09 3rd, 2010
Blair Hinkle, and Doug “Rico” Carli are all no strangers to the Circuit events around the country. All were playing at the Circuit Event in Council Bluffs, which is right on the border of Iowa. To honor the cornfields of the heartland of America, the three engaged in a Corn Shucking Prop Bet to see who could shuck three corn stalks the quickest. The winner of this amazing prop bet wins the admiration of dozens, bragging rights over his poker peers in addition to the grand prize of an all expense paid dinner at the casino.
Blair Hinkle is a young live tournament pro who has a WSOP bracelet to his name, in the 2008 WSOP $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event which won him over a half million dollars. He’s also won online, including the Online Poker Series (FTOPS) $216 No Limit Hold’em event for $146,288. At this particular circuit event he ended up winning the $1,600 Main Event which had 251 runners for a $88,000 payday. He also received a diamond and gold ring and $10,000 to buy into the 2011 WSOP Main Event, in addition to a seat at the Circuit National Championship.
Dwyte Pilgrim is the unofficial WSOP Circuit Master, with over $750,000 to his name in live tournament earnings. He is considered a rising star in the world of live tournament poker and someone to keep an eye out on at the 2011 World Series of Poker No Limit Hold’em events.
Doug “Rico” Carli is an old-school poker player hailing from Ohio who has a degree in mathematics. In addition to poker he’s known to be found at the local golf course or bowling alley.
More here:
09 3rd, 2010
In preparation for its forthcoming Championship Event, World Team Poker has added 19 countries to its lineup, including Canada, Pakistan, and Spain. World Team Poker will even receive face time on Fox Sports Net when its tournaments begin debuting in January on Sunday nights for 13 weeks.
Team Canada promises to be among the fiercest in the 30-team field. Shawn Buchanan, Kyle Wilson, Eric Cloutier, Owen “ocrowe” Crowe, Daniel Idema, and Terrence “Unassigned” Chan will comprise the group, which features two-time () Greg “FBT” Mueller as its captain. Buchanan finished as the runner-up to new Brunson 10 member Dan “djk123” Kelly in the $25,000 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max event at the 2010 WSOP, banking $813,000.
and Faraz “” Jaka will co-captain Team Pakistan. A press release distributed by World Team Poker delicately explains, “Pakistan, which is known more for its cricket than poker players, has formed a formidable team of excellent poker talent.” Jaka is the reigning () Player of the Year after recording two final tables and four top 20 finishes last season. Also on Team Pakistan are Ayaz Mahmood, Ozzy Sheikh, Owais Ahmed, Mohsin “chicagocards1” Charania, and former Online Championship (UBOC) Main Event winner Hafiz Khan.
, the WPT’s all-time money leader, will captain Team Spain. Mortensen was the only announced player for the Spanish World Team Poker contingent, but the former WSOP Main Event champ has four WPT final tables to his credit along with three titles. Mortensen has $5.7 million in career WPT earnings along with $2.4 million from the WSOP felts, where he’s a two-time bracelet winner.
Team Caribbean Islands is also taking form, with three players having signed up to be part of the fun. Jean-Robert Bellande, a former pro and “Survivor: China” castaway, will compete for the island nation team alongside Jean “Prince” Gaspard and Amnon Filippi. Among their competition will be Team Germany, which consists of Dan Heimiller, John Galbraith, , Jennifer “” Leigh, and . Liebert is being inducted into the Women in Poker Hall of Fame this evening, while Violette is already a member.
Victory Poker pro will captain Team Iran. Backing him up is an eclectic group of players that includes Reza Golestani, Mojgan Stringham, Shawn “Sheiky” Sheikhan, and Soheil Shamseddin.
Team USA has largely already been determined, with , , , , , , , , and taking the floor for the North American nation. Three online poker sites – , , and Poker – will be represented.
The 30-team Championship Event will likely occur next month from Las Vegas, although the dates, times, and a location have not yet been announced. The inaugural World Team Poker tournament took place at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas earlier this year and was won by Team China, whose impressive roster of pros includes former WPT Championship winner David Chiu, 10-time bracelet winner , Winfred Yu, former “Amazing Race” contestant , , Rich Zhu, and Derek Cheung.
Here are the new team captains along with the countries they represent as announced by World Team Poker on Friday:
Greg Mueller: Canada
Hasan Habib and Faraz “The-Toilet” Jaka: Pakistan
Jean-Robert Bellande: Caribbean Islands
Peter Costa: Cyprus
Max Stern: Costa Rica
Chris Bjorin: Sweden
Martin Pollak: Austria
Dan Heimiller: Germany
Bruno Fitoussi: France
Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumer: India
Toto Leonidas: Philippines
Antonio Esfandiari: Iran
Kevin Song: Korea
Marco Traniello: Italy
Lenny Martin: Russia
Carlos Mortensen: Spain
Roberto Rominelli: Wales
Padraig Parkinson and Donnacha O’Dea: Ireland
Vladimir Shchemelev: Ukraine
Visit WorldTeamPoker.com for more details.
Read more here:
09 3rd, 2010
Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. This old saying darted through my mind every time I read about the National Football League (NFL) lobbying against Representative Barney Frank’s internet gambling bill, HR 2267. Fortunately, the league ended its opposition to the bill in August because an amendment was added that would prohibit licensed online gambling operators from offering sports betting.
That doesn’t mean that the NFL’s stance on the whole issue is any less tilt-inducing to me, though. Before I get to my rant, I should say that given the NFL’s position on sports betting, I completely understand why the league, and other sports leagues for that matter, couldn’t care less about poker players. If a bill that legalizes and regulates online poker also does so for online sports betting, poker is unimportant collateral damage if the NFL manages to get the entire bill shot down. Guilt by association. I think most poker players feel the same way about sports betting. While we feel that people should be allowed to bet online, if throwing sports betting under the bus is the way for poker to come out on top, well…sorry sports bettors. Sucks to be you.
So, while I get why poker players are not a concern of the NFL, the league’s hatred of sports betting just doesn’t make sense to me. I mean, they hate it so much that they hired someone to lobby against Rep. Frank’s bill. They feel that sports betting hurts the integrity of the game. But as far as I know, there have never been any sports betting or game fixing scandals of note involving the NFL. Besides, while it’s of course possible, I find it extremely unlikely that an NFL player would be able to be influenced by criminal types to fix a game. Players get paid handsome sums of money for their skills, so the fee that someone would have to pay a player to, say, lose on purpose, would have to be pretty substantial. Plus, it would be quite difficult for a player to throw a game by himself without it being extremely obvious. I just don’t think it would realistically happen.
Getting back to my opening sentence, what really gets me is that without sports betting, the NFL wouldn’t be nearly as popular as it is today. Football season is like an extended Christmas shopping season for sports books and the Super Bowl is like Black Friday. Millions of people who either don’t have a strong rooting interest or whose team has no chance remain interested because they have money on the games. These people subscribe to DirecTV’s football package, make sure they get the NFL Network on cable, watch the commercials that feed the NFL’s coffers, and view the ads on the NFL’s website.
And all that doesn’t include fantasy football, which the NFL loves. The hypocrisy of that should be obvious. Fantasy football is gambling. It’s just in different form. Yes, many, if not most, people play fantasy for free and put no money into their leagues. But millions of people do bet at least a few bucks each season, hoping that their team will win the league and result in a nice payout. Of course it’s gambling. Fantasy players are betting on the performance of the players they draft, rather than on the performance of an NFL team. And the payouts come at the end of the season, instead of at the end of each game.
One big thing that the NFL is ignoring in its loathing of online sports betting is that it’s easier to catch game fixing and the like online than it is offline. Online, all wagering history is recorded and suspicious trends are tracked. For example, in 2007, millions of dollars were bet on the European sports book against tennis player Nikolay Davydenko in a match in which he was a strong favorite and had already won the first set. He then withdrew from the match in the third set with an apparent injury. Betfair, in accordance with its agreement with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), notified the ATP of this suspicious activity, and cancelled all wagers on the match.
What the NFL should do is partner with the online sports books to help fight sports betting crime. Over a dozen online sports books in Europe are members of the European Sports Security Association (ESSA), which has a “mandate to keep sport clean and free from manipulation.” The ESSA members alert each other if any irregular betting patterns are detected, and in turn, alert the sports leagues and regulatory bodies. A system like this seems so obvious. In the meantime, the NFL and other professional sports leagues in the U.S. would apparently rather have online sports betting go underground with no protections, either for the bettors or the leagues, in place.
I am pleased that the NFL has dropped its opposition to the Frank bill, but it still needs to get its head out of the sand and get with the times. It owes much of its popularity to sports betting. Accept it and embrace the technological advancements that will protect the game better than prohibition will.
More here:
A bill, which is backed by one of the largest players in the online gaming industry, is up for a vote in the California General Assembly that would open up online betting on horse racing for the state’s residents.
The proposed bill, named SB 1072 in the California legislature, would up the cut for the state regarding its percentage of the take of wagers on horse racing. More importantly, perhaps, is the provision in the bill that would allow for “exchange betting,” otherwise known as internet wagering. The bill was on the fast track to being enacted before opposition to the legislation delayed its passage.
The bill has been amended by California Senator Ron Calderon, a Democrat from Montebello serving Senate District 30, to alleviate the concerns of much of the opposition, which included California horse trainers, among others. Under Calderon’s amendments and his sponsorship, implementation of the law (if passed through the Senate and signed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger) would be studied by the state legislature and the California Horse Racing Board for approximately 20 months to set the rules for implementation. This means that the law would not take effect until 2012 at the earliest.
European gaming conglomerate was critical in getting Calderon’s amended bill voted through, along with Magna International Developments. Betfair, who is also the sponsor of the Europe, is the owner of the United States’ largest horse racing wagering site, TVG.com. The company sponsors races at New York’s Saratoga racetrack and, through TVG, offers internet wagering to millions of customers.
Intrastate gaming is a subject that the state of California, currently facing billions of dollars in budget shortfalls, is examining as a means of alleviating the situation. Along with the current bill that would open up wagering on horse racing, there is an ongoing drive to push for intrastate online poker, although a bill introduced earlier this year by Senator Rod Wright fell short over the California General Assembly’s summer session.
Wright’s bill, SB 1485, would have opened up the California online gaming market, in particular poker, to control by the state. The now dead bill would have authorized three “hub operators” to provide legal internet gambling outlets to California residents for a period of five years. The state would have taken 20% of the revenues monthly, which would have been paid to a specially created internet gambling fund. California residents also would have faced stiff penalties for playing on unauthorized sites.
The intrastate gaming debate has come forward as of late because of furor over the Commerce Casino’s stance against federal legislation that would fully legalize internet gaming. In testimony in July in front of the House Financial Services Committee regarding Congressman Barney Frank‘s Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act (HR 2267), Commerce chairman Tom Malkasian came out against the proposed bill for several reasons.
Among the points cited by Malkasian was that the revenue generated by the new legislation would not stay in the United States, online companies would not face the same regulation that land-based casinos face, and jobs would be lost rather than created. His stance, which other top California card rooms such as Hollywood Park, the Bicycle Casino, and Hawaiian Gardens have stated they agree with, has angered many in the poker community.
Continued here:
08 31st, 2010
With lifetime winnings of over $4 million and two championships, Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little should be no stranger to any poker player.
Similar to many of today’s younger players, FieryJustice was introduced to online poker through playing Magic: The Gathering. The moment FieryJustice turned 18 he began playing online poker. He started on the lowest stakes available of Limit Hold’Em and worked his bankroll up to $20,000. This was done alongside attending college and working a day job. After two years of grinding and growing his bankroll he decided to quit his job working at Pensacola Aviation – where he was fuelling airplanes – and drop out of college to start playing professionally. He worked his way up to $30/$60 which at the time was the highest limit game available then he decided to shift focus from Limit cash to Single Table Tournaments, otherwise known as Sit n Gos.
It was the shift to SnGs that made his bankroll explode. FieryJustice signed up with popular poker forum TwoPlusTwo and started asking questions and making friends. Once he started playing Sit & Gos he was playing $200 buy-in games, allowing himself a 100 buy-in rule, and at the early stages all his play was at . Fortunately for FieryJustice he was playing before the online poker boom so things like training sites were barely heard of, leaving him with pretty soft competition. Anybody that was playing online poker around 2004 and before will tell you the games were much softer and easier than they are these days. For a good player to grind a 10% ROI back then wasn’t too hard whereas now days it’s unheard of.
Because wasn’t big back then FieryJustice had to rely on volume to make good money. Once he learned how to continuously beat the games, he soon went from single-tabling to playing 16 games at once, which gave him profits of around $10,000 per month.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing for FieryJustice: at one stage he had a 30 buy-in downswing at the $200 games, which is when he not only took a step down in games but he invested in a analytical program for SnG players called SnG Power Tools. This purchase, combined with some coaching, helped FieryJustice find his game again.
When Party Poker closed to the US market and most players merged over to , FieryJustice moved away from SnGs and started playing big buy-in Multi Table Tournaments (MTTs.) While FieryJustice aspired to play tournaments professionally; given his experience as one of the best SnG players in the world the transition wasn’t too difficult. His first year wasn’t that profitable, but he met who backed him for a while as well as helping him with his game.
FieryJustice had his career’s biggest win in 2007, taking home over one million dollars at the main event at the Mirage Casino. He outlasted famous players at the final table including and Darrell “Gigabet” Dicken. Five months prior to this he had also made a final table and finished fifth for a little over $300,000 at a PokerStars Caribbean Adventure tournament. His next big score came at the WPT North American Poker Championship where he sat at the final table with players such as and . He ended 2nd for $715,000, but this achievement also earned him the title of the WPT Player of the Year, making him the youngest player to ever receive this award.
These days FieryJustice continues to play WPT and events and can be seen at PokerStars playing under the name of Jcardshark. He is also a head coach at popular training site “Float The Turn”.
Continued here:
08 31st, 2010
On Monday afternoon, the action in the Million Dollar Challenge between Tom “” Dwan and Dan “JungleMan12” Cates continued on . Once again, Cates dominated and this time vaulted out to a $692,000 lead over the youngster. A total of 6,820 hands have been played.
It’s hard to believe that Dwan and Cates are nearly 15% of the way through the 50,000 hands required for completion. With the first incarnation of the Durrrr Challenge being 19 months old, the second has seemed to zip by. Mid-afternoon play on Monday was the first between Dwan and Cates since late last week, when Cates jumped out to a $518,000 lead.
According to stats found on Poker’s blog, Cates has posted a win rate of 25.33 BB/100 and has taken down 61.4% of hands. Dwan, meanwhile, has mustered wins in just 37.9% of hands and lodged a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 65.1%. Cates’ VPIP is 69.4% by comparison.
There were several major split pots on Monday given Dwan and Cates running it twice during the course of the challenge. In one, the money went in on a 7-2-4-J board with Cates holding pocket aces for an overpair and Dwan showing J-2 for top and bottom pair. The first river was a king, shipping half the pot to Dwan, but an ace on the second river gave Cates the other half of the $96,000 in the middle.
Dwan then scooped a $54,000 pot with K-10 for the nuts on a 7-J-8-Q-A board. Dwan also took down a $131,000 pot after turning a set of tens on a K-8-3-10-2 board. Cates’ cards were not revealed in the latter hand after calling the all-in. In a separate hand, Dwan was all-in with pocket queens after a flop of 5-J-4 with two clubs. Cates held A-10 of the suit for the nut flush draw, but amazingly none of the four turn and river cards brought a third club to the board. Dwan landed a $71,000 pot and seemed to be well off early.
After a 3bet pre-flop, Dwan and Cates checked the action to the river on a 2-10-K-5-7 four-heart board. Then, the fireworks went off. Holding 9-3 of spades, Dwan led out for $4,800 and Cates made it $15,600 with the nut flush. Dwan re-raised to $27,800 and Cates made the call to scoop the $62,000 pot. On why Cates just called the river with the nuts instead of coming over the top, one poster on TwoPlusTwo speculated, “jungle pbb knew durrrr wasn’t gonna call a shove & wanted to see his hand.”
Dwan started the encounter by posting on Twitter, “Playing jungleman again, hopefully it goes better than last time.” That obviously didn’t work, as Cates Tweeted after the match had wrapped up, “won another 173k, so far up almost 700k in almost 7k hands.” The thread following the match on TwoPlusTwo stood at nearly 150 pages at the time of writing as the poker community looked on in awe.
Around 3:15pm ET, Dwan exited the tables after the beat down, with one poster on TwoPlusTwo reporting, “Durrrr just completely sat out without any chat.” Another community member inquired, “What are the chances durrrr buys out of this after 1 or 2 more sesh’s like this one? I doubt he’d buy out no matter how bad he runs/gets owned, but this challenge could kick his ass pretty hard.”
When the action will resume is anyone’s guess. Dwan had expressed interest in finishing the second installment of the prior to the Europe schedule beginning in two weeks. Meanwhile, Dwan has been dominating the first running against , but there has been no play since August 3rd.
Read more here:
08 30th, 2010
We’ve seen that poker is a great platform to raise money for charitable events throughout the country. I salute those players who help organize, put on, and participate in charitable poker tournaments. I believe the time has come, however, to parlay those efforts where the “outside world” will see that poker can be a large contributor to worthwhile charities. Thus, , Jan Fisher, Lisa Tenner, and I created in an effort to unify the poker community in this effort.
PokerGives is a charitable organization set up to benefit worthwhile charities and it’s done through the poker community. The founders don’t make a dime and we expect 95% of all contributions to go directly to the charities we support. Right now, we are supporting four charities, all very special to our hearts: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Special Olympics, Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and Step by Step Foundation.
With the support of players, card rooms, industry leaders, and the poker media, the poker world has an opportunity to make a significant difference to the lives of many and bring a well-deserved positive outlook on poker and the poker world. Even those who oppose gambling and/or poker will take a step back and say, “Hey, those poker people are all right. They’re contributing a lot of money to worthwhile charities.”
Most of us take our health and our freedoms for granted. I wish every person, young and old, could go to a VA Hospital such as Walter Reed and see the paralyzed veterans, those who have been paralyzed as a result of serving in the Armed Forces to protect our freedoms. I promise you that visit will impact you forever, change your thinking about life, and make you a better person. The Intrepid Fallen Heroes have made the ultimate sacrifice for us, and their families have suffered. We can help them.
If you’ve never gotten involved or been to a Special Olympics event, do so. It’s something you should put on your “bucket list,” especially those blessed with healthy children. It truly is a moving experience. Step by Step is an organization providing for the underprivileged children of the world. Think how lucky you were to be born where you were.
The people who volunteer their time and money and those who work with these charities are special people. To me, they are walking angels. Through PokerGives, the poker world now has an opportunity to get involved, help these wonderful charities, and do it by doing what we love to do, playing poker.
September has been designated as PokerGives month. Card rooms from across the country are holding where 50% of the prize money goes to PokerGives. This is the first-ever PokerGives month and about 25 card rooms have signed up! Please go to PokerGives.org to see when and where you can play in a PokerGives charity event.
We are so grateful for the card rooms that are supporting PokerGives and we’re hopeful that poker players everywhere come out and play in these events. In addition, Poker Nation is hosting an online PokerGives tournament on on September 19th. I guarantee you that if you play in a PokerGives event and get knocked out, you’ll still feel good because you helped out one of these worthwhile charities.
Winners of all PokerGives events will be put into a drawing and could win a number of prizes. And the card room that hosted whoever wins the drawing will get a free seminar at their card room from Linda, Jan, and me.
We’re off to a good start with PokerGives and are excited about September, PokerGives Month. A sincere “thank you” to all of the supporting card rooms and the players who play. The potential of what we can do as an industry in charitable contributions through PokerGives is awesome.
Looking down the road, my dream would be to see all tournament players contribute 1% of their prize money to PokerGives and every card room and online site host PokerGives tournaments. Can you imagine how much money we could raise for these charities if that happened? By supporting , you’ve got the chance to make a Royal Flush in the game of life.
Read more here:
08 26th, 2010
This interview was taped from the Red Carpet at the Ante Up for Africa charity event with founders and Don Cheadle. The charity event takes place every year from the and raises money and awareness for those suffering in the continent of Africa. Ante Up For Africa is a not-for-profit organization founded by Don Cheadle, Annie Duke and Norman Epstein. They are dedicated to raising money and awareness for Africans in need.
Annie Duke is one of the most famous poker players in the world and is also known for her work in charity circles. At the felts, she has a WSOP bracelet to her name from the 2004 $3,000 Omaha Hi/Lo event. Her biggest tournament score was winning the WSOP Tournament of Champions, where she bested heads-up for $2 million. Currently, Duke is a sponsored pro and spokesperson for .
Don Cheadle is one of Hollywood’s biggest names who grew to fame in the movie Boogie Nights. He later went on to star in the “Oceans” series of movies and had vital roles in important films such as “Crash” and received critical acclaim for “Hotel Rwanda” where he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Cheadle is also an avid poker player and has been spotted not only doing with with his Ante Up for Africa brainchild, but with other charitable poker organizations as well.
In this interview, Duke and Cheadle are asked about the tournament’s humble beginnings and the need not only for funds to help people in Africa, but for political awareness as well. Both talk about the importance of understanding the view a “World Citizen” has in the global community and how everyday people can get involved and help those in need.
You can learn more about Ante Up for Africa at their .
Read more here:
08 24th, 2010
Brand new episodes of the -sponsored “Big Game” are airing this week on Fox. The high-stakes cash game series pits five poker sharks against a “Loose Cannon” online qualifier staked with $100,000. Each “Loose Cannon” plays 150 hands, with a $50,000 North American Poker Tour passport on the line plus whatever spoils they’ve earned from the table.
The action on the “Big Game” is Pot Limit before the flop and No Limit thereafter. The blinds are $200/$400 with a $100 ante paid entirely by the player on the button. Every player began the week with a $100,000 bankroll, save PokerStars front man , who came armed with $200,000.
This week’s “Loose Cannon” is Andre Capella, a 76 year-old retired racecar driver from Tennessee. Appropriately, the action was fast-paced from the starting line. Brunson 10 member Dani “ansky” Stern made it $1,200 pre-flop with K-Q and Eugene Katchalov came along with A-K. Capella also called and the flop came 5-5-4. Stern fired out a continuation bet of $2,300 and Katchalov called.
The turn was a 10 and didn’t change matters. Stern fired a second barrel, this time $6,200, and Katchalov once again called to bring a king on the river, pairing both players. Stern bet $16,600 and Katchalov called with the better hand. In the second hand of the week, he scooped a $54,600 pot, the largest of Monday night’s “Big Game” episode.
Negreanu peeked down at pocket aces and pocket kings in the first three hands, perhaps solidifying his table image for the rest of the one-hour episode. Then, poker rapper raised to $1,200 pre-flop with K-9 of hearts and ’s came along with A-8. The flop came K-2-8 and both players rapped the table.
The turn was the seven of hearts, putting two of the suit onboard, and Hellmuth fired out $2,600 with second pair. Friedman, now holding top pair and the second nut flush draw, called behind. Hellmuth called for a three of diamonds to hit on the river, but instead, another king came. In an interview with “Big Game” staff after the fact, Friedman revealed that Hellmuth’s comment signaled that he held a hand like A-8.
On the river, Hellmuth bet $4,400 and Friedman min-raised to $8,800. Hellmuth reluctantly called, saying that Friedman’s queens were good, and Friedman raked in a $26,000 pot. Despite the battle between Hellmuth and Friedman, Katchalov remained the most active at the table, sporting a VPIP (Voluntarily Put Money into the Pot) of 50% and a PFR (Pre-Flop Raise) of 31%. He was also up $24,000 about three-quarters of the way through Monday’s kickoff episode.
In the final pot of the night, Negreanu raised to $1,500 with pocket fives and Katchalov called with 10-9. The flop came 4-9-6 with two diamonds and Katchalov donk-bet $2,200. Negreanu called and the turn was the deuce of diamonds. Katchalov bet $2,600, Negreanu raised to $11,100, and Katchalov tanked for a minute before electing to call. The river was another deuce and both players checked. The $30,400 bounty was pushed towards Katchalov, who raked in the two largest pots of the night.
At the end of Monday’s installment of the PokerStars “Big Game” (29 hands), Katchalov was up $39,000, while Stern had dropped $42,000 of his $100,000 buy-in. Meanwhile, the “Loose Cannon” had lost $10,800. Catch the PokerStars “Big Game” nightly on Fox. The show airs at 1:00am ET or 2:00am ET in most markets.
Read more here:
The Doubles Poker Championship rolled on over the weekend on GSN. Another two regular season matches were held beginning at 9:00pm ET on Saturday night and David Tuchman and Brandon Adams had the call. sponsors the series.
Each team received 50,000 in starting chips and the blinds began at 500/1,000. Every player coughed up a $50,000 buy-in and two-person teams were randomly drawn. The action alternated players by street and every team received one 30-second time out to talk strategy.
In the first four-handed match of the hour, Annette “” Obrestad teamed with fellow young gun Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, teamed with , partnered with , and ’s Tony G teamed with eight-time bracelet winner . The latter two were the first to go after their K-Q could not draw out on Gordon and Lindgren’s A-10. They received no points toward the regular season standings.
Matusow committed his team’s chips pre-flop with A-5 of spades and Gordon isolated with a wired pair of sixes. Gordon and Lindgren flopped a full house when the first three cards came 2-2-6 and no help came on the turn or river for Matusow and Ferguson, who collected four points toward the regular season standings. Lindgren and Gordon entered heads-up play against Obrestad and Galfond with a 2:1 edge.
Obrestad and Galfond quickly doubled up with A-3 against K-2 to take the chip lead, but Gordon and Lindgren struck back. Gordon shoved with 9-7 pre-flop and Obrestad insta-called with A-10. Gordon and Lindgren flopped a nine and never looked back to double up. Then, Obrestad and Galfond were all-in pre-flop with Q-7 against Lindgren and Gordon’s A-Q of spades. The board filled out 6-2-6-4-8 and Lindgren and Gordon claimed 20 points for the regular season standings after knocking out each team in their match, while Obrestad and Galfond earned 11 points.
During the second half-hour of coverage, former () Championship winner David Chiu teamed with , pro teamed with , teamed with Justin “Boosted J” Smith, and Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger partnered with . Interestingly, Seed won the () Main Event in 1996 when Lichtenberger was just eight years old.
Duke and Oppenheim were the first casualties of the second match of the night. Hansen raised to 8,000 pre-flop with pocket fives and Duke moved all-in for 24,200 with A-K of diamonds. Hansen called and the board came five cards 10 or lower. Duke and Oppenheim received the goose egg for points as a result. The top 16 players at the end of the regular season will move on to the playoffs.
Seed raised to 45,000 with 10-8 and Chiu came all-in over-the-top for 53,900 with A-K. Seed called and Chiu and Harman stood to double up until a 10 hit on the river. The pair received four points as Seed’s pre-flop aggression paid off.
In the final hand, Smith pushed all-in for 70,200 with A-J and Seed made the call with A-Q. Seed and Lichtenberger were a 71% favorite to win pre-flop and the board filled out 3-4-6-7-7. Seed told Doubles Poker Championship floor reporter , “It was a lot of fun. I thought [Lichtenberger] played very well. I thought we played very well together.”
The tournament was filmed at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Catch the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship every Saturday night on GSN. Check your local listings for more information.
Read more here:
Sponsor:
