May 2010 Archives

Folk will do many things to help bring them good luck. For Victorino Torres that meant shaving off his moustache for the first time in years just before sitting down at the final table. The removal of facial hair worked a treat - he came from second last in chips...more

4.55pm: Level ends That's the end of level 23. 24 will be up without a break. 4.45pm: Brian Green out in 6th place for $572,900 After the early flurry of eliminations we slowed down until just now when Costa Rica's Brian Green, a PokerStars qualifier, hit the rail. Jeppe had...more

8.30pm: Victorino Torres wins APPT Macau for $3,246,200 HKD Chong Cheong runner up for $2,088,000 HKD It's over! Victorino Torres, a PokerStars qualifier from the Northern Marian Islands, wins a quick heads-up battle to become PokerStars APPT Macau season 4 champion. Chong Cheong had opened for 125,000 and Torres called....more

While we wait for the final of PokerStars APPT Macau season 4 to get under way, take a look at our players.... Seat 1: Victorino Torres - Northern Mariana Islands Victorino Torres is a 33-year-old attorney from the Northern Mariana Islands, a commonwealth in political union with the United States....more

The more pessimistic observers looked at today's starting field of 44 and noted we would be in for a long haul. Surely there would be a slow down as the bubble approached? Then once the required 40 were in the money, the journey would be just as slow since no-one...more

7.35pm Housekeeping The final nine players will return tomorrow for a 12.15pm start. We'll have a wrap with you shortly. Meanwhile, marvel at the following chips: --- SY Cole Swannack, 1,262,000 Jeppe Drivsholm, 1,223,000 Brian Green, 970,000 Chong Cheong, 904,000 Kenny Nielsen, 791,000 Kai Paulsen, 528,000 Albert Kim, 436,000 Victorino...more

4.35pm: End of the level That's the end of level 18. We have a ten-minute break and then move up to level 19 with blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a 1,000 ante. We have 18 players remainnig. -- SY 4.22pm: Yoo falls Young Hyun Yoo saw his remaining chips enter the...more

What a day. First Brendon Rubie ran away with the chip lead, then Kai Paulsen joined him. TJ Vorapanich caught up as well, before both he and Rubie got pegged back. It looked like Paulsen would take the honor of being top dog - until the last hand of...more

7.55pm: Play finishes That's it. Seven levels are done today and we're left with 46 players, a big drop from the 160 who started. They'll come back tomorrow and we need to lose five more before the money kicks in. A full wrap will be with you shortly, but we...more

3.20pm: Level done That's it for level 10. We move to level 11 with blinds at 800-1,600 with a 200 ante. -- SY 3.21pm: Dinh Le dusted On a board reading A♠2♠4♥7♠J♣, all the chips went in on the river with Dinh Le holding A Q  against his opponent's 7 7 . Unfortunately...more

Getting through the first day of any poker tournament is something of a trial. If you play your best and make the right moves, all you can do is hope the cards go your way and justice is done. You give your opening statements, making your intentions clear to the...more

8.01pm: Play ends! The final hand has been dealt for flight three with the top three chip counts as follows. Darren Judges - 173,800 Brendon Rubie - 114,375 Ralf Westphal - 112,025 Stay tuned for a full recap and updated chip counts as they come to hand. 7.35pm: Five more...more

3.32pm: Level up That's it for level 3. We head in to level 4 3.28pm: Nitsche napped Dominik Nitsche opened to 500 from middle position and Dinh Le and another opponent made the call from the button and big blind respectively. Following a check on the 4♥5♠T♠ flop, Nitsche fired...more

For the most part, today's story was all about David Steicke, the fearsome high roller who makes a habit of tearing up tables, particularly here in Macau. He arrived a little late today, soon hit quad aces to beat the unfortunate Tamas Lendvai's full house - and never looked back....more

8.01pm: Play ends With the final hand being dealt on table three, play has ceased for the night with the top three chip leaders sitting as follows. Henrick Gwinner - 140,700 David Steicke - 124,950 Ramon Cserei - 118,250 Stay tuned for a full recap and updated chip counts. 7.35pm:...more

3.05pm: JC Tran eliminated JC Tran has just been eliminated from the tournament. Unable to gather any momentum today, Tran committed on a ten-high board holding Q T  but ran into an opponent's K T . The river blanked out and the PokerStars sponsored player hit the rail. 2.55pm: Lendvai leaves Tamas Lendvai's...more

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Perhaps the fact that there is so much to do in Macau explains why Pan Xiao Long seemed not unduly fussed to lose his 20,000 chips in the first hand he played, his two pair no good against Jan Boyes' flopped set. But whatever he was thinking after that little...more

8.00pm: Play ends! Play has now ended for the night. Stay tuned to the PokerStars Blog for a full wrap and updated chip counts. 7.56pm: Team Pr-owned Vladimir Geshkenbein opened to 1,500 from middle position and was called by an opponent in the small blind before Team PokerStars Pro Asia...more

3.35pm: End of the level That's the end of level 3. We move on to level 4 and blinds of 150-300 with a 25 ante. -- SY 3.30pm: High roller takes his seat Vladimir Geshkenbein, who beat Johnny Chan heads-up to win the high roller here in Macau last season...more

We like to think of ourselves as seasoned travelers here on the PokerStars Blog, so dragging a suitcase and laptop from London to Macau, the gambling paradise that rises from the South China Sea like a Sim City computer game landscape, would be a breeze. Indeed the 12-hour flight to...more

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