Regarding Poker

This week’s PokerStars $530.00 Sunday Million was a marathon which lasted 12 hours and the final table was very entertaining with great poker played by the final table players.

amichaiKK is no stranger to this tournament, in fact, this is his second Sunday Million final table appearance in the last month, a truly amazing feat!

Congratulations to MattSuspect and all the other players who cashed in!

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results:
(Finishing order and a heads-up deal that left $30,000 for the winner)

1. MattSuspect (United States) $223,637.17
2. gunning4you (United States) $175,818.83
3. dazzy2004 (Denmark) $89,136.00
4. AUSSIE_JASE (Australia) $73,440.00
5. Dubner (United States) $59,040.00
6. Luie Sojo (United States) $44,640.00
7. Dogg11 (Canada) $31,392.00
8. Azzel (Sweden) $19,872.00
9. amichaiKK (Israel) $11,520.00

Yesterday’s Sunday Million Facts:

Buyin: $500 + $30.00
Entrants: 2,880
Places Paid: 414
Starting Chips: 10,000
Blind Increments: 20 Minutes

Next week’s PokerStars Sunday Million will have a buy-in of $200 + $15.00. Satellite tournaments are running daily for as little as $3.00.

New accounts use PokerStars Deposit Bonus Code: First2007 and receive up to $50.00 free.

The earliest known game of Texas Hold’em was played in Robstown, Texas, in the early 1900s. The game was brought to Las Vegas by a group of Texan gamblers and card players, including Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, Crandell Addington, and Amarillo Slim.

Playing cards were invented in China.

A fifth suit was added in 1937 but never caught on because people had to buy all new decks.

At least 65,000,000 Americans regularly play poker.

In the 1800s, 2,000 to 2,500 riverboat gamblers played poker on American Waterways. By contemporary accounts, no more than four of these poker players were honest all the time. A straight beat a flush at this time.

Las Vegas Casinos are not legally obligated to pay off their gambling debts.

Due to French influence, Spades represent Royalty, Diamonds represent Merchants, Clubs represent the peasants, and hearts represent the clergy.

Playing cards were introduced in Europe in the 1300s.

When Columbus landed in 1492 in North America, his men plucked wide leaves from trees, drew pictures on them and played cards.

Historians generally agree that Bill Hickock was a lousy poker player.

Former President Richard Nixon won $6,000 playing poker in his first two months in the U.S. Navy during WWll. That is roughly equal to $42,640 in 2004 dollars. He used that money as well as more poker winnings to finance his run for the U.S. Congress in 1946, which he won.

FTOPS IV

FTOPS IV kicks off May 11th at Full Tilt Poker with at least $4 million up for grabs. Players will compete over ten days to claim their share and join the ranks of the FTOPS Champions.

Each night a different Full Tilt Pro will host an event, culminating in the final tournament hosted by Gus Hansen with at least $1.5 million in the prize pool.

Winners will not only get an FTOPS gold jersey and a custom avatar on Full Tilt Poker, but they’ll also be entered into the FTOPS Tournament of Champions where they’ll play the previous 27 FTOPS champs for a free WSOP Main Event seat.

Visit Full Tilt Poker for more information about FTOPS IV.

Moscow Millions

They never had a poker tournament this big “Back in the U.S.S.R.”

Moscow Millions is going to be one of the most exciting events this year. Held in a city famous for its cosmopolitan culture and vibrant nightlife, this tournament boasts one of Europe’s biggest prize pools and a roster of star players, like Team Full Tilt’s Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer, and Erik Seidel.

To experience all the adventure this tournament has to offer, you can buy in for $300 + $22 or enter one of the daily “Sputniks” for as little as $4 + $.40 or 50 Full Tilt points.

Play today and you could be one of the lucky comrades who returns as rich as a Czar.

The 2007 World Series of Poker

The 2007 World Series of Poker (WSOP) will kick off in a little over a month, but there’s still time for you to win your seat at Full Tilt Poker.

For serious poker players, playing at the Big Dance is the dream of a lifetime. Make your dreams come true by playing in the Full Tilt Poker WSOP qualifiers, where they guarantee at least 11 Main Event seats every week. And, on June 17th, they are guaranteeing another 100 seats in a single tournament - a prize pool worth at least $1 million.

Win your World Series of Poker Main Event seat at Full Tilt Poker - and go on to win the entire tournament - and Full Tilt Poker will pay you $10 million in addition to your first-place prize money! Now that’s one sick promo!

Satellite tournaments are still running for as little as $8.80! Click here to download Full Tilt Poker and maybe you’ll be the next World Champion!

Yahoo UK has launched real money online poker on Yahoo.co.uk. Yahoo Poker has partnered with St. Minver Ltd. and join IPN, the International Poker Network owned and operated by Boss Media AB.

Today’s news may mark the beginning of a new online poker landscape in the near future. With powerful brands and a large database of online consumers, Yahoo could certainly challenge established online poker rooms.

Which online giant would be next to join Yahoo in the online poker business? Certainly Google, eBay, and Microsoft must all be considering their options, to name a few.

Yahoo Poker’s customers will be joining the International Poker Network of Boss Media through their partner company St. Minver, which means there will mostly be European players on the network.

With the potential to become the biggest European poker network and the fact that Paradise Poker will migrate over to IPN in the up and coming months, the International Poker Network may soon be one of the three biggest online poker networks in the world.

Yahoo Poker (Yahoo.co.uk):

Poker Site: Yahoo Poker (UK)
Who Can’t Play: Canadians & Americans
Play: Play Money and Real Money
Client: Flash (No Download)
Available Games: Texas Hold’em
Tournaments: Yes
Site Celebrity: Sam Mann

Yahoo Poker… Who said online poker is dying?

Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, and Robert Duvall star in the new poker movie, Lucky You, opening in theaters on May 4th. It’s been a long time since a movie about poker has been released (does Casino Royale count?) and I’m sure there are many eager poker players looking forward to this movie. Let’s hope it keeps it real and most importantly, entertaining!

SYNOPSIS - In the world of high-stakes poker, Huck Cheever (Eric Bana) is a blaster–a player who goes all out, all the time. But in his personal relationships, Huck plays it tight, expertly avoiding emotional commitments and long-term expectations. When Huck sets out to win the main event of the 2003 World Series of Poker–and the affections of Billie Offer (Drew Barrymore), a young singer from Bakersfield–there is one significant obstacle in his path: his anger toward his father, L.C. Cheever (Robert Duvall), the poker legend who abandoned Huck’s mother years ago. As these two rivals progress toward a final showdown at the poker table, Huck learns that to win in the games of life and poker, he must try to play cards the way he has been living his life and live his life the way he has been playing cards.

Lucky You at IMDB.

Lucky You Preview:

My IMDB Rating prediction… 6.0

More than 6,700 poker players signed up to play in yesterday’s PokerStars Sunday Million tournament that offered a prize pool of over 1.3 million dollars.

The final table was aggressively controlled by SvZff of the Netherlands. When there were three players left they all decided to cut a deal.

Yours truly did not fair well, I was off the money by about 700 places. My best hand all day was QQ and when I pushed my small stack with it, I was called by a player holding AK. The Flop included a King to send me packing.

PokerStars Sunday Million Final Table Results:
(Based on three-way deal that left $30,000 for 1st place)

1. SvZff (Netherlands) $163,974.12
2. WiCane (United States) $113,000.00
3. Anywhat (Austria) $90,000.00
4. chaimr (Canada) $56,540.40
5. Gator615 (United State)s $43,213.02
6. ShiP ThA $$$ (United States) $30,962.60
7. mantilaro (Chile) $22,212.30
8. Bad Rodin (France) $13,462.00
9. cashcondo (United States) $8,346.44

Congratulations to SvZff all the other players who cashed in!

Being that next weekend is the last weekend of the month, the stakes will be higher than normal for the PokerStars Million. The buy-in will be $530.00. Satellites are running daily for as little as $5.00.

100% signup bonus for new PokerStars accounts. Click here and use Bonus Code: First2007.

Here is a complete list of professional and celebrity poker usernames for Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars.

Full Tilt Poker Poker Room:

Full Name :: Poker Room ID

Aaron Bartley :: Aaron Bartley
Joe Beevers :: Joe Beevers
Andy Bloch :: Andy Bloch
Barny Boatman :: Barny Boatman
Ross Boatman :: Ross Boatman
Farzad Bonyadi :: Farzad Bonyadi
Alan Boston :: Alan Boston
Steve Brecher :: Steve Brecher
Richard Brodie :: Quiet Lion
“Miami John” Cernuto :: John Cernuto
Lynette Chan :: Lynette Chan
Morris Chestnut :: Morris Chestnut
David Chiu :: David Chiu
Allen Cunningham :: AllenCunningham
John D’Agostino :: John DAgostino
Roland de Wolfe :: Roland de Wolfe
Chris Ferguson :: Chris Ferguson
Layne Flack :: Layne Flack
Perry Friedman :: Perry Friedman
Eric Froehlich :: Eric Froehlich
Rafe Furst :: Rafe Furst
Kristy Gazes :: Kristy Gazes
Phil Gordon :: Phil Gordon
Clonie Gowen :: Clonie Gowen
David Grey :: David Grey
Gus Hansen :: Gus Hansen
Jennifer Harman :: Jennifer Harman
Phil Ivey :: Phil Ivey
Berry Johnston :: Berry Johnston
John Juanda :: John Juanda
Howard Lederer :: Howard Lederer
Suzie Lederer :: Random Donkey
Toto Leonidas :: Toto Leonidas
Erick Lindgren :: Erick Lindgren
Jeff Madsen :: Jeff Madsen
Greg Mascio :: Greg Mascio
Mike Matusow :: Mike Matusow
Robert Mizrachi :: Robert Mizrachi
Greg “FBT” Mueller :: GregFBTMueller
David Oppenheim :: David Oppenheim
Stuart Paterson :: Stuart Paterson
Ben Roberts :: Ben Roberts
Huck Seed :: HuckleberrySeed
Erik Seidel :: Erik Seidel
Keith Sexton :: Keith Sexton
David Singer :: David Singer
Gavin Smith :: Gavin Smith
Ram Vaswani :: Ram Vaswani
Mark Vos :: Mark Vos
Lee Watkinson :: Lee Watkinson
Paul Wolfe :: Paul Wolfe
Steve Zolotow :: Steve Zolotow

PokerStars Poker Room:

Full Name :: Poker Room ID

Josh Arieh :: Razorbax
Aaron Bartley :: GambleAB
Humberto Brenes :: HumbertoB.
Richard Brodie :: p0kerm0n
William Chen :: Bill Chen
John Duthie :: John Duthie
Barry Greenstein :: barryg1
Bertrand Grospellier :: ElkY
Joe Hachem :: JoeHachem
Phil Hellmuth :: #1_Lucky_One
Tom McEvoy :: Tom McEvoy
Isabelle Mercier :: NoMercy
Chris Moneymaker :: Money800
Daniel Negreanu :: doublesuited
Lee Nelson :: LeeNelsonP*
Luca Pagano :: LucaPagano
Steve Paul-Ambrose :: stevejpa
Victor Ramdin :: VictorRamdin
Greg Raymer :: Fossilman
Vanessa Rousso :: LadyMaverick
Katja Thater :: Katja Thater
Wil Wheaton :: Wil Wheaton

To search for any of these players you will need to have installed the appropriate software. To download Full Tilt Poker software click here, for PokerStars software, click here. Once downloaded, you can use the search features from within the software to find any player.

Happy searching…

After a record win of $500,000.00 in last night’s game show, ‘Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?‘, and by not winning the top prize of one million dollars, Alex Outhred, a professional game show competitor, who is also a poker professional and instructor at the World Series of Poker Academy, had to announce to the TV audience that he is not ‘Smarter than a 5th Grader’. But anyone who watched the TV show last night knows that he indeed is ‘Smarter than a 5th Grader’.

The problem that I’ve had with this show in the past was the contestants. They mostly appeared to be picked for the show because of their lack of intelligence. So last night’s show was a refreshing change, as we got to witness someone who was actually very intelligent.

Alex Outhred won the 500K by rationalizing each question, calculating his odds as to speak, to come up with either the correct answer, or getting help from his young classmates.

Before it came to the final question for the grand prize of one million dollars, Alex Outhred had to either take his 500K or proceed with the final million dollar question. If he had gone with the final question there was no backing away from it. Once read, he would have to answer the question, which would have paid him one million for getting it correct, or had he answered wrong, he would have received his guaranteed prize of $25,000.

When Jeff Foxworthy asked Alex Outhred if he wanted to go with the last question, Alex Outhred declined and took the record winning $500,000!

For fun, Jeff Foxworthy asked the final question, it was a US History question, of which is Alex Outhred’s favorite subject. The question was, “Who was the first American Secretary of the Treasury?”. Alex Outhred instantly replied the correct answer, ‘Alexander Hamilton’. Too bad he didn’t “gamble” with that last question. But taking home a half million dollars is pretty good in my books and he and his fiancé looked pretty happy about the accomplishment.

Alex Outhred’s Poker Tournament Achievements:

Mandalay Bay Poker Championships / WPT Event Season 5
WPT Main Event - No Limit Hold’em 4th $184,745 Jun 8, 2006

Mandalay Bay Poker Championships / WPT Event Season 5
Super Satellite - No Limit Hold’em 5th $10,400 Jun 3, 2006

World Poker Challenge - WPT Season 4
Event #40 - No Limit Hold’em 5th $1,045 Mar 29, 2006

World Poker Challenge - WPT Season 4
Event #39 - No Limit Hold’em 6th $910 Mar 28, 2006

36th Annual World Series of Poker
Event #10 - WSOP Limit Hold’em 46th $2,615 Jun 11, 2005

Big Poker Oktober
No Limit Hold’em 22nd $595 Oct 13, 2004

You can see more of Outhred this May 16th when his final table appearance at the 2006 WPT Mandalay Bay Championship airs on the Travel Channel.

Click here for a recap of the questions asked to Alex Outhred.

Take a quiz; Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

The £500K Golden Cup Series Of Poker (GCSOP) is a one-week event hosted at Sun Poker, consisting of seven separate poker tournaments, beginning on Monday, June 4th and running through to Sunday, June 10th. The Golden Cup Series of Poker offers a range of buy-ins in No Limit and Fixed Limit Hold’em to meet the hearts of online players at all levels.

Additionally, players will get triple chips for the preliminary events, and 10,000 chips for the final event. Blinds will increase every 30 minutes in the £1,000 Golden Cup Final.

Best All-Around Player

During the SunPoker’s Golden Cup Series of Poker the top 15% of finishers in each event will earn points towards the Best All-Around Player (BAP). $30,000 in Cash and Prizes will be awarded to the top four BAP’s.

1st Place - $10,000 Caribbean Poker Classic Main Event Package, $5,000 Cash and the Golden Cup Award

2nd Place - $10,000 Caribbean Poker Classic Main Event Package

3rd Place - $4,000 Caribbean Poker Classic Lite Package

4th Place - $1,000 Cash

Golden Cup Series of Poker low buy-in qualifying tournaments are running now at Sun Poker. New accounts receive a 100% deposit bonus up to $100.00.

Ever find a player on your table that seems to only know one play; the check-raise?

At first, these kinds of players can really irritate you and may even change the way you play. Have no fear though, because you should really welcome this kind of player at your table.

Firstly, you need to observe them and find out if their check-raise is mostly a bluffing maneuver or if they usually hold the goods. You also need to identify these players as good players or as weak players.

Once you identified them as weak and their check-raises do have merit, then you should have no problem taking their chips!

For the most part, these players do have a hand when they check-raise you, so if you decide to play back at them, you really should have a good hand yourself.

One thing that these types of players fail to realize is that their constant check-raising is a tell. Think about it; if they check-raise you, you know they have a decent hand. If they only call, then they are probably drawing. And this is the one I like, if they bet, then what do you think they have? NOTHING!

Why would a constant check-raiser bet? More than not, it’s a bluff or they hold a weak hand. You should exploit this tell with a big raise (assuming you are heads up or your raise can isolate the play with the check-raiser).

Keep in mind though, that this kind of play comes from WEAK players and NOT good players. It’s the weak players that play one certain way and rarely deviate.

When it comes down to winning poker, it’s mostly about extracting the most you can from the weak players, the fish. And there are a lot of fish out there to fry!

Happy fishing!