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Posts Tagged ‘World Series’
Tuesday, November 15th, 2011
When a huge swath of your potential customer base is cut-off –as is the case for virtually all online poker enterprises and ancillary companies that have sprung-up around the online poker rooms– businesses will either have to adapt to the changing climate or slowly wither on the vine. For the online poker training site FloatTheTurn.com the answer seems to be, adapt and survive.
FloatTheTurn is an online poker training site specializing in Multi-Table Tournaments, founded by two-time WPT Champion Jonathan Little. In the new poker climate, with a smaller player base to find customers in, the choice presented to Little seemed to be to either jack-up the price of your product, or to appeal to more players by lowering the cost. Little has decided that dropping the price was the right way to go, and he not only dropped the price, he absolutely shredded it!
What would normally cost players $14.95/month + a one-time sign-up fee of $99.95 is now only $8/month with the sign-up fee waved!
In a press release Little explained his reasoning for slashing the price to FloatTheTurn.com in the following way: “When I heard that Netflix lost 800,000 subscribers after raising their prices, I knew I had to do the opposite… And if this new lower price helps me get 800,000 new subscribers, I wouldn’t complain,”
Little went on to explain, “It’s no secret that the poker industry has been struggling lately. With the exception of the World Series of Poker, participation in large buy-in tournaments has been dropping steadily in recent years. When I won the Foxwoods WPT event in 2008, there were 412 entrants. In 2011, there were only 189 entrants. Something has to be done to encourage more people to play or we’ll just end up with a handful of pros playing each other for insignificant prize pools. I’m hoping this new lower price will appeal to a much larger group of aspiring poker players and help them develop the skills and confidence they need to compete in today’s game.”
You can visit www.FloatTheTurn.com for more information
Tags: Champion, Changing Climate, Confidence, Customer Base, Handful, Jonathan, Netflix, Online Poker Rooms, Participation, Poker Players, Pools, Press Release, Series Of Poker, Slashes, Subscribers, Swath, Time Sign, Vine, World Series, World Series Of Poker
Posted in Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Monday, November 14th, 2011
After a two-month delay (a la the World Series of Poker) the Partouche Poker Tour Main Event final table participants were back in action this past weekend, with the €1 million first-place prize-money on the line, and what a final table it was!
With a log-jam at the top of the leader-board entering play, Team Titan Poker’s Sam Trickett found himself leading the field, but not by very much. And with the likes of 2011 WSOP bracelet winner and POY candidate Oleksii Kovalchuk, French poker star Roger Hairabedian, Alexander Dovzhenko, and Mads Wissing still in the running, the Partouche Poker Tour title was within any player’s grasp.
That said, Trickett would prove to be too much for the rest of the table, and even a 2-to-1 chip disadvantage during heads-up play was not enough to keep the UK poker pro out of the winner’s circle. The win was the third score of the year for Trickett that totaled over $1 million in prize-money (the other two coming in high-roller events at the Aussie Millions) and his $4.5 million in tournament earnings for the year is starting to approach Erik Seidel territory!
Here is a look at how the final nine players finished at the 2011 Partouche poker Tour final table:
- Samuel Trickett — €1,000,000
- Salman Behbehani — €600,000
- Oleksii Kovalchuk — €379,760
- Ilan Boujenah — €300,000
- Roger Hairabedian — €230,000
- Alexander Dovzhenko — €190,000
- Mustapha Kanit — €160,000
- Alexandre Coussy — €130,000
- Mads Wissing — €100,000
Tags: 5 Million, Alexander Dovzhenko, Aussie Millions, Erik Seidel, Grasp, High Roller, Kanit, Leader Board, Log Jam, Mads, Main Event, Play Poker, Prize Money, Salman, Titan Poker, Tour Championship, Trickett, World Series, World Series Of Poker, WSOP
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 9th, 2011
After one of the fiercest and hotly contested heads-up matches in World Series of Poker history, 22 year-old Heinz Pius became the second youngest player to ever win the WSOP Main Event, and the first German to capture the title (Henry Nowakowski is the only other German to reach the final table, which he did in 2001).
After Sunday’s action that saw Pius, Martin Staszko, and Ben Lamb reach Tuesday’s final three, most people expected the heads-up battle to be contested between Pius and Lamb, but Staszko decided to crash the party and proved to be more than the other two players could handle. In fact, Staszko and Lamb would tangle on the very first hand of the night, moving all-in pre-flop. The hand would leave Lamb crippled, with just over 10 Big Blinds in his stack, while Staszko would moved up to challenge Heinz Pius who controlled 50% of the chips in play at the start of the night.
Staszko would take over the chip lead on Hand 2 of the night, and would eliminate Lamb on hand 4. Once Lamb was eliminated the Staszko vs. Heinz duel lasted over 100 hands and saw the chip-lead change hands eight times before Pius Heinz was able to dispatch Staszko (who to virtually everyone’s surprise, turned out to be something of a heads-up specialist).
1. Pius Heinz — $8,715,638
2. Martin Staszko — $5,433,086
3. Ben Lamb — $4,021,138
4. Matt Giannetti — $3,012,700
5. Phil Collins — $2,269,599
6. Eoghan O’Dea — $1,720,831
7. Badih Bounahra — $1,314,097
8. Anton Makiievskyi — $1,010,015
9. Sam Holden — $782,115
Tags: Blinds, Change Hands, Chips, Dea, Eight Times, Heinz, Holden, Lamb, Moving, Nowakowski, Phil Collins, Series Of Poker, Stack, Surprise, World Champion, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Champion, World Series Of Poker History, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Monday, November 7th, 2011
In what will likely go down as one of the most exciting and well-played World Series of Poker Main Event final tables in the modern era of poker, it was two of the odds-on favorites at the beginning of the day and a long-shot who would be left standing at the end of the night: Ben Lamb, Martin Staszko, and Pius Heinz.
Heinz chipped-up early and often, and even with a few minor stumbles held the chip-lead throughout most of the day. Staszko held steady most of the day, was grinded down during short-handed play, but eventually made a nice comeback to finish right around where he started. Lamb on the other hand had one of the most up-and-down days of anyone, with his stack routinely fluctuating between 15 million and 50 million.
The trio’s trip to the Tuesday’s final, final table came at the expense of Matt Giannetti who played a near-flawless game throughout the day. Unfortunately for Giannetti, the 26 year-old poker pro from Las Vegas ran into the “Run-Good” of Ben Lamb in a critical hand during 4-handed action. Lamb and Giannetti got it all-in with Lamb holding A7s against Giannetti’s JJ. A Flush draw on the flop opened the door for Lamb, and the deal was sealed with a 5th heart on the turn, crippling Giannetti and setting up a date between Lamb, Pius Heinz, and Martin Staszko on Tuesday.
Here is how the three will enter Tuesday’s action:
- Pius Heinz — 107,800,000
- Ben Lamb — 55,400,000
- Martin Staszko — 42,700,000
And here is how the rest of the players fared at the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table:
- Matt Giannetti — $3,012,700
- Phil Collins — $2,269,599
- Eoghan O’Dea — $1,720,831
- Bob Bounahra — $1,314,097
- Anton Makiievskyi — $1,010,015
- Sam Holden — $782,115
Tags: 50 Million, Dea, Flawless Game, Giannetti, Heinz, Holden, Lamb, Las Vegas, Odds, Phil Collins, Poker Main Event, Poker Pro, Series Of Poker, Stack, Th Heart, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Main Event, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 19th, 2011
Another prominent member of Team Full Tilt Poker has decided to break their silence regarding their role with the ailing online poker room. This time it was PokerTube.com that got the exclusive interview, talking to Patrik Antonius while the poker superstar was in Cannes for the World Series of Poker Europe tournament series.
Antonius was emphatic in stating that he had nothing to do with the management of Full Tilt Poker, and was strictly under a “marketing contract” with the site. He went on to state that if the site does become insolvent he will be one of the biggest losers due to the amount of money still locked-up in his Full Tilt Poker account –according to Antonius the amount is so large that even the amount he has been paid since becoming a Full Tilt Poker Pro wouldn’t cover it!
According to Antonius, he knows less than most of the poker media that have been following the story, telling PokerTube.com: “I feel like when I read the news, they know much more about it than I do. Nobody talks to me, so I am always the last person to know… I did call Howard in the beginning of the summer, and I was supposed to meet him. But I was too busy, and I don’t even know if he was in Las Vegas. This was before they lost their license, though… Everyone in the poker industry should care about this. It’s hurting the reputation of poker a lot, and this makes me very sad,”
Antonius has now joined other Team Full Tilt Poker Pros Tom Dwan and Mike Matusow as vocal critics of their former employer.
Tags: Amount Of Money, Biggest Losers, Cannes, Chats, Europe, Full Tilt Poker, Las Vegas, Marketing, Mike Matusow, online poker, Poker Pros, Poker Room, Reputation, Sad, Series Of Poker, Silence, Tom Dwan, Vocal Critics, World Series, World Series Of Poker
Posted in Online Poker, Poker News | No Comments »
Monday, August 29th, 2011
With the World Series of Poker effectively in the books –the WSOP Main Event is still undecided of course—a number of players have positioned themselves for the Player of the Year titles handed out by both Card Player Magazine and BLUFF Magazine.
This is usually the point on the poker year where a handful of players put some distance between themselves and the rest of the pack, in what I refer to as the “London Leg” of the poker schedule –although with the WSOP Europe moving to Cannes this year I’ll have to spend some time coming up with a new name for this part of the tournament schedule!
Here is a look at the Top on both the BLUFF and Card Player leader-board, through August 24th, 2011:
BLUFF Magazine Player of the Year Race leader-board:
- Eugene Katchalov — 924.38
- Bertrand Grospellier — 892.00
- Marvin Rettenmaier — 823.82
- Maxim Lykov — 820.56
- Samuel Stein — 775.25
- Galen Hall — 762.45
- Erik Seidel — 761.51
- Ali (Shahryar) Eslami — 758.39
- Jason Mercier — 757.43
- Phil Hellmuth — 681.25
Card Player Magazine Player of the Year Race leader-board:
- Sam Stein — 4,334
- Galen Hall — 4,284
- Maxim Lykov — 3,876
- Chris Moorman — 3,875
- Jason Mercier — 3,749
- Ben Lamb — 3,636
- Erik Seidel — 3,567
- Taylor von Kriegenbergh — 3,560
- Marvin Rettenmaier — 3,520
- Anton Ionel — 3,500
Tags: Bertrand Grospellier, Bluff Magazine, Card Player Magazine, Chris Moorman, Erik Seidel, Eslami, Galen Hall, Home Stretch, Ionel, Leader Board, Marvin, Maxim, Mercier, Phil Hellmuth, Race Leader, Rettenmaier, Shahryar, World Series, World Series Of Poker, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Monday, July 25th, 2011
With the 2011 World Series of Poker on hiatus until early November, the eyes and ears of the poker world will be firmly affixed on the public hearing slated for Tuesday July 26, 2011 where Full Tilt Poker and the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) will state their cases during a public hearing at the Plaza Victoria Hotel in London, England.
The former #2 online poker site in the world, Full Tilt Poker has been taking on water since Black Friday, and after a number of “stalling” tactics the fact that they had failed to repay their US customers months after Black Friday led to the AGCC determining that they needed to step in and pull Full Tilt Poker’s operating license –effectively shutting the site down across the globe.
With Full Tilt Poker going dark on June 29th, 2011, the site has had zero revenue coming in over the past month, and even with a potential sale in the offing, the hearing will likely determine the fate of the site. Representatives from Full Tilt Poker, as well as the potential European investors are expected to be on hand, and explain their side of the story.
Even if Full Tilt Poker’s license is restored, many industry insiders feel the damage done to the brand may be too much to overcome, and the survivability of the site may lay in how well they can rename and rebrand themselves.
Stay tuned on Tuesday as news breaks from the hearing.
Tags: Agcc, Black Friday, Early November, European Investors, Eyes And Ears, Full Tilt Poker, Gambling Control, Hiatus, Hinges, Hotel In London, Hotel In London England, Industry Insiders, online poker, Poker World, Public Hearing, Survivability, Taking On Water, Victoria Hotel, World Series, World Series Of Poker
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
In a very bold statement/prediction during one of his stints in the commentator’s booth for the World Series of Poker Main Event live stream on ESPN 3, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth stated that he thinks online poker will be legalized in the United States this year, and went on to claim that once it is you can expect to see upwards of 15,000 entrants in the WSOP Main Event!
I’m not sure what Hellmuth is basing this on –especially the “this year” part considering how slow Congress moves on crucial issues, let alone something as innocuous as online poker—but I rarely see or hear Hellmuth making outlandish predictions: Name dropping yes, predictions no!
Hellmuth did bring up a good point in saying that once online poker was legalized in Italy, PokerStars.it immediately became the fourth largest online poker site in the world, and was bumped to #5 when France legalized online poker and PokerStars.fr claimed the #4 spot. So, Hellmuth’s claims of a second, even larger, Poker Boom are probably not that far off considering the US market is vastly larger than either France or Italy, and the US has a much deeper tradition when it comes to poker.
We’ll have to wait and see when it comes to the legislation, but if that day ever does come to light… Watch out! Can you even imagine 15,000 players in the WSOP Main Event? The total prize-pool would be $150,000,000, putting the top-prize in the $15 million – $20 million range!
Tags: Bold Statement, Boom, Commentator, Congress Moves, Espn, Fr, legislation, Live Stream, online poker, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Live, Poker Main Event, Prize Pool, Series Of Poker, Stints, United States, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Main Event, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Reminiscent of Greg Raymer’s improbable run where after winning the 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event he finished in 25th place in the 2005 WSOP Main Event, or even Dan Harrington’s back-to-back final tables in 2003 and 2004, Joseph Cheong has followed up his 3rd place finish in 2010 with a 114th place finish in the 2011 WSOP Main Event.
While on the surface Cheong’s 114th place finish seems far less impressive, when you take into account the size of the fields Cheong navigated through in 2010 and 2011, compared to Raymer’s 2004 and 2005 runs, and Harrington’s 2003 and 2004 runs, it becomes clear that a case could be made for Cheong having the best two-year run in the Main Event of the three!
- Raymer bested a field of 2,576 in 2004, and followed that up with a 25th out of 5,619. Total prize-money won $5,304,680.
- Harrington finished 3rd in 2003 out of 839 total participants, followed by a 4th place finish out of 2,576 players in 2004. Total prize-money won $2,150,000.
- Cheong finished 3rd out of a total of 7,319 entrants –the second most all-time—in 2010, and then 114th out of 6,856 entrants –the third most all-time—in 2011. Total prize-money won $4,184,900.
Precisely whose performance is more impressive can be debated ad nauseam, but all three players have to be considered in the conversation when it comes to the best back-to-back performances in the WSOP Main Event in the Internet era.
Two other players also followed up on deep runs in the 2010 Main Event as Jean-Robert Bellande and Christian Harder both posted back-to back Top 100 finishes in 2010 and 2011 as well.
Tags: Ad Nauseam, Dan Harrington, Era, Greg Raymer, Jean Robert Bellande, Participants, Poker Main Event, Prize Money, Rd Place, Series Of Poker, Th Place, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Main Event, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
Thursday, July 14th, 2011
At the end of Day 2b of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event a familiar name has maneuvered his way to the top of the leader-board, and will head into Day 3 on Thursday as the overall chip-leader, Ben Lamb.
Lamb, who is one of the handful of players who has a legitimate shot of running down Phil Hellmuth for the 2011 WSOP POY award, already has a WSOP win and runner-up finish on his 2011 WSOP resume, not to mention an 8th place finish in the $50k Players Championship and a 12th place showing in the $10k NLHE 6-Max Championship.
Lamb will head into Day 3 with 551,600 chips, and along with fellow poker pro Kevin Saul was the only player to crack the 500,000 chip-mark; Saul ended the day with 542,200. Another well-known poker pro who had a fantastic Day 2b was Patrik Antonius who finished the day with 361,000 chips, good enough for 7th place on the day, and just outside the top 10 overall.
Here is a look at the chip-leaders from Day 2a and Day 2b combined:
1. Ben Lamb – 551,600
2. Kevin Saul – 542,200
3. Aleksandr Mozhnyakov – 478,600
4. Ryan D’Angelo – 462,300
5. Tuan Vo – 434,500
6. Guillaume Darcourt – 410,500
7. Narendra Banwari – 404,800
8. Nicolas Fierro – 403,000
9. Stephanie Albertini – 400,100
10. Martin Torheim – 385,000
All of the players will now have Wednesday off before returning to the Rio on Thursday, which will be the last time that both the Amazon and Pavilion rooms are full of players.
Results courtesy of wsop.com
Tags: 2b, Albertini, Amazon, Antonius, Contender, D Angelo, Fantastic Day, Guillaume, Kevin Saul, Lamb, Leader Board, Mark Saul, Phil Hellmuth, Players Championship, Poker Main Event, Poker Pro, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Main Event, WSOP
Posted in Poker News | No Comments »
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Phil Hellmuth says online poker will be legalized THIS YEAR
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011In a very bold statement/prediction during one of his stints in the commentator’s booth for the World Series of Poker Main Event live stream on ESPN 3, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth stated that he thinks online poker will be legalized in the United States this year, and went on to claim that once it is you can expect to see upwards of 15,000 entrants in the WSOP Main Event!
I’m not sure what Hellmuth is basing this on –especially the “this year” part considering how slow Congress moves on crucial issues, let alone something as innocuous as online poker—but I rarely see or hear Hellmuth making outlandish predictions: Name dropping yes, predictions no!
Hellmuth did bring up a good point in saying that once online poker was legalized in Italy, PokerStars.it immediately became the fourth largest online poker site in the world, and was bumped to #5 when France legalized online poker and PokerStars.fr claimed the #4 spot. So, Hellmuth’s claims of a second, even larger, Poker Boom are probably not that far off considering the US market is vastly larger than either France or Italy, and the US has a much deeper tradition when it comes to poker.
We’ll have to wait and see when it comes to the legislation, but if that day ever does come to light… Watch out! Can you even imagine 15,000 players in the WSOP Main Event? The total prize-pool would be $150,000,000, putting the top-prize in the $15 million – $20 million range!
Tags: Bold Statement, Boom, Commentator, Congress Moves, Espn, Fr, legislation, Live Stream, online poker, Phil Hellmuth, Poker Live, Poker Main Event, Prize Pool, Series Of Poker, Stints, United States, World Series, World Series Of Poker, World Series Of Poker Main Event, Wsop Main Event
Posted in Online Poker, Poker Industry News | No Comments »