Poker Blog

If you’re looking for a way to pass the time in Europe before the World Series of Poker Europe events begin, look no further. Poker in the Park, Europe’s largest poker festival, will be held September 2nd and 3rd at Hanover Square in London. This new location is near the Oxford Circus Station, and this year’s event is absolutely free to anyone over the age of 18, so why not come out and play some poker and learn from the pros? Last year’s event drew 20,000 poker fans from all over the UK and elsewhere, with all the extras being added to this year’s lineup, the 2011 Poker in the Park will be the biggest yet!

Everything at the 2011 Poker in the Park is free (well, except for food and drinks), and the events that are planned for 2011 are definitely worth checking out. Unlike previous years, where players stood in long lines trying to get into the Poker Dome, a large tented area with sit-n-go action and space enough for 80 players, this year’s Poker in the Park has an extra two domes so that everyone can have a chance (or several) to play. The event is sponsored by PKR, Bluff, and Bodog Poker and has reached out to pubs across the UK to nab their best players, so expect to experience some real competition when you’re playing here.

If you’re wondering what kind of games you can play at Poker in the Park, we have your answer: in addition to the free tournaments that are running constantly in Poker Domes 1 and 2 during the event– there are a total of 10 on Friday and 18 on Saturday, starting every hour), you can take part in the Heads-up Marquee, where you compete on electronic poker tables in knockout tournaments for the title of Poker in the Park Heads-up Champion.

If you’re new to poker or you’re uneasy about taking your game against big names in poker just yet, fear not– Poker in the Park is more than equipped to help you learn the game or improve your playing. Swing by the Poker Pros’ Lecture Marquee for lectures (five on each day of the event) from famous poker players, or sit down with the pros at the Live Tuition Marquee and let them analyse your game and tell you what you’re doing wrong (or right!). Some of last year’s celebrity poker players included Annette Obrestad, Jamie Gold, Liv Boeree, and Peter Eastgate, and while the 2011 lineup isn’t announced yet, one thing is for certain– this experience could improve your poker game forever!

Also new in 2011 is the Poker in the Park Main Stage, which will house stand-up comics and live music, making this event something that the entire family can enjoy– even the non-poker players! If poker isn’t your thing and you instead fancy another type of game, the Mixed Game Marquee may be for you. This area will house a wide variety of games other than poker, including backgammon, rummy, and chess.

We’re now down to the November Nine here at the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event. This is the moment that everyone has been waiting for– the final table is set, and there will be, in four long months, a new WSOP champion. Because the action of the day has been so intense and every elimination counts as we moved from 22 remaining players to just nine, we’re going to give you a play-by-play of eliminations.

Lars Bonding was the first man out today, as the pocket aces he was holding met with the trip fours (two in the pocket and one on the flop) from Konstantinos Mamaliadis. He’ll go home with $302,005. Chris Moore, who started Day 8 short-stacked, was the next to hit the rail. He held pocket kings on his final hand against Makievskyi, but the flop gave the Russian a pair of aces, and the turn and river didn’t help Moore out any, sending him home with $302,005.

Mamaliadis made his second elimination of the day off Gionni Demers, who seemed simply to be tired of playing after losing some big pots early in the day. Demers went all-in on Ac5d against the South African’s pocket kings, and the 10c10h8d flop, 6s turn, and 7h river were of no use to him at all, sending him packing with $302,005. Meanwhile, one table over, another elimination was about to take place. Only two minutes after Demers fell, Aleksandr Mozhnyakov gave all his remaining chips to Sam Barnhart, who captured the pot with Ace high. Mozhnyakov, like the three players before him, went home with $302,005.

John Hewitt was responsible for the next man out– Kenny Shih failed to make a hand better than Hewitt’s once Hewitt made his flush draw, and Shih became the first person to hit the rail and take home the second prize level of $378,796. Sam Barnhart, who had already had a dazzling WSOP year as the winner of the WSOP circuit national championship as well as the Harrah’s Tunica Main Event, added another $378,796 to his wins this year as he exited the table in 17th place. Two minutes later, Ryan Lenaghan would head home with the same amount after Samuel Holden drew a flush that blew Lenaghan’s two pair out of the water.

Play began to slow after the break, with only the elimination of Andrey Pateychuk happening before ESPN called another break. With Pateychuk out, only 14 players remained, and Pius Heinz helped him on his way out with $478,174 when the German’s Jacks bested Pateychuk’s pocket AcQs when nothing useful came up on the board for either of them.

A little over an hour after the players returned, Scott Schwalich took a hit when Bryan Devonshire doubled off him (on a flop that came down as trip fours, no less), and it would cost him when he went head-to-head with chip leader O’Dea, whose Ace kicker took the pot (and the rest of Schwalich’s chips) when both players only came up with a pair of 10s. Schwalich goes home with $478,174.

O’Dea would go on to show the reason for his healthy chip lead again about an hour later, when he went up against Konstantinos Mamaliadis, who went all in with about 4 million chips with just an 8h2c in his hand. O’Dea held a pair of 7s, and when the board came up 5hJc9d6c8c, O’Dea got the straight that Mamaliadis wanted, sending the South African player home with $478,174 in 13th place. O’Dea was on a roll, though, and next, he sent Bryan Devonshire out in 12th place with $607,882, bringing his total chips up to over 39 million.

Forty minutes later, Khoa Nguyen would be the next player to hit the rail, as Martin Staszko was clearly tired of O’Dea monopolizing the eliminations. Staszko held pocket Kings while Nguyen held pocket 10s, and when the board came down with nothing to help either of them, Staszko went up to 30 million and Nguyen went home with $607,882.

It would be another five hours before the final table was determined, and it was once again O’Dea who was the determining factor at the table. John Hewitt had lost most of his chips to Badih Bounahra, and the Costa Rican, desperate to double up, went all in against O’Dea with just a pair of pocket threes. O’Dea managed to pull Broadway out of his hat, and with that, Hewitt was eliminated and went home with $607,882 and the final table was set.

The official chip counts for the November Nine are as follows:

1. Martin Staszko – 40,175,000
2. Eoghan O’Dea – 33,925,000
3. Matt Giannetti – 24,750,000
4. Phil Collins – 23,875,000
5. Ben Lamb – 20,875,000
6. Badih Bounahra – 19,700,000
7. Pius Heinz – 16,425,000
8. Anton Makievskyi – 13,825,000
9. Samuel Holden – 12,375,000

Stay tuned to Max Poker Bonus for more November Nine information!

Many of the professional players left in this year’s WSOP were eliminated on Day 7, but the remaining competitors are not short on talent. Hitting the felt on Day 7 were Sebastian Ruthenberg, JP Kelly, Erick Lindgren, Andrew Brokos, Tony Hachem, last-woman-standing Erika Moutinho, and Steve Brecher.

Eoghan O’Dea has quite a legacy to uphold– he’s the son of professional Irish poker player, 1998 bracelet winner, and former Olympic swimmer Donnacha O’Dea and grandson of actors Denis O’Dea and Siobhán McKenna– and he’s currently doing a good job of making quite a name for himself, as he sits in second place in chips with 19,050,000 after steadily climbing over the past few days of play. He made over 8 million of his chips in a single hand against Andrew Hinrichsen. The board ran out in all hearts and O’Dea held the Kh in his hand, while Hinrichsen’s AdKc was rendered useless, giving O’Dea the king-high flush and a big gain right in time for bagging.

Only one player is ahead of him– Anton Makievskyi holds the lead with 21,045,000 chips, many of which were gained in a single pot worth 20 million. He went head-to-head with Christopher Moore, who held trips, raising until all of Makievskyi’s money was in the middle; Makievskyi held a full house and took a large chunk of Moore’s money. Although Moore is still in the running for the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet, he’ll be starting Day 8 with only 3.04 million, the smallest stack remaining in the game. With Moore at the bottom of the list with stacks under 5 million are Sam Barnhart, winner of the WSOP circuit National Championship (4,935,000); Samuel Holden, the only Brit left in the tournament (4,740,000); Gionni Demers (4,655,000); Kenny Shih (4,530,000); Lars Bonding, who is on his fifth money finish at the WSOP this year and, until today, managed to stay near the lead (4,140,000); and Bounahra Badih (3,385,000).

Rounding out the top ten are Khoa Nguyen, Canada’s last hope for a WSOP Main Event bracelet this year, with 16.435 million chips; Russian Andrey Pateychuk, sitting strong with 16,245,000; Ben Lamb, who is currently in the lead for the 2011 WSOP Player of the Year race, having ousted Phil Hellmuth just two days earlier, with 14.69 million; Phil Collins, who is tired of being referred to as “not the guy from Genesis,” with 13,805,000; John Hewitt of Costa Rica, with 13.265 million chips; Day 6 leader Ryan Lenaghan, who has lost a couple million chips since yesterday and now rests with 10.415 million; Matt Giannetti, at 8.92 million; and Konstantinos Mamaliadis of South Africa, with 8.195 million.

Matt Giannetti was the topic of some talk early in Day 7 as he made considerable gains that would leave him in position 9 at the end of the day. Giannetti managed to take the chip lead at one point, thanks to Hilton Laborda, who allowed him a double up once, followed by a bust which gave Giannetti the rest of his chips. This isn’t the remarkable part, however. On both hands, Laborda held a decent hand– a flush. Both times, he was beaten by Giannetti, who managed to have a flush. Two hands that played out exactly the same way cost Laborda his spot and gave Giannetti some much-needed chips.

Once again, the chip leaders have changed drastically since the day previous. With only 22 players left in the running for the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet, the tables can’t turn too much more– but tune in tomorrow to see how the drama unfolds in Las Vegas.

Day 6 of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event has been a nail-biter, offering up more excitement than any of the previous days during this event. We went from 142 players to 57 on this most recent day of action, and with these eliminations came several levels of increases in payouts– while the players who went home today may be disappointed that they didn’t nab the bracelet, most will be poud that they managed to make a substantial money finish in the world’s largest poker competition.

Ryan Lenaghan is now the chip leader (where did he come from?) with 12,865,000 chips, a healthy lead over the rest of the competition, although he wasn’t the first player to break 10 million during this event– that distinction goes to Phil Collins (again, not the frontman for Genesis), who dominated the action today and sent multiple players to the rail. His first victim was Giuseppe Pastura, who didn’t make his flush draw and gave Collins another 2.1 million. After defeating Matthew Mantman, Collins had almost 7 million and was ready to take down Joseph Cheong, who vaulted Collins to 8.5 million. Thirty minutes later (you would think that players would keep away from Collins at this point, but apparently not), Collins bested Lance Steinberg with a straight and hit the 10 million chip mark. At the end of the day, Collins settled into fifth place with 7,240,000 chips and a good chance to be one of the eight players who cashes at over a million dollars today.

Behind Lenaghan in the race for first is Ben Lamb with 9,980,000. Ben Lamb has captured first place in another race today– he’s officially overtaken Phil Hellmuth’s lead for the 2011 World Series of Poker Player of the Year race. The Poker Brat will have to head to WSOP Europe for the seven events held there later this year if he wants a shot at PoY this year– but no doubt Ben Lamb will be there, too, fighting just as hard. After Lamb are Matt Giannetti (7,940,000), Andrey Pateychuk (7,255,000), Phil Collins, who is surely tired of every media source commenting on his name for the last two days, Hilton Laborda (7,160,000), Nelson Robinson (6,420,000), Tri Hunyh (6,295,000), and Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, who once held a chip lead and is still holding out to round off the top nine with 6,070,000. If you’ve been following the WSOP action, you know that there have been a lot of changes to the chip leaders from day to day– only three of the players currently in the top ten were there yesterday.

After the dinner break, both Erick Lindgren and Ben Lamb came back to find that WSOP and ESPN had moved them to the featured table– when they counted their chips, both players believed that they were short. WSOP officials report watching the video to make sure that all the chips transferred correctly, but Lindgren was less than happy about the situation and tweeted that they shouldn’t move someone’s chips without the individual present.

Some impressive players hit the rail today, including two of the three remaining female players: Amanda Musumeci left with $130,997, and Claudia Crawford took home $76,146. Erika Moutinho is the one remaining female player with around 2.1 million chips, and she will head off against her boyfriend, David Sands, who holds 2.7 million chips at the end of Day 6. Other notables no longer in play are Jean-Robert Bellande and Allen Cunningham, who both left with $108,412, Sorel Mizzi ($64,531), and Eli Elezra, with $54,851.

Day 5 of the 2011 World Series of Poker was the first day that all of the players are guaranteed a cash finish, and the action on Day 46 of the WSOP was vicious, with only 142 players still standing at the end of the day. 378 players had started out the day, and the chips switched hands over and over again until the leaders list saw some rearranging. There are now five players above the four million mark, with another seven right behind with over three million. Many familiar names top the list of those still standing, but on Day 5, we’ve had to say goodbye to yet more of our favourite players.

Max Heinzelmann, who started the day in tenth place after taking Shaun Deeb’s chips on a bad beat in Day 3, made yet another noteworthy hand on Saturday, although this time, he was on the wrong end of it. Heinzelmann held pocket aces (AsAh) against David Bach’s pocket kings (KsKd). Heinzelmann went all in pre-flop, but the flop didn’t help him with the Q, 7, 4 all in diamonds. The turn showed a 6h, not helping either player, but the river’s 3d gave Bach an unlikely flush and knocked Heinzelmann out of the game in 151st place, helping to vault Bach into the lead position, where he would sit at the end of the day with 4,706,000 chips.

Other well-known players who hit the rail today (and their final positions in this year’s main event) include Freddy Deeb (358), John Cernuto (345), Jon “Pearljammer Turner (344), Carter King (247), Peter Jetten (244), Kevin Saul (216), Daniel Negreanu (211), Matt Stout (186), Joe Tehan (185), Mark Newhouse (182), and Garry Gates (173). Robert Iler of The Sopranos fame was the last celebrity playing in the event after The Simpsons creator Sam Simon left the field yesterday. Iler walked away with $40,654 and finished in position 275.

Behind Bach in the fight for first place are Pius Heinz (4,699,000), Kyle Johnson (4,654,000), Phil Collins (not the drummer/vocalist from Genesis) at 4,109,000, and Ben Lamb (4,032,000), who is only about 30 spots away from taking Phil Hellmuth’s position in the lead of the Player of the Year race. It looks like this year’s PoY will come down to the seven events in WSOP Europe later this year. Also in the running for this year’s bracelet (in truth, everyone is still in the running, regardless of the size of their stacks) are Aleksandr Mozhnyakov, who held the chip lead earlier in the tournament and has managed to stay pretty high in the list throughout; Sebastian Ruthenberg, everyone’s favourite unflappable German who is keeping his healthy position with 3,354,000 chips; Lars Bonding (3,352,000); and Bryan Devonshire (3,292,000).

One familiar name from the list of chip leaders that you won’t be seeing anymore this year is Manoj Viswanathan, who held an impressive amount of chips going into Day 5 and lost them all, mostly to David Barter, who ended up busting Viswanathan after whittling down his stacks. Viswanathan’s dethroning reminds players and spectators alike that having a lead doesn’t always mean having a win– the chips can change hands in a second, and only one person can walk away with the bracelet and $8.7 million prize.

Finally, the point that everyone has been waiting for in the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event is here– the bubble has burst, and all of the remaining players have now entered the realm of the money finish. Since game play started on Friday, not only were the 853 players who made it this far whittled down, with 159 of them leaving without having anything to show for their time and effort, but the players with cash finishes moved quickly through five levels of pay amounts before the day was over.

The bubble boy distinction this year went to Reza Kashani of Irvine, CA– he was the last person to hit the rail without taking home money. According to World Series of Poker tradition, he will have free entry into the main event next year, something for which he’s probably very grateful (or he will be when the sting of this year wears off), given that he bought his way in to the WSOP this year. Also in the unfortunate minority of the day who leave empty-handed are Phil Hellmuth and Berry Johnston. 378 players remain, one of them Ben Lamb in 21st place with 1,268,000, who will take the lead spot in the Player of the Year race away from Phil Hellmuth if he manages to finish in the top 138. After the Main Event finishes, only the seven WSOP Europe events remain to determine the Player of the Year. Hellmuth, who was determined to capture a twelfth bracelet this year but failed, doesn’t seem worried about Lamb’s position right on his tail– he spent the rest of the day getting full spa treatment at the Aria Hotels Spa, then went to dinner and a movie with Mike Matusow.

Manoj Viswanathan captured the most chips at the end of Day 4, becoming the only player so far in the Main Event to amass over two million chips. He sits comfortable with 2,115,000, while Sam Barnhart is not far behind him with 1,925,000. Rounding out the rest of the top nine are Pius Heinz (1,887,000), Stephane Albertini (1,867,000), Daryl Jace (1,849,000), Lars Bonding (1,813,000), Kyle Johnson (1,761,000), Matthew Kay (1,756,000), and Mazin Khoury (1,707,000). Resting in tenth place is German Max Heinzelmann, who made news the day before by taking Shaun Deeb’s chips on a bad beat.

Other noteworthy players still in the running are Bryan Devonshire, JP Kelly, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Peter Feldman, Mark Newhouse, and Amanda Musumeci, all with over a million chips each. Joe Tehan, Joseph Cheong, Eli Elezra, Kevin Saul, Sorel Mizzi, Allen Cunningham, and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro have over 500k chips, as does Daniel Negreanu, who turned the 35k in chips he had at one point into over 600k by the close of Day 4.

The Main event of the 2011 World Series of Poker is slowly drawing to a close. One of the 378 players who remain will be the next champion, but it’s still anyone’s guess who that winner will be. There’s a lot of great talent still in the game and more still yet to be discovered– tune in tomorrow for the next installment in the WSOP 2011 saga.

As predicted, the rail was humming today with all the eliminations as the starting field of 1,864 players was cut down to 852. 693 of the players remaining will make the money as the action picks up again on Friday, but the money bubble comes at a high price– the added pressure often causes players to choke and play a sloppier game than they have before, as the WSOP bracelet now feels so close that the players can almost taste it.

Leading the pack at the end of Day 3 are Patrick Poirier (don’t worry– no one else has heard of him either) with 1,328,000, Darryl Jace, with 1,282,500, Chris Kwon (944,500), David Barter (917,500), Scott Smith (896,500), and Sebastian Ruthenberg, who is sitting at 889,000 and looking for a second WSOP bracelet. Day 2a leader Aleksandr Mozhnyakov sits in tenth place with 813,000.

Former champions Phil Hellmuth and Robert Varkonyi, the 1989 and 2001 Main Event winners, respectively, are still in the running, although both are a bit short-stacked; Hellmuth is holding on to 71,000 chips while Varkonyi has 168,000. Both players are considerably behind the players leading in chips, the top two of whom have over a million chips. Also still in the game are Isabelle Mercier (79,000), Ted Forrest (73,500), Rafe Furst (69,500), Lee Childs (67,000), Humberto Brenes (65,000), and Randal “RandALLin” Flowers (43,000).

Plenty of other familiar faces didn’t even make it far enough to end the day below average: tv stars Jason Alexander and Brad Garrett both hit the rail today, along with former Main Event champions Tom McEvoy, Huck Seed, and Joe Cada. Norwegian Wunderkind Annette Obrestad, who garnered a lot of attention years ago when she won a tournament without looking at her cards (save for once, on an all-in), tweeted that the bad cards she was being dealt were responsible for her small stack going into Day 3. Obrestad was eliminated shortly after the dinner break today. Jason Mercier, Greg Mueller, Matt Matros, Dan Shak, Noah Boeken, Galen Hall, Justin Bonomo, Carlos Mortensen, Sam Stein, Patrik Antonius, Matt Savage, and Ryan D’Angelo all hit the rail today, clearing out some significant talent in one day of play.

One of the most notable moments of Day 3 came when Las Vegas pro Shaun Deeb began his last hand of the 2011 World Series of Poker. Deeb was sitting on pocket Aces and was playing with two other players– one of them German Max Heinzelmann, with whom Deeb had played extensively online. He read the German and placed a five bet to bait his opponent into a six bet (the original raiser folded after four). Deeb raised again, and Heinzelmann went all in. Deeb called. The German was holding A6. The flop came down 10-6-K, and the turn brought the Q, making Deebs two pair look good. The river brought another 6, though, and Heinzelmann’s trip 6s took the pot. As though Deeb’s day wasn’t bad enough after losing a 430k pot on a bad beat, he returned to his hotel and found his laptop stolen. Some days you win, and, as Shaun Deeb has shown us, some days you lose… a lot.