https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/2012/09/ Betfair Poker's talented team of poker enthusiasts bring you the very latest poker news from around the globe. Covering both online poker and the live poker scene, the Betfair Poker blog is your one-stop site for the very best in poker related news, views and gossip. Along with select poker news stories, visitors will also find detailed reports and results of major online and live poker tournaments, interviews with some of poker's key figures and players and bespoke poker articles and editorials. Join Betfair Poker Now en Copyright 2026 Sun, 30 Sep 2012 09:38:00 +0100 http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification The ninth edition of the Grand Series Of Poker (GSOP) kicks off today and Betfair Poker will be bringing you a report on each of the 18 GSOP events, 18 mini-GSOP events and the eagerly anticipated Grand Slams. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/grand-series-of-poker-ix-kicks-off-today-300912-162.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/grand-series-of-poker-ix-kicks-off-today-300912-162.html Grand Series of Poker News Sun, 30 Sep 2012 09:38:00 +0100 The first four of seven bracelets have been won this week at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe being contested at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette in Cannes, France. Winners thus far include the first ever Tunisian WSOP bracelet winner, Imed Ben Mahmoud, another 2012 bracelet for Antonio Esfandiari, and the first two French WSOPE winners in Roger Hairabedian and Giovanni Rosadoni. Overall turnouts are somewhat down from last year's WSOP Europe in Cannes, with the number of entrants having decreased in all events thus far. However, the excitement surrounding the awarding of new bracelets remains high. Here's are recaps of how those first four events played out: Event No. 1: €2,700 No-Limit Hold'em (6-max.) 
The first event saw Imed Ben Mahmoud, currently a resident of Antibes, France (near Cannes), become the first ever native of Tunisia to win a WSOP bracelet of any kind. Mahmoud's full-time occupation is a kitchen worker, and is a recreational player who has only been playing poker for three years. A total of 227 entered the event (down from 360 last year), with the top 24 finishers making the money. Cashers included Phil Hellmuth (24th, €4,887), Paul Guichard (23rd, €4,887), Brandon Cantu (20th, €4,887), Jennifer Tilly (17th, €6,548), David "ODB" Baker (14th, €6,548), and Ruben Velasco (€12,040). After two days of play just eight players remained, at which point Mahmoud was one of the short stacks in sixth while Yannick Bonnet of France held the chip lead. However, by the time those two made it to heads-up play the pair were nearly even in chips, and it wasn't long after that Mahmoud grabbed the advantage, then won following a preflop all-in in which his Js-Jc held up versus Bonnet's Kc-Kd. Event No. 1 (€2,700 NLHE 6-max.) final table payouts: 1. Imed Ben Mahmoud -- €147,099 2. Yannick Bonnet -- €90,884 3. Matan Krakow -- €63,371 4. Senh Ung -- €44,913 5. Roberto Romanello -- €31,925 6. Sylvain Ribes -- €22,876 Event No. 2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em A total of 626 entered the second event (771 played last year), with the "Magician" and "Big One for One Drop" winner Antonio Esfandiari emerging to win his second bracelet of 2012 and third overall. The win catapulted Esfandiari to the top of the WSOP Player of the Year leaderboard, although the battle for that honor will continue through the end of the WSOPE as most of those still in the race are in Cannes vying for bracelets. The POY race will continue into October, as well, as WSOP Main Event final tablist Greg Merson can still pass everyone with a high enough finish there. Among the 63 making the money in Event No. 2 were Marvin Rettenmaier (47th, €2,133), Tristan Wade (43rd, €2,344), Event No. 3 winner Roger Hairabedian (39th, €2,344), Dominik Nitsche (34th, €2,608), Erik Cajelais (27th, €3,846), John Monnette (23rd, €4,489), and Casey Kastle (15th, €7,680). Esfandiari began the nine-handed final table with the chip lead, and he had the lead as well to begin heads-up play against the Frenchman Remi Bollengier. Esfandiari immediately began to widen the gap, then a hand arose in which the pair bet all three post-flop streets as the board came 10c-8s-As-Qd-5d, finally getting all of Bollengier's chips in on the river. Bollengier held Qs-7s for queens, but Esfandiari had Qc-8d for two pair to give him the win. Event No. 2 (€1,100 NLHE) final table payouts: 1. Antonio Esfandiari -- €126,207 2. Remi Bollengier -- €78,059 3. Salvatore Bonavena -- €57,079 4. Antonin Teisseire -- €42,356 5. Valentin Detoc -- €31,869 6. McLean Karr -- €24,309 7. Ashly Butler -- €18,798 8. Jamel Haddad -- €14,736 9. Florian Ciuro -- €11,707 Event No. 3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha After coming one spot shy of winning the first two events at the 2012 WSOPE, a Frenchman finally broke through and took the first ever WSOPE bracelet for France in Event No. 3 with Roger Hairabedian's victory in the €5,300 PLO event. "Big Roger" topped a field of 97 for the win (again, down from the 180 who participated in this one last year). Just 12 players cashed in this one, with Vanessa Selbst (12th), Douglas Corning (11th), and Bruno Fitoussi (10th) missing the final table but making the money, all earning €9,929 for their finishes. The final table included some familiar faces, including Jason Mercier (who finished 9th), Joe Hachem (who took sixth), and Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (ousted in third). Ultimately it was Hairabedian and Ville Mattila of Finland who made it to heads-up play, with Hairabedian enjoying a better than 2-to-1 chip lead to begin their duel. They would end up battling for nearly three hours, although Hairabedian continued to maintain the lead throughout before finally finishing off Mattila to win. Event No. 3 (€5,300 PLO) final table payouts: 1. Roger Hairabedian -- €142,590 2. Ville Mattila -- €88,130 3. Michael Mizrachi -- €62,749 4. Jussi Ryynanen -- €45,581 5. Jussi Nevanlinna -- €33,765 6. Joe Hachem -- €25,490 7. Michel Abecassis -- €19,606 8. Michael Schwartz -- €15,357 9. Jason Mercier -- €12,245 Event No. 4: €3,250 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout The fourth WSOPE event of 2012 saw another Frenchman, Giovanni Rosadoni, win the bracelet while playing in his first-ever WSOP event. A total of 141 entered this one (down significantly from last year's 258). Day 1 saw them play at 20 tables, with the winners of those tables all coming back for Day 2 to play the rest of the event starting from two tables in a multi-table tournament format. A number of big names made it to the second day (and the cash) in this one, including several bracelet winners. Among those falling shy of the final table and winning €5,428 were Matt Stout (18th), Faraz Jaka (17th), Daniel Negreanu (16th), Dominik Nitsche (15th), Chance Kornuth (14th), Phil Hellmuth (13th), and Philippe Boucher (11th). Rosadoni still had a lot to contend with at the final ten-handed table, though, including two multiple WSOP bracelet holders in Oleksii Kovalchuk (who finished 4th) and John Monnette (who finished 3rd). Ultimately Rosadani and Dan O'Brien made it to heads-up late on Day 2, and when the casino had to close at 5 a.m. they returned on Thursday to finish their match with Rosadoni ultimately prevailing. Event No. 4 (€3,250 NLHE Shootout) final table payouts: 1. Giovanni Rosadoni -- €107,614 2. Dan O'Brien -- €66,503 3. John Monnette -- €48,177 4. Oleksii Kovalchuk -- €35,560 5. Adrien Allain -- €26,724 6. Paul Guichard -- €20,434 7. Roman Romanovskyi -- €15,890 8. Trond Aanensen -- €12,564 9. John Duthie -- €10,095 10. Valentin Messina -- €8,239 Three events remain to be decided in Cannes -- the €10,450 NLHE "Split Format" (or "Mix-Max") event (No. 5), the €1,650 PLO 6-max. event (No. 6), and the €10,450 NLHE Main Event (No. 7). Event No. 5 has reached the heads-up portion of play with 16 players left from a starting field of 96, including massive chip leader Brandon Cantu, Faraz Jaka, Roger Hairabedian, Jon Aguiar, Marvin Rettenmaier, Jennifer Tilly, Phil Hellmuth, Mike Watson, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Jason Mercier. Meanwhile, the first day of play in Event No. 6 has concluded with just 26 players left from the 206 who entered. Jacob Dahl currently leads there with David Benyamine, Andrew Lichtenberger, Ana Marquez, and Dan Smith among those in the top ten. Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/esfandiari-among-bracelet-winners-through-four-events-at-2012-wsope-280912-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/esfandiari-among-bracelet-winners-through-four-events-at-2012-wsope-280912-77.html News WSOP Europe Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:11:00 +0100 This week the poker world's attention has mostly centered in Europe where major events on the professional circuit are playing out, including two World Poker Tour events and the start of the World Series of Poker Europe. Meanwhile in the U.S., Howard Lederer's decision to speak out in a lengthy interview regarding the various failures of Full Tilt Poker has captured considerable notice as well. World Poker Tour Crowns Two The past week has seen the WPT travel to France and Malta, crowning new champions at each stop. Earlier in the week it was TV producer Matt Salsberg taking down the WPT Grand Prix de Paris and a €400,000 first prize. And last night Yorane Kerignard grabbed the trophy at WPT Malta, earning €120,000 for his finish. Despite recording several modest cashes over the last decade mostly in Las Vegas and California tourneys, Salsberg was better known among poker players for his involvement as a writer and producer of television shows like Weeds and Entourage. We'd also known of Salsberg thanks to reports of his developing a new poker-themed comedy titled Whales along with Weeds creator Jenji Kohan. That changed this week, however, after Salsberg topped a field of 228 at the Aviation Club de France in Paris to win a WPT title. The victory required Salsberg to outlast a tough final table that included Mohsin Charania, Timothy Adams, Philipp Gruissem, and Theo Jorgensen. Jorgensen, who finished runner-up, was looking for a second WPT Grand Prix de Paris title after winning the same event in 2010. 2012 WPT Grand Prix de Paris final table payouts: 1. Matt Salsberg -- €400,000 2. Theo Jorgensen -- €264,600 3. Philipp Gruissem -- €170,065 4. Timothy Adams -- €125,775 5. Mohsin Charania -- €95,615 6. Fabian Quoss -- €75,765 Meanwhile, Yorane Kerignard bested a field of 169 players in Malta this week to earn his title, surviving a competitive final table that saw Alessio Isaia take third and Jackson Genovesi runner-up. Genovesi had the chip lead to start heads-up versus Kerignard, but the latter grabbed the edge, then won on a dramatic final hand. Genovesi was all in on a 4d-2s-10c flop holding 10h-9h versus Kerignard's As-3c. The 3s turn meant Genovesi's nines were still best, but the Ad fell on the river to give the hand and title to Kerignard. For Kerignard the win continues a terrific last 12 months on the felt that has included final tables at EPT San Remo and EPT Deauville. With the WPT Malta first prize, Kerignard's career tourney earnings trip up around the $1 million-mark overall. 2012 WPT Malta final table payouts: 1. Yorane Kerignard -- €120,000 2. Jackson Genovesi -- €82,370 3. Alessio Isaia -- €52,500 4. Hui Chen Kuo -- €39,200 5. Zeljko Krizan -- €29,300 6. Sampo Ryynanen -- €23,300 The "Professor" Speaks Meanwhile, many in the poker world have been drawn to the lengthy, multi-part interview with Howard Lederer being posted in half-hour segments this week on PokerNews. Lederer, of course, was a principal owner and member of the Board of Directors at Full Tilt Poker. The site was targeted with others by the U.S. Department of Justice in April 2011 with an indictment and civil complaint bringing a host of charges including violations of gambling laws, money laundering, and bank and wire fraud. The civil complaint was amended in September 2011 to name Lederer and three others, charging them with further crimes including funneling of more than $440 million into "FTP Insider" accounts. (See "Hard to Explain: The Full Tilt Poker Fiasco" for more.) A second amendment to the complaint appeared last week with additional charges and more details regarding how Lederer and others used those funds. The PokerNews interview was conducted on August 30, 2012 (prior to the second amendment to the civil complaint), and covers a wide range of topics including the founding of Full Tilt Poker, various details of its management structure, the move of FTP headquarters from the U.S. to Ireland in 2006, and subsequent financial troubles caused in part by mismanagement, distributions to shareholders, frequent loans to poker pros, and the so-called "phantom deposits" that led to players being unable to withdraw funds from the site post-Black Friday. The interview shows Lederer (a.k.a. "The Professor") and others at FTP having made numerous poor decisions, and while Lederer accepts some culpability he often appears interested in deflecting or diverting blame throughout. In any case, the interview provides a compelling (if blinkered) look at Full Tilt Poker's rise and fall. WSOP Europe Begins Following the recently completed Partouche Poker Tour and WPT Grand Prix de Paris, poker returns to France this afternoon for the start of the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe. For a second straight year the events of the WSOPE will be contested at the Casino Barrière de Cannes Croisette in Cannes. Last year the WSOPE was expanded to include seven events, and this year's schedule will see a very similar schedule also featuring seven events. Here's the line-up of tournaments that will play out over the next couple of weeks: 9/21 -- No. 1: €2,700 No-Limit Hold'em (6-max.) 
 9/22 -- No. 2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em 
9/24 -- No. 3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha 
9/25 -- No. 4: €3,250 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout 
 9/26 -- No. 5: €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em Split Format 
9/27 -- No. 6: €1,650 Pot-Limit Omaha (6-max.) 9/30 -- No. 7: €10,450 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) This marks the sixth year of the WSOPE. From 2007-2010 the series was held in England, then moved to Cannes last year. Here's a look at all of the past winners at the WSOPE: 2007
 No. 1: £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. -- Thomas Bihl 
No. 2: £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha -- Dario Alioto 
No. 3: £10,000 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) -- Annette Obrestad 2008
 No. 1: £1,500 No-Limit Hold'em -- Jesper Hougaard
 No. 2: £2,500 H.O.R.S.E. -- Sherkhan Farnood
 No. 3: £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha -- Theo Jorgensen 
No. 4: £10,000 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) -- John Juanda
 2009
 No. 1: £1,000 No-Limit Hold'em -- J.P. Kelly 
No. 2: £2,500 Pot-Limit Hold'em/Omaha -- Erik Cajelais 
No. 3: £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha -- Jani Vilmunen 
No. 4: £10,000 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) -- Barry Shulman
 2010
 No. 1: £2,650 No-Limit Hold'em (6-max.) -- Phil Laak
 No. 2: £5,250 Pot-Limit Omaha -- Jeff Lisandro 
No. 3: £1,075 No-Limit Hold'em -- Scott Shelley 
No. 4: £10,350 No-Limit Hold'em Heads-Up -- Gus Hansen
 No. 5: £10,350 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) -- James Bord
 2011 
No. 1: €2,680 NLHE (6-max.) -- Guillaume Humbert 
No. 2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold'em -- Andrew Hinrichsen 
No. 3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha -- Steve Billirakis 
No. 4: €3,200 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout -- Tristan Wade 
No. 5: €10,400 NLHE Split Format -- Michael Mizrachi 
No. 6: €1,620 PLO (6-max.) -- Philippe Boucher No. 7: €10,400 No-Limit Hold'em (ME) -- Elio Fox Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-wpt-winners-lederer-lets-loose-wsope-kicks-off-in-cannes-210912-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-wpt-winners-lederer-lets-loose-wsope-kicks-off-in-cannes-210912-77.html News WSOP Europe Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:50:00 +0100 Andrey Bidnyuk landed the Betfair Poker Live! Yalta 2012 Main Event in September after beating Nikita Pronin heads-up to take home the first prize and the largest share of the spoils after four players on the final table agreed an amicable split of the winnings. The Main Event was the high point of the festival which had two-starting day format, tested in Kiev a few months earlier. The players knocked out on the Day 1A could have tried their luck one more time on the day 1B for an extra buy-in. With 93 buy-ins made (several players did re-enter on the day 1B) there were 10 prizes in the event; the winner of the tournament was up for $47,815. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-live/betfair-poker-live-yalta-2012-main-event---andrey-bidnyuk-celebrates-victory-170912-272.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/betfair-poker-live/betfair-poker-live-yalta-2012-main-event---andrey-bidnyuk-celebrates-victory-170912-272.html Betfair Poker Live News Mon, 17 Sep 2012 09:55:00 +0100 This week the World Series of Poker announced the 10 finalists for the 2012 Poker Hall of Fame, a list that includes some repeat nominees but also several making their first-ever ballots. Jennifer Harman-Traniello, John Juanda, Tom McEvoy, and Scotty Nguyen all return as nominees again this year. Meanwhile, Chris Björin, David Chiu, Eric Drache, Thor Hansen, George Hardie, and Brian "Sailor" Roberts round out the 2012 ballot, each making his first appearance since the new voting process began four years ago. Following a period during which the public could submit nominations via the WSOP website, the Poker Hall of Fame Governing Council went through those nominated to select 10 finalists for this year's Poker Hall of Fame class. Next week ballots will be sent to the 18 current living Poker Hall of Famers plus an 18-person panel of poker media, and those 36 will together choose no more than two of the finalists to join the select group of 42 already in the Poker Hall of Fame. For the third time I have been given the honor of participating in the process as one of the voting media, and once again I have a difficult choice before me. Here are the criteria according to which I am to evaluate the candidates: * A player must have played poker against acknowledged top competition * Played for high stakes * Played consistently well, gaining the respect of peers * Stood the test of time * Or, for non-players, contributed to the overall growth and success of the game of poker, with indelible positive and lasting results By the way, one other criteria for induction is for a candidate to be at least 40 years old, a restriction that prevents players like Phil Ivey or Daniel Negreanu from being considered quite yet. Last year Barry Greenstein and Linda Johnson were voted in as the class of 2011. On my ballot I will be able to vote for up to three of the nominees, distributing 10 points among my choices. The WSOP will then tally the votes from everyone and only the top two point-getters will be enshrined. Here's a quick rundown of the 10 nominees for this year's class: Chris Björin is a long-time fixture at the WSOP where his accomplishments have been extensive. The Swedish pro now residing in London owns two bracelets a whopping 65 cashes at the Series, a total placing him in the top five all-time. In a career extending back to the late 1980s, the 64-year-old Björin has earned over $5.2 million in tourney cashes, topping the list for all Swedish players and placing him in the top 15 among Europeans in tourney winnings. David Chiu likewise brings an impressive list of tourney results to help back his candidacy, having won four WSOP bracelets plus a WPT World Championship in 2008. Those wins plus numerous other cashes since 1996 bring the 52-year-old Chinese-American's overall tourney winnings over $7.4 million. Eric Drache's nomination comes mostly thanks to his significant contributions to the poker world as a tournament director, cardroom manager, and overall innovator. Drache served as TD for the WSOP during its formative years in the 1970s, and he's credited with having introduced satellites as a method of increasing player participation. He's also an accomplished player, especially in seven-card stud, making five WSOP final tables in 7CS including three runner-up finishes. Thor Hansen arrives to this year's ballot with a résumé resembling Bjorin's -- two WSOP bracelets, 47 WSOP cashes, over $2.9 million in tourney winnings, and status as an important figure in poker in Europe and Scandinavia. Originally from Oslo, the well-liked 65-year-old is sometimes called the "Godfather" of Norwegian poker, and has extensive cash game experience and results to go along with his tourney success. George Hardie is probably the least familiar name to many appearing on this year's list of nominees. Hardie was an important figure in the burgeoning poker scene in California during the 1980s where he ran the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, at the time the largest card club not just in L.A. but one of the largest in the world. As a player Hardie has a few scores of note, including a ninth-place finish in the 1989 WSOP Main Event. Jennifer Harman-Traniello returns to the ballot for a second-straight year, this time as the lone female nominee. In addition to being a long-time high-stakes cash game player, Harman-Traniello has the distinction of being the first woman ever to win two WSOP bracelets in "open" events (a feat only equaled this year by Vanessa Selbst). She has 26 WSOP cashes totaling close to $1 million, and more than $2.6 million in tourney winnings overall. John Juanda is also back on the ballot for a second year in a row. Last year he earned his nomination for having won five WSOP bracelets and nearly $12 million in tourney winnings overall. Over the past year the 41-year-old has a few more results to boast of, including a nifty $1.6 million-plus score for finishing fifth in that "Super High Roller" event in Macau just a couple of weeks ago. Tom McEvoy, meanwhile, has appeared on Poker Hall of Fame ballots all four years since the current process was introduced. The 67-year-old won the 1983 WSOP Main Event, the first ever to do so as a satellite winner, then went on to grab three more bracelets and close to $3 million in tourney earnings over the last three decades. McEvoy has also authored or co-authored numerous poker strategy texts. Scotty Nguyen has also landed a spot on the ballot each year since 2009. Like McEvoy, Nguyen has a WSOP Main Event title, winning in 1998. Nguyen has five WSOP bracelets altogether, a WPT title, and more than $11.6 million in career tournament earnings, currently good for 11th on the all-time money list. Brian "Sailor" Roberts rounds out this year's ballot as the only posthumous nominee, having passed away in 1995. Roberts is best known for having formed part of the legendary traveling triumvirate of poker players with Doyle Brunson and the late "Amarillo Slim" Preston who "faded the white line" during the '50s and '60s. Like those two, Roberts would make his mark during the early years of the WSOP in the '70s as well, winning a couple of bracelets including the Main Event in 1975. Unlike the others, his name was added to the ballot as a write-in candidate suggested by a living Poker Hall of Famer. As I say, I am faced with a not-so-simple challenge deciding how to cast my vote -- perhaps even more so this year as there are several clearly worthy candidates among the finalists. Voting ends on September 30, and I imagine we will be hearing the results not longer after that. Which of these 10 do you think most deserves to be inducted into the 2012 Poker Hall of Fame? Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/new-names-among-2012-poker-hall-of-fame-nominees-140912-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/new-names-among-2012-poker-hall-of-fame-nominees-140912-77.html News Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:56:00 +0100 The first tournament in Season three of the GSOP tour saw Team Betfair assemble 36 players from all over Europe and further afield like Ukraine and even Brazil for the Main event at The Portomaso Casino on the beautiful sunny island of Malta. On day 1a Team Betfair had 8 players go into battle. Altogether 165 players sat down with 20,000 chips to try and navigate through eight one hour levels to try and make day 2. By the end of the play 79 players remained but only two from Team Betfair, Paul Woloszyn and Zoltan Bozoki. That evening saw the GSOP welcome party at the Nordic Bar in Portomaso and as usual it was well organised and a great way for the players to socialise. The party broke up quite early as most attending were playing the following day but they all went back to their hotels happy. Day 1b Team Betfair was strongly represented with 28 of the 174 entries including Betfair sponsored players John Tabatabai and Elisabeth Hille. As on day 1a players would have to get though eight one hour levels to make day 2. At the end of play an impressive 15 Team Betfair Players were still seated at their tables so 17 in total would be coming back the next day. The players and chip counts were as follows:- Kevin Stearn 65,700 John Tabatabai 63,700 Jesus Montes 60,700 Zoltan Bozoki 52,800 Danny Dibden 46,000 Risto Haavistola 36,700 Claus Peter Kraemer 24,800 Paul Woloszyn 24,000 Zsolt Vasvenszki 22,900 Andreas Panayides 21,700 Nikita Savva 19,800 Alan Turner 19,200 Elisabeth Hille 14,600 Jacob Pedersen 13,500 Robert Sherwood 12,800 Andrey Shatilov 9,100 Ondrej Beran 8,500 Day 2 was always going to be tough for a lot of the Team Betfair players as many were relatively short stacked. We lost several in the first level of the day. Kevin Stearn and Zoltan Bozoki both accumulated a 100k+ chip stack and looked good for a deep run but faltered and went out in the second half of the day. Our WSOP Main event 11th finisher Elizabeth Hille doubled up in her first hand of the day and soon had a decent stack but ended up getting crippled in a 3 way all in AK v AK v 66 which the 66 took down. She exited shortly after this. Meanwhile John Tabatabai was steadily building a very healthy chipstack and at one point looked a certainty to move onto day 3 but ran his KK into 55 on a JT5 board and finished in 54th place just 9 places short of the money. There were now only two Team Betfair players left in contention, Alan Turner who had played with great discipline and patience, he went from a low of 10k to a high of 150k but was now really struggling with around only 30k and the blinds now getting very serious. Danny Dibden who had also played a tight disciplined game was also struggling having never been above 75k but got a big double up with KK right near the end of play to get back up to around the 75k mark. Day 2 would be over when the cash places had been reached and once we got to 50 players left the game tightened up incredibly and Alan and Danny had a worrying couple of hours. Once down to 46 players the tension was high but both our heroes hung in and suddenly two players went out at the same time and Danny and Alan had qualified for Day 3 and guaranteed themselves a payday. Danny sat down with 75k and Alan with 30k for Day 3 with the blinds a punishing 2.5k/5k and a 500 running ante. Alan unfortunately did not last long and finished 42nd for a 2196 euro payout when his A3 was cracked by T5! Alan was really chuffed with his win as he had qualified via a $5 satellite to the $320 satellite to win a package. It was easily his largest win and his interview can be seen here Danny Dibden was hanging around the 70k mark for quite a while but doubled up to nearly 170k when he cracked QQ with AT all in pre flop. The Ace on the flop certainly brought a smile to his face. By the 5th level of the day there were around 20 players left and Danny had worked his stack up to 270k and was beginning to exude confidence at the table. In the following couple of hours Danny dropped to below 100k and then back up to over 270k by the time there were 14 left. Shortly after this Danny met his ill fated end when he called a four bet shove with AJ but was horrified to see his opponent turn over AA. No miracles on the board and Danny exited a very worthy 12th and took home his biggest ever payout of 4710 euro. He was a bit gutted about how he played his final hand but when he reflects back he should realise that he played three excellent days of poker and did himself proud. Shortly after this 2 players went out simultaneously on separate tables and day three was over with nine players left coming back on day 4 for the final table. That night was the Team Betfair meal and party. It started with a 20 minute coach ride to Valletta and dinner at an outdoor restaraunt Pepe Nero which is actually on the waterfront. Once the players had all been fed and watered the real fun began. Betfair had hired a converted traditional Maltese fishing boat to sail Team Betfair to The Bedouin bar one of Malta's finest nightclubs which again was open air on the Dragonara resort waterfront. There was the usual abundance of complimentary drinks and the players danced and chatted until the early hours before departing on the short walk back to their hotel. The final day of the main event saw the final table last for 8 long hours but eventually was won by Nikos Grammis after a prolonged heads up battle with Michal Polchlopek. Nikos took home a mouth watering 69,085 euro for his four days of effort totalling over 30 hours of poker. On a great final note for Team Betfair Jacob Pedersen of Denmark won the 200 euro Friday side event and landed himself a 6,000 euro first prize. So the players all had a great time and many will be at the first event of the second Betfair Poker Live tour at the Macau Sporting Club in Cork Ireland which takes place from the 12th to the 14th of October. A video of the players experience at GSOP Malta can be seen here https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/team-betfair-at-gsop-malta-100912-326.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/grand-series-of-poker/team-betfair-at-gsop-malta-100912-326.html Grand Series of Poker News Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:28:00 +0100 It has been a lively time of late poker-wise, with several major events happening all over the world. In the recent days champions were crowned in California, Oklahoma, and Australia, a wild quarter-million-dollar-plus turbo tourney took place in Macau, and controversy erupted on the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes, France. Josh Hale Wins WPT Legends of Poker, $500K Last week it was Josh Hale besting a field of 622 players including a final table full of highly-accomplished pros to earn his first major poker title in the $3,500 buy-in World Poker Tour Legends of Poker Main Event. Hale began the sixth and final day of play with the chip lead, and managed to outlast Jeff Madsen, Greg Mueller, Ali Eslami, Raouf Malek, and finally Max Steinberg to win the title and nice $500,000 chunk of the tourney's $2,111,690 prize pool. The final hand saw Hale win a race with Jh-Js against a short-stacked Steinberg's Ac-Ks, the board coming 9h-8d-8s-5s-Jc to give Hale a full house and the win. Other notables making deep runs at the Bicycle Casino in Los Angeles this week included Jesse Martin (9th, $40,400), Sam Barnhart (15th, $23,800), Joseph Cheong (18th, $18,100), Jason Koon (19th, $13,400), Yevgeniy Timoshenko (25th, $13,400), and Jonathan Aguiar (27th, $13,400). 2012 WPT Legends of Poker final table payouts: 1. Josh Hale -- $500,000 2. Max Steinberg -- $293,490 3. Raouf Malek -- $192,400 4. Ali Eslami -- $133,700 5. Greg Mueller -- $97,100 6. Jeff Madsen -- $75,400 Big Win in Oklahoma for Aaron Massey Meanwhile over in Thackerville, Oklahoma a tournament with a bigger field and larger prize pool just took place, the $2,000 buy-in WinStar World Casino's River Poker Series Main Event where Aaron Massey topped 1,396 entrants to win the title and more than $659K first prize. The tourney featured a total prize pool of $2.788 million, exceeding the event's $2.5 million guarantee. Many of poker's top players traveled to America's midwest for the event, with David "Doc" Sands (20th, $18,122), Kurt Jewell (34th, $10,316), 2012 "Octo-Niner" Robert Salaburu (62nd, $5,381), and Chris Moneymaker (86th, $4,517) among the familiar faces making it to the cashier's cage. Massey enjoyed a slight chip lead over Andy Robinson and Peter Zhmutski to start the nine-handed final table, and while Zhmutski would fall in fifth Robinson hung on to battle Massey heads-up. The pair were nearly even in chips to begin heads-up play, but Massey swiftly took the advantage, then won all of Robinson's chips on a preflop all-in in which Massey's Ah-10d held up against Robinson's Ac-9h. The win marked the biggest by far for Massey, pushing his overall career tourney earnings up over the $1 million mark. 2012 WinStar World Casino River Poker Series Main Event final table payouts: 1. Aaron Massey -- $659,559 2. Andy Robinson -- $334,030 3. Matt Newcombe -- $195,160 4. Jay Merchant -- $139,400 5. Peter Zhmutski -- $111,520 6. Patricia Cardner -- $97,580 7. Cord Garcia -- $83,640 8. Chris Hooper -- $69,700 9. Matt Shepsky -- $62,730 Sam Razavi Victorious at APPT Melbourne Moving to the other side of the globe it was Brighton's Sam Razavi earning a nifty $326,125 score (AUD) by taking down the Main Event of the Asia Pacific Poker Tour's stop at the Crown Casino in Melbourne, Australia. Razavi topped a field of 257 in that one, ultimately besting Aussie Keith Walker in a short heads-up battle to win. 2012 APPT Melbourne Main Event final table payouts (AUD): 1. Sam Razavi -- $326,125 2. Keith Walker -- $205,345 3. Tom Grigg -- $114,750 4. Wayne Bentley -- $87,575 5. Gary Benson -- $72,475 6. James Bills -- $57,375 7. Kristian Lunardi -- $45,300 8. Nigel Andrews -- $36,240 9. Brendon Rubie -- $27,175 Choi Earns $6.46 million Payday In Mammoth Macau SNG Three decent-sized paydays, then, for the winners in California, Oklahoma, and Australia. Now to mention an event in which the numbers throw everything out-of-whack, that wild Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller event that took place last Friday at the Star World Hotel & Casino in Macau. The event featured a $2,000,000 (HKD) buy-in, the equivalent of about $257,854 in American dollars. Not only that, the one-day, turbo-structured no-limit hold'em tournament also offered the option to rebuy one time. A total of 73 players took part, with 21 of them ultimately rebuying, thereby creating a whopping total prize pool worth $23,511,128 (U.S.)! Asian businessman Stanley Choi emerged as the winner. His first-place prize of $6,465,560 marking the 10th-biggest tourney prize ever awarded, with the other nine spots occupied by the last seven WSOP Main Event winners, the prospective 2012 WSOP Main Event winner, and Antonio Esfandiari for his win in the $1 million buy-in Big One for One Drop at this year's WSOP. The top 12 spots paid in the event, with a few familiar names appearing among the cashers, including John Juanda, Sam Trickett, Phil Ivey, Philipp Gruissem, Di Dang, and J.P. Kelly. Meanwhile Tom Dwan, Gus Hansen, Andrew Robl, and Erik Seidel were among those failing to make the money. Here's a full list of the 12 who cashed (with their winnings designated in U.S. dollars)... 2012 Macau High Stakes Challenge Super High Roller payouts: 1. Stanley Choi -- $6,465,560 2. Zhu Fai -- $4,349,610 3. Nick Wong -- $3,291,506 4. Zheng Tang -- $2,233,531 5. John Juanda -- $1,645,753 6. Lap Chen -- $1,234,347 7. Sam Trickett -- $999,184 8. Phil Ivey -- $822,941 9. Alan Sass -- $705,360 10. Philipp Gruissem -- $587,778 11. Di Dang -- $587,778 12. J.P. Kelly -- $587,778 Controversy at the Partouche Poker Tour Finally, the week in poker concluded with conflict and controversy at the Main Event of the Partouche Poker Tour in Cannes, France. The event drew a field of 573 players -- roughly even with the 579 who played in 2011 when Sam Trickett prevailed. That turnout meant a total prize pool of €4,264,580 for the €8,500 buy-in event, to be divided among the top 57 finishers with €1,000,000 of that due the winner. However, when the final prize pool was announced much ire was caused as many players had been under the impression the event sported a €5 million guarantee. As tourney officials denied ever having promised such a guarantee, players produced evidence of such in various promotional materials online and in print. Responding to the controversy and growing discontent, PPT CEO Patrick Partouche surprised many by announcing the PPT would not only not be honoring any €5 million guarantee, but the tour would be shutting down permanently after this year. Day 3 then commenced, and the tourney played through the cash bubble with 46 players surviving to return on Day 4. But the primary story from Cannes continues to be the guarantee that wasn't and the sudden, acrimonious end of a popular tourney stop. (UPDATE: The Partouche Poker Tour has apparently reversed course and decided to honor the €5 million guarantee after all, as announced at the start of play on Day 4. However, the decision to make this the last PPT has been reconfirmed.) Join Betfair Poker Now. https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-tourney-triumphs-millions-won-in-macau-and-controversy-in-cannes-070912-77.html https://betting.betfair.com/poker/news/the-week-in-poker-tourney-triumphs-millions-won-in-macau-and-controversy-in-cannes-070912-77.html News Fri, 07 Sep 2012 00:06:00 +0100