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Oliver Speidel wins Aussie Millions Main Event

Posted by PokerPop on 29th January 2012

Before the 2012 Aussie Millions, Oliver Speidel was a little known grinder whose main claim to fame was winning the 2011 Manny Pacquiao World Poker Event ($50,045). But all that’s changed in a big way after Speidel captured the Aussie Millions Main Event title along with the A$1,600,000 first place prize.

When final table play began, Speidel was sitting behind Bjorn Di in second place in the chip count. However, Li’s misfortunes along with Speidel’s dominating play propelled him to the final table lead. By the time it was down to just the Aussie and his head-up opponent, Kenneth Wong, Speidel had already built up a 4-1 chip lead. Wong was never able to make a dent in this lead either, and the tournament was over 20 minutes later.

Following the tourney, Oliver Speidel couldn’t believe he won the 2012 Aussie Millions Main Event as he said, “Words can’t describe it. I’ve just been incredibly lucky this week.” He continued by adding, “It’s almost a joke to me really how lucky I’ve been this week. It keeps amazing me and now to win it all, I don’t know. I don’t know what to say really.”

What’s interesting is that Speidel is now the fourth straight Aussie to win the Main Event title dating back to Stewart Scott in 2009. And no one is more happy about this than Speidel himself who added the aforementioned $1.6 million AUD to his career winnings. The 26-year-old now has $1.97 million USD in poker tournament earnings, which ranks him 6th all-time among Australians (just ahead of Scott).

Some of his other highlights include a $1k side event win at the 2011 Aussie Millions ($99.5k), finishing second in a 2012 Aussie Millions $1k side event ($25.5k), and winning the aforementioned Manny Pacquiao tournament in the Philippines.

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Macau prepares for Biggest Poker Tournament Ever

Posted by PokerPop on 28th November 2011

It seems like Macau is trying to do everything bigger and better in the poker world since five different international companies are in the process of setting up the biggest poker tournament ever here. The tourney is set to have a $100,000,000 prize pool, which would be well ahead of any WSOP Main Event tournament that’s been held.

The only catch is that you wouldn’t find many mere mortals in this tournament since there will only be 500 seats available; do the math, and you can see that the buy-in is $200,000. In addition to this, the first place prize would be worth $25 million! If pulled off, the only poker tournament that could compete with this one is the fictional $10 million buy-in tourney held in the James Bond movie Casino Royale.

US businessman William Murray further explained the plan for this prestigious event by saying, “The current goal is to have 500 participants with one-third coming from the Far East, one-third from the U.S., and one-third from other countries. The subscription for the seats in the Far East has already been taken.”

Players have until December 15th, 2011 before the initial application process ends. But considering the fact that the tournament won’t actually happen until 2013, and it’s hard to find 500 people willing to ante up $200k for a single tourney, the application period might be re-opened later on in the future.

As mentioned before, Macau is already developing quite the reputation for high stakes poker play since there are some huge cash games going on there. Players like Johnny Chan, Andrew Robl, Sam Trickett, Tom Dwan and Phil Ivey are all playing in these huge cash games where multi-million swings have not been uncommon.

In the past, Las Vegas used to be home to the biggest cash games and largest tournaments; however, we could be witnessing the balance shifting towards Macau right now.

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Elio Fox is 2011 WSOPE Main Event Champion

Posted by PokerPop on 20th October 2011

2010 WSOPE Main Event champ James Bord may have had no impact on the 2011 WSOPE ME from a playing standpoint, but his words probably provided some motivation to the winner. The Englishman told an online sportsbook, “I don’t think an American can win the bracelet, Europeans are now far superior.” He eventually added, “I’m prepared to put my money where my mouth is and refund any losing bets up to $500 if an American wins.”

Hopefully Bord hasn’t donked off the $1,281,048 prize he earned last year since he’s going to be owing a lot of people money after American Elio Fox won the 2011 WSOPE Main Event, along with a record €1,400,000 top prize. Fox opened up the day with a 1.2 million chip lead (3.9 million total) over second place Jake Cody. And the New York City native did nothing but increase this chip lead throughout the day.

Interestingly enough, the heads-up showdown for the title was between Fox and Bord’s countryman Chris Moorman. However, this wasn’t quite the dramatic showdown that you’d expect since Fox took a 3-to-2 chip advantage into the heads-up match, and he never relinquished the lead. The final hand had Fox (Ad-Ts) dominating Moorman (Ah-7s) when the two were all-in. The board was dealt 6s-4s-3h-6d-8h, which was of no help to Moorman.

After winning the WSOPE Main Event, Elio Fox was very humble as he told WSOP.com, “I ran really well. I think I am pretty good at poker. But people put too much stock into somebody winning a tournament, and I think that all the time when the media talks about a new player winning some tournaments….there’s a lot of luck in tournaments. Short-term results in tournaments really does not matter that much.”

Here are the WSOPE ME final table results:

1st: Elio Fox – €1,400,000
2nd: Chris Moorman – €800,000
3rd: Mortiz Kranich – €550,000
4th: Brian Roberts – €400,000
5th: Dermot Blain – €275,000
6th: Shawn Buchanan – €200,000
7th: Jake Cody – €150,000
8th: Max Silver – €115,000

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WSOPE Final Table plays Today

Posted by PokerPop on 20th October 2011

Yesterday we talked about how the 2011 WSOPE Main Event was playing down to the final table. Max Silver was leading the field by a sizable margin when our news was released with 16 players left, but he stumbled a bit afterward. However, he did manage to make the 2011 WSOPE Main Event final table, along with eight other players. Here is a quick look at those who will be squaring off for the €1.4 million top prize:

Elio Fox – 3,990,000 chips: Fox comes into the WSOPE final table with the chip lead. The American is famous for winning the 2011 Bellagio Cup IV, and also for being a successful online poker player with nearly $3 million in winnings.

Jake Cody – 2,685,000 chips: Cody is second in chips, and has had a remarkable year after winning the $25k NLHE Heads-Up Championship at the WSOP this year. The UK native also took Player of the Year honors at the British Poker Awards.

Dermot Blain – 2,405,000 chips: Blain’s biggest poker accomplishment thus far includes winning the 2009 APPT Macau tournament. He hails from Ireland, and has over $800k in live tourney winnings.

Chris Moorman – 2,230,000 chips: With over $7.5 million in online poker winnings, Moorman is definitely best known for his internet play. However, the UK resident also has $1.3 million in live winnings too.

Brian Roberts – 2,000,000 chips: Like Moorman, Roberts is best known for his online play since he’s an excellent high stakes cash player. Before now, Brian “Flawless_Victory” Roberts has yet to accomplish anything significant in the live tournament world.

Max Silver – 1,825,000 chips: Silver is the third UK player on this table, and he is best known for winning a 2010 EPT London side event. In all, Silver has $367k in live tournament cashes.

Moritz Kranich – 1,660,000 chips: Kranich is one the most accomplished poker players on this final table since the German has both a 2009 EPT Deauville and 2010 Bellagio Cup win to his credit – plus $2.1 million in live tournament winnings.

Shawn Buchanan – 1,015,000 chips: Buchanan comes onto this final table with more winnings than anybody since he’s managed to accumulate almost $4.2 million in live tournament cashes. The Canadian’s experience should definitely serve him well in this tournament.

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Several Big Names Left in 2011 WSOPE Main Event

Posted by PokerPop on 19th October 2011

We’re not far from seeing the 2011 WSOPE Main Event final table set, and there are plenty of big names still alive in the field. With just 16 players left in Day 4 of the event, one of the big names that jumps out is UK poker pro Chris Moorman, who is second (2.4 million chips) behind little-known chip leader Max Silver (3.2 million). Moorman has earned millions of dollars in online poker tournaments, and has hauled in $1.3 million in live tournament winnings.

An even bigger name than Moorman is Patrik Antonius, who’s currently sitting in fourth place (1.2 million chips). Antonius isn’t known for playing a lot of live poker tournaments in recent years, but that certainly doesn’t mean he should be counted out of the race here ($3.3 million in career tournament winnings).

Israeli poker pro and online sensation Amir Lehavot is also in the mix since he’s currently sixth in chips (1.1 million). In addition to his strong online poker play, Lehavot has almost $1.2 million in live poker tournament earnings, which includes a 2011 WSOP PLO Championship bracelet win ($573k).

One more big name worth mentioning is UK pro Jake Cody, who’s one of the shorter stacks right now, and battling for his tournament life. But this doesn’t mean you should count Cody out since he’s had an incredible year after winning the $25,000 NLHE Championship in the 2011 WSOP ($851k), and earning the Player of the Year accolade at the 2011 British Poker Awards.

We’ll have more updates on the 2011 WSOPE Main Event as it nears the end, and here is a look at the top 10 chip leaders in Day 4:

1. Max Silver – 3.2 million
2. Chris Moorman – 2.4 million
3. Brian Roberts – 1.4 million
4. Patrik Antonius – 1.2 million
5. Dermot Blain – 1.2 million
6. Amir Lehavot – 1.1 million
7. Mortiz Kranich – 1.1 million
8. Elio Fox – 910k
9. Thibaud Guenegou – 795k
10. Alex Dovzhenko – 790k

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Matt Giannetti wins WPT Malta

Posted by PokerPop on 25th September 2011

2011 is definitely shaping up to be the best year of Matt Giannetti’s life. After all, the poker pro already made the 2011 WSOP Main Event final table. The Las Vegas native will start the tournament in third place when action resumes in November.

Moving along, the 2011 November Nine member can also revel in his latest big accomplishment, which involves winning the 2011 WPT Malta Main Event. Giannetti was able to play his way through a tough 240-player field, and on towards the $273,200 first place prize; he’ll also receive a $25,000 WPT Championship seat along with the money.

For a while, it was looking like Giannetti would have no shot to win since Cecilia Pescaglini appeared to be a lock to become the first woman ever to win a WPT tournament. She opened the final day with a massive chip advantage over the rest of the field. However, Pescaglini ran into some bad luck against Giannetti heads-up. Even Giannetti himself admitted this after tweeting, “God damn, I am a lucksack, so mad how I played, way too much run good expended… Happy I won but feel like I don’t deserve it.”

As we all know though, there is plenty of luck involved in poker, and there’s no taking the 2011 WPT Malta title away from Giannetti no matter. But the way he won was somewhat lucky since he went all-in with a straight draw against Pescaglini’s top pair; Giannetti won when his straight connected on the turn.

Here is a look at the final table standings:

1. Matt Giannetti – $273,200
2. Cecilia Pescaglini – $159,412
3. Filippo Bianchini – $104,936
4. Simon Trumper – $72,985
5. Tristan Clemencon – $54,381
6. Fabien Sartoris – $41,977

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Jesus and The Professor booted from Epic Poker League

Posted by PokerPop on 22nd September 2011

While many people have criticized the Epic Poker League for taking it upon themselves to became poker’s new morality patrol, their latest decision seems to have been largely accepted by the poker community. The Standards and Conduct Committee for the Epic Poker League voted in favor of indefinitely suspending Howard “The Professor” Lederer and Chris “Jesus” Ferguson from future tournaments.

Once considered popular figures in the poker world, both Ferguson and Lederer have become a joke after their involvement in the Full Tilt Poker mess. After numerous news outlets reported on Full Tilt Poker being a Ponzi scheme, both Lederer and Ferguson were cited as dipping into the $440 million that was taken out by the company’s owners/pros; currently, many FTP members haven’t received their bankroll back. All of this combined to put both players’ character into question, and the EPL decided to suspend them.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this story is that Lederer’s sister, Annie Duke, had to sit in on the meeting to suspender her brother and Jesus. Perhaps she heard what Dusty Schmidt thought about the hypocrisy of previous Epic Poker League suspensions, and decided that she had better help do something about the matter, or risk damaging the newlyfound league’s already fragile reputation.

In any case, it doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing Lederer or Ferguson in the Epic Poker League any time soon since they’re being targeted by a US Department of Justice civil suit. Perhaps they can both go have cocktails and swap stories with other suspended Epic Poker Leaguers like David “Chino” Rheem and Michael Devita.

Of course, if the Epic Poker League’s attendance doesn’t start increasing soon (97 of 200 invited players attended the last tourney), they won’t be missing out on much since the organization will be over with before it got started.

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Epic Poker League going Too Far with Ethics

Posted by PokerPop on 12th September 2011

It started with the suspension of David “Chino” Rheem for failing to pay backers in a timely manner, and it’s advanced to Michael Devita being banned for being a “sex offender.” Yes, the Epic Poker League is certainly on their high horse, and they are not holding back when it comes to policing the new poker league with an iron fist. But what you really have to wonder is if this is all necessary for a poker organization.

Beginning with Chino Rheem, the guy isn’t exactly anybody’s best friend after consistently borrowing money from fellow players, only to stiff them on the payback. And it wasn’t until he finally won the first Epic Poker League tournament (along with $1 million) that he actually made it a point to pay people back. But was it really the Epic Poker League’s position to put their first champion on probation since he didn’t pay back debts?

While you mull over this dilemma, there is an even bigger question mark within the Epic Poker League’s recent decisions. Online qualifier Michael Devita won his $20,000 Main Event seat fair-and-square for the second Epic Poker League tournament. Unfortunately for him, the league was soon alerted to Devita’s record as a sex offender. And when you first hear this, you might think of some seedy creep who drives around elementary schools with a bucket of candy next to him. But in reality, all Devita did was moon somebody in public.

Sure this bit of weird, frat boy behavior deserves to be punished, but not by the Epic Poker League. After all, who really cares if a mooner sits down to a poker league, so long as he’s not cheating. Is the new poker organization so high and mighty that they now think they can suspend/ban anybody for any reason?

Perhaps they might want to take a look at their recent event attendance before handing out any more suspensions like they’re the governing body of some major sport. *Hint* only 97 of the 200 invited players showed up to the last tournament.

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Carbon Poker running WPT Prague Satellites

Posted by PokerPop on 6th September 2011

If you’re looking for a major WPT tournament to play in, then perhaps you should consider WPT Prague since Carbon Poker is currently giving prize packages away for the event. To win one of the prize packages, which will cover the €3200 + €300 buy-in and hotel/travel expenses, you can play in any of the satellites that Carbon is currently running.

As for the satellites, you can find $2.20, $11 and $60 WPT Prague satellites running throughout the day. To find these tournaments, just visit the Carbon Poker lobby, then choose the ” Tournaments,” “Satellite” and “Scheduled” tab; this will bring up the entire list of satellites running at Carbon.

If you’re wondering more about the WPT Prague Main Event, this tournament runs from December 1st through the 5th, which gives players plenty of time to win a prize package. Last year’s event saw Roberto Romanello win the Main Event and take home a €640,000 prize. Assuming things go as planned, this year’s prize could be even bigger!

Posted in CarbonPoker News, Live Tournaments | No Comments

Greg Mueller beats down Robber

Posted by PokerPop on 5th September 2011

Live tournament pro Greg Mueller got the satisfaction of catching a robber who was trying to make off with his $5,000 casino chip last night. Fresh off a successful day at the Epic Poker League Pro/Am, where Mueller grabbed the Day 1 chip lead, he played some craps later that night at the Aria.

While Mueller was playing, there was a lurker hovering around the table just waiting for a chance to steal some chips. He found that target in Mueller, but unfortunately for the thief, Mueller’s friend, Kyle, saw his “flags vibrate,” which can only be deemed as a fancy term for somebody stealing a $5,000 casino chip.

After Kyle alerted Mueller, the former hockey pro looked down to see that his chip stack had been violated. So the two chased after the wannabe Bellagio Bandit, which resulted in Kyle tearing the shirt off of the thief. With his nipples exposed, the crook took off again with both Mueller and Kyle chasing after him again.

According to Mueller, the thief would turn and run the other way way like a scared little b**** when he saw Mueller; this gave Kyle plenty of chances to get his hands on the slippery varmint. Finally, Kyle wrestled the robber to the ground, which set Mueller up to deliver the following line, “Ship the flag right now, and nothing happens to ya.” The man then gave Mueller back the $5,000 chip.

Unfortunately for Mueller, he violated the criminal’s trust because Aria security guards showed up to take care of the rest; we’re guessing that this means some future jail time. As for Mueller, he is the Pro/Am tournament leader going into tomorrow, and he certainly has a good story to recite to fellow pros on the poker tables.

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