If anyone thought poker was a game lacking emotion, except perhaps that of over-achieving tub-thumpers; or if they believed it to be a game based purely on money, on ego and of one-upmanship against their fellow man, they need only look as far as the European Poker Tour's newest...more
Season 1 was an experiment. Season 2 was a reprise. Season 3 was the year of Back-to-Back Barbero. Season 4 of Latin American Poker Tour? It's here. Moments ago, the LAPT announced five dates for its fourth season. Season 4 will see a return to Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Argentina....more
All hail King Karamalikis! The 22-year-old Aussie online phenom known as "xMONSTERxDONGx" is now the toast of the nation after winning the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final. From the moment after the final river card was dealt, the champagne bottles started popping and the well-wishes began...more
10:00pm: Ben McLean eliminated in second place, Jonathan Karamalikis wins! With Australian PokerStars Qualifier Ben McLean having been crippled severely in the penultimate hand of this heads-up battle, it didn't take long for Jonathan Karamalikis to be confirmed as the fourth consecutive Aussie to claim victory in the PokerStars.net...more
7:25pm: Level up, blinds 25,000-50,000, ante 5,000 7:20pm: Limp backfires for Stojanovski Peco Stojanovski decided to try something different with a limp from the button, but Tom Rafferty was having none of it as he raised to 120,000 from the small blind. Jonathan Karamalikis folded his big blind but...more
4:25pm: Double for Peco! Peco Stojanovski has found a big double up as Jonathan Karamalikis has taken his first major hit of this final table. Karamalikis started things off with a standard raise before Stojanovski three-bet to 200,000 in the big blind. Karamalikis moved all in and Stojanovski made...more
Imagine, if you will, that you're at the final table of the WSOP Main Event. You're in the Penn & Teller Theatre at the Rio Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, with the roar of thousands of screaming fans ringing in your ears, sitting across from your heads-up opponent....more
Seat 1: Daniel Negreanu, Las Vegas, USA, Team PokerStars Pro Canada (267,000 in chips) One of poker's global superstars, Daniel Negreanu is one of the most accomplished players in the game. Scanning through his tournament resume, you'll notice there are few things he hasn't already done. Negreanu ranks second...more
When Triple Crown winner Roland de Wolfe slipped into the Star City Poker Room in Sydney this week, he told us that the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final was not the reason that he was here - rather, he was backpacking with English cheer squad (AKA...more
10:05pm: Reza Vakili eliminated in 10th place; Our final table is set! After losing the previous pot, Reza Vakili was down to his last 332,000 which he moved in preflop from under the gun. Roland de Wolfe quickly called next to speak and the table folded around. Vakili tabled Q♠J♦...more
8:15pm: Dong soars! As we approach the end of the level, Jonathan Karamalikis has just taken down a monster pot after sustaining a check-raise and three barrels of fury from George Moussa. It started with Karamalikis raising to 35,000 from the hijack position and Moussa making the call in the...more
5:25pm: Grunter's gone Inauguaral APPT Grand Final champion Grant "Grunter" Levy is no longer with us, having just been sent to the rail in 18th place to pick up $15,610 in prize money. The action folded around to Tom Rafferty who raised to 21,000 from the cutoff before Levy reraised...more
2:40pm: Ten-minute break 2:20pm: Rubie on the rise Aussie online phenome Brendon "brendoooor" Rubie is up to almost half a million in chips after taking a massive pot off Singaporean PokerStars Qualifier Daniel Ling. We caught the action as the board read A♠K♠4♣2♥ with a pot worth more than 100,000;...more
Welcome back to the harbour city and another ridiculously sunny December day (who said it rains up here?) Whether enjoying a stroll along the picturesque Darling Harbour, or a light breakfast in one of the local cafes, there's no better place for our 32 remaining players to relax and soak...more
Feature Table Seat 1: Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) 119000 Seat 2: Reza Vakili (Australia) 775000 Seat 3: Miray Badaoui (Australia) 148000 Seat 4: Tyron Krost (Australia) 94500 Seat 5: Heinz Kamutzki (Australia) 131500 Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu (Canada) Team PokerStars Pro 293500 Seat 7: Konstantin Bücherl (United Kingdom) PokerStars Qualifier...more
It was a day of coolers, suck outs and the cream rising to the top as Day 2 of the PokerStars.net APPT Sydney Grand Final has come and gone. 163 players hit the floor of the Star City Casino in the hopes of reaching the money but one by one...more
11:10pm: That's a bubble hand While everyone was watching Con Angelakis move his short stack all in over on table 24, a brutal cooler was going down as the cry of "ALL IN! CALL!" grabbed our attention. We rushed to the table to see the ultimate bubble horror story....more
9:20pm: Level up, blinds 2000-4000 (ante 400) 9:15pm: Sabat's stack shrinks 2008 APPT Macau champion Eddy Sabat has been crippled by Enh Phengsavanh down to 63,000 only moments before the new level. Sabat raised to 6200 from early position and the action folded around to Phengsavanh who reraised all-in...more
5:55pm: Level up, blinds 1200-2400 (ante 200) 5:50pm: Negreanu chips up again Canadian Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu is back in the hunt, eliminating another opponent and is now back up to 170,000. The spectators were once again crushed in as close as possible around table 25 and we just...more
3:10pm: Watt running low Simon Watt is on the short stack after losing a big flip with pocket jacks against ace-queen. The board ran out 2♦K♥9♠Q♦9♦ to pair up the queen and leave Watt with just 2,500 in chips. They were in moments later with Q♠J♥ and once again...more
If there's one thing that we love about this wide brown land, it's summertime. The glorious sunshine on the golden sands of our beaches, the crystal blue waters of the ocean. Could you imagine being down at Bondi or Manly, surfing the waves, or lying there on the beach...more
Table 6 Seat 1: Giuseppe Scaravilli (Australia) 35500 Seat 2: Lee Nelson (New Zealand) Team PokerStars Australia 15100 Seat 3: Bassam Habib (Australia) 32900 Seat 4: Jarrad Graham (Australia) 93000 Seat 5: Joseph Moussa (Australia) 16600 Seat 6: Rabii Maatouk (Australia) 58000 Seat 7: Antoine Amourette (France) PokerStars Qualifier...more
The chips have been bagged, the bags have been tagged and from the 289 players who each ponied up AUD $6300 for the 2010 PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Grand Final, only 163 will be returning tomorrow for Day 2. Today's 146-strong field was jam-packed full of the region's...more
8:00pm: Play concludes That's a wrap from the Star City Poker Room on Day 1c of the PokerStars.net APPT Main Event. The big screen tells us that 87 players have survived the day, but at this stage it's a little uncertain who our official chip leader will be. Over the...more
6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6.45pm: Tony Hachem eliminated Team PokerStars Pro and reigning ANZPT Player of the Year Tony Hachem was determined to do well in this event, despite having recently gone through ankle surgery back home in Melbourne, but he has just limped out on his crutches after being eliminated...more
4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4.35pm: Reberia reigns supreme As we approach the second break of the day, we walked past Australian PokerStars Qualifier Mark Reberia, who had his chips stacked in tens. There were quite a few of those ten-high stacks and as it turns out, the Sydneysider is the first...more
2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2.15pm: Barry binks a beauty! The cry of "All in, call" went up from the dealer on table nine and we rushed over to see three players on their feet over a flop of 8♦Q♣T♣. Two players rolled up A♣5♣ and K♣6♣ for the nut and second-nut...more
Another glorious day has greeted us here at the Star City Casino in Sydney, but it probably hasn't been well received by the locals as many are nursing sore heads after last night's celebrations at the Acer Arena near the Sydney Olympic Park in Homebush, including the hundreds that packed...more
The Russian Poker Series has finished its first season with Russia's Dmitry Gromov winning $201,362 for first place in Kiev. On the last hand of the night, Shashkov raised preflop up to 250 000 chips, Gromov re-raised to 650,000. Shaskov quickly moved all-in and got the call. Dmitry Gromov: T♥T♠...more
It was a small field but it produced a big day of poker as Day 1b of the 2010 PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final took centre stage in the Star City Poker Room in Sydney this afternoon. 68 players hit the felt, highlighted by four-time WSOP bracelet winner and PokerStars Team...more
8.10pm: That's all folks! Day 1b of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final has been bagged, tagged and locked away in the vault. Aaron Tran may have been the first past the magical 100K mark today and bagged 147,200 in chips, but it was fellow Sydneysider Daniel Neilson who tops...more
6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: Oh no, Moffo! We've lost Liam Moffett from the tournament in a big clash with Casey Kastle on table 25. Kastle opened with a raise to 1,350 from early position before Moffett three-bet it to 4,500 in the hijack position. The blinds folded and Kastle...more
4:40pm: 10-minute break 4:35pm: Aaron Tran cracks a ton The fast and furious action we witnessed in the early stages of this level has all but disappeared, however we have just discovered Sydney's Aaron Tran sitting behind a stack of more than 100,000, making him the first player to...more
2:30pm: 10-minute break 2:25pm: Oh, the woe of Marcus and Rowe 2008 APPT Grand Final champion Martin Rowe and a young player that only identified himself as Sheldon, called a preflop raise by Sydney's Craig Blight before the dealer spread a flop of K♦T♠3♠. Blight led out, Sheldon folded...more
One of the great things about the universal game of poker is that literally anyone can play. On any given day, if the cards, and luck, go the right way, it's possible for the world's worst player to compete with, and even beat the world's best player. That's why we...more
Day 1a of the PokerStars.net APPT Grand Final is in the books and as the night falls over Sydney, the PokerStars Blog team are putting in the overtime for today's wrap post before attacking the Garden Buffet. 75 players took to the felt this afternoon, including defending champion Aaron...more
8:00pm: That's a wrap! A rather dramatic end to the day has seen approximately 42 players survive to reach Day 2 action on Friday. It the end it appears that Manuel Hansimikali has bagged up the chip lead with 136,600, narrowly ahead of Reza Vakili (129,800) and Brett Bibby (129,300)....more
6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: Grigg disposes of a shorty Tom Grigg is now up to 45,000 with the recent elimination of a short-stacked opponent. Grigg opened from the cutoff with a raise to 1,500 which was called from the small blind to see a flop of A♠J♣8♥. The small blind...more
4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:35pm: Solemdal sent to the rail New Zealand PokerStars Qualifier Koray Turker has scored one for the Kiwis, eliminating Australian PokerStars Qualifier Torgier Solemdal as we approach the second break of the day. Solemdal moved all-in for the last of his short stack preflop with J♥J♦ and...more
2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:25pm: Any takers for the High Rollers event? As the players in the APPT Grand Final are about to take their first break of the day, the PokerStars Blog team headed downstairs to check out the action in the Sports Theatre, where the APPT Sydney High Rollers...more
By Landon Blackhall A beautiful sunny morning has greeted us here at the Star City Casino in Sydney, and while it may not help those who are nursing sore heads from last night's festivites at the Player Party in the Astral Bar, there's no doubt that the adrenalin rush of...more
Season four of the PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour has certainly been one to remember. We started way back in March with the special PAGCOR Chairman's Cup APPT Manila event which produced a record breaking prize pool for tournament poker in the Philippines. From there, the APPT has continued to...more
To contact the PokerStars Blog team, simply email blog@pokerstars.net. To subscribe to the PokerStars Blog RSS feed, click here. Brought to you by PokerStars.net.
