High Stakes Poker

Popularity of poker affiliate marketing.

One of the most interesting and popular card games in the world is poker. Since its inception, poker is known to be a thought provoking and a challenging game. The fascinating game of poker has millions of loyal fans across the world, this is clearly visible by the popularity, and the long list of players registered in the poker rooms.

Do you know how to join a poker room? It is very simple. You either can first do a comprehensive research on the internet and find out the best poker rooms in the world and are introduced by poker affiliate or join directly. The term rake needs to be understood well before we proceed. When you go online to play poker, most of the rooms listed on the internet accept five percent (mostly) of the game cash pot in the cash games. Therefore, if the pot were $15 then the poker room would keep 0.75 cents for itself and pass on $14.25 to the winner of the poker game. This is how poker rooms mint loads of money as hundreds of new members join everyday that results in increased traffic and the popularity of the room. The chances of making more money increase during tournaments as more members would join and attempt to win pots with their luck and expertise in the game that they have mastered. Poker rooms earn a lump sum with the participation fee that needs to be deposited so that players are eligible for tournaments.

How do so many players join poker rooms? How do players get to know about the various poker rooms? A poker affiliate helps in introducing new and active players to poker rooms which results in increase of traffic and we all know that the more the players the more chances of winning big money. In fact, you should know that the number of members measures the popularity of any poker room. Most of the poker rooms invest money by hiring poker affiliates as they generate business in the best possible manner.

How is a poker affiliate paid? Well two methods can be chosen by a poker affiliate. A poker affiliate gets a certain percentage (generally around 20-40%) of the rake that is generated by new players. This method is popularly known as MGR. The other method is popularly termed as CPA. In this method, a standard rate is given to a poker affiliate that is generally $100. This varies from one poker room to another. The rate oscillates between $70-$200 depending on the ranking and popularity of the online poker room.

A poker affiliate is specially given affiliate links that helps them to introduce new members to any online poker room. This is the best way of learning the number of new players introduced by each poker affiliate that helps them earn money every month in a fair manner. Poker affiliates are becoming popular with each passing day as new players help in increasing traffic and the eminence of online poker rooms. Undoubtedly, the increasing number of players rake more money and the better chances of winning small and big pots alike by players.

Born in Vantaa, Finland in 1980, Patrik Antonius is one of the young stars of the major world poker circuits. Not only does he have the title of European Poker Tour Rookie of the Year from 2005, but he has also been making a big impact at the World Series of Poker and the ever-popular World Poker Tour. With a plethora of cashes in the high stakes multi-table poker tournaments, Antonius has earned a bankroll that is the envy of even the most accomplished players. It is estimated that he has made over $2.8 million dollars in tournament poker winnings since that rookie season of 2005.

The former Finnish tennis star now resides in Monte Carlo and pursues his poker career full-time. He has always been a major force at the internet poker rooms where his skills and reputation has earned him the distinct honor of being part of the Full Tilt Poker Team. Joining the likes of Jesus Ferguson and Howard Lederer, as well as many other great players, Patrik Antonius has arrived as one of the best players in the world.

He formerly played at Full Tilt Poker under a few different poker aliases and he also played many other websites before being welcomed onto the Full Tilt Team. He now plays with his real name and offers games to anyone willing to play some high stakes poker. He can be found playing online at the large cash games and he even plays in a few of the big tournaments held by the website. His reputation precedes him and players need to be ready for a great challenge if they want to go head to head with Antonius.

Apart from being a great cash game player and tournament standout, Patrik Antonius’ greatest passion is for heads up battles. He is ready and willing to play any person, any time and any place. He considers his heads up abilities to be the strength of his game and he is not afraid to put that on the line if there is an opponent that is ready. Patrik Antonius remains to be the only player that has accepted the challenge set forth by Tom Dwan to play a heads up match consisting of 50,000 hands for a total of $1 million. The match is ongoing through the internet and the winner is yet to be determined. This goes to show that Patrik Antonius is very serious about his heads up skills and very serious about putting them to the ultimate test.

Tom Dwan: Anything but Ordinary

Tom Dwan busted onto the poker scene with an uncanny ability to read his opponents. He has only been playing poker for 6 years, but his instincts and skills are that of a seasoned pro. Wise beyond his years is the best way to describe this upcoming force in the poker world. At only 23 years of age, this gutsy poker star has already won and lost more money than most people will make in their lifetimes.

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Tom Dwan has learned some important lessons early in his career about how to manage a bank roll. He has actually lost more than $1 million on two different occasions. Although this would be a huge setback for most players, the ability of Dwan to bounce back when adversity was staring him in the face shows the true characteristics of a world class poker player.

Dwan got his start playing internet poker under the name “Durrrr” The fearless youngster said he choose this nickname to put his opponents on tilt after losing a big pot to him. Now it has become his nickname at the live tournaments where he is quickly turning into a force to be reckoned with. He is unique from many other online poker prodigies because Dwan has brought his game to the live tables and has not lost a step.

He was once just another faceless dominator of the internet poker ranks, but ever since his 21st birthday, this poker whiz has been cleaning up in the world’s biggest tourneys. Dwan already has 2 cashes in the World Series of Poker and he is gearing up to have another big year in 2010. He considers his strength to be heads up Texas Hold’em and he is not scared to prove himself against the best players in the game.

The courageous Dwan has so much confidence in his heads up skills that he issued an open challenge to anyone in the world that wants to play heads up for $1 million dollars. His terms are simple, 50,000 hands of online poker with the stakes of $200/$400 blinds. He told his opponent that if they are winning after the 50,000 hands he will pay out $1.5 million and if he is winning, the other player is only responsible to pay $500,000. He has sparked a lot of interest from the likes of Phil Ivey and David Benyamine. The only person Dwan is not willing to play against is follow young poker star Phil Galfond.

With an ego like Tom Dwan possesses and the wiliness to back it up at anytime makes this young player a real threat at the poker table. There is no doubt that Dwan will be creating a lot of noise come the 2010 poker season and he might get some of the best players in the world shouting DURRRR!

Phil Ivey is one of the most talented poker players in the world, the best of the new generation. Often referred to as the “Tiger Woods” of poker, though he’s often responded that he is not worthy of the comparison (he may have a different response these days). Ivey is an American professional poker player who has seven World Series of Poker bracelets and one World Poker Tour title under his belt. He is currently listed as first in the world among all-time money winners in tournament poker.

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Ivey was born February 1, 1976 in Riverside, California. A few months later his family moved to Roselle, New Jersey which is on the east coast just a short distance away from Atlantic City. Ivey wasn’t like most kids growing up dreaming to be a professional athlete or movie star. All he ever wanted to be was a professional poker player. Mission accomplished. His grandfather supported his dreams and taught him how to play Five-Card Stud. Dealing from the bottom of the deck to teach little Phil the potential dangers of gambling, the lesson is meant to be warning. As you probably already guessed, the lesson didn’t work. As Phil was growing up, he watched numerous home games watching and learning. Watching and learning was not his thing, Phil’s an action man and by the age of 16 he was playing backroom games for money. At 18, he pays $50 for a phony ID from a co-worker at his telemarketing job named Jerome Graham. Phil then takes his new ID and heads to the live tables in Atlantic City, A LOT. He spent so much time there, his fellow players nicknamed him “No Home Jerome” (name coming from his fake ID) and stuck with him. Ivey wasn’t always the talent he is today. In the beginning, he lost most of the time but there’s something to be said for the poker education which accompanied these losses (and a win every now and then).

It only took a few years for the tables to turn in his favor, and boy did they turn.

Read More about Phil Ivey here

Tom Dwan has been sign by the online poker room Full Tilt Poker. This is surely to be a lucrative deal for the 23 year old professional poker player. Apparently the deal has been in the works for some time now and will be announced in a press conference soon. Look for Tom Dwan updates on Tom Dwan dot com or durrrr dot com very soon!

Tom Dwan started with $50.00 deposit and hasn’t looked back. He’s been playing online poker for over 3 years now and he’s
only 23 years old. Tom has some tournament poker success too with some final tables. Tom is up millions of dollars and his best game is NL Texas Holdem Poker. He is also very good at Pot Limit Omaha. He plays at the highest stakes at Full Tilt Poker and has a very large audience. Good luck to Tom Dwan, Full Tilt Poker’s newest member.

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 4

HIGH STAKES POKER SEASON 5 Episode 5 coming soon!

Poker school is in session over at the Full Tilt Poker Academy. Building on its theme of “Play and Learn with the Pros,” Full Tilt has created its own interactive Poker Academy. The academy offers training materials for players of all skill levels and all disciplines. Full Tilt pros have come out in force to serve as instructors for this new project. Howard Lederer is serving as the “Dean,” with instructors including Jennifer Harman, Erick Lindgren, Andy Bloch, Allen Cunningham, and Phil Gordon.

Whether you are a cash game player or a tournament specialist, there are lessons at the Full Tilt Poker Academy that will improve your game. In the lessons section, you can find lessons on cash games, multi table tournaments, sit-n-go tournaments, and even full courses designed to cover specific subjects. Course offering are not just limited to Holdem. You can find material on Omaha, Omaha 8 or Better, and even H.O.R.S.E.

A feature that should prove to be popular are video sessions of various Full Tilt Pros playing live cash games online. In these sessions, you get the opportunity to watch pros play everything from NL Holdem to H.O.R.S.E. You will see how they play and get to hear why they make particular moves.

Once you have worked through various poker lessons and sharpened your game, you can take things to the next level and test yourself in a couple of different ways. First, you can take part in interactive Sit-N-Learn quizzes that test your knowledge on the material covered. You also have the option of taking part in Pro Challenges. Pro Challenges are sets of skill objectives that one must meet either in a cash game or in a tournament setting. Upon completion of challenges, members will receive Academy Points that can be used to purchase items from the Full Tilt Poker Academy store. At the store, members can purchase various items, including Full Tilt gear, tournament buy-ins, cash, and books.

Members will be able to use the My Academy feature of the site to track their progress through the lessons on the site. They can review which lessons they have completed, which Sit-N-Learn quizzes they have taken, and even their ranking among other quiz takers. Each month, the top scorers in the Sit-N-Learn quizzes will have the opportunity to play each other in a free roll setup for academy members.

There are two ways that one may signup for the Full Tilt Poker Academy. There is a free signup form at the site that new users may use. If you are already a member of Full Tilt Poker, then there is nothing you need to do to signup. You can use your login name and password for Full Tilt at the Full Tilt Poker Academy.

With the wide array of knowledge and experience brought to the table by the Full Tilt pros, the Full Tilt Poker Academy should prove a smashing success with poker players across the world. If you want to learn how to play poker, then signup or login to the Full Tilt Poker Academy.

The ‘durrrr’ challange. Over the past month or two, the ‘durrrr challenge’ is the talk of the land. All the talk began when Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan issued an open challenge to anyone in the world excluding Phil Galfond. The reasoning behind Galfond being left out has been rumored as the two being too good of friends, Dwan simply not thinking he has an edge over Galfond, or the possibility that Galfond has gone in on the financial backing of Dwan in the challenge. The specifics included Dwan agreeing to play 50,000 hands of heads up poker at Pot Limit Omaha or No Limit Hold Em. The trick was that the two had to play four table at the same time, one of Dwan’s biggest advantages. The minimum stakes are $200/$400,but the biggest lure is still to come. Dwan, in order to get action, has offered 3:1 to his opponents, meaning that if he beats his opponent by even $1 after 50k hands, he will win an additional $500,000. However, if he loses even $1 to an opponent, he will pay them $1.5 million. In a quote on twoplustwo internet forums, Dwan said the following breaking down the basics of his challenge.

see stats here:
durrrr challenge stats tracker

“1) 200-400min (nl/plo obv)
2) can change tables anytime eff stacks are >250bb
3) have to reload when stacks are <75bb
4) $$ won in the challenge is kept obv (if i win 750k in poker, i get that PLUS your 500k- if i lose 750k in poker you get 2.25m total).
5) same stakes the whole time
6) not open to phil galfond”

The intrigue to poker fans is obvious. Many have railed the current big games for months, and no one expected the games to get this exciting. Not only will four big tables be going off, but a possible $1.5 million could be on the line. Early names were being thrown around such as Phil Ivey, David Benyamine, Ilari ‘Ziigmund’ Sahamies, Patrik Antonius, or either of the Dang brothers. Rumors immediately ran around that David Benyamine had accepted the challenge, however, the internet fans had no confirmation of this. Eyes were out looking for the game to start but no one was sure if this would ever happen, when the poker world received a shock. On popular poker website ‘PokerRoad,’ Barry Greenstein recorded a phone call with Phil Ivey in which Ivey lets the world know he has accepted Dwan’s challenge, as had Benyamine. So not only had the world confirmed that the challenge would take place, but it was going to happen twice. The internet world began to buzz about the possibilities of what would happen. In the interview with PokerRoad, Ivey discussed how he didn’t think any match would get finished. “Durrrr is playing DB first and he figures one of them will lose 2-3 million and someone will have to quit and pay out.” Interesting that Dwan doesn’t even think his own challenge will get finished. When Ivey was asked why he never posted any challenge such as this, he simple responded by saying he doesn’t need to, that everyone knows he will play them anywhere, any game, at any time. But that wasn’t it.

In an interview with PokerNews, Patrik Antonius was asked what he thought about the Dwan Challenge. Antonius responded with something along the lines of it being exciting and he couldn’t wait to play Dwan. This threw the world out of sync. The internet blew up with the fact that the Finnish pro would also be playing Dwan. Antonius, in an interview with CardPlayer, Antonius mentioned many interesting things pertaining to the challenge. He claimed he wanted first shot at Dwan, but thought he may come third. He also said he would chose PLO as his preferred game, since it’s the ame he feels he has the most experience in. Antonius also talked about how he doesn’t think he will sell a piece of himself, a very gutsy move as swings in a game such as this will certainly end up in the multiple of millions of dollars. It was a waiting game from there. All the talk was that Benyamine would be first to take on the young American pro, but he had still yet to comment on the situation. February 18th saw that all end when the challenge began. However, not against Benyamine as many expected. However, it was Tom Dwan and Antonius who began duking it out at $200/$400 PLO. They played for a few days, and finished, as of this writing, 3,860 hands. In the first ~5% of the challenge, Dwan is up $113,316.50. In such a small sample of hands, it is surprising in how much money has changed hands. All we can do from here is stay tuned, and rail the history as it happens to see where this one of a kind challenge will take us.

High drama has made its grand entrance in Quebec. Self-made multi billionaire and famous poker player Guy Laliberte is reportedly being sued for spousal support by an anonymous woman. She is asking for a lump sum of $50 million and $56 thousand per month.

Initial reports seemed to indicate the woman was one of Laliberte’s former ex-girlfriends and mother of their two children, Claudia Barilla. More current information, however, points to the better possibility of another ex-girlfriend, Rizia Moreira. Laliberte and Moreira have three children together.

Guy Laliberte, a Quebec City native, impressively rose from humble beginnings as a street musician and small-time circus performer to the creator of the wildly successful Cirque du Soleil. He currently owns 95% interest in the 1.5 billion dollar company.

Laliberte is also a well-known high stakes poker player. He has established himself as a prominent player, and his wins and losses involve tens of millions of dollars. He has played in the World Poker Tour, GSN’s High Stakes Poker, and Poker After Dark to name a few.

Rizia Moreira photo

Rizia Moreira, a former Brazilian model, met Laliberte in 1992 when she was 17 years old. They were together for ten years and lived together for several years during that time, but they did not get legally married. During that time they had three children together.

Quebec’s Superior Court is now hearing the precedent setting case. The current law supports the needs of children of common law relationships, but the law does not protect the needs of a common law spouse, regardless of the length of the relationship. Laliberte is currently paying child support of $36 thousand a month along with other expenses such as school tuition. The couple shares custody of their three children.

It is fitting that the creator of an entertainment empire is involved in such a histrionic case. Reportedly, Moreira’s former lover Herbert Black is financing Moreira’s legal battle. To add further intrigue, the litigant in the case is being referred to as “Lola”, since the case is currently under a gag order.