Sami 'Lrslzk' Kelopuro sits alongside Ilari Sahamies as one of the most feared Finnish players around. A player better known for being a resident in the nosebleed cash games, Kelopuro also has plenty of tournament talent to bring to the table. The Finn won the 2011 SCOOP Main Event for...more

Phil 'philbort' Gruissem has an astonishing record of results in High Roller tournaments (as do many of the German elite players). Really, you should check it out. Gruissem has clocked up $3,985,562 in live tournament wins and most of that has come from these big buy-in tournaments. Phil Gruissem: 'I...more

An alternate title: Why checking back when you hit is a bad idea You've three-bet with K♣T♣ and get called by the original raiser, an aggro loose so-and-so who is liable to get involved with all kinds of hands. The flop is 5♠5♥7♥. You bet and get called. You're almost...more

When you've got top pair and you decide to raise you should always be doing it for value, right? No. Then to get 'information'? Most definitely not. Wash your mouth out immediately. Okay, to explain why you might sometimes want to turn your top pair into a bluff on the...more

Poor old Phil Hellmuth. Does he really deserve this level of grief? Not only does he get torn to pieces by Dani Stern, no little thanks to a certain turned straight, but the rest of the table (Eugene Katchalov, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier and Prahlad Friedman) dissect Phil's play away...more

Does anyone know what Johnny Lodden thinks? No, probably not but it doesn't stop plenty of players having a go at guessing what's going on in his head. The game even has an officiated mention on Wikipedia (see, 'Lodden thinks'). If you watch this first session of Johnny playing the...more

Jonathan Duhamel wasn't crowned World Champion for nothing. The French Canadian proved he owed the stones to make some big bluffs on The Big Game and owned a couple of other tournament greats in doing so. Both Jason Mercier and Eugene Katchalov are forced to fold the best hand (both...more

Jonathan Duhamel. You may have heard of him. You know, he won the World Series of Poker Main Event for $8,944,310 and is second to only Daniel Negreanu on the Canadian all-time money list with more than $11m in live tournament winnings. Phil Ivey. You've probably heard of him, too....more

The Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) starts in just a few weeks. That first event is a $27 six-max with a $750,000 guarantee. Do you want to play it? Of course. But are you ready to play it? Well, that is another question. Have you done your homework? We...more

Have you ever watched one of those big televised hands and wondered what was going through the player's head? We had, so on The Big Game we made sure to ask. It's all well and good watching Phil Laak pull some crazy move or seeing Daniel Negreanu try to chirrup...more

We like to cover our bases on the PokerStars Blog. You want hard facts and poker tuition? You got it. You want glib remarks and behind-the-scenes clips of Phil Hellmuth losing the plot? We're happy to deliver. Find below two sterling examples. First, the warm-up: Hellmuth and co with some...more

The first EPT Champion of Champions event took place just after the EPT7 Grand Final in Madrid. It was a poker star-studded affair which heaved together EPT winners from across all seven seasons into one room to battle it out in a €100,000 freeroll. Not bad for a one-day turbo....more

Zoom poker is fast. The name's a bit of a give away. You can auto-fold before the action is on you and you'll instantly be transported to a new seat at a new table with a new hand against a new bunch of opponents. It's all new, including the edges...more

At the time of writing (9 November, 2012) Team PokerStars Pro Raymond Wu was going deep in the ACOP Main Event. Wu is top ten in chips with 38 players remaining and 22 spots paying. The winner will receive HKD $4,240,000 (approx $547,000) as well as a big shiny trophy....more

This time last year Daniel 'kidpoker' Negreanu was challenging for the top spot of the WCOOP leader board. The Canadian Team PokerStars Pro had racked up 15 cashes in the toughest online festival and had a chance on the final day to top the tournament leader board. This year Negreanu...more

The world's largest online poker festival is currently under way at PokerStars. It's called WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) and is a $30,000,000 guaranteed, 65 event bonanza which culminates in a $5,000,000 guaranteed - really guaranteed - tournament on 23 September that will see the winner boost their bankroll...more

Vannesa Selbst is one of the most respected poker players on the planet. A fine mind, a winning smile and a voracious appetite to win have led to enormous tournament success for Selbst over the last few years A huge $5,463,252 in live tournament winnings, two NAPT titles and as...more

When playing in a live tourney that has a good structure, this would be a strategy that I would apply: assuming that there are many amateurs in the field, I really like to play small ball. The reason for this is that I will be able to be in many...more

While you may go straight to PokerSchoolOnline.com or click through direct to look at the fantastic tuition videos at PokerStars.tv, the PokerStars Blog is now serving up weekly slices of strategy pie. It's tasty, it's wholesome and it might just help you win your next tournament/sit-and-go/cash game session (delete...more

The PokerStars Blog has always been about informing and entertaining but, unlike a public service broadcaster, we've always steered clear of the educational side of things. No longer. From now on if you look skyward you'll see a new section at the top of the blog titled 'Strategy.' Click on...more