BubbleProtection

Chris Moorman Finishes Second in the John Eames Invitational

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Moorman was once again the bridesmaid as he finished second in the €2,000 No Limit Hold’em side event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Berlin festival.

The €2,000 is dubbed “The John Eames Invitational” due to Mr Eames having won it more times than most people have had hot dinners, but Eames took a back seat to allow someone else a chance of some EPT glory.

The top 24 finishers of the €2,000 event helped themselves to various slices of the prize pool, current EPT Grand Final champion Mohsin Charania, Mike “Timex” McDonald and Australia’s Jeffrey Rossiter each claiming a €5,050 min-cash.

Dmitry Gromov (€5,550), Michel Abecassis (€6,450), Dmitry Vitkind (€6,450), Andras Kovacs (€8,270) and Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder (€9,200) and final table bubble boy Griffin Benger (€9,200) are now in possession of more substantial sums of cash.

Sometimes these EPT side events throw up some superb final table and this was one of those times. Among the eight finalists were Jakob Karlsson of Sweden, online legend Taylor Paur, Main Event Travel sponsored pro Rhys “floppinhel” Jones, Belgian Guy Goosens and the aforementioned Moorman.

Ardjan Hetemaj was the first player to lose his stack and head away from the tournament area. Following him to the rail was Andreas Vlachos, then Karlsson, Paur and the first of the two Brits, Jones.

BubbleProtection.com Announces Coverage of Full Tilt Poker

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Las Vegas, NV, March 27, 2013 --(PR.com)-- Bubble Protection, the world leader in online poker tournament entry fee protection and indemnity, announced they have initiated coverage of Full Tilt tournaments with buy-ins starting at ten dollars.

BubbleProtection is an online poker indemnity tool designed to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of online poker tournaments played globally each week. Purchasing Bubble Protection safeguards an online tournament poker player's entry fees and "bankroll" from landing in the unenviable "bubble" position. Users have identified additional advantages to the use of the product, including what has quickly become known as a "Bully Period," where BubbleProtection players can exploit non-protected opponents.

"We have listened closely to requests made by BubbleProtection users to add Full Tilt to our list of covered rooms," said BubbleProtection CEO Eugene Castro. "Over the past several months we have received many requests to cover Full Tilt and to cover more events. In addition to adding Full Tilt, we have commenced coverage for smaller buy-ins at a reduced cost."

BubbleProtection offers protection for Poker Stars, Full Tilt, Party Poker and the iPoker network. BubbleProtection intends to cover more rooms in the near future.

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About Bubble Protection

BubbleProtection.com is a trusted provider of protection type products that are designed specifically for the online poker player. BubbleProtection.com was formed to develop an innovative protection/indemnity product for the online poker tournament player who is constantly looking for creative yet practical ways of managing and ultimately protecting their entry fees and "bankroll.”

An Update From Bigdog, Ya Dig?

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT

What's up Tournament Poker Edge. It's been a while since I've blogged so I thought I should take a minute to update everyone.

Obviously the big news as far as poker goes for me was chopping back to back Sunday Millions and winning the Super Tuesday on Poker Stars. That was a fun couple of weeks. I talked about it in quite a bit of detail on the TPE Podcast, so check that out. Also, the first Sunday Million hand history review is currently running on TPE so hit that up as well. I'll be recording the other Sunday Million video soon, so you should see that up on the site in the very near future.

Although it's gonna be tough to be away from my son for that long, I'm getting pumped to head to Vegas this summer for the World Series of Poker. Have not really nailed down my schedule yet but there will be a mix of WSOP and Venetian Deepstack events. Live poker for me is also about just hanging with the other Tournament Poker Edge guys and having a good time. It's like our own little family and it's great to get together once a year. We already have our house booked and it looks pretty cool. We are located pretty close to the Rio this year, which will make getting to and from tourneys a bit easier. But we are still really close to a PTs Pub, which is crucial.

As far as life outside of poker, I'm really getting stoked for golf season. Just bought some new clubs that I can't wait to get my swing on. Also pretty excited about the Bluejays starting their season. Right now they are favorites to win the World Series, so it should be a fun season!

I'll try and do a few blog posts from Vegas too, but if you want consistent updates, be sure to follow me on Twitter. And of course, while we are out there, we will be recording episodes of the Tournament Poker Edge Live Podcast to keep you guys all in the loop on how the summer is going.

FTOPS XXII Day 2: Chris Moorman Wins First FTOPS Title

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

The Full Tilt Online Poker Series XXII continued Monday with three more tournaments from the 38-event schedule — Event #3 $216 Pot-Limit Omaha , Event #4 $1,060 No-Limit Hold'em Six-Max, and Event #5 $216 No-Limit Hold'em Turbo.

The big story of the day was British poker superstar Chris Moorman claiming his first FTOPS title by outlasting a field of 399 to win Event #3. Moorman is online poker's all-time tournament winnings leader with more than $9.2 million in career cashes. He added another $21,250 on Monday.

Moorman's closest brush with an FTOPS title prior to Monday came in 2009 when he lost heads-up to Mark "xqsays" Radoja in a $300 rebuy event. Moorman locked up $204,000 in that tournament after agreeing to a heads-up deal, but Radoja went on to win the jersey.

Despite the relatively small score in Event #3, Moorman was pleased to get the monkey off his back.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/03/ftops-xxii-day-2-chris-moorman-wins-first-ftops-title-14546.htm

Chris Moorman Eliminated in 8th Place (£57,000)

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Moorman raised to 105,000 from the button and Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jorgensen three-bet to 280,000. The big blind folded and Moorman went into the tank. After a while me moved all in for 1,225,000 and Jorgensen snap-called.

Chris Moorman:
Theo Jorgensen:

The board ran out and Moorman was knocked out in eighth place. Jorgensen picked up a ton of chips and is now sitting in third place, right behind Ruben Visser.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/live-reporting/2013-pokerstars-com-ept-london/main-event/chips.51607.htm

Chris Moorman Still Number One, But Rick Trigg and Sebastian Saffari Mounting a Charge

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Moorman has managed to hold onto the number one spot in the UK & Ireland rankings but he is under serious pressure from Rick Trigg and Sebastian Saffari, who are just 50 and 200 points behind him in the leader board.

Last week Moorman won a $100 buy-in tournament on the Ongame Network that added $4,048.10 to his lifetime winnings. That win, his 199th of his online career, and the other cashes he had over the week bolstered Moorman’s position in the worldwide rankings too. He is now ranked 15th in the world.

Trigg’s volume has died down over the past seven days, which may be influenced by the Cheltenham horse racing festival. Trigg is a big horse racing fan, maybe not so much after this week’s festivities if his Facebook statuses are anything to go by! The Sheffield lad is just 50 points away from Moorman’s heels and with the stakes he plays, a deep run will be enough to catch Moorman and knock him from his pedestal.

The aforementioned Saffari, who has been on a real tear of late, currently holds third place. A fourth place in the PokerStars.fr SCOOP Event #10 netted him an impressive $15,370 while second placed in the $33+R on PokerStars and in the PartyPoker $15,000 Gtd Speed tournament bagged him $2,190 and $2,436 respectively. Saffari recently passed the $2,000,000 barrier for career cashes and is definitely capable of claiming the number one slot for himself.

Rounding out the top 10 are Sam “TheSquid” Grafton, Main Event Travel sponsored pro Rhys “floppinhel” Jones, Paul “Senterpied” Senter, Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer, Ireland’s Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth, Jon “EMSBas” Spinks and Ross “RLOG” Loggie.

When the rankings are next updated keep an eye out for the likes of Martin “molliemalone” Malone who has had some great results including a third place finish in The Big $55 earlier today that netted him $10,473.77. Also look out for Marc “dean23price” Wright who has slipped out of the top 10 but will be back putting in his huge volume now that the live London tournaments are all but completed.

UK & Ireland Poker Rankings

Rank	Player	Points
1	Chris “moorman1” Moorman	6463.19
2	Rick “TheClaimeer” Trugg	6414.45
3	Sebastian “Seba29072” Saffari	6235.15
4	Sam “TheSquid” Grafton	5760.56
5	Rhys “floppinhel” Jones	5719.58
6	Paul “Senterpied” Senter	5676.46
7	Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer	5666.26
8	Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth	5576.59
9	Jon “EMSBas” Spinks	5407.83
10	Ross “RLOG” Loggie	5323.22

_{Data from PocketFives.com was used to create this article.}

Read more: http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2013/03/chris-moorman-still-number-one-but-faces-pressure-10209.htm

Chris Moorman Reaches Beyond $9 Million in Online MTT Winnings

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chirs Moorman is the first online MTT player of poker history whose tracked total winnings exceed $9 million.

Chris ‘moorman1’ Moorman collected his 13th Triple Crown title for winning online tournaments in three different poker rooms within one week in February. This meant the breaking of his own previous record: the British pro possesses the most titles ever, with three titles ahead of runner-up Hungarian ‘Belabacsi’.

Moorman has become the record holder of not only the number of Triple Crown titles but also of the biggest total online MTT winnings. He has recently achieved a remarkable milestone of a tracked online MTT total profit of $9 million. Moorman’s edge is, again, significant: with $6.2 million, runner-up Jeremy ‘daisyxoxo’ Fitzpatrick is $2.8 million behind...
Moorman is up $4.3 million in PokerStars, has $3.2 million in Full Tilt Poker and $500,000 in PartyPoker, in addition to his accounts in several minor rooms and networks.

Chris Moorman Breaks His Own Record – Achieves 13th Triple Crown

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

British pro Chris “Moorman1” Moorman isn’t considered as one of the finest online multi-table tournament players for no reason. On February 14^th, 2013, Moorman won the 13^th Triple Crown of his entire online career. A ‘Triple Crown’ is a distinction created by PocketFives and to acquire one, a player has to adhere to its rules.

To earn a ‘Triple Crown’, a player must win three multi-table tournaments within a week. According to the rules of acquiring a Triple Crown, a player is required to crash these tournaments on PocketFives’ list of acknowledged sites. The prize pool for each of these tournaments must be at least $10k and should have a minimum of 100 players. Satellite tournaments do not qualify for the Triple Crown.

Chris is closely followed by Hungarian pro Peter “Belabacsi” Traply, a 10-time PocketFives Triple Crown winner. It all started when Moorman chopped through a 117-player field in a $30,000 Guaranteed Full Tilt Poker tournament for $9,800. A couple of days later, Chris conquered a tough field of 152 players and seized the $15,000 Guaranteed Speed bwin, adding $3,900 to his bankroll.

Moorman accomplished his Triple Crown when he battled a 394-player field and won in a $109 No Limit Hold’em Turbo 2x Chance online for $12,000. In 2011, Moorman finished 3^rd in a $1k Monday on Full Tilt for a whopping $235,000, his largest online score to date. That same year, he finished runner up in the €10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event in France and took home an eye-popping $1,068,690 that he won at the 2011 WSOP.

Overall, the British pro managed to accumulate $25,700 over three events which boosted his online tournament winnings to approximately $9m. Moorman currently holds the record of most Triple Crowns.

Chris Moorman Reclaims Top Spot In The UK & Ireland Rankings

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Chris “Moorman1” Moorman as managed to reclaim the number one spot in the UK & Ireland online tournament rankings, although the gap between him and second placed Rick “TheClaimeer” Trigg is just 14.2 points!

Moorman’s recent results at the virtual felt took his online career winnings through the $9,000,000 barrier, which is something nobody has ever done before him. Just last week, Moorman took down the $15,000 Gtd Speed tournament on the Ongame Network for $4,017 in prize money. That victory was the 198th of Moorman’s career, which we are sure you will agree, is an amazing feat.

As mentioned, second place in the current standings belongs to the in-form Trigg. A couple of weeks ago, Trigg chopped The Big $162 on PokerStars with his friend Nicky Evans for a $25,056 score and more recently Trigg finished second in the PartyPoker $40,000 Gtd Rebuy for an additional $6,780.40.

Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer is the current third place occupier, while Sebastian “Seba29072” Saffari recent good form has seen him climb to fourth place. Last week Saffari helped himself to the $19,581 first place prize in the $125 buy-in tournament on the Ongame Network before finishing as runner up in the $5,000 Gtd Turbo and the $40,000 Gtd Rebuy both on PartyPoker.

Rounding out the top 10 are Sam “TheSquid” Grafton, Ross “RLOG” Loggie, Martin “molliemalone” Malone, Marc “dean23price” Wright, the only Irishman in the top 10 Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth and Paul “Senterpied” Senter.

Position	Player	Ranking points
1	Chris “moorman1” Moorman	6606.45
2	Rick “TheClaimeer” Trigg	6592.25
3	Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer	5917.96
4	Sebastian “Seba29072” Saffari	5810.92
5	Sam “TheSquid” Grafton	5806.07
6	Ross “RLOG” Loggie	5670.76
7	Martin “molliemalone” Malone	5580.53
8	Marc “dean23price” Wright	5520.62
9	Jude “j.thaddeus” Ainsworth	5435.73
10	Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis	5403.52

_{Data from PocketFives.com was used in creating this article.}

Read more: http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2013/03/chris-moorman-reclaims-top-spot-in-the-uk-ireland-rankings-10116.htm

The Poker Grapevine – Chris Moorman’s Triple Crown

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 00:00:00 GMT

There are several kinds of Triple Crowns in poker/online poker, and some of the more easily attainable ones are about winning three different online poker tournaments at three different online poker rooms. Of course, there’s nothing easy about pulling off such a feat either, it’s just that all the other kinds of Triple Crowns we know about are much more difficult to accomplish.

Chris Moorman is the current king of the online poker Triple Crown, having accomplished the deed no fewer than 13 times. His last Triple Crown is a pretty recent one: it all started on February 9, when Moorman hit the tables of Full Tilt Poker and walked away with a $9.8k haul after winning a $30k guaranteed event. On February 11, he was at it again, only that time, at bwin, where he won a $15k guaranteed event, pocketing $3.9k for his efforts.
With the Triple Crown two thirds complete, he then headed over to PokerStars, and added yet another title to his online trophy-case, a win in the $109 NL Holdem Turbo 2x Chance, worth $12k. The win completed his 13th online Triple Crown, lending him a lead of three such achievements over Belabacsi of Hungary, who has 10 online Triple Crowns to his name.

In other news: Sam Grafton’s success at the online and live poker tables has been rewarded with a spot at Phil Galfond’s poker training site, where the UK pro has become an elite member.
Grafton’s biggest online score came in 2012, when he won a SCOOP event for a $230k prize. His live score came a tad later the same year at the GUKPT Grand Final, which he won, taking home the $163.9k top prize.
Just as soon as he joined Galfond’s team, Grafton won Full Tilt Poker’s Sunday Brawl.

New ‘VIP Poker Room’ Recruits Top Pros Including Katchalov And Failla

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

Canadian land-based gambling destination ‘VIP Poker Room’ is set to open its doors for the first time on February 7th in Montreal. Ahead of its grand opening the poker room has announced the addition of four top poker pros to its newly formed ‘Pro Ambassador Team,’ which includes three US pros in the guise of Eugene Katchalov, Will “The Thrill” Failla and Ylon Schwartz, and Canadian pro Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah.

Following news of the signings, VIP Poker Room owner MItchell Horne commented: “We’re excited about signing these fantastic pros as ambassadors to VIP. They are outstanding players and incredible people whom others enjoy playing poker with. Our pros will enhance players’ experiences when they come play poker at VIP.”

Will “The Thrill” Failla, 46, is an outgoing top pro with $3,780,278 in live tournament cashes to his name, including victory at the 2011 WPT Legends of Poker Main Event for over $758,085.

Eugene Katchalov, 32, cashed in at his first live tournament in 2004 and has since amassed a massive $7,299,032 in winnings, including a WSOP and a WPT title.

Next, Ylon Schwartz, 42, is a chess master turned professional poker who over the years has notched-up $4,637,716 in live tournament cashes including a WSOP bracelet at last year’s $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event for $267,081. In addition, Schwartz is a prolific cash game player with over $2 million in profits playing online under the screen name “Tenth
Planet.”

Finally, Canada’s Mike “GoLeafsGoEh” Leah is one of the most talented players on the circuit today with $1,522,35 in live cashes to go with his $2,331,596 won playing tournaments online. Leah’s accomplishments have not gone unnoticed and he was recently recruited as a member of Team Ivey pro.

Next month when VIP Poker Room opens, in addition to having these notable members of ‘Pro Ambassador Team’ in attendance, various festivities will help celebrate the occasion, including a $100k guarantee tournament and a $5k buy-in Player’s Championship event.

The Sunday Briefing: Casey Jarzabek Makes Back-To-Back Sunday Million Final Tables

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 00:00:00 GMT

A busy weekend on the virtual felt saw nine players earn six figures in tournament action. Leading the nine is PokerStars Sunday Million winner "stackarn" with $164,000 following a five-handed deal. Finishing third was Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek, fresh off of a fourth-place finish in last week's Sunday Million. In addition, Jarzabek won the Super Tuesday less than two weeks ago.

Over at Full Tilt Poker, MiniFTOPS XXI concluded with Caio "Pessagno" Pessagno winning the Main Event for $120,270. He bested a final table that included Thiago "DecanoBR" Nishijima, Mike "GoLeafsGoEh" Leah and Daniel "dDeoxyribo" Strelitz.

Others to score big on Sunday were Kevin "Civell" Vandersmissen, Grayson "swish3113" Ramage, Alex "AD_84" Debus, Brandon "oncommand" Meyers, and Pius "MastaP89" Heinz.

PokerStars Sunday Million ($1M Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$200+$15	7,324	$1,464,800

Place	Player	Prize
*1	stackarn	$164,701
*2	Cam "murballz66" Murray	$95,993
*3	Casey "bigdogpckt5s" Jarzabek	$118,154
*4	francispoker	$134,794
*5	RovoDice	$122,628
6	Zsolt "Vzsolt800" Vasvenszki	$45,409
7	dionus77	$31,493
8	Daddddymufff	$17,578
9	Somme	$11,352

*denotes five-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Clark "snake8484" Hamagami (11th - $8,056), Niall "Firaldo87" Farrell (13th - $6,079), Simon "pokerbrat13" Charette (17th - $4,101), Mads "moumaife84" Smith-Hansen (18th - $4,101), João "joaobarb" Barbosa (35th - $3,047), Nico "PKaiser" Fierro (37th - $2,754)

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up ($500K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$200+$15	3,559	$711,800

Place	Player	Prize
1	Gerge Jung	$111,754
2	Dejan "dejanaceking" Divkovic	$83,281
3	Gladi3	$58,724
4	Pocket2Chris	$40,929
5	Hope_Flooky	$30,252
6	Brandon "oncommand" Meyers	$23,134
7	Alex "A.Tricarico" Tricarico	$16,016
8	aces1096	$8,898
9	Akserr	$5,694

Notable Finishes: Phil "Grindation" Mcallister (11th - $4,271), Ronald "ronaldgrauer" Grauer (17th - $2,135), Seth "Setherson2" Davies (19th - $1,815), Kevin "Phwap" Boudreau (20th - $1,815)

Full Tilt MiniFTOPS XXI Main Event ($750K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$70+$5	17,578	$1,230,460

Place	Player	Prize
*1	Caio "Pessagno" Pessagno	$120,270
*2	MacMoneysack	$130,000
*3	Tripmen	$103,000
*4	baqr	$102,000
5	Thiago "DecanoBR" Nishijima	$43,066
6	Mike "GoLeafsGoEh" Leah	$31,992
7	Andrzejus	$23,145
8	Daniel "dDeoxyribo" Strelitz	$16,980
9	dcldcl	$12,059

*denotes four-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Marco "4high20" Ruggeri (15th - $5,968), Marton "noirduck" Czuczor (19th - $3,015), Michael "tuna_fish_tank" Stroh (28th - $2,178), Ariel "ArielBahia" Celestino (30th - $2,178)

Full Tilt $500K Guarantee ($500K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$200+$16	2,576	$515,200

Place	Player	Prize
1	High Roller Pro	$97,888
2	Grayson "swish3113" Ramage	$67,852
3	Fresa4ever	$47,914
4	OMGCrackedACES	$36,064
5	holyhellofanelk	$26,790
6	CupcakeThePig	$19,578
7	w4ldo	$13,910
8	BauerHarms	$9,789
9	Manyya	$6,698

Notable Finishes: Ashley "AshTheDonkey" Mason (14th - $3,400), Aaron "Aguskb" Gustavson (19th - $1,700)

Full Tilt MiniFTOPS XXI Event #31 - NLH Two-Day ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$200+$16	2,831	$566,200

Place	Player	Prize
*1	HansGusen112	$88,176
*2	Alex "AD_84" Debus	$75,856
*3	xxxCelticFCxxx	$80,000
4	Flush GordoN90	$41,333
5	wulfgarrr86	$28,876
6	Mr N0body13	$19,251
7	Tr4xX	$13,023
8	Beat Man	$9,059
9	accuss1ty	$6,794

*denotes three-handed deal

Notable Finishes: David "Davidp18" Peters (16th - $2,095), Ami "UhhMee" Barer (36th - $1,472)

Full Tilt Sunday Brawl ($200K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$240+$16	1,018	$203,600

Place	Player	Prize
1	schrutebucksss	$40,720
2	mariukai	$27,120
3	Olycrawford	$19,342
4	TroopTroop1	$14,456
5	healey87	$10,791
6	Hoss022	$7,940
7	Sebastian "p00cket00" Sikorski	$5,904
8	linusfalk00	$4,276
9	DQnk	$3,054

Notable Finishes: Marton "noirduck" Czuczor (30th - $672), Bryn "OneUponAStar" Kenney (32nd - $672), Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (34th - $672)

PokerStars Sunday 500 ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$500+$30	857	$428,500

Place	Player	Prize
1	Kevin "Civell" Vandersmissen	$77,130
2	inwooke	$55,705
3	ThomasG_207	$41,565
4	KeyserMM	$31,066
5	selinantis	$21,596
6	ivanildo	$17,140
7	xSuPrA	$12,855
8	Mattssons	$8,570
9	Akavavitiks	$5,142

Notable Finishes: Chris "moorman1" Moorman (18th - $2,571), Kevin "WizardOfAhhs" Thurman (20th - $1,928), Steve "BetrThanPhil" Tripp (24th - $1,928), Tom "hitthehole" Middleton (26th - $1,928.25), Ronald "jus2awsum" Lee (27th - $1,928), Nico "PKaiser" Fierro (28th - $1,714), Paul "padjes" Berende (29th - $1,714), Balazs "birs320" Botond (30th - $1,714)

PokerStars $109 Sunday Rebuy ($225K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	1,070	$358,200

Place	Player	Prize
*1	talatias	$57,568
*2	A.A_THE_W.55	$56,161
3	nandor82	$35,820
4	mcc3991	$26,865
5	Pius "MastaP89" Heinz	$18,806
6	Houbanan	$15,224
7	OMGitshunt	$11,642
8	johansen1975	$8,060
9	jilberta146	$5,015

*denotes heads-up deal

Notable Finishes: Ruben "rubenrtv" Visser (16th - $2,221), Max "$kill Game" Weinberg (19th - $1,612), Chris "ImDaNuts" Oliver (20th - $1,612), Pascal "Pass_72" LeFrancois (21st - $1,612), Russell "rdcrsn" Carson (25th - $1,612)

PokerStars Bigger $109 ($160K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	3,136	$313,600

Place	Player	Prize
*1	marquitos74	$35,575
*2	Speedpokah	$38,128
*3	FairLaw	$38,880
4	Rui "RuiNF" Ferreira	$18,032
5	3P3NIPA	$13,642
6	Tuuttimorko	$10,506
7	MR_TRINDADE	$7,370
8	AfRoBiZzLe!	$4,240
9	KJnorM	$2,666

*denotes three-handed deal

Notable Finishes: Johan "busto_soon" Van Til (24th - $862)

PokerStars Bigger $162 ($150K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$150+$12	1,691	$253,650

Place	Player	Prize
1	Faith#1Virtu	$41,612
2	VernonH	$30,438
3	bah23	$22,829
4	AznTiltU	$16,995
5	DSRasmussen	$12,048
6	maloyd	$9,512
7	aboutdapaper	$6,975
8	psyzalek	$4,439
9	Felipe "mojave14" Ramos	$2,537

Notable Finishes: Jaroslaw “YanniYankiev” Jaskiewicz (16th - $1,141), Kyle "weekesy333" Weekes (23rd - $989), George "gkap13" Kapalas (27th - $989)

PokerStars Sunday 2nd Chance ($175K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$200+$15	1,308	$261,600

Place	Player	Prize
1	fabstinho	$45,152
2	all in 2526	$32,700
3	megafish_rus	$24,852
4	Leqenden	$18,207
5	Andrey "andreasbar" Lobzhanidze	$12,949
6	ShippityShip	$10,333
7	freshleo111	$7,717
8	jeppinho	$5,101
9	calixto1963	$2,878

Notable Finishes: Amit "AMAK316" Makhija (23rd - $1,099), Christophe "chrisdm" De Meulder (25th - $1,099), Kevin "KevBoyStar" Stani (27th - $1,099)

PokerStars Sunday Storm ($300K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$10+$1	38,095	$380,950

Place	Player	Prize
1	CHIVUTARU	$30,916
2	freestyleACP	$21,333
3	88er*JSP	$14,095
4	miaou	$10,529
5	Yatahe	$7,200
6	mrnino888	$4,629
7	martiniikid	$3,238
8	Samy deluxe8	$2,210
9	ilsoorik777	$1,619

PokerStars Sunday Kickoff ($100K Guaranteed)

Buy-in	Entrants	Prize Pool
$100+$9	1,750	$175,000

Place	Player	Prize
1	squintster	$28,000
2	paranoid999	$21,000
3	hnidel	$15,750
4	8mg8	$11,506
5	olimasi77	$8,313
6	underdogggg@	$6,475
7	Dona Silvia	$3,063
8	Maylo18	$3,063
9	bewzy	$1,750

Notable Finishes: Lars "MiniKipDK" Hougaard (27th - $665)

For news, updates, and more follow PokerNews on Twitter and Facebook.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2013/01/the-sunday-briefing-casey-bigdogpckt5s-jarzabek-makes-back-t-14185.htm

Chris Moorman is the UK & Ireland’s Christmas Number One!

Sun, 23 Dec 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Chris Moorman, a name that is synonymous with online poker tournaments, has reclaimed the coveted number one spot in the UK & Ireland rankings. As the next update to the PocketFives.com rankings is not due until Wednesday, Moorman is our Christmas number one!

When PokerStars bought the assets of Full Tilt Poker and repaid non-US players, Moorman must have been jumping for joy. Not only do we believe he had a substantial sum locked up on the site, and so did his horses, but Moorman used to crush the fields on Full Tilt Poker; something he has continued to do since the site relaunched.

On Monday Moorman finished fifth in the $1k Monday on Full Tilt, a result that bagged him $9,375.00. The Brighton-born online star has been hitting four-figure scores for fun, having six of them in the past week alone! It looks like Moorman is back to his best, and that is bad news for anyone in his tournaments!

One player who has shot up the rankings is Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis, who finds himself in third place. At the start of the month Lewis had two very impressive results, namely a third place finish in the $500 buy-in $100,000 guaranteed on PartyPoker and a second place finish in the €200 Sunday Six-max on pokerStars.fr. Then on the Sunday that has just passed, Lewis took down the $100,000 guaranteed High Roller on PartyPoker for a score of $33,075.Sick life.

Another young man who has managed to find form during December is Jon “EMSBas” Spinks, who will see Christmas from his lofty seventh place rung on the UK & Ireland ladder. Spinks received a massive boost to his points tally when he won the Dec. 2 edition of the SuperSonic tournament on PokerStars, a result that bagged him $46,397.47, then the following day he finished third in the $500,000 guaranteed $1k buy-in on Full Tilt Poker for an additional $46,351.25! Not content with those score, Spinks went win to more five-figure scores, one for $18,351.24 and the other topping the scales at $10,982.92. Must be nice!

Here is the latest top 10 rankings:

Rank	Name	Points
1	Chris “moorman1” Moorman	6579.02
2	Christopher “NigDawG” Brammer	5987.12
3	Toby “810ofclubs” Lewis	5968.47
4	Marc “dean23price” Wright	5909.24
5	Rick “TheClaimeer” Trigg	5834.18
6	Rhys “floppinhel” Jones	5699.54
7	Jon “EMSBas” Spinks	5541.82
8	Mat “matfrankland” Frankland	5352.02
9	Stephen ”woody1234321” Woodhead	5282.54
10	Ross “RLOG” Loggie	5252.74

_{Thanks to PocketFives.com for the information used in this article}

Read more: http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2012/12/chris-moorman-is-the-uk-ireland-s-christmas-number-one-9732.htm

Poker EH! with host Jon Harnish and special guest Casey Jarzabek aka bigdogpckt5s

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Posted by Jon-Harnish on November 19, 2012 at QuadJacks.com

Welcome back to “PokerEH!”

On this episode, we are joined by Casey “bigdogpckt5s” Jarzabek of St. Catherine’s Ontario; for those of you who don’t know, the man is a legend in the online poker community with more than $4,650,000 million in MTT winnings. Only about 15 players have crossed the $5,000,000 million mark and the big dog is sure to join them soon. Jarzabek has also earned three P5’s “Triple Crowns”, each of which requires winning 3 tournaments, across 3 sites, in the same week and each must have at least 100 players and a $10,000 prize-pool; not an easy feat!

The “Big Dog” is a man of many hats; a coach for The Poker Tournament Edge, a Lock Poker Pro and a spokesperson for BubbleProtection.com however, he’s also a relatively new dad after welcoming a son to the family earlier this year and that’s meant some significant changes in his grind time and a lot more time hanging out with his boy.

Now Casey has also posted some significant live results over his career, but mostly in Las Vegas around the WSOP; what will it take to get Jarzabek out to the live felts here in Canada? Inquiring minds want to know…

Casey took this Sunday off to take in some football and talk to us on “PokerEH!”

Right click save as to download

First up though, here is what is coming up and what’s been going down on our felts:

Up Coming Events

Event 12 will wrap up WSOP-C Vancouver on PlayNow.com and Espacejeux.com with a $530 No Limit Hold’em that has a guaranteed $35,000 prize-pool. That starts at 2:00 PM Pacific Standard Time on Sunday, November 25th. Event 11, a $320 No Limit Hold’em is currently underway as we record “PokerEH!”; with 223 entrants and $16,725 up top to go with pokers ever first WSOP-C ring to be awarded online.

The $3,300 WPT Montreal Main Event, looks to be probably the most star studded field in Canada since 2007; Negreanu, Laak, Antonio, Simon Charette, Mark Radoja, SirWatts, Timex, Xuan Liu, Isabelle Mercier, Jason Lavallee, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, Matthew Marafioti, John Lam, Inheritance1 aka “Wictor Glom”, Dominik Nitsche and Nicky Evans are just a FEW names to expect when things get underway Thursday. The first 3 preliminary events have sold out so far, with an impressive almost 900 entries starting the $150 re-entry, so we are expending a huge turnout for the Main.

888Poker will be offering $2,000,000 in guaranteed prize-pools from November 17th to 25th during their Super XL Series. Buy-ins range from $35 all the way up to $1,050; with No Limit Hold’em 6 Max, Deep Stack, Turbo and Pot Limit Omaha events all on schedule. The Main Event on November 25th features a $500,000 guarantee.

The PokerStars MicroMillions III is underway and carrying on until November 25th. The $22 Main Event on the 25th will have a million prize-pool guarantee, with at least $150,000 going to the winner.

The Great Blue Heron Charity Casino $550 Deep-Stack will take place on November 21st, followed by the Caesars Windsor 1k “Nothing To Hide” that starts on the 23; they are estimating a $75,000 top prize.

For those looking for a cheap qualifying route, there is a Super Sat on Wednesday the 21st in the $230 range that will award one seat for every 5 players.

Live Tournament Results:

Several e-mails and phone calls later, this just in; The Casino New Brunswick Lighthouse Classic sold all but one available seat over it’s 3 No Limit Hold’em Events. That’s all I got.

Casino Montreal held a $1,100 with 84 runners on Friday and this one wound up in a chop that seen Patrick Braga taking $25,400, Chanracy “Chanmix” Khun claiming the win for $20,500 and Jason Hallee scooping $16,200.

Calgary Casino ABS “All In Challenge” drew 32 runners for it’s first showing, which is pretty consistent with current local trends. Players were pleased however to play for the more than $57,000 prize pool and a juicy $28,860 up top; Allen Butkovic claimed that loot, Jerry Tria took second for $14,430, Candace Eggers third for $9,813 and Davinder Singh 4th for $4,617.

Online Results

On the virtual felts (from the back half) of November 11th to the 17th, we had a slough of five figure scores…

On Remembrance Day; p0cket00 took second in a $109 for $12,740, Simon “pokerbrat13” Charette took 3rd in a $215 for $13,700, ”1bigacehole” won the $55 re-buy for $15,438, “ch0ppy” shipped the 100k GTD High-Roller for $33,075 while Andrew “achen” Chen finished right behind him in 2nd for $19,967 to wrap up Sunday.

On Monday, “ImaLucSac was back, (the one without the k) and this week came second for $13,728 in a $215 re-buy. “therookieqq9” won a $215 turbo for $12,169, “mitch_gach” took second in The Bigger $55 for $29,160, while “Drewfus81” made serious bank once again this week; coming 2nd in The Big 109 for $15,625.

On Tuesday, “ch0ppy” added to his Sunday High-Roller haul with another win; this time winning a $215 for $12,268. Then, top Manitoban Clayton “slammedfire” Mozdzen won the $109 Turbo for $10,158, while Theo7171 claimed the $22,287 up top in The Big $109.

“Piggysnipz” (who’s handle makes me laugh every time) made his way back on the 5 figure score board this week; winning a $109 turbo for $13,854 and “Arnyone” placed 3rd in The Big $162 for $12,846.

Wednesday was quiet, but seen at least one top result; this time in The Big $162, with “SirCrafty” taking 3rd for $10,721.

Then things really picked up on Thursday; Christopher “d0r1t0s” McClung won the $215 Turbo for just over $11,000, “Dynoalot” crushed the $109 re-buy for $11,244, Chris “maxxscam” Back finished 2nd in The Big $55 for $12,906 and finally…“bananazoo” bested the field in the Nightly $162 for $11,715.

Nothing huge on Friday but then “Believer82” made his Saturday even better; with a $11,022 win in a $109.

Also taking place on Saturday, the $530 PokerStars Canada Cup II played down to it’s final table of 9 and will crown a winner at the 2013 PCA. There was more than $70,000 plus the 9 travel packages in overlay in this one, with 343 entries. Tournament Poker Edge Instructor Danny “DannyN13” Noseworthy of St. John’s will be the chip leader when play resumes in January.

That’s all we have for this week…see you all in Montreal!

Wojtek Barzantny Wins UKIPT Online Title; Chris Moorman Finishes As Runner-Up

Thu, 08 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The final table of the PokerStars UKIPT Online event was played out yesterday at the Gala Casino in Bristol and its champion crowned. That champion was Wojtek Barzantny who defeated British online poker legend Chris “Moorman1” Moorman after a four-hour long heads-up battle.

The eight-handed final started with just seven players after Russia’s Sregey Sergeevich could not secure a visa in time to attend the finale so he was deemed to have been eliminated and everyone moved up a rung on the pay ladder. This mean each of the seven final table members would leave Bristol with at least £9,425.25 for their efforts.

Just 10-minutes into the proceedings the tournament lost its first player. Barzantny opened from the cutoff and then called when Ben Jenkins three-bet shoved for around 20 big blinds. Jenkins had made his move with a pair of black eights and found himself in a coinflip against the of his opponent. Jenkins’ “snowmen” stayed ahead right up until the river where they melted in front of the .

An hour later and the dangerous Dan “danloulou” Smyth was sent to the rail in sixth place. Smyth was left with just two big blinds when when Moorman’s flopped a straight to beat Smyth’s dominating . These went into the middle on the very next hand where Smyth lost to the of Barzantny when the board ran out .

Next to go was the Dutchman Joep van den Bijgaart. Moorman looked down at ad opened the betting with a raise and then called when van den Bijgaart three-bet all in for approximately 250,000 chips. The Dutchman had moved all in with , leaving him drawing very thinly, so thin that Moorman’s ace-high was more than enough to win the pot and bust van den Bijgaart.

Around 60-minutes later the final table lost another player, that unfortunate soul being David Lenz. The blinds had increased to 12,000/24,000/3,000a and the players were rather deep, but that rapidly changed for Lenz. A preflop raising war between Lenz and Barzantny resulted in Lenz six-bet shoving with and Barzantny making the extremely easy call with his . Lenz was drawing dead by the turn, as the board four-flushed, and the tournament was down to the final three players.

Three-handed play lasted close to 90-minutes before Rafael Porzecanski lost his stack to Moorman in a blind-versus-blind situation. Moorman opened to 65,000 from the small blind and then quickly called when his opponent three-bet al-in for 600,000 chips. Moorman revealed and all Porzecanski could muster was the . By the river the board read and heads-up was set.

As the opening paragraph of this article stated heads-up lasted a staggering four hours, during which time the chip lead exchanged hands on several occasions. The final hand took place at just before 22:00 and it came down to a coinflip – as many poker tournaments do. Moorman started the preflop betting round with a min-raise to 160,000, Barzantny moved all in and after a brief pause for deliberation Moorman called. The Brit showed Ac-3h and was up against Barzantny’s . Moorman’s hand was best on the flop but it fell behind on the turn. The kept Moorman’s hand as second best, eliminating him from the tournament and leaving a delighted Barzantny to pick up the winner’s prize, the UKIPT trophy and the title of UKIPT Online champion.

UKIPT Online final table results

Position	Name	Prize
1	Wojtek Barzantny	£77,126.03
2	Chris Moorman	£55,471.50
3	Rafael Porzecanski	£41,090.00
4	David Lenz	£30,817.50
5	Joep van den Bijgaart	£20,545.00
6	Dan Smyth	£14,381.50
7	Ben Jenkins	£9,425.25
8	Sregey Sergeevich	£6,163.50

Today, at 12:00, the UKIPT Bristol main events kicks off. The £770 buy-in tournament is carrying a £250,000 guaranteed prize pool and should attract some of the biggest names the UK, Ireland and Europe has to offer.

Read more: http://uk.pokernews.com/news/2012/11/wojtek-barzantny-wins-ukipt-online-title-chris-moorman-finis-9467.htm

Will "The Thrill" Failla wins the $1,000 Deep Stack Six-Max No Limit Hold'em at the Borgata Fall Poker Open

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Will Failla outlasts Dilip Ravindran to win the tournament and in the process continues to put his stamp on the 2012 Borgata Fall Poker Open.

It's an astonishing 5th final table for Failla in the series and marks the third time he's won a Borgata series trophy.

The win will also put Will "the Thrill" into first place on the Tournament Leaderboard standings, after beginning the day in second place. The $58,865 prize now gives him more than $3.5 million in live career tournament earnings.

With his third trophy, Failla joins the short list of three time winners*, joining Chris Reslock, Howard Wolper, Bill Blanda and Yuebin Guo.

Failla is quick to point out that he has four Borgata trophies if you include his 2007 win in a $300,000 guarantee tournament.

Failla's 2012 Borgata Fall Poker Open Domination

Event #-Date-Place-Amount Won-Format

17 Nov 17 1st / $58,865 - No Limit Six-Max Deep Stack
15 Nov 15 5th / $2,607 - Omaha H/L 8B
13 Nov 14 2nd / $3,819 - No Limit Hold'em Ante Only
9 Nov 12 7th / $900 - Pot Limit Omaha Deepstack
1 Nov 8      4th / $44,722 - No Limit Hold'em Deepstack

Totals: 5 Final Tables / $110,913

*Borgata trophy stats only include those won in an Open series

Chris Moorman Eyes Another UKIPT Title

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Moorman Takes Another Crack at Title

When the PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Bristol kicks off on Wednesday, eight players will hit the felts to play out a final table with £254,840 up for grabs. The first ever UKIPT online tournament began on Oct. 14, with 587 players putting up the £770 buy-in at PokerStars.com. After two days of play, the event was paused so the eight-handed final could be played in a live setting in Bristol on Nov. 7.

Chris "Moorman1" Moorman, considered one of the best tournament players in the world, has the first-place £77,126 prize in his sight as he will begin the final table third in chips with 562,818. Despite boasting more than $11 million in online and live tournament cashes, Moorman has yet to achieve any major live wins. He has come close by placing second a few times, once at the 2011 WSOPE Main Event where he cashed for €800,000. The also took second at the 2011 WSOP $10,000 six-handed championship for $716,282, and again at the €10,000 EPT Berlin 8-max event, banking €145,000.

Moorman will be on display in Bristol as he looks to claim that elusive live Main Event win and add to his $2,700,162 in live tournament cashes.

Leading the Wednesday's final table in chips with 1,530,528 will be 37 year-old Rafael "zugzwang16" Haber, who placed third in the €2,100 SCOOP-H event at PokerStars earlier this year. In second place with 1,524,837 chips is Wojtek "piper_kl88" Barzantny.

Also at the final table are Joep "Pappe_Ruk" van den Bijgaart (545,565 chips), Sregey "Seradja" Sergeevich Prostakov (490,798), Dan "danloulou" Smyth (485,659), David "komisch99" Lenz (369,562), and Ben "gs08bjohnson" Jenkins (360,233).

Here a look at the UKIPT Online Main Event final table payouts:

Place	Prize
1	£77,126
2	£55,471
3	£41,090
4	£30,817
5	£20,545
6	£14,381
7	£9,245
8	£6,163

For more on each of the final table members, visit the PokerStars Blog.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/11/the-nightly-turbo-full-tilt-poker-reopens-chris-moorman-13747.htm?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=PokerNews%20Nightly%20Turbo&utm_content=#story-5102

Salaburu Finishes 8th at the World Series of Poker Main Event

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Salaburu entered Monday's final table of the World Series of Poker Main Event at Las Vegas' Rio with the seventh-largest chip stack.

His run ended close to that predicted form.

The San Antonio native fell short of his championship aspirations, finishing eighth and earning $971,360. It's life-changing money for a 27-year-old, self-employed professional poker player.

It was a mixed bag of the highs and lows that come with playing the dangerous game of no-limit Hold 'Em poker.

After staying out of the action through the first 10 hands, Salaburu went on a run the following 20 that had him in complete control of the final table.

He picked up all five pots he entered, as his chip stack grew from the opening $15.15 milliion to $24.6 million, at the time the third-largest stack at the table. None of the remaining eight players won more pots through that span.

However, the downward spiral started to turn moments later.

The beginning of the end started three hours into the tournament when Salaburu had the unfortunate timing of running his Qs-Qh into the Kd-Kc held by Jake Balsiger.

Balsiger's hand held up after all the money got in before the flop, transforming Salaburu from a position of comfort into a somewhat desparate situation.

"Pretty hard to fold queens there," pro Antonio Esfandiari said on ESPN. "You have to call. If you have jacks, 10s or nines it's one thing, but there was a very good chance he was up against A-K."

Moments later, with Salaburu nursing a crippled chip stack, he moved all in with a pair of sevens before the flop and was called by a Qc-5c by Jesse Sylvia, the big stack at the table. Sylvia hit a queen on the final card to eliminate Salaburu from the tournament.

"I was real comfortable," a visibly shacken Salaburu said to ESPN. "All I can do is try to go deep again (next year). We'll see what happens."

There was a huge difference in prize money at the WSOP. If Salaburu would have finished in the chip position he started, he would have stood to take home over$1.25 million.

cblount@express-news.net

Chris Moorman Reaches UKIPT Online Final Table

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) usually attracts hundreds of players to live venues around the UK & Ireland, but this weekend a £770 Main Event was played online at PokerStars; and what a tournament it was.

Not only was this the first-ever UKIPT to be held online, it also had an extra twist in that the tournament was paused once the eight-handed final table was reached and this final table is going to be played live at the upcoming UKIPT Bristol leg!

By the time registration came to an end there were 587 players in their virtual seats, amongst them were some of the best players in the world. Eighty-eight places were paid out and those who made it into the money included Marc “dean23price” Wright (84th), Dylan “WhiteRabbito” Honeyman (79th), John “johne147” Eames (77th), David “davidv1213” Vamplew (76th), Ronnie “1-ronnyr3” Kaiser (74th), Simon “x1deadman1x” Deadman (47th), Sam “TheKodFather” Razavi (42nd), Chris “NigDawG” Brammer (33rd), Brian “theczar19” Piccioli (30th), Jon “apestyles” Van Fleet (25th), Nelius “danceofddead” Foley (17th) and Dominik “Bounatirou” Nitsche (10th)!

Andrew “FDSaussure” Ferguson was the unfortunate final table bubble boy, losing out to Germany’s piper_kl88 in a massive pot. The hand took place during the 7,000/14,000/1,750a level and FDSaussure was sat in the big blind and had seen zugzwang16 open to 28,000 first to act. piper_kl88 was on the button and he made the call and when Dan “danloulou” Smyth folded the small blind, FDSaussure raised to 84,111. Zugzwang16 folded but piper_kl88 moved all-in for 942,218. FDSassure called off his last 428,508 and the cards were revealed.

FDSassure	King of Diamond, King of Hearts
Piper_kl88	Ace of Spades, King of Club

The Four Spades, Four of Diamond, 7 of Diamond flop kept FDSaussure in front but the Ace of Heards on the turn turned the hand completely around. The Seven of Clubs river was of no help to FDSaussure and he busted out in ninth place, extremely disappointed.

The eight players who did manage to make it through to the final table will now have to travel to Bristol on Nov. 7 to complete the tournament. Each of the final tablists have already been paid out eighth place money of £6,163.50 and when they resume the UKIPT Online final there will still be plenty to play for because the eventual champion will walk away with a total of £77,126.03! Not too bad at all by anyone’s standards!

Leading the way on that final table is zugzwang16 of Uruguay with 1,530,528, followed by piper_kl88 (1,524,837) and then Chris “Moorman1” Moorman (562,818). Also on the final table are Joep “Pappe_Ruk” Van Den Bijgaart (545,565), Seradja (490,798) of Russia, the aforementioned Dan “danloulou” Smyth (485,659), komisch99 of Germany (369,562) and Ben “gs08bjohnson” Jenkins of the UK (360,233).

UK & Ireland PokerNews are really looking forward to this final table taking place, it has all the hallmarks of a special finale that is for sure.

UKIPT Online Final Table chip counts

PokerStars Name	Country	Chips
zugzwang16	Uruguay	1,530,528
piper_kl88	Germany	1,524,837
Moorman1	UK	562,818
Pappe_Ruk	Netherlands	545,565
Seradja	Russia	490,798
danloulou	Ireland	485,659
komisch99	Germany	369,562
gs08johnson	UK	360,233

UKIPT Online Main Event final table payouts

Position	Prize	To Be Paid at Bristol
1	£77,126.03	£70,962.53
2	£55,471.50	£49,308.00
3	£41,090.00	£34,926.50
4	£30,817.50	£24,654.00
5	£20,545.00	£14,381.50
6	£14,381.50	£8,218.00
7	£9,245.25	£3,081.75
8	£6,163.50	£-

Moorman Wins Best Online Player for Third Time

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

WSOP Big One runner-up Sam Trickett dominated the 2012 British Poker Awards today, winning player of the year, best cash player and best tournament player.

Playing out aboard the H.M.S. President in London, the British Poker Awards recognize the biggest and brightest in British poker and tonight the winner’s circle was packed with names like Chris Moorman, Liv Boeree and even one American, Vanessa Selbst.

The big winner, however, was unquestionably Sam Trickett who was named 2012 player of the year, best cash player and best tournament player. It marks the second consecutive year Trickett won the award for best cash player.

In fact, Trickett has won awards in all three of the BPA’s iterations, winning best newcomer at the inaugural ceremony in 2010.

The bulk of Trickett’s accomplishments this year came by way of his second-place finish in the $1 million buy-in event at the World Series of Poker. Trickett pocketed a staggering $10.1 million, skyrocketing to the top of the UK charts.

Moorman Wins Best Online Player for Third Time

Chris Moorman wins his third consecutive award for best online player.

Trickett was joined tonight by Chris Moorman who took down the award for best online player for the third year in a row.

Also honored were Vanessa Selbst, who won best international player and Liv Boeree who won best poker personality of the year.

UKIPT president Kirsty Thompson got the nod for the biggest contribution to the growth of poker while her United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour was named best poker tour.

Here are the full 2012 British Poker Awards results:

Player of the Year: Sam Trickett
Best International Player: Vanessa Selbst
Best Card Room: Dusk Til Dawn
Best Tournament Director: Toby Stone (UKIPT)
Best Cash Player: Sam Trickett
Best Tournament Player: Sam Trickett
Best Online Player: Chris Moorman
Poker Personality of the Year: Liv Boeree
Best Poker Forum: The Hendon Mob
Best UK Tournament: UKIPT Nottingham
Best Card Room Restaurant: The Vic
Best Card Room Bar: Palm Beach
Best Poker Blogger/ Social Media: Neil Channing
Best Poker League: Champions Poker League
Biggest Contribution to Growing and Promoting Poker: Kirsty Thompson (UKIPT)

Power Rankings: Moorman, Shorr Join Top 20 as Waxman Slides

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Marvin Rettenmaier, BLUFF Magazine cover girl Vanessa Selbst, and Dan Smith all stayed put in the top three spots in the BLUFF Power Rankings this past week, but almost everywhere down below there was movement in the top 20. Will Failla leaped one spot over Stephen O’Dwyer for fourth place thanks to O’Dwyer losing half the value of his fifth-place finish in a €10,000 No Limit Hold’em reload event at last year’s European Poker Tour Barcelona stop. Failla is now ahead of O’Dwyer by 32.7 points and he isn’t too far behind Smith for third place (just 88.94 points separate fourth and third).

Bertrand Grospellier held onto sixth place, but Jonathan Duhamel and Daniel Negreanu traded places for seventh and eighth. This was due to Negreanu losing all 110 POY points he was awarded for winning an EPT Vilamoura No Limit Hold’em preliminary event two years ago coming off the books. There are 52.57 points between the two.

Oleksii Kovalchuk experienced a large fall, going from ninth place down to 13th place. Michael Mizrachi, Andrew Badecker, Phil Ivey, and Sam Trickett all benefited from Kovalchuk’s decline, each climbing a spot despite no change in their point totals. Kovalchuk lost 90 points due to his win at the PokerStars Italian Poker Tour Nova Gorica Main Event hitting the one-year deadline and getting chopped in half.

Shawn Buchanan and Tommy Vedes hold on to spots 14 and 15 respectively, and then things get chaotic once again. Konstantin Puchkov fell to 19th place while Matt Waxman fell out of the top 20 altogether, and that opened a path for Daniel Buzgon to waltz into 16th place from 18th place with the same score he had last week. Phil Hellmuth took the same path to 17th place from 19th place the week before.

Chris Moorman is back in the top 20 just one week after leaving. He comes in again at 18th place, and he is joined in the new-member club by Shannon Shorr in 20th place. The two didn’t add any new points to their current totals this past week, but they did benefit from the exits of Waxman and Fernando Brito. While Brito fell slightly, down to 24th place from 20th place, Waxman went all the way from 17th place to 42nd place. The 345 POY points that Waxman was awarded for winning the WPT Grand Prix de Paris Main Event last year were reduced by half, and he fell 25 spots in the Power Rankings as a result.

Marvin Rettenmaier – 1778.50 (-)
Vanessa Selbst – 1241.05 (-)
Dan Smith – 1234.09 (-)
Will Failla – 1145.15(+1)
Steve O’Dwyer – 1112.45 (-1)
Bertrand Grospellier – 1084.68 (-)
Jonathan Duhamel – 1062.92 (+1)
Daniel Negreanu – 1010.35 (-1)
Michael Mizrachi – 983.31 (+1)
Andrew Badecker – 966.55 (+1)
Phil Ivey – 957.85 (+1)
Sam Trickett – 934.38 (+1)
Oleksii Kovalchuk – 930.32 (-4)
Shawn Buchanan – 917.18 (-)
Tommy Vedes – 903.97 (-)
Daniel Buzgon – 887.41 (+2)
Phil Hellmuth – 886.53 (+2)
Chris Moorman – 883.64 (NR)
Konstantin Puchkov – 876.97 (-2)
Shannon Shorr – 868.40 (NR)

Dropped from Rankings: Matthew Waxman (17th), Fernando Brito (20th)

Chris "moorman1" Morrman: Legend of the Modern Game

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Chris “moorman1” Moorman is a veritable legend of the modern game that first came to prominence on the virtual felt.

After earning over $8 million from the sanctity of his own bedroom, Moorman first stepped into the light of live tournament play back in 2007.

But it wasn’t until last year that he really started to get to grips with the differences between the two worlds, earning over $2 million in 2011 alone.

We caught up with Moorman as he settled down to play in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Merit Cyprus Classic and this is what he had to say.

The news has just broken that PokerStars are going to buy Full Tilt Poker. What are your early thoughts on the deal?

Chris Moorman: I think it’s great for the overall grind. At the moment, with PokerStars being the main site, it has been pretty hard to find the motivation to play.

With Full Tilt making a return, I can foresee a mini poker boom because the returning funds will give people more money to play with. There are going to be people who are going to cash out and never play again, but most people are degenerates at heart and will get back into the game.

When this happens the overall standard may drop a bit, there will be more money and we will have bigger prize pools. But the main reason I am happy to see Full Tilt return is the fact that I ran so good on there!

So back in the day when you were printing money, Full Tilt had a special place in your heart?

CM: Pretty much everything about Full Tilt was good for me. I had not lost for fourteen months, the software was good and the field sizes were smaller -- so less variance -- and you made more final tables, which was good for morale.

Exactly how much money did you have tied up in the black hole that was Full Tilt Poker?

CM: I don’t actually know the true amount, but it is definitely a sum of money in the six-figure region.

It could have been a lot worse as well! I had a lot of horses at the time - hence the reason I had so much money tied up online - but they were all losing!

Did you ever think you were going to get that money back?

CM: I always hoped it would come back, but I didn’t plan for it. I guess having the money returned is a little like winning a live tournament for me really.

You're one of the biggest backers in the game. How many players are you backing at this precise moment?

CM: I have around 20 players.

Doesn’t that fry your skull?

CM: Yes.

What lessons have you learned through your time as a backer?

CM: Don’t do it! There are a lot of highs and lows, meaning a lot of stress. The good times are really good, but the bad times are really bad.

I would advise anyone to avoid it and concentrate on your own game. It seems like easy money, but it’s a very hard way to make easy money.

I have really enjoyed it though and wouldn’t change a thing, but I am going to scale down as I get older. I am a lot more sensible now.

If I could only let you keep two players who would they be?

CM: There are four or five who have been really great for me, but if you were putting pressure on me to choose two I would have to say Taylor Paur and Jason Koon.

Jason Koon is the man responsible for the new Moorman look. You are fitter and leaner than ever, so how did that relationship come about?

CM: I hit him up on Facebook chat at the beginning of the year. It was one of those days when you are lying on the couch suffering from a hangover, thinking, ‘you really need to change your life’.

I asked him if he was interested in traveling around Europe - playing in some European Poker Tours (EPT) - and in return I would get him a house in Cyprus so he could train me and cook for me.

Within a week we were in Cyprus and he then traveled around with me for six months. For three-to-four months we had an intense work out. Literally, six days per week.

Was he a hard taskmaster?

CM: Well he’s a big guy so you don’t really say no to him! Yeah, he was tough.

I would wake up and couldn’t see myself moving for the next 3 hrs and yet within 15 mins I was in the gym. He was always watching me and wouldn’t even let me eat anything after 7 pm -- including fruit!

Why did you choose to live in Cyprus?

CM: In 2008, I bubbled the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in London. I was the chip leader right up to the bubble, and so I bought everyone dinner at the break as I was guaranteed to cash.

Then I ran kings into aces versus Johnny Lodden - for a huge pot - before losing a race and going on to bubble. I was devastated because I didn’t have any live results to date.

After that I went to Ayia Napa for three to four weeks to get my mind off the game. I didn’t play poker and just got drunk and had a great time.

I have a lot of great memories from that time and so after Black Friday I came back out here with a few horses, to get them back playing again, and I have been here ever since.

What next?

CM: I'm actually moving to Vancouver. My girlfriend lives in Los Angeles and so it's the only place where I can live that’s close enough to see each other more frequently.

I can’t live in America because there's no online poke and she doesn’t want to move here, so Vancouver it is.

It’s a nice city and I am looking forward to it.

Lee Davy is a writer from Ogmore Vale in South Wales. You can follow his views and opinions through his blog at www.needyhelper.com or on Twitter @Chingster23.

Taking a Break From Poker to Win a Championship

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The French championship was notable for the outcome on the women’s side and for a stirring display of sportsmanship among the men in the face of tragedy.

Position after 25 … a5; click to replay

Almira Skripchenko won the women’s title for the fifth time. Skripchenko, who was born in Moldova, was the top seed, but she no longer competes regularly in chess: she is a professional poker player.

Skripchenko has said she switched to make more money. She has won about $250,000 since she started playing poker in 2003.

Other accomplished chess players who have switched to cards include Dan Harrington, who is now one of poker’s top stars and was the Massachusetts chess champion in 1971; Josef Klinger, an Austrian grandmaster; and Ylon Schwartz, a master who was born in Brooklyn and who won almost $3.8 million in 2008 at the World Series of Poker’s Main Event.

Skripchenko said poker was easier than chess, which she said she once studied for six to eight hours a day. But, she added, “I think chess is one of the last games where everything is based on creativity.”

Poker, she said, has helped her become a better chess player. “Poker in a way helped me to find joy in simple things, to be happy, to accept defeat,” Skripchenko said.

Among the French men, the competition was cutthroat. With just one round to go, Christian Bauer, Etienne Bacrot, Romain Edouard and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave were tied for first. But before the round began, Bauer’s 4-month-old son died — the cause of death has not been announced — and Bauer immediately withdrew.

The other competitors unanimously decided to cancel the last round. Bacrot, Edouard and Vachier-Lagrave refused to participate in a playoff to determine a champion, so the French Chess Federation declared the three men and Bauer co-champions.

One of Bauer’s best games was his victory in Round 7 over Maxime Lagarde.

Bauer played 3 Bb5 (the Rossolimo Variation), perhaps to avoid the Sveshnikov Variation, which is difficult for White to crack.

Bauer took a calculated risk by playing 18 Rg7. It allowed Lagarde to trap his rook, but Lagarde had to expose his king and give up his dark-squared bishop, leaving him with holes in his position.

Lagarde’s 24 ... Qg5 was an error: it put his queen on the same file as his king. It would have been better to play 24 ... Qh4. He made the situation worse with 25 ... a5, when he should have played 25 ... Rhg8. Bauer pounced with 26 Qe1, which won material.

After that, there was nothing Lagarde could do. He resigned after 33 Nf3 because there was no good way to defend himself against the combined power of Bauer’s queen and knight.

A version of this article appeared in print on September 2, 2012, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: Taking a Break From Poker To Win a Championship.

Power Rankings: All's Quiet at the Top as Failla, Trickett, Moorman Slip

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

After a quiet week from Marvin Rettenmaier and Dan Smith, with neither having won a tournament this week surprisingly, the story of this week’s Power Rankings is of players starting to fall down the list. As major scores start to lose some or all of their value, some of the biggest stars of the last two years of tournament poker are giving way to this year’s big winners.

Will Failla has been near the top of the Power Rankings for quite some time, but the calendar is not his friend in this instance. The Legends of Poker just crowned its newest champion, and thusly Failla’s breakout victory from 2011 has lost half its value in this ranking system. His performance over the last two years continues to speak for itself, however, as he only slipped two spots and still holds on to the number five spot. As a result of Failla’s slip, Smith and Steve O’Dwyer each jumped one spot respectively.

While Bertrand Grospellier, Daniel Negreanu and Jonathan Duhamel each hold on to the six, seven and eight spots, respectively, each inched up their point total this week with small cashes on the EPT. The biggest jump this week derives from an error on our part, as Andrew Badecker picked up 84 points he should have previously had and rose eight spots on the list as a result, coming in at 11.

A pair of Brits took a tumble down the list this week. Sam Trickett’s final table from EPT Vilamoura in Season 7 crossed the two year barrier and the points fell away completely, causing him to tumble two spots. Chris Moorman fell out of the Top 20 completely this week, not due to any fault of his own other than not recording a cash.

Tommy Vedes took the biggest fall this week as a pair of cashes from 2011 in smaller events at the WinStar Casino lost half their value as they passed the year mark. Matt Waxman is holding on to his spot in the Top 20 very precariously this week as well, slipping two spots despite not losing any points. That’s going to change next week, however, as his WPT Grand Prix de Paris win is going to pass the one year mark.

Just one new face entered the Top 20 this week, as World Series of Poker bracelet winner and new record-holder for most cashes in a single summer Konstantin Puchkov makes his debut at number 16. A deep cash in the EPT Barcelona Main Event as well as a smaller cash in a side event there were enough to propel the Russian pro to that spot.

Marvin Rettenmaier – 1778.50 (-)
Vanessa Selbst – 1453.07 (-)
Dan Smith – 1234.09 (+1)
Steve O’Dwyer – 1156.15 (+1)
Will Failla – 1145.15(-2)
Bertrand Grospellier – 1084.68 (-)
Daniel Negreanu – 1065.35 (-)
Jonathan Duhamel – 1062.92 (-)
Oleksii Kovalchuk – 1021.32 (-)
Michael Mizrachi – 983.31 (-)
Andrew Badecker – 966.55 (+8)
Phil Ivey – 945.35 (+1)
Sam Trickett – 921.88 (-2)
Shawn Buchanan – 917.18 (-)
Tommy Vedes – 916.57 (-3)
Konstantin Puchkov – 912.72 (NR)
Matthew Waxman – 906.79 (-2)
Daniel Buzgon – 887.41 (-2)
Phil Hellmuth – 886.53 (-2)
Fernando Brito – 885.64 (-)

Dropped from Rankings: Chris Moorman (18th)

http://news.bluffmagazine.com/power-rankings-alls-quiet-at-the-top-as-failla-trickett-moorman-slip-35510/

Trickett, Moorman Headline 2012 British Poker Awards Nominations

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The nominations for the 2012 British Poker Awards have been announced and PokerListings.com has secured a spot on the judging panel.

In its third consecutive year, the British Poker Awards shine the spotlight on the year’s best poker players, events and websites from the UK.

Brought to you by Bluff Europe, the awards ceremony is set to go off September 17 aboard the yacht H.M.S. President.

Headlining the list of categories are honors for Player of the Year and Best International Player, both of which will be decided by the panel of judges that includes Jesse May, Bluff Europe, PokerListings.com, PokerNews.com and PokerStrategy.com.

Additionally, fans have the chance to vote on 11 other categories that cover everything from the best tournament player to the best casino restaurant in the UK.

Just head to the British Poker Awards website to cast your vote.

And finally, professional poker players will vote on the best card room, the best card room manager and the best tournament director.

Last year Jake Cody won Player of the Year honors, thanks in part to winning his first WSOP gold bracelet and final-tabling the WSOP Europe main event.

This year Cody is nowhere to be found on the nominations, but a few other big names stand out.

Nomination Domination

Judging my winnings alone Sam Trickett stands head and shoulders above all Brits this past year.

Chris Moorman stands out as one of the UK's best.

Trickett placed second in the world’s first $1 million buy-in tournament at the World Series of Poker this summer, winning $10.1 million. To date Trickett has earned over $16.4 million playing live poker tournaments.

Chris Moorman, Neil Channing, Vicky Coren and Chris Brammer also find themselves nominated in more than one category.

Other awards categories include a category for the individual who has contributed most to growing and promoting the game of poker, the best card-room bar and the best UK poker tournament.

For the full list of nominations, and the chance to vote, head over to the British Poker Awards website.

To get a feel for the flavor of the British Poker Awards check out the video below from their inaugural event in 2010.

2012 British Poker Awards Nominees Announced

Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Preparing for their ceremonies next month, the British Poker Awards have announced the nominees for their 2012 awards show, featuring several prominent members of the British poker community vying for ten different honors.

The British Poker Awards, sponsored by Genting Poker and the English Poker Open, are in their third year of existence and have traditionally honored the best in the British poker community for their performances both on and off the green baize. Over the span of ten categories – Best Cash Game Player, Best Tournament Player, Best Online Player, Poker Personality of the Year, Best Poker Forum, Best United Kingdom Poker Tournament, Best Poker Blogger, Best Poker League, Best International Player and Player of the Year – the public gets to choose the winners for most of the categories (Best International Player and POY are chosen by a judging panel). The opportunity to vote on these categories has opened up at thebritishpokerawards.com and will choose the eventual winners.

There are several players who have each earned two nominations for a BPA this year. Sam Trickett, who has seemed to be a fixture at any poker event around the world over the past few years, is nominated for Best Cash Player and Best Tournament Player. Chris Moorman and Chris Brammer have earned dual nominations in the Best Tournament Player and Best Online Player categories. Earning two nominations each for their excellent work off the felt, both Vicky Coren and Neil Channing have been nominated in the categories of Poker Personality of the Year and Best Poker Blogger.

The choices that are present for the public voting make it difficult to pick one outright winner. Joining Trickett in the Best Cash Player race is Ben Grundy, Alexander Millar, Fred Ogilvie and Andrew Moseley. Trickett, Brammer and Moorman are going to have to battle against Roberto Romanello and JP Kelly for the Best Tournament Player award, while Moorman and Brammer battle against Rob Akery, Matthew Frankland and Ross Loggie for Best Online Player.

In the Poker Personality category, Coren and Channing will be facing off against Kara Scott, Liv Boeree and Andrew Feldman for the honors, a difficult choice in that all are great ambassadors for the game. For Best Poker Blogger, Coren and Channing have to duel against Tony Kendall, James Atkin and “Lil” Dave Nicholson for the right to take home the BPA trophy.

The three other categories also will be difficult fights for the voting public. For Best Poker Forum, thehendonmob.com will line up against Gutshot.com, punterslounge.com, BlondePoker.com, Sky Poker and BlackBelt Poker for Best Poker Forum. The Best Poker League features the Champions Poker League, the Discover Poker League, the Live Pub Poker League, the Nuts Poker League, Poker Tree and Redtooth Poker battling for the BPA. Finally, the choice for Best Tournament in the U. K. boils down to the European Poker Tour’s London stop, the United Kingdom/Ireland Poker Tour’s Nottingham festivities, the Sky Poker Tour Grand Final, the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour Goliath, the Dusk Til Dawn Grand Prix and the Amateur Poker Association and Tour’s World Championship.

Last year’s awards were dominated by Triple Crown winner Jake Cody, who took home BPA trophies for Best Tournament Player and Player of the Year. Trickett, who was thought to be the favorite for the Tournament Player award, instead had to settle for being named the Best Cash Game player. Jason Mercier was named the Best International Player while Moorman took home the Best Online Player honors.

The nominees list features several people who have already taken home BPA trophies previously. Along with Trickett (2010 winner of Best New Player along with last year’s trophy), Moorman is the only player who has won the Online Player award, while Coren and Channing have each won a BPA each of the past two years.

The British Poker Awards will be handed out on September 17 aboard the yacht H.M.S. President, providing a unique setting to hand out the prestigious awards. Tickets are available to the ceremonies (for £21.85, counting processing fee) and can be ordered where interested parties can also vote for the awards at thebritishpokerawards.com.

Mind Sport athlete earns WSOP gold

Mon, 02 Jul 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Flicking through results from the World Series of Poker this week, Ylon Schwartz’s win in the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event stands out.

H.O.R.S.E. combines forms of hold’em, Omaha, and Stud into one event requiring multiple talents. But when it comes to such ability Schwartz has the lot, and not just in poker. Schwartz is a true Mind Sport athlete, excelling in both poker and chess.

Schwartz broke through to the upper echelon of the game finishing fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event behind eventual winner Peter Eastgate. Having been a reluctant target of the media spotlight for several intense weeks, Schwartz escaped the attention after the November finale but not before his story, that of a talented Mind Sport competitor emerged.

Schwartz’s took to chess from a young age, playing in both organised competitions and in street games growing up in Manhattan. He excelled in both arenas; making a living from impromptu games in Washington Square Park and obtaining a FIDE rating of more than 2,300.

Then in 2000 Schwartz was introduced to poker by a friend and found within him a natural ability that ultimately led to bigger tournaments and the World Series.

As an article in the New York Times reported at the time, Schwartz put his success down to his chess background, although interestingly Schwartz, whose upbringing was marred by an absentee father and whose mother died in 2003 after a long illness, credited something else:
“Empathy is the most important thing in poker,” he said. “You have to really be aware of what your opponents think. The best thing about poker is that it exposes all your weaknesses.”

Reading the article, it’s easy to see how that might apply to Schwartz both on and off the table.

Now he has the prize he has chased for so long. In a poker career that started a decade ago Schwartz had reached four WSOP final tables and the penultimate table of six other events. Up to now a bracelet had eluded him, but no longer.

After that significant payday four years ago Schwartz fled the media glare. His win last week will not come with quite the same attention, which Schwartz will welcome gladly. Nevertheless, spotlight or not, Schwartz’s performances at the poker table and across the chess board are an inspiring sight.

Will Failla in the Top Ten in BLUFF Player of the Year Ranking

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Coming back with a vengeance after his poker hiatus a year ago, Phil Ivey has been producing at an unbelievable pace at the 2012 World Series of Poker. In less than two weeks, Ivey rose from outside the top 20 in the BLUFF Player of the Year Rankings to fifth place, then third, and finally to the top spot. Ivey didn’t just nose past Dan Smith and Jonathan Duhamel either; he leaped both players and holds an 80.46 point lead.

Five of Ivey’s six cashes at the 2012 WSOP were final table appearances. His last two final table finishes, in the $10,000 HORSE and the $2,500 Mixed Hold’em, earned 111.2 and 45 points, respectively.

The period marks only the second time all year that Duhamel is not at the top of the leaderboard. The first time was earlier in the WSOP, when Smith took the lead with a small cash, but he held it for less than 12 hours before Duhamel recaptured first place with a min-cash of his own. With no improvement last week, Duhamel slips to third place as Smith moves up from third to second. Smith’s 70th place finish in the most recent $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event was enough to earn 27.5 points and pass Duhamel.

John Monnette jumped into seventh place with his second place finish in the $10,000 HORSE event. Prior to the Series, Monnette had 28.1 POY points but with a bracelet win, three final table appearances, and two cashes, he has accumulated 518.60 points. His WSOP point total is second to only Phil Ivey.

Directly behind Monnette is Dan Kelly, moving up six spots into eighth place, the biggest move in the top 20. Kelly finished eighth and collected 70.2 points in the star-studded $10,000 HORSE event. Will Failla rounds out the top 10 as he moved from 11th to 10th place with a cash in the most recent $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event.

The bottom half of the top 20 showed a lot of movement, but most of that was from players being pushed down after three new people entered the top 10. Only one player gained ground while three players held firm to their positions. Tommy Vedes added 27.5 points from a cash in a $1,500 No Limit Hold’em event to move from 16th to 15th. Mohsin Charania, Justin Bonomo, and Brock Parker each registered a cash in order to avoid the slide down the leaderboard and keep their positions.

Bertrand Grospellier represented the biggest drop in the rankings as he dropped four spots to 16th place. Andrew Chen, Joe Kuether and Vadim Kursevich each dropped three spots in the rankings. Sean Jazayeri fell out of the top 20 completely.

( ) – Change in Position

Phil Ivey – 875.17 (+2)
Dan Smith – 794.71 (+1)
Jonathan Duhamel – 768.70 (-2)
Marvin Rettenmaier – 690.52 (-)
Oliver Speidel – 669.81 (-)
Bruno Lopes – 562.10 (-)
John Monnette – 546.70 (NR)
Dan Kelly – 545.95 (+6)
Daniel Negreanu – 530.46 (-2)
Will Failla – 508.25 (+1)
Andrew Chen – 503.37 (-3)
John Dolan – 495.30 (-2)
Mohsin Charania – 491.60 (-)
Joe Kuether – 486.47 (-3)
Tommy Vedes – 482.34 (+1)
Bertrand Grospellier 480.21 (-4)
Justin Bonomo – 469.30 (-)
Vadim Kursevich – 468.10 (-3)
Brock Parker – 461.51 (-)
John Dibella – 450.75 (-2)

Former November Niner wins first WSOP bracelet, $267K

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

If Ylon Schwartz doesn’t take another breath on this Earth and somehow vanishes instantly, he will have already lived a life that most would describe as bizarre. Perhaps even exceptional.

The former chess master and professional poker player originally from New York City won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet early on Saturday morning after topping a brutally-competitive field of nearly 900 players in the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament to win $267,081. The former “November Niner,” who finished fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, out-dueled David Chiu, a three-time gold bracelet winner in heads-up play, finally managing to defeat his formidable foe on an unscheduled fourth day of competition.

The entire 40-plus hour duration of the tournament was a supreme test of mental and physical fortitude for Schwartz, who cut his competitive teeth in the musty chess backrooms of Brooklyn and anachronistic park-scene of Manhattan, an atypical background which unquestionably provided a competitive pedigree and strategic edge over many of the world’s best all-around poker players now assembled in Las Vegas.

Schwartz’s victory in this event, once again, validated H.O.R.S.E.’s long-held reputation as poker’s superlative trial and tribulation on the question of comprehensive skill. The game requires one to master, not just one form of poker, but five games in all: Hold’em, Omaha High-Low, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Seven-Card Stud High-Low.

The format is deceptively geared towards Stud enthusiasts (after all, three of the five games are dealt in a Stud format), which naturally favors players from the Northeastern United States, a region which has traditionally been a hotbed of Stud action over the past two generations.

But Schwartz, for all his natural talent and vested commitment, is hardly conventional, either as a poker player or as a person. Aside from his anarchistic look -- equal parts college professor and Rastafarian -- Schwartz is a man who very much does things his way. Alas, if Albert Einstein had a love child with Bob Marley, it would probably look something like Ylon Schwartz.

Known at one time by his (former) online poker screen name “TenthPlanet,” Schwartz was once asked by a reporter where he was born. “Outer space,” was his reply.

An only child, Schwartz grew up in Manhattan -- which might just as well be outer space to just about everyone else in the pedestrian universe. At an early age, he became fascinated by the rabidly anti-establishment underground chess scene, a hodgepodge of vagrants and uber-geniuses which produced the likes of prodigy and eventual madman Bobby Fischer. While still in his teens, he began playing chess regularly in public parks and managed to win $2 the very first time he played the game for real money. In a sense, Schwartz’s path in life became set at that very instant.

Schwartz reportedly hustled chess games for decades. Arguably, just one step up from being a Three-Card Monte dealer in the minds of all the similarly-smart “Manhattanites” that went on to college and joined the establishment, Schwartz could at least boast he was using his brains and talent to make a bona fide living. He also answered to no one. Of course, that “living” consisted of a meager subsistence during most of the time. He tried college, became bored, and flunked out. He was hired for odd jobs, but was never able to quite fit in. Each time he tried to depart from the comfortable, if unprofitable, path of “being Ylon Schwartz,” the temporary detour would lead back to chess and gambling games – or more precisely the people who played them.

Realizing the obvious limitations of his skill set, Schwartz’s focus moved beyond chess. He became proficient at backgammon, darts, and other competitive endeavors that increasingly morphed into gambling. Schwartz was also a fixture at New York’s racetracks, constantly searching for the Holy Grail betting system that just barely managed to escape the clutch of every gambler.

By 2000, Schwartz was on a dead end path to nowhere. He bottomed out at one point and became homeless for a short time -- oddly enough, a predicament that he neither regrets nor bemoans. For all of Schwartz’s idiosyncrasies, he would eventually discover that living the life on the edge as a master gamesman would prove to be the perfect training ground for the next stage of his life.

One day, Schwartz was taught the rules of Texas Hold’em by a friend. He began playing in the underground poker clubs scattered throughout Manhattan and even managed to make a big score one of the first times he played. Realizing that poker provided a much greater opportunity for financial gain than chess, not to mention providing another avenue that fueled his competitive spirit, Schwartz began to take poker just as seriously as he’d studied chess and other games.

To Schwartz, the similarities between chess and poker were obvious. But it was the differences in the two games that fascinated Schwartz, for which he was able to gradually make adjustments, eventually becoming a seasoned poker veteran, despite having relatively little live game or tournament experience. The primary difference, according to Schwartz was that chess was a game of complete information. Poker was a game of incomplete information. In a sense as in the case with any great undiscovered mystery, the later was much the more fascinating.

Between 2000 and 2008, Schwartz continued to grind out a living as a master gamesman, consistently concealing his real talent for the purposes of survival. Year-by-year, poker became an increasing percentage of his earnings. Yet no one –- most certainly not Schwartz himself –- could have imagined the cosmic shift that was to come when he won a seat in the 2008 WSOP Main Event by playing at one of the online poker sites.

Schwartz became one of the very first “November Nine” finalists. He took fourth in the WSOP Main Event that year, collecting the mind-boggling sum of $3,774,974 in prize money – a ghastly financial boon for a man who once considered a $100 profit playing chess to be a “great day.”

Stoked with a bankroll for the first time, Schwartz made several notable changes in his life, first and foremost deciding to move from New York City to Austin, Texas, a place he now describes as a city with the “perfect balance.”

"You can breathe in Austin," said Schwartz. "It’s a beautiful place. It’s mellow. There are no casinos there, which is good. That’s where I go to decompress. Every summer, I’m always happy when people come and bring all the money to the building and I have a shot to try to relax for the rest of the year."

Since becoming semi-famous as a poker celebrity, Schwartz has been playing on the tournament circuit. He’s managed to cash numerous times in majors, including the WSOP. However, as many times as Schwartz went deep, he always failed to win. At one point, Schwartz began earning the nickname, “the teenager,” an apt moniker given his penchant for always seeming to cash in the teens (13th through 19th).

"I’m super happy to get this bracelet," said Schwartz. "I’ve been banging away, knocking at the door a bunch of times. Forever I was finishing at the second (to last table)."

Up through last Wednesday, Schwartz had cashed 22 times in six years at the WSOP certainly an impressive record of accomplishment buoyed by the huge bonus of making a Main Event final table. At the same time, Schwartz’s name began appearing with increasing frequency on the unofficial list of top players without a gold bracelet.

And so, Schwartz entered the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E. event and took his seat in a sea of 889 of the world's best all-around players. Not being from this world, "Tenth Planet" played the best poker of his life. He not only outlasted all earthly poker beings, he vanquished them one-by-one, by making one decision at a time, one move at a time, one small victory at a time.

Just as he’d done decades earlier on the concrete chess flats of Washington Square Park, Schwartz out-thought, outmaneuvered, and outplayed each and every challenger who was unfortunate enough to draw the opposite seat. Only this time, the hustle wasn’t worth a mere $2. This win paid a staggering $267,081, plus a WSOP gold bracelet.

For Schwartz, a word that departed his breath innumerable times over chessboards during the past 30 years were spoken quietly at a poker table for the very first time. And that word was checkmate.

Chui took home $164,960 for second place, while Stephen Chidwick finished third for $112,106. Robert Rasmussen was fourth, Elior Sion was fifth, John Rogers was sixth, Jason Brown was seventh and Marlon Milne rounded out the final table in eighth.

The top 96 players finished in the money. Notable players who cashed but did not make the final table included: Allen Cunningham (10th), Rep Porter (14th), Cliff Josephy (16th), Chip Jett (19th), Tom Schneider (21st), David Williams (23rd), Sam Grizzle (27th), Maria Mayrinck (30th), Huck Seed (50th), Gabriel Nassif (52nd), David Grey (59th), Eli Elezra (63rd), "Miami" John Cernuto (73rd), Linda Johnson (87th), Martin Staszko (88th), Eoghan O'Dea (91st), and John Monnette (94th).

Modified from tournament notes provided by WSOP Media Director Nolan Dalla.

WSOP Bracelet Winner Profile: Ylon Schwartz

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ylon Schwartz has one bracelet to his name now. (Heather Borowinski photo)

The moments after a player wins a World Series of Poker bracelet can tell you a lot about that person. Saturday afternoon, after winning the $1,500 HORSE event, Ylon Schwartz sat back down in the chair he’d been sitting in for 12 of the previous 24 hours and let out a long, deep sigh. Mission accomplished. Schwartz, who has been playing for a living since 2004, had finally accomplished the ultimate goal for a poker player and it was obvious a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“I’ve been a professional poker player for a long time and it means a lot to get this. When you’re doing something forever you want to get a feather in your cap, you get to the pinnacle of whatever it is you’re doing, and for a poker player this is it,” said Schwartz.

The $267,081 payday that came with the bracelet was nice, but it’s not even close to the biggest of his career. In 2008, just months after the WSOP had rolled out the concept of the November Nine, Schwartz made his way to the final table and eventually finished fourth for $3.775 million. Back then Schwartz wanted no part of the fame that came with the November Nine. He famously told the ESPN producers he intended to head to Mexico to hide until the final table.

That side of Schwartz was long gone Saturday and he was nothing but smiles for the media and hugs for the friends who’d come to rail him. Those railbirds were going to be a big part of Schwartz’s celebration, but there’s no VIP bottle service at some swanky Las Vegas club.

“I’m very surprised and I’m going to go have a nice evening, get a bottle of expensive wine and hang out with the friends and let this marinade with this moment,” said Schwartz, who paused to think when asked if winning the bracelet in a mixed game format like HORSE meant more than winning a No Limit Hold’em bracelet. “Yeah, I guess it does to me. It shows that you can play all the games well. I’ve had some no limit success so I feel like being wellrounded palyer is good. It makes me feel like a real decent poker player. I feel like all the games are the same anyways; its just pressure, enertia, memory, some statistical knowledge. I don’t think there’s much difference between any of the games.”

Name: Ylon Schwartz

Age: 42

Hometown: Brooklyn, NY

Occupation: Pro Poker Player

Education: Attended Borough of Manhattan Community College for one year.

Lifetime tournament earnings: $4,587,686

Notable poker accomplishments: Finished fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event.

Memorable quotes: (On whether the bracelet means more than making the November Nine). “It’s about the same. The money was obviously different but I finished fourth in that one, so it was bittersweet. The money was great. This, this is awesome. The Main Event was probably more intense because of all the hype, the break, the original November Nine, the hassles, the amount of money people borrowed from me. This one they can’t really hit me up for that much. They can’t mess with me now. That was crazy. It’s all good. Everything here at the Series is huge.”

Ylon Schwartz Wins Event#27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ylon Schwartz has won WSOP Event #27: $1,500 H.O.R.S.E, after defeating a field of 889 players over four days on his way to capturing a bracelet, as well as the $267,081 first-place prize.

The New Yorker was a chess master before turning his attentions to poker in 2004. Four years later, Schwartz finished 4th at the 2008 WSOP Main Event for $3,794,974 and now 2012 sees the 41 year old stamp a gold seal of approval on a career which has so far netted him $4,624,754. Commenting on his remarkable victory in Las Vegas, Ylon Schwartz said:

Amongst some of the notable names cashing in at the $1,500 H.O.R.S.E was Chip Jett in 19th ($7,116), Cliff Josephy in 16th ($8,641), Rep Porter in 14th ($10,669) and Allen Cunningham in 10th ($17,150).

After the final table got underway, Ylon Schwartz then eliminated Marlon Milne in 8th ($22,358), John Rogers in 6th ($40,169), and Stephen Chidwick in 3rd ($112,106) before going heads-up against 4 times WSOP bracelet holder David Chiu. Despite starting fairly even in chips, Schwartz managed to pull ahead before closing out his formidable opponent, later explaining:

“It just a shoot-em-up at that level, playing 100k/200k limits. The player that gets hot is just going to win. I got a lot of strong hands in Omaha eight-or-better, and I just kept betting and luckily he didn’t have anything.”

The final table payouts were as follows:

1: Ylon Schwartz – $267,081
2: David Chiu – $164,960
3: Stephen Chidwick – $112,106
4: Robert Rasmussen – $78,021
5: Elior Sion – $55,422
6: John Rogers – $40,169
7: Jason Brown – $29,679
8: Marlon Milne – $22,358

YLON-G TIME COMING: YLON SCHWARTZ WINS FIRST WSOP GOLD BRACELET

Sun, 17 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The Unbearable Likeness of Being Ylon Schwartz

If Ylon Schwartz doesn’t take another breath on this earth and somehow vanishes instantly, he will have already lived a life that most would describe as bizarre. Perhaps even exceptional.

The former chess master and professional poker player originally from New York City won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet today, topping a brutally-competitive field of nearly 900 players in the $1,500 buy-in H.O.R.S.E. tournament (Event #27). The former November Niner, who finished fourth in the 2008 WSOP Main Event Championship, out-dueled David Chiu, a four-time gold bracelet winner in heads-up play, finally managing to defeat his formidable foe on an unscheduled fourth day of competition.

Indeed, the entire 40-plus hour duration of the tournament was a supreme test of mental and physical fortitude for Schwartz, who cut his competitive teeth in the musty chess backrooms of Brooklyn and anachronistic park-scene of Manhattan, an atypical background which unquestionably provided a strategic pedigree and competitive edge over many of the world’s best all-around poker players now assembled in Las Vegas.

Schwartz’s victory in this event, once again, validated H.O.R.S.E.’s long-held reputation as poker’s superlative trial and tribulation on the question of comprehensive skill. The game requires one to master, not just one form of poker, but five games in all – including Hold’em, Omaha High-Low Split, Razz, Seven-Card Stud, and Seven-Card Stud High-Low Split. The format is deceptively geared towards Stud enthusiasts (after all, three of the five games are dealt in a Stud format), which naturally favors players from the Northeastern United States, a region which has traditionally been a hotbed of Stud action over the past two generations.

But Schwartz, for all his natural talent and vested commitment, is hardly conventional – either as a poker player or as a person. Aside from his anarchistic look -- equal parts college professor and Rastafarian -- Schwartz is a man who very much does things his way. If Albert Einstein had a love child with Bob Marley, it would probably look something like Ylon Schwartz.

Known at one time by his (former) online poker screen name “TenthPlanet,” Schwartz was once asked by a reporter where he was born.

“Outer space,” was his reply.

An only child, Schwartz grew up in Manhattan. At an early age, he became fascinated by the rabidly anti-establishment underground chess scene, a hodgepodge of vagrants and uber-geniuses which produced the likes of prodigy Bobby Fischer long before he descended into the abyss of madness. While still in his teens, he began playing chess regularly in public parks and managed to win $2 the very first time he played the game for real money. In a sense, Schwartz’s path in life became set at that very instant.

Schwartz reportedly hustled chess games for decades. Arguably, just one step up from being a Three-Card Monte dealer in the minds of Manhattanites that went on to college and joined the establishment, Schwartz could at least boast he was using his brains and talent to make a bona fide living. He also answered to no one. Of course, that “living” consisted of a meager subsistence during most of the time. He tried college, became bored, and flunked out. He was hired for odd jobs, but was never able to quite fit in. Each time he tried to depart from the comfortable, if unprofitable, path of “being Ylon Schwartz,” the temporary detour would lead back to chess and gambling games – or more precisely the people who played them.

Realizing the obvious limitations of his skill set, Schwartz’s focus moved beyond chess. He became proficient at backgammon, darts, and other competitive endeavors that increasingly morphed into gambling. Schwartz was also a fixture at New York’s racetracks, constantly searching for the Holy Grail betting system that just barely managed to escape the clutch of every gambler.

By 2000, Schwartz was on a dead end path to nowhere. He bottomed out at one point and became homeless for a short time -- oddly enough, a predicament that he neither regrets nor bemoans. For all of Schwartz’s idiosyncrasies, he would eventually discover that living the life on the edge as a master gamesman would prove to be the perfect training ground for the next stage of his life.

One day, Schwartz was taught the rules of Texas Hold’em by a friend. He began playing in the underground poker clubs scattered throughout Manhattan and even managed to make a big score one of the first times he played. Realizing that poker provided a much greater opportunity for financial gain than chess, not to mention providing another avenue that fueled his competitive spirit, Schwartz began to take poker just as seriously as he’d studied chess and other games.

To Schwartz, the similarities between chess and poker were obvious. But it was the differences in the two games that fascinated Schwartz, for which he was able to gradually make adjustments, eventually becoming a seasoned poker veteran, despite having relatively little live game or tournament experience. The primary difference, according to Schwartz was that chess was a game of complete information. Poker was a game of incomplete information. In a sense, as is the case with any great undiscovered mystery, the latter was much the more fascinating.

Between 2000 and 2008, Schwartz continued, to grind out a living as a master gamesman, consistently concealing his real talent for the purposes of survival. Year by year, poker became an increasing percentage of his earnings. Yet no one – most certainly not Schwartz himself – could have imagined the cosmic shift that was to come when he won a seat in the 2008 WSOP Main Event by playing at one of the online poker sites.

Schwartz became one of the very first November Nine finalists. He took fourth in the WSOP Main Event that year, collecting the mind-boggling sum of $3,774,974 in prize money – a ghastly financial boon for a man who once considered a $100 profit playing chess to be a “great day.”

Stoked with a bankroll for the first time, Schwartz made several notable changes in his life – first and foremost deciding to move from New York City to Austin, Texas – a place he now describes as a city with the “perfect balance.”

Since becoming semi-famous as a poker celebrity, Schwartz has been playing on the tournament circuit. He’s managed to cash numerous times in majors, including the WSOP. However, as many times as Schwartz went deep, he always failed to win. At one point, Schwartz began earning the nickname, “the teenager,” an apt moniker given his penchant for always seeming to cash in the teens (13th through 19th).

Up through last Wednesday, Schwartz had cashed 22 times in six years at the WSOP – certainly an impressive record of accomplishment buoyed by the huge bonus of making a Main Event final table. At the same time, Schwartz’s name began appearing with increasing frequency on the unofficial list of top players without a gold bracelet.

And so, Schwartz entered Event #27 and took his seat in a sea of 889 of the world's best all-around players.

Not being from this world, "Tenth Planet" played the best poker of his life. He not only outlasted all earthly poker beings, he vanquished them one-by-one….by making one decision at a time….one move at a time….one small victory at a time. Just as he’d done decades earlier on the concrete chess flats of Washington Square Park, Schwartz out-thought, outmaneuvered, and outplayed each and every challenger who was unfortunate enough to draw the opposite seat. Only this time, the hustle wasn’t worth a mere $2. This win paid a staggering $267,081, plus a WSOP gold bracelet.

Schwartz’s victory gives him his first WSOP title, to go along with 22 cashes, and more than $4.4 million in career WSOP earnings.

For Schwartz, a word that departed his breath innumerable times over chessboards during the past 30 years were spoken quietly at a WSOP poker table for the very first time. And that word was -- checkmate.

Only 17 players stand between Ylon Schwartz and his first WSOP bracelet

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

$1,500 HORSE

Only 17 players stand between Ylon Schwartz and his first WSOP bracelet. Schwartz finished Day 2 with 416,000 chips and the chip lead.

“I really just stayed pretty calm today. I didn’t get in a lot of dicey sitruations. HORSE is a game you have to manage the tournament very well,”said Schwartz, who has two third place finishes to his name, but no runner-up or bracelet finishes. “There was one leg I couldn’t do anything in, 32 hands I played only two hands. It’s good, I’m happy to be through this day. It’s been a long time, I’m having a rotten series. So maybe this will turn the Series around.”

Schwartz, who elimianted Tom Schneider as the day was winding down, is the only player above 400,000. Brandon Guss, Sanjay Pandya and Robby Rasmussen make up the group of players closest to Schwartz and all are above 300,000. Also still in contention is Allen Cunningham. The five-time bracelet winner finished with 131,000 and a shot at winning his first bracelet since 2007.

Online poker legend Cliff “JohnnyBax” Josephy finished with 129,000.

Joining Schneider on the outside looking in are David Williams, Dan Idema, Yuval Brohnstein and Huck Seed.

Top Ten Chip Counts

1.Ylon Schwartz – 416,000

2.Brandon Guss – 368,000

3.Sanjay Pandya – 353,000

4.Robby Rasmussen – 315,000

5.Benjamin Lukas – 285,000

6.Elior Sion – 282,000

7.Jason Brown – 267,000

8.Bryce Yockey – 265,000

9.Stephen Chidwick – 220,000

10.Marlon Milne – 218,000

Chess Players Ready to Win Big at WSOP 2012

Mon, 04 Jun 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Chess players have been a threat at the WSOP ever since chess master Dan Harrington became the world champ 1995.

But now more than ever there’s reason to expect big things from chess players at the World Series of Poker.

Ylon Schwartz, a chess master who earned more than $3.7 million finishing fourth in the 2008 Main Event, knows a thing or two about making the transition to poker.

“A lot of people are broke playing chess,” Schwartz told PokerListings.com in Las Vegas.

“And they all have a strong background in analysis and studying so it makes a lot of sense to make the move to poker to actually make some money,” he said

Schwartz has live poker tournament results stretching all the way back to 2004, and it’s certainly safe to say he’s made the vast majority of his living from poker in the last decade..

“It’s really hard to make it to the top 20 in chess which is where you have to be to make serious money,” explained Schwartz.

“Everyone’s making the jump to poker because the money’s just astronomical,” he said.

In chess tournaments matches are determined by a rating system, so it’s rare to have a big edge over your opponent in terms of skill.

In poker it’s often the complete opposite.

“In these fields it’s just full of stone cold novices,” said Schwartz.

Vladimir Shchemelev

“You have to dodge a lot of bullets in these big field tournaments but hopefully if you’re the better player you’re going to win the money in the end,” he said.

Chess Players to Watch for at WSOP 2012

The list of chess players who have done big things at the WSOP is long, but there are a few players in particular from whom we’re expecting big things this summer.

Australian James Obst had a chess rating of 2283 and was considered a very promising junior player, but made the switch to poker and has since become one of the most dominant online tournament players in the game.

Having just turned 21 this year, he’s finally old enough to take a shot at the World Series of Poker.

Vladimir Shchemelev was a chess prodigy as a child and made a huge splash at the 2010 WSOP when he final-tabled four events, including a runner-up finish in the $50k Players Championship worth almost $1 million.

Shchemelev is one of a large group of Russian chess players who have put their skills to work on the table.

Alexander Grischuk was the 2009 Russian champion of chess and despite not having any WSOP results, he has played in at least two WSOP Main Events, in 2009 and 2010.

Grishchuk made it to Day 3 in 2010 and reportedly lost an enormous pot with pocket queens all-in preflop against K-6 to lose the majority of his stack.

“Grishchuk is playing a ton of poker now so you can definitely expect him to do something big,” said Ylon Schwartz.

Grishchuk’s biggest poker result so far is a 33^rd at the 2008 EPT Barcelona main event worth $25,678.

Countdown to the 2012 WSOP: Who will shine

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Last year it was Ben Lamb; two years ago it was Jeffrey Lisandro; before that it was Daniel Negreanu, Allen Cunningham, and even Tom Franklin. So the question for the 2012 WSOP is who will be the big star of the 2012 World Series of Poker?

In this article I’ll take a look at the 10 players who I feel have the best chance to win the World Series of Poker player of the Year award in 2012. Now, there are plenty of variables to winning this award, and one of the most important is a proficiency in multiple poker formats, as well as the commitment to play a full WSOP schedule –which is a tough grind in and of itself.

Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier

ElkY plays every game (even if he doesn’t know the game!) and is always ready to play. The Triple Crown winner has all of the intangibles to win the POY award.

Shaun Deeb Just a month ago

Shaun Deeb wouldn’t have been on my radar for the POY award, but after his dominating performance at the 2012 SCOOP series (where he won four titles including three in Stud events and a HORSE tournament) the online legend has proven he has the well-rounded game to win multiple bracelets.

Steve O’Dwyer

O’Dwyer is a bit of a Holdem specialist, but he has also proven a propensity to make final tables over the past year.

Will Failla

Failla is a seasoned pro who has been tearing up the tournament scene over the past year. With the skills to play PLO and Stud tournaments, “The Thrill” is definitely a POY contender.

Jason Mercier

Mercier is a well-rounded player, and a tournament finisher.

Mike McDonald

McDonald will compete in PLO and Holdem events, but his skills in Draw and Stud games are still in question. Still, “Timex” could easily walk away with multiple bracelets at the 2012 WSOP.

Scott Seiver

A high-stakes cash-game player, Seiver has to be adept in ALL poker formats, giving him an excellent chance to be at the top of the POY leader-board.

Chris Moorman

Moorman was a POY contender in 2011, and as arguably the best tournament player in poker there is no reason to assume he won’t be back in the hunt in 2012.

Daniel Alaei

Alaei is another player proficient in virtually every format, perhaps more than any other name on this list.

Joe Serock

Serock is on absolute fire in 2012, and if he brings even ½ of his run-good to the WSOP he could be the 2012 WSOP POY.

Will Failla Retakes WPT Player of the Year Lead With One Event Left

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

WPT Player of the Year is the premier honor in poker. Each winner must perform with exceptional skill and determination on the felt. Only one WPT Main Event remains in Season X and the race for this year’s title couldn’t be any tighter. The recent Florida leg of the World Poker Tour produced memorable swings in the standings, but when all was said and done, the points leader for most of the year once again came out ahead.

Will “The Thrill” Failla held pole position for Season X POY crown for 236 straight days following his win at the 2011 Legends of Poker. However during the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown, Joe Serock completed a remarkable back-to-back run with another final table and 3^rd place finish. This pushed Serock past Failla into the lead. Unfortunately for Joe, his reign at the top would last a mere 8 days.

Many potential Season X POY candidates were in attendance for the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open. At one point during the final play-down day, 4 players had a chance to catch or pass Serock for POY lead. These talented professionals included Byron Kaverman, Daniel Buzgon, Darren Elias and Failla. In the end, a surging Failla refused to be denied in his quest to regain pole position. His second final table appearance of Season X pushed him ahead of Serock with only the WPT World Championship remaining.

“The race is so close, it’s going to be a tough fight at the WPT World Championship,” said Failla. “I’m hands-down eating this whole Player of the Year up alive and taking no prisoners!”

With the entire poker community now turning their attention to the WPT World Championship, the pressure is on Failla, Serock and the others near the top to make another magical run. The prestigious Season X finale will not only award massive amounts of prize money but will also dole out significant POY points. In fact, there are technically still 75 players alive in the race for WPT Player of the Year. A win by any one of these players gives them a shot to catch front runner Failla as long as he does not cash and other leading players do not place highly.

For stats junkies, it’s worth noting that of the 9 previous WPT POYs, 4 cashed four times during their winning season – Erik Lindgren (S2), Daniel Negreanu (S3), Jonathan Little (S6) and Faraz Jaka (S9). Will Failla currently has four Season X cashes to his name, tied for the most with Allen Kessler who sits near the back of the pack (168^th place – 200 points).

The race to become the acclaimed tenth WPT Player of the Year will come down to the wire. Follow the action during the upcoming WPT World Championship with WPT Live Updates and tune into the final table on WPT Live Streaming. Season X of the World Poker Tour airs on Fox Sports Net (FSN) in the U.S., with new episodes premiering every Sunday night at 8pm and 11pm local time. Check your local TV listings.

WPT Trivia: Daniel Negreanu not only won WPT Player of the Year in Season III, he also finished 3^rd in Season V and 5^th in Season II.

WPT Player of the Year Standings

Rank	Player Name	Season X Points
1	Will Failla	2,050
2	Joe Serock	1,800
3	Daniel Buzgon	1,750
4	Darren Elias	1,600
5	Vitor Coelho	1,500
6	Fred Goldberg	1,450
7	Bobby Oboodi	1,400
7	James Dempsey	1,400
7	Sean Jazayeri	1,400
10	Soi Nguyen	1,250
10	Tommy Vedes	1,250

POY Points – WPT World Championship 1st: 1,400 pts 2nd: 1,200 pts 3rd: 1,100 pts 4th: 1,000 pts 5th: 900 pts 6th: 800 pts 7th: 700 pts 8th: 600 pts 9th: 500 pts 10th-12th: 400 pts 13th-15th: 300 pts 16th-18th: 200 pts 19th-27th: 100 pts 28th-36th: 50 pts

WSOP Picks: Best Without A Bracelet

Wed, 09 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Barry Carter picks out some names he thinks are finally due a World Series of Poker bracelet, and who could walk away with one this year.

All eyes are on the WSOP now that we are just a few weeks away from the first event. Despite the huge sums of money that will be in play this year, for many players it will all be about the holy grail that is the WSOP bracelet. I have picked out a few players yet to win one who I think have a great shot at joining that ever-growing yet still exclusive club this year.
Before people point it out, I am very aware that I have not included Tom Dwan or Patrik Antonius in this list.

Chris Moorman

Chris Moorman

Despite being one of the most prolific online tournament players of all time, the live scene has been somewhat frustrating for the UK's Chris Moorman.
Last year, he came very close to WSOP gold, coming third in one event and second in two other bracelet events, including the WSOPE main event.
He finally has the live tournament monkey off his back after winning a €2,000 side event at EPT Madrid and quickly followed it up with a second place in the high roller event at EPT Berlin last month for €145k.
Moorman has to be one of the best tournamentplayers in the world without a bracelet, and 2012 could be the year he finally captures his first major live title.

Justin Bonomo

Another player who many would assume would have a bracelet by now, Justin Bonomo came closest last year, coming runner up in the $2,500 2-7 Triple Drawevent. If form is anything to go by then Bonomo is the man to beat, having won the €100,000 EPT Grand Final Super High Roller and and taking 4th in the €25,000 High Roller a few days later for over €1.9 million combined.

Viktor Blom

Viktor "Isildur1" Blom

This time last year, the man best known as "Isildur1" who shot to the top of poker's elite in November 2009 would not have been on this list - and not just because 21-year-old Blom has until now been ineligible to play poker in the United States.
Almost strictly an online heads-up cash game player, Swedish pro Blom has since shown his tournament chops with a deep and dominating run in the 2010 WSOPE Main Event, a runner-up finish at the EPT Deauville heads-up tournament this year and of course his $1.25 million win at the $100,000 Super High Roller during the 2012 PCA.
Just last night, Blom won a $215 SCOOP event for almost $250,000 and is currently third in chips in the $530 rebuy.
If his hyper-aggressive style can be constrained somewhat during live play and he catches the right cards, don't be surprised if everyone's favourite Swede manages to snag WSOP gold this year.

Andrey Pateychuk

Andrey Pateychuk

Despite winning the Rookie of the Year award at the European Poker Awards, Andrey Pateychuk's success has flown under the radar outside of Russia. Despite being a relative newcomer to the live scene, last year he finished 15th in the WSOP Main Event before he won both WPT Prague and EPT San Remo.
He is one of only a handful of players who will be able to complete the prestigious pokertriple crown at the WSOP this year and he looks like the best pick to do just that.

Roberto Romanello

Like Pateychuk, Welsh tournament pro Romanello could completethe triple crown this summer in Vegas, having won WPT Bratislava last year and EPT Prague in 2010. He has also had a great past 12 months at the tables, having made enough final tables in EPT side events to secure him two gongs at the EPT awards this month.

Martin Jacobson

Another player who must be wondering what he needs to do to win a major title, Martin Jacobson of Sweden has an amazing record. He has made three EPT and three WPT final tables, as well as one WSOP final table. He has already made a good start to 2012, bubbling the final tableof the PCA and making several more final tables on the EPT circuit. Will he finally get to use his "one time" in Vegas this year?

Sam Trickett

Sam Trickett

Trickett is one of poker's biggest winners in recent times, with success in both large-field tournaments and high rollers. He has come close to a bracelet many times, but should he enter the $1 million One Drop event, like we all expect him to, then he surely has to be the favourite to walkaway victorious?

The Germans

Following the success of Pius Heinz last year, we expect a huge year for German players at the series this year. We have already seen three EPT titles being taken down by German players since Pius made the November Nine, as well as countless other big scores from German players.
Big success like that achieved by Heinz tends to inspire more success, and I would be shocked if we didn't see multiple German bracelets this year.
Names to watch out for include Benny " psychobenny" Spindler, Tobias " PokerNoob" Reinkemeier, Marvin Rettenmaier, and Martin " 0piggybank" Finger.
by Barry Carter

Will Failla retakes the lead in WPT Player of Year race, Chris Moorman 7th on the BLUFF Poker Power Ranking

Thu, 03 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Since the last time we updated you on the BLUFF Poker Player Power Rankings, there has been a seismic shift in the top 20. Seven different players posted enough results to climb the list, and while the top two remain the same the distance between them is about as razor thin as statistically possible.

Will Failla finished sixth at the WPT Jacksonville bestbet Open to retake the lead in the WPT Player of the Year race and all but overtook Jonathan Duhamel in the BLUFF Power Rankings at the same time. The difference between their point totals in this contest where 13 people have over 1,000 points is .04 points. To put that into perspective, a cash in a $300 tournament with 70 players would be good for 1.25 points, so any further cashes by Failla in almost any tournament in the world would put him ahead of Duhamel.

The rest of the top ten saw a fairly dramatic shakeup thanks to events on the EPT over the last several weeks. Bertrand Grospellier moved up two spots to the number three in the Power Rankings thanks to a win in a €10,000 8-handed event in Berlin and a 3rd place finish in the Monte Carlo Super High Roller. There’s a new person in fourth as well; Marvin Rettenmaier moved up five spots from 9th to 4th thanks to a 3rd place finish in a €10,000 8-handed event in Monte Carlo and won a €2,000 side event at Monte Carlo as well.

The biggest jump of the week was made by Chris Moorman, who finished 2nd in the same event where Rettenmaier finished third in Monte Carlo. The €145,200 cash was good enough to improve his position by seven places, jumping all the way up to seventh. Vanessa Selbst, thanks to an update that included her win in a $5,000 event from back at LAPC and a deep run in EPT Berlin Main Event moved up two spots to ninth.

Three new players have risen into the top twenty, including two more beneficiaries of the side events in Monte Carlo. Daniel Negreanu jumped all the way up to 12th place thanks to a second place finish in the €25,000 event there, while Philipp Gruissem’s third place finish moved him up to 19th. Oleksii Kovalchuk is now in 17th place after his IPT San Remo Main Event win was added.

Five players slipped down the list after past results fell away or lost value. The biggest drop was David Sands, who slipped ten spots from sixth to 16th. Shawn Buchanan (-3), Matt Waxman (-3) Jason Mercier (-2), and Allen Kessler (-2) each lost ground on the leaders, with Mercier and Kessler on the verge of falling out of the top 20 completely.

Three players couldn’t avoid that fate this week. Justin Young is just on the outside looking in in 22nd place, Michael Mizrachi is right behind him in 24th, and David Peters fell the furthest down the list in 27th place.

The EPT season may be over, but the WPT and WSOP Circuit have a little more to do before the 2012 World Series of Poker gets underway, which should make for some more big changes in the Power Rankings.

Here is how the BLUFF Power Rankings stand as of May 3rd:
( ) – Change in Position

(-) Jonathan Duhamel – 1,380.38
(-) Will Failla – 1,380.34
(+2) Bertrand Grospellier – 1,357.91
(+5) Marvin Rettenmaier – 1,306.75
(-1) Steve O’Dwyer – 1,209.01
(-3) Shawn Buchanan – 1,150.39
(+7) Chris Moorman – 1,097.48
(-1) Ben Lamb – 1,073.18
(+2) Vanessa Selbst – 1,045.67
(-) Sam Trickett – 1,032.70
(-3) Matt Waxman – 1,016.54
(NR) Daniel Negreanu – 1,007.97
(-1) Eugene Katchalov – 1,002.82
(-1) Pius Heinz – 971.79
(-) Elio Fox – 943.85
(-10) David Sands – 932.05
(NR) Oleksii Kovalchuk – 914.17
(-2) Jason Mercier – 905.22
(NR) Philipp Gruissem – 901.48
(-2) Allen Kessler – 896.16

WPT: Failla, Buzgon & Elias Make Second Final Table of the Season

Wed, 02 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

It is rare for a player to make two World Poker Tour final tables in a season, so what is happening in Jacksonville on Wednesday is really remarkable when you think about it, as there will be three players making their second WPT final table appearance of Season X.

Will Failla is the one grabbing the headlines as he regained control of the WPT Player of the Year race by locking up at least a sixth place finish in this event. He is actually not the only one at the final table who can still take the lead though. If Failla finishes fifth or sixth in Jacksonville, Borgata Poker Open third place finisher Daniel Buzgon can take the lead or tie for the lead if he pulls out a win.

You’ve also got Darren Elias in the mix at this final table, who final tabled the Borgata Poker Open this season, finishing in fifth place. While these three have experience on their side, they are a little short on chips. Buzgon will be the short stack at the table with 570,000, Elias is fifth in chips with 1,280,000, and Failla is the best off with 1,535,000, good for third in the counts.

This final table has another history maker at it too, as Tony Dunst joins Mike Sexton as the second member of the WPT broadcast team to make a final table. Dunst was supposed to be in the booth doing commentary on the live stream of this event, but instead James Dempsey and Darryll Fish will be calling the action while Dunst, who is fourth in chips with 1,310,000, will be trying to best Sexton’s sixth place finish at Bay 101 back in 2011.

Shawn Cunix may not be making his second WPT final table of the season, but the chip leader is making his second career WPT final appearance in Jacksonville. Cunix will begin the day with 2.7 million chips, many of which previously belonged to Matt Marafioti, who finished in ninth place. In one of the more talked about hands of the day, Marafioti moved all-in for more than three times the size of the pot on an A92 board holding A-Q only to run into Cunix’s 2-2 for bottom set.

Rounding out the final table line-up is James Calderaro, who is the only player with more than 2 million chips. This is his first WPT final table appearance.

These final six were part of the 16 players who started Day 4 of the Jacksonville bestbet Open. The players who failed to survive to the televised final table included Marafioti and Byron Kaverman, who bubbled the final table in seventh place.

Here are the chip counts and seat assignments for Wednesday’s final table. When play resumes, blinds will be at 15,000/30,000 ante 5,000:

Seat 1: James Calderaro – 2,110,000
Seat 2: Daniel Buzgon – 570,000
Seat 3: Will Failla – 1,535,000
Seat 4: Tony Dunst – 1,315,000
Seat 5: Shawn Cunix – 2,770,000
Seat 6: Darren Elias – 1,280,000

World Poker Tour Jacksonvill BestBet Open Day 3: Bubble Bursts; Will Failla Leads

Tue, 01 May 2012 00:00:00 GMT

On Day 3 of the World Poker Tour Jacksonville BestBet Open, the final 55 players battled it out to get to the money. During the day, James Dempsy busted on the money bubble, two under-21 ballers battled it out for a customized surfboard, and Will Failla amassed enough chips to become chip leader.

The field played through five 90-minute levels Monday on their way to the final table and plenty of pros hit the rail in the first level. Kristin Budreck was one of the first eliminated when Byron Kaverman’s Ace of Spades, King of Clubs out flopped her Queen of Clubs, Queen of Diamonds . According to the WPT Live Updates Team, the board ran out Jack of Clubs, 6 of Clubs, 3 of Spades, King of Hearts, and Jack of Spades. and Budreck hit the rail. Matt Brady, Andrew Touchette, Brian Hastings (35th - $9,610), Allen Kessler (34th - $9,610), Darryll Fish (24th - $12,124), Matt Giannetti (22nd - $12,124), and Fred Goldberd (20th - $12,124) were also eliminated on Day 3.

James Dempsey was not only one of unlucky the pros to not make Day 4, but also he was unlucky enough to bust right on the money bubble.

Dempsey’s day started off rough when he doubled up Matthew Schulte early in Level 15. Matt Giannetti raised on the button, and Dempsey reraised to 20,000 from the small blind. Schulte, in the big blind, then shoved all in for 113,500. Giannetti folded, and Dempsey tanked a while before calling with Ace of Spades, 9 of Clubs.. Schulte turned over 10 of Diamonds, 10 of Spades and they were off to the races.

The board ran out King of Diamonds, 9 of Diamonds, 3 of Spades, 4 of Diamonds, 8 of Spades and Schulte doubled up while Dempsey was knocked down to 160,000.

The day only got worse for Dempsey when he ran his King of Club, King of Diamonds into Alan Percal’s Ace of Hearts, Ace of Spades, just before the money bubble.. The board ran out 9 of Spades, 9 of Diamonds, 8 of Diamonds, 7 of Hearts, 2 of Clubs and Dempsey was knocked down to 16,500 chips — just four big blinds.

With 38 players remaining, Dempsey shoved all in preflop with 8 of Diamonds, 8 of Hearts only to be called by Matthew Schulte's Ace of Hearts, Queen of Hearts. The board ran out Queen of Diamonds, 4 of Spades, 2 of Clubs, 10 of Clubs, 9 of Clubs and Schulte paired his queen, giving him the win, and making Dempsey the unfortunate money bubble boy.

After the money bubble burst, there were still two under-21 players left in the field — Alan Percal and Robert Gorodetsky. As a part of an under-21 last-longer contest, whichever player was the last standing would win a customized surfboard. The contest ended when Percal was finally eliminated in 21st place by Amelio Amato.

Percal shoved from the cutoff for 100,000 with Ace, 8 offsuit and Amato called from the button with pocket kings. The Queen, 10, 8, 7, 6 board sent Percal packing and shipped the customized surfboard to Gorodetsky, who was later eliminated in 17th place, cashing for $16,263.

Failla amassed most of his chips from Farid Jattin in the middle of the day. The board read Queen of Spades, 9 of Hearts, 8 of Diamonds, 9 of Spades and there was a huge pile of chips in the pot, when Jattin bet 182,000. Failla thought for a second, then moved all in for around 600,000. Jattin then went into the tank, and finally folded. That pot pushed Failla to 980,000. He carried this chip lead for the rest of the day.

Here are the top five chip stacks heading into tomorrow:

Player	Chip Count
Will Failla	1,360,000
Peter Campo	1,269,000
Daniel Buzgon	900,000
Byron Kaverman	815,000
David Tuthill	687,000

The players will return on Tuesday at 1400 EDT (1900 BST) when the final 16 will play down to the final table of six. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for daily updates from the World Poker Tour.

Read more: http://www.pokernews.com/news/2012/05/world-poker-tour-jacksonville-bestbet-open-day-3-failla-12569.htm

Poker News Reports Coverage of Will Failla Joining BubbleProtection as Newest Spokesman

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Bubble ProtectionOnline poker insurance tool website Bubble Protection have revealed that “one of the most talented tournament players” in the world, American pro Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla, will be their latest spokesman.

The company’s creator and chief executive officer Eugene Castro is delighted to have Failla on board – to join other spokesman Chris Moorman – as the world’s leading online poker tournament entry fee protection and indemnity firm aims to expand their market still further.

Castro, as reported by igamingbusiness.com, reckons Failla’s peers recognise him as being “one of the most talented tournament players in the world”, while also respecting him as “one of the most popular people on the pro tour”.

The CEO added that Failla “makes one of the more frustrating endeavours we engage in a bit more tolerable due to his infectious laugh, hilarious off-the-cuff remarks or a simple pat on your shoulder”.
Company CEO is ‘Very Proud’ to Sign Up Failla

Castro also stated that Bubble Protection were “very proud” to have the 44-year-old join Englishman Moorman – a 13-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) cash finisher – “as our second company spokesman”, with the company chief happy to know “that having him aboard will bring respect and credibility” to his business.

We at Poker News Report reckon Castro is correct in his assumption as the 15-time WSOP in-the-money finisher is a quality player and all-round good guy.

For his part, Failla said he was “very pleased to associate myself with Bubble Protection”, particularly because he has “known and trusted the principals of the company for many years”.

He made sure poker fans across the globe know just how impressed he has been by the online tool that safeguards players’ entry fees and bankroll from suffering by finishing in the dreaded ‘bubble’ spot in a tournament.
One-Time WPT Champ Trusts Tool

The one-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champion added that he understands and believes the company “when they state that Bubble Protection is a sustainable business model while simultaneously being positive EV (expected value) for their users”.

He concluded by saying that he is a “true supporter of the technology” and can’t wait for a “time when I can use Bubble Protection in the United States” – following what millions of people in the USA hope will happen if the government backs law changes that will legalise online poker in the North American country following the dark days that have followed Black Friday last April 15.

However, he maintained that he would, “until that time…proudly endorse the product in my travels, both here and abroad”.

It is worth noting that Failla has secured more than $4 million from his live tournament poker career, with his first cash coming back in July of 2005 when he picked up $28,375 for finishing 234th in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em main event.
Failla Enjoys Live and Virtual Poker Success

The Smithtown, New York, native has, however, multiple titles from online and live tournaments, including one WPT crown for $758,085 – his biggest cash haul – from the $3,500 No-Limit Hold’em main event at last August’s Legends of Poker in Los Angeles.

That success has helped take Failla – the Global Poker Index (GPI) 300 world number seven – to the top spot on the WPT rankings list, while he also pocketed a healthy $241,950 for taking down the $2,000 No-Limit Hold’em event at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) on Paradise Island in January of last year.

Other notable payouts, among many, recorded by Failla include seeing off the challenge of 1,872 opponents to the $165,053 top prize for winning last month’s Borgata Winter Open $500 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em Deepstack Re-Entry event – the opening tournament in Atlantic City – picking up $207,968 after securing the $4,800 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Foxwoods Poker Classic in Mashantucket back in March of 2007, and $218,805 for taking down the $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em $300,000 Guaranteed Poker Tournament, also at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa, five months further on.
Sunday Brawl Most Notable Online Win

Failla has also enjoyed some significant successes at the virtual felt of online poker, with the pro, under the moniker ‘WILLY-RUGS’, pocketing $106,128.40 for winning the now-beleaguered Full Tilt Poker’s Sunday Brawl from a starting field of 2,614 players back on March 13 last year as his most prestigious poker room triumph.

Incidentally, the Bubble Protection tool provides internet poker players with an opportunity to cover tournament buy-ins by paying a fee – approximately 12% of the buy-in for any tournament – in the hope that will ease any concerns over bankroll losses and allow more freedom to play well.

To read the orginial post click here.

Technology Galore shares news of Will "The Thrill" Failla joining BubbleProtection

Wed, 11 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Bubble Protection, the world leader in online poker tournament entry fee protection and indemnity, today announced the appointment of Will “The Thrill" Failla as company spokesman.

Will Failla has amassed over four million dollars in career earnings, winning multiple titles both live and online. Mr. Failla is the number one ranked player on the World Poker Tour due in great part to winning the Legends of Poker title at The Bicycle Casino. In addition to his WPT Championship, Will has won titles at the PCA Caribbean Adventure, Foxwoods Poker Classic and the Caesars Heads Up Championship. Will recently bested 1873 players to take down the opening event of the 2012 Borgata Winter Open. Will's online successes include victories in many online events including the prestigious Sunday Brawl in 2011.

“Will is recognized by his peers as one of the most talented tournament players in the world,” said Eugene Castro, Bubble Protection Creator and Company CEO. “Will is one of the most popular people on the pro tour. He makes one of the more frustrating endeavors we engage in a bit more tolerable due to his infectious laugh, hilarious off-the-cuff remarks or a simple pat on your shoulder. We’re very proud to have Will join Chris Moorman as our second company spokesman and know that having him aboard will bring respect and credibility to BubbleProtection.”

“I am very pleased to associate myself with BubbleProtection,” said Will Failla. “I have known and trusted the principals of the company for many years. I understand and believe them when they state that BubbleProtection is a sustainable business model while simultaneously being positive EV for their users. I am a true supporter of the technology and I anxiously await the time when I can use BubbleProtection in the United States. Until that time I will proudly endorse the product in my travels both here and abroad.”

Bubble Protection is an online poker indemnity tool designed to capitalize on the hundreds of thousands of online poker tournaments played globally each week. Purchasing Bubble Protection safeguards an online tournament poker player's entry fees and "bankroll" from landing in the unenviable "bubble" position.

The revolutionary product is a tool designed specifically to lessen the player's frustration, protect players bankroll and improve players overall tournament results. A complete description of how this process works is available at the company website, www.BubbleProtection.com.

About Bubble Protection

BubbleProtection.com is a trusted provider of protection type products that are designed specifically for the online poker player. BubbleProtection.com was formed to develop an innovative protection/indemnity product for the online poker tournament player who is constantly looking for creative yet practical ways of managing and ultimately protecting their entry fees and "bankroll.” For additional information, investor information or photos please contact the company at press@BubbleProtection.com or call 1-866-686-6366.

Chris Moorman Video Interview Question of the Day – Poker pros’ life on the road

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Chris is featured at the 3:00 Minute Mark, but is featured throughout the Video.

View the Interview Here

Listen to Ylon Schwartz on Short Stacked Radio

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ylon's Interview Begins at the 1:00 (One Hour) Mark.

Click Here For the Full Interview

Epic Poker Profiles BubbleProtection's Ylon Schwartz

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Player to Watch: Ylon Schwartz

March 6 2012, Jennifer Newell

It was no secret that Ylon Schwartz wanted to take his 2008 World Series of Poker Main Event winnings and disappear. He told interviewers just that prior to the November Nine final table, as the quiet, reserved chess and poker player had no desire for much spotlight. He didn’t exactly vanish after his $3.8 million fourth place finish, but he does relish in his ability to come and go from the poker world through the years.

Ylon was born and raised in New York and started playing chess in his youth. From his teenage years as a chess player in Manhattan, he learned how to hustle and do what needed to be done to survive. His passion for games turned to poker in 1992 when he learned hold’em, and back room games and private club tournaments led to a dedication to the game. He also needed to make money. “I was a broke chess player,” he recalled. “It’s cute to be broke when you’re in your 20s, but when you’re 30 and still having troubles, you have to do something else. Long after Fat Nick taught me hold’em, I took a few hundred bucks to a poker room in Manhattan and won $12K. That was the turning point.”

Larger tournaments didn’t enter Ylon’s sphere until 2004, and his cashes started accumulating at the U.S. Poker Championship in Atlantic City. He then cashed four times at the 2005 WSOP and continued to do well in major events through the years. But the 2008 WSOP changed his life in more ways than he anticipated when he made the final table of the Main Event. Upon returning to Las Vegas for the November Nine, he ultimately finished in fourth place for $3,794,974 and sought to disappear for a time. That didn’t last long, though, when an offer to be a sponsored player by PokerStars was too good to pass up.

“I had a year contract with PokerStars, so I was clicking 30 tables like I had been doing for years,” Ylon said. “I had to fulfill that obligation, but I was really burnt after that. I disappeared for a little while.”

Even so, Ylon never goes too far from poker. He can’t resist the World Series each year, as the opportunities draw him in with the possibility of that elusive win. “I’ve come close, but I haven’t gotten that bracelet. I just have to get one of those and have a major victory under my best. Then I’ll probably take another sabbatical.”

Come close he has. He took third in a 2009 WSOP Mixed Hold’em event and third in a 2010 WSOP Omaha Hi/Lo tournament. His cashes continue to add up when he enters tournaments, and he consistently makes deep runs.

But Ylon spends time on other endeavors and interests as well. In addition to playing the drums and doing yoga, he owns The Bodega in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The wine bar and pub provides an intimate setting for the neighborhood, and he enjoys spending time there when he’s not at home in Austin, Texas. “When I’m not playing poker, I’m usually drinking wine,” said Ylon. “Bodega is a fun place to do it.”

Poker remains a big part of his life, though. Ylon talks with fellow players about the game. And he has a plethora of private games from which to choose, in Austin, New York City, or Boston. “There’s a great cash game across the street from my house in Boston, and another friend of mine runs a big tournament. He’s a super wealthy guy who bought every condo on the top floor of his building and made a big poker room out of it. I play that game for shits and giggles.”

His nonchalant attitude is only contrasted by his desire to win a poker tournament. “I feel ready to play again now,” he admitted at the third Epic Poker event in December. “I came out to Vegas for the Epic Pro/Am and the WPT Bellagio. I’ve had some time to decompress, and I’m ready to get back into it again.”

To start 2012, Ylon took a trip to Biloxi for the Southern Poker Million Dollar Heater series and final tabled two events there in January. And in February, he became a spokesperson for Bubble Protection, a relatively new entity in the poker world that offers online poker players a tool to cover tournament buy-in losses. He joined names like Chris Moorman and Will Failla to represent the company.

No one should expect to see Ylon at every major poker tournament, as the notoriously private man still craves his time away from the tables. But he might just surprise the circuit with his presence this year and his intense efforts to win a major poker title. No matter where he goes, he can’t escape that competitive spirit.

Read the Full Article Here

EuroPoker League Brings BubbleProtection News to Euro Region Poker Players

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Euro Poker League announced the launch of a revolutionary new online poker tournament tool.

BubbleProtection is designed to allow tournament players to exert their skills in online poker tournaments by allowing players to ensure their tournament buy-in for a small fee.

This insurance increases the “bubble” of the tournament from one static position to 10% of the entire field for poker players who purchased a policy.

This means:

If you’re playing in an online poker tournament with 1000 entrants and the top 15% are paid, your “new bubble” is within the top 25% of the entire field. Once you left 750 players behind you, you already secured your buy-in and insurance fee back! BubbleProtection will credit your account instantly when you finish in the “new bubble” with the need of you ever having to made a claim.

This will allow you to play more agressive during the actual bubble period of the tournament when all players are afraid of busting out of the tournament before the money.

Has there ever been a better tool to protect your bankroll?

SpeedPokerInfo Makes BubbleProtection Announcment to European Poker Players

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

American Ylon Schwartz has been announced as the latest spokesman for online poker buy-in protection tool website Bubble Protection – where he will join fellow pros Will ‘The Thrill’ Failla and Chris Moorman. The site went live last November and then followed this with a round of financing through a non-public offering in January. Now New Yorker Ylon Schwartz – who picked up $3,774,974 for finishing fourth at the 2008 WSOP main event – has joined Englishman Moorman and fellow American Failla by supporting Bubble Protection.

The 41-year-old chess master said he was “proud to be associated” with Bubble Protection – which offers online poker players the chance to cover tournament buy-ins by paying a fee of about 12% on any buy-in that will hopefully ease concerns relating to bankroll losses – as he believes the company “has introduced the most innovative new poker product I’ve seen in many years”. Pro Impressed by Buy-In Tool The 22-time WSOP in-the-money finisher added that the protection tool provides “a new wrinkle in how to play tournament poker” by providing players with a “significant strategic advantage during the most crucial stages of tournament play” – so allowing them to “accumulate chips” to ensure they are “in a powerful position for the end-game”.

Schwartz – whose last significant cash came back in 2009 at the 40th staging of the WSOP when he earned $112,967 for finishing third in event #47, a $2,500 buy-in Mixed Limit/No-Limit Hold’em tournament – continued by pointing out that using the tool should “result in a significant increase” in cashes, as well as “considerably more final tables”. Additionally, the Brooklyn native – who has earned more than $4 million from WSOP and WSOP Circuit events – is eager for the US government to move forward with plans to legalise online poker in the wake of Black Friday last April 15 so that he can “put this strategic advantage to work for me”.

Firm’s CEO Pleased Schwartz Supports Bankroll System Meanwhile, Eugene Castro, the Las Vegas-based company’s creator and chief executive officer, said he is “pleased one of the most analytical people I know is passionate” about the business and is “willing to lend his name in support of our revolutionary bankroll management tool”. Castro also emphasised that Schwartz – an original member of the November Nine – “has been extremely important in formulating the foundation” that underpins the event entry fee protection and indemnity tool as the pro’s “strategic analysis on how to effectively employ our product has helped define” Bubble Protection as a “money management tool” as well as a “weapon to be used to improve a player’s overall results”. It must be highlighted that Bubble Protection is only available to non-American players for regularly planned tournaments at PokerStars, Party Poker and on the iPoker Network. The scheme allows players to guarantee their buy-ins and fees if they finish just outside the money, while also providing immediate confirmation and payment of claims.

Will Failla and Chris Moorman Already Singed Up Schwartz is certainly an impressive addition to a Bubble Protection team that already includes Lock Pro Elite member Moorman – a 13-time WSOP cash finisher – and one-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champ Failla. In fact, between the trio, they have managed 50 WSOP cashes, with New York State’s Failla – last August’s WPT Legends of Poker champion in Los Angeles for $758,085 – having managed 15 of those in-the-money finishes. It does appear that Bubble Protection are pushing on with their aim of ensuring that they remain the world’s premier internet poker tournament entry fee protection and insurance company with the inclusion of Schwartz as their newest spokesman.

Read the full post here.

PokerKnave Reports Ylon Schwartz Latest Pro to Join BubbleProtection

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ylon Schwartz Latest Pro to Join Bubble Protection's Spokesman Team
Poker News Report

The site went live last November and then followed this with a round of financing through a non-public offering in January.

Now New Yorker Ylon Schwartz – who picked up $3,774,974 for finishing fourth at the 2008 WSOP main event – has joined Englishman Moorman and fellow American Failla by supporting Bubble Protection.

Read the full post here.

Poker News Reports Ylon Schwartz Association with BubbleProtection

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ylon Schwartz Latest Pro to Join Bubble Protection’s Spokesman Team

By: Alan /February 17, 2012

The site went live last November and then followed this with a round of financing through a non-public offering in January.

The 41-year-old chess master said he was “proud to be associated” with Bubble Protection – which offers online poker players the chance to cover tournament buy-ins by paying a fee of about 12% on any buy-in that will hopefully ease concerns relating to bankroll losses – as he believes the company “has introduced the most innovative new poker product I’ve seen in many years”.

Pro Impressed by Buy-In Tool

The 22-time WSOP in-the-money finisher added that the protection tool provides “a new wrinkle in how to play tournament poker” by providing players with a “significant strategic advantage during the most crucial stages of tournament play” – so allowing them to “accumulate chips” to ensure they are “in a powerful position for the end-game”.

Additionally, the Brooklyn native – who has earned more than $4 million from WSOP and WSOP Circuit events – is eager for the US government to move forward with plans to legalise online poker in the wake of Black Friday last April 15 so that he can “put this strategic advantage to work for me”.

Firm’s CEO Pleased Schwartz Supports Bankroll System

Meanwhile, Eugene Castro, the Las Vegas-based company’s creator and chief executive officer, said he is “pleased one of the most analytical people I know is passionate” about the business and is “willing to lend his name in support of our revolutionary bankroll management tool”.

Castro also emphasised that Schwartz – an original member of the November Nine – “has been extremely important in formulating the foundation” that underpins the event entry fee protection and indemnity tool as the pro’s “strategic analysis on how to effectively employ our product has helped define” Bubble Protection as a “money management tool” as well as a “weapon to be used to improve a player’s overall results”.

It must be highlighted that Bubble Protection is only available to non-American players for regularly planned tournaments at PokerStars, Party Poker and on the iPoker Network.

The scheme allows players to guarantee their buy-ins and fees if they finish just outside the money, while also providing immediate confirmation and payment of claims.

Will Failla and Chris Moorman Already Singed Up

Schwartz is certainly an impressive addition to a Bubble Protection team that already includes Lock Pro Elite member Moorman – a 13-time WSOP cash finisher – and one-time World Poker Tour (WPT) champ Failla.

In fact, between the trio, they have managed 50 WSOP cashes, with New York State’s Failla – last August’s WPT Legends of Poker champion in Los Angeles for $758,085 – having managed 15 of those in-the-money finishes.

It does appear that Bubble Protection are pushing on with their aim of ensuring that they remain the world’s premier internet poker tournament entry fee protection and insurance company with the inclusion of Schwartz as their newest spokesman.

Of course, any new developments will be covered here at Poker News Report, so make sure you bookmark us for ease of location.

Read the full post here.

IGaming Announces Ylon Schwartz Joins BubbleProtection

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

14 February 2012

After going live in November and completing a round of financing via a private placement offering last month, the online poker buy-in protection service at BubbleProtection.com has unveiled professional player Ylon Schwartz as its latest spokesperson. Schwartz placed fourth in the main event of the 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) to collect $3.7 million and has joined fellow professionals Chris Moorman and Will Failla in agreeing to promote BubbleProtection.com.

“I am so pleased one of the most analytical people I know is passionate about BubbleProtection.com to the extent that he is willing to lend his name in support of our revolutionary bankroll management tool,” said Eugene Castro, Chief Executive Officer for Las Vegas-based BubbleProtection.com.

“Ylon has been extremely important in formulating the foundation upon which BubbleProtection.com is based. His strategic analysis on how to effectively employ our product has helped define BubbleProtection.com as not just a money management tool but also as a weapon to be used to improve a player’s overall results.”

Available to non-US players for all regularly scheduled tournaments on PokerStars.com, PartyPoker.com and the iPoker Network, BubbleProtection.com pays back online poker players’ buy-ins and tournament site fees if they finish ‘on the bubble’ and also offers instant verification and settlement of claims services.

“I am proud to be associated with a company that has introduced the most innovative new poker product I have seen in many years,” said Schwartz.

“BubbleProtection.com presents a new wrinkle in how to play tournament poker. It offers a user a significant strategic advantage during the most crucial stages of tournament play, allowing you to accumulate chips leaving you in a powerful position for the end-game.

“When properly employed, BubbleProtection.com will result in a significant increase in your cash rate and considerably more final tables. Like my friend and fellow spokesman Will Failla, I can’t wait until we are playing again in the United States and I am able to put this strategic advantage to work for me.”

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