September 2009

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 6

Dave Allan / 30 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Popular blogger Simon Zammit returns with another fascinating look at what it's like to work at the most prestigeous poker tournament in London -the World Series of Poker Europe 2009....Read more »

Big names make the money at WSOPE Main Event

Dave Allan / 30 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Day 3 at the WSOPE main event saw the bubble burst and the remaining 36 players rejoice as they made the money, a guaranteed £21,142. A WSOPE bracelet and a huge £801,000 first place prize will be firmly in the...Read more »

Ian Munns leads WSOPE main event after Day 2

Dave Allan / 29 September 2009 / Leave a comment

We're down to under 100 players for the WSOPE main event and things are starting to take shape rather nicely at The Casino at Empire in London's Leicester Square. While some of the big names consolidated their strong position yesterday...Read more »

2009 WSOPE Day 1a and 1b round-up

Dave Allan / 28 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Both Day 1a and 1b of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event are now completed with a host of big names returning for Day 2 with huge stacks, some not so large and plenty of household names...Read more »

Back to school

Matthew Pitt / 28 September 2009 / Leave a comment

There seems to be a trend at the minute where poker players are ditching the game and going back into education. David Benefield and Isaac Baron are the latest high-profile players to return to school and now yours truly is...Read more »

WSOPE main event - Negreanu, Boeken and Tabatabai in contention for Day 2

Dave Allan / 28 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Day 1b at the WSOPE main event ended a little after midnight, last night, with some big names still in the mix. The likes of Eric Liu, Antonio Esfandiari, Daniel Negreanu and Noah Boeken have amassed good chips stacks whilst...Read more »

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 5

Dave Allan / 27 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The Main Event is looming ahead for Betfair's Simon Zammit as he takes us through another behind the scenes look at events at the World Series of Poker Europe 2009...Read more »

WSOPE Main Event Day 1a - Powell leads, Brunson and Beevers in pursuit

Dave Allan / 27 September 2009 / Leave a comment

156 players took their seats for Day 1a of the WSOPE main event yesterday. The big guns were out in force with Joe Beevers, John Kabbaj, Marc Goodwin and Doyle Brunson all finishing the day well in contention but it...Read more »

Vilmunen beats Lederer to win WSOPE £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha event

Dave Allan / 26 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Jani Vilmunen has taken down the third event of the WSOPE, the £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament. Howard Lederer, making his second money finish of the series, pushed the Finnish professional all the way but he had to settle for...Read more »

Meet Erik Cajelais, the latest WSOPE bracelet winner

Dave Allan / 25 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Back in 2007, Canadian poker pro Erik Cajelais joined an elite club, a group of players who had become millionaires through poker. Now he has joined another special group by becoming the latest winner of a coveted WSOP bracelet after...Read more »

More than one way to skin a cat

Marcus Bateman / 25 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Many players encounter poker and think that there is one clear winning style, and attempt to attain it. They reason that because there are very good poker players, that there must be a certain key way play that they need...Read more »

Talking about hands

Marcus Bateman / 25 September 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the best ways to try and identify weak players is to attempt to make them talk about how and why they played a hand. Poker is a game where a lot of factors need to be considered in...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: CarmanSinCity, Bam-Bam, Bad Blood and Steve Holden

Matthew Pitt / 25 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Once again we have made it through the working week and it is the glorious day that is Friday. I was meant to be heading to the WSOPE today to watch the Caesar's Cup but it's not happened so I...Read more »

Lederer, Boatman and Kimber make WSOPE £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha final

Dave Allan / 25 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The world's Omaha specialists have been out to play for the last two days at the WSOPE. The £5,000 Pot Limit Omaha tournament was their stage and it's been an eventful lead up to the final. Howard Lederer is once...Read more »

Las Vegas casinos revenues continue to fall

Dave Allan / 24 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Most businesses would be delighted to be able to report year-on-year profits of $872 million but when this figure represents a drop of 12.48% then the Nevada Gaming Control Board are right to be concerned....Read more »

WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha event won by Erik Cajelais

Dave Allan / 24 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Canadian Erik Cajelais took the spoils at yesterday's WSOPE £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha tournament. Cajelais faced the likes of Men "The Master" Ngyuen, Richard Gryko and Mats Gavatin as he returned for the final. Despite being heavily out-chipped as the...Read more »

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 4

Dave Allan / 23 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Betfair Poker insider Simon Zammit is back with more behind the scenes looks at working at the World Series of Poker Europe 2009....Read more »

Meet the final five of the WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha Event

Dave Allan / 23 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Play ended late last night in the WSOPE £2,500 Pot-limit Hold'em/Omaha Event with just five players remaining, each of them in with a big shout of taking home a coveted WSOPE bracelet and £104,677....Read more »

I'm forever blowing bubbles

Matthew Pitt / 23 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Don't worry readers, I've not suddenly and changed allegiances and become a dirty West Ham fan, nor have I taken up Michael Jackson's favourite 90's pastime, I am simply getting owned by the bubble in the games I am playing....Read more »

Men "The Master" Nguyen finals in WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha

Dave Allan / 23 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Day 2 of the £2,500 Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha event at the WSOPE finished with a final table of just five players. A few minutes before midnight, and after the elimination of Chris Bjorn in 6th place, players and organisers agreed...Read more »

Eric Cajelais leads WSOPE £2,500 PL Hold'em/Omaha event

Dave Allan / 22 September 2009 / Leave a comment

An eventful Day 1 in the Pot Limit Hold'em/Omaha event saw 158 players take their seats for a chance of the second bracelet in the 2009 WSOPE. Star names such as Devilfish, Sorel Mizzi, Annette Obrestad, Mike Matusow, Phil Hellmuth,...Read more »

2009 WSOPE Event 1 round-up: £1,000 No-limit Hold'em

Dave Allan / 22 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The first event of the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe is completed and we have crowned the first champion. He ended Day 1 as the chipleader and finished the tournament in the same vein, step forward Mr JP Kelly....Read more »

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 3

Dave Allan / 21 September 2009 / Leave a comment

A behind the scene look at the World Series of Poker Europe with Betfair's popular blogger Simon Zammit....Read more »

Bing, Blang, Blaow!

Matthew Pitt / 21 September 2009 / Leave a comment

One thing that usually really gets on my nerves at the poker tables is really arrogant players. You know the type, the ones who when they win a hand boast at how great they are and when they lose it...Read more »

Dunlop keeps rolling as £1k NLHE WSOPE final is set

Dave Allan / 21 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Fabien Dunlop kept up his impressive early tournament form to go into the WSOPE £1000 No Limit Hold'em final as the chip leader. Dunlop has almost twice as many chips as his nearest rivals but with WSOP bracelet winner JP...Read more »

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE - Part 2

Dave Allan / 20 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Pink Hummers, parties and a bit of poker! Simon Zammit's back with more tales from working behind the scenes of the WSOP Europe....Read more »

Fabien Dunlop tops the Day 1b chip counts at WSOPE Event 1

Dave Allan / 20 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Another eventful day at the World Series of Poker Europe saw a more recognisable list of names heading into Day 2 of the £1000 NLHE event. Chris "Jesus" Ferguson, Padraig Parkinson, John Juanda and Jeff Lisandro all survived a frantic...Read more »

JP Kelly leads after Day 1a at WSOPE £1000 NLHE event

Dave Allan / 19 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Day 1a ended in the £1000 No Limit Hold'em tournament at the WSOPE with a familiar name leading the chip counts. JP Kelly goes into Day 2 with an impressive 65,000 chips. Hot on the youngster's heels are Richard Kellet...Read more »

What could Anestis Metsas buy with is $1m winnings?

Dave Allan / 18 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Anestis Metsas walked into The Empire casino yesterday as an amateur poker player and ten hours later he walked away as a newly crowned millionaire!...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Bill Rini, Girlie Poker, OneGreenChip, Brymstar and Robbo Kramer

Matthew Pitt / 18 September 2009 / Leave a comment

I've been delving deeper into the blogosphere this past week or so and have uncovered a ton of new blogs, some of which will definitely be mentioned in the coming weeks. As is usually the case, this week's round-up is...Read more »

Anestis Metsas' million dollar WSOPE dream comes true

Dave Allan / 18 September 2009 / Leave a comment

It was a dream start to the WSOPE for Greek amateur poker player Anestis Metsas yesterday. The Betfair Poker player took his seat, alongside 17 other hopefuls, in the Free Million Dollar tournament at Empire Casino in London's Leicester Square....Read more »

The Vegas Virgin does the WSOPE

Dave Allan / 17 September 2009 / Leave a comment

God Zammit, he's back!! Our Vegas Virgin returns by popular demand.. A new job, a new city and a new World Series of Poker - this time Europe....Read more »

High Stakes Poker to return

Dave Allan / 17 September 2009 / Leave a comment

First aired in January 2006 on the American network GSN, High Stakes Poker was an instant hit with the poker community. For the first time in televised poker, the players played a cash game, rather than in a tournament structure,...Read more »

Common mistakes when moving up limits

Matthew Pitt / 17 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The majority of poker players you will speak to will all have a common goal they want to achieve and that is to move up in stakes. Some will just want to progress from the micro-stakes to the low stakes...Read more »

Poker book review: The Poker Mindset

Matthew Pitt / 16 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The first of many poker related books I ever read was "Internet Texas Hold'em" by Matthew Hilger, a book that covered strategy for full ring Fixed Limit Hold'em cash games....Read more »

Poker and the great Chinese famine

Marcus Bateman / 16 September 2009 / Leave a comment

During the great Chinese famine, which ran from 1958 to 1961, China experienced widespread problems with agriculture, ranging from natural disasters to mismanagement and ignorance of correct farming practice. Between sixteen and thirty six million people died during this period,...Read more »

London goes ga ga for £1 Million poker face

Dave Allan / 15 September 2009 / Leave a comment

As international poker playing royalty descend on the capital to battle it out at the 2009 World Series of Poker Europe, Betfair the presenting sponsor has unveiled a specially commissioned £1 million portrait revealing Queen Elizabeth's Po Po Poker Face....Read more »

Zimbler takes aim at poker world record

Dave Allan / 15 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The World Series of Poker Europe set a world record last year for the longest ever final table when John Juanda won the title after an incredible 22 hours of play. This year, to raise money for charity, popular UK...Read more »

Tax, tax and more tax

Dave Allan / 15 September 2009 / Leave a comment

There is a saying that says only two things in life are certain , death and taxes. Whilst there no real laws regarding death, the laws on taxes, especially gambling related taxes, vary greatly from country to country....Read more »

Sklansky dollars FTW!

Matthew Pitt / 15 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Tournament poker can be a funny old game. One minute you can't do anything wrong, it seems you always hit the flop hard, your shoves get through and if they are called you usually have their hand dominated. It's great....Read more »

Dealing with downswings

Matthew Pitt / 14 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Losing in poker is inevitable. You can play perfectly yet if the cards do not fall your way you will lose. It is as simple as that. When a player has several losing sessions in a short period of time...Read more »

Balance against bad players

Marcus Bateman / 11 September 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the most consistent and obvious mistakes you see reasonable players make is to try and play a balanced, optimal and slightly deceptive game against weak or random players....Read more »

Tom 'durrrr' Dwan dropped from 2009 Poker Hall of Fame nominations

Dave Allan / 11 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Popular cash game genius Tom 'durrrr' Dwan is no longer in the running to be inducted into the 2009 Poker Hall of Fame after the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council stated "he does not currently meet the criteria."...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Andy Ward, Cole South, Jethrow Horowitz and PokerBob

Matthew Pitt / 11 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Once again we have made it through the week, survived bad beats at the tables and done as little as possible in the office so that must mean it is poker blog round-up time. This week we have some views...Read more »

Thinking about multiple street odds

Marcus Bateman / 10 September 2009 / Leave a comment

One of the key mistakes weak players make when they play poker is to only consider odds and action in terms of what is presented to them there and then....Read more »

Taking shots

Marcus Bateman / 09 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Taking shots at higher stake games has probably bust more aspiring players than any other thing. The variance in poker is often so large, that not having an adequate amount of back up money will lead you to going bust...Read more »

Sorel on course for a cash in WPT Cyprus

Dave Allan / 09 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Betfair pro Sorel Mizzi has managed to outlast his team mates Annette Obrestad and John Tabatabai and make it through to Day 3 of the WPT Cyprus Event....Read more »

De Wolfe in controversial pot at EPT Barcelona

Dave Allan / 08 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Whilst the Betfair pros are battling it out at the WPT Cyprus there is an EPT Event taking place in Barcelona where a number of British players are still in contention for the title....Read more »

Red rings, stake and sweat!

Matthew Pitt / 07 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Regular readers of this blog will know that despite me being 28-years old, I do enjoy blowing stuff up and shooting stuff on my trusty Xbox 360. Well now I can't do that because the bloody thing has broken....Read more »

John Tabatabai leads the way at WPT Cyprus

Dave Allan / 07 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The World Poker Tour is visiting Europe this week for the 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Championship, a $10,300 buy-in event held at the Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino in Northern Cyprus....Read more »

Poker star Negreanu robbed at EPT Barcelona

Dave Allan / 05 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Caesars Cup captain Daniel Negreanu was pickpocketed moments before taking his seat at the EPT Barcelona by robbers posing as fans on Saturday afternoon....Read more »

Making mistakes

Marcus Bateman / 04 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Poker, just like any area of life, is a place where you will constantly make mistakes. Be it small ones that effectively go unnoticed, such as making a bad bluff that ends up working, all the way to falling into...Read more »

Poker blog round-up: Alex Craft, Kevin Stevens, Wonder Flop and Configurati

Matthew Pitt / 04 September 2009 / Leave a comment

The weekend is once again upon us, which can mean only mean one thing, it is poker blog round-up time!Another mixed bad today, with a some great tips on becoming a better player, turning 30-years old and even women trouble!...Read more »

Neil Channing quits!

Matthew Pitt / 03 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Many parts of the UK poker scene were rocked last month when Neil 'badbeat' Channing announced he was quitting. Thankfully, the likeable high-stakes guru is not quitting poker but instead has decided to stop him famous staking of other players....Read more »

WSOPE Satellites on Super Sunday September 6th

Matthew Pitt / 03 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Super Sunday is usually a term reserved for the 16:00 football match on one of the big satellite television stations but Betfair Poker's Super Sunday is far more interesting and exciting....Read more »

Small pairs in pot limit Omaha

Marcus Bateman / 02 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Anyone who plays hold'em regularly - particularly pot limit hold'em - will know that as long as everyone is playing a reasonable stack, it is usually OK to play small pairs pre flop. The implied odds available from players getting...Read more »

Interview with MTT grinder 'kennl'

Matthew Pitt / 01 September 2009 / Leave a comment

To prevent you all from being bored to death with my micro-stakes quests and endless bad beats, I thought I would start adding a few interviews I've done with online grinders to give you something to read over your morning...Read more »

Patrik Antonius impersonator on Twitter!

Dave Allan / 01 September 2009 / Leave a comment

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace mean it is very easy to keep up with the whereabouts of your favourite poker players from the comfort of your computer chair....Read more »