Tag: poker

Doyle Brunson to Skip EPT and EPL for High Stakes Cash Game

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Doyle BrunsonWe all know Doyle Brunson.  The “Texas Dolly” is one of the most popular names in poker, and has some of the most impressive results among poker players today as well.  His overall winnings in his lifetime of poker playing are astronomical, and he has won over $2.8 million JUST from the World Series of Poker.  Brunson has hit quite a bad streak in terms of live poker tournaments recently though, and it seems like it has been since around Black Friday occurred.  With all of this being taken into account, Brunson has decided to skip some big time poker tournaments, in order to play in high stakes cash games.

Brunson has a seat at the $20k buy-in Epic Poker League Main Event, but has chosen to stick with high stakes poker instead.  Even more interesting is the fact that he was also offered to be the guest of honor at the European Poker Tour’s Prague Main Event, and that he chose to go with the cash game option there as well.

This may not come as a shocker to other players in the game, as Brunson has always been big at the high stakes cash game tables, and he also never really travels much in order to compete in poker tournaments.  Brunson did play in the European Poker Tour’s London event earlier this year, but soon after that he decided not to compete in the World Series of Poker Europe.

Doyle Brunson and his partners recently sold his namesake poker room Doyles Room to the up and coming America’s Cardroom.

Brunson tweeted that he would not be attending the Epic Poker League’s Main Event, but that he did “like the format, and will support it when possible”.  He went on to say that the reason for missing it is that he has an opportunity to play in a “very high stakes cash game”, and that “any pro would understand”.

This could potentially have something to do with Brunson hitting a bad run on the live poker tournament circuit as of late, but only time will really tell.  Regardless though, you can bet that Brunson will be on the high stakes poker cash game tables somewhere!  We’ll keep you updated on this story as more is released.

Martin Staszko Added to Team PokerStars

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Martin Staszko is fresh off of an incredible run at the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event, in which he outlasted almost the entire field and ended up finishing in second place.  While he was not able to win the event, he was one card away from sending the eventual winner, Pius Heinz, home; and winning the event himself.  A few weeks back, it was reported that Pius Heinz was added to Team PokerStars Pro roster, and there had also been rumors that Staszko could be added to the roster as well.  These rumors ended up being true, and Staszko will now represent the online poker site starting this upcoming week at the European Poker Tour’s Prague event.

Staszko is an impressive story in the world of poker, as he actually didn’t start playing the game until 2007.  It took until January of 2010 for him to pick up his first live tournament cash, when he finished just outside of the final table at the European Poker Tour’s Deauville Main Event.  Staszko finished 11th there, and picked up a pay day of $50k for his efforts.  After that he pulled in a 10th place finish at the Unibet Open a few months after, but hadn’t cashed any events after that until this year’s World Series of Poker.  He had a few cashes at the WSOP, but the one that everyone was focused on was the $5.4 million pay day that he got for his second place finish in the Main Event.

He didn’t have an easy task though, as he was actually in third out of three when they were down to only him, Pius Heinz, and Ben Lamb remaining.  He was up against the Player of the Year in Lamb, and a player in Heinz who was playing incredibly well, and already had another final table at this year’s World Series.  Staszko is 35 years old, and he was up against the young and aggressive style of the two players listed above, but he never blinked in his efforts, and sent Lamb home on the fourth hand of the three handed play.  All in all, the decision to add Staszko to their pro roster was a good one for PokerStars.

Carbon Poker Giving Double VIP Points in December

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The Carbon Poker 2X VIP Points offer that started in October and ran through November continues in December 2011 with 2X VIP December.

To receive the double VIP points at Carbon Poker this December, you must be playing on Mondays and/or Tuesdays between December 1 and 31, 2011. All games are eligible, whether cash games, multi-table tournaments or SnG tournaments. The promotional period each week is 00:00 server time Monday through 23:59 server time Tuesday.

In order to be eligible for the double VIP points for playing during those hours you must first opt-in to the promotion by visiting your Carbon Poker player admin and clicking the button that says Activate Promo. All 2X VIP points earned during that period will be credited by 02:00 server time the following day.

As before, these bonus points can be used for purchases at the VIP store, for tournament entries and for VIP points for cash exchanges; they will not, however, be used by Carbon Poker to determine which VIP tier to place you into for the month of January 2012. This only applies to bonus points, however. The regular VIP points you earn during these promotional period do count toward the tier you’re placed into the following month.

In related news, Carbon Poker is also reviving its new Fat Stack, Slim Stack promotion for the month of December. Starting December 2, players can enter two new types of tournaments that are rake free. What’s more, buy-ins are only $2 and $5. Both buy-ins are available for weekly Fat Stack tournaments, with 25K/50K starting blinds and a $1 million starting stack, and Slim Stack tournaments, with 0.5/1 starting blinds and a 10 chip starting stack.

Ladies International Poker Series Releases New Ladies Poker Tour

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Another live poker tour has been released, but this one has a twist to it.  It is a Ladies Poker Tour, and has been set up by the same people who organized the Ladies International Poker Series.  The tour is called the US Ladies Poker Championship Circuit Tour (USLPCC), and will feature 12 different events, as well as a Main Event Championship at the end of the season.  The idea behind this Ladies Poker Tour which will make it different from other events, is that it will feature huge prize pools, larger buy-in’s than the standard events, and also the Championship with a higher buy-in at the end of the season.

For starters, the opening events will feature $300+$40 buy-in’s, and will give players a starting chip stack of 10,000 chips.  Players will also have the option to purchase a $10 add-on that will add 2k in chips to your start from the word go.  These events will run different than most live poker tournaments though.  Typically a poker tournament is set up over a three day span in most situations, but these will run over certain weekends.  The layout is set up so that events will start on Saturday, and there will be 12 hours of play until a break occurs until play on Sunday.  The play on Sunday will then go down to the end and a winner is decided.  The final table will also be streamed online live for fans to watch.

While it is currently a full slate of 12 events, there have only been six released to this point.  The schedule to this point looks as follows:
  • Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma on December 3rd
  • Golden Nugget in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 7th
  • Venetian Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 4th
  • Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, California on March 17th
  • Orange Park Kennel Club in Jacksonville, Florida on April 14th
  • Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles, California on April 28th
Then Championship Event will feature a buy-in that is a bit larger, and is set at $550, and will be played on September 1st at a location in Las Vegas.  There are satellites offered for the Championship at each single event, and they will be for buy-in’s of $150+$25, and the $10 optional bonus will also be offered for this.  If you are able to win the prize package at the Mega Satellite, you will not only win a seat to the event, but also a $100 Premium Seating ticket for the Women in Poker Hall of Fame, as well as a nice $850 to help cover the expenses of getting to and from the event.

Online Poker Pro Randy “nanonoko” Lew Wins APPT Macau Main Event

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asia pacific poker tourRandy “nanonoko” Lew is one of the most profitable, and well-known online poker players in the game today.  Lew started out his online poker career like many other did, simply dabbling in cash games and figuring out the “how to” of online poker.  Lew now consistently achieves the Supernova Elite status on the massive online poker site PokerStars, and is also a member of the Team PokerStars Poker pros.  Lew was stuck in a tough spot after Black Friday though, as he could no longer play the game that was actually his full time job, and he ended up moving to Canada in order to continue playing.

This past week though, Lew decided to dabble a bit more in the live tournament circuit, and found himself at the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau’s Main Event.  The event drew in some big names from the poker world, including one of the biggest in Phil Ivey, who was sent home during Day 2 of the action.  While Lew has played over 5 million online poker hands since August of 2008, he was not nearly as used to playing on the live tournament circuit, so it was a different feel you could assume.

Fortunately, Lew knows the game of poker incredibly well, and he found himself heading into the final table of the event.  Lew was nearly sent home in 9th though, as he was all in with his Queens and was able to hit the third queen to give him a nice double up and send him to the final table against the pocket Aces of David Steicke.  He had his work cut out for him though, as he started the final table with the fewest chips out of any of the players at the table, and had some building to do in order to become a serious contender.

He did what he does best at the final table though, and found himself grinding it out and building up his stack over time.  When all was said and done it was him against Jimmy Pan for the heads up match, and he had a slight advantage to start the action.  A few hands later, Lew found himself at risk with pocket sixes, and was against two over cards in the A-9 that Pan was holding.  Lew hit a six to give himself a set, and grabbed the chip lead back.  He went on to hold off his opponent from any type of comeback, and took down the grand prize of $484,617.  Pan got a nice prize for his efforts as well, and he went home with $304,106.

888 Poker Spearheads Super 2012 Event Qualifier Action

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888 Poker was the first the online poker site to offer qualifiers into the upcoming 2012 Super Poker Event of Europe. The event, which takes place in Dublin, Ireland between February 25 and 26, expects to attract 4,000 players for the largest playing field ever in a live, land-based poker tournament event in Europe. It features a €1.2 million estimated prizepool based on a buy-in of €300 + €48.40. Players can get in on the action for much less, however, through satellites and qualifiers at sites like 888 Poker.

Nightly, 888 Poker is hosting satellites for only a $2 + $0.20 buy-in. This event includes a $2 rebuy opportunity for 1,500 chips, available to anyone who busts out before the break, followed by $2 add-ons of 4,500 chips from then on. These Step 1 satellites take place every night but Thursday night at 19:25 GMT and on Thursday nights at 18:25 GMT. These events offers 1 seat per $22 in the prize pool in the weekly Super Poker Event 2012 qualifier that takes place on Thursday nights at 19:10 GMT for a direct buy-in of $20 + $2. These seat-only qualifiers award entries worth €340 each into the Super 2012 tournament for every $480 in the prize pool. They do not, however, cover any travel or accommodation expenses.

Players interested in skipping the qualifiers and buying in to the Super 2012 tournament direct can do so through Moneybookers/SKRILL. Professional poker players already registered for the 2012 Super Poker Event of Europe include John O’Shea, Andy Black, Liam Flood, Nicholas Newport, Dara O’Kearney, Sam Holden and Jean-Paul Pasqualini.

Ivey Sent Home on Day 2 of APPT Macau; Seet Gets Hot

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We recently ran a story about the living legend of poker Phil Ivey finally getting back to the live poker tournament circuit at the APPT Macau event, and he ended the day with just over 51k in chips. Day 2 has come and gone, but unfortunately Ivey was not able to make it through to Day 3.  It wasn’t fully due to rust, as Ivey was said to still be looking at the top of his game, but he just wasn’t able to hit his cards at the right time it seemed. To start off Day 2, Ivey got his chip stack a little bit higher than the 51k, but was never able to take it to the next level and put himself in contention.

Ivey wasn’t able to pick much up and found himself running low on big blinds, and he three-bet himself all-in with the King of clubs and the 9 of hearts, but was called by the Ace of diamonds and Jack of clubs. Ivey quietly made his way from the tournament, and we are hoping that we’ll get to see the man who has won over $14 million in live poker tournament earnings sooner than later.

While Ivey’s run didn’t last, one player that stuck out at the end of the day was Nataniel Seet, who is a player from Singapore. Seet had a nice chip lead at the end of the day, and held 774,500, which was an impressive five times the size of the average stack at the event. Seet is mainly a cash game player, but also has pulled in some good results in his poker career to this point; which includes a win at an event in Manila in 2008, which featured a very large buy-in.

It looks like the remaining field will have some work to do, and that includes the player who is sitting in second right now, Danny Park. Park is a pro from Korea, and has pulled in a strong stack of 478,100. One other player that may stand out to poker fans and players out there is David Steicke, who is a high stakes player from Hong Kong, and finds himself in the top five at the end of the day.

While the most well-known player Ivey was sent home, you’ll find one player who is almost as well-known as Ivey remaining in the field. Johnny Chan is a ten time bracelet winner, and he is holding a solid stack of 244,400 chips. Chan is definitely a player to keep your eye on, and if he gets on a run the rest of the field could be in some trouble.

Major Poker Network Finally Covers Loss of Online Poker in the US

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In a bit of interesting news, one of the largest TV networks out there today has finally covered the loss of online poker in the United States.  They did this by talking with an online poker player who doesn’t have the same type of reputation as some of the biggest in the game do, such as Phil Ivey, or Phil Hellmuth; but instead went with a player who is a mid-stakes player, but one that still makes his living off of playing the game of poker online.

Since Black Friday, many TV networks have shied away from covering this topic it seems, but it is one that is huge among not only players, but also fans of poker as well.  The idea behind this story is that it takes a look at the issues that were caused at Full Tilt Poker, and gives you the insight of how a player on their site went through the situation.  The story is called “Did Poker ‘Ponzi’ steal my rent?”, and featured a player named Shawn “Jordankickz” Busse, who is a young online poker pro who had made over $300k from online poker in the past three years.

The main situation is that not only has Shawn lost his livelihood, but he also has around $60k still stuck on the massive online poker site, Full Tilt Poker.  The idea behind the story is to help point out that while many of the larger names in online poker have made moves to other countries, a lot of players who play this game as a full time job are left here without being the play the game that they love.  While Busse was making around $100k a year, he chose not to leave his life and family, and was left with around 35,000 other Americas who were surviving by playing online poker.

This loss of income for players, and also the fact that the US Government could also potentially be losing a ton of money in tax revenue are a few things to consider; but we are also left with many people who don’t have jobs at this point, and are now out there looking for work.  Realistically, only time will tell what the outcome of Black Friday will be, and if or when online poker will be allowed in the United States again.

Phil Ivey Returns to the Live Poker Tournament Scene

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Phil Ivey has been a tough man to find since Black Friday for any of you poker fans out there.  He was angry at the massive online poker site Full Tilt for not helping their players with deposits, and he saw his money stuck on the site, unable to get anything off.  He also went on to sue the site this past June, and “refused to accept non-action as to repayment of players’ funds”.  Ivey is essentially a legend in the game of poker, but he decided not to play in the World Series of Poker because he didn’t feel that it was fair that he could play when other poker players could not.

Ivey has won around $14 million on ONLY the live tournament circuit, which is one of the most impressive numbers out there.  He also has won an incredible amount of money in cash games, and the same thing goes for online poker in his career.  To top this all off, the  name “Phil Ivey” also has eight World Series of Poker gold bracelets next to it as well.  Overall, he is by far the most well-known and popular player in the game of poker right now.

This is where the story comes in.  Ivey apparently is back on the live poker tournament circuit, as he participated in the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Macau.  Many people had said that he was in town and was actually registered for the event, but play went through the entire first level of Day 1A with no Ivey to be found.  It wasn’t until the second level when Ivey showed up for the event, and walked over to his seat to get back into the action; hopefully for good.

When all was said and done of the day, Ivey made it through the day (which we can assume that most people expected, or at least I did).  He rounded out with 51,200 chips, and in comparison, the chip leader from Day 1A was Shih-Chieh Su, who pulled in an impressive 171,800 chips.  While Ivey isn’t at the top of the leaderboard, it was still nice to hear that he ended his time off from the tournament scene, and we are hoping to get to see more of Ivey in 2012.

Join Pokerstars Women Live at 2012 PCA

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In addition to the satellite series for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2012 that are open to all its players, Poker Stars is also hosting a special, separate satellite tournament series strictly for its female players.

Held as part of the larger 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the PokerStars Women Live Caribbean Adventure is a separate event from the main event running from January 12 – 14, 2012. Unlike the PCA main event, the PokerStars Women Live Caribbean Adventure is a ladies only event. Satellite qualifier tournaments are on now at Poker Stars for this event, offering up prize packages worth $3,250 to the most successful.

These prize packages include the main event buy-in, hotel accommodations and $1K in spending cash. The 2012 PCA and PokerStars Women Live Caribbean Adventure takes place on Paradise Island in the exotic Bahamas. Prize packages will be awarded at weekly satellite finals taking place every Saturday between now and December 31, 2011 for a direct buy-in of $215. Each weekly final starts at 2:30 pm ET and awards one PCA Womens Live package for each $3,250 in the pot. Instead of paying the $215 buy-in, ladies can win seats in one of the weekly finals via lower-cost qualifier tournaments. There are even freeroll qualifier tournaments that can ultimately land you a PokerStars Women Live Caribbean Adventure weekly final qualifier ticket for nothing.

The 2012 PokerStars Women Live Caribbean Adventure will the be the latest in the string of ladies-only special events held around the world. Previous such events have including European Poker Tour (EPT) main events taking place in London, Monte Carlo and Madrid.