The largest ever World Series of Poker tournament, outside a Main Event, is now completed.  The tournament was originally scheduled to run for 4 days, ending Tuesday.  However, late Tuesday, event organizers decided that it would be best to delay the final table one day so that more people would be able to follow the action live via the telecast.

The action on Day 1 was incredibly fast and furious as almost 90% of the field was eliminated before the start of Day 2. 

The final table saw only a couple of familiar faces including Steve Sung, who has cashed in quite a few major tournaments over the past few years along with several six-figure scores.  However, he had never been able to take the top spot in a World Series event.  Sung came into the final table second in chips to Dan Heimiller.  Heimiller is another player at the final table that might be recognized by some as he is a solid tournament pro with over $2 million in lifetime winnings.

The fast action continued at the start of the final table as well with a few big hands colliding.  The first player knocked out of the final table was the short stack, Danny Fuhs. As the game furthered at a calmer pace, Steve Sung continued with his aggressive playing style.  While doing so, he managed to bluff away a large portion of his stack to the point where he was actually short of stack at the table. 

It was at this time that he seemed to slow down a little and was fortunate enough to double-up, winning a pre-flop all-in race up against the 55 of Jeff Oakes.  Sung hit trip Aces, eliminating Oakes in the 7th position and thereafter, began to turn the aggression back up once the game became short-handed.  It was the start of a nice run that took him into playing heads-up, facing Pete “The Greek” Vilandos.

Vilandos employed a strategy of being a little more patient and passive, really picking his spots against Sung’s very aggressive style.  In the end, though, it was a case of bad timing eliminating the Greek in second place and giving Steve Sung his first World Series of Poker Bracelet.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News, Poker Pro Players, Poker Tournaments, WSOP | No Comments » June 5th, 2009

Inaugurating at the celebrated Aviation club last week in Paris the 2008 European Poker Awards brought in the cream of the European Poker community. The glitz and glamour arrived at this prestigious awards ceremony to drink champagne and celebrate the successes in the previous year. Looking forward to some thrilling promotions by the poker industry in the year 2009 The European Poker Awards have an eight year history following its footsteps and it could be the benchmark by which all future award ceremonies will be judges.

Among the celebrities were a number of  familiar names and faces , ones who have an extraordinary fan following. Though the European Poker Awards celebrates the most successful players in Europe it also rejoices for those people who have made outstanding contributions to this extraordinary and highly appreciated game. This year Jonathan Raab won the Casino Staff Person of the Year for his efforts of turning a UK based Poker tour GUKPT into one of the most popular titles in Europe. The defining moment arrived without a word of precaution when the Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier won the title of player of the year. He is known to have fought off a stiff  competition from an in-form Marty Smyth  and WSOP bracelet winner and cash-game supremo David Benyamine.
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It also seems that Bertrand’s journey does not end here and he will be again a contender for this award in another 12 months especially after his success in PCA High Rollers event this month. Any other year choosing the winner for the  most notable tournament performance of the year would have been difficult but the most deserving candidate this year was Peter Eastgate. Showcasing his talents in the WSOP main event Peter Eastgate broke the long time record held by Phil Helmuth for the youngest Main Event Champion.

Making a comeback for the second time the lady of the year award for female poker players went to Sandra Najouk who had a great 2008 in open events. The most awaited award of the evening was rookie of the year and this was bagged by Ivan Demidov. Though Ivan didn’t even lift a trophy in the preceding year his achievements were given great priority. Whatever anybody’s opinions were about him he undoubtedly won the most money out of the three candidates and it won’t be long before he wins a trophy of his own.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker Pro Players | No Comments » January 23rd, 2009

January of 2008 was a fair precursor for what the year would bring. Capturing over the first million dollar title of the years Alexander Kostritsyn defeated Erik Seidel at the Aussie Millions. Here are some of the most important stories from the first month of 2008:

Alexander Kostritsyn Captures 2008 Aussie Millions Main Event

Annually the largest poker gathering in the southern hemisphere is the Aussie millions, with the winner of the AUD $10,000+500 main event instantly joining pokers upper echelon of poker pro players. In the year 2008 that honor went to Russia’s Alexander Kostritsyn, who broke into a grin after achieving his victory over American star Erik Seidel for the title.

Harrah’s Sale Completed

Harrah’s, a gargantuan charisma in America’s brick-and-mortar casino and amusement industry. The buy out that was initially going to be negotiated in December of 2006, wasn’t finalized until January 28th, 2008 due to authoritarian requirements. When 2008 brought a financial-markets crisis, the configuration of the buyout became difficult to manage.

Antigua, Costa Rica File for WTO Arbitration

The World Trade Organization had an ongoing heated discussion about the United States and the rest of the world regarding online gambling .The disagreements finally seized after the WTO issued a final declaration in favor of Antigua & Barbuda, giving way an annual $21 million trade judgment in the process.

Kahnawake Releases Final Audit on Absolute Poker Scandal

The Kahnawake Gaming Commission, stationed near Montreal. In 2008 the gaming commission issued its official final evaluation on the Absolute Poker situation. Keeping the name of the principle cheater involved confidential, the existence of the seven different accounts used for the theft was established, and announced a $500,000 penalty placed on Absolute Poker. Thus refunding the online poker players with $1.6 million after the thefts were uncovered.

Bart Tichelman Wins WSOP-Circuit Tunica Ring

From offering several stars to the unknowns the World Series of poker this time has run a different array of tables. With a final that offered reigning WSOP Player of the Year Tom “Donkey Bomber” Schneider including the noted tourney-circuit veterans as Ryan Young, Jordan Rich and Mark Garner .Even thought with all the shimmering champions present it was Atlanta’s Bart Tichelman who overcame an early short stack and surged to the win, worth $482,210

European Union Investigates Germany, Sweden

In regards to online gambling Sweden and Germany are among the dozen or so EU member countries which come under the trading bloc’s guidelines in regards to online gambling. In both cases, the countries had sought to shield lucrative state-run gambling monopolies by efficiently excluding private contests, a practice not allowed under EU trade rules. Continuing with the negotiations the industry awaits to see the future Europe has to offer with regard to online gambling.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles, Poker News | No Comments » December 27th, 2008

Peter Eastgate 21, became the youngest poker player to capture a bracelet in the final event of the 2008 WSOP. The 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event began on July 3rd. The last day of the tournament was played 11 days later on Monday, July 14th. Once the final nine players were finally determined, there was an unprecedented 117-day recess. Final table play officially started at 11:08 am. The first day ended 13 hours and 27 minutes later, at 12:35 am.

The runner up was Ivan Demidov, from Moscow, Russia. Demidov was hoping to become the first Russian poker world champion in history, but came up just short. Demidov had the chip lead a significant part of the first day of the final table. However, Eastgate proved to be a formidable foe, as Demidov was unable to establish any momentum during the final few hours which might have catapulted him to victory.

The final hand of the 2008 WSOP came when Eastgate was dealt Ad-5s against Demidov’s 4h-2h. The final board showed K-3-2-4-7 (suits were insignificant). Demidov called Eastgate’s all-in move and tabled two pair – fours and twos. Eastgate showed A-5, good for the straight, five-high.

Both players played well during heads up. Peter said he was very lucky on the last hand.

Posted by Diana Sterling in Poker Articles | No Comments » November 21st, 2008