Estonia is a small country situated over the Baltic Sea in the north-eastern part of Europe. It is one of the least populated states in Europe with only 1.34 million citizens, out of which 410 thousand live in Tallinn. Although historically being part of Soviet Union, it is actually a relatively rich and modern country. The capital is a mix of old style buildings and new modern constructions occupied with banks, shops and restaurants. Estonian people like fancy items, especially cars. There is no other city in this part of Europe where every second car is a brand new BMW or Mercedes (well almost every second)! Just recently Estonia has introduced currency of EUR, so there will not be any exchange rate issues if you find yourself winning a big prize during EPT Tallinn.

Estonia is a short ferry trip close from Finland to the north, east is Russia and city of Sankt Petersburg and south lies another Baltic state, Latvia. Estonia has a rather cold winter climate, but in the summer temperatures are much more comfortable for people who do not like too much heat. For poker players who not only play cards but are also interested in sightseeing and culture, in 2011 Tallinn is European Capital of Culture, so there will be many events taking place.

I have also taken part in poker tournaments in Estonia. In 2010 I went to play Baltic Festival organized by PokerStars. Although not cashing in the main event I managed to win a turbo side event, so I have good memories about playing poker there. The poker room in five star Swisshotel is very nice and organization was outstanding. The hotel provides Pürovel Spa, has a pool, gym, treatment rooms and a fitness studio. Wireless and wired internet is free.

As the first stop of EPT Season 8, with €4.250 buyin Tallinn is a perfect place to start off well the EPT Player of the Year race. For those who find cards not cooperating well in the main event there will be many side events with buyins ranging from €300 in small turbo events to €10.000 for high roller players. Last year main event gathered more than 400 players and Kevin Stani brought home €400.000 for the first prize.

As always, my goal is to play solid poker, make good decisions and hope the cards are going my way. After already making two 3rd places in EPTs in 2008 and 2010, I want to finally see my name on the top of the results list :). It will not be easy, as there are a lot of very good players constantly improving their skills and each of them eyes the same spot. On the other hand I have also put a lot of work on my game and I feel good before going to Tallinn.

If you are still hesitating whether or not to go, just go ahead, buy a plane ticket and reserve a seat in the most prestigious poker tour in Europe. See you on the final table!

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WCOOP prize pools in 2009 exceeded $50 million and 2010 will be even bigger with more events and a higher guaranteed prize pool! Jovial Gent took down the Main Event and over $1.7 million for his excellent play. This year it can be anyone including me... or you!

Over the last two years at this time of the year I was not only looking for fish at the poker tables - I was fishing in real life in Finland. We used to go with a few keen friends, catching pikes and perches during the day, and playing bridge, and obviously Texas Hold'em in the evenings. You will not find a fast and reliable internet connection deep in the forests and lakes, so I usually was not able to play all the events I wanted.

But this year will be different. I decided to stay at home, play more events and hopefully with some good decisions and a good run of cards score some nice results for Poland. We are a big country by European standards, but poker is relatively young and only now beginning to really grow, so we haven't had as many good results as we would like.

On the other hand we have a lot of young talent so I hope we can finally show some spectacular results in the WCOOP - and also in Season 7 of the European Poker Tour.

I am really looking forward to this year's WCOOP. See how you can qualify on the WCOOP site. Good luck at the tables!

Event #9 of PokerStars' 2008 WCOOP No-Limit 4-Max promised to be a fast and fierce tournament. With 1,100 players out of nearly 3300 participants departing in the first hour, those predictions came true. Actually, this proved that PokerStars players present high skill level and are not only waiting for premium hands when in fact aggressive play really pays in such a short handed game. The action was fast, raises, re-raises and all-in moves common, and seat belts fastened at all times!

My tournament finished close to the payouts, when I ran out of chips and moved short-stacked with AQ into KK. I did play an aggressive style and was taking control of each table I played at, but I never had the momentum going. When I had good hands, play folded around to me. I enjoyed the event very much and I am looking forward to play in future WCOOP events. PokerStars prepared a mix of outstanding tournaments of every form and buy-in!

Eliminations have slowed down at a later stage of the tournament when players accumulated more chips allowing for more play. The event saw Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko going deep and finishing 26th when his pocket fives lost the race on the river against AQ. The final table was a Scandinavian affair. The top three players came from Norway and Sweden, while fourth place was taken by an American. Final table play was solid, but had very few showdowns. The eventual title and bracelet winner, jonasof87, no stranger to PokerStars tournaments, outlasted emiwarg, EirikS and 3232 after more than two hours of play.

Congratulations to all the winners!

See you at the tables!

Marcin Horecki is playing his first WCOOP as a member of Team PokertStars Pro.

Thorson has cashed four times at the World Series, with his most notable success in the 2006 WSOP, coming in 13th place in the Main Event. He won that year $907,128, and his live tournament winnings to date already exceed $1,800,000. Thorson made the final table at the PokerStars EPT San Remo and finished ninth at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure earlier this year.

Thorson, from Varberg, Sweden, has been playing poker for as long as he can remember, learning the game from his father and playing full time since graduating high school. His first experience of online poker was with PokerStars back in 2002 when he joined the site to practice his game on the free money tables and eventually progressed on to the real money games. His success is marked by the fact that, since opening his account, he has only deposited $50 to his PokerStars account.

“To be a member of Team PokerStars Pro is an honor for me. It’s a great team with many of the world’s greatest players and I’m honoured to be included in such company – as a player I’m very proud to have my skills recognized in this way. It’s a great opportunity for me and I hope to be able to achieve big results,” he said.

Thorson plays online as ‘William’ at PokerStars, proving just how long he’s been a member of the site – a new user now would be lucky to find any popular name like “William” still unused. For more on his time at PokerStars, see this interview below.

Watch William Thorson joins PokerStars on PokerStars.tv

Joining Thorson on Team PokerStars Pro is Polish poker superstar Marcin Horecki. Already one of the highest earning Polish poker players of all time, Horecki will be looking to take down his first major title as a member of Team PokerStars Pro at one of the major events around the world.

He was first introduced to the poker tables after playing Magic: The Gathering. He started out on the play money tables at PokerStars, then worked his way up through the ranks of low stakes cash games and tournaments.

“When I first started playing the free money tables, I dreamed of becoming a Team PokerStars Pro player,” Horecki said.

He made his first impact on the live circuit in 2006, when he came close to making the final table of the €1,000 No Limit Hold’em event at the Barcelona Open. The small cash prize of $3,927 gave Horecki the confidence he needed to make it as a pro player. In January 2007, he cashed in the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Season 3 Copenhagen event, winning $9,580 for finishing in 30th. This was followed three months later by a final table appearance at the Asian Poker Classic in Goa, a cash that was worth $29,000.

Later in the year, Horecki travelled to Vienna to play in the Asian Masters, and took down the €500 No Limit Hold’em Rebuy event for $28,637. In March 2008, he also cashed in a side event at the EPT Polish Open in Warsaw, making the final table and picking up $9,675 for a third place finish.

For more on Thorson, Horecki, and the rest of Team, visit the Team PokerStars Pro page on PokerStars.com.

We'll see both players at the World Series in the coming weeks. Congratulations on making the Team, guys.