The 2011 edition of the World Series of Poker Europe is now over, and American professional poker player Elio Fox emerged victorious from a final table that included some of the most talented players in the live game. James Bord, who guaranteed a victory for Europe in the Main Event, will now have to put his money where his mouth is by “refund[ing] any losing bets up to $500 if an American wins” at Matchbook.com, a site he owns in part.
A total of 593 players joined the WSOPE Main Event, paying buy-ins of over 10,000 Euro to generate a prize pool worth just under 5.7 million Euro, with 1.4 million Euro reserved just for 1st place.
Max Silver was the first player eliminated from the final table after limping in with one of the shorter stacks. His A-K offsuit failed to improve to a straight, making Chris Moorman’s hand superior. Jake Cody was next to go thanks to a bad beat from Fox. Fox showed 10-10, clearly inferior to Cody’s J-J. The flop ran out 8-7-6, and a 9 on the turn secured the knockout for Fox.
Shawn Buchanan played expertly to improve from his 8th place position, eventually bringing 10-10 against Dermot Blain’s A-4 offsuit. Blain was four to a flush and three to a straight after the Q-3-2 flop, but an offsuit 7 and ace on the turn and river crushed his chances. Buchanan received 200k Euro for his performance. Blain himself was next to face the rail.
After the eliminations of Brian Roberts (400k Euro) and Moritz Kranach (550k Euro), heads-up play began between Moorman and Fox. On the final hand, Moorman held A-7, clearly dominated by the A-10 of Fox. The flop showed 6-4-3, opening up a straight opportunity for Moorman. A 6 and an 8 on the turn and river provided no help to either player, securing the title and 1.4 million Euro for Fox.
Oct 21 2011
Tony G and Andrew Robl clash again at the poker tables
written by: Steve Comments: Comments Off
If you missed Round 1 of the war of words between Tony G and Andrew Robl than you missed one of the most contentious moments in televised poker history, when Tony G absolutely berated Andrew Robl on the PokerStars Big Game, for what Tony G called being a (expletive deleted) NIT, and taking too long to make decisions. Well, even though they have publicly said the incident is behind them, the two were involved in yet another incident, this time at the World Series of Poker Europe.
According to reports, the two were involved in a very controversial pot in the Split Format No Limit Holdem tournament: Tony G was facing an 11,000 bet from Robl, who was wearing headphones (the importance of this will be explained in just a second) and meekly stated he was all-in while sliding forward 11,000. Robl (remember he was wearing headphones) assuming Tony g had called flipped over his hand, which is when the fireworks began.
The final ruling gave Robl the option of folding or calling the all-in bet, which is exactly what Tony G argued for (so despite what some forum users are declaring, Tony G gained nothing by the move that some are falsely calling an angle-shot).
Tony G went on to call out Robl for a second time on his blog, writing, “It was because he was wearing a pair of Dr Dre’s Beats headphones. All I can say is that if Robl is deaf I will lend him Zasko as a guide dog – he needs a guiding hand – he is a shameful example of a modern internet player and this cost him his respect… Live poker should be about banter, fun and social engagement,”
If you’re an “old-school” online poker player (i.e. you started your online career around the time that Chris Moneymaker won the 2003 WSOP Main Event), you probably have fond memories of PartyPoker. Prior to the passing of the UIGEA, which severely clouded the legality of funding online poker accounts from the U.S., PartyPoker was just about everyone’s favorite online card room, raking in over 40% of global online poker revenue in the year 2005.
PartyPoker continued to grow steadily until 2006, when the U.S. Department of Justice struck a $105 million deal with the site in which it would be forced to focus exclusively on international markets in lieu of the United States.
Since then, PartyPoker’s parent company PartyGaming (which also operates a sportsbook and an online casino) has merged with European betting giant Bwin. Bwin.Party CEO Jim Ryan is now stating that PartyPoker could be returning to the U.S. in the near future.
Ryan recently spoke to Forbes.com and said that he’s in the midst of a lengthy tour of the U.S., presenting Bwin.Poker’s business plan and earnings metrics to possible investors. According to the interview, Ryan believes that the exodus of Full Tilt Poker, UB/Absolute Poker and PokerStars from the United States opens up the market for his company’s most recognizable brand, PartyPoker.
Ryan admitted that as of now, PartyPoker would not be able to offer real money play to U.S. players given the ongoing legal battles concerning online poker. Regardless, Bwin.Party clearly wants to be prepared in the event that new legislation does legalize American online poker.
In fact, the Online Poker Act of 2011, a piece of legislation proposed by Republican Congressman Joe Barton, is slated for discussion at the next meeting of the Subcommittee for Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade in the House of Representatives. The entire meeting, scheduled for October 25, will focus on Internet gaming.
Oct 20 2011
WSOP Main Event final table will air on 15-minute delay
written by: Steve Comments: Comments Off
ESPN has decided to make a very bold decision that may eventually change the face of televised poker tournaments from here on out. As they did with their earlier coverage of the 2011 WSOP Main Event, ESPN has decided to broadcast the final table of the 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event virtually live, utilizing only a 15-minute delay.
The coverage has been moved from the 5th and 7th and November (Saturday and Monday) to the 6th and 8th (Sunday and Tuesday) to accommodate ESPN’s other programming –ESPN being the host of Monday Night Football. ESPN will be covering the entire final table, splitting airtime time between ESPN and ESPN 2, while poker fans who may not be near their TV’s can also watch a live feed of the proceedings online at ESPN 3.
Besides decreasing the delay from 30 minutes to 15 minutes, ESPN has also made the decision to show the hole cards of every player, in every hand. In the earlier “live” coverage this past summer, ESPN only showed the hole cards of the players who were still involved in the hand after the flop.
In our new Internet age, where information is at every person’s fingertips as soon as it happens, anywhere in the world, the need for near-live coverage of poker tournaments is necessary to keep the results from being known to the public at large. Should ESPN see an increase in ratings, the “live” coverage may very well be the wave of the future in poker tournament coverage.
Just like his counterpart Phil Hellmuth had to do last week, Team Europe Captain Bertrand “ElkY” Grosspellier was forced to tweak his Caesars Cup lineup after one of his selections, Dario Minieri, withdrew from the event. Grosspellier’s replacement for Minieri will be the polarizing Tony G, who may very well have been chosen simply to torment Team America Captain Phil Hellmuth, who just happens to be one of Tony G’s favorite foils.
This will be the second running of the Caesars Cup pitting America against Europe in a series of poker matches; the first having taken place in 2009 when Team Europe, led by Annette Obrestad dispatched the Daniel Negreanu led Team America. This time around it will be Phil Hellmuth leading the Team America squad that now consists of Daniel Negreanu, Johnny Chan, Jason Mercier, and Ben Lamb, against the European squad of Tony G, Gus Hansen, Max Lykov, Jake Cody, as well as team captain ElkY.
No reason was given for Minieri’s withdrawal from the tournament, and as usual Tony G had something to say regarding his addition to Team Europe:
“I had packed the bike and was ready to leave Cannes today when Elky called to say he wanted me in his European Team for Wednesday’s Caesar’s Cup tussle with America… I couldn’t say no, it is an honor — I really cannot wait. It is true that I am the captain but on this occasion Elky is as well.”
The Caesars Cup format pits two teams of five players each –hand-selected by the captains—in a series of heads-up and team poker matches, a la the Rider Cup in golf. The matches will take place on October 19 during the World Series of Poker Europe tournament series.
Comments Off - Click Here to Speak Up