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Archive for the ‘allstarweek’ Category


PokerStars All Star Week: The Captain speaks

Monday, March 23rd, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgPokerStars All-Star week kicked off in full today with the first matches between Team PokerStars Pro and the All Star challengers. Several weeks ago, Team PokerStars Pro held a match of its own to determine who would serve as its captain as it took on some of the best poker players from their home site.

When the match was over, Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin emerged as the team captain. Over the next seven days, he will lead the Team through the bloody battle sure to come from All Star Week.

We asked Ramdin to give us his thoughts on heads up play. Here's what he had to say.


Heads Up Poker: Winning Ugly


by Victor Ramdin

I like to think of heads up poker as the poker where you need to win ugly. I'm not talking about being a bad sport or breaking the rules, I'm talking about winning with ugly cards. It's just you and one other player. Much of the time, neither one of you is going to start with or end up with too pretty a hand. Which means that one of you is going to have to win ugly. And when the dealing's done, the player that wins ugly more often is probably going to be the one with the chips.

In heads up hold 'em, you've got to win some pots by calling at the river with king high. And you've got to win some decent size pots with bottom pair--not tiny, checked down pots, decent size pots. If you're never winning heads up hold 'em hands by calling at the river with king high and if you're never winning decent size pots with bottom pair,
you're not winning ugly enough.

In heads up triple draw, you've got to raise before the first draw with 2-6-8-T-K. You'd rather have a prettier hand to raise with, but that's beside the point. The point is that your opponent's hand is probably even uglier than yours, and you've got to make him pay to draw to that ugly hand.

In heads up Omaha high, you've got to bet the third nut straight at the river, get called, and win. Of course you'd rather be betting the nut straight or at least the second nuts. And in a ring game, four handed at the river, you probably shouldn't bet the river, and maybe not even call a bet. But this is heads up. Full Omaha games are about making the nuts. Heads up Omaha isn't.

In heads up Badugi, after you steal raise in position, get called, and your opponent draws two, you've got to stand pat with 333T or AA88. It would be great to draw and hit a miracle hand, but you may do better in the long run by standing pat with your ugly hand than by drawing weak trying to make a pretty hand.

In heads up seven card stud eight or better, you've got to scoop some pots at the river with a pair of nines. In a ring game you might throw away that same pair of nines on third street. But heads up, you've got to play those nines much more often and you've got to see them through to the river much more often.

Even heads up, you'll show down a pretty hand every so often. But between pretty hands, be sure to win with your share of ugly ones.

We have all heard it said while playing poker that any two cards can win. Never is this truer, than when playing Texas Hold'em Heads-up. After all Doyle Brunson won two WSOP Main Event bracelets while holding just a measly 10-2. Playing heads up requires a different strategy than you would employ at a full table. It is a completely different game and requires you to play a wide range of starting hands. It requires aggression, and a sound knowledge of your opponents playing style; being able to read strength and weakness, and of course a little luck can never hurt. Heads-up can be very difficult to play, especially against an experienced player. But thanks to PokerStars we can play heads-up anytime, and gain the necessary skill and experience rather quickly.

Starting Hands

When playing heads-up you can not play tight, and expect to win. Given that Q7 (also known as the computer hand) will win slightly more than 50% of the time heads up, this is the hand to use as your benchmark. Any hand Q7 or better must be played heads-up. Small pocket pairs, small aces (e.g. - A2, A3) or even small kings must be played aggressively. Often the small blind (the button when heads-up) will raise every hand pre-flop. You must counter this by defending your big blind more often, or even more optimal re-raising when holding one of the starting hands described above.

Knowing your Opponent

If your opponent plays passive, than you should play more aggressive. If he is aggressive, then you will have to call more often pre-flop, and also by using well timed raises or re-raises pre-flop. If your opponent is very aggressive you have to vary your play and use some discretion when entering a pot.

Chip Stack Size

Knowing your opponents chip count, as well as your own, is always critical. When you are the big stack heads-up, you have to play more aggressive, stealing the blinds, and putting your opponent to the test every hand. It is important to remember that your opponent can have a hand, so while being aggressive be careful not to double your opponent up, or you'll quickly find yourself on the short stack.. When you are the short stack (33% of the chips in play or less) you have to play a little more cautiously, and look for an opportunity to get yourself all-in and double up; or the high blinds and antes will eat up your chips. You will have no fold equity left, and your opponent will be forced to call you regardless of your holding, as he will be getting proper pot odds to call you.

Varying Your Play (Limping Headsup)

While limping into a pot can be very deceptive, it can also be very dangerous. Limp occasionally against a passive opponent when trying to see a flop cheaply (e.g. - with small suited connectors). Limp occasionally against an aggressive opponent whom you are trying to trap while holding a big hand (e.g. - high pocket pair or AK), especially if you think he will raise pre-flop; look to limp occasionally and check/raise.

Playing Headsup after the Flop

After the flop you will have to continuation bet more often when missing the flop. Often the flop will miss you both, so a continuation bet will often win the pot. Again always be wary of your opponent making a hand, so being able to read your opponent for strength or weakness after the flop is crucial. You must be able to fold when you sense strength and be looking to re-raise when you sense weakness.

Summary

The most important aspect of heads-up poker is aggression. Aggressive play does not mean blind aggression. You must vary your starting hand requirements, and know your opponent. The best way to get better is to practice as often as you can and you'll be winning in no time.


PokerStars All Star Week 03-22-09 update

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgThe qualifiers for PokerStars All Star Week are in the midst of determining who will face off against the Team PokerStars Pros. Here's your daily update of the action from PokerStars' very own Host Bob.

by Host Bob

Prior to the final team selection tournament, there were still six members of the All Star Challengers team that had not secured a match in the All Star Week line-up. With only five spots left to fill, at least one person was going to miss out.

As it turned out, two of those six were finally able to break through. Dutch Supernova Elite busto_soon rode comfortably into third place and selected Isabelle Mercier as his single opponent for the series. The result delighted his legions of railbird fans who had been eagerly awaiting this chance to cheer. 1ofaKind420, a 2008 Yearly TLB Top 50 player, made harder work of qualifying but did enough to take the fifth spot for the day. He will take on Lee Nelson in Sunday's 16:00 ET Stud Hi/Lo match.

The day's other qualifiers are already firmly entrenched in the All Star Week schedule and will be challenging for the team MVP award. The first man to choose from Sunday's games was Pole kAmIkAdZeE. His fourth match for the week will be the potentially crucial final match of the series against Greg Raymer.

Second choice went to the red-hot Supernova Elite 'psimalive', who made it three in a row today - a unique feat during the week's tournaments. He exercised his option on the 12:00 ET match with Vicky Coren. It was another four-time winner that took the remaining match in the schedule. Sumpas will take on Chad Brown in the penultimate match of All Star Week.

Battle commences for real tomorrow, and you can follow all the action here on the blog. The full schedule of matches is as follows:

Monday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 Vicky Coren Vs Sumpas
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Lee Nelson Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 3 STUD 16:00 Chad Brown Vs Bookie1978
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Isabelle Mercier Vs PKerBL
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Dennis Phillips Vs bluffblocker

Tuesday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 Katja Thater Vs oblowski512
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Marcin Horecki Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 3 PLO8 16:00 Noah Boeken Vs Canuck
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Alex Kravchenko Vs VOLCANO360
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 JC Alvarado Vs 666 INRI

Wednesday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 ElkY Vs VOLCANO360
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Victor Ramdin Vs Aryamehr
Match 3 PLO 16:00 William Thorson Vs Canuck
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Vanessa Rousso Vs PKerBL
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Chris Moneymaker Vs bluffblocker

Thursday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 ElkY Vs PKerBL
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Vanessa Rousso Vs Sumpas
Match 3 LHE 16:00 Ylon Schwartz Vs Aryamehr
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Alex Kravchenko Vs oblowski512
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Chris Moneymaker Vs Gunslinger3

Friday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 Katja Thater Vs GoMukYaSelf
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Andre Akkari Vs bluffblocker
Match 3 5CD-limit 16:00 Barry Greenstein Vs Canuck
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Humberto Brenes Vs psimalive
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Daniel Negreanu Vs lordhuttyx

Saturday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 Victor Ramdin Vs psimalive
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Steve Paul-Ambrose Vs Sumpas
Match 3 O8 16:00 Greg Raymer Vs Canuck
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Humberto Brenes Vs kAmIkAdZeEe
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Joe Hachem Vs 666 INRI

Sunday
Match 1 NLHE 12:00 Vicky Coren Vs psimalive
Match 2 NLHE 14:00 Isabelle Mercier Vs busto_soon
Match 3 STUD8 16:00 Lee Nelson Vs 1ofaKind420
Match 4 NLHE 18:00 Chad Brown Vs Sumpas
Match 5 NLHE 20:00 Greg Raymer Vs kAmIkAdZeEe


PokerStars All Star Week 03-21-09 update Pt II

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgThe qualifiers for PokerStars All Star Week are in the midst of determining who will face off against the Team PokerStars Pros. Here's your daily update of the action from PokerStars' very own Host Bob.

by Host Bob

In contrast to the fresh faces produced by Friday's team selection tournament, all five of Saturday's winners were already booked into the All Star Week schedule.

The first match selection fell to Canuck (a name we've been hearing a lot this week), who stuck to his previous form and chose the day's non-NLHE option. He will take on Greg Raymer in an intriguing Limit Omaha Hi/Lo contest. After going zero from four in the early stages of team selection, American Supernova Elite psimalive has produced two wins in two days. He used his second choice on the 14:00 ET match with Team PS Pro captain Victor Ramdin.

kAmIkAdZeEe returned to the winner's circle on Saturday, after three days outside the top five players. His third match of All Star Week will be against Humberto Brenes at 18:00 ET. The result puts him firmly back in the race for the team MVP title.

Also gaining a third spot in the All Star Week itinerary was 2008 WCOOP Main Event final tableist Sumpas. The Swede will come up against 2006 PCA champion Steve Paul-Ambrose.

The prospect of a clash with Joe Hachem awaited the final member of the top five. The honour fell to a Supernova Elite hailing from Germany, 666 INRI. Joe is one of only a handful of players with lifetime live tournament winnings in excess of $10,000,000, so 666 INRI has an intimidating task ahead of him. With just five matches remaining after this game, it could be a crucial clash.

There are now ten players with two or more matches on the All Star Week card - all of whom will be in with a chance of securing the MVP award. The 1-Stamp PokerStars Passport will hinge on who has the talent and the nerve to claim victory in their respective matches.

The fans are currently backing the Pros to win by 996 votes to 699. The Challengers will be determined to prove a lot of people wrong!


PokerStars All Star Week 03-21-09 update

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgThe qualifiers for PokerStars All Star Week are in the midst of determining who will face off against the Team PokerStars Pros. Here's your daily update of the action, this time from PokerStars' very own Host Scotty.

by Host Scotty

There were sighs of relief from several members of the All Star Challengers team on Day 5 of team selection, as we saw three new names appear on the All Star Week schedule.
After multiple near misses, lordhuttyx, GoMukYaSelf and psimalive all secured a first match in next week's series.

lordhuttyx squeezed in this time around with the lowest stack, and found himself with a tricky match against Daniel Negreanu in the 20:00 ET slot. GoMukYaSelf has had a tough run in the daily selection tournaments and will be delighted to finally gain a berth in the All Star Week. He held second place when discussions began and decided to take on Friday's opening match against WSOP Razz bracelet winner Katja Thater.

psimalive got to choose right after GoMukYaSelf and selected Team PokerStars Pro's most colorful character as his opponent - Humberto Brenes. Costa Rica's Godfather of Poker has been quite a handful in his appearances in the Weekly TLB challenge matches. He'll be a tricky obstacle to overcome in the 18:00 ET Match 4.

The remaining qualifiers for the day both secured their third matches in All Star Week. Supernova Elite bluffblocker finished this selection tournament with the chiplead and chose to take on a man he has already encountered numerous times at the PokerStars tables - Andre Akkari.

Completing the quintet of Challengers for Friday was Canuck. He kept up his run of taking the non-NLHE option by agreeing to face Barry Greenstein at Limit 5-Card Draw. He will also be seen in the PLO and PLO8 matches of All Star Week.

In qualifying for a third time, bluffblocker and Canuck moved into a three-way tie for the Challengers MVP award with PKerBL. There are five other team members that have two games apiece that will be looking to improve in the last two days of team selection over the weekend.

Come back to the blog to find out which of the Challengers is rising to the occasion, or follow the action for yourself at 16:00 ET on the PokerStars software. The team selection tournaments can be found under the Events > Special tab, alongside the supporter tourneys and the All Star Week matches themselves.


PokerStars All Star Week 3-20-09 update

Friday, March 20th, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgThe qualifiers for PokerStars All Star Week are in the midst of determining who will face off against the Team PokerStars Pros. Here's your daily update of the action from PokerStars' very own Host Bob.

by Host Bob

The fourth day of All Star Challengers team selection was one for repeat winners - with four of the five qualifiers for the day already lined up to play an All Star Week match.

The most prolific among the four is Australian 'PKerBL', who has now secured three matches in the All Star Week line-up. The former Sunday Million champion (May 11, 20008) eliminated 'lordhuttyx' into sixth place to gain the chiplead and first choice of opponent for Day 4 of All Star Week. His confidence is clearly high, as he selected ElkY for his next opponent. His teammates breathed a sigh of relief.

Second option fell to the only debutant in the All Star Week schedule 'Gunslinger3'. It may be his first appearance in this promotion, but 'Gunslinger3' is no greenhorn. In addition to a Sunday Million win, he has several WSOP final tables under his belt and more than $1m in live tournament winnings. His 20:00 ET Match 5 meeting with Chris Moneymaker appears to be one of the highlights of the series so far.

Next in the chip count pecking order was 'oblowski512', a winner from Day 2's selection tournament. He is one of the two wildcard qualifiers in the team, and he is quickly showing he is among equals in the All Star Challengers team. He has added a game with Alex Kravchenko to his earlier date with Katja Thater.

'Sumpas', the only Scandinavian on the team, took the fourth spot and chose Vanessa Rousso from the two remaining Pros. 'Sumpas' is also lined up to play Vicky Coren in the opening match of All Star Week.

The final pairing for the day sees 'Aryamehr' take on Ylon Schwartz at Limit Hold'em. It was clear from the discussion of the players that no-one really liked the look of this game, so there will be great relief if 'Aryamehr' can score an upset.

After four days of play the race for the MVP title is wide open. 'PKerBL' has a slender lead, but there are seven others all tied on points behind him.

So far eleven of the twenty Challengers have locked up at least one berth in the All Star Week line-up. There are still fifteen open spots available - you can find out who will fill them here on the PokerStars blog.


PokerStars All-Star Week 3-19-09 update

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgThe qualifiers for PokerStars All Star Week are in the midst of determining who will face off against the Team PokerStars Pros. Here's your daily update of the action from PokerStars' very own Host Bob.

by Host Bob

We're almost half way through the All Star Week selection matches, and the schedule is really starting to take shape.

After the relatively quick selection tournament of Tuesday night, Wednesday's match was a real battle. It took over two hours to play from a full compliment of twenty down to the required five.

It was American 'bluffblocker' that finally burst the All Star bubble by eliminating 'Bookie1978'. The elimination gave him the chiplead and therefore the first choice of opponent for the third day of All Star Week.

After a short deliberation he selected Match 5, the 20:00 ET clash with Chris Moneymaker. It was a brave choice, as Chris has won five of his eight heads-up matches against the Weekly TLB winners. This will be 'bluffblocker's second match of All Star Week after he secured a meeting with Dennis Phillips on Day 1.

The second choice went to another repeat winner when 'Canuck' chose to take on William Thorson in the PLO match. Yesterday, he negotiated a trade that will see him playing Noah Boeken at PLO8 on Day 2.

No-one can doubt his ability in either version of Omaha. 'Canuck' was the winner of the very first WCOOP Omaha tournament back in 2002. It was only the second ever WCOOP tournament and the win was worth $14,231.25. He gained his invitation to All Star Challengers qualification by final-tabling the $300 rebuy PLO WCOOP tournament in 2008. In the intervening years he has cashed a number of times in Omaha disciplines. The Pros have their hands full with this one.

The third choice went to 'Aryamehr', a former Sunday Million champion, who will be making his first appearance in an All Star match. 'Aryamehr' chose to take on the captain of the Pros, Victor Ramdin.

Victor earned the captaincy by winning the Team PS Pro 2008 Championship Game back in December. The tournament used the prestigious 8-Game format pioneered by the WSOP and featured all of the members of Team PS Pro. Victor battled for a long time in a heads-up clash with Daniel Negreanu before taking the title. He also had a good run in the WCOOP $25,000 Heads-Up High-Roller event in 2008 - cashing for $100,000.

Another $100,000 winner in that heads-up tournament was Vanessa Rousso; the opponent for 'PKerBL' in Match 4. Vanessa is coming off the back of a phenomenal run at the NBC Natonal Heads Up Championship, so she's the form player for the Pros. 'PKerBL' will be hoping to be the lady-killer of the Challengers team, as he is also lined up to play Isabelle Mercier on Day 1.

The last player to be chosen as an opponent, perhaps unsurprisingly, was Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier - a PokerStars legend. The first ever Supernova Elite, a former PCA champion, a WPT winner and the star of WCOOP 2008. His magical year included $320,000 for winning the aformentioned WCOOP $25,000 Heads-Up High-Roller tournament.

His opponent for the first of his two All Star Week matches will be 'VOLCANO360', another previous All Star Week winner. 'VOLCANO360' won the Sunday Million on February 3 last year, so he'll be no pushover, but you'd have be a brave man to bet against ElkY.

At the time of writing the fans tournaments show 771 players backing the Pros to win the All Star Week, with just 536 putting their FPPs behind the Challengers. So there's no question mark over which team will be the underdogs come next Monday.

If you think the masses have got it wrong, you only have another week to register your support.


PokerStars All Star Week matches coming into shape

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgPokerStars All Star week is almost upon us and we're just starting to learn who will make up the All Star Team and face off against Team PokerStars Pro.

All Star Week will run from March 23 to 29, when PokerStars will be hosting a series of heads up matches between a brand new All Star team and Team PokerStars Pro.

The All Star team is made up of people who have won a 2008 Sunday Million event, final tabled WCOOP tournaments, finished high on the Tournament Leader Board, or made it to Supernova Elite. PokerStars also offered up to two wildcards from people who won through a special $11 All Star Week qualifying tournament.

Each day this week. starting last night, the 20 members of the All Star team play a mini-tournament, with the top five finishers each day getting to play Team Pro in the heads-up fixtures exactly one week later.

Last night. PokerStars player 'Sumpas' had the chip lead when five were left, and he got first choice of which Team Pro to play - and picked Vicky Coren in the opening match of the competition at 12:00 ET next Monday.

The next choice went to second-placed finisher 'bluffblocker who picked Dennis Phillips in the 20:00 ET slot. 'KAmIkAdZeEe' took his time deliberating before finally settling on playing Lee Nelson at 14:00 ET. 'PKerBL' was in a hurry to get off to work, and just before he signed out he chose to take on Isabelle Mercier in the 18:00 ET match.

By default 'Bookie1978' filled in the final match for the Monday of All Star Week, the unenviable match against Chad Brown in Seven Card Stud. 'Bookie1978' admitted he has very little Stud experience. The team will have the option to discuss the line-up and possibly make tactical changes. It may be that 'Bookie1978' chooses to let another member of the team play in his place.

For full information on the promotion, be sure to check out the PokerStars All Star Week page.


PokerStars launches All Star Week

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

allstarweek_thn.jpgMaybe you've turned on the TV and watched Greg Raymer play and thought, "Well, I might be able to beat him if I really try." Or maybe you sat down to play WCOOP and mused, "If I get sat with ElkY, I'm going to show him what I can do."

Well, now is your chance to show Team PokerStars Pro what you have in your personal poker arsenal.

PokerStars just announced its first All Star Week. From March 23 to 29, PokerStars will be hosting a series of heads up matches between a brand new All Star team and Team PokerStars Pro. There's cash and pride on the line.

The All Star team will be made up of people who have won a 2008 Sunday Million event, final tabled WCOOP tournaments, finished high on the Tournament Leader Board, or made it to Supernova Elite. PokerStars will also be offering wildcards from a list of people who win special $11 All Star Week qualifying tournaments. For more on how you can qualify, see the PokerStars All Star Week qualifying page.

There's cash on the line in the amount of $1,000 per match. Each team could win up to $20,000 during the week.

PokerStars will also be hosting a series of All Star Week Fan tournaments for only 100 Frequent Player Points. You pick the team you think will win the heads-up challenge. Every time one of the teams win, $1,000 will be added to the respective Fan tournament prize pool. You can't enter both, so pick the right team today.

For full information on the promotion, be sure to check out the PokerStars All Star Week page.