TGIF. Thank God It's Friday. It's a phrase used by many office workers hanging out for a weekend of drinking beer and watching sports after a rough week at work. We love Fridays as well, but unfortunately the life of a poker professional really doesn't revolve the concept of time....more
As we enter the sixth level of the day, I thought I'd catch up with the progress of reigning APPT Melbourne champion, Leo Boxell. The Australian Poker Hall of Famer was sitting quietly up in the high-limit area of the poker room, and as usual, had a healthy stack in...more
Playing a full day of live poker can take its toll. It's hard to stay focussed when you're not getting any good cards, the guy on your left is talking smack, and you'd just rather be up at the bar watching the footy. Staying patient and relaxed at the table...more
Yesterday we talked about some of the super-tough table lineups that had formed here at the APPT Melbourne Main Event. Well, there is no relief for players today either, with every table containing several notable players who we are sure they would much rather avoid. 2011 Aussie Millions champion David...more
Australia is a country that embraces its multiculturalism. Melbourne in particular has an enormously diverse community and we're proud to share this great land with people from all walks of life. If you've spent any time in Melbourne, you've probably found yourself walking through Chinatown, eating pasta along the very...more
It felt like a long wait. The APPT Melbourne event was on everyone's poker calendar and finally the wait was over. It had only been a month since Dave Allan collected the title at the APPT Queenstown, yet somehow the wait felt longer. Perhaps it was the excitement over a...more
The stars are out to play here at the APPT Melbourne Main Event with the red spade flag of Team PokerStars being dusted off and prepared to fly high this week. It's been some time since we've seen so many members of Team PokerStars together at a poker event here...more
As we tick into the fourth level of play, we are still awaiting confirmation of numbers but with eleven tables in play, and most of them looking pretty full, we'll predict a Day 1a field of close to 100 players. Last year we saw 260 players in total with Leo...more
Being a tournament blogger doesn't require too much assistance for us to do our job effectively. All we need is a desk in a quiet corner of the room, preferably with a moderately comfortable chair, a nearby power outlet for the humble ol' lappy, and a connection with the World...more
Welcome to the luxurious Crown Casino in Melbourne for the continuation of Season 6 of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour. The APPT Melbourne has positioned itself as one of the premier stops on the local tour, with the $5,000 buy-in attracting the cream of the crop from throughout Australia, New...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. You have to love a guy who wears a t-shirt inspired by the movie The Big Lebowski. Robbie Renehan, a 29-year-old who qualified for the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Colombian National Poker Championship by winning...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Jayr Fregona was short-stacked on Day 1. He was short-stacked on Day 2. He started Day 3 in 21st chip position of 25 players. And he started Day 4 as 8th of 8. Despite being that perpetual...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. I don't know what the final three players ate on the dinner break. Usually players come back from dinner lethargic and not willing to mix it up. Here in Medellin, the first two hands back from dinner...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Tournament poker is a damn funny thing. In the first couple of levels, Weider Vanegas could do no wrong. He started third in chips and notched the first three eliminations to climb to the chip lead with...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. A tough level for Cristian Velasquez just ended with his elimination in 5th place. Velasquez, dressed in a white polo today, had positioned himself to contend for the top prizes in the final three spots of the...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. So far it looks like the poker gods have chosen Weider Vanegas to smile upon today. Vanegas started out strong, including picking off a river bluff by Hernan Villa in a three-way pot. Vanegas only had a...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. When today started, if you had bet me it'd take more than an hour of play before a player was eliminated, I'd have taken that bet without hesitating. Four short stacks made it seem almost impossible that...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. No long words today. No fancy metaphors or Medellin-related anecdotes. The central focus of today is poker. Some time in the next 8 to 12 hours, somebody is going to win 284.7 million Colombian Pesos - about...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Sometimes this job turns into a bit of a waiting game. You're waiting for someone to bust. And while you might have acquaintances, even friends, who are playing in the tournament, your loyalties go out the window...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. At this stage of the game, with the stacks shallow, getting lucky and getting good cards is as important as playing great poker. Because no matter how great you play, if you get unlucky you can bust...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Given how quick the eliminations were coming in the first two levels of the day, it was only a matter of time before the tournament reverted to the mean and the short stacks started doubling up. First...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. The tournament is down to two tables now, a time when the chip-rich have a tendency to get chip-richer and the chip-poor have a tendency to get eliminated. The psychological battles are more intense now as players...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. "They" say that in 2012, poker has become a young man's game. Young players have the focus to spend hours upon hours playing multiple tables online, shortening the learning curve. They also have the stamina and focus...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. "Papa don't preach. I'm in trouble deep," crooned Madonna from the radio of the SUV as Arturo, our driver for the last few days, drove us from our hotel to the Allegre Casino. I don't know if...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. When we started Day 2 of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Colombia Main Event, Ruben Ospina was the chip leader with 171,300. And when we ended Day 2, Ospina was still the chip leader. He...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. For all the time I've spent watching people play poker - and after four years, I can say it's more time than I ever thought I'd spend watching people play poker - I'd like to believe I've...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. COINFLIP OF THE HOUR After the button player opened for 9,500, Brazilian Fellipe Nunes shoved all in for 74,500, drawing a cluck of exasperation from his opponent. That player hemmed and hawed for a few minutes before...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. I made a note last hour of the fact that the average stack, in terms of big blinds, has been continuing to decline over the course of Day 2 here in Medellin, contrary to expectations. It's becoming...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. To start Day 2, the Red Spade Brigade was represented by six players: Team Pros Jose Barbero, Andre Akkari, Angel Guillen and Humberto Brenes, and Team Online players Freddy Torres and Jorge Limon. Three levels into the...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. We're starting to get to the point in the tournament where the pots have more weight, more impact. More people are slamming the tables when they lose all in pots ("Please don't slam the tables," the tournament...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. The player party last night went late. People were struggling back to their hotels at 3am, and I don't believe they were the last ones home. Many of the partygoers were already eliminated on Day 1a or...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. There are some bleary eyes in the Casino Allegre this morning as we begin to prepare for Day 2 of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Colombia Main Event. Last night the traditional players' party took...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. The chip bags are out and players are furiously scribbling their names, counting, re-counting, and triple-counting their stacks, shoving it all into a chip ag and heading for the doors. Day 1b of the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. We've been keeping a close eye on Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen today. Earlier this season, Guillen sparkled on his way to a runner-up finish at LAPT Punta del Este. That finish was worth $126,000, a nice...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. When you travel to an event like LAPT5 Colombia, the poker predominates. This is, first and foremost, a poker tournament. Everybody's here to plunk down $2500 for the Main Event (and more, perhaps, in side events) to...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Last year at LAPT4 Colombia, the rail was a sight to behold. That tournament, which drew an LAPT record 681 players, packed in almost as much excitement on the rail as it did at the tables. Spectators...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Last year, Australia's Stu McDonald reached the final table of LAPT4 Colombia. That final table was one in which the bustouts were few and far between. After an extended stretch of six-handed play, McDonald helped negotiate a...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. I'm going to admit that, over the last few years, I've become a fan of high-caliber, international-level soccer. Football, as the rest of the world calls it. And if ever an area of the world were football-crazed,...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. For the typical recreational player, a $2500 poker tournament is a luxury that's often out of reach. Family, mortgage payments, day-to-day living expenses, and other typical drains on an individual's bank account ensure that playing in a...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Given the pace that PokerStars Team Online player Freddy Torres set yesterday with his Day 1a-leading performance, you'd think that his fellow PokerStars teammates would have extra incentive to show up on time today. And you'd be...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. For the second day in a row, Sade's "Smooth Operator" is softly crooning at us from the overhead speakers at the Casino Allegre. For the second day in a row, the tournament staff are gathered around a...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Before play started this morning, I wrote about the surprises that might be in store for us over the next five days at the 2012 PokerStars.net Latin American Poker Tour Colombia Main Event. We know that Sunday...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. We're getting into the late stages of Day 1a now, with about half the starting field of 115 players still sitting at the tables. This is the time of night when chip leaders usually start emerging, but...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. There's a flower festival taking place in the Premium Plaza shopping mall this week. That's the shopping mall where the Allegre Casino - host venue for LAPT5 Colombia - is located. The flower festival is a welcome...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Standing on the rail here in Medellin, for the better part of the last hour, were two gentlemen from the local constabulary. They would have stood out even without the fluorescent yellow vests they wore, each with...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Far be it for me to be the one to judge a poker player's skill level. I haven't played a hand of poker since early December 2011. I have exactly zero major tournament wins to my credit....more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Every poker tour should have its Stephen Chidwick. Chidwick, for the uninitiated, burst onto the European scene several years back as a "serial qualifier". He wouldn't qualify just one time for an EPT event. He'd qualify multiple...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. It's hard to come to a place like Medellin for a poker tournament - which is, for many people, nothing more than a glorified form of entertainment - without talking about Medellin's past. A friend sent me...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. Different types of players have different styles when it comes to tournament poker. Some are more aggressive, some more reckless. Others are more conservative, more passive. But all those different styles share on thing in common -...more
¿Busca la transmisión en vivo de LAPT5 Colombia en español? Haz click aquí. There are certain drives you can take in the world where, one moment you're hurtling along an ordinary, non-descript road through ordinary, non-descript surroundings, and the next moment you burst upon something spectacular. Along Interstate 15 from...more
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