Both players bought into this heads-up matchup for $250,000 which set the stage for a marathon playing session; the match lasted 12 hours and saw 500 hands play out.  When all 500 hands had been played, it was Marigliano who held the advantage with $272,500 compared to Dwan’s $227,500.

The fact that Marigliano ended up winning the challenge is very interesting since the statistics would indicate otherwise.  Dwan was able to win 55% of the hands, and was more aggressive on the button after raising 84% of the time.  However, the end results obviously indicate that Marcello Marigliano was the winner.

After the heads-up match was over with, Marigliano told Matchroom Sport, “In the end, I won a small amount, but I’m happy though as I won with bluffs.  He raised a lot pre-flop and you have to play tight, but I made some good moves, and I’m happy I proved I can play with Tom.”

The matchup with Marigliano is only the first part of the challenge since Dwan will be facing off against llari Sahamies today in 500 hands of Pot-Limit Hold’em; this is going to be shown on the Sky Sports network in 2010.  After Sahamies, Dwan will take on Sammy “Any Two” George.  This match is very interesting since George is known for his tendency to play any two cards that he holds.

Even the rails are heating up with numerous spectators for these hands.

With thousands of dollars swinging from hand to hand, the mid-day excitement is really hitting its peak.

If you want to see the action, or get in on it yourself, login to CarbonPoker and hit the $25/$50 Tables.

The World Series Of Poker Europe isn’t all about tight hands and pressure betting, it turns out. Paul Zimbler proved that Thursday (or should I say on Tuesday through Thursday) by successfully breaking the world record for the longest recorded continuous poker session at London’s Casino at the Empire.

Zimbler played 183 heads up sessions over more than 74 hours, winning a remarkable 102 of those and altogether raising an impressive £35,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Some of that total was donated by the substantial lineup of pros Zimbler faced, including Doyle Bruson, Annette Obrestad, Phil Hellmuth, and Mike Matusow.  Matusow had by far the toughest match, playing Zimbler in the 74^th hour and through the threshold of the record, which now stands at 74 hours, 20 minutes and 21 seconds.

Matusow employed a mock-him-so-he-keeps-playing strategy, which—combined with the large crowd of people hollering support at him—might have been the main reason Zimbler was in visibly rough shape by the time he broke the record.  Or maybe it was that he hadn’t slept in three calendar days.

It should go without saying that you should not attempt a record like this yourself.  That said, if you were thinking about it, let that dream go.  I get that you have played some epic sessions, but Zimbler was playing in a substantially more draining environment than your den, and was wearing clothes, not a robe.  And let’s not forget he was doing it for the children.

Good work, Paul.  Now get some sleep.

This would be better with poker

This Sunday is that special day that you give a little bit back to your Pops. But, do you have an original Father’s Day plan?

Don’t make Dad get out of his favorite house coat to hit the golf course, or put on a button down to go with that great new tie – just meet him online at CarbonPoker for a little heads up action.

So what happens if your old man doesn’t have a CarbonPoker account and you do? Use our refer a friend program, get the bonus, and play him heads up for an additional $50 out of our pocket. Here’s the Refer a Friend details.

Basically, every time you refer a friend to CarbonPoker and they deposit, you’ll receive $25 into your account and a SitnGo Heads Up $50 tournament for the two of you.

Seriously, this is way better than a game of catch.

The big names were out in force and split equally over the four brackets of the competition. Spades, Hearts, Diamonds and Clubs all played out over the first day of the competition and some surprising outcomes were seen as the field thinned.

Vanessa Rousso a relative no name compared to those who she was up against provided the necessary surprise beating Brunson and Ivey in consecutive matches. She went further through to round 4 where she met Daniel Negreanu and beat him down also.

Incidentally Negreanu livened up the early stages of the tournament in his third round against Scotty Nguyen where he dressed in a curly black wig and gold jewelery in imitation of his opponent. He also put on an accent and littered his speech with the term “baby”. Luckily he not only pissed off his opponent but survived the grueling encounter.

However the outstanding performance of the tournament belongs to a certain Huck Seed. Mr Seed beat out strong comer Gus Hansen in the opening round and then proceeded to steam roll his way to the final. Where he met the other outstanding performer of the tournament Miss Rousso. The two made for an excellent final and finished the tournament in style with Seed coming out on top.

While where on the topic of heads up, get into the spirit of it this Saturday with Carbon Pokers $1,000 Heads up tournament.

Details below….

Saturdays at 17:30
$11 buy in or $11 Satellite entry coupon
$1,000 Garunteed prize pool.

That being said in the second of the Heads Up with the Queen bonus matches Tina showed a new side to her game. Her opponent in this round K1n9K0n9 almost predicted his own fate. As he folded an early hand he said to Tina “I bet you had a big pair”, in classic Tina fashion she replied “look at my pic”. That was a pretty clear tell that she had a big pair.

Unfortunately for K1n9K0n9 that wasn’t the last of her big pairs. Despite getting Tina on the rails she somehow managed to fight back (K1n9K0n9 might be able to help with the details…. I’m guessing there was some luck involved) She finished the game off with the biggest pair, yes even bigger than her pair, pocket rockets.

So congratulations this round go to Tina, and commiserations to K1n9K0n9. It was a well played game, he just couldn’t quite get the result he was looking for.

Its now up to mcfc1984 to restore balance to the force and take Tina down in the last of the Heads Up with the Queen matches.

Shane @ Carbon Poker

Thanks to some nice heads up play cocaine82 took down the $500, some of which will no doubt help fund the dinner that the winner of the tourney agreed to pay for.

Tina has already met cocaine82 at last years Aussie Millions when he won his way to the Main Event with us. Now he will be working overtime to win his way there again so he can come good with this dinner.

Im sure if he gets to take Tina to dinner he wont exactly be sad!

Congrats to cocaine82 for the win, and nice work for Tina for at least getting a free dinner from the tournament!

Shane @ Carbon Poker