♦T♣. Martirosyan continued for 135,000 and Jin made the call before both players checked the 5♦ turn. On the...more
5:00pm: Ten-minute break 4:45pm: Confusion for Eichmeier Pe En Ho opened for 80,000 from the button before Craig Eichmeier announced a raise and pushed 105,000 into the middle. Some curious looks followed as the TD informed Eichmeier that the minimum raise was to 120,000. A confused Eichmeier obliged and Ho...more
2:15pm: Ten-minute break 2:00pm: No luck for Jin Satoshi Yabota has found a much-needed double up but he had to do it the hard way against Nicky Tao Jin. Yabota moved all in preflop and Jin made a big call with K♥Q♦ to have Yabota's K♣4♦ crushed. That is, until...more
If you're playing online right now, or in a card room somewhere, take note: if you get it in good your hand will hold. If you're ahead, you'll stay ahead. That guy looking for a miracle? He won't get it. For today the capricious poker Gods tamed their impulses...more
How's this for a moral scruple. You're 22-years-old and your opponent, who is almost a septuagenarian* requests a dinner break. You had the chip lead albeit a narrow one but have since lost it and are now almost down to being a two-to-one dog. In other words you don't want...more
Pierre Neuville and Mickey Petersen are set to play an epic heads up for the EPT Copenhagen title and DKK 2,515,000 first place prize. Going down from three players that means it's Bjarke Hansen who has been squeezed out. Although Neuville had just grabbed the chip lead away him, it...more
Tan turns up the heat in the Macau Poker Cup Another long day in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room has seen our field reduced to the final 18. They've come a long way from the starting field of 635 players, but the reality is that there is still a loooooong...more
Into the tournament room to see what was going on. As players went on a break I thought about talking to Mickey Petersen, but then figured the man was entitled to some temporary peace and quiet as chip leader. The last thing you want when you're in control of...more
After a series of recuperating double ups Jacob Rasmussen has been knocked out in fifth for DKK 490,000 (approx. $88,400). The Dane had been knocked down to around 150,000 after making a big call with a combo draw against Bjarke Hansen's over pair and failing to get there. Rasmussen managed...more
After excusing himself for a quick trip to the gents, Mickey Petersen caught up with us at the last break; shortly after doubling up with aces ("It's a good hand, yeah.") "Basically no matter what happens when you're playing five handed the money is going in there," said Petersen....more
11:35pm: Ten-minute break 11:30pm: Update from the High Rollers While the Main Event is getting to an exciting stage, many of the casualties have jumped over into the HK$30,000 High Rollers Event which kicked off earlier this afternoon. With a four-hour late registration period, the tournament has only just been...more
Mickey Petersen has doubled through chip leader Aage Ravn in a huge cooler of a hand. Ravn opened to 50,000 from the hijack and Petersen three-bet to 130,000 from the button. The Norwegian came back over the for 300,000 and the Dane, one of three remaining, calmly announced that he...more
There are fewer people watching the final table from the rail now, four actually, none of whom look like potential EPT winners. One of them is wearing a comfortable sweater, for one. Poor guy doesn't stand a chance. That said, seats remain in the seating area, which right now...more
American Steve O'Dwyer and Dutchman Niels van Alphen have has just busted in 7th (DKK 290,000) and 6th (DKK 390,000) respectively. O'Dwyer, who joins an elite group of players that have made two EPT final tables in a season, shoved his short stack shove in with A♦3♦ and was called...more
Aage Ravn has eliminated Spencer Hudson to stretch out his chip lead knocking out the American with A♠T♦ hitting against jacks all-in pre-flop. Ravn now sits behind a three million stack, a third of the chips in play, with his closest rival Jacob Rasmussen some way behind with 1,347,000, EPT...more
It seems there are enough people staying at the SAS Radisson who are not air stewardesses between shifts, prepared to ditch the fun and promise of a Saturday morning in order to throw clothes on and watch the main event final from the rail. The action takes place at...more
The final table starts at 12 noon today with the final eight of 299 players back for one more day of action at the SAS Radisson Casino. Below you'll find details of all of them, including something about a weather girl, and goalkeeper and at least one player killing...more
8:50pm: 45-minute dinner break Change of plans #2. We will be taking the dinner break now with 39 players remaining. Back in 45! 8:35pm: Wiesler's one out German Bjoern Wiesler is somehow still alive in this tournament, but he had to survive a three-way all in and spike a one-outer...more
6:40pm: Ten-minute break 6:40pm: Lind bubbles! The clock was paused as hand-for-hand play extended beyond the end of the level, but it didn't take too long for the bubble to burst, and we couldn't have written the script to be more dramatic if we tried. We passed by Joseph Lind...more
4:30pm: Ten-minute break 4:15pm: Cheam gets frisky We rushed to the table of Kazakhstan's Roman Paxyutkin after he let off a loud scream after copping a brutal beat against Australian Alvin Cheam. Paxyutkin had opened with an early-position raise and action folded around to Cheam in the small blind who...more
Right now we were supposed to be writing about Michael Tureniec's chances of a second European Poker Tour title, how he will put that old monkey back in the cage and end years of speculation. Alas, we can't do that, and have spiked pre-written columns about the Swede's impending...more
Another day, another record in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room It started with high expectations. It always does here in Macau. And it seems that we repeat ourselves when we write that expectations were not just exceeded, but they were blown out of the water once again by the PokerStars...more
It's only been a few days since the close of the Latin American Poker Tour's fourth season in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Those of us who were there can still taste the cachaça in our mouths, hear the samba music outside, and see another big season on the LAPT come to...more
Ladies and gentlemen, we are down to the last nine players, all of whom are currently stretching their legs ahead of the restart. Bjarke Hansen is our chip leader having won two huge all-ins with ace-jack and ace-queen against the respective ace-kings of Michael Tureniec (out, 11th) and Lauri Varonen...more
Okay. Find the people who say poker isn't a game of skill and send them to my office right now. I will fight them. With my fists and fingernails. With my knobby little knees and infirm elbows. I'll fight until I can fight no more, and then I will show...more
2:30am: Ten-minute break 2:25am: Players by country With play slowing up a little, PokerStars Country Manager Fred Leung has helped us fill the void with some stats about the players in the Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon Main Event. China is the most represented with 114, while the Japanese once...more
Poker bloggers are an interesting sort. They come from all places, come in all shapes, and eschew any sort of mold. One thing is sure, though: if a poker blogger has gone to sleep, it wasn't willingly. Poker happens all the time, and writing about it is a practice in...more
12:20am: Ten-minute break 12:15am: Numbers game The big screen is now showing an incredible 352 entrants for today which takes the total number of entrants to 635 for the Main Event which we believe will be the final number. Expect confirmation of this as well as the prizepool information to...more
Bear with us as we harp on about the illusive double EPT winner again, but right now we have a live one. So let's put it all back in the hopper and see what comes out. It's a debate that has rattled (clanged) around the halls of EPT HQ...more
We are down to the final two tables with just sixteen SCRUB fifteen players remaining. Shortly after the table balancing Alexander Manson called the 220,000 three-bet shove of Gerasimos Deres with pocket sevens. Deres held pocket queens and failed to suck out despite flopping a flush draw. Team PokerStars...more
You'll find Mickey "mement_mori" Petersen waiting patiently on the rail during breaks in play. The Dane has nothing really to do until he can take his seat again, and with a trip to the gents complete it's time to wait. He's never far away from another pro though, or...more
Alexander Manson was left shaking his head looking demoralised that he'd lost more than half of his stack tangling with Michael Tureniec - but that's what going to happen when you play the reigning champ out of position. Jacob Rasmussen opened from the hijack to 20,000 and Tureniec made the...more
EPT Live has been running some five seasons now, a true pioneer in the poker field. The likes of James Hartigan, Lee Jones and Nick Wealthall (and associated guests) have been streaming the action end last of European Poker Tour main events, bringing you moving pictures, insight and banter (not...more
The EPT Copenhagen field might be slightly smaller than previous incarnations, but think of it as just a stiffer concentration. This is the good gin, rather than the watered down house gin, the good scotch as opposed to the backroom hooch; a full glass of Robinsons orange cordial, without...more
10:10pm: Ten-minute break 10:05pm: Team PokerStars loses two Just prior to the break we've lost two of our Team PokerStars Pros as Bryan Huang and Raymond Wu have both been eliminated. Wu was down to under 10,000 in chips when he was all in with pocket nines, but they failed...more
It's the morning after the night before for some, and just the morning after for others. It was party time last night in Copenhagen as European Poker Tour players were invited to dance the night away at Zen, a nightclub that harnesses the principles and beauty of Zen Buddhism...more
Like cheap wine, Day 3 never really got good until we'd had a few gulps of it. The early levels were a bland procession as players politely made their way to the rail, reaching the bubble after two levels and getting that little exercise wrapped up in the space...more
1 1 Juha Lauttamus 182,000 1 2 Gerasimos Deres 151,500 1 3 Steve O'Dwyer 423,500 1 4 Helge Stjernvang 104,000 1 5 Jacob Rasmussen 239,000 1 6 Michael Tureniec 294,500 1 7 Spencer Hudson 523,500 1 8 Alexander Manson 730,000 2 1 Alejandro Sanchez Fernandez 620,500 2 2 Henrik...more
Bag and tag puts Dong Woo Kang in front A late start was always going to mean a late finish, but the 8:10pm kick off certainly sat well with players, especially those travelling over from Hong Kong after a working day, as a massive field of 283 players voted emphatically...more
What a torrid time for Melanie Wesiner. At the end of level 15 Weisner was chip leader with 595,000, at the end of level 16 she was still in the top half of chip counts with 291,000, but around 15 minutes into level 17 she was leaning back in her...more
This weekend saw the start of the Asia Poker season with the Macau Poker Cup. By the time you read this blog entry, records would have been broken, guarantees smashed and someone will soon have slain the Red Dragon main event. The Macau Poker Cup held at Pokerstars Macau also...more
2:30am: Ten-minute break 2:20am: On the rail A couple of recent eliminations include Sparrow Cheung and Kai Paulsen. Cheung was eliminated when his K♦K♥ were cracked by an opponent's 7♦7♣ when a third seven appeared on the flop. Joining him on the rail was Paulsen who was severely short-stacked and...more
The bubble has burst, ten players have departed with money in their pockets and Melanie Weisner is back into the chip lead of EPT Copenhagen. And how does the New Yorker celebrate that achievement? She goes for a PokerStars Blog approved hot dog. Good on you, Melanie. Melanie Weisner playing...more
If Carlsberg did bubbles the bubble boy would be whisked from his seat by winged angels, taken to a fluffy room far away from the cheers of those left in the money, stroked and fed cocktails until the bad memories went away. Maybe they'd score him a few tranquilizers...more
12:20am: Ten-minute break 12:10am: The Bobo We just caught Daoxing "Bobo" Chen pull the classic Bobo overbet shove - an epic move that the poker fans in Macau just love to see. With three limpers in front for 400 a pop, Chen moved all in from the small blind...for 11,500....more
"If that's the way I go, then that's the way I go," said Malki Yaron Zeev dramatically. The tall Israeli stood up and threw his cards down on the table: pocket twos for the smallest full house on the 8♣9♣8♠2♥ board. His opponent, big stack Constantin Petrica, rolled his eyes,...more
The drive towards the money isn't treating some of the biggest names left in this field too kindly. Juha Helppi, who is currently sporting an Achilles tendon injury which necessitates crutches and a large plastic leg brace, has been on the wrong side of his last few pots and is...more
In the lobby bar last night we were treated to the company of two Scandinavian legends; Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden (representing Norway) and former Liverpool FC star Jan Molby (representing Denmark). Both looked a little beleaguered, Molby by a day fending off attacks from the likes of Steve O'Dwyer...more
As Melanie Weisner hauled in the big pot she'd just won against Lars Hansen last night, she was also hauling in the chip lead, a stack of 368,200 which would finish the day some 47,000 plus ahead of the next guy. "This day was just about me owning everyone...more
10:10pm: Ten-minute break 10:00pm: Hasse stays out of trouble Julian Hasse knows the sweet taste of success in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room as the 2010 MPCC champion is among today's runners. He's been in the thick of the action early, on a tough table where Japan's Seijiro Machi has...more
David Vamplew and Rupert Elder went to Noma two nights ago, officially the best restaurant in the world, where the two former EPT champions had a table booked after a three months wait. You don't order food at Noma, you eat what you're given and enjoy it. Apparently it...more
If Day 1 of EPT Copenhagen had been a little different - a small intimate gathering of professional and amateur players wondering where everybody else went - then Day 2 marked the return to normal operating procedure; with that familiar sense that the good players were thriving and taking...more
Check out the Day 3 seat draw below. Chip leader Melanie Weisner has been drawn at the same table as Simon Ravnsbæk so expect some fireworks there tomorrow. Luca Pagano looks likely to extend his record number of EPT cashes to 21 while defending champion Michael Tureniec and American Kevin...more
Two Team PokerStars Pros sit side by side, one enjoying his time at the table, the other looking far from thrilled. On the left sits Pierre Neuville who appears, quite understandably, happy with his stack of some 220,000. On the right is Johnny Lodden, slumped with his left arm hooked...more
"Have you got an invite to the EPT party?" whisper trendy young things in darkened corners of the hippest bars in the coolest metropolitan cities of Europe. "The EP what?" they ask in awe of an exclusive get-together they're never even heard of, let alone got their name on the...more
Gazing out the hotel window, the incredible flashing neon lights of the Grand Lisboa Hotel and Casino provides a stunning backdrop as we are excited to once again find ourselves in heart of gambling in Asia. Our passports might be starting to collect a few familiar stamps, but there's always...more
Every side event at this PokerStars Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon has more than doubled its respective guarantees with a new record being set each passing day of the nine-day schedule. Germany's Sandro Simon won event no. 4 as he beat the HKD $4,000 buy-in event's record 212-player field and...more
Ask those who spend their time working on the European Poker Tour to name the worst final table they ever seen and most will undoubtedly say Copenhagen, Season 4, an epic all-nighter that somehow managed to make time stand still. It's true, it was a tough night. But they're...more
If I remember correctly, on my sixth birthday I got a horse-racing board game. It was a curious gift for a young boy that perhaps explains a subsequent interest in recreational, er, gambling. The reason I mention it, however, is that this sixth-birthday gift was worth a few dollars in...more
There was a peculiar natural phenomena here in Copenhagen last year, a maelstrom which seemed to centre on Michael Tureniec. Wherever he was drawn to sit action followed; big stacks would get moved to his table and invariably bust while coolers, hero calls and suck outs appeared as if out...more
Break time is spent in one of a few ways; either on a cigarette break, a trip to the gents or talking over things with friends. I don't like to interrupt a conversation, and I'm not going to the gents with a man. But I'll let a man smoke,...more
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We have a full house today with 179 players returning. American pro player Steve O'Dwyer - yes , he of EPT London runner-up fame - is the chip leader coming into play today. He is on a table with two other stacks over 100,000 which...more
The thin layer of ice is beginning to thaw across the Stadsgraven lake this morning and the trees that line either side sway gently in the breeze. It's a picture postcard vision from high up in the SAS Radisson hotel; only the healthy people riding bikes or jogging somewhere...more
A $1 million guaranteed prize pool with at least $200,000 set aside for first place. Sounds pretty good, yes? Better still, you can play in this event for just $55 and try to win $100 bounties by knocking out a member of Team PokerStars Pro or Team PokerStars Online in...more
Time for another session of the popular Super Tuesday tournament on PokerStars, as a field of 433 players easily smashed the recently raised $300,000 guaranteed prize pool. The final 54 players earned a piece of the $433,000 prize pool. This week's winner would come from Australia, as a five-way...more
After a record opening weekend, the Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon continued to draw the masses as 291 players arrived at PokerStars Macau for event no. 3. Previously, the largest field for the popular HKD $1,500 deepstack event was 227 runners and the all-time side event record in Macau stood...more
We predicted today the main event would shift up into a trot after yesterday's walking pace, instead is giddied-up into a canter. There was a general sense that things had gathered pace today as a field of 215 arrived at the SAS Radisson Hotel, more than double that of...more
If you regularly follow the EPT you'll know that the prize pool tends to hit the newswires sometime during level 4 on Day 1B, just long enough for player numbers to be confirmed after late registration closes at the end of level 3. Not so here. The prize pool has...more
It happens to everyone, well nearly everyone, and even the one person it doesn't happen to tends to experience it next time around. Regardless of whom it is, and when, the process of being eliminated is an individual thing and is experienced in various ways. Take one player, whose...more
At the far end of the tournament room is one table that has been claimed under Irish sovereignty. Two of the nine players are Irish - the only two in the field - and between them they're playing every hand dealt. Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth needs little introduction. An...more
It's season three and a year on from Mads Andersen's late night exhilaration in Season 2, Copenhagen was about to ink another memorable final table into the history books. The main event that year had it all; from a man named Mycock (he was huge), cashing and rendering the...more
Last year's EPT Copenhagen final table was a crowd pleaser. It had more names than nobodies and more action than a super-straddled game of PLO. So where are they now, those mighty eight? Well, mainly here playing Day 1B as it so happens. 1st. Michael Tureniec, $679,244 Tureniec is sat...more
Last night in the bar in the Day 1A debrief members of the PokerStars Blog were discussing a system of quickly rating players. Not a star rating, that would be based on fame and results, but a 1-5 or A-E notation for quick reference and classification. 1 or A would...more
Winning a main event on the European Poker Tour is notoriously hard. It's supposed to be. To date there have been nearly 80 EPTs, each won by the most talented players in the game, none of whom have yet been able to win a second. There's no specific formula...more
A few short days ago it was Valentine's Day, the day of happiness, love and adoration. A day of hugs, kiss and cuddles but it was also the day PokerStars completely changed the online poker world. After reading my Valentine's Day card from my other half and opening the gifts...more
Day 1a started at walking pace but today we should at least get moving into a trot. The field of 83 players yesterday looks set to be dwarfed this afternoon as players, some of whom have travelled as far away as Australia (albeit on their way home to Sweden),...more
The first time I ever covered an LAPT event for the PokerStarsBlog was in San Jose, Costa Rica at the beginning of Season 2. What astounded me at the time was just how (for lack of a better word) crazy the players and the rail could get on the LAPT....more
There is one guarantee on the European Poker tour, other than the fact that someone will always want to smoke in the toilets, and that's that the Day 1b will be bigger, and often better than its predecessor. Not that today lacked much when it came to describing the...more
"Easy game," said Steve O'Dwyer. The tall American stood next to the central dais of the tournament room having got out of his chair to grab a drink (free from said platform). O'Dwyer had just moments ago finished stacking up to a monstrous 186,000 stack, way ahead of the 41,500...more
Ever seen the crowd dictate the terms of a deal at a big buy-in poker tournament? I just did. After a rash of eliminations in the first two hours of the day, play slowed down considerably for the next two. With not much change in the chip counts between Daniele...more
A wounding hand for Arnaud Mattern, the type to leave the Frenchman quietly shaking his head as Martin El-Kher raked in the pot and shared a joke, in Danish, with his friend in seat one. There were clubs on the flop, another on the turn and then a fourth...more
At the end of day 1B at UKIPT Galway, a comment appeared on the PokerStars Blog from a user calling himself "mully". The request was fairly straightforward: "In the updates im down as being from the United Kingdom, is there any way this can be changed to Ireland?" Blogging poker...more
Allan Baekke doesn't dress like your typical poker player. There is no hoody, no sweatpants, no diamante encrusted jeans. The Dane sports smart, fitted trousers and a fresh crisp shirt that make him look more like a property developer or market trader than online poker pro. It's been a while...more
Daniele Nestola is up on his knees in his chair. He looks like a bearded version of a Labrador puppy at meal time. He's happy, and if he had a tail, he'd be wagging it right now. Let this image stand in stark contrast to Nestola's attitude 20 minutes ago....more
You hear a lot of Spanish in South America. It's the predominant language of almost every country on this continent. Even in Brazil, where the primary language is Portuguese, passable Spanish can get you pretty far. Daniel Negreanu, among the most bantering of table banterers, may have wished for some...more
David Vamplew. Nick Abou Risk. Max Silver. These were names that you'd be forgiven for mistaking for a glam rock three-piece two years ago. Not so now. The three have become regular fixtures on both the UK and European poker scenes with Vamplew's heads up victory over John Juanda at...more
Brazil is very good at hosting Latin American Poker Tour tournaments. Some people might argue that Brazil does it better than any other country. What Brazilian players have a hard time doing, however, is winning an LAPT title in Brazil. Though the country had a player at the final table...more
"What the hell is going on in this game?" Daniel Negreanu asked the final table. "Welcome to Brazil!" Negreanu was voicing his opinion of the pre-flop action that resulted in an all-in confrontation between chip leader Daniele Nestola and Argentinian Juan Gonzalez. They were both in the blinds for the...more
Poker has for many years opened its arms to former footballers. Teddy Sheringham has cashed multiple times on the EPT including a fifth place finishing in Vilamoura in Season 7. Other former footballers on the tour have included Thomas Brolin, Tony Cascarino, Stig Tofting and one Jan Mølby. Mølby...more
When the LAPT first visited this amazing city at the beginning of this season, the event happened in the same room of the same hotel. When the first event of Season 4 reached the final table in Sao Paulo, half of them called Brazil home. This year? Things look a...more
Touching down at Copenhagen airport last night was David Vamplew. The former EPT London winner had picked Day 1a for his assault on the Copenhagen crown, although by the sound if it the main event was not his "main event" as such. That will come tomorrow night when he...more
After four and a bit days' play, UKIPT Galway has reached a final table of eight. The contenders are detailed below, and all prizewinners to date can be found on the prizewinner's page. They play to a winner on Monday February 20, 2012. Emmett Mullin, Ireland, PokerStars qualifier - 1,620,000...more
EPT Copenhagen can be considered the poker purists stop of the tour. It sports a boutique field packed full of the most aggressive Northern European pro players, sprinkled with some pillagers from the UK and the rest of mainland Europe - a reverse of the traditional Viking invasions. The battles...more
5.20pm: Emmett Mullin wins UKIPT Galway and €100,000 We have a champion and it's Emmett Mullin. In the final hand Ronan Gilligan raised to 200,000 on the button and Mullin made the call. The flop of 6♠3♦2♣ was where the fireworks went off. It was checked to Gilligan who c-bet...more
Just before entering the latest Women's Sunday, Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree tweeted: "On the Sunday PokerStars grind and feeling sparky." Liv also sparked the enthusiasm of hundreds of women players as she was one of three $50 bounties in the February 19 PokerStars Women's Sunday. Joining her were Team...more
PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa had a record opening weekend for the 15th edition of the Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon which runs from February 18-26. Event 1: $3,000 NLH was won by Xiao Yang Cui from Australia who bested a field of 196 players and collected HKD $127,100...more
The first season of the PokerStars Eureka Poker Tour was met with great enthusiasm from a poker community looking for its own tour in central and eastern Europe. Tournaments in Prague, Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria were great successes, showing once again that PokerStars puts on the best live events. Now...more
The European Poker Tour returns to one of the familiar locales on the tour today. Copenhagen is usually coated in a thick layer of snow when the tour rolls in from Deauville, but today there is none of that, only bright sunshine to show a pretty, although winter battered...more
Following last week's "double vision" promotion, the Sunday Million regained its focus this time around. Just one tournament seems more special somehow, and indeed, as is the case every week, the weekly $215 buy-in no-limit hold'em tourney was special enough to attract yet another huge field of players all with...more
The Sunday Warm-Up is no jog around the block. It may have originally earned it's moniker due to its pre-Sunday Million start time, but has grown into one of poker's most hotly contested weekly online majors. Almost every weekend someone walks away from this slugfest with a six-figure payday they...more
Nine players remain in the main event of UKIPT Galway and they will return at noon on Monday to play down to a winner, the third in these parts on this tour. However that is already maybe misleading. Taking his seat around a remarkable third UKIPT final table tomorrow is...more
Daniel Negreanu, a man who plays $100,000 tournaments for fun and profit, entered this $2,300 LAPT Grand Final main event and found himself caring about the outcome. He could be out partying it up 24 hours a day for Carnival, but instead he set about the process of winning this...more
10.55pm: End of day chip counts and final table draw Here's how the final table stacks up, join us at noon when UKIPT Galway will reach it's conclusion: Seat one - Emmett Mullin, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 1,003,000 Seat two - Nick Abou Risk, Canada, PokerStars Player, 647,000 Seat three -...more
Caio Pimenta has a single word tattooed along the length of the top of his left arm, in scripted letters a few inches high: Believe. I tapped him on the shoulder in between hands at the feature table and asked him why he chose that particular tattoo. "Believe the dream,"...more
There are downsides to being a Team PokerStars Pro. Like, you have to do constant media interviews, be nice to fans, or show up early to tournaments for press conferences. There are probably more bad things, but you get the gist. Being a Team PokerStars Pro means a lot of...more
9.05pm: End of the level Players are now taking a 20-minute break. We'll be back with full chip-counts, etc., shortly - and in a new post. 9pm: Ten bigs. Wheeeee! Thomas Hall is down, significantly, but he's not out. He lost almost all his chips - all but 72,000 of...more
In between all the samba dances, caipirinhas and Brazilian flash mobs, there's this little poker tournament going on in the WTC Sheraton ballroom. We're halfway home on Day 3. Playing for three hours has resulted in eight of the sixteen executions scheduled for the day. Among the ranks of the...more
Three or four times a year, something happens that makes me want to run to a computer and write the story. The only thing that kept me from writing this story earlier is that I didn't want the experience to end. So, when I saw one of the most...more
6.45pm: Gilligan pulls off the improbable Nick Abou Risk is mortal. Well, he's just lost a pot, which isn't necessarily the same thing, but it's surprising enough. Abou Risk raised to 32,000 from the button and Ronan Gilligan called from the big blind. They both checked the Q♦3♦5♦ flop, but...more
You've seen those Japanese tsunami videos from last year, I'm sure. Onlookers watch in horror as walls of water come pouring into Japanese coastal villages and flow over, under, around and through anything that stands in their way. What you don't see in those videos, for very good reason, is...more
4.20pm: Break Time The remaining players are now on a 20 minute break. You'll find level 21 updates in a new post. -- NW 4.20pm: Alan Gilmore doubles through Nick Abou Risk Just before the break Alan Gilmore and Nick Abou Risk played a 500,000 chip pot. Gilmore raised, Abou...more
At various times in the past, in this very space, I have waxed eloquent about the coffee in South America. The last time that happened I was blogging from the LAPT Colombian National Poker Championship in Medellin in October. But I beg your indulgence to allow me to spill the...more
2.05pm: Level over That's the end of level 18 and dealers are now starting a chip-count of the remaining 29 stacks. The full details will be with you shortly, much like further coverage in a new post. -- HS 2pm: Air Jordan Gary Jordan has had a good run in...more
A better writer than me would figure out what the link is between peppers and turtles, as both played prominently in Day 2 of the LAPT Season 4 Grand Final. They're both green is the best that I could do. That doesn't really lend itself very well to a description...more
Day 2 has put me in the awkward position of admitting something about the nature of covering poker tournaments: by and large, we reporter types hate dinner breaks. We understand they are probably necessary, and we grok the whole idea of "people needing sustenance to survive." But, really, dinner breaks...more
UKIPT Galway is reaching its business end after a day of poker unlike many on any tour. Reconvening with 311 players - the survivors from two opening flights - the rate of eliminations in the opening levels couldn't have been quicker if we'd have loaded the players like shot into...more
I read an AP article this morning about a blog called, "Little Leopard, Where Are You?" that tries to re-unite Carnival couples. Apparently lots of random street-kissing goes on during Carnival. Sometimes those who lock lips get separated from each other in the press of humanity that takes to the...more
It's hard to say what, if anything, can prepare a person to stone bubble a major poker tournament. There aren't many experiences like it, and those that are usually involve some sort of physical pain or participation in a masochistic subculture. After the last break, 51 players remained in the...more
9.40pm: Exits Only 59 players made it through to Day 3 meaning that 22 players have been eliminated in the money. From Eamonn Kilkenny to Adrian O'Donoghue find out who's cashed for what here. -- NW 9.20pm: Play has ended Play is done for the day, bagging and tagging has...more
By now you've probably seen the new series of PokerStars television adverts. The series is titled "We are poker" and features three spots, including one called "Nacho v. Brazil". That spot begins with a voiceover declaring, "We are 10,000 people in Brazil, holding our breath" as Team PokerStars Pro Jose...more
The calculus of a Player of the Year race is hard for a writer to fully appreciate. There's math involved, and mixing a blogger and a calculator is like trying to cook methamphetamine on a Tilt-a-Whirl. That's why I went looking for somebody who can do math without risking injury...more
6.50pm: End of level 14 The 86 remaining players are on a 20 minute break, staff are doing chip counts during this break and we'll flow them into the blog just as soon as we get them. You'll find level 15 updates in new post. -- NW 6.45pm: Snowmen leave...more
When I was a college student in St. Petersburg, Russia in late 1996, Galina Nikolaevna drilled the phrase "Извините за опоздание" ("forgive me for being late") into my head. Galina Nikolaevna was my professor for Conversational Russian, a class that met four times a week, and was a stickler for...more
Vincenzo Giannelli stood like a giant over the two children in front of him and opened his bag. The boy and girl stood with wide eyes and looked up at the man towering above their little heads. The one-time judo champion is a man of amazing size. Shaking his hand...more
The PokerStarsBlog team here in Sao Paulo is comprised of a bunch of old men (though we often don't act like it). When Day 1 play at the LAPT Season 4 Grand Final concluded just after midnight last night, we were knackered. The combination of a red-eye flight on Wednesday...more
2.05pm: Level over Those first two levels of absolute carnage are over. We'll begin again in another post after a 20-minute break. -- HS 1.55pm: Downs up Nik Downs went to dinner last night still proudly wearing his "lucky" poker hat, but wondering if he should downgrade it to just...more
Imagine sitting in one of the world's largest cities. Twenty million people are packed in the streets around you celebrating the biggest weekend of their year. It's the excitement of Mardi Gras, the World Cup Finals, and New Year's Eve all packed into one and injected with steroids. That's where...more
Five stops on Season 4 of the LAPT in five different countries produced five Main Event champions of five different nationalities. When converted to old-fashioned greenbacks, each man cleared at least five figures in his win. All five were invited to Sao Paulo to take part in the Grand Final,...more
Daniel Negreanu has a secret. That's right. The man with no secrets has a secret. And he may not be the only member of Team PokerStars Pro trying to hide something tonight. Negreanu, the man who famously (or infamously) shares a majority of his life and true feelings about everything,...more
"If I ever became fabulously rich, the first thing I'd do is a get a driver." Brad Willis, Donnie Peters, Kristy Arnett and I were crammed across the back seat of a compact four-door, make, model and year unknown. Brad let his remark hang in the tight confines of our...more
The second flight of a major poker tournament will always attract more players than the first. But given the fact that yesterday's turnout of 298 was already more than played the entire corresponding event in Galway last year, we wondered whether today might buck a trend. But of course it...more
Leandro Csome is playing the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final with my money. Or at least he could be. What's more, he could be using my money to win the LAPT Player of the Year. The last time I saw Csome, he was sitting on my left in a...more
So there's this little poker tournament going on here in São Paulo. You might have heard about it. It's the Grand Final of LAPT Season 4. Dry statistics don't tell the tale of what's going on in the 10,000-square-foot ballroom at the WTC Sheraton. Sure, close to 400 players took...more
We ate meat last night. Giant hunks of cow, lamb, chicken, and pig. It came to our plates bloody and oozing its juices with each careful cut of the giant blade. There was other food, too--potatoes, plantains, and grilled mozzarella cheese--but we there for the meat. Gluttonous slices of picanha....more
It's almost impossible for me to see Brazil with the fresh eyes of a newcomer and big buy-in poker player. For one thing, I'm no newcomer. I've been here multiple times over the last decade. For another thing, I'm not a big buy-in poker player. And as long as we're...more
Move! Action from the final two levels of today can be found in this post over here. Not here. Here. 6.45pm: Jorephani hits, stays alive Just on the stroke of the break, Nadir Jorephani managed to more than double his stack, putting what looked like something of a beat on...more
She wore red lipstick, a white collared shirt, and a warm smile that is more normal here than in other parts of the world. At her feet was a cooler full of water and soda. In her hand was a list of names: Brad Willis, Mike Ward, Greg Pappas,...more
The first time I set foot in Brazil was on Friday, February 8, 2002. I came for Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. It was the first trip I took out of New York since the terrorist attacks of 9/11 reduced a building in which I once worked to a stories-tall...more
4.25pm: Break time We've reached the half way point of Day 1B, players are being rewarded with a 20 minute break. Join us in the next level post. -- NW 4.20pm: Buckaroo Bedi busted Rupinder Bedi has seven cashes in UKIPT events that's a record but he'll have to wait...more
"Look! Look!" Our driver's eyes were off the road as he he pointed. Whatever he wanted us to see was far more important than the certain death about to happen on the highway in front of us. The Sao Paulo traffic was like something out of a video game. Motorcycles...more
2.05pm: Break time And that's the end of level two, taking the players to their first 20-minute break of the day. Join us in another post shortly. 2pm: The end for Enda, tamed by Teng Andrew Teng has just taken down a decent pot, sending Enda McGearty out and building...more
I'll admit the weather could have been slightly better, but if by some miracle you manage to drag yourself away from the tables, Copenhagen still has a lot to offer. Culture wise, there was one guy interested in hearing where the best museums are, but since he got sick and...more
After a hiatus of something like five months, during which the UKIPT morphed temporarily into the EPT and then celebrated with a Champion of Champions event, regular season action reconvened this afternoon in Galway, the start of season three. And it was good to be back. The buy-in was a...more
9.20pm: Five alive This, by our estimates, is the top five chip stacks from Day 1A: Thomas Finneran, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 89,600 Emmet Mullin, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 84,900 George Stoddart, Ireland, PokerStars Qualifier, 84,400 James Estrop, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier, 83,300 Filip Hanusek, Czech Republic, PokerStars Qualifier 81,600 9.15pm:...more
4.30pm: Break time Time for bad beat stories to be shared at the urinals and the smoking areas, for the next 20 minutes at least. Level five will be housed in a brand new shiny post which you'll find here. -- NW 4.25pm: (Meanwhile) Big pot alert part two As...more
Friday marks the anniversary of my blog. Hard to believe it has been a year! In honour of the anniversary, PokerStars has graciously decided to host the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. The series is a great chance for any of you bloggers out there to score some major...more
2pm: Two down, six to go That's the end of the first couple of levels, and players are being sent away for their first 20-minute break of the day. There's a new initiative in place to persuade the players to depart the tournament room as quickly as possible: "Free T-shirts...more
My usual journeys to EPT destinations are spent with enthusiasm and preparation for my impending week's work. Having had my 30th birthday party the night before I left for Deauville, turned a few normalities around. I'd had no sleep and was still in a jovial, partying mode, so to get...more
The Valentine's Day version of the Super Tuesday, the weekly $1,050 buy-in no-limit hold'em tournament that routinely attracts online poker's best and brightest, brought out a field of 441, thus creating a total prize pool of $441,000 -- still way above the tourney's newly-bolstered $300K guarantee. The top 54 finishers...more
When I think of Monte Carlo I think of Daniel Craig in that black tuxedo from Casino Royale. He looks so right sitting across from me at a poker table there. I think of glittering casinos and the rich and famous people who go there. I think of the fortunes...more
On this day of cards, red roses, love poems, chocolates and glorious commercialism romance, PokerStars Women have been feeling particularly loved-up and happy. Inspired by the story of Liv Boeree and Kevin MacPhee's poker romance we asked women to write to us if they had a poker love story to...more
As PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa begin their final preparations for the Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon series -- which runs from February 18-26 -- it will also launch the 4th season for the Asia Player of the Year (APOY). Past winners of Asia's most prestigious poker award include...more
Although Vanessa Rousso eliminated me from the PokerStars Women Live event at the PCA with a pair of jacks against my queen-ten of spades, my most vivid memory is the social, even raucous atmosphere she inspired at our table. Upon discovering that fellow Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez adored Eminem,...more
If you've been playing the game long enough, there aren't many words in poker that can make your heart race. But today, PokerStars issued a five-word statement that will change the lives of UK poker players. Those five words? "We are now an App." With one little sentence, PokerStars set...more
PokerStars announced this afternoon that PokerStars.eu has gone live for all of its players in Sweden and Finland. Combined with the recent announcement of PokerStars' new license in Malta, it's an important step in improving the player experience and benefits in those countries and across Europe. Today's announcement means Swedish...more
Listen, I was the designated driver this weekend, so it's not me. It's you. Actually, I don't know if it's you, either. Let's just blame PokerStars, shall we? Because it's somebody's fault I'm seeing double today. Let's just count the ways shall we? First, there was Sunday's date. 12-12. That...more
If there was ever a time for a poker player to mix business with pleasure, the Latin American Poker Tour Grand Final in São Paulo, Brazil, is the event to do so. It is taking place Feb. 17 through 20, colliding head on with the annual festivities of Brazilian Carnival,...more
The last time we saw Kyle "KJulius10" Julius, he was heads-up in the PCA Main Event, bluff-shoving his unimproved nine-high into John Dibella's rivered flush. Although Julius departed the Bahamas with an extra $1.5 million in his pocket thanks to a deal, the exiled American pro fell just short of...more
It's always been the crown jewel in the Sunday lineup. Your shot at turning $215 into six figures. Even if you spend your days multi-tabling Nanonoko-style, it still hurts to bust and it's a long wait until next week. This Sunday was different. It wasn't Groundhog Day but it felt...more
The Sunday Warm-Up has always been kind of a prequel, a lead-in to online poker's blockbuster tourney, the Sunday Million. With this week's "double vision" promotion, however, we had a sequel to the prequel, a.k.a. the "Sunday Warm-Up II: Electric Boogaloo." And as it turned out, the sequel might well...more
Not one but two Sunday Warm-ups would give players a shot at calling themselves "Sunday Major winners". As the first Sunday Warm-up this evening would line up 4,176 players (and the second one which was taken down by none other than Team PokerStars pro Andre Akkari also drew a guarantee...more
It was just another Sunday in February. Winter raged in many places throughout the world, with cold temperatures keeping players indoors and near a heat source. But for players on PokerStars, it was anything but an ordinary Sunday, as Double Vision took over and offered many players the opportunity to...more
The LAPT and BPT Grand Finals will soon be upon us and this time we don't just have a poker main event tournament lined-up, but a big poker festival taking place during one of world most exciting festivities, the Carnival in Brazil! Whether you've earned your spot to the LAPT...more
I am pleased to announce PokerStars has secured a Malta Remote Gaming License and very soon we will launch www.PokerStars.eu, giving us the ability to provide enhanced service to players in several European markets. You'll be hearing more about our plans for Pokerstars.eu in the coming days, but its origins...more
Who would've thought it in 2005 when the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker sprung up on PokerStars? Who would've thought that seven years later in the new world of Twitter and Facebook that the idea of blogging would be almost quaint. Back in 2005, WBCOOP was a way to...more
Well, this is just silly. Seriously, if you were going to plan a vacation and had the means, wouldn't you hop from Sydney to Queenstown and then back over to Melbourne? It's pretty much the perfect vacation. Now, try this on for size: what if you could play a world...more
I loved Brazil before I ever went to Brazil. I loved it for its people, their genuine smiles, and a joie de vivre that is impossible to find in other countries. It's difficult to fully appreciate unless you've seen it. It's as if every major hardship a Brazilian has suffered...more
After four eager months of waiting for visa approval, Angel Guillen finally made his way Down Under to Melbourne, Australia -- a country he has wanted to visit for a long time. "Right now I'm in Melbourne, Australia, visiting my girlfriend in her hometown. I'm halfway through my three-week trip,...more
Well, well, well. Here's a piece of news that is sure to knock the socks off Asia Pacific Poker Tour players. Today, the APPT announced its final stop of Season 5, and it's one of the most popular destinations on the tour. April 25-30, the Waterfront Airport Hotel and Casino...more
Circus Groupe and PokerStars, the world's largest online poker site, today announced that www.pokerstars.be has become one of the first online poker sites in Belgium to be officially granted a license under the Casino de Namur A+ license. The site was authorised in 2011 by the Belgian Gaming Commission in...more
"The players are calling it The Thing," Emma said. It was her job to be in touch with the people at the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. She had listened, and she knew that many folks were exceptionally curious about what my colleague Rick Dacey described as the "the elasticated crisscross...more
Better late than never. 2011 was a lot different than 2010 in terms of how I approached online poker. Fortunately, I mustered up a very similar result. In 2010, I was able to stick to a more robotic schedule and spread my play out between more days in each month...whereas...more
I have recently been asked to write a column on how life can change, when you become the world champion of poker. I know firsthand that it changes many things! Sometimes for the best and sometimes for the worst. In this blog, which I will split in three parts, I'll...more
It's been a busy January on PokerStars with tournaments in the Bahamas and France the past few weeks. Throw in the first TCOOP series and it may make you forget about the regular major events on the schedule. The calendar states that this is the first Super Tuesday in...more
They had their moment in the sun. They had their moment in the spotlight. They had their moment with a Latin America Poker Tour trophy hoisted above their head. Now, they are going to have their moment at the LAPT Grand Final Carnival of Poker. As you might know, the...more
In case you didn't know, poker players tend to like to gamble with their money, and I'm not talking strictly in cash games or poker tournaments. Prop betting offers another way for poker players to be in action and have their money on the line. Working in the industry, oftentimes...more
The final table of EPT Deauville promised so much. In the end it delivered on some of what we'd hoped for, but for much of the eleven-and-a-half-hours this day took it became a tactical duel, riddled with a mixture of caution and patience. For eventual winner Vadzim Kursevich it...more
Vadzim Kursevich now holds an enormous chip lead, staking his claim to the €875,000 EPT Deauville title. The Belarusian won a 17,540,000 pot crippling Vuong Than Trong in the process. Trong opened the button for 500,000 and Kursevich three-bet to 1,200,000 out of the small blind. Trong quickly moved all-in...more
Frenchman Bruno Jais has just been sent to the rail by Vuong Than Trong who reclaims the chip lead with a 11,700,000 stack. Jais, who has been playing an entertaining if not unorthodox game, opened the pot to 450,000 from the cut-off and was thee-bet to 1,050,000 by Than Trong...more
Vadzim Kursevich is sitting front and centre of the EPT Deauville final table, arms resting around his stack. Just a few yards away sits Russian Andrey Pateychuk, who won EPT San Remo earlier this season for €680,000, railing the Belarusian who has been the most active player at this final...more
We've just seen a first for the European Poker Tour, perhaps even for poker itself. Never before has a player moved all-in by force, shoving in for his big blind because, well, that's all he had left. It was as though Olivier Rogez felt better of himself than to...more
Though most people outside of North America refer to it as American football, the game's championship game is a worldwide event. Tens of millions of people around the world tuned in last night for the National Football League's Super Bowl. While it was a big deal, it was just background...more
It was probably the most dramatic moment of the final table so far, the double up of Yorane Kerignard in front of the home crowd. Short stacked, Kerignard got his chips in with king-six, not the best of options but Kerignard was short of chips and time, moving in...more
The Chinese New Year celebrations are complete and the Year of the Dragon appropriately launches the 2012 Asia Player of the Year race with the Macau Poker Cup: Red Dragon series which takes place from February 18-26 hosted by PokerStars Macau at Casino Grand Lisboa. The 15th installment of Asia's...more
The casino floor is not far away from the tournament room, just a short walk out the door and to the right where the main theme music to Jesus Christ Superstar blares out from somewhere. A Jesus Christ Superstar slot machine seems unlikely, even in secular France. But the...more
I had a lot of travel problems getting to the PCA. I got stuck in Miami for one night, and had a lot of other flight problems. I showed up at the tournament very tired, which is not the way you want to be at a $100,000 tournament. I ran...more
Luca Pagano will have to wait for his first EPT title having lost a 3,300,000 flip against Vuong Than Trong to bust out in 7th for €110,000. It's been another fine performance from the Italian Team PokerStars Pro who extends his dual record of most EPT final tables (seven) and...more
Mick Graydon is the first player out at the EPT Deauville final table collecting €67,200 for his eighth place finish. His elimination at the hands of Paul Guichard has pushed the Frenchman further ahead of the pack, now up to 7,800,000, some way ahead of his countryman Olivier Rogez with...more
The bank of seating facing the stage is now full of spectators, most of whom seem to be attending to important business on their mobile telephones. A group of standing-room-only spectators has also gathered to one side of the temporary stand. It's not clear where their telephones are. For...more
Mick 'BIGMICKG' Graydon told us last night that he felt that he wasn't too concerned about starting the day in last place as he rated his own short stack game. So far he's backing up that claim. The Irishman started the day with 960,000 but has chipped up to 1,350,000...more
Rarely does an EPT final table start on time and this one wasn't going to be the exception. At about 12.15pm it seemed most of the players were here, but there would be no start until at least 12,30pm. Eventually the last eight were rounded up, Vuong Than Trong...more
The final table of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Deauville leg plays down to a winner today, the culmination of six days of poker on the Normandy coast. Watch all the action from Deauville on EPT Live Lite by going to PokerStars.tv. Typically the Deauville leg conjures up a...more
Last month we launched a new global ad campaign which we believe captures the emotional essence of why poker has become such a global phenomenon. You can view the first ads from the campaign on our We Are Poker channel. Written by our in-house creative team, the ads introduce the...more
Sundays are usually reserved for winding down from a busy week, but in the world of online poker, it's one of the most exciting days with the most opportunities to win big. Last Sunday saw the final events of the inaugural TCOOP series take place, and today brought all of...more
It was a big day of sports for the Americans and those who follow what the Americans call football. But for the rest of the world, it was poker as usual, and PokerStars was there to provide the schedule of tournaments that would satisfy everyone from the low buy-in players...more
The first Sunday of February brings another Women's Sunday to the masses of female poker players on PokerStars. Another month of the weekly events is on the way, along with a Facebook freeroll and other surprises. We can't give away all of our secrets, but you can trust that there...more
With just eight players remaining in the European Poker Tour Deauville main event, it's a Frenchman who holds the narrow lead as Paul Guichard bags up 5,955,000 after a speedy six-hour day at the tables. Luca Pagano meanwhile reaches a record-extending seventh EPT final table. Guichard, who began the...more
If not today then sometime soon, Nikolaus Teichert will ask himself, "Why did I make that call?" It's a question we've certainly been asking ourselves up on the stage behind the final table, just a heavy velvet curtain separating us from them. Perhaps he wanted to emulate Doyle Brunson, maybe...more
If Chris Brammer could have looked more gutted it would hard to imagine how. Paul Guichard had opened for 80,000 from the hijack, a standard action for the chip leader at this stage of the tournament, and was shoved on by Denis Cheremisin for around 400,000 from the button. In...more
Deauville has been the site of some memorable final tables in the five previous incarnations. Starting in Season 1, Brandon Schaeffer became the first of many fascinating stories to emerge from the tour. Schaeffer's friend Carl Olsen qualified on PokerStars to play Deauville and suggested Brandon try to do...more
Every EPT is a festival of poker, it's not just a main event. Okay, there might not be the 40-odd events you have at the PCA but there are side events galore, from €300 nightly turbos up to €10,000 High Rollers. These side events have proved to be happy hunting...more
There's a man, one can only assume part of the EPT Live Lite team, disassembling a step ladder at the corner of the stage, folding it down ready to carrying it away. To anyone looking into the tournament room to see what was going on, that ladder is the...more
As well as following the action on the PokerStars Blog, don't forget live coverage on EPT Live Lite begins today, a fixed camera no hole cards version of the more flamboyant EPT Live. You can watch all the action from the feature table - which right now features chip...more
While Deauville slept six inches of snow fell across northern France. This winter wonderland looks beautiful, the blanket of white only disturbed by the passing of cars and the odd child intent on sniping passers-by. In the right circumstances it's a happy time but today it merely makes idiots...more
The biggest and richest tournament in all of Europe is on its way back to Monaco. After a one-year hiatus, the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final is returning to Monaco. As Season 8 of the EPT draws to a close, the EPT will pack its bags April...more
It's difficult to write that Luca Pagano is leading EPT Deauville. He is and it should be easy; after all, we've written it countless times before. The trouble starts though when you try to be original, you just stare at the keyboard convinced you've cut and paste a previous...more
Table one 1 Olivier Rogez 2,668,000 2 Vuong Than Trong 871,000 3 Andre Corredoira 1,310,000 4 Paul Guichard 1,700,000 5 Sergey Baburin 438,000 6 Antonio Guerrero 519,000 7 Christopher Brammer 1,262,000 8 Kevin Vandersmissen 737,000 Table two 1 Marc Inizan 481,000 2 Luca Pagano 3,561,000 3 Bruno Jais 970,000 4...more
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a live one. Artem Litvinov, who we yesterday compared to Illya Kuryakin, is up to 900,000 after making a call for the majority of his chips with A♠7♠. It wasn't the hand but the manner of celebration that left both spectators and the majority of...more
We are down to the final four tables here at EPT Deauville with just eight more players to bust before play ends for the day, 32 down to 24. Table five, which housed Luca Pagano, Ignat Liviu, Kevin Vandersmissen, Marc Inizan, Paul Guichard and Bernhard Mossner was the table to...more
The clock rests stubbornly on 36 players remaining, having not budged for some time now following the earlier surge that sent five players to the rail in just a few minutes. The remaining 36 are a varied bunch, a mixture of old and new, experienced and not experienced, just...more
At the first main event table you arrive at from the PokerStars press desk there was an empty chair. The absent player seemed to be doing pretty well, columns of grey 5,000 chips and a single tall red 25,000 stack contributing to a 1,700,000 stack. A couple of yards away...more
The tournament area is dominated not by the seven tables in action, but by a French camera team, whose tripod mounted camera is causing gridlock in the middle of the playing area. It's not the only camera in action, two more float around, not to mention that belonging to...more
People often ask me why it is that PokerStars is the world leader in online poker. There are many factors, of course: best customer service, superior product and innovation spring to mind. I'd also add one more... PokerStars has the best players. By that I mean they are the most...more
Luca Pagano starts Day 4 of EPT Deauville in a position he's well accustomed: in the money, with his sights set on the final table and at the top of the EPT Tournament Leaderboard. The Italian Team PokerStars Pro sat down this afternoon with 344,000, some way below average, having...more
It's another beautiful day in Deauville today. The sun shines and locals wear sunglasses, the sun casting shadows along the boulevards. So much so that you almost miss the ice on the pavements which nearly sent at least one of us flying this morning. The ice forms curious leaf...more
1 1 Herve Halfon 323,000 1 2 Christophe Rusca 129,000 1 3 Martins Adeniya 893,000 1 4 Heinz Kamutzki 224,000 1 5 Andre Andrade 263,000 1 6 Christopher Brammer 1,090,000 1 7 Mikael Guenni 89,000 1 8 Agris Klaise 436,000 2 1 Jason Hallee 127,000 2 2 Jean-Jacques Mars 310,000...more
He started the day as chip leader and he almost ended the day as chip leader. Martins Adeniya put in another top draw performance today but was thwarted to the lead in the dying minutes of the day, when his stack dropped below the million mark as across the...more
As always at this stage of a poker tournament the main event is slowly losing its dominance of the tournament room. As it shrinks, the eliminated players now entitled to line up at the pay-out desk, side events take on a greater role, vast sweeping things spread out across...more
The stories during this part of a tournament tend to be polarised: the players that bust and the stacks making a run at the chip lead. In some ways this is doing a disservice to all those grinders in between for they are the future heroes and villains of this...more
The are rules of etiquette when it comes to things like this. If a ball is about to hit you in the face, I'm supposed to immediately yell, "Heads up!" If your mother-in-law is on her way to your house, I'm supposed to call you ten minutes in advance so...more
Without doubt the table to watch right now is that of Ludovic Lacay and Martins Adeniya. The chip leader coming into the day, Adeniya, is one seat to the left of the current chip leader Lacay, the pair divided by the dealer about about 100,000 chips. Their stacks, castles...more
The first month of a new year is always exciting, especially so for the Women's Poker League. It all kicked off on January 3, and a new division was added to the two existing ones to give players more choices and competition. That $5.50 league drew in some new players...more
After the breathing in on the bubble there's always the exhalation post-pop as the players trying the hardest to hold their gut decide enough is enough, I don't care who sees my flab. Today of course was no different as the usual flurry of short stacked players jammed in...more
After a prolonged spell where the player count didn't seem to budge, the bubble bursts with two players departing on the same hand-for-hand hand, so to speak. Gone are Eric Nhouyvanisvong and Ilan Boujenah who will each share the €7,500 awarded for 128th place. Is that a good thing...more
The Turbo Championship of Online Poker revealed a lot about the nature of today's game. Of the many things we learned, it's that the series can produce champions from the ranks of relative unknowns. Just a few days removed from the end of the first TCOOP, we asked a few...more
Martins Adeniya and Toby Lewis are within a couple of feet each other. Both are young, British and undoubtedly good players but that's where the similarities end today. Adeniya is sat bolt upright in his chair, right hand constantly riffling a small stack of chips from his enormous pile which...more
You've heard of EPT Live, well now there's EPT Live Lite. When play reaches the penultimate day, when 24 remaining players complete across three tables for a place at the final, the cameras will be switched on, as will the lights and the commentators will be permitted to talk...more
1 1 Pierre Nousse 67,500 1 2 Mikael Cavailles 77,100 1 3 Patrick Nataf 174,100 1 4 Nikolaus Teichert 177,700 1 5 Julien Claudepierre 202,100 1 6 Todd Terry 85,200 1 7 Toby Lewis 278,700 1 8 Fabrice Yoni Journo 144,000 2 1 Martins Adeniya 512,200 2 2 Agris...more
Martins Adeniya leads at the start of today, and in fine style. The Englishman bagged up a massive 512,200 last night, a stack that nearly obscured his face at a table that perhaps never knew what hit it. "It's going to be hard to stop me in this tournament,"...more
There was a point today when a colleague came to us to say that four of the top six players were British. It didn't seem right to blow our own trumpet, particularly when the movement at the top of the chip count page was so fluid through to the...more
At any EPT there are usually one or two tables rocking with laughter, or hearty conversation at the very least. These tables don't just magic themselves out of thin air, they're based on what we reporters like to call an 'instigator' - a player that we can usually rely...more
This time last year James Dempsey was celebrating his latest tournament win, a £200, 32 entry hold'em event, part of the January Sales tournaments at the Rendezvous casino in Brighton, England. Dempsey, who lives in Brighton, topped the lot to take home £2,560. It was the start of a...more
As a guy who recently had a brief vision scare, I can attest that it's a bit off-putting when your eyesight goes all wonky out of the blue. You can find yourself stumbling around, running into walls, and wondering what disgusting thing you did to deserve such divine punishment. However,...more
Ondrej Vinklarek, it's hardly a name that rolls off the tongue but you may need to get used to it. Vinklarek, who plays under the name 'Vinkyy' at PokerStars, is currently top of the EPT Player of the Year Leaderboard and is showing little intention of slowing his ascent. The...more
I'm sad to say that I won't be staying on as a member of PokerStars Team Online in 2012. It was a great honor and a great experience to be a member of the team, but so much has changed since I joined the team last year. Now that I'm...more
Last night we reported that Toufik Ouirini was chip leader at the close of play. At the time he had a smile and a little more than 166,000 chips. With the tournament area closed to the press he was our best guess. We were nearly right. Ouirini was in...more
PokerStars Macau has announced that the 2012 edition of the Macau Millions has been postponed indefinitely. "Our current agreement to operate PokerStars Macau events and tournaments at Casino Grand Lisboa will expire in March." said Danny McDonagh in a statement. "As a result, the Macau Millions will be postponed for...more
Ace-ten against pocket sevens, blind versus blind, is a battle that is normally guaranteed to end badly for someone. And most of us would agree that head-to-head combat in a poker tournament is not the most auspicious way to start a relationship. But that is exactly what happened when Team...more
After eight seasons of the European Poker Tour, and having reported on it since season two, it's easy to notice various clichés that emerge from a main event. It's not exclusive to the EPT of course. Any large event will throw up some standard sayings that are typed out...more
Former EPT presenter and all round poker heroine Kara Scott has, to my eye at least, a relatively normal face. Now, wait one second, I'm not saying that she's not attractive or doesn't contain a winning smile with perfect teeth, but her head, well, it does seem to be of...more
The importance of taking your time is key in many aspects of day to day life. Chopping onions for example, driving on icey roads or tightrope walking. It ensures a degree of accuracy and avoids scrapes and unnecessary tears. That was our method of operating last night and yet...more
Table Seat Name Chips 1 1 David Dayan 37,600 1 2 Jorge Galino Lopez 46,500 1 3 Pavel Gomerov 28,200 1 4 Andras Kovacs 60,200 1 5 Fabrice Maltez 72,500 1 6 Jean Rohr 55,700 1 7 Thomas Launay 29,000 1 8 Roman Gorskiy 13,300 1 9 Abdel Kader...more
We found out a lot today. We found out how much money would be awarded in prize money and how many players would be competing for a share. And of course we found out how much would be awarded to the winner. What we didn't find out was who...more
They say that you should never judge a book by its cover but in most cases in poker you really can see what you're getting. You know what to expect when you find yourself sitting next to a young kid in a hoodie with Beats by Dre headphones wrapped round...more
Vivian Im may have only been in the game of poker for just a few years, but don't confuse lack of time with lack of experience or skill. In her short career she has achieved something that many before her are still trying to do. Im kick-started her live tournament...more
Ari Engel is one of those interesting looking guys you see in a poker tournament, and he tends to be easy to spot. For one thing Engel tends to stand up a lot, something I thought was related to the size of his stack but which Engel himself puts...more
The final confirmed numbers are in. We have 889 players, almost exactly the same as last year, contributing to a €4,267,200 prize pool which is putting up €875,000 for first place. Remember that there are no deals allowed here at EPT Deauville due to French gaming regulations: what is advertised...more
What does it feel like to win EPT Deauville? Well, one winner is still trying to let it soak in. Two years ago Jake Cody got his ticket to the main stage of world poker, wining EPT Deauville and a first prize of €857,000 to ink his name among...more
Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel may be heading up the French Canadian poker charge but he's certainly not alone. Fellow Canuck Chris 'd0r1t0s' McClung has been tearing up the online stage for some time having won well over a million dollars in online tournaments and is now converting scores in...more
Or, "300 words about a balloon." By far the most notable incident of Day 1B so far has involved a man, a stick and a helium filled balloon. There are 90 poker tables in the tournament room. A large work station is in the middle of them with the...more
Do yourself a favor and just look at this list. Take some time. Enjoy yourself. Roll around in the excitement that comes with PokerStars giving away a bunch of money in a short period of time. As you're probably aware, the PokerStars 75 billionth hand is coming soon. How soon?...more
There are few players as recognisable in poker as 1998 WSOP champ Scotty Nguyen. You can keep your Phil Hellmuths and Johnny Chans, when it comes to American poker moments there are few that beat that moment when the Vietnamese born pro induces the call from Kevin McBride that wins...more
Once a year Deauville buzzes to the sound of riffled poker chips, the call of an "all-in" and the anguish of amateur histrionics. But for the rest of the year the town is known for other activities, mainly cinema, and most obvious to the casual tourist, horse racing. As...more
There are mixed emotions when you sit down at a table to find that you've been drawn with a bit of a poker superstar. While there's the downside of having a world class player at your table, hopefully to your right, you do have the opportunity of scalping them to...more
Day 1B of a European Poker Tour is identical to its first born twin delivered yesterday. There will be the same eight levels, each an hour long. There will be no dinner break. The players will have the same introduction, outlining the differences with tournaments in France in contrast...more
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