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Betfair Poker Live! Prague won by Jan Skampa
2010-11-01The sixth leg of the 2010 Betfair Poker Live! Series that took place in Prague recently attracted 113 players to the €820+80 buy-in Main Event. The event offered a guaranteed prize pool of €100,000 with €30,000 being paid to the first placed player and a further 11 players being paid.
Card Casino Prague, where the event took place, has had lots of experience with holding poker events and in recent years it has become one of the most popular poker destinations. Prague has become one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations and is often called the “Heart of Europe”. All the participants of Betfair Poker Live! Prague had the opportunity to play in various events and enjoy the historic architecture, splendid buildings and gothic castles of the enchanting Czech capital.
Jan Skampa has already amassed more than $1.4 million in live tournament earnings, the bulk of which came from last years PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Prague Main Event which he won for over $1 million. Skampa also made the final table of another event in Prague a few months ago, namely the Unibet Open Prague when he won €67.600 for finishing in third place.
The 2010 Betfair Poker Live! Series attracted players from all over Europe including Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, UK, Germany, Norway, Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic. The event ended with Czech Republican player, Jan Skampa, winning the event for €30,000.
Even though most of the players taking part in the event were not big poker names it was quite a tough final table and eventually play got down to heads-up between Czech Republican’s Jan Skampa and Miroslav Zaruba. At the end of the event Swampa was all-in with pocket tens against Zaruba’s A-K and Skampa’s pocket tens held up to seal the win.
Anonymous Poker Tables Launched at Ladbrokes Poker
2010-10-27Ladbrokes Poker, the popular online poker site, is one of the first sites to launch “Anonymous Tables”. Ladbrokes is one of the largest retail bookmakers in the world and the biggest betting company in the United Kingdom and its new innovation will run alongside the standard cash tables accessible from the main lobby, thus giving customers the choice of playing on the regular tables or trying out something different.
This unique offering gives players an opportunity to hide their avatars and aliases from other players on their table and to have the chance to try out some ruthless moves without their identity being revealed.
The Anonymous Tables is patent pending and will not change from the way that Texas Hold’em is played. The only difference is that players at these unique tables will not be able to identify names or avatars associated with their opponents any longer.
Players are able to participate in complete anonymity by playing on the Anonymous Tables as all notes that an opponent may have will not show up. Players will only see his own name and avatar while opponents will see a randomly generated tag which identifies him and vice versa.
Ladbrokes has revealed that poker tracking software will not be effective on the new tables and will not associate a player’s play on the Anonymous Tables with their real alias. Players are now able to try some new moves without any record of their past activities.
Kate McLennan, head of poker operations at Ladbrokes Poker said that they are thrilled with the launch as poker players have never been able to play without other players knowing who they are. She added that Anonymous Tables not only brings an added element to the game for people whose playing style may be recognizable but will also give new players to the game a chance to try some different moves without getting a reputation as players will never know who they are playing against.
Poker Tournament Record Broken by Dusk till Dawn
2010-10-24After breaking the tournament participation record for a single tournament and drawing a whopping 848 players, the European Poker Tour London broke into the United Kingdom poker history books by breaking the previous record of 730 participants.
An achievement like this had never been seen before in the UK and it was thought that the number that entered into the tournament would remain as the record attendance for a very long time.
Earlier this year Rob Young, owner of Dusk Till Dawn, set a challenge to try and break the then UK attendance record of 730.
However the record of 730 was broken soon after Young’s challenge when reigning holders European Poker Tournament London succeeded in getting the attendance of 848 in total.
Young is overwhelmed by the fact that a full week before the Dusk Till Dawn tournament begins, the £50 Dusk Till Dawn Grand Prix is sold out. The total of 900 players who have bought in online is the entire capacity of the event and the UK attendance has therefore been broken by 52 players. It would appear as though the £50 buy-in that was created especially in an attempt to break the tournament attendance record was too big an attraction for poker players all over the United Kingdom to ignore.
Dusk till Dawn is due to be televised and £13,000 will be awarded to one lucky player for his £50 buy-in.
No doubt the event could have attracted many more players if they had a bigger capacity or a third day 1.
Simon Trumper, Tournament Director announced “We are delighted at the response and the backing of the poker community in achieving this amazing turnout , for the lucky ones that have got in we are sure next weekend will be an amazing experience and look forward to welcoming you to Dusk Till Dawn. Can’t wait to announce shuffle up and deal to the first 450 players next Friday.”
Dusk Till Dawn is to be congratulated on their achievement.
Anna Chapman Releases iPhone Poker Application
2010-10-24One of the newest additions to the iPhone poker application is Poker with Anna Champan with the pros reading “Feel the thrill of playing poker with Anna Chapman, the real-life Russian Bond girl”.
The sexy Russian spy is ready to launch the iPhone application in which she will allow you to play hold’em or five-card draw and feel the excitement of competing with her.
The application that allows you to feel the ultimate drive of competing with this truly worthy opponent – Anna Chapman – sells for $1.99.
Anna is looking for players to play a virtual hand and winners are likely to challenge her to a duel once they learn what’s in the pot. Access to an exclusive collection of Chapman’s pictures will be won by anyone who beats the glamorous 28-year-old real-life Russian femme fatale. In these pictures Chapman flaunts her stacked decks as well as her other assets.
Winners will also be automatically added as Chapman’s “friend” on Facebook where they will get to see her exclusive online blog and get to know all her secrets and private life details firsthand as well as a look at her social life which includes parties and shopping.
Angela Waters, a publicist for Zeda, the company that produced the application said that Anna was chosen because she is a trendy, modern girl. It was necessary for Zeda to go to Moscow to work with Chapman who although a skillful poker player in her own right, is persona non grate in the United States and the rest of the Western World.
Due to the fact that Chapman is not allowed to exploit her espionage career for profit, Zeda conducted the photo shoot very quietly.
The Poker with Anna Chapman application features friendly teasing as you play from the Russian spy and a certain level in the application opens up a new photo of Chapman showing her flaunting posh outfits and allowing players a peep at her social life which includes parties and shopping and although that is not what most people who want to see Anna Chapman are looking for, due to Apple’s family-friendly rules for the App Store they will not be shown any more.
It is not yet known when the app will be capable of playing Omaha or stud and also no word as to whether the $1.99 will finance another deep cover mission for Anna Chapman.
FullTiltPoker.com Signs New Sponsorship Deal
2010-10-18Gold Audley Harrison, former British Olympic medal winning boxer and current European heavyweight boxing champion, has signed a sponsorship deal with Full Tilt Poker. In terms of this deal Harrison will be one of their sponsored poker pros and represent this fastest growing online poker site at some high profile online and live tournaments.
Thirty-eight year old Harrison will also wear the online poker giant’s logo in his big fight against World Heavyweight Champion, David Haye, on 13th November 2010 at the M.E.N. Arena as well as in all of his remaining fights. Harrison’s fight against Haye is bound to be one of the biggest all-British fights ever witnessed in the country and Harrison is currently training very hard in California ahead of the meeting.
Harrison has already won over $200,000 (GBP 1 25K) playing poker in Las Vegas and has revealed that his aim is to be a poker pro legend after his retirement from boxing. He found that living in America was good for him as he was able to play and learn the game of poker without anybody knowing who he was. He managed to develop as a player and got competent at the game without the pressure of people in England knowing that he played.
Harrison added that he classifies himself as a semi pro poker player although his career is a pro boxer. He has kept the fact that he is competent at playing poker a secret so as not to get it mixed up in the media and the public eye. He feels that he fully deserves the opportunity given to him by Full Tilt Poker as he is quite ready to play with any of the pros. He stated that “I have a varied game, a mixed style, I’m very hard to read, I know how to read my opponents, I understand the statistics, implied odds, pot odds etc- the whole game, so I’m ready.”
Eddie Hearn, Harrison’s boxing promoter, is his biggest fan and stated that he is sure that Audrey will be a great ambassador for the Full Tilt brand.
Last Opportunity to Qualify for Poker Million’s Final Table at Full Tilt Poker
2010-10-12United Kingdom and Irish players have one last opportunity to play poker on national Television by taking part in Full Tilt Poker’s Poker Million – Last Chance qualifiers and getting a chance to win a share of over $1,000,000.
Online qualifier winners will go straight onto Poker Million’s final table where they will attempt to win their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool. These players will compete against the top poker players in the world. The winner of Poker Million – Last Chance will be entered directly into the Poker Million final by skipping the heats and semi-finals.
In order for players to win their way directly onto Poker Million’s final televised table it is necessary for them to take part in Freeroll Qualifiers. These qualifiers will be running from now until Tuesday, November 30th 2010 with Round One qualifiers being held each day at 18.15 GMT (13.15 ET) and 20.15 GMT (15.15 ET).
The top twenty seven winners will make their way to Round Two Freerolls where at least one seat to the Poker Million – Last Chance Final will be awarded on December 1st, 2010. A prize package consisting of their seat at the Poker Million final table plus $2,000 in spending money will be awarded to the winner of the Poker Million – Last Chance Final.
Players are required to have a Full Tilt Poker account in order to participate in Poker Million – Last Chance and once the game has been downloaded and their account set up players can go straight to the Freeroll Qualifier Schedule in order to find their next opportunity to win.
Poker Million – Last Chance is not open to entry from US players but only from residents of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Full Tilt Poker is regulated and licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission. It offers innovative graphics, excellent customer service and a safe, secure interface.
GUPT Brighton Won by Paul Foltyn
2010-10-11Paul “BadFab” Foltyn won the lion’s share of the prize pool at the end of the Brighton leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) winning a whopping GBP 1,070 Main Event for a cool GBP 46,400.
There were 160 runners attracted to the GBP 1,000 + GBP 70 buy in event at the G Casino on the southern English coast and Foltyn entered the heads up dual with Jose Azorin whose second place finish, worth GBP 32,400 was his first cash in a major tournament. Azorin entered the heads-up stage with a big deficit in chips and when he eventually lost them all with queen-ten he was largely dominated by the queen-jack of Foltyn.
This is not the first GUKPT title that this young Brit has won. In 2008 Foltyn also won the GBP 3,000 Grand Final Main Event and walked away with GBP 167,500 which was his largest live cash to date.
Foltyn who hails from Doncaster in South Yorkshire is a professional poker player as well as one of the most respected online players. He has to date won almost GBP 3,000,000 from online poker tournaments alone.
Foltyn had a good run in live tournaments during 2008 but failed to make money in any of the tournaments that he entered during 2009. However, 2010 has been a good year for Foltyn who won a $1,500 No-limit Hold-em Shootout event at the World Series of Poker as well as his first World Series Of Poker final table appearance before he busted out in eighth place in the $5,000 No-limit Hold’em event.
The final table payouts at the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Brighton were –
l. Paul Foltyn – GBP 46,400
2. Jose Azorin – 32,400
3. Paul Romain – 20,400
4. Mark James – 12,400
5. John Eames – 9,600
6. Damian Evans – 7,600
7. Jenyue Chaing – 6,000
8. Manuel Palanca – 4,400
9. Michalis Michael – 3,200
10. Lee Taylor – 2,800
The next stop of the tour is Blackpool, England, with the main event starting today, November 11 and continuing until November 14th.
Back-to-Back Tournaments Won by David Vamplew
2010-10-07Up-and-coming pro, David Vamplew, not only stands as champion of London’s largest ever poker tournament, the PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event in London but has also won the PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Champion of Champions.
The 23 year-old Briton recently graduated with a degree in mathematics and is fairly unknown. It was not until this year that his attention to poker started yielding results after placing in the money in a World Series of Poker event in July. That victory was nothing compared to the prestige and cash value of his win on 5th October of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event in London as well as the PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour Champion of Champions on 7th October.
The European Poker Tour is broadcast on television enabling fans to enjoy the action as much as the players. There are various stops all around Europe and the events are sponsored by internet poker giant PokerStars. At the close of day four of the tournament in London, only eight players remained and David Vamplew was successful in battling through them all.
Vanplew is a successful midstakes grinder on PartyPoker and SNG player on PokerStars. He bested 848 players on the way to his win of GBP 900,000 in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event in London. After being the chip leader throughout most of the tournament, Vamplew ended up with a 4 to 1 chip disadvantage heads-up against John Juanda. However, he managed to fight back and on the final hand, Juanda moved all-in with K2 but was called by Vamplew’s A3. Vamplew then flopped 2 pair and ousted Juanda, who took down GBP 545,000.
The PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour Champion of Champions is a sit-n-go style event. Vamplew competed in this event and bested Jamie Burland heads up winning a seat at every Season 2 UK and Ireland Poker Tour event as well as European Poker Tour, London.
CakePoker.com Launches Two for the Money Promotion
2010-10-06CakePoker.com, the US-friendly online poker room has announced the launch of a special multi-table promotion that will continue until 5th November 2010.
The Two For The Money promotion offers any player that has participated in at least 100 hands of real-money poker across two or more tables at Cake Poker over one 24-hour period the opportunity of winning a daily share of $1,000 by receiving entry into a special kamikaze tournament.
Kamikaze tournaments do not require any action by players themselves as every single hand the player is automatically placed all-in. The tournament continues at a very fast speed and the game is wrapped up very quickly and the prize pool distributed. Card Room Manager for CakePoker.com revealed that this was the reason why players of all skill levels are able to enjoy playing with CakePoker.com.
There will be thirty-one $1,000 Two For The Money kamikazes running which will give players 31 chances at their share of $1,000. The tournament gives skilled multi-tabling players an added incentive while at the same time encouraging newer players the opportunity to try it out.
The Cake Poker Two For The Money Kamikaze Tournaments commence each day at 21.47 GMT.
Players are also being offered a chance of winning seats into the main event of the $100,100 buy-in Punta Cana Poker Classic which is due to take place in the Dominican Republic from November 10 to November 14. The Antigua-licensed site is awarding prize packages worth $3,100 which includes a player’s buy-in as well as $1,000 in cash, a four-night stay at the Moon Palace Hotel and Casino, a shuttle service and all inclusive food and drinks. The lucky players will also enjoy discount golf and spa packages as well as entry to the tournament’s opening Dominican Night event.
CakePoker.com offers 24/7 action including Texas-Hold’em and Omaha ring games and tournaments of all stakes and levels.
PokerStars EPT London Tourney Claims New Record
2010-10-06The organizers of the 2010 Pokerstars European Poker Tour London competition taking place at the Hilton Metropole on Edgeware Road in London this week succeeded in claiming a new British record after the completion of Days 1a and 1b showed an increase of 16 percent over last year with a record number of 848 entries for the event.
Nearly every big name on the international poker circuit was on the field with 339 players packing the venue on Day 1a and a further 509 on Day 1b. Amongst the big names was JP Kelly, Jeffrey Lisandro, Noah Boeken, Phil Ivey, Liv Boeree, Australian cricket celebrity Shane Warne, Joe Hachem, Annette Obrestad, Jude Ainsworth, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu and French rap star Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes.
A total prize pool of GBP 4,112,800 was generated by the record entry field. One Hundred and Twenty-eight survivors will thus cash a minimum of GBP 7,500 and a whopping GBP 900,000 will go to the first-placed winner to succeed Aaron Gustavson as the EPT London champion. Gustavson and EPT Vilamoura champion Toby Lewis were early casualties this year.
At the end of Day 1b, the one to finish at the top was Italian Claudo Cecchi with 237,500, about 30,000 more than any other player. There were less than 250 players who finished the day with almost 400 players returning for Day 2.
Former Irish international football player and double GUKPT winner Tony Cascarino also managed to finish near the top of the chip leaderboard. Phil Ivey and Daniel Nebreanu also succeeded in getting through the day.
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, who made her debut at this event, also managed to make it through Day 1b.
Kathy Liebert, Viktor Blom, Praz Bansi, Melanie Weisner, Shane Warne, Johnny Lodden, Nicolas Levi, Toby Lewis and Dennis Phillips were part of the 453-strong casualty list by the end of the Day 1b action.