Although it is the end of the year 2009, the world of online poker is as active as ever. Despite the fact that there are more poker tournaments and matches to come, we can see the fantastic achievements of the greats in the poker field. The online poker tournaments of this year have taken place in casinos all over the world namely; Las Vegas, Warsaw, Marrakech, and London, as well as online.

One player, Antoine Saout has made quite the name for himself as a talented French poker player who won third place in the World Series of Poker. Antoine Saout claimed more than four million dollars in poker winnings in 2009.

In addition to this Joe Cada won the main event of the World Series of Poker this year creating a big name for himself as a professional poker player. He has won about eight and a half million dollars this year playing poker.

Another fine player, Daniel Kelly won the World Championship of Online Poker. This new online poker pro player is just twenty years old. He’s a student from the University of Vilanova and in just two weeks Daniel Kelly, or djk123 as he is known, earned two titles in the World Championship of Online Poker. With these players came Cornel Cimpan who won the Poker Classic of Los Angeles this year, just as he did with the World Poker Tour in 2004, thus proving that he is a skilled poker player and not just a guy who had a lucky break.

There have been some amazing poker tournaments this year, online and in person and have generated some great winners. Some new names have popped up and some old names reclaimed their territory in professional poker. Big prizes and titles have been earned in some amazing games of skill in this year of 2009.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker Pro Players | No Comments » December 3rd, 2009

The online world faced something extra ordinary recently. This weekend the action packed poker by the mysterious Swede Isildur1 had some special twists and turns. The fabulous player, in his latest battle with the world’s best online pro poker players the Swede was once again mixed it up with the Finnish superstar Patrik Antonius across the 500/1000 PLO tables.

After dedicatedly fighting back and forth for a few hours the Antonius was winning the latest match, sitting with a stack of $1.2 million but his opponent Isildur1 was fighting back having collected a huge amount of $678,000. With the railbirds practically bringing Full Tilt’s poker client to a halt there was an unusual sense of inevitability in what was about to happen with this poker match.

After Isildur1 hyped up the action to $3000, Antonius quickly returned the favour with a raise of his own, this time to $9000.

There was much more to come and action was far from over though and with their regard for money at an ll time low the pair eventually decided to see a flop with the $162,000 already in the middle.

Both the players obviously had strong Omaha holdings and when the flop ran out 4s, 5c, 2h it looked as though the pot was set to go ahead even further. Mr. Antonius led out for $91,000 which prompted Isildur1 to risk the majority of his stack and raise the action to $435,000 (and yes this involved real cash).

Patrik thought for a while before finally committing himself and the rest of his chips. Isildur1 called the raise and with the cards on their backs and more than $1.3 million in the middle it was Patrik’s Ah, 3s, Ks, Kh that was in the lead against the wrap straight draw of Isildur1.

A 5h on the turn was no good for Isildur1’s holding of 6d, 9s, 7d, 8h and when the 9c fell on the river it was good night Vienna and another $1.3 million in the back pocket of Patrik Antonius. The Swede continued to play for some time after but couldn’t quite recover. However, with the millions he’s won in the last few weeks it’s a certainty that the fearless player will be back at the felt soon.

Play poker now with the pros at Full Tilt Poker!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News | No Comments » November 24th, 2009

Absolute Poker is at it again with its great new poker playing opportunities for the players. The Absolute Poker College Challenge is back with a bang and students are getting ready to show off their playing strategy through pure competitiveness.  The Absolute Poker College Challenge Main Event is going to be held on November 30th and will award $10,000 dollars for tuition.

The game of poker is now being appreciated on a greater level. More colleges are starting to see that poker is not a game of chance but takes knowledge and skill in order to win the game. Harvard Law Professor Charles Nesson is bringing poker into the classroom and is an active supporter of the game.

According to him, online poker is among the best ways to teach people how to conduct negotiations, manage risks and develop tactical thinking and other skills that are essential to succeed in life.

Absolute Poker Pro and APCC consultant Matt Vengrin said, “Nesson’s concept that playing poker teaches students other life skills is on the money. Poker has taught me how to deal with a lot of different aspects of my life from business to my personal relationships. My life is where it is today due to learning what it takes to be a professional poker player”. More Absolute Poker Pros.

The Absolute Poker College Challenge offers daily qualifiers and freerolls starting at $0.25 to $5 dollars. Along with this, every week there will be a Main Event qualifier on Sunday at 9pm EST that awards seats.

The top six players at the Main Event will battle it out live in Los Angelas, California and be streamed online at Bluff. The winner will receive $10,000 dollars tuition money and an APCC Championship Ring. If you are not a player at Absolute Poker then create an account today to take advantage of this promotion and get a welcome bonus.

Click here to play poker at Absolute Poker!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » November 4th, 2009

The Full Tilt poker group is constantly innovating, and this time it has come up with a fabulous new game. It seems like Pot Limit Omaha and HA might be sidelined; this new game has definitely created a buzz. Ever since the 7-Game rotation was introduced on the Full Tilt this summer, the combination of limit and no limit action has gained popularity amongst the high stakes online cash game players.

The Full Tilt Wednesday nights action has proved that 7 Game can generate big wins and losses that go against those of action games like PLO. At a certain point 3 simultaneous games were running with three different $2,000/$4,000 7 Game tables and players like Phil Ivey, Cole cts South, Gus Hansen, Phil OMG Clay Aiken Galfond, Tom durrrr Dwan, Chau Giang and Ilari Ziigmund Sahamies were all getting in on the fun.

Th most happening thing however was the two Phils. While Galfond had a rough time, dropping almost $445,000, but Ivey went on in full action and made a total of $1,160,000 in profit for the day. His seven figure session is one of the biggest wins in online poker cash game history and rivals Iveys guaranteed minimum payout for 9th place in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event which is worth $1,263,602. He lost back $330,000 on the tables on Thursday, but is still up over a million dollars on the week.

Iveys profits were generated at the hands of Galfond as well as Dwan (down $344,000), Giang {down $290,000), David Oppenheim (down $245,000) and Sahamies (down $116,000). Ivey was at a much higher level and was biggest winner of the night, but DINFRU (up $336,000), who is rumored to be Erik Sagstrom, Patrik Antonius (up $104,000) and Richard Ashby (up $71,000) all had great gaming sessions as well.

The game carried on again till Thursday and Ivey was the big loser while Sahamies came out on top, more than making up for Wednesdays losses with a $336,000 win. Currently it seems the 7-Game craze is not going anywhere anytime soon, which means some of the Texas Holdem and Omaha high stakes specialists are going to have to broaden their poker dimensions if they want to get in on the action.

Play poker at Full Tilt Poker. Click here!

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News, Poker Pro Players | No Comments » October 19th, 2009

The renowned poker room LockPoker.com has recently signed sponsorship deals with three American professional players while Jon ‘PearlJammer’ Turner is now at the training site PokerVT.com. A member of the Cake Poker Network, LockPoker.com has added Brett ‘Gank’ Jungblut, Vinny Pahuja and David Zeitlin to its ranks and they will now participate in its Pro Programme.

This is Jungblut’s first deal, while Zeitlin, a former attorney, has made seven final table appearances this year including winning the main event of the Mohegan Sun Summer Showdown. Pahuja, a former trader on Wall Street, has won two.

“We have a true partnership with these players and understand the value of each one of them,” said Jennifer Larson, Chief Executive Officer for LockPoker.com. “With Eric ‘Rizen’ Lynch and Lock Pro driving our product, we are confident we will have the best online poker experience worldwide.”

PokerVT.com has revealed that Jon ‘PearlJammer’ Turner has joined Daniel Negreanu, Jason ‘JCarver’ Somerville, Adam Junglen and Grayson ‘SpaceGravy’ Physioc as part of its faculty.

Turner is a challenging professional and had two final table appearances at the recent World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas alongside a pot-limit Omaha win at the Wynn Classic. He placed third at the $10,300 buy-in main event of the PokerStars.com Spring Championship of Online Poker and has earned over $920,000 this year.

“I’m thrilled to be part of the PokerVT.com team,” said Turner.

“Having greats like Daniel Negreanu on board gives us an image and separates us from other training sites in regards to attracting the casual poker player and fan. However, something else really sets our training apart. It is PokerVT.com’s use of live games in its studios that is revolutionary. It’s this kind of innovation that really attracted me to the company.”

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players | No Comments » September 19th, 2009

The all time entertaining online radio poker program The Poker Show has announced that Hendon Mob forum legend Andy Greekfish will occupy the hot seat this week speaking with professional players Mike Sexton, Tom ‘Durrrr’ Dwan and Vicky Coren!

Coren, a winner of the European Poker Tour, will be discussing her new book and to make things more intriguing, global poker ambassador Sexton will speak about the World Poker Tour.

In addition, The Poker Show will feature Dwan discussing the progress of his Million Dollar Challenge.

Now in its second Season, The Poker Show is broadcast live from eight o’clock in the evening until eleven o’clock in the evening at ThePokerShowLive.com each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday New York time. After only two weeks of its follow-up series, the line-up already reads like a who’s who of the game with guests including Jeff Shulman, Sammy George, Neil Channing, Mick McCool, Jim McManus, Leo Margets, Ian Frazer and JC Tran.

Having been sponsored by leading online sports book BoyleSports.com, all previous show have been archived and are available for download as pod casts and via iTunes at the BoyleSports website.

The radio drama we witnessed in last week’s broadcast included controversial online phenom Luke ‘_FullFlush1_’ Schwartz and fans can listen to him as well as James Akenhead, Phil Hellmuth, Annette Obrestad, Phil Laak, Roland De Wolfe, Nam Lee and Karl Mahrenholz as they speak with hosts Jesse May and Matt Broughton.

Some other dazzling members of the online poker organization that have appeared on The Poker Show over the past year have included Greg Raymer, Liv Boeree, Peter Eastgate, Steve Sung, Doyle Brunson, Marty Smyth, Michael Keiner, Theo Jorgensen, Tom Hanlon, Maria Demetriou, Andrew Feldman, Dan Harrington, Phil Laak, Rory Liffey, Liam Flood, Marty ‘Mad’ Wilson, Kara Scott, Donnacha O’Dea, Barny Boatman and John Duthie.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker News | No Comments » September 7th, 2009

As the smoke cleared on Sunday, the fifth day of the current Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS), the contestant ranked as 39th on the PocketFives Online Poker Rankings, David Sir Sands, annunciated his ubiety to the world by besting the high-stake chronicle of FTOPS Event no. 10 by a gargantuan $259, 000. Although the $322 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament remained impotent to effectuate its $1.5 million pledge, yet it beckoned the finest 4,145 players.

Apart from Sir Sands, Ben Benba Lamb also took down the high-stakes FTOPS event on the same day by mastering the 256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Knockout tournament with a guaranteed accolade of $750,000. Let’s epitomize the conjuncture.

David Sir Sands added another honor this Sunday to his existing accomplishment of five wins in weekend majors. His recent victory comes from the Full Tilt Poker with $750,000 guaranteed prize which he bested in November for $132,000 and Sunday Mulligan for $53,000. Sir Sands ended up being a runner up with $13,000 on Saturday, n MiniFTOPS Event no. 6. However, this Sunday’s victory marked his vocation’s highest cash which increased two folds and now stands at $259,000.

The player at the second position was Bolivar Ramux Palacios who was rewarded with $45,000. He was the runner up at the $65,000 Guaranteed February event where he took home $17 000 for his efforts for the sixth position. Mike MichaelBpzpz Blocksidge stood eighth with $26,000 and Ryan ryanbluf was entitled to $19,000 for attaining the 9th position.

The medalist of the MiniFTOPS Event no. 10 was Dan LeonP who secured $53,000, being his highest earned amount to date. More than 11,000 gamers competed for the $33 buy-in No Limit Hold’em tournament with a guaranteed prize of $350,000. Gloucester, Massachusetts, which served as the port for the 2000 film “The Perfect Storm.” is home to the victor. Moreover, Colpoys also won the $24 buy-in $3,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt Poker for nearly $1,000 on Sunday.

The Full Tilt Event # 9 was taken down by Mohsin Charania who defeated baticera. Charania, who made his way amongst a total of 2,048 contestants, was entitled to $16,000 on virtue of winning the 55 buy-in No Limit Hold’em.

One of the top Poker sites rates him as being 22nd as he won the $1,000 buy-in $150,000 Guaranteed on UltimateBet for $41,000 lately. His ultimate victory came in October, when he stood third for $84,000 in the PokerStars Sunday Million. The champion was ranked as 26th in the 2008 Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic with a winning amount of $43,000.

The day was inaugurated by the $256 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Six-Max Knockout tournament (FTOPS Event #8). Ben Benba Lamb leaded the game when the cards were dealt with finally. He made his career’s most remarkable amount at $146,000. In December, he won the $50,000 Guaranteed on Full Tilt for $34,000 whereas in the Wednesday Quarter Million on PokerStars, he stood fourth by claiming $27,000.

Up till now, Lamb has earned $233,000 in tourneys including this Sunday’s six-digit FTOPS cash. The number five at Event no. 8 was Ramzi who took home $33,000. Last June, he won a $216 buy-in tournament on Full Tilt for $132,000 and plays by the name of IzabelG on Full Tilt Poker. In November, the Swedish brat had also been a runner up for $300 buy-in $250,000 Guaranteed on Titan Poker.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » May 12th, 2009

Phil Hellmuth is ranked as the top-class tournament players in the world after winning 11 bracelets. Nevertheless, his censors are still of the opinion that he is impuissant to contend in big cash games at an eminent level.

Over the next two weeks, both his abettors and questioners would keep their fingers crossed as they see the “Poker Punk” rocking $200-$400 against five assailants on Poker After Dark at NBC. The show endorses a minimum buy-in of $100,000.

Besides Hellmuth, the show would also italicize prominent names such as Phil Laak, Tom Dwan, Antonio Esfandiari, Kenny Tran, and the novice, Bob Safai.

Never in the annals of Poker After Dark has been a cash game accentuated for more than a fortnight. The faddish daily show also divulged that somewhere in the middle of the huddle, it would have the contestants re-cull their seats so that the viewers can see them adapting to disparate positions.

Dwan, who is most popularly referred to as “durrrr” in the cyber world, is a cash game connoisseur. He combats at the highest levels online and has also shown his competence to switch to live games. In 2008, he made two final tables in his first World Series.

Esfandiari and Laak, who often yoke together on TV shows, are known for their frequent jeering and non-stop prop bets. The duo recurrently engages in high-level cash games.

Tran is the champion of the 2008 heads-up bracelet at the WSO. Conferred as “Sick Call,” he is conceited about his competence and plays by his intuitiveness.

Last, but not the least is Safai, who will effectuate this group of six. Having in image of a dabbler, he has taken his fair share when it comes to betting and risk taking. Antecedently, he has loomed on High Stakes Poker by Game Show Network.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players | No Comments » May 10th, 2009

Gus Hansen needs to familiarize himself with the song free falling as apparently that is what he is current experiencing. Not content with losing against the Dang Brothers Hansen decided to feel over confident playing against the notorious Ziigmund Sahamies last night at Finnish cash game but Alas! He got what was coming to him another defeat.

A Danish player Hansen was reported to have been involved in all 10 of the biggest and most sought after 10 pots last night and he lost more than half of the pots to Ziigmund alone. Considered to be one of the biggest hands witnessed in the Finnish cash games Ziigmund held As, Qd, 6d and 5h while his opponent which at that time was the great Danish player Gus Hansen looked down upon his destiny which held Ac, 2c, Jd, Ts.

Soon after Ziigmund bet Hansen decided to call and the flop was displayed showing a Qc, 5d and 3c. After a long and tedious round of back to back betting both players came to a conclusion that it was better to go all in and after that happened they showed their cards. The board showed the 3s and then finally the Qs .Ziigmund pocketed a staggering amount of $130,995 with his epic full house.

Hansen’s play money on another front was rumored to have been downsized to a small amount reaching over $300,000 after the session. Things aren’t looking too bright for the Great Dane Gus Hansen and he needs to pull his act together to fulfill his dreams of winning or at least earning a good sum of money in this tournament. It was also reported that Gus Hansen who after winning a solid amount over 2 million dollars in profits in early 2009 immediately distributed it back within the last few weeks of running bad.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » April 24th, 2009

PKR.com a renowned online poker room has officially announced, the first six members of its introductory team, which will be their professional sponsored players. These players are few of the brightest and rising stars of poker game.  Online poker PKR.com will be representing itself as a brand ambassador at various important events and will also grant a series of content for its official website and PKR television. The team will also be participating in cash games at PKR.com that also include some of special bounty tournaments.

The team named as PKR Pro consists of television celebrity like Ashley ‘ashleyhames1’ Hames, 2008 Irish open finalist Kai Danilo ‘kingkai84’, Paulsen alongside PKR Live runner-up Henrik ‘pokey85’, and EklundHames—a television anchor who is renowned for Sin Cities series still ranks as one of the top rated shows in UK.
Hames has been playing poker since a decade (2000) while Londoner was engaged in a World Series Of Poker (WSOP) Main Event where he reached the Celebrity Poker Club finals.

The 25 years old Norwegian Trondheim native Paulsen holds the finest record at PRK.com regular. He has grabbed $322,000 in offline earnings with 2 cashes at the WSOP. This record also includes finishing 18th among 3000 competitors with a 5th placed finish at Irish Open in 2008 and was able to won $250,000 there.

Eklund, 24 resident of Stockholm Sweden finished 2nd at PKR Live tournament inauguration in November. This event took place before he won the APT Manila Headhunter side event. According to Eklund he has an ambition to make a final table at the major game despite the fact that he is engaged in this game since he was 4 years.

Raymond ‘callmebabe’ O’Mahoney, James ‘James666’ Sudworth and Andrew ‘golfpro699’ make the rest of the team at PRK.com, they are also considered the finest players. Simon Prodger, Marketing Director for PKR.com said, “We’ve been following our initial Team PKR Pro members for some time and are convinced that they all have the game and personality required to be genuinely world-class poker players.” He added, “They are also among the most recognized and respected players within the PKR community so it is guaranteed to have over two and a half million people cheering them on every time they play.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments | No Comments » April 22nd, 2009