Category: My news, views and fun facts

If you want to have a thriving business, then word of mouth marketing is your milieu. If you’re in the second-hand car business, you want people screaming from the bus stops about how your cars never break down. If you’re a scuba diving operator, you want your clients to mutter through their breathing tubes about how safe they felt while experiencing vivacious coral curves. 

As with most things in life, there is another side to this story. As the marketing genius, Seth Godin, states in a blog post titled ‘Why Word of Mouth Doesn’t Happen,’ if you’re in the business of curing people’s venereal disease (VD) don’t bank on people taking your work viral. 

Where does poker fit into this word of mouth marketing philosophy? 

Let’s take a look at Fedor Holz’s new partnership with GGPoker through the lens of Godin’s blog post.

Here are eight reasons word of mouth marketing won’t work, and whether it makes GGPoker’s decision to hire Holz inspiring or a waste of money.

1. Embarrassment

As in the VD example, the affiliation with your brand feels too embarrassing to share with others. Holz has worked hard to build his reputation both in and outside of poker. While there are online poker rooms, Holz would be embarrassed to be connected with, GGPoker is not one of them because of the high calibre of people who GGPoker have signed before him.

2. It’s Difficult to Bring Up

If you’re a seller of mobile phone ring tones, then if you’re in the earshot of a ring-a-ding-ding, it provides the opportunity to sell your wares, however, if you have just had a cracking massage than it’s challenging to bring it up.

Holz has been smart enough to negotiate a partnership that includes an affiliation with his training site: Pokercode. Because of this, Holz will be spreading his allegiance to GGPoker to his 51.5k Twitter followers because it’s a win-win.

3. Not Cutting Edge Enough

Godin asserts that the product might not be cutting edge enough for your crowd. Maybe you’ve recently switched from Betamax to VHS, and you’re trying to sell the idea to your Netflix buddies. It’s not that it’s embarrassing, it’s because you’ve only recently found out about it.

GGPoker is in the early stages of hiring ambassadors to spread the word of mouth marketing to poker fanatics living in the West. Bryn Kenney joined the team a while ago, but the lone wolf is now part of a pack as GGPoker expands quickly.

When it comes to the stale, hackneyed online poker ecosystem, GGPoker is cutting edge, so no problem on this score.

4. The Thing is Too Popular

Godin uses the example of a blogger afraid of posting on a popular topic over fears of appearing lazy as something that falls within the walls of this realm. 

Had PokerStars wanted to sign Holz, then maybe the ‘too popular’ maxim may have applied when it came to the German’s use of his megaphone, but not with GGPoker. 

GGPoker is trending.

5. Exclusivity

I can imagine that during prohibition, people would be less likely to share the location of their speakeasies over fears that the loss of exclusivity would create too much attention. 

‘Exclusivity’ is prevalent throughout the poker world. It’s either related to legal issues (not wanting the authorities to know about the game), financial ones (not wanting people to take your action), or privacy reasons (not wanting people to know you play in the game).

None of these reasons will stop Holz from telling everyone from the North to the South Pole to play on GGPoker.

6. The Collision of Two Worlds

Godin uses the example of a child attending summer camp to explain this one. Maybe the child is a complete nerd in a normal school but gets to be the cool one in summer camp, and he doesn’t want anyone finding out about his secret world. However, Holz is incredibly proud of his poker career, and so this one is not going to be a problem. 

7. Manipulation

The best way to describe this one would be to use the example of PokerStars during their insane decision to handle the Supernova Elite break up the way they did, and the effect it had on their ambassadors having to sell the brand. If GGPoker has a few fibulas and tibias in the closet, we haven’t seen them, and until we do, Holz will keep espousing the virtues of his new partner.

8. Taste

I know I keep picking on PokerStars, but it’s challenging for a prominent member of the poker community to accept a gig from the largest online poker site this side of California’s Science Center because it will affect their status.

People will cry ‘taste?’

Bryn Kenney.

Daniel Negreanu.

GGPoker has excellent taste, and because of that, if you’re in allegiance with them, you also have it. 

Godin’s climax is to challenge you to ‘change the experience of talking about you so fundamentally that people will choose to do it. Given our analysis of the above eight factors, it’s clear that Holz will have no problem talking about the value that GGPoker provides, and by default that makes the $32m man a cracking choice for an ambassador. 

Why word of mouth doesn’t happen

With Phil Galfond’s incredible comeback against VeniVidi1993 as fresh as a laceration, the Run It Once founder has decided his best course of action in the Galfond Challenge is to plough ahead. 

Bill Perkins became the second player to grapple with Galfond. It’s a match that could end up expensive for the Maryland native if Perkins has the yachts of the Poker Gods moored in his harbour. 

The plan is to play 50k hands or stop at a $400,000 loss, competing in a heads-up game of $100/$200 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO). The coupling has played 1,013 hands, with Galfond finished $90,144.05 in the black. Given Perkins’ business dealings, the schedule is murky on this one, but we know that should Galfond lose, Perkins will pick up €1m side bet. Galfond nets €250,000 should he go on and win. 

The contests against VeniVidi1993 and Bill Perkins could not have been more different. The VeniVidi1993 match was all business, whereas, the opening gambit against Perkins has been more relaxed with Galfond live streaming the action, commenting on his plays, and interacting with Perkins. The other difference is Galfond is getting changed in the ‘Away’ dressing room with the series taking place on partypoker. 

It will be interesting to see if the feelgood vibe remains should Perkins find a way to drive Galfond closer to that €1m cliff face.

Here is Galfond winning an $81,489 pot with set-over-set.

Galfond Takes an Early Lead Against ‘ActionFreak’

With Perkins placing Galfond ‘on hold,’ the three-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner has turned his attention to the person many believe will be his toughest competitor, ‘ActionFreak.’

He’s had a great start.

The pair will compete through 15,000 hands of €150/€300 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) with an even €150,000 side bet going to the winner, and after three days and 1,861 hands, Galfond holds a +€303,065.10 lead. 

Day 1 only lasted 145-hands before gremlins cut the match short with ActionFreak €11.1k in the black. Day 2 saw Galfond reach a high of €202,000 in profits before ActionFreak switched gears to put Galfond in the red. Galfond recovered to finish the day with a €7,529.49 profit through 1,107 hands. 

Day 3 turned into a drowning.

Everything went right for Galfond who turned an 844-hand session into a €310,594.59 win, a record haul for Galfond since his challenge series began. 

Summary

Hands Played – 1,861

Galfond +€303,065.10

Day 1/2 Action

Day 3 Action

Andrew Lichtenberger Wins on WSOP.com

From an online cash game genius to a man who made his name winning millions in online tournaments, and Andrew “LuckyChewy” Lichtenberger took advantage of lockdown to win a title on WSOP.com, only he’s no longer ‘LuckyChewy!’

Playing under the pseudonym, “WATCHGUY42”, Lichtenberger, took down a 176-entrant (inc. 61-re-entries), $1,000, $50k GTD No-Limit Hold’em High Roller, on the Nevada based platform.

The prizepool struck $168,080, and Lichtenberger collected $36,389 for his win after outliving a final eight that included the likes of Shannon Shorr, Darren Elias and Chris Moorman. 

Final Table Results

  1. Andrew “WATCHGUY42” Lichtenberger – $36,389
  2. Krista “Pollux” Gifford – $27,263
  3. Shannon “aulophobia” Shorr – $20,422
  4. Darren “darrenelias” Elias – $15,329
  5. Jake “tooletime13” Toole – $11,497
  6. Gordon “veileux” Vayo – $8,623
  7. Frank “spaghetti” Marasco – $6,454
  8. Chris “Robotbob47” Moorman – $4,790

And to think, they said that online poker was dead!

An ecosystem riddled with decay.

It doesn’t look like that, today.

With the world unable to commune around the live poker table, poker lovers and professionals alike have been driven to online poker rooms in their droves – online poker rooms like GGPoker.

GGPoker’s life began in the East, but more recently, it has steadily moved its all-seeing eye towards life in the West. The race to become the ‘second-largest online poker room in the world’ has become congested and absorbing.

In a bid to get there nose ahead (PokerScout currently ranks them as the fourth busiest entity in the world). GGPoker has partnered with the World Series of Poker (WSOP) to create an 18-gold ring WSOP Super Circuit Online Series, and they’ve decided to use the new alliance to set a new online record.

While the 18 golden rings comprise the main course, these games sit amid a mammoth schedule that sees 595 tournaments running between May 3 and 31 with GGPoker guaranteeing $100m in prize money, beating the previous record by $15m.

That’s a statement.

The High Roller Scene

One area where GGPoker has applied intense focus has been at the high roller level.

When they first began marketing in the West, they hired Bryn Kenney as their sole brand ambassador, and you imagine he has helped them to move up the grooves in this area.

Since Kenney joined, there has been a steady increase of buy-ins between $1,000 and $5,000, and an unprecedented level of $25,000 buy-in events, making GGPoker a must-have client on the laptop of high stakes players.

You won’t find a WSOPC gold ring on the bucket list of too many high rollers, but that might change because on May 17 there will be a $10m GTD, $25,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold ’em tournament with a gold ring for the winner.

Outside of that monster guarantee, there is the $5m GTD $1,000 No-Limit Hold ’em Main Event, and a nice touch, with a $1,111 COVID Charity event with $111 donated to the Nevada COVID-19 Task Force. There is also a $1m GTD, $10,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) Championship, also taking place on May 17.

Here is the full schedule of gold ring events:

May 3

Event #1: $1,111, $1m GTD COVID Charity Event
Event #2: $50, $500k GTD Kick-Off

May 5

Event #3: $210, $500k GTD, Deepstack Bounty Hunters

May 10

Event #4: $200, $500k GTD Monster Stack
Event #5: $500, $2m GTD BIG $500

May 12

Event #6: $210, $500k GTD Deepstack Bounty Hunters

May 17

Event #7: $200, $500k GTD Monster Stack
Event #8: $25,500, $10m GTD High Roller Championship
Event #9: $100, $1m GTD. Mini Main Event
Event #10: $10,000, $1m GTD PLO High Roller Championship

May 19

Event #11: $210, $500k GTD Deepstack Bounty Hunters

May 24

Event #12: $200, $500k GTD Monster Stack
Event #13: $400, $2m GTD COLOSSUS

May 26

Event #14: $210, $500k GTD Deepstack Bounty Hunters

May 31

Event #15: $200, $500k GTD Monster Stack
Event #16: $1,000, $1m GTD PLO Main Event
Event #17: $1,000, $5m GTD Main Event
Event #18: $500, $500k GTD The Closer

The Future is Bright

Since the demise of Full Tilt Poker, PokerStars has had a lock on the high stakes action. It’s not a niche that has ever interested 888Poker, but it is one that’s attracted the attention of partypoker. The partnership with Poker Central saw $36m dished out during a highly competitive Poker Masters Online, and the Super High Roller Bowl Online takes place at the end of the month.

With GGPoker entering the space with a vast array of $25,000 buy-in events complemented by a decent flow of buy-ins between $1,000 and $5,000, high stakes poker players have never had as much food on their buffet.

Nah, online poker isn’t dead.

It’s very much alive.

Alex Foxen

After live poker scuttled along the gangplank on its way to receiving a belly full of saltwater, those who make a living at that artform moved online to paint a new picture.

Alex Foxen is one of these live poker powerhouses. 

You don’t win back-to-back Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year awards and maintain a stranglehold on the GPI World Rankings with a record 37-consecutive weeks in the number one slot unless you are all over the game like lice on a toddler.

On March 27, with everyone quarantined, Foxen made a passionate plea to PokerStars via Twitter to reopen his account after they shut him down without supplying a reason. Judging by his PocketFives results, that account is still gathering dust. 

Foxen may have earned the vast majority of his $6-7m in online multi-table tournament (MTT) winnings on PokerStars (playing under the pseudonym ‘bigfox86’), but you get the feeling that’s about to change.

The GPI World #1 needs online poker, now, more than ever, and if PokerStars won’t provide him with the platform, then off to GGPoker, Americas Cardroom (ACR) and partypoker he will trot. A fox will chase sheep no matter where those sheep may be. 

Foxen recently proved that he’s no online poker stowaway, taking $800,000 from the Poker Masters Online Series on partypoker. Foxen finished in the money (ITM) on seven occasions, including conquering a field of 99-entrants in Event #2: $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em for a career-high online score of $309,677. 

There’s no time to blink in Foxen’s world.

The young American went into the final weekend of the Poker Masters Online harbouring hopes of winning his first Purple Jacket. After all, he had done it before, turning in an incredible performance at the World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond at the Bellagio in the Winter to defend his GPI PoY title at the death. 

Foxen didn’t end up on the Poker Masters podium, but he did bank a six-figure score to ease his sorrows. Foxen topped a 256-entrant field in a $3k POWERFEST event on partypoker for $239,413. It was a final table filled with the finest cheekbones in online poker with Yuri Dzvielevski, Nick Petrangelo and Linus Loeliger all featuring. 

Add the POWERFEST win to the $800,000 in Poker Masters earnings, and Foxen has almost doubled his lifetime earnings on partypoker in the past fortnight. 

Who needs PokerStars?

Results

  1. Alex Foxen – $239,413
  2. Yuri Dzivielevski – $173,777
  3. Jordi Urlings – $123,874
  4. Daniil Lukin – $91,585
  5. Nick Petrangelo – $64,579
  6. Linus Loeliger – $49,315
  7. Benjamin Rolle – $36,399
  8. Bruno Volkmann – $27,005

Foxen currently ranks #75 in the PocketFives World Rankings.

In Other Online Poker News

In other online poker news, Foxen’s partner, and the GPI top-ranked female player, Kristen Bicknell, flew over the $4m in lifetime earnings mark after a blistering showing on GGPoker last week.

Between 20-27 April, Bicknell earned over a half a million dollars in gross profit playing on the former East-facing site that’s very firmly fixed on the West.

Here are Bicknell’s top four results of the week.

  1. 1st in a 38-entrant $5k event for $64,764.99
  2. 2nd in a 39-entrant $5k for $46,691.85
  3. 1st in a 85-entrant $2.5k for $44,304.64
  4. 1st in a 48-entrant $2.5k for $43,565.06
  5. 2nd in a 87-entrant $2.5k for $39,829.81

Bicknell currently ranks #41 in the PocketFives World Rankings.

From new school to old school, and Luke Schwartz binked a decent score on Tuesday night, beating a 116-entrant field to take down the $1,050 Super Tuesday No-Limit Hold’em event on PokerStars for $27,398.26

Schwartz, who plies his trade on the online cash game scene, has now earned more than $3m playing online MTTs with the bulk of those winnings coming on PokerStars. 

It’s his biggest score since finishing 3/2255 in a $530 NLHE Progressive Knockout (PKO) event for $42,402.56 during the 2019 Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) on PokerStars.

Schwartz currently ranks #714 in the PocketFives World Rankings.

Pigeon.

The poker world needed this.

With live poker locked in an iron cage, Alexandros Kolonias emerged with the skeleton key.

The reigning World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event Champion proved he has the online skills to match after taking down the inaugural Poker Masters Online Championship.

Kolonias won the Purple Jacket and $50,000 in prize money after winning the final event, ripping both from the grip of Artur Martirosian.

Two events graced the final day, and Kolonias began in fourth place, with Artur Martirosian sitting on top. The $51,000 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event came first, and neither Kolonias nor Martirosian featured in the money (ITM), and that changed things dramatically.

Due to the lopsided scores given to the Main Event ITM finishers, Loeliger ended up in the Championship lead with one event to go without ever being a supporting cast member in this epic masterpiece.

Fortunately, the script remained intact with Loeliger failing to cash, leaving Kolonias and Martirosian, two of the main protagonists throughout this tournament, fighting it out in the final event.

The Russian refused to release his grip on the title until falling in fifth, leaving Kolonias to march on to claim the title, defeating Jason McConnon, heads-up, to win the Championship.

Kolonias finished ITM 11-times, secured $1,266,116 in gross prize money, made five top-three finishes, and won two events to finish as the 2020 Poker Masters Online Champion.

Here are the stats.

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Alexander Kolonias – 1,191 pts
  2. Artur Martirosian – 1,048
  3. Linus Loeliger – 1,037
  4. Timothy Adams – 861
  5. Ali Imsirovic – 857
  6. Andras Nemeth – 807
  7. Pascal Lefrancois – 782
  8. Paulis Ayras – 748
  9. Alex Foxen – 736
  10. Steve O’Dwyer – 732

Money Earned

  1. Linus Loeliger – $1,511,818
  2. Alexandros Kolonias – $1,316,116
  3. Artur Martirosian – $1,283,973
  4. Elias Talvitie – $1,104,995
  5. Pascal Lefrancois – $1,049,887
  6. Ali Imsirovic – $1,035,696
  7. Steve O’Dwyer – $1,005,654
  8. Timothy Adams – $996,332
  9. Andras Nemeth – $980,023
  10. Pauli Ayras – $968,049

ITM Finishes

  1. Alexandros Kolonias – 11
  2. Timothy Adams – 11
  3. Jorryt Van Hoof – 10
  4. Artur Martirosian – 9
  5. Ali Imsirovic – 9
  6. Andras Nemeth – 8

Multiple Titles

  1. Alexnadros Kolonias – 2
  2. Linus Loeliger – 2
  3. Pacsal Lefrancois – 2
  4. Mustapha Kanit – 2
  5. Ali Imsirovic – 2
  6. Pauli Ayras – 2

Event #29: $51,000, $2m GTD No-Limit Hold’em Main Event

Results

  1. Linus Loeliger – $1,097,250
  2. Giuseppe Iadisernia – $750,750
  3. Chris Kruk – $519,750
  4. Steve O’Dwyer – $346,500
  5. Ole Schemion – $269,500
  6. Elias Talvitie – $211,750
  7. David Peters – $182,875
  8. Kahle Burns – $163,625
  9. Conor Beresford – $154,000
  10. Vicent Bosca Ramon – $154,000

Event #30: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Results

  1. Alexandros Kolonias – $367,782
  2. Jason McConnon – $248,200
  3. Mark Demirjian – $175,200
  4. Mustapha Kanit – $124,100
  5. Artur Martirosian – $91,250
  6. Chris Kruk – $60,590
  7. Pacsal Lefrancois – $45,990
  8. Samuel Vousden – $45,990
  9. Mark Radoja – $45,990
  10. Hossein Ensan – $31,390
  11. Mark Davis – $31,390
  12. Dan Shak – $31,390
  13. Alexander Ivarsson – $26,789
  14. Ben Heath – $26,789
  15. Chris Hunichen – $26,789
  16. Connor Drinan – $26,789
  17. Steve O’Dwyer – $26,789
  18. Orpen Kisacikoglu – $26,789

The penultimate day of the Poker Masters Online Series created two more double champions, pushing one of them into contention to create a double of another kind.

Ali Imsirovic was only 23-years-old when he took on the world’s best players and beat them, capturing the Purple Jacket in the 2018 Poker Masters. That was live, and this is online, but after Imsirovic booked his second win of the series after taking down the 51-entrant Event: #27: $25,500 No-Limit Hold ’em, he is one of the favourites heading into the home straight.

It’s the ninth in the money (ITM) finish for the Bosnian, and he’s now earned $1.035m gross during the series. The only player to win more than Imsirovic is the current Championship leader, Artur Martirosian, who still leads despite whiffing both Saturday contests. Imsirovic sits in third place with two events left to run.

Imsirovic beat Elias Talvitie, heads-up, to win the title. You may remember that Talvitie won the opening event, and has earned close to $900,000 through four cashes, making it a decent tournament for the Finnish star.

Alexandros Kolonias took fourth place in the Championship Leaderboard after making money for the tenth time, and Jorryt Van Hoof also made his tenth cash.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Ali Imsirovic – $446,250
  2. Elias Talvitie – $299,625
  3. Alexandros Kolonias – $191,250
  4. Jorryt Van Hoof – $114,750
  5. Linus Loeliger – $89,250
  6. David Peters – $73,312
  7. Ben Heath – $60,562

Event: #28: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Mustapha Kanit became the second player of the day, and fourth of the series to win two events after beating Matthias Eibinger, heads-up, to bank the £237,732 first prize.

Despite the double win, Kanit isn’t in contention to win the Purple Jacket, but the only man to win two Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) titles is.

Timothy Adams finished fifth in Event #28, to move into second place on the Championship Leaderboard.

Adams’ 11-cashes is a record.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Mustapha Kanit – $237.732
  2. Matthias Eibinger – $148,200
  3. Sergi Reixach – $91,200
  4. Koray Aldemir – $66,500
  5. Timothy Adams – $47,500
  6. Pascal Hartmann – $32,300
  7. Juan Pardo Dominguez – $24,700
  8. David Peters – $24,700
  9. Michail Manolakis – $24,700
  10. Dan Smith – $20,822
  11. Ole Schemion – $20,822
  12. Jonathan Van Fleet – $20,822

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian – 957 pts
  2. Timothy Adams – 861
  3. Ali Imsirovic – 857
  4. Alexandros Kolonias – 823
  5. Andras Nemeth – 807

As the Poker Masters Online Series moves into the end boss stage, Artur Martirosian leads after another sterling performance saw him finish third in Event #25: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em.

The Russian has finished in the money (ITM) eight times during the series while banking $1.2m in gross earnings more than anyone else in the competition.

Martirosian finished behind Samuel ‘€urope€an’ Vousden in the $25,500 pecking order. It’s the Fin’s first cash of the series, and the most substantial of a career that has seen him earn more than $8.3m gross while taking down the Sunday Million, Spring and World Championships of Online Poker (SCOOP & WCOOP) titles.

Vousden is a coach on Patrick Leonard’s bitB Staking platform, and according to his roll call on the bitB website, he has collected $2.5m in profit during 20,000 online multi-table tournaments (MTTs) for an ROI of 86%.

Timothy Adams remains in third place on the Championship Leaderboard after cashing in both Event #25 & #26. Adams has etched up ten cashes, more than anyone else in the tournament.

Pascal Lefrancois has also thrown his chip protector into the ring adding a fourth and fifth a few events shy of picking up his second title of the series. Lefrancois becomes the second player after Martirosian to accumulate more than $1m in gross earnings.

There was also the seventh cash for Joni Jouhkimainen who has been the best performing partypoker ambassador of the series by far.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Samuel Vousden – $520,000
  2. Wiktor Malinowski – $352,000
  3. Artur Martirosian – $232,000
  4. Pascal Lefrancois – $144,000
  5. Timothy Adams – $112,000
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $88,000
  7. Guillaume Nolet – $76,000
  8. Elio Fox – $76,000

Mark Davis Wins Event #26: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Mark Davis booked his first ITM finish of the series after winning Event #26: $10,300 NLHE 6-max. Davis beat Rob Lipkin, heads-up, to collect the $284,633 first prize. Lipkin also made his first splash of the series.

The one-time leader, Pauli Ayras, squeezed into the money in 12th place, and Ali Imsirovic finished ninth.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Mark Davis – $284,653
  2. Rob Lipkin – $177,450
  3. Wiktor Malinowski – $109,200
  4. Pavel Plesuv – $79,625
  5. Pascal Lefrancois – $56,875
  6. Thomas Muehloecker – $38,675
  7. Luuk Gieles – $29,575
  8. Lukas Matthias Nowakowski – $29,575
  9. Ali Imsirovic – $29,575
  10. Nick Petrangelo – $24,932
  11. Timothy Adams – $24,932
  12. Pauli Ayras – $24,932

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian – 957 pts
  2. Andras Nemeth – 807
  3. Timothy Adams – 799
  4. Pauli Ayras – 747
  5. Alex Foxen – 736

Pascal Lefrancois joined Pauli Ayras as a double Poker Masters Online title winner after topping the field in Event #24: $25,500 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max.

The French-Canadian previously outlasted the field in Event #9: $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE), and has now earned a smidgen more than $800,000 in gross profit during the series.

Andras Nemeth finished runner-up for $343,125, and coupled to his 13th place finish in Event #24, the Hungarian has now earned more gross profit than anyone else at the series with $980,023 through eight cashes and has to be one of the favourites to win the title with six events remaining.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Pascal Lefrancois – $527,509
  2. Andras Nemeth – $343,125
  3. Andreas Torbergsen – $183,000
  4. Pedro Zagalo – $137,250
  5. Ioannis Kontonatsios – $99,125
  6. Aku Joentausta – $68,625
  7. Evan Mathis – $55,455
  8. Christopher Frank – $55,455
  9. George Wolff – $55,455

Ali Imsirovic Wins Event #24: $10,300 No-Limit Hold ’em 6-Max

When Ali Imsirovic won the 2018 Poker Masters, he did so after winning two events, and he’s bagged another one, this time, online. Imsirovic collected the win in Event #24: $10,000 NLHE 6-Max, for his seventh overall cash. The Bosnian star has now amassed close to $600,000 in gross profit.

The win puts Imsirovic in with a shot of winning his second Poker Masters title. Still, he will have to get through the likes of Alexandros Kolonias, Andras Nemeth and Artur Martirosian who finished in the money (ITM) for the ninth, eighth and seventh time respectively, and take up most of the spaces atop of the Championship Leaderboard.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Ali Imsirovic – $277,096
  2. Ben Jones – $187,000
  3. Dario Sammartino – $132,000
  4. Sam Greenwood – $93,500
  5. Vicent Bosca Ramon – $68,750
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $45,650
  7. Laszlo Bujtas – $34,650
  8. Luuk Gieles – $34,650
  9. Sami Kelopuro – $34,650
  10. Joao Vieira – $23,650
  11. Alexandros Kolonias – $23,650
  12. Patrick Leonard – $23,650
  13. Andras Nemeth – $20,183
  14. Ole Schemion – $20,183
  15. Darrell Goh – $20,183
  16. Artur Martirosian – $20,183
  17. Farid Jattin – $20,183
  18. George Wolff – $20,183

There is a new face on top of the Poker Masters Online Championship Leaderboard, and it belongs to Artur Martirosian. As Russia’s Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases surpass China’s, Martirosian is dealing with it the only way he knows how – grinding.

Martirosian took the lead from Pauli Ayras after finishing runner-up to Dan Smith in Event #21: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em. It’s the Russian’s sixth in the money (ITM) finish of the series, half of which have been Top 3 finishes. The only blot on Martirosian’s copybook is the absence of a win after finishing second on three separate occasions. Martirosian has also earned $940,540, second only to Ayras who failed to accumulate any points on Day 10 of the series.

Ayras falls to third in the Championship stakes after Alex Foxen cashed in Event #21 & #22 to move into second place.

Dan Smith Wins Event #21: $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em

Event #21 attracted 63-entrants and created a $1.5m prizepool.

No stranger to the winner’s circle, Dan Smith, picked up the win and $511,875, enough to move his online multi-table tournament (MTT) needle over the $3m mark.

Smith doesn’t play much online poker these days. A combination of living in Nevada and winning $36.7m the reasons for that. Still, in the good old days, Smith had his moments. While his most recent score ranks as a personal best, he has accrued six-figure scores on three occasions, most notably winning the PokerStars Sunday Million (2012) and a Turbo Championship of Online Poker (TCOOP) title (2014).

Timothy Adams finished third for his eighth ITM finish, a record held jointly with Jorryt Van Hoof for a single event before the Dutchman went on to record his ninth cash in Event #22. Adams sits in fourth place overall as Van Hoof skulks around on the periphery of the Top 5.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Dan Smith – $511,875
  2. Artur Martirosian – $346,500
  3. Timothy Adams – $228,375
  4. Alex Foxen – $141,750
  5. Matthias Eibinger – $110,250
  6. Steve O’Dwyer – $86,625
  7. Eelis Parssinen – $74,812
  8. Koray Aldemir – $74,812

Sebastian Lewin Wins Event #22: No-Limit Hold’em 6-Max

Canada’s Sebastian Lewin recorded the win in Event #22, his first ITM finish of the campaign. Lewin conquered Alex Foxen, heads-up, for the $240,860 first prize. The Global Poker Index #1 now sits second in the overall standings with seven ITM finishes and $792,677 in gross profit.

Alexandros Kolonias is still in the title race after finishing third for $92,400. It’s the Grecian’s eighth cash, with $683,434 in gross profit, and he sits fifth in the Championship Leaderboard.

The former Poker Masters winner, Ali Imsirovic, finished ITM for the sixth time.

Here are the results.

Results

  1. Sebastian Lewin – $240,860
  2. Alex Foxen – $150,150
  3. Alexandros Kolonias – $92,400
  4. David Peters – $67,375
  5. Ali Imsirovic – $48,125
  6. Joni Jouhkimainen – $32,725
  7. Dario Sammartino – $25,025
  8. Georgios Zisimopoulos – $25,025
  9. Patrick Leonard – $25,025
  10. Mark Radoja – $21,096
  11. Jorryt Van Hoof – $21,096
  12. Kristen Bicknell – $21,096

Championship Leaderboard

  1. Artur Martirosian (798 pts)
  2. Alex Foxen (736)
  3. Pauli Ayras – (722)
  4. Timothy Adams (721)
  5. Alexandros Kolonias (684)

As any kid who has spent time in a rock pool knows. It helps if there are more than one of you sifting through the pebbles and the sand looking for errant crabs, sea urchins and whelks. 

We learn the importance of networking from an early age. Before you’ve even pushed north of your fourth birthday, you are feeling a biological urge to become tribal. It’s a feeling that mounts in pressure, only subsiding if you find a way to numb the pain of loneliness. 

While systems might not feel biological pain, there is still suffering as a result of an inability to communicate effectively and create networks that create value either through more epic meaning and purpose or increased EBITDA.

GGPoker is a system and one that’s growing. 

It began serving punters in the East, and as we did with Coronavirus, most of us assumed it would stay there. 

Then came the signing of Bryn Kenney.

Given Kenney’s ‘lone wolf’ persona, it was a signing that was as unusual as it was inspiring. 

Then the signings stopped at the All-Time Money Earner. 

Were they hoping that Kenney’s experience and influence would be sufficient enough to crack the Western world?

Learning From The Competition

The signing of Kenney was the ladder that GGPoker used to climb out of the trenches, and into a No-Mans Land where partypoker and PokerStars were busy lobbing grenades at each other.

PokerStars had the most impressive artillery, but there was something savvy and sleek about the way partypoker went to war. You were never going to see partypoker stuff a chloroform soaked rag into PokerStars’ mouth. They were always going to beat them through their mission, purpose and relationships. 

With COVID-19 crushing live tournaments, sending the morose and marvellous to online poker in their droves, partypoker has busted out the moves, leveraging their carefully carved relationships to provide their players with a wide variety of value at either end of the buy-in spectrum.

PokerStars?

Not so much.

If GGPoker is going to get into this war, it’s not bad timing, because they get to learn from the victories and defeats of the PokerStars v partypoker clash, and it will be interesting to see how that develops.

GGPoker’s Ever-Evolving Relationships

After waiting an eternity to add to their ambassadorial ranks, GGPoker’s foot has stepped on the accelerator pedal. 

Daniel Negreanu’s signing was even more shocking that Kenney’s. Negreanu is one of the few professional poker players whose popularity and presence transcends the game. But he was recently divorced from PokerStars, and newly married to Amanda Leatherman and his duties as a husband and hopeful father. 

It was a powerful statement. 

With North America nicely covered, GGPoker focused attention on the South by hiring the Brazilian star Felipe Ramos. A man who has the likes of Neymar Jr and Ronaldo Nazario on his speed dial. 

With the Americas in the bag, GGPoker turned to Europe, and Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier joined the crew from partypoker. ElkY and Negreanu had both worked together at PokerStars, so I am sure the Canadian gave the hirers his wink of approval. 

ElkY has strong ties with Leon Tsoukernik and the King’s Resort & Casino. The Frenchman calls Prague his home and tutored Tsoukernik through last summer’s Triton Million London event.

Another poker entity that has ties with Tsoukernik is the World Series of Poker (WSOP). GGPoker joined that threesome, by inking a deal with the WSOP to host an 18-gold ring World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) Online Series, and will most certainly be a favourite to host online bracelet events in the coming months. Today, GGPoker announced a partnership with Tsoukernik’s live card room.

And the ranks of the ambassadorial team have also risen.

Tennis legend Boris Becker is the newest brand ambassador for GGPoker and King’s Resort & Casino. Negreanu, Ramos and ElkY have worked with Becker in the past, and it’s the third online poker room that has turned to the youngest person ever to win Wimbledon to try and promote the game to the mainstream after PokerStars and partypoker.

That’s how one became six. 

Bryn Kenney, Felipe Ramos, Daniel Negreanu, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Boris Becker form an impressive spine. Partnerships with The World Series of Poker (WSOP) and the King’s Resort & Casino strengthen things even more. 

GGPoker is becoming a more impressive animal daily. 

If they ever get to the top, it will be interesting to vivisect to see how vital these early relationships have been.