Thirty-two players started Day 3 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Prague Main Event, but at the end of the day only eight remained. Over a methodical nine hours of play, three quarters of the field was eliminated as the final table was set. When the dust settled, Salvatore Bonavena held the chip lead, one of three Italians players vying to become the first player from that country to win an EPT championship.
The day started off with a loss for the home team as Pter Samcenko, the last surviving Czech player, busted in 32nd place (€11,000). He was followed in short order by John Riley (31st), Roy Van Der Locht (30th) and Joris Jaspers (29th). J Read full
For three consecutive years, poker has topped the list of online search terms on Lycos.com. The idea that poker was a fad or has diminished in popularity in the last few years, well, simply is not true.
As 2008 comes to a close, Lycos released its ninth annual list of top 50 search terms for the present year, based on the searches that people conduct on a daily basis throughout the year – from January 1st to December 1st. And once again, poker was the most searched term, ahead of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Facebook, YouTube, and golf. Read full
Before Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi or his twin Eric ever learned what a flop was, their older brother Robert was racking up some impressive tournament results. Chris Moneymaker was still a Tennessee accountant, the World Series of Poker was still held at Binion’s and online poker itself didn’t exist. It was 1997, and while still too young to gamble in the U.S., Robert Mizrachi entered, and won, a poker tournament at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in London, England. It was then that he realized that the card game his mother taught him at the kitchen table would become his calling in life. Since then, the eldest of the Mizrachi brothers has amassed over $2.8 million in career tournament earnings and millions more in cash games. Read full
A blog of sorts, a story to be told, the true depth of poker is about to unfold:
Well the last blog that I wrote, I had taken a 2 week break from poker, and now I've flipped the switch and tried to go on a poker binge. I've been staying at Bellagio for the last 10 days and I've been playing almost every day. There's a lot going on at Bellagio with all the big poker faces here so I'll try to fill you guys in about what it's like being on the road for a poker series.
So far I've played 3 tournaments and haven't cashed in one yet. Read full
One hundred and seventy-seven players returned to the Prague Hilton for the Main Event of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour’s Prague stop, with Christer Johansson leading the way as the day kicked off. Before the end of the day, more than 75% of the field would be on the outside looking in, as WSOP champs, EPT champs and other notable stars headed to the rail on Day 2.
Among the notable eliminations on Day 2 were Casey Kastle, Christopher Moorman, Gino Alacqua and Steve “allinstevie” Devlin. Devlin’s exit came when he raised from the button with , and Rifat Palevic called from the big blind. Palevic checked the flop, and Devlin fired at the pot. Read full
“High Stakes Poker,” the smash-hit poker game show on the Game Show Network, has just announced the lineup for the show’s upcoming fifth season. The upcoming Season Five will be filmed at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino, the same location as the original season. Among those slated to return are show veterans Doyle Brunson, Eli Elezra, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, and Daniel Negreanu, all of which have participated in every season thus far.
The list includes a few new players to “High Stakes Poker” as well, including Nick Cassavetes (director of The Notebook), Peter Eastgate (2008 WSOP Main Event Champion), Dario Minieri, and Sam Simon (“The Simpsons” co-creator). Read full
If you’ve ever tried to host your own poker tournament or participated in a home tournament, you quickly realized just how much work is involved to ensure it goes off without a hitch. Or, if there is a hitch that it is only a temporary one, before the tournament is running smoothly again. In my experience, I’ve seen people attempt tournaments only to realize they don’t have enough starting chips for everyone. Interestingly enough, I’ve also been a part of a home game where after sitting down to start the tournament, it quickly became obvious that nobody knew the blind structure, or how long each set of blinds would last. In other words, tournaments don’t run themselves.
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There is no time like the present. The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) is making a move on Congress just before the new President of the United States, his administration, and various new members of the Senate and House of Representatives take office in January. With several pieces of pro-poker legislation currently pending in Congress, the PPA is making a bold move to catapult this issue to the fore.
In addition to consistent lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill, the PPA launched an ad campaign this week to urge Congress to consider the regulation of online poker. The print ad was placed in three newspapers that members of Congress and their staff read regularly–Roll Call, The Hill, and Politico. Read full
Matt Stout has won more than $1.5 million playing in online tournaments and over $400,000 live all without hitting a major score over $70,000. He is becoming a common fixture in the poker scene and is definitely a player to keep an eye on.
KL: How did you get into poker?
Matt: My sister actually taught me how to play five-card draw when I was only four years old. I played a lot of board and card games and would occasionally play seven-stud and five-card draw with them when I was very young, but never got too into it. Then during my sophomore year of college a friend of mine invited me over to play 25-50c limit hold'em. I Read full
The turnout was strong for Day 1a of the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Prague Main Event, with 272 players from all over the world taking part. Among the players in the first flight were EPT London champion Michael Martin and defending EPT Prague champion Arnaud Mattern. Also in the field were WSOP Europe bracelet winner Theo Jorgensen, along with Rolf Slotboom, Marcus Golser and Gus Hansen.
The bustouts were plentiful, with only 88 of the original 272 players still standing at the end of Day 1a. Among the early exits was Slotboom, who found himself crippled early when his pocket kings were cracked by an opponent’s A-Q on a board of A-9-8-Q. Read full
