Given Randall Emmett’s online feud with the bad boy rapper 50-Cent, the poker table must be a landscape the TV and film producer welcomes. He’s undoubtedly spending more time there.
The stardust of the 2019 Poker Masters is not due to sparkle until 4 November. The PokerGO production team have kept the rust from their equipment by hosting three consecutive $10,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em events at the esteemed venue. Emmett won the first two.
The first event attracted a field of 20-entrants, and Emmett took the $108,000 first prize after beating Sean Winter, heads-up, for the title. The only other player to make a profit was Dylan Linde, who finished third. The win was Emmett’s best since racking up his first-ever live tournament score in 2012, finishing third for $196,000 in an invitational event at the Wynn.
It was Winter’s first in the money (ITM) finish since winning a $5,250 No-Limit Hold’em event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) in August. It’s a rare foray to a poker table for Winter, who is dedicating more time at home with his expectant wife. Winter currently leads the Global Poker Index (GPI) Player of the Year rankings but didn’t pick up any extra points due to the minuscule size of the field.
ITM Finishes
Randall Emmett – $108,000
Sean Winter – $60,000
Dylan Linde – $32,000
The next day, Emmett returned to the PokerGO Studios and defeated 19-entrants to win his second $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em title. If Winter wasn’t a tough enough opponent for Emmett, how about Sam Soverel?
Soverel currently leads the Poker Central Player of the Year race and won the British Poker Open (BPO) a few weeks back, so he is in banging form. Emmett bested him, however, to take the $102,600 first prize. Kristina Holst finished third.
ITM Finishes
Randall Emmett – $102,600
Sam Soverel – $57,000
Kristina Holst – $30,400
Emmett has now earned a smidgen over $500,000 playing live tournament poker. He will need to up his game if he’s going to fill the $1m gap repaying a debt to 50-Cent created.
After his second win, Emmett celebrated by taking his partner, Lala Kent, on a date to the Sugar Factory. The Vanderpump Rules star recently stoked 50-Cent’s molten core after claiming on ‘What Happens Live’ that her previous social media spat with 50-Cent got under his skin.
The Grammy Award winner reacted by poking fun at Kent’s problems with addiction and also firing a few fresh shots at our back-to-back ARIA High Roller winner.
Emmett might be crushing people at the poker table, but he wants no piece of Jackson. According to press reports, Emmett responded to the attack on his lady, by posting an Instagram post begging Fofty to stop attacking his good woman.
50-Cent never responded, but has taken down some of his posts directed at Kent’s past issues with addiction.
Back to poker, and Emmett has now won four live poker tournaments. The first came in June of last year when he stomped his Nike’s on 314-entrants to win the $200 No-Limit Hold’em Daily DeepStack at the RIO during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $11,355.
In February, Emmett beat 31-entrants to win the first prize of $12,320 in a $1,100 No-Limit Hold’em DeepStack at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood. He also came tenth in a $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em event in this year’s WSOP.
A bloodbath.
That’s what we’ve witnessed this week, as poker’s collective force gathered its Columbo might to take down Mike Postle.
Who?
You’re right in thinking that Postle is not a name associated with high stakes poker. He gets a mention here because nobody in the high stakes locker room is talking about anything else, leaving me woefully short of content.
Here’s the walnut shell deal.
The Stones Gambling Hall in Citrus Heights, California, has been live-streaming a $1/$3 live No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) cash game for the past four years.
Postle is the game’s biggest winner.
In September, after months of doubt, Veronica Brill, the poker player oft-time commentator raised concerns about Postle’s play.
The casino held an internal investigation and didn’t find Postle standing in the poker room, holding a bloody candlestick in his hand.
Then Joe Ingram got involved.
Ingram poured over hundreds of hands, putting together a five-hour livestream to talk through the footage with his crew. Doug Polk spent eight hours doing the same. 2+2 created a super-sleuth thread. Twitter blew up, including an army of thoughts, suggestions and assumptions from the High Stakes brethren.
The verdict was 99.9% confirmed by the public.
Mike Postle was a guilty man.
Throughout all of the noise, Postle denied any wrongdoing, telling all and sundry that his poker skills are as delicious as Dulce De Leche ice cream. He even went on the Mike Matusow podcast to claim his innocence.
Scott Van Pelt covered the story on ESPN’s SportsCast.
If you eat asparagus, then your pee will smell of asparagus. Postle’s hyper-variance style shows no variance winning 62 of 69 sessions, gathering more than $250,000 in profit.
Stones have since halted all action on the stream and in the poker room until they conduct a second investigation, and we wait with bated breath.
Live Poker News: Emmett Wins; Antonius Heading to Malta; Fast Starts Late Reg Debate; Legends Turn Up at DTD
In other live poker news, Randall Emmett has earned his first two high roller stripes for taking down back-to-back high roller events at the PokerGO Studios at the ARIA in Las Vegas.
3rd October, Emmett conquered a field of 20-entrants to win a $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event. The film and television producer defeated Sean Winter, heads-up, to win the title. World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member, Dylan Linde, was the only other person to make money, finishing third.
ITM Finishes
Randall Emmett – $108,000
Sean Winter – $60,000
Dylan Linde – $32,000
The following night, Emmett returned to the felt to win his second $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em event, this time beating 19-entrants to capture the $102,600 first prize. Poker Central Player of the Year leader, Sam Soverel, lengthened that lead with a second-place finish, and Kristina Holst finished third.
ITM Finishes
Randall Emmett – $102,600
Sam Soverel – $57,000
Kristina Holst – $30,400
Fans of Patrik Antonius continue to benefit from the launch of his new app First Land of Poker (FLOP). As part of his marketing strategy, the fabulous Finn will host and compete in a special event at the Battle of Malta. The €300 buy-in Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge Pop-up Cup begins October 18 at the Casino Malta.
The WPT team has been at Rob Yong’s gaff (Dusk till Dawn) for WPT UK this week. Although you won’t find this lot competing in too many high stakes events these days, there was a day when they did.
The Beef: Dietrich Fast v Live Tournament Organisers
Dietrich Fast is the focus of this week’s ‘beef’. The WPT Champions Club member, penned the following tweet, copying in Tournament Directors Paul Campbell and Matt Savage, and DTD owner, Rob Yong.
Savage and Yong responded, but they didn’t answer Fast’s question. Instead, they focused their response on late registration and multiple re-entries in general.
What’s your view?
The Business: Fedor Holz Launches The Poker Code
Fedor Holz has finally launched his new online training product. It’s called The Poker Code, and from the packaging, looks similar to the David Rogier and Aaron Rasmussen’s MasterClass.
I wish I had the @_pokercode back then 😅 but in 45 mins you can all have access to it on https://t.co/H9TY2Pytgb 🚀 Soooo hyped! I should probably go to bed, but the excitement is real. Been waiting for this day for a long long time. #pokerpic.twitter.com/9b41K37QH9
Holz has teamed up with Matthias Eibinger to create more than 60 training videos. Holz calls the Poker Code a ‘holistic’ approach to poker education, and has billed it as the ‘world’s most complete poker course.’
Life Outside of Poker: Bill Perkins on Chess; Holz on Health; Brunson on Billions.
Sticking with Holz, and outside of his aggressive marketing of the Poker Code, the German star continued uploading videos to his YouTube channel, this week. His latest offering covers how to stay healthy when operating on the live tournament circuit.
Check it out.
Bill Perkins is moving into the world of chess.
Early in 2020, Perkins will host a $300,000 Guaranteed chess tournament in Houston. 50% of the money will go towards charities chosen by each winner, and the rest is going to the people who make money in the event. Can you help him name it?
Next year, 1st quarter, I'm going to throw a 300k prize pool chess tournament in Houston. 50 percent of prize pool goes to charities from a list,chosen by each winner , rest goes in each winners pockets. It's time to up the stakes!!! What should I call this torunament? #Chess
Last week, we told you that Doyle Brunson loved Showtime’s Billions. This week, not so much. Brunson tweeted that he had binge-watched three seasons of the show created by Brian Koppelman, David Levien and Andrew Sorkin. He’s not a fan of the continual dropping of f-bombs, and the use of sharp objects during sex. Ouch.
I've binge watched 3 seasons of Billions. While it is extremely interesting and captivating, the language is awful. From men and women I counted fck or a derivative 100 times on one episode, then stopped. I know I'm an old fogey, but we didn't use that word in mixed company.😫
Yeah, I guess so. I'm used to hearing it from men but not from women. I imagine it was the time, place and parents that influenced me. Also, the whips, handcuffs, drugs,. the sharp objects that they show in some of the sex scenes are beyond me. thank goodness!! https://t.co/nO5KIAsRDQ
JC Alvarado is on the retirement train, that much we told you last week. We also told you to keep your eyes out for his episode of “I am High Stakes Poker”, and here it is.
The Poll: Polk on Food; Fast on The Fabulous; Negreanu on Nicety
Doug Polk began an interesting poll on food. The thread, contains lots of interesting observations and information appertaining to nutrition.
Here’s how Patrick Leonard feels when he’s got pocket aces, but the internet is making him sit out, and nothing more in life seems more important than pressing that right button.
When you’ve got AA but the internet is making you sit out and nothing more in life seems more important than pressing that right button. https://t.co/muqsSlWQ1y
The last drops of rain slide to the bottom of the sill. Ash from a neglected cigarette, tries to reach its grave. Hard-boiled eggs bathe on the stove while sourdough bread refuses to colour in the toaster, and a raspberry leaf teabag marinates in a Bahamian Starbucks cup. Away from the action, jittery digits finger the remote control leapfrogging through channels as the mind throws out a gym membership reminder.
It stops fingering.
It’s found something.
PokerGO.
The investigation begins.
Ever since the sword of Damocles fell onto the heads of TV stations in the wake of Black Friday, there has been nothing except famine when it comes to poker TV shows.
Cary Katz changed all of that.
The busiest non-professional competing in the high stakes circuit created Poker Central, turned it into a poker piñata and gave the community whacking sticks.
It’s been a while, but on Saturday, September 28, a new six-part mini-series hits the shelves. Cinematically shot in 4k, “Legends of the Game,” delivers some of the most absorbing stories of gambling’s history.
Here is the lineup.
Benny Binion – The Story of the World Series of Poker
The series debuts with a look at the life and times of Benny Binion, including the birth of the most iconic poker festival ever created.
Stu Ungar – The Tragic Hero
Premiering October 5, the camera pokes around the life of a player still considered to be the best there ever was. Stu Ungar’s story is as tragic as it is brilliant, and PokerGO plans to give it another feather dusting.
The Poker Trail – The Birth and Rise of Poker
If you like history and poker, then this one is for you, as the PokerGO team take a trip down memory lane covering ground in Europe, New Orleans and the steamboats of the Mississippi.
Il Ridotto – The Story of the First Casino
Another stab at history, as the team, travel back 500-years to 17th Century Venice, and how the world’s first casino came into being.
Mob Vegas
It wouldn’t be a gambling docuseries without butchers at the mob, and how they turned Las Vegas into one of the most famous locales in the world.
The Incomparable “Chip” Reese
Like Ungar, the late, great, David “Chip” Reese is also considered to be one of the best there ever was, and in the final episode of the series, we learn why.
“The history of poker has birthed some incredible stories that have shaped the world of gambling today,” said Sampson Simmons, President of Poker Central. “Our goal is to share these compelling stories to an audience of poker fans and beyond in a way that has never been done before.”
A PokerGo subscription costs $10 a month, or $8.50 if you invest in an annual subscription.
For that price, you gain access to shows such as “Stories From The Felt,” “INSIDERS: Super High Roller Bowl 2018,” “Hand histories,” and some of the best high stakes cash game and tournament action on the planet.
Flick the ash.
Butter the bread.
Crack those eggs.
It’s time to watch some poker.
Percy Bysshe Shelley once said, “A poet is a nightingale, who sits in darkness and sings to cheer its own solitude with sweet sounds.”
There is nothing sweet about the Pinnacle.
It’s more magpie than nightingale with every single story stolen from the tumultuous land of Twitter.
We begin in the live realm.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) is on the horizon, and one of the favourites for the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year (POY) has been busy.
In the summer, Daniel Negreanu surprised his fans by selling a percentage of his WSOP action with no markup. Gremlins turned the sale into a farce when a glitch led to Negreanu overselling, but Kid Poker promised to make amends.
Negreanu is heading to Rozvadov, and 984 backers will have a sweat after buying $400,000 worth of the two-time WSOP POY winner’s action. If anyone missed out for a second time, have some patience, you’ll get your chance, sooner or later.
If you got a link and it said “sold out” you will remain at the top of the list for the next package opportunities.
I’m not going to stop doing this until every person who tried to get a piece originally gets a chance at a piece.
Negreanu will compete in 15 events at the WSOPE as he tries to beat Robert Campbell and Shaun Deeb in pursuit of an unprecedented third title. In Vegas, Negreanu paid $760,000 to compete in 58-events and secured a $2,042,752.92 gross profit for his investors (an ROI of 168.78%). His WSOPE investors hope for more of the same.
The WSOPE comes at you live from the King’s Resort in Rozvadov: 13 October – 4 November.
Here is the WSOP POY Top 5.
Robert Campbell – 3,418.78
Shaun Deeb – 3,280.13
Daniel Negreanu – 3,166.24
Daniel Zack – 3,126.13
Phillip Hui – 2,881.67
One man who will be competing at the WSOPE is Tony G. Since stepping down from his position as a Member of European Parliament (MEP), G has found more time to compete in high stakes action. In August, he won the €25,000 Short-Deck event at the partypoker MILLIONS Europe in Rozvadov.
Ahead of the WSOPE, the G-Meister General is calling on the ‘old boys’ to form poker’s equivalent of The Avengers, with the new GTO guard taking the form of Thanos and his cronies.
Today I start my campaign – it is time for us old boys of poker to fight back against the GTO and tanking cyborgs – it is the poker version of Avengers Assemble and I am armed with special powers my mission will commence at King’s upcoming WSOPE good will conquer over evil pic.twitter.com/NwbR6aQ1EF
From one arm of the World Series of Poker to another, and Brian Hastings has taken down Event #7: $1,125 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) at the World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) at Seminole Coconut Creek.
Hastings created a sepulchre for 45-entrants on his way to his $16,248 score. Despite winning four gold bracelets, and earning more than $2.7m in WSOP earnings, this is his first gold ring.
Before we leave the live tournament news space and step into the shadows of online poker, we leave you with two interesting videos. Both come from Triton Poker’s impressive library of high stakes poker action.
The first two hands feature Xuan Tan. China’s top export prompted Triton commentator, Lex Veldhuis, to label Tan as one of the best live No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) players in the world.
In both hands, Tan lays down trips when facing a full house. What’s interesting about the first hand, is Dietrich Fast’s view on Twitter, that folding Hand #1 is a mistake.
The third and final video sees the Triton Champion, Rui Cao, talking about his $400k bluff with ten-high during a cash game in Triton Jeju.
Online News: Talal Shakerchi Comes Close to WCOOP Win
Talal Shakerchi believes one of the critical criteria to life success is luck. Seneca once said that “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” When it comes to major online poker series, Shakerchi is prepared and ready to take the opportunities that come his way.
The 55-year-old, hedge fund manager from London, recently finished third in the $5,200 World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) on PokerStars. Shakerchi collected $846,528.35 for his troubles. Had he won, he would have become the first player to win Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and WCOOP Main Events.
It wasn’t to be, but it once again underlines, Shakerchi’s incredible talents at the poker table, live or online. The high stakes non-professional wading through 2,236-entrants before slipping through the rungs of the ladder two steps from the summit.
Shakerchi was the last person to exit without a seven-figure score. The biggest pile of cash, $1,665,962.04 went to the high stakes cash game player, ‘BigBlindBets’, and Brazil’s, Danilo “dans170′” de Lima Demetrio, earned $1,187,553.01 for finishing as the runner-up.
Life Outside of Poker: JC Alvarado Retiring
The high stakes poker world is down by one after JC Alvarado declared his intention to step down from his position as a professional poker player. Alvarado made the declaration on Twitter after busting the WCOOP Main Event.
Pretty sad about the way it's ending, but this will most likely be my last hand as a professional. Only fitting that I went out blasting.
The Mexican star became a revelation both online and live thanks to his fearless gambling style. In 2009, Alvarado won the SCOOP Main Event for $502,086, after outlasting a field of 3,198-entrants.
Alvarado has also won more than $4.7m playing live tournaments, including a near million dollar score for finishing second in a €50,000 Super High Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona, in 2012.
Alvarado is keeping his powder dry on what comes next and is not ruling out a return to poker.
I have some business ventures going on and possible exciting offers, but I’m really not sure what the future has in store. Maybe I’ll un-retire in 6 months and go on one of those epic post-retirement heaters. Who knows 🤷🏽♂️ https://t.co/U99myOUwPi
High stakes poker players remain fresh by making sure they have something else to fill the gaps in between games. For a select few, chess fits that mould.
Dan Smith, Daniel Negreanu and Bill Perkins are three high stakes players who like a game of chess. This week, the latter laid out an open challenge to poker’s hierarchy.
I'm a chess addict lately, so naturally I have a #Chess prop bet. 100k 🤑 to anyone who can beat Stockfish on its highest setting ONCE out of ten games at the ThirstLounge. Controlled setting run by @LawrenceTrentIM
After nobody took up Perkins’ freeroll, the hedge fund manager threw in ten hours of private jet time.
Still, nobody stood up, so Mike “Timex” McDonald bumped the reward up even higher.
I stand by thinking this is a sufficiently dumb challenge that despite being stingy I'll up the stakes 10x.
Bill offers 100k if someone can beat stockfish. If I look at it and determine it was a "fair" win I'll offer 900k if they beat it again to give the champ a cool million. https://t.co/Juo0urlDvs
Perkins and McDonald’s confidence is well-founded. Stockfish is a chess AI from the womb of another chess AI called Glaurung. Glaurung is a fearful dragon from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, and it seems likelier for a human to defeat a fire-breathing dragon than beat Stockfish.
The Beef: Perkins v The Clown
It all began when Perkins sent this Elon Musk related tweet into the universe.
Most people reading this will think of the implications (if true) for the auto market. Yet, I see massive implications for the power market both on peak off peak spreads and the outright long term price. #Powerhttps://t.co/ZrLoffAte2
Next, a Twitter user, ‘@keegold305,’ branded the man he chose to follow with the following statement.
“Bro, you’re so out of touch with real people. I’m done following this moron. Daddy gave him money. He thinks he knows shit.”
Perkins retaliated.
This 🤡 doesn't understand that approximately 50k people in the USA die from auto emissions and electric vehicle adoption would help the "real people" I'm supposedly out of touch. Also doesnt understand poverty kills more people and cheaper batteries means cheaper electric #RIFhttps://t.co/0sBRVquJG7
And did his ‘Daddy’ give Perkins all of his money?
And for all you twitter followers my Daddy didnt give me money. I took care of my father then last 10 years of his life with the money I earned. But it is true, I do think I know some shit😀
The Poll: Angels v Aliens and Another Shot at God;
Two Twitter polls emerged from the fingertips of our high stakes brethren, and both came from Daniel Negreanu’s whorls.
Last week, Doug Polk polled his followers on their religious beliefs, with 36% being agnostic, 33% atheist and only 15% religious. This week, Negreanu ran a similar poll, and 41% of the 9,222 who voted are atheist as opposed to 17% believing in God.
Poker players tend not to be religious.
Which of these best describes your beliefs in regards to God and religion?
Second option is a belief that there is a God, but not a believer in religion itself.
The author, Ryan Holiday, has a new book called ‘Stillness is the Key.’ In a recent guest post on the Tim Ferriss blog, Holiday lays out ’28 Ways to Find The Stillness You Need to Thrive and be Happy.’ Haralabos Voulgaris liked two in particular.
Gagging sounds replace the echoes of ankle chains clanking against computer tables as the oesophagus becomes reacquainted with food.
PokerStars’ World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) is over.
The $5,200 WCOOP Main Event attracted 2,236-entrants (inc. 599 re-entries), and would you Adam and Eve it, Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi, led the final nine as temperatures soared to boiling point.
Fountains pens belonging to poker poets bled black ink as Shakerchi attempted to become the first player to win both Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) and WCOOP Main Event titles.
The hedge fund manager from the land of Jack the Ripper didn’t make it, but his sojourn was more chrysanthemums than cacti, finishing a respectable third place, for $846,528.35.
After Shakerchi fell in third, the heads-up action pitted ‘BigBlindBets’ against Brazil’s Danilo ‘dans170’ Demetrio. The former had a huge chip lead and quickly banished the Brazilian to the rail. Both players earned seven-figure scores with Demetrio winning $1,187,553.01, and ‘BigBlindBets’ banking $1,665,962.04.
According to an ‘About Me’ page on the PokerMarket.com forum, ‘BigBlindBets’, is a high stakes cash game player on PokerStars, and has played poker since 2010.
Events: 219
Entries: 1,219,969
Prize pools: $104,733,898.76
First prizes so far: $15,765,054.94
In-the-money finishers: 173,364
Russia won the most titles with 28, and Brazil took second place with 23.
Here are the individual leaderboards.
High buy-in:
1 – Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira Netherlands 705 — $7,500 plus trophy
2 – Felipe ‘Zagazaur’ Oliveira Netherlands 700
3 – Jussi ‘calvin7v’ Nevanlinna Finland 675
4 – Joao ‘Naza114’ Vieira UK 600
5 – Yuri ‘theNERDguy’ Martins Brazil 495
Overall:
1 – Jussi “calvin7v” Nevanlinna Finland 1,400 – $20,000 plus trophy
2 – Felipe ‘Zagazaur’ Oliveira Netherlands 1,345
3 – Rui ‘RuiNF’ Ferreira Netherlands 1,280
4 – Timothy ‘TruthBeTold7’ Rutherford Canada 1,205
5 – Shaun ‘shaundeeb’ Deeb Mexico 1,150
6 – Konstantin ‘krakukra’ Maslek Russia 1,050
7 – Dimitry ‘Colisea’ Urbanovich Latvia 1,040
8 – Mike ‘goleafsgoeh’ Leah Canada 955
9 – FONBET_RULIT Russia 880
10 – WTFOMFGOAO Russia 845
Weekend High Roller Winners
Igor Kurganov enjoyed another productive weekend, online.
The PokerStars Ambassador topped a field of 100 entrants (inc, 39 re-entries) in the $2,100 Sunday High Roller on PokerStars. Kurganov won $46,086.94 after conquering a final table that included Michael Addamo (6th), Dominik Nitsche (4th), Jorryt van Hoof (7th) and Ole Schemion (9th). Kurganov beat Luke Reeves, heads-up, for the title.
Addamo then followed up his sixth place with a victory in the $2,100 Sunday Cooldown Turbo PKO for $68,301.12. Addamo, who plays from Thailand, also won a WCOOP title during the most recent series, for $259k.
Another high roller on point this weekend was Michael Soyza. The Triton Champion took down a 52-entrant, $25,000 buy-in event on his native GGPoker for $486,858, a week after finishing third in a similar event for $249,993.
Here is the PocketFives World Rankings #2
PocketFives World Rankings
Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro – 10,207
Patrick “pleno1” Leonard – 9,323
Andras “probirs” Nemeth – 9,177
Niklas “lena900” Astedt – 9.012
Johannes “Greenstone25” Korsar – 8,622
The author Pierce Brown once told a tale of a man who chased an impala through the savannah, hunting knife in hand. The impala outran the man, but the man didn’t stop running. The following morning, the man returned to camp with the impala over his shoulders.
“How did you catch that?” Asked his hunting partners.
“All beasts have to stop for water. I carry mine.”
That man is Rob Yong.
Remember those ‘Most Influential People in Poker’ polls that some magazine or other would run when human beings used to buy such things at the newsagents along with their 20 Malboro Lights and a copy of ‘The Pink’? If they were still in circulation, Yong would be looking down at everyone else.
Twitter can stink like Shrek’s swamp, but some good comes out of it. Never before in the history of our species have we been so close to the thoughts and opinions of the leaders of industry, art, and whatever else I should use in that triumvirate if I were a smarter man.
Take Yong as an example.
The man has always had poker in his veins. He’s always been a prominent member of the community, but rather than sitting on the barrel of the tank; you would more likely find him minding his business inside the thing.
Not these days.
Barely a few months ago, Yong opened a Twitter account, and that barrel started blasting. It’s still steaming hot today. In no time, Yong has amassed more than 21,000 followers, all interested in his open and candid views on life and poker.
Yong is one of the perfect foils for poker, because not only does he play in the highest stakes cash games in the world, his heart remains in the grassroots of the game – a place he spends most of his gardening time, planting seeds, and showering them with water.
New York! New York!
In the past few days, Yong appeared on Joey Ingram’s ‘The Poker Life Podcast’, where the pair spoke for two-hours. Thanks to David Huber at PartTimePoker, we know that one of the discussion topics was partypoker’s future in the U.S.
Yong told Ingram that he had received numerous private messages on Twitter from U.S based citizens eager to know what he was doing to help create a change in online poker legislation.
The short answer is ‘nothing.’
From the interview:
“They {Twitter followers} don’t realise I’ve nothing to do with the U.S,” said Yong. “I’m just focusing on helping our dot-com. Well, they’re like, ‘Why aren’t you working on the U.S? Why is partypoker not doing anything?’ So it just kind of stimulated me to take a peek.”
After running the following poll, Yong jumped on a jet plane and headed to the East Coast.
Please help me get a decent view by RT to US Players : I plan on taking a very small peak at the US online poker market – out of interest – do YOU think online poker will be legal [definition of legal = > 80% + of states sharing their liquidity) in…
It didn’t take long for him to see the silliness for himself.
So where I am standing in New Jersey its legal to play online @partypoker USA but if I get on this ferry to New York I am breaking the law – not sure this is sensible way to regulate online poker but has very nice coffee 💪 pic.twitter.com/KSf4AW0QoZ
One of the main impediments to online poker legislation in more U.S states is Sheldon Adelson. The founder of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. once called online poker a ‘cancer.’ If you’re going to win the hearts and minds, then one mind that needs changing is Adelson’s.
Through his contacts, Yong has managed to request fifteen minutes of Adelson’s time, in which he will try and convince him that online poker is not cancer and that if wielding effectively it could be a weapon used for good.
“I want to explain the difference in poker compared to other gaming like casino and sports. And there are 23 million people in America that play poker.” Said Yong.
Yong also plans to empathise with Adelson by playing the age card.
“He’ll probably never meet me, but I’ve actually managed to network through to try at least request just to meet the guy for a cappuccino and try and explain to him how much of a community activity poker is,” said Yong. “I always say about my dad… he’s eighty-two years old. He’d probably be like, not even coherent now if he wasn’t playing poker every night in my casino. It’s just such a good community and social activity. I think poker — as long as you play within your limits — is like really good for people. It’s one of the things you can play at any age; any sex. Anybody can sit down at a table together and get to know new people. So I’m like really pro poker as an activity for human beings.”
What if partypoker does return to the U.S in a big way?
Yong believes great things will happen.
At the time, partypoker decided to leave the U.S; they were the market share leader. PokerStars stayed, and took that crown in a market devoid of the most significant player.
Yong believes karma is around the corner.
Once again, speaking to Ingram:
“partypoker pulled out of the U.S. market. Did the right thing. Listened to the government. Yeah? PokerStars and some other companies stayed in. Ten years later, partypoker is being looked upon a lot more favorably in the U.S. market when it goes back in, in terms of regulation, in terms of the players. Players know that partypoker does the right thing. So karma might come back. And I am absolutely sure that if the U.S. does open up in the future that partypoker would be the number-one online site because of what they did ten years ago by holding their hands up and saying, ‘Okay, we’ll do what you say, Mr. U.S. Government.’”
You can catch the entire two-hours right here.
If you’re still hungry for more Rob Yong action, then check out our latest interview with him in our series ‘I am High Stakes Poker.’
Talal Shakerchi
What happens in the nest of the winner of a major online poker tournament the moments after you’ve won? If you live in the U.K, and you take the last chip as the nightcrawlers come out to play, everyone’s in bed. Do you put the mouse down, lean back, exhale deeply, and scream an internal “Yeah!!!”
nine players are within a shout of deliberating that thought, as the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) Final Table prepares to play out.
The lion in this hunt is Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi.
The 55-year-old, hedge fund manager from London, begins with a sizeable chip lead, after ripping 2,236-entrants limb from limb in the $5,200 buy-in extravaganza.
If Shakerchi becomes the only remaining player standing beneath the lemonlight, he would have rewritten history. In the Spring, Gianluca “Tankanza” Speranza became the first person to successfully defend the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) Main Event. Nobody has ever won both SCOOP and WCOOP Main Event titles.
Shakerchi won the $10,300 SCOOP Main Event back in 2016 for $1.46m. That watering hole contained a few more ruffians than this with both Sean Winter and Scott Seiver making the final table.
Looking through the hunters in this one, only ‘XMorphineX’ leaps into the poker conscious as a player who could put the other eight to sleep after an overdose of run good. As soon as WCOOP opened the front door, the Belgian waltzed in and won the $530 Sunday Million special for $202,420.81.
Outside of that beast, the other names remain unrecognisable, and that’s not to say there isn’t a monster lurking beneath the pseudonyms. But Shakerchi is used to battling monsters both in the business world and poker.
Shakerchi has earned more than $7.6m playing live tournaments. He has eight titles to his name including winning a 137-entrant £10,300 High Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) London in 2013. He finished fourth in the Super High Roller Bowl in December. In short, he’s one of the best non-professionals prowling around the circuit, and he’s not afraid to take a contract out on anyone and in any format.
Here is the final table layout.
The action concludes Wed 25 Sep.
Final Table
Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi (UK) 122,626,562
XMorphineX (Belgium) 82,023,949
Danilo ‘dans170’ de Lima Demetrio (Brazil) – 81,843,549
BigBlindBets (UK) – 68,825,817
NeadBeat (Estonia) – 56,071,362
Leitnant (Estonia) – 44,901,942
TheMakrill7 (Sweden) – 42,717,905
10Pistike93 (Hungary) – 31,260,220
Moglimiranda (Germany) – 28,728,694
Payouts
$1,665,962.04
$1,187,553.01
$846,528.35
$603,434.91
$403,148.26
$306,624.91
$218,572.35
$155,80559
$111,063.23
Silence.
Tongues of steel, please.
I know you have the Pinnacle burned into the back of your eyelids, so find a groove, close your eyes, and we’ll get going.
Last week, we opened with the British Poker Open (BPO), and a rather flat Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) London. This week the current takes us to the shores of PokerStars and the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP).
Before the last WCOOP, Shaun Deeb stood alone as the undisputed king, with six wins. Then Denis ‘aDreNalin710’ Strebkov got the bit between his teeth, pulled hard on the leash, and won five in little over a week, to take the crown with ten wins.
In our previous Pinnacle, we told you that Deeb had closed the gap after beating Strebkov, heads-up, to win his seventh title. This week the gap is narrower after Deeb became the first double WCOOP champ of the series with a victory in Event #37: $530 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Max. Deeb made 599-entrants his slave on his way to collecting the $52,371 first prize.
Another player who earned his second WCOOP title of the series is Joao “Naza114’ Vieira. The Winamax pro turned a single into a couple after winning Event #52 (H) $530 No-Limit Hold’em Midweek Freeze for $86,876.70.
Adrian Mateos conquered a field of 326-entrants to win the $130,468.21 first prize in Event #50 (H) $2,100 No-Limit Hold’em PKO for $130,468.21. Alex Foxen also made the final table. It was Mateos’s second WCOOP career title.
Bartlomiej “bartek901” Machon also won his second career title after beating 573-entrants to collect the $101,148 first prize in Event #31: (H) $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em. The former Triton Poker commentator, Celina Lin, finished ninth.
Michael ‘mczhang’ Zhang remains as locked into the high stakes orbit as Venus is to the Earth. The UK-based star vanquished 175-entrants to win Event #48 (H) $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em High Roller for $253,810.
Like Zhang, Thomas Boivin has also enjoyed recent success in live high rollers, and the Belgian translated that good fortune into the online surf. Boivin won Event #48: (M) $1,050 No-Limit Hold’em Super Tuesday, banishing 1,112-entrants to the rail on the way to collecting his $178,331 bounty.
Dario Sammartino is another high roller having the year of his life. The Italian finished runner-up to Hossain Ensan in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event for $6m. Not that he needs the money, but another $371,186.76 joins the band after Sammartino took down the 148-entrant Event #57 (H) $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max PKO High Roller. The final table housed David ‘dpeters17” Peters, and Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer.
It’s WCOOP’s 18th year of war.
It’s never been bloodier.
Live News: Doyle on Dead People; Ivey & Borgata Latest; Antonius Heading to Malta
Twitter can be a weary place, but not when you play ‘I Spy’ along the drainpipe of Doyle Brunson’s Twitter feed. We know that Doyle is the Godfather of Poker, we know he likes his guns, and this week we learned he also likes watching a spot of TV.
So what’s on Doyle’s box?
Brian Koppelman’s ‘Billions’ is on his watchlist as are old reruns of Dallas.
Watching an old rerun of Dallas, I saw Exchange street in Fort Worth the way it was when I first turned out as a poker player. Brought back lots of memories, including a pool hall where I saw a guy shot at the poker table.
No, he was cheating with the gunman's wife. We ran out the backdoor into a cold creek after the guy's brains splattered all over the wall. https://t.co/uBdAULPFi3
From guns to chums, and this week it transpired that Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates had been helping his buddy Phil Ivey in the wake of his baccarat problems. Cates and Ilya Trincher backed Ivey into the $50,000 Poker Player’s Championships (PPC) at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Ivey finished eighth, but the money went to the U.S. Marshall’s Office, and not the pockets of Cates and Trincher.
You can read about the whole sorry mess, right here.
Another good friend of Ivey’s is Patrik Antonius, and if you’re a fan of the iceman, and you live in Malta – you’re in luck. Antonius will star at the Battle of Malta in October. The Fin will host and play in a special €300 (unlimited rebuys) No-Limit Hold’em tournament christened the Patrik Antonius Poker Challenge (PAPC) Pop-Up Cup. Antonius is joining forces with the Battle of Malta to market his app: First Land of Poker (FLOP). The event takes place over two days: Fri 18 & Sat 19 Oct.
Finally, if you’ve been feeling like you’re stuck on a raft without any oars waiting for the next instalment of the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series Montenegro Short-Deck Cash Game action, you’re in luck.
Here is Episode #4.
It’s time to get on bended knee.
It’s time for the beef.
The Beef: Polk v Venetian; Deeb v Identity Theft; Yong v NYC Poker Rules
Dinner is served, and there is a lashing of irony as Doug Polk refuses to dine with The Venetian Poker Room.
The live poker room, situated on the Las Vegas Strip, belongs to Sheldon Adelson, one of the men responsible for the stunted growth of legal and regulated online poker in the not so United States of America.
Given the villain operates a live poker room, you would think that the live pros would have boycotted the gaff a long time ago. Not so. But this week, Doug Polk has led the charge for a boycott, this time because of a tournament format designed to bleed poker players dry.
The $225,000 GTD Lucky Shot Poker Series runs Oct 21-27, and the highlight is a $250 buy-in, $150,000 GTD No-Limit Hold’em event. The fine print dictates that irrespective of the final headcount, all funds above $150k go to the poker room, and not disseminated to the players as is standard in all tournament formats.
Polk is not happy.
We need to stand AGAINST terrible poker formats that harm the poker playing community through excessive rake.
The $150,000 MAXIMUM buyin event from the @VenetianPoker is a disgrace. If you care even a little about the future of poker, DO NOT play this event.#BoycottTheVenetian
One of the few states that don’t treat online poker players like law officials treat people suffering from erotonophonophilia is New Jersey. A skipping stone’s throw away is New York City, but you can’t play online poker in the Big Apple because it’s illegal.
Here is partypoker’s Rob Yong highlighting the stupidity.
So where I am standing in New Jersey its legal to play online @partypoker USA but if I get on this ferry to New York I am breaking the law – not sure this is sensible way to regulate online poker but has very nice coffee 💪 pic.twitter.com/KSf4AW0QoZ
Rob Yong was our guest on ‘I am High Stakes Poker’ this week. His mother wasn’t happy and gave him a telling off for saying his parents never said ‘well done’ when he was a kid.
Before U.S online poker laws became so rigid, Shaun Deeb used to crush the New York scene. At the top of the article, we described how Deeb had won his eighth WCOOP title. It could be his last if PokerStars doesn’t do something to halt the agony of stalling in the high stakes limit games.
Really leaning towards this being my last @PokerStars#coop series until they fix the people constantly abusing stalling in high stakes limit games. Have 3-4 people who max late reg and stalk every hand or just stall when 10% of field gets itm just just so brutal and ruins my fun
During the recent whitewash of player identities, Deeb was a little slow off the mark in reclaiming the name that has made him such a legend (the imaginatively titled ‘shaundeeb’). Someone grabbed it though, and it’s ruining Deeb’s image.
@rob_yong_ can you force the dude using my name on partypoker to something else get a lot of messages about it and really rather not want someone playing good and ruining my fish image
The Debate: Greenwood v GTO Haters; Staples v Polk
The sky is blue, and that’s how a portion of the poker community feel when watching high stakes poker players deploying Game Theory Optimal (GTO) strategy during live tournaments.
Erik Seidel leapt to GTO’s defence after hailing Stephen Chidwick as a GTO operational genius during the BPO. Sam Greenwood backed the legend by breaking down a hand between Chidwick and Christoph Vogelsang.
It’s a fabulous read, and it starts here.
A quick strategy thread about this (accurate) tweet. There's an idea top pros are turning poker into a programatic game. They're just copying solver strategies they've previously learned. In game execution is about memory recall and their play is robotic and unhuman. https://t.co/h4G1tmuBo3
After Polk’s ‘Boycott The Venetian’ march, he debated Jaime Staples. The matter at hand was starting bankroll for a poker pro. Polk believes that figure is $100,000; Staples, thinks it’s a lot lower – here are the two debating the issue.
The Business: It’s Fedor Holz Again
When it comes to bankrolls, few have built one as quickly as Fedor Holz has, earning $32m in five-years.
Holz rarely plays these days, preferring to spend his time public speaking and building products. His current project is called The Poker Code.
Life Outside of Poker: DNegs Wants Rounders 2; Voulgaris on Holiday.
‘Hope for Prisoners’ is a foundation helping prepare the incarcerated to re-enter a fast evolving life without bars. This week, Daniel Negreanu appeared as a guest speaker at one of their events.
A night well spent speaking tonight at Hope for Prisoners.
I share my story, what has worked for me, and hope that they take some nuggets that help their journey.
I don’t have all the answers, so I share what’s worked for me.
Negreanu also found the time to watch ‘Rounders’ for the billionth time. Desperate, Kid Poker wrote to Brian Koppelman demanding a sequel, and the Koppelman gave poker fans hope with his response.
Ryan Holiday has a new read called ‘Stillness is the Key’. A free copy ended up on the desk of the recent Triton Million London competitor, Haralabos Voulgaris. Holiday is the author of ‘The Obstacle is the Way’, ‘Ego is the Enemy’, and ‘The Daily Stoic’ – books that seem to go down well in poker circles.
The Polls: Polk on Religion, and Negreanu on the Man With The White-Glove
Two polls this week to give you a flavour of the poker community’s belief systems.
Doug Polk on religion.
What describes your religious beliefs?
Religious – You follow a practiced religion
Thiest – You believe in god but dont follow a religion
Michael was scheduled too moonwalk us over the finishing line with a sterling rendition of ‘Man in the Mirror.’ After that poll, I will hand the honours to Tim Gallwey courtesy of David Benefield.
From Tim Gallwey’s excellent “The Inner Game of Tennis.” A beautifully articulated passage on non-judgmental growth/learning. @the_innergamepic.twitter.com/QoevBb1a8x
One suspects Joao “Naza114” Vieira is unsure whether he is awake or asleep? Online poker can be a slippery stone of a beast, but this week, the London-based Portuguese star has never felt such firm footing.
There are no trembling legs in Vieira’s household.
The Winamax ambassador has been stowing away World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) titles like a squirrel with his nuts. Yesterday, I waxed lyrical on Vieira’s second WCOOP title of the series, after he banked the win and $86,876.70, in a No-Limit Hold’em event. Last night, he added the perfect cherry.
Vieira outlasted 193 horses, heels and heroes in Event #71 (H) $10,300 Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) 6-Max Main Event to collect his first trophy and a whopping $384,947.88 first prize. Ben “Ben86” Tollerene, finished second, Timofey ‘Trueteller’ Kuznetsov finished tenth, and Shaun Deeb finished in 13th place.
It’s been a stunning fortnight for Portuguese players. Both Vieira and Filipe “zagazaur” Oliveira have won three WCOOP titles. Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira, is also staring at the ceiling with a log like smile etched into his mush.
Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira Close to Second Series Win
Rui “RuiNF” Ferreira is the third Portuguese star operating in a slightly higher orbit than the rest of the WCOOP bunch. Ferreira won his seventh COOP title earlier in the series when he beat a 97-entrant field in a $1,050 Limit Hold’em event for $23,896.
Last night, he very nearly made it title #2.
After wading through a murder of 80-strong crows, Ferreira made it to the heads-up phase of Event #66 (H) $10,300 8-Game High Roller. Standing in his way was Belgium’s ‘merla888’. The pair agreed upon a deal that saw them both collect $170,000, and the Belgian went on to lock up the additional $20,000 and change. Talal ‘raidalot’ Shakerchi finished third for $112,000.
The win was ‘merla888’s’ second of the series. He also won two Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) titles in the Spring.
WCOOP in Numbers
The $5,200 buy-in Main Event attracted 2,236-entrants (inc. 599 re-entries), and there are currently 86-players fighting in the pit for the $1.6m first prize (the runner-up also receives a million bucks). The $55 buy-in (L) Main Event, pulled in a monstrous 24,477-entrants (inc. 12,588 re-entries), and 16 players vie for the $180,656.41 first place.
Here are the final numbers courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
Final Numbers
Events: 291 Entries: 1,172,858 Prize pools: $104,735,857 First prizes: $13,969,057.78* In-the-money finishers: 173,364* *Does not include Main Events, where players may yet do deals.
The promised to drop a bomb.
It certainly detonated.
Image by PokerStars
Silence is supposed to be golden, and yet there is nothing hushed about Portugal right now. Prime Minister, António Costa, told the Financial Times that’s he expected a ‘storm’, as he prepares for the October 6 general election. And the Portuguese national football team who won the UEFA Nations League recently slammed nine past Serbia and Lithuania.
Then you have Joao “Naza114” Vieira. An outcast, forced to take his war elephant galavanting around Europe in search of a laptop, Internet connection and laws that allow him to play online poker with the best in the world. Vieira is also making a racket.
The Winamax pro, earned his first World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) title earlier in PokerStars premier online series when he took down a $530+R Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Max for $87k. Vieira won that title playing out of The Netherlands.
The rider and the elephant then landed with a thump in London. It’s from this base that Vieira defeated a field of 1,064-entrants to win the $86,876.70 first prize in Event #52: (H) $530 No-Limit Hold’em ‘Midweek Freeze.’ He nearly made it title #3 on the same night, falling at the final hurdle to ’sprocketsAA’, heads-up, for the $1,050 Fixed Limit Omaha Hi/Lo title.
But as surely as the water heaves in and out of the Thames, you can be assured that Vieira will be back winning titles, and making more of a racket in the weeks and months to come.
Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino Retains The Roll
Dario “Secret_M0d3” Sammartino is the jewel of Italian poker. He has the looks, all of the librarian’s best books, and the hooks to keep you deeply embedded in his 2019 biopic.
Sammartino has had a year that he will never forget.
He sits 11th in the 2019 Money List, bolstered by his runner-up finish in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event where he collected $6m for his troubles.
Now the Austrian-based Italian has made it to the top of the world in the event that makes learning to speak Polish a more manageable mountain to climb. Sammartino defeated 148-entrants, to win the $371,186.76 (inc. bounties) first prize in Event #57 (H) $10,300 No-Limit Hold’em 8-Max PKO High Roller. Titans forced to surrender to the sheer brute force of the Italian at the final table included David ‘dpeters17” Peters, and Steve “Mr. Tim Caum” O’Dwyer.
It won’t surprise you to learn that Sammartino also has a Spring Championship of Online (SCOOP) title sitting somewhere on an overstuffed mantelpiece.
Earlier this year, Sammartino told the press that he had semi-retired.
