Poker tournaments archive

Polish maths teacher Ellie Biesek has become the first woman ever to win a Genting Poker Series main event, after taking down the tournament over the weekend for £38,750 ($58,559).

Ellie originally hales from Szczecin, Poland before moving to Britain in 2005 to pursue a career as a high school math’s teacher. In between work, she also enjoys playing poker and has been cashing in at events since 2011. Recently, Ellie Biesek then won her seat through to the £440 GPS Newcastle playing online under the screen name ‘xMssHansenx’ and had to drive 340 miles from Southampton to Newcastle to take her seat at the event.

The GPS Newcastle attracted 400 players to The Genting Casino to create a prize pool worth £160,000. Amongst those competing at the event were some of the UK’s top poker pros, including Karl Mahrenholz, Amy Trodd, Daiva Barauskaite, Keith Hawkins, Jeff Kimber, Ashraf Waheed, Jonathan Gill and George Clyde-Smith. In the end, however, it was the 30 year old maths teacher from Winchester who sealed the victory for £38,750 ($58,559) taking her life time tournament earnings to $138,426.

Following her impressive performance, Ellie Biesek commented: “I am absolutely thrilled, very happy indeed. I didn’t get Aces or Queens once during the whole tournament, but I ground it out and I always thought that the trophy had my name on it because it is engraved with one of my favourite numbers, 13! It is a prime number and because most people think it is unlucky, I adopted it! As a mathematician I am fascinated by numbers, and that is why I love teaching and poker.”

Congratulations to Ellie Biessek on her impressive win. The final table payouts were as follows:

1. £38,750 – Ellie Biessek
2. £25,600 – Jamie Rutherford
3. £19,010 – George Clyde-Smith
4. £14,880 – Dan Woodford
5. £11,840 – Jimmy Charlton
6. £ 8,960 – Jonathan Gill
7. £ 6,400 – Wadey
8. £ 4,320 – Dom Mahoney
9. £ 2,720 – Dan Hemmingway



Polish Hottie Becomes First GPS Poker Champion

The APAT World Championship of Amateur Poker (WCOAP) will be held in the Dusk Till Dawn Club, based in Nottingham, this year. The event, which will be held from March 28 to April 1, will comprise 10 exciting poker events with highly affordable buy-ins. The sixth season of the WCOAP will begin with two events—the £50+£5 WCOAP Stud Championship and the £100+£10 WCOAP World Amateur Team Championship. Poker players are also looking forward to other WCOAP events such as a NL Hold’em 6-Max tournament, an Omaha tournament, a HORSE tournament, as well as a heads-up event. All the ten events have attracted a lot of attention, including the most important event of them all—the £100+£10 WCOAP World Amateur Poker Championship.

During the fifth season, the Main Event, also known as the WCOAP World Amateur Poker Championship, attracted a field of 405 players and generated a massive £42,930 prize pool. The champion of the event turned out to be Dave Garden, who beat Andrew Duffin in the heads-up match to grab the first prize of £12,092 and the WCOAP trophy.

This season’s WCOAP Main Event has already attracted a lot of attention, and interested players are urged to register at the APAT forum and find out if there are any available seats for it.

The WCOAP schedule is as follows. The £100+£10 WCOAP Team Championship, which will have a cap of 80 players, will be held on March 28 at 17:00. The £50+£5 WCOAP Stud Championship will be held on the same day at 18:00.

On March 29, the £50+£5 WCOAP Six-Max Championship and £250+£25 WCOAP High Roller event will be held at 14:30 and 18:00, respectively. The £100+£10 WCOAP Main Event (Day 1A), the £50+£5 WCOAP H.O.R.S.E Championship, and the £100 WCOAP Cash Championship will be held on March 30 at 14:00, 14:30, and 18:00, respectively.

The £100+£10 WCOAP Main Event (Day 1😎, the £50+£5 WCOAP Omaha Championship, and the £50+£5 WCOAP Razz Championship will be held on March 31 at 14:00, 14:30, and 18:00, respectively. The WCOAP Main Event Final and the £50+£5 WCOAP Heads-up Championship will be held on April 1 at 14:00 and 14:30, respectively.

The WCOAP is special because it attracts a number of amateur poker players worldwide, resulting in the formation of a lively and friendly poker community. This weekend, the poker gaming environment at Dusk Till Dawn Club, Nottingham is expected to be more exciting than ever.



WCOAP Season 6 to be Held at Nottingham

UK’s Neil Raine has won the France Poker Series Snowfest Evian, after defeating a field of 280 players over three days to capture the title, and collect the €60,000 ($77,582) first place prize.

The UK pro keeps a detailed blog of his poker experiences and in 2012 said he made $62,500 profit online and about $13,000 live, which were far below his expectations for the year. After taking down his biggest score ever in France, however, the 28 year-old has now given his 2013 campaign a super boost, taking his total live career earnings to $127,092, to go with the $363,554 he has won online playing under the screen name ‘Heffs976.’

As the €1,100 Snowfest eight man final table got underway, Fabrice Soulier was out in front with 1.26m of the seven million chips in play, with Neil Raine joining the rest of the finalists on less than a million chips. Neil Raine (A-9) then got off to a good start by knocking-out Chacki Aissat (K-K) in 8th for €8,100.

Then, Frenchman Michael Reubi (A-A) started his run at the final table by first dispatching Romain Secret (A-Q) to the rail in 6th (€12,600), before picking up K-J and eliminating Olivier Pazio (J-9) in 5th for €15,100. Next, Michael Reubi (4-4) took care of Fabrice Soulier (A-4) in 4th (€18,100) and after doing likewise to Christopher Brown in 3rd (€28,000), the heads-up phase of the competition then got underway.

Unfortunately for Reubi, he was unable to continue his momentum and after losing a big pot holding pocket nines, Reubi was eliminated a little later holding A-8 to his opponent’s pocket fours, thus handing Neil Raine the title of France Poker Series Snowfest Evian champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1: Neil Raine — €51,200
2: Michael Reubi — €44,000
3: Christopher Brown — €28,000
4: Fabrice Soulier — €18,100
5: Olivier Pazio — €15,100
6: Romain Secret — €12,600
7: Anthony Di Zazzo — €10,200
8: Chacki Aissat — €8,100



UK Pro Neil Raine Triumphs At France Poker Series

Over the past ten days, Reno’s Atlantis Casino Resort Spa has played host to the Card Player Poker Tour and on Monday, March 25th, the $1,080 Main Event was concluded. Emerging atop of the 190 player field was John Miner of Carson City, who picked up $45,153 for his first place finish.

John Miner has now earned $135,341 from live tournaments, with his past accolades including a 2nd place finish at the 2011 WPT Regional Western Poker Challenge for $46,932, and victory at the 2012 WSOP Circuit Lake Tahoe for $19,547. Following his latest win in Reno, Miner commented:

“It feels very good to win, I’m glad that the Atlantis put it on for us. I’m very excited to make a good showing for the hometown. It was a tough field, everybody played very well and it was definitely challenging, but I felt very confident most of the time.”

The $1,080 Main Event attracted a whole slew of pros to the tournament, including such players as 2007 WSOP Main Event Champion Jerry Yang, David Randall, Steve Brecher, Charles Moore, and Andrew Howard. In the end, however, John Miner would go heads-up against his friend Jerry Morrell with the duo then agreeing to split the prize money and play just one hand all-in pre-flop.

Miner was subsequently dealt A-Q to Morrell’s Q-2, and after the board fell K-J-8-3-7, Miner was crowned the 2013 Poker Tour Atlantis Reno champion. When asked what he intended to do with the money, Miner replied; “..give it to my wife. I’ll probably also play some more poker and try to win some more tournaments.”

The final table payouts were as follows:

1. John Miner — $45,153
2. Jerry Morrell — $45,153
3. Jeffrey Spruitenburg — $21,195
4. Ralph Kingan — $14,928
5. Billy Lee — $11,519
6. Tanya Kirk — $8,754
7. Dustin Fox — $6,819
8. Matt Kramer — $5,068
9. Steven Michaelis — $3,594


John Miner Wins 2013 Poker Tour Atlantis Reno

I think i know this guy.

Over 600 players have entered the first ever major live poker tournament in North Carolina, being held at the Harrah’s Cherokee casino.

The $365 World Series of Poker Circuit preliminary event completely sold out, taking on close to 200 alternates to accommodate player demand.

Harrah’s Cherokee is the only licensed casino in North Carolina to spread poker. The casino, which previously only offered electronic poker tables, was able to switch to live, dealer-based table games in June of 2012 after a gambling bill was signed into law by Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The state estimated that table games expansion would bring in an extra $2-$3 million annually for the North Carolina public school system, as well as create an additional 400 jobs.

Poker in North Carolina has made headlines for all of the wrong reasons in the last few years, with police raiding numerous home games and bar leagues spreading the game.

Harrah’s Cherokee casino opened in 1997 and is located 60 miles from Asheville in the western part of the state.



First Major Poker Tournament In North Carolina Sells Out - Poker News

The inaugural World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific (WSOP APAC) is now fully underway in Australia and we are just one day away from determining its first bracelet winner.

Event 1: The $1,100 No Limit Holdem Accumulator, managed to attract 1,085 players over its three Day 1 flights, which is a record for the biggest WSOP bracelet event held outside the US. By the time the starting days had been completed just 144 players remained and currently Day 2 is playing down to its final table with 29 players still in contention.

Losers

Entering the event but falling short of a cash were such notable names as Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Bertrand Grospellier, and Eugene Katchalov. Amongst the big name pros managing to cash in the top 90 paid spots of the $1,100 No Limit Holdem Accumulator, was such players as Barry Greenstein in 75th ($2,669), Russell Thomas in 53rd ($3,461), Michael Watson in 44th ($3,841) and Jackie Glazier in 36th ($4,307).

Winners

As Sunday’s action continues to heads towards the final table, the blinds are currently at 1.5k/3k and leading the pack thus far is Australia’s Jonathan Karamalikis (320k), followed by Jonathan Duhamel (295k). Other top pros still in contention include Dan Kelly (160k), Jeremy Ausmus (95k) and Antoine Saout (50k).

Also alive in the competition is the 13-times WSOP legend Phil Hellmuth (50k) who, after initially making the money bubble, tweeted: “In the money!! After roughly 5 bubbles in the last couple months, being in the money feels extra good!” As the tournament ticked down, Hellmuth later tweeted; “9 make final table…Hunting Down Under for #WSOPBracelet14 #WSOPAPAC #MANUP.”

After Day 2 is complete, the finals will return to the action on Monday, where they will compete for the very first WSOP APAC gold bracelet awarded. The least anyone could then expect to receive would be $20,138 for 9th, but with $211,575 going to the eventual winner.



2013 WSOP APAC $1,100 Plays Down To Final Table

The iPoker Online Poker Series is set to start at Titan Poker later this month, with $1.2 million in guaranteed prizes.

iPOPS IV begins on April 21, with 15 events scheduled for the course of the tournament series. The highlight is the $500,000 main event on May 5, with a buy-in of $215.

The schedule is separated into “major” and “side” events, with the former mostly high buy-ins and larger guarantees, and the latter mostly smaller buy-ins. The side events start April 21 and run through April 27th, opening with a $40,000 guaranteed tournament with a $55 buy-in.

Some highlights of the “major events” schedule, starting on April 28, include:
–A $200,000 guaranteed event with a $135 buy-in on April 28.
–A $370 “high-roller” event guaranteeing $100,000 on April 29.
–A $109 buy-in on May 3 is a deep-stack tourney with $100,000 guaranteed; it also allows one rebuy.

You can check out the entire iPOPS schedule here. Satellites are currently running for the tournaments.

If you don’t have a Titan Poker account, you can sign up here. Right now is a great time to play at Titan: the VIP program pays up to 44% back in cash, you can get a 200% deposit bonus up to $2,000, and a special “Gold Bar” promotion allows players to earn even more cash back for their play.



iPoker Online Poker Series Set for This Month

Bryan Piccioli has won the 2013 WSOP APAC Event 1: $1100 No Limit Hold’em Accumulator, after defeating a field of 1,085 players over five days to capture a gold bracelet, and collect the $211,575 first place prize.

First to leave the final table was Ryan Otto in 9th ($20,138), whose Q-Q shove was called by Jonathan Duhamel (A-K) with the board subsequently falling 9-4-4-5-A. He was followed shortly after by a short-stacked Peter Kleudgen in 8th ($25,335 ) after his A-10 foundered against the 8-7 of Karamalikis.

Next, Iori Yogo (A-2) lost against the A-J of Junzhong Loo to exit in 7th ($32,268), while Karamalikis (4-5) made a straight against Graeme Putt on a A-7-8-Q-6 board to send the New Zealender to the rail in 6th for $41,610.

Jay Loo (A-J) then proceeded to eliminate 2012 WSOP October Niner Jeremy Ausmus (A-7) in 5th ($54,337), before doing likewise to the 2010 WSOP champion Jonathan Duhamel in 4th ($71,870), whoose A-8 ran into the pocket queens of Jay Loo.

However, Jay Loo’s forward momentum soon came to an end in 3rd ($96,305) after running his Q-J into the A-A of Bryan Piccioli, thus heralding in the heads-up phase of the competition between Australia’s Jonathan Karamalikis and USA’s Bryan Piccioli.

At this stage, Piccioli held a 2.02m to 1.25m chip advantage over the local favourite, but unfortunately for Aussie suporters there was to be no fairy tale ending to the inaugural WSOP APAC Event 1. Eventually, Karamalikis (A-8) was all-in pre-flop against the pocket tens of his opponent, and after the board rolled out 9-4-3-5-2, Karamalikis had to settle for a runner-up finish worth $130,743, while Bryan Piccioli was awarded the first ever WSOP APAC bracelet.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1 Bryan Piccioli $211,575
2 Karamalikis $130,743
3 Jay Loo $96,305
4 Jonathan Duhamel $71,870
5 Jeremy Ausmus $54,337
6 Graeme Putt $41,610
7 Iori Yogo $32,268
8 Peter Kleugden $25,335
9 Ryan Otto $20,138



Bryan Piccioli Wins 2013 WSOP APAC Event#1

Jim Collopy has won WSOP Asia Pacific $1,650 PLO event, after defeating a field of 172 players on his way to capturing a gold bracelet, as well as the A$69,662 first place prize.

The 24 year old US pro has enjoyed some impressive results since cashing in at his first live tournament in 2008 and in 2010 narrowly missed out on a bracelet after finishing runner-up to Gus Hansen at WSOPE £10k NL High Roller Heads-Up for £178,211 ($274,924).

This time around, however, he was not to be denied and after taking down the PLO event, Jim Collopy has now taken his live tournament cashes to more than $700k, to go with the $2,193,404 he has won online playing under the screen name Mr_BigQueso.

Commenting on his remarkable victory in Melbourne, Collopy said: “Australia is definitely the country where I’ve run best in the world. Skipping the snow and having a three-year endless summer of not ever having to put on socks and shoes is awesome.”

Although the 172 player field was smaller than most standard bracelet events, WSOP APAC Event 2 did still attract the attention of many notable players. Amongst the top names managing to cash in the event was Jos Hachem in 17th ($3,460), Jeff Lisandro in 14th ($4,138), and Andrew Gaw in 12th ($5,028).

Jim Collopy then entered the final table of nine as the chip leader and apparently never relinquished the lead despite a line-up of tough pros, including the likes of Marvin Rettenmaier and Dan Shak. Marvin Rettenmaier subsequently became the first finalist to exit in 9th ($6,207), while Dan Shak managed a 5th place finish for $16,940. Eventually, Jim Collopy went on to defeat Australia’s Edison Nguyen heads-up to claim USA’s second WSOP APAC bracelets from two events.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1. Jim Collopy (AU$69,662)
2. Ming Nguyen ($43,050)
3. Tino Lechich ($30,988)
4. Scott Reid ($22,712)
5. Dan Shak ($16,940)
6. Paul Sharbanee ($12,856)
7. Mike Leah ($9,923)
8. Martin Kozlov ($7,784)
9. Marvin Rettenmaier ($6,207)



USA's Jim Collopy Wins 2013 WSOP APAC PLO Event

Daniel Boender has won the Estrellas Poker Tour Valencia, after defeating a field of 482 players over five days to capture the title, and collect the €104,550 first place prize.

As the final table got underway, Dutchman Daniel Boender was in pole position at the table which included 6 Spainards and 1 player from Portugal. Daniel Boender (A-A) then proceeded to eliminate Enrique Lanzuela Fornas (J-J) in 8th for €9,260, before then being dealt pocket eights and dispatching a short-stacked Jorge Andres Jimenez (A-10) to the rail in 7th (€12,750). Continuing his steamroll of the final table, Daniel Boender (Kd-Qd) then hit a flush against Ivan Carmona Oteiza (A-J) on a 7d-4-3d-7-8d board to send Oteiza home in 6th for €17,390

Following the first break, Daniel Boender (A-7) soon picked-up where he left off and called the 15bb short-stack shove by Renato Almeida (A-6) only for the board to fall K-7-7-9-4. Almeida received €24,920 for his 5th place finish.

Javier De Vicente Miquel (K-Q) then eliminated Jose Gonzalez (7-7) in 4th (€33,040), but his joy was brief as soon after he came unstuck holding K-10 against the pocket fours of Daniel Boender. Miquel then went all-in on the board J-K-4-8 ony to see the bad news and so he had to be content with a 3rd place finish worth €42,890.

As the heads-up phase of the competition got started, Daniel Boender held a commanding 7 to 1 chip advantage over Marciano Rodriguez Cortes. Just a few hands is all it would then take before Cortes (Kd-Jh) found himself all-in against the Ah-5h of Boender. The board subsequently rolled out 9h-6h-J-Qh-Kh to relegate Cortes to a runner-up finish worth €69,550, while Daniel Boender was crowned the 2013 Estrellas Poker Tour Valencia champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1: Daniel Boender €104,550
2: Marciano Cortes €69,550
3: Javier Miquel €42,890
4: Jose Gonzalez €33,040
5: Renato Silva Almeida €24,920
6: Ivan Carmona Oteiza €17,390
7: Jorge Jimenez €12,750
8: Enrique Fornas €9,260


Dutchman Boender Wins Estrellas Poker Tour Valencia

Phil Ivey has won WSOP APAC Event #3: $2,200 Mixed Event, after defeating a field of 81 players over three days to capture a gold bracelet, and collect the $51,840 first place prize.

The 37 year old poker legend had been stuck on 8 bracelets since winning his last in 2010 at the $3k H.O.R.S.E. event for $329,840. In 2012, Ivey then came close to adding to his tally after reaching five final tables at the WSOP in Las Vegas, including finishing runner-up at the $10k PLO event for $275,559. This time around in Melbourne, Australia, however, Ivey finally manged to capture that elusive gold bracelet to take him to the same number as Johnny Moss. Only Phil Hellmuth (13), Doyle Brunson (10) and Johnny Chan (10) now have more WSOP bracelets than Ivey.

By the time the six seat final table had been reached, Phil Ivey was the chip leader on a 144,300 stack, followed close behind by Daniel Negreanu on 129,000. Also in contention was USA’s Brandon Wong (86,100) and Kevin Song (49,600), along with Aussies Rob Campbell (42,600) and Graeme Putt (36,400).

Nevertheless, it was Brandon Wong who would come to dominate the action, starting with the elimination of Kevin Song in 6th ($8,978) during a PLO round. Wong then did likewise to Rob Campbell in 5th ($12,020) whilst playing Seven Card Stud Hi-Lo, Negreanu in 4th ($16,336) during PLO, and finally Graham Putt in 3rd ($22,427) during Seven Card Stud, to go heads-up against Phil Ivey.

As the heads-up battle commenced, both players were fairly even in chips but at one stage Ivey slipped to an almost 5 to 1 disadvantage. Nevertheless, despite eliminating all other players in the competition, Wong was unable to dispatch his most dangerous opponent and Ivey was subsequently able to mount his comeback to win yet another WSOP bracelet to the delight of many a poker fan.



Phil Ivey Wins WSOP Bracelet No.9 In Australia

Licensed online poker will soon become a thing of reality for Nevada poker players now that the regulatory body has granted an online gambling license to Caesars Entertainment Corporation and 888 Holdings. The two companies had gotten into a partnership deal with the intention of expanding the famous WSOP online poker brand into the US. The World Series of Poker (WSOP) online is on the verge of being launched in the beta form in Nevada and the company has invited Nevada poker players to help them test its software. WSOP Online Nevada has announced on its homepage that it is a real money online poker product, which is licensed in Nevada and available to Nevada poker players only. Players need to be at least 21 years of age in order to play for real money.

While the WSOP has invited Nevada poker players to help them test its software, the company is not offering players a job. Players who accept the invitation will not be compensated for the time and effort they put in testing the software and helping the company launch its online poker product into the Nevada market.

The WSOP announcement states: “By joining the WSOP-com beta program, you will be among the first players to experience the WSOP-com online poker platform.”

A brand belonging to Caesars Entertainment Corporation, the WSOP is considered to be the world’s most lucrative and prestigious live poker tournament series. First launched at Binion’s Horseshoe in Las Vegas, WSOP quickly evolved into an internationally acclaimed brand, governed by a large corporation. Today, it hosts a number of bracelet events and attracts poker players from all over the world. Caesars owns a large number of land casino properties in Nevada in addition to shares in many other gambling properties over the US.

Late in 2012, Nevada’s regulatory body approved Caesar’s application for a license to run an online poker product in the state. Caesars immediately got into a partnership deal with 888 Holdings because it did not have the software technology required to run an online poker room. 888 Holdings is a major online gambling company that operates outside the US. As a result of this partnership, Nevada poker players will get a world famous poker skin in the form of the WSOP, powered by software created by the internationally acclaimed 888 Holdings.

While the WSOP has not announced a launch date, it has promised that the online poker product will come soon.



WSOP Invites Nevada Poker Players to Test Software for Online Poker Room

Chanracy Khun has won the 2013 World Poker Tour Barcelona, after overcoming a field of 249 players on his way to capturing the title, and collecting the €181,400 ($232,487) first place prize.

By the time the €3,200 buy-in tournament reached its final table of six, Chanracy Khun was the chip leader. He then proceeded to
eliminate all the other remaining finalists on his way to victory.

First to leave the arena was days 1b and Day 3 leader Sergio Fernandez, holding A-9 to the the pocket sixes of Khun. After the board rolled out 7-3-5-K-6, Sergio Fernandez found himself out in 6th for a $47,813 payday.

On the very next hand, it was Chanracy Khun who this time held A-9 and decided to call Bruno Garcia Cotelo’s all-in. Fortunately for Khun, his opponent held a dominated A-6 and soon after Cotelo headed to the rail in 5th place ($59,443).

Continuing his steamroll of the final table, Chanracy Khun (K-10) eliminated Tahiri Najib (A-6) in 4th for $80,119, while Antonio Alfaia (9-9) looked good to double-up against Khun, who called his all-in holding A-5. Unfortunately for Alfaia, though, a harmless Q-10-4-10 board produced an A on the river to send him out of the tournament in 3rd for $107,256.

As the heads-up phase of the competition then got underway, Khun held a 5.84 million chip advantage over Benjamin Pollak on a 1.63 million stack. After a brief battle, Pollak (K-7) subsequently found himself all-in against the pocket eights of his opponent, and after the board rolled out A-9-9-J-7, Pollak had to content himself with a runner-up finish worth $162,822, while Chanracy Khun was crowned the 2013 WPT Barcelona champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1st Chanracy Khun $258,448
2nd Benjamin Pollak $162,822
3rd Antonio Alfaia $107,256
4th Tahiri Najib $80,119
5th Bruno Garcia Cotelo $59,443
6th Sergio Fernandez $47,813



Chanracy Khun Wins WPT Barcelona for $232k

Kevin Saul has won the 2013 WSOP Circuit Foxwoods, after defeating a field of 615 players over three days to lift the title, and collect the $194,178 first-place prize.

Following his impressive victory in Connecticut, the poker pro now takes his live tournament winnings to $2,578,989, to go with the $2.3 million he has amassed playing online under the screen name “BeL0WaB0Ve”.

Controlling the early action at the $1,675 buy-in Main Event final table was Paul Snead who eliminated Stephen Dare in 9th ($18,031), before doing likewise to Pete Campo in 8th ($22,654) and Ethan Foulkes in 7th ($28,662).

Next, Kevin Saul (Kd-9d) added massively to his stack after doubling up against Bobby Corcione (A-A) on a 6d-8d-7s-Js-Jd board, and soon after a severely short-stacked Corcione was sent to the rail by Cory Waaland in 6th for $37,356. Lall Bharat (A-J) then proceeded to eliminate Ben Reason (4-4) in 5th for $49,007.

In a dramatic hand, Lall Bharat then folded his pocket nines pre-flop to allow Kevin Saul (8-8) and Paul Snead (A-Q) to battle it out, and after the board rolled out 8-8-4-2-K, Snead was knocked out in 4th for $65,096. Kevin Saul (A-K) subsequently eliminated Cory Waaland (6-6) in 3rd ($87,842) to herald in the heads-up phase of the competition.

At this stage, Saul held a 7.4 million to 4.6 million chip advantage over Lall Bharat, who was eventually whittled down to 1.9 million chips before the defining hand was played. On the button, Bharat announced all-in with Ks-5s only to be called by Saul holding A-K. The board then fell 8-Q-6-A-6 to relegate Lall Bharat to a runner-up finish worth $119,742, while Kevin Saul was crowned the 2013 WSOP Circuit Foxwoods champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1st Kevin Saul $194,178
2nd Lall Bharat $119,742
3rd Cory Waaland $87,842
4th Paul Snead $65,096
5th Ben Reason $49,007
6th Bobby Corcione $37,356
7th Ethan Foulkes $28,662
8th Pete Campo $22,654
9th Stephen Dare $18,031



Kevin Saul Wins 2013 WSOP Circuit Foxwoods

Daniel Negreanu won his fifth World Series of Poker bracelet and AU$1,038,825 in dominating fashion as he rolled through the final table to capture the title in the first WSOP APAC Main Event on Monday.

The victory marks Negreanu’s first WSOP bracelett since 2008 and his first seven-figure cash in a WSOP event.

“I’ve had a lot of deep runs in the past couple of years and put up a lot of seconds and thirds, and I’ve had a lot of heartbreak when I got close,” Negreanu recalled after navigating his way through the 405 player field at Melbourne, Australia’s Crown Casino.

When it got down to the final two, Negreanu found himself with a commanding 9 to 1 chip lead over his opponent Daniel Marton. And though Marton managed to double through Kid Poker, the lead was never in danger and Negreanu was able to close out the match a few hands later.

With the win Negreanu takes a commanding lead in the race to become the 2013 WSOP Player of the Year. He also made the final table of in Event #3, the AU$2,200 Mixed Event where he finished in fourth place. The eight-game event was won by his good friend Phil Ivey who notched his ninth WSOP bracelet.



Daniel Negreanu Wins WSOP APAC Main Event | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

Germany’s Philipp Gruissem has won the WSOP APAC High Roller, after defeating a field of 44 players over two days to take down the non-bracelet event, and collect the A$825,000 ($863,386) first place prize. With his latest victory in Melbourne, Australia, Gruissem now takes his live tournament earnings to $4,848,948, to go with the $2,314,400 he has won online playing under the screen name ‘philbort.’

Day 2 of the $50,000 buy-in event saw 11 players return, all hoping to at least make the 6th placed $115,000 money-bubble. Falling just short of a cash, in the end, was Joe Hachem (11th), Jonathan Duhamel (10th), Devan Tang (9th), Kyle Cheong (8th) and Marvin Rettenmaier (7th).

With the bubble burst, Lo Shing then eliminated Tom Hall in 6th ($115,000), while Elton Tsang went out in 5th ($155,000) after his two pair foundered against Joseph Cheong’s straight.

Soon after, Philip Gruissem (Kc-Jc) called a Lo Shing Fung (A-10) three-bet all in preflop. The Macau player felt good on the A-8-5c flop, but the turn and river subsequently produced a 10c and 7c to end his tournament hopes in 4th for $225,000. Gruissem (K-5) got equally as lucky after three-betting Paul Phua (A-10) all-in pre-flop, with a K then hitting on the turn to eliminate Phua in 3rd for $325,000, thus heralding in the heads-up phase of the competition.

At this stage, Gruissem held the chip advantage over Joseph Cheong and before long all the chips went to the centre of the table with Gruissem holding Q-J to Cheong’s pocket sevens. The board then rolled out 4-Q-6-8-4 to relegate Joseph Cheong to a runner-up finish worth $511,000, while Philip Gruissem was crowned the champion.

The WSOP APAC High Roller Final Table Results were as follows:

1st Philip Gruissem – $825,000
2nd Joseph Cheong – $511,000
3rd Paul Phua – $325,000
4th Lo Shing Fung – $225,000
5th Elton Tsang – $155,000
6th Tom Hall – $115,000



Philipp Gruissem Wins WSOP APAC High Roller For $825k

More than two years ago, Tom “durrrr” Dwan and Dan “Jungleman12” Cates started their Challenge II. The goal was to play 50,000 hands of heads-up NL with Dwan standing to win $500,000 of Cates’ money if he won compared to giving away $1.5 million if he lost. Unfortunately for Tom Dwan, he soon sunk to a $1,251,059 deficit after 19,335 hands played and since Black Friday struck, the Challenge II has been in the deep-freeze ever since.

That was until recently when a series of tweets designed to needle Tom Dwan seems to have had their intended effect and brought the Challenge II back into focus once more. One such tweet read: “Regarding my recent tweets with @TomDwan , I tweeted because he has repeated avoided playing since 2011. Hes down and likely to lose 1.5m+”

Now, after its long hiatus, last Sunday finally saw the first hands played of $200/$400NL across four-table between the top pros. The brief encounter of just a few hundred hands may not have been quite the dramatic battle rail fans had been waiting for, but at least it may help overcome inertia and get the whole protracted affair back on track. After 493 hands in which Cates won roughly $59,300, the two pros left on good terms with their online chat going:

durrrr: kk ill be around some of the next few days i think
durrrr: not tonight tho prolly
durrrr: cya
jungleman12: if you want, we can play sometime in next couple weeks
jungleman12: ok cya

An encouraged Dan Cates then took to his twitter account and wrote: “well that was fast..but I think @TomDwan and I will get a good game soon.”

Hopefully from this point on the Challenge II won’t take a further two years to complete.



Jungleman Wins $60k As Durrrr Challenge Resumes

$825,000 that's a lot of money.

Kevin Eyster has won the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, after defeating a field of 542 players over five days to lift the title, and collect the $660,395 first-place prize.

With his latest victory in Florida, Kevin Eyster now takes his live tournament earnings to $1,183,591, to go with the $3,286,362 he has won online under the screen name “1SickDisease.”

Kevin Eyster led the $5k buy-in tournament from Day 3 and on Day 5 entered the six-seated final table on a 5.68 million stack, 1.2 million ahead of his next closest rival. First to leave the arena was Jeff Madsen (2-2) having got his short-stack all-in pre-flop only to be called by Kevin Eyster with A-10. The board then rolled out 9-4-4-3-10 to eliminate Madsen in 6th ($100k), after which he tweeted; “completely card dead then lost a race busted 6th. dejection.”

Following Ben Tarzia’s (Q-J) elimination of Daniel Letts (A-8) in 5th ($122,275), Kevin Eyster (A-3) took care of a short-stacked Paul Dlugozima (J-9) in 4th ($171,950) before grinding down Zo Karim and Ben Tarzia during three-handed play.

Zo Karim’s tournament hopes then received a boost after being dealt A-A and getting Kevin Eyster (K-Q) to potentially double-him up on a K-5-3-10 board. Unfortunately for Karim, though, the river produced a Q and so he soon found himself consigned to the rail in 3rd for a $252,190 payday.

As the heads-up battle got underway, Eyster held a 12.765m to 3.5 million chip lead over Tarzia, and just 11 hands later Tarzia was all-in holding pocket sevens to Eyster’s A-10. The board subsequently fell A-5-2-5-10 to relegate Ben Tarzia to a runner-up finish worth $389,750, while Kevin Eysterwas crowned the WPT champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1. Kevin Eyster - $660,395
2. Ben Tarzia - $389,750
3. Zo Karim - $252,190
4. Paul Dlugozima - $171,950
5. Daniel Letts - $122,275
6. Jeff Madsen - $100,000




Kevin Eyster Wins WPT South Florida For $660k