Posts Tagged ‘pot limit omaha’
Gus Hansen Can’t Lose
October 22nd, 2010
Gus Hansen wins because Gus Hansen can see inside your soul.
Just a few short weeks ago, Danish poker pro Gus Hansen won his first World Series of Poker bracelet. It was a win that seemed to be long overdue, as he’s been one of the most feared and biggest-name players in the world for years. Much better late than never though, and that win seems to have turned Hansen’s fortunes around at the high-stakes online poker tables.
The last few years have been one long downward plunge for Hansen. But he’s been on an epic heater the last few weeks, culminating in nearly $600,000 in winnings in action last night. And that’s on top of the $723,000 he won in action last week.
Most of yesterday’s good fortune came at the hands of an online pro named Luukie21. The two battled it out at the $500/$1,000 Cap Pot Limit Omaha tables, with Luukie21 ending the session $595,000 down. Hansen made a few more bucks off a variety of other opponents, mixing it up playing everything from $200/$400 PLO to $1,000/$2,000 HORSE.
For the year so far, Gus Hansen is looking at winnings of $2.5 million dollars. Add that to his WSOP Europe bracelet in the High-Roller NLHE Heads-up Tournament, and 2010 is looking pretty sweet for the great Dane.
WSOP Europe Begins Tomorrow in London
September 13th, 2010
Barry Shulman was the big winner at last year’s WSOP Europe.
London’s month in the poker spotlight continues tomorrow with the festival that put the UK capital on the map as a poker destination: World Series of Poker Europe.
The European branch of poker’s oldest tournament series has been running since 2007, when three gold bracelets were awarded: one in a £2,500 HORSE event, another in a £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event, and the third for the £10,000 Main Event. The Main Event drew a solid field of 362 players and confirmed that then-18-year-old Annette Obrestad, who took home £1,000,000 (US $2,013,734) for defeating John Tabatabai in heads-up play, was one of poker’s hottest rising stars.
In 2008 the WSOPE featured the same three tournaments as the year before, but the schedule expanded to include a £1,500 No-Limit Hold’em event. The Main Event once again drew 362 players, and this time John Juanda was the big winner, walking away with his fourth gold bracelet and £868,800 (US $1,580,096) after one of the longest final tables in WSOP history.
Last year’s WSOPE schedule stayed the same, other than a change from a £1,500 buy-in to a £1,000 buy-in for the first no-limit hold’em event. The Main Event saw 334 players turn up, and the star-studded final table saw Card Player magazine publisher Barry Shulman defeat Daniel Negreanu in an epic heads-up battle and take home the £801,603 (US $1,321,534) top prize.
This year’s WSOP Europe schedule is changing once again. The HORSE tournament has been dropped in favor of a £10,000 High Roller heads-up tournament, and a fifth event, a £2,500 Six-Handed No-Limit Hold’em tournament, has been added to the schedule. That new event will kick off two weeks of poker at The Casino at the Empire at noon London time tomorrow.
WSOP Bracelet Winner Resigns From Kabul Bank
September 3rd, 2010
2008 WSOP Europe bracelet winner Sherkhan Farnood stands accused of serious misdealings at Afghanistan’s biggest bank.
The Central Bank of Afghanistan moved to replace the management of the troubled Kabul Bank this week – and WSOP gold bracelet-winning poker player Sherkhan Farnood is at the center of some seriously scandalous goings-on.
Kabul Bank handles payments for soldiers, police and teachers in the troubled Central Asian nation. But its politically connected management, including Farnood, is accused of making up to $300 million worth of bad real estate deals in Dubai and disposing of hundreds of millions of dollars more in off-the-books loans, threatening the stability of the entire country at a crucial time. Farnood and several other key management figures stepped down after President Hamid Karzai threatened them with arrest earlier this week.
The move by Karzai is not entirely surprising; earlier this year, in an interview about the way his bank does business, Farnood was quoted saying, “What I’m doing is not proper, not exactly what I should do. But this is Afghanistan.” Since resigning Farnood has pledged to hand over the titles to $160 million in Dubai property, all of it bought with Kabul Bank money but registered under his and his wife’s names.
Farnood has a total of eight tournament victories from festivals in Austria, Australia, France and England on his poker resume. By far the biggest of them came in 2008 when he triumphed in the £2,500 Limit HORSE event at WSOP Europe, making him only the second Afghan poker player (behind 2002 $5,000 Seven Card Stud winner Qushqar Morad) to win a WSOP bracelet. Among the competitors he bested at that final table were Howard Lederer, Jeffrey Lisandro and Phil Ivey. The win had a measure of redemption in it, as Farnood had narrowly missed winning a bracelet in 2006, finishing second in that year’s $1,500 Pot Limit Omaha with Rebuys event.
Phil Ivey Loses 787K in a Weekend
August 26th, 2010
Phil Ivey demonstrates questionable bankroll management.
Apparently even Phil Ivey isn’t perfect. While he’s considered by almost everyone (not named Phil Hellmuth) to be the best player in the game, even Ivey can have a rough weekend at the online poker tables. And when he goes cold, he can lose a lot of cash fast…like $787,935 in just two days.
The damage came over the course of 2,832 hands of both $200/$400 Cap Pot Limit Omaha and $500/$1,000 Cap No Limit Hold’Em. And yeah, at those kind of stakes, things can go sideways pretty quickly. The damage was done by a few different opponents, including Phil Galfond, Cole South, Hac Dang, Sam Palmer and and online pro with the username Clockwyze.
Despite the rough ride, you can’t feel too sorry for Ivey. His online winnings for 2010 currently sit at $2,548,803. Sure, they looked a bit better a few days ago, but he still has enough for rent. If his losing ways continue, and they probably won’t, he risks losing his current 2nd place position on this year’s money board. Jungleman12 is closing in fast, and currently sits just just about thirteen grand behind Ivey. And at the top of the list of cash earners for the year? Tom Dwan, with $3,862,454 in profit, for 2010 so far.
Patrik Antonius up $332,000 in only 600 Hands
August 21st, 2010
Patrik Antonius loving life.
Sure, poker is a game of variance, but winning over $332,000 in just 600 hands counts as an amazing session for anyone. And that’s what Patrik Antonius did earlier this week, in an epic online poker session.
Antonius has proven to be one of the best high-stakes players in the game, and consistently comes out ahead no matter who the opposition. Well, except maybe when he’s playing Tom Dwan. In his short but sweet session on Wednesday, he took down Ilari Sahamies and Phil Galfond and a few others, for a third of a million dollars.
Sahamies continued his non-Antonius-esque run, dropping $149,400 to Antonius on the night, as the two played Cap Pot Limit Omaha and 7-Game. Galfond didn’t fare much better, donating $197,563 to Patrik’s retirement fund.
Though he didn’t tangle with Antonius, Gus Hansen found other ways to get into trouble. He continued his epically bad 2010, with a $266,243 loss on the evening. His running total for the year is $1.1 million in the hole. And his 2009 wasn’t so great either.
All In Energy Drink Sponsors Johnny Chan, Other Poker Pros
July 19th, 2010
Some way, somehow, All In Energy Drink is sponsoring poker pros.
All In Energy Drink, once upon a time the official energy drink of the WSOP before players revolted and demanded they get back their Red Bull, has announced the formation of Team All In. Heading up the team is none other than the man who pushed the drink on the WSOP in the first place, company co-owner and two-time WSOP Main Event winner Johnny Chan.
“This is a positive step for poker as there are not a lot of endorsement deals for players beyond the poker playing websites”, said Chan. “This relationship is extremely beneficial for both groups and it is an honor to be in the company of such a prestigious group of poker players.”
The initial lineup for Team All In includes Johnny Chan, seven-time WSOP bracelet winner Billy Baxter, two-time WPT champion Freddy Deeb, high-stakes cash game player Eli Elezra, former WSOP Main Event last woman standing and The Amazing Race star Maria Ho, two-time WSOP bracelet winner John Phan, longtime SoCal grinder Tim Phan and and former WSOP Pot Limit Omaha world champion Lee Watkinson.
The All In Energy Drink website still hasn’t been updated to reflect the new pro team. Instead it maintains a laundry list of poker pros who have worn the company’s patches in the past, some of whom might be surprised to find that they’re still listed as “All In Energy Drink Pros.” Among that list are Patrik Antonius, Phil Gordon, Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, JC Tran, Clonie Gowen, David Williams, Chris Moneymaker and Steve Dannenmann.
WSOP: Can Patrik Antonius Win the Main Event?
July 13th, 2010
Could this be Patrik Antonius’ year for WSOP stardom?
Of course there’s obviously still a huge amount of poker to go, and its way too early to speculate on who might win the 2010 WSOP Main Event… But we’re not going to let that stop us. Because there’s one very interesting name hanging around near the top of the field after Day 3 – Patrik Antonius.
Between his frequent TV appearances, his appearance in the Durrr Challenge, and his epic million dollar showdowns with the online poker degenerate Isildur1, Antonius has become increasingly familiar to those who follow poker even on a casual basis. But he has yet to break out into the kind of mainstream stardom of a Phil Hellmuth or a Phil Ivey. Of course, both those gentlemen have a whole lot of WSOP bracelets between them, while Antonius has yet to win a World Series event. But could that change this year?
All the talk in the last day or two has been about Johnny Chan’s surprising position at or near the top of the Main Event leaderboard. But Antonius goes into Day 4 with a healthy stack, and a position in the top 10% of the field. He currently sits at #118 (out of 1,240 remaining players) with 170,000 chips. James Carroll has 803,000 to sit at #1, but we all know how quickly things can change. There are lots of other great players (most with the last name Mizrachi) still alive in the Main Event, so Antonius is still a long-shot to cash, let alone win the thing. But he definitely has the skill, and the demeanor, to do some damage in a tournament like this.
His best finish at a WSOP was in 2007, when he finished 3rd in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event, taking home $311,394. All told, his live tournament total winnings are in excess of $2,800,000, with $750,000ish of that coming from his twelve WSOP cashes. And his cash game winnings likely far exceed anything he’s won in tournaments, thanks, in part, to his epic tilts with Isildur1, including his winning the largest pot in online poker history.
WSOP: Poker Players Championship Final Table Set
June 1st, 2010
Eight players, two Mizrachis, at the Players Championship final table. (Photo: Rob Mathis)
After four long days of play, the 2010 WSOP $50,000 Poker Players Championship is down to the final eight players – and now it’s time for the real action to begin.
The big story in Day 4 play was the bursting of the money bubble at the expense of Kirk Morrison. He had led the tournament on and off through its early days, but a confrontation with Daniel Alaei during a round of Stud Hi-Lo ended up being his demise. By fifth street Alaei had a lowly pair of sevens with a backdoor low draw, while Morrison had all his chips in the middle with the nut diamond flush draw and four cards to a six-low. But Morrison drew two blanks, giving him the distinction of being one of the most disappointed bubble boys of the entire WSOP as he missed out on a $98,330 payday.
Less disappointed, but still wishing they’d had a shot at the bracelet, were eight other players who made the money. They are Andy Bloch and Ilya Bulychev ($98,330 each), Allen Bari and Brett Richey ($113,030 each), Lyle Berman and Abe Mosseri ($129,957 each), and Alexander Kostritsyn and Nick Schulman ($152,730 each).
Leading the way when play resumes today is Robert Mizrachi, who holds 3,125,000 in chips. It’s his first final table at the Series since 2008, when he finished 4th in the $2,500 Deuce-to-Seven Triple Draw. The previous year he actually made three final tables, including a win in the $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha World Championship. He’ll be looking to make up for having an off year in 2009, when he only cashed in three tournaments all year.
Joining older brother Robert at the table is Michael Mizrachi, who led the way into Day 4. That makes the Mizrachis only the second pair of brothers to make a final table at the WSOP, after Ross and Barney Boatman at a Pot Limit Omaha event in 2002.
The rest of the field includes online poker star David Baker, better known as “WhooooKidd” or “Bussa Buss”; 2008 WSOP Europe champ John Juanda; Swedish pro Mikael Thuritz; Russia’s Vladimir Schemelev; Kirk Morrison’s money bubble nemesis, Daniel Alaei; and on the short stack, high stakes cash game pro David Oppenheim.
The final table of the Poker Players Championship, the first big WSOP event of 2010, will be played as all no-limit hold’em, and the action begins at the Rio at 3pm PT.
World Series of Poker Europe Schedule Announced
May 26th, 2010
Barry Shulman will try to defend his WSOP Europe win in September.
It’s long been a foregone conclusion that Harrah’s, the parent company of the World Series of Poker, would take the tournament series back to London this year for a fourth installment of WSOP Europe. Yesterday the formal announcement was made and the schedule published, making its official.
The WSOP Europe schedule is expanding this year to five events, up one from the last two years and from the three events that inaugurated the European version of the longest-running poker tournament series in the world. The new tourney on the schedule is Event #4, the £10,350 No Limit Hold’em High Roller Heads-Up tournament. It should draw the world’s top players and be a bigger test of skill than made-for-television events like the NBC National Heads-Up Championship.
One other change involves the invitation-only Caesars Cup, an Americas-versus-Europe team event held last year. The European team easily handled the Americans, perhaps providing incentive to change things up this year.
Other than the new event and the omission of the Caesars Cup, though, things are staying pretty much the same in London later this year. The schedule opens with a £2,650 No Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event, followed by a £5,250 Pot Limit Omaha event, a three-starting-day £1,075 No Limit Hold’em event, and of course the WSOP Europe Main Event.
The first event of the 2010 installment of World Series of Poker Europe gets started on Tuesday, September 14th, and the Main Event is scheduled to conclude on Tuesday, September 28th. The defending champion in that tournament is Card Player Magazine’s publisher, Barry Shulman, who defeated Daniel Negreanu in a long, memorable heads-up battle to win the £801,000 first prize.
New Taker for Durrrr Challenge?
May 19th, 2010
A graph of Ben Grundy’s impressive lifetime Omaha earnings. (image courtesy of milkybarkids.blogspot.com)
You might not know the name Ben Grundy yet, but if you follow the world of high-stakes online poker, that may be about to change. He’s been quietly making a name for himself, mostly playing high-stakes Pot Limit Omaha at a variety of online poker sites. And as the graph posted above shows, he’s been pretty much killing it. According to his blog, in just over 300,000 hands, he’s up more than $7 million bucks.
And now he’s considering being the next challenger in the Durrrr Challenge. That’s Tom Dwan’s offer to play anyone (except Phil Gafond) heads-up for 50,000 hands, in $200/$400 or higher No Limit Hold’em or Pot Limit Omaha. If the challenger is ahead after the 50,000 hands, Tom will give them an extra $1.5 million. If Dwan is ahead, the challenger owes him an extra $500,000.
Patrik Antonius was the first, and so far only, person to take on the Durrrr Challenge. It’s not over yet, but Antonius is down about $1.8 million, with just a handful of hands still to play. And that means Dwan may soon be looking for a new opponent. And Ben Grundy may be his man.
Grundy says he’s “not ruling it out”, with the potential winnings a big enticement. But he’s a bit leery of risking a few million, so would only play if he could sell a percentage. In the meantime, Grundy is satisfying himself by owning at Omaha, and looking forward to the 2010 WSOP. But don’t be too surprised if Grundy throws his hat in the ring for the Durrrr Challenge sometime in the not too distant future.
