Right now the second Durrrr Challenge is in full stream. Jungleman12, Daniel Cates stepped up to the Challenge and to the escrow. Unfortunately for Dwan, the player he goaded into playing is having the upper hand in the contes. But how did it get started. We have a couple of online chats thats give some insight of what got the candle lit. This time it will be straight Texas Hold'em poker with Pot Limit Omaha being forsaken.
Just as he did with Antonius (in the first still yet to be completed challenge) Dwan is offering up 3 to 1 action. Challengers must contribute 500k in escrow, while Durrrr puts up 1.5 million. The two will play 50,000 hands of No Limit Hold’Em or Pot Limit Omaha (which Cates has indicated he'll pass on) with blinds of 200/400 at at least four tables at one time. All profits in heads up play and kept, obviously, and the winner after 50k of hands gets all the money is escrow.
Currently, the first challenge has Tom Dwan up over 2 million dollars with more than 80% of the Challenge finished. It’s taken over a year and a half to play. Dwan has gone on the record as saying he’s up for playing more challenges at the same time.
The origin of the second challenge began with this conversation:
durrrr: y dont u take challenge
durrrr: since u never lose to me
jungleman12: i will prob
jungleman12: maybe
jungleman12: isnt bt next or something?
durrrr: i can do 2 at once
durrrr: ship ivey 500k n we will work out details
durrrr: get my aim from someone
jungleman12: ok
durrrr: i wanna crank out at least 2 of em before london if poss
jungleman12: ill talk to you over aim before doing it
durrrr: we could obv play in like 2 weeks
jungleman12: k
durrrr: kk gg
Dan Cates, didn't need too much persuading. Despite getting his start playing $0.25/$0.50 heads up cash games Cates has come a long way quickly, now he's playing the $200/$400 blinds of the Durrrr Challenge. Cates is super aggressive and obviously incredibly skilled. He already has students willing to pay him one to two thousand an hour.
The next conversation that preceded the challenge again involved Dwan pressing Cates to take it.
durrrr: did u send ivey $$ yet?
jungleman12: not yet
jungleman12: ill send now
jungleman12: how soon is soon?
durrrr: read ur phone…
jungleman12: ah i see
durrrr: few days at most
durrrr: did u send yet?
jungleman12: yeah
jungleman12: sent
durrrr: then i can start talking &&%%
durrrr: since we’re booked
jungleman12: ?
durrrr: and say that its cute u think u’ll ever have an edge =)
jungleman12: lol
jungleman12: you never seemed like the type
durrrr: never wanna scare off the fish =)
durrrr: but if they escrow….
durrrr: haha ok
durrrr: lmk if u wanna play if not we’ll start in a few days
durrrr: gl n stuff
jungleman12: u2
Wow, Dwan came out firing. This smacktalk hinted at a big things to come. For the most part the chatbox in the challenge which is almost 12 per cent completed has been a let down for people craving a verbal war as well as a raising war. For those thinking this was the antithesis of the Antonius challenge... and it started that way... the inactivity has to leave them disappointed.
The two fired off a couple of lengthy session, albeit without smack, but have since gone on a hiatus with travel much to blame.
Durrrr expressed an interest in wrapping things up before the before the World Series of Poker Europe tournament in London but it's been stalled for a couple of weeks. That's not necessarily a bad thing for Durrrr as he's started in a hole and might need some time to regroup.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Durrrr
Durrrr-dur-Durr-durr-Durrrrrrrrr. The sound of that collective exhaling are the biggest and richest poker players in the world sighing in relief. Tom "Durrrr" Dwan finished in second place at a final table at the World Series of Poker. In perhaps, the most heavily sweated final table ever with far more action on the side than in the event... eclipsing even the prop bet madness of Phil Ivey's final table at last years Main Event, Tom Dwan came in second. Tom Dwan played the casino to the other top players in the world betting against him and the casino almost won.
Phil Ivey is rumored to be on the hook for 9 million dollars if Dwan wins a bracelet this year. That's right 9 million dollars, that's more sweat then he gets playing craps or any other high stakes casino games. Durrrr set the odds at around 3 to 1, 3.25 to 1 that he'd win a bracelet and many of the high stakes regulars took him up on it. Given that it's estimated he would have won more that day than any other day in his career, and it's rumored the sidebets would total almost 15 million (bigger than any Main Event payday), the biggest action was around the table and not on it.
Afterall, the kid's niche is No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha, and his biggest successes are in cash games, and most of them are online not live. Those are the two varieties of poker most commonly played and at this years World Series ensured huge fields for both types of events. So perhaps, the big game players recognized a good opportunity when they saw it. Afterall Durrrr would have to navigate through massive fields, countless coin flips, and still win.
The fact that he would stretch himself thin just playing all the events to give himself a chance to win the bracelet would only make his live "Durrrr" challenge all the more harder as time went on. Phil Ivey last year made some bracelet bets and then promptly won two and had a shot at the third, but Ivey's wheelhouse is not that of a standard player. He plays every game well.
Thus, for Ivey he'd have a great chance at any type of poker. He honed his game playing stud in Atlantic city when he was underage, and already had a slew of bracelets and tournament wins in live poker, so Ivey's bet made more sense.
Tom Dwan, is never one to back down from a challenge, or to fire in a bet when the odds seem long for him to win. The kid has incredible self-belief and seeing how Ivey's prop bet fueled him last year, Dwan decided to seek the same motivation to make him relevant in the tournament scene.
This is a guy, after all, who made the Durrrr Challenge, just to get action, and everybody laughed at him laying three to one odds--he's currently beating up on Patrik Antonius and seems all but a lock to win the challenge. So what if some of the poker tournaments he'd be playing in would be relative new games. Dwan's all about instant excellence and surpassing expectations and limitations. His whole career has been about ostentatious self-belief and a quiet fire to win every pot possible.
As a relative nobody, except to online poker insiders, Dwan chastised Phil Hellmuth and challenged him to a duel upon making his debut to the televised poker wold, and hasn't stop challenging the establishment since. So what if Dwan might not have won his first bracelet, and his inexperience in closing out a poker tournament might bite him in the ass through the rest of the world series, but Dwan has a way of doing the unexpected, so much so, that it's almost expected these days.
Eventually, his action will dry up. Many players after last year said they'd stop betting against Phil Ivey doing anything when it comes to poker. If Dwan wins a bracelet this year, Phil Ivey might start saying he'll stop betting against Durrrr doing anything.
Phil Ivey is rumored to be on the hook for 9 million dollars if Dwan wins a bracelet this year. That's right 9 million dollars, that's more sweat then he gets playing craps or any other high stakes casino games. Durrrr set the odds at around 3 to 1, 3.25 to 1 that he'd win a bracelet and many of the high stakes regulars took him up on it. Given that it's estimated he would have won more that day than any other day in his career, and it's rumored the sidebets would total almost 15 million (bigger than any Main Event payday), the biggest action was around the table and not on it.
Afterall, the kid's niche is No Limit Hold'em and Pot Limit Omaha, and his biggest successes are in cash games, and most of them are online not live. Those are the two varieties of poker most commonly played and at this years World Series ensured huge fields for both types of events. So perhaps, the big game players recognized a good opportunity when they saw it. Afterall Durrrr would have to navigate through massive fields, countless coin flips, and still win.
The fact that he would stretch himself thin just playing all the events to give himself a chance to win the bracelet would only make his live "Durrrr" challenge all the more harder as time went on. Phil Ivey last year made some bracelet bets and then promptly won two and had a shot at the third, but Ivey's wheelhouse is not that of a standard player. He plays every game well.
Thus, for Ivey he'd have a great chance at any type of poker. He honed his game playing stud in Atlantic city when he was underage, and already had a slew of bracelets and tournament wins in live poker, so Ivey's bet made more sense.
Tom Dwan, is never one to back down from a challenge, or to fire in a bet when the odds seem long for him to win. The kid has incredible self-belief and seeing how Ivey's prop bet fueled him last year, Dwan decided to seek the same motivation to make him relevant in the tournament scene.
This is a guy, after all, who made the Durrrr Challenge, just to get action, and everybody laughed at him laying three to one odds--he's currently beating up on Patrik Antonius and seems all but a lock to win the challenge. So what if some of the poker tournaments he'd be playing in would be relative new games. Dwan's all about instant excellence and surpassing expectations and limitations. His whole career has been about ostentatious self-belief and a quiet fire to win every pot possible.
As a relative nobody, except to online poker insiders, Dwan chastised Phil Hellmuth and challenged him to a duel upon making his debut to the televised poker wold, and hasn't stop challenging the establishment since. So what if Dwan might not have won his first bracelet, and his inexperience in closing out a poker tournament might bite him in the ass through the rest of the world series, but Dwan has a way of doing the unexpected, so much so, that it's almost expected these days.
Eventually, his action will dry up. Many players after last year said they'd stop betting against Phil Ivey doing anything when it comes to poker. If Dwan wins a bracelet this year, Phil Ivey might start saying he'll stop betting against Durrrr doing anything.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
High Stakes Poker Season 6, Episode 7
Part one of high stakes below. You cast of players online poker greats; online online omaha poker experts Tom Dwan, Phil Ivey, and Patrik Antonius. Lex Veldhuis, Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Andrew Robl and a helping of every man Dennis Phillips.
There were no monster pots High Stakes Poker pots at play here but the players last week who got roughed up a bit, Patrik Antonius (ran his aces into Phil Ivey's kings), Lex Veldhuis who mixed it up with a mistimed bluff vs. Andrew Robl, were perhaps licking their wounds. Negreanu and Phillips got sliced and diced for value by Tom Dwan who kept improving on the river.
They entered the show with these stacks: Dwan over 700k. Antonius over 600k, Ivey 450k, Negreanu 320k, Rob 241k, Greenstein 117k. Nursing the little stacks under 100k were Phillips just at 99k and Veldhuis a smidge under 80k.
An early big hand was Daniel Negreanu vs. Andrew Robl. Negreanu had 33, Robl A3. The flop came out QQ3. They checked the flop. A deuce on the turn elicted a bet out of Negreanu, Robl called. A six hit the river and Negreanu regretted checking hoping to induce a bet, because the bet didn't come.
A big hand here again involved Andrew Robl. Barry Greenstein raised with KQ of clubs, Robl reraised it with Ak. Barry called. Flop came queen high and Barry checked. Robl bet and Barry called. Robl found some heart and led out 44k. Greenstein shoved and Robl had to fold. As Kaplan noted Greenstein could only fear AA, KK, JJ, and if Greenstein. Kaplan later compared Robl to Marlon Brando on the Waterfront.
Dennis Phillips eemed the most frustrated as his stack quickly dwindled. Like sand through fingers. Dennis came out with a raise of K7 suited. Tom Dwan with the same suit came over the top and bumped it with 102 suited. Phil Ivey probably recognizing Dwan's move considered raising for a moment but didn't. Instead he called with pocket threes. Flop came out 7 high giving Dennis the best hand.
Ivey checked, Dennis checked, and Dwan fired. Ivey went away. Dennis shoved and Dwan folded. He got ridiculed a bit for waiting for a K7. Greenstein was having the most fun with the fomer truck driver.
It took until almost the end of the show for the real hand to happen. Ivey led out with K10. Robl called with Ace of Spades, Queen of hearts. Patrik Antonius came over the top with a big raise. Everybody scattered until the action returned to Robl. Robl shoved, and Patrik insta-called. That wasn't so good for Robl. They ran it twice and Patrik Antonius won them both.
In general it was a pretty tepid show. Even Dwan got suckered into not value betting the river. Daniel Negreanu induced some eyerolls when he twice checked his best hand hoping to induce a bet instead of betting it. Dwan turned the screw on one suggesting Negreanu could have won a big pot.
In the last segment it got worse for Negreanu. Dwan repopped Negreanu's meager J8 raise. The flop came AJA. Negreanu was happy about that Jack. He shouldn't have been. Dwan bet the flop. Negreanu called. When a King hit the turn Dwan made the nuts with Ak in the hole. He put out a 1/3rd bet. Daniel came over the top for another 80k.
After some hollywooding Dwan called. Negreanu caught a break on the river as Dwan checked and Negeanu had to check behind.
There were no monster pots High Stakes Poker pots at play here but the players last week who got roughed up a bit, Patrik Antonius (ran his aces into Phil Ivey's kings), Lex Veldhuis who mixed it up with a mistimed bluff vs. Andrew Robl, were perhaps licking their wounds. Negreanu and Phillips got sliced and diced for value by Tom Dwan who kept improving on the river.
They entered the show with these stacks: Dwan over 700k. Antonius over 600k, Ivey 450k, Negreanu 320k, Rob 241k, Greenstein 117k. Nursing the little stacks under 100k were Phillips just at 99k and Veldhuis a smidge under 80k.
An early big hand was Daniel Negreanu vs. Andrew Robl. Negreanu had 33, Robl A3. The flop came out QQ3. They checked the flop. A deuce on the turn elicted a bet out of Negreanu, Robl called. A six hit the river and Negreanu regretted checking hoping to induce a bet, because the bet didn't come.
A big hand here again involved Andrew Robl. Barry Greenstein raised with KQ of clubs, Robl reraised it with Ak. Barry called. Flop came queen high and Barry checked. Robl bet and Barry called. Robl found some heart and led out 44k. Greenstein shoved and Robl had to fold. As Kaplan noted Greenstein could only fear AA, KK, JJ, and if Greenstein. Kaplan later compared Robl to Marlon Brando on the Waterfront.
Dennis Phillips eemed the most frustrated as his stack quickly dwindled. Like sand through fingers. Dennis came out with a raise of K7 suited. Tom Dwan with the same suit came over the top and bumped it with 102 suited. Phil Ivey probably recognizing Dwan's move considered raising for a moment but didn't. Instead he called with pocket threes. Flop came out 7 high giving Dennis the best hand.
Ivey checked, Dennis checked, and Dwan fired. Ivey went away. Dennis shoved and Dwan folded. He got ridiculed a bit for waiting for a K7. Greenstein was having the most fun with the fomer truck driver.
It took until almost the end of the show for the real hand to happen. Ivey led out with K10. Robl called with Ace of Spades, Queen of hearts. Patrik Antonius came over the top with a big raise. Everybody scattered until the action returned to Robl. Robl shoved, and Patrik insta-called. That wasn't so good for Robl. They ran it twice and Patrik Antonius won them both.
In general it was a pretty tepid show. Even Dwan got suckered into not value betting the river. Daniel Negreanu induced some eyerolls when he twice checked his best hand hoping to induce a bet instead of betting it. Dwan turned the screw on one suggesting Negreanu could have won a big pot.
In the last segment it got worse for Negreanu. Dwan repopped Negreanu's meager J8 raise. The flop came AJA. Negreanu was happy about that Jack. He shouldn't have been. Dwan bet the flop. Negreanu called. When a King hit the turn Dwan made the nuts with Ak in the hole. He put out a 1/3rd bet. Daniel came over the top for another 80k.
After some hollywooding Dwan called. Negreanu caught a break on the river as Dwan checked and Negeanu had to check behind.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
High Stakes Poker Season 6 Episode 1
High Stakes Poker on the Game Show Network is back. The first episode all portions below had some interesting No Limit Texas Hold 'Em action. There was about half live players and half online poker players. One familiar live poker player who likes to play online poker was in everybody's cross hairs, took the ribbing well, then picked up after losing one buy-in. Watch below find out who... All in all the online players, acquitted themselves well as many of them have already transitioned into simply being "poker players" by virtue of logging so many hours in live games too. More comments to follow the videos.
Now, having watched the videos you know who it was. Phil Hellmuth ran brutally bad all day almost as bad as when he decides to play poker online (or so he says). Running a king high flush into an ace high flush (but losing the minimum) was just one of the many hands he got coolered on. You could tell the frustration and the tilt started early as he naively folded to a bet and raise when he held AQ. Dario Mineiri raised with nothing, Tom Dwan reraised with little more (QJ) and Phil Hellmuth laid down AQ.
The flop brought three hearts and Dwan won the pot when he rivered a heart. His Jack of hearts played. Phil, of course, laid down the Queen of hearts. This pot seemed to simmer with him and it led to some bad decisions... it also showed the casual poker player that even some of the greatest live tournament poker players are susceptible to Tilt and other can make mistakes mere mortals make.
The new season of High Stakes Poker featured a booth with just Gabe Kaplan and no AJ Benza. This dynamic didn't really work. There was no straight man to Kaplan's jokes and half there humor when they fell flat was the reaction to them falling flat... now they are just flat. The new show featured sideline reporter Kara Scott who has a had a couple of deep World Series of Poker Main Event runs on her resume doing interviews with the players.
Her enthusiasm as a poker player was evident and its clear she'll ask the questions not as in the dark eye-candy but as someone with a knowledge base wide enough to engage the players. As American Reality shows have learned having a moderator or host with a British accent ups the "intellect" and sophistication even it's artificial.
Scott is not artificial and she just happens to be English so it was a good choice. As far as eye-candy goes there are certainly better hostesses out there for that (she's moving toward "poker room" hot and away from simply "hot" these days) so for once it appears the producers chose a beautiful woman based on her merits rather than her beauty.
In the action, Phil Ivey was the big winner. He had a chance to be an even bigger winner when he picked up Queens and Phil Hellmuth had AJ. Phil raised with AJ and Ivey moved all-in. Hellmuth stewed forever than mucked saying nice bluff. Ivey tossed his cards into the middle despite online poker phenom Tom Dwan trying to entice a show of the cards with a 2k chip.
Dwan said "I'll give you 2k if your hand was better than Jacks." Ivey smiled and refused. Afterward he said, "If you offered 5k I would have showed you my aces." Hellmuth seemed to smoulder in the background.
To twist the screw even more the best poker player in the world (Ivey) mucked his next hand as soon as he got it, saying "This is the same hand I had last time," implying he had bluffed Hellmuth with rags. The table got a big kicked out of it and steam almost came out of Hellmuth's ears.
Sure enough later he got adventurous with the type of hand he never plays and he flopped an straight draw and flush draw. He moved in on Phil Ivey on the turn. Ivey held a bigger flush draw and the King that had hit the turn paired his high card. He had to call.
With that the Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth picked up and then gave Scott a very even keeled interview. No telling when it was filmed, but if it was just after the session credit to Hellmuth. He ran really bad on the day and had the good sense to get out of there before too tilted and too coolered translated into too many lost buy-ins.
Now, having watched the videos you know who it was. Phil Hellmuth ran brutally bad all day almost as bad as when he decides to play poker online (or so he says). Running a king high flush into an ace high flush (but losing the minimum) was just one of the many hands he got coolered on. You could tell the frustration and the tilt started early as he naively folded to a bet and raise when he held AQ. Dario Mineiri raised with nothing, Tom Dwan reraised with little more (QJ) and Phil Hellmuth laid down AQ.
The flop brought three hearts and Dwan won the pot when he rivered a heart. His Jack of hearts played. Phil, of course, laid down the Queen of hearts. This pot seemed to simmer with him and it led to some bad decisions... it also showed the casual poker player that even some of the greatest live tournament poker players are susceptible to Tilt and other can make mistakes mere mortals make.
The new season of High Stakes Poker featured a booth with just Gabe Kaplan and no AJ Benza. This dynamic didn't really work. There was no straight man to Kaplan's jokes and half there humor when they fell flat was the reaction to them falling flat... now they are just flat. The new show featured sideline reporter Kara Scott who has a had a couple of deep World Series of Poker Main Event runs on her resume doing interviews with the players.
Her enthusiasm as a poker player was evident and its clear she'll ask the questions not as in the dark eye-candy but as someone with a knowledge base wide enough to engage the players. As American Reality shows have learned having a moderator or host with a British accent ups the "intellect" and sophistication even it's artificial.
Scott is not artificial and she just happens to be English so it was a good choice. As far as eye-candy goes there are certainly better hostesses out there for that (she's moving toward "poker room" hot and away from simply "hot" these days) so for once it appears the producers chose a beautiful woman based on her merits rather than her beauty.
In the action, Phil Ivey was the big winner. He had a chance to be an even bigger winner when he picked up Queens and Phil Hellmuth had AJ. Phil raised with AJ and Ivey moved all-in. Hellmuth stewed forever than mucked saying nice bluff. Ivey tossed his cards into the middle despite online poker phenom Tom Dwan trying to entice a show of the cards with a 2k chip.
Dwan said "I'll give you 2k if your hand was better than Jacks." Ivey smiled and refused. Afterward he said, "If you offered 5k I would have showed you my aces." Hellmuth seemed to smoulder in the background.
To twist the screw even more the best poker player in the world (Ivey) mucked his next hand as soon as he got it, saying "This is the same hand I had last time," implying he had bluffed Hellmuth with rags. The table got a big kicked out of it and steam almost came out of Hellmuth's ears.
Sure enough later he got adventurous with the type of hand he never plays and he flopped an straight draw and flush draw. He moved in on Phil Ivey on the turn. Ivey held a bigger flush draw and the King that had hit the turn paired his high card. He had to call.
With that the Poker Brat Phil Hellmuth picked up and then gave Scott a very even keeled interview. No telling when it was filmed, but if it was just after the session credit to Hellmuth. He ran really bad on the day and had the good sense to get out of there before too tilted and too coolered translated into too many lost buy-ins.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Poker News from Around the world
Lots of bits and pieces from the wide world of poker. Let's start with one of online poker's biggest stars and best players...
Anette Obrestad aka Anette15 aka The Huntress? Heard of her? You know who she is... The girl who played a poker tournament without looking at her hole cards and won. The girl that never deposited money online and built her bankroll to millions by starting off in freerolls and working her way up from micro stakes.
The online poker superstar that just turned 21 and will now be kicking butt in the World Series of Poker and decimating the ancient 22 and 23 year olds that used to dominate. Yeah, she's good. Well, she just won a Pot Limit Omaha tournament. Yeah, the girl is not only one of the world's best online No Limit Texas Hold 'Em players apparently she's well rounded and better than you at Pot Limit Omaha too.
Anette Obrestad is the queen of the new age of poker player, the online poker player that we profile here at Online Poker Player. She's good. She's also been on Poker After Dark recently holding her own. If that show was on say six years ago, not only would she have been 15 (Anette15) and presumably starting to learn poker but likely the next player would have been getting a lot more invites than he's currently gotten.
Speaking of online poker, if not for it, TJ Cloutier may not have found himself in a position where he needed to sell one of his World Series of Poker bracelets. Some would say the toll of a craps habit may have more to do with his financial distress than the new breed of players but poker hasn't gotten any easier and many of the old guard have quietly disappeared into the shadows. No longer are they crushing tournaments with strategies that are at best outdated and at worst predictable and obvious.
The poker boom was a boon to many, but after a few years of trying to wade through enormous fields, those players that couldn't adapt or find a sponsor, soon found their bankrolls drying up. TJ's a great guy and a terrific storyteller about poker but the fact he is putting his bracelet up for sale shows you how quickly poker can turn on even its best players.
Cloutier's bracelet is 14 karat gold. It's from his 2005 $5,000 No Limit Hold 'Em championship. Cloutier had to beat 466 players to win the totem, apparently bidders have to beat none, because nobody has placed a bid on Cloutier's memento yet.
Speaking of old school vs. new, Jeff Madsen the youngster who was recently crowned World Series of Poker player of the year is mixing it up with Doyle Brunson in regard to politics. Brunson is a guy who has no qualms adapting to new technologies and started the recent hubub by posting an Obama joke on twitter. Something along the lines of "The Dems keep telling us to give the President time. I'm all for it, how's 10 to 20."
Madsen took the bait and went after Doyle's politics a little bit. Whippersnappers never learn. Doyle informed the kid that he too used to be in favor of handouts but now he's all for people earning their own money. A few followers threw the racist card at Doyle and he protested. Good little controversy though.
Normally the online poker player would rather support the online poker player but in this fight it's hard to pick who is the live player and who is the online player. Both have bigger successes playing live but both are tied to online sites. Since Doyle has his own site we'll call him the online guy despite being the old-school of the two.
Anette Obrestad aka Anette15 aka The Huntress? Heard of her? You know who she is... The girl who played a poker tournament without looking at her hole cards and won. The girl that never deposited money online and built her bankroll to millions by starting off in freerolls and working her way up from micro stakes.
The online poker superstar that just turned 21 and will now be kicking butt in the World Series of Poker and decimating the ancient 22 and 23 year olds that used to dominate. Yeah, she's good. Well, she just won a Pot Limit Omaha tournament. Yeah, the girl is not only one of the world's best online No Limit Texas Hold 'Em players apparently she's well rounded and better than you at Pot Limit Omaha too.
Anette Obrestad is the queen of the new age of poker player, the online poker player that we profile here at Online Poker Player. She's good. She's also been on Poker After Dark recently holding her own. If that show was on say six years ago, not only would she have been 15 (Anette15) and presumably starting to learn poker but likely the next player would have been getting a lot more invites than he's currently gotten.
Speaking of online poker, if not for it, TJ Cloutier may not have found himself in a position where he needed to sell one of his World Series of Poker bracelets. Some would say the toll of a craps habit may have more to do with his financial distress than the new breed of players but poker hasn't gotten any easier and many of the old guard have quietly disappeared into the shadows. No longer are they crushing tournaments with strategies that are at best outdated and at worst predictable and obvious.
The poker boom was a boon to many, but after a few years of trying to wade through enormous fields, those players that couldn't adapt or find a sponsor, soon found their bankrolls drying up. TJ's a great guy and a terrific storyteller about poker but the fact he is putting his bracelet up for sale shows you how quickly poker can turn on even its best players.
Cloutier's bracelet is 14 karat gold. It's from his 2005 $5,000 No Limit Hold 'Em championship. Cloutier had to beat 466 players to win the totem, apparently bidders have to beat none, because nobody has placed a bid on Cloutier's memento yet.
Speaking of old school vs. new, Jeff Madsen the youngster who was recently crowned World Series of Poker player of the year is mixing it up with Doyle Brunson in regard to politics. Brunson is a guy who has no qualms adapting to new technologies and started the recent hubub by posting an Obama joke on twitter. Something along the lines of "The Dems keep telling us to give the President time. I'm all for it, how's 10 to 20."
Madsen took the bait and went after Doyle's politics a little bit. Whippersnappers never learn. Doyle informed the kid that he too used to be in favor of handouts but now he's all for people earning their own money. A few followers threw the racist card at Doyle and he protested. Good little controversy though.
Normally the online poker player would rather support the online poker player but in this fight it's hard to pick who is the live player and who is the online player. Both have bigger successes playing live but both are tied to online sites. Since Doyle has his own site we'll call him the online guy despite being the old-school of the two.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Poker Predictions and Resolutions for the New Year
Predictions:
World Series of Poker:
The Main Event will break a record for most Day 1D players. The World Series will not turn away any players this year but find themselves having to play 11 handed in some areas. Phil Hellmuth's entourage will be bigger.
No player will match Jeffrey Lisandro's three bracelet's in one series. In fact, only one player will win two. Phil Ivey will suffer a similar hangover as player of the year from two years ago Eric Lindgren did this year.
Doyle Brunson will not make a final table or a day two.
A woman will win a bracelet and make it to the Main Event final table.
An internet pro will go from waking up to play poker online, to waking up as the best online poker player in the world AND the best live player in the world by virtue of winning the main event. He will be young, cocky, and a tad geeky. Joe Cada won't have to worry about sharing the endorsement dollars. The young gun will be well more well known than Cada by the Pocket Fives crew but unknown to the rest of the world and Norman Chad.
Bax and Sheets will back another final table player.
Chris Moneymaker will make a final table and contend for a bracelet.
Johnny Chan will also go deep in a NL Hold 'Em Event but not win another bracelet.
Phil wins! Phil wins! Phil Hellmuth will win another bracelet and add to his impressive ITM finishes.
One of the many 1k stimulus tournaments (the first one in all likelihood) will set a record for participants if they decide not to cap the total.
A name pro will make the Main Event final table. The entire poker world will be behind him and he'll go out softly just like Phil Ivey this year.
POKER WORLD IN GENERAL
U.I.E.G.A. will be repealed, overturned, nullified, and rendered moot. Hey, no reason not be optimistic.
After the repeal a major European poker site will become a major player in the United States market. Players will time their sleeping patterns to play online poker in the softest games from around the world.
Middling players will continue to flock to Asia to play in softer games and cheaper living expenses.
Rounders2 will get off the ground. It will focus on online poker and Mike McD will have become a Phil Ivey type character that is well rounded in all games, live and online.
Two major poker magazines will merge.
A player will win two major Sunday tournaments at the same time on one Sunday. The Internet will crack in half.
Another major cheating scandal will be uncovered. Rather than online superusers it will be a team of live players who have started to play together after the economy hurt their bottom line. It will also involve floor and dealers as periphery assistants.
Major poker rooms in Las Vegas will close.
Somebody will consider a round the clock poker channel.
An upstart will win the NBC heads up championship. It won't be Tom Dwan but it will be a youngster like Jonathan Little.
More and more young players will give up the game.
Poker training sites will merge.
Greg Raymer will contemplate running for office. His Pokerstars job will keep him playing poker.
Daniel Negreanu and Eric Lindgren will win their team prop bet this year as both have successful World Series.
Phil Ivey will lose an unheard of amount of money playing craps. It will make the national news.
A current major sports star, a Michael Phelps sized star, maybe Phelps himself will go deep in a major tournament.
World Series of Poker:
The Main Event will break a record for most Day 1D players. The World Series will not turn away any players this year but find themselves having to play 11 handed in some areas. Phil Hellmuth's entourage will be bigger.
No player will match Jeffrey Lisandro's three bracelet's in one series. In fact, only one player will win two. Phil Ivey will suffer a similar hangover as player of the year from two years ago Eric Lindgren did this year.
Doyle Brunson will not make a final table or a day two.
A woman will win a bracelet and make it to the Main Event final table.
An internet pro will go from waking up to play poker online, to waking up as the best online poker player in the world AND the best live player in the world by virtue of winning the main event. He will be young, cocky, and a tad geeky. Joe Cada won't have to worry about sharing the endorsement dollars. The young gun will be well more well known than Cada by the Pocket Fives crew but unknown to the rest of the world and Norman Chad.
Bax and Sheets will back another final table player.
Chris Moneymaker will make a final table and contend for a bracelet.
Johnny Chan will also go deep in a NL Hold 'Em Event but not win another bracelet.
Phil wins! Phil wins! Phil Hellmuth will win another bracelet and add to his impressive ITM finishes.
One of the many 1k stimulus tournaments (the first one in all likelihood) will set a record for participants if they decide not to cap the total.
A name pro will make the Main Event final table. The entire poker world will be behind him and he'll go out softly just like Phil Ivey this year.
POKER WORLD IN GENERAL
U.I.E.G.A. will be repealed, overturned, nullified, and rendered moot. Hey, no reason not be optimistic.
After the repeal a major European poker site will become a major player in the United States market. Players will time their sleeping patterns to play online poker in the softest games from around the world.
Middling players will continue to flock to Asia to play in softer games and cheaper living expenses.
Rounders2 will get off the ground. It will focus on online poker and Mike McD will have become a Phil Ivey type character that is well rounded in all games, live and online.
Two major poker magazines will merge.
A player will win two major Sunday tournaments at the same time on one Sunday. The Internet will crack in half.
Another major cheating scandal will be uncovered. Rather than online superusers it will be a team of live players who have started to play together after the economy hurt their bottom line. It will also involve floor and dealers as periphery assistants.
Major poker rooms in Las Vegas will close.
Somebody will consider a round the clock poker channel.
An upstart will win the NBC heads up championship. It won't be Tom Dwan but it will be a youngster like Jonathan Little.
More and more young players will give up the game.
Poker training sites will merge.
Greg Raymer will contemplate running for office. His Pokerstars job will keep him playing poker.
Daniel Negreanu and Eric Lindgren will win their team prop bet this year as both have successful World Series.
Phil Ivey will lose an unheard of amount of money playing craps. It will make the national news.
A current major sports star, a Michael Phelps sized star, maybe Phelps himself will go deep in a major tournament.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Manage your tournament poker structure with an App
Recently decided to invest in a mac. Was worried about where to play, and as you know, and as I've written about in the past there is one online poker site, bwin, that takes care of us. In fact, it's always taken care of us. Frankly we mac users are a little cooler than pc users, or at least that's what Mac's advertising is selling.
So when I want to play poker on a mac, I'm obviously heading over to bwin's poker platform. What do I do when I'm playing live. Well, usually I use my phone to set an alarm to configure blinds and antes for a small tournament when I play at my boys house. Now, there's an app for that.
Bwin is again, on the bleeding edge and technology savvy freaks will enjoy their iPhones even more. Got an iPhone? Well, now when somebody is complaining about a blinds and antes structure you'll be the man, large and in charge. Now the tournament director is in your pants. (Get your mind out of the gutter)
The app, like all apps for the iPhone, is available in the Apple’s iTunes App Store. iTunes, is like a superstore. This is a far better App than your Peppermint Patty wallpaper. Search for Tournament Clock. Is it hard to use you may ask? And that's fine, I'll answer that...
No, the interface is just the opposite, it's dang near intuitive (as though it can guess what you are thinking--course that would be weird because then it would be aware you are thinking--iPhone's aren't that sophisticated... yet). Let's just say it is simple and easy to use.
Features include a toggle that allows you to adjust your home tournament's blind structure and level time limits. Or just jump right in using the “Quick Mode.” This is a blessing for all of us, who have difficulty setting our phones remembering which level is next or figuring out what the average chip stack is.
There is a wide latitude of things you can do with this intuitive, excuse me simple and easy to use interface. You'll be humming along in no time, probably right after you load it and it can't be any simpler to use. Us mac users and iphone owners can attest to how easy apple makes their computing and bwin has matched that simple sophistication. The best feature is being able to expand on the tournament organization and manipulate the variable controls.
You can go as far as creating profiles of the players, yeah, your friends. Put their pictures up there and what seat they are in, and then boot them when the bust out. Obviously, bwin is capable of putting together a solid product, with over 20 million customers who bet on sports, play poker, blackjack, roulette, and play casino games they are an industry leader. They've already diversified by streaming audio and video of events you can bet on, now they are taking their online poker knowledge to your live tournament game.
So when I want to play poker on a mac, I'm obviously heading over to bwin's poker platform. What do I do when I'm playing live. Well, usually I use my phone to set an alarm to configure blinds and antes for a small tournament when I play at my boys house. Now, there's an app for that.
Bwin is again, on the bleeding edge and technology savvy freaks will enjoy their iPhones even more. Got an iPhone? Well, now when somebody is complaining about a blinds and antes structure you'll be the man, large and in charge. Now the tournament director is in your pants. (Get your mind out of the gutter)
The app, like all apps for the iPhone, is available in the Apple’s iTunes App Store. iTunes, is like a superstore. This is a far better App than your Peppermint Patty wallpaper. Search for Tournament Clock. Is it hard to use you may ask? And that's fine, I'll answer that...
No, the interface is just the opposite, it's dang near intuitive (as though it can guess what you are thinking--course that would be weird because then it would be aware you are thinking--iPhone's aren't that sophisticated... yet). Let's just say it is simple and easy to use.
Features include a toggle that allows you to adjust your home tournament's blind structure and level time limits. Or just jump right in using the “Quick Mode.” This is a blessing for all of us, who have difficulty setting our phones remembering which level is next or figuring out what the average chip stack is.
There is a wide latitude of things you can do with this intuitive, excuse me simple and easy to use interface. You'll be humming along in no time, probably right after you load it and it can't be any simpler to use. Us mac users and iphone owners can attest to how easy apple makes their computing and bwin has matched that simple sophistication. The best feature is being able to expand on the tournament organization and manipulate the variable controls.
You can go as far as creating profiles of the players, yeah, your friends. Put their pictures up there and what seat they are in, and then boot them when the bust out. Obviously, bwin is capable of putting together a solid product, with over 20 million customers who bet on sports, play poker, blackjack, roulette, and play casino games they are an industry leader. They've already diversified by streaming audio and video of events you can bet on, now they are taking their online poker knowledge to your live tournament game.
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