The uppercuts, hooks and jabs kept coming in the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) on this week, and an online cash game star put a few of the best tournament players in the business on their backs with nothing but stars for company.
The hat dipping is reserved for ‘RaulGonzalez’ after the cash game player trounced a star-studded final table in Event #69: {H} $10,300 8-Game High Roller. The two-day event attracted 67-entrants, and ‘RaulGonzalez’ outlasted the likes of Stephen Chidwick, Joao Vieira, Mike Leah and Andrew Pantling on the way to a $235,531 score – chickenfeed for one of his cash game sessions. Still, an amount not to be sniffed at for an outlay of $10k and change.
Here are the final table results.
Final Table Results
“RaulGonzalez” – $235,531
Stephen Chidwick – $156,001
Joao Vieira – $103,325
Hotmark777 – $68,436
Mike Leah – $45,328
Andrew Pantling – $33,290
No Shock – $28,088
Main Event Update
The Main Events continue across the board, and here are the updates after Day #2.
The $55 buy-in event attracted 38,660-entrants, and ‘benton24’ leads the final 159 players with the most notable name in the top ten chip counts belonging to Akira ‘Clutch Hero’ Ohyama, sitting in the fifth place. The winner gets $186,841.
The winner of the $530 buy-in No Limit Hold’em Main Event will collect a $504,584 first prize before migrating to somewhere in the world where there is no lockdown, killer diseases, and plenty of sunshine. The event pulled in 7,107-entrants, and at the end of Day #2, ‘Pentakilator’ leads the way. The former PocketFives World #1: Chris “ImDaNuts” Oliver sits in the fifth place in that one.
The $5,200 No Limit Hold’em Main Event attracted 1,977 entrants like a coalface to a Welsh miner. Seventy-one remain in the hunt for the $1.5m first prize. Russia’s ‘rzr1st’ leads the way, and Teun Mulder sits in the fourth spot. Robin Ylitalo, Sergio Aido and Simon Mattsson are also in the top end of the thing.
On the Pot-Limit Omaha front, Ludovic Geilich continues his excellent series, leading the final 18 players in the $1,050 Main Event. The winner will pick up $133,757 in that one. Seven hundred eighty-eight entered.
Finally, the former PocketFives World #1, Andras Nemeth, is gunning for his third WCOOP title of the series, leading the final table in the $10,300 Pot Limit Omaha Main Event. The Hungarian will have to dispose of the likes of Laszlo Bujtas and Ola Amundsgard if he is to achieve the triple dribble. 135-entrants have created a $283,368 first prize in that one.
It’s time to take a gander at the weekend action at GGPoker as well as a snifter at the Stadium Series action over at PokerStars.
We begin at the grand racecourse of GGPoker, and all binoculars were on Stephen Chidwick, who won two events ($5k and $10k) and also finished runner-up in a $10k (those $10k events were Short-Deck events).
Chidwick wasn’t the only star sitting under the $10k parasols who bagged a brace, Isaac Haxton booked two wins in $10k Short Deck events to add to his considerable reputation at the highest stakes.
Seth Davies picked up a win and a second in $10k events, and Sam Greenwood earned a win, second and third. Sergi Reixach played the bridesmaid role with three runner-up finishes across the $10k Short Deck games.
Here are those results in full.
Sunday 19 July
High Rollers Blade PLO $5k
62-entrants
Results
Andras Nemeth – $91,508.28
Maximilian Lehmanski – $57,587.79
Andjelko Andrejevic – $43,568.06
Hun Wei Lee – $32,961.41
Ronny Kaiser – $24,936.96
Magibpsilo – $18,866.05
Jesus Cortes – $14,273.11
SpeedyDouble – $10,798.34
Bryns High Rollers $10k
11-entrants
Results
Jake Schindler – $69,355
Sergi Reixach – $37,345
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
22-entrants
Results
Isaac Haxton – $97,018.52*
Chi Zhang – $81,932.41*
Sam Greenwood – $34,449.07 *Indicates a heads-up deal.
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
18-entrants
Results
Sam Greenwood – $99,493.51*
Stephen Chidwick – $75,106.49* *Indicates a heads-up deal.
Monday 20 July
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
12-entrants
Results
Seth Davies – $75,660
Sam Greenwood – $40,740
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
11-entrants
Results
Isaac Haxton – $69,355
Sergi Reixach – $37,345
Tuesday 21 July
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
10-entrants
Results
Stephen Chidwick – $63,050
Sergi Reixach – $33,950
High Rollers Short Deck $10k
19-entrants
Results
Daniel Dvoress – $73,194.61*
Seth Davies – $81,353.92* *Indicates a heads-up deal
High Rollers Blade Prime $5k
31-entrants
Results
Stephen Chidwick – $47,979.90*
Pascal Lefrancois – $60,894.64*
Wiktor Malinowski – $25,471.
Steve O’Dwyer – $15,654.46 *Indicates a heads-up deal
Lex Veldhuis Wins a PokerStars Stadium Series Title
Triton commentator and broadcaster, Lex Veldhuis, reminded everyone of his silky skills at the poker table after taking down the 243-entrant $2,100 No Limit Hold’em event during the Stadium Series on PokerStars.
Final table incumbents moored their yachts, not parked bikes, to participate in this one. Mike ‘SirWatts’ Watson (2nd), Ivan ‘Negriin’ Luca (5th), Pablo ‘pabritz’ Brito Silva (6th), and Aliaksei “ale6ka” Boika (7th) squeezed into the elevator with he Twitch phenom. ‘MiracleQ’ finished ninth. In Aug he competed in a $1m Spin & Go, finishing second for $100k).
Veldhuis enchanted more than 26,000 people while bagging a personal-best $96,143.60, beating his previous best score of $91,695 after finishing runner-up to ‘GODofHU’ in a $2,100 No Limit Hold’em during the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in September.
As Veldhuis inches closer to his first six-figure online score Triton may have to go looking for his replacement if he keeps this up.
In other Stadium Series results, the former PocketFives World #1, Michael ‘munchenHB’ Telker, took down the $530, $1m GTD No Limit Hold’em for $157,004. The former Super Tuesday winner, Alisson ‘heyalisson’ Piekazewicz conquered a field of 1,347 entrants in a $1,050 No Limit Hold’em event for $185,376 after cutting a deal with Luan ‘Pseduo Fruto’ Piekazewicz
The ventilation around Alex Foxen’s airspace at the top of partypoker’s High Roller Leaderboard became a little frosty on Sunday night. The partypoker High Roller Leaderboard leader failed to feature in the final stages of any of the three games that took place on the day where God slipped a pipe into his mouth and donned those fluffy bunny rabbit slippers.
Foxen’s lack of partisanship with the in the money (ITM) finishes allowed Rok Gostisa to close the gap at the top after finishing sixth in the $10k, an event that Stephen Chidwick won for $176,000, the first sighting of the UK All-Time Money Leader at the top of a podium since lockdown.
Russia’s finest, Artur Martirosian, made things a little cramped in the top three after finishing third in the $25k, and fourth in the $530 event. Wiktor Malinowski sits in fourth after a fifth-place finish in the $10k, and after winning the $25k, Ali Imsirovic moves into fifth place.
Here are the results in full.
$25,500, $750k GTD Main Event
38-entrants
Results
Ali Imsirovic – $387,125
Rob Yong – $251,750
Artur Martirosian – $156,750
Michael Addamo – $95,000
Daniel Dvoress – $59,375
$10,300, $300k GTD Mix-Max 2nd Chance
44-entrants
Results
Stephen Chidwick – $176,000
Dan Shak – $112,615.80
Jake Schindler – $57,200
Timothy Adams – $39,600
Wiktor Malinowski – $30,800
Rok Gostisa – $23,784.20
$530, $50k GTD 6-Max Turbo Knockout
114-entrants
Results
Raul Martinez Gallego – $7,847.66+$5,459.38
Jelle Moene – $1,261.72+$5,453.60
Georgios Zisimopoulos – $1,460.94+$5,453.60
Artur Martirosian – $1,375+$2,728.22
Sergei Denisov – $1,062.50+$2,006.04
Miguel Seoane Iglesias – $2,523.44+$1,332.01
Tyler Goatcher – $312.50+$897.50
Chad Eveslage – $897.75
Leaderboard
Alex Foxen – 1531
Rok Gostisa – 1458
Artur Martorisian – 1296
Wiktor Malinowski – 1235
Ali Imsirovic – 1081
Sam Greenwood
I know.
On the morning that a court handed Carole Baskin the keys to Joe Exotic’s former zoo, you’re wondering if there is any justice in the world?
Well, justice served on the virtual felt on Day 9 of the Super High Roller Bowl Online (SHRBO).
When Sam Greenwood enters a poker competition, he can extinguish people’s light like a great mass of cumulus clouds. The luck element helps keep his rampages from being too expansive, but he’s managed to swerve the deck’s shadow these past few days to earn a couple of titles.
Greenwood thwarted the hopes of 50-entrants to claim the top prize of $200,000 by winning Event #24: $10,300 No Limit Hold ’em. The Canadian also won Event #20: $25,000 No Limit Hold ’em for $399,000. Despite his two wins, Greenwood isn’t in the running for the free SHRBO seat, but once again underlines his brilliance in the Cadillac of Poker.
One man who is in with a shout of winning the preliminary leaderboard, and with it, a seat in the $102,000 SHRBO is Artur Martirosian. The Russian finished runner-up to Stephen Chidwick in Event #23: 25,500 No Limit Hold ’em for his sixth in the money (ITM) finish, most of which have been at the deeper end of the pool. The win is Chidwick’s first ITM finish of the series, and the name of the great man has been mysteriously absent in the animated online poker meanderings during the lockdown.
Alexandros Kolonias is the third winner of the day.
The Poker Masters Online Champion creamed a field of 77-entrants in Event #22: 10,300 No Limit Hold ’em, beating Matthias Eibinger, heads-up, for the $240,860.62 first prize.
Here are the results moving into the final day of preliminaries.
Event #22: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em
77-entrants
Results
Alexandros Kolonias – $240,860.62
Matthias Eibinger – $150,150
Joao Vieira – $92,400
Darrell Goh – $67,375
Dan Shak – $48,125
Mikita Badziakouski – $32,125
Event #23: $25,500 No Limit Hold’em
43-entrants
Results
Stephen Chidwick – $430,000.01
Artur Martirosian – $275,140.87
Darrell Goh – $139,75
Isaac Haxton – $96,750
Mikita Badziakouski – $75,250
Sergi Reixach – $58,109.12
Event #24: $10,300 No Limit Hold’em
50-entrants
Results
Sam Greenwood – $200,000
Dan Smith – $127,972.50
Kristen Bicknell – $65,000
Isaac Haxton – $45,000
Ali Imsirovic – $35,000
Kahle Burns – $27,027.50
It’s that time again when we try to index the happenings and the handbags of the high stakes poker scene, this time the stories that landed between 26 Jan and 1 Feb, beginning with the live tournament scene.
With the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) going the way of the song inside the bird that lies between the fangs of a cat, Poker Central found their way through the smoke and the flames to take up their spot, albeit for the high roller brethren.
Heading into Event #7, five players had garnered enough points for the potential lump in the throat moment that accompanies being a champion. Andras Nemeth, led, and would have won had the Hungarian not failed to make the money, allowing Stephen Chidwick to take the honours, once Kahle Burns bubbled. Chidwick collected an additional AUD 50,000 for the win, his second Open Championship after winning the US Poker Open in 2018.
With the APO in the rearview mirror, Poker Central rolled out the red carpet for the AUD 250,000 Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) Australia. It was a bit of a letdown with only 16-entrants, but Timothy Adams wasn’t bothered superimposing the win over his APO victory, sending him into Jeju in fine form.
Wait, there is no Jeju!
Due to the Coronavirus outbreak in China, Triton Poker officials had no option but to postpone the Triton Poker Super High Roller in Jeju pending more news on the potential pandemic. You can expect a further announcement on Feb 10.
The problem with postponing the event is when to reinstate. The high stakes scene is getting pretty hectic these days, and two more live tournament series announced more games this week.
partypoker announced their MILLIONS events for 2020/21, and there were a few surprises. Dusk till Dawn (DTD), The King’s Resort, The Playground Club, and anywhere in South America is off the list. Taking their place are events in Cyprus, Prague and London.
The London event ties in with the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series. It takes place at the Hilton Park Lane and is an innovative new scheme with the £5,300 buy-in NLHE Main Event limited to online satellite qualifiers and VIPs, with at least one VIP per table when the event begins.
The only nitty-gritty we have comes from the MILLIONS Cyprus schedule. The Merit Crystal Cove Hotel & Casino in Kyrenia hosts and there is plenty for the high rollers to look forward to with a $15,500 NLHE event, a $25,000 NLHE event, a $25,000 Short-Deck (SD) event, a $50,000 NLHE event, and the $5,300, $5m GTD NLHE Main Event.
Finally, the live tournament series that’s been around as long as cave paintings released its high roller schedule last week.
Here is the World Series of Poker (WSOP) High Roller schedule.
May 29 – $25,000 NLHE May 31 – $25,000 NLHE Heads-Up Jun 5 – $50,000 NLHE Jun 17 – $25,000 PLO Jun 22 – $50,000 Poker Players’ Championship Jun 27 – $250,000 NLHE Jul 7 – $50,000 PLO Jul 9 – $50,000 NLHE Jul 11 – $100,000 NLHE
There will also be a standalone High Roller Leaderboard, although details are as elusive as a jellyfish’s throat.
Online Poker
Only one story to bring you from the land of online poker, and that’s an update on the Phil Galfond Challenge.
As the weekend drew to a close, Galfond was down €553,516.95 after ten days of heads-up PLO versus VeniVidi1993. Galfond has only won one of the ten sessions the paired has played, and that was a small win. In contrast, VeniVidi1993 has been the Hulk Hogan of the pairing. With more than 18,000 hands still to whizz through, many people in the poker community are beginning to worry about the three-time WSOP bracelet winner.
Kahle Burns is one of the hottest poker players on the planet right now, and the recent Australian Poker Hall of Fame inductee appeared on the ‘Podker’ podcast facing the host, WSOP Player of the Year, Robert Campbell.
JC Alvarado may have retired from poker, but he hasn’t retired from appearing on poker podcasts. The Mexican star appeared on Olivier Busquets’ ‘Two Lives With Olivier’.
Check it out.
Finally, he doesn’t play in many $25k+ buy-in events, but he has in the past, and given that I am the host, I will also give a shout out to Martin Jacobson’s appearance on RunItOnce’s Hero’s Journey podcast.
Check it out.
Life Outside of Poker
Former high stakes star, Brian Hastings, had a baby. Well, I guess his wife did most of the work. Audrey Hart Hastings is now part of the poker world.
I am thrilled to welcome Audrey Hart Hastings into the world! Huge shoutout to @SonyaNotSonya for doing all the heavy lifting during pregnancy, labor, and childbirth. I am in love with Audrey and excited to begin the journey of fatherhood! pic.twitter.com/GJmvpIAzya
Sorel Mizzi nearly had a baby when he had to change his Top 10 Movie Rankings for the first time in five-years. The Korean epic ‘Parasite,’ of which Scott Seiver has also been singing its virtues, comes in at #7.
Had to update my top 10 movie list for first time in 5 years thanks to “Parasite” here it is:
1. Braveheart 2. Forrest Gump 3. Interstellar 4. A Bronx Tale 5. Legend of the falls 6. The dark knight 7. Parasite 8. Vanilla sky 9. Good fellas 10. Cinema paradiso
The death of Kobe Bryant was one of the major talking points on social media this week, and Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald had some interesting thoughts on celebrity deaths, which led to him sharing his reflections on the end of Anthony Bourdain.
Check them out.
Not a Kobe, Lakers, or even a basketball fan but this has me choked up more than any celebrity death ever has. I think the death of a young transcendent athlete symbolizes our mortality more than anything. Enjoy your time while you still can.
This may sound fucked up but when Bourdain died it was the most positive thing that's ever happened for my own life expectancy. Seeing someone who has improved so many lives yet didn't appreciate their own was such an eye opener for me. I'd never seen this so clearly.
High stakes cash game player and partypoker consultant, Rob Yong, asked the community how they would feel if he implemented facial recognition software on the online site. The proposed move is to prevent cheaters/bots/multi-accounting/ghosting, and the results were overwhelmingly in favour of the idea. However, the results from those commenting were mixed. It’s an interesting thread and worth checking it.
I am going to ask @partypoker to implement Facial Recognition on Sign in [+ randomly when ITM/Final Tables + Higher Stakes Cash Games to 1) stop cheaters/bots opening/buying new accounts 2) stop multi – accounting 3] Stop ghosting – Do you support this ?
During a recent interview with Phil Hellmuth Jr., he told me that the high stakes tournament pros are a school of imitating fish, while he does his own thing on the side.
This is what his ‘own thing’ looks like, followed by some sound advice from the WPT Champions Club member, Dietrich Fast.
The poker reality show will flop, you can watch superbowl on tv, skype with the govenor and save money, be with your fam and safe the planet.
If he carries on like this, Stephen Chidwick will be getting cat-calls each time he walks into a poker room. I often wonder whether the people realise amid greatness that they are creating a legacy? I wonder what goes through Chidwick’s mind?
The man from Deal in the UK has won the inaugural Australian Poker Open (APO) just as he also won the first US Poker Open (USO). Only the defiance and resistance of Sam Soverel prevented him from a clean sweep, finishing second to the American in the British Poker Open (BPO).
When it comes to Poker Central’s Open action, everyone is on the periphery of this man’s talents, cashing in half of the 35 Open events played at this point, winning six of them.
It’s no wonder that his peers shortlisted Chidwick for the ‘Toughest Opponent’ award at the forthcoming Global Poker Awards (GPA).
Joining Chidwick on that shortlist are two players who also made the final table of Event #7: AUD 100,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE) Challenge in Michael Addamo and Kahle Burns.
Burns has been a revelation of late, but his luck ran out at the most convenient time for Chidwick. Nursing the short-stack, and odds-on to hit the rail first, handing the APO Championship to Andras Nemeth, Chidwick dug his fingernails in, Burns picked up pocket kings, went for it, and felt crushed when Addamo called with Qs8s and flopped trips, sending Burns home on the bubble. After locking up the title, Chidwick then fell in the fourth-place, losing with AKo versus the QcJc of the in-form Aaron Van Blarcum.
The Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1 fell next when Alex Foxen got it in with KcQc, but lost to the As4s of Van Blarcum.
Van Blarcum had been on a tear of late, finishing third at the AUD 100,000 NLHE Challenge at the Aussie Millions, following a brilliant showing in December’s World Poker Tour (WPT) Five Diamond World Poker Classic at the Bellagio winning a $25k and finishing runner-up in a $50k.
Van Blarcum’s ride in this one stopped in second place with his middle pair unable to stop the tide created by Addamo’s flush draw.
“It was a pretty smooth ride, I was pretty fortunate,” Addamo told Poker Central after his win.
The event attracted 28-entrants.
Addamo has now won more than $1.7m since the turn of the year.
AUD 100k Main Event ITM Finishes
Michael Addamo – $861,952
Aaron Van Blarcum – $527,667
Alex Foxen – $299,810
Stephen Chidwick – $187,381
On winning the APO, Chidwick said, “Hopefully these style of events continue because I think it’s a bit more of an achievable accolade to win a multiple of or, over time, determine who the best player is rather than looking at a single tournament. Obviously there’s a lot of luck involved in this too, but over the course of seven, eight, or ten events you’re going to see the better players win more often and it would be fun to see who can collect the most titles like this.”
APO Championship Standings
Stephen Chidwick – 650 points (AUD 949,000)
Andras Nemeth – 630 (AUD 534,100)
Michael Addamo – 560 (AUD 1,685,500)
Mike Watson – 450 (AUD 241,500)
Luc Greenwood – 360 (AUD 717,700)
At the Australian Poker Open (APO), two events remain untouched, like fresh bread resting in the oven, and Stephen Chidwick knows he needs to finish in the money in at least one of them if he is to turn his championship lead into a title.
The former U.S. Poker Open winner, is on course to become the first player to win two Opens in different countries, after pummelling and persecuting people in the 47-entrant Event #5: AUD 25,000 No-Limit Hold’em (NLHE).
Chidwick is a powerhouse in these types of events. All told he had made the final table of just under half of the 33 Open events to date, including winning six of them, and his win also catapulted him above David Peters into the sixth position in the all-time live tournament money leaderboard with $33,888,888.
Let’s see how Chidwick ended up smelling like a bed of roses.
The Nutshell Action
The first player at the final table to exit stage left was the man who won the previous event. Farid Jattin got it in with ace-ten versus the pocket sixes of Michael Addamo, and the better won.
Jorryt van Hoof arrived in Queensland on the back of an AUD 25,000 Pot-Limit Omaha victory at the Aussie Millions, and once again underlined his capability of cross-pollinating the final tables of the two most popular forms of poker, finishing fifth in this one. The Dutchman suffered a cooler, running pocket jacks into the pocket queens of Seth Davies.
Davies then took a significant chip advantage into four-handed play when he ousted the recently crowned AUD 50,000 NLHE winner at the Aussie Millions, Michael Addamo. The Australian held king-eight, but Davies had the superior ace-king.
That left Davies, Chidwick and Erik Seidel to battle for the trophy, and it was Chidwick who took the fight to Davies, doubling once before eliminating him after king-nine beat ace-five. Davies flopped an ace, but Chidwick rivered a flush.
No need for vilification during the heads-up bout with Seidel facing an 8:1 chip deficit – a miracle was not in the offing. After a few short and sweet hands, Seidel found pocket queens and was unlucky when Chidwick flopped a second king, holding king-six, with all the money in the middle.
The molecular world of poker is one that often escapes the eye of Pulp’s ‘Common People,’ but if they did spot it, and could pierce the bubble, they would think it was a beautiful place.
It isn’t all unicorns and rainbows.
After becoming the 28th human being to earn more than $19m in live tournament earnings through winning Event #3: AUD 25,000 No-Limit Hold ’em (NLHE) at the Australian Poker Open (APO) in The Star Gold Coast in Queensland, the Canadian said:
“I’ve been playing for so long now, and I’m still very passionate about the game, but I can’t do this my whole life. This game takes a toll on you, the travel, the playing, the studying, it’s really a full-time job. I think I have a few good years left though, and maybe then I can relax a bit more.”
Adams’ win sees him move into third place in the overall leaderboard behind Andras Nemeth and the current leader, Mike Watson. Still, his chances of taking it down are hampered slightly by his decision to skip the Pot-Limit Omaha (PLO) events.
One person who won’t skip the PLO events is the $25k PLO World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner, Stephen Chidwick. The former US Poker Open winner glides ominously into fourth place after losing to Adams, heads-up.
Also breaking into the Top 5 is Orpen Kisacikoglu. The Turkish, London-based, businessman, added a fifth-place finish to the fourth-place finish he enjoyed in Event #1: AUD 10,000 NLHE.
“To win a tournament a lot of things have to go your way and today that happened to me,” said Adams.
Let’s take a look then shall we?
The Nutshell Action
The final table began with Stephen Chidwick cutting down the field with some cunning and culling. The in-form Aaron Van Blarcum became the first player to feel the former Global Poker Index (GPI) World # 1’s wrath when his ace-three fell to pocket sevens.
Orpen Kisacikoglu’s face turned from delight to desperation when he got it in with ace-queen, only for Chidwick to cooler him with ace-king, and suddenly, the poker press began to wonder if the man from the UK and Event #3 honours had been betrothed.
A feature of a vagabonding Poker Central is the ability of players to feature who are unlikely to head to Las Vegas to fight. Andy Lee is a prime example. The Australian began the final table with the chip lead, and he joined Chidwick in the final table list of vanquishers when his ace-six came from behind to hit a flush, beating ace-queen of the dangerous Steve O’Dwyer.
Three-handed play became heads-up when Lee himself hit the rail. The former World Series of Poker Circuit (WSOPC) AUD NLHE High Roller winner, got it in good, with top pair versus the flush draw of Adams, but the Triton Champion hit his flush on the river to set up a titanic tussle with Chidwick for the Event #3 title.
As adjectives go, ‘titanic’ was the wrong one to pull out of a Google search.
‘ Short’ is a more apt choice.
The heads-up action lasted only a few hands, and Adams won them all, including the last one of the tournament when his pocket sevens beat ace-five to confirm victory.
Australian poker players have suffered of late with the government deciding to ban online poker. The presence of events like the APO must give the activists hope that one day the government can be persuaded to see that poker is a game of skill. If they ever need an experienced man to take the stand, then the $19m man Adams is a grand choice.
It
turns mild-mannered men and women into war machines.
The
Super High Roller Bowl (SHRB) has taken a vacation. Destination, London, and by
the time you would have read this, the action in the £250,000 buy-in event
would have already begun.
With
17-hours to go before kick-off, Poker Central is keeping their powder dry on
who will be in the field. We know there is a 49-player cap, with 30 seats
subject to a random draw, and 19 reserved for Poker Central and Aspers
figurines to handpick the final bamboozlers and manipulators.
But not
a single name.
Nada.
So
without a cast, I’m going to take a punt at the likely winners, should they be
(a) in London, and (b) lucky enough to get a seat.
Bryn Kenney
Bryn Kenney
Bryn
Kenney is in London, so I am reasonably confident we will see the man who makes
bathrobes look cool competing in the game. Kenney’s goal is world domination,
and events like this are in the war plan. Last month, Kenney finished runner-up
to Aaron Zhang in the £1m buy-in Triton Million, but he banked the lion share
of the money after agreeing upon a deal that saw him net £16.9m.
Kenney
deposed Justin Bonomo at the top of the All-Time Money List after that win
($55.5m). It’s worth noting that ahead of the event, Kenney was the 2019 Money
Leader with more than $9m taking from felts across the globe. Wins include the
Aussie Millions Main Event, and two Triton titles in Montenegro.
Justin Bonomo
Justin Bonomo
Justin
Bonomo held the high stakes poker scene to ransom in 2018, winning more than
$25.4m (a record until Kenney’s 2019 exploits). Included in that haul were
victories in the SHRB Las Vegas for $5m and the SHRB China for $4,8m. Add his
win in the $1m Big One for One Drop, and we may not have a cast for this one,
but we do have a man more than equipped to play the role of End Boss.
I
interviewed Bonomo in London at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series, and
the man glowed. I got the impression that he could make sitting cross-legged
look easy, and it showed on the felt winning the £100,000 Short-Deck Main Event
for £2.67m. He was never going to improve upon his 2018 haul. However, it’s
worth noting that the $5m he’s already secured this year, is his second-best
annual performance of his life.
Stephen Chidwick
Stephen
Chidwick is the Global Poker Index (GPI) World #1, and the man his peers
believe to be the best in the world. They stitched that label into his hoodie
many years ago, the only difference of late, is he’s turning 2nd and 3rd place
finishes into wins.
The
UK-born pro is one of the most consistent performers in the world. This year
alone he has won titles at the US Poker Open, the British Poker Open (BPO) and
captured his first gold bracelet at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Include
his epic performance at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London
(where he finished fourth in the big one for more than £4.4m), and who would
bet against him.
Rainer Kempe
Rainer Kempe
Rainer
Kempe has the t-shirt.
The
German star conquered a field of 49-players in the 2016 SHRB, collecting a
career-high $5m after beating his buddy Fedor Holz, heads-up. Until last week,
Kempe had led the GPI Player of the Year (POY) for eight-weeks, until Sean
Winter took his crown.
Kempe
has won five tournaments this year and sharpened his toolkit by finishing
runner-up to Sam Soverel, in a £25,100 No-Limit Hold’em event at the BPO.
Charlie Carrel
Charlie Carrel
It was
interesting to watch a recent VLOG from Charlie Carrel explaining his omission
from the Triton Million London event. Carrel explained how his backer, Orpen
Kisacikoglu, bypassed him, because he hadn’t played poker for six-months, and
he felt the game had passed him by.
Carrel
responded by winning the £50,000 No-Limit Hold’em at the Triton Poker Super
High Roller Series in London for £1.3m. He then travelled to Rozvadov and
finished 7/510 in the MILLIONS Europe Main Event for €130,000 (he went into the
final table with the chip lead). Then he turned up at the European Poker Tour
(EPT) in Barcelona, making the final table of two €25,000 No-Limit Hold’em
events.
Steve O’Dwyer
Steve O’Dwyer
Despite
financial metrics being an unreliable indicator of form, Steve O’Dwyer’s 2019
is annus horribilis. The American star has pulled $1.5m (gross) from the live
tables, but that’s his lowest haul since 2012.
Financial
results aside, O’Dwyer, re-entered the GPI Top #10 after making the final table
of the €50,000 and €100,000 No-Limit Hold’em events at EPT Barcelona. He also
picked up two runner-up finishes in the BPO.
The Dark Horses
Luc Greenwood
Luc
Greenwood competed in 12 Triton events without cashing before making money,
finishing runner-up to Linus Lloeliger, in the £25,000 No-Limit Hold-em
Six-Handed Turbo at the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London. He
then went to EPT Barcelona and finished fourth in the €50,000 No-Limit Hold’em
before winning the opening £10,500 No-Limit Hold’em at the BPO.
Danny Tang
Danny
Tang has been a revelation since turning up at the Triton Poker Super High
Roller Series in Montenegro and leaving with more than $2m in prize money. Tang
proceeded to win his first WSOP bracelet, winning the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em
for $1.6m, and made two high roller final tables at EPT Barcelona, including a
third in the €100,000.
Sam Grafton
Like
Tang, Grafton is another player who has entered the high stakes stratum in
sparkling form. The Squid made money in the $50,000 No-Limit Hold’em during the
WSOP, finishing 11th, and then finished 13th in the $100,000. Grafton then
finished 5/510 in the MILLIONS Europe Main Event in Rozvadov for €220,000, and
later earned the most significant score of his career, finishing runner-up to
Sergi Reixach in the €100,000 at EPT Barcelona for €1.3m.
The
SHRB London starts on Friday 13 September and ends two days later.
As of
July 2018, there were 6,339 comets playing tag in our solar system. Today, that
number has increased and will continue rising as there is a trillion scooting
around our outer solar system.
Despite
this whopping great number of icy trailblazers, only one, a year is visible to
the naked eye.
This
year, Stephen Chidwick is that comet.
Poker
players have been saying for years that Chidwick is a little bit special. These
days, he’s proving it, racking up titles for fun, and as I type this, he sits on
top of the Global Poker Index (GPI) World Rankings.
Chidwick
has been the king for four-weeks after deposing Alex Foxen, and the pair have
exchanged the title of ‘World’s Best Live Tournament Player’ for the better
part of 17-months.
Rainer
Kempe and Bryn Kenney are doing their best to close the gap, but you suspect
Foxen and Chidwick will go toe-to-toe for some while yet. And Chidwick manages
this while changing nappies, cleaning up puke, and pushing a stroller around
the neighbourhood at ungodly hours.
Foxen
hasn’t picked up any points since securing 320.18 for finishing 40th in the
World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He did cash three times at the
European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona, including a fourth in a €25,000 event,
but none of the scores qualified.
Chidwick
was able to eke ahead after earning 430 points during the Triton Poker Super
High Roller Series in London for making the final table of both £100,000 Main
Events (No-Limit Hold’em & Short Deck). Chidwick also finished fourth in
the Triton Million £1m buy-in event, but the score didn’t qualify. The man from
Deal put in another solid performance during the British Poker Open (BPO),
cashing in four events, winning one, but he picked up zero GPI points because
field sizes were too small.
High Rollers Rule
Sifting
through the GPI Top 20, only three people don’t compete in the high stakes live
tournament scene regularly: Jeremy Ausmus (#10), Joseph Cheong (#12), and Shaun
Deeb (#18).
Steve
O’Dwyer re-enters the Top 10 after cashing three times at EPT Barcelona,
including the final table of the €50,000 and €100,000 High Rollers, both of
which earned him GPI points. O’Dwyer maintained that form in the British Poker
Open (BPO) finishing runner-up in a £10,000 and a £25,000 event but didn’t pick
up any points for his efforts.
Current World Rankings
1.
Stephen Chidwick
2. Alex
Foxen
3.
Rainer Kempe
4. Bryn
Kenney
5. Sean
Winter
6. Sam
Greenwood
7.
Manig Loeser
8.
Steve O’Dwyer
9. Ali
Imsirovic
10.
Jeremy Ausmus
2019 GPI Player of the Year
Sean Winter
Sean
Winter overtook Rainer Kempe at the head of the 2019 GPI Player of the Year
rankings. Winter’s shove ends an eight-week run with Kempe at the top. In a
recent interview with yours truly over at CalvinAyre.com, Kempe
confirmed that winning the GPI POY would be an honour, but only believes his
equity of winning the title is at 10-15%.
“It
doesn’t make much sense to chase it,” Kempe told me. “There are 20 people in
competition for it. Being in the first place right now doesn’t necessarily mean
you have the best chance to win it because of the scoring system. If I had to
guess my equity of winning this year, it would be 10-15% or less, and that’s
not the kind of equity that’s going to push me to chase it.
“If the
situation changes at the end of the year, and it’s only me, Manig Loeser and
Bryn Kenney who can win it, and I am one big score away from taking it down – I
will do whatever it takes to win it because winning it would be a great
achievement.”
Winter
won the $5,250 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open (SHRPO) Championship in August,
beating 809-entrants to rack up a $698,175 score. Winter may have the lead, but
he has to be another outside bet. Winter’s partner is expecting a baby, and
that means Winter is more likely to be found in Mothercare than a poker
room.
Current Player of the Year Rankings
1. Sean
Winter
2.
Rainer Kempe
3.
Stephen Chidwick
4. Sam
Greenwood
5. Bryn
Kenney
6.
Shannon Shorr
7.
Manig Loeser
8. Ali
Imsirovic
9.
Danny Tang
10.
James Romero
Top Female Performers
World Rankings
1.
Kristen Bicknell
2.
Maria Ho
3. Loni
Harwood
4.
Jessica Dawley
5. Li
Yan
6.
Marua Lampropulos
7.
Lauren Roberts
8.
Natalie Teh
9.
Wendy Freedman
10 Ana
Marquez
Movers and Shakers
Chris Hunichen
Chris
Hunichen is the biggest mover in the high stakes scene, shifting 162 places to
#61, after picking up close to 700 points for finishing 9/94 in a $1,100
No-Limit Hold’em Turbo at the SHRPO, and winning the 540-entrant €10,300 High
Roller at the European Poker Tour (EPT) in Barcelona for €841,345.
Chin
Wei Lim climbed 110 places to reach #184 in the rankings. Lim currently sits
second behind Michael Soyza in highly competitive Malaysian rankings. Ivan Leow
(#230), and Paul Phua (#284) are the two other Malaysian players occupying
oxygen in the GPI 300. Lim has made four final tables in 2019, including two
high rolling finishes at Triton London, and two at EPT Barcelona. Lim also
played in and cashed in the £1m buy-in Triton Million, finishing tenth for
£1.1m.
Another
big mover is Juan Pardo. The Spaniard rose 101 places to rest in the #192
position after an incredibly consistent display in EPT Barcelona. Pardo won the
€25,000 and €50,000 Single-Day High Rollers, back-to-back, and came fourth in a
second €25,000 High Roller, accumulating €1.8m in gross prize money. Pardo
currently sits #5 in the Spanish GPI rankings behind high rollers Sergio Aido
(1), Sergi Reixach (2), and Adrian Mateos (3).
Finnish
high stakes stalwart, Juha Helppi, broke back into the GPI 300 sitting in #236
place. Helppi cashed in two high rollers at EPT Barcelona, finishing runner-up
to Timothy Adams in a €10,200 Six-Handed event.
James
Chen had a stunning WSOP, making the final tables of the $25,000 Pot-Limit
Omaha, and the $100,000 No-Limit Hold’em for a combined haul of more than $1m
in gross winnings. The man from Taiwan followed that up with two ITM finishes
at EPT Barcelona, making the final table of €25,000 event. Chen breaks into the
GPI 300, nestling in #269.
Finally,
Triton regular, Peter Jetten, also made it into the GPI 300. The Canadian star
currently sits in #272 place after making seven final tables in 2019 with his
seventh-place finish in a £25,000 Short Deck event in London his most
recent.
