PartyPoker's big tournament series Pokerfest II is running at the moment. The tournament series consists of 47 events and $3,5 million is up for grabs. There are plenty of satellites up and running around the clock and there are buy-ins for all sorts of bankrolls. So far 8 events have been completed.
For example, in the first event a player called "sfc21" took home the first prize of $56,958 - after a deal with the runner-up "HubleBrag" ($51,541). The event had a $350,000 guarantee and attracted 1637 players.
Another notable event was Event #4 that had a prize pool of $250,000 and saw a field of 517 players. "PeNNaCaN" took home this event for $54,437, while the second place finisher "afjwurjfkajd" received $34,178.
Tonight it's time for the World Poker Tour Seminole Hard Rock Showdown's final table to be played and there are some very experienced tournament players on it who will fight for the amazing first prize of $779,520!
Joe Serock will bring the most chips tonight. With 3,137,000 chips, about 1.6 million more than John Dolan in second place, he has another great chance to take down his first WPT title and the biggest cash of his career. With "another great chance" we are referring to the WPT Bay 101 Shooting Star tournament, which took place a few weeks ago, in which he finished 3rd.
Day 1a chip leader Vladimir Geshkenbein (EPT Snowfest winner), Day 1b chip leader Cengiz Ulusu (finished 8th in 2009 EPT Dortmund) and Day 2 chip leader Anton Wigg (EPT Copenhagen winner). All of them made deep runs in the EPT Berlin main event but unforturnately none of them were among the 8 players who battled it out on the final table on Saturday.
Poker legend Amarillo Slim, 83, has been in the hospital since Monday evening. According to one news site, his health has been fading lately, and he doesn't have much time left. In fact, doctors didn't think he would survive the first night in the hospital.
AGCC, Alderney Gaming Control Commission, has just announced that there will be a public hearing on May 3 as a result of Full Tilt's application for a new license. This is just one of many positive news regarding Full Tilt in the past few weeks.
On April 17, for example, some people claimed that were asked to upgrade from version 4.39.7 (Black Friday version) to 4.45.10 and accept revised terms and conditions when launching the poker client. Also, the system status on the website turned to green with the message "all system are currently operational".
Macua's casinos are making 5 times as much as the casinos along the strip in Las Vegas and the town keeps on growing. Last week the latest casino opened up, Sands Cotai Central, and it costed 4.4 billion dollars to complete.
Sands Cotai Central's 2 casinos have 340 gaming tables and 40 VIP areas for high rollers. Later this year - another floor will be open for business, with another 200 tables.
Yesterday the third day of the EPT Berlin main event began with 102 players. The chip leader was EPT Copenhagen winner Anton Wigg with 695k, closely followed by EPT Snowfest winner Vladimir Geshkenbein. Both of them had one hell of a roller coaster ride during Day 3 but still made it through to Day 4 with decent stacks.
The new chip leader is Marc Wright from Cornwall, England. Wright overtook the lead from Wigg and Geshkenbein already during the second level of play, then continued playing well till the tournament director called it a day. Wright will bring 2,4 million chips to the tables today, some 89k ahead of Thomas Cibak, from Czech Republic, in second place.
According to The Asian Poker Tour (APT) and Resorts World Manila, the most expensive tournament ever held in ASIA - the Manila Millions - will be streamed on Ustream today with a 15-minute delay to ensure the integrity of the game.
A total of 26 players have paid the HKD $1 million (USD $128k) buy-in. The field includes poker stars such as Phil Ivey, Tom Dwan, John Juanda and Joe Hachem, so expect it to be a very exciting day of poker.
All 888 players who signed up through BankrollMob, new and already existing, are invited to participate in this exclusive event on April 26th where the winner will qualify for the final event on April 29th and have to chance to win 10 VIP tickets for the FA CUP FINAL at Wembley!
The winner will receive 1 ticket (worth $1050) to the main event on Sunday April 29th, where he/she can try to win the package.
This once-in-a-lifetime prize includes:
- 10 seats in your own Private Box at Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup Final on 05/05/2012 (includes food and drink). - $2,000 for any travel and accommodation. - Special 888 Poker merchandise for everyone.
BankrollMob Corp Box FA CUP Final qualifier (ID: 37632011): When: 26th of April at 19:00 GMT Prize: 1 ticket (worth $1050) to the CORP BOX (10 SEAT) FA CUP FINAL on the 29th of April. Buy-in: $10 for players that are tracked to BankrollMob (instead of $230 for regular players in the step 4 tourney).
How to participate: If you are not a BankrollMob member yet, click here to sign up for a free Mob Account so you can participate. You will then need to create an account at 888 Poker which is tracked to BankrollMob. Click here to get your 888 Poker account tracket to BankrollMob! Make sure that you follow the sign up instructions and that you claim our exclusive No Deposit and Deposit offers at 888 Poker. Once you have created an 888 Poker account from BankrollMob, all you have to do is: - Register to the BankrollMob Corp Box FA CUP Final qualifier (ID: 37632011) on the 26th of April at 19:00 GMT in the 888 Poker software. Buy-in is only $10. - WIN and get ready for the CORP BOX (10 SEAT) FA CUP FINAL on the 29th of April!
World Poker Tour's host Mike Sexton is disgusted with the lack of professionalism by some poker pros. In fact, he's so angry and annoyed that he wrote a blog on the matter yesterday - "Poker Pros - Wake Up and Smell the Coffee". Mike Sexton writes that he thinks poker should have a dress code just like in any sport.
Also, he thinks that poker players should be more responsible and on time for interviews and tournaments, full fill all media requests, sign autographs and take pictures with fans when asked etc. Sexton thinks that all these things are extremely important for the future of poker.
Another exciting day of poker is now in the books (Day 2). The player field has been narrowed down to 102 and EPT Copenhagen winner Anton Wigg from Sweden is the one with the largest stack. Wigg, who has cashed in many major tournaments since 2007, seemed to be in full control throughout the day as he was winning pot after pot and turned 125k into amazing 695k!
According to several sources, the System Status on Full Tilt Poker's website turned to green yesterday with the message "all systems are currently operational". Apart from those signs of life, Malta Financial Services Registry of Companies has listed two companies registered on April 11, 2012, under the names Full Tilt holding LTD and New Full Tilt LTD.
However, it's not possible to access the Full Tilt Poker software yet. But some players claim that they were asked to upgrade from version 4.39.7 to 4.45.10 and accept revised terms an conditions when opening the poker client. Let's hope for some more good news soon.
That bad beats happen online and live and to poker pros as well as "hobby players" is nothing new. However, some bad beats are worse than others. Todd Brunson, son of the living poker legend Doyle Brunson, has been quite active on Twitter lately. A few days ago, he was bored and asked his followers to ask him questions. One of the questions was "What is the sickest bad beat you ever had?".
A new prop bet was brought to the surface a few days ago on a Danish poker forum. Alexander "AlexKP" Petersen (on the right) has betted €100 to 1000 times the money against Peter "Zupp" Jepsen (left) that he will score 1 goal in the highest division (Superliga) in Danish soccer within 5 years. In other words, if Petersen succeeds, Jepsen will have to give him €100,000!
The second starting day of the EPT Berlin main event saw a field of 502 players, more than twice the amount of players that played Day 1a. Cengiz Ulusu, from Germany, finished the day as the chip leader with a massive 242,800 chips - just about 40k more than Vladimir Geshkenbein's 201,600 from Day 1a.
Ulusu is no stranger to success when it comes to the European Poker Tour in Germany. In 2009, before EPT Berlin was born, he made it to the EPT Dortmund final table and finished 8 - after he let a coin decided whether or not he should make a big call. Unfortunately the wrong side came up and he called and lost the pot.
The authors of 'Rounders' is about to make a new poker movie called 'Runner Runner', a dramatic thriller about the world of illegal online gambling. The production of the movie will start later this year and movie stars such as Justin Timberlake and Ben Affleck will star in it! The movie will be released sometime during 2013 and most probably it will reach the cinemas.
A total 243 players went to Hyatt Hotel yesterday and participated in Day 1a of the EPT Berlin main event. After 10 one-hour levels had been completed only 110 had chips left. The one who finished the day with the largest stack (201,600) is the Russian pro Vladimir Geshkenbein.
After 6 days of pulsating poker, the World Poker Tour Vienna Main Event finally got a winner, Morten Christensen (online qualifier) from Denmark. For the win he was awarded with €313,390 and a seat in the WPT final.
Christensen is the 4th Dane, in just a few short months, to take down a major European title this year, following in the footsteps of Frederik Jensen (EPT Madrid), Mickey Petersen (EPT Copenhagen) and most recent winner Jannick Wrang (EPT Campione)
Yesterday ONE DROP Chairman and Cirque du Soleil Founder Guy Laliberté announced that 30 players have confirmed that they will participate in the $1,000,000 buy-in event on July 1-3 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
In total, the event has space for 48 players, so another 18 seats are still available. According to WSOP.com, $111,111 from each $1,000,000 buy-in will be donated to ONE DROP with the goal of raising enough money for a legacy project that will help a country with access to clean water. The event is rake free, so if "only" 30 players take part, more than $3,33 million will be donated to ONE DROP.
When it come to PokerStars European Poker Tour, Danish players have been doing extremely well lately. Frederik Jensen, Mickey Petersen and Jannick Wrang have all won the main event in the past months, so it might not come as surprise to anyone that the chip leader of the World Poker Tour Vienna main event is also Danish.
Yesterday a new Weekly Rant with Daniel Negeranu was released. This week, Daniel discusses his trip to Ireland, more about the failure of Epic Poker League and Full Tilt Poker, the downsides with being a professional poker player, a new movie he's in, and more.
In a recent interview with QuadJack's Poker Radio, Phil Hellmuth, 11-time WSOP Bracelet winner, talked about the drug addiction many famous poker players have/have had.
"There's a drug, I don't know the name of it, but it's something like speed. I'm talking about a really heavy drug. Many poker players have taken this drug in the past 10 years. Almost all players who took this drug has won 1 or 2 million dollars over a 6-8 month period. But then the effect of the drug stopped working, which left many of them with a drug addiction. I smoked weed about 25 years ago or something like that. But I'm not a person who's into drugs at all."
Yesterday it was announced that Unibet, a Swedish betting company, has bought the well-known MTG-owned gaming site Bet24 and its activities for approximately €13,5 million. The 45 employees working at Bet24 today will now be relocated to Unibet's office on Malta. Unibet will run both trademarks separately in the beginning, but in 3-6 months time they hope to have all Bet24's customers integrated to its own platform.
Scott Seiver is the 2012 PartyPoker Premier League V Champion. After a a short heads-up match against online super star Daniel "Jungleman12" Cates, Seiver had all the chips and received €500,000 and a ticket to the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship. Cates received $300,000 for his second place finish.
Final table results: 1) Scott Seiver, $500 000 2) Daniel Cates, $300 000 3) Phil Laak, $175 000 4) Patrik Antonius, $125 000 5) Tony G, $100 000 6) Tom Dwan, $80 000 7) Matt Frankland, $65 000 8) Sam Trickett, $55 000
According to Asian Poker Tour and Resorts World, the largest buy-in tournament ever held in Asia will be played at Resorts World Manila's Genting Club on April 20 - one day before the APT Philippines Main Event begins.
The buy-in for the Super High Roller will be HKD$1,000,000 (USD$129,000) and big names such as Phil Ivey and Tom Dwan have already confirmed their participation. The organizers are expecting a field of around 25-30 players to take part in the tournament.
In February PokerStars announced that the Macau Millions Series has been postponed indefinitely, so the Super High Roller tournament in the Philippines might be a good alternative for many Macau high-stakes regulars.
