Throughout 2010, the University of Waterloo graduate began generating a small buzz after cashing in seven poker tournaments. Her biggest accomplishment during this year included winning an IPT San Remo 3 side event ($64,376).

But it wasn’t until the 2011 EPT San Remo Main Event that Liu would truly make her mark on the poker world. Playing amongst a 987-player field that was stacked with pros, the relative unknown would play her way onto the final table of one of the biggest live poker tournaments in Europe. After making a strong run at the title, Liu would fall just short in third place, which earned her $524,705.

For those in the poker world who didn’t know Xuan Liu after the 2011 EPT San Remo Main Event, she made her presence known again just recently at the PCA Main Event. She found herself in a familiar position in this tournament after landing on the final table amidst several accomplished players. Unfortunately, Liu wasn’t able to win one for the ladies this time either, but she did manage a fourth place finish, which was good for $600,000.

With this giant cash, Liu has now accumulated $1,255,886 in live poker tournament winnings, and ranks 16th on the women’s all-time money list. Additionally, she’s also improved to 31st on the all-time Canadian poker money list.

Since those crazy days of 2007, we haven’t really seen much from Fricke, until he recently popped up in the news again for claiming that the Bellagio Casino in Las Vegas is using marked poker cards. Fricke explained his wild accusation through twitter by writing:

Every single ace of spades is marked at Bellagio and no one gives a shit at all. I’ve pointed it out in 10ks and big cash and no one cares.

They’re all warped because of the way they’re stored.

Screw this. I get into a pot where I know my opponent has the As after I’ve told the table they’re all marked. I feel like a cheater.

While Fricke may have initially failed in getting the Bellagio to switch their poker card decks, perhaps the casino will be more willing to listen now that word is starting to spread throughout the poker community.

Of course, one has to wonder why Fricke would be so quick to point out this problem seeing as how he hasn’t had much success on the poker tables lately. Since 2008, the Illinois native has only made $89k in live poker tournament winnings, after earning almost $1.27 million in his first three years as a pro.

Negreanu, who has had no problem in the past touting his lovers, dropped the news on an episode of QuadJacks Radio. After being ribbed by Mike Matusow and Matt Savage about persistent gay rumors, the crazy Canadian did his best to dispel the rumors by saying, “I met my new girlfriend at the World Series. She plays poker too. She just came up; she was just saying ‘Hi’ cause she knew some friends and stuff. So, we just started, you know, hitting it off, and she’s super cool. She lives in Budapest, Hungary. She was Miss Earth Hungary in 2008. She’s there now, but I’m gonna go visit in a bit.”

Unfortunately, there’s no solid confirmation on what Negreanu said, and it almost sounds like he’s the dateless high school kid lying to everybody about some hot girl he’s banging from another town. But looking back on his history with women, maybe Negreanu is telling the truth.

Assuming the latter is true, he definitely landed a fairly prestigious beauty in Krisztina Polgár since Miss Earth is one of the biggest beauty pageants in the world. It’s also worth mentioning that, unless Negreanu is the biggest player ever, his relationship with poker sideline reporter Amanda Leatherman must officially be over.

Cousins of Ron Mexico, winner of the first Blogger Poker Tourney a few weeks back, hits us up with a guest post that talks about claims of rigging in the online poker world. Got a guest post you want to share? Hit us up on Carbon Poker’s Twitter.

I’ve been playing poker online for a while. That was probably obvious. I’m the guy who won the first ever blogger poker tournament on CarbonPoker. Not just any donk off the street can accomplish something like that on his first go around.

In my many years of experience playing on the internet, I’ve tried all the sites. Some are better than others, with CarbonPoker being the best. (I’m not just saying that because it’s in the contract I signed without reading. Really.) No matter what site you’re on, there’s one constant. One platitude you’ll read in the chat box just about every time you sit down to play.

It comes after a bad beat, usually by the avatar that just lost a coinflip. The wording is oftentimes different, but the sentiment always the same – THIS SITE IS FIXED!

It’s usually phrased as a “[Site Name] Special.” Or “only on [Site Name].”

And this doesn’t just come Aces are cracked. You’ll read this after just about any superior starting hand goes down. Just the other night I was short-stacked and went all-in with Ah 10c. A big stack called and showed Ac Jc. After the 4th heart came on the flop the chat box read, “only on [Site Name] lol.”

I felt great. The site wanted me to win the tournament! I was destined to become rich! The cards were virtually stacked in my favor!

And I got knocked out about 10 minutes later.

The sad thing is that I think there might be people out there who believe what they type. People who put actual money on the internet and then assume when they lose to an underdog, that the site determined the winner. Why would you play? And what could a site possibly have to gain? It makes no sense.

Then again, what do I care? I’ve got CarbonPoker on my side.

Here’s a guest post from a friend of the blog, PUNTE from WithLeather. He’s one of my fave bloggers online and despite his showing in the blogger tourney on Wednesday, he’s a poker lover. Here’s his take on last Sunday’s $50K Guaranteed tourney:

Two things about me: I love poker, and I haven’t played in forever. It’s hard enough to get enough friends together for a cash game, and my work schedule hasn’t really permitted me a chance to play many hands online. That changes today, as I’m signing up for CarbonPoker’s Sunday $50,000 No-Limit HE Tournament. It will be a unique welcome back to online poker. And, I suspect, a rude one.

I’m keeping a running diary (original, I know) of the day progresses. I’ve logged into CarbonPoker and have my Sunday tournament ticket ready. I’ve chosen the username PUNTER4KSK, a sort of homage to my online blogging persona. Here we go…

3:21 PM

I Registered for the Sunday Deep stack tournament on CarbonPoker, paid the $109 entry fee and waited for 39 minutes.

I thought about strategy and tactics for winning a tournament this size. I want to accumulate chips early. Play big cards. Steal a blind here or there. Play attention to other players at my table. Keep a strong chips-to-blinds ratio, and don’t follow stupid with stupid.

Everyone makes a stupid play in a poker tournament. It’s the finite nature of it with the blinds constantly increasing. I want to make smart plays, without getting too fancy, with any dumb mistakes few and far between.

3:27 PM

$50,000 is guaranteed in this tournament, including $15,000 for first place. I can see in the tournament lobby 165 players have already registered, and that payouts have been scheduled for the top 20 finishers, or 12 percent. That’s slightly on the generous side, especially for online poker. Typically, the top ten percent of the field will get paid out, and there are still other online cardrooms will only pay out the top three, regardless of the number of entries. I feel confident that I can make the money.

I consider playing a few hands online in the real money rooms, which I’ve found to be rather competitive considering that no real equity stands to be won. A quick sit-n-go is probably a good idea, especially since I’ve not played in a while and tournaments are a weak format for me. I prefer cash games, where I can wait for stronger pocket cards and get a feel for how my opponents like to play. I won’t have that luxury here.

3:30 PM

I register for a one-table sit-n-go. This is how the blogger tournament will play. I really am impressed with the CarbonPoker interface. It’s very elegant; there’s buttons that will let me bet in multiples of the big blind, and also in fractions of the pot. There’s also an all-in button, but I’ve disabled it in the options. I adjust the colors of my window to make the table and floor dark, but the colors of the deck brighter, so I can see at a glance who’s still in a given hand. I shrink the window with the mini button and the “cards” are in the air…

3:50 PM

I’m getting my bearings back in this one-table sit-n-go. I’m using my position and hand values to make a lot of my decisions for me, but I’m accumulating chips and staying out of trouble. I hope this tournament ends before the 50K starts. I have no problem multi-tabling (playing 2 or more tables at the same time) when playing cash games, but tournaments have a different feel, one that requires undivided attention.

3:59 PM

I’m down to the final four in a SNG when the other window pops up. I make a horrible call in the SNG with pocket 3s and double up a player that probably woulda gone out in 4th. I’m still leading, but now I’m a bit steamed. I decide to tighten up my hand range in the 50K until my SNG is over. I’ll only play aces, kings, or ace-king, and fold everything else.

I catch TT in the big blind in the SNG when the SB folds. Damn!

4:05 PM

Still multi-tabling two tournaments, which I don’t enjoy. My lead in the SNG is slipping, and I’m totally ignoring the big tourney, aside from noticing the crap hands I’m folding, until I catch AQs in the SB. I make a standard 3x raise and get one caller. I fold to a bet after a 10-high flop.

4:08 PM

I wake up to AK on the button in the 50K. I raise 4x to 80. Three callers. Flop comes Q-J-4 rainbow (three different suits). I bet on the button. and get one caller. Another 4 on turn.Check-check.We see a 3 on river. I check. cp2777 bets the pot, I fold. I shut my betting down after the call on the flop. That was a mistake.

4:10 PM

My lack of attention in the SNG has cost me the chip lead. I try to muster some aggression and raise with K8o in the cutoff. Someone re-raises all in. I’m getting 3-to-1 odds to call. He flips J-4 and gets a 4 on the flop. Awesome…I’m now in 3rd.

4:12 PM

The SNG is ramping up, and everyone else is getting antsy and moving their chips into the pot. The player to my left is bleeding. He goes all-in and it’s folded around. And I’m getting nothing but cards with numbers over here. I catch J-5 and complete in the small blind. Two 7s hit the flop and it’s check-bet-fold. I’m now in 4th and it’s all-in time with my next ace or king.

…Or with 9-8. he flips over 9-9. I just followed stupid with stupid, and I don’t improve. I’m out in 4th place, having just missed the bubble. At least I can give all my attention to the 50K, which I should have just auto-folded up to this point. Fortunately, it’s a deep-stack tournament. I still have lots of room to play.

4:19  PM

We’re at level 2 blinds 15/30. I see 233 players are left, and the top 30 are getting paid. I look forward to finishing 31st. I catch K-9 in the big and call I min-raise. Flop comes 10-9-2, I bet half the pot with my middle pair. One player two seats to my right (on the button) puts in a big raise. I realize that I either need to start playing aggressively post-flop or go home. I fold.

I decide to play more aggro. Two hands later I wake up to 76o on the button. I raise 3x and the blinds call. We all check A-4-3. And I bet the turn, another ace. I get one caller. The river is a 6 and I make a bush-league all-in. He folds. Obv.

With 2820 in chips, I am in 155th. I have a long way to go to reach the top 30.

4:26 PM

I catch pocket nines in middle position. Facing a 3x raise and call, I shove. I’m still steaming a bit from that 4th place finish in the SNG. I get a caller, and my day might already be ending. He flips AK and catches a king in the flop. I do not improve, but I have him covered, and take my wounded stack to the next hand.

I have 1014 in chips. I’m now 228th out of 230 remaining. But I still have plenty of play left. About 33 big blinds left. I can build on that if I get more serious about my starting hands, and post-flop play. I have about 1000 in chips now. No one else at the table has less than 2200. I’m in trouble.

I can see the leader at the table has 12k in chips, while the player running second only has 9k. I am getting antsy; in these big tournaments, you need to accumulate big stacks early and play aggressively. I have the aggro part figured out, but my stack is shrinking, not growing…

4:32 PM

Pocket kings in the small blind! Alright, here we go! I really need to get paid for this hand.  Blinds are 25/50 now, so I make a big 5x raise two callers. Flop is Q-10-3, all hearts. With a stack smaller than the pot, I have to make an aggressive play here. I move all-in. They fold. I am relieved.

I raise the minimum on the button with my next hand, 98o. I get one caller. Flop comes Q-2-2. I bet half the pot and the other player folds. I am finally getting some momentum, but I’m still 211/228 and still the baby stack at the table.

I see the next break is at 5 o’clock, in 27 minutes. If I make it that long, I’d better have some equity to take into the break with me.

4:38 PM

Pocket sevens in middle position. I make another big 5x raise. Button calls. Big blind calls. It’s a bad flop for me, K-J-4, but I’m betting anyway. One caller. Blank on the turn. Check check. I bluff the river. He calls with second pair. I now have less than 7 big blinds, and the all-in code red is on once again.

I find A3 on the next hand. I shove. My one caller flips over AQ and I’m done. 225th.

As badly as I played today, at least now I know what I have to do to improve. I need to tone down the preflop agression and maybe ramp it up more after the flop. I need to play fewer hands. And I need to play only one table for tournaments. At least for now.

1.You got ****ed off at the Mcdonald’s guy for DONKING your order when they forgot your fries! (Some would call this a suckout… idk.. I mean you had probably a better than 80% chance of getting your fries… BS)

2.The last time you prepared baked goods you asked “Do I need to preflop the oven?” and you were dead serious.

3.You plan all your days around which tournies you will be playing.(sorry honey I got a valentines day tourny I guess you’re flyin solo)

4.You complain about getting rivered when the guy in front of you takes the last custard filled Long john at the petrol market.(b4stard..)

5.You could list off at least 5 Customer Support reps from merge off the top of your head.(Jared,Gary,Rick,Ethan,Pauline,Spongebob)

6.You actually finished the Christmas promotion at Carbon without dying of dysentery.

7.You purchased a bigger monitor to make multitabling easier.(Lamest one so far I know but I’m guessing you’ve stopped reading)

8.You’re house is littered with various mugs, rubber bracelets, polos and decks of cards from various poker stores.

9.You rattle off that it would be +EV to go to Walmart instead of the fancy store.(One does not simply walk into Walmart… there is evil there that does not sleep….)

10.You have wet dreams about hitting the Bad beat Jackpot at Carbon!(With bbj tables starting as low as $1/$2 LH who could afford NOT to play!?)

If you want to have a crack, simply post your blog in the right forum thread located…here. It must be unique and poker related!

I will be picking winning blogs early next week sometime.

Get blogging!

There are two types of bad beats:

BAD BEAT #1…

When you catch a monster hand but lose to a BIGGER
monster hand.

For example, let’s say you’re holding pocket Aces
and the flop hits A-6-6. That means you’ve got a
full house.

Your opponent goes ALL-IN… and you call. You
think your Aces are the best hand but they’re NOT,
because your opponent has pocket sixes, which
gives him the four-of-a-kind.

BAD BEAT #2…

When YOU have the best hand and your opponent has
the WORST hand but your opponent GETS LUCKY and
wins the pot.

For example, let’s say you have pocket Aces and go
all-in. Your opponent calls with pocket three’s.

The flop hits 2-4-5 and the turn card is a 6,
giving your opponent the STRAIGHT and causing you
to lose the hand.

Now that’s a bad beat.

And let’s face it, the SECOND type of bad beat–
the one where your opponent gets totally LUCKY and
outdraws you– is the kind of beat that just plain
SUCKS. And ****es you off.

In fact, the second type of bad beat is the kind
you REMEMBER the most too. When someone says, “Hey
man, how did your card game go?”, the first thing
that will come out of your mouth will be the story
of that bad beat.

Am I right?

Now here’s what’s interesting…

MORE BAD BEATS HAPPEN IN ONLINE POKER THAN IN
“REGULAR” OFFLINE POKER.

Literally, you’ll see more bad beats happen in an
online poker game than you’ll see at a local cash
game or in a casino.

If you play both online and offline poker, I’m
sure you agree with this statement.

So what’s going on here? Why would it be this way?

There are two popular “theories”…

1. Online poker is rigged.

2. There are more hands per hour, therefore it’s
an ILLUSION that there are more bad beats.

My opinion is that BOTH of these theories are
WRONG.

Here’s why:

First off, I genuinely believe online poker is NOT
rigged. I mean, c’mon… Do you REALLY think these
multi-billion dollar casinos would need to RIG
hands?

They make their money from tournament entry fees
and rakes… and trust me, they’re making plenty.

OK, so what about the second theory?

Well, I do agree that there are more hands per
hour in online poker than offline poker. There’s
no disputing that.

But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason…

Because my belief is that there are MORE bad beats
that happen per X number of hands ONLINE than for
offline poker.

For instance, let’s say you played 100 hands. And
let’s say you caught two really bad beats for
every 100 hands at a casino. That’s 2%.

In online poker, you’re likely to catch FIVE or
even TEN of those really bad beats per 100 hands.
That’s 5-10%.

So the fact that you’re seeing MORE hands doesn’t
explain the HIGHER PERCENTAGE of bad beats.

Still with me?

OK, so now let me give you MY “theory” about this.

It’s not really a theory. Just good old simple
logic, actually.

Here it goes:

The reason there are more bad beats in ONLINE
poker is because the very NATURE of online poker
leads people to PLAY DIFFERENTLY.

The CARDS and ODDS are the same.

It’s the PLAYERS that aren’t the same.

What I mean is that for online poker, a LARGE
portion of players adopt the style of
LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE.

Translation? Manic.

They act irrationally… play hands they shouldn’t
play… and bet way too aggressively for most
given situations.

Why?

Because online poker isn’t as “real”.

The money isn’t as real. I mean, heck… the
casinos give you so much “free” money when you
sign up, how COULD it feel real?

The cards aren’t real. The chips aren’t real. The
table isn’t real. NONE OF THAT STUFF EVEN EXISTS.

All you see when you play online poker are some
silly little animations. And you hear some
“clickity-click” sounds of fake chips.

That’s it.

Nothing else.

Period.

And if you LOSE a game, all you have to do is make
three or four mouse clicks and you’re INSTANTLY
playing another game.

And hell, you can PLAY ten games at once if you
want!

You can literally play poker against 100 players
AT THE SAME TIME!

It’s a different world, my friend.

Now… let’s get back to the bad beats.

The FACT that players are LOOSE-AGGRESSIVE is what
leads to the SITUATIONS where bad beats happen.

Here’s why:

1. Players bet their draws more or call large bets
with draws or OK hands (i.e. bottom pair).

2. More players are involved in every pot.

3. The pots are bigger, since players are more
aggressive.

When these conditions COMBINE TOGETHER, it creates
an environment where there are a lot of BIG POTS
and bad beats.

It’s not that the cards are “rigged”.

It’s that the betting patterns and playing styles
are DIFFERENT than what you’re used to.

And when you combine that with the fact that you
see more hands per hour, it inevitably leads to
seeing a lot more “crazy” hands and bad beats than
in regular poker.

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Forum Link: http://forum.carbonpoker.com/showthread.php?t=19782