Posts Tagged ‘EPT’

John Duthie Moves foreshadow US Online Poker Regulation

Thursday, January 5th, 2012

John Duthie has become a legend within the poker community for starting up the European Poker Tour, and helping it to become one of the top three poker tournament organizations in the world. Interestingly enough though, Duthie resigned from his position as CEO of the EPT, and also chose not to renew his contract with PokerStars.

Duthie’s decision to leave the EPT especially comes as a shock because the UK native has successfully guided this company towards major TV deals and profits in his seven years with them. So what could make him leave the company he started and a lucrative deal with PokerStars? The answer is that Duthie is eyeing something even bigger in the US online poker market.

As of now, the future of US online poker is in limbo because the UIGEA is still in effect, and it’s unclear as to whether states, the federal government, or a combination of both will bring online poker games to players. However, one clear thing is that internet poker is closer than it’s ever been to being fully legalized in the US. And for someone like Duthie to leave behind big money-making jobs to chase after American opportunities has to mean something.

The 53-year-old basically said so in as many words by stating, “There are going to be some amazing opportunities coming up in 2012 and 2013 as the U.S. market prepares to open up for business once again, and I want to be available to take on new challenges, and to cement new relationships moving forward.”

We don’t know exactly what Duthie plans to do in a free online poker world over in America, but it’s got to be something big. Furthermore, you have to think that Duthie has some insider knowledge that the US is really getting close to regulating online poker on a wide scale level.

Jake Cody and Hans Vogl sign Online Poker Deals

Friday, November 18th, 2011

The past few days have seen some big online poker signings with both Jake Cody and Hans Vogl inking sponsorship deals. Cody was the biggest signing since the UK poker pro is one of only four players to have won poker’s triple crown (WSOP, EPT and WPT title).

What’s truly amazing about this is that Cody’s major titles have come within a two-year span. In 2010, he won the EPT Deauville ($1,213,194) and WPT London ($425,492) tournaments, while 2011 saw him take down the WSOP $25k Heads-up title ($851,192) to complete the triple crown. In all Cody has $2,870,822 in poker tournament winnings.

After signing with PKR, Cody talked about how excited he was over the sponsorship deal by saying, “I’m very excited about joining Team PKR Pro. I’ve been patient with sponsorship, waiting for the right deal to come along.” He also added, “When I spoke to PKR I was really impressed with the whole setup and the ideas that they have going forward, and I knew straight away I wanted to be part of it! It’s a great site to be involved with right now and I think I can help take it to the next level.”

Hans Vogl may not be as decorated as Jake Cody, but Betfair saw enough in the self-taught grinder and poker writer to offer a deal. His best tournament finish is a 5th place effort in the 2007 Aussie Millions ($318,112) event, and his career earnings amount to $412,581.
Vogl started out playing low stakes online poker games, and was fairly average in the beginning. However, in just three short years, he transformed into a pro player through hard work and persistence. The new Team Betfair member spoke about his transformation by saying, “Hard work I would say. Reading books, analyzing hand histories, discussing hands with friends. Then of course playing, playing and playing to get into a routine. It is also important to have self-discipline in order to avoid chasing losses or going on tilt.”

Betfair manager Asko Heiskanen also discussed the signing by saying, “We are always looking for great players who can represent Betfair. Hans has demonstrated time and time again that he is a player of extraordinary skills. We believe there’s much more to come from him and we are delighted he has joined Team Betfair.”

Mike McDonald wins Lackluster Epic Poker League

Saturday, September 10th, 2011

The second ever Epic Poker League Main Event wasn’t exactly a resounding success since just 97 of the 200 invited poker pros joined the tournament. Seeing as how invited players are given a free $20,000 Main Event seat, and hotel/travel costs are covered, you have to wonder about the future of this organization.

In any case, the 97 players that did show up to the Epic Poker League certainly weren’t sorry because a $2.3 million prize pool was up for grabs, and the first place finisher was guaranteed $782k. Once everything was decided on the poker tables, Mike McDonald was crowned the champion.

McDonald, who became the youngest EPT winner in history after taking down the 2008 EPT Dortmund Main Event, outlasted David Steicke in heads-up play to scoop the big prize. And what’s nice about this win is that McDonald will have something extra to celebrate for his birthday tomorrow, when he turns 22. The Canadian now has $3,668,524 in live tournament winnings.

Of course, this is nowhere close to the $16.8 million that Erik Seidel has earned throughout his career, which ranks first all-time. And the reason why we’re bringing up Seidel is because the former New Yorker took fourth place in this tournament, and earned $184k for yet another solid finish this year. He took second place in the first Epic Poker League tournament too, and has earned $6,445,168 in 2011 alone!

It’s also worth mentioning that French poker star Fabrice Soulier took third place in this tournament, while the oft-hated Dutch Boyd finished in eighth place. Here is a look at the full standings from the second Epic Poker League Main Event:

1. Mike McDonald – $782,410
2. David Steicke – $506,260
3. Fabrice Soulier – $299,160
4. Erik Seidel – $184,100
5. Nam Le – $126,570
6. Isaac Baron – $92,050
7. Sean Getzwiller – $69,040
8. Dutch Boyd – $57,530

 

 

Jake Cody named Poker Player of the Year

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Jake Cody started the 2011 WSOP off with a bang after winning the $25k No-Limit Hold’em Heads-up Championship. And his reward for winning was a massive $851,192 prize and a WSOP gold bracelet. Perhaps even bigger than the bracelet though was the fact that Cody became only the fourth person ever to win poker’s triple crown, which includes winning a WSOP, EPT and WPT title.

With Cody joining the ranks of poker’s elite, it’s no surprise that he cleaned up at the 2011 British Poker Awards by taking “Player of the Year” and “Best Tournament Player” honors. As for the voting process, the 2011 British Poker Awards are a unique deal because those attending the Poker in the Park festival get to vote on winners.

Seeing as how Poker in the Park is held in London, it’s not surprising that the UK’s Cody was able to take the Player of the Year title – although this isn’t to say that he didn’t earn it. In addition to Cody winning a couple of awards, quite a few other UK pros earned some hardware, including Chris Moorman (Best Online Player), Sam Trickett (Best Cash Player) and Matt Perkins (Best Breakout Player).

The British poker fans did show some love to people outside of the UK since they voted Jason Mercier as the “Best International Player” and Kara Scott as the “Best Poker Personality.” It’s no surprise that Mercier would win an honor since most poker tournament rankings – including ESPN’s – continually put the Florida-based pro at the top of the list. As for Scott, the Canadian hostess of Poker After Dark seems to be loved by all in the poker community since she’s got looks and a great personality (as the award alludes to).

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier joins Triple Crown – wins Seven Card Stud Championship

Wednesday, June 15th, 2011

While Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has become one of the best poker players of all-time, the one knock against him is that he hasn’t won a WSOP bracelet. However, this all changed when Grospellier won the $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship at the 2011 WSOP.

The Frenchman cruised through a 126-player field that included some incredible players such as Alexander Kostritsyn (5th place), Chad Brown (6th place), Nick Schulman (9th place), Men Nguyen (10th place), Ville Wahlbeck (12th place), Jason Mercier (14th place) and Matthew Hawrilenko (16th place). After winning, ElkY hauled in $331,639 and joined the prestigious triple crown club (EPT, WPT and WSOP title).

Previously, the only players to win the triple crown included Gavin Griffin, Roland De Wolfe and Jake Code (via 2011 WSOP). Now Grospellier has cemented himself further into poker lore by becoming only the fourth person to win the triple crown.

As far as Grospellier’s march to the incredible accomplishment goes, he kicked things off by winning the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. ’08 turned out to be a great year for ElkY as he went on to capture the WPT Championship title as well. But as quickly as WPT and EPT success came, Grospellier had to wait quite some time before he finally tasted true WSOP success.

Fortunately for him, the time has finally come, and he can now add WSOP hardware to his already impressive list of accomplishments. With the Seven Card Stud Championship now under his belt, Grospellier now has almost $8 million in live tournament winnings, which ranks him 25th on the all-time money list. And since ElkY puts a lot of focus on live tournaments, you can bet that he will be moving up on the list over the next few years.

 

San Remo Turnout Breaks European Poker Tour Records

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

Last weekend, the European Poker Tour San Remo event broke EPT records for the largest turnout ever. 1,240 players showed up in Italy to play poker and experience one of the most exciting international poker events. The large number of players resulted in a whopping €6 million prize pool and the top tournament winner will go home with €1.25 million.

A lot of people had been wondering if the robbery that occurred at the EPT event in Berlin would keep players from coming to other tournaments around Europe. Apparently poker players are not afraid, as this turnout is larger than any EPT event has seen in the past.

What really amazes me is that so many players showed up in Italy despite the Icelandic volcano. Flights throughout Europe have been cancelled as a result of the ash in the sky, yet all these players still make it there. Of course, it wasn’t easy for everyone. Pro poker player Barry Greenstein has a lot of trouble getting there, logging over 40 hours of travel time. Because of flight cancellations he was not able to fly the whole way and had to drive for quite some time. Unfortunately, by the time Greenstein arrived at the tournament almost a fifth of his chips had been eaten up by blinds, as he arrived late.

Other big-name pro poker players competing in the tournament include Bertrand Grospeller, Steve Gross and Jason Mercier.