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Stan and Donna Merson’s second born son Greg did not take the traditional life path out of suburban Maryland.

He did not graduate from the University of Maryland, like his parents. He did not even graduate from college. That means he did not become a lawyer or a doctor. He did not wind up in an office. He did not even wind up in khakis.

He did, however, become a millionaire before age 25. He is, according to his most recent tax filing, an “internet probability specialist.”

In other words, he is a professional online poker player.
“It was hard for us at first,” said Stan Merson, a former banker and now a chief financial officer for a contracting company. “You always expect your kid to grow up to become a doctor or a lawyer or whatever. But over time we realized, as long as your kid is happy, and as long as they are self-sufficient, there is probably not a lot more than you can ask for.”

Greg Merson, 24, is more self-sufficient than others in his age cohort. Making the move from online to big-time live poker this year, he has won more than $1 million in World Series of Poker tournaments. On Monday, Merson will take one of nine seats at the WSOP’s Final Table. At stake: $8.5 million. A victory would also lock up the Player of the Year award, beating poker legend Phil Hellmuth.

“It is not a traditional lifestyle, and we understand that,” Stan Merson said. “But he loves it.”

And it saved his life.

Merson took up poker in high school after watching the game obsessively on ESPN. A straight-A student, he deposited $100 in an online poker account -- this was when online poker was a-ok in the United States -- before leaving his childhood home in Laurel for College Park.

He played online at Maryland. He also began dabbling in drugs -- first marijuana, then cocaine.
Merson’s winnings funded a drug hobby that became a drug habit. A couple days high a week became a few days high a week. Then he was high every day. Then he was high almost by the hour. He snorted cocaine in between classes. He took tests high. He lost 25 pounds. His GPA fell to 1.1.

Merson hid his addiction from his parents, and he kept playing poker. After two-and-a-half semesters, he dropped out to play fulltime. He moved to an apartment in Howard County and then to Atlantic City, and he finally went to rehab in 2007.

The online poker life is not unlike telecommuting to work: You log-in on your computer, you dress however you like, you take a break to hit the gym, you shower when you want, if you want.
“I don’t really know too much about the 9-to-5 gig,” Merson says.

But after online poker for cash was banned in April last year, Merson moved to Toronto so he could legally play online. And he fell into drugs again -- adderall and oxycontin.

Drugs and poker did not mix well. “I was down about half of my net worth,” he says. “To watch it go so quickly, it just sucked. It was terrible.”

On a trip to Las Vegas late last year, Merson detoxed himself in a room at the Aria hotel. He spent three days inside without leaving, vomiting and shivering. He has been clean ever since. He won’t even take a sip of beer.

With drugs, he realized, a successful poker career just wasn’t possible. Eventually he would lose all of his money — and then his life.

“It sounds like a cliche and it’s cheesy but it’s really true: Anybody who is really really really close to me knows that poker saved my life,” Merson said. “I can’t be more thankful that it was there for me.”

His parents feel the same way.

“I think it’s good in life to have something to look forward to, and for Greg, for better or for worse, poker is it,” his father said. “He enjoys the heck out of the game, and he’s very, very good at it. I think poker keeps him focused and straight.”

Merson’s father said he sometimes worries about the longterm potential for a poker career. “You don’t see a lot of old players,” he says.

Merson doesn’t worry, but he is working with a financial advisor to put money away, which provides a bit of comfort when he loses, say, $40,000 in Atlantic City, which happened not long ago.

He’s also working on a sponsorship deal with poker legend Phil Ivey, and he invests in other poker players, taking a cut of their winnings. He moved home recently, took up yoga, and just rented a condo near George Washington University. He plans to travel around the world playing poker.

His first stop: Las Vegas. Merson arrived over the weekend to get ready for the final table. He plans to wear his customary dark sunglasses and a professional sports jersey at the table — probably an Orioles jersey. He assumes he will have $8.5 million in his pocket by the end the week. His family will be there watching.

“He can’t lose,” his father said. “I mean, we hope he goes all the way and wins the money, but Greg has already won.”



From dropout to poker star: Greg Merson is ready for WSOP championship - Rosenwald, Md. - The Washington Post

Steve gee was the first player eliminated from the 2012 World Series of Poker main event final table, finishing ninth for $754,798. Card Player TV caught Gee’s post-elimination press conference to learn about his elimination hand, his disappointment with finishing ninth and more.


Video: World Series of Poker Main Event -- Steve Gee Finishes Ninth - Poker News Video

You knew it was coming back. You just didn’t know when. Well, now you know. The Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) has been resurrected and will kickoff less than a month after the once dead and buried poker room was reborn.

FTOPS XXI will begin Sunday, December 2nd with the $200 + $16 No-Limit Hold’em Multi-Entry event that was the traditional starter for past FTOPS. The series will continue for a total of 35 events, concluding with the FTOPS XXI Main Event on December 16th at 13:30 ET. The $600 + $40 No-Limit Hold’em tournament will be of the multi-entry variety, meaning that players can register up to three times. The Main Event will come with a guaranteed prize pool of $1.5 million. Across all 35 events, the guarantees will total over $7.5 million. That is a far cry from the $38 million in guaranteed prize pools from 45 events in the last FTOPS, but considering the circumstances, it’s understandable.

Like past FTOPS, there will be additional prizes other than cash for top performers. Everyone who makes a final table will receive a limited edition FTOPS jacket. Anyone who wins an event will receive the jacket, a gold FTOPS jersey, and a gold FTOPS jersey avatar for use at the Full Tilt Poker tables. The top overall player on the FTOPS leaderboard at the end of the series will win the avatar plus prize package which includes an entry into every FTOPS XXII event, except for the two-day event.

The complete FTOPS XXI schedule is as follows:

Event #1: Sunday, December 2nd at 13:30 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Multi-Entry
$750,000 Guaranteed

Event #2: Monday, December 3rd at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo 6-Max
$75,000 Guaranteed

Event #3: Monday, December 3rd at 14:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold’em Multi-Entry
$300,000 Guaranteed

Event #4: Monday, December 3rd at 17:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Rush Turbo
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #5: Tuesday, December 4th at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Hold’em 6-Max
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #6: Tuesday, December 4th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Hold’em
$25,000 Guaranteed

Event #7: Tuesday, December 4th at 17:00 ET
$310 + 12 No Limit Hold’em Super Turbo Knockout Multi-Entry
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #8: Wednesday, December 5th at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha High Rush
$50,000 Guaranteed

Event #9: Wednesday, December 5th at 14:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #10: Thursday, December 6th at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Hold’em 6-Max Rush Multi-Entry
$75,000 Guaranteed

Event #11: Thursday, December 6th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em 3x Shootout
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #12: Friday, December 7th at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #13: Friday, December 7th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 2-7 Limit Triple Draw 6-Max
$20,000 Guaranteed

Event #14: Saturday, December 8th at 11:00 ET
$500 + $35 No Limit Hold’em Heads-Up
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #15: Saturday, December 8th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 Pot Limit Omaha Hi 6-Max Double/Triple Chance
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #16: Saturday, December 8th at 17:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Rush
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #17: Sunday, December 9th at 10:30 ET
$120 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Knockout Multi-Entry
$600,000 Guaranteed

Event #18: Sunday, December 9th at 13:30 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em Multi-Entry
$750,000 Guaranteed

Event #19: Monday, December 10th at 11:00 ET
$240 + $16 Pot Limit Omaha Hi/Lo Knockout
$75,000 Guaranteed

Event #20: Monday, December 10th at 14:00 ET
$1,000 + $60 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Double/Triple Chance
$200,000 Guaranteed

Event #21: Monday, December 10th at 17:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Turbo
$50,000 Guaranteed

Event #22: Tuesday, December 11th at 11:00 ET
$100 + $9 Pot Limit Omaha High Rebuy
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #23: Tuesday, December 11th at 14:00 ET
$500 + $35 Limit Hold’em 6-Max Multi-Entry
$75,000 Guaranteed

Event #24: Tuesday, December 11th at 17:00 ET
$207 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Rush Super Turbo
$75,000 Guaranteed

Event #25: Wednesday, December 12th at 11:00 ET
$300 + $22 Pot Limit Omaha High Heads-Up
$30,000 Guaranteed

Event #26: Wednesday, December 12th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Rebuy
$100,000 Guaranteed

Event #27: Thursday, December 13th at 11:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold’em
$50,000 Guaranteed

Event #28: Thursday, December 13th at 14:00 ET
$300 + $22 Razz
$20,000 Guaranteed

Event #29: Friday, December 14th at 11:00 ET
$200 + $16 No Limit Hold’em Rush 1 Rebuy + 1 Add-On
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #30: Friday, December 14th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Limit Omaha Hi/Lo
$20,000 Guaranteed

Event #31: Saturday, December 15th at 11:00 ET
$2,000 + $100 No Limit Hold’em Ante from Start (2-Day Event)
$500,000 Guaranteed

Event #32: Saturday, December 15th at 14:00 ET
$200 + $16 Seven-Card Stud Hi/Lo
$20,000 Guaranteed

Event #33: Saturday, December 15th at 16:00 ET
$100 + $9 No Limit Hold’em Rush Rebuy
$150,000 Guaranteed

Event #34: Sunday, December 16th at 10:30 ET
$240 + $16 No Limit Hold’em 6-Max Knockout Multi-Entry
$600,000 Guaranteed

FTOPS XXI Main Event: Sunday, December 16th at 13:30 ET
$600 + $40 No Limit Hold’em Multi-Entry
$1,500,000 Guaranteed




FTOPS XXI Schedule Announced

The third edition of the popular MicroMillions online poker festival kicked off on PokerStars yesterday and if the turnouts for the first five events are anything to go by then MicroMillions III could break all records.

Event #1 was the $0.11 rebuy that had a guaranteed prize pool of $10,000! Can you imagine telling someone ten years ago they could be playing in an online poker tournament that cost just $0.11 to enter and had a $10,000 prize pool? They would laugh in your face at the very thought. By the time registration closed in Event #1 there were a total of 53,870 entries, which is phenomenal but what is more, there were 171,788 rebuys and 22,440 add-ons! This created a prize pool of $24,809.80 and a winner’s prize of $1,76122!

Event #2 was also a rebuy tournament but with the slightly more substantial buy-in of one whole dollar! A staggering 42,942 players turned out for this tournament, making 190,347 rebuys between them and purchasing 20,557 add-ons. This meant the massive $150,000 guarantee was not only met but was completely obliterated as $230,999.86 was up for grabs!

It was Germany’s AAligator33 who emerged victorious, picking up $17,952.06 after striking a deal heads-up with Mexico’s xaltepico.

Another huge turnout greeted Event #3, the $3.30 No Limit Hold’em Six-Max. An almost unbelievable 45,569 players bought in meaning $136,707 was shared out amongst the top 5,778 players, the eventual champion Devil_DuckDK of Denmark walking away with $11,580.93. The runner-up was the United Kingdom’s margaretka1 who walked away with a not-too-shabby $8,414.31!

Event #4 went swimmingly well for the United Kingdom and Ireland, with three of our players reaching the final table and a UK player taking down the entire event. The $3.30 No Limit Hold’em rebuy Action Hour attracted a smaller, but still huge, field of 15,365 who by the time the rebuy period was over had created a prize pool of almost $160,000!

Once crunchpump1 of Ireland busted out in seventh place, the remaining six players struck a deal that saw the least anyone pick up increasing from the $4,253.55 they were guaranteed up to $7,393.27. willmichigan of the UK finished in fifth place and picked up the second most money at $11,851.86 whilst the eventual winner was ADP1985 who will find their PokerStars account balance $14,096.69 more than when they logged on yesterday! Congratulations!

The final event of Day 1 saw 16,413 players buy into the $3.30 No Limit Hold’em freezeout, creating a prize pool of $49,239.00. Again this was a great tournament for UK players, Morier139 coming third for $3,200.53 and MUFC9999 taking down the event and winning a cool $5,769.96. Superb stuff.

You could be taking part in this fantastic festival and potentially win some life-changing money, but only if you have a PokerStars account. If even you needed an incentive to download PokerStars then surely the chance of MicroMillions glory is it. Download PokerStars via PokerNews, enter the marketing code UKPOKERNEWS and the bonus code STARS600 and you will not only be eligible for a 100% match up to $600 first deposit bonus, but you will also be able to participate in all future promotions PokerStars and PokerNews hold together – which since 2011 have had combined prizepools approaching $500,000!


Read more: PokerStars MicroMillions III Kicks Off With Some Amazing Attendances! | PokerNews

The 100 events of this year’s PokerStars MicroMillions tournament series attracted 1.3 million entries paying out a total of $8.3m in prize money.

The enormous fields set a new record for the largest number of entries for any tournament series, live or online, besting the record of 1,294,889 set in March during the first MicroMillions series.

PokerStars’ aggressive marketing has seen it recover a lot of the lost ground since Black Friday and its player volumes are now down only 9% year on year.

The Main Event, a $22 buy-in NL Hold’em tournament, took 12 hours and 20 minutes to determine the champion. Russian player “axel397” outlasted the 61,072 player field to take home $140k after a three way final table deal. Second and third places went to the Czech Republic with “Senter268” and “numeromis” both taking home over $100k.

If there was a prize for the highest single event ROI (Return on Investment) in the series, it would have gone to “dooooooonk.” He (or she) laid out the princely sum of $0.22 to play a satellite to the $1 buy-in NL Hold’em Event 84, to eventually take it down for a first prize of $2,213.37.

The most successful player of the series, topping the PokerStars MicroMillions Leaderboard, was Team PokerStars Pro Marcin “Goral” Horecki who cashed in 34 events and won Event 62. He gets the MicroMillions III trophy and a free $16k PokerStars Caribbean Adventure live tournament package for his prodigious efforts.


PokerStars Micro Millions III: Largest Online Tournament Series Ever | Pokerfuse Online Poker News

I just love that tournament

December is right around the corner and a new month means great deals at Intertops especially on Saturdays and Sundays where Intertops host their top tourneys, like the fantastic $100,000 GTD along with their $70,000 GTD Super Stack.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a new player or high roller, Intertops Poker guaranteed tournaments offer something for everyone!

Intertops even has the $100,000 Guaranteed: Sundays 8 PM (GMT), 3 PM (ET) Buy-In: $100 ($9)

$70,000 Guaranteed Super Stack: Sundays 9 PM (GMT), 4 PM (ET) Buy-In: $500 ($30) and don’t forget Intertops $25,000 FPP Race in December

$25,000 are up for grabs at Intertops Poker in December. Each week there will be a FPP race worth $6,250; Finish in the top 100 Frequent Player Point earners and you will win a share of the money that week. Please Note: The pay-out structure has changed slightly.

Oh yeah and did we mention the $1,000 Depositor Freeroll? This is the one you don’t want to miss out on FREE money: Deposit today and secure your ticket to the $1,000 Depositor Freeroll

For more information visit Intertops to log on or register for any or all these great online poker tournaments all December long!

Three of the best online poker rooms on the Merge Gaming Network have withdrawn from the network’s Poker Maximus III Tournament Series, causing a great deal of worry among online poker players.

The three skins are RPM Poker, Black Chip Poker, and Hero Poker. A representative for RPM Poker posted on Two Plus Two Forums that the online poker room has withdraw from the series. A few hours before the series was scheduled to begin, the RPM representative, posting under the moniker RPMSeth, said, “We truly apologize for the inconvenience this may cause some players, and we hope to have more information available in the near future.”

Merge Gaming Network had declared that the Poker Maximus III Tournament Series is “one of the most exciting online poker tournament series,” having a prize pool of over $1 million guaranteed. The series will be held for more than 11 days. The Poker Maximus III Tournament Series began on Thursday and will continue till Dec 9. Three events will be held every day, and the buy-in will range from $11 to $530.

Meanwhile, the representatives of Black Chip Poker and Hero Poker made no comments about withdrawing from the series although their lobbies did not show any Poker Maximus III Tournament events. Moreover, the websites remained mum on the event.

On the other hand, Carbon Poker, one of the best skins on Merge Gaming Network, displayed the entire tournament schedule and even organized qualifier satellites with buy-ins as low as $1.95. The High Roller Main Event has the highest buy-in of $530.

Carbon Poker, Aced Poker, and PDC Poker are the largest online poker rooms on the Merge Gaming Network. Although there is no evidence to prove it, Hero Poker, RPM Poker, and Black Chip Poker are believed to be the top-tier rooms on this network. Each has done a good job marketing its poker product on online poker communities and forums.

Since Merge Gaming Network pulled its shutters on its player-to-player transfer services, Carbon, PDC, and Aced moved to a new cashier. Funding accounts has now become easier for US online poker players, who can expect faster payouts too although they still have to wait for anywhere between six and eight weeks.

One of the poker players on Two Plus Two commented to RPMSeth’s post, “What you should apologize for is the poor communication. People want answers to what is going on and no one from RPM will speak.”





Three Merge Skins Withdraw from Poker Maximus III Tournament

Okay Guys and Dolls a rather quick post to let you know about Miami Club’s exciting Xmas Freeroll this weekend with a kicker shot of a 111% MATCH on your first 2 deposits!

It’s the weekend and December is upon us! Let the festivities begin at Miami Club…First up is the HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY! Thousands of players are ready, set and dealing in to play Miami Club’s $5,000 HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT December 1st! You are also most welcome to join our $1,000 X-MAS FREEROLL taking place today as well at the Tournaments lobby!

Sunday December 2nd has been marked on many a calendar since the re-launch of Full Tilt Poker last month as the start of FTOPS XXI and 15 days of top online poker action.

35 championship poker tournaments are scheduled over the next two weeks offering more than $7.5 million in guaranteed prize money to players who cash in any of the events – plus some additional special prizes for those who reach the final table.

Everybody who makes the final table of any FTOPS XXI event will receive a limited edition FTOPS Jacket, with the winner also receiving a gold FTOPS jersey and a prestigious gold-jersey avatar to display when playing on the Full Tilt Poker tables or in any future FTOPS XXI event.
Today´s Highlight

Today´s highlight is the $216.00 buy-in FTOPS #1 which starts the series at 1.30pm server time (6.30pm GMT). The tournament is a multi-entry event with a $750,000 guaranteed prize pool in which players are allowed to enter up to three times within the first ten levels.

Although players who bust out early can use the multi-entry facility to re-enter the tournament, the benefit of multi-entry tournaments is that you can have multiple seats in the same tournament right up until the point when there are insufficient tables to keep the multiple entries apart (at which point the two shortest stacks merge).

It is a great concept if you have never played it before – provided you have the funds to buy-in multiple times – and is almost certain to mean that the guarantee in FTOPS XXI #1 will be smashed!
Last Minute Satellites

If the $216.00 buy-in for FTOPS #1 is a little beyond your bankroll, you are looking to get some additional value for your dollar or fancy having a multi-entry in reserve, a last minute $55.00 turbo satellite is available on Full Tilt Poker at 11.15 server time (4.15pm GMT) in which 50 seats are guaranteed to FTOPS #1.

Players can also qualify for FTOPS #1 through Full Tilt Poker´s “Steps” Sit n Go tournaments. A Step 5 ticket is required to enter today´s FTOPS XXI #1 tournament.
Even More Reasons to Get Involved

Not only will players be competing for their share of $750,000, a gold jersey and the prestige of being an FTOPS winner, but also to earn points in Full Tilt Poker´s Leaderboard Challenge. The top 72 players in today´s FTOPS #1 will receive “Leaderboard Challenge” points and, when the whole Full Tilt Online Poker Series is concluded, the player who has collected the most points will win free entry to the majority of tournaments in FTOPS XXII.

Finally, those missing out on an FTOPS cash by the narrowest of margins – the last player to be eliminated before the money or “bubble boy” – will be invited to play in a “Bouncebackability” freeroll on the 22nd December with a buy-in to the FTOPS XXII Main Event available for the winner. Visit FullTiltPoker-com for more info and see you at the tables!

On Sunday, railbirds flocked to Full Tilt Poker’s virtual tables to watch sponsored pros Viktor “Isildur1” Blom and Tom “durrrr” Dwan battle it out heads-up across four tables of $100/200 NLHE, with $200k of their own money at stake.

Dwan and Blom first locked horns back in November 2009, a session the Swede won convincingly before later going on to amass more than $5 million against other top players, such as Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius. This time Tom Dwan received another hammering and 1,381 hands over two hours and 45 minutes was all it took for the Swedish ninja to lighten Dwan of $200,000 of his bankroll.

The beginning of the match saw Tom Dwan get off to a small lead after his pocket kings held against Blom’s pocket tens in a pot worth $45,198. However, before long Isildur1 started doing his trademark thin value betting and over bets to induce Dwan to pay off his big bets.

One and a half hours into the match and then Isildur1′s extreme aggression saw him edge the lead before taking down the match’s two biggest pot to suddenly shoot ahead by $100,000. One of those pots was worth $56,157 and involved Dwan bluffing all the way to the river holding J-9 against Blom (A-K) with the board falling 3-10-2-K-7.

Tom Dwan lost further ground after having bluffed ace high into Blom’s flopped trips, as well as later stacking off holding two over cards and a gut shot straight draw against the Swede’s top pair top kicker to eventually go in the red by $150,000. Finally, Dwan was whittled away to just $4,000 when he managed to get it all-in pre-flop with 10-10 against Blom’s A-3. Once again, the board came to Blom’s rescue, producing an ace on the turn to bust Dwan out of the match.

However, railbirds will be hoping this is just one in a series of heads-up battles between the two Full Tilt sponsored pros and next time Dwan is sure to be hungry for some payback.



Dwan Loses $200k To Isildur1 On Full Tilt

Adam Teasdale has won the World Series of Poker Circuit Atlantic City, after overcoming a field of 616 players over three days to lift the title and collect the $194,040 first place prize. Following his impressive victory, Teasdale dedicated his win to his father who died a year earlier, and commented:

“This is absolutely going out to him and the rest of my family. I told them that I could do it and this is just a start to a new beginning for me..I moved to North Carolina and that’s where I discovered this awesome game that’s hopefully going to change my life. I’m off to a good start.”

As the tournament reached its final table of nine, Adam Teasdale was lying fifth in chips and scored his first elimination after being dealt A-Q and calling Aaron Overton’s four-bet shove with 10s-4s. Despite a sweat on a 9s-3d-2s-10d-Ah board, Overton exited in 6th for $37,376.

Two hours later and Teasdale (A-J) played a huge pot against Terry Grimes (8-8), who re-raised all-in on a J-J-10 flop only to see the bad news and with no help on the turn and river he departed in 5th for $49,000.

Continuing his assault, Teasdale (A-Q) sent Sung Kim (A-8) to the rail in 4th ($65,124), and after Wade Woelfel (A-K) eliminated Pete Rios (J-J) in 3rd ($87,762), the heads-up phase of the tournament got underway.

At this stage Woelfel held a slight chip lead over his opponent but Teasdale quickly took the lead and two hours later the defining hand was played after he was dealt 9-4 to Woelfel’s A-5. Woelfel 3-bet his hand preflop before leading out on a Q-Q-6 flop. Teasdale called to see a 4 fall on the turn and induced a check-all-in from Woelfel before eventually making the call. A harmless Q on the river completed Teasdale’s full house to capture the title, while Wade Woelfel had to content himself with a runner-up finish worth $120,018.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1 Adam Teasdale $194,040
2 Wade Woelfel $120,018
3 Pete Rios $87,762
4 Sung Kim $65,124
5 Terry Grimes $49,000
6 Aaron Overton $37,376
7 Barry Leventhal $28,903
8 Ed Modlin $22,656
9 Trevor Deeter $18,000




Adam Teasdale Wins WSOPC Atlantic City For $194k

PokerStars could launch Zoom Poker tournaments within a week.

“They’re in the new software release, so it’s just a question of putting a final polish on,” Lee Jones wrote on 2+2. “Of course, these things occasionally slip, and job #1 is making sure they work properly, but we’re getting very close on these.”

The roll out has been anticipated since October, when the “Zoom” option popped up under the “format/variant” filter for PokerStars tournaments.

Zoom, similar to the fast-fold Rush tables on Full TIlt, launched earlier this year, offering fixed limit and no-limit hold’em and pot-limit Omaha cash games.

Full Tilt held Rush tournaments as far back as April 2010, shortly after the feature debuted on cash game tables.

The relaunched Full Tilt client also offers Rush tournaments in which players are dealt a new hand the instant they fold. In the later stages of Rush MTTs, tables shrink to short-handed and the final table operates with standard play.

German tournament phenom Marvin Rettenmaier has emerged victorious in the 2012 European Poker Tour Prague €10,300 no-limit single re-entry high roller, earning €365,300 and 600 Card Player Player of the Year points.

This was Rettenmaier’s fourth title of 2012, and it saw him overtake Kyle Julius for the third-place spot in the POY standings with $2,423,741 in year-to-date earnings. In 2011, Rettenmaier burst onto the tournament scene, making 12 final tables and finishing the year in fourth place. He has made his intentions to improve on that finish clear this year, and with time running out in the race the German saw this event as one of his final chances.

A total of 113 entries were made, building a $1,457,228 prize pool, outperforming expectations for the field. Rettenmaier did go on to top the tough field, but the 600 POY points he earned were not enough to catapult him into the lead in the race.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded in this event:
Place Player Earnings POY Points
1 Marvin Rettenmaier $480,698 600
2 Fabian Quoss $276,734 500
3 Juha Helppi $160,277 400
4 Philippe Ktorza $127,511 300
5 Sorel Mizzi $98,429 250
6 Marcin Wydrowski $73,032 200
7 Jason Mercier $58,163 150
8 Andrey Gulyy $43,688 100
9 Aubin Cazals $36,450 50

Ravi Raghavan has become the new champion of the WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic following a defeat of 503 entries. The 26 year-old pro from the US battled bravely at the Bellagio to be rewarded with the first place prize of $1,268,571, bringing his total live earnings to an astonishing $1,817,346. No mean feat to accomplish.

In the wake of the victory, Raghavan called this Las Vegas challenge the biggest and most memorable conquest of his life, “It is the biggest achievement of my life, and it’s amazing. Just winning is amazing, regardless of the stage. I should expect to win, but I didn’t.”

Exactly 368 players took part in the $10,300 buy-in tournament, and this total, combined with 135 re-entries, created a whopping $4,879,100 prize pool. Notable names that cashed out include Brain Rast, Scott Clements, Jeremy Ausmus, Freddy Deeb, Greg Mueller, Andrew Robl, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko. Fininshing in the top ten were Jason Somerville at 10, Theo Tran at 8 and Jonathan Aguair at 7.

The final table was dotted with the toughest of competition. One could be forgiven for imagining the players were wearing blank poker faces and surrounded by a thick cloud of cigar smoke, holding cards close to their chests as they waited, ever so patiently, to swoop in and take the loot. Andrew Lichtenberger, Jeremy Kottler, Antonio Esfandiari, Thomas Winters, Shawn Buchanan, and Ravi Raghavan were the last six competitors. Kottler was the first to leave the table with $187,845 after his A-K gave way against Winters’ pocket sevens. Lichtenberger, already short-stacked, followed him with $234,197 after losing out to Raghavans’ Q-4.

Raghavans’ pocket aces saw Esfandiaris’ A-K off and he bagged $329,339. Shawn Buchanan went ahead to eliminate Thomas Winters, who departed with $483,031. Raghavan pulled away to a 4 to 1 cheap lead against Buchanan’s K-7 when the final hand was played. Raghavan’s pocket sevens squashed Buchanan, who took home $746,502, and Ravi went on to win the 2012 WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic series.




WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic Champion Raghavan

The MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit, Michigan will forever hold fond memories for a number of poker players after they got to share a huge $368,059 Bad Beat Jackpot which had been building for months.

The hand in question took place at 5:30 p.m. on New Year’s Day, when a player with quad 4s lost a hand of Texas hold ‘em to another holding four 6s. Ordinarily, that would be considered a particularly bad beat in poker, but when the casino has a special jackpot payout set-up to compensate for such an occurrence, then no one involved in the hand is likely to decry their bad luck.

The end result of the hand played at a $1/$2 cash table was that the losing player received 40% of the total $368,059 jackpot worth $110,417, while the winner collected a nifty 20% of the total or $55,208. However, the celebrations didn’t end there and the remaining seven players received a share worth $15,800 a piece simply for being at the table when the hand occurred.

In spite of all the jubilations, one poor soul will have a bigger than most bad luck story to tell after having a losing afternoon and giving up his seat briefly to hit the ATM. That’s when Detroit’s second-biggest bad beat jackpot struck and he narrowly missed out on a share of the money.

Nevertheless, he wasn’t the only disappointed punter in the casino that night as numerous poker players had been hoping for a slice of the ever growing pie for weeks. As MotorCity poker room manager Brian Nelson, 41, explains, the huge Bad Beat Jackpot had become quite the focus of conversation at the casino in recent times, with customers chatting about “How they’re going to spend it when they win it” or the fanciful side deals they would make if they were at the table when it was released. However, patience is now the key as the jackpot has since been re-set and will likely take several months before being hit again.

Poker Loser Scoops $110k Bad Beat Jackpot The MotorCity Casino Hotel in Detroit, Michigan will forever hold fond memories for a number of poker players after they got to share a huge $368,059 Bad Beat Jackpot which had been building for months.

Scott Seiver has won the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure PCA Super High Roller, after overcoming a field of 59 players in the re-entry event to walk away with the title, and collect the $2,003,480 first place prize. With his latest victory at the Atlantis Casino in The Bahamas, the 27 year old US pro now takes his live career earnings to an impressive $6,986,732.

Turnout for the $100k re-buy tournament was 85% higher than last year and managed to create a massive prize pool worth $5,724,180. By the time the final table of eight had been reached David “Doc” Sands was the table leader with around 45% of the chips in play, while Seiver was way behind in 6th spot on just 5%.

Then within the first seven hands of play, three players were eliminated starting with Dan Shak in 8th ($228,960), whose Kd-Jd shove on a 10-9-9 flop faltered against the A-A of Seivers. Next, Nick Schulman (A-A) dispatched Vladimir Troyanovskiy (10-10) to the rail in 7th ($257,580), before subsequently picking up K-K and eliminating Greg Jensen (A-5) in 6th for $286,200.

Seiver (Ks-Qs) then won an all-in pre-flop race against Philipp Gruissem (A-8) to see off the German in 5th ($400,700), while David Sands took out a severely short-stacked Cary Katz in 4th ($543,800). Sands (10-10) followed up by eliminating Nick Schulman (Ks-6s) in 3rd ($744,140) to go heads-up against Seiver.

At the start of play Sands held a 3-2 chip lead over Seiver, but after losing an all-in pre-flop holding 10-10 to his opponent’s 9-9, he found himself all-in again soon after this time with K-4. Seiver made the call with A-7 and after the board rolled out Q-8-5-9-3, David Sands was relegated to a runner-up finish worth $1,259,320, while Scott Seiver was crowned the 2013 PCA Super High Roller champion.

The final table payouts were as follows:

1st Scott Seiver $2,003,480
2nd David Sands $1,259,320
3rd Nick Schulman $744,140
4th Cary Katz $543,800
5th Philipp Gruissem $400,700
6th Greg Jensen $286,200
7th Vladimir Troyanovsky $257,580
8th Dan Shak $228,960







Scott Seiver Wins $2m At PCA Super High Roller

His action during the rush has been against some of the best players in the world. He has crushed the likes of Phil Galfond and Ben “Sauce123” Sulsky. One of his largest pots of the period was against Sulsky at $400-$800 uncapped pot-limit Omaha.

The hand began with Blom sitting with close to $360,000 and Sulsky holding $214,000.

With $16,800 already in the middle on a AClub Suit 10Club Suit 8Heart Suit board, Sulsky checked, and Blom fired $8,800. Sulsky called on the draw-heavy flop.

The turn brought the 2Heart Suit.

Sulsky checked again, and Blom bet $26,400. Sulsky called.

The river was the 6Heart Suit, and Sulsky bet $68,500. Blom put him all in for about $102,000 more. Sulsky called and mucked when Blom exposed the 8Club Suit AHeart Suit 7Heart Suit 7Club Suit, raking in $428,485.

When Blom stopped play on Wednesday, the past 24 hours had netted him well over $1 million.

In addition to crushing pot-limit Omaha, Blom has been running extremely well at limit Omaha eight-or-better and limit deuce-to-seven triple draw.

Carter Phillips took down an impressive total of $751,468 in 2012, with a steady diet of WSOP and WSOP Circuit events. After six years in poker, he says he may not have the drive to play full-time poker, but it certainly isn’t because of lack of results. Phillips boasts over $3.6 million in career winnings, 109 total cashes, and nine titles.

Phillips took the time to talk with Card Player about his victory at the 2012 WSOP, how to take advantage of opponents playing afraid, and why, to him, playing poker is “like riding a bike.”

Logan Hronis: Tell us about your poker roots. How did you come to know the game, what drew you toward such a career, and so on?

Carter Phillips: I first got my start in poker during the Moneymaker boom. My parents saw poker, due to its rise in popularity, and bought my brother and I our first poker set. I’m a very competitive person, and because poker is such a competitive and strategic game I fell in love with it immediately. It became a fun hobby, and I started to get a better feel for the game. Once I started playing more often and looking into the game, I realized that there was a ton of money to be made, and that there were many professionals making a killing. After learning about all the people doing it for a living, I became obsessed with the idea that I could play a game for a living and compete for so much money, so I started working towards my goal of playing full-time.

LH: What is the North Carolina poker scene like? Have you seen it grow in popularity over the course of your career, and do you think it will change much in the future?

CP: In North Carolina there isn’t really much of a poker scene. Poker and gambling are illegal in North Carolina, so the only games that run are small home games and underground games. I don’t really think there’s been an influx in the amount of games over my career, but I’ve learned of more games, and play in some of them occasionally.

LH: Talk about your big win at the $1,500 buy-in at the WSOP. With such a large and impressive field, as well as a good amount of prize money on the line, how do you keep a steady mentality throughout such a tournament?

CP: My win this summer in Event 31 at the WSOP was an amazing experience. In my opinion, experience is a poker player’s greatest asset. I’ve been playing now for six years and have had other success. That really helped me in this tournament. It was pretty easy to keep a good mentality and nothing really ever ran through my head except trying to make the best decision on each hand. I love pressure situations and feel very comfortable in them.

LH: There are tons of poker tournaments around the country in a given month. How do you decide which tournaments you will play and which you will pass on?

CP: I actually don’t have a strategy for choosing which tournaments to go to and I haven’t played much outside of the WSOP in the past two years. Poker is a great job for me and I love it, but it’s not something I have the passion to do on a full-time basis anymore. I basically just travel to a tournament or two when I’m missing the game and have the itch to play. Nowadays, if I do this, I just choose a tournament as close to my home base in Charlotte as I can.

LH: What is the most important skill a pro poker player must have, in your opinion?

CP: I believe there are different answers to this question, based on what type of game you play. Being a tournament player, I’d say that the biggest attribute a tournament player could have is lack of fear. All the money is in the top few spots in a poker tournament, so you need to play for the win at all times and not be afraid to put your tournament on the line making a move or play you believe to be correct. Everyone else is playing afraid, trying to preserve their tournament life, so the best way to take advantage of this is to be fearless.

LH: Being an online player also, what is your opinion about the online poker situation, both past and future, and how has it affected you?

CP: I had my start in online poker, so it was awful to see it go. The biggest thing I miss is the convenience of being able to work anywhere I wanted to, and now I must travel for live or online. I miss it, and I hope it comes back, in the future. I just took a trip to Mexico a few weeks ago to play FTOPS and really enjoyed it, so hopefully online poker is back in the United States soon.

LH: Where do you feel like your game is at right now, if you were to compare it to the rest of your career? Is that something you even think about, or do you just try to concentrate on making as many correct decisions as possible.

CP: I think my game is sharp because I have been playing so long that it has become almost second nature. I don’t play regularly anymore, so I’m sure I’m not nearly as sharp as I used to be when I played full time, but I think that playing good poker is kind of like riding a bike. Normally, it just takes a day or two to get back into the swing of things, when I start playing after long breaks.

LH: Do you play cash games at all? If so, do they play a role in your bankroll management or financial strategy, or are they mostly for fun?

CP: I play cash games sometimes, but I admit I’m not that great at them. I’m a break-even cash player, and in the past I just play when it’s the only available poker. I learned the game playing tournaments, so that’s what I am best at. In cash games, that same aggression factor that helps me win tournaments hurts me, and it’s hard to adjust from one form to the other.

LH: Do you have any interests outside of poker that you want to share? Is there anything in danger of taking away some of your interest in poker in the future?

CP: Most of my interests lie outside of poker. I love working out and being healthy, so fitness and healthy eating is a focus of mine. I am also currently studying different forms of investing and would like to hopefully one day become a great investor.