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Archive for November, 2009

Battle of the Planets: makkie makes a straight and takes home Battle of the Planets title

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

November was a special month for the Battle of the Planets promotion. From November 8th-21st PokerStars handed a challenge to all the SnG players out there to break the current point records (read here for details on point distribution). The two week celebration of paying out over $5 million since the inception of the Battle of the Planets gave a bonus to any player that broke the current point record at one of the planet's levels and orbit. For example in the Venus division a $5,000 prize was up for grabs if you could overcome the 712 points put up by "so awful" in the Low Orbit or PLEBINI's 1,944 points in the High Orbit. The prizes ranged from $1,500 in the Mercury division up to $15,000 in the high rolling Jupiter division (read about the record race here)

The race to destroy the outstanding records at all levels got quite the turnout for tonight's $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout freeroll. 580 SnG players cashed in their weekly tickets for a shot at the $12,000 first prize, which is up from 420 runners last month. All 81 players enjoyed the free $195.00 for advancing to the second round as former final tablist TwistedEcho (3rd place November 2008) came up just short of the money finishing 87th.

TheGenius123, makkie21, and Gobbblin stole their seats early on to assure themselves at least $775.00 at the final table. All eyes then drew to Table 7 and Table 2 for the two remaining seats. icecoldRivA faced off against SilverStar Stepay while xxxZotecxxx took on tybybey. Both Stepay and icecoldRivA would find an ace in their hands during the 150/300 ante 25 blind level and shove their remaining chips in. The [As][Qc] held by Stepay would prevail over the [Ah][8h] of icecoldRivA on the [6s] [6h] [6c] [7s] [Tc] board to finish in 11th place.

Over to Table 2 where tyzbybey opened up a 9K to 4K lead on xxxZotecxxx in a match that contain more careful aggressive betting and post flop play versus all-in preflop gambling. The lead would swing back and forth as the two moved on to the 200/400 ante 50 blind level as xxxZotecxxx would capture a 9K pot after both players hit top pair on the flop and xxxZotecxxx's higher kicker would hold. In one of the longer final table bubbles of this promotion the players would make it to the 300/600 ante 50 blind levels as the other eight finalists finished that quilt they started after winning their tables. tyzbybey got ground down to 1902 chips and called the raise of xxxZotecxxx holding [4c][Kd]. The suited ace [As][5s] of xxxZotecxxx would flop a pair and river an unnecessary flush to send tyzbybey home in 10th place ($195.00) and set up the final table below:

(Click image for larger picture)

Seat 1: Jorgo V (1500 in chips)
Seat 2: xxxZotecxxx (1500 in chips)
Seat 3: makkie21 (1500 in chips)
Seat 4: Gobbblin (1500 in chips)
Seat 5: TheGenius123 (1500 in chips)
Seat 6: Maxmus86 (1500 in chips)
Seat 7: Stepay (1500 in chips)
Seat 8: songok1 (1500 in chips)
Seat 9: forhisglory8 (1500 in chips)

The blinds were reset 10/20 for the third and final leg to the $12,000 first prize and the usual feelers for a chop of the final table money were silent as all the players got straight to work. With the exception of songok1's 880 chip pot taken on the first hand of the final table, the 10/20 level was uneventful as all nine would move on.

The 15/30 level found TheGenius123 and songok1 all in after they both flopped the nut straight, but neither had a redraw to the flush so chop chop for the 2,960 chip pot as players headed to the break with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: Jorgo V (1295 in chips)
Seat 2: xxxZotecxxx (1590 in chips)
Seat 3: makkie21 (1180 in chips)
Seat 4: Gobbblin (1190 in chips)
Seat 5: TheGenius123 (1940 in chips)
Seat 6: Maxmus86 (1735 in chips)
Seat 7: Stepay (1480 in chips)
Seat 8: songok1 (1880 in chips)
Seat 9: forhisglory8 (1210 in chips)

Blinds steals and re-steals dominated the 25/50 blind level as forhisglory8 was holding on to a below 1K stack most of the level as songok1, Maxmus86, and TheGenius123 retained the top stacks. Another short stack, Gobbblin, couldn't find a call on the river in a 800 chip pot against makkie21 and became a micro-stack with 540 chips right before the blinds bumped up to 50/100.

Yuck. Puke. Ugh. WTF. All acceptable reactions to this all-in preflop three-way hand between Gobbblin, Maxmus86, and Stepay:

RSS readers click through to see replay

As the blinds moved up to 50/100, shorty-stack Gobbblin open pushes with [Kh][Qc] for 640 chips, Maxmus86 follows suit and shoves for 1695 with [Ad][Qh], and Stepay wakes up in the small blind with pocket kings [Kd][Ks] and calls for 1340. The [Ts] [6c] [8h] flop is safe for the leading kings, but the [Ah] on the turn had Maxmus86 ahead to eliminate two players. But, the ghastly looking [Js] on the river gave Gobbblin the broadway straight and the 2020 chips in the main pot. Maxmus86 took down the 1500 chips from the side pot and showed hard luck Stepay the door in ninth place ($775.00).

On the very next hand shortstacked forhisglory8 tried to get some divine intervention shoving with [7s][Qd] from the small blind to grab some much needed chips. But, Jorgo V held [Qc][Ad] and easily covered to make the call. The [6c] [Tc] [8s] [3s] [6h] gave no shining light to forhisglory8 as the shortstack finally succumbed in eighth place ($1,200.00).

With the blinds still at 50/100, xxxZotecxxx could not make headway after the break and with just 840 chips attempted the same move as forhisglory8 and open-shoved from the small blind with [8s][Jh]. And again the big blind covered and held an ace, this time it was makkie21 with [Ac][6d] who made the call for the 1880 chip pot. makkie21 would flop an ace as xxxZotecxxx couldn't find a ten on the turn or river on the [Kd] [Ah] [Qd] [3s] [6h] board to make a straight as last seated final tablist tonight would go out in seventh place ($1,700.00).

Chat remained at a minimum thru the 75/150 level as TheGenius123 took a big hit after attempting a button steal by open-shoving with [Qc][Kd] and songok1 would make an easy call in the big blind with big slick [Kc][Ah]. This one went up and down as TheGenius123 would flop top two pair but the best hand preflop would prevail with a rivered straight on the [Qd] [Th] [Ks] [2s] [Jc] board for the 3425 chip pot knocking TheGenius123 down to 740 chips.

Two hands later we had a coin flip for rollz as Maxmus86 shoved from 1480 chips from the cutoff with [Kd][Qd] and folded to makkie21 in the small blind who would make the call with pocket nines [9d][9s]. The pair was never contested and hit a set on the turn of the [Th] [6h] [2c] [9c] [2h] board to ship the 3035 chip pot to makkie21 and also ship $2,200.00 for sixth place to Maxmus86.

TheGenius123: even chop anyone? :)

*sound of crickets and some wind* as no one answered the shortest stack's hail mary attempt to lock up some additional cash.

After the bump in blinds to 100/200 and no one responding to TheGenius123's suggestion makkie21 began to pull away from the field. First point of order was eliminating the shortstack. After makkie21 made a raise to 500 from the cutoff, TheGenius123 decided to shove for 1890 from the small blind with [Jc][As]. Normally a decent heads up hand, but makkie21 would make the call holding big slick [Ah][Kd]. No reversals here, as makkie21 would make top two pair by the turn [9h] [6h] [Ac] [Ks] [5s] as TheGenius123 couldn't outsmart the superior hand and was gone in fifth place ($2,735.00).

A mere four hands later makkie21 would find yet another big hand, this time pocket queens [Qs][Qh] and made the same 500 chip raise as before from the cutoff. Gobbblin on the button with just 1245 chips would shove with an equally big hand [As][Kc] as it folded back to makkie21 who would make the easy call. Watch the ladies take on big slick below:

RSS readers click through to see replay

makkie21's queens would improve to a queen high straight on the [8h] [9h] [2d] [Jc] [Tc] board as Gobbblin headed back to middle earth $3,350.00 richer after the fourth place finish.

Two hands later with the blinds still at 100/200 songok1 would slow makkie21's run by doubling up with pocket sevens against the chip leader's [Td][Ks]. makkie21 couldn't find a pair on the [9h] [5s] [Qc] [3h] [2d] board as songok1 took in the 3750 chip pot.

songok1 would use those newly found chips five hands later to cover the all-in shove by Jorgo V. With 2745 chips and button Jorgo V pushed holding [As][8h], but songok1 held the dominating big slick [Ks][Ac] and made the call. This hand would end early as the flopped king for songok1 put Jorgo V in dire straits, and the blank turn on the [Kc] [9c] [7c] [Qs] [3d] board left Jorgo V drawing dead and the Belgian took home $4,500.00 for third place.

Immediately with near identical chip stacks (6605 for makkie21 and 6895 for songok1) the two started to chat about chopping up the remaining $19,500.00 in the prize pool. With a few laps of sitting out the PokerStars Host dropped by to congratulate the two players and divvied up the money as shown below:

makkie21: $9,750.00
songok1: $9,750.00

With all of the money off the table the players continued to play for the title of monthly Battle of the Planets champion. A few hands into the pride match, makkie21 would make a flopped straight and got songok1 to call all bets with top pair on the [5s] [4s] [6d] [5h] [4d] board to officially win the November $50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout!

$50,000 Battle of the Planets Triple Shootout Freeroll Results (11-29-09):
(*denotes part of two way chop)

1. makkie21 (Soest) *$9,750.00
2. songok1 (montgat) *$9,750.00
3. Jorgo V (Genk) $4,500.00
4. Gobbblin (Wadsworth) $3,350.00
5. TheGenius123 (wallsend) $2,735.00
6. Maxmus86 (Nizhny Novgorod) $2,200.00
7. xxxZotecxxx (Spittal/Drau) $1,700.00
8. forhisglory8 (Hesperia) $1,200.00
9. Stepay (Екатеринбург) $775.00

Posted in Battle of the Planets, Pokerstars | Comments Off

Turbo Takedown back this weekend

Friday, November 27th, 2009

Have you heard? Have you been living under a rock? Are you ready to win something for nothing this weekend?

After a brief hiatus, the PokerStars Turbo Takedown is returning to its slot on the last Sunday of the month. That gives you and whoever else makes it in a chance to play for a share of a million bucks. If this is your first time hearing about the Turbo Takedown, here's the briefest of explanations:

The Turbo Take is a monthly Frequent Player Points tournament with a $1 million prize pool. It has bounties, bonuses, and offers a free car to the winner every week. You'll find it on the PokerStars tournament schedule on the last Sunday of every month at 15:30 ET. The buy-in is a paltry 3,000 FPPs (and there are satellites out there that let you get your seat for even less). Five thousand of the players will walk away with real cash.

And the car? Yes, it's a nice one. In fact, it's a quite nice Audi TT RS Coupe.

For complete details on how to enter, check out the PokerStars Turbo Takedown page.

One advance request for the winner. I need a ride to the airport on December 9.

You think we can swing that?

Posted in Pokerstars, Turbo Takedown | Comments Off

Russian breaks world record on PokerStars

Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Think about how many hands of poker you'd play in one session of a live game.

We'll be generous and give the dealer 30 hands per hour. We'll be generous again and figure you can sit still for ten hours. That means you saw around 300 hands between the time you started playing and the time you got up for the night. With that total, you'd be a little short of the new world record. That is, you'd be short by more than 39,000 hands.

Now, we of course know that most of you who read here are online players and can book several thousand hands in one session without blinking. But, do you think you could play 40,088 hands without stopping?

That's exactly what Russian player "innerpsy" did this past weekend.

The 22-year-old Russian pro got it in his head that he could play 40,000 hands in a 24-hour period. So Saturday morning, he sat down just before 8:30am. Eighteen hours and 33 minutes later he had broken the world record for number of online poker hands played in a single day.

The man who has been playing professionally for a couple of years said, "Before this challenge, I had never actually played more than 20,000 hands in a day before, but the idea came up and I just figured I could do it. It was one of the toughest things I have ever accomplished, but I am proud I managed it."

The challenge was hosted on PokerStars by the Russian forum Card Game Masters. Nearly 10,000 of fans logged in to watch the performance via two video streams and a live radio broadcast featuring expert commentary from players such as Max "Decay" Lykov.

"I gained a lot of experience doing this and will definitely try it again in order to improve upon my result," innerpsy said. "One of my main goals is also to reach Supernova Elite status."

We're not math majors around here, but we figure if he can keep putting in those kinds of numbers, Supernova Elite shouldn't be much of a problem.

Congrats to "innerpsy" for his record-breaking performance.

Posted in PokerStars news, Pokerstars | Comments Off

PCA adds a weekend for the ladies

Tuesday, November 24th, 2009

The PCA is about to get a lot prettier. It's also about to experience the wrath of some of the best female poker players in the world. In both cases, it sounds like an improvement.

PokerStars has announced that the 2010 PCA will include a Ladies Weekend and satellites are already underway. For as little as $2.20, ladies can win packages worth up to $3,500. That package gets a female player three nights at Atlantis, $900 toward travel expenses, and a $250 spa voucher. The package also gives qualifiers a free $250 entry into the Ladies Poker Boot Camp hosted by the likes of Vanessa Rousso, Victoria Coren, and Katja Thater. Finally, qualifiers will get an entry into the $1,000 ladies event on January 9.

That event also happens to be the final event of the High Heels Poker Tour season. PokerStars sponsors the group aimed at giving women of all ages the opportunity to expand their skills at the poker table.

The PCA Ladies Weekend comes on the high heels of Ladies Night at EPT London, an event that was an unqualified success and filled a ton of tables with the best women in European Poker. Poland's Dagmara Aleksandrowicz won the event for £7,500 that saw the likes of Vicky Coren, Melissa Hayden. Veronica Dabul, Michelle Orpe, Celina Lin, and Marion Nedellec in the field.

Marion Nedellec at the EPT London Ladies Night

Satellites for the PCA Ladies Weekend can be found in the PokerStars tournament lobby under "Events" and "PCA", or by typing "PCA Ladies Weekend" into the event filter. You can also buy-in directly to the grand final for $1,250 + $100, or turn up on the day of the event to do the same.

For more information on the PCA, go the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure home page.

We'll see you in the Caribbean.

Posted in PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Pokerstars | Comments Off

Panama’s Jose “papadelpoker” De La Guardia Wins 11/22 Sunday Million

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Sunday Million logo.jpg It was a regular Sunday and a regular Sunday Million on November 22. As compared to last week's unbelievable Sunday Million, with its $2.5 million guarantee that led to 18,283 players registered to play and a $3,656,600 prize pool, this week brought the internet's biggest online tournament back to normal.

But "regular" and "normal" are being used here to describe the tournament that every online poker player strives to win. Those terms can be used because the Sunday Million is a staple in the industry and has come to represent the best in online tournaments...every week. The guarantee is back to its "normal" $1.5 million, and the field is back to its "regular" number of over 8,000. And those descriptions don't (can't) take away from its greatness or its excitement from week to week.

That brings us to the 11/22 event, which drew 8,587 players to the online tables and bypassed that $1.5 million guarantee to create a $1,717,400 prize pool. Though it was distributed among the last 1,260 players standing according to finish, the majority of it awaited the nine final table players, with $252,633.86 awaiting the ultimate champion.

As action moved the players ever closer to the final table, it was more than 9.5 hours after the start of the tournament that play was ten-handed and the bubble loomed. Finally, it was icedavid who pushed all-in from the big blind with [As] [9c], and original raiser sethsethseth called with [Qh] [Tc]. The board came [Ks] [3c] [2s] [Td] [8c] to eliminate icedavid in tenth place with $9,102.22.

And that left nine with seats at the final table. In Level 35 with 150,000/300,000 blinds and a 30,000 ante, action started off with the following chip counts:

Seat 1: florian_ny (5,600,060 in chips)
Seat 2: jakobsen01 (5,764,777 in chips)
Seat 3: papadelpoker (21,798,758 in chips)
Seat 4: ToroGr (4,486,769 in chips)
Seat 5: CBF430 (4,062,120 in chips)
Seat 6: lookoutdudes (5,104,482 in chips)
Seat 7: sethsethseth (16,725,247 in chips)
Seat 8: IveGotToejam (19,323,523 in chips)
Seat 9: rwesty (3,004,264 in chips)

It only took a few hands to see the play heat up, as jakobsen01 doubled up through sethsethseth on the fourth hand of the table. And the big pots kept brewing.

A very short time later, florian_ny tangled with papadelpoker in a preflop raising scenario, and papadelpoker put in enough chips to put florian_ny to the test for his tournament life. And florian_ny called with [As] [Kd], while papadelpoker showed only [Ac] [Jh]. The board started with a flop of [Qc] [7c] [Kc], which gave papadelpoker the club flush draw, and though the [Qs] on the turn was harmless, the [3c] fell on the river to make that flush. The first to go from the table was florian_ny, who walked away with $13,309.85 for the ninth place finish.

Then it was time for the actual shortest stack at the table to move. ToroGr raised all-in preflop with pocket fives, but CBF430 looked down at pocket kings and made the call. The board brought nothing for the short stack when it ran out [2s] [2d] [7s] [3d] [Ts], and ToroGr was left with $18,891.40 for the eighth place finish.

A tournament like this shows how quickly things can change for one player. Coming to the final table with a hefty chip stack and third spot on the leader board found sethsethseth with plenty of chips to move around. But after rwesty doubled through him once, the two soon tangled again, and the second time resulted in the same double-up for rwesty and a short stack for sethsethseth:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Two hands later, sethsethseth pushed all-in with pocket jacks, only to find himself in a race situation with the [As] [Ks] of papadelpoker. The flop brought a flush draw for papadelpoker with [9s] [5s] [2c], but the [9c] on the turn didn't do it. However, the [3s] on the river did make the flush, which eliminated sethsethseth from the tournament in seventh place with $34,348.00 in prize money.

While lookoutdudes was on the rise, doubling through papadelpoker and CBF430, it was CBF430 who was put in dire straits as a result. That prompted the player to push shortly after with [Ac] [5d], and jakobsen01 decided to call from the big blind with [Ad] [Tc]. The better hand only improved on the [Td] [4d] [4s] [2d] [As] board, and CBF430 was ousted in sixth place with $51,522.00.

Next to put himself at risk was rwesty. It was IveGotToejam who made the initial raise from the small blind, and rwesty called from the big blind, which put him all-in for his tournament life with [Ks] [Td]. IveGotToejam only showed [6h] [5h], but the flush - as had happened so many times in the night already - came when the board produced [Qh] [9h] [8s] [6d] [Ah]. That left rwesty to collect $68,696.00 for fifth place.

Mentions of a tournament pause for deal talks were quickly dismissed, and play continued for a quite some time with mostly small-ball action. The short-stacked lookoutdudes was looking for a spot to move, but when papadelpoker put him to the test the first time, lookoutdudes folded out of the hand and gave the 8-million chip pot to papadelpoker. That left lookoutdudes with less than 9 million chips, which went all-in four hands later from the small blind with [As] [Th]. Original raiser papadelpoker called with [Ad] [9s] and would need some help to eliminate his opponent, and he received it on the board of [Qs] [5h] [8s] [7h] [6h]. The straight knocked out lookoutdudes in fourth place with $85,870.00.

Five hands after that, another showdown took place, though it started with papadelpoker and IveGotToejam taking it to the board. The flop of [8d] [6s] [3s] prompted more betting, but it was after seeing the [Qs] on the turn that papadelpoker bet, IveGotToejam raised all-in for his last 14,635,813, and papadelpoker called. IveGotToejam showed [As] [3d] for bottom pair, but papadelpoker turned over [Qh] [8h] for top two pair. The river brought the [4h], which ended IveGotToejam's run in third place, which was worth $128,805.00.

Heads-up action then began with the following counts:

Seat 2: jakobsen01 (9,038,167 in chips)
Seat 3: papadelpoker (76,831,833 in chips)

Six hands later, it was done. After waiting for the right time to move, jakobsen01 decided to make that all-in push on a [7d] [7c] [Jd] flop with [8d] [5d]. But the flush draw was outdone by the [7h] [3d] of papadelpoker, who flopped trips. The [5s] on the turn gave jakobsen01 two pair, but the [Qs] on the river ended the tournament. jakobsen01 was forced to accept second place and the $184,620.50 that went with it.

RSS readers click through to see replay

The winner of the 11/22/09 Sunday Million was someone not unfamiliar with PokerStars tournaments. Jose "papadelpoker" De La Guardia made a name for himself at the Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) Playa Conchal tournament in Costa Rica, where he made it into the money on Day 3 and ultimately finished in 23rd place for $4,711. Well-known in Panama and a member of the "rat pack of Panama," De La Guardia can now claim to own one of the most coveted titles in online poker, that of the Sunday Million, which also came with a hefty first place prize of $252,633.86. Congratulations!

Sunday Million Results for 11/22/09:

1st place: Jose "papadelpoker" De La Guardia ($252,633.86)
2nd place: jakobsen01 ($184,620.50)
3rd place: IveGotToejam ($128,805.00)
4th place: lookoutdudes ($85,870.00)
5th place: rwesty ($66,696.00)
6th place: CBF430 ($51,522.00)
7th place: sethsethseth ($34,348.00)
8th place: ToroGr ($18,891.40)
9th place: florian_ny ($13,309.85)

For more information on ways to register and qualify for upcoming Sunday Million tournaments, visit the Sunday Million page.

Posted in Pokerstars, Sunday Million | Comments Off

Sunday Warm-up: crochepif weaves the cards into a $125K win

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

Watching "The Next Iron Chef" on the Food Network with final two chefs battling it out in the kitchen for the right to become the next Food Network personality, had me amazed at their ability to perform under pressure. Basically, the show takes place over several weeks while already established chefs create a variety of dishes under a certain time limit (usually two hours) to be critiqued by a panel of four. Each week another chef is shown the door after having the judges explain that their lobster bisque is better served at the local animal shelter, and sometimes the judges are not even that pleasant. While we won't be serving up salmon mousse to our final nine of the $750,000 Sunday Warm-up they'll have to make do with the five minute breaks every hour to throw a pop tart into the toaster and dreams of a six-figure score.

The clock was ticking for over nine hours of pressure packed play to reach the final table tonight. 675 players of the 4,572 starting runners managed to take a bite of the $914,400.00 prize pool but only one could take home the massive $143,453.25 set out for tonight's champion.

At the final two tables, 2007 WCOOP Event #12 runner-up Hikkespett had a big stack demolished after two virtual coin flips went in favor of the opponent and finished in 16th place ($2,743.20). looshle with a 5th place finish in this very tournament back in June 2008 bowed out in 14th place tonight ($4,114.80) after running pocket deuces into the pocket rockets of RobCurl with the board running dry.

Shorter stacks with two places to the final table gathered their chips into middle as njw11's pocket tens [Th][Td] went up against the [Js][Ac] of joscha45. Despite hitting trip jacks on the river, joscha45 was eliminated as the second jack on the [Tc] [Qd] [Jc] [5s] [Jd] board gave njw11 the 3.2 million chip pot and sent the German World Cup of Poker qualifier joscha45 home in 11th place ($5,486.40).

At the nine hour mark with the bubble awaiting their return, a quick five minute break gave the remaining ten players something to think about, as this author will be thinking about the ribs concoctions these finalists made on Iron Chef tonight for the next few weeks. Yum. Maybe SirRomanov was watching the same show as the icon blinked for several seconds and no reply was found when play resumed and the "out to lunch" sitting out sign was hung below SirRomanov's name. With blinds at 100K/200K ante 20K ante five-handed, free blinds being given up are at a premium especially with the $2K difference between 9th and 10th place. RUIB made an honorable play and gained a little good karma during one orbit and allowed SirRomanov to walk one orbit in the blinds. After regaining consciousness SirRomanov would pick off a few blinds preflop and regained the lost chips during the disconnect.

SirRomanov would make the final table with slightly less than two million chips thanks to the elimination on the other table. Watch the video below as Miss Locks' small chip stack goes into the middle against the aggressive crochepif.

RSS readers click through to see replay

Miss Locks would flop a straight and flush draws but the [Ks][Qs] couldn't connect with the [4s] [As] [Tc] [8h] [7c] board any further as crochepif's pocket sixes [6s][6d] would hold up ensuring crochepif would not repeat as the bubble boy of a Sunday Major as seen during the Sunday Million back in May. Miss Locks was out in tenth place receiving $5,486.40 thus setting up the final table shown below:

Click image for larger picture

Seat 1: jstockton#10 (1888633 in chips)
Seat 2: MIB2121 (1557926 in chips)
Seat 3: crochepif (10234260 in chips)
Seat 4: njw11 (4902360 in chips)
Seat 5: marroca5 (6595530 in chips)
Seat 6: RUIB (10983944 in chips)
Seat 7: SirRomanov (1747132 in chips)
Seat 8: RobCurl (2831377 in chips)
Seat 9: over.be (4978838 in chips)

The huge blinds would immediately come into play for the short stacks tonight starting off at 125K/250K ante 25K, leaving MIB2121, SirRomanov, RobCurl, and jstockton#10 looking for a quick double or triple up in hurry or be blinded off.

MIB2121 would take the first shot, all-in for 1.8 million against RobCurl as both players exposed aces with a small kicker [5d] for MIB2121 and [2d] for RobCurl as MIB2121 tourney life was on the line but the [8h] [4s] [3c] [8c] [4h] board played out to a split as they divvied up the 4.4 million chip pot. MIB2121 would try again for a double up on the very next hand by open shoving 2.2 million into the middle from the small blind holding [6h][Ac]. In a bit of a cooler, crochepif was waiting with enough chips to call and an ace with a higher kicker [9c][Ad]. The [Tc] [7c] [Jh] [Jd] [8h] board had a shot to produce another split, but instead the river gave crochepif a straight and MIB2121 took ninth place money ($7,315.20) back to Moscow.

Maybe if the internet connection didn't fail at a very wrong time SirRomanov would have had enough chips to prevent the bad beat eighth place finish. Facing a 515,750 chip cutoff raise from njw11, SirRomanov would shove over the top holding [Ks][As] for 1.4 million total. Potential pot odds, plenty of chips and holding a solid [Ad][8s] njw11 would make the call. As mentioned the board was not kind to SirRomanov as the [6d] [7d] [9h] flop gave njw11 an open ended straight draw to go with potentially pairing the eight. The [Qc] was safe, but the [5d] hit the river with a thud, closing the books on SirRomanov in eighth place ($11,430.00).

Four hands later with the blinds still at 125K/250K ante 25K, jstockton#10 would enjoy a double up at the expense of over.be winning a 2.2 million chip pot with rivered trip fives after over.be almost stole the pot holding just [9d][7c] and turning a pair of nines against the [5s][As] of jstockton#10. As mentioned the second five on the board fell on the river and jstockton#10 regained some life.

After the blinds bumped up to 150K/300K ante 30K marroca5 would be the next to benefit from a double up, finding big slick [Ac][Ks] at the right time as njw11 held [Qs][Ad] as the two shoved their chips in preflop to form a 5.8 million chip pot. This non-race ended early as marroca5 would flop two pair on the [2d] [Ah] [Kc] [8s] [7s] board and win the 5.8 million chips, leaving njw11 with 3.7 million chips.

RobCurl benefited from a gift a dozen or so hands later getting his shortish stack into the middle holding pocket tens [Tc][Th] against the pocket jacks [Jc][Jh] of RUIB. The flopped set of tens would hold on the [Td] [Qs] [6h] [8c] [Qh] board as RobCurl took in the 5.9 million chip pot.

Twelve hands later RUIB would find the bulk of that once mighty stack in the middle in the hand below with over.be:

RSS readers click through to see replay

Once again pocket tens were the nemesis as RUIB's pocket tens [Td][Th] couldn't hold off over.be's big slick [Ac][Kd] on the [8h] [Ah] [Kc] [6c] [3h] board for the 9.7 million chip pot. The very next hand RobCurl would snap up RUIB's scraps and the once big stack was out in seventh place ($20,574.00).

Shortly after RUIB's elimination, crochepif would start adding to the chip leading stack by knocking off our sixth place finisher. With blinds at 200K/400K ante 40K scrappy short stacked jstockton#10 tried to assist that chip count with a blind steal by shoving all in from the big blind with [7h][Jc] for a little more than one million chips. After raising to 800K from UTG, crochepif easily called the remaining 200K with pocket sixes [6s][6d]. crochepif would spike a set on the turn and boated up on the river [8h] [Ad] [Kc] [6h] [8c] to send the NBA assists leader's fan home in sixth place ($29,718.00).

Before over.be could say "gg" and crochepif "want to chop" in the chat box, there was another all-in and a call the very next hand. over.be would raise to 800K from the button as njw11 shoved from the big blind for just over four million chips with [Ad][2c]. over.be covered and made the call with pocket eights [8h][8s]. The [Qs] [7h] [Qd] [Th] [9d] mid-range board lacked an ace or a couple ducks as njw11 added another big score from a Sunday tournament. njw11 won $38,862.00 for fifth place to go with a victory in the $80K Sunday Special for $21K back in February.

over.be said, "pause"
RobCurl said, "yes, pause it"

Players attempted to pause the tournament for a four handed discussion after the hand was already dealt. Then, they started an explosion of action that would leave one person missing out on some extra cash. over.be raised from the cutoff to 950K with the blinds still at 200K/400K ante 40K, and was met by marroca5's short stack shove for 3.5 million. RobCurl sat in the big blind with [Qs][As] and a big decision, a loss would mean less chip equity in the negotiations, but a win would lock up a sizable deal.

"Call" was the answer as over.be abandoned ship quickly and marroca5 turned over the outkicked [Js][Ac]. The [6c] [4s] [7d] [4c] [Qc] board improved RobCurl's hand but was enough to cut marroca5 out of the deal in fourth place ($51,663.60).

Bang bang down to three.

This time the players didn't even look at their cards and Team PokerStars Pro Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser (who won a WCOOP bracelet last year) handled pausing the tournament as the remaining trio were given the chip chop amounts. After a lengthy ping pong match of back and forth negotiations the final three came upon the deal shown below:

crochepif - $115,000.00
RobCurl - $100,209.43
over.be - $100,209.42

With six figures a piece locked up it was time to move to playing for the $10,000.00 left on the table for the Sunday Warm-up champion.

The first shift of power had crochepif all-in preflop with [Ks][Qd] against RobCurl's [4d][Ad]. Holding a 2:1 lead in chips, crochepif could not pair the king or queen on the [5h] [Jc] [5c] [7s] [Js] board as the chip lead and 23 million chip pot moved over to RobCurl. Two hands later crochepif would regain most of those chips, but not from RobCurl as crochepif would tangle post flop with over.be, check out the video below for the results:

RSS readers click through to see replay

The river shove bluff holding queen-high [Jc][8h] backfired on over.be when crochepif holding [5s][Ts] caught two pair on the river [Qs] [5h] [2h] [7h] [Tc] and made the call to win the 19 million chip pot and send over.be out in third place with the six figure chop ($100,209.42).

Down to heads-up play nearly a dead heat (21million for crochepif, 24 million for RobCurl) the 250K/500K ante 50K blinds made sure the players would need to stay aggressive to win the $10,000 left in the prize pool for the winner. Immediately, crochepif would pick off another river bluff, this time holding bottom pair on a scary [4d] [7s] [5d] [Qh] [Qs] board and raking in the 10.5 million chip pot after RobCurl fired at the turn and river to no avail.

Starting off both players would streak by taking down the blinds. First, RobCurl would battle back from the busted bluff by taking down the next four hands. But, crochepif would storm back by winning six out of the next seven, and ten of the next twelve hands. RobCurl stayed somewhat solvent by making sure the two pots taken were worth more than just the blinds (6.4 million and 7.1 million).

In the end, crochepif's aggressiveness was just too much as the lead was expanded to 34.7 million to RobCurl's 10.9 million coming into the final hand. With the blinds pumped up to 300K/600K ante 60K, RobCurl led out from the button with a min raise to 1.2 million and crochepif answered big by shoving all-in. RobCurl finally had enough of crochepif's aggressive play and called with [Qc][Kh]. This time crochepif held the slightly better hand [Ac][8c]. The [Tc] [4c] [8s] flop would take away several of RobCurl's outs as the [3c] turn gave crochepif the Sunday Warm-up champion title and extra $10,000 by hitting the nut flush.

RobCurl didn't go home empty handed by any means taking in $100,209.43 after chopping three handed and finishing as the runner-up. But, the day was crochepif's as $125,000.00 was the reward for taking down this week's Sunday Warm-up!

Congratulations to all of our final tablist tonight, be sure to check in on Tuesday for the wrap up show on PokerStars.TV to see all the major hands with hole cards exposed and expert commentary.

$750,000 Guarantee Sunday Warm-up Results (11-22-09)
(* denotes part of three-way chop)
1. crochepif (quimper) *$125,000.00
2. RobCurl (Köln) *$100,209.43
3. over.be (Vilnius) *$100,209.42
4. marroca5 (Bogota) $51,663.60
5. njw11 (Streetsboro) $38,862.00
6. jstockton#10 (North Mankato) $29,718.00
7. RUIB (Budapest) $20,574.00
8. SirRomanov (Passau) $11,430.00
9. MIB2121 (Moscow) $7,315.20

Posted in Pokerstars, Sunday Warm-Up | Comments Off

EPT Vilamoura: Local Antonio Matias wins EPT in Portugal

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Posted in European Poker Tour, Pokerstars | Comments Off

LAPT Playa Conchal: Sulaiman bests Bergren for title

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

When Amer Sulaiman boarded an airplane from Toronto to Costa Rica, he never expected to return home with an extra $172,095 in his pocket, let alone an LAPT title. The 45-year old Iraqi-born Canadian resident came to Playa Conchal for a vacation with his girlfriend, but at the last minute, decided to play the tournament. We're pretty sure neither of them are regretting his decision to stay off the beach and in the poker room, as he just became the first Canadian to win an LAPT title.

mesa final.JPG

The LAPT Playa Conchal final table

It took a bit over an hour for the final table to lose its first player. Patrick De Koster moved all-in pre-flop and Eric Levesque called from the small blind, turning up [Qs][Qh] to De Koster's [Ad][7h]. Although the Dutchman paired his kicker on the [9s][7d][5s] flop, he couldn't find any help on the turn or river which fell the [Jh] and the [Ks], sending him home in eighth place.

Carlos Giron did his best to try and chip up during the first two levels of play, but he couldn't get anything going. Down to 241,000, he moved all in from the hijack seat and Sol Bergren looked him up from the big blind. Giron was ahead with [Ah][9s] against Bergren's [Qc][Jc] but saw his hopes of an LAPT title dashed when the board ran out [Ts][Qd][6c][Td][5d], making Bergren two pair. For his seventh-place finish, Giron took $20,098 back to Guatemala.

On the very next deal, Darren Keyes decided to make a stand, shoving for 371,000 from the button. Amer Sulaiman moved all-in from the small blind, having him well-covered. Sol Bergren ducked out of the way from the big blind and the cards went on their backs.

Keyes: [Ah][7h]
Sulaiman: [As][Kd]

Keyes cracked a tiny smile when the flop came down [8d][7d][6c], pairing his kicker, but the [Kc] spiked on the river, taking him out in sixth place for $26,380.

Darren Keyes shakes hands with Amer Sulaiman following his elimination

Five-handed play went on for well over an hour before a short-stacked Francis-Nicolas Bouchard moved all-in from under-the-gun. Everyone folded to Amer Sulaiman in the big blind. Ever the gentleman, Sulaiman stood up from his chair and extended his arm across the table, offering Bouchard a handshake as he said "I call."

Sulaiman turned up [Ah][As]. Bouchard was in bad shape with the [Kh][9s] and although the [Ks][Js][Tc] flop game him a ray of hope, he couldn't catch up on the turn or river, which fell the [6d] and the [Ad]. Sulaiman dragged the pot and took the chip lead with 2.4 million while Bouchard exited in fifth place, earning $32,660. Not bad for his first live tournament.

Once Bouchard hit the rail, the pace of play picked up considerably. Ten minutes later, Sol Bergren opened for 120,000 and was met with a three-bet from Eric Levesque for 700,000. Bergren decided to go with his hand and moved all-in, earning a quick call.

Our two Canadians were in a race situation, Bergren's [8d][8c] up against Levesque's [Ac][Qd]. Levesque's rowdy, cerveza-fueled railbirds began screaming for an ace or a queen, but their man could not improve his hand, the board running out [Jh][5d][4s][3c][7h] to end his tournament in fourth place. He earned $45,221 for his finish.

The dust had hardly settled from Levesque's elimination when there was another all-in, Rogelio Pardo all-in with [Ac][3s] against Sol Bergren's pocket fives. THe [Kc][6c][8d] flop favored Bergren and though Pardo picked up a flush draw on the turn with the [4c], the river fell the [5h], Bergren scoring the KO with a set. Pardo exited in third place to a hearty round of applause from his Costa Rican brethren, earning $61,551.

Pardo's elimination left us with a Canuck-on-Canuck heads-up battle. Here's how the chip counts looked as their match began:

Amer Sulaiman: 2,803,000
Sol Bergren: 2,200,000

Heads-up action begins

With stacks that large relative to the blinds (30,000-60,000/5,000) we knew we were in for a long haul when it came to heads-up play. Although Bergren had played a very aggressive style at the final table up until this point, he changed gears and slowed down, taking a much more passive approach in his match with Sulaiman. By the end of the first hour of heads-up play, Sulaiman had ground his stack up to 3.4 million to Bergren's 1.6 million.

Sol Bergren smiles in the face of his chip disadvantage

Bergren, however couldn't seem to find any momentum. If he flopped a pair, Sulaiman would river a straight. Down to less than eight big blinds, Bergren at last got his chips in the middle with [6s][7s] only to find his hand dominated by Sulaiman's [Td][7h]. The [Th][5s][4c] gave Sulaiman top pair, but Bergren picked up an open-ended straight draw. The crowd held their breath as the dealer burned and turned the [Ac]-- no help to either player. And when the [Qh] hit the river, the LAPT had its first Canadian champion. He'll take $172,095 back to the Great White North.

Congratulations to LAPT Playa Conchal champion Amer Sulaiman

For a look at how all our cash finishers placed, head over to the LAPT prize pool and winners page. To check out the coverage in Spanish, hit up PokerStarsBlog.la. We only know how to say "Bon dia" and "cerveja" in Portuguese, but our Brazilian bloggers have you covered at PokerStarsBlog/br.

If you missed any of the action, here's a look back at all four days of the LAPT Playa Conchal.

Day 1 wrap
Levels 9 and 10
Levels 11 and 12
Levels 13 and 14
Day 2 wrap
Level 15 and 16
Levels 17 and 18
Levels 19 and 20
Level 21 and 22
Day 3 wrap
Level 21 and 22 (continued)
Levels 23 and 24
Levels 25 and 26
Heads-up updates

For all of us at the PokerStars Blog, that's a wrap. Our next stop on the Latin American Poker tour will come in February, when we return to Punta del Este, Uruguay. Until then, buenos noches, y buena suerte from Playa Conchal.

Posted in Latin American Poker Tour, Pokerstars | Comments Off

LAPT Playa Conchal Heads-Up Updates

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

Updates from level 25 and 26 of LAPT Playa Conchal, brought to you by Brad Willis and Change100.

Approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The LAPT tournament structure can be found on the LAPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the prize pool and winners page.

Blinds: 40,000/80,000/10,000

7:20pm: Amer Sulaiman wins LAPT Play Conchal

Sulaiman and Sol Bergren saw a flop of [7s][3c][4s]. Bergren led at the board with a 90,000 chip bet. Sulaiman moved all-in. Bergren, short-stacked in need of a double-up, called with [6s][7s]. Sulaiman held [td][[7h]. The board bricked out and Bergren was out.

Now, Iraqi born Canadian Amer Sulaimain is the LAPT Playa Conchal champion. he wins $172,095.

Bergren earns $100,492 for his runner-up finish.

We'll have a complete final table wrap-up in just a little while.

7:03pm: Prepare yourself
There's gotta be some action soon. Sol Bergren is down to eight big blinds.

6:50pm: In hour two
We've been heads up for two hours and fifteen minutes. The past 20 minutes haven't seen any big hands. While we're waiting for something to develop, here's an interview we shot with Amer Sulaiman earlier today.

Watch LAPT S3 COSTA RICA: Amer Sulaiman Final Table on PokerStars.tv

6:37pm: The pain continues

The two heads-up players saw a flop of [9s][7d][2h]. Both players checked. On the [ac] turn, Sol checked, Amer bet 140,000 and Sol called. On the [5c] river, Sol checked again, Amer bet 320,000 and Sol called to see Amer's three-four...good for the wheel and the win.

6:28pm: Back in action

The blinds are up and play has resumed.

Had a chat with Sol Bergren during the break. Despite the tough start in heads up, he's still confident. "Amer is playing well," he said. "Maybe the cards will turn the other way now."

Blinds: 30,000/60,000/5,000

6:13pm: Time out
We're taking a break, one that Sol Bergren looks like he needs. He cannot find any footing against Sulaiman. On the second to last hand before break, both players checked the board to the river on a paired board. Finally, Sulaiman put in a very small bet. Bergren called to ee Sulaiman's full house.

6:00pm: Sulaiman, the check-raise machine
Sol Belgren came in for a raise to 150,000 and Amer Sulaiman called. They saw a flop of [ts][6s][5h]. Sulaiman checked and let Bergren bet 170,000. Sulaiman wasted no time before moving all-in. Still frustrated, Bergren folded.

Bergren is down to 1.6 million while Sulaiman is now around 3.4 million.

5:55pm: Check, please
After a fairly aggressive performance from Sol Bergren at the final table, the heads-up battle has been fairly passive. In fact, a majority of the aggression has been fro the hands of Amer Sulaiman. Even so, there's not much to report, save the fact tat Sulaiman continues to hold the chip lead and Bergren is beginning to look a little frustrated.

5:40pm: Amer Sulaiman grinding his way back
Sol Bergren opened for 150,000 and Amer Sulaiman made the call. Both players checked the [Qd][6c][4c] flop and checked again when the [4d] hit the turn. The river was the [9s] and Sulaiman led out for 200,000. Bergren made the call, but mucked once he saw Sulaiman's [Kh][Qs].

5:20pm: Reversal of fortune

When we started heads up play, the stacks looked a lot like this.

Sol Bergren: 2,805,000
Amer Sulaiman: 2,280,000

Now, they look a lot like this

Amer Sulaima: 2,805,000
Sol Bergren:: 2,280,000

Or something awfully close to that.
5:15pm: Blinds up

We're now about to 30,000/60,000/5,000 blinds.

Posted in Latin American Poker Tour, Pokerstars | Comments Off

EPT Vilamoura: Local hero Antonio Matias wins EPT title

Sunday, November 22nd, 2009

There was a story waiting to be written in Vilamoura tonight, one of a child chess prodigy turned poker player winning an EPT event and rocking the poker world after he'd only narrowly missed out three weeks ago in Warsaw. But as anyone who has played this game will know, poker is nothing if not unpredictable.

Instead, in front of huge crowds in Casino Vilamoura, another story will be written. A 54-year old economist named Antonio Matias from Setubal, Portugal, a cash game player who couldn't resist playing in the first EPT in his home country, became the tour's oldest winner. A champion and €404,793 richer, he is the first winner on home soil since Sandra Naujoks in Dortmund last season.

Champion Antonio Matias (spot the deliberate mistake*)

In the last hand, Neuville, holding [jh][ts] raised 240,000 from the button. Matias called with [8s][7d] for a [jd][7h][8h] flop. Matias was ahead with two pairs to Neuville's top pair and gutshot straight draw. Matias checked before Neuville made it 315,000 to play. Matias made it another 500,000 more before Neuville pushed all in. Matias called, already ahead, and the [7c] gave Matias the full house on the turn. It also won him the title.

The heads-up duel was the conclusion to a thrilling final. The runner-up Pierre Neuville, fulfilling a poker dream held for 50 years, had to settle for €257,681. But he's shown one or two of the youngsters that at 67 he can still play.

Pierre Neuville

All this began some eight hours ago. Andrei Vlaskenko was first to depart, thanks to the 18-year-old PokerStars qualifier Ryan Franklin who would himself be sent to the rail by Jeff Sarwer two hours later. The French tour veteran Michel Abecassis followed him in sixth place, his chips helping bolster the stack of the chip leader Matias.

Andrei Vlasenko

Ryan Franklin

Michel Abecassis

The local boy Joao Silva was the obvious crowd favourite. Despite being hamstrung by a short stack Silva would double up through Sarwer twice, lifted out of his chair each time by the roar of the rail. He would eventually depart at the hand of Jan Skampa in a queens vs. jacks showdown, ending the Portuguese player's adventure. Skampa now had the chip lead but there was a thread of chaos weaved into the final and Skampa would be next to leave.

Joao Silva

Jan Skampa

The Czech player hadn't finished stacking Silva's chips when he gave them to Sarwer. Sarwer opened under-the-gun, Skampa raised, before Sarwer re-raised. Skampa then shoved, called in a flash, showing king-nine to Sarwer's pocket queens. The queens held. Sarwer celebrated with a Portuguese-style "Vamos!", followed by a lap of honour. He now had 5 million. Skampa was crushed and would be gone in a matter of hands.

Three players remained, passing chips around for two and a half hours. Pierre Neuville and Antonio Matias knew they couldn't out-think Sarwer, so they tried muscle instead, ultimately using big hands to crush Sarwer's hopes.

Frustrated by what seemed an incredible run of cards that had ultimately stolen the chip lead, Sarwer took a last stand against Matias who re-raised him all-in on a flop of [9c][7h][3c]. He had [9s][5s] and called, but Matias was ahead with pocket tens.

Jeff Sarwer

Sarwer needed help, and got it, a [5c] on the turn. For the first time Sarwer released a primal howl before regaining his composure. But the relief was short lived. A [3d] on the river left Matias cheering, now with a bigger two pair, while Sarwer, who seems to be busy cracking poker's code, sought comfort from the likes of Shaun Deeb, Jim Collopy and Jonathan Aguiar, his new entourage gathered on the rail.

The rest is now inked into the EPT history book. Neuville and Matias girded themselves for a heads-up scrap that soon went Matias's way and Neuville graciously conceded the limelight to a new local hero who also wins a seat at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo.

"I like to think of myself as a citizen of the world," said Matias. "But it is very satisfying win an EPT in my home country. I just decided to play the way I play, and hope that luck didn't turn its back on me. When I got the chip lead yesterday the only thing I had on my mind was winning."

And if you would rather see the chuffed chap (apologies, we're English) then this is for you...

Watch EPT Vilamoura Winner presentation on PokerStars.tv

Having watched that, it's certainly worth a look back at how he did it via our wonderful words. Re-live the whole experience at your leisure at the links below:

Player profiles
Level 23
Level 24
Level 25
Level 26
Level 27
Level 28

That's everything there is from EPT Vilamoura. Thanks for following our coverage throughout the week. Our thanks go to Neil Stoddart for his work with his camera and the Portuguese legal system, and the video blog team whose work can be seen in full over at PokerStars.tv.

There's still the action from Costa Rica if you're hungry for more but we're off for a last taste of Portuguese hospitality. Next stop for us is Prague in just over a week's time. See you there.

Cheerio.

* The winning hand was actually [8s][7d]. Matias posed with the incorrect eight.

Posted in European Poker Tour, Pokerstars | Comments Off

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Archive for November, 2009

Battle of the Planets: makkie makes a straight and takes home Battle of the Planets title

Turbo Takedown back this weekend

Russian breaks world record on PokerStars

PCA adds a weekend for the ladies

Panama’s Jose “papadelpoker” De La Guardia Wins 11/22 Sunday Million

Sunday Warm-up: crochepif weaves the cards into a $125K win

EPT Vilamoura: Local Antonio Matias wins EPT in Portugal

LAPT Playa Conchal: Sulaiman bests Bergren for title

LAPT Playa Conchal Heads-Up Updates

EPT Vilamoura: Local hero Antonio Matias wins EPT title