The World Series of Poker Europe is now underway, and the tournament series’ first bracelet of 2011 has been awarded to Guillaume Humbert. After three days of fast-paced action, Humbert emerged victorious in Event 1, a 6-Max NLHE tournament with a 2,500 Euro buy-in.
A total of 360 players entered Event 1 of the WSOPE, generating an 864k Euro prize pool with 216k Euro reserved for the top finisher. Humbert of Switzerland started and finished Day 3 with more chips than any other player. He faced some extremely tough competition at the Le Croisette Casino Barriere and the Hotel Majestic Barriere, including final table contender Roy Finlay. Finlay did much of the dirty work just prior to the final table, knocking out David Benyamine, Anton Wigg and Bruno Benveniste is 12th, 11th and 10th places, respectively.
Casey Kastle and Alexander Salabaschew were next to go, leaving seven players with only six spots available at the final table. It was none other than poker brat Phil Hellmuth serving as final table bubble boy. Hellmuth was essentially eaten by the blinds after doubling up early in the day and playing conservatively as the event continued.
Marton Czuczor and Adrien Allain were the first to go from the final table, receiving 33k Euro and 46 Euro, respectively. Both players were eliminated by Azusa Maeda. Matan Krakow hit the rail in 4th, and Roy Finlay’s luck finally ran out in 3rd, giving him a respectable cash of just under 93k Euro.
During heads-up play between Maeda and Humbert, action slowed slightly. In the final hand, the flop came down 9-7-6, causing Maeda to push all-in with 4-3 suited. Another 4 came on the turn, but Humbert showed 5-8, giving him the straight, the bracelet, the title and the money.
Prior to Black Friday Full Tilt Poker was considered the John Gotti of the online poker world; the site had been sued multiple times –ranging from former Team Full Tilt Poker Pro Clonie Gowen to Lary Kennedy who sued the site over confiscated funds– and each time was able to win the case. However, just like the “Teflon Don” eventually the site found itself facing some serious legal battles, and now that the Department of Justice has exposed the many holes in the Full Tilt Poker operation a number of other players who feel they are entitled to a piece of the Full Tilt Poker pie –or the crumbs that are left anyway.
In addition to several Class Action Lawsuits filed in the US and Canada, Full Tilt has also been named in a couple of “Hail Mary” lawsuits; one filed by the State of Kentucky (which has been trying to confiscate high-profile online gaming domain names for years); the other by a company called Cardroom International, claiming Full Tilt Poker used their advertising presence to force ESPN/ABC, NBC, and FOX to license Full Tilt Poker’s software for their play-money games.
While these latter two lawsuits seem more opportunistic than the more legitimate Class Action suits filed by Full Tilt players who are merely seeking that their own money is returned, it does demonstrate that any potential saviors investors of Full Tilt Poker will likely have many of these types of cases to contend with as the sharks continue to circle the waters off the coast of Dublin.
Online poker up-and-comer Ta-Chih “socutiesf” Geeng has been quickly making a name for himself in high stakes cash games on PokerStars over the past couple of months, and that success culminated last week when he earned over $312k online, nearly twice as much any other player. Geeng was quite prolific, playing almost 10,500 hands spread across 77 sessions.
Jens “Jeans89″ Kyllonen of Finland was quite successful as well, playing around 5,100 hands over 67 sessions to finish positive by $161k. Fan-favorite Brian Townsend kept the volume a bit smaller at 2,279 hands and 22 sessions, but still managed to finish third for the week with $117k.
The most unfortunate week in online poker belonged to unidentified player “mitdadu,” who played just 127 hands in a single session to lose $138k. Omlphalotus and tanya1604 didn’t fare much better, losing $120k and $128k, respectively, albeit with considerable more volume.
The week kicked off with a bang, as Rui Cao, Zypherin, Phil Galfond, socutiesf, Ben Tollerene and Gavin “gavz101″ Cochrane took to the $50 / $100 PLO tables at PokerStars. Most of the money went to Tollerene, Cochrane and Townsend, who closed out the day with profits of $106k, $87k and $85k, respectively.
Socutiesf actually struggled early in the week, faltering during the aforementioned cash game and dropping the day’s biggest pot to Rui Cao. Cao secured a nut straight to win the $83k pot, although his fortune soured and he ultimately finished the day negative by $80k. Socutiesf actually finished the day down by $110k, making his overall winnings for the week even more impressive.
The past week also marked the return of Swedish online poker legend Frederick Halling. Halling showed up at the $25 / $50 heads-up PLO tables where he met Romain Arnaud. He won a $23k pot at one point and ultimately finished the day positive by $109k. Time will tell whether his return to the high stakes scene will be permanent.
After three days of intense action, the European Poker Tour London High Roller event is now over, and returning champion Phillip Gruissem defeated a star-studded field once again to take home the top prize of 450k Euro. In 2010, Gruissem was victorious over a field that included Leo Fernandez, Steve O’Dwyer and Sami Kelopuro to win 234k Euro.
Day 3 of the EPT London High Roller started with a final table of eight players. Aside from Michael Tureniec, no player had fewer chips than Gruissem. Tureniec was eliminated on the very first hand of the day, and it initially appeared that Gruissem would be next. He built his momentum with a few very sizable pots from Rob Akery before sending Sam Trickett and Joel Nordkvist to the rail in 7th and 6th places, respectively, and suddenly the tables had turned in Gruissem’s favor.
Gruissem was responsible for the next elimination as well, knocking out Adrain Bussman in the fifth place position. Gruissem pushed all in with 10-10, causing Bussman to call with A-5 after a few minutes of consideration. Although a pair of 5s on the board gave Bussman a set, a 10 on the river secured the full house and pot for Gruissem. Bussman received a tidy sum of 102k Euro for his performance.
A four-way deal was then struck between the remaining players, with Olivier Busquet getting the most value for his chips (171k Euro guaranteed for 552k chips, while Gruissem only received 202k Euro for over twice as many chips). First on the chopping block was Busquet, who was undoubtedly happy that he’d agreed to the deal. Akery was next, winning a total of 220k Euro.
After fighting back to regain the chip lead during heads up play, Gruissem called with 9-9 against the all-in push of Igor Kurganov, who held Q-6 offsuit. A 6 on the flop strengthened Kurganov’s hand to a pair, but it wasn’t enough to defeat Gruissem. Kurganov received a respectable 318k Euro or his runner-up finish.
One of the preeminent coaches in the poker world, Dusty “Leatherass” Schmidt has just announced that he will be leaving the online poker training site DragtheBar.com and will be joining BlueFirePoker.com. The long-time grinder, turned poker coach, turned author is famous for his ability to grind out a profit month-after-month, and for his no-nonsense approach to the game of poker.
Schmidt announced he would be leaving Drag the Bar after a two-year stint at the site on his personal blog, and had nothing but kind words to say about the site and its owner Hunter “BeachJustice” Bick. BlueFire Poker will be the third online training site that Schmidt has worked for, having gotten his start as a poker coach with the now defunct StoxPoker, before moving on to Drag the Bar.
BlueFire Poker is widely considered as having an “All-Star” lineup of poker coaches. The site is fronted by owner/coach, and Mr. Poker, Phil “OMGClayAiken” “MrSweets28” “JMan” Galfond, and boasts a roster that includes Martin “Giggy” Fournier Giguere, Niman “Samloeus” Kenkre, and 2010 November Niner Jason “PBJaxx” Senti. And with the addition of Schmidt, BlueFire Poker has one of the strongest cash-game coaching rosters in the entire poker training market (especially when you consider the big-names at BlueFire Poker are active in producing content).
Schmidt becomes the latest in a series of additions to the BlueFire Poker coaching roster, which has grown from a strictly cash-game training site to encompass virtually every poker format including multi-table tournaments and Sit & Go tournaments.
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