Archive for the ‘Poker News’ Category

Joe Cada Wins 2009 WSOP Main Event, $8.55Million

Posted By : Comb Over-Under November 10th, 2009

cada joe champ wsopIt’s finally happened. After months of play/hype the 2009 Main Event of the World Series of Poker is over.

Joe Cada is the youngest WSOP Main Event winner, surpassing Peter Eastgate. Cada is only 21 years old.

The heads up portion of the Main Event lasted 88 hands as Cada bested Darvin Moon. Cada’s winning hand was pocket 9s over Moon’s suited Q-J. The board didn’t help Moon out and Cada walked away with the biggest pay day of his poker career.

Moon started out the heads up play quite aggressively, as he was down by more than 2-1. It was effective early, but Joe Cada hung on for the eventual win.

Moon took home $5.18Million for his troubles and will probably be glad to move out of poker’s biggest spotlight. The unsigned amateur never relished the promotional side of poker, but I’m sure he’s alright with the financial aspect.

  • Share/Bookmark

In-Depth Look at Cada vs Moon in WSOP Final Showdown

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 9th, 2009

darvin-moonThe last day of the WSOP Main Event ended nearly 4 months ago when the final table was set.  This past Saturday, Main Event play finally picked up again with final table play continuing all weekend as the field was whittled down to two players.

And for all of the talk about how Phil Ivey could find his way to the title despite sitting 7th in chips or how Darvin Moon would choke his big lead away because he wasn’t a veteran players, the final showdown is set: Darvin Moon versus Joe Cada.

Much was made about Darvin Moon coming into the Main Event final table because he held 30% of the chips in play and was simply known as the logger from Maryland.  He had no flashy tournament resume or heroic online feats to back up his journey to the final table.  Instead, Moon’s prior poker experience was relegated to playing in small tourneys around his area.

One of the small tournaments Moon played in (a $130 satellite in Wheeling, West Virginia) would change his life since it earned him a spot in the WSOP Main Event.  After grabbing his spot in the Main Event, Moon was able to gather 58,930,000 chips before the final table – 24,130,000 more than the next closest competitor. Joseph_Cada

Moon’s opponent, Joseph Cada, had a much different road to the WSOP.  He definitely fits into the college-dropout-turned-poker-pro class of players that have been popping up in recent years.  However, unlike a lot of these players, Cada didn’t earn his success on the Internet but rather through live play at Casino Windsor and later in bigger tournaments.  Cada already has 11 WSOP cashes to his credit which is astounding for a 21 year-old, and he is guaranteed to add a big one when his duel with Darvin Moon concludes.

If you had to give one player the experience advantage then it would definitely be Cada, but Joseph is also at about a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage going against Moon.  The odds are definitely on Moon to come out on top, but don’t count out Cada since he survived elimination several times to make it this far.

  • Share/Bookmark

WSOP Main Event 2009 Heads Up Final Starts at 10PST

Posted By : Comb Over-Under November 9th, 2009

wsop_bracelet_newDarvin Moon and Joe Cada.

Those are the final two players remaining in the Main Event of the 2009 World Series of Poker. After prelim rounds, winners, losers, months of promotion and the longest final table in WSOP history, these two have outlasted over 6K worth of players.

Heads up action goes off tonight at 10pm PST — so you East Coasters better get in a nap now, or prepare for a long night of poker.

Cada entered the final 9 in 5th place and now holds over a 2-1 chip advantage of Moon.

Think you know who’ll win? Hit the comments and let us know!

  • Share/Bookmark

Heads up Pairing Set for WSOP Final – Cada vs Moon

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 8th, 2009

wsop chipsThe field of 6,494 players is now down to two.

17.5 hours into the November Nine, Joe Cada and Darvin Moon are the only ones left. In an action packed session of playing, these guys got their in drastically different ways.

Cada needed to make many key double ups to keep his tournament life. Moon started with 60million, dropped to 30, and then roared back.

Final Count going into the WSOP Final – Heads up:

136, 925 , 000 – Joe Cada

58 , 875 – Darvin Moon.

You’ll get more updates from me after I’ve slept.

  • Share/Bookmark

Three Remain in WSOP Final Table – 9amEST Update

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 8th, 2009

The November Nine has played well into the night, and only three competitors remain.

The final table has seen 275 hands. Including the heads up portion, last year’s final table only saw 274 hands. This has turned into an absolute marathon.

Young Joe Cada now has the lead after hitting trip 2s with an all-in call against Saout’s pocket Queens.

Remaining:

Joe Cada

Darvin Moon

Antoine Saout

The players will finally get a break when it down to two.

  • Share/Bookmark

4am EST Update- Moon is the Leader, Begleiter out in 6th

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 8th, 2009

Darvin Moon has regained the lead and continues to sit stoically at the table as he sends another player to the rail.

This time, Steve Begleiter was sent packing as Moon’s A-Q beat Steve’s QQ with a river’d Ace. The Penn and Teller theatre went crazy, except for Moon. Who can blame the guy as he’s theoretically outmatched on poker’s biggest stage – yet continues to win.

Here is the updated chipcount:

Darvin Moon – 63,925,000
Eric Buchman – 53,250,000
Antoine Saout – 51,725,000
Jeff Shulman – 15,525,000
Joseph Cada – 10,350,000

  • Share/Bookmark

WSOP Final Chip Count 3:30am EST

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 8th, 2009

It’s getting late and I’m sure if you’re reading this, you’ve been following the action. Let’s grab a red bull and see what’s going on at the final table.

The bookmakers can sleep easily as Phil Ivey is out of the World Series of Poker final table. Ivey was knocked out in 7th place by full time logger Darvin Moon called on the big blind with A-Q to Ivey’s A-K. Much to the chagrin of the cheering crowd, Moon hit a Queen on the flop and sent Ivey packing.

Here is the current chip count with the final six players:

Eric Buchman – 55,500,000
Antoine Saout – 53,075,000
Darvin Moon – 39,325,000
Jeff Shulman – 17,275,000
Steven Begleiter – 16,150,000
Joseph Cada – 13,450,000

Moon has fallen off the lead, but continues to play reasonably well. Eric Buchman

  • Share/Bookmark

Going All-in with the Short Stack

Posted By : CarbonPoker November 6th, 2009

stack-of-chipsIf you have the biggest stack and are in command of a table, it’s very easy to be aggressive with big bets and raises.  After all, you’re in no real danger of being pushed out of the tournament, and you have the chips to bully other people on the table.

However, things are quite different when you are the short stack and have to fight for your tournament life.  In fact, you’ll have to go all-in at some point (or multiple points) just to get back to a decent chip stack.  Here are a couple things you should look at before deciding whether or not to go all-in with the short stack.

Hand Quality

This is one of the most obvious things you should think about before going all-in.  If you’ve got Q-Q or better pre-flop then you absolutely have to start thinking about shoving.  Even a hand like 9-9 or a drawing hand like Q-J might warrant going all-in if you’re really short stacked.  Of course, good hands don’t always fall to us when we’re short stacked so there is another thing you should definitely look at.

Required Odds

One more thing you need to be aware of before making the decision to go all-in is what your required odds are.  Basically required odds are really good odds that require you to go all-in when sitting on the short stack.  If you believe that you’re getting 2-to-1 odds on any hand then you should be shoving.

For instance, even if you think your opponent has A-K and you only have 10-9 then you should still be shoving since this hand will beat A-K almost 40% of the time.  When you put your opponents on this kind of range and get 2-to-1 odds or better then you need to be going all-in.

  • Share/Bookmark

Kara Scott is New High Stakes Poker Host

Posted By : Comb Over-Under November 5th, 2009

kara scottGSN created waves in the poker world when they decided to do away with one half of the High Stakes Poker broadcasting duo after firing A.J. Benza.  The move was not only a shock to Benza who publicly complained on his blog about it, but it was also a shock to fans of the show since Benza and fellow co-host Gabe Kaplan played quite well off each other.

According to many sources, GSN dumped Benza because they were looking to bring in an attractive female co-hostess.  At the time, rumors were swirling that poker pro Vanessa Rousso was the first choice by the network to fill Benza’s shoes.  Eventually, GSN would state that Rousso was not going to host HSP so former World Poker Tour hostess Shana Hiatt become another name thrown into the mix.

However, we now know that Hiatt won’t be the hostess either since it has been reported that poker pro Kara Scott will become the new commentator on High Stakes Poker.  Scott is one of the rising female professional players since she has earned $453,000 of her $500,000 career winnings in the last years and she’s also finished within the top 250 players in the last two WSOP Main Events.  In addition to her playing exploits, Scott has also done broadcasting work for the European Poker Tour and Poker Night Live.

The only thing that is standing in the way of Kara Scott being officially announced as the new HSP hostess is that she needs to obtain a permit which would allow her to work in the United States.  Without this permit, it would be illegal for Scott to work as the new HSP hostess according to US laws.  But it’s almost a given that Kara Scott will be able to get this permit since GSN is counting on it.

  • Share/Bookmark

Brunson Autobiography Scheduled for Nov 11 Release

Posted By : Comb Over-Under November 3rd, 2009

doylebrunsonThere aren’t too many poker autobiographies that I would be excited about. Doyle Brunson’s upcoming book, however, is one I’ll be buying. Godfather of Poker is slated for a November 11, 2009 release and is building a healthy buzz.

No one in the game has the face, resume and likeability of the Texas Dolly himself. Winner of 10 WSOP bracelets, a Hall of Famer, and an ambassador for the game, I’m sure there was no issue with finding enough content to fill the 372 pages.

Godfather of Poker winds its way through Brunson’s beginnings in poker – far before it was covered by media outlets, legitimized and revered – when games were found in backrooms and were notoriously ‘wild west’. Through his career, Brunson was privy to shocking changes in how the game was perceived and played.

The only constant in poker has been Brunson.

The book’s forward was written by Mike Cochran and features backing from Sexton, Caro and many others in the industry.  Published by Cardoza, you can find this book for $26.95 USD.

  • Share/Bookmark