Read More...
Thursday, April 30, 2015
ANZPT Canberra Final Table Player Profiles
^
It's a fantastic line up and should produce a thrilling finale. Here's a little more background about our ANZPT Canberra final table participants...
Seat 1: Luke Edwards (PokerStars Qualifier) - Barwon Heads, Victoria
Luke Edwards is a 26-year old who works in the IT industry. He has been playing poker for five years after being inspired by none other than the great Tony Hachem. Luke is no stranger to ANZPT final tables after finishing second to Brotha D in last season's ANZPT Darwin event. Luke claims he is a nit who has been running like God, so he'll be looking to bring that form into the final table and rely on his previous experience to go one place better!
Seat 2: George Graziani - Sydney, New South Wales
George Graziani is a 38-year old motor mechanic from Sydney who describes himself as a "top bloke". We like top blokes so it's great to see this amateur reach his first major poker final table. He has been playing poker for four years after his mates got him into the game. George credits "solid play" as helping his reach this stage of the tournament and he will be keen to go all the way!
Seat 3: Tony Kambouroglou - Sydney, New South Wales
One of the cult heroes of Australian poker, Tony Kambouroglou is easily identifiable in any poker tournament by his trademark toothpick. A painter by trade, "Toothpick" has been playing poker for five years in both cash games and tournaments. With over US$200,000 in career tournament earnings, Tony has plenty of experience and support at today's final table as he strives to become the first toothpick to win an ANZPT title.
Seat 4: Andrew Watson (PokerStars Player) - Wollongong, New South Wales
Another fine product of the 'gong, Andrew Watson is a 24-year old with an impressive online and live poker resume. Andrew is known for his runner-up finish in last season's ANZPT Queenstown event, but he's also one of the country's finest online poker talents. Under the moniker "higher wattage", Watson is currently ranked 3rd online in Australia and will be a real threat here on this final table.
Seat 5: James Broom - Melbourne, Victoria
One of the most dangerously talented players in the country, James Broom is known for playing any two cards, anywhere, anytime. The 2008 Melbourne Championships Main Event winner has one previous ANZPT final table to his credit, a ninth place at the inaugural event in Adelaide back in 2009. Interestingly, this is the first tournament cash for Broom since that result, so he'll be keen to make this a big one. He has also final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Million and Warmup amongst an impressive online resume.
Seat 6: Khiem Nguyen - Wiesbaden, Germany
Khiem Nguyen is the only International player on this final table. Originally from Germany, Khiem is currently based out of Brisbane as he travels around the world on a backpacking-poker adventure. Khiem has been playing for five years and has built up a very impressive poker resume that includes a 2010 EPT Germany side event trophy, a third place in the 2010 Master Classic of Poker in Amsterdam worth over €140,000 as well as a third place in the Macau Millions this April for HK$200,000. Khiem was the chip lead entering the final day of play and will be hard to stop!
Seat 7: Xiuming "Sammy" Huang (PokerStars Qualifier) - Bonner, Australian Capital Territory
Sammy Huang is the lone local on this final table after being introduced to the game six years ago by his friends. Sammy enjoys both No Limit Holdem and Pot Limit Omaha and has several tournament results to his credit including runner-up in the 2009 Macau Poker Cup Red Dragon for HK$268,465 in prize money. Sammy was inspired by the greats of the game in Johnny Chan and Doyle Brunson and will be looking to replicate their greatness with victory here this afternoon.
Seat 8: Tristan Bain - Melbourne, Victoria
Tristan Bain is another of the talented, young guns at this final table. At 25-years of age, Tristan has been playing poker for four years after previously working as a dealer at Crown Casino. Interestingly, he is coached by none other than James Broom. That explains his aggressive style which was highlighted by his shove with six-eight offsuit to burst the bubble late last night. Away from poker Tristan enjoys AFL and golf, and he has ambitions to one day play high stakes poker all around the world.
Seat 9: Leigh Warne - Melbourne, Victoria
Leigh Warne is a 33-year old salesman from Melbourne who is another from the James Broom brood. The good mates have been playing together for several years, with Warne normally found in the cash games up to $5/10NL. Warne did final table the Melbourne Championships final table back in 2006, but he'll be looking to go a little further than his sixth place finish on that occasion.
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: PokerStars Poker Blog :: Tournaments]
Amaya Gaming to acquire PokerStars for nearly $5 Billion
Amaya struck the deal with Oldford Group Limited, the holding company for Rational Group and will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Oldford Group in an all-cash transaction for an aggregate purchase price, which includes certain differed payments and is subject to other customary adjustments.
The transaction will be financed by a combination of cash on hand, new debt, and a private placement of subscription receipts, common shares and non-voting convertible preferred.
PokerStars’ senior management team will remain with the group but the deal means Oldford shareholder and PokerStars chief executive Mark Scheinberg “will resign from all positions with Oldford Group and its subsidiaries”.
With Mark Scheinberg’s father and PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg having stepped down from any involvement with the group as part of its dealings with the US Department of Justice, the path has been cleared for the company to potentially return to the US market, starting with the state of New Jersey, where Amaya has casino content deals with a number of licensed operators.
Rational Group recorded revenues of US$1.1bn and adjusted EBITDA of US$420m in 2013, up on 2012’s US$976m and US$342m respective figures. The group’s 2013 cash flow stands at US$317m.
Amaya said that the deal would “be immediately accretive to earnings and provide strong cash flow from operations”.
“This is a transformative acquisition for Amaya, strengthening our core business-to-business operations with a consumer online powerhouse that creates a scalable global platform for growth,” Amaya chief executive officer David Baazov said.
Similar Stories from This Week in Gambling:
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: This Week in Gambling » Poker News and Features]
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Eureka5 Rozvadov Final Day: Level 29 - 32 (100,0000/200,000, 25,000)
7:15pm: Break time
The players are on a 15-minute break. Next level updates will appear in a new post, found here.
7:15pm: Blasko's turn to double
Marek Blasko has doubled up to 2.935 million through Ruben Pleijster, who didn't hold on to those newly won chips very long.
Blasko moved all in for 1.405 million from the small blind and Pleijster called from the big blind.
Blasko: A♠9♥
Pleijster: K♣2♥
The board ran 4♣Q♥5♠3♠8♦. Pleijster dropped back to 1.825 million.
7pm: Double Dutch for Pleijster
Start of day chip leader, Ruben Pleijster, has doubled up and found himself back in the hunt for the title.
He was down to 1.690 million when he moved all in from the cutoff. Current chip leader, Raphel Winner made the call from the big blind.
Pleijster: 3♣3♥
Wimmer: A♠5♣
The board ran 5♠T♠9♣7♣4♠ to pair the Dutchman's five. He moved up to 3.605 million whereas Wimmer dropped to 6.48 million.
6:42pm: Final 5 chip counts
Seat, Name, Country, - Chips
1. Marek Blasko, Slovakia - 1,095,000
2. Ruben Pleijster, Netherlands - 1,375,000
3. Rastislav Paleta, Czech Republic - 3,565,000
4. Josef Gulas, Czech Republic - 6th place
5. Josef Pavelka, Czech Republic - 2,780,000
6. Branislav Ondrus, Slovakia - 7th place
7. Raphel Wimmer, Germany - 7,795,000
6:40pm: Josef Gulas eliminated in 6th place (€25,630)
The second player of the day to bust was Josef Gulas who will take home €25,630 for a few days of work
Before he busted, he had shoved with K♥8♥ from the button and managed to pick up the blinds antes. Next time though, he found a customer.
Marek Blasko opened to 400,000 from the hijack before Gulas moved all in for 1.065million from the small blind and Josef Pavelka did the same, for 1.165 million from the big blind. Blasko went into another tank and eventually folded A♠5♥.
Gulas: 6♠6♥
Pavelka: Q♣Q♠
The board ran 2♦3♥2♣8♦7♦.
6:30pm: Missing - flops. Last seen before 6pm
With four (of the six) players so short, it's not surprising that no flops have been dealt for more than half an hour. The play is all pre flop shoving and no calls, right now.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100,000/200,000, 25,000
6:10pm: Updated chip counts
Seat, Name, Country, - Chips
1. Marek Blasko, Slovakia - 1,500,000
2. Ruben Pleijster, Netherlands - 1,020,000
3. Rastislav Paleta, Czech Republic - 3,210,000
4. Josef Gulas, Czech Republic - 1,350,000
5. Josef Pavelka, Czech Republic - 1,350,000
6. Branislav Ondrus, Slovakia - 7th place
7. Raphel Wimmer, Germany - 8,115,000
5:55pm: ICM fold from Paleta
There has been a lot of surprising folding going on today from the players, but one just now from Rastislav Paleta, made more sense.
He opened to 320,000 from the cutoff with T♣T♦ and was shoved on by Raphel Wimmer who had A♥K♥ in the big blind. Tens are a big hand but Paleta must've wanted to maintain his second position in the counts as he folded.
5:40pm: Blasko makes another big fold
Raphel Wimmer has taken firm control over the final with 7.42million after Marek Blasko made a big fold against him.
Wimmer raised to 32,000 from the cutoff before Blasko three-bet big to 1.4million, leaving 1.2million back. It seemed as if he was committed but he thought for a few minutes and folded K♣Q♥ after Wimmer shoved on him. It turned out that he was behind as Wimmer was holding A♥A♠.
5:28pm: Chip counts from the break
Seat, Name, Country, - Chips
1. Marek Blasko, Slovakia - 2,940,000
2. Ruben Pleijster, Netherlands - 1,920,000
3. Rastislav Paleta, Czech Republic - 3,350,000
4. Josef Gulas, Czech Republic - 2,030,000
5. Josef Pavelka, Czech Republic - 1,630,000
6. Branislav Ondrus, Slovakia - 7th place
7. Raphel Wimmer, Germany - 5,190,000
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 80,000-160,000, 20,000
5:08pm: Break time
The remaining six players are on their first break of the day.
5pm: Branislav Ondrus eliminated in 7th place (€18,680)
Someone had to go first and it ended up being Branislav Ondrus.
The action folded to him on the button and he moved all in for his last 1,395,000. Raphel Wimmer was on the button and made the call.
Ondrus: K♣Q♣
Wimmer: A♥9♣
The board ran J♣5♠9♠T♠7♥ and Wimmer's friends on the rail erupted as their man took the scalp to move clear at the top of the counts with 4.79million.
4:50pm: Blasko fades spades for a double
A strange blind-on-blind hand played out between Marek Blasko and Ruben Pleijster that helped the former to double to 3.12million.
The action folded to Blasko in the small blind and he raised to 1.01million. Pleijster just called and Blasko moved all in blind for his remaining 360,000 and Pleijster called before the flop fanned 2♠4♥A♠.
Blasko opened A♥J♥ for top pair and Pleijster showed Q♠J♠. An action flop despite no more action to occur!
The board ran out Q♣9♥ and Pleijster's dropped to 1.36million. That was the first all in showdown of the day.
4:45pm: Jacks not a favourite hand today
Another player has managed to raise with pocket jacks and then find a fold to a three-bet.
Josef Gulas made it 240,000 to go from the cutoff but tank-folded after Josef Pavelka three-bet to 600,000 from the next seat with ace-queen. It was a surprisingly fold again but Pavelka has been playing very snug so far today.
The final day is still awaiting its first all in.
4:30pm: Chip counts
Seat, Name, Country, - Chips
1. Marek Blasko, Slovakia - 1,410,000
2. Ruben Pleijster, Netherlands - 3,270,000
3. Rastislav Paleta, Czech Republic - 1,985,000
4. Josef Gulas, Czech Republic - 1,850,000
5. Josef Pavelka, Czech Republic - 1,880,000
6. Branislav Ondrus, Slovakia - 1,375,000
7. Raphel Wimmer, Germany - 3,455,000
4:15pm: Same players, same outcome
Marek Blasko and Rastislav Paleta played out an almost identical hand once into the new level. The result was the same, the hands were different though.
Blasko opened to 240,000 from mid position with J♠J♣ before Paleta moved all in for 1,445,000 from the hijack with A♥K♦. Blasko tanked even longer this time but, once again, found a fold to drop to 1.5million.
LEVEL UP: BLINDS 60,000/120,000, 20,000
4:02pm: Blasko makes good fold
Marek Blasko was put in a tricky spot with A♦T♥ after he made a 200,000 raise from the cutoff. Rastislav Paleta was on the button and three-bet all in for his last 1,045,000 with A♣J♦.
Blasko thought for several minutes before making a disciplined, and correct, fold.
3:50pm: Cagey play
The final day is still waiting it's first all in and call; it's almost as of no one wants to be the first out. The pressure will really be on some stacks when the blinds increase shortly.
Branislav Ondrus opened a pot to 200,000 from the cutoff holding J♦2♦ before Ruben Pleijster set him all in for his remaining 1.1million from the big blind holding K♦Q♠. Ondrus folded.
Rastislav Paleta was involved in two pots, one he won uncontested; the other went the way of Raphel Wimmer.
First up, he moved all in fro 1.35 million from the small blind and Josef Gulas folded his big blind. A couple of hands later, he raised to 200,000 from the cutoff and Wimmer defended his big blind. The board ran out 3♥Q♠9♦6♠A♣ with neither player betting until the river where Wimmer check-called a 250,000 bet with A♥7♦. It was good as Paleta was bluffing with K♠J♥.
3:30pm: Gulas in the action early on
Two interesting hands played out in the in the first 30 minutes and both involved Josef Gulas.
Firstly, he raised to 200,000 from early position with K♣Q♥ and Marek Blasko (SB) three-bet to 455.000 with A♣4♥. Gulas called. Blasko bet a tiny 100K on the T♣7♠5♥ flop and Gulas raised to 300,000. Blasko folded.
Shortly after, Raphel Wimmer opened for 200,000 with Q♥Q♠ from second Position before Gulas three-bet to 600,000 from the big blind. Wimmer needed some time then four-bet pushed for 2,485,000. Gulas folded
3:05pm: Shuffle up and deal
Cards are in the air!
2pm: Welcome to the final day!
Eight days ago the first 98 players sat down to play Day 1A of the Eureka Tour Roadavoz Main Event. Through Days 1B and C, the number of entries grew to 664 and now just seven remain. The official final table was hit last night but play continued until the allotted eights levels had been played out.
Ruben Pleijster enters today as the favourite, owing to the fact he's the chip leader. They're a tight bunch though as can be see by the following:
Seat, Name, Country, - Chips
1. Marek Blasko, Slovakia - 1,805,000
2. Ruben Pleijster, Netherlands - 3,430,000
3. Rastislav Paleta, Czech Republic - 1,655,000
4. Josef Gulas, Czech Republic - 2,805,000
5. Josef Pavelka, Czech Republic - 2,490,000
6. Branislav Ondrus, Slovakia - 1,485,000
7. Raphel Wimmer, Germany - 2,835,000
The play will start at the beginning of level 29 where the big blind will be 100,000, meaning that the average stack sits at around 23 big blinds. The action could well be fast and furious.
To find out the sums the players can still win, click here, and to find out a little bit more about the finalists, check out the player profiles.
Cards were in the air at 2pm but a cards up (German language) webcast is in operation with a one-hour delay so all coverage will be in line with that so any spoilers are avoided.
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Eureka Poker Tour]
Licensed Online Casinos to Help Stem New Jersey Revenue Attrition
New Jersey lawmakers continue to work on a potential state constitutional amendment that would regulate intrastate online casinos in an attempt to get the issue on the November ballot. State Senator Ray Lesniak says the law would be part of the necessary moves to slow the flow of gaming dollars out of New Jersey to alternative gambling venues and sites.Atlantic City casinos are in a declining spiral of revenue that has already lasted over two years. Struggles in the gambling industry due to the recession have been compounded by the increased competition, both from neighboring states and online casinos.
"There are billions of dollars of gambling money that we're leaving on the table," said Lesniak. "We have time to get this right and craft a constitutional amendment that will maximize revenues for the state and for our tourist destinations."
Despite implementation of the UIGEA, New Jersey is perfectly within its rights to regfulate and license Internet gambling, as long as both the casino and customer are located in the state. The proposed measure would give online casino rights to the casinos licensed to operate in Atlantic City, allowing them to reach beyond the walls of their resorts to acoop up gambling dollars.
Lesniak is also pursuing a sports betting bill, but that amendment may be stickier, as federal law forbids a state to legalize sports gambling. Lesniak is suing to have the law stricken on the grounds that it gives favorable treatment to Nevada over other states.
Published on June 21, 2010 by VirginiaMaddox
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: Atlantic City Casino News]
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Historic Land Creating Issues With Massachusetts Casino Plans
The Top Online Casino Gambling News Reporting Site Since 2002!
Published on March 19, 2014 by April Gardner
Mohegan Sun and Wynn Resorts have been in the gaming business for a long time. The two companies understand that crossing hurdles in an attempt to bring new casinos to an area where casinos did not exist is common, no matter what state they are in.
In Massachusetts, Wynn and Mohegan Sun are offering up rival bids to bring casinos to the state, and both are facing situations that could potentially damage their chances of developing casinos.
Mohegan Sun is in the toughest position, as the Massachusetts Historic Commission has sent a letter in opposition of Suffolk Downs' proposal to demolish a set of stables and barns on one side of the facility. Suffolk Downs has proposed rebuilding the stables on the other side of the track, but the commission believes moving the stable would be detrimental to the historic nature of the track.
The trouble for Mohegan Sun comes in with the idea that this may be a lengthy battle, and one that, according to analysts, could put the entire casino project in jeopardy.
For Wynn Resorts, their challenge is a bit more cut and dry. A contaminated industrial site is stalling the bidding process for Wynn. Authorities believe this too, could take a long time to correct, which would leave both Mohegan Sun and Wynn in costly court battles over their casino development.
State officials are looking into solutions for Suffolk Downs that would preserve the historic nature of the track, while also giving Mohegan Sun the necessary lead-way to complete the project.
Massachusetts lawmakers approved casino gambling last year after a several-year debate about the issue in Legislature. The state is expected to compete with New Jersey, Maryland, and Pennsylvania for gambling supremacy once the casinos are competed.
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: Gambling News]
Belgian Poker Series finishes third Day 1
The Belgian Poker Series has finished the third of its Day 1 flights. The tournament has seen big crowds, familiar faces, and lots of action in its first three days in play.
Day 1C saw many familiar names, including 2009 winner Antonio Guida, Tobias Peters, Bart Verbanck, Pierre Neuville, Jorg Peisert, and onetime EPT Monte Carlo champion Pieter de Korver. Other friendly faces included Frederic Van der Mersch and Raijmond Slabbekoorn.
Among the people lost on Day 1c were De Korver, Tobia Peters, and Antonio Guida.
Here were some of the top chip counts from Day 1c.
DANG Tuan - 154800 (Belgium)
BEKKOUCHE Karim - 145800 (France)
ISMAIL Demir - 122600 (Belgium) (Ukash)
DAOU Youssef - 119900 (Belgium)
DAVID Steven - 112700 (Belgium)
VERSLEGERS Jeremie - 106600 (Belgium)
VANHAEREN Fabrice - 106000 (Belgium)
DEMANY Alain - 96800 (Belgium)
PEPE Franck - 94800 (France) (Ukash)
URUS Metin - 92600 (Belgium)
NOUNA Ahmed - 92300 (Morroco)
For live coverage of the event, visit the Dutch-language PokerStars Blog.
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Belgian Poker Series]
Monday, April 27, 2015
EPT11 Malta: Place your bets on the battling De Meulders
The Italian Poker Tour Main Event is down to its final 380 players. Ha! Its "final" 380. This is a monster and even though the field is still bigger than most tournament held around the world on a regular basis, it means that 900 people have already gone broke.
That's what happens when close to 1,300 people play: you make the final 380 and it feels like you should should have won something. But, as each and every one of those final 380 players are very well aware, nobody has actually won anything yet. All that is certain is that that 900 have lost.
This feeling extends beyond the boundaries of the tournament itself and also applies to the various sub-plots playing out in the room. Among them is a last longer bet between three of the Red Spades from Belgium: the Team PokerStars Pros Christophe and Matthias de Meulder and their friend Gaelle Garcia Diaz.
In a bid to generate some additional interest in the event among followers of the PokerStars Belgium Facebook page, the De Meulder brothers and Diaz arranged a contest that pitted friend against friend against friend. Followers were asked to vote (by means of a "Like") for who they thought would last the longest in the tournament, and then all the people who "Liked" the winner would be put into a prize draw to win a Sunday Storm ticket.
By the end of yesterday, Diaz was already out, meaning her supporters were already disappointed. But both De Meulders were still in - Matti with 18,800 and Christophe with 61,600.
Diaz had actually attracted the fewest likes -- she is not a professional player, so won't have been insulted -- but, as Matthias de Meulder pointed out this morning, it was probably the value bet for a follower to "like" the player who was trailing in the contest. That way, should that person last the longest, the chances of winning the prize draw element were highest.
"Yeah, but there's a reason she's got the least votes," Christophe said, not unreasonably.
The brothers were also pondering introducing some other incentive to the contest, something like a forfeit or a penalty for the first player out -- a particularly harsh punishment given that the identity of this person (Diaz) had already been established and was not present during the discussions of what it could be.
The two De Meulders are like this: they can be conspiratorial when you get them together (just ask any of the poor Belgian celebrities they used to gang up on during their pre-pubescent television pranking career) but also competitive between the two of them. As I was first talking to Matthias this morning, Chris strolled up, took Matthias's fruit salad from his distracted sibling's hand, and started munching through it.
"Hey, why are you eating my food?" Matthias said.
"Share and care," Christophe shot back.
Christophe had been in particularly bullish mood. He had the biggest stack and seemed to be well set to take down this personal contest, as well as edge into the money. But within the first couple of levels, Matthias had tripled up and Christophe turned to Facebook to moan rather than boast:
"Last longer update: 1st break: Matti should have been out 7 times but instead has 102k, I'm rolling with 62k. Have some catching up to do..." he said.
Keep tabs on both of the De Meulders via Twitter (Matthias is @mattionfire; Christophe is @Crispokers) or Facebook (here's Chris and here's Matti). And we're covering the IPT Main Event on PokerStars Blog.
Follow all the action from the EPT Malta festival at PokerStars Blog. We have hand-by-hand action from the €25,000 High Roller in the panel at the top of the €25,000 High Roller page. Feature pieces are below. We also have a man on the IPT Malta stop. You must also download the EPT App, available on both Android or IOS, because endangered species die if you don't.
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Italian Poker Tour]
Bill Walton wants to bring sports betting 'out of the shadows'
Out of the four main professional sports leagues, the NBA has been stealing the spotlight regarding positivity towards sports gambling recently. Its commissioner Adam Silver has done it on numerous occasions, and you can now add another name to the list.Former NBA great turned broadcaster Bill Walton spoke to For The Win about his love for daily fantasy sports and how sports betting may not be too far behind in terms of its widespread acceptance.
When quizzed on if the Association's partnerships with daily fantasy websites could possibly pave the road for legalized wagering in the future, Walton had this to say:
"Things like [March Madness brackets] are public policies issues and we are moving in that direction," he said. "This is becoming mainstream and I want the regulation and the taxation. I want this to be coming out of the shadows as this moves into the mainstream part of our lives."
Top 10 NO deposit Bonus offers @
Read More... [Source: Covers.com: NBA News and Stories]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)