The World Series of Poker is going to be kicking off very soon and once again I am excited that I will be able to make the trek back down to Las Vegas for at least a week to partake in as much of the annual festivities as possible. My birthday falls towards the end of June, which provides a perfect opportunity to visit the WSOP during the height of most of the big events, which is good for when I want to both gawk at pros and then hit up the tables myself.

I’m not all that interested in large buy-in events, so typically my WSOP poker experience is kept mainly to the single-table events and cash games. My Dad actually enters in a few of the $1,500 tournaments, so I try to help him out as much as possible by winning as many tournament chips as possible in the numerous satellite events that the WSOP makes available. The number of inexperienced players at these games is really incredible and I’m able to really do some damage thanks to my online SNG knowledge. The only drawback is that, baring any side deals, you have to win these satellites in order to win anything, so you can’t pull the usual constant aggressive techniques over and over again like you can in a SNG where you’ll make the money once you hit the top three. Still, I’m able to adjust pretty easily and normally end up winning a few of these satellites.

After I help my Dad win a few buy-ins I then like to hit up the cash games, though table selection is more important than ever since there are sometimes just as many sharks in the room as there are fish. Normally I’ll scope out random tables for 15min or so and get a feeling for how strong or weak the players are and then try and at least plan which tables I want to move to if a spot opens up, as the chances of me getting the exact table I want immediately is slim. These cash games can be very juicy too since the tourists come with their wallets full.

The rest of my trip is normally spent just riding the rail and watching many of the best players in their world hone their craft. Watching these guys and girls on TV is no comparison once you get the chance to see them play in person and that alone is reason enough to try and make time for a quick down to this year’s WSOP. Remember that it goes on for a full month, so see if you have the ability to come on down, you definitely won’t regret it.

This weekend Phil Ivey joined the very exclusive club of professional poker players honored with their own poker room in Las Vegas, with Bobby Baldwin being the only other player having received a similar honor. “The Ivey Room” made its debut this past weekend at the Aria Hotel, where inside sits a single poker table, multiple 42-inch flat-screen TVs, and direct access to over 480 safety deposit boxes at a private cashier’s cage. Player’s in the room can also enjoy complimentary beverage service and 24/7 table-side dining.

The room is situated next to the 24-table poker room that was unveiled at the Aria when it first opened back in December 2009. A special $1 million invitation-only freeroll event was used to launch the room on May 22nd, with the winner taking home $250,000 in prize money, with a $100,000 bounty also placed on Phil Ivey, making him a target for everyone in the tournament.

“We were thrilled that Phil agreed when we asked if he would consider putting his name on the room,” said Aria President Phil McBeath in an article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He continued, “Phil is a great guy, a longtime friend both of the MGM Mirage family and mine personally, and remains a fan favorite in the world of poker.”

The Aria appears to be courting Ivey heavily with hopes of having “The Big Game” moved from the Bellagio over to its own property, but no plans have been announced by any of the pros that frequently attend the game. It looks like “The Ivey Room” will run limit games in the $1,000/$2,000 range and no-limit games starting at $200/$400.

“I am honored that Bill and the entire team at ARIA have decided to place my name on their one-table high-limit room. With its recent opening in December, ARIA has established itself as a leader in the gaming industry and I look forward to playing at ARIA’s Poker Room soon,” Ivey said.

A new king has been crowned at the WPT Spanish Championship in Barcelona, Spain. Ali Tekintamgac is the big winner in the Spanish Championship. Nine players returned to duke it out for the championship prize of €315,000 + WPT Championship Seat 2011 + Tiffany bracelet. Ali Tekintamgac entered the final table as the chip leader with 1,522,000 in chips, and Triston Clemoncon was the low man on the totem pole with only 139,000 in chips to start the day.

Play started out at level 22 with blinds at 8,000/16,000 and 2,000 ante. Tekintamgac raised from early position with 9 9, and Manuel Cuberos Lopez Cozar moved all in with AQ. With a swift call from Tekintamgac the board ran A Q 9 6 K to send the first player of the final table to the rail.

Gomila Romero was sent packing in 8th place after he pushed with pocket 6’s. He ran into two huge hands, AK and JJ, and wasn’t able to come out on top. Not too long after Emil Per Mattsson took 7th place when he pushed with A J, but it proved to be no good against the K K of Roberto Garcia Santiago.

Mads Hansen was able to double up, but a few rounds later he found himself at risk again. He got into a back and forth preflop battle with Manuel and then Hansen was all in with A Q vs. A 10. The board ran out 4s 7c Kd Jc Qh to give Manuel broadway. It was a brutal beat for Hansen as he was sent to the rail in 5th place.

As three way action commenced, Ali Tekintamgac had retained his chip lead on the table. Manuel Blaschke became the 3rd place finisher when he tried to push Tekintamgac around at the wrong time. Blaschke pushed with K 8 offsuit and Tekintamgac had pocket aces. The board ran dry for Blaschke.

Tekintamgac had a huge lead over Roberto Garcia Santiago going into heads up play. It didn’t take long for Santiago to push with 9d 8h against Tekintamgac’s 5c Qc. The board came Kh Ah 5h Qd 2d to give Ali Tekintamgac the big win.

Final table prizes are as follows:

1. ALI TEKINTAMGAC – 315.000€ + WPT seat in Las Vegas final + Tiffany bracelet
2. ROBERTO GARCIA SANTIAGO - 160.000€
3. MATS ERIK IREMARK- 81.000€
4. MANUEL BLASCHKE – 71.000€
5. MADS SMITH HANSEN – 61.000€
6. TRISTAN QUENTIN CLEMENCON– 51.000€
7. PER EMIL MATTSSON – 41.000€
8. BARTOLOME GOMILA ROMERO– 31.000€
9. MANUEL CUBEROS LOPEZ COZAR – 21.400€

The World Poker Tour is in the process of finding its newest poker champion at the Barcelona Spanish Championship. This event had two start days which proved to draw a record breaking crowd to this event. The buy in for this championship event was an affordable €3,200 + €300 buy-in. Tournament Director Thomas Kremser announced that there were 326 players who entered which totaled the prize pool at over 1 million euro. The top 36 players will be paid. First place will take home €315,000, $25,500 seat to the WPT World Championship, and a Tiffany bracelet.

At the end of Day 2, only 44 players remained. Per Linde, the 3rd place finisher at the Grand Prix Paris event, ended the day with the chip lead. Edgars Strupka and Paulo Da Silva Pereira were trailing closely behind him. Although some players were hoping to make the money by Day 2, they would have to wait for the bubble to burst on Day 3.

Day 3 had 44 players return at their chance for a championship title. The top 36 players are guaranteed €4,900, and none of the remaining players wanted to go home with empty pockets. It was Erik Friberg who ended up being the bubble boy when he pushed with A 4 offsuit against the JJ of Mats Iremark.

As Day 3 came to a close, the final table was set. Nine hopefuls will return on Day 4 to battle for their chance to make poker history. Ali Tekintamac will go into the final table with the chip lead. Tristan Clemencon will have his work cut out for him, as he will be the short stack at the final table.

A few months back I reported that Russia underwent an extreme change when the government decided to place a ban on all casinos in the country, except in four designated zones. Professional gamblers and tens of thousands of casino/card room employees found themselves out of work immediately, with no other industry in which to use their skills. Now, the strict policy has begun to heavily backfire as underground casinos and poker dens are on the rise at such a pace that Russian police have been unable to keep up with enforcement.

Since July 1st 2009, the day that all poker rooms and casinos were closed down, police have confirmed that illegal gambling operations have popped up in a vast number of areas, many of which are run by ordinary gambling patrons. The most recent underground casino to be closed was a site hosted in an apartment in western Moscow. The casino was operated by a British citizen and consisted of two poker tables, two roulette wheels, 10 gambling machines and a bar. It is estimated that the operator generated tens of millions of rubles throughout the existence of his casino.

Police officials blame their inability to successfully find and shut down these establishments on a lack of available resources and manpower. They confirm that the number of illegal operations are steadily on the rise, with no quick solution in sight. There has been no word from the Russian government on whether or not they will reverse their policy, which was put in place as a way of removing gambling away from major cities and towns and instead forcing gamblers to the four designated gambling zones, which were in need of more tourism.

Professional poker players and those in the poker industry are often involved in investment projects that exist outside of the realm of poker, but normally those investments don’t get a lot of attention. However, the original founders of World Poker Tour Enterprises have recently found themselves back in the limelight when it was discovered that the team had successfully managed to take the cash generated from the sale of their poker assets to Party Gaming and invest it into the energy industry.

The WPTE founders, comprised of Steven Lipscomb, Lyle Berman and Brad Berman, walked away from their poker company with $28 million in cash, and apparently have put a lot of that capital into Voyager Oil and Gas, a energy company based in Montana. The company was recently featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal, which talks about the role that Lipscomb and the Bermans now play in the business.

“I don’t think we have many unhappy shareholders,” Lyle Berman told the publication. “We thought if we could find a company with a great business model that needed cash, the stock would trade significantly above $1.40 … We have fulfilled that mission.”

As for their daily responsibilities within Voyager Oil and Gas, the trio admit to having none due to their lack of experience in the energy industry. They merely were just looking for a new project to fund that they felt could result in profitable gains, which is essentially why they formed the WPTE and launched the World Poker Tour in 2002.

“As I go into a different phase of my life, it’s time for me to thank everyone in the poker community,” Lipscomb told Card Player in December. “I know we’ve made decisions that were contentious and hard, but through all of that, I think there has been a tremendous amount of grace shown by people in the poker community.”

The 2010 World Poker Tour Grand Prix de Paris had 247 players enter for their chance at a world poker title. First place money was a stunning €633,902, and it would not be an easy feat to seal a win in this event. The final eight players came down to Mickael Guenni, Theo Jorgensen, Antoine Amourette, Per Linde, Jimmy Ostensson, Nourredine Aitaleb, Fabrice Touil, and Arnaud Mattern.

When play at the final table started, Jorgensen held the chip lead with 2.7 million. Fabrice Touil was second in chips with 1.2 million which gave Jorgensen a strong lead. He would need it because he failed to knock out Antoine Amourette who was the short stack, and this left him sending chips across the felt to Amourette for a double up.

One by one each of the soldiers began to fall. Ostensson was the first to hit the rail when Touil called his all in and paired both of his cards. Arnaud Mattern was the next to go after he ran his Ac Qd into the pocket aces of Amourette.

Guenni pushed all in preflop with QhTc and got two callers. It appeared that this would be Guenni’s final hand when Amourette turned the ace high flush, but miraculously Guenni rivered a boat to stay alive. However, this didn’t last very long as he was all in again and failed to survive his all in against Jorgensen. He finished in 4th place.

Linde was the next to go after he became a short stack from doubling up Amourette he desperately needed a doHTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2010 06:53:30 GMT Server: Apache/1.3.41 X-Powered-By: PHP/5.2.6 X-Pingback: http://wizfix.com/xmlrpc.php Connection: close Transfer-Encoding: chunked Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1

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Archive</span> <h2 class="title">Articles in the Pro Poker Category</h2> <div id="archive"> <div class="clearfloat"> <h3 class=cat_title><a href="http://wizfix.com/topics/pro-poker/" title="View all posts in Pro Poker" rel="category tag">Pro Poker</a> &raquo</h3> <div class="title"><a href="http://wizfix.com/pro-poker/my-2010-wsop-plans/" rel="bookmark">My 2010 WSOP Plans</a></div> <div class="meta">[27 May 2010 | <a href="http://wizfix.com/pro-poker/my-2010-wsop-plans/#respond" title="Comment on My 2010 WSOP Plans">No Comment</a> | ]</div> <div class="spoiler"> <p>The World Series of Poker is going to be kicking off very soon and once again I am excited that I will be able to make the trek back down to Las Vegas for at least a week to partake in as much of the annual festivities as possible. My birthday falls towards the end of June, which provides a perfect opportunity to visit the WSOP during the height of most of the big events, which is good for when I want to both gawk at pros and then hit up the tables myself.</p> <p>I’m not all that interested in large buy-in events, so typically my WSOP poker experience is kept mainly to the single-table events and cash games. My Dad actually enters in a few of the $1,500 tournaments, so I try to help him out as much as possible by winning as many tournament X-Powered-By and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

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