Gambling Poker 24/7
$750 000 POKER BANK-BOOSTER FOR SEIDEL
2011-03-07
Poker veteran wins 2011National Heads Up Poker Championship
Veteran poker pro Erik Seidel (51) was the centre of attraction over the weekend at Caesars Palace, where he took down the 2011 National Heads-Up Poker Championship and added an impressive $750 000 to his career winnings.
The event saw 62 invited poker mavens facing off in a series of heads up matches. It was the fifth time that Seidel competed – previously with little success.
In the final heads up clash Seidel battled it out with Chris Moneymaker - regarded by many as the man who put internet poker on the map back in 2003 – in a best-out-of-three competition.
Seidel, who was runner up in the tournament last year, when Annie Duke took the honours, has had a successful year so far. Ranked 11th at the start of 2011, he has triumphed in the $250,000 buy-in Super High Roller tournament at the Aussie Millions and the $25,000 buy-in High Roller tournament at the Los Angeles Poker Classic, bringing his career total to $14.6 million.
Moneymaker, whose runner-up prize was worth $300 000, was generous in his tribute to Seidel “I tried everything,” he said. “I tried to check-raise, I tried to bluff him, I tried to trap him. He’s just a true champion.”
In order to face Seidel in the final, Moneymaker had to get past the 2010 World Series of Poker champion Jonathan Duhamel, whilst Seidel reached the final by defeating Internet whizz Andrew Robl.
The often enthralling championship will be screened by NBC starting mid-April.
NBC starts airing round-by-round coverage of the event on Sunday, April 17. For once, Seidel will look forward to watching it.
REID SPEAKS ON LEGALISED POKER BILL (Update)
2010-12-10
"This is good for Nevada and good for the country," says veteran senator
After a week of mainly reactive statements from members of his staff, Senator Harry Reid of Nevada issued a statement Thursday on his proposal to legalise online poker at the federal level (see previous InfoPowa reports). The senator's draft legislation has excited wide mainstream media coverage and political comment this week.
In a statement issued by his office, Senator Reid comments: “The online poker bill I am working on is good for the country and for Nevada. Internet poker is played by millions of Americans every day in an essentially unregulated environment, meaning no protections for minors, no respect for state law, no assurance that games are fair and honest, and no one to turn to if you’re defrauded.”
The Senator went on to reiterate that he continues to have serious concerns about legalising other forms of internet gambling, and stressed that he seeks nothing more than the legalisation of online poker.
The statement included a brief summing up of the draft bill, which reflected provisions already reported widely in the media after the draft was circulated to politicians last week (see previous InfoPowa reports). The summary noted that when it comes to the issue of licenses the initial preference will favour states and native American tribes with a good operating pedigree.
EPT MAIN EVENT SURVIVORS NOW DOWN TO 129
2010-10-04
But plenty of firepower in this field
The 2010 Pokerstars European Poker Tour Main Event rolled on in London Friday, with the 348 players from the Day 1 flights reduced to just 129 and the cash bubble popped; every player is now guaranteed at least GBP 7,500.
Despite many big names falling during Day 2 there is still some impressive talent in the field, all well behind million chip plus leader David Vamplew and his nearest rival, Christopher Tighe (912 000).
Still in the hunt for the GBP 900 000 main prize are Phil Ivey, Arnaud Mattern, Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, Joe Hachem, Greg Raymer and celeb player Teddy Sheringham.
Saturday should see the field reduced further to around 24 players, and Sunday the final table.
848 hopefuls entered for the event, generating a prize pool of GBP 4,112,800.
DWAN’S SEE-SAW
2010-05-06
Online poker’s quintessential high stakes poker player has a roller coaster career
The ‘mountain and valley’ style action of online high stakes poker aces is avidly watched by legions of Internet railbirds – none more so than the inscrutable Tom ‘durrr’ Dwan.
After ending last year in a disastrous decline of around $5.5 million and well into a ‘valley’ phase, Dwan persevered, coming right in the early months of 2010 and soaring into a mountain climb that saw multi million dollar wins in February, March and April to become this year’s top earner thus far.
His heads up clashes against the likes of the mysterious Isildur1 and the redoubtable Ilari Sahamies have become almost legendary in 2010, but the month of May has not been kind.
Dwan has come off his heater on the Internet nosebleed tables at Full Tilt in the last week it appears, losing $2.5 million in a matter of days in heads-up matches – much of it against jungleman12 and Phil Ivey.
Last Saturday Dwan played a marathon 8 400 hands, the vast majority of them against jungleman12 on $200/$400 NLHE, and dropped close to $600 000. The same day he clashed with international ace Phil Ivey on several $500/$1 000 PLO nosebleed tables, dropping another $420 000 or more.
It’s anyone’s guess whether we’re in for another tour of the valleys, or a return to the peaks.
The top Finnish player, Patrik Antonius has seen similar swings in fortune, starting 2010 with a series of disastrous losses that saw him $4 million or more in the hole, but in recent weeks fighting back into the black against players of the calibre of Dwan, Phil Ivey, Ilari Sahamies, Gus Hansen and Cole South.
BETFAIR BACKS AMATEUR POKER
2010-02-22
Giant online betting exchange to sponsor season four of APAT
The giant UK-based online betting exchange group Betfair is to sponsor the fourth season of the Amateur Poker Association and Tour (APAT), it announced this week.
The Association boasts a membership of over 20 000, and its APAT event hosts 28 live tourneys in the United Kingdom and Ireland, along with three competitions in Europe.
Betfair Poker will be the exclusive online qualifying home for APAT, and will also host the APAT National Online Championship and League fixtures.
FULL TILT POKER INVESTIGATION SUSPENDS TOWNSEND
2009-12-22
Team Full Tilt poker pro makes admits to some questionable 'homework' on Isildur1
The mystery Swedish high stakes poker phenom Isildur1 may be feeling a little more vindicated in his serious recent losses to Team Full Tilt poker pro Brian Townsend following the latter's startling and less than palatable admissions this week.
InfoPowa recently reported on a growing furore in online poker circles following statements by Townsend's fellow-Cardrunners instructor Brian Hastings that there had been an exchange of information on Isildur1's playing style between himself, Townsend and Cole South - all big winners against the unfortunate Swede's total losses of over $5.6 million.
There is speculation that the big hits shattered the Swede's bankroll, and he has not been active in the really big nosebleed games for some days.
The issue surfaced when Hastings - the main beneficiary of Isildur1's misfortune - was interviewed on ESPN on his record wins and subsequently blogged about his experience. Perhaps unaware of the implications of what he was saying, Hastings revealed that he and two other CardRunners and Team Full Tilt pros, Townsend and South, had shared their individual hand histories to study the Swede's play.
Hastings told ESPN writer Gary Wise: "We've done quite a bit of studying of his habits. Honestly, I give most of the credit to Brian Townsend here. I mean, Brian is honestly the hardest worker I know in poker. He analyzed a database of heads-up hands that Isildur1 had played and constructed ranges of what Isildur1 was doing in certain spots.
"In a way, I feel bad that it wasn't Brian who got this [multi-million dollar] win instead of me. Obviously I'm happy and I'll take it, but Brian did a ton of work. The three of us discussed a ton of hands and the reports that Brian made, so I'm very thankful to him and to Cole as well."
Unfortunately for the trio, sharing a database of hands is a direct violation of the clearly stated Full Tilt terms of service. Rule 8 of the T&Cs specifically defines an unfair advantage as "a user accessing or compiling information on other players beyond that which the user has personally observed through his or her own game play.”
The row over the admissions grew as the issue was widely discussed on prominent poker message boards and publications, culminating in Townsend admitting on his blog that he had taken 20 000 hands of his play with Isildur1 and merged them with another 30 000 hands he 'acquired'. He then analysed and shared his thoughts on Isildur1's play with Hastings and South.
“Of the three I was the sole one to break the T&C of Full Tilt," Townsend wrote on his blog. "The three of us never shared hands where mucked hands were shown besides a few hands I posted on weaktight.org, and in fact all the information I received could be taken from watching the game.”
Full Tilt Poker has subsequently suspended Townsend for a month, and there is speculation that Cole South may also have been suspended, although that has yet to be confirmed.
Full Tilt has apparently cleared Cole South of any wrongdoing following an investigation, in which he asserted that a discussion of Isildur1's play did take place, but that raw hand histories were not exchanged and there is no combined database of hand histories singling out Isildur1.
In light of these developments it is unclear where Isildur1 - and his monumental losses -stand; it is hard to imagine that he will not be contemplating some sort of recovery action. The industry may soon know, because Poker News has claimed that it has interviewed Isildur1 on the issue and will soon be publishing his perspective. A similar request for an interview with Brian Hastings has reportedly been declined.
Townsend's suspension from Full Tilt Poker is his second - last time it was a six month hiatus in 2008 on multi-accounting accusations (see previous InfoPowa reports) when he used the Internet handle "Stellarnebula".
247GamblingPoker.com has the most extensive listings of poker sites you can find, whether you're looking to play for fun or put some serious chips on the table.
Find the best poker games on the web and read our expert advice to hone your skills and rake in cash the next time you enter a game, check out 247GamblingPoker.com.