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03 10th, 2010
With Hastings having won $4.2 million in a single session against Isildur1, and South having the best year of his life so far, the odds seemed slim for Isildur1 to have much of a chance if he returned to the biggest games on .
To the surprise of many, he did come back just a couple months after his crushing defeat, and has begun to steamroll his way back to the top.
For Isildur1, yesterday’s session began with a 1,114 hand $200/$400 Pot-Limit Omaha match against South, ending with Isildur1 up $240,779.
Hoping to expedite his comeback, South chose to step up the heads-up match to $300/$600 PLO, but only managed to lose another $401,733 over 566 hands.
With South’s hole growing deeper by the second, Hastings logged on to try and get one back for the CardRunners team. After 811 hands of $300/$600 PLO, Hastings himself booked a $250k loss before moving the game to the nosebleed stakes: $500/$1,000.
After 1,356 hands of furious action, Hastings threw in the towel down another $581,954.
Up next for Isildur1 came another re-match against Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo at $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em. Across the two-and-a-half-hour 2,386-hand Hold’em match, Isildur1 took another $101k before Bonomo took his leave.
After losing $31k to NEKOTYAN over just six hands of $200/$400 PLO, Isildur1 went on to make another $154k at the $200/$400 Cap-PLO tables.
His day would end on the downswing, starting with a $30k loss to skjervoy at $100/$200 PLO before he sat across from South once more, this time losing back $354,008 over 133 hands of $500/$1,000.
In total, Isildur1 booked a more than $1.5 million profit, add that to the $572,746 he made Monday and everyone’s favorite mystery Swede is quickly working his way to the top of the 2010 profit leaderboard.
In fact, he is currently sitting in second place behind Alexander “PostflopAction” Kostritsyn on around $2.8 million.
South, thanks to his $354k win at the end of the night, managed to keep his losses to only $309,215, while Hastings took a hit of over $832k.
Below are three of the largest pots from yesterdays matches, to see more head to .
03 9th, 2010
Created by Bay 101 owner Marco Trapani 14 years ago, tournament director Matt Savage says the concept was based on the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am celebrity challenge, which draws some of the best golfers in the world, a host of celebrities and thousands spectators to the Northern California Coast about an hour from San Jose every year.
Trapani’s original plan, 14 years ago, was to try and draw the world’s best rounders to a fan and player friendly $1k buy-in event in the Bay Area.
When it first started, the bounties were a bunch of Trapani’s friends, but it slowly grew and when the World Poker Tour came along seven years later, Savage says they bumped up the buy-in and had a perfect fit.
Large pots were few and far between on Sunday night’s episode of the GSN series “High Stakes Poker.” Instead, a vegetarian prop bet between pros and Tom “” Dwan took center stage.
After being discussed non-stop for a half-hour of the 60-minute program, the vegetarian prop bet was finally agreed upon. Ultimately, Ivey would become a vegetarian for one year for $1 million. In a sit-down interview with “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott, Ivey told viewers, “I was thinking about doing it for a while, so this is an added incentive.” Dwan was confident that he’d win the bet, but nonetheless expressed a degree of doubt: “He’s got a lot of will power and he might go out and prove me wrong.” Any creature that moves is off limits for Ivey.
Back on the felts, Ivey proved why he’s one of the top names in the game by raising to $3,000 pre-flop with 7-2 and receiving four callers. The flop came 4-9-A with two hearts and Ivey put in a $12,000 continuation bet. Italian poker stud Dario Minieri, who held 10-8 of hearts, came along to see another ace hit the turn. Ivey bet out $30,000 this time around and Minieri folded. “High Stakes Poker” host Gabe Kaplan commented, “Most players would turn over the 7-2 there, but not Phil Ivey.”
Then, Team Pro front man raised to $3,000 with 9-6 of hearts and Eli Elezra came along with 9-8 of diamonds. The flop came 10-5-7, giving both players straight draws, and Negreanu bet $5,500. Elezra pushed the action to $13,000 and Negreanu came along to see a king on the turn. Elezra checked and Negreanu accidentally exposed his nine while reaching for a stack of $100 bills. He promptly checked and an eight hit on the river, filling his straight. Negreanu bet $20,000 and Elezra tanked before folding. Negreanu told the table, “That was the weirdest hand I’ve ever played.”
Minieri was overly active throughout the episode and set the tone after made it $3,500 pre-flop with A-8. Minieri, sensing weakness, made it $11,500 with A-9. Then, fireworks went of, as Hansen re-raised to $35,500 and Minieri shoved all-in for $213,000. Hansen quickly mucked, leaving Kaplan to remark, “That’s either a good read or a moment of insanity.” Negreanu would later try to force an all-in from Minieri when “Kid Poker” held pocket aces, but the Italian instead folded.
In one of the larger pots of the episode, which aired at 8:00pm ET on Sunday on GSN, Ivey raised to $3,000 with pocket eights, Negreanu called with A-7 of spades, and Dwan called with Q-J. The flop came A-J-4, and Ivey checked his pocket pair. Negreanu led out for $8,000 with top pair, while Dwan made the call with middle pair. Ivey got out of the way and a queen hit the turn to improve Dwan to two pair. Negreanu fired out a bet of $18,000 and Dwan called. The duo both checked a river five, shipping the $63,800 pot to Dwan.
In the final hand of the hour, Elezra raised to $3,000 with 9-7, Negreanu called with Q-9, and Dwan called with K-Q. The flop fell K-8-10 and Elezra put in a $7,200 continuation bet with an open-ended straight draw. Dwan came along with top pair to bring a jack on the turn, filling Eleza’s straight. However, with three spades now on the board, the action went check-check. The river was a six and Dwan bet $8,400. Elezra raised to $28,400 and Dwan released his hand.
Next time, four “High Stakes Poker” players get felted and an epic hand brews between Dwan and Ivey. New episodes of “High Stakes Poker” air on Sunday nights at 8:00pm ET on GSN.
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03 9th, 2010
In an article authored by the German news outlet Spiegel, Police Chief Rainer Wendt labeled the four armed gunmen who plundered the European Poker Tour (EPT) stop in Berlin over the weekend “small-time crooks.”
New details on the buzz worthy event have dribbled in since the incident took place on Saturday afternoon at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in the German metropolis. Text found on the PokerStars Blog shed light on the weaponry used in the high-stakes heist, which has captured worldwide headlines: “The police investigation so far has shown that the suspects had a handgun and a machete. Contrary to tabloid reports, no Kalashnikov assault rifles or hand grenades were used.” The tournament’s organizers added that the amount of cash removed was “substantially less” than numbers circulating cyberspace.
According to Spiegel, the security force at the casino was unarmed and those who responded to the distress call were small in numbers. Despite ending with no injuries, the robbery may spark a revamp in casino security. Wendt offered up the following helpful advice to the German news media: “A few guards and a hotel intern are not enough. That was really quite negligent.”
EPT Berlin Main Event winner Kevin “ImaLuckSac” MacPhee echoed the questionable security practices in a post on the popular poker forum PocketFives.com: “I honestly thought we should have stopped play. It was a pretty freaky thing to have happen, especially considering the poor planning of the tournament area… no exits, lots of panic, stampeding, screaming, and crying.” It was the EPT’s first stop in Berlin.
A 36 year-old security guard on the premises in Berlin, Roman, told another German news outlet that he made the attackers pay for their misgivings: “That guy for sure has trouble swallowing now.” Another attacker, purportedly armed with a machete, ran at Roman, who threw him to the ground. Roman recounted the media: “He did not say a word. As a civilized Middle-European, you don’t just break the necks of people like this, so I tried to [keep] him on the ground.” Roman added that he wasn’t carrying a weapon at the time because tournament officials asked him not to.
A separate Spiegel articled hinted that €800,000 may have been lifted from the scene and a PokerNews.com reporter dubbed the event “The blackest day in the history of German poker. Probably the biggest nightmare at a poker event that world has seen so far.” Claudia Sommerey, who was outside of the tournament room at the time, explained to Spiegel that security personnel subdued the bandits with ropes making up the line in the tournament registration area. She hid under a table before frantically calling police.
An article that appeared on CBS News revealed that following the robbery, the gunmen exited through a shopping mall. Appearing on CBS’ “The Early Show” on Monday morning, MacPhee recalled, “There was a lot of panic in the room that day and then we were asked to come back and play for €1 million. It was very unusual.” MacPhee was seated at the television table when the skirmish occurred. He noted, “The actual TV stage started to collapse.” Hands were brewing when the robbery took place, leading to chips being strewn about the tournament area as bedlam erupted. The robbery was also discussed on Monday’s edition of ESPN’s “Around the Horn.”
After a three-hour delay, the EPT Berlin Main Event resumed sans EPTLive, whose transmissions were cut off for the day. MacPhee went on to defeat Ilari Tahkokallio in the finals of the tournament on Sunday.
Police were able to collect DNA samples from one of the robbers and a bag containing €500,000 was reported to be found by a Hyatt staff member. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest EPT Berlin robbery coverage. Read more about the .
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03 8th, 2010
After all, Bay 101 has seen deeper runs by women than any other venue on the World Poker Tour.
At the 2007 edition of the popular bounty event, Joanne Liu made runner-up to Ted Forrest in an attempt to become the WPT’s first female champion.
Then last year, veteran pro Kathy Liebert matched the feat, finishing second to 2009 champion Steve Brecher.
Liebert’s runner-up finish helped push her up and over $5.6 million in career tournament earnings, making her far and away the number one earning female poker player of all time.
Being the number one female player in the game is not exactly the reason Liebert plays, but it’s certainly an honor she cherishes.
“Being a top poker player is more important to me than being a top female poker player,” she said. “But being the top woman in poker is something I’m proud of. There are a lot of women trying to catch up to me.”
One of the women chasing Liebert is two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner and respected high-stakes cash game pro Jennifer Harman.
Though Harman, who currently sits fifth on the all-time female money list and made the final table at Bay 101 in 2008 finishing third, really sees herself as just one of the boys.
“I look at myself as a poker player,” she explained. “I don’t believe in the whole gender thing because this is a co-ed sport.
“You shouldn’t get kudos for being a woman or a man, you should get kudos for being a great poker player and that’s all.”
International Women’s Day is about celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past.
But even as women like Liu, Liebert and Harman continue to achieve in poker, it appears many men on the felt refuse to treat them as equals.
“I think some men treat women with no respect at the table and some men treat women with too much respect,” said Harman. “For me, since I’m like old furniture in this business, they just treat me the same as anybody else. They don’t play any differently against me because I’m a woman, but I know with some women they do.”
Regardless, Harman, who booked her first major cash in a poker tournament 16 years ago, says the game is changing all the time and more women are flocking to it every day.
“When I first started, I would walk into a poker room and there would be me,” she said. “Now you walk into a poker room and there are one or two women at every table.
“I think it’s grown and it will continue to grow. A lot of women are still intimidated, but I know they enjoy the game and they want to do it, they just need to take that next step, because poker can be a lot of fun.”
Liebert says she feels a lot of love and support from female fans of the game, many of whom she sees following her lead.
“I always have women coming up to me and telling me they are rooting for me,” she said. “And they feel like if I’m a woman and I can do it they can do it to.”
Action at the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star continues through March 12. For comprehensive coverage, tune in to PokerListings’ and .
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03 8th, 2010
“I’m so excited to win such a prestigious event and join the likes of Huck Seed, Chris Ferguson and Phil Hellmuth as Heads-Up Champion,” said Duke, who became the first-ever woman to win the NBC Heads-Up title.
“I came into this tournament really focused and it feels great to finally break through in this event.”
The road to victory at Caesars Palace was not an easy one for the sponsored pro. She beat 2008 runner-up Andy Bloch in the first round before getting past 2009 WSOP Main Event runner-up Darvin Moon in the round of 32.
Next up was 2007 champion Paul Wasicka who looked to have the best of Duke when she was all in with ace-ten against his pocket aces at one point. Miraculously, Duke went runner-runner to make a straight, take the lead and eventually move on.
“I would have loved all of my matches to be easy,” said Duke. “I’m sure (Producer) Mori (Eskandani) is happy though, because it’s going to give the show some serious drama.
“One thing’s for sure, I can never complain about bad beats again after hitting that runner-runner king-queen against Paul Wasicka.”
In the end, Duke beat eight-time WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel in the best-of-three final to bank the $500,000 first-place prize.
“Annie was my number one pick to win,” said Seidel. “She played very tough. She had no fear. She really played the way you’re supposed to play in this sort of structure.”
A mother of four, Duke took some time off from her career as a professional poker player to film The Celebrity Apprentice last season.
Now she says a little time away from the game did her a world of good.
“I know what my main priority is and that’s my family, so I’m never going to play as much poker as everyone else, but it’s really nice to come back with a bang,” she said. “I took the time off, I readjusted and now I’ve had some good results.”
Vanessa Rousso made runner-up at the Heads-Up Championship in 2009, the deepest finish by a woman in the event before this year.
Duke said it’s great to see so many female poker players rising to the top.
“I think it’s great that a woman came in second last year and a woman finished first year to really represent woman players,” she said. “There are some great female poker players out there.”
NBC’s coverage of the 64-person event will air Sunday’s at 12 p.m. ET beginning April 18 through May 23.
- With files from Matthew Showell
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03 6th, 2010
After losing $245k at $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha, Dwan sat for his first high-stakes session of the day across from LarsLuzak, Gus Hansen, skjervoy, Sir Watts and eventually Brian Hastings.
This $200/$400 PLO session lasted for 619 hands with Dwan finishing up over $317k.
At the same time, he took on skjervoy and TheGorn at $100/$200 PLO, where he earned another $44,687.
Dwan’s next stop was an hour of $200/$400 Cap PLO, adding $62k to his profit before returning to PLO 6-max to play $300/$600 against many of the same players from the earlier $200/$400 table.
Once again, Dwan came out on top, this time up $280,847.
High-stakes player andrewkirk was brave enough to sit at Dwan’s reserved heads-up $500/$1,000 PLO table, but only managed to last just 33 hands before losing his entire $50k buy-in.
On a roll, and seemingly unable to lose, Dwan moved his streak of run-good to $500/$1,000 Cap No-Limit Hold’em. After 364 hands, he had added another $35,750 to his morning.
Dwan’s second last session of the morning came playing just 63 hands of $300/$600 PLO versus PixKim and Gus Hansen. Up another $137k, Dwan was rapidly approaching $1 million in total profit for the day.
In his final attempt to reach that magic mark, Dwan sat for a 245-hand re-match at $200/$400 PLO with unknown Swede Isildur1. Unfortunately for Dwan, Isildur1 would get the better of him again, ending his win streak with a $16k loss.
In total, Dwan finished the morning up $911,434, bringing his profit for the year up to $1.8 million so far.
Below are three of Dwan’s largest pots from this morning, to see more hands head to .
03 5th, 2010
After a one-day delay, the ’s () L.A. Poker Classic resumed on Thursday with its six-handed final table. After 94 hands, Andras Koroknai emerged victorious and banked $1.8 million.
Koroknai earned the largest first place payday awarded so far during Season 8 of the WPT. His prize package included $1.8 million in cash, a WPT bracelet and watch, a Commerce Casino trophy, and a $25,000 entry into the end-of-season WPT Championship, which will play out next month from the Bellagio in Las Vegas. Koroknai had a rowdy Hungarian rail during the L.A. Poker Classic’s final table and told WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque that his plan was to spend his newfound riches.
Koroknai edged out Raymond Dolan heads-up. Michael Kamran, the short stack entering the final table, was the first person sent packing. Kamran moved all-in pre-flop with 10-7 of diamonds for eight big blinds and George Kasabyan made the call with A-J. Kamran picked up a straight draw when the flop came 9-8-5 and turned a seven to take the lead in the hand with a pair. However, Kasabyan hit an ace on the river to end Kamran’s heroics. He picked up $246,000 for his run through the $10,000 buy-in poker tournament.
The second player eliminated was J.C. Moussa, who picked up $321,000 for his fifth place showing. Moussa shoved over the top of a re-raise by Tri Huynh with A-9. Huynh flipped up A-Q and the board ran out 10-6-2-K-5. Huynh made a flush by the time all was said and done and sat with the second largest stack at the table.
Dolan scooped a 2.6 million chip pot shortly thereafter to take the chip lead before a long battle ensued to see who would become the tournament’s fourth place finisher. Kasabyan called all-in with A-7 on a board of A-9-8, but ran into Huynh’s A-9 for top two pair. Kasabyan hit a seven on the turn for one of his outs needed to win the hand, but a river nine gave Huynh a full house. Kasabyan, who hails from Armenia and was rooted on by Chris “The Amenian Express” Grigorian throughout the final table, collected $450,000.
The trio remaining was fairly even in chips following Kasabyan’s exit, but Koroknai doubled through Dolan to claim 60% of the chips in play. On the 93rd hand of final table play, Huynh was bounced after calling all-in with pocket jacks against Koroknai’s A-K. I bet you can guess how this hand ends. A king hit on the flop to send the tournament’s eventual winner out in front and no help came on the turn or river. Entering heads-up play, Koroknai held a 10:1 edge in chips.
Heads-up action lasted all of one hand, as Dolan called off his remaining chips with Q-4 and found himself up against Koroknai’s Q-8 of hearts. The action flop came 10-9-4 with two hearts, giving Dolan bottom pair and Koroknai a flush draw. The turn was a seven, adding even more drama, and giving Koroknai even more outs. Sure enough, the king of hearts hit as the jackpot card on the river and Koroknai took down the 2010 L.A. Poker Classic. Here were the final payouts:
1. Andras Koroknai - $1,788,040
2. Raymond Dolan - $1,002,710
3. Tri Huynh - $665,140
4. Gevork Kasabyan - $450,580
5. Jean-Claude Moussa - $321,840
6. Michael Kamran - $246,740
Next on tap for the WPT is the Bay 101 Shooting Star event from San Jose, California. The unique bounty tournament kicks off next Monday, March 8th. Stay tuned to Poker News Daily for the latest WPT coverage.
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03 2nd, 2010
South’s day started at $25/$50 Pot-Limit Omaha on where he made $15k before moving up to $300/$600 PLO against Di “Urindanger” Dang and Gus Hansen.
South only stuck around for 12 hands making $10k before leaving to sit heads-up with Dwan at $200/$400 PLO.
The heads-up match lasted over two and a half hours, spanning 466 hands across two tables. By the end, South had dropped just over $84k.
Meanwhile, on top of a couple hands of $25/$50, and a long but uneventful session of $200/$400 Cap-PLO, South also sat with both Dwan and Sahamies for 378 hands of $300/$600 PLO.
Over the duration of the three-handed session, South managed to lose $226,950, all but $23k going to Sahamies.
He made one more attempt to save the session with a $200/$400 PLO rematch against Dwan, this time playing 400 hands in just under an hour.
However, the Cardrunners pro dropped another $234k to Dwan, finishing his day down $511,149.
On top of holding-over on South all day, Dwan also made $50k at $300/$600 PLO stacking the unknown luckexpress10 in just four hands. Include a $14k loss at $200/$400 Cap-PLO and Dwan finished his day up $377,568.
Sahamies entire day consisted of the single 3-handed session. He earned over $203k in just two hours of work -
Day 3 of the World Poker Tour LA Poker Classic Main Event began with 186 players, and by the time it ended, 72 remained and all the players were in the money.
The chip leader going into the fourth day of play is Mark Newhouse. If Newhouse…
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