08 31st, 2010
Next Monday, September 6th, catch a marathon of “High Stakes Poker” on GSN. Once the Labor Day barbequing has finished and the relatives have left, it’ll be all poker after hours on the popular cable station.
A total of eight hours of “High Stakes Poker” will air with episodes from the show’s recently completed sixth season. Players you can expect to find on the airwaves include , Tom “” Dwan, and . The action will begin at 7:00pm ET and run all the way through 3:00am ET. If you’re on the “Left Coast” of the United States, then catch the “High Stakes Poker” Labor Day marathon on GSN from 4:00pm PT to Midnight PT. It’s a great way to catch up if you missed any of the action from Season 6.
The sixth season of “High Stakes Poker” premiered in February and featured pro going broke in the first episode. On a four-way flop of 7-6-4 with two hearts, fired out a bet of $6,000 with K-9 of hearts for a flush draw and two overcards, while Hellmuth bumped the action to $25,000 with J-5 of hearts for straight and flush draws. Ivey called behind and the turn was the king of diamonds, pairing the 2009 November Niner, who checked. Hellmuth moved all-in for $82,000 and Ivey called. No saving eight came on the river and Hellmuth had blown through his $200,000 buy-in.
In an episode that appeared in March, four players were felted, including , , , and . It was one of the most memorable episodes of “High Stakes Poker” ever and followed a $1 million vegetarian prop bet forged by Ivey. With Ivey ultimately sitting with more than $1 million in the Golden Nugget’s “High Stakes Poker” soundstage after the four-man bloodbath, host Gabe Kaplan jokingly commented that Ivey could easily buy out of his bet: “He could have a whole barbeque if he wants.”
After six episodes of the sixth season, the ratings for “High Stakes Poker” were up big. Overall ratings among adults age 18 to 49 were up 27% compared to Season 5, while ratings among adults age 25 to 54 were up 25%. Among men age 25 to 54, a key demographic for many advertisers, the ratings had mushroomed 29% season over season.
The show held a Sunday night time slot and the sixth season began with the departure of longtime co-host A.J. Benza. In his place, GSN officials brought in to conduct interviews from the “High Stakes Poker” suite, while Kaplan flew solo in the booth. The change prompted a petition to bring back Benza that appeared on TwoPlusTwo and at one point had attracted over 400 respondents.
GSN has given no indication as to whether “High Stakes Poker” will be brought back for a seventh season. The show has traditionally been filmed in November, with the most recent installment making its home at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas. Brunson, Negreanu, Victory Poker pro , , and front man have appeared in all six seasons of the high-stakes cash game show.
Speaking of PokerStars, the site sponsors the “Big Game” on Fox, an alternative cash game series that airs at 1:00am ET or 2:00am ET in most markets. However, the “Big Game” won’t feature any new episodes until October. Meanwhile, NBC’s “Poker After Dark,” which airs a mix of tournament and cash game cycles, will also return with new episodes on October. Currently, encore presentations of “Poker After Dark” air daily at 2:05am ET on NBC.
The Jerry Springer hosted “Baggage” will air from 9:00am ET to 7:00pm ET preceding “High Stakes Poker” on GSN on Labor Day.
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08 30th, 2010
Earlier today Tom Dwan and Cates fired off 958 hands of $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em. It was even for the majority of the session but in the last 200 hands Cates started to crush Dwan.
Dwan actually won the biggest pot of the night - a $131k monster - and would have been in terrible shape if didn’t.
In the hand Dwan turned a set of tens and Cates paid him off on the river, eventually mucking his hand.
By the time the session finally drew to a close, Cates was up by $172,146. Cates is now up $692,400 overall in the challenge, which has surprisingly been very one-sided thus far.
In non-durrrr Challenge news, Gus Hansen had one of his worst weekends of online poker losing $1.1 million to opponents Phil Ivey and Cole South.
Ivey won $678,760 while South added $495,318 to his bankroll. Hansen is now down a stunning $2.3 million since the start of the year.
Durrrr Challenge 2 by the numbers:
692,400: Amount jungleman12 is ahead
314,933: Average cost of a house in Maryland (jungleman12’s current location)
6,820: Hands played
1,000: Hourly cost of coaching from jungleman12
61: percentage of hands jungleman12 has won
3: Sessions played
1: Times durrrr has typed “Meh, gg” and then left
Here are some of the biggest hands from the most recent session:
08 25th, 2010
On Tuesday night, the () Main Event continued airing on ESPN. This time, Day 2A was highlighted and featured nine former Main Event champions gunning for a repeat performance. Embattled pro was seated at the feature table.
On a board of 4-9-Q-A, Adam Fisher 3bet all-in with A-J and received a call from Negreanu, who held A-Q for top two pair. Fisher was drawing dead to the river and exited the feature table. Elsewhere in the field, 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up checked in on reigning champ and ESPN commentator Norman Chad drooled over cash game pro , who was seated at Table 2: “Patrik and I go to the same health club. He just works out a few more days a week than I do.” Interestingly, Antonius has never cashed in the Main Event.
knocked out an opponent with A-K against K-9 to move to nearly double the starting stack of 30,000 and doubled up through after winning a race with K-Q against pocket sevens. Meanwhile, former Main Event champ moved all-in with pocket fives on a flop of A-5-A and doubled up through a player with A-4. ESPN featured the progress of 1986 Under 10 World Youth Chess Champion Jeff Sarwer, who received more coverage than many brand name pros.
Negreanu promptly dropped one-third of his stack after bluffing with 7-6 of diamonds on a board of A-2-Q-8 with two clubs. A third club hit on the river to give Tony Utnage a flush and he scooped the 100,000-chip pot. Others in action on Day 2A that received face time on ESPN included reigning WSOP Europe Main Event champ , Barry’s wife Allyn, and Pasha and .
Michael “” Mizrachi and both survived Day 2A in an impressive feat. Not so fortunate was , who was all-in with pocket fives against A-K. His opponent spiked a king on the turn and ace on the river to send the weight loss prop bet winner to the rail. Also departing was , whose A-J could not draw out on pocket sevens.
During the second one-hour episode, which aired at 10:00pm ET on ESPN, Day 2A resumed with laying it down in a hand against . Then, 2003 WSOP Main Event champ called the clock on an opponent, but didn’t realize that the action was actually on him. Moneymaker eventually called and his opponent insta-mucked. Alaei hit the rails with A-2 against pocket eights when his foe flopped a set.
pros Eric “” Baldwin and Billy “Patrolman35” Kopp continued their Day 2A march and on the Jack Link’s Beef Jerky Wild Card Hand, Negreanu scooped a pot holding just six-high. Negreanu’s nemesis took down a hand with a straight flush against a full house, while fellow female star Heather Sue Mercer won a pot. Mercer, a former college football kicker, sued Duke University for discrimination and was awarded $2 million. However, because of a Supreme Court decision saying that Title IX cases were not subject to punitive damages, she received no money.
Antonius, who is competing against Tom “” Dwan in the ongoing Durrrr Challenge, cracked pocket aces with 5-3. Antonius flopped two pair and ESPN commentator Lon McEachern noted, “Let the wamboozling begin.” Antonius’ chip stack rose to nearly 300,000 as a result, or 10 times the starting stack.
The feature table grew tougher with the addition of bracelet winner and Negreanu’s failed bluffs continued. After check-calling a bet of 3,200 with K-J on a flop of 10-7-9, Negreanu and Charles Hook checked a four on the turn. When a five hit on the river, Negreanu bet 6,800 with air and Hook, holding 9-8 for a pair of nines, made the call. Negreanu’s chip stack was slashed to 29,000.
Next week at 9:00pm ET on ESPN, catch two hours of coverage devoted to Day 2B.
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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.
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08 22nd, 2010
Silver gets his chips in with A10 against A3 but gets beaten on the river.
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08 22nd, 2010
Richard pushes a raise and a re-raise with AJ off.
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08 22nd, 2010
Chadwick sees min raise from the button as weak but finds it to be anything but.
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08 22nd, 2010
Marsh wins good pot without showing his hand.
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08 17th, 2010
In the largest poker tournament in the history of Estonian poker, Norwegian poker pro Kevin “KevBoyStar” Stani outlasted a talented final table early Monday morning to capture the first event of the European Poker Tour’s (EPT) seventh season in Tallinn, Estonia.
420 players stepped up with the €4,250 necessary for the buy-in, easily becoming the largest poker tournament in the history of Estonia. As the first event on the EPT Season Seven calendar, the Tallinn event replaced last year’s kickoff event in Kiev as the focal point for European poker. Top professionals turned out in droves for the tournament, while only a few had significant success.
56 total players were able to walk away from the Swissôtel Tallinn with a little extra cash in their pockets from the experience. Most notably, Italian Team pro Luca Pagano made EPT history by finishing in 26th place for €8,000. The cash was Pagano’s 15th career EPT in the money finish, the most by any player over the seven years of play.
Other top pros made deep runs in the tournament before being eliminated from the fun in Tallinn. Two players who were in the top 10 throughout the early going, 2008 November Niner and 2007 Swedish Open Poker Championships Main Event victor Johan Storakers, battled valiantly through the field before coming up short of the final table. Demidov was eliminated in 22nd place and Storakers dropped from the event in 15th place. Once the United Kingdom’s Jonathan Weekes was dispatched in ninth place, the final table was set for play on Sunday.
Coming into the final table, several of the 40 nations that comprised the field for the EPT Tallinn were represented. Only one country – Russia – featured two players, with Lebanon, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland, France, and Norway making up the rest of final table. Former EPT champion Arnaud Mattern was the chip leader at the final table with 3.7 million, but Stani lurked in the second slot with a stack of 2.5 million.
Play started at 1:00pm on Sunday and the players wasted little time in getting to business. One of the two Russians in the tournament, Konstantin Bilyauer, cut almost 700,000 chips from the stack of Mattern before the Frenchman replenished his stack by eliminating Lebanon’s Bassam Elnajjar in eighth place. Mattern continued to press his advantage through the early going, maintaining his chip lead before Bilyauer began to assert himself four hours into the final table.
Bilyauer, Stani, and Mattern proceeded to fight it out for the next two hours before heads-up action was determined. In what turned out to be the hand that determined heads-up action, Mattern suffered a cruel beat at the hands of Stani after the duo pushed their chips into the center pre-flop. Dominating Stani’s pocket threes, Mattern faded the flop with his pocket queens. A decisive three on the turn, however, put the Frenchman behind and left him looking for a queen or another heart to complete a flush. The river blanked for Mattern, though, eliminating him in third place and denying the EPT of its first two-time champion.
Down to heads-up play, Stani held slightly more than a 2-1 lead over Bilyauer, but it still took more than two hours to determine a champion. Stani extended his lead in the early going only to double up Bilyauer after he caught a king against Stani’s pocket sevens to continue the battle. Bilyauer continued to chip away at Stani before the twosome reached the penultimate hand.
On the final hand, play started innocently enough with a 3-9-2 rainbow flop that both players checked. When a four appeared on the turn, Stani check raised Bilyauer’s 375,000 bet to 875,000, only to see him call. Another seemingly innocuous card, an eight, popped up on the river and Bilyauer opened the action with a strong 1.2 million chip bet. Stani then moved all-in, leaving the Russian with a decision for his tournament life. He made the call, only to muck his hand after Stani turned up a dominating 6-5 offsuit for the straight and the championship.
1. Kevin Stani (Norway) €400,000
2. Konstantin Bilyauer (Russia) €250,000
3. Arnaud Mattern (France) €160,000
4. Dmitry Vitkind (Russia) €120,000
5. Mikko Jaatinen (Finland) €80,000
6. Steven van Zadelhoff (Netherlands) €63,000
7. Nicolo Calia (Italy) €47,000
8. Bassam Inaja (Lebanon) €32,000
Europe will be the center of the poker world’s attention in the next couple of weeks with two tournaments that should draw stellar fields. With the completion of Tallinn, the EPT will move onto its next stop in Vilamoura, Portugal, for a €5,300 event running from August 28th to September 2nd. In addition to this tournament, the will be making its first ever stop in London for a €5,300 tournament from August 30th to September 5th.
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08 17th, 2010
On Monday, MMA Week debuted on NBC’s “Poker After Dark.” The show, which airs at 2:05am ET nightly for one hour, pitted three staples of the MMA world against three poker pros. To start off Monday night’s installment, UFC’s Bruce Buffer gave a rousing introduction of his five opponents, complete with piped-in crowd noise and a mic hanging from the ceiling. It was reminiscent of his introduction of pro on Day 1C of this year’s Main Event.
Players began with 20,000 in chips and the blinds kicked off at 100-200. In the first major pot of the night, which we’ll dub the “Night of 1,000 Min-Raises,” raised to 600 with A-7 and received calls from , who had pocket tens, and , who held Q-8 including the queen of clubs. The flop came 6-10-8, all clubs, giving Lindgren top set and Antonius a queen-high flush draw to go with middle pair.
Lindgren led out for 1,100 and Antonius called to bring the jack of spades on the turn. Antonius checked, Lindgren bet 2,600, and Antonius again came along to see a red eight on the river. Antonius checked his trips, Lindgren bet 5,800 with a boat, and Antonius muttered, “This sucks.” The Fin ultimately called, shipping the massive 20,900-chip pot – the equivalent of one starting stack – to Lindgren, who was up to 31,000.
The night saw passive play from Randy Couture and Dan Henderson and A-B-C poker from Lederer, Buffer, Antonius, and Lindgren. Couture told “Poker After Dark” hostess Leeann Tweeden that it was just his third time ever entering a poker tournament. Consequently, he was inclined to call pre-flop regardless of his hand strength and remained relatively quiet throughout. Antonius yawned throughout the first 30 minutes before going on a heater to close the episode.
Min-raises were being dished out left and right, including one from Antonius, who made it 400 pre-flop with 10-4 of hearts. Henderson called with pocket sixes to see a flop of K-3-J with two hearts. Antonius checked, Henderson bet 400, and Antonius called. After the seven of clubs hit on the turn, Antonius check-called a bet of 1,000 and sucked out when the river came a ten. Antonius once again check-called a bet, this time of 1,200, and scooped a pot of 6,300.
In three-way action to a flop of Q-8-4 with two diamonds, Couture bet 500 with J-10 of clubs for a gutshot straight draw and Antonius called with 10-3 of diamonds for a flush draw. A diamond hit on the turn, filling Antonius’ flush, and he fired out 1,200. Couture once again came along to bring the king of diamonds on the river. Couture bet out 1,500 on a bluff and Antonius just called behind with four diamonds on the board to scoop the pot of 7,000.
In the final hand of Monday night’s “Poker After Dark,” Antonius bet 825 on a flop of 2-5-A with 5-4 for middle pair and a wheel draw. Henderson called with 9-3, Couture called, and Buffer made it 1,825 with A-7 for top pair. Antonius called and the two MMA warriors tapped out. Then, a deuce hit on the turn. Antonius check-called a bet of 1,925 from Buffer and the river was an eight. The action went check-check and Buffer scooped the 10,650-chip pot.
Buffer, Couture, and Henderson wore Poker logos, while the site’s three sponsored pros did not. Instead, Lindgren donned a Raw Vegas hat and Lederer and Antonius were completely void of commercialism. The series continues all this week on NBC at 2:05am ET.
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