Round 2 Matches Begin on Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship

31/08/2010 // tags: Round 2 Matches Begin on Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship

On Saturday night, the second round of regular season matches kicked off on the Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship, which airs on GSN. Each of the 32 players in the field bought in for $50,000 and had already played out one match.



In Match #5, which spanned the first 30 minutes of the one-hour GSN show, Howard Lederer paired with Phil “OMGClayAiken” Galfond, Mike Matusow teamed with Phil Laak, Andy Bloch teamed with Annie Duke, and Erick Lindgren teamed with former World Poker Tour Championship winner David Chiu. Players alternate action by street and each team is allowed one time out to talk strategy.



Matusow and Laak, by far the most talkative pair at the table, were all-in with K-10 against Lederer and Galfond’s A-9 of spades. The latter team flopped top pair on an ace-high board and never looked back, leaving Matusow and Laak with zero points towards the end-of-season standings. Matusow proceeded to exit stage left and then chucked a water bottle at his partner.




Bloch and Duke hit the rails in third place after the reigning National Heads-Up Poker Championship victor open-shoved all-in pre-flop with Q-8. Galfond peeked down at A-6 of diamonds and called for time to consult with Lederer, claiming, “You’re going to know better than me.” Lederer, Duke’s brother, told Galfond to make the call and the door card was an ace. The board eventually ran out 5-2-A-7-10 and Duke and Bloch hit the rail in third place, netting four points.



Lederer committed his team’s chips with J-5 pre-flop and Lindgren called all-in with A-6 in prime position to double up. The board blanked out until a six hit on the turn, leaving Lederer and Galfond with 11 outs heading to the river. Sure enough, a three came, giving the team a straight, the title in Match #5, and 20 points towards the regular season. Lindgren and Chiu each received 11 points.



On his 31 points after two regular season matches, Lederer told Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship hostess Lacey Jones, “Obviously, after two rounds, it’s a great spot for us.” Galfond gave viewers a peek inside his chemistry with Lederer: “We have somewhat different styles, more on the early streets, but when it comes down to it, poker’s still poker.” The top 16 players from the regular season will advance to the postseason.



In Match #6, Huck Seed paired with Annette Obrestad, David Oppenheim paired with Gavin Smith, Vivek “Psyduck” Rajkumar paired with PartyPoker’s Tony G, and Justin “Boosted J” Smith paired with Tom Dwan. The second match covered the second half-hour of the one-hour GSN show.



After dropping a 46,000-chip pot by calling with ace-high, Dwan and “Boosted J” were all-in with Q-8 against Oppenheim and Smith’s 9-6 of diamonds. Oppenheim and Smith flopped middle pair, but faced a flush draw heading to the river. However, the final card was a brick and “Boosted J” and Dwan were the first casualty of Match #6. Dwan has yet to record a point towards the regular season standings.



Oppenheim and Gavin Smith ran 9-7 of hearts into pocket aces to double up Seed and Obrestad. Moments earlier, the latter pair had bickered after Seed put in a raise on a board reading 6-3-4-5 holding 5-4. Obrestad argued that Seed should have simply called behind. The two ultimately righted the ship after hitting a runner-runner straight to bust Oppenheim and Gavin Smith and set up heads-up play.




Obrestad and Seed continued to struggle to work as a team, receiving a one-round penalty after Obrestad talked strategy with Seed without holding cards. Nevertheless, they came out on top after spiking a flush on the river when Rajkumar and Tony G were all-in with pocket eights. Seed recorded his second straight Full Tilt Doubles Poker Championship win and has 40 regular season points. Obrestad and Rajkumar each have 31 points.



The action continues this Saturday at 9:00pm ET on GSN.



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Tom Dwan vs JungleMan12 Durrrr Challenge Kicks Off

28/08/2010 // tags: Tom Dwan vs JungleMan12 Durrrr Challenge Kicks Off

The poker world watched in earnest late last night as the second installment of the Tom Dwan Million Dollar Challenge kicked off on Full Tilt Poker. Although no official tracking page exists, Dwan got off to a quick $130,000 lead over Dan “JungleMan12” Cates after 1,651 hands, according to the High Stakes DB and Dwan’s Twitter.



Whereas the first Durrrr Challenge, which has not yet been completed, pits Dwan against Patrik Antonius in $200/$400 Pot Limit Omaha, the newest installment will see $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em being played. A total of 50,000 hands will take place and Dwan outlined an important caveat on his blog: “Need to add on if below 75bb, can get up anytime effective stacks are >250bb.” In addition, the two have agreed to run it twice throughout the challenge, somewhat mitigating variance.



If Dwan is up $1 at the end of 50,000 No Limit Hold’em hands, then Cates will owe him $500,000 and he’s already escrowed the cash to Full Tilt Poker pro Phil Ivey. Contrastingly, if Cates is up $1 at the end of 50,000 hands, then Dwan will owe $1.5 million, as he laid 3:1 odds on his money. In either case, the victor will keep the spoils of the challenge.




In one hand, Cates made it $1,200 pre-flop and Dwan made the call to see a flop of 10-2-2 with two spades. Dwan checked, Cates led out for $2,000, and Dwan called to bring the nine of hearts on the turn. Dwan once again checked, Cates fired out a bet of $5,600 into a pot of $12,000, and Dwan made the call.



The river was the six of spades, putting three of the suit on the board, and Dwan continued to let Cates lead by checking. Cates bet $13,400, Dwan moved all-in for nearly $200,000, and Cates insta-called all-in for about $34,000. When the cards were revealed, Dwan showed Q-J for what ESPN poker commentator Norman Chad would dub “nuclear squadoosh” and Cates tabled K-8 of spades for the second nut flush. The pot was worth $86,000 after Dwan’s ill-timed bluff.



Over on the TwoPlusTwo poker forums, the railbirds were out in force watching the first day of action in the Dwan versus Cates Durrrr Challenge. A bevy of hands were posted, including one in which Dwan scooped a $104,000 pot with 10-8 for two pair after Cates’ flopped straight draw failed to hit. In a separate hand, Dwan’s A-J withstood pocket tens after the money went in a board of A-3-A-6. The river was run twice – both cards were kings – and Dwan collected a $119,000 payday.



On the official Durrrr Challenge stats page posted on Full Tilt Poker, a session at the challenge tables that began at 7:43am ET on Friday morning lasted three hours saw 1,323 hands played. “Antonius” is listed as its winner to the tune of $234,000, which in all likelihood means that Cates mounted a comeback.



Dwan posted on his Twitter feed to confirm that he was up nearly $130,000 after 1,651 hands. In addition, he had received some tasty brain food from his girlfriend: “My gf made this tasty pasta n rice dish which I ate a bunch of the last few days. Just saw mushrooms in it which I thought I hate – sik life.” He’s fresh off a 35-hour online poker session, making his early success against Cates even more impressive.



Cates recently signed with CardRunners, one of the industry’s top poker training sites.




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Andy Frankenberger Leads WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

Andy Frankenberger Leads WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

26/08/2010 // tags: Andy Frankenberger Leads WPT Legends of Poker Final Table

Andy Frankenberger owns a slight chip lead over the rest of the pack entering the final table of the World Poker Tour (WPT) Legends of Poker. His stack of 3.02 million represents the lone tally at the table over three million. At stake are a $750,000 grand prize and a seat into the end-of-season WPT Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.



The Bicycle Casino in nearby Los Angeles is playing host to the Legends of Poker. Since WPT final tables are played six-handed, the distinction of Bubble Boy went to Steve Reitzfeld, who busted in seventh place for $45,000. Reitzfeld moved all-in on a flop of 5-4-3 holding A-7 for two overcards and a gutshot. Tom Lee looked him up with a wired pair of nines and a running 3-J cemented the six-handed finale.



Online poker player Wade Woelfel hit the rail in eighth place after running pocket tens into the pocket queens of Lee. Following the back-to-back eliminations, Lee vaulted to 2.92 million in chips, good for second place at the Legends of Poker final table behind Frankenberger. The chip leader told WPT hostess Kimberly Lansing, “My strategy has been consistently inconsistent, so I’ll try to keep that up.”




Tyler “brainwash” Cornell was ousted from the WPT Legends of Poker in 11th place and picked up $24,000. Cornell open-shoved all-in pre-flop with A-8 and received a call from Frankenberger, who held pocket rockets. No help came for Cornell, who picked up his second WPT in the money finish. Cornell’s elimination set up the unofficial final table, as the 10 players remaining combined into one group.



Victory Poker’s Jonathan “FieryJustice” Little was gunning for his record-tying third WPT title on Tuesday. However, his bid ultimately came up short, as Little found the exit in 12th place. In his final hand, Little called all-in on a board of Js-6h-2d-7s-10s. Frankenberger flipped over 8s-6s for a runner-runner flush and Little exited stage right. He Twittered after the fact, “Ran into runner-runner flush of the table clown twice. Guess I just suck.”



The good news for Little is that, according to his Twitter feed, he won $1,500 in the Los Angeles airport while waiting for his Southwest Airlines flight back to Las Vegas: “Flying to LAS. Wheeeee. Somehow won $1,500 online in the airport despite being on monster tilt. Shiiiiippp.” Little has 11 cashes in WPT tournaments and was the Season VI Player of the Year after logging two final tables and bubbling a third.



Perhaps the most memorable ride on Tuesday belonged to Adam Schiffer. In a span of just three hands, Schiffer lost pocket queens to Lee’s A-Q and pocket kings to Jared Jaffee’s A-Q of clubs. In the latter hand, Jaffee flopped a pair of queens, but rivered a flush to deliver the bad beat. One player at the table noted, “[Schiffer] built up this great image where everyone thinks he’s bluffing, and then he traps them with strong hands – and loses.”



Here are the chip stacks of the six players remaining in the hunt for the WPT Legends of Poker title:



1. Andy Frankenberger – 3,015,000


2. Tom Lee – 2,915,000

3. Kyle Wilson – 2,854,000

4. Jared Jaffee – 1,006,000

5. Tom Braband – 968,000

6. Franco Brunetti – 800,000



The experienced final table includes Jaffee, who made the finale of the WPT Southern Poker Championship in January. Kyle Wilson took sixth in the Legends of Poker two years ago, while Lee finished sixth in this tournament 2004. For Frankenberger, Tom Braband, and Franco Brunetti, this year’s Legends of Poker marks their first WPT final table.



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PartyPoker Announces September Snowball Promotion

24/08/2010 // tags: PartyPoker Announces September Snowball Promotion

In September, PartyPoker, an independent online poker site, will hold the Snowball promotion, dishing out up to $5,000 in cash and $100,000 in freeroll entries per person. Why is it called the Snowball, you ask, when winter in many parts of the globe has not yet set in? Text found on PartyPoker’s website explains the wintry name: “The Snowball gives you the chance to pick up a huge amount of prizes as you gather momentum.”



PartyPoker officials have established 15 different points levels for play between September 1st and 30th. As PartyPoker players move up in levels, they’ll keep everything they’ve earned in previous levels, making for a potentially lucrative payday. The minimum point level is five, which will earn its achievers a $5,000 freeroll entry. When a player hits 25 Party Points, they’ll leap to a $10,000 freeroll entry; plus, they’ll still be able to vie for $5,000.



Point levels exist at five, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 15,000, 20,000, 30,000, 40,000, and 50,000. The granddaddy of prizes – given out to players who can accrue 50,000 Party Points in September – is $5,000 in cash plus entries into $100,000 worth of freerolls. Cash prizes kick in at the 500-point level, with a minimum payout of $20 up for grabs. Palladium Lounge players are more than welcome to participate in the Snowball promotion.




The $5,000 Snowball freeroll will take place on October 4th. The next day, a $10,000 freebie will play out. On October 6th, a $15,000 freeroll will be held, while on October 7th, the prize pool will jump to $20,000. The largest freeroll, totaling $50,000, will take place on October 8th. Each freeroll will issue its starting command at 14:30 ET.



Also on the horizon for PartyPoker is the September running of the Monthly Million, which is slated to occur on the 5th. The tournament marks the first Monthly Million held since July 18th as part of a revamped schedule in July and August. Qualifiers for the Monthly Million start as low as $1 and the marquee PartyPoker event comes with a $640 price tag. You can find it in the site’s lobby on the first Sunday of every month.



Every day, PartyPoker hosts a $70 buy-in Monthly Million qualifier that offers up at least 19 seats. On Fridays, look for a $55 Mega Friday Satellite that guarantees 20 seats to the $640 spectacular. Two other qualifiers, each with a $35 buy-in, take place on Saturdays, one at 09:00 ET and the other 14:30 ET. Combined, the Saturday qualifiers guarantee 18 seats.



Daily points qualifiers and country-specific freerolls can also stamp your ticket to the Monthly Million on PartyPoker. The tournament offers a Championship blind structure and its field boasts some of the top players that Europe and other areas outside of the United States have to offer.



PartyPoker, once the largest site in the industry, features a team of sponsored pros that includes World Poker Tour host and Poker Hall of Fame Class of 2009 inductee Mike Sexton, bad boy Tony G, and “High Stakes Poker” hostess Kara Scott. Its parent company, Party Gaming, is publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange and will likely merge with rival site bwin.



Snowball your way to $5,000 in cash plus $100,000 in freeroll entries in September. Visit PartyPoker to learn more.




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