Archive for the ‘Poker Tournaments’ Category

Phil Ivey is Back – Wins Aussie Millions $250k

Sunday, January 29th, 2012

Along with the rest of the Full Tilt Poker crew, Phil Ivey hasn’t exactly been one of the most popular figures in poker over the past eight or so months. And he probably won’t be popular again until former Full Tilt players get their money back. Even still, Ivey wasn’t letting any of this stop him from showing up to the 2012 Aussie Millions.

The man who people have been touting as the best all-around poker player in the world for years not only showed up, but he made a huge impression after winning the Aussie Millions $250k Super High Roller event along with $2 million AUD. And you’d have to argue that this is the biggest poker tournament win of his career.

Now this is saying a lot for a guy who’s won a WPT title and eight WSOP bracelets. But judging from both a financial and adversity perspective, this is the most impressive win by Ivey. As for the adversity, he’s still dealing with a lot of the pressure from the Full Tilt fallout after Black Friday. In regards to the financial side of things, his largest poker tournament cash prior to this was a 2008 LA Poker Classic title ($1.6 million); he also finished seventh place in the 2009 WSOP Main Event ($1.4 million).

Moving along, this win could be construed as somewhat legendary since the final three players involved Ivey, Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius. The latter is who Ivey dueled heads-up to complete the huge victory. One more point worth making here is that Ivey moved into second place on the all-time poker tournament winnings list with the win ($15.9 million).

Now does all of this mean we’re supposed to hail Phil Ivey and pretend like he had absolutely no involvement at all in the Full Tilt Poker mess? Not exactly, but we can at least respect his unparalleled poker abilities. Furthermore, we should also recognize that he’s not the primary villain in the FTP scandal by any means.

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Stealing in Poker Tournaments

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

One of the most difficult things for beginning poker tournament players to deal with in terms of poker strategy involves rising blinds. As experienced players know, the further you get into a tourney, the more blinds force you to play aggressively in order to stay alive. Unfortunately, many recreational tournament players either don’t get this concept, or tighten up in order to keep the chips they have. So for the sake of both parties, let’s take a quick look at some strategy for stealing in poker tournaments.

Stealing Frequently

Stealing pots doesn’t play a real big part early in poker tournaments due to the low blinds-to-stack-size ratio. After all, why bet a fourth of your starting stack with marginal cards when your 1,500 chips amount to 50 big blinds? But when you get to the point where blinds are 200/400 and your stack is worth 2,400 chips, you don’t have a whole lot of orbits left before desperation mode hits.

Before that point happens, you need to look for stealing opportunities frequently. The three spots where you should be looking to steal are from the cut-off, the button and the small blind because fewer players are left to act. It always helps matters if there’s non-aggressive players to your left, but even if there aren’t, you’ll probably need to steal at some point anyways.

Besides position, the other really important concept here involves your cards. Now if you’re trying to steal a hand, obviously you aren’t doing it with pocket aces. But just because you’re trying to steal a pot doesn’t mean you should be doing it with 8-4(o). Good cards to steal with include any two overcards, suited connectors from 8-9 and up,  as well as A-x and K-x (possibly Q-x if your stack is low enough).

The closer your stack gets to blinding out, the more you have to open up your stealing range. Also, keep in mind that if your stack is below 10 big blinds, you should be shoving on every steal attempt.

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Shoving Short Stacks in Poker Tournaments

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

When playing poker tournaments, we’d all love to have the cards fall into the right place, and not have our chip stacks in danger at any point. Unfortunately, this only happens to players in the rarest of circumstances, and the vast majority of the time, you’ll be dealing with a short stack at some point in a tournament.

Seeing as how being the short stack gives you very little leverage to make effective raises or steal hands, this is a terrible place to be. Furthermore, you’re only a few blind orbits away from being knocked out of the tournament. It’s for this reason why most poker players suggest a shove or fold approach once your chip stack gets down around 10 big blinds.

The reason why is because you need to build your stack quickly to have any shot at waiting for better hands, and making effective plays against bigger stacks. This being said, you need to know when the ideal situations arise for shoving short stacks in poker tournaments.

Now the big mistake that many people make here is only focusing on their poker cards, rather than table position and stack sizes. For example, if you’re only looking at your cards and you get A-J in early position, this might seem like a solid hand to shove with; however, you also have to consider how many people are left to act after you, and their stack sizes because several people might call just because they think you’re going for a desperation steal.

As a general rule, the later your position, the wider range of hands you can shove with. For example, in an unraised pot with A-J, this is a great opportunity for you to shove the short stack in an attempt to steal a hand. Even if you get called, you at least have a solid chance with A-J.

There are a host of other factors to consider too such as how the opponents behind you play. For example, if you have three loose-aggressive players left to act, shoving would be a bad decision unless you’ve got the cards. However, if the players left to act are tight, and the blinds won’t defend, this presents a much better chance to shove and steal a hand.

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Russian Poker Backers benefit from Pius Heinz

Saturday, November 12th, 2011

It appears that 2011 WSOP Main Event champion Pius Heinz will be sharing his $8.7 million prize will plenty of other people since a Russian poker staking had backed him. The company is called Pokeroff, and they have staked plenty of successful players in the past. Of course, its hard to get more successful than a WSOP Main Event winner, so Pokeroff most likely grabbed their biggest profit ever off of Heinz.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any details on how much money Pokeroff made because they’re a private company that’s tight-lipped about their success. But the Betfair poker blog did manage to catch up with an investor in Pokeroff named Max Katz. The Moscow native is also a poker player who has an eye for budding talent.

He spoke about their business by saying, “We have a closed community inside Pokeroff that people can participate in, and they can buy shares of players who are wanting to sell some action. We also actively look for people who are wanting to sell shares, then we publish the offer on the private website, and it is divided between the people who want a share of that particular player.”

As for Heinz, Katz didn’t give too many details about dollar figures, but he did tell Betfair, “Actually I cannot say the exact number and I would prefer for you to publish rumors because we like to keep the exact number secret, but yes we had a big share of Pius.”

Just a few months ago, we reported how the poker backing industry had been struggling somewhat – especially in the United States, where poker action was crippled after Black Friday (April 15th). However, it seems as if the business of poker staking is thriving on the international scene, and Pokeroff is one of the biggest beneficiaries.

 

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Pius Heinz wins 2011 WSOP Main Event

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Ben Lamb may have been the talk of this year’s WSOP, but it was Pius Heinz winning the 2011 WSOP Main Event title, along with the top prize of $8.7 million.

Heinz walked onto the final table with 108 million chips, which put him well ahead of the other two remaining players in Lamb (55.4 million) and Martin Staszko (42.7 million). However, it didn’t take long at all for Heinz to have competition since Staszko doubled up through Lamb on the first hand of the final day. It happened when Lamb tried to steal a pot from Staszko with K-J, only to see the 35-year-old Czech Republic native go all-in. Lamb felt that he was pot committed and called; Staszko flipped over pocket sevens, and won the hand after the board provided nothing for Lamb.

Just three hands later, Lamb desperately shoved his remaining chips in with Q-6(o), which didn’t hold up against Staszko’s pocket jacks. With the American now eliminated from the tournament in third place, Heinz and Staszko battled for the title, with the latter holding a 117.3 million-to-88.6 million chip lead.

This was definitely a heads-up match for the ages as both players went back and forth with the lead. At one point, Staszko looked like he was in firm control of the tournament since he’d maneuvered into a 4-1 chip advantage. However, the German Heinz never looked phased, and battled back to be in contention.

On one very critical play, Staszko called Heinz’s shove with Qc-9c because he didn’t think that the 22-year-old had anything. But Heinz held Ah-Qh, and when the board provided no help to either player, the German took a big lead over Staszko. Just a few hands later, Heinz was able to put Staszko away and win the 2011 WSOP Main Event title.

With the world’s biggest poker tournament now in the books, Heinz becomes the third richest winner ever with $8.7 million. Here is a look at how all of the final tablist fared:

1. Pius Heinz – $8,715,638
2. Martin Staszko – $5,433,086
3. Ben Lamb – $4,021,138
4. Matt Giannetti – $3,012,700
5. Phil Collins – $2,269,599
6. Eoghan O’Dea – $1,720,831
7. Bob Bounahra – $1,314,097
8. Anton Makiievskyi – $1,010,015
9. Sam Holden – $782,115

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Ben Lamb is Toast of 2011 WSOP

Tuesday, November 8th, 2011

Every year, it seems as if one WSOP player stands out above the rest. Last year, it was Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi because of his previous fame, $50k Player’s Championship title, and 2010 WSOP Main Event final table appearance. This year, the shining star at the 2011 WSOP is no doubt Ben Lamb who is now a lock to win the WSOP Player of the Year award.

The 26-year-old has absolutely crushed the competition after winning the $10k Pot Limit Omaha Championship ($814,436), and finishing within the top 12 in three other tournaments. Now all of this would have been enough to put Lamb in a position where he was the best 2011 WSOP player. However, Ben Lamb has taken things even farther by making it to the end of the WSOP Main Event.

When the final table finishes play today, Lamb will be second in chips behind Pius Heinz, and in front of Martin Staszko. But no matter what happens, you can be sure that his name is already etched into WSOP lore since he’s guaranteed a top three Main Event finish on top of everything else.

The financial aspect is definitely worth noting in all of this too because Lamb has taken himself from being a well-paid grinder to being a bonafide multi-millionaire. Counting just his first four cashes, Lamb earned $1.3 million. And when you include his impending 2011 WSOP Main Event cash, he will make anywhere from $4 million to $8.7 million.

You could even say that Ben Lamb has had the best WSOP ever when the tournament field sizes and event skill levels are taken into account (four of the five events he’s cashed in were championships). Of course, that is something up for debate after looking back through history, but Lamb’s 2011 WSOP performance is definitely near the top.

 

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WSOP November Nine Format Gone?

Thursday, November 3rd, 2011

Since 2008, the World Series of Poker has been running their Main Event under the November Nine format, where the final nine players meet in November to decide the tournament results. Of course, since the first portion of the WSOP Main Event ends in July, this creates a four-month gap before the final table is decided.

It wasn’t always this way though since the WSOP used to run the Main Event and final table within the same two weeks. However, the change was made in 2008 to create more buildup for the tournament, and help ESPN earn higher TV ratings. But after four years with this experiment, WSOP officials are starting to wonder if the November Nine format is turning people off of the Main Event.

Seth Palansky, who is the WSOP Communications Director, spoke about this subject by telling reporters, “We’re committed to it but I think what we learned over the summer with the live and taped programming is that we’re going to have to revisit the concept after this November. If you’re doing something live do you really need to delay it four months and try to build this anticipation to get people to watch? It doesn’t quite work.”

The 2011 WSOP Main Event final table will meet this Sunday to determine who wins the $8.7 million top prize. So far, no drop-off is expected in the ESPN ratings since enthusiasm is high for the final segment of the tournament, but if the WSOP notices any drop at all, they could be going back to the regular format.

That said, most poker fans would probably welcome the change because that way, they wouldn’t have to wait four months just to see the tournament play out. But we’ll have to wait and see what the WSOP and ESPN end up determining in the end.

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Elio Fox wins 2011 WSOPE

Thursday, October 20th, 2011

American Elio Fox etched his name into poker lore by winning the 2011 WSOPE Main Event, and the biggest ever WSOPE prize at €1,400,000 ($1.93 million). With the victory, Fox becomes the third US player to win the WSOPE Main Event since it was started in 2007.

You could say that Elio Fox cruised through the final table since he entered the last day of play with 3.9 million chips – 1.2 million more than any other player. And Fox pushed his advantage throughout the whole day since he never lost his lead, and walked a heads-up match with Chris Moorman holding a 3-2 chip lead.

By no accounts did his chip lead over Moorman guarantee anything, but the UK native never really got within striking distance of Fox since the match ended in just 25 hands. On the last hand, neither player got help from the board, but Fox (A-T) held a better kicker than Moorman (A-7).

One of the biggest underlying themes going into the 2011 WSOPE Main Event was whether an American or European would win the tournament. Brit and 2010 WSOPE Main Event champion James Bord made this a big deal when he told MatchBook.com, “I don’t think an American can win the bracelet, Europeans are now far superior. We used to look up to the U.S. players back in the day, but those days are now long gone.”

Apparently Bord spoke too soon after looking at how Elio Fox did in the 2011 WSOPE Main Event. Unlike Bord, Fox was humble in victory as he told WSOP reporters, “I ran really well. I think I am pretty good at poker. But people put too much stock into somebody winning a tournament and I think that all the time when the media talks about a new player winning some tournaments….there’s a lot of luck in tournaments. Short-term results in tournaments really does not matter that much.”

He finished by adding, “There are a lot of great players with no wins to their name and some mediocre players with a lot of wins to their name. But, I was really fortunate to run this well.  I certainly hope it continues.”

2011 WSOPE Main Event final table results:

1. Elio Fox (US) – €1,400,000
2. Chris Moorman (UK) – €800,000
3. Mortiz Kranich (DE) – €550,000
4. Brian Roberts (US) – €400,000
5. Dermot Blain (IE) – €275,000
6. Shawn Buchanan (CA) – €200,000
7. Jake Cody (UK) – €150,000
8. Max Silver (UK) – €115,000

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2011 WSOPE Main Event sets Record

Wednesday, October 19th, 2011

Nobody’s going to mistake the WSOPE Main Event for the WSOP Main Event quite yet, but it’s definitely getting bigger. For evidence of this fact, you need look no farther than the fact that the 2011 WSOPE Main Event set the official attendance and prize pool record.

There were 593 players willing to ante up the €10,000 + €400 buy-in, and almost €5.7 million total will be paid out to the top 64 players. It’s definitely worth mentioning that the 2011 WSOPE Main Event winner will be walking away with a €1.4 million prize.

Looking back through history, nobody has managed to win this much money in the WSOPE Main Event. In fact, the biggest winner that we’ve seen in the tournament is Norwegian poker pro Annette Obrestad, who won the inaugural WSOPE ME in 2007, which netted her a predetermined €1 million. Since Obrestad’s victory, John Juanda is the next closest winner in terms of money since he earned €868,800 for taking down the 2008 WSOPE Main Event.

So who is bound to be the biggest winner in WSOPE history? Currently, little known American Elio Fox will headline the WSOPE final table since he’s got the most chips at 3.9 million. Just behind Fox in second place is UK poker sensation Jake Cody, who has 2.7 million chips. Cody is probably the most famous poker player on the final table – at least currently – since he won the $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up Championship at the 2011 WSOP, and earned Player of the Year honors at the 2011 British Poker Awards.

Another big name on this final table is Chris Moormon who, along with countryman Jake Cody, has had his fair share of success in the poker world. In any case, it will be interesting to see how the final table plays out, and who earns the title.

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NBC Heads-Up Poker Championship Cancelled

Friday, October 14th, 2011

The effects of Black Friday (April 15th) continue to linger today after the National Heads-Up Poker Championship was recently cancelled by NBC. Adam Freifeld, who is the NBC Sports Senior Director of Communications, announced the sad news when he said the network wanted to, “continue to evaluate our poker programming.”

The 64-player poker tournament had ran since 2005, and saw both poker pros and celebrities face-off in heads-up matches. Popular pro Erik Seidel won the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship, which appears to be the last event – at least for now. Of course, Freifeld’s wording does make it seem like the Heads-Up Championship could come back beyond 2012.

But before this happens, there will need to be some major sponsors because both PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker kept this event going. These were the two largest online poker rooms in the business for a while, and their millions of dollars in advertising revenue helped keep the Heads-Up Championship afloat. In addition to this, they also paid the buy-ins for many of the sponsored pros.

However, it’s obvious that Full Tilt Poker won’t be pumping any more advertising money or buy-in fees into the tournament since they are losing a fight for their very existence. And last we checked, the Groupe Bernard Tapie rumored acquisition is only going to be a minority ownership deal – if it even amounts to anything.

As for PokerStars, they’re doing quite well, but they no longer cater to American players. That said, there’s no reason to sponsor the National Heads-Up Championship because NBC is based in the United States. And while the TV show drew a considerable amount of viewers from outside the states, the number isn’t high enough to justify keeping the show on air.

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