Bodog Poker Open Winner Announced

March 21, 2008

The first Bodog Poker Open now has its first champion. Shawn “Phatcat” Luman won the tournament, along with a $76,280, earlier this month.

The Bodog Poker Open feature 5965 online players going after more than $300,000 in prize money at the Bodog Poker Open Main Event. It was the richest tournament in Bodog’s history.

“By all accounts the inaugural Bodog Poker Open was a resounding success,” Morris Mohawk Gaming Group CEO Alwyn Morris said in a press release following the tournament. “The number of players that competed for the $305,120 prize pool was astounding and Bodog is looking forward to hosting even more exciting poker events in the future.”

Luman also won an engraved Omega Speedmaster watch, valued at $4,400, but it wasn’t easy. Luman had to overcome Jared “The Waco Kidd” Hamby, who won three live tournaments in 2007 and Michael “The Finisher” Berra at the final table. Berra finished second, banking $45,768, while Hamby, who finished second at the 2007 WPT Mandalay Bay Poker Championship, was third with $29,138.96.

In an interview at Cardplayer.com, Luman said: “But I did play every one of the BPO events, just because it was something new and cool, and it had higher buy-ins. I had zero success in any of the events; I don’t think I cashed in any of them until that last one. But I thought it was great; I was impressed with the turnout, I think it’s a good series, and I hope they continue it. And yeah, that was my biggest online score ever, so that was pretty cool.”

The six-event Bodog Poker Open drew more than 1,800 players over a week of play and had more than $675,000 in prize money.

The rest of the players at the final table of the main event were Stuart “Zpaceman” Taylor in fourth, CK3 in fifth, Anbessa in sixth followed by Brian “PSP addict” Bauer and Eric “Eeman 2004″ Revak.

The series’ five preliminary events awarded each player a seat in the Main Event along with the cash prize. An all-star cast turned out for the first tournament and “Rusostreet” won. “3Pounder” finished first in the second event. In the third event, “PckAces” was the winner. In event four, “Foldpreflop85” won first, while in the last of the preliminary events, which drew 174 competitors and a prize pool of $36,100 “Bigcatfish” was first.

Bodog added $75,000 to the pots over the course of the week.

Written by Tom · Filed Under Poker News | 1 Comment

Tabatabai Wins All Africa

March 15, 2008

John Tabatabai, who finished second in at the World Series of Poker Europe, won the 12th All Africa Poker Championship. The tournament was held in Piggs Peak Casino, Swaziland and is growing in prestige and popularity. Raymond Rahme, who made the final table at the 2007 World Series of Poker, finished third in at the All Africa event.

Tabatabai won one million South African Rand, which equals about US$126, 346. He also earned a seat at the World Series of Poker main event. Tabatabai’s success is expected to boost the popularity of the game in South Africa, but even he warns players from jumping into the game on the deep end.

“Do not try to become a pro or make poker your sole income,” he said after winning the All Africa Poker Championship. “You will play better if you have a backstop, something that takes the financial pressure off. Never assume you are the best player. Listen to everyone, even players you consider weaker than yourself. They will give you an insight into how they think which will help you play against them.”

Tabatabai is just 22 year old and hails from London, England. Chess was his first passion and he played in European and World Championships. He turned to poker in college and has an interesting approach to the game, which has more to do with his opponents than with what cards he has.

At the All Africa, the cards he had to play with would have eliminated a lesser player. Finally, at the final table he ended up with great hands and good flops which helped him to the title.

With a big win like the All Africa and the WSOP Europe already under his belt, Tabatabai could be one of the young up-and-comers to watch on the international poker scene in the years to come. Tabatabai’s next event is in San Remo, Italy, for the European Poker Tour event taking place in April 1 - 5, 2008.

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New Poker Tour Launches in Latin America

March 13, 2008

The popularity of poker is apparently spreading south of the border and PokerStars.com is giving it a big boost with the announcement of the creation of the Latin American Poker Tour. The LAPT, as it will be called, will launch in May.

“Poker is exploding in Latin America and the game is more than ready for its own major poker tour. It’s one of the fastest-growing poker regions and there are thousands upon thousands of players in countries like Brazil and Argentina who will love the chance to take part in events of this kind,” LAPT President Glenn Cademartori said in a press release about the launch. “In every regard, the LAPT is going to put Latin America on the map as the newest hotspot to play high-stakes international poker.”

The poker tour will begin with a three-day kickoff in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 3-5. The first event will have a $2,500 buy-in tournament with an expected prize pool of more than $600,000.

Among the pros who will help PokerStars start their venture at the first tournament will be Latin American themselves - Andre Akkari of Brazil, and Humberto Brenes of Costa Rica. Both are expected to play.

Akkari said that it was important for him to help the LAPT take its first steps.

“It’s a real honor to be representing Team PokerStars in the PokerStars Latin American Poker Tour, and even more exciting that the very first event is in my home country,” Akkari said in the announcement. “The LAPT offers great opportunities for Latin American players. Poker is growing so fast in this region and now local players will have the chance to compete in major events in their own backyard.”

The LAPT will follow up with an event in San Jose, Costa Rica on May 22-24 and Uruguay on August 7-9.

Mike Ward will be the tournament director for the LAPT. Ward has been the director of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure since its launch in 2004.

“I’m now really looking forward to bringing my skills and energy to the Latin American Poker Tour,” Ward said.

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The Rising Stakes of Titan Poker

March 4, 2008

With a rapid growth of the number of players on a weekly basis, the biggest online poker room of the iPoker Network, Titan Poker is continuously raising its guaranteed prize pools along with its exciting promotional offers, good customer service and thrilling totitan-poker-competition.bmpurnaments. It is all set to roll its proposition of more than $12,500,000 through its monthly online poker tournaments. This leading online poker room makes this latest proposal just a few months after it attained the record-breaking deed of guaranteeing around $1,000,000 per month.

There doesn’t only lay the stop, but it has a lot more for all of its players. Titan poker will be staging its biggest poker tournament in March 2008, offering its players to win a total of 2 million dollars through its guaranteed prizes. Open for all Titan players, this tournament incorporates a series of levels, the first being The Main Event. Other levels are termed as “sit n’ go”, “Multi Table Qualifying Tournament” and so on. Entry fees start from $3.00, with an additional 10% for qualifying satellites. Therefore with only $3.30, this online poker room gives you a chance to take home a part of 2 million dollars. With a large amount of guaranteed prizes, this is the latest set of tournaments from the renowned Titan Poker. As mentioned earlier, the amount of guaranteed prizes are gradually increasing on a weekly basis and is predicted to reach a total of $10,000,000 through guaranteed prizes.

Currently, Titan Poker stages a massive tournament of $200,000 cash prizes every Sunday. Also weekend tournaments with huge cash prizes are also offered by this leading online poker room. As ECOOP was a big success for Titan Poker in December, it also proposes to stage ECOOP II – the 2^nd European Online poker Championship in May 2008; offering surprising prizes through its variety of tournaments, enabling participation of a wide variety of gaming preferences.

Titan Poker always grants its players seats at all the famous worldwide tournaments. Already Titan Poker players had been a part of the World’s most famous tournaments, such as “The World Poker Tour” for example. They have also promised to take their best players at the Aussie Millions, Irish Open and South African Open also from this year. With a player base of around 30,000 people at peak hours, Titan poker can also render you to fulfill your dreams. So what are you waiting for? Give your best and grasp the best opportunity. Check out titan poker now.

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American PokerStars Qualifier Takes Denmark by Storm

February 28, 2008

Tim Vance may look like just a 46-year-old contractor from St. Louis, but he’s a survivor and now he’s a poker tournament champion. Vance won the EPT Copenhagen over some home-country favorites, outlasting them in a 4 ½-hour marathon session.

Vance worked his way through the field until he was left sitting at the final table with Soren Jensen of Denmark and facing a more than 300,000-chip deficit — 2.4 million to 2.1.

Jensen eventually got his total up to 2.8 million, before small pots started to just go back and forth with neither player finding any traction. About 2 ½ hours into the game, things started to go Vance’s way.

With the flop down 8-2-T, Vance had already raised 400,000. Jensen answered with another 400,000 raise - and Vance called. The turn came up a queen of spades, but Jensen checked! The river came up jack of clubs. Vance pushed and Jensen called the hand. Jensen had the same two pair he had had on the turn, but in a crucial turn of momentum, Vance had picked up a flush on the river.

Talk at the table turned to Jensen’s critical decision not to raise on the turn. “I should have raised you on the turn,” Jensen said. Vance agreed. But now the chips were in Vance’s favor, 3.7 million to 870,000.

The match went on into the early morning hours, until finally, it all came down to one hand. After Jensen check on a 2-7-8 flop with two spades, the two players checked and the turn put down the 3 of spades. Jensen upped his bet to 115,000 and Vance called. Jensen was working a straight and a flush. But Vance stood up, he had an ace and 10 of spades - his flush couldn’t be beat. He threw down his cards. There was no way he could lose the tournament. Jensen, despite the support of his fellow Danes, knew that he was sunk.

“I knew I was going to win,” Vance said after the tournament wrapped up. “I was the best and I wanted it the most. There were times I made mistakes and times I got lucky. But I outlasted him. I knew that the longer it took, the better my chances were of winning. It was a tough competition, as tough as anywhere I have ever played.”

The Danish players were no match for Vance, who won 834,590 euros with the title. Jensen finished with 472,463 euros. Two other Danish players, Magnus Hansen and Rasmus Hede Nielsen had finished third and fourth. Daniel Ryan, another PokerStars qualifier from the United States and one of the top internet players around, finished fifth, coming away with 172,576 euros.

But the day and night and early morning belonged to Vance. It had taken 4 ½ hours to get just the right hand and the nut flush that gave him the winner. For Vance, a guy from St. Louis, a qualifying spot from PokerStars had gotten him to European and eventually, holding the winning hand.

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Bodog unveils huge new tournament

February 26, 2008

If you are interested in making a splash in the online poker series, along with a whole lot of cash, you need to check out the new tournament announced by Bodog. The Bodog Poker Open will begin Monday, March 3 on Bodog’s web site, bodoglife.com.

The Bodog Poker Open (BPO) will begin for players with five preliminary events, which all feed into the series’ championship. The Championship is the $500 buy-in BPO Main Event, which will cap things off on Sunday, March 9.

What will the winner get? The top cash prize, an engraved Omega Speedmaster watch and some series online poker bragging rights. Bodog wants to make sure it has one of the best prize pools available, too. So, in order to sweeten the pot for some of its best players, Bodog will add $75,000 to the BPO prize pools. This gives the entire tournament a larger prize pool and allows players to have more bang for their buck through their buy-ins.

In the announcement of the tournament, Bodog North American CEO Alwyn Morris talked about how special this tournament will be, because it’s the first.

“We’re excited to finally give our online players a tournament series where they can battle it out for some major bragging rights and serious money,” said Morris said. “While there will be more Bodog Poker Opens, there will only be one ‘first’ Bodog Poker Champion, and he or she will have the cash and champion’s Omega Speedmaster watch to show for it.”

The Bodog Poker Open’s preliminary tournament will be varied. Each will have its own buy-in among and Texas Hold ‘Em format. Some of the tournaments will be No Limit, some pot limit, limit and six-handed no limit. If you want to play, you can buy in directly into any of the preliminary events with cash or your Bodog Tournament Credits. There will also be many low-cost satellites, which have already begun. Winners of the preliminary tournaments will get intro the Bodog Poker Open Main event.

Here are some important dates for the Bodog Poker Open.

Monday, March 3: No Limit Tournament, $250 buy-in + 20, $10,000 added

Tuesday, March 4: No Limit 6-handed Tournament, $300 buy-in + 25, $10,000 added

Wednesday, March 5: Rebuy Tournament, $100 buy-in + 10, $10,000 added

Thursday, March 6: Pot Limit Tournament, $200 buy-in + 15, $10,000 added

Friday, March 7: Limit Tournament, $150 buy-in + 10, $10,000 added

Saturday, March 8: Satellite day.

Sunday, March 9: No Limit Main Event, $470 buy-in + 30, $25,000 added

Bodog already has one of the top online poker sites around, with this new tournament, the site will be able to give online players a shot at not only just another big payday, but a pretty prestigious title for someone to win. Being the winner of the inaugural Bodog Poker Open would be quite a boost to someones poker-playing resume.

Bodoglife.com offers a variety of other online poker games, including Omaha, Omaha Hi/Lo, 7-card stud, 7-card stud Hi/Lo and 5-card stud. The site also gives players a shot at many other big-time tournaments, including earning a qualifying spot in the World Series of Poker.

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Play The Pros at Full Tilt Poker

December 21, 2007

Full tilt has been around for a few years now, but I still remember the day that it opened. Everyone was excited that you could “play with the pros.” It was the first poker room of its kind, and it drew a lot of people in, and you know what? It still does! You see the shirts, you see the hats, and you see the funny commercials. So, you have to wonder - is it worth opening up an account there? Absolutely!

Full Tilt Poker Room is more than just a place to play poker. You can actually learn from the pros while watching them play, and you can pick up tips along the way. Although they certainly don’t play as much as they used to, you can still seem them on a table from time to time which is very cool if you are a new poker player. They also join in many of the tournaments which allows you to get on the same table with them without waiting through 100 people on the waiting list.

The bonus at Full Tilt Poker is unbelievable too, if you haven’t signed up yet. They give you 100% match good for up to $600.00. There is no question that it is worth it. The graphics are fun, and you can even pick out your own cartoon character to match your personality. I don’t know about you, but I love it. I first started when they had the 100% bonus and for the amount of play you get it is totally worth it. They have all sorts of limits, and although the play is extremely competitive, on the lower limit tables it can be more casual and fun if that is what you are looking for.

The newest thing about Full Tilt which will have everyone happy is that if you deposit via your Visa card, then you can withdraw via your Visa card - for more then what you deposited! That is absolutely fabulous if you hate to wait around for a check in the mail. You can withdraw up to $2500 per 24 hour period and $5000 per every 7 day period. It takes about 5 days to get to your card, but it is much faster then a check. Along with Epassporte there are plenty of good ways to withdraw now that Neteller has left the United States.

Full Tilt Poker is great for a beginner or a seasoned professional. So, take a glance over there and pretty soon you can start to play with Phil Ivey, Jennifer Harmon, Gus Hansen and more!

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