April 2011 Archives

6:43pm: Kemal Ferri wins! The gradual chipping away of Raul Pino's stack that characterized the almost-half-hour of heads-up play had left the Panamanian with around 800,000, small change compared to Kemal Ferri's 6 million-ish stack. Finally, Pino pushed that stack all in from the button, and Ferri quickly called. Pino...more

3:10pm: Players take a 15-minutes break Smoke' em if you got 'em. 2:45pm: Chatting with Karlo Lopez The lovely Lynn Gilmartin spoke with PokerStars Team Online Karlo Lopez.... 2:33pm: Chip counts with six left Not too much to report from the last 20 minutes, other than to say the two...more

The term "run good" in poker can mean a few different things. For the poker player, it means having some luck, catching the right cards at the right times, and enjoying some win. However for the humble tournament reporter, when we talk about run good, we're talking about a final...more

Michael Kanaan wins ANZPT Sydney Main Event A big congratulations to Michael Kanaan who came in today as our chip leader, applied relentless pressure to his opponents throughout, and ultimately came up as king of Sydney with a well-deserved victory. He collects the coveted trophy and a whopping $195,714 in...more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:35pm: Andy Lee eliminated in 3rd place It was the rise and fall of Andy Lee today at the ANZPT Sydney final table, as the one-time chip leader as he has been bundled out in 3rd place. Lee completed from the small blind and Michael Kanaan checked...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:25pm: Six-bet shove from Kanaan An interesting preflop clash between Andy Lee and Michael Kanaan has resulted in the overnight chip leader regaining some chips as these two continue to butt heads. Kanaan opened to 65,000 in the cutoff before Lee made it 125,000 from the big...more

On Day 3 of the LAPT Lima, 24 players entered the Octagon and only eight survived. Okay, I took a bit of artistic liberty -- the Octagon was actually the swanky Atlantic City Casino -- but the fighting to the death metaphor still fits. With $207,400 on the line,...more

6:36pm: Mayu Roca eliminated in 9th; final table set Mayu Roca had not been able to do much more than tread water since the move to the nine-handed table, and was still sitting with just under 300,000 when he open-pushed all in from middle position. Samar Hodali, sitting to...more

4:37pm: Break time Ten are left, eight of whom will be coming back for tomorrow's final table. Let's take 15 minutes to think on it. 4:36pm: Hugo Kahan eliminated in 11th place On the final hand of Level 22, Hugo Kahan opened with a raise to 56,000 from under...more

2:20pm: Players take a 15-minute break Smoke 'em if you got 'em. We believe it might bring you luck to do so. 2:15pm: Slowing down We had eight bustouts in the first 90 minutes of play, but since then, the action stagnated. 16 players remain. 2:02pm: Lerner avoids going...more

After three long days of hard toil, the following nine players have overcome a starting field of 393 players to reach the 2011 PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event final table. They'll return to the dedicated final table area in the 36 Degree bar at Star City Casino to play it...more

As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours! We've enjoyed beautiful sunshine all week here in Sydney, but those out-of-towners looking to spend their final days enjoying the sights of Sydney would've been a little frustrated as they were greeted with a torrential downpour that lasted most of...more

7:35pm: Josh Barrett eliminated in 10th place; Final table is set! Josh Barrett had a great tournament and we really thought the Peking Duck was going to carry him all the way to the title. However unfortunately his run has come unstuck in 10th place, just short of the final...more

7:00pm: Ten-minute break 6:50pm: Bang! Bang! We've just seen two rapid-fire eliminations to see us down to our final thirteen players. Luis Arrilucea first eliminated Joey Lawrence in a preflop clash with Arrilucea's 9♥9♦ holding against the K♥Q♣ of Lawrence when the board ran out 9♠3♥8♠K♣K♠. He was soon followed...more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:35pm: Grujic goneski Jesse McKenzie has found a double up when last chips were in the middle with J♠T♦ against Oliver Grujic's 9♥9♦. The board ran out T♣T♥A♥A♣9♠ and despite Grujic filling up on the river it wasn't enough to stop McKenzie from doubling up to 250,000...more

Day 2 was moving day at the LAPT Lima. 116 players survived the cut on Day 2 out of the original 350 runners, but 68 of those unfortunate players would fail to make the money. The top 48 places paid out, but it wouldn't be until the fifth level...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break Well it seems that the deadlock just cannot be broken! Hopefully a ten-minute break will be just what our players need! 2:20pm: Lawrences doubles through Barrett Josh Barrett's aggression on the bubble has come back to bite him after the double up of Joey Lawrence. The chips...more

8:51pm: Schernthaner out in 25th; play concludes With a few minutes left in Level 18, we've had our final elimination of the night. Daniel Lerner had just doubled through the German, Michael Schernthaner, a few hands before after winning a race with A♥K♣ versus Schernthaner's Q♠Q♦. On that one...more

6:44pm: Players take a break The final 35 players are on a 15-minute break. The staff will also be removing the pink 500 denomination chips from play. 6:35pm: Down to 35 players; Recent eliminations Here are the most recent eliminations. Each earned $3,870: 39th - Andrey Lobzhanidze 38th -...more

3:15pm: Level 13 ends; 70 remain 3:01pm: Fernandez still fighting Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez began today on the super short stack, built up over 100,000, then had slipped back down into below-average territory. We just came upon another reversal of fortune for Fernandez. We didn't see at what...more

Day two is usually the day that defines a poker tournament. Have a bad day one and you can often manage to still sneak through to live to fight again. A bad day three, and well you'll probably still get some cash. However a bad day two and it's a...more

Table 15 Seat 1: Nicholas Polias (Australia) - 83,000 Seat 2: Brett Murtagh (Australia) - 109,000 Seat 3: Mark Samaan (Australia) - 200,000 Seat 4: Michael O'grady (Australia) - 198,000 Seat 5: Hoang Tu (Australia) - 153,500 Seat 7: Todor Kondevski (Australia) - 215,000 Seat 8: Michael Kanaan (Australia) -...more

9:00pm: That's a wrap from Day 2 The players have played out their last three hands with 49 players still remaining in contention. There will be a few restless nights this evening we imagine. Josh Barrett once again surged late in the day to amass 398,000 which is good for...more

7:00pm: Ten-minute break 6:40pm: ANZ Player of the Year heating up ANZPT Perth champion Grant Levy has taken a hit recently as we wandered past his table to see his stack down to around 40,000 in chips. We're not sure what happened but suspect Jesse McKenzie may have been involved...more

The LAPT returned to Lima, Peru for the a second season in a row, and Peru has quickly become one of the most popular stops on the international circuit. It's easy to see why because everywhere you look, a waiter is thrusting a plate of ceviche at you face, along...more

12:11am: Bag 'em up! We're done! It looks as though approximately 120 players have made it through to tomorrow's Day 2, with Daniel Ospina sporting what looks to be the biggest stack in the room with 264,200. Stay tuned for more details, including a full recap of today's action....more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:30pm: Levy runs into kings Grant Levy was making solid progress today in his quest to go back-to-back at the ANZPT. After building his stack up towards 100,000 in chips, Levy has just taken a hit when he got his Q♣Q♠ in preflop but ran into an...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:15pm: Sydney slides After enjoying a relaxing day on the Sydney harbour yesterday, PokerStars qualifier Sydney VanderHorst is back on the felt today looking to turn her trip all the way from the Unites States into a profitable one. It's going to be tough work from here...more

Double double. Repeat repeat. Double double. Repeat repeat. If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes, I would never have believed it. But after Vanessa Selbst successfully defended her NAPT Mohegan Sun title yesterday, her Team PokerStars Pro colleague Jason Mercier has just defended his High Roller Bounty...more

8:50pm: Double-double! Jason Mercier repeats as NAPT Mohegan Sun Bounty Shootout champion During the dinner break, several of us speculated as to the real, concrete, mathematical odds of not one, but TWO champions repeating here at Mohegan Sun. Whatever they were (help us, math people), Jason Mercier has defied...more

5:33pm: Some chippies Leo Fernandez 29k Marcelo Dabus 23k Alex Gomes 22k Francisco Rios 74k Jose Rosenkrantz 20k TwinCaracas 23k Daniela Zapielo 50k Humberto Brenes 58k Derek Lerner 50k Alex Brenes 51k Roberto Brenes 48k Gualter Salles 7k Angel Guillen 32k Andre Akkari 23k Aarron Lerner 30k Freddy Torres 50k...more

Table 5 Seat 1: George Mariglis (Australia) - 21150 Seat 2: Tim English (Australia) (PokerStars Qualifier) - 14325 Seat 3: Wayne Carlson (Australia) - 25425 Seat 4: Marc Liddell (Australia) - 15225 Seat 5: Patrick Woodley (Australia) - 54600 Seat 6: Oliver Grujic (Australia) - 62175 Seat 7: Jonathan Karamalikis...more

The Star City Poker Room was filled to capacity today as 241 entrants took to the felt on Day 1b of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Main Event. It was great to see the room buzzing with excitement with the cream of the Australian poker crop joining a throng of local qualifiers...more

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9:00pm: Tran leads as Day 1b draws to a close The clock was paused and each table played out another two uneventful hands before the chips were bagged up for the day. Jimmy Tran has held onto the chip lead with 142,475, just short of the mark set yesterday, with...more

6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: This flight has a Pilat The pace of play today has been a little slower than yesterday. Perhaps we'll see a late flurry of activity as the short stacks start to get troubled by the blinds and antes. There was discussion earlier on today as to...more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:25pm: Early exit for the Croc Billy "The Croc" Argyros is traditionally a late starter on opening days, but he's rarely an early elimination. However Day 1b of the ANZPT Sydney Main Event hasn't been kind to the Australian Poker Hall of Famer as he has just...more

Vanessa Selbst has won NAPT Mohegan Sun. Vanessa Selbst has won NAPT Mohegan Sun. You read it twice because it has happened twice. Really, she has done it again. This time last year, the Team PokerStars Pro from Brooklyn, New York, bested a field of 716 to win $750,000 and...more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:25pm: Assadourian ready to play for stacks Eric Assadourian opened with a raise to 350 and found a caller before the button raised it to 850 to go. The small blind cold-called and the other two players came along to see a four-way flop of A♠9♦6♣. Action...more

10:31pm: Selbst secures second NAPT title, Dan Shak eliminated in second place Pop the champagne corks, poker fans--Vanessa Selbst has done it. Back-to-back NAPT Mohegan Sun titles. On the second hand after we returned from the break, Dan Shak limped in on the button and Vanessa Selbst checked her option....more

4:15pm: Joe Tehan eliminated On the last hand before break, Joe Tehan got it all in with K♦6♠ and ran directly into Thomas Hoglund's 8♣8♦. The board was no help for Tehan and he went out in sixth place for $70,000. Hoglund ended that hand with 1,590,000. Joe Tehan eliminated...more

The Star City Casino has played host to some of Australian poker's most memorable moments. Grant Levy's historic win back in 2007, Jarred Graham going back to back in the APPT High Rollers, Paren "Puzz" Arzoomanian's emotional ANZPT win, Aaron Benton's stunning victory in 2009 and of course Jonathan Karamalikis...more

9:00pm: Bag, tag and party! The play has wrapped up here at the Star City Casino on Day 1a of the PokerStars.net ANZPT Sydney Main Event. Out field of 152 was reduced to around 70 by the end of eight levels of play, and while we had several different chip...more

6:50pm: Ten-minute break 6:45pm: "What's the chip leader got?" When roaming the tournament floor, it's a question we often get asked by players. Funnily enough, it's never a short stack who is asking. It's always a big stack as they are curious if they are numero uno in the room....more

4:40pm: Ten-minute break 4:20pm: You can't steal from the Toothpick With a button raise to 500, Antonis "Toothpick Tony" Kambouroglou made the call in the small blind and Liam Moffett came long in the big to see a flop of Q♦Q♠4♥. Toothpick and Moffett checked and the button fired 1,000....more

2:30pm: Ten-minute break 2:25pm: Monster for Hinrichsen Following an under-the-gun limp, Andrew Hinrichsen popped it 450 and found a cold call from the middle position player before the UTG-player sprung to life to make it 1,550 to go. Both players made the call and saw a flop of 8♦4♣7♦. The...more

Tyler Kenney couldn't play NAPT Mohegan Sun last year. At just 20 years old, he would've been kicked out the moment anyone looked at his drivers license. Now 21, he's woken up every morning, drank a Vitamin Water, and sat down to play poker with the singular focus of making...more

7:45pm: Corey Hochman busts in 9th, final table set Down to around 300,000, Corey Hochman open-shoved from middle position and after asking for a count, Vincent Rubianes re-shoved from the small blind. Steve O'Dwyer folded his big blind and the cards went on their backs. Hochman Q♥T♥ Rubianes A♦Q♦ It...more

Over the years, Sydney has been home to some of the Australia's great sporting events, so it's no surprise that the harbour city also has a special place in the history of Australian poker. Way back in 2007, a Sydney school teacher became the first Australian to win one million...more

If you have a sense of deja vu, you're not alone. One year and two days ago, Vanessa Selbst ended Day 3 of the NAPT Mohegan Sun with the chip lead. 48 hours later, she went on to win the tournament. This year, it looks like we're doing it all...more

6:36pm: Selbst ends day with chip lead Last year's NAPT Mohegan Sun champion has ended Day 3 with the chip lead after a massive hand against Vincent Rubianes. It began when Olivier Busquet came in for a raise to 21,000. Rubianes made it 51,000 to play. With the button,...more

2.24pm: It's not for everyone It might seem as though the secret to tournament success is shoving hard pre-flop with filth, running into big pairs and cracking them. Just ask Vanessa Selbst. But like a government road safety video, I'm here to advise against such a reckless approach, and...more

If you made a spreadsheet of the NAPT Mohegan Sun players going to Day 3 and sorted it by first name, you would find two Aarons. Sort the page by chip count and look at the top two spots. Guess what? Yep. Both Aarons. If you're not familiar with...more

8:55pm: That's all, folks The board shows 74 players remaining, all of whom are bagging and tagging their chips (and putting in last-minute orders for Bobby Flay burgers). Aaron Overton is the far and away chip leader with nearly 600,000-- over 200,000 more than his closest competitor. We'll have a...more

5.50pm: Level over It is. We're going into level 13. -- HS 5:39pm: DeBora (more than) doubles Greg DeBora is not the type of guy who goes away easily. When he finished yesterday, it was at his peak for the day. He hadn't done much throughout this afternoon until...more

2:56pm: Level ends The players are now on a 15-minute break. We'll be closing out this post and moving on to a new one. Join us there. --BW 2:50pm: Mercier (inexplicably) loses I was in the middle of watching a hand with Vanessa Selbst when one of the floor guys...more

Hung-sheng Lin goes coast-to-coast on Day 3 to claim memorable victory Arriving at the Macau Millions and perusing the Day 1a field some eight days ago, I must admit, I was a little daunted as I looked around the room and couldn't recognized too many familiar faces in the local...more

9:25pm: Ten-minute break 9:22pm: Jordon Lo eliminated in 5th place With a dead button, Jordon Lo moved all in from the cutoff very next hand for around 800,000. Hung-sheng Lin thought for several minutes before making the call in the big blind. Lo: A♥4♦ Lin: K♥9♥ Lo was in front...more

6:45pm: 40-minute dinner break On the final hand of the level Jordan Lo raised to 150,000 before Hirotoshi Nakabo sprung to life with a re-raise to 380,000. Lo folded and Nakabo celebrated like it was Christmas. Nakabo will go to dinner in a good mood as the final seven players...more

4:20pm: Ten-minute break 4:18pm: Nakabo raises the roof! The roof has been raised here in the PokerStars Macau Poker room as Hirotoshi Nakabo has done it again with another double up. This time his theatrics and shouting were equally matched by the ferocious Sixiao "Juicy" Li and her entourage. Nakabo...more

2:05pm: Ten-minute break 2:00pm: Jay Tan eliminated Jay Tan is another short stack who had been waiting patiently for the right moment to strike. She chose to move all in from the small blind holding K♠Q♥ after Huimin Huang had raised from early position. Unfortunately for Tan, it was the...more

Chris Tryba leads after day one of NAPT Mohegan Sun, a day on which 387 players came to Uncasville, Connecticut, parted with $5,000 for a seat in the game, and looked to battle through eight one-hour levels to keep dreams alive of a $450,000 payday. Only about 230 managed it,...more

8:43pm: Bernard Lee doubles Bernard Lee found himself on the right end of a coinflip to close the night his A♥K♥ flopping top pair against his opponent's pocket jacks. Lee is up to 90,000. --KB 8:39pm: Tryba takes over As longtime tournament reporters, we have years of experience in nailing...more

4:20pm: Tall stacks, small stacks Kathy Liebert had a rough go of it today, losing a large chunk of her starting stack on the first hand she played, when she flopped a set of queens only to lose to a rivered flush. Queens were her kryptonite again in this...more

Day 3 Seating Draw Table 1 Seat 1: Wenlong Jin (China) - 614000 Seat 2: Hubert Sy (Philippines) - 410000 Seat 3: Kou Yang Huang (Taipei) - 304000 Seat 4: Terry Fan (USA) - PokerStars Player - 346000 Seat 5: Albert Wing Fai Kwan (Hong Kong) - 708000 Seat 6:...more

10:25pm: Ten-minute break 10:15pm: Nakabo busts Chen With a raise to 20,000 in front, Hirotoshi Nakabo and Victor Chen made the call to see a flop of 5♠3♠J♠. All three players check before Chen moves all in for 97,000 on the 6♦ turn. The preflop raiser let it go but...more

Raiden raidin' chips on Day 1g Day 1g saw a mega-field of 270 players hit the PokerStars Macau Poker Room for their final opportunity to progress in the Macau Millions Main Event, producing an overall total of 1,329 entrants - easily a record for the largest poker tournament in Asia...more

4:30pm: Ten-minute break 4:15pm: Price is right for Huang Moments later, Bryan Huang took another hit after making a gambling call in the big blind. The price was right as it only cost Huang around 5,000 more to take a shot with his Q♠2♥ up against a short stack's A♦K♦....more

2:15pm: Ten-minute break 2:05pm: Full house for Nakabo One of the highlights of the week has been the entertaining theatrics of Hirotoshi Nakabo. Constantly chattering, sweating cards and getting a wee bit excited when a player is all in (especially himself), we've enjoyed watching Nakabo on the felt this week....more

Thommy Lam pockets more cash and a big stack on Day 1f Another long flight of the Macau Millions has come to a close with Day 1f reaching the final 17 after a massive 246 runners started earlier this evening. The Macau Millions has smashed through the 1,000-player mark, still...more

Shaq attack brings Day 1e to a close as Aman Dhamija claims chip lead That's it from Day 1e of the Macau Millions Main Event as our field of 191 players have been reduced to a baker's dozen. It ended up being the longest of our opening flights so far...more

The first event of Season 2 of the PokerStars Russian Poker Series was staged in Kiev, and it was so nearly a big win for Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko. He was beaten heads-up by Garry Tevosov, 22, who won the title and $180,087. Kravchenko took $113,100 for second. Ivan...more

6:30pm: Ten-minute break 6:20pm: Too cheap by Chiu Ka Ho Chiu is a smiling assassin. Always happy and enjoying himself at the table, Chiu just had the smile wiped from his face after letting Shafiq Barqawi catch a cheap card that led to Chiu's elimination. Chiu raised to 4,500 preflop...more

4:15pm: Ten-minute break 4:05pm: One down, one up for Bobo With a raise to 1,600 and call in front of him, Daoxing "Bobo" Chen decided to squeeze all in from the small blind for just under 10,000. The original raiser called off his last chips as the third player stepped...more

Hoi Ting Lee is chip leader as Day 1d is done That brings an end to our coverage of Day 1d of the Macau Millions Main Event as our field of 210 has been reduced to the final fifteen. In the frantic final minutes of play, Hoi Ting Lee has...more

12:25am: Ten-minute break 12:10am: Lowe name, big stack Justin Lowe has recently joined Hoi Ting Lee in the six-figure club as the two biggest stacks in the room at the moment. Lowe grabbed a large portion of his chips when he flopped a set of nines on a queen-high flop...more

10:10pm: Ten-minute break 10:00pm: Mistimed value Justin Chan has taken a hit to his stack after a mistimed river shove. Chan called 2,000 on the flop, checked the turn and was then faced with another bet of 2,000 on the river on a board of 6♠K♠Q♥A♦3♣. Chan thought for several...more

Runaway Loo claims big chip lead as Day 1c concludes A huge day of action in the PokerStars Macau Poker Room as seen a capacity field of 182 players reduced to a dozen as Day 1c of the Macau Millions Main Event has come to a close. It was a...more

12:30am: Ten-minute break 12:20am: Loo dominant Malaysian Junzhong Loo has shot to the top of the chip count leaderboard as we approach the next break after the elimination of Russia's Artem Grechko. Grechko was down to his last 12,000 chips which he moved in preflop with K♣Q♥ but he ran...more

10:15pm: Ten-minute break 10:12pm: Bryan busto We've lost two of our Team PokerStars Pros in a matter of minutes as Singapore's Bryan Huang has also crashed out of the tournament. Huang opened with a raise to 1,200 from the hijack position with James Potter flat-calling in the cutoff to see...more

One thing you learn about PokerStars is that they don't do promotions by halves. Whether it's the $5 Million Sunday Million Anniversary, $45 million in guaranteed prizes at the upcoming Spring Championships of Online Poker, or the brand new $100,000 Game of Your Life promotion - PokerStars know how to...more

When the LAPT returned to Brazil for Season 4 it gave that country a chance to win its first-ever LAPT title in its home country. That nearly happened in Sao Paulo, but Chilean Alex Manzano took the title and denied Brazil its opportunity. Now, Brazil has exacted its revenge...more

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If this new PokerStars promotion had been released last Friday, everyone would've thought it was an April Fools' Day gag. It's that crazy. This new promo is the ultimate fantasy for a sports fan. It's the type of thing you'd discuss over beers with your friends. It would sound a...more

Day 1b is complete - Terry Fan is the man to catch We started out today with another 103 entrants and after seven hours of play we reduced that to our final seven players. With the 127 entrants from yesterday, it appears we are well on track to crack the...more

6:30pm: Ten-minute break 6:25pm: Another one down Terry Fan has dispatched of short-stacked Chin Hao Hsu who was all in for just 3,500 in chips. Fan held 6♣6♠ against Hsu's A♦J♣ and improved to a set on a flop of 6♦K♥T♣. Hsu picked up a straight draw but missed on...more

4:10pm: Ten-minute break 4:05pm: Celina Lin eliminated Celina Lin has also become a casualty of the Day 1b field as the players are falling away at a rapid pace, with the 300-600 level in particular putting a lot of pressure on the short stacks. Lin was down to around 8,000...more

Day 1a concludes - Haifeng Xue leads the way That's a wrap from the PokerStars Macau Poker Room as our field of 127 players have been reduced to the final nine. It was non-stop action today right from the opening bell, as the fast structure and gambling mindset of our...more

12:25am: Ten-minute break 12:10am: Last female standing We have one female left in our final three tables and she's still fighting hard after finding a recent double up. Jay Tan was all in preflop for her last 6,500 from under the gun with Andrew Marks making the call in the...more

10:10pm: Ten-minute break 10:05pm: Straight for Marks and a pair of Lins Just prior to the break, Andrew Marks found a big double up when he turned a straight to crack pocket aces. The board was T♠9♣7♣6♦ when the chips went in with Marks showing 8♦7♦. The river bricked the...more