Sunday, March 22, 2015

New Home @ Jersey United Services Club

All,
As our active members will know we have been simply doing cash games for the last few months, which have been as popular as ever.  We now have some exciting news, and an exciting new home in the centre of town!!

Starting next week we will be moving to the newly refurbished United Services Club on rue de funchal (Previously named st. James street) .The building was the old Live Lounge which has now been completely refurbished. We have been invited to host our poker on the top floor in a fantastic dedicated poker room! Brand new tournamnets and schedule to follow.......
We will be holding our regular cash game next wednesday at our new home with a grand opening tournament Friday 27th March.  Including plenty of giveaway prizes worth £100's!!!
See you at the tables
Doc

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

Brand New Home & Schedule @ The Ommaroo Hotel Harve Des Pas

I am pleased to announce that we have a new home at the Ommaroo Hotel at Harve Des Pas.
The room is dedicated to the poker club, is state of the art air conditioned and heated, has waiter service providing a full bar, restaurant and snack menu, and is open until 1am!

The new weekly schedule sees the following format:-

Mondays 7.15pm - Freezeout
£50 + £3
15,000 Starting Stack (5k Early Bird Bonus - by 7.15pm)
1 x Re-Entry Permitted for 1st hour

Wednesdays 7.15pm  - Rebuy
£20 + £3
5,000 Starting Stack (2.5k Early Bird Bonus - by 7.15pm)
Rebuys of 5,000 chips
Add-on of 5,000 chips at the break

Fridays 7.15pm  - Cash Game*
Cash Game £2-£4

Monthly (Last Friday of every month)- The BIG £50 *First one 25th April*
£50 + £5
10,000 Starting Stack
1 Rebuy and 1 add-on available
*£2000 guaranteed prize pool*

Monday, February 10, 2014

Ami Barer Wins the 2014 Aussie Millions for AU$1,600,000

Ami Barer Wins the 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event for AU$1,600,000

Image

Ami Barer - 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event champion Ami Barer - 2014 Aussie Millions Main Event champion.

Winner's Interview with Kristy Arnett :- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qav6YDmDbpQ

The 2014 Aussie Millions has been full of big stories. First there was the five-way chop in the $25,000 Challenge that ultimately saw Max Altergott emerge victorious, and then Yevgeniy Timoshenko overcame a huge chip disadvantage to win the $100,000 challenge.

On Sunday, the final seven players of the 668-player Main Event returned to play down to a winner, and after nearly 12 hours, the man who emerged victorious to capture the AU$1.6-million first-place prize was Ami Barer.

The players were deep when play resumed, so it was no surprised that it took three hours for the first elimination to occur. It happened in Level 28 (40,000/80,000/10,000) when Darren Rabinowitz opened for 160,000 and was met by three-bet all in of just over a million by Seiver from the button. Both blinds folded, Rabinowitz called, and it was off to the races.

Seiver: {8-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}
Rabinowitz: {a-Spades}{10-Diamonds}

According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Seiver was a 55.24% favorite while Rabinowitz would win 44.40% of the time. Unfortunately for Seiver, this was one of those time as the flop came down {a-Hearts}{j-Hearts}{k-Spades} to pair Rabinowitz's ace and make him an 86.36% favorite.

The {3-Hearts} turn was a good card for Seiver as it gave him a 25% chance of hitting his flush, but it was not meant to be as the {J-Clubs} blanked on the river. Seiver was eliminated in seventh place for AU$170,000.

After the last Australian in the field, Andrew Phaedonos, ran into Sorel Mizzi's kings and fell in sixth place — thus ensuring an Aussie Millions champ from North America for the first time ever — Vincent Rubianes followed him out the door in fifth after running smack dab into the pocket rockets of Rabinowitz.

Despite scoring that knockout, Rabinowitz was the next to go. It happened in Level 30 (60,000/120,000/10,000) when Rabinowitz opened for 240,000 under the gun and Barer responded by three-betting from the button. The blinds both folded, Rabinowitz moved all in, and Barer snap-called.

Barer: {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}
Rabinowitz: {5-Diamonds}{5-Spades}

Rabinowitz's rail, which included Joe Kuether, Ryan Riess, and Bryan Campanello, were on their feet and calling for a five. The {j-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{2-Spades} flop didn't do it, but it opened up some runner-runner possibilities.

"Any two across is good," Campanello bellowed. Indeed it would have been, but it was the three-across {6-Clubs} that opened up the gutshot straight draw possibility. Unfortunately for Rabinowitz and his supporters, the {A-Diamonds} blanked on the river to send him home in fourth place for AU$450,000.

Minutes later 2012 World Series of Poker third-place finisher Jake Balsiger was eliminated from the tournament via a bad beat. It happened when Balsiger min-raised to 240,000 on the button, Barer three-bet to what looked like 575,000 from the small blind, and the American four-bet to 1.175 million. Barer five-bet ripped, moving all in for effectively five million or so, and Balsiger snap-called.

Balsiger: {k-Clubs}{k-Diamonds}
Barer: {a-Diamonds}{10-Hearts}

Balsiger was in great shape to double up and take the chip lead, but his odds of winning the hand dipped when the dealer fanned {9-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{7-Clubs}, giving Barer eight extra outs to make a straight.

"Always a sweat!" someone yelled from the rail.

The turn was the {5-Clubs}, bringing a third club, and it reduced Barer's outs to eight because Balsiger held the only club. The {6-Hearts} completed the board, giving both players a straight, but Barer's ten gave him the winning hand and eliminated Balsiger in third place.

With that massive hand, Barer began heads-up play with a three-to-one chip lead against Mizzi, and it didn’t take too long for him to seal the deal. It happened when Mizzi shoved into Barer's aces, and the rest as they say is history.

2014 Aussie Millions Final Table Results

Place Player Prize (AU)
1st Ami Barer $1,600,000
2nd Sorel Mizzi $1,00,000
3rd Jake Balsiger $650,000
4th Darren Rabinowitz $450,000
5th Vincent Rubianes $335,000
6th Andrew Phaedonos $250,000
7th Scott Seiver $170,000

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Phil Hellmuth Guide to Dominating the W.S.O.P

The Phil Hellmuth Guide to Dominating the World Series of Poker

Cast your minds back to May 10, 1988, at the Binion’s Horseshoe & Casino in Downtown Las Vegas, and Lance Hilt was winning a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet after defeating 206-players in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Split event.

It was the only significant score in the life of Hilt. I have no idea who he is, or what became of him, but one can assume poker was not a hugely significant part of his life.

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In contrast, seated at that same final table was a 23-year old kid called Phil Hellmuth Jr. He was just coming off his first live tournament victory – a $200 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event in the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno – and he was full of confidence.

He would finish fifth for less than he won in Reno, but unlike Hilt, it would not be the only significant score of his life. Unlike Hilt, poker would be a hugely significant part of his life. Much more than that. It would be a very part of his being.

One year after that final table appearance Hellmuth would defeat the great Johnny Chan to become the youngest-ever WSOP Main Event champion. It was perfect timing for a young man who had stopped Chan from winning an unprecedented three consecutive WSOP Main Events.

He would go on to win 12 more bracelets – more than any other player on the planet – become the only player to win WSOP Main Event titles on two continents, cash in 100 WSOP events, and take over $12m off the WSOP felts.

After being indoctrinated in the Poker Hall of Fame he became arguably the most decorated player in WSOP history; and yet a large proportion of the poker community will tell you that he is useless, has major flaws when it comes to the basic fundamentals of poker, and is just lucky.

I don’t buy it.

If the collective ‘we’ believes that variance evens out over the long run, then after 32-years of professional poker, Phil Hellmuth Jr. is one of the most talented members of the poker playing fraternity the world has ever seen.

That or the U.S government is spot on in their valuation of our game, and we are all sitting down to play nothing more than roulette with cards.

After speaking to a dozen poker players who have shared table space with the WSOP legend, I have come up with a list of 10 reasons why Phil Hellmuth has managed to dominate the WSOP headlines for longer than most of you have even been born.

1. Game Selection

Most poker coaches will tell you that game selection is key if you are to survive in this game, and Phil Hellmuth Jr. knows how to pick a game that gives him an edge sharper than Ricky Gervais’s wit.

The WSOP attracts more fish than any other tournament series in the world and Hellmuth has used this to his advantage better than anyone else of his ilk.

When the world’s greatest players are competing at the highest level in the game where is Hellmuth? Why don’t we see him playing at more European Poker Tours (EPTs)? Why isn’t he playing the World Poker Tour (WPT) Alpha8?

The answer is simple. The fewer weaker players you see in the game, the less likely you are to see that Aria hat and dark sunglasses. When it comes to taking on the world’s best players, Hellmuth couldn’t give a *bleep* He has nothing to prove and just loves to eat nothing but fish.

2. Confidence

If we were to use the metaphor of the jungle, Hellmuth believes he is a flying lion that can shoot lasers out of his eyes when it comes to the Savannah of the WSOP.

It doesn’t matter if people think he’s *bleep* all that matters is that he thinks he’s the best. He owns the WSOP, and this creates an added zest to his game that very few possess.

He is one of 47 Ronin; he is King Leonidas; he is Neo in the middle of a thousand Agent Smith’s.

3. He is Under Estimated

During my conversations with his fellow professionals I have gauged the opinion that those who play with him can appreciate that he has a very high level of talent, and those that haven’t, cannot fathom how he is able to win a game of Connect 4, let alone 13-WSOP bracelets.

This tells me that it’s all about perception.

If you are going to have your name sewn into the fabric of books like Play Poker Like the Pros, and get your arse handed to you on a plate when trying to compete against the very best cash players on the most watched poker TV shows in the world, then people are going to assume you are a goal keeper short of a football team.

A lot of players believe that your qualities as a poker player are determined by your abilities in a cash game. That might be true, but the last time I looked they were not handing out WSOP bracelets for cash games.

Player’s under-estimate him, and he’s smart enough to understand this.

4. The Man Knows How to Survive

We have all laughed as the action folds around to him on the button and he folds his 4 big blinds because queen-ten off suit is not strong enough for him; but it’s this stubbornness to part with his stack that sets him apart from his peers.

Is it in line with optimum game theory?

He couldn’t care less. For every single person who tells him that he should do things differently he has $18m reasons why he can’t be arsed listening.

The man wrote the book on how to fold a hand. Perhaps, it’s true that he plays a short stack no better than Verne Troyer plays basketball, but it’s this instinct to survive that will see him consistently go deeper than Linda Lovelace.

He is the master at playing small pot poker against weaker players, avoids big pots like the pox and like the Stranglers once sang, “he’s always hanging around.”

5. He’s Different

“Great thing about poker is that we play VASTLY different styles but there is more than one way to win at this beautiful game.” Tweets Daniel Negreanu.

There are very few players who have the same style as Phil Hellmuth and it’s something that he’s not often given credit for. He bucks the trend. When the kids in school were wearing skinny ties I reckon Hellmuth had a great big fat one.

He doesn’t play a ‘normal’ style of poker and this is why everyone says he has weak fundamentals. What he does do is play an extremely good style of poker when he comes up against weaker players, and knows how to avoid those that are better than him.

The better players will say he is too predictable, but he can also baffle the *bleep* out of people, because he doesn’t do what he is supposed to do.

6. He Preys on the Weak

When Phil Hellmuth Jr. gets angry he goes for a walk to find a midget so he can give it a good kick-in.

This man doesn’t pick fights with people unless he has knows he is going to win more often than lose. He’s your typical schoolyard bully. The guy who picks on the weak players and runs a mile when anybody fights back.

This was the most consistent reply that I got when I spoke to the poker masses. He was viewed as being the master of finding and exploiting weaknesses in those with skinny arms and a punch with about as much weight behind it as a gnats fart.

The WSOP is full of the weak and inviting Phil Hellmuth Jr. is the equivalent of inviting a lion to a gazelle’s bondage sex party.

7. Passion

There is a reason that Hellmuth rants and raves better than anyone in the game, and that’s because he has more passion than anyone else.

It’s a contentious issue, because calling someone ‘an idiot’ while another player keeps his pipes closed, doesn’t always mean one has more passion than the other; but in this case I really believe Hellmuth has more of the good stuff than most.

I will always remember his famous rant against Cristian Dragomir in the 2008 WSOP. Chino Rheem tries to calm things down by saying to Hellmuth, “Ok he sucked out on you, I understand, but this is poker.”

Hellmuth looked at Chino Rheem and said, “To you, this is poker man, but to me this is my life.”

There are a lot of players with more skill than Hellmuth, but I’m not so sure they stack up when it comes to wearing your heart on your sleeve.

8. The Mouth

Hellmuth would never have become as famous as he is today without his outbursts. If it wasn’t for the endorsements that allowed him to play at the highest level in the game, he may have drifted away like so many before him.

Fortunately, he had a mouth that burned with as much fire as John McEnroe, and he quickly became a marketing dream. Every soap opera needs a strong villain and Hellmuth was cast perfectly.

Hellmuth’s mouth attracts players like a Beyoncé music video attracts male eyeballs. Everyone wants to take a shot at him and in a way he’s like the Venus fly trap. Players get so involved with him that before you know it they are stuck. They try to flap those wings, but they just can’t escape, and slowly, but surely, he eats them alive.

9. The Family Man

I don’t think I have ever spoken to a man as devoted as Phil Hellmuth when it comes to his family. He is a missus Hellmuth nut, and one of the reasons that he hasn’t traversed the globe in the search of more titles is because of his love for his children.

This love has given him a strong foundation, and he has used that to his advantage. He does not succumb to the temptations that poker can provide. He is as focused off the felt as he is on the felt, and he knows win or lose he still has his family to fall back on.

10. Self-Awareness

After playing the game for so long I believe Hellmuth understands his strengths and weaknesses better than you know. Sometimes he can come across as a man who has lost a few marbles, but it’s very difficult to understand if you are viewing the real Hellmuth, or the one that parades around in front of the camera?

Take his late arrivals at live tournaments as an example.

Some people believe that he does this to be ‘cool’. Like the kids, with the upturned collars and slick back hair who turn up late for the dance, never set foot on the floor, and expect to be snogging the girl from beneath someone’s coat when the smooch songs are blaring out of the speakers.

Then there others that believe he understands that deep stacked, post flop poker is not his thing, and that he turns up late because it is the smart thing for him to do.

When he tells the world he is the greatest he is sending a psychological message to the fish that he feeds off. This is no accident. It’s all part of the Hellmuth master plan.

A plan that has seen him become the most decorated poker player in WSOP history, and he still looks like he has another 40-good years still left in the tank.

I summing up I remind you that anyone can win a poker tournament. It’s why we love the game so much. But if we start believing that you can be that lucky over a 30-year stretch, then we have a serious flaw in the construct of our beautiful game.

If there was a study to determine what traits made up a long term winner in the game of poker, then the first player to fall under the knife would be Phil Hellmuth Jr., and do you know what would happen as the blade sliced through that thick skin of his?

Chips and cards would spew all over the floor.

Friday, January 10, 2014

The PCA Main Event Hits its $10m Guarantee

The PCA Main Event hits its $10m guarantee as 710 players managed to survive terrible American weather conditions to make it to the Bahamas for the second starting flight in the $10,000 Main Event.

The organizers of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) can afford to take that lounger down a notch, and kick off those blue suede shoes, after a chunky showing on Day 1B means the $10,000,000 guarantee has been met in the $10,000 Main Event.

shankar-pillai-pca-chip-leader

David Carrion, PCA & Latam Director of Live Operations, told PokerStars: “Because of the weather, we were a little bit concerned about the numbers – not so much because of the guarantee, but because we want to give players a fantastic event. So we are thrilled we have topped 1,000 players and I know there are still players arriving after three days of trying to get here.”

710 players attended Day 1B and when you add that to the Day 1A total of 295 players, that means the current player count stands at 1,005 players – with late registration still open up until the start of Day 2.

448 players managed to beg, steal and borrow their way through the second starting flight field, and the World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Shankar Pillai finished at the top with 173,900 chips, giving him the chip lead proper when Day 2 starts.

Pillai has amassed over $700,000 in live tournament earnings, in a career that stretches back to 2007, and most of his scores have come in the WSOP with the highlight being the bracelet he won in 2007 when he saved the shoe cupboard of Beth Shak some added stress after beating her in heads-up action to capture the $527,829 first prize in a $3,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) event that saw Phil Hellmuth make a 6th place showing.

With 184 players surviving Day 1A we now have at least 632 players in the seat draw for Day 2, so let’s take a look who will be in that draw and who will be thinking about their trip to Australia.

Players who got through included Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Duhamel, Joe Cada, Daniel Negreanu, Jason Mercier, Greg Merson, Fabian Quoss, Dan Smith and Noah Boeken; and those that were left eating sand included the former champion Harrison Gimbel, 2012 runner-up Kyle Julius, ElkY, Barry Greenstein, Paul Volpe, Michael Mizrachi, Andy Frankenberger, Dan Kelly, Jason Koon, Martin Finger and Bryn Kenney.

Kenney will no doubt brush off his disappointment (not that I have ever seen him disappointed) and shun the beach for the online grind just as he did when he was eliminated from the $100,000 Super High Roller (SHR).

According to PokerNews reporter Bruno Santos. Kenney dusted off his SHR disappointment to take $188,800 away from the PokerStars 2-7 Triple Draw tables; most of which came from the pockets of Eugene “oogee” Yanayt.

Thursday, January 09, 2014

Fabian Quoss Wins the 2014 PCA High Roller Event

The ever-dramatic first event of the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure has officially reached a conclusion. Despite it being a new year, the German domination continues as Fabian Quoss was able to defeat Dan Shak heads up to take home the title as well as $1,629,940 in prize money.

Typically, final tables on the European Poker Tour are eight-handed, but due to an exciting double elimination to conclude Day 2, this final table began with just seven. Shak held the chip lead coming into the final table with Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst right on his heels. Also present at the final table was $1,000,000 Big One for One Drop champion Antonio Esfandiari, 2013 One Drop High Roller champion Tony Gregg, Matt Glantz, and 2013 Global Poker Index Player of the Year Ole Schemion.

Schemion and Gregg entered the day very short on chips, and on the second hand both of them saw their tournament come to an end. At 30,000/60,000/10,000, Schemion was under the gun and opened with a ship all in for 260,000. Gregg then moved all in over the top for 390,000. Quoss called and the rest of the table folded.

Quoss: {10-Spades}{10-Clubs}
Gregg: {A-Diamonds}{9-Clubs}
Schemion: {K-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}

Neither of the short stacks improved on the {Q-Diamonds}{2-Hearts}{2-Spades}{2-Diamonds}{9-Spades} board and Quoss collected the remaining chips of both players. Just a few short hands later, short-stacked Glantz saw his tournament come to a close. Glantz's final hand began when Esfandiari opened to 160,000 from under the gun with {A-Clubs}{7-Hearts}. Glantz then moved all in over the top for 320,000 total with {J-Spades}{10-Hearts} and it folded over to Selbst in the small blind. She re-raised the action to 605,000 with {A-Hearts}{J-Hearts} and Esfandiari folded.

Glantz was dominated heading to the community cards and did not improve as the board came down {3-Diamonds}{5-Clubs}{7-Clubs}{7-Spades}{K-Spades}. He collected $445,520 for his fifth-place finish.

After some exciting four-handed play, the match came to a head during a confrontation between Selbst and Esfandiari. At 40,000/80,000/10,000, Selbst opened with a raise to 160,000. Esfandiari three-bet to 430,000, and Selbst four-bet him all in for about 1.9 million. Esfandiari called and the hands were revealed to show that the two were racing for the Magician's tournament life.

Selbst: {A-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}
Esfandiari: {9-Clubs}{9-Hearts}

The flop fell {2-Hearts}{4-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds} and Esfandiari kept his lead. Selbst picked up additional outs, however, as she could make a wheel with a trey. It was not needed, however, as the {A-Diamonds} spiked the turn and put Selbst in a dominating position. The {5-Clubs} bricked off on the river for Esfandiari and he was forced to settle for a fourth place finish.

Three-handed play saw much drama as large amounts of chips exchanged hands several times and the chip lead was constantly changing. In what began a dramatic series of hands, Selbst lost a fair sized hand to Shak. Immediately following that, Selbst was able to double back through Shak and take a huge chip lead.
Selbst busted in third place, earning $760,640Selbst busted in third place, earning $760,640

Soon after though, Selbst lost a large chunk of those chips when she turned top two pair against Quoss' turned Broadway straight. Quoss scored a full double and crippled Selbst. Shortly thereafter, she moved all in for her last roughly two million from the button with {K-Hearts}{9-Clubs}. Quoss called from the big blind with {A-Hearts}{4-Hearts} and the Super High Roller was suddenly five cards away from heads up play. The {6-Diamonds}{2-Clubs}{3-Clubs} flop was of no help to Selbst, and she was still hunting for a king or a nine heading to the final two streets. The {4-Spades} hit fourth street and the {3-Spades} fifth, sending Selbst home as the third-place finisher for a payday of $760,640.

Following Selbst's elimination, Quoss and Shak took a dinner break before returning to the felt to determine a champion. Quoss continuously applied pressure during the bout and the match finally came to a head after about an hour of play. On the final hand, Quoss limped from the button and Shak checked his option to a {10-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}{Q-Spades} flop. Shak check-called a bet of 200,000 and the {9-Diamonds} fell on fourth street. Shak checked again and Quoss fired out 425,000. Shak moved all in for 2.275 million and Quoss snapped him off.

Quoss: {8-Spades}{6-Hearts}
Shak: {J-Hearts}{10-Clubs}

Quoss was in the lead with a straight and was looking to dodge an eight or a king heading to the river. The dealer produced the {A-Clubs} as the final card and Shak was eliminated as the runner-up. Quoss seized the victory and the title of Super High Roller champion!

Full Result

1st Fabian ' fabstinho' Quoss $1,629,940

2nd Dan Shak $1,178,980

3rd Vanessa Selbst $760,640

4th Antonio Esfandiari $575,920

5th Matt Glantz $445,520

6th Tony Gregg $347,720

7th ' olekonjole' $277,080

Tuesday, January 07, 2014

Niklas Heinecker Online Poker's Biggest Winner of 2013

The race to become the biggest online winner of 2013 was a contentious affair for nearly nine months. Both Alexander “PostFlopAction” Kostritsyn and Kyle “cottonseed1” Hendon both held the lead at one point before inexplicably opting out of being tracked — a phenomenon addressed in a recent op-ed titled The Problems of Opting Out from Online Tracking.

From there it was time for Viktor “Isildur1” Blom to top the leaderboard. The Swede’s volatile playing style saw him quickly swing from up more than $3 million to down on the year, which opened the door for Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker to take the lead. The young German, who finished sixth in 2012 with $1,640,967 in winnings, never looked back as he went on to win $6,190,599 in 65,577 hands this year.
Biggest Online Winners of 2013

Player Sessions Hands Winnings Profit Per Hand

Niklas “ragen70” Heinecker 506 65,577 $6,190,599 $94.40
Ben “Bttech86” Tollerene 1,358 117,730 $2,996,585 $25.45
Alex “IReadYrSoul” Millar 300 32,976 $2,036,159 $61.75
Hac “trex313” Dang 846 80,869 $1,886,417 $23.33
“no_Ola” 1,167 107,674 $1,849,293 $17.17
“Odd_Oddsen”* 2,083 113,199 $1,805,454 $15.95
Patrik “FinddaGrind” Antonius 901 62,441 $1,764,977 $28,27
“Tight-Man1” 154 13,157 $1,1448,413 $110.09
“proudlikeagoat” 256 26,817 $1,391,472 $51.89
Isaac “luvtheWNBA” Haxton 297 26,571 $1,051,218 $39.56

*Indicates PokerStars

According to HighStakesDB, Heinecker avoided the virtual felt for the first three months of the year, and when he finally logged on in April he began by dropping a couple hundred grand. He hit a small heater in May and June, but proceeded to give it all back in July. It was at that point he kicked things into high gear and began adding millions to his bankroll.

Most of his winnings — $4.19 million to be exact — came from the draw games, while $2.15 million more came from no-limit hold’em. He also added a small $32,540 playing 8-game and actually lost $166,300 playing limit hold’em.

Here’s a month-by-month look at Heinecker’s running total:
Heinecker’s Race to the Top

HeineckerHeinecker

Month Heinecker
January $0
February $0
March $0
April -$225,330
May +$464,650
June +$578,340
July -$34,880
August $2.28 million
September $2.93 million
October $3.21 million
November $5.37 million
December $6.19 million


Here are some other odds and ends regarding the online winners of 2013:

Tom “durrrr” Dwan who recently parted ways with Full Tilt Poker, finished the year with $750,625 in profit that came from 68,144 hands over 643 sessions.
”Odd_Oddsen”, who did an interview with PokerNews earlier this year, was the biggest winner on PokerStars. Moreover, he also won on FTP to bring his yearly winnings up to $3,654,747.
Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky, who was 2012’s biggest online winner, was the sixth-biggest loser after dropping $1,473,088 in 64,259 hands over 597 sessions.

Speaking of the losers, no one had a worse year than Gus Hansen, who lost a heart-wrenching $8,461,472. Hansen nearly doubled his volume from 2012 when he was the second-biggest loser after dropping $3,204,539 in 63,686 hands over 414 sessions on FTP (he was actually the year’s biggest loser if you combined his $1,093,446 loss on PokerStars), but as you can see it did him little good. The “Great Dane” is now online poker’s all-time biggest loser with $14,891,778 in losses.

Speaking of all-time players, Phil Ivey is online poker’s biggest winner of all time with $19,242,744 in profit. That’d be even more if not for a detrimental 2013 when he lost $2,441,773 in 76,301 hands over 1,098 sessions.
Biggest Online Losers of 2013

Gus HansenGus Hansen

Player Sessions Hands Losses Loss Per Hand
Gus Hansen 1,627 171,743 $8,461,472 -$49.27
“MalACEsia” 292 42,742 $3,773,524 -$88.29
“samrostan” 757 82,945 $3,467,195 -$41.80
Phil “Polarizing” Ivey 1,098 76,301 $2,441,773 -$32.00
“punting-peddler” 870 89,273 $1,714,545 -$19.21
Ben “Sauce1234” Sulsky 597 64,259 $1,473,088 -$22.92
“patpatpanda” 824 83,494 $1,330,885 -$15.94
Scott “mastrblastr” Seiver 115 13,750 $1,220,399 -$88.76
Rui Cao 374 44,208 $1,064,351 -$24.08
“davin77” 1,380 140,368 $1,037,057 -$7.39

Sunday, December 22, 2013

World Series of Poker Announces 2014 Dates

Poker’s Most Popular Poker Festival Set to Run From May 27 to July 14, 2014
At Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

45th Running of WSOP and 10th in a Row at Rio, Concludes with Main Event July 5-14

LAS VEGAS (Dec. 19, 2013) – Save the Date(s). The 45th running of the World Series of Poker – the longest-running, richest and most prestigious tournament series – begins on Tuesday, May 27, 2014 at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas – marking the 10th consecutive year the event has been held in the Rio Convention Center.

The action-packed schedule includes gold bracelet events, satellites, cash games and thrice daily deep stack tournaments running for 49 consecutive days, concluding with the final nine players of the WSOP Main Event on Monday, July 14, 2014.

The summer festival reaches its pinnacle with the globe’s longest-running poker tournament -- the $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em WSOP Main Event championship -- which is slated to run over ten consecutive days from July 5 - July 14, 2014.

The WSOP Main Event will feature three starting flights – Saturday, July 5; Sunday, July 6; and Monday, July 7.

“In our 45th year, and tenth at the Rio, we are hard at work to make the 2014 World Series of Poker the biggest and best yet,” said WSOP Executive Director Ty Stewart. “We will build it, we hope you will come.”

WSOP.com’s real-money online poker offerings in New Jersey and Nevada will be the exclusive online home for players in these states to win seats into WSOP events, including the Main Event. While in New Jersey or Nevada, eligible players can play on WSOP.com, whether a resident or not, and satellites are expected to run regularly throughout the WSOP.

Buy-ins for tournaments at the Rio start as low as $75. Cash games will begin on May 27 and run 24 hours a day throughout the seven-week series taking place in the Rio Convention Center.

Some key tournaments already penciled in on the schedule include:

Saturday, May 31 – The opening Saturday event features the $1500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em “Millionaire Maker” where the winner walks away with potentially 666 times their investment – a guaranteed $1,000,000. (This event featured 6,343 entries in 2013 and the winner earned $1,198,780). The prize pool for this event last year exceeded $8.5 million.

Sunday, June 29 – The return of the Big One for ONE DROP, the $1,000,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em charity event to benefit ONE DROP where the winner can conceivably walk away with the largest prize ever awarded in poker – in excess of $20,000,000 – with the field capped at 56 players.

Thursday, July 3 & Friday, July 4 – The return of the Little One for ONE DROP, the $1,111 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em event to benefit the ONE DROP charity. The two-day start, unlimited re-entry (through first four levels) event featured 4,756 players in its debut and a huge nearly $4.3 million prize pool up for grabs. The winner walked away with $663,727. The Little One for ONE DROP will also be the last No-Limit Hold’em event offered prior to the WSOP Main Event.

Nearly 500 poker tables will be set up across more than 100,000 square-feet of ballroom space to accommodate the thousands of players from around the world who attend poker’s annual Woodstock.

The 2013 WSOP attracted 79,471 participants – the largest attendance in the WSOP’s 44-year history – in a total of 62 events, generating a prize pool of more than $197 million. Participants in WSOP events hailed from 107 countries in 2013. The WSOP Main Event, won by Michigan’s Ryan Riess this year, attracted 6,352 players and awarded Riess $8,361,570.

The current slate of individual events offered during the 45th Annual WSOP are being finalized, with 60+ official gold bracelet events expected, with weekends catering to the No-Limit Hold’em weekend warriors and a broad range of other variations of poker at both entry level and championship level buy-ins being mixed in throughout the series. Specific events for Seniors, Ladies and Casino Employees are all being planned as well.

The full event-by-event schedule is expected to be released sometime in January

Poker Players to Watch 2014

I've decided to start updating the blog with all things poker so for anyone who's interested in whats going on keep an eye out for all your poker updates!!

1. Daniel Negreanu

With the exception of 2010 Daniel Negreanu has banked a seven figure wage in five out of the last six years, and even in that drought he managed to make over $680,000.

He is the one member of the ‘old school’ that continues to learn from the new generation to take his game onto a greater level. But more than that, he has a love for the game that is second to none, and is a goal setter and goal getter.

2013 saw Negreanu return to his inimitable ways as he started to win major tournaments – something that had been missing from his game for a number of years – instead of becoming the ‘so close…but yet so far’ guy.

His triumph at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) High Roller event, that handed him the historic WSOP Player of the Year double, is the event that I believe will lead to a heater of epic proportions.

The other thing that Negreanu has going for him is his number one position on the Global Poker Index (GPI) rankings. That’s not a position he will want to give up without a fight, and I think it will bring out the best in him.

2. Sorel Mizzi

John Tabatabai once told me that Sorel Mizzi is the best pound for pound live tournament player in the world, and after accruing close to $4m in live tournament earnings, this year, the man is starting to live up to that mantle.

Mizzi is now one of the regulars on the High Roller circuit and he is more than holding his own against the best players in the world. During a recent interview with Mizzi, he told me that the only difference between his near misses and a few sure things was just a little bit of luck.

A few months later and Mizzi took down the PartyPoker Premier League for close to a half a million dollars, and it’s that injection of winning blood that I think will fire up his heart to go onto greater things in 2014.

Mizzi has also joined forces with the likes of David Randall, Daniel Cates, Max Altergott and Steven McCloughlin to create a poker seminar/training site called 3D poker, and I think that business will also bring greater awareness into everything he does around the poker table.

3. Griffin Benger

If it wasn’t for the turn of a few very unfortunate cards, Griffin Benger could well be a WSOP and World Poker Tour (WPT) champion right now.

Instead, he is still that hungry online tournament revelation who is determined to stamp his footprint on the live tournament world, and stamp it he will.

Benger has had a breakthrough 2013 with close to a million in live tournament earnings that includes an EPT High Roller win that he earned, on his birthday no less, in Berlin for half a million bucks.

Once you have found your way to the top of a live event, it’s a hell of a lot easier to find your way back, and I believe if Benger finds the luck he needs, his patience, studious approach to the game and technical ability will see him land one of the biggest prizes in the game.

4. Stephen Chidwick

Stephen Chidwick is well known within the professional circle as being one of the most underrated all round poker players in the game.

It doesn’t matter if Chidwick is playing live or online, No Limit Hold’em (NLHE) or Happy Families, this kid is great at anything. In fact, I would even go so far as to say he would probably beat himself at Solitaire.

Chidwick has racked up a few milly, both online and live, without ever having to deposit any real dough. Instead, he has grafted his way into the game, and there are few that work as hard as he does on the games that most people don’t give a second glance.

Chidwick has three six-figure scores in some of the most difficult tournaments in the world, and I believe we will see him win at least one bracelet at this years WSOP.

5. Shannon Shorr

Shannon Shorr has burst into the GPI top 10 after another consistent performance that has seen him earn seven six figure annual scores on the trot, after emerging onto the international scene with a seven-figure start back in 2006.

Shorr has his head well and truly screwed on, and his feet firmly rooted into the ground. If this kid has any worries he hides them well, and he has this demeanor about him that screams winner.

The only thing missing from his game is luck, and if he can continue to ride this wave as long as it will allow him, I am sure he will find it when it matters the most, to finally capture one of the big three come 2014.

Monday, December 16, 2013

JPC Report



Setting the Scene
After 4 months of planning, the event seemed to be here before we knew it.  We always knew that to be a success the satellite tournaments would be essential to make sure we had enough players for the main event, the more players, the more attractive the prize pool was, and the more other people would want to be involved too.
We thought 40 players would be a stretch but that was what we had aimed to get, so to have 47 players it was fantastic, so a very big thank you to all the players that took part.
As 12pm approached the room was buzzing with most of the players there already, the prize pool already reading over £20k and 5 full tables.  The dealers we brought over from the UK were brilliant, and it was a pleasure to have them looking after the tables and keeping the game going.  Even our local dealers stepped up their game and were controlling the game and making sure everything was flowing the way it should be.
The First Elimination
In any tournament, no-one wants to be the first player eliminated, and it usually takes a ‘cooler’ something like Aces vs Kings or a Set vs a Set.  Although the first elimination was on my table, I never caught the early action however, this is how I think it went.  Jake Patel raised early position with QQ and was called by Matt Rowles with 44. I was in the big blind and folded which left the two of them to see the monster flop of Q44!!!! WOW “Check” “Check” I hear, the turn came an ace and the river a five - I’m not sure if there was any betting on the turn but I remember on the river Jake had the decision to call after Matt had eventually gone all-in.  Jake asked Matt “Have you got aces” to which Matt simply replied “No” Jake called and flipped his Queens only to see Matt had flopped Quads.
Solid Play
As I wandered round the room, other than the big elimination on my table the chips were pretty static.  Everyone had brought their ‘A’ game and the players were cautious not to lose too much of their starting stack.  Next out was JT who I’d spoke to him earlier and he had lost a few big hands that had crippled him.  Back on my table Rowlesy was still smashing everything, not content with one lot of Quads he hit another one and was easily the early chip leader in the tournament.  I had been very quiet the first hour or so with very poor starting hands however, going into the second level I picked up a few better hands and every pot I played I seemed to win.  I was quickly up to around 40k before I lost 3 big hands.  I hit 3 Jacks on an JJK board with AJ, only for Ritchie to hit a 9 on the turn completing his straight, quickly followed by just being outkicked on a KK5 board whilst holding K9.  Rowlesy had K10 and I was quickly losing all the chips I had won.
On another table you could hear a “OOOH” so I pop across to see Danny Paxton at risk with all his chips in the middle.  The board read 3,7,6,6 and all the chips were in on the turn, Danny with two pair and Darie with trip 6’s holding 6,5 suited.  The “Oooh” came as the two outer hit and Danny hit a full house with a Queen on the river, Darie losing some of his big stack that he had clearly built up earlier in the day.
Big Decision
So 4 Hours in and I’ve lost most of my stack, so I need some action to start building it back up, I pick up 10,J and raise the chip leaders BB.  Rowlesy was in no mood to fold so smooth calls.  The flop comes down AKQ, I’ve flopped a straight and think I’m golden however, Matt leads out on the flop, I then realise they are all diamonds.  I have the Jack of diamonds, so not only have I flopped a straight I have the royal flush draw so I call to see a brick on the turn.  This leaves me with just 1 chip(It was a 10k chip – but still 1 chip), and Matt puts me all in. I ponder for quite some time playing with my last remaining chip, and try to work out what he has.  After some time I fold and he shows me the flush which I knew he had but with the big draw, I had to weigh up the pot before I folded.
I lose a couple more small hands and I’m down to about 6 or 7k before I go on a hot streak and start to build my stack back up again.  6 hours played and we break for dinner, with not that many players having been eliminated, so we decided to play 10 levels on day 1 to make sure we have around 20 players returning for Day 2.
Tables Break
As the first of our tables break we pick up a few new players John the beast Beadle and Nik ward who happens to be the tournament chip leader join us, and the dynamics of the table change somewhat.  On another table I hear a “Get in” as Eddie Quinn gets it all in pre flop with Kings against the aces of Ricky Weir, Eddie had obviously spiked a King and that sent him off on a roll to amass one of the biggest chip stacks of day 1.
Sam Jackson was another player who joined our table, and obviously had not had the best of luck throughout the day as he was a relative short stack.  Whippy raised his big blind and Sam shipped it all in, Gary called and tabled JJ, whilst Sam tables KK.  Both ask the dealer for “One Time”, and it is Whippy who gets the lucky set hitting a Jack on the turn to knock out Sam.
Turning Point
So I’ve built my stack back up to around the 20k mark and get involved in a hand with The Beast and Whippy.  The flop comes 2, 10, Q, which the beast leads out on, Gary calls and so do I on the button.  The turn is a King completing some straights, and also puts a flush draw down.  The river is a Jack putting a four card straight on the board.  Gary checks, so does the beast and I lead out for a value bet on the river.  Gary folds and after some lengthy deliberation so does the Beast.  Whippy said he had top two, the beast a set and I tell them I have the nuts, however no-one shows any cards and I’m up to 40k.
Matt Rowles has lost most of his big stack however, still has around 15k and raises quite big in early position.  I look down and have pocket 10’s, I’m struggling to work out his raise so I think it is wise to flat call and evaluate a flop.  The flop comes 2, 3, 10 so it doesn’t take me long to evaluate that!  Matt leads out and I flat call in position, the turn is an ace and Matt goes all-in, I call to see he is dead with A9 and no re-draw, and I’m up to 55k.
The final hand of the day I get pocket Queens, and the big blind is Nik Ward who I’ve been in a few hands with, always showing the best hand, and including Aces.  I don’t want to scare him off so a small raise and he calls.  The flop has a Queen on it so I’m happy he’s stuck around, I manage to value bet all 3 streets and I end the day with 67k.  With 21 players remaining the average stack is around 56k so I’m more than happy with how the day has ended.  I look around the room and the chip leaders are James Cummings, Eddie Quinn and still Nik Ward, as everyone bags up their chips for day 2.
Day 2
I return early on the Sunday as I remember I haven’t sorted out the chips for the side event, only to realise I need another laptop for the side event, so I go to pick up the one from the poker club.  As everyone starts to arrive everyone seems to be a little jaded from a marathon 1st day, with 21 players still remaining and the blinds not even 1,000 2,000 it wasn’t going to be over quickly.  Big stack Eddie hadn’t even managed to make it here and after rumours of him going out drinking we started the phone calls to make sure he was alive!!  The action quickly got underway and Roger joined us from another table, sat next to big stack Nik Ward, their fortunes quickly reversed as they got involved in two big hands with roger winning both.  The big one I recall was Rogers Aces vs Nik’s Jacks all in pre-flop and Roger holding on to knock him out.
Shortly after it was the turn of Whippy who 3 bet all-in, after roger had raised from an early position.  Roger called to see his Queen Jack was dominated by Whipps pocket Jacks.  The dealer flipped the flop and the Queen was there giving Whippy just 1 out, two bricks and he was out.
The side event was well under way, and we had a very good turnout with 34 players entering, 5 or 6 re-entries and a prize pool of around £4k!!  The room was buzzing again and was jammed with players playing both events.  It was good to see quite a few players who hadn’t played the main event get involved, so again a big thanks to all who came down to play.
I started to run good in the main, and quickly built my stack to nearly 100k.  By the time we got to the final 9 myself, Roger and James all had around 200k each with around 50% of the chips between us.
Final Table
The final 9 saw Roger in seat 1, Dave Nuth in 2, Craig Hartley seat 3, Warren Mudge in 4, Matt Thebbault in 5, Eddie in 6, James in 7, Smurf in 8 and myself in seat 9.  The first to go was Dave Nuth after 3 betting my initial raise I called with AK and was up against pocket 9’s.  I hit the flop and Dave was out in 9th.  The next to go was Eddie Quinn, who flat called a pre-flop raise by Warren with pocket 10’s.  The flop came 2,8,9 and Warren shipped all-in, to which Eddie had a very difficult decision to make.  After a few moans and groans Eddie says “Have you got AK” and calls to see that is exactly what Warren was holding.  The turn was a brick but the Ace came on the river to cruelly knock Eddie out in 8th place. Next to go was Matt who was one of the short stacks when we started the final table and that left the final 6 players with only 5 place paid.  At the start I had said I didn’t want to do any chops, but agreed to pay £100 to the bubble from everyone’s own pocket, leaving the prize  money exactly as it was.  The Smurf was the man in Danger as the short stack however, he managed to double through James and continue to hang around.
Big Hand
With no-one wanting to go out on the bubble and with a short stack nearly out of chips, it was going to take a big hand to eliminate another player.  I found myself in the small blind against Roger in the big, and with no callers or raises I decided to raise with 6,2 of diamonds.  Roger calls and we see a flop of 3d,4d,5c, BOOM I’ve flopped a straight with the straight flush draw.  I bet the flop and Roger ships all in for a massive pot, I have to call and flip my cards over.  Roger turns over 5,9 of diamonds for top pair and a bigger flush draw!!  The turn brings a 9, so he now has top two pair, and a flush draw so I’m praying for a brick on the river to which the dealer duly delivers and I have him covered.  Roger is the bubble, and I’m up to 500k in chips, the Smurf the happiest man in the room as he has made the big cash with his short stack.  A couple of hands later and I find pocket 8’s, the Smurf move all-in with KJ and hits a King on the flop, unlucky for him there are 3 spades and a fourth one on the river gives me a flush and sends him out in 5th.
I’m on a roll, and when Warren 3 bet shoves my initial raise for 80k with AJ I call with AK and have him dominated.  I was just about to have 70% of the chips, when a jack hits the turn, and reality sets in that I need to slow down and make sure I make the top two.
Craig Hartley eventually takes out Warren, and then James takes out Craig to leave me with roughly 500k and James with 675k heads up, to be crowned the 1st Jersey Poker Champion!
Heads –Up
After about a 15 minute break to clear our heads and realise we were the last two remaining, we return for the heads up action.  It’s around 6pm and the blinds are still only 6k, 12k so there is plenty of play with 1.175million chips available.
The first big hand see’s James taking me down to about 200k, I’m dominated and need to compose myself.  I slightly adjust my game as I regularly do in heads up play depending on who I’m playing and how they are playing.  I find myself with pocket 5’s and after James has raised I shove all-in to be called by A3.  My 5’s hold up and I’m back in the game with around 450-500k.  I start to win a few more hands, and I’ve taken the chip lead when I find myself with pocket Kings.  Nearly every hand has been raised so I carried on as normal with James calling.  The flop came K,J,9 and I lead out which James calls.  The turn is a 5 and this gives James two pair as he is holding J5, I bet again and he calls.  The river isn’t too scary and I put a big bet in, which would only leave James with around 5% of the chips in play, he thinks about it for quite some time, we play a few mind games with each other and eventually he calls.
A few hands later we get it in with my K10 dominating James K6 and it holds up – I’ve won it and am crowned the first Jersey Poker Champion WHOOP WHOOP!

The Final Table


























JPC In Pictures


Martin 'Nav' Hodson

Matt Thebbault
Ricardo

The Smurf

Smudge

James "The Pro"

Danny "Plumber" Paxton

Mr Dransfield

Guersney Alex

Jason Harrison

Nik Ward

Dave "The Fisherman"

Diamond Dave

Mr Planet Poker

The Fish
Thinking Time

Rowlesy

Phil "The Mouth"

Jonesy "666"

Craig Hartley

The Fly

Gutshot Gordon


Nick "Harry Hill"


Kev Hodkinson

The Rock

Richie

Whippster

Quinston