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March 29th, 2011 by admin

Though the year has started with a downswing for Phil Ivey, there is nothing to worry about because recently he managed to win $1.5 million in just one day at online poker. What else should we expect of one of the best poker players in the world?

The earnings gathered so far in 2011 have been done in a relatively small number of hands,13 399 to be more precise, and mostly against the sharks of online poker. $1 million alone was reaped from only 2 opponents: Daniel “jungleman12″ Cates and Scott “URnotINdanger” Palmer.

Since 2007, Phil Ivey has gathered almost $20 million in cash games. In addition, he managed to accumulate more than 13.5 $million from tournaments.

For a more detailed list of earnings since 2007 see below:

2007 : 1.994.049 $
2008 : 7.335.112 $
2009 : 6.337.702 $
2010 : 2.239.568 $
2011 : 1.553.506 $ (in progress)

Besides his passion for poker, Phil Ivey is a sport amateur and consequently a sports betting pro. Undoubtedly, his earnings are not limited to poker winnings alone, but include money obtained from online sports betting.

Another piece of information about this passionate gambler is that he will soon launch his own website with the following aim: “Now I’m going to teach the whole world to win at poker”. It remains to be seen what the website will consist of but Phil Ivey’s proclaimed aim has made us all extremely curious.

February 25th, 2011 by admin

An experienced poker player is aware that position is an extremely important factor in the game and plays a huge part in his success or failure. To play in position means to be the last player to make his move.

Playing in position represents an advantage because you have the maximum amount of information. You have a large manoeuvre margin because you have observed your opponents’ actions before it is your turn to play, and thus you are more at liberty as to what you are going to do with your hand. A player who is not in position is left in the dark, trying to guess the value of his opponents’ hands.

Positions can be of three types:  early, middle and last. In early positions you should play very tight and fold when you have a poor hand. Since you are out of position you can counteract that by reducing the time you spend playing out of position and wait for other players to exit the table.

When you are in position poker seems easy and it is a pleasure to play it. When you’re about to join a table, try to observe the table beforehand and get seated at the left of the weak players. This will allow you to be in position most of the time and take advantage of the weaker players who may not be aware of your strategy.

Playing in position offers a player such an edge that it is sometimes referred to as the “Jesus Seat”. The power and control that you have over the other players, and thus the game, makes the “Jesus Seat” craved by everyone. Your rivals have no other option but to defend themselves in what is called “scared poker”, always apprehensive about the outcome of the hand.

The opposite of being in position is to be out of position, and this happens in the early positions. These are usually the first 4 places at the left of the button (i.e. the person who puts the blinds), the first being the worst. This first position is also called “under the gun” because the player in this position is the first to take action after the blinds, which is like walking in a mined field. Under the gun, you will be the first to act before the flop and among the first to act after the flop, so you will always be deprived of any information concerning your opponents’ actions and hands, information which is available to the players in late positions. They are in position so they control and define the way a hand is played.

You shouldn’t despair though if you happen to be out of position. Hopefully, there are some strategies and techniques to save you in this case. You should play only really good hands comprised of aces, kings and pairs. If you have pocket aces, pocket kings or pocket queens or ace king you should raise at a tight table, and limp in at a loose table.

You can gather some information about your opponents by placing some “feeler” bets in an early position and see their reaction to it. Generally, when out of position make sure that your game is extremely tight and play only stronger hands. On the other hand, late positions give you the option of playing drawing hands.

January 20th, 2011 by admin

An important Omaha player of our days, Robert Williamson III, has the following opinion about his favourite game: “poker’s a day to learn and a lifetime to master“. You may think that he exaggerates a little, given that poker has only 52 cards and 9 pre-established winning hands. It is true that poker theory has evolved so much that you can find tens of books on this topic but why is it necessary a lifetime to master it, as Williamson put it?

Well, the explanation is quite simple: the competition nowadays has become so fierce that poker theory alone doesn’t guarantee your success at the poker table. Nowadays, you must possess some unique skill if you want to be so successful as to make a living out of poker. Back in the 70′s, when poker was starting to develop as a professional game, some players (for example Doyle Brunson, Chip Reese and David Sklansky) could win more easily than now. Why? Because they knew the mathematics of the poker game. Knowing mathematical probabilities and playing by them was a huge advantage against their opponents who were either uneducated or playing just for fun.

Things have changed. Nowadays almost every player knows poker mathematics so this is no longer a competitive advantage. So what can you do to win? You have to develop some extra skill. Tom Dwan uses smart aggression and leaves the impression that he has no respect for money and yet this tactic makes him win big. Daniel Negreanu is an impressive reader who is able to distinguish real hands from bluffs most of the time. Of course, he acquired this skill after years of playing and observing his opponents, so you must invest time, money and first and foremost passion and perseverance. I personally believe that another good tactic is to ride the opponent who allows you to manipulate him and then annihilate his aggression.

December 24th, 2010 by admin

Here are some useful news for PokerStars players: PokerStars will apply some changes to their VIP Programme for the next year. It is possible that some of these changes come in response to a recent bug at their VIP programme that increased the value of the loyalty points, much to the enjoyment of some players who have immediately taken advantage of the situation. Probably these changes will simplify the software,thus reducing the risk of experiencing future bugs.

One of the changes envisaged for the new VIP programme is that the Reward Bonuses purchased from the VIP Store are immediately transferred to players’ account. This promotion is actually active since October 1st 2010 but will remain active throughout 2011. Other changes of the new VIP programme that are supposed to become active from January 1st, 2011 are:

The normal earn rate for VPPs will still be 6x for cash tables and 5.5x for the rest of the games, apart from certain micro-stakes games. Depending on how big the stake is, at No Limit and Pot Limit No Limit Holdem games, the VPP multiplier has increased in order to earn them more easily:

$0.01/$0.02: 10x
$0.02/$0.05: 8.5x
$0.05/$0.10: 7x

€0.01/€0.02: 12.5x
€0.02/€0.05: 10.5x
€0.05/€0.10: 9x

According to the site, this change is not only a promotion, it is established permanently. PokerStars notes on the site that “some older tables awarding the previous VPP rates may still exist until the first server restart of 2011.”

The Supernova Elite programme will suffer some changes as well. Earning the SNE status in 2011 will bring a player significant discounts at the VIP Store for packages to main events such as EPT, NAPT, LAPT and APPT tours sponsored by PokerStars. The biggest discounts are offered for the Grand Finale packages at PCA or EPT. Players with already acquired SNE status will also receive rewards as presented above. The VIPs of Supernova Elite programme with a SNE status will continue to receive 5 FPP for each VPP, plus a free entry to the WCOOP Main Event.

The prices of the Milestone Cash Credits will be reduced from 50,000 FPP to only 1 FPP, which aligns it with VIP Stellar Rewards. As a means to simplify this programme, each Milestone Cash Credit will be $800 smaller though this does not represent a change in value.

Further details about these changes can be found on PokerStars website.

A list of the Miles Stone Cash Credits available to Supernova VIP players for each FPP they have:

$2,600 at 200,000 VPPs
$2,800 at 300,000 VPPs
$3,000 at 400,000 VPPs
$3,200 at 500,000 VPPs
$3,600 at 600,000 VPPs
$3,800 at 700,000 VPPs
$4,200 at 800,000 VPPs

Milestone Cash Credits available for Supernova Elite players for 1FPP:

$20,000 at 1,000,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 1,250,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 1,500,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 1,750,000 VPPs
$19,200 at 2,000,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 2,250,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 2,500,000 VPPs
$9,200 at 2,750,000 VPPs
$19,200 at 3,000,000 VPPs

November 23rd, 2010 by admin

According to reports and statistics from professionals in the gambling industry, Macau has gradually become the new Las Vegas and has even surpassed the classical American gambling destination. In fact, Macau’s cash games dwarf even the biggest high-stake games from poker hotspots around the world.

Cash games in Macau are especially dedicated for foreign and local businessmen, for the crème de la crème of the business community. Nonetheless, these semi-private high-stake poker encounters are accessible to a limited number of professional poker players. “For now it looks like the game will be on break, at least for the US visitors” read a comment from the 2+2 forum as the Macau games ended.

Two of the major poker players that were present at the cash-game session in Macau were Phil Ivey and Tom “Durrrr” Dwan and as some declared they both finished with full pockets. After more than a week, the Tiger Woods of poker took a plane direction US while ‘Durrrr’ remained in Asia for a few more days to relax before returning home.

According to a comment of Matt Savage on the 2+2 forum, Tom Dwan has ended the Macau episode $8.8million richer after a 15 hour heads-up with a rich local businessman.

“The game broke last night after a mammoth near 48 hour session where it started 5-6 handed, was HU for a while and then others joined again at the end. The game would have broken today anyway as some of the principals are going out of town for a week, we expect it to resume in a week or so. Phil and Durrrr both ended up overall for the trip and am sure will be looking forward to an invite back. Dwan expected to relax in Asia for a few days before heading back to the US. “

Further comments of Matt Savage and Tom Hall on the 2+2 forum revealed that cash games at Macau during the past week have risen to crazy levels, with the biggest no-limit game featuring aproximately $6,500/$13,000 blinds.

November 3rd, 2010 by admin

The European Poker Tour Vienna has recently ended but this event lingers in the memory of those who watched it due to the issue between Daniel Negreanu and Martin Hruby. Negreanu finished 4^th but the controversy that he stirred up made him the main point of attraction.

Everything was going smoothly for Daniel at EPT Vienna until the final table, when a single hand turned him from the chip leader to a short-stacked player. The three-way pot was made of Negreanu, Luca Cainelli and Martin Hruby.

On the turn, the board showed Ks 8h 5h 9s and the players held the following hands:

Negreanu: Kd 9d (two pair)

Hruby: 7c 6d (straight)

Cainelli: As Ad (pair)

At that point, Negreanu and Cainelli moved all-in but Hruby took a few more seconds to think before finally calling and showing his cards. This extra time that Hruby took to call even though he had a strong hand made Negreanu take fire. He accused Hruby of breaching the poker etiquette by slowrolling his hand.

“Why did you slowroll that hand?” Negreanu asked Hruby. “You knew that you had the nuts.”

When 5c was revealed on the river, Cainelli exited the table on 5^th position, Negreanu’s chip stack was badly damaged and Hruby was the new chip leader.

Soon after that hand, Negreanu was eliminated on 4^th position. As he was preparing to leave the table and saying his goodbyes to the remaining players, he berated again Hruby: “I shouldn’t shake your hand. That’s the filthiest thing I’ve ever seen, but I’ll do it anyway.”

Negreanu was so annoyed by Hruby’s inadequate behaviour that this was all he talked about in a post-tournament interview.

October 14th, 2010 by admin

Jenji Kohan and Matthew Salsberg, the producers of TV series ‘Weeds’, are preparing the launch of a new show for the American channel Showtime. This one will be called ‘Whales’ and it will be focused on poker and located in Las Vegas.

This comedy, which is currently in development, will feature a group of young poker players, more or less endowed and willing to do their best in famous tournaments. The launch date is still a mystery but what is known is that the episode format of ‘Whales’ will be similar to that of ‘Weeds’, that is approximately 30 minutes.

The producers enjoy tremendous success with the marijuana-themed ‘Weeds’ which is now at its sixth season on Showtime and hope ‘Whales’ will have a similar evolution. As far as ‘Weeds’ is concerned, the TV Guide Network will organize the “National Weeds Awareness Week” on October 17th where back-to-back episodes of the popular will air on the network.

Usually, poker-related TV shows haven’t been so popular with TV viewers. For example, ‘Tilt’ starring Micheal Madsen and aired on ESPN in 2005, lasted only one season. Additionally, an NBC series about the life of poker pro Annie Duke was envisaged to be produced but this show never appeared on TV.

We will just have to wait and see if ‘Whales’ will hit a success similar to that of other ‘Showtime’ series such as ‘Dexter’ or ‘Californication’.

September 24th, 2010 by admin

Blackjack originates in a number of games played in Europe in the 17th century, all of which sharing the common objective of reaching a total of 21.

The first references to this game trace back to 1601 when, Miguel de Cervantes, a Spanish writer, talked in one of his stories about two men who specialized in cheating at a game named “Ventiuna”, the Spanish equivalent for 21. The French version was Vingt et Un, which is the French for 21.

After the French revolution Blackjack was introduced in the Unitated States. In the beginning, the game was not so popular in the gambling houses. This determined the owners to offer large bonuses to attract players. A common bonus was a payout of 10 to 1 for the hand consisting of a blackjack and an ace of spades. The hand was called “blackjack” which gave the name to the game. Although this payout was withdrawn later, the game continued to be called blackjack. After a while, blackjack became illegal and as a consequence it was played in secret until 1931 when gambling was legalised in Las Vegas.

Even though blackjack may seem just a game of luck, it is actually a game of skill and not many players can figure out the best moves. In 1953, the first manual describing blackjack strategies was published and determined the reduction of the house edge. In the early 1960′s that blackjack theory was considerably improved by the contribution of Edward Thorp who discovered that counting the discarded cards is the optimum strategy to bring an average return of over 100%. His book entitled Beat the Dealer was a bestseller. Initially, the casinos were apprehensive of this discovery but they quickly realized that only a small number of players could in fact count cards so they should not worry about a reduction in profits.

Blackjack had an interesting evolution along its century-long life since it became what it is now. In the mid 1990s, it entered the Internet along with many other online games that players can easily have access to from the privacy of their homes. The story of blackjack still writes itself as new variants of this game continue to appear online, to the satisfaction of thousands of players.

September 2nd, 2010 by admin

Choosing a poker player as inductee for the Poker Hall of Fame in 2010 is a process approaching its completion. The public has voted for their favourite players in the last 2 months.

The 10 nominees resulted from the public voting will then go under the scrutiny of a 16 member committee which will make the final vote for the most ‘virtuous’ player of the year. Besides the 2010 inductee, the committee will also vote a player who will automatically participate in next year’s selection process for the Poker Hall of Fame.

The conditions required for entering the Poker Hall of Fame are:

• The player had to play against acknowledged top players
• To play for high stakes
• To have a consistently good game of poker
• To show his/her poker abilities over a long period of time
• Or, for non-players, to have contributed to the evolution of poker by making long-term positive improvements

The 2010 nominees, as voted by the public, are:

• CHRIS FERGUSON
• BARRY GREENSTEIN
• JENNIFER HARMAN-TRANIELLO
• DAN HARRINGTON
• PHIL IVEY
• LINDA JOHNSON
• TOM McEVOY
• DANIEL NEGREANU
• SCOTTY NGUYEN
• ERIK SEIDEL

August 24th, 2010 by admin

The European Poker Tour will arrive at the end of August in the magnificent sea-side resort of Vilamoura, in Algarve, Portugal. For 5 days (August 28 – September 2), the cream of the poker community will meet at EPT Vilamoura to play poker and golf and enjoy the sea and the sun.

This 1100€ contest is special in terms of format: participants should buy-in or win a golf/poker package of €1100 (€770+€70 for poker and € 260for golf) which will be used for confronting each other on the golf fairways for two days and then at the poker tables.

More than 130 players have already qualified for this tournament via PokerStars. They will join in game some of the best poker players in the world. Daniel Negreanu, a Team PokerStars Pro and a poker legend, will be there. His poker skills coupled with his passion for golf make him a serious opponent at Vilamoura EPT.

Besides Negreanu, some of the other poker experts are: John Duthie (EPT founder), James Dempsey (WSOP bracelet winner), Teddy Sherigan (friend of PokerStars and football legend), David Williams, Pieter de Korver, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, JP Kelly, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Lex Veldhuis, Dario Minieri, Marcin Horecki, Luca Pagano, Matthias De Meulder, Ruben Visser, Vicky Coren.