Poker tournaments archive

The largest online poker tournament series in the world, PokerStars’ 2012 World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), kicked off Sunday in style with tournaments repeatedly putting their guaranteed prize pools in the rear view mirror. The year’s most anticipated online poker series has a long way to – almost three more weeks – so if you forgot about it, there are multitudes more opportunities to slap down a buy-in and have fun.

The first five events – $215 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max, $215 No-Limit Hold’em, $320 Pot-Limit Omaha, $320 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max Shootout, and $215 No-Limit Hold’em Re-buy Turbo – all eclipsed their guarantees. Combined, they beat their guaranteed prize pools by over $1.6 million. It appears that while Americans relaxed on Labor Day weekend, poker players in the rest of the world were working hard at the tables.

There are 60 events remaining with buy-ins ranging from $215 on up to $10,300, so while there may not exactly be something for everyone, anyone with the proper bankroll should be able to find a game they like.

Below is the remaining 2012 WCOOP schedule:

Event 6 – Sept 4 11:00 – $215 PL Draw
Event 7 – Sept 4 14:00 – $215 Triple Stud
Event 8 – Sept 4 17:00 – $1,050 NL Hold’em

Event 9 – Sept 5 06:00 – $265 PL Omaha [Knockout]
Event 10 – Sept 5 11:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [Ante Up]
Event 11 – Sept 5 14:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up, No Late Reg]

Event 12 – Sept 6 06:00 – $215 PL Omaha H/L [6-Max, 1R1A]
Event 13 – Sept 6 11:00 – $530 NL Hold’em [6-Max, Knockout]
Event 14 – Sept 6 14:00 – $215 Seven Card Stud H/L

Event 15 – Sept 7 11:00 – $215 PL Omaha [6-Max]
Event 16 – Sept 7 14:00 – $215 NL Single Draw 2-7
Event 17 – Sept 7 17:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [10-Min Levels]

Event 18 – Sept 8 11:00 – $109 NL Hold’em
Event 19 – Sept 8 13:00 – $320 NL Hold’em
Event 20 – Sept 8 15:00 – $215 FL Hold’em

Event 21 – Sept 9 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em
Event 22 – Sept 9 12:30 – $10,300 NL Hold’em High Roller
Event 23 – Sept 9 14:30 – $700 NL Hold’em

Event 24 – Sept 10 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [4-Max]
Event 25 – Sept 10 14:00 – $320 Seven Card Stud
Event 26 – Sept 10 17:00 – $215 PL Omaha [Turbo, 1R1A]

Event 27 – Sept 11 11:00 – $320 Mixed Hold’em [6-Max]
Event 28 – Sept 11 14:00 – $320 FL Badugi
Event 29 – Sept 11 17:00 – $1,050 NL Hold’em

Event 30 – Sept 12 06:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [Ante Up]
Event 31 – Sept 12 11:00 – $530 NL Hold’em [10-Max, Triple Shootout, No Late Reg]
Event 32 – Sept 12 14:00 – $320 8-Game

Event 33 – Sept 13 06:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [6-Max]
Event 34 – Sept 13 11:00 – $320 PL Omaha [6-Max, 1R1A]
Event 35 – Sept 13 14:00 – $320 Triple Draw 2-7

Event 36 – Sept 14 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [Re-buys]
Event 37 – Sept 14 14:00 – $530 FL Omaha H/L
Event 38 – Sept 14 17:00 – $215 PL/NL Hold’em

Event 39 – Sept 15 11:00 – $700 NL Hold’em [Heads-Up, No Late Reg]
Event 40 – Sept 15 13:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [6-Max]
Event 41 – Sept 16 15:00 – $320 HORSE

Event 42 – Sept 16 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em
Event 43 – Sept 16 12:30 – $10,300 NL Hold’em [High-Roller Heads-Up, No Late Reg]
Event 44 – Sept 16 14:30 – $2,100 NL Hold’em

Event 45 – Sept 17 11:00 – $320 PL Omaha [Re-buys, 6-Max]
Event 46 – Sept 17 14:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [2X Chance]
Event 47 – Sept 17 17:00 – $265 NL Hold’em [Turbo, Knockout]

Event 48 – Sept 18 11:00 – $320 Mixed NL Hold’em/PL Omaha
Event 49 – Sept 18 14:00 – $530 Razz
Event 50 – Sept 18 17:00 – $1,050 NL Hold’em

Event 51 – Sept 19 06:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [1R1A]
Event 52 – Sept 19 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em [Big Antes]
Event 53 – Sept 19 14:00 – $320 PL Omaha H/L

Event 54 – Sept 20 06:00 – $320 NL Hold’em
Event 55 – Sept 20 11:00 – $530 NL Hold’em [6-Max]
Event 56 – Sept 20 14:00 – $2,100 PL Omaha [6-Max]

Event 57 – Sept 21 11:00 – $530 NL Hold’em [1R1A]
Event 58 – Sept 21 14:00 – $1,050 FL Hold’em [6-Max]
Event 59 – Sept 21 17:00 – $215 NL Omaha H/L [Ante Up]

Event 60 – Sept 22 11:00 – $700 PL Omaha [Heads-Up, No Late Reg]
Event 61 – Sept 22 13:00 – $320 NL Hold’em [Super Knockout]
Event 62 – Sept 22 15:00 – $2,100 HORSE

Event 63 – Sept 23 11:00 – $215 NL Hold’em
Event 64 – Sept 23 12:30 – $10,300 8-Game [High Roller]
Event 65 – Sept 23 14:30 – $5,200 NL Hold’em Main Event ($1 Million Guaranteed to 1st)



2012 PokerStars WCOOP Underway

WCOOP holds a special place in my heart. Besides being the most important online poker tournament series of the year, it is also where I have won a bracelet. Now, just like some of the live poker tournaments that I have won, I find myself chasing that same incredible feeling. Traveling the world most of the year playing the live tournament circuit doesn't give me much chance to play online, and so I very much look forward to the fall, which is generally when WCOOP takes place.

Generally a month or so prior to the start, I will try to figure out which country exactly will be convenient for me to play from and then make sure to either rent a hotel room or a villa with friends that will have good internet. This year, since I'll be playing from Europe, most of the tournaments start in the evening and last deeply into the night and generally into the morning. Because of this, I have been getting ready to adjust to being more of a night owl, staying up most of the night and sleeping during the day.


Read More: WCOOP 2012: Wishing you all second places! - PokerStarsBlog-com

Very interesting.

When Matt Carranza exited the airport terminal in Los Angeles and saw a driver holding a placard with his name on it, he knew this would be a trip to remember.

By beating 2,500 players throughout the country online, the 26-year-old bartender from Cedar Park won a free trip to play in the World Poker Tour's Legends of 
Poker tournament at Bicycle Casino.

Carranza, who said he has played online poker for about seven months, competed for more than $1 million in prize money Aug. 20-25.

World Poker Tour hosts regular tournaments where online gamers can win free entry to its professional tournaments, Adam Pliska, the company's president, said.

After five hours of play in an online tournament, Carranza came to the final as the underdog with 2.5 million chips.

His opponent had 11 million, but an hour-and-a-half later, Carranza took the lead and eventually won the tournament.

Pretty soon, Carranza was on a flight to Los Angeles.

The win paid for the flight, along with the $3,500 buy-in fee for the tournament and lodging.

At the Legends of Poker tournament, Carranza said he started slow, calling a few hands, raising a little here, folding a little there. "Butterflies, definitely," he said.

Read More: Online win sends Cedar Park man to professional poker tournament

Ask someone in Australia what they think of when September rolls around and they may say the end of winter and beginning of spring. Ask an American and they may tell you it is the end of summer and beginning of autumn (or fall, if you will). Ask an online poker player and they will tell you two things: 1) that they have no earthly clue what the weather is like and 2) that the WCOOP (World Championship of Online Poker) is upon us.

The WCOOP evokes different emotions and promises different experiences to all players. It has little effect on cash game players - perhaps the games are slightly better during the month as tournament pros and amateur players alike attempt to parlay their tournament earnings into greater cash game success. It may be a time where a cash game player dips their feet into the waters of the tournament world taking a punt at a handful of tournaments with significantly larger than normal prize pools for their respective buy-in levels. For the most part though it is "just another month in the life of".

On the other hand it's the month of all months if you're a tournament player. What the WSOP is to live poker tournaments the WCOOP is to online poker tournaments.


Read More: September weather forecast: 100% chance of WCOOP - PokerStarsBlog-com

Randy Lew is known by many in the online poker world for having “the sickest graph in online poker history.” He made headlines in 2009 when he surpassed the $1 million mark in cash-game earnings — a milestone made all the more impressive by the fact that back then he rarely played anything bigger than $5/$10 games.

Randy hasn’t slowed down since and has accumulated countless winnings, switching to the high-stakes tables in 2012. Randy is also known for setting a Guinness World Record in 2012 when he played the most hands of online poker in eight hours, all while maintaining a profit. In his time away from the tables, he makes funny poker video blogs and appears in documentary films. (Okay, maybe just one documentary film, but it was a good one.)


Read more: Meet the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker Hosts: Randy "nanonoko" Lew | PokerNews

What's going on in September? There's the obvious change of seasons and weather, kids are back in school, and many holidays and vacations are coming to an end. But what trumps all of that is the World Championship of Online Poker! September is all about WCOOP for PokerStars players.

WCOOP got underway on September 2, and a full week of tournaments is already in the books. It's been exciting so far, but two more weeks of tournaments remain on the schedule. That leaves many more opportunities for every player of every bankroll with the chance to participate. How is that so, when the buy-ins are at least $200? Satellites, friends. They are all over the place for every tournament. Check out all of the details on the WCOOP homepage.

As for the Women's Sunday, it was right on schedule today. And these were the numbers revealed after the 60-minute registration period:

Total players: 211
Prize pool: $10,550.00
Paid finishers: 36

Of the two PokerStars players with the red spades next to their names in the tournament, Team Pro Celina Lin was the first to exit, hitting the rail in the first hour. Moving further toward the money was Friend of PokerStars Charlotte "Sjlot" Van Brabander, but she was then eliminated in 93rd place.

The money bubble burst around the three-hour mark, and Fanny_Flash was the first player to cash for $79.12. Payouts increased and tables decreased, as only two tables remained at the 3.5-hour mark, and it took about 30 minutes to get to hand-for-hand play. It happened when anayat exited in 11th place.


Read More: September 9 Women's Sunday title and $2,157.58 goes to tktxrf - PokerStarsBlog-com

Sunday is the day for tournament poker. Sunday is also the day for American Football (just 'football' if you're American or a sitting-on-his-high-horse EPT presenter James Hartigan). These two came together yesterday in a climatic explosion as a new NFL season kicked off and the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) anted up some its largest events.

While the Bears of Chicago were savaging the Colts of Indianapolis - hardly a fair fight if you think about it - we had three two-day WCOOP events launching; WCOOP-21: $215 No-Limit Hold'em, WCOOP-22: $10,300 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller, and WCOOP-23: $700 No-Limit Hold'em.

The two guaranteed tournaments smashed their offered outlay and cumulatively the three tournaments pulled together combined prize pools of $6,769,250. In all three the vast majority of that money is yet to be won.


Read More: Big names still in the WCOOP weekend bracelet hunt - PokerStarsBlog-com

Cash game professional Jeremy Ausmus enters the 2012 World Series of Poker main event final table with the shortest stack, but still with a fighting chance to emerge as this year’s world champion.


Video: Meet The 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event Final Table -- Short Stack Jeremy Ausmus - Poker News Video

Land of refuge for American poker players after the Black Friday and the prohibition of online poker in the United States, Montreal is a destination of choice for organizers of live poker tournament. And programs keep coming because after the Stardust Canadian Poker Classic held at Stardust Poker Mansion in Montreal last week, the month of November will mark the come back of the World Poker Tour in the country. Absent on the circuit for a few years, the WPT Montreal is therefore returning this time at Playground Poker Club in Montreal. This poker room has taken over the WPT Montreal after having been held in the past at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls for a few seasons. During 11 days, the Playground Poker Club will receive the world's best players and followers of the circuit.


Read More: Poker News - WPT Montreal: From November 15 to 26, 2012

Very nice video, thank you.

David Baker has cashed for more than $3 million in poker tournaments and recently won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in the $2,500 eight-game mix. This was one of four final tables Baker has made this year, and as a result he is currently ranked 13th in the Player of the Year race. In this edition of Poker Strategy, Card Player TV caught up with Baker to learn more about limit Omaha eight-or-better, and how to approach high-only hands in this split-pot game.


Video: Poker Videos - Card Player TV

With the 2012 World Championship of online Poker (WCOOP) in the record books, Poker Asia Pacific takes a look at all the statistics and results from Australian poker players.

Australia has a rich history of success at the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP), with the last couple of years especially seeing huge success from Aussie grinders.

In 2010, James “Andy_McLEOD” Obst headlined the most successful year for Australians in the then nine-year history of the WCOOP. Obst made a record-breaking four final tables, placing third at each final table to finish up with $211,451 in cash and enough points to finish as the 2010 WCOOP Player of the Year. That year also featured four WCOOP victories, with Evan “kevinnok” Psarros, Kelvin “aces_up4108” Beattie, Romes “ROMES_HOME” Priplotski and “Money_1985” all taking home a WCOOP gold bracelet.

While 2011 wouldn’t quite grasp the dizzying heights of success reached in 2010, there was still plenty to talk about. This time all the spotlight was on Jonathan ‘xMONSTERxDONGx” Karamalikis as he managed to become the leading money winner for Asia-Pacific and Australian poker players. Karamalikis had a great year which included one gold bracelet win among five cashes to finish up the series with $185,322 in cash. The only other bracelet to be won at this series was by Australia’s “bratpack1979”, while plenty of notable names such as Ben “Delaney_kid” Delaney, Sal “ugritaly” Fazzino and Andrew “andyhin22” Hinrichsen also finished up with final table results.


Read More: Australian Poker Players at the 2012 WCOOP | pokerasiapacific-com

The PokerStars 2012 World Championship of Online Poker Main Event has finished up and the tournament saw a total of 1,825 players competing. The event had a buy-in of $5,200 and while many players paid the full buy-in, some players earned their seat for little to no cash via online satellites, like online player Maratik. Maratik earned his seat for free to the event and ended up taking down the first place prize of $1,000,907.26!

The story of Maratik is sure to be one for the record books. The tournament began with the large playing field and after 20 levels of play on Day 1; a total of 245 players remained, including Maratik. The online gambler was able to hang on and outlast the field for another fourteen hours of play before claiming the large first place prize!

After the field was narrowed down the final two, it was Maratik and Ryan Carter left in the competition. Carter held a significant chip lead of just over 29.8 million to Maratik’s just over 6.6 million. However, it would take only eleven hands for Maratik to earn the chip lead. With a flush, Maratik took command of the table and never looked back. Maratik held a 5 to 1 chip lead and it would be only five hands later that Maratik would take the first place win.

On the final hand, Carter was all in with a min-raise of 400,000 on the button. Maratik three-bet to 700,000 and Carter called. The flop showed Q-J-3 and Maratik bet just over 1 million. Carter called and a 3 on the turn saw another bet from Maratik and Carter raised all in and Maratik called. With J-4, Carter was in trouble once he saw Maratik’s pocket Aces. Carter had two outs but the 4 on the river was not one of them and he was out in second place, giving Maratik the amazing win!

Final Results:
*1 maratik $1,000,907.26
*2 Ryan “TheCart3r” Carter $662,516.39
*3 Jossel2008 $814,602.12
*4 Mike “munchenHB” Telker $1,000,584.34
*5 sly caveat $601,884.39
*6 FOO-92 $502,992.46
7 Kakalala $182,500
8 Phil “takechip” D’Auteuil $136,875
9 mitdadu $91,250

*denotes six-handed deal


Free Seat to PokerStars WCOOP Main Event Earns Player $1 Million+ First Place Prize

PokerNews turned us on to a story about the poker pros that are going to be hitting the final table of the 2012 WSOP Main Event this October. Two players who have made the final table, Jesse Sylvia and Russell Thomas, have both hired coaches to help them with their WSOP final table play.

Since the November Nine began back in 2008, many poker pros have hired coaches to help them in the months and weeks leading up to the final table. Such players as Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth have been hired to coach players for the final table.

PokerNews reported in a recent Podcast that Jesse Sylvia, the chip leader of the final table, has hired Vanessa Selbst to coach him as he approaches the final. It was also reported that Russell Thomas has hired Jason Somerville as his coach for the final table.

In the case of Somerville and Thomas, Somerville has decided to remember the training experience by filming the coaching sessions. Somerville will not only be filming the process but also will be sharing the footage with fans and fellow players. Somerville commented on Twitter about his filming idea by stating: “I’ve spent more time on this project than anything else I’ve ever done and I’m really proud of it. My sincere thanks to all who’ve contributed!”

Somerville will be dividing the footage of his coaching into small sections and then posting them online for fans and other players to be able to view. The first installment of the series has already been released and can be found here. Somerville has titled the footage ‘The Final Table’ and will be footage from the two week–long training session.



WSOP Main Event Final Table Players Hire Coaches

The PokerStars-com European Poker Tour Sanremo has come to an end, and while Benny “toweliestar” Spindler was busy winning the €10,000 High Roller, a host of other players were busy pillaging the online high-stakes games.

Phil “MrSweets28” Galfond and Viktor “Isildur1” Blom fared well, with Galfond winning $297,720 (28 sessions/3,365 hands), and Blom banking $212,280 (201 sessions/11,548 hands).

“Patpatman” finished as the week’s biggest loser after dropping a staggering $654,593 in 6,529 hands. Joining him in the losing column was Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (-$264,245 in 10 sessions/941 hands) and Alex “Kanu7” Millar (-$227,910 in 28 sessions/2,831 hands).

Tollerene Continues to Roll; Breaks $2 Million in Profit

Last week, Ben “Ben86” Tollerene won $178,772 and kept the ball rolling with a $216,000 win on Thursday, Oct. 4, putting him up over $2 million in profit in just two months. His latest win came at the $200/$400 pot-limit Omaha tables where he played for three hours against Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies, “RaiseOnce” and Victor “Isildur1” Blom, just to name a few.


Read more: The Online Railbird Report: Phil Galfond Returns; Ben Tollerene Breaks $2 Million | PokerNews

PokerStars has been very busy as of late, you know, purchasing Full Tilt Poker and getting it ready for a November launch? Despite the FTP preparations, the PokerStars must still focus on their own site and it has now been announced that a new Team Online pro is soon to be added. The site is giving players and fans an opportunity to guess who the player is to be able to earn $50 if they guess correctly!

According to the PokerStars blog, the site is about to announce the latest member of Team Online at PokerStars. But before the big announcement, the site is giving players an opportunity to guess who the pro is. At the blog, a shadowed photo as well as a video clip gives a few clues as to who the player is.

Players can try their best to determine who the pro is and then send in their guess to the PokerStars Blog Twitter acount. The PokerStars blog states that players need to follow them @PSTeamOnline and then tweet the following to guess the pro:

“I’m (PS Username) on @PokerStars, and I think the new @PSTeamOnline member is (PS Username or Real Name of Player) # GuessTeamOnline.”

The players who guesses correctly will have their screen name entered into a drawing for $50. PokerStars will be paying up to fifty players during the special contest. $50 may seem like a small amount but it’s all in good fun. It will be interesting to see who the new member is, especially after FTP has announced that Viktor Blom and Tom Dwan have signed with them. Which pros are left and who will be the next Team Online member? We will find out this Thursday as PokerStars announces who the latest member is!



PokerStars Hosting Special Contest for Next Online Pro

Jamie O’Connor has won the £1,000 buy in Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Luton.

He topped the 155-strong field – down by around one-quarter on last year’s 212 players and around 50 percent on 2007 – and took down £45,760 for his win. He knocked Luke Schwartz out in fourth place en route to victory.

Among the notables in the field were Dave “Devilfish” Ulliott, Roberto Romanello, Julian thew, Carlo Citrone, and James Mitchell.

The final table payouts were:
1: Jamie O’Connor — £45,760
2: Dean Swift — £32,160
3: Tim Blake — £20,150
4: Luke Schwartz — £12,400
5: Mitchel Jonson — £9,690
6: Andrew Christopher — £7,360
7: Mark Karoullas — £5,810
8: Shaun Conning — £4,260
9: Thomas Myland — £3,100



Jamie O

Online poker site PKR-com have announced that they will again be joining forces with the World Poker Tour to sponsor the WPT National Series event in Dublin for the second year running.

The event will take place from 3-6 January at the Citywest Hotel and will feature a €1,200 + €120 NLHE event with optional re-entry as well as a host of events and the Irish Poker Championship.

As sponsors of the event, PKR-com will naturally be running online satellites to WPT Dublin and are expecting to take a large number of qualifiers over with them to the tournament this year as well.

Satellites for WPT Dublin start from as little as $2 and eventually award Dublin packages worth $3,000, which include entry into the main event, four nights accommodation at the Citywest Hotel, $300 in travel expenses, invites to PKR’s VIP events and access to their exclusive Players Lounge.

Last January a €2,500 buy-in edition of the event was won by Dave Shallow for €220,000, but despite the reduced entry fee this year, WPT’s desire to increase the popularity of their National Series will ensure that a comparable prize will definitely be on offer for the tournament’s eventual winner.



Poker News - PKR Returns To Partner WPT National Dublin

PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room, is gearing up to launch the All Star Showdown, its largest showdown ever, giving 8 talented poker players the chance to win a large first prize of $550,000 after playing poker against one another for 7 days. The All Star Showdown is a $100k buy-in event.

The All Star Showdown will be launched this weekend. Eight highly talented Heads Up NL players will battle against one another in a single elimination tournament that will finally see the last player standing adding over half a million to his/her bankroll. Isaac Haxton, the poker pro who recently became member of PokerStars Team Online, has already signed up to take part in the event. The names of all the 8 players who will be taking part in the event have not yet been confirmed, but six players have definitely registered for the event. They are Alexander “Sussie Smith” Roumeliotis, Alexander “Kanu7” Millar, Benjamin “Sauce123” Sulsky, Tobias “KTPOKP” Kuder, Phil “mrSweets28” Galfond, and Isaac “Ike Haxton” Haxton.

The All Star Showdown will bear a striking similarity to the SuperStar Showdown, which enjoyed a great deal of popularity in the recent past. The poker stalwarts who are taking part in the event will first play a heads up match simultaneously on four tables. Although the matches used to last for 2,500 hands in the past, these heads up matches will continue till one of the players loses everything. All the players will start playing with one thousand big blinds, and if the heads up match doesn’t get over within 3000 hands, the blinds will be doubled.

This challenging event is expected to begin on Sunday and will continue throughout Nov 4, Sunday. One match will be held daily except on Oct 30 and Nov 1. The match will start at 12:00 noon ET or 18:00 CET. The schedule will be finalized and published on Friday.

Poker players are now busy guessing the identities of the other two players who will be taking part in this exciting event. PokerStars has already asked its players to communicate their guesses to @PokerStarsBlog, PokerStars’ Twitter account.

Meanwhile, PokerStars has already announced in one of its blog posts that it will be holding Snowfest from Dec 16 to Dec 22 in Alpine Card Casino. Players looking forward to a week of poker, fun, and snow can try winning a prize package worth €2,700 at PokerStars.




PokerStars