Archive for the ‘Poker News’ Category
Phil Hellmuth Makes WPT Final Table, Blow Up Soon To Follow
Posted By : Ray Finkle March 13th, 2010
After 15 hours of day three play, the World Poker Tour (WPT) Bay 101 Shooting Star tourney has finally reached its final table. Of the 333 entrants, six remain, but when you consider the self-proclaimed greatness of Phil Hellmuth, who sits second in chips, there are essentially 27 people left.
The one thing that has alluded Hellmuth throughout his poker career is a WPT title. With three final table appearances to his credit, he has always managed to fall short of the trophy, finishing fourth in the Gold Rush event for $34,000, third at Foxwoods for $281,000, and sixth at the L.A. Poker Classic for $229,000.
Hasan Habib joins Hellmuth on his quest for a WPT title and is fourth in chips. Much like Hellmuth, Habib is no stranger to running deep in the WPT circuit, previously finishing second, third, and seventh at circuit events for over $2 million in earnings.
Joining them are Matt Keikoan (World Series of Poker bracelet winner), Mclean Karr (who battled his way back from 10 big blinds), Dan O’Brien (guy with Irish last name), and internet pro Andy “BKiCe” Seth, who sits atop a decent chip lead. O’Brien finished 11th a year ago in this very tournament, a potential story of vindication which has Disney inspirational movie plot written all over it.
A rant regarding the poor play of Europeans, how the aggressiveness of internet players is bad for the game, or “if it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d win every one” from Hellmuth has yet to be heard. With blinds at $8,000/$16,000 and a $2,000 ante, there is plenty of room for play, one of which will hopefully knock Hellmuth’s ego out of orbit so it comes crashing back down to a felted reality like a shooting star.
Here are the payouts and current chip stacks:
First place: $878,500
Second place: $521,200
Third place: $292,800
Fourth place: $234,300
Fifth place: $175,700
Sixth place: $117,000
(1) Andy Seth – $2.1 million
(2) Phil Hellmuth – $1.4 million
(3) Dan O’Brien – $1.1 million
(4) McLean Karr – $1.1 million
(5) Hasan Habib – $455,000
(6) Matt Keikoan – $371,000
Wild West Returns to Europe, Will Smith Absent
Posted By : Ray Finkle March 8th, 2010
Taking a page out of Jackie Aprile, Jr.’s handbook, armed robbers with handguns and machetes stormed the registration area of the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Saturday, host to the European Poker Tour (EPT) Berlin.
At 2:15 p.m. during day four play of the €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event, the assailants stormed the hotel, looking to raid as much cash as they could. At some point, they were seen fighting with security officers in the main hotel hallway. Media members witnessing the scuffle rushed into the ballroom where the poker events were being hosted, shouting in German about what was taking place in the main hall. Pandemonium and confusion spread like wildfire, as a wave of chaos stampeded through the playing area. Players and press ran to the back corner of the room, scouring for exits, as other flipped tables over for makeshift cover.
The robbers left as quickly as they ran in, and after 15 tense minutes, players began returning to the ballroom amidst a sea of tipped chairs and tumbled chip stacks. Thankfully, no shots were fired, and the only injuries that occurred were some scuffs and bruises experienced in the ensuing stampedes for exit signs.
Not only did the robbery disrupt the main event, play in two other events (the €1,000 no-limit hold’em event and the ladies €300 no-limit hold’em event) came to a standstill. Due to the circumstances, tourney officials allowed entrants to withdraw from the latter mentioned tourneys and receive a refund for their buy-in. They received such an overwhelming response that the €1,000 event was eventually canceled. The main event and ladies event resumed play three hours later.
Here is the most recent statement released by the
EPT:
“Yesterday at approximately 2.15 pm, an armed robbery took place at the European Poker Tour event in Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. Four armed men were involved in the robbery which targeted the tournament registration desk outside the tournament area.
No shots were fired and the suspects quickly fled after a security guard intervened. 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 suspects did not enter the tournament area and the money taken was substantially less than what has been reported.”
The investigation is ongoing and local law enforcement is asking for any information that will help bring the masked robbers to justice. Wanted for questioning are the Hamburgler, Carmen Sandiego, Shredder, and Evan Drago.
EPT Live cameras were rolling, televising coverage of the remaining field of 20 in the main event and caught the commotion on film.
“2 Months, $2 Million” Poker Show is Axed
Posted By : CarbonPoker March 4th, 2010
“2 Months, $2 Million” was one of the poker shows that jumped on the bandwagon of trying to emulate the success of long-standing programs like Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker. Unfortunately for 2 Months, $2 Million, that success never came since the show will not be renewed by G4 for a second season.
The premise of this poker show was that 4 online pros were living in a fancy Las Vegas house while trying to accomplish the tough feat of making $2 million in just two months of online poker. In addition to the whole money making aspect, the trials and tribulations of the players was also an element to the show. The players involved were Brian Roberts, Dani Stern, Emil Patel, and Jay Rosenkrantz.
Rosenkrantz was of particular interest since every major heads-up challenge saw him taking on some a poker pro. In one episode, Rosenkrantz was pitted against David Benyamine in a heads-up battle that saw him lose over $60,000. But Rosenkrantz redeemed himself in an online heads-up match against David “Viffer” Peat where he took Peat for over $351,000 after discovering a cyber tell. Unfortunately for Rosenkrantz, he couldn’t redeem the whole four person team as they fell short of the $2 million in 2 month goal.
By the end of the 2 months the team earned a solid $676,000 total, which would definitely satisfy plenty of four-person online teams out there. However, in the spirit of this challenge the money wasn’t quite enough to make ends meet. And the ratings weren’t high enough to give the group a second chance at their goal since G4 made it clear that the show is done. 2 Months, $2 Million ended up lasting for 10, half hour episodes.
Scott Seiver is Tossing Hundos at Fly Honeys
Posted By : Ray Finkle March 3rd, 2010
Just a week after making the final table of the inaugural North American Poker Tour Venetian $25,000 High Roller Shootout and collecting $215,000 in bounties and prize money, Scott Seiver strikes lightning yet again, winning the $25k High Roller Championship event at the L.A. Poker Classic.
Besting a six-handed final table with notable poker phenoms Jason Mercier (recently mentioned World Series of Poker (WSOP) Europe final tablist/WSOP bracelet winner) and Daniel Alaei (World Poker Tour champion/WSOP bracelet winner), Seiver (WSOP bracelet winner himself) climbed to the top of the heap, staking his claim in the $425,334 first-place prize and trophy.
Heads-up play concluded when Seiver’s AsJs held against the pre-flop all-in of Alaei’s QdJd. Seiver faded Alaei’s flopped straight and diamond flush draw to become the champion. With his win, he moves just under $2 million in lifetime tourney winnings.
Now I use the term “champion” loosely because he is really just a “winner”. While these events bring out some of the biggest names in the game, with all due respect, it’s tough for me to call a 41-man event a “tourney” and the person coming out the other side a “champion”. Truth be told, it’s really just a rich man’s sit-and-go, which with the inflated buy-in, replaces the need for an additional 3000+ players in the field to have a huge payout for the top prizes. Don’t get me wrong–these are some of the greatest players in the world and combating their skill probably negates having to wade through a sea of no-names in your way to the top, but is that truly an accomplishment? I won a 45-man sit-and-go once. When is my trophy arriving in the mail?
Fake Poker Pros Scamming on Facebook
Posted By : CarbonPoker March 2nd, 2010
These days everyone has a Facebook account so it should appear as no surprise that poker players are very active on the world’s largest social networking site. Unfortunately though, scam artists are taking advantage of this activity by conning people out of their money.
The scam involves people opening up accounts as well known poker pros and fooling others into thinking they are the actual pros. Once the con artist has a person fooled into thinking they are the real poker pro, they ask the person for money transfers at a poker site. They may even go as far as to ask for a loan through bank transfer.
To fool these people, scam artists often offer a piece of their action in poker tournaments. If the supposed pro does well in a tournament, they will pay the backer a percentage of their winnings (pretty much staking). Some of the most popular fake poker profiles are based on Daniel Negreanu, Mike Matusow, and Phil Hellmuth.
People have especially complained that fake Matusows have been offering a piece of the action in major tournaments. Cardplayer Magazine also mentioned how a con artist scammed people out of money by posing as famous poker pro Willie Tan.
One of the techniques people use to set up these fake accounts includes finding pictures of a player and using one of these pictures as the profile picture. Once the account is set up, the scammers will research the poker professional to increase the legitimacy of their offers.
The best advice for avoiding these scams is to avoid any contact with these “poker pros” unless you personally know them. If you don’t know any famous poker pros, don’t fall for the notion that they’ll add you as a friend just because they noticed your skills in some $5 sit and go tournament.
Police Raid Senior’s Poker Game, Confiscate Blood Pressure Meds and Lemon Water
Posted By : Ray Finkle March 2nd, 2010
Being up with the birds, bingo, dinner at 4:30, death—it’s all you have to look forward once you’ve lost the breaks going over the hill. As if that wasn’t enough, the man in Idaho is out to crush your smiles and memories like the afternoon snack in the Wednesday compartment of your pill organizer.
Police raided the Twin Falls Senior Center in Twin Falls, Idaho when word of an illegal poker game reached their station/general store/post office. The culprits? A regular group of residents enjoying a $20 buy-in Texas hold’em game. Tossing walkers, dentures, plates of pea soup, and anything else that stood in their way, officers proceeded to shatter what little joy the elderly had left and broke up the game in honor of state laws and another slow day at the office.
Idaho law states: “risking any money, credit, deposit or other thing of value for gain contingent in whole or in part upon lot, chance, the operation of a gambling device or the happening or outcome of an event, including a sporting event, the operation of casino gambling including, but not limited to, blackjack, craps, roulette, poker, baccarat or keno.” In fact, there is nothing written in legislation that permits gambling young or old.
Regardless, something such as this puts a face on the ridiculousness that is gaming legislation. Just imagine grabbing the creamed onions from your grandma next Thanksgiving and telling her she can’t enjoy them because you say so and you can see said face for yourself.
Say Goodbye to Three More Hours of Your Life Sunday Night
Posted By : Ray Finkle February 28th, 2010
The best evening in televised poker has just gotten better, and you won’t have to choose between two shows like the mother at the end of Good Son.
On tap for your prime-time poker fix is High Stakes Poker on GSN at 8 p.m. EST. Season 6 has been off at a breakneck pace, with Phil Hellmuth and Norwegian pro Andres Hoivold going busto in just two episodes. Tonight promises more action, with Pro Jason Mercier fresh to the table with monstrous stacks of fresh cheddar. Mercier will then be our tour guide on over to the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), where he leads the pack, holding almost a 3-1 chip lead over the second largest stack in play.
The WSOPE event comes to a close tonight at 9 p.m. EST on ESPN2. Shown in two one hour segments, the culmination of 334 players gets down to the nitty gritty of it all, with many familiar names and faces hitting the felt for the coveted first place finish worth over $1.2 million. Nothing short of impressive, Daniel Negreanu returns for his second consecutive WSOPE final table. He’ll be in good company, with 2009 WSOP Main Event final tablists James Akenhead (9th) and Antoine Saout (3rd) joining him, as well as Card Player CEO Barry Shulman, father to 5th place Main Event finisher Jeff Shulman.
Tune in for three chock-full hours of the greatest show on earth that isn’t the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Ashton Griffin Wins NAPT High-Roller Shootout, Best Smile Award to Follow
Posted By : Ray Finkle February 27th, 2010
Ashton Griffin has won the inaugural North American Poker Tour (NAPT) High-Roller Bounty Shootout at the Venetian, taking home a first prize of $455,000. If his name doesn’t ring any of those proverbial bells, you may better recognize him by his poker handle, Ashman103, a frequent regular across the nosebleeds of some of the finest no-limit hold’em cash games online.
In what can best be described as a unique format, this $25,000 buy-in event was a shootout structure with knockout bounties. Of the 49 entrants, seven seven-handed tables were assembled, with the winners moving on to the final table and securing $75,000. From there, it was a winner takes all affair, with first spot taking home the money and the trophy. Throughout play, there was a $5,000 bounty on each player’s head, with a $100,000 award to the player who collected the most knockouts.
The seven-handed final table had a stacked list of names, including Joe Cassidy, Hoyt Corkins, and 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event Winner Peter Eastgate. It took almost four hours to see the first elimination, standing a testament to just how long-winded the play was. Players then began to drop like flies, until three-handed play was reached amongst Cassidy, Corkins, and Griffin and the momentum stalled out. Lasting another couple of hours, Cassidy eventually succumbed to the insurmountable blinds and antes. Ironically, it only took two hands of heads-up play before Corkins was all-in and all-out with an out-kicked top pair, as Griffin took it down and walked away with $560,000 in bounties and winnings.
And the crystal trophy? Yah, I guess that’s pretty nice too.
Lacey Jones is New Face of the Canadian Poker Tour
Posted By : CarbonPoker February 26th, 2010
Though not nearly as big as its World Poker Tour counterpart, the Canadian Poker Tour is still trying to make strides with each passing day. In the midst of making these strides, the CPT has decided to sign poker hottie Lacey Jones to be the new face of its organization. Jones has been a model, major poker personality, and even a player in the past so she could definitely help the CPT out a lot.
The negotiations between the Canadian Poker Tour and Jones started last year during the Costa Rica Poker Showdown and the World Poker Showdown. The Costa Rica Poker Showdown was especially significant for Jones since she managed to take third place and show that she’s more than just a pretty face on camera. And Jones will no doubt be more than a poker sex symbol in the CPT since she’s traveling the world as their main spokesperson.
The president of the CPT, Kelly Kellner, spoke on signing Jones by saying, “We believe that by having Lacey attend many of our events, and the fact that she is about to move to Vancouver, the partnership couldn’t be stronger.” In addition to the Costa Rica Poker Showdown, Jones also attended the CPT Kickoff Poker Series last year too, which showed her growing interest in the organization.
Besides the signing of Jones, other big news for the Canadian Poker Tour is that they will be featured on CanadianPokerPlayer.tv. As the name implies, this new website will be showing a lot of poker-related content with a heavy emphasis on the CPT. It will also have other interesting poker content such as a heads-up match between Huck Seed and Brad Booth (in the Canadian Poker Open) along with plenty of extra Lacey Jones coverage.
