High Stakes Poker

Have your heard the rumor regarding PokerRoom.com? You may remember that a couple of weeks ago, PokerFuse put out an article claiming that the online poker room PokerRoom might be reopened. This article was based off of a simple tweet made by an SEO manager with bwin.com

Granted, this would be considered a solid source in today’s media, but that “source” soon started backpeddling when challenged. Of course, that challenge came from PokerRoom on Twitter. Seemed to me like a bit of clever spilling of the beans if you might.

A friend of mine, James Guill, writes for PokerNewsBoy and has some connections over at bwin. He wrote an article that basically stated that his contact told him that they were “considering” whether to open the site or not. Granted, James doesn’t usually post garbage, so chances are that he gave a direct quote there.

Here is the deal. The website is currently being updated for the first time since Bush was President. They now miraculously have a twitter and a Facebook page. I think it is pretty safe to assume they are reopening.

But why? This doesn’t make a lot of sense to me unless they are thinking that the US is going to legalize online poker soon. James has pissed off a lot of people with his predictions that online legalization won’t be until 2014, so do the online sites know something that we don’t or is this wishful thinking? Personally, I think they know something that we don’t.

If you started playing online poker since 2006, you probably don’t know about PokerRoom. They are as old school as they come. They started in 1999 back when online poker games were free money only. I think the PC term now is “social media site.” Anyway, they took the plunge in the real money world and were one of the only sites for a while that weren’t a bunch of crooks.

Of course, they are on Ongame, so they won’t be available to US players. Of course, if the US ever gets off the backsides and legalize the game, PokerRoom could be a player once again.

bwin Poker is a part of bwin Interactive Entertainment AG and their roots go all the way back to 1999. Since the merger with Party Poker they have become the largest online gaming site. Being licensed by the government of Gibraltar and with twenty years of online gaming experience, bwin poker is the safest place for online poker real money play. bwin Poker is also a part of the Ongame Network which gives players access to the best poker traffic on the Internet.

How to Sign Up for bwin Real Money Poker Play

bwin Poker makes is very easy to sign up so you can start playing real money poker and free online poker right away. The home page, shown below, give you access to the sportsbook and casino, as well as poker room. You can log in from either the top of the home page or you can first navigate to the poker room from the tab at the top of the page.

Navigating to the Poker room first will take you to the following screen.

Clicking on the “Register Now!” link at the top of the page will start the registration process and you will see a screen that looks like this:

You will need to fill in the personal data and account data sections and you will find that only the mobile number and extra security question are optional. In the confirmation section you must use the checkbox to verify that you are at least eighteen years of age, and the checkbox that requests a welcome bonus and signifies acceptance of the sites terms and conditions. Finally you will need to enter the displayed security number in the empty box to the right.

You will also be given an opportunity to fund your new account and fortunately bwin gives you some of the best deposit options.

The wide selection of deposit options makes it simple to fund your account and to become ready for real money poker play. bwin makes it simple to not only deposit in to your account, they also make it simple to withdraw funds from your account. Be certain to review all of the deposit and withdrawal options to determine the ones that best suit your needs. In some instances the available deposit and withdrawal options are affected by your country of residence.

After completing this registrations process bwin takes a few more security steps to insure that you are protected. A e-mail will be sent to the address that you used upon your new registration.

Once you receive this e-mail you need to click on the link that is provided in the e-mail, and your account set up will be complete. To notify you that the registration is complete, you will get another e-mail confirmation.

bwin Poker is a state of the art online poker room and they make playing real money poker easy and available to most everyone. There are free poker room downloads for both the Windows and Mac operating systems.

For players that have a Linux operating system or who play at many different computers, there is an Instant Play version that opens in your web browser and does not require any download.

It is even possible to download free poker software to your compatible smart phone, allowing you to win at poker with real money play while you are on the go.

Name: José Macedo
Alias: Girah
Born: 1992
Age: 18
Home: Portugal
The young man was born into a loving home with two incredible parents. When he was four, he lost his father and watched on as his mother struggled and strived to keep things positive for them both. He attended an international school, and with the lessons he learned by watching his mother, he worked hard and studied hard. He entered numerous writing and mathematical competitions, winning many of them and enjoying that feeling; he continued to press forward with that in mind. Every year he finished at the top of the class or better .
He found a love for football (soccer for Americans) and dreamt of becoming a professional player. Practicing obsessively, his skills improved despite the moments of missing his dad as he bettered his game. He became competitive enough to play with a youth team in Lisbon, and later the national team. He also enjoyed playing tennis, however when he turned 13, he had a bad injury that barred him from continuing in the sports arena. This was a major setback in his mind at the time.

When he was 16 he found his interests shifting. Dreaming big, he found a home in Hawaii that he wanted to purchase for he and his mom and his close friends. Around the same time, a friend told him about Tom Dwan, a college kid who started with nothing and worked hard to learn the intricacies of the game. This captivated José and he began his quest to read everything he could get his hands on about the game. Not having money available and not being able to tell people about the game, he would sneak into the bathroom with books and read them, cover to cover. He began to study any poker show he could find and watch. Asking the same questions someone trying to learn would, ‘Why make that choice? What would have been better? Why did or didn’t that work’ he continued to approached the game with scrutiny. Then he began to test his theories on play money tables. In time, as his theories became proven, he accumulated millions in play chips and money.
After he became confident enough in the efforts he was making, he pressed into the real money. Begging his mother for his initial deposit, he put 30 Euros on Betfair. Starting at the 1 and 2 cent tables for 6 to 10 hours a day, he focused his efforts on learning the game and improving his skill. Like a chess player does, he would review his hands and the tables after each game and analyze how the concepts he had been learning elsewhere applied to a given situation. Doing this continued to improve his game.
To the surprise of most, within a month, José Macedo turned 30 Euros into 2500 dollars. At this point in his game play, poker was still a secret to his family. Continuing his venture, he pushed forward into a heads up arena. Playing in a new format, he honed his skills for what was to come. In his first venture into the 200NL realm of play, he found this to be a heart racing experience. By the end of his first venture into the bigger game, he came out on top and found a revived competitive energy for poker.
After spending months competing and improving his game through hard work and study, he hit his first major bump. Running low on his success rate, he searched for a coach and found one via Two Plus Two. He searched the forum repeatedly and started to talk to many people about their game, quietly. He found himself talking across many venues and to many people who were at various levels of success, but his targets were the top of the poker world. José found himself finally understanding the aspects of the game he was barely grasping at before.

When he was confident enough, he ventured into the high stakes tables. José’s first major win was closely followed by a loss that erased the win. Ups and downs are normal for most poker players, but few poker players are dealing with the ups and downs while finishing high school. This did not deter him from purchasing a house in Hawaii. As things seemed to go well, he was scammed by someone close, learning a difficult lesson in the worst possible way. He’s grown from the experience and his competitive edge has proven to still be sharp.

Expect to see this impressive international student continue to make waves in the poker community. His goal is the top and his record and drive shows that this is possible to achieve.

Indiana lawmakers approve high stakes tournament events
On Wednesday, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill allowing casinos to use hotels or other owned property where a casino is located for a live poker tournament. The motivation is to allow the land based casinos to hold high stakes poker tournaments. The tournaments are a draw for tourism and revenue in multiple facets.
Opponents of the bill voiced concerns over children’s safety, as some might be wandering the halls of a hotel during one of these events. It appears their perception is that a parent is unable to contain or be responsible for their child and they must step up to protect them.
Lawmakers who spoke in favor of the bill believe the casinos need to be able to host larger poker events. By authorizing them to utilize the fullest extent of their own property, the government is enabling the casinos who wish to achieve this. The bill passed by a 58-41 vote.
Governor Mitch Daniels will have the final say on the bill soon.

Team Poker Stars has grown again
Once again, PokerStars signed a poker player that has a consistent winning streak and a desire to play the game competitively. Eugene Katchalov screen name ‘MyrabbiFoo’ has been signed to a PokerStars sponsorship.
Born in Kiev, Ukraine and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Eugene Katchalov has proven that it is possible to rise to the top of your game with humility and hard work. Katchalov is a business school graduate from NYU and has been playing professional poker since he graduated in 2003. Applying his analytical mind to the cards, he’s won millions of dollars over a short period of time. He holds a World Championship of Online Poker bracelet, cashes in the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. One of the better known highlights of his game was the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $100 thousand High Roller event. There he beat 37 other players and competed heads up against the great Daniel Negreanu, taking home the 1.5 million dollar prize.
Eugene has worked hard to earn his competitive reputation and that hard work has paid off in a big way in the form of the PokerStars sponsorship. As a member of Team PokerStars we can be certain that we’ll see more of Katchlov, online and off, for a long time to come.
Look for him online as E.Katchlov.

Six Figure Buy-Ins
The large poker events are drawing larger crowds every year. The World Series of Poker’s $10,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event in 2010 had more than 7,300 people enter to compete. The big names and big bankrolls are finding the field far too saturated for their tastes. To address the concerns of their most discriminating tastes and bankrolls, poker tournament directors are making choices to thin the crowds. The most popular method currently is to raise the buy in fees. Most are moving from five figures buy ins to six figures.
The World Poker Tour announced they would venture into the same this year as well. The main event will be a 100 thousand dollar buy in. This doesn’t mean the only players in the field will be Phil Ivey and the like but it will significantly limit the crowd. To help ‘give the little guy’ a hand up, there will be a $1000 buy in event the night before the main event. This satellite will allow rebuys, thus enabling anyone who wishes to win their way into the 100 thousand dollar World Poker Tour Main Event to have a competitive opportunity to do so.
Macau Cash Games are also drawing a lot of attention from the well known and unknown with a bankroll. Some of the most competitive poker players online and off are being drawn to the Macau, China poker tables. A high stakes cash game seems to be just what the doctor ordered for many of these professional players who are tired of the crowded final events. To get a change of pace and a bit more space, they are competing in high stakes cash games that are challenging and paying out.
The Full Tilt Poker Onyx Cup is one of the most extravagant examples of tournament directors trying to thin the field. Their lowest buy in competition will be 100 thousand dollars with some buy ins being 300 thousand. The competition will be both challenging and expensive. The top players who do compete with this bankroll will have the potential of bringing home as much as 30 million dollars in prize money.
Some events are being aggressively adjusted to accommodate the most elite poker players in the world. Those, like the ones above, are proving to draw a lot of attention. Conversation in the forum leans in a variety of directions, some believing this change is good for poker while others debate it. In time we will see the final impact. Until that is known, expect high buy in events to become the norm instead of the exception.

Full Tilt Poker Launches Onyx Cup – First-of-its-Kind Poker Series for Elite Players

Full Tilt Poker recently announced the formation of an elite poker series – the Onyx Cup. This will comprise of six high stakes tournaments that will bring together the best poker players in the world. Full Tilt Poker, an online poker room that was started in 2004, has been created by some of the greatest poker players of this century. They include the likes of Jennifer Harman, Chris Fergusson and Andy Bloch. A few other poker professionals involved in Full Tilt Poker are Mike Matusow, Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey.

According to Full Tilt Poker, elite poker players rarely get the opportunity to go up against their likes when they play in packed tournament fields. So the Onyx Cup series is being launched with the aim of providing a platform where these poker players can play against each other.

The poker series will feature some of the biggest buy-ins to have been recorded in the history of the game. The buy-ins will range between $100,000 and $300,000. The prize pool estimated across the entire series is approximately $30,000,000.

The Onyx Cup series will feature six tournaments of Hold’em no limit poker. It is open to all comers and qualification rounds for this began on the 15th of March. The series will have five preliminary events and a grand finale. A million will be added to the prize pool in the finals of the series.

Players who are among the first three in these events will get points that are added to the series leader-board. After the grand finale, the player to have earned the most points will be declared the winner. He will be awarded the Onyx Cup and a luxury sports car. In addition, he will be recognized as the player who triumphed over poker’s elite.

According to Patrik Antonius, a professional poker player, a series like the Onyx Cup has been much needed for elite poker players. He stated that the game has been running the same cycle for too many years and it needed a change, which the Onyx Cup can provide.

Erik Seidel, another professional poker player stated that the Onyx Cup is the first of its kind, as no other tournament has brought together elite poker players in the same way.

One of the best poker players in the world, Phil Ivey, said that the players are bound to have immense respect for the winner, as he would have to play really hard to beat his competitors – of which one would be Phil Ivey himself. The poker player went on to say that the high stakes poker series is not just about the prize money. Instead, it is about getting to play against the best poker players in the world.

The first event is set to take place on May 11th and 12th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The players who have been confirmed as participating in the event are Howard Lederer, Erik Lindgren, Chris Ferguson, Eric Seidel and John Juanda. The tournaments will take place in Europe, United States of America and Asia. The series will be broadcast the world over to forty countries, in twenty languages.

The 2010 World Series of Poker has come to a summer’s end. This leaves 56 events played to completion. 56 winners selected and paid as WSOP Bracelet holders. It also leaves us one event undecided. There are 9 lives being held in the balance, wondering who the next multimillion dollar bracelet winner is. All of the men at the final table, the November Nine, are already in the cash for several hundred thousand dollars. Come November we will find out who is going to walk home with the big prize.

The 2010 World Series of Poker 10, 000 dollar No Limit Hold’em Main Event final table currently stands like this:

Chip leader: Jonathan Duhamel 65,975,000

John Dolan 46,250,000

Joseph Cheong 23,525,000

John Racener 19,050,000

Matthew Jarvis 16,700,000

Filippo Candio 16,400,000

Michael Mizrachi 14,450,000

Soi Nguyen 9,650,000

Jason Senti 7,625,000

This elite group, also known as the November Nine, will compete for 8.5 million dollars. This is the poker world’s most coveted prize. Only the above listed men stand a chance in November of claiming that prize, but all will walk away changed men. Sponsorships, competition and reputation now precede the final table. Walking away with 9th place will pay out 811,823 hundred thousand dollars with the winning hand earning 8,944,138 million dollars.

Each of the nine comes to this point with their own story.

Jonathan Duhamel

22 year old Jonathan dropped out of college last year to pursue his poker career. This choice to leave his finance degree behind has worked well in the favor of this Canadian. During his pursuit of the final table, Duhamel had entered in and cashed in 10th place of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague Main Event 2008, bubbling for more than 54 thousand dollars. He entered the Poker Stars Caribbean Adventures Main events and cashed for 17 thousand dollars. To date, before he made the November Nine, his total poker winnings reached 101, 560 dollars. Should he be knocked out in 9th place he has already more than tripled his professional poker earnings.

Jonathan has been playing poker online for 5 to 6 years, but has only gone professional in the last year. When he is not playing poker live he enjoys playing online in 8 to 10 table sim’s in the mid-level games.

John Dolan WSOP -

Poker player since college, this former accounting student at Florida State University (FSU) turned to online poker to pay for his college. When this proved successful within a few months, he selected to play poker professionally. This 24 year old Floridian is second in the chip stack for the November Nine, World Series of Poker Main Event Final table. Just by making the table John Dolan secured no less than 811 thousand dollars. Before making the WSOP Main Event Final his biggest pay day was in an online tournament for 82 thousand dollars. When he’s entered the WSOP previously he’s cashed 5 times, totaling 105,340 dollars and he’s also competed in the WSOP Circuit events, cashing a total of 3, 333 dollars.

John Dolan has a younger brother and sister who both attend Florida State University. Subsequently he spends time visiting his old campus often. One of the things he is noted for, by his family, is the time he takes to help his siblings when he is there. The former High School athlete enjoys watching most sports and continues to play cards in his free time.

Joseph Cheong aka sublime

Joseph Cheong WSOP – is a 24 year old poker professional who started his game playing online as sublime. He has joined the incredible talent at the World Series of Poker’s main event final table. His skilled efforts over the course of 8 days has earned him a place among the coveted November Nine.

He was born in Seoul, South Korea and calls La Mirada, California home. On his climb to the WSOP Final Table, he has won several online events including a Mini Full Tilt Online Poker Series (FTOPS) tournament. The final cash was 55, 000 dollars. He often plays in online no limit games but has recently adjusted his focus off line to similar. In that effort, he has achieved two, World Series of Poker event, cashes this year totaling 31, 064 dollars. Additionally, he has won 4 WSOP Circuit events, cashing in for 20,890. With that experience and practice, Cheong will sit down as the 3rd place chip stack at the final table in November, with 23,525,000 dollars.

John Racener aka Spikey

John Racener WSOP – started playing poker with online tournaments. He played several years before his 21st birthday, when he naturally made the move to live games, competing effectively at any table he sat at. In the last 3 years he has won over a million dollars in live poker tournaments to date. This self taught poker professional has proven it can be done.

His first major win came when he competed at Harrahs in the Atlantic City Poker Tournament. For his 21st birthday, he walked home with the 3rd place cash of more than 100 thousand dollars. Since then he has had 30 more live tournament cashes that total over a million dollars. For John, 9th place alone would amount to the largest single cash win of his career. He is poised to take home potentially 8 million. He will sit down at the final table with the other members of the November Nine holding 19, 050,000 in chips.

This active 24 year old enjoys playing basketball, golf and tennis. In the mean time he enjoys visiting clubs and bars and the night life in general.

Matt Jarvis WSOP -

This 25 year old Canadian business student has become one of the most sought after men in the poker world. He is a member of the 2010 November Nine final table of the World Series of Poker. Matt Jarvis is a middle stack at 16, 700,000 chips. This major accomplishment has earned him the attention of poker rooms, the media and his family’s approval. Jarvis turned poker professional with a great deal of friction from family and friends. After entering and winning several cashes prior to entering the WSOP some of his family started to come around. After making the final table of the World Series of Poker, he’s helped them see the success that can be.

Mathew picked up poker while he was working at a sales company. Playing small cash games here and there he became both interested and good at the game. Eventually he found his way to a brick and mortar casino and then onto online poker tournaments. In time his competitive spirit earned him several sizeable pots and he added sit and gos to his repertoire.

If Mathew Jarvis or Jonathan Duhamel go on to win the final table, they will become the first Canadian to do so. This would be an incredible way to move into the record books.

Filippo Caddio

This 25 year old Italian man is the last European standing in the most prestigious tournament in the entire poker world. This poker professional has been an incredible force to be reckoned with on the Italian and European poker circuit. Traveling with other Italian poker players, Caddio has accrued well over 250, 000 dollars of the last 2 years of live poker events. Last year he won his biggest cash and title when he won the San Remo Main Event of the Italian Poker Tour. His cash was 185,271 dollars out of a field of 281 active Italian poker players. He will sit at the final table as a middle stack with 16, 400,000 in chips.

Earlier this year’s WSOP he topped his previous best by cashing in Event 11 a 1,000 dollar buy in No Limit Hold’em event with an astronomical field. He finished 157th with a 2,000 dollar cash. Now he is poised to bring in more than 8.9 million dollars as well as make a name for Italian poker stars.

An interesting point about this young poker professional can be seen in his unique business perspective. He has created a line of poker themed clothing that is doing quite well in European sales. Additionally he enjoys music and generally having fun, even at the poker table. Recently he has become a proud member of team Poker Stars.

Michael ‘The Grinder’ Mizrachi

This 29 year old is the most accomplished poker player at the final table of the World Series of Poker’s sought after November Nine. This poker professional has earned more than 6.7 million dollars playing in various poker tournaments, online and off. Proving to be one of the most skilled poker players at the table, this man will be a challenge even as a middle level chip stack. Michael started to find his success in the online tournament and play while going to school to become a doctor. This intellectual man also found chess to be a competitive challenge that has enhanced his poker ability.

His first major accomplish was when he took fifth place at the World Poker Tour World Poker Open, putting him in the spotlight of the poker world. He followed up this first major win with one at the LA Poker Classic. He brought home 1.8 million dollars and this was in 2006. Four years later he is sitting at the final table again. Yes, again. Earlier this year he took first in Event two of the WSOP taking in 1, 559, 046 and the WSOP bracelet for the event.

Michael has 2 children with his wife Aidilyi. Both are professional poker players who call both Florida and Nevada home throughout the year.

Michael will sit down at the final table in November with 14, 500, 000 in his chip stack. Although he is not at the top of the list, don’t expect he will an easy player to knock out.

Cuong Soi Nguyen

This 37 year old medical supplies distributer learned to play poker from some of the known poker professionals in Southern California. He entered the 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event as his first foray into this series of major tournament events. With that choice he has battled, successfully, through an incredible field of talent and reached the final table. He is the most novice member of the November Nine, but don’t count him out. He has one cash in the L.A. Poker Classic in his accomplishment.

With his aggressive style of play, Soi shows the potential of becoming one of the most challenging competitors at the table. He will enter with 9.65 million in the chip stack. This puts him in the 8th seat at the table with some incredible and established poker professionals. However, in his effort to reach the final table he had to knock out many other incredible poker professionals.

He currently works for Team Makena and has been approached to be a member of Team Full Tilt. This will establish him as part of the world poker powerhouse.

Jason Senti aka PBJaxx

Jason is living the poker dream. A popular instructor with Bluefire Poker, this former electrical engineer has been a poker professional playing online as PBJaxx. Originally he was playing in his spare time, but came to realize he was making more part time playing than he did at his well paid profession. The choice became obvious at that point. He quit his job and started to play competitively and professionally on the poker circuit. Generally he plays $5/10s and $50/100 No Limit Hold’Em online and Pot Limit Hold’em. This will prove to be an asset as he enters the play at the final table of the World Series of Poker’s Main Event in November.

His strength is found in heads up and small table games. With this, he has been known to limit himself to 6 heads up tables, at any given time. Senti is the short stack at the table with merely 7.63 million in chips. The smaller the crowd goes, the tougher he is to compete against, thus don’t count him out in 9th. He will prove to be one of the toughest and most experienced competitors in the November Nine.

The 2010 November Nine will prove to be a tough final table. Nine fantastic and aggressive poker players are squared off for more than 8.9 million dollars. The final table action begins on November 6th and will air on the 9th.

2010 WSOP Event #8: No-Limit Hold’em chip update

1
Saar Wilf 1,207,000
–
-
-
2
Andrew Cohen 848,000
-177,000Las Vegas
NV
United States
3
Charles Lehr 653,000
-Shreveport
LA
United States
4
Scott Vener 576,000
-Los Angeles
CA
United States
5
Phil Hellmuth 556,000
-11,000Palo Alto
CA
United States
6
Joshua Brikis 547,000
-Murrysville
PA
United States
7
Daniel Wjuniski 490,000
–
-
-
8
Pascal LeFrancois 483,000
-
-
-
-
9
David Aue 479,000
-Houston
TX
United States
10
Jared Michelizzi 479,000
-Blaine
MN
United States
11
Max Steinberg 478,000
-Fairfield
IA
United States
12
Looney Devin 447,000
-
Swartz Creek
MI
United States
13
Kevin Howe 405,000
–
-
-
14
Jose Gatmaitan 383,000
-9,000Philadelphia
PA
United States
15
Darin Utley 351,000
-Cedar Rapids
IA
United States
16
James Andersen 324,000
-West Pennant Hill
-
Australia
17
Raymond Geary 310,000
-Hoboken
NJ
United States
18
David Frazier 297,000
-1,000Homestead
FL
United States
19
Matthew Ezrol 266,000
-Coconut Creek
FL
United States
20
Ronald Eberhard 255,000
-York
PA
United States
21
Paul Fehlig 180,000
-Saint Louis
MO
United States
22
Kurt Disessa 176,000
-Oakland
CA
United States
23
Erich Kollmann 148,000
-St. Valentin
-
Austria
24
Vinny Pahuja 110,000
-1,000-
-
-
25
Richard Geyer 94,000
-
Austin
TX
United States
1
for Daily WSOP updates go to WSOP chip counts

Annette Obrestad signed to Full Tilt Poker to represent the online poker site as a red pro. Annette Obrestad is one of a few poker pros that one could describe as being a “prodigy”. Annette not only dominates online poker tournaments but live poker tournaments as well.

Lets hope Annette has a great showing in her first World Series of Poker in the United States. She has already won the WSOPE Europe main event at the age of 19. Many good things are to come from this poker phenomenon.

Her main blog will soon be on AnnetteObrestad.com but for now you may follow her on Twitter.