Sunday, June 14, 2009
Phil Ivey apparently doesn't even enjoy playing poker tournaments. The long hours and relatively small payouts (small to him anyway) make tournaments seem like too much work compared to a high stakes cash game.That's why he's been making side bets with other pros about how many bracelets he can win.
He's won two already at this World Series. Firstly he won $96,637 in Event #8, the Deuce to Seven Draw Lowball (No-Limit) event. Then on Saturday night, he won event 25, the $2,500 Omaha 8-or-better/Seven-card Stud 8-or-better event for $220,538.
There were rumours that his side bets with other pros were to net him as much as $12 million after the first win alone! The actual amount was probably much lower than that, but after upping the ante to get a second bracelet, there's a good chance that some pros were not very happy at all to see him win again.
This is what Ivey had to say to ESPN after the win.
"Well, before last year I pretty [much] skipped a couple of years at the World Series," said Ivey.
"I didn't play in as many tournaments as I used to because I figured, it's doesn't really make much difference, you know. But then, as I started getting older I started to realize this does matter. Winning bracelets, it does matter. Just having the chance to put myself in poker history and I know I have the chance to win and be the all-time bracelet leader if I can continue at this pace. So, I'm looking forward to the opportunity."
"I think [last year] I really wasn't into it," he continued.
"I don't know, I am just feeling good right now. I think last year I had a lot of distractions, especially in my personal life. And there were a lot of things going on outside of poker. I wasn't able to focus as well. Also, I think I am a better tournament player now than I was a year ago."
Let's hope he gets another one to add to his legacy as one of the greatest poker players to ever live.
Don't forget you can play against and learn from the great one at Full Tilt Poker. You can also still qualify for the WSOP main event this weekend at Full Tilt, where they are guaranteeing at least 150 seats to the world's biggest poker tournament.
Kris
Posted at 9:55 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
The poker blog resurrection
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Things have been quiet on the blogging front here at Poker.com lately... So I've invited a few other poker fans to come and post from time to time.
The infamous Paul @ Poker.com is one of them. He is the creator of one of the most popular pages ever on the website - how to build a poker table. Hopefully he'll stop in soon to bless us with the poker wisdom gained from hosting some of the best home games in town over the years.
Another is Shad, or 'The Shad' as I like to call him. His forte is math and poker theory. He likes getting into the nuts and bolts of probability of different poker games when he's not betting on MMA.
We're also bringing back more bonus tournaments and freerolls which I'll post about very soon.
I'm looking forward to playing some poker again over the next few weeks. The WSOP starting has re-ignited my passion for the game!
Kris
The infamous Paul @ Poker.com is one of them. He is the creator of one of the most popular pages ever on the website - how to build a poker table. Hopefully he'll stop in soon to bless us with the poker wisdom gained from hosting some of the best home games in town over the years.
Another is Shad, or 'The Shad' as I like to call him. His forte is math and poker theory. He likes getting into the nuts and bolts of probability of different poker games when he's not betting on MMA.
We're also bringing back more bonus tournaments and freerolls which I'll post about very soon.
I'm looking forward to playing some poker again over the next few weeks. The WSOP starting has re-ignited my passion for the game!
Kris
Posted at 11:50 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
It's WSOP time again!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
The 2009World Series of Poker satellites have started getting into full swing at online poker rooms all over the internet in preparation for the world's biggest poker tournament, which starts on July3.Full Tilt Poker is once again running their 150 seat main event guarantee on June 21st, where at least 150 seats to the main event will be given away - that's $1.8 million in guaranteed prize money!
And if you qualify at Full Tilt, then happen to go on to win the main event, they'll give you another $10 million!
The 150 seat guarantee is just one of many ways to qualify for the WSOP at Full Tilt. There's also daily shootout tournaments, multiple weekly cash qualifiers and the popular race for the bracelets tournaments where you can qualify for the preliminary WSOP events. During the WSOP you can play the mini-series of poker which replicates the WSOP schedule with events at 1/100th of the buyin. Full Tilt is THE PLACE to experience the best WSOP 2009 action. I haven't spoken about all the promotions they are offering - it's poker heaven over there if you're a fan of the series like me.
European players might prefer to qualify at Titan Poker or Party Poker. Like Full Tilt, both are offering WSOP packages, and the competition may not be as fierce as at Full Tilt, but there's also not as many ways to qualify.
I'm going to be trying my luck at Full Tilt and maybe PokerStars. I'll keep you posted about how I go.
Ed.
Posted at 10:08 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
Rousso through to semi final
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Vanessa Rousso is through to the semi finals of the National Heads Up Championship, and will face fellow PokerStars pro, Bertrand Grospellier at Caesers Palace for a place in the grand final.Rousso has been having quite a year in 2009, appearing in both the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and GoDaddy television ads.
Her road to the semi final was not an easy one either - defeating poker legends Doyle Brunson, Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu so far!
In the other semi final, Huck Seed will play Sam Farha.
Go Vanessa! It'd be good for a lady to win this event.
Posted at 9:53 PM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
Congrats Redmailman
Monday, February 23, 2009
Redmailman won our $250 added tournament Sunday at Full Tilt Poker. Congrats!There ended up being 88 players, which isn't bad for a day's notice. :)
Yours truly busted out in 66th spot after donking off on a draw.
We're going to be holding money addded tournaments more often in the future, so keep eye an eye on this poker blog, our twitter feed and the newsletter for details of the next one. (you can sign up for the newsletter on the index page of Poker.com)
Have a good week!
Ed
Posted at 4:32 AM Permalink | 1 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
$250 - Just for Poker.com visitors
Saturday, February 21, 2009
We've organised a tournament at Full Tilt Poker on Sunday night for Poker.com visitors.
It's on at 19:00 EST and is called Poker.com $250 - tournament # 80925015.
It's just $1 buyin and the password is pokerdotcom - the same as our bonus code that will get you 100% up to $600 with your first deposit.
It's called Poker.com $250, because we've added $250 to the prize pool. There probably won't be many players because of the short notice - so get in there for an easy chance to win a share of the cash.
Happy Sunday!
It's on at 19:00 EST and is called Poker.com $250 - tournament # 80925015.
It's just $1 buyin and the password is pokerdotcom - the same as our bonus code that will get you 100% up to $600 with your first deposit.
It's called Poker.com $250, because we've added $250 to the prize pool. There probably won't be many players because of the short notice - so get in there for an easy chance to win a share of the cash.
Happy Sunday!
Posted at 7:39 PM Permalink | 0 comments | Talk on the Poker Forum
Jamie Gold losing a lot
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2006 WSOP winner, Jamie Gold is now a regular on the merge gaming network, home to two of our favorite online poker rooms - Carbon Poker and PDC Poker.I happened to be online whilst he was playing some $25/$50 hold'em the other day and stopped by his table to sweat the rail a little.
He wasn't doing too well....
The featured screenshot just one of the many big pots he dumped to the other players at his table. It looked like he was trying to bluff a lot - but it wasn't working and he wasn't catching any cards. He was buying in for $10k at a time...
He's still the all time WSOP prizemoney leader after the massive field in 2006 delivered a first prize unlikely to ever be repeated in the main event. But in this session he was doing a good job of throwing it away.
Maybe he just needed some blueberries? I'm gnna tell the merge guys they should code a bowl of blueberries into his player box for him....
You may catch him on merge rooms anytime now - we recommend Carbon & PDC Poker where you can play in $1000 freerolls every month, exclusive to players from here at Poker.com.
