Category: My news, views and fun facts

If your quiver has the words “I am High Stakes Poker’ sewn into the fabric with shark’s gut strings, then you are currently nocking your arrows, and firing into the fields of the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE). 

We have three events to catch up on, and we’ll begin with the most expensive buy-in of the lot.

James Chen has taken down the 30-entrant €250,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. In doing so he earned €2,844,215, his first gold bracelet, and his most significant score to date moving him to the top of the Taiwanese All-Time Money list. 

Dominik Nitsche is a man who rarely slips out of emotions’ stirrups, but I’m sure there will be a few mallets to the inside of his head as he remembers leading the final seven players with more than double his nearest rival’s chips only to exit first. 

Here are the people who did finish in the money.

ITM Results

1. James Chen – €2,844,215

2. Chin Wei Lim – €1,757,857

3. Christoph Vogelsang – €1,185,161

4. Tony G – €799,045

5. Cary Katz – €538,722

Here is our update.

The Third Rail: James Chen Wins The €250,000 Super High Roller at the WSOPE

Leon Tsoukernik Wins The €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck.

Cascading down the numerical slide to the €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck event, and WSOPE host, Leon Tsoukernik, used his unique brand of marksmanship to send 29-entrants (inc. 15 re-entries) to sleep. Tsoukernik defeated Phil Ivey, heads-up, to win the €1,102,000 first prize. Two more non-professionals rounded out the in the money (ITM) finishes, with Paul Phua finishing third, and Cary Katz sneaking into the money for the second successive tournament.

ITM Results

1. Leon Tsoukernik – €1,102,00

2. Phil Ivey – €826,500

3. Paul Phua – €551,000

4. Cary Katz – €275,500

Siamak Tooran Wins €25,500 No-Limit Hold’em Short-Deck

Siamak Tooran won the ‘baby’ Short-Deck event. 

111-entrants sold goats, chickens and pigs to find the €25,500 to compete in this one, with Tooran defeating Thai Ha, heads-up, to win the title and career-high score of €457,964.

Top non-pros Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Rob Yong made the final table, as did the WSOP Main Event runner-up, Dario Sammartino. Phil Ivey enjoyed another deep run, finishing in ninth.

Final Table Results

1. Siamak Tooran – €740,996

2. Thia Ha – €457,964

3. Orpen Kisacikoglu – €323,553

4. Netanel Amedi – €230,807

5. Besim Hot – €166,258

6. Rob Yong – €120,946

7. Jonathan Depa – €88,861

8. Dario Sammartino – €88,861

The Debate: Dan Shak v WSOPE

Sticking with the WSOP theme, and Dan Shak came up against a divot that demanded his attention this week. 

Shak decided to go to print after the €2,500 8-Game Mix 6-Handed only managed to persuade 71-entrants to part with their money. 

A few people agreed with Shak until the man who finished third in the 8-Game event chimed in.

Shak replied by telling Hellmuth to ‘get real,’ and questioned whether ‘his ego was so big that it had made him blind?’

Hellmuth didn’t respond, but you can.

Do you think hosting a 71-entrant bracelet event in Rozvadov is tarnishing the WSOP brand?

The Beef: Negreanu v Unlimited Re-Entries; Deeb v Kenney

During Shak’s mini spat with Hellmuth over the integrity of the WSOPE, the hedge fund manager referred to Daniel Negreanu as also ‘realising that there needs to be changes.’

Those ‘changes’ that Shak refers to stem from this Negreanu tweet.

Reading through the replies, it seems there is only one issue – late registration. The only problem is those asking for a late registration rule don’t seem to have a response when Negreanu says, “Nah, fuck em, turn up on time.”

What do you think?

Should prestigious events return to ‘old school’ rules?

Shaun Deeb v Bryn Kenney

Bryn Kenney makes it into ‘The Beef’ for the second successive week. Last week, the All-Time Money List leader got involved in a Scrooge-like brouhaha with Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald. This week, Kenney is trading cyber blows with Shaun Deeb.

It all began with an appearance on the Joey Ingram show, where Kenney opened up about his finances, stating that he started the year $3.3m in makeup with $1m on the side. 

Then the Triton Million came on the horizon, and Kenney believed in his marrow that he would win the event. He was so confident that he put half of his net worth on the line, and made a series of significant side bets. After Ingram began laughing and said that it was a ‘degen thing to do,’ Kenney responded – “don’t try this at home.”

Then Shaun Deeb entered from stage left with this tweet.

If you ever talk to Kenney, he likes to tell you his lone wolf story. However, judging by the wave after wave of support he received from his peers, he’s not as alone as he may think.

Here is an example of the support that went Kenney’s way after Deeb’s tweet.

There were also supportive responses from David Peters, Dan Smith, Timothy Adams, Adrian Mateos, Chris Kruk, Ali Imsirovic and Jason Koon.

And it seems the debate raged on behind the scenes.

The Quote(s) of the Week

The quote of the week comes from an old interview between Joey Ingram and Jean-Robert Bellande, where Bellande talks about a player who died in the middle of the hand. The deceased had the best hand, and after the paramedics had removed the corpse, a conversation ensued as to what to do with the money, with one of the plyers suggesting – “The guy’s dead, the hand’s dead.”

Check it out.

And that’s a wrap for this week’s pinnacle.

James Chen

James Chen soared to the summit of Event #4: €250,000 Super High Roller No-Limit Hold’em like a majestical griffin at the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) in the King’s Resort in Rozvadov.

It was a victory that erased the pain of his last two heads-up defeats, losing to Kuisong Wu in an HKD 200,000 Super High Roller in Macau, and Stephen Chidwick with the $25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) High Roller – the coveted bracelet, a fingernail from his grasp in the summer.

Chen earned a million bucks for finishing runner-up to Chidwick, his previous personal best, until this score.

“I wouldn’t say that winning a bracelet necessarily means you are a good player or not but when I was a beginner in poker it was always just a dream of mine to win one,” said Chen.

It’s Chen’s first World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet, and his $7,337,206 lifetime haul, sees him climb to the summit of the Taiwanese All-Time Money list. It’s going to be a long time before anyone catches him.

The event pulled in 30-entrants (inc. 8 re-entries), creating a prize pool of €7,125,000, and this is how Chen took it down to Taiwanese town.

Final Table Chip Counts

Seat 1: Dominik Nitsche – 42,500,000
Seat 2: James Chen – 13,100,000
Seat 3: Christoph Vogelsang – 16,300,000
Seat 4: Chin Wei Lim – 23,900,000
Seat 5: Cary Katz – 20,000,000
Seat 6: Ryan Riess – 15,600,000
Seat 7: Tony T – 18,600,000

Dominik Nitsche is a confident man. Add a monstrous chip lead to the comfortableness of knowing you once beat 132 people in this venue to win €3.5m, then you have a dragon, with the rush of air from his wings capable of sending all and sundry to the rail.

But even dragons need a good start.

Nitsche didn’t get one.

With blinds at 500k/1m/1m, Nitsche opened from midfield to 2m and called when Christoph Vogelsang moved all-in for 13.8m in the cutoff. Nitsche showed AsQs, but his compatriot had him beat with pocket kings. Vogelsang would river an unnecessary flush to double up through the chip leader.

Then Nitsche’s altitude fell further when the same situation presented itself in the same level – this time James Chen’s pocket kings doubling through Nitsche’s AdQh.

The unthinkable happened a few orbits later.

Nitsche moved all-in for 14.6m, holding AdKs, and Chin Wei Lim sent him smashing into the rail like an errant pinball with pocket queens. The overnight chip leader was the first to bite Freddie Mercury’s dust.

The elimination of Nitsche brought the action to the money bubble, and it was the former World Champion, Ryan Riess, who wore the crown of thorns.

With blinds at 600k/1.2m/1.2m, Riess, who had fallen below ten bigs, moved all-in from the cutoff, and Tony G reshoved from the button. Riess tabled AhJc, but G had him beaten with AdQh, and neither the flop, turn or river could prevent G from roaring like thunder.

Vogelsang then took the chip lead in a hand that crippled James Chen.

With blinds at 600k/1.2m/1.2m, Vogelsang opened to 2.4m holding pocket aces, and Chen defended the big blind with AsQd. The flop of 6s2h2d hit the table, Chen checked, Vogelsang bet 1.8m, Chen check-raised to 6m, and Vogelsang called. The turn was the Jh, Chen bet 8.5m, and Vogelsang called. The river was the 3d, Chen moved all-in with his bluff, and Vogelsang took him to a town called malice after a quick call, leaving Chen with a mere 8.3m chips leading into the first break of the day.

Chen returned from his 15-minute break, and immediately doubled up through Lim. Chen opened shoved the button for 7.5m, holding Kh5d, and Lim called and lost with Qh8h after Chen flopped a king.

Cary Katz Eliminated in 5th Place (€538,722)

Then we lost Cary Katz.

With blinds at 800k/1.6m/1.6m, Tony G opened to 3.5m in the hijack seat, and Katz defended the big blind. The flop dragged KsJd9h out of the deck, Katz moved all-in for 5.3m, and Tony G called. Katz had flopped the second pair with Jh6h, but G had him beaten with KcQs for the top pair hand. The turn and river bricked for Katz, who exited in the fifth place.

Chen began rising through the ranks, doubling through Vogelsang AhJs>ThTc. Then Lim took the chip lead after doubling through G QdJd>9s9d.

Tony G Eliminated in 4th Place (€799,045)

G never recovered from the mop over the head from Lim.

With blinds at 800k/1.6m/1.6m, Chen opened to 3.2m from the cutoff, and Tony G defended the big blind. The dealer fanned AdTc8c across the centre of the table, and Tony G check-raised jammed for 27.9m; Chen called. G showed Jh9c for the open-ender, and Chen showed AsTd for the top-two pair hand, and it held.

Vogelsang doubled through Chen: KsQs>KhJc, and then Chen got them back when pocket sixes out flipped AsKc.

Chip Counts

James Chen – 89,200,000
Chin Wei Lim – 43,400,000
Christoph Vogelsang – 17,400,000

Christoph Vogelsang Eliminated in 3rd Place (€1,185,161)

Then we lost the former Super High Roller Bowl winner.

With blinds at 1m/2m/2m, Lim opened to 6m on the button and called when Vogelsang moved all-in for 15.4m in the big blind. Vogelsang was ahead pre-flop with pocket fives taking on AcTc, but Lim flopped a ten to take the German’s scalp, and scarf.

Heads-Up Tale of the Tape

Chen – 94,200,000
Lim – 55,800,000

Lim took the chip lead when with blinds at 1.2m/2.4m/2.4m, he limped on the button holding AdQd, and Chen checked from the big blind with 6s5s. The flop was Qh9s6h, Chen checked, Lim bet 3m, and Chen called. The 3c hit the turn, and the same action ensued for 10m. The final card was the Jh, giving Lim the lock on the hand. Chen checked, Lim bet 15m, and Chen folded.

Lim – 80,400,000
Chen – 69,600,000

Chen then opened up a 2:1 chip lead.

In the same level, Chen limped on the button with two black queens, Lim raised to 8m from the big blind with AdQd, and Chen called. The dealer put the lowly looking 6c5c4s onto the flop, and Lim called a 9m Chen bet. The Tc hit the turn, and Lim folded after Chen bet 13m.

Lim then doubled back into contention when As3h bested Ah2d at the end of an all-in and call before Chen took another big chip lead.

With blinds at 1.5m/3m/3m, Lim raised to 6.5m on the button, holding Ks5d, and Chen called with Ts6d. The flop was Tc8d3s to give Chen top pair, and both players checked. The 8h joined the melee on the turn, Chen bet 7m, and Lim called. The final community card was the Td, Chen bet 19m, and Lim called with only king high. Chen showed the full-house and dragged in a monster pot.

And then it was over.

Chen moved all-in holding Ad4d, and Lim called with Ah5c. It was a fab situation for Lim until the second four hit the river to give Chen his first sliver of gold and leave Lim with invisible silver.

ITM Results

  1. James Chen – €2,844,215
  2. Chin Wei Lim – €1,757,857
  3. Christoph Vogelsang – €1,185,161
  4. Tony G – €799,045
  5. Cary Katz – €538,722
Alex Foxen

It’s unusual to read, as I did this morning, that ice exists in the moon’s South Pole, and that scientists are keen to understand where it came from because future manned missions depend on using resources that already exist on the great rock. What’s not unusual to read, as I did this morning, is that Alex Foxen is beating up the competition again. 

In the past two-years, Foxen has been an arrowhead streaking through strata after strata of poker’s mass ecology, finally landing in the bullseye at the top of the totem pole firmly embedded in the world’s grandest stage.

The ninth live tournament win of his career came in the 19-entrant $20,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller as part of the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble. Foxen defeated Joseph McKeehen, heads-up, to win the $182,400 first prize. Jorryt van Hoof finished third. 

The win ends a stubborn streak of frostbite for Foxen. The former Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, has finished in the top three spots of major poker tournaments on eight occasions, without binking the win, leading back to December 2018. He has now earned $12,612,339 lifetime, $3,750,056 in 2019 – more than enough to get him on board a Virgin Galactic flight. He doesn’t pick up any GPI points, as the field size didn’t qualify, so he remains in #2 in the world rankings, behind Stephen Chidwick. 

Like Foxen, McKeehen has also struggled to turn deep runs into victories this year. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event winner, did win a World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) gold ring when defeating a field of 172-entrants in Atlantic City earlier this year. However, that win aside, McKeehen has finished #2 or #3 on five further occasions.

In April, McKeehen finished third in a $25,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, earning $305,665.

In May, William Miller beat him to the title in an 862-entrant $550 No-Limit Hold’em event as part of the WPTDeepStacks event in Parx Casino, Bensalem, earning $52,369.

In June, McKeehen finished second again, this time to Evan Teitelbaum, in a $1,600 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Wynn, earning $89,218. 

In August, he finished third behind Jonathan Little and Tony Sinishtaj in a $2,200 No-Limit Hold’em event in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open, earning $47,290.

McKeehen has earned $16,437,894 in live tournament earnings, bolstered by the $7,683,346 he won as the 2015 WSOP Main Event Champion. The $721,816 he has won in 2019, is his lowest return since 2013.

Van Hoof finished third in the WSOP Main Event the year before McKeehen took the title, and despite being primarily a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) cash game player, he does pop up in the deep end of the odd No-Limit Hold’em tournament. 

The Dutchman had a decent showing at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona finishing 20th in the €10,300, and eight in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em events. He also won his second World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title in successive years after winning a $530 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Max, Hyper-Turbo for $70,860.30.

Here are the ITM finishes.

ITM Finishes

  1. Alex Foxen – $182,400
  2. Joe McKeehen – $109,440
  3. Jorryt van Hoof – $72,960

McKeehen and Shak Run Deep in the WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event

McKeehen followed up his success in the high roller by making the final nine of the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em WPT bestbet Bounty Scramble Main Event. The event attracted 349-entrants, and McKeehen picked up $31,648 for his ninth-place finish. 

The only other high roller to finish ITM in this one was Dan Shak. The hedge fund manager finished 25th for $10,061. It’s Shak’s 11th cash of the year, with his highlight being a 3/440 finish in the $5,000 Bay 101 Shooting Star event for $200,055. 

Shak has earned $641,792 (gross) in 2019, but that’s likely to his downturn in attendance. Shak declared on Twitter that non-pros involvement in high stakes games would likely end due to the prevalence of solvers. 

Joshua Adkins won the tournament.

It was the first time he had ever competed in a WPT event, and as you can see, it meant the world to him.

Final Table Results

  1. Joshua Adkins – $331,480
  2. Tan Nguyen – $210,988
  3. Joshua Kay – $155,340
  4. Jason Lee – $115,691
  5. Jonathan Cronin – $87,170
  6. Jeff Cunningham – $66,457

Shaun Deeb is like a hammerhead shark.

The reigning World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (POY) is in Rozvadov for the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE), and it didn’t take him long to bare his teeth. 

After all three POY contenders whiffed Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em Opener, the triumvirate of Daniel Negreanu, Robert Campbell and Deeb turned their attention to Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha.

Negreanu and Campbell couldn’t levitate to Day 2, but Deeb did, leading the field with twice as many chips as his nearest competitor. Given the field size of Event #2 (476-entrants), if Deeb wins, he will pick up 836-points, enough to overtake Campbell at the top of this particular taxi rank. 

Of the three, Deeb is the only one with previous experience, competing in Rozvadov. Last year, Deeb cashed in four events in the WSOPE at King’s Resort, including a 38th place finish in the low stakes PLO event. It was also in this venue that the WSOP crowned Deeb, the winner of the POY. Nobody has successfully defended the title, and if he does so, he will become only the second person ever to win it twice (Negreanu won it in 2004 & 2013).

The only other player who frequents the high stakes circuit from time to time making an appearance in Day 2 is Anthony Zinno. 

High Rollers Whiff Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em Opener

The snowball that was Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em Opener has melted without a high stakes regular in the 152 paid places. 

The event attracted 1,011-entrants, and Renat Bohdanov defeated Norbert Mosony, heads-up, to win the bracelet and €53,654 first prize. The up and coming Eyal Benshimon finished third, and the 2009 WSOP POY, Jeff Lisandro, finished eighth.

Final Table Results

  1. Renat Bohdanov – €53,654
  2. Norbert Mosonyi – €33,112
  3. Eyal Benshimon – €23,386
  4. Mykhailo Hryhoriev – €16,736
  5. Samuel Mika – €12,138
  6. Michal Kral – €8,923
  7. Rafi Elharar – €6,651
  8. Jeff Lisandro – €5,026.

PokerGO to Stream WSOPE Action

If you need an excuse to skip the Rozvadov brothels, you’ve got it. 

They’ve left it unusually late, but Poker Central and the WSOP have shaken hands on a deal to bring you 14 days of live streaming on PokerGO.

The action runs Oct 16-31 with highlights including the €250,000, €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Rollers, the €50,000 and €25,500 Short-Deck events, and the tigress that is the €10,350 No-Limit Hold’em Main Event.

Park your private jet in the hangar, get the kettle on, and settle in for some of the best poker action on the planet. 

Standing at the summit of the tower overlooking the vast expanse of high stakes online poker is Finland’s top marksman, Sami ‘LarsLuzak’ Kelopuro.

At the back end of August, Kelopuro hit the headlines after winning $1.3m playing a Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) cash game online at PokerStars. Vexed with only impaling online cash game brethren on his white and blue stake, Kelopuro set his sights on becoming the cock of the online multi-table tournament (MTT) world.

He left all the other hens pecking at seeds.

Kelopuro cashed 121 times in tournaments during the month that Earth, Wind and Fire fancy, earning $4.275m in gross profit. The Finn has the GGSeries and World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) to thank for smashing the dam. 

14 six-figure scores.

45 five-figure scores.

Eight wins.

Here are a few highlights courtesy of PocketFives.

GGPoker was the arena where Kelopuro caused the most carnage. On Sep 9, he won two GGS events for $157,000 and $458,770 respectively. Then on Sep 14, he binked three tournaments on the same site earning $121,638, $275,344 and $61,924.

His monster month didn’t go unrecognised. Kelopuro won the PocketFives Monthly Leaderboard, tipped over the $10m earnings mark for MTTs, and landed in the World #1 spot for the first time in his illustrious career.

Here are those world rankings.

The PocketFives World Rankings

  1. Sami ‘LarsLuzak’ Kelopuro
  2. Patrick ‘pleno1’ Leonard
  3. Niklas ‘lena900’ Ästedt
  4. Andras ‘probirs’ Nemeth
  5. Johannes ‘Greenstone25’ Korsar

The Best of the Rest

There are many ways that one can overtake Kelopuro at the top of the world rankings.

Bribery.

Battery.

Brilliance.

Here are a few peeps choosing Option #3.

PokerStars High Rollers

Ole ‘wizowizo’ Schemion had a productive weekend after laying siege on the PokerStars High Rollers. 

The World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member won two top events. In the first, he beat 137-entrants to win the $29,212 first prize in the $1,050 Sunday Supersonic. Benjamin ‘bencb789’ Rolle finished second, and Joris ‘BillLewinsky’ Ruijs finished fourth.

Then Schemion took down the 144-entrant $1,050 Sunday Warm-Up for $30,225. Aliaksei ‘ale6ka’ Boika finished second, Dario ‘Secret_M0d3’ Sammartino, finished third, Alex ‘steakaddict’ Papazian was sixth, and girafganger7’s run ended in eighth.

The winner of PokerStars’ biggest buy-in event of the weekend was Jonathan ‘apestyles’ Van Fleet who defeated Michael ‘mczhang’ Zhang to win the PokerStars $2,100 Sunday High Roller for $38,840. He has now earned more than $10.6m playing online tournaments. 

Partypoker High Rollers

Switching from PokerStars to partypoker, and we have nothing but anonymity for you.

The $5,200 The Big Game returned with 119-entrants ensuring they beat the $500,000 guarantee by $95,000, and ‘SleevePatrol’ won the $145,775 first prize. ‘Jizoint’ won the $2,100 Sunday High Roller Gladiator, defeating 176-entrants to claim the $83,000 first prize. ‘Achtungdiekurve’ won the 233-entrant $1,050 Sunday High Roller Masters for $47,508.

GG Poker

Lastly, there were two big winners on GGPoker this weekend. ‘Ravenoustrashdog’ won the 53-entrant $2,500 Sunday Blade for $43,607, and ‘Joeri_van_Heeten’ won the 30-entrant, $5k Sunday Blade for $64,059.

And that’s this week’s virtual rail. 

Inside the cockpit of a high stakes poker player is a dazzling array of knowledge. It’s enough to give you a concussion. Remain in your cave. Don’t attempt to step into that good light. 

You will burn. 

So, it’s better to watch these bulls in action from a distance, and for the next fortnight the King’s Resort in Rozvadov becomes the ring, and there are red rags everywhere. 

The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) has begun, and the primary focus will be on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year race. Likely winners are Daniel Negreanu, Robert Campbell or Shaun Deeb. 

All three have spent some time on social media this week, discussing the event. 

Negreanu has been bowled over by the service Leon Tsoukernik’s team provides for a man of his stature.

The Canadian star has also begun his vlogging ritual, and you can pick up the slack, right here. 

The two-time WSOP POY winner sold a WSOPE package to his loyal fans, and Shaun Deeb, also dabbled in the market. The reigning WSOP POY sold somewhere between 40-60% of his action, and it didn’t take long for the gavel to hit the wood.

Leading Negreanu and Deeb in the POY race is Robert Campbell, and the Australian ace prepared for his WSOPE Rozvadov debut by inking a lyrical masterpiece.

At the time of writing, the WSOPE is ankle-deep into two events. 

399-entrants competed in Day 1A of Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em Opener. Both Campbell and Negreanu battled and busted in the first flight, but have multiple opportunities to reinvest. Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha is also underway with 130 different accents currently struggling to be heard amid the Day 1A noise. 

The Beef: Kenney v Timex

This week, Bryn Kenney and Mike “Timex” McDonald take on the roles of hero and villain in ‘The Beef’, and I will layout the story arc, and let you decide who gets what position.

It all began with a Daniel Negreanu poll.

Negreanu then added a daisy to the chain.

McDonald was the first person to disagree with Negreanu. The Canadian star stated his ‘shock’ that having a million bucks allows a person to think it’s ok to give 400% tips ‘while affecting your life precisely 0.’

The Canadian’s response seemed to irk Kenney:

“Mike could have 100 million, and still wouldn’t tip cuz he “doesn’t see the value in it.” 

Kenney cited several incidents that cast a mole beneath McDonald’s moral high ground, including a night out in Panama that seemed to tug at McDonald’s ego strings. 

McDonald tweeted Ike Haxton and Sam Greenwood asking them if they picked up his tab? He also agreed to repay anyone who was the worse off because of his behaviour. 

“It was an isolated incident,” said Timex.

Kenney didn’t agree.

The Debate: The Jordan Peterson Paradox

Twitter is many things (a cesspit being one of them), and one of its selling points is the ability to pass on prime information to your followers. 

Haralabos Voulgaris likes to do just that, and this week he posted a video of Jordan Peterson called ‘Sacrifice,’ leading to some dissenting voices.

It’s a fantastic thread.

Central to the debate is the habit of humanity to disregard a positive message once we have thrown someone into the trash with the other rotten eggs. 

https://twitter.com/haralabob/status/1181420324031610880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The Life Outside of Poker: Perkins Offers $100k Reward; Triton Helps The Bahamas

Bill Perkins posted a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the Joshua Brown murder case. Brown provided crucial testimony in a murder case involving a former police officer and a neighbour that lived in Brown’s apartment.

Brown gave evidence in front of a jury but was then found dead several days later due to gunshot wounds. Perkins immediately posted the $100k reward, and the police arrested three people in connection with the murder with a ‘drug deal gone wrong’ cited as the likely reason. 

We covered the story here:

Bill Perkins Offers $100,000 Reward in Joshua Brown Case.

Perkins has also been using his money to help the Bahamian victims of Hurricane Dorian, and he’s not alone. This week, Rob Yong thanked Triton Poker for pledging £100,000 from the Triton Million London charity fund to the Bahamian disaster relief, with more likely to come from partypoker sources.

The Poll: Who Are The Most Aggressive Selfie-Askers

When you reach the highest echelons of poker power, someone will likely ask you to take a selfie. But what nation needs to add selfie-asking manners to their school curriculum. It’s an important question that Daniel Negreanu felt he had to ask this week.

And the answer.

The Quote of the Week

I can’t remember who retweeted this, but it most definitely came from a high stakes digit. 

And that’s a wrap for this week’s pinnacle.

In a small dot of the universe, Bill Perkins sifts through pages and pages of digital paper learning about hovercraft engines, how to grow the perfect tangerine, and the death of a 28-year-old father of three in Dallas, Texas. 

It’s sad to report that there’s nothing unusual about a 28-year-old man shot to death in the U.S. Only this one was different. Ten days earlier, the deceased, Joshua Brown, was a crucial witness in the Amber Guyger case.

If like me, you don’t read the news, unless a high stakes poker player posts about it on his Twitter feed, then let me fill you in. 

A jury found Amber Guyger, guilty of murdering Botham Jean, a 26-year-old, accountant from St Lucia. The former Dallas police officer walked into his apartment and put two bullets into him. Guyger claimed she had entered Jean’s apartment by mistake. The blame went to tiredness after a long shift. Thinking the apartment was hers, and seeing a man in there spooked her.

She received a ten-year jail sentence.

She killed someone and received a ten-year jail sentence.

Let me say that again.

She killed someone and received a ten-year jail sentence!

Joshua Brown shared the apartment block with both Guyger and Jean. He became implicated in the case after returning home from football and hearing the shooting. The jury heard from Brown that he did not hear Guyger say “Put Your Hands Up” before shooting Jean. Guyger claimed that she did. 

After Brown was found dead in a car park, Perkins offered a $100,000 reward for any information that would lead to a conviction. Well, the police got more than a tip, although I’m not sure the money will end up in the pocket of the deliverer.

The Brown Case

Police want to interview Thaddeus Charles Green (22) and Michael Diaz Mitchell (32), after testimony from Jacqerious Mitchell implicated the pair in Brown’s death.

Mitchell told police that the three of them had driven to Dallas to buy drugs from Brown when a physical altercation between Brown and Green resulted in Brown shooting Green, and then Green returning the favour. 

The police claimed a search of Brown’s home unearthed 12 lbs of marijuana, 149 grams of THC cartridges and $4,157 in cash.

Was it a drug deal gone wrong, or a ‘Making a Murderer’ police conspiracy?

S. Lee. Merritt is the lawyer representing Brown’s family. He told a reporter from the Black American Web that Brown believed he was Guyger’s target, not Jean, and had concerns someone would come and finish the job. It’s for this reason that Merritt wants an outside party to investigate the case.

“Whether they like it or not, the Dallas Police Department is implicated in this.”

It’s not the first time that Brown had been involved in a shooting. Last year, he received a gunshot wound to the foot, after a birthday party went wrong. 

It begins with a man called Elwin Ransom, smuggled, drugged onto a spaceship heading for a planet called Malacandra. I don’t know how it ends because I haven’t finished the book. 

‘Out of the Silent Planet’ is the first in a trilogy created by C.S. Lewis a decade before thoughts of a slain Aslan ended up in print. When Ransom figures out that he’s on a spaceship heading for another planet, you can imagine that he feels slightly pissed. 

Not everyone would feel that way.

On Tuesday, lawyer Mac VerStanding submitted a $30m lawsuit to the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of California. Poker’s legal eagle is representing 25-poker players who want damages after alleging that Postle stole from them, sending the man heading for the nearest spaceport. 

Chief amongst them is Veronica Brill, the player and oft-time Stones livestream commentator, who was the first to bring allegations raining down on Postle like a billion razor cuts in September. Stones’ Tournament Director, Justin Kuraitis also faces the beak, as does Stones Gambling Hall and its parent company King’s Casino LLC. A bunch of John and Jane Does are also in the mix.

Breaking Down the $30m

You can read the lawsuit in its entirety, here.

Postle is in for $10m on allegations of fraud. The lawsuit referenced that Postle had a win-rate of 60 big blinds per hour, stating:-

“5 bb per hour is a goal one should aspire to attain, ten bb per hour is exceptional, and 20 bb per hour is stratospherically phenomenal.”

Stones Gambling Hall is also in for $10m on charges of negligence for not providing spick-and-span security. As is Kuraitis – charged with fraud and negligence – for repeatedly backing Postle, and telling all and sundry that the game was as safe as houses. 

Aside from the $30m headline, the other interesting point of note is the inclusion of a ‘John Doe 1’, whom the lawsuit says they can’t name for legal reasons. ‘John Doe 1’ is the hidden identity of Postle’s alleged aide, who somehow managed to pass hole card information to him during gameplay. PokerNews pointed out that the name ‘Taylor Smith’ had emerged on 2+2 as a possible fit. Postle’s champagne supernova seemed to fizzle out when Smith failed to turn up for work. 

The legal team representing the 25-strong possee allege that Postle cheated using of his mobile phone, or a device obscured by his baseball cap. 

The suit also states that Postle won $250,000 playing on the Stones Live Stream in a single year. During a recent interview with Mike Matusow, Postle said these claims were well wide of the mark, suggesting it was closer to $125,000. Postle also said that anyone who knows him will attest that he’s always on his mobile phone. He also said he keeps his hand under his upper leg out of habit. 

An interesting rebuttal from Postle concerned Joe Ingram, Doug Polk and the rest of the Sherlock Holmes crew. Postle said there were stories behind all of the unusual hands, that only a few people would understand (players in the game, and backroom staff). I can’t remember specifics, but it goes along the lines of Postle telling someone connected with the stream, that if he gets 54o, he will go with it regardless. 

If like me, you’re wondering how on earth the tribe is going to win $30m in damages without a shred of physical evidence, a civil suit only requires “preponderance of evidence.” Meaning the plaintiffs only need to show there is a 50% chance that the charges are true. 

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We have blast-off!

Mike Postle fled the gunfire, finding refuge on Mike Matusow’s ‘The Mouthpiece’ podcast. The man, many accuse of malevolence, remained in Matusow’s hideaway for three hours. When he emerged, the same arid wasteland of a reputation remained, bleached by Bergerac blasts of blasphemy.

“You do not cheat at poker!”

That is a rule.

Postle went onto ‘The Mouthpiece’ to prove his innocence. It doesn’t appear that he’s done that. 

Matusow released the podcast in two episodes.

Here is Part I.

And Part II.

Postle claims that the assertion he won $250,000 in a year is false and that he is 10,000% innocent of all accusations, calling the poker community’s investigation ‘lazy.’

On the flip side of that coin, Postle told Matusow that he was the winningest player on Ultimate Bet (UB) before U.S officials shuttered the online poker room forever. He also claimed that even in today’s climate, he is “One of the best players in the world.”

To back up his claim, Postle offered a heads-up challenge to anyone, including Doug Polk. 

Joe Ingram alerted Polk of the news, and Polk reminded Ingram that he doesn’t play poker anymore.

Polk’s tribe begged him to come out of retirement and face Postle, but realising there is nothing but bad news that could come from such a match, Polk declined.

But he did invite Postle onto his YouTube channel, and you would think if he was 10,000% sure of his innocence that he would appear.

I think you’ve more chance of an Eskimo dying of heatstroke.

Matusow admitted that he wasn’t prepared for the interview, but had watched three hours of footage from Stones Live. The four-time World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, repeatedly told his viewers that poker news is fake news, and that he had little love for either Ingram or Polk. He was also stoned and suggested to Postle that he could sue his detractors for millions of dollars.

Postle told the listeners that he’s working on his own video to prove that he’s not a God. 

Merely human.

Then he emerged, and the gunfire began. 

The room is about to fill with unemployed Germans. Deutsche Bank AG is preparing to take the mop out of the hands of close to 10,000 people as the lender rains the pox down on their heads. 

So what next?

Why not give poker a shot?

Nature manufactured Manig Loeser in the cellular workshop of this mighty nation, and he seems to be doing alright.

The former Triton Champion made the final table of the $3,300 WPT UK Main Event at Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) in Nottingham, UK, finishing in seventh place for a $58,500 score. 

Loeser, who used to live in the UK, has now earned $2.1m in 2019, and currently ranks #7 in the Global Poker Index (GPI) and #8 in the GPI Player of the Year stakes. 

Two of Loeser’s most potent missiles landed in the following chronological order:

In January, the German star finished runner-up to Toby Lewis in the AUD 50,000 Aussie Millions Challenge for $555,014. Then in April, Loeser won the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo for $678,393.

Loeser wasn’t the only high roller running deeper than a moon crater in this one. Paul Newey won his first live title in September taking down a £10,500 No-Limit Hold’em event at the British Poker Open (BPO) for £156,400. The high stakes slot machine guru finished tenth. The former GPI World #1 Adrian Mateos finished 18th for his second-best performance of the year outside of finishing fifth in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller at the WSOP. Sam Trickett finished 28th on home turf, and Kahle Burns put in another solid performance finishing 43rd. The Australian has made eight major final tables this calendar year. 

Wading his way through the frenzy of the 690-entrant field all hellbent on taking the most significant portion of the $2m prize pool, was Simon Brändström. In a week that has seen their King strip five of his kin of royal titles, politicians table a bill to give ‘nature’ legal rights and ban on non-medical circumcision – Sweden has a WPT Champion. 

And he’s in the best form of his life.

It’s Brändström’s second major win of the year and third significant score. 

In March he finished runner-up to Juan Esmoris after wading through a 1,232-entrant field in the €1,500, €1m GTD WPTDeepStacks Main Event in Barcelona for $212,536. In August, he returned to the same venue to take down the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event for $1,434,793.

Previous six-figure scores include a runner-up finish in the 2013 Master Classics of Poker (MCOP) in Amsterdam for $245,027, and a third the 2015 EUREKA Prague Main Event for $130,610.

The 37-year-old from Gothenburg, Sweden, is now a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet away from a Triple Crown. 

Final Table Results

  1. Simon Brändström – $330,000
  2. Ryan Mandara – $221,650
  3. James Rann – $168,500
  4. Matthew Eardley – $128,500
  5. Maria Lampropoulos – $98,500
  6. Paul Siddle – $76,000
  7. Manig Loser – $58,500
  8. Leo Worthington-Leese – $46,000
  9. Paul Jackson – $36,000