With seven of the final eight teams already planning their trips to the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV finals in Barcelona, Spain, I found myself thinking today about the first time I saw the World Cup of Poker take place on a live stage.
In 2005, I started doing blogging work for PokerStars. It started with a poker blog I created the 2005 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in January of that year. A few weeks later, I was on a plane to Copenhagen and had created a blog for the European Poker Tour. After the Grand Final in Monte Carlo, the idea arose that PokerStars needed its own full-time blog. As it happened, that's what you're reading now and all PokerStars coverage has been here ever since.
With the PCA and EPT events done for the season in 2005, I wondered when the PokerStars Blog would next see live event action. I didn't have to wait long before I hopped on a plane and found myself in jolly old England for the PokerStars World Cup of Poker II. Back then, the WCP was a series of heads-up matches from beginning to end and in 2005 the finals were hosted in a television studio. It was a far different world back then, but one that I found more enjoyable than even I thought I would. Women poker players.
Among my favorite memories from that time was stumbling, exhausted out of the TV studio on the penultimate night of the competition. Here's what I wrote at the time.
Last night as I departed Riverside Studios, I happened upon the Costa Rican team. They stood at curbside, speaking in rapid-fire Spanish with tense looks on their faces. My rudimentary understanding of the language allowed me an ever-so-simple understanding of the conversation. They were working out their line-up for the final. They looked up at me knowing full-well who I was and knowing I was no threat, but hushed their voices as if I might be a spy for the Norwegian team. Play online poker.
It was a simple little moment that made clear to me that the teams in this competition don't take their roles lightly. It's serious business. The next night, Team Costa Rica went on to win its second straight World Cup of Poker title and took its championship back across the pond. It would be more than a year before Team Poland took over the title. For a look back at the final match of Costa Rica's win, visit the World Cup of Poker II Champions recap. Play $500 match poker bonus.
Now, Barcelona is the home to the World Cup of Poker finals. This year, a new champion will be crowned in the first week of September and once again the PokerStars Blog will be on hand to cover the action live. It will be another year of memories as a new country takes home the title. For a look at who will be heading to Spain for the championship poker tournament, be sure to take a look at the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV Division Finals recap.
Inaugural PartyPoker Ladies Event to be Broadcast on TV in Britain
The inaugural PartyPoker Women’s World Open gets under way in London on Tuesday, 7 August, running until Friday 10 August. The 36-runner field sees one of the strongest lineups ever assembled for a women’s poker tournament in Europe, and includes Liz Lieu, Jennifer Tilly, Shannon Elizabeth, Xuyen 'Bad Girl' Pham, Pippa Flanders, Katherine Hartree, Jen Mason, Lucy Rokach, Jackie Vaswani, and Beverly Pace. Download poker wallpapers.
The $3,000 buy-in event has generated a prize pool of $108,000 and the winner will take home $50,000. Bookmakers www.PartyBets.com make Liz Lieu the 6/1 favourite to win with Jennifer Tilly at 9/1 and Shannon Elizabeth 33/1. Play online poker.
A PartyBets.com spokesman said, 'Liz is one of the most fearsome players in the world and her performances at PartyPoker Premier League poker mean we had to make her favourite. The UK’s Katherine Hartree is not far behind. Over the last couple of years Katherine has been one of the most consistent female poker players in Europe and she has the knowledge and experience in this format.'
The poker tournament is PartyPoker’s first ever all-female event and will be produced by Matchroom Sport. A similar format to the annual PartyPoker World Open will be followed and the show will be televised in the UK later in the year on Five. Commentary will be provided by Jesse May and Shannon Elizabeth.
The much anticipated Purple Lounge Swedish poker tour got off to a great start this weekend with the first four poker tournaments being a huge success with locals as well as the keen poker players that qualified for the live stages of the tour.
The first tournament was played in the North of Sweden in Skeleftea, at Club Balzac and the atmosphere was relaxed although there was no doubt that everyone was keen to secure their place the grand final. Play online poker.
The winners on the evening were:
First Place: Per-Arne Strang
Second Place: Nils-Johan Sjoquist
Third Place: Michael Jauving
Fourth Place: Linus Edstrom
It was a great game to kick off the tour with a slow, structured tournament; all players & women poker players had a starting stack of 2500 chips, giving them plenty of play to fight for the four places. After some excellent skill at the table and a few nasty out-draws, including A4 hitting 44 against AA, the final hand came down to the best pre-flop hand holding up. Per-Arne was the chip leader and ended up all-in with K10, which held up to knock out Nils-Johan with the Q3. Here is how it looked:
Kh10c (Per-Arne) Qs3h (Nils-Johan)
Flop: Js 8d 5h Turn: 4c River: 10s
The next stage of the tour took the team to Sundsvall, again in the North. Club 360 hosted the evening. The standard of play was fantastic and there was an upset when later on in the evening Pia Sjodin knocked out her son Michael and eventually went on to take first place.
The final qualifiers were:
First place: Pia Sjodin
Second place: Thomas Jonasson
Third place: Andres Salinas
Fourth place: Daniel Bladh
This tournament started off as a battle with a couple of early exits. Many of these players hadn't experienced live play before and did well to adapt to the pressure of playing live as well as the slower pace. It was an exciting heads-up -- Pia was the chip leader but it looked like the poker gods were with Thomas as he kept surviving the all-ins. Everyone thought he was definitely out of the game with the penultimate hand, but he managed to river that all important Heart:
10c Jh (Thomas) Jd Js (Pia)
Flop: 3h Kh 8h Turn: 2c River: 5h
Pia finally took him out with the better rag:
As 9h (Pia) Ah 5s (Thomas)
Flop: 7c 6d Jd Turn: 4c River: 6h
The third leg was held at Gavle in Club Hang Loose and again there was stiff competition for the coveted seats at the grand final, to be played in Stockholm later this year. Download poker wallpapers. First place went to Andre Sjodal, and his victory was that much sweeter as he should have been out much earlier when he found himself all-in with an A6 facing an A7. The 6 came on the flop and surprisingly his opponent managed to carry on without breaking anything. The final hand was a typical rag race, but Andre took the 3rd Jack just to be sure.
Kd Jh (Andre) Kc 7s
Flop: Js 6h Jc Turn: Ah River: Qd
Eventually the final result was:
First Place: Andre Sjodal
Second Place: Jonathan Brynielsson
Third Place: Jan Pettersson
Fourth Place: Christoffer Hagman
The final tournament was the busiest, with Swedish poker star Bo Sehlstedt playing in Stockholm for a place at the final. Bo has experienced huge success to date, picked up $18,000 at the 2005 World Series of Poker and going on to collect $34,636 in 2006, his biggest poker achievement to date. Play route 66 poker.
It was a great spectator game with pocket 77's and pocket QQ's both hitting the set on the flop and a set on the flop losing to a flush on the turn and then hitting back with a full house on the river when the board paired -- I could go on. The game was tough and full of surprises and the final hand was no different:
QsQh (Danny) Ac10h (David)
Flop: 4h Ad 5c Turn: Qd Flop: Qc
The final results were:
First Place: Danny Wu
Second Place: David Walden
Third Place: Jan Lernfelt
Fourth Place: Bo Sehlstedt
The tour continues next month and promises to be just as exciting, kicking off at Halmstad, and continuing at the university town of Gothenburg before the final date at Stromstad.
Halmstad - 17 July 2007
Göteborg - 19 July 2007
Strömstad - 21 July 2007
Everyone is welcome along to the tour, even if not playing poker! Simply email pokertour @ Purple-lounge.com for more information. Stay tuned to our poker blog for more updates.
Mazhar Nawab didn't waste any time after returning from playing some poker tournaments in Las Vegas. He headed straight to Newcastle for Leg 6 of the Grosvenor U.K. Poker Tour and walked away with a first-place finish.
No stranger to tournament poker, Nawab has placed well in other GUKPT events and recently returned from Las Vegas where he cashed in two events of the Bellagio Cup III. One of those events was the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em event where he came in second.
Crossing back over the Atlantic, Nawab, who is from Sheffield, headed to Newcastle for the GUKPT where he won even more than the $60k he took home from the Bellagio Cup.
He was one of 205 players who showed up to play, including several U.K. pros including women poker champ Lucy Rokach, Surinder Sunar and Dave Colclough.
Rokach didn't make it past day one, but Colclough and Sunar both went into Day 2 doing well, and Sunar was even chip leader at one point. However, they both fell during Day 2 and didn't make it to the final table of nine. Play route 66 poker.
Sunar went the furthest, going out in 11th place.
The players and their chip counts at the final table were:
1. Tony Horn, 544,200 2. Richard Trigg, 395,000 3. Mazhar Nawab, 344,700 4. Darren Fuller, 182,900 5. Adam Wilkinson, 176,100 6. Christine Ward, 137,600 7. Jonathan Butters, 131,600 8. Simon Zach, 87,000 9. David McGlen, 42,700
Nawab went into the final table third in chips, and with a little patience as others fell by the wayside as well as taking out Christine Ward himself, he went into heads-up play against Darren Fuller with a significant chip lead. Play online poker.
Most expected the one-on-one match to end quickly because of the lead, but they ended up playing several more levels before Nawab finally took out Fuller with his Jd-Qd versus Fuller's Js-3h.
The board came Jh-Ad-6h-Ts-8h to give Nawab the win.
It took more than 11 hours to complete final-table play and find a winner, a record for the GUKPT so far. For his win Nawab received more than £76,000 plus a £3,000 seat in the Grand Final and a Tutima watch. Download poker wallpapers.
The win also bumps Nawab up to second place on the GUKPT leaderboard.
The final table results were as follows: Place- Name- Cash 1st- Mazhar Nawab- £76,000 2nd- Darren Fuller- £35,850 3rd- Richard Trigg- £24,600 4th- Christine Ward- £18,450 5th- Jonathan Butters- £14,350 6th- Tony Horn- £11,275 7th- Adam Wilkinson- £8,200 8th- Simon Zach- £6,150 9th- David McGlen- £5,125
The next leg of the GUKPT will take place at the G Casino in Luton Aug. 4-12.
Recently released statistics suggest that women are, comfortably, the largest growing demographic in poker making up 35% of the global playing community. Attracted to this beautiful game through blanket television coverage, aggressive marketing techniques and internet accessibility, an increasing number of women are going 'head to head' with the opposite sex on the poker felt… and coming out on top.
CelebPoker is experiencing this boom first-hand with a huge amount of female player's signing up, and competing fiercely, for a coveted place in their exclusive Team CelebPoker. Team CelebPoker provides the unique opportunity for ANY CelebPoker player to represent CelebPoker.com at a major European poker tournament.
At CelebPoker we are welcoming an unprecedented number of female poker players and actively encouraging more and more to get involved. Poker is an entertaining, exciting and engaging pastime. Team CelebPoker has become a favorite for many female players from all over the world Linda Donovan, CelebPoker.com Room Manager, thinks it's great that both sexes are battling it to win a coveted place on the Team:
"At CelebPoker we are welcoming an unprecedented number of female players and actively encouraging more and more to get involved. Poker is an entertaining, exciting and engaging pastime. Team CelebPoker has become a favorite for many female players from all over the world". Play route 66 poker.
Players like Annie Duke, Kathy Liebert, Liz Lieu, Jennifer Harman and Cyndy Violette have blazed the trail and inspired women to get involved on the poker scene. They have helped disprove the myth that poker is a man's domain by consistently beating many of the top male professionals.
The growing in popularity amongst the female demographic is not, by any means, confined to live games either. Although the exact percentage of women playing online poker is difficult to judge, the figure is believed to be as high as 40%. Eventually, experts predict that the ratio of women to men playing poker will level out at 50:50 or maybe even tip slightly towards women.
Ms. Donovan continued, "If you walk into your local casino, you'll find mostly guys seated at the poker table. That's a fact!! And, for a lot of women, that can be a very intimidating. But playing poker online is a very different story… the general barriers to entry are so low which really appeals to women. We are delighted with the number of female players that are in the running for Team CelebPoker". Play $500 match poker bonus.
The success of women in this promotion, whilst exciting, is not wholly unexpected. Female players are known for being extremely intuitive and very patient at the tables. They also tend to be more accurate in reading people, monitoring and reacting effectively to situations and being a little bit devious when required. Statistics also show that they are generally far more careful with their actions and bet amounts. Download poker wallpapers.
Historically, women have been viewed as a weak link at a poker table but with more females playing poker online, and playing it successfully, this seems sure to become a thing of the past. Indeed, it would seem a good bet that a female will be representing Team CelebPoker at a major European Live Event in the very near future… and, no doubt, turning a few heads for all the right reasons in the process.
The next stop on the Ladies Poker Association Pro Tour is this weekend at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles.
The poker tournament, billed as the Dream Weekend, runs Saturday and Sunday with a poker tournament on each day.
On both days, the Commerce Casino will host satellites to the first day's tournament at 9 a.m., then registration for the tournaments will open at 11 a.m.
After a wine tasting and buffet, the No-Limit Hold'em tournament will begin at 2 p.m. and has a total $335 buy-in. Play route 66 poker.
On Sunday the ladies will be able to attend an advanced poker seminar put on by Star Pulver and Cheri Dokken from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., before taking on the day's No-Limit Hold'em tournament at 2:30 p.m.
Sunday's tournament will cost a total of $545.
The LPA Pro Tour is the first series of No-Limit Hold'em professional poker tournaments held in multiple venues across the United States specifically for the serious female poker player. Eventually the tournament will be taken abroad as well.
"These tournaments are the first to be recognized at a professional level of play corresponding to the first-ever Ladies Professional Ranking System, calculated, published and maintained by the LPA," says the LPA Web site. Play $500 match poker bonus.
After the Dream Weekend, the LPA Tour will be heading to the Cherokee Casino outside Tulsa Oklahoma for its next event. The winner of this event will also take home a seat in the LPA Pro Tour's event at the Bicycle Casino Aug. 18 and 19. Stay tuned to our poker blog for more updates.
Well into Day 5 of the World Series of Poker Main Event, Maria Ho is short stacked. Yet, of all the players hurting for chips at the championship, the petite California girl is garnering an inordinate amount of attention.
With the elimination of 911 dispatcher Kelly Jo McGlothlin just hours earlier, Ho is last woman poker pro standing in at the biggest game in town.
That's all well and fine, a stylish and friendly Ho told PokerListings.com during a quick break from a tough table, but what's really important is seeing the end of the day and, with any luck, the end of the tournament.
How are you feeling about your game today?
Today's been a really tough day for me. I thought yesterday was tough, but today, I mean, it's hard because I'm below average and I have a very, very tough table. They're very aggressive and they have a lot of chips. So right now I'm just trying to play a patient game but I can't also just wait for a good hand because I'm going to bleed to death with all the blinds and antes and stuff. I don't know. I feel I'm playing as well as I can given my situation, but I think I could be playing better. Play online poker.
Do you have a specific style you usually turn to?
I like to go with selectively aggressive. If I'm in a pot then I'd like to be as aggressive as I can be given the situation - and that's kind of what I've been implementing every single day. But today I've been pretty passive, I feel like so I think I need to up the aggressiveness in my game. Play route 66 poker.
Did you have any goals coming into this? What were your expectations?
From the very beginning, my goal was really just to play the best that I could. I wasn't thinking about what I want to do as far as what place I want to get or how deep I want to go. It was more just to play my best game every day and I've been taking it day by day and luckily I've made it every single day. I'm pleasantly surprised but I kind of expected to come back because I feel like I've been playing my best.
What's your experience? I heard you're a cash-game player from L.A.
I've been playing poker professionally for about two years - since I graduated from college. I play Limit cash games mainly at Commerce - all live games; I don't play online.
As far as being the last woman standing in the Main Event: Does that matter to you?
It's a little bit of a double-edged sword. I'm not a feminist but I admire strong and independent women. I feel like them making that distinction is great and me being that woman is great, but I want to be the last person standing, not just the last woman standing. But I feel like I've done a good job representing females because I feel like females are extremely strong players. Every female that I've encountered in my cash games in L.A., they're very tough. So, I'm glad that I've had a good showing and I just want to make it deep for them and for me and not just the gender but for everything this title will bring to someone's game. Download poker wallpapers.
Do you have a plan to increase your stack for the rest of the day?
Well, the blinds are big; I have play left considering my stack. My plan for the rest of the day is: I really want to make it to tomorrow. I heard that today is, statistically, the longest day as far as players getting knocked out very slowly. I think it's important to be patient at this point but I'm going to try to remain aggressive even though my table is pretty hard to play against.
You have an affiliation with Bodog Poker now? How did that come about?
Yesterday I was approached by a couple of people and today I decided to go with Bodog. It just started about two hours ago. I talked to them on break when I became the last female left and so for right now and the remainder of the Main Event, I will be affiliated with Bodog. Play $500 match poker bonus.
Are you having fun?
I wish I could say I'm having more fun, but it's pretty nerve-racking at this stage and also because I'm not in that comfortable of a position with my chips. You know, I would like to say I'm excited, but I'm just anxious. I just want to get through the day and if I make it through then I'm going to come back and play to win. But I've been playing to win up until now so I hope I can keep that mindset instead of just surviving.
Though low on chips, Maria Ho is flush with determination to live to see Day 6. Regardless of what she cashes at this point, it will be her most lucrative in-the-money finish at the WSOP to date. The pro placed 97th in the $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em poker tournament this year and was 110th at the same event in 2005.
Ho better get comfortable at the felt in order to top Barbara Enright's record for best placement by a woman in the Main Event for finishing fifth in 1995. Good thing it's familiar terrain.
With seven of the final eight teams already planning their trips to the PokerStars World Cup of Poker IV finals in Barcelona, Spain, I found myself thinking today about the first time I saw the World Cup of Poker take place on a live stage.
