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Ivey's $5m Bracelet Bet

Posted: April 19th, 2010, 6:00pm PDT by Poker.com

It should come as no surprise that Phil Ivey enjoys making hefty wagers on any number of things. So why all the hubbub about his most recent betting venture?

It seems that Daniel Negreanu has let the cat out of the bag on a $5 million prop bet between Phil Ivey and his Full Tilt Poker colleague Howard Lederer. The two are no strangers to winning World Series of Poker bracelets, as Ivey has seven and Lederer two, but The Professor seems to think Ivey's bracelet-winning days are well behind him.

Negreanu broke the news that Phil Ivey and Howard Lederer have a $5 million even-money bet riding on whether Ivey can pick up two WSOP bracelets in the next two years. Now, just how many opportunities does Ivey have to pick up those lovely silver bits of jewellery over the next couple of years?

Eighty.

That's right, Phil Ivey will have around 80 events in which to pick up a pair of bracelets, and when you consider that he won two in two weeks last year, and the fact that he had a three-bracelet haul way back in 2002, you'd have to think Lederer doesn't really care about dropping a cool $5m into Ivey's pocket.

That said, Lederer has already won a high-profile proposition bet when he ate a cheeseburger - despite being a vegan - in front of David Grey. Cheeseburgers and World Series of Poker bracelets: they're pretty much the same thing, right?

What are your thoughts on Ivey's latest foray into the world of lucrative prop betting with fellow poker pros? Do you think he has what it takes to tip his WSOP bracelet tally over to nine, or will Lederer have the last laugh this time? Let us know by commenting below!

-TheDoctor

WSOP ToC Front Runners

Posted: April 18th, 2010, 10:55pm PDT by Poker.com

Poker fans have been voting for which of the best WSOP bracelet winners should get a spot in the 2010 Tournament of Champions, and the results thus far have been quite interesting after more than 250,000 votes. The current Top 20 includes:

Doyle Brunson
Johnny Chan
TJ Cloutier
Allen Cunningham
Antonio Esfandiari
Sam Farha
Chris Ferguson
Barry Greenstein
Joe Hachem
Jennifer Harman
Dan Harrington
Phil Hellmuth
Phil Ivey
John Juanda
Howard Lederer
Daniel Negreanu
Scotty Nguyen
Greg Raymer
Huck Seed
Erik Seidel

There is still a long time left to vote, as entries do not close until June 15th, so this list will obviously change somewhat before then. Also, Joe Cada gets an entry due to his WSOP Main Event win last year, as does Barry Shulman for winning the WSOPE Main Event. Previous WSOP Tournament of Champions winners also get invited - which means Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and Mike Sexton can all be expected to play. Nevertheless, there are many strange picks on the current list, as well as many glaring omissions. Of course, only previous WSOP bracelet winners are eligible, which means that many excellent online players cannot be considered. Which is kind of unfortunate, really.

First off, let's talk about players who really should be on that list. Annette Obrestad is an obvious choice, as without her Annie Duke and Jennifer Harman will probably be the only female players. While there are plenty of other more established female WSOP champs, Obrestad appeals to a younger demographic, as well as to viewers in Europe. I also think Jason Mercier would be a good addition, as I feel he'd be surprisingly competitive, definitely more so than many of the fading stars in this list.

Now for the players who just don't make sense in this tournament. Greg Raymer is a questionable pick, as he hasn't really set the world on fire since his WSOP Main Event win in 2004 and is unlikely to fare well against the other players. I'm also not too sure of Dan Harrington, who hasn't really been active enough in recent years, despite being an excellent live poker player. TJ Cloutier is also a suspect pick, especially given the controversy surrounding the sale of his WSOP bracelet last year. I'm not annoyed that these players are in there, but I don't expect that they'll still be on the list come June.

Some of the picks that I think are particularly good are Phil Hellmuth and Scotty Nguyen, if only for potential entertainment value. Now, the benefit of having them relies on at least one of the two staying in long enough to get on TV, but I think the chances of that are reasonably good.

Who have you voted for and who do you think should be included in the 2010 WSOP Tournament of Champions? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

-Shad

Bodog Poker CEO Bounty

Posted: April 15th, 2010, 7:30pm PDT by Poker.com

Bodog Poker Network CEO Patrik Selin is really keeping up the adventurous Bodog spirit by putting a 1,000 Euro bounty on himself. He'll pay the bounty to whoever busts him out of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Grand Final, so put those shotguns away. He figures involvement in live events could be a great way to improve his own poker room. In the man's own words:

"I think it's a shame more senior management of poker rooms do not play at these events as it is the best way to find out what players want."

Maybe. Asking them what they want probably also works.

"Everybody at a live event is passionate about the game and happy to talk about their likes and dislikes which is invaluable to anybody running a poker room," said Selin

I'm not sure people are all that happy to talk about their likes and dislikes while playing. In fact, if I were playing, I'm pretty sure I'd troll you to death by just making up ridiculous complaints to see if I could put you on tilt. Especially if you're offering a 1,000 Euro bounty to bust you out!

"Now I have raised the stakes and will be putting 1,000 Euro straight into to the hand of the person who knocks me out which should make the banter even more fun in Monaco," said Selin.

More fun for whoever knocks you out, sure, but more fun for you? Can Selin really hand over 1,000 Euro to the player who just knocked him out? Even if they are a total donkey who only beat him because they got lucky on an absolute joke of a hand? If he really is so calm about getting knocked out, then he's a better man than I.

While I see some problems with Selin's approach to finding out what players want, I do think this is a very nice gesture. The man's no slouch at poker, either, as he managed a money finish at the 2006 World Series of Poker Main Event. He's also reached two televised final tables, with a Ritz Club Live Tournament win in 2006 and a second placing at the UK Open Main Event in 2007.

Who knows, maybe this isn't so much a bounty as a bet that Selin has made with himself to add some motivation for a victory? Plus, "Bodog Poker CEO Wins PokerStars Tournament" could be a nice headline... And think of the marketing potential! If he loses, he gets goodwill because of the bounty. If he wins, he'll get props from everyone and a symbolic victory over PokerStars.

...

My God, this man is a genius!

Is anyone out there looking to play in Monte Carlo? Do you have your sights set on knocking out Patrik Selin? Tell us of your plans in the comments.

- Shad

Texas Hold'em Hits FB

Posted: April 14th, 2010, 5:31pm PDT by Poker.com

It seems that Facebook never fails to latch onto the latest bandwagon and roll with it. This time around they've sunk their teeth into the sensation of online poker.

A free-to-play version of the World Poker Tour's Texas Hold'em game has been made into an online application for Facebook members to join in on. Free online poker is all good and well for learning how to play the game, but what excitement is there when there's no real cash to be won?

I know from personal experience that playing free online poker games on certain websites teaches you nothing but the basics of Texas Hold'em. Since nobody is using real money, most will flagrantly go all-in every hand, ultimately destroying the very nature of the game.

I'm more than a little skeptical that something like this will catch on with proper online poker fans, even with a couple of prizes thrown in. When you sit down to a game of online poker at Full Tilt or Bodog, you are not only able to join a room with people of a similar skill level and knowledge of the game, but also with a comparable bankroll.

Honestly, why play on Facebook (a social networking site, of all places!) when you could be playing a proper game of online poker against fellow lovers of the game? And it's not like you can't practice at online poker sites for free, either. As soon as you have had a few games to warm up, you can jump right into the real money action, without having to change online poker venues.

Call me a cynic, but this seems like one of the countless Facebook applications that will blow over after a couple of months. Without a proper incentive to "win" each hand, there's no real reason to play, other than against your FB friends.

I'll be sticking to the real online poker sites. How about you? Let us know your thoughts by commenting below.

- TheDoctor

Poker Trek: Wrath of Dwan

Posted: April 12th, 2010, 9:28pm PDT by Poker.com

Going by the number of hands and frequency of the last 10 sessions of the 'durrrr' Challenge, it's looking like I was right about the need for a short time limit on these things. We can currently expect another 10 months of playtime if we take the past 10 sessions as a guide - though that's probably too optimistic. If we just look at the time it took to play the hands in the last 5 sessions... it's looking more like 14 to 15 months.

That's right, it could easily be more than a year until the completion of the first 'durrrr' Challenge. At this point, I think it would be a great idea for Full Tilt Poker to add some kind of incentive for Patrik Antonius to get back to the Challenge tables. He's at an incredible disadvantage now, and to be honest, there's really no reason any poker player of his calibre would keep playing at this point unless he was enticed to do so... or obliged. Yes, this assumes that it's Antonius that is delaying, but why would Dwan not want to get this done with and collect an extra $500K? If it all ends up in some kind of lawsuit, I won't be shocked.

I have some ideas for rules in any future 'durrrr' challenges:

Time limit of one year for the whole challenge (hopefully less)
At least half the hands to be completed by 6 month mark
A maximum win amount - if one player is up by an agreed on amount, the Challenge is over
A partially set schedule - one game guaranteed per month, minimum of 3 hours (preferably more, but the players will need flexibility)
Penalties for missing scheduled games

Maybe those rules would help, maybe they need a little more thought. I'd be interested in what everyone out there thinks. Mostly I just think there needs to be a way to keep the Challenges within a reasonable time limit, and for the challengers to have a reasonable total risk to their bankroll.

What do you think about the situation? Does someone like Full Tilt Poker need to step in and convince the two to play through the rest of the Challenge quickly? Tell us what you think in the comments.

PS: I apologize for the title pun. I could resist no longer!

-Shad

8 Poker Tactics for Newbies

Posted: April 7th, 2010, 10:20pm PDT by Poker.com

Normal.dotm 0 0 1 507 2894 Dotcom Internet 24 5 3554 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;} VentureBeat published a great article recently that explains how skill plays an important roll in being not only a successful poker player, but also a successful startup businessman. The poker tactics themselves are just too good not to share, and you can take a look at all eight tips here.

Too many newcomers to the game don't understand how veteran rounders play their hands, and more often than not end up losing a lot of the time. And while that's no different to learning any other sport (practice makes perfect, as they say), there are countless online poker guides out there that will provide you with the information necessary to compete against the big boys.

Even if you've been playing Texas Hold'em for years (or even decades), there's a lot of great info in Emmanuel Marot's article that, if nothing else, will make you sit up and say, "You know what? That's actually a good idea." Who knows, it might just help you win that all-important hand during your next game.

Some of the best excerpts from the feature include:

"Don't fall in love with your hand - Sometimes, in a game of Texas Hold'em, players imagine they'll get a monster hand when all they get are promising cards. When the flop, turn and river are revealed, their dreams crash to earth. Novice players tend to stick with their original assumptions and behave as their good fortune is due. Experts cold-bloodedly re-assess the situation."

This is a big one, and not restricted simply to beginners. I'm sure most of us can recall a moment when our pocket Aces were met with a sickeningly low flop that gave us nothing. Still, we soldiered on, calling every bet in the hope that the next card would produce an Ace, or at the very least that no-one else would be able to top our Deuce Aces, despite there clearly being an outside straight draw in the community cards. How very, very wrong we all were.

"Use Probe Bets - Good players sometimes bet money while they know they have very little chance of winning. They push a 'probe bet' only to discover what the other players may have, and often fold if they meet resistance."

No matter where you play your online poker, you are bound to come across probe bettors on a regular basis. While newcomers may feel that they need to hang back for the first few rounds - folding potentially winning hands in the process - sometimes the best defense is a good offense.

"Take meaningful details into account, but no others - Playing a hand isn't just a matter of the cards you hold. It's also about the positions of other players, the stack's size and a million other things. World-class players take those into account, but can learn to disregard the irrelevant details (e.g. your opponent may look like a moron, but you shouldn't take for granted that he is one)."

Just this weekend, I defeated an opponent that had been the chip leader for the majority of the game. By the time the table had whittled down to just the two of us, it was obvious that he was only betting on "sure thing" pocket cards. I recognized this, exploited it with constant betting and smart folding, and eventually won. Identifying facets of your opponent's game is integral to success, but don't be fooled into excessive bets simply because they play like a "moron" - that could be exactly what they want you to think.

You can read all eight poker tactics discussed in the article here, and be sure to let us know of any online poker tactics you have in the comments section below!

- TheDoctor

Everest Sues WSOP

Posted: April 5th, 2010, 10:58pm PDT by Poker.com

Ultra Internet Media, the company that owns Everest Poker, is trying to get out of its sponsorship contract with the WSOP. It was the on-the-felt sponsor of the World Series of Poker for 2008 and 2009, having paid a total of about $14.6 million for the privilege. UIM is now trying to get out of a further $8.4 million sponsorship for the 2010 WSOP, citing a breach of contract by the WSOP where RTL9, a French ESPN affiliate, showed Full Tilt Poker logos on the felt of the final table broadcast, but no Everest Poker logos. While meetings were apparently held to rectify issues with the RTL9 broadcasts, it would seem that the problem did not improve.

This has got to be particularly grating for Everest Poker given so many of their players come from France. They do not accept US players, so a sponsorship arrangement that shows their logo all over US screens but not on French screens would be a pretty bum deal. With no guarantee that they will get the exposure they want in their biggest market, and with the meetings they've claimed to have had with ESPN and Harrah's about this sponsorship deal suggesting they've tried and failed to get what they want, it's understandable that Everest would want to pull out.

It has to be said that it's a bit late to be doing this, which can only be seen as a tactical move by UIM. With the 2010 WSOP just over a month and a half away, this puts the World Series in an unfortunate position. There are so many possibilities for how this could go down, and the WSOP may have to run the advertizing before a decision has been reached. How would that affect the case, and could Everest end up with free advertizing? Who else could the WSOP find to advertize? There are a lot of questions, with even more uncomfortable answers.

My feeling is that this is simply a play by UIM to show they are really serious about Everest Poker coverage in France this year. It seems too late in the game for them to be seriously bringing this to court, but it should be a wake up call for Harrah's and ESPN to keep affiliate channels playing for the team. I agree that Full Tilt Poker is a great poker room, but Everest have paid quite a bit of money for their extra special coverage, and they really need that French audience.

What do you think will happen, and will this affect the 2010 WSOP? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

-Shad

Poker Ruled Game of Chance

Posted: March 30th, 2010, 10:30pm PDT by Poker.com

What is wrong with the legal system? The Pennsylvanian case that saw poker legally ruled a game of skill has been overturned on appeal, with poker now ruled to be a game of chance. I'd like to know how President Judge Kate Ford Elliot and Senior Judge Robert Freedberg came to their decision in the face of all the statistical evidence, while their colleague Senior Judge Robert Colville believed that the prosecution had failed to prove that poker is a game of chance in the initial hearing.

Diane Dent and Walter Watkins, the couple at the center of this case, can still appeal to the state Supreme Court. That will take quite some time, of course, and until then we will all have to deal with the ramifications of this decision. What is most frustrating is that this judgment has apparently been made based on court opinion in other cases, not on the statistical evidence provided that led to the initial decision that poker is a game of skill. The most compelling evidence that poker is a skill game has come from fairly recent studies, which wouldn't have come into consideration in prior cases.

I understand the need to follow precedent, but I just cannot see how any meaningful precedent could have been established when serious studies into poker statistics had not yet been performed. I think far too many people when deciding whether poker is mostly chance or skill rely on their own basic experience of the game and take it as self-evident that it is a game of chance. Well, analysis of hundreds of thousands of poker hands suggests otherwise, and you can't just wave away statistics based on your own anecdotal evidence.

Poker is a skill game with elements of chance, not a game of chance with elements of skill. Blackjack is a game of chance with elements of skill, as the very best player has a negative expected value regardless of whether or not they play perfect strategy. Sic Bo is a pure game of chance, with the only hint of skill in choosing to play the bets with the lowest house edge. Poker just cannot sensibly be considered primarily a game of chance when it involves skilled players. The statistics show that the more skillful a player is, the more success they experience when against players with less skill, and they can have a consistent level of success while up against those lesser players.

Here's hoping that the case is taken to the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court, and that the judges there will give the statistical evidence the weight it deserves.

What do you think about all this? Enraged? Unsurprised? Please vent in the comments, and consider playing at one of the poker rooms in our review pages, such as Full Tilt Poker or Bodog.

-Shad

Isildur1 Playing Live

Posted: March 24th, 2010, 10:29pm PDT by Poker.com

With Tony G of PartyPoker saying he would stake Isildur1 for an entry in the live PartyPoker Big Game IV event in April, I can't help but wonder whether this would be a good change of pace for Isildur1. I don't care about whether Isildur1's identity is revealed or not as a result (he's been offered a mask). I just wonder if some live play would be good for his online poker play.

Many players have identified Isildur1's weakness for playing extremely long sessions, and how he does seem to go on tilt from time to time. He is also inclined to play many high stakes tables at once, so it would be interesting to see how he would adapt to the much slower pace of a live poker tournament.

Of course, who knows if Isildur1 has played in live tournaments before and just found they weren't to his tastes? Regardless, if someone is saying he'll stake you and pay for your flights and accommodation, you shouldn't pass up a free holiday and the chance to win some cash. Full Tilt Poker can wait a couple of days. I'm sure the other high stakes players enjoy the occasional rest from Isildur1.

What does everyone else think? Should Isildur1 accept the generous offer and let everyone see how his style translates to live tournaments? Do you think it would just be a waste of time, that Isildur1 is suited to the online game only, and he should keep dancing for our amusement in the Full Tilt nose bleeds? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Poker now a sport in Lithuania

Posted: March 21st, 2010, 6:26pm PDT by Poker.com

The question of whether the poker is a game of skill or luck has been debated for decades, and continues to be a talking point throughout the world to this day. While most people will accept that poker is now regarded as a sport, there are still plenty of countries that have yet to acknowledge the distinction.

Today is good day for poker fans in Lithuania. The Department of Physical Education and Sports recently issued an official statement declaring the Lithuanian Sports Poker Federation an official sports federation. The exciting news means that poker can now branch out further into the sporting world, where once it was restricted solely to casinos and commercial events.

The announcement means that the LSPF are given far more leeway in terms of organizing poker tournaments, and that they can do so for non-commercial tourneys outside of Lithuanian casinos.

President of the LSPF Andrius Tapinas was obviously pleased with the decision. "This is extremely important step in our work. We are receiving congratulations from many of our colleagues abroad and I know that we are breaking thick ice with our progress for similar international initiatives."

Over the course of the next week, the LSPF will be collating and then releasing their official tournament schedule to the Lithuanian sports media. World Series of Poker competitor Tapinas will surely turn the announcement into a popular issue in Lithuania; his performances at WSOP and Unibet Open events have been the source of front page articles in his home country, and he also hosts the most popular business TV program in Lithuania.

Keep an eye out for next month's inaugural LSPF event, which will take place in Vilnius over April 24 - 26. If we are to believe Tapinas's prediction for the event, it will be the biggest poker tournament in any Baltic nation.

What do you think about the decision to make poker an official sport in Lithuania? Do you think it will have any effect on other national poker federations throughout Europe and the world? Let us know by commenting below!

- TheDoctor

Rush Poker Tactics and Strategy

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 10:22pm PDT by Poker.com

Rush Poker, the new cash game format at Full Tilt Poker, seems to be catching on. While the core play of poker doesn't really change in a Rush Poker game, there are a few key differences that can make it a dangerous proposition for the unprepared.

Here are a few of the best tips

1. Don't fold too soon

Sure, the advantage of Rush Poker is that you can fold and get a new hand ASAP, but don't be in too much of a hurry. Always wait for the action to reach you before you fold, especially if you are in good position. Many less patient players will quickly fold and move on, and this can allow you to make a strong play with what would normally be a marginal hand. You should still play pretty tight, but don't fold mindlessly.

2. The big blind must pay

Never let the big blind see the flop for free in a hand you are going to play. Most people will only play the best hands in Rush Poker, but you'll have no idea what the big blind is playing if you don't force them to pay to see the flop. Don't let other people play their borderline hands if you can stop them from doing so. You'll be able to steal a lot of blinds if everyone keeps thinking they can only win with monster hands, while you are watching and waiting for an opportunity to blitz the blinds!

Of course, if YOU can see the flop for free when you are posting blinds, then be sure to take advantage of the opportunity. If the flop looks like it could give you a good straight or flush without any high cards, a raise can really scare off your opposition.

3. Send in the shock troops

Very few players are going to remember how you play in a Rush Poker game, so you can't intimidate them over time - you have to give them a shock. Expect to raise and re-raise often, and for other players to do the same as soon as cards are on the board.

4. Don't sweat stolen blinds

If someone makes a clear play to steal your blinds, don't sweat it. While it can make you look soft in a normal game, it is quite unlikely that you'll be up against the same players on future blinds in Rush Poker. You can't afford to be forced into a raising war with a bad hand.

5. Play VERY tight

While you should keep on the lookout for opportunities to profitably play less-than-optimal hands, most of your play should be super tight. Don't get lured into only playing the very strongest hands, but don't get caught up in raising wars on a marginal hand either, as your opponents will often only make a play with great hole cards, or at least hole cards with a lot of potential.

Do you have any suggestions of your own for playing Rush Poker at Full Tilt Poker? Have you got any good Rush Poker stories to tell? Please share your secrets with us all in the comments.

-Shad

WSOP's All-Star Tournament

Posted: March 17th, 2010, 4:22pm PDT by Poker.com

It's been several years since the last installment of the Tournament of Champions, but finally the World Series of Poker is bringing the event back. It's even getting a total overhaul, so hopefully it'll last a bit longer than the three-series TOC from 2004-2006.

During that time we got to see some of the biggest names in poker compete for the ultimate title, with Annie Duke, Mike Matusow, and Mike Sexton all taking out the championship.

The new All-Stars Tournament of Champions will be a combination of both traditional TOC rules and a new All-Stars format.

The tournament will include 27 players competing in a $1 million Freeroll, with the final table competitors all earning payouts, and $500,000 for the winner.

Five of those seats have already been reserved for all three Tournament of Champions winners, and the previous year's WSOP and WSOP ME winners (Joe Cada and Barry Shulman).

Two more seats will be filled by "sponsor exemptions", while the remaining 20 seats will be determined by fan votes. Anyone can make their votes count, but for a poker pro to be selected they must have won a bracelet in their career.

Additionally, the entire program will be televised on ESPN, so you'll be able to watch all the All-Stars action as it unfolds. Not too bad considering the long list of stars that will be in attendance.

As I said before, anyone can vote for the players they want to see in the tournament right here, so take your pick and let us know who you chose in the comments below!

- TheDoctor

Big Mistake for Antonius

Posted: March 15th, 2010, 10:04pm PDT by Poker.com

Accepting the 'durrrr' Challenge was the biggest blunder of Patrik Antonius' career, and it may turn out to be the cleverest of Tom Dwan's. After the most recent 61 hand session at Full Tilt Poker that lasted just 9 minutes, Dwan came away with $230,710 to bump his lead up to $1,986,418. If I ever lost $230,710 in 9 minutes, my kneecaps would be in pretty bad shape from all the loan shark attention.

To highlight just how screwed Antonius is right now, allow me to present you with some interesting numbers - if Antonius were to fold every single hand from now until the end of the challenge, he would be out by about $7.5 million. Since the last time he and Dwan were both at $0, at close to the 23,500 hand mark, Antonius has lost maybe $200 per hand. That means he's losing at least a small blind on every hand, and could expect to drop another $3.3 million plus $500,000 for losing the challenge if Dwan's winning ways continue at the same rate. Of course, current signs point to Dwan dominating even more as the challenge continues, so those average losses could end up being much greater.

While the challenge isn't over yet, these sorts of numbers must be frustrating for Antonius, and it can't be helping his performance. When you are looking at a probable loss of around $4 million, with the potential for a loss of more than $8 million, I'd laugh if you told me you didn't feel at least a little bit off your game. It looked like so much fun in the beginning, when Patrik and Tom were trading the lead on a regular basis, but now it's serious business that could cost Antonius a good chunk of his profits from 2009.

Let's not focus entirely on the ill-fortune of Antonius, however, as the 'durrrr' Challenge has been great news for its instigator. Tom Dwan has firmly planted his name in the minds of online poker players, and I would be surprised if his performance against Antonius wasn't a large part of the reason Full Tilt Poker signed him on as a part of Team Full Tilt, especially considering the devastating losses he was being dealt by Isildur1 at the time.

Do you think that Antonius will win, or will you be impressed if he can keep his losses below $4 million? Is Tom Dwan a genius, or just lucky things are working out for him? Let us know what you reckon in the comments.

-Shad

Isildur1 back in action

Posted: March 11th, 2010, 3:17pm PST by Poker.com

The mystery man himself has returned to his massive winning (and losing) ways at the Full Tilt Poker tables, and has drawn quite a bit of attention for it. But then again, it's hard not to notice a faceless guy picking up around $1.4 million in a single day.

On Tuesday, both Cole South and Brian Hastings lined up to take on the unknown Swede in what was always going to be a highly publicized showing. Not surprisingly, Isildur1 cleaned up at the tables, eventually see both Cole and South take losses in excess of $500,000 each.

Brian Hastings should have known things weren't going to be friendly when, right off the bat, Isildur1 took almost $800k from Cole South, in what ended up being a 2,400-hand session.

As with all good poker players, Hastings was set on the challenge, and he squared off against Isildur1 later in the day. In a rematch of their December 2009 encounter (where Hastings clocked Isildur1 for more than $4 million), you could have been forgiven for thinking that Hastings had the mental advantage. On the contrary, Isildur1 came out all-guns-blazing and ended up wiping the floor with Hastings, picking up more than $550,000 in the process.

Running off such a lucrative streak, Isildur1 returned to the tables almost immediately and found several willing opponents. Unfortunately for Isildur1, his decision to take on both Tom "durrrr" Dwan and Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond last night wasn't exactly the best choice he's ever made. The Swede ended up losing not only the $1.4 million he picked up on Tuesday, but also another $220,000+.

It's been a long road to bankroll recovery for Isildur1, and this up-and-down run of form isn't exactly doing him any favors cash-wise. For such an aggressive player, the Swede was highly successful with his "play anyone" mentality in November of '09. While it's unclear whether he'll repeat the incredible matches that saw him crush Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and Tom Dwan, at least he's back in the high stakes headlines.

What do you think of Isildur1, and do you have any idea just who he could be? Let us know by commenting below!

- TheDoctor

Top 5 Poker Notties

Posted: March 10th, 2010, 8:00pm PST by Poker.com

Maxim has just released its list of Top 20 Poker Hotties, and in the interests of fair coverage, I have decided to publish my list of the Top 5 Poker 'Notties'. If you don't recall the Paris Hilton classic 'The Hottie and the Nottie', a nottie is the unattractive opposite of a hottie. Pure genius.

All is not lost for the illustrious names on my list, however, as many of them rock so hard at poker that their levels of attractiveness skyrocket thanks to Golddigger's Theorem of Applied Cash: Unattractive + HUGEBUX = Hot (where HUGEBUX is equal to $3 million or more).

Without further ado, here is the list:

5. Phil Ivey's Random Photo Face

I'm not talking his posed photo face. The man looks fine when he knows a photo is being taken. What I am talking about is the face he seems to be making any time someone catches him unawares and takes a picture of him playing poker.

I think the only way he can correct this is to stop playing live poker and only play at Full Tilt, but I might just take my own life if this article convinced him to do that. It would be a kinder end than what millions of poker fans would do to me.

4. Count durrrr

Sometimes, not always but sometimes, he looks like a vampire. Straight up, that's what I think. Look at some of the pictures of Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and try to tell me he isn't a vampire from an old black and white film. Just try.

Okay, try less than that.

3. Brian Hastings in the pictures I see in any Isildur1 related news

Look at the picture. Now I'm going to give you a word:

Hobbit.

You cannot unsee what you have seen!

Anti-2. Patrik Antonius

Not bad looking. Not bad looking at all...

I am totally straight.

2. Joe Cada's little hat

If there is one thing I can't stand, it is guys in hats. It used to just be guys trying to look cool in fedoras, but now I can't take baseball caps, either.

YOU ARE INDOORS. HATS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.

1. Isildur1

Can you get less attractive than this? I mean, what kind of person doesn't have a face, honestly? The only things uglier than Isildur1 are the epic swings he takes on the virtual felt. For reals, it is sickening how much his account balance seems to swing each day he hits Full Tilt Poker, and his lack of a face is almost as bad.

What do you think of my list of poker 'Notties'? Do you have any of your own additions? Do you have Patrik Antonius' number? Whatever you have to add, please tell us in the comments.

-Shad

Full Tilt Charity Event

Posted: March 7th, 2010, 9:02pm PST by Poker.com

Full Tilt Poker is holding a charity event at 2:00PM ET on April 4th in tandem with PokerGives.org. The tourney will have a buy-in of $5 + $5, of which half will be added to the prize pool, and the other half will be donated to charities selected by PokerGives.

PokerGives was established in 2008 by Mike Sexton, Linda Johnson, Jan Fisher and Lisa Tenner. It is a poker charity organization dedicated to passing on as much money as possible to mainstream charities, and no board members draw a salary so that operating costs can remain lower than 5% of donations. Some of the charities that have benefited from past PokerGives efforts include the Special Olympics and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.

Full Tilt Poker isn't new to charity events, but this could be a much more efficient way for the site to support charity tournaments in the future. It would be good to see many more charity events on poker sites, and working with PokerGives could make it easier for Full Tilt to run them on a regular basis.

What sort of charity events would you like to see in online poker rooms? Just single tournaments, or perhaps a tournament series? Please tell us your thoughts in the comments.

-Shad

Getting Ready For 2010 WSOP

Posted: March 4th, 2010, 8:41pm PST by Poker.com

Here at Poker.com, we can't start looking forward to the next World Series of Poker soon enough. Joe Cada and Darvin Moon are old news - which means that poker rooms like Full Tilt Poker and Titan Poker will soon begin offering WSOP seats. Here's some advice for players looking to score a seat in an online satellite tournament.

First up, if you are already going to a WSOP event for sure, just enter it directly and play for seats into other events. Then you aren't worrying about how much you could be spending IN ADDITION to a direct entry, which may throw you off your game entirely. Only players who cannot afford direct entries really benefit from satellite tournaments. Elite tournament players are a different story, but do you win tournaments consistently enough to consider yourself 'elite'? Also, if you have the money to enter directly, isn't your time better spent in ring games?

If you are on a low budget, then you should start playing in satellite tournaments as early as possible and enter tournaments with loyalty point buy-ins. Many poker rooms offer qualifiers in 'steps' where a low cost satellite moves you up to a higher cost one, and so on, until you are playing for a WSOP prize package. If your budget is very low, this may be the only way you can get to the WSOP, so you will need to start working on climbing the steps right away for as cheap an entry as possible per tournament. Don't expect a rise straight to the top - you'll probably stumble a few times before getting near the prize.

Make sure to take advantage of every single freeroll qualifier you can enter, if you have more time than money. Even if you are just playing for a ticket into the first stage of qualifiers, having the time to play in all the freerolls gives you some kind of advantage over the higher stakes players. Considering how many people play for WSOP seats at Full Tilt Poker every year, you can't pass up an opportunity to pull the odds in your favor.

Finally, if you don't have the money to enter a WSOP event directly and you don't have the time to play in every cheap qualifier and freeroll, then you need to choose your opportunities carefully. You should play in the highest step qualifiers you can afford that will give you the best opportunity at a WSOP seat. Other players have the resources to pursue more avenues of getting a seat, but you need to focus all your limited resources into the most likely events to send you to Las Vegas.

Does anyone else have some tips for playing for WSOP seats? Especially someone who has won a seat? Please impart your wisdom in the comments.

-Shad

Online Poker Beats Stress

Posted: March 1st, 2010, 9:12pm PST by Poker.com

A Canadian study has revealed that playing online poker can have a stress reducing effect. Players engaged in a game can experience a drop in cortisol (a stress hormone) of up to 17%. I've read that cortisol causes nasty things like increases in blood pressure, but I'm no doctor, so I'll just mention that the report says a reduction is a good thing.

The report has hypothesized that the complexity of poker causes people to focus on it entirely, rather than worry about other stressful things. This leads to an overall calming effect, something that I have to say surprises me. I can't imagine that players are more relaxed than normal after experiencing a particularly bad beat!

I won't try to argue with research based on my own limited experience, though. News of a positive mental effect is great, as poker players will have experienced the benefits already, but have never been able to fully explain before why poker seems to leave them feeling so much better considering they are constantly putting cash on the line.

If the effect really is due to concentration on the game, it seems like online poker is a bit like meditation. Of course, I've never seen someone win thousands of dollars while meditating. I have seen people winning thousands at Full Tilt Poker, though - kind of frequently, actually, especially around about the time MiniFTOPS is happening.

What do you think? Have you felt less stressed while playing poker online? Please share your thoughts with us in the comments... unless you are too busy 'meditating' on how to play a monster pot.

-Shad

Day 3 at ...

Posted: February 28th, 2010, 6:56pm PST by Poker.com

Day 3 at the WPT LA Poker Classic has certainly been an interesting affair. We've seen one of the biggest names in poker, Daniel Negreanu, drop down the ranks, while relative unknown Timothy Begley has managed to hold onto second position.

The Canadian, Negreanu, may be the current WPT Earnings Leader, with cash prizes in excess of $5.5 million, but he wasn't able to produce his previous day's form and has toppled down the leaderboard. After finishing third yesterday, Negreanu's chip count has depleted to $165,000. The top ten has been chopping and changing for most of the day, and there will certainly be a few more surprises headed our way before this tournament is over.

The current chip leader, Mark Newhouse, has a massive lead on the rest of the field; his battle with Robert Mizrachi at the end of the day allowed his chip count to reach 577,000.

Masaaki Kagawa, chip leader at the end of Day 1, has recovered after a poor performance yesterday; he increased his chip count by almost 250,000 today, and looks quite comfortable in fourth position.

Vanessa Rousso had a bad day at the tables, dropping from sixth position to well under the average chip count. Annie Duke, on the other hand, has been playing consistently, and a final surge at the end of the day saw her finish with 360,000.

Here is the top ten as they stand at the end of Day 3 at the WPT LAPC:

1. Mark Newhouse - 577,000
2. Timothy Begley - 470,000
3. Bob Karnes - 437,000
4. Masaaki Kagawa - 414,000
5. Dan Martin Jr - 400,000
6. Chris Moore - 380,000
7. Annie Duke - 360,000
8. Michael Woo - 335,000
9. Taylor Paur - 314,000
10. John Cautela - 263,000

Can Daniel Negreanu fight back over the coming days? Who do you think will take out WPT LA Poker Classic for 2010? Let us know your opinions in the comments below!

- TheDoctor

WPT LAPC: Negreanu behind

Posted: February 28th, 2010, 6:44pm PST by Poker.com

Titan and Travolta

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 9:09pm PST by Poker.com

You may have noticed that Titan Poker have been stepping up their game with marketing in recent weeks. With advertising taken up a notch, it should come as no surprise to learn that Titan Poker will be appearing in a few as-yet-unseen TV shows and films.

However, who would have thought that we'd ever see the legendary John Travolta settling down to a few hands of Titan Poker? Well, that's just what happens in his new film From Paris with Love.

The action blockbuster, based on a story by The Professional director Luc Besson, sees Travolta's character hitting the tables at Titan Poker. The marketing folks over at Titan have really gone above and beyond the call of duty on this one, and they will be using the film as part of their upcoming online promotion.

The film hit cinemas this month, so you can make up your own mind on how entertaining it is. While you're watching, though, be sure to keep an eye out for the Titan Poker scene. It'll be interesting to find out whether Travolta is as good at playing poker as he is dancing.

This could very well be the beginning of a new marketing strategy. While professional poker players have been featured time and time again in films, TV shows, and music videos (Daniel Negreanu, Annie Duke, and Gus Hansen, just to name a few), this is one of the first times that an online poker site has been featured on its own.

Do you have an opinion on Titan Poker appearing in From Paris with Love, or just have something to say about the movie? Let us know in the comments below!

- TheDoctor

FTOPS Main Event Deal

Posted: February 23rd, 2010, 2:18pm PST by Poker.com

There was an interesting turn of events at the Full Tilt Online Poker Series XV Main Event, when the last 7 players struck a deal to divide the remaining prize pool. This saw 4 players take away prizes worth more than $200,000 each and the remaining three players all got more than $150,000.

Tournament deals are a fairly recent addition to Full Tilt Poker, and this is probably the highest profile usage of them. While I suppose everyone involved in the deal is probably feeling pretty good right now, I can't help but think that deal making seems just a little off in a tournament as important as the FTOPS Main Event.

I understand that the players must have weighed up the level of competition and the likelihood of taking the top prize in the face of that. However, it wasn't as if anyone was looking at a tiny prize if they were the next player eliminated, as 8th place 'vice67' got $42,337.50 and 9th place 'trojancountry' took $29,636.25. In a major online tournament series like FTOPS, I expect that many players are in it for the competitive challenge just as much as the money. Making a deal just feels... off.

Let me make it clear that I don't judge the players for this decision. It's perfectly understandable, and it was an option on the table. I also don't blame Full Tilt, as I doubt they expected this was going to happen. No one is at fault, but I hope that in future the FTOPS Main Event will not allow deals. I don't think it is an event that should only be about the money, and disallowing deals may make players think of it more like a competitive title rather than just a really big prize pool.

What do you think? Are deals acceptable in every tournament or should they not be allowed in the biggest events? Tell us your opinion in the comments.

-Shad

Isildur1 is on fire

Posted: February 17th, 2010, 8:38pm PST by Poker.com

He/She/It is back! Isildur1 has gone on a recent tear on the high stakes tables at Full Tilt Poker. He came away $1,187,406 richer after 30 hours of play at one point, and he has continued to perform well in multiple days of $800K plus profit. He is also participating in many of the richest hands again, and better yet - he's winning a lot more of them!

So far, Isildur1 has gone up against Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo, Ashton Griffin, Alexander Kostritsyn, Di 'Urindanger' Dang, Ilari 'Ziigmund' Sahamies, and his old foes Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, Brian Hastings and Gus Hansen. Chat logs between durrrr and Isildur1 also suggest that the mystery player has learnt a lesson about setting boundaries. Durrrr has complained that Isildur1 has 'too many rules' when the Swede makes attempts to move the game from PLO to Hold 'Em. Of course, too many of the pros are aware of Isildur1's Hold 'Em abilities to go into that trap quietly. Durrrr more than anyone.

It's looking more and more like Isildur1 is going to become a mainstay of the Full Tilt nosebleeds, though he will have to avoid players like Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey until he's a little more seasoned. Hopefully he'll also abandon his habit of incredibly long sessions, especially on his off days when he just keeps digging himself into a bigger hole.

Are you as excited about Isildur1's return to high limits as I am? You should be, but whether you agree or disagree, tell me all about it in the comments.

-Shad

Can Antonius Recover?

Posted: February 16th, 2010, 8:19pm PST by Poker.com

The first round of the 'durrrr' challenge at Full Tilt Poker should (finally) be coming to a close in the near future. Tom 'durrrr' Dwan and Patrik Antonius have now played almost 33,000 of their 50,000 challenge hands. However, a recent session of just 79 hands and the fact that Dwan is leading by $1,414,551 leads me to wonder whether we'll be waiting a full year or more until the two pros see this through.

Now, with more than 17,000 hands to go, Antonius could still make his money back. He has made a full recovery from a situation almost as dire before, and it only took him about 4,000 hands to pull that off. However, it is looking more and more like durrrr has Antonius' number, and I'm not sure that there's hope of recovery. Antonius' rallies just aren't winning him enough back, and it's looking pretty disastrous for him at the moment.

If Antonius just manages to keep his losses at their current level for the next 17,000 hands, he still could lose near $2 million overall once he pays the additional $500,000 for losing the challenge. I suspect that, at best, he'll be able to bring his losses back down to beneath 500K, but even then he'll lose close to $1 million. With all this in mind, and all the stats clearly pointing to continued durrrr dominance, what will keep Antonius coming back to the tables? I'm beginning to think that a short time limit should have been imposed on the challenge, and I hope that Dwan insists on one with his next opponent if he actually decides to continue with another challenge.

What do you think about the pace of the 'durrrr' challenge? Do you agree with me, that it desperately needs a time limit as well as its hand limit? Please tell us all about it in the comments.

-Shad

Poker Maven Awards

Posted: February 14th, 2010, 3:32pm PST by Poker.com

The first annual Poker Maven Awards has begun voting, and will be coordinated by the Woman Poker Player Magazine. The event aims to recognize achievements of women in poker, and contributions made for the continuing increase of female poker players.

The awards will cover a wide range of areas pertaining to women in poker, with recognition given to the most female-friendly online poker room, as well as an award for the poker employee that has contributed the most to promote the growth of women in poker. The top female poker player for 2009 will also be announced.

The editing manager of Woman Poker Player, Maryann Morrison, is the brainchild behind the Poker Maven Awards, and is keen on continuing the trend of encouraging more women to play poker.

"I wanted to do something to push the poker industry to start thinking more about the women who play. It doesn't mean that the industry needs additional women's only events, there are other ways to market to the female demographic. It equates to the recognition and support of women, their potential, and their advancement in this industry."

Everyone can have their say on who they feel is most deserving of each award, and voting will continue until March 31. At the end of the selection period, all votes will be compiled and announced soon after.

If you would like to vote in the inaugural Poker Maven Awards, you can do so by heading over to the Woman Poker Player website here.

What are you thoughts on the continuing promotion of women in poker, and will you be making your voice heard through the Poker Maven Awards? Let us know by commenting below!

- TheDoctor

The Matador Rejoins Full Tilt

Posted: February 11th, 2010, 5:46pm PST by Poker.com

He may have been flying under the media radar recently, but that doesn't mean that Carlos "The Matador" Mortensen hasn't been hitting the tables regularly. After a short hiatus, Full Tilt Poker has announced the re-signing of the WSOP champ.

The story started as a rumor amongst several poker blogs before being confirmed by Full Tilt. The Matador is now appearing across as range of sites as the new addition to Full Tilt's Pros, and there is speculation that he will soon be back on the regular tournament scene.

While there was no real media hubbub about Mortensen rejoining his former sponsors, it is clear that The Matador will bring an experienced and professional edge to the already illustrious list of Full Tilt Pros.

For those who weren't around to see Mortensen's rise to fame during the early Noughties, you would probably recognize his unusual chip-stacking style (pictured).

A two-time World Series of Poker champion, Mortensen started his professional poker career after moving from Spain to the United States in the late 1990s. He basically came out of nowhere to snatch the ultimate prize at the 2001 WSOP: the $10,000 Championship Event - No Limit Hold'em. The victory was followed up two years later by a second WSOP bracelet when he took out the $5,000 Limit Hold'em event.

Mortensen has also won two World Poker Tour titles, as well as a string of other poker events throughout the world. His return to Full Tilt could be a harbinger of great things to come.

What are your thoughts on Full Tilt re-signing the two-time bracelet-winning Matador? Will his dominance from nearly a decade ago continue? Or will he find it difficult to compete at the same level as fellow Full Tilt Pros like Phil Ivey and Patrick Antonius? Have your say by commenting below!

- TheDoctor

The Gambling Man

Posted: February 10th, 2010, 8:32pm PST by Poker.com

Phil Ivey is one of the best - if not THE best - poker players in the world, which is why he's a major attraction at Full Tilt Poker. But, man, he is one hell of a gambler!

Rumors abound that he put a huge bet on the Colts to win the Superbowl. We're talking in the realms of $2 million, something similar to his losing bet on the Lakers a couple of years back. He's known to drop large amounts on casino games as well, generally on craps.

Now, there's nothing wrong with playing games outside of poker. I'm pretty partial to craps, too, and who doesn't take a punt on their favorite sports every once in a while? This isn't a post that's going to scold Phil for gambling - I just want to figure out how he can lose so much in these other games and yet still be so good playing poker!

Half my troubles playing poker are based on my willingness to take a gamble rather than assessing risks logically, and I'd say that's the problem most people have. Obviously Ivey is much better at assessing risk than I am, but apparently that does not extend past the poker table if his record with massive sports bets is anything to go by.

Of course, perhaps I'm just not taking into account one very important thing - he makes truckloads more money than me. I guess it'd be pretty hard to get excited by a $1,000 bet if that was less than a day's pay for you. $2 million seems a bit more than a step above, but it isn't as if he is dropping that sort of money every single day. As long as he can afford it, more power to him. Oh, and I also thought the Colts were going to win, so he has my sympathies there.

What do you think of Phil Ivey's extracurricular betting outside of poker? Do you find it as fascinating as I do? Please tell us about it in the comments.

-Shad

Has the Promised One returned?

Posted: February 2nd, 2010, 8:52pm PST by Poker.com

It looks like Isildur1 is making a comeback, as the blogs have been all a-twitter about some Isildur1 sightings in low stakes games at Full Tilt Poker. There are also rumors that the mystery man is playing at Betfair Poker as Omlphalotus, which is a much harder name to discuss around the Poker.com offices than Isildur1 (seriously, how is that pronounced?). Omlphalotus apparently plays just like Isildur1, including the disastrous habit of foolishly long sessions, and those in the know are reasonably sure it's our favorite high stakes maniac.

Isildur1's return to Full Tilt has been anything but glorious. He's playing $0.25/$0.50 stakes games of No Limit Hold 'Em, his game of choice, which is a hell of a long way from his previous games. At the end of last year he was risking hundreds of thousands of dollars on every second hand, you have to wonder if he will ever make a return to that level of play.

It's also slightly troubling that's he's sticking to NLHE games, as it was Pot Limit Omaha where he was losing big money to the pros. They know not to take him on in NLHE, so you'd think he would work on the game he's most likely to play the pros at. Oh well. Maybe he's simply working on restoring his initial bankroll, but I'm worried Isildur1 hasn't learnt anything from his prior experiences at the high roller tables.

Welcome back Isildur1. Hope you can get back in the swing of things (though perhaps don't let your bankroll do the swinging this time).

Do you think Isildur1 will return to the glory of the high stakes tables, and how do you think he would do now? Tell us about it in the comments.

- Shad

Aussie Millions' PartyPoker Champ

Posted: January 31st, 2010, 8:44pm PST by Poker.com

It was crazy enough that not one, but two PartyPoker qualifiers managed to make it to the Aussie Millions Final Table. Now, the new tournament champion has been named: PartyPoker's Tyron Krost.

Krost was one of 27 rounders that managed to win their way to the Aussie Millions via PartyPoker qualifiers. Alongside him at the Final Table was fellow PartyPoker member Frederik Jensen.

With a top prize of $2 million on offer for the ultimate winner, Krost and Jensen faced the likes of Canadian Sorel Mizzi, Steve Friedlander, and even WSOPE bracelet-winning Annette Obrestad. After days of intense play, the 23-year-old university student finally came out on top.

Amazingly, even up against Sorel Mizzi's chip lead of $6 million, both PartyPoker qualifiers were the last remaining competitors. Krost ended up taking the honors, but Jensen didn't walk away empty-handed, pocketing $1.1 million for his efforts.

Krost managed to turn a meager satellite entrance fee into $2 million thanks to PartyPoker, and it's intriguing to see just how many satellite qualifiers are managing to pull off remarkable finishes in the big tournaments.

It's not the first time that something like this has happened; who could forget the way Chris Moneymaker - arguably the man that popularized mainstream poker - managed to win his way from an online satellite all the way to the World Series of Poker Main Event in 2003.

It's a familiar story, and one we will doubtless hear time and time again as the popularity of online poker and online gambling in general increases.

Have you taken part in - or even won - any satellite events such as PartyPoker's Aussie Millions promotion? What are you thoughts on the way that qualifiers are bridging the gap between at-home poker players and well-known professionals? Have your say in the comments below!

Ivey: All-Time Money Earner

Posted: January 26th, 2010, 6:51pm PST by Poker.com

The Aussie Millions may have dealt Phil Ivey a cruel blow on Monday, but his runner-up finish in the $100k Challenge Monday was enough to push the Full Tilt Poker Pro over the line as the all-time leading money winner.

Touted as the "richest tournament in the Southern Hemisphere", the Aussie Millions event saw Ivey lose heads-up against relative unknown Dan Shak. Ivey's hand of A/10 was trumped on the flop when Shak picked up two pair of sevens and fours, proving to be the decider. While Shak took away double Phil Ivey's prize money, the legendary Full Tilt Pro still managed to pick up AU$600,000 for his troubles.

That event pushed his career earnings to over US$12.8 million, more than $350,000 ahead of former leader Daniel Negreanu. Ivey was excited about the achievement, but nonchalant about its implications.

"It's exciting. I've been after that for a while now, so it feels good to get there."

"I don't think I'll celebrate too much," he said. "I'm just going to go to dinner, maybe have a glass of wine or two and play some poker later."

With plenty of poker action coming up, we may very well see the leaderboard continue to change. What do you think of Phil Ivey's recent ascension to the top of the all-time money earners? And do you think he's likely to stay there for some time to come? Have your say in the comments!

- TheDoctor

Twitter at WSOP 2010

Posted: January 17th, 2010, 2:17pm PST by Poker.com

The 2010 WSOP Tournament Rule Book has been released, and it has a few choice entries. One of the best is that people will be allowed to use Twitter and make emails, as long as they do so in a hand they are not a part of, and as long as they aren't communicating with other players at the table. If the tournament staff believe you are communicating with another player, then you and the person you were giving helpful hints to will be disqualified. Also, people may only make calls on a phone as long as they are at least one table length away from the table they are playing at. All seem fair, and quite progressive really. Allowing Twitter especially could make for better press coverage and public interest.

Some other intriguing rules include a rule for "no shows", where a player who does not show up before the start of the third level of play will have their chips and buy-in removed from the tournament. Players who do not make it on time and are withdrawn will not be penalized, which has caused controversy, as some suspect players will try to scope out their table before showing up to see if it is worth their time playing.

The most entertaining rule, of course, is Rule No. 91, which is constantly referred to when a penalty is mentioned in some other rules. This is a bit funny because Rule 91 reads:

"There will be no foreign objects on the table except for a maximum of one card cap. Card caps can be no larger than two (2) inches in diameter and no more than one-half (1/2) inch in depth. Players may not place any food or beverages on the poker table with the exception of one (1) capped bottle of water."

Hmmm. That doesn't sound like a penalty, does it? Now, Rule 92, on the other hand, starts off with the following line:

"In its sole and absolute discretion, Rio may impose penalties ranging from a verbal warning, one missed hand away from the table up to disqualification and expulsion from all Rio casino properties."

Sounds more appropriate. Mistakes like this happen, and I'm sure that will be attended to soon enough. If not, we may see people who flout the rules get penalized with a direction to place one (1) capped bottle of water on the table. Or something like that.

Do you have any thoughts on the 2010 World Series of Poker rules? Please tell us about it in the comments.

- Shad

Isildur1: A Timeline

Posted: January 14th, 2010, 8:35pm PST by Poker.com

In November and December of 2009, the mysterious Swedish player Isildur1 tore up the felt on the high limit tables at Full Tilt Poker. During this period, Isildur1 took part in the 12 richest online hands in poker history up to that point, including being part of the first online hand to surpass the $1 million mark. The following is a rough timeline of Isildur1's highs and lows from November 2009 through to the beginning of 2010.

Early November - Isildur1 was gaining a reputation at this point for his utter decimation of Tom "Durrrr" Dwan, with a $3 million profit from Dwan making headlines on the poker news sites. Luckily for Dwan, he got picked up as part of Team Full Tilt soon after. Isildur1 had also been destroying a few other pros in No Limit Hold 'Em, and they had responded by running away to the Pot Limit Omaha tables, where Isildur1 did not seem to have an advantage.

Isildur1 wanted more victims, however. He took $162,000 from Phil "OMGClayAiken" Galfond, and set his sights on Patrik Antonius in the same night, taking $686,000 from Antonius in a PLO game and even managing to squeeze $22,000 out of Phil Ivey.

Late November - The latter part of November started out with Isildur1 having taken about $1.5 million from Patrik Antonius, and $1 million from David Benyamine, in addition to the massive wins he had against Dwan. People began to suspect that Isildur1 was Victor Blom, though this is discounted by many sources, including Blom himself.

Isildur1 made headlines with Patrik Antonius on November 16th when they broke the record for the biggest-ever online poker hand at $878,958.50. This was part of a session where Isildur1 lost around $2.9 million to Antonius. Brian Townsend sweetened this bitter pill by losing $440,000 or so to Isildur1 on the same night, though.

A few days later, on the evening of November 21st, the two broke the biggest hand record again and managed to be the first players to be part of an online poker hand worth more than $1 million. Unfortunately for Isildur1, it is yet again in Patrik Antonius' favor, with the $1,356,946 hand going to the former model. Total losses to Antonius that night ran up to $2.1 million for Isildur1, with a further $1.2 million going to Phil Ivey.

Isildur1 recovered somewhat at this point with more big wins against Tom Dwan and Phil Sahamies. He also managed to take a $1.1 million pot against Phil Ivey, a story that would surely get Isildur1 free drinks for the rest of his life if he ever decides to reveal himself. Unfortunately, even taking that massive hand did not put Isildur1 ahead for the session, as Ivey left $300,000 richer.

Closing out the month of November, Isildur1 managed to reclaim some of his lost cash from Antonius again, and a player known as DjAdi. DjAdi added $160,000 to Isildur1's bank, and Antonius lost enough for Isildur1 to take away $667,000 in profit for a night's work. It's too bad that, soon after, a $1.5 million loss to Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies and a loss of $566,000 to Brian Townsend bit further into Isildur1's profits.

Early December - The troubles from the end of November continued for Isildur1 in December. He was well and truly on his way to downfall in his first run at the high stakes Full Tilt Poker tables, especially when Brian Hastings took more than $3.2 million from him in a single five hour long session. It may be the worst single session anyone has had in online poker, and completely undid all the work of Isildur1 in the days prior - a three day stretch of fortune that gave him $4.35 million for a tragically short time.

Around this period, Patrik Antonius made some very complimentary comments about Isildur1 and his playing style, but a few nice words did nothing to help the mystery Swede to start turning a profit again. Brian Hastings gave his own analysis of Isildur1, coming to the conclusion that Isildur1 plays for too long and is too obsessed with trying to turn a losing match around. Chat logs between Isildur1 and other players during this time certainly suggest that he wasn't immune to tilting.

Late December - As the year began to close, Isildur1 dropped down to lower stakes. He still had no luck in recovering his money, however, as Cole South got $238,000 from yet another incredibly long playing session for Isildur1. It's possible that Isildur1 may have been chasing his rival Tom Dwan, who had already gone down to lower stakes, but Cole South acted as something of a buffer, winning against Isildur1, but losing some massive pots to Dwan.

In an interview with ESPN, Brian Hastings revealed he and Brian Townsend had discussed Isildur1's playing style, including the use of a 50,000 hand history compiled by Townsend. This led Isildur1 to seek compensation from Full Tilt Poker, after Brian Townsend's Red Pro status was suspended from Full Tilt for 30 days. Cole South was also implicated in gaining insight on Isildur1's play from Townsend, and he was the last beneficiary of Isildur1's dying gasps against the pros at Full Tilt.

It appeared that Isildur1 had gone bust, as he was nowhere to be found through the end of the year. As 2010 began, Tony G stated he would be willing to stake Isildur1 in some major events, and an interview with the Isildur1 revealed that he intended to return and still had a bankroll to play with. His initial glory run at Full Tilt Poker had ended, however, with losses in excess of $1 million. We can only hope he will come back having learned a few lessons. The most important one of all would be to stop taking on fresh high stakes players in 5 hour long sessions after having already played for 9 hours straight.

Are you looking forward to the second run of Isildur1? Fans of the mystery player should sound off in the comments.

- Shad

Synched Tourney Breaks

Posted: January 7th, 2010, 7:51pm PST by Poker.com

The introduction of synchronized tournament breaks has swept the world of online poker, with many different poker networks jumping on the bandwagon. What's most interesting is that many of them have chosen to break at the same time - 55 minutes past the hour, for 5 minutes, or simply to the top of the hour.

Poker sites that synchronize their breaks in this way include Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars, Ultimate Bet, Absolute Poker, Cake Poker, and recently Carbon Poker. Most of these sites make exceptions for tourneys that have only recently started, except for Cake Poker, which has elected to maintain the 55 minutes past the hour rule regardless of how little time the tournament has been running for, though they are excluding Sit and Go tournaments with fewer than 30 players from break synchronization.

It's really good to see the poker rooms deciding to break at the same time, and not being jerks about people who might play at multiple rooms at once. Not everyone is some incredible savant player who can do well in any game at any stakes and with any conditions - some people have a niche that requires they play only in specific tournament conditions at specific stakes if they are to do well. For these specialist players trying to make some money by playing in tourneys at multiple sites simultaneously, the synchronization of breaks must be a godsend.

What do you think about poker rooms synchronizing tournament breaks at the same time? Please tell us in the comments.

-Shad

Why The Bitterness Toward XBLINK?

Posted: January 3rd, 2010, 9:07pm PST by Poker.com

I've been reading about how XBLINK turned the last $11 in his account into more than $800,000, hitting more than $100,000 in just 5 days. That's pretty interesting, but what's more interesting to me is the poorly disguised bitterness of some players in response to this ridiculous miracle. In the forum thread where '89blist' - who identified himself as XBLINK - detailed how he made his quick fortune, many players have been harshly criticizing him.

I don't want to focus entirely on the negative, as most people are obviously happy to see someone do so well in such a short period of time. I mean, that's an awesome story, right? From your last $11 in your account to more than $800,000? Sure, the guy got lucky, but the short-term game of poker relies on luck. Phil Ivey couldn't turn $11 into more than $100,000 in 5 days unless the cards were really on his side, so why would anyone expect that a complete poker nobody would have achieved this on professional, carefully considered play?

Sure, we all think he's going to lose it all playing at far higher limits than his skills will allow for. Yes, we are all probably right. However, is it really necessary to tell him he's going to bust out soon or go broke? Is it appropriate to wish him ill? He's won a whole bunch of money, and he's young enough that it's almost a given he'll screw up and lose a bunch of it, but so what? Why the hate?

I know a lot of people are thinking they'd handle his bankroll better if they ever built up such a massive bank. Well, if you were that careful with your bankroll, then you'd never manage to make that much so quickly from $11, as you wouldn't take the risks that XBLINK has taken. It's easy to feel bitter when some young gun manages to go on a perversely long and successful hot streak, especially if you've been playing and improving for years without anywhere near as much success. It's easy to feel that way, but doesn't that bitterness just suck the fun out of poker?

How do you feel about stories like this? Love to hear them, but hate the players? Or just love to hear them? Tell us how you feel in the comments.

-Shad

Holiday Poker Promotions

Posted: December 14th, 2009, 7:09pm PST by Poker.com

With the festive season just around the corner, the most popular poker rooms from across the web are lighting up with spectacular bonuses and promotions. Not only that, but unique tournaments and events are also taking place over the holiday period, so there are plenty of opportunities to win big this Christmas.

Full Tilt Poker has jumped straight into proceedings by offering its Holiday Hundred bonus. Full Tilt punters were offered an early gift of $100 to spend at the tables, and there is sure to be more on offer in the near future.

But just because the holidays are here, that doesn't mean that the best promotions and tourneys have stopped. You can still compete in Big Money Sundays, Freeroll Tournaments, and exciting Satellites. In addition to Full Tilt's holiday bonuses, you can still take advantage of their 100% Deposit Bonus for new members.

Titan Poker is another great venue for punters to enjoy holiday specials. They are currently running a "New Year 2010" promotion, which combines the excitement of both Christmas and the New Year. You can share in $2010 thanks to Titan Poker by competing in nightly tournaments throughout the month of December. Whether you are tournament, sit 'n' go, or cash game maestro, you will always find something to suit you at Titan Poker.

Finally, PartyPoker are continuing in the holiday spirit by offering a Full House of promotions this December. With over $1 million up for grabs with a three-in-one promotion, PartyPoker has you covered for incredible winnings. With the $50,000 Cash Game Race, The Jackpot Hunter, and $1m Multi-table Tournament Jackpots, your holiday season should be packed full of these lucrative poker offers.

888.com, PKR, and Carbon Poker are also getting into the holiday spirit, so why not enjoy yourself this season by taking advantage of this sleigh's worth of bonuses and promotions.

Team Pro Tuesdays

Posted: December 8th, 2009, 9:01pm PST by Poker.com

It seems like PokerStars is going to better use its host of poker pros to bring in players. PokerStars has declared Tuesday evenings to be Team Pro Tuesdays from here on out, where players will find their favorite PokerStars Pros playing over a wide swathe of buy-in levels, and they won't just be restricted to Texas Hold 'Em.

Team PokerStars is a prestigious group, featuring WSOP Main Event winners like Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, and the 2009 champion Joe Cada. Other major pro players of Team PokerStars include Vanessa Rousso, Bertrand 'elkY' Grospellier, Peter Eastgate, and many more from all around the world.

It will be interesting to see exactly which pros are featured on Team Pro Tuesdays as it goes on, and which games and prices they will be playing, exactly. It's good that PokerStars is trying to use its stable of pro players more actively, as most people just don't get an opportunity to chat or play with the stars of the game. Setting a specific day each week for increased poker pro activity is also a smart idea, as people interested in talking to the pros will know the best time to hang around.

I really hope that Full Tilt Poker goes to war with PokerStars by responding with some kind of crazily overboard counter-promotion, like Team Full Tilt Week every second week of the month, or something. Maybe it's me, but I like the idea of playing with some of the top Team Full Tilt pros like Patrik Antinous without trying to take him on in million dollar hands. I don't expect to beat the pros; just being able to play against some experts on a semi-regular basis would be nice. It's not always about winning you see - sometimes you just need to get manhandled by a master of your sport to really understand that there is a whole other level to reach.

Who would you like to play against? Do you think you could beat them? Tell us all about it in the comments.

Isildur1 wins mega pots again

Posted: December 7th, 2009, 8:40pm PST by Poker.com

It seems that the players over at Full Tilt Poker just can't get enough of the lucrative high stakes action. With online poker records being smashed left, right, and center, you really have to ask yourself if it is ever going to end.

"Isildur1" is one player that will be hoping it never ends. He may have had a bit of a bad spell against Patrik Antonius last month, but since then has picked up remarkably well and was up more than $1.74 million on Monday.

It was on Monday that the faceless poker sensation destroyed Ilari "Ziigmund" Sahamies after he was challenged at the Full Tilt tables. Never one to shy away from the big cash pots, "Isildur1" has played a role in the five most lucrative cash game pots of all time at Full Tilt Poker.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that he managed to take down "Ziigmund" for an exorbitant amount, including a pot worth more than $700,000.

Brian Townsend even managed to get in on the action against "Isildur1", finding himself up by over $368,000 at the end of the day. However, his balance could have been a lot higher had he not also lost out to "Isildur1" in a pot that was worth $720,000.

There's a detailed analysis of the two exciting hands that gifted "Isildur1" with nearly $1.5 million, but by no means should you think that this is the last you've heard of the man; if recent history has taught us anything, it is that "Isildur1" is an online poker player to rival the best of them.

- TheDoctor

Do these records even matter?

Posted: December 2nd, 2009, 8:54pm PST by Poker.com

Apparently, the record for the most hands played in a 24-hour period was set on November 25 by a player known as 'innerpsy' with 40,088 hands over 18 hours and 33 minutes. Unfortunately for innerpsy, that record has now been broken by 'ChicagoJoey', who set himself a challenge to play 50,000 hands in 24-hours for a net profit.

ChicagoJoey was successful, playing his 50,000 hands at PokerStars in NLHE and PLHE games at 10c/25c. He finished the 50,000 hands up by $850.53, and continued playing for another 470 hands. In total, he played for around 21 hours, so potentially he could have set the new record even higher if he hadn't given himself a requirement of having to make a net profit. Innerpsy apparently turned a loss for his record, but it was achieved in less time than ChicagoJoey's.

My question is this: does the record for most hands played in a 24-hour period matter? Of course not. It pales in comparison to the records for largest online pots and most players online that have been broken multiple times this year. That doesn't mean it isn't awesome, though, and I'm going to tell you why.

I think that attention paid to trivial matters is one of the greatest signs of success for any hobby, sport, or interest. If we can devote time and effort to keeping track of something as unimportant as this, then poker has really hit the big time! I will admit that it is impressive to be able to turn a profit with 50,000 hands in 24-hours, but simply playing through a massive number of hands doesn't strike me as notable.

Do you think this kind of thing is important? Could you break that record if you had the money and 24-hours to spare? Talk about it in the comments.

- Shad

Poker pros on Wall Street

Posted: November 25th, 2009, 2:11pm PST by Poker.com

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past week or so, you would have read about the thrilling battles going on over at Full Tilt Poker on an almost daily basis. Isildur1 and Patrik Antonius have been clashing heads ever since they created the biggest pot in online poker history - and then beat it.

These high stake cash games have obviously got some people thinking about just how good poker professionals are at reading other people's playing style - even through the Internet.

The New Jersey Business News has written a great article on how a university lecturer believes that the best people to take up trading jobs on Wall Street are the professionals over at online poker sites such as Full Tilt Poker.

Brandon Adams, a teacher of Behavioral Finance at Harvard's Department of Economics, believes that players like Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey would be right at home in the trading hub of the United States.

"They've essentially been the survivors in the system," said Adams, a frequenter of online poker sites. "Anyone smart enough and disciplined enough to survive that system is probably going to do very well in the trading world."

That sentiment seems to be shared amongst several business professionals. Aaron Brown, a risk manager who is also a former poker pro, had this to say on the matter:

"Someone who has made a successful living as a poker player for a few years would more likely be a good trader than someone who hasn't. They know to push when they have the edge and they know how not to bust, and that's a tough combination to find."

Perhaps the most famous Wall Street executive, who is now a professional poker player, is Steven Begleiter, a competitor at this year's World Series of Poker Main Event final table. Begleiter earned $1.6 million this month with his sixth-place finish.

What are your thoughts on the way that poker can transfer to everyday life? Have your say by leaving a comment below.

- TheDoctor

Yet another big win!

Posted: November 22nd, 2009, 8:43pm PST by Poker.com

What is wrong with Patrik Antonius and Isildur1? Are they trying to destroy one another? Days after setting the new record for largest pot in online poker history, they've done it again. On Saturday night, Antonius won a $1,356,946 pot against Isildur1, beating their previous record of $878,958.50. This is not only the biggest ever online poker pot, but also the first to surpass the $1 million mark.

It all happened in a three-table game of $500/1,000 pot-limit Omaha at Full Tilt Poker. The pots had already reached close to the previous record, getting as high as $815,000 before the $1.3 million hand. With such ruinous numbers being thrown around, how could these two do anything other than to break the $1 million for a single hand in online poker? I really do wonder if getting so close might have made these guys push their bets a little higher than usual.

The big pot started with $3,000 from Isildur1 with 9 Spades/8 Hearts/7 Diamonds/6 Diamonds and Antonius responding with a $9,000 bet while holding a hand of Ace Hearts/King Hearts/King Spades/3 Spades. It continued back and forth until the pot had reached $162,000 before the flop.

5 Clubs/4 Spades/2 Hearts came down, and Antonius added another $91,000 to the pot. Isildur1 then considered his chances before driving the now $253,000 pot up to $435,000. Antonius raised again to $773,000, and Isildur1 clearly saw no option other than to go all-in, leaving the remaining cards to fall and decide the $1,356,946 pot.

The turn was a 5 Hearts, followed by a river of 9 Clubs. Patrik Antonius once again became the winner the biggest online poker pot in history, as well as the first to win a $1 million+ pot on a single hand. While the honor of biggest pot will eventually go to someone else, that first online $1 million pot win cannot be taken from him.

Antonius won around $2.1 million in total from Isildur1 that night. Isildur1 also took on Phil Ivey, and dropped another $1.2 million to him. This was after a loss of $900,000 to Ivey in the previous week. While many were impressed with Isildur1's recent performances against Tom 'durrrr' Dwan, all the gains from those games have now been lost to Antonius and Ivey. If this continues, it's hard to see any way this ends well for Isildur1.

What do you think about the size of the pots that Isildur1 and Antonius are playing? Incredibly exciting or incredibly foolhardy? Or both? Please tell us in the comments.

- Shad

Antonius wins biggest online pot

Posted: November 18th, 2009, 7:24pm PST by Poker.com

It was only a few days ago that we were salivating at the thought of how much cash some of the best high stakes players make. And now this!

Full Tilt Poker has just seen the largest pot in the history of online poker created in one of their rooms. And it wasn't just two unknowns playing for the cash, either. Two of the biggest money winners in online poker, Patrik Antonius and Isildur1, faced off in a pot worth an incredible $878,958.50!

"Isildur1 opened for $3,000 preflop and Antonius called. The flop came 5h-7h-Qs and Antonius checked. "Isildur1"bet $5,000 and Antonius raised to $21,000. Isildur1 called and the turn brought the Ad and a ton of action. Antonius bet $48,000 and Isildur1 raised to $192,000. Antonius then moved all-in for $415,479.50 and was called by Isildur1, creating the largest pot in online poker history at $878,958.50."

While both players showed the top two pair, it was Antonius who took glory when the river produced the Eight of Diamonds - he needed either an Eight or a Heart to win, while Isildur1 was holding out for a non-Heart King or Jack.

Full Tilt's Patrik Antonius went on to win $3 million from Isildur1, a huge dent in his account, especially when you consider that he is ranked as the fourth highest cash winner in online poker, with just over $5 million.

Isildur1's identity is still unknown, although Barry Greenstein did reveal that he was Swedish and that we'd be seeing a lot more of him in the future. All I can say is that I certainly hope so. He's an incredible player, and I'm sure this loss won't keep him down for long.

Still, congratulations to Patrik Antonius for such a momentous win! Do you think we'll be seeing more of these incredible pots in the near future? Have your say by commenting below.

Biggest Online Winners

Posted: November 16th, 2009, 8:27pm PST by Poker.com

In a recent thread at 2+2, there was a post on the top 11 winning and losing high stakes poker players online. For your convenience, here are the top 11 and their recent earnings:

1. Phil Ivey with $12,901,299
2. OMGClayAiken with $7,651,217
3. Patrik Antonius with $7,272,543
4. Isildur1 with $5,033,951
5. Urindanger with $4,705,220
6. trex313 with $4,588,666
7. howisitfeellike with $4,073,977
8. Ziigmund with $3,584,047
9. KaiBuxxe with $3,186,717
10. theASHMAN with $2,960,874
11. Mark Vos with $2,906,447

Phil Ivey clearly makes a very decent living from high stakes games. His playing in live tournaments must simply be a vanity and a way of getting better sponsorship deals. I recall an interview where he mentioned that most tournaments cannot compare to high stakes ring games in terms of income for him, due to the amount of money that can be won per hand in a ring game. He really is just that good.

It's encouraging to see Patrik Antonius ranking so highly, especially as that same forum post revealed that Tom 'durrrr' Dwan of the durrrr Challenge is no longer in the top 50 high stakes earners. Interestingly, both Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius are members of Team Full Tilt, an honour that Dwan recently received as well. Perhaps the two more successful high stakes players can teach durrrr how to have a long lasting poker career - like not challenging everyone to incredibly high stakes games and deliberately setting the odds against yourself. In Dwan's defence, he is doing very well in the challenge currently, though the balance of wins seems to be swinging to Antonius once more.

Now, here is the list of the bottom 11 from worst to the least worst:

1. noataima at -$7,126,621
2. lady marmelade at -$6,632,177
3. patatino at -$5,924,545
4. Gus Hansen at -$5,520,219
5. elmariachimacho at -$4,161,883
6. Niki Jedlicka at -$2,396,580
7. LarsLuzak at -$2,030,695
8. ahtata at -$1,615,234
9. MR B 2 U SON at -$1,570,698
10. KObyTAPOUT at -$1,502,831
11. Brandon Adams at -$1,477,492

The total losses for those 11 are around $39,958,975. Wow, that's a lot of money, and bad news for Gus Hansen with his $5,924,545 in losses. I really feel for the big money players on a downswing in fortunes, but I also weep for the fact that they are losing amounts that may exceed my lifetime income! Oh well, more power to them, and here's hoping they can break through their losing streaks.

The moral of this story is simple: do not mess with Full Tilt Poker's Phil Ivey or Patrik Antonius unless you have somehow leveraged a massive advantage over them. Also, when you play high stakes, the losses can be staggering. Have the bankroll to survive a bad run, or else stick to lower stakes.

Do you have your own stories about winning streaks or losing runs in your online poker play? Pour your heart out in the comments.

durrrr joins Full Tilt

Posted: November 11th, 2009, 1:53pm PST by Poker.com

With all the excitement of 21-year-old Joe Cada taking out the World Series of Poker Main Event, it seems that another rising star has almost been forgotten.

It has been more than a year in the making, and with speculation running rampant, Full Tilt Poker finally made a statement regarding the talented Tom "durrrr" Dwan.

"Team Full Tilt doesn't take adding a team member lightly," said Team Full Tilt member, Howard Lederer. "But, Tom Dwan has proven, through skill and dynamic play, that he will be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come. We are proud to count Tom as one of our own."

The only surprising thing about this entire event is that it has taken so long for Dwan to be recruited. Full Tilt haven't signed any new members since Patrick Antonius way back in June, 2008, but with the inclusion of Dwan, Team Full Tilt is looking rather imposing with the likes of Phil Ivey, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel in the mix.

So now that he's a full-blown member, Dwan gets all the perks that come with such a title. You'll be able to check up on his Full Tilt blog, share in his poker wisdom at the Full Tilt Poker Academy, and, of course, play against him at the online tables.

Check out the video below to hear what fellow Full Tilt members had to say about the kid who has already won more than $1.1 million in his young career.

What do you think about Tom Dwan's recent success? Have your say by commenting below.

I was wrong!

Posted: November 8th, 2009, 8:37pm PST by Poker.com

Man, I was complaining about the bookies suggesting that Darvin Moon was the most likely to bust out Phil Ivey, and what does Ivey go and do? He gets busted out by Darvin Moon!

Ivey moved all in with Ace of Clubs/King of Spades against Moon's Ace of Diamonds/Queen of Spades. It's understandable that Ivey would go all-in with that, and it's understandable Moon would call. Unfortunately for the greatest poker player in the world, sometimes the cards just don’t go your way. The flop gave Moon another Queen, and there was no help for Ivey.

Sometimes that's just the way things go in poker, though. Anyone who criticizes Ivey for busting out to Moon should remember how patient he was before then and that everyone at the table treated him as dangerous right through to the end. I'm sure a few cocky upstarts will try to find Ivey in a high stakes game at Full Tilt Poker. I'm equally sure that many of those players will quickly regret their mistake and beat a hasty retreat.

Ivey busted out in seventh place for prize money of $1,404,002. That bumps up his WSOP earnings to a bit over $5 million total, and his total tournament winnings rank him as one of the biggest tournament earners of all time. This is nothing but a minor setback for him, and it'll be interesting to see how he performs in the WSOP next year.

The WSOP Main Event final table is now down to the final two: Joe Cada and Darvin Moon. Cada has the chip lead with 136,925,000 chips and Moon is at a disadvantage at 58,875,000 chips. PokerStars must be ecstatic to have signed Cada just before his final table performance, as if this young poker pro wins the WSOP, he's certain to become a poker superstar. Moon is still in with a shot, however, and there's every chance he could win this if he gets another stroke of luck like the one that took out Ivey for him.

What do you think about how the WSOP Main Event final table has run? Do you think it will be good or bad for poker? Please tell us in the comments below. We'll have a full wrap-up of the 2009 WSOP Main Event once Joe Cada and Darvin Moon have gone head-to-head later in the week, but you can read more about what's happened so far in our news section.

- Shad

Who will win the Main Event?

Posted: November 1st, 2009, 8:50pm PST by Poker.com

It's been hyped for four long months, but the World Series of Poker Main Event is just around the corner. This Friday, November 6, in fact.

Odds are currently pointing in Darvin Moon's favor, if only for the fact that he is the clear chip leader. Moon is an incredible example of how an amateur poker player can compete at the highest level in the sport. A logger from Maryland, Moon took out $130 satellite event to move into the WSOP Main Event. Alongside Steven Begleiter and Antoine Saout, Moon has no WSOP earnings to his name. Yet.

Phil Ivey is the only member of the November Nine that has any WSOP bracelets, seven in total. If it weren't for his meagre chip count, he would be far and away the favorite to win, but as it stands he has to be content with his odds.

While it may be true that Ivey is the only bracelet winner, five other competitors have two or more WSOP cashes to their name. Eric Buchman, Jeff Shulman, Joe Cada, Kevin Schaffel, and James Akenhead are all veterans of the World Series of Poker, and all know just what it takes to finish in the money.

Darvin Moon - 58,930,000
Eric Buchman - 34,800,000
Steven Begleiter - 29,885,000
Jeff Shulman - 19,580,000
Joe Cada - 13,215,000
Phil Ivey - 9,765,000
Kevin Schaffel - 12,390,000
Antonie Saout - 9,500,000
James Akenhead - 6,800,000

So who do you think will take out this year's Main Event? Will Darvin Moon shock everyone and beat out the pros? Or will Phil Ivey prove his dominance of the sport by coming from nearly 50 million chips down to win? Have your say by commenting below.

Daniel Negreanu's top 10 players

Posted: October 27th, 2009, 5:12pm PDT by Poker.com

Daniel Negreanu: PokerStars pro, Kid Poker, and self-confessed poker stats geek.

In a recent blog entitled "I am a Stats Geek Like No Other", Negreanu dissects mountains of statistics and information in order to systematize his top ten poker professionals into three unique lists.

You can take a look at Negreanu's official blog here.

Kid Poker took every player who had participated in 30 or more World Poker Tour events into consideration, and assumed that there would be a standard ROI (return on investment) of at least $20k in order to cover food, accommodation, flights, taxes, etc.

He used several categories to organize the 176 qualifying players into the lists, with Total Earnings, Final Tables, and Cash Percentages all factoring into the final result.

The results are quite interesting:

Top Ten Players in Earnings Per Event:

1. Carlos Mortensen - $107,354.29
2. Jonathan Little - $93,077.19
3. Martin DeKnijff - $92,130.72
4. David Chiu - $91,053.53
5. Gus Hansen - $90,816.93
6. Tuan Le - $90,781.26
7. Nick Schulman - $77,838.60
8. Michael Mizrachi - $69,479.43
9. Daniel Negreanu - $68,591.79
10. Alan Goehring - $59,936.17

Bottom Ten Players in Earnings Per Event:

Don Barton - $2,056.33
Matt Glanttz - $1,794.71
Jean-Roberte Bellande - $1,792.57
John Esposito - $1,678.67
Yosh Nakano - $1,547.50
Jason Lester - $1,010.52
Robert Williamson III - $1,000.00
Alan Schien - $938.45
Dan Alspach - $728.47
Frank Kassela - $606.29

"Essentially what that means, is that for every $10,000 on average that these players put into an event, they get back what's listed."

Finally, Negreanu lists his top 10 (okay, 11) players based on final table percentages:

1. Gus Hansen - 15.6%
2. Scotty Nguyen - 11.1%
3. Jonathan Little - 10.8%
4. Phil Ivey - 10.5%
5. Ted Forrest - 8.8%
6. Daniel Negreanu - 8.6%
6. Can Kim Hua - 8.6%
6. Humberto Brenes - 8.6%
9. David Pham - 8.4%
10. Steve Sung - 8.3%
10. Hoyt Corkins - 8.3%

- TheDoctor

Poker Dad Hits Supernova Elite

Posted: October 26th, 2009, 10:50pm PDT by Poker.com

The PokerStars blog has reported that Dan 'DannyOhBoy' Grolemund has reached PokerStars' top VIP level - Supernova Elite - for earning 1 million VPPs. That's impressive enough as it is, but it gets better, as he did it in just 10 months and all while looking after his newborn baby boy.

Grolemund even credits his son with helping him, saying "It is because of him that I was able to reach Supernova Elite so soon." It may seem like a baby would make earning 1 million VPPs even harder to achieve, but the more you hear from Grolemund, the more it seems to make sense. If his kid has a poker face anything like the one pictured here, there'll be a promising future for the lad.

He apparently followed a strict schedule revolving around his son.

"I planned my poker sessions around his sleep schedule. I moved a high chair and a playpen right next to my computer," said Grolemund.

Most of the focus has been on how unbelievable it is that he managed to do this while looking after his new kid (1 of 3) and keeping his business running wife happy, but I can honestly see how poker and caring for an infant would be complementary. Many stay-at-home parents find that they need some purpose outside of their role as carer, and who here wouldn't consider poker to be a fun way to do that?

Apparently, Grolemund is going to continue playing despite having achieved Supernova Elite level, which goes to show how it's so much easier to achieve goals like this when you make them a habit. Continuing isn't such a bad idea, either, as there are tangible benefits to earning so many VPPs, a fact that Grolemund used to convince his wife that this whole venture was a good idea.

"I sat down with my wife at the beginning of the year, explained the benefits of becoming a Supernova Elite, and we both agreed that I should go for it ... She can't wait to go on the two luxury vacations that PokerStars will provide to us," said Grolemund.

Is anyone else out there a stay-at-home parent who plays poker as well as raising kids? Have you got any tips on how to manage your time effectively? Tell us all about it in the comments.

-Shad

UFC Poker Room

Posted: October 22nd, 2009, 3:11am PDT by Poker.com

You may not know this, but I'm an MMA fan. My favorite fighter is Michael Bisping, and no, I am not from England.

Today I was surprised to see the UFC have launched a poker room. What are they thinking? You don't even have the option of playing for real money and the software is nowhere near as nice as somewhere like Full Tilt Poker.

They've had an interest in poker recently though. For proof of this phenomena, look at the early eliminations in the WSOP Main Event in recent years to find many UFC stars. I guess it makes sense seeing as so many events are held in Vegas at places like Mandaly Bay.

I'm not sure how happy previous poker sponsors of the UFC will be with this move, though. It might get UFC fans interested in poker a little bit more, and it'll get them used to playing online, but it does seem like competition. It's hard to tell what's going on here, but it has to be more than just a UFC advertisement.

My advice would probably be to steer clear of the UFC room if you are looking to play poker. It's good for curiosity value only if you are looking for the best online poker games.

Any other mixed martial arts fans or martial artists out there? Are you interested in playing in a UFC themed poker room? Tell us all about it in the comments.

- Shad

Regulating US online poker

Posted: October 19th, 2009, 9:00pm PDT by Poker.com

I was reading an interesting article published on the Los Angeles Times website this morning regarding Internet gambling in the United States. You can check out the full piece here.

Michael Hiltzik argues that "the activity [online gambling] is unstoppable, so let's regulate it."

That statement alone is sure to hit more than a few nerves with the conservatives on this topic, but he makes a good point. The USA is one of the few countries on the globe that has passed any law related to online gambling, yet it boasts the most popular gambling venues, poker tournaments, and gambling-based television channels in the world. Hypocrisy?

"Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) have both introduced bills in Congress to lift a federal ban on much online play and clarify the law, which is ambiguous in the way it defines online gambling and is difficult even for the banks it concerns and lawyers to understand.

Their goals include taking a piece of the action for the U.S. Treasury, on the political principle that sins always seem less deadly when there's money to be squeezed from them. The consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated in 2007 that legalization could yield as much as $43 billion in tax revenue over 10 years if it includes sports betting, $34 billion even if it doesn't."

Hiltzik isn't one to beat around the bush, and Internet gambling seems to be a subject quite close to his heart.

"It's fair to say that the American approach to Internet gambling, which is legal in much of the rest of the world, is absurd. (Indeed, the federal ban placed the U.S. in Dutch with international trading partners that host online gambling companies, which have complained to the World Trade Organization that it violates trade treaties the U.S. signed.) State laws are wildly inconsistent and sometimes hypocritically excessive.

This is always a great topic to discuss, so why not state your opinion on the current Internet gambling laws by commenting below.

-TheDoctor

Slow rolling young punks

Posted: October 15th, 2009, 10:23pm PDT by Poker.com

It's Friday, so here's one of my favorite WSOP videos to help your day go faster.

Love seeing the old guy show the young whippersnapper who's got 'the nuts'!