David Benyamine Returns to Full Tilt Poker
December 27, 2007
Railbirds everywhere tonight rejoiced at the sight of David Benyamine making his return to Full Tilt Poker.
Benyamine announced that he was quitting Full Tilt Poker over a month ago after a particularly bad No Limit Hold’em session. Benyamine more or less stayed true to his word (he played a bit the following day) until tonight, when he made his triumphant return.
http://www.poker-king.com/poker-king-articles.php?article=335
Poker Guy | ‘The Dragon’ shows some courage and runs a bluff
December 24, 2007
Many pros say there isn’t as much bluffing in no-limit hold ‘em as people think. But then bluffing is about deceit, so you don’t know what’s true and what isn’t.
One thing that is true, however, is that bluffing takes courage. Another thing is that the small blind can be a good place to pull it off.
At the 2007 World Series of Poker $10,000-buy-in main event at the Rio Hotel in Las Vegas, with blinds at $600-$1,200 plus a $200 ante, action folded to aggressive pro David “The Dragon” Pham in the small blind. With the miserable holding of Q-2 offsuit, Pham raised to $3,600, a frequent and productive play when antes are involved. The big blind called.
Katchalov Dominates WPT World Poker Classic Final Table
December 21, 2007
664 Players started about a week ago to decide who would become WPT 5 Diamond Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic champion. The prize pool of $9,661,200 created a first place prize of $2,482,605 which outside of the World Series of Poker and the WPT World Championship is the biggest prize in tournament poker history.
The final 6 starting by seat position was Ken Rosen, Ted Kearly, Jordan Rich, Eugene Katchalov, Ryan Daut, and David “Devilfish” Ulliott. There was a huge discrepancy in chips though as Katchalov had 8,360,000, Rich had 6,585,000 the next 4 all within 1.1 and 1.9 million and Daut coming in severely short-stacked at 330,000.
Winning poker hand Grant Levy
December 19, 2007
POKER player Grant Levy won the inaugural Asian Pacific Poker Tour (APPT) Sydney tournament this week with a $1 million prize.
Levy, 28, of Sydney, outlasted 560 players from more than 30 countries, including former world champions Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Scotty Nguyen and Chris Moneymaker, to win the largest poker tournament ever held in New South Wales.
The schoolteacher and rugby league coach, who won more than $100,000 when he finished third in a Melbourne poker tournament only two months ago, started the final table with more than one million chips on Sunday afternoon but slowly watched his stack slip away until he could barely afford to make a move on the table.
“I was still confident that I could win it,” he said.
After hours of playing poker, by midnight on Sunday there were only two players left. It took until 2.30am on Monday morning to clinch the tournament with two-pairs queens and sixes – against a pair of queens.
“It was an amazing moment, the last flop was simply beautiful,” Levy said.
Following his win, Levy joined Israeli Ziv Bachar, who won the APPT Seoul event, in a charity event against Hachem, Moneymaker, Nguyen, Assadourian and World Poker Tour Ladies Night champion Isabelle Mercier.
Levy will return to the table at the Aussie Millions in Melbourne in January.
Phil Ivey Drops, Daniel Negreanu Tops at WPT Doyle Brunson Classic
December 18, 2007
Well, unlike Day 2, which started and finished with the top spot unchanged, Day 3 saw a lot of movement up and down the leaderboard at the Bellagio Five Diamond World Poker Classic’s WPT Doyle Brunson Classic Championship (BFDWPCWPTDBCC). Poker pro Phil Ivey, who had dominated play for the better part of the first two days, would see the poker gods turn on him and send him to the rail just three spots short of the money, while Daniel Negreanu and Gus Hansen worked their way into the top ten to finish the day.
One-hundred fifty two players began play yesterday with the money bubble bursting upon elimination of player #101 and there are now only 44 remaining. That means that 56 players have cashed so far in this event and they include Joe Sebok, Nenad Medic, Shannon Shorr, Erik Seidel and Chau Giang.
Notable names among the 44 left to battle it out for the two millionaire top spots include Erick Lindgren, Hoyt Corkins, Todd Brunson, Marcel Luske, David “Devilfish” Ulliott, Huck Seed and Max “The Italian Pirate” Pescatori.
The field will be narrowed down to the World Poker Tour televised final table, which consists of only six players remember, by the end of play today. CardPlayer.com and PokerListings.com have all of your live updates and chip counts, and the Beat will have an update for your asses tomorrow.
Don’t forget that later today in the Bodog Poker room is the Sunday $100k Guaranteed online poker tournament, so make sure to head over and play some last minute qualifiers for your chance to win the $25,000 first-place prize.
– Bodog Beat
Daniel Negreanu Leads Doyle Brunson
December 17, 2007
The Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic championship is down to 18 players and Daniel Negreanu, who finished 3rd in the event last year, has the chip lead as he looks to return to the final table.
Matthew Casterella, fresh off a 2nd place finish in one of the $5,000 buy-in preliminary event at Five Diamond, sits in second on the chip leaderboard, followed by poker pro Jordan Rich and WPT title holder David “Devilfish” Ulliot.
Other notable players still alive in the event include WPT title holders Erick Lindgren and Ryan Daut as well as experienced pros Todd Brunson, Raymond Davis and Jimmy Ngoc Tran, all looking for their first WPT final table appearance.
The tournament will resume today at 12PM PT to play down to the televised final table of six. Live updates are available at www.WorldPokerTour.com
Chip Reese Trophy Tourney
December 17, 2007
World Series of Poker® To Award Trophy To $50,000 Event Champion
In Memory of Poker Great ‘Chip’ Reese
LAS VEGAS – December 12, 2007 – Future winners of the $50,000 buy-in event at the World Series of Poker – currently the HORSE World Championship – will receive a trophy named after the late David “Chip” Reese, according to Jeffrey Pollack, Commissioner of the World Series of Poker Presented by Milwaukee’s Best Light.
“A true gentleman and the youngest person admitted to the Poker Hall of Fame, Chip Reese was recognized by his peers as the most successful player in the biggest mixed cash games of all time,” Pollack said. “But he was also a great tournament player with three WSOP bracelets, including one for his historic victory in the inaugural $50,000 buy-in HORSE tournament in 2006.
“As a tribute to this great player who embodied the very best of our game, next year’s $50,000 HORSE World Championship will be played in Chip’s honor and memory,” Pollack said. “And the winner will receive the ‘David “Chip” Reese Award,’ as well as a WSOP bracelet, to commemorate their achievement.”
POKER SKILL DEBATE CONTINUES
December 17, 2007
The British Broadcasting Corporation has joined the poker skill vs. luck debate with a piece which examines the topic from the perspectives of a professional poker player, a statistician and a regulatory authority spokesperson.
Risk management analyst and expert poker player Graham Newman, who recently won $230 000 in an online poker tournament, supported the much publicised view of Gutshot private poker club owner Derek Kelly that the game is primarily one of skill. Kelly lost the case when he sought support for the skill view from the courts earlier this year, claiming that he did not need a licence.
30-year-old Newman said that although an element of chance was involved, poker was really about skill, but: “In any one hand of cards there is a large amount of luck involved. It is 20 percent chance and 80 percent skill which is done by creating the odds in your favour, so it is 100 percent skill in setting the right odds.”
But he added that, “You could get your cards in the best possible position and still lose that hand. That reflects the fact that you have skill to get to that point, using skill to get yourself into a position where the odds are in your favour. The bottom line is that skill is involved and it’s all about creating lots of small edges on your opponents.”
