The inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event wrapped Day 2 with 18 players remaining. Leading the way is Sam Trickett (above) with just over 1M in chips. He’s followed by Hasan Habib, who is shockingly still alive, with 646,000. Also remaining are a few of 2011′s top run goods: Erik Seidel (609,000), Jason Mercier (535,500), and [...]

Related Posts

1. 
   

   Katchalov, Lamb, Rast Lead Epic Poker League Main Event Day 1

2. 
   

   Epic Poker League: What Will Be Considered a Success?

3. 
   

   Epic Poker League Announces TV Distribution Deal

Wicked Chops Poker

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

The inaugural Epic Poker League Main Event wrapped Day 2 with 18 players remaining. Leading the way is Sam Trickett (above) with just over 1M in chips. He’s followed by Hasan Habib, who is shockingly still alive, with 646,000. Also remaining are a few of 2011′s top run goods: Erik Seidel (609,000), Jason Mercier (535,500), and [...]

Related Posts

1. 
   

   Katchalov, Lamb, Rast Lead Epic Poker League Main Event Day 1

2. 
   

   Epic Poker League: What Will Be Considered a Success?

3. 
   

   Epic Poker League Announces TV Distribution Deal

Wicked Chops Poker

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

  This Saturday, February 4, 2012, the Nevada Republican Presidential Caucuses will be held throughout the Battle Born State. These caucuses will elevate Nevada into the national political spotlight, with all four candidates making appearances in the state in the next few days. Governor Mitt Romney It is important that Governor Mitt Romney, who has [...]
Poker Players Alliance

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

Germany’s Thomas Butzhammer battered the final table of the Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) Live Salzburg ,650 buy-in main event to take home the title, the top prize of €62,760 and a Grand Final seat for April’s event in the Dominican Republic.

The chip leader following three days’ play in Gusswerk – on the outskirts of Salzburg – almost totally dominated the nine-handed final table, eventually defeating Austrian Markus Jenisch in their heads-up clash that left the runner-up with €40,580.

The fourth and final day of the GSOP stop in the historic town saw the seemingly always-active Butzhammer face up to Jenisch – who also showed great aggression throughout – in what was an extremely short heads-up encounter.

Just two hands into their head-to-head, it was all over and the German was crowned champion.

Aces Give German GSOP Title

The final hand of the tournament saw Butzhammer open to 90,000, before Jenisch three-bet to make it 230,000. But the German wasn’t about to lay down his hole cards and made it 400,000.

But Jenisch shoved all-in for about 1.3 million and was called by Butzhammer, who showed A♠ Q♣ to be in great shape against his opponent’s K♠ Q♥.

The 5♥ 7♣ A♣ flop gave Butzhammer top pair, while the turn of 6♣ and river of 3♥ changed nothing – and suddenly the German was champion, €62,760 richer and guaranteed a seat at the Grand Final in Punta Cana, which runs from April 21 to 28.

Jenisch, meanwhile, left Gusswerk with €40,580 for his runner-up spot, while third place and €27,540 went to another Austrian in Manfred Ronacher.

Places four to 10 were filled by Finland’s Jari Rattya (fourth for €21,740), Austrians David Breitfuss (fifth for €16,810) and Johann Hofmann (sixth for €13,330), Hungary’s Attila Urban (seventh for €10,730), home player Luis Toubib (eighth for €8,550), Sweden’s Karl Rosengard (ninth for €7,100) and another Austrian, Philip Huber (10th for €5,800).

Karl Rosengard Exits in Ninth Place

The first player to be eliminated from the nine-handed final table was Rosengard, when his K♠ 8♥ lost out to Butzhammer’s 10♠ 10♦.

In middle position, the Swede shoved all-in for about 140,000 and was called by Butzhammer, who was on the button, to leave the former needing a king to avoid elimination.

However, Rosengard was gone when the board showed Q♣ 7♦ 5♣ A♣ 6♦, while Butzhammer found himself with even greater control of the final table as his chip stack moved to 1,160,000.

Eighth place went to home favourite Toubib when his luck ran out in a hand with Urban.

Toubib shoved all-in for his last 122,000 chips after Urban had opened for 50,000. Every other player folded before the action was back on the Hungarian, who called to reveal K♣ 10♠.

Urban found himself way behind as Toubib showed A♥ J♦. However, the flop of Q♦ 6♦ 6♠ flop was no good to Urban, while the 10♥ turn left him with only six outs as the river was dealt.

Again, though, he found no assistance as the 4♣ meant we were down to just seven players.

Attila Urban Takes Seventh

Not that Urban survived much longer as he hit the rail in seventh when he moved his remaining 150,000 chips into the middle with A♥ 8♣ to be faced by the dominating A♠ J♦ of Butzhammer.

The J♠ 8♠ 3♥ 2♦ K♥ board gave Urban a pair of eights, but also handed Butzhammer two jacks for the knockout.

Hofmann left the table in sixth place in what was a strange hand against Ronacher that saw the former call off his 300,000-plus stack on the river following the latter’s all-in shove.

Breitfuss got the action underway with a 60,000 bet, only for Ronacher to raise that to 148,000. Big blind Hofmann made an unusual call when placing about one-third of his stack into the pot, resulting in Breitfuss folding to leave the hand heads-up.

Both players checked the A♣ 6♠ A♦ flop and Q♦ turn, before Ronacher shoved all-in on the 8♠ river.

Johann Hofmann Blows Title Chance

In what seemed a peculiar decision – especially as he had played tight throughout the final table – Hofmann quickly called to table J♠ J♣ for two pair.

However, the flop had left him already crushed as Ronacher, with A♠ 6♥, had found a full house to move into the chip lead on about 1.7 million.

But Breitfuss and Butzhammer then got involved in a massive pot that saw the German’s A♣ Q♣ hold up against his opponent’s A♠ 9♣ for the chip lead on approximately 2.45 million.

Butzhammer notched up another final-table elimination when he sent Breitfuss to the rail in fifth place.

Butzhammer, with A♥ K♦, got all his chips in the middle pre-flop against Breitfuss’ A♣ Q♥. The board read A♠ 5♠ 3♠ J♠ 5♣, so the German to more than three million in chips – which was more than his three surviving opponents combined.

Jari Rattya Eliminated in Fourth

Finnish pro Rattya – now the short stack on less than four big blinds – didn’t last much longer either when his K♣ 5♣ lost out to the 8♦ 7♦ of Ronacher.

Rattya’s all-in was also called by Jenisch, who had 6♣ 4♣, as he and Ronacher checked down the 6♥ 3♦ 3♥ 7♥ J♣ board to hand the last-named player the pot with a pair of sevens.

Butzhammer wasn’t quiet for long, though, and sent Ronacher out in third place when they got it all-in pre-flop.

Ronacher revealed A♥ J♠ while Butzhammer dominated with J♦ J♠. The flop of Q♣ Q♠ 9♦ did not help Ronacher at all, leaving him needing running cards for a straight or an ace for top pair.

However, the 4♣ turn was no good, while the 7♥ ended Ronacher’s tournament as Butzhammer moved into a commanding chip lead for his heads-up clash with Jenisch.

That meeting was, of course, over in two hands as Butzhammer secured the trophy and first place.

Grand Series of Poker (GSOP) Live Salzburg Top 10 Payouts

1. Thomas Butzhammer (Germany) – €62,760 + ,000 Grand Final seat

2. Markus Jenisch (Austria) – €40,580

3. Manfred Ronacher (Austria) – €27,540

4. Jari Rattya (Finland) – €21,740

5. David Breitfuss (Austria) – €16,810

6. Johann Hofmann (Austria) – €13,330

7. Attila Urban (Hungary) – €10,730

8. Luis Toubib (Austria) – €8,550

9. Karl Rosengard (Sweden) – €7,100

10. Philip Huber (Austria) – €5,800

Poker News Report

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

by Mike Caro – The Mad Genius of Poker
 
We hear it in sports frequently—an announcer telling us which team has the momentum. Momentum can apply in poker, too. But does the concept really make sense? Let’s use today’s self-interview to investigate.

 Question 1: Is momentum as important in poker as it is in sports? Wait! Stop assuming things with your questions. Sometimes momentum isn’t even important in sports.

 Often it’s an illusion. A sequence of coin flips can seem to show momentum. But there is no momentum whatsoever. There’s only the observation that, recently, either heads or tails landed at a pace considerably greater than the expected 50 percent. You can call that momentum, so go ahead. But actually it isn’t. That’s simply because the previous series of outcomes has no bearing whatsoever on whether the next coin flip will be heads or tails. Assuming a perfectly balanced coin and a fair toss, it’s exactly 50 percent likely that the next toss will bring tails. Same for heads.

read more

Poker Player Newspaper

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

While 2010 World Champion Jonathan Duhamel may have had a rough end to 2011, he seems to have recovered nicely through the first few weeks of 2012.

According to reports in the Canadian press, the Longueuil Police Department has recovered roughly half of the money that was stolen from Duhamel during a brazen robbery just before Christmas. For those of you who may have forgotten, Duhamel was the victim of a home invasion on December 21 in which the thieves beat the 2010 World Series of Poker Championship Event winner in order to get him to open his home safe. Once the robbers were able to gain access to that safe, they walked off with approximately 5,000, Duhamel’s WSOP bracelet and a Rolex Submariner that his sponsor site, PokerStars, had gifted him with to commemorate his World Championship victory.

The Longueuil authorities, acting on an anonymous tip, were able to recover the money in a rather strange location. That tip led the Canadian police to a mail box in Longueuil and, after opening the box, found approximately half of the money stolen simply sitting in an envelope. The police were able to identify the money because much of what was stolen was in large denomination Euros, a currency not seen much in North America (as of now, the WSOP bracelet is the only thing that hasn’t been recovered; the Rolex was being worn by one of those alleged to have stolen it when they were arrested).

This latest good news for Duhamel in 2012 comes after the alleged conspirators in the crime – Anthony Bourque, John Clark, Andre-Robert Perron and Duhamel’s ex-girlfriend Bianca Rojas-Latraverse – have all faced preliminary hearings in the case. Arrested within a week of the robbery, the foursome has been charged with various crimes, including assault, kidnapping, breaking and entering and conspiracy. In January, two of the alleged thieves were denied bail during their preliminary hearing on the charges.

During those preliminary hearings, Clark and Rojas-Latraverse presented themselves in less than appealing ways, at least if they were trying to get the judge to set bail for them. Rojas-Latraverse stated that her profession was “professional poker player” and that she had no known home residence for the court. Although her father stepped up during the hearings to state that he would provide a residence for Rojas-Latraverse, he also admitted that he had not been in contact with his daughter for several years.

Clark, for his part, seemed to use the hearing as a tryout for the Chuckle Shack. When asked by the judge directly if he could refrain from alcohol use while awaiting trial (Clark had prior alcohol convictions on his record), he stated that he “wouldn’t like to” but would do it “if he had to.” He had much the same answer when asked if he would abide by court monitored supervision until the trial date.

With this evidence presented, the judge in the case denied bail for Clark and Rojas-Latraverse, remanding them to jail until their February 21 court date. Bourque and Perron are also awaiting their trial dates, with Bourque out on bail and Perron released on his own recognizance.

While these hearings were ongoing, Duhamel went back to his job as a poker player, with outstanding results. During the 2012 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, Duhamel was a terror on the felt, making four final tables in some of the highest buy in events on the schedule. He kicked off what would be a huge January for him by finishing in fourth place in the 0,000 Super High Roller tournament that started the festivities in the Bahamas on January 5.

Three days later, Duhamel would add some more cash to his bankroll. He finished fifth in a 00 Turbo tournament on January 8, then turned around and won a 00 NLHE Eight Max event the next day. Jonathan would wrap up his January by finishing in second place in the ,000 High Roller event on January 12, making his total score for the month of January just north of .2 million.

Although 2011 might have ended on a down note, it seems to be obvious that Jonathan Duhamel has adjusted quite nicely in 2012, to be sure!

Poker News Daily

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

After several months of analysis and debate, a bill that would legalize and regulate online poker in the state of Iowa could come to the General Assembly as soon as this month, but the battle may just be starting in the Hawkeye State.

An article on IowaPolitics.com written by Lynn Campbell points out the two sides of the argument between members of the General Assembly, which could be just the first salvos in the battle. State senator Jeff Danielson (D-Cedar Falls) says to IowaPolitics.com that he will be introducing a bill later this month that would legalize online poker inside the state. This move comes after the December 23 statement from the U. S. Department of Justice that the Wire Act of 1961, which previously had been used to prevent states from operating online gaming sites, was deemed as only applicable to sports betting.

When the Department of Justice changed its stance, “that took a significant hurdle away from the ability to play poker online,” Danielson stated to IowaPolitics.com. “We believe by the end of this year you will see a handful of states continue to authorize it. Because of the DoJ’s opinion, we believe you’ll see very quickly multi-state compacts.”

Currently, the state of Nevada and the District of Columbia are the only two locations that have passed legislation regarding online poker, but the District of Columbia proposition is coming under fire from the City Council. Other states, such as California, Florida, Connecticut and New Jersey, have or are considering moving on the online poker question.

Although Danielson sees the need for the state of Iowa to step into the online poker arena, other state politicians are not quite as eager. State representative Jeff Kaufmann (R-Wilton) said to IowaPolitics.com that he is ready to fight against the proposal, remarking, “I have a problem any time we’re talking about an expansion of gambling.”

Kaufmann’s opposition, despite evidence that says Iowans are already gambling online, is that it would bring gambling into homes and increase the numbers of people who are gambling. “I see so many people spend so much money they don’t have,” Kaufmann states to Campbell. “I see so many families that are affected negatively by gambling.”

The two politicians also differ on the reasons for opening up online poker inside the borders of Iowa. While a study by the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission estimated that an online poker operation could make between and million in a year – and the state would take down to million in taxation revenues – Danielson says that the money isn’t the reason for looking at passing legislation for online poker.

“I don’t give two hoots about the revenue for the state,” Danielson is quoted by Campbell as saying. “We’re in the black (the state budget). We have a surplus…I don’t think that’s the reason to do this.”

Kaufmann, meanwhile, believes that is the exact reason for the drive to regulate online poker in Iowa. “I think it’s about dollars coming into the state coffers,” he said. “I think it’s about dollars going into the pockets of people that own these casinos. A lot of those owners are in Nevada, on the West Coast, and they’re not here in this state.”

The debate over the plan in Iowa to legalize and regulate online poker certainly will continue to be active, especially if and/or when a bill is put in front of the General Assembly for consideration. Poker News Daily will continue to monitor the situation regarding online poker’s potential for regulation – not only on a state by state basis but also on the national level – and provide information when it is available.

Poker News Daily

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

Today we hear about Phil Hellmuth's unfortunate Superbowl betting and relive a rather large pot through Gus Hansen. Laurent Tapie has indicated quite how much FTP are owed by certain poker players, and Daniel Negreanu is blogging about his…

PokerStrategy.com World of Poker

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

I’m not sure why I’ve recently started to get a ton of Zynga emails telling me my friends are playing the latest and greatest Zynga game and want to invite me to play too. Regardless of the reason, I was tired of getting spammed so I clicked on the Unsubscribe option at the bottom of one of the emails. Below are the options on the webpage the link sent me to.

I’m at a total loss as to what the differences are between the options.

I’d like to unsubscribe from Zynga emails.

Yes, I would like to unsubscribe from all Zynga emails.

I’d like to unsubscribe from ALL Zynga emails.

Wait, what the hell is the difference between unsubscribing from Zynga emails and unsubscribing from ALL Zynga emails? Isn’t that the same thing? Are there Zynga emails and then some sort of other form of Zynga emails?

I’d like to unsubscribe from ALL Zynga emails. I do not want to receive emails from any Zynga game I play or any new Zynga game.

WTF?!?! Okay, the first sentence is the same as the option above it but what the heck does that second sentence mean? So are there Zynga emails, ALL Zynga emails, Zynga emails from games I play, and new Zynga game emails?

How much does anyone want to bet that no matter what option you select, Zynga will come up with a new category of emails to send you that somehow isn’t covered by any of the three above? Sort of like, “Hey, we know you said you didn’t want to receive any sort of communication from us under any circumstances but . . .”

Related Posts

1. 
   

   Is Zynga Ready For Real Money Poker?

2. 
   

   Zynga Ready for Real Money Gaming or Trying to Hide Failures?

3. 
   

   Why Zynga Poker Will Not Be The Next PokerStars

4. 
   

   Another Rigtard Email

5. 
   

   Email From PPA Confirms Everything We Already Knew

Bill’s Poker Blog

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF   

Just three tables were filled with players as the European Poker Tour (EPT) Deauville Main Event headed into its fifth day Sunday. While all 24 players seated were guaranteed at least €23,000, much more was just a few hours away, if they could survive that long. Those three tables had been trimmed to one by [...]
Poker News Daily

Related Blogs

   Send article as PDF