http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/ http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2757/8-year-old-poker-genius-wins-500000 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:00:32 GMT
The boy’s name is Aashish Nanak and he lives in Chandigarh. Aashish has always been a wizz on computers. Even when he was three he could do pretty much everything on computers, particularly on computer games. He had been encouraged by his mother and he spent many hours sitting in front of a computer whilst she got on with her job cleaning in a hotel.  Soon he was playing poker, and he took to it like a duck takes to water. By the time he was six he was highly proficient.

He signed up to a poker site (the identity of which has not been disclosed) using his uncle’s account and gradually he amassed total winnings of $500,000. Unfortunately, the poker site has refused to pass over the winnings as they claim that the boy was under age and had been engaged in account fraud.

However lawyers acting on behalf of Aashish’s family claim that there was no fraud as the boy was using the account of his uncle which was entirely legitimate. They also claim that on previous occasions the poker site had paid out winnings to Aashish and that those winnings had been transferred to a PayPal account legitimately.

It is also claimed that the site was fully aware of Aashish’s age and had themselves named him ‘Littlepokerwizard’.  The case is still being argued.

In addition to his poker talents, Aashish’s computer expertise had allowed him to set up a number of affiliate sites which have been generating sufficient funds to support his whole family.
]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2756/the-return-of-isildur1-to-high-stakes-online-poker Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:59:38 GMT
This week Isildur1 took on Cole South and played $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha. They played a total of 1,124 hands on six tables simultaneously. It ended fairly evenly with South ending up $82,000.

Next Ilari Sahamies from Finland, better known as Ziigmund, lost a cool $1,000,000 to Isildur1 in a very exciting heads up game. It began with $300/$600 pot-limit Omaha which they played for 699 hands in which Sahamies ended up down by $710,000. They then stepped things up a bit to $500/$1,000, but Isildur1 continued to roll it in and took another $330,000 off the Finn.

There were some huge pots too. The largest was $423,000 and another three were over $200,000. In the $423,000 pot Isildur1 got the top set on the flop beating the Aces of Sahamies.

Next in line to play with Isildur1 was Brian Hastings and as usual Hastings was in the ascendancy. He won yet another $500,000 from Isildur1 which meant that his total winnings from Isildur1 were $3,730,000. The largest post of the session was $309,000 which went to Hastings.

Other big action included Tom Dwan winning $1,300,000 last Saturday. $1,000,000 of it was from PixKim. He also won $300,000 from Di Dang. Tom Dwan has now more or less made back the $5,500,000 he lost to Isildur1 last December.

Dwan playing with Patrik Antonius and PixKim enjoyed an interesting pot. They were playing Omaha. Dwan had two aces and two tens, Antonius had two kings and two fours, and PixKin had two aces, a king and a four. It is not surprising the sparks began to fly. The pot got to $423,419 which was won by Dwan with a full house.
]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2728/hottest-lady-poker-players Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:27:52 GMT
Maxim has published a list of twenty female poker players that it considered to be what is describes as the hottest. Whilst the list does include some professional female players, most of them are celebrities who maybe play the occasional game.

Tiffany Michelle is an actress, musician, poker commentator and professional poker player. In the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event she was the last female poker to be eliminated.

Vanessa Rousso is a French American and her poker name is Lady Maverick. She turned professional in 2005 though she had been playing poker since she was at school, playing mostly online. She reached  45th place in the $1,000 Ladies event in the 2005 World Series of Poker and grew from there into being a top player. She has won in excess of $2,000,000. When not playing poker she models swimwear.

Joanna Krupa is also in the top twenty. She was born in Warsaw, Poland and she hosts the PokerStars North American Poker Tour (NAPT) but her major career commitment is as a model. This is not the first time she has been rated by Maxim; in 2006 they names her as the Sexiest Swimsuit Model in the World.

Shannon Elizabeth also gets a mention. Although primarily an actress and a model, she says that poker is her second career. She pays almost weekly visits to Las Vegas and has cashed four times in the WSOP.

Also on the list is Jennifer Tilly who also combines a career in poker with acting and modelling. She gained a bracelet in the 2005 WSOP Ladies Event. Her total winnings are over $500,000 and although at one time she was intending to abandon acting for poker, she has now reversed that decision.

]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2727/ept-berlin-armed-robbery Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:27:12 GMT
The EPT Berlin was in full session with around 1,000 players involved in the five day tournament. The gentle chink of poker chips and muffled sounds of the player’s voices suddenly turned into panic as players attempted to get out of the way of a gang of armed robbers who had entered the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Potsdamer Platz. Many of the players dived for cover under poker tables or ran to the emergency exits. Poker chips spewed out across the floor. During the panic several people were injured though none of them suffered more than cuts and bruises.

The gang members were wearing masks and were armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and machetes. As they entered the premises the robbers screamed out that it was an armed robbery. Four of them entered the building whilst a number of them were posted outside keeping guard.

The robbers threatened the staff working behind the cash desk and grabbed the money which is believed to be £250,000. One very brave security guard attempted to pin one of them down but another hit him with a pole. The robbers then left the hotel and sped off in what was reported to be a black Mercedes.

The tournament was being filmed at the time so the robbery was recorded and broadcast live over the internet. Several players were posting live accounts of the robbery on Twitter. Four hours after they left the mess was sorted out and the tournament recommenced.

So far the German police have no leads as to who the robbers are though there has been speculation that it was an inside job

The winner of the main event was Kevin MacPhee from the USA. Fortunately he was still able to collect the first prize of €1 million.

]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2616/poker-the-next-olympics-event Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:34:20 GMT
For many years supporters of games of skill such as Chess and the Ancient Game of Go have argued that these games should be featured in Olympic Games, and more recently as the game has become more popular the lobby has been joined by poker enthusiasts.

The issue of what games can be included in the Olympic games is determined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the decisions that sometimes they have made in the past have been difficult to understand. For instance, games that are not allowed include rugby, squash, golf and cricket yet synchronised swimming and rhythmic gymnastics are allowed.

Some permitted Olympic sports are mind games rather than purely athletic competition; take such sports that require the contestants to hit a target with arrows or bullets. Surely, say representatives of the official mind games organisations, other mind games should be included also.

Most of the official lobbying has come from FIDE, the World Chess Federation, and WBF, the World Bridge Federation. At one stage it looked as if they were going to do battle in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, but they backed down.

Unfortunately for the game of poker, there is not a strong international lobbying group. The most influential group is the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) in the USA. Its mission is to protect the interests of poker players and although currently they are somewhat concentrated on dealing with potential US legislation, they are also promoting the game with the IOC.

Poker is becoming recognised as a game if skill alongside chess and the others that have been mentioned. Should these others be included in the Olympics it will be difficult to rationally exclude poker and perhaps the best hope is that poker will find its way to Olympics on the back of them.

]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2615/european-poker-tour-berlin-day-1b Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:33:41 GMT
The number of players who eventually turned up for day 1B was 557 which raised the total to 945 and set the total prize pool at €4,725,000 with the first prize being €1,000,000.

Out of that 557, 228 players made it through to the end of the day and these will join up with the 196 survivors of day 1A to do battle on Day 2.

At the top of the Day 1B chip count was Tu Tuan To from Germany (who goes by the nickname of Little Buddha) and who bagged up 212,600, which was just a few less than the top Day 1A chip count of 213,500 chips collected by Kfir Yamin. In second place was Marc Inizan of France with 177,000 chips.

Some familiar faces who also made it through the day were David Paredes last seen at the Venetian NAPT where he finished in fifth place a week ago, Fatima Moreira de Melo, and Boris Becker.

Day two is about to start and the field is getting closer to the money. In fact all of the final 144 players will be in the cast with a minimum payout of €7,000. Some exciting action is anticipated.


]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2580/european-poker-tour-berlin Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:46:00 GMT
The Berlin leg of the EPT is going to be the largest EPT event so far. It is anticipated that it will attract in up to 1,000 players and the winner of the Main Event will win a guaranteed minimum prize of €1,000,000. It is all happening in the Grand Hyatt hotel in the centre of the city.

The event lasts for six days and many of the top poker stars will be competing for the record top prize which last year was won by a local German, Sandra Naujoks.

339 players took part in Day 1A and by the end of it 196 of them were still in the game. Nine levels had been played and at the end the chip leader was Kfir Yamin from Israel who ended up bagging a healthy stack of 213,500 chips with Rachid Ben Cherif from the Ukraine in second place with 163,800 chips.

Some other survivors of the day with familiar faces were Vicky Coren, George Danzer, and Sebastian Ruthenberg.

Day 1 B has started and will continue into the evening.  Before it got underway additional chairs and tables were assembled in anticipation of the record numbers of entrants and it was a good thing too as over 500 of them turned up.  Familiar faces in the crowd included last year’s winner Sandra Naujoks, Fatima de Melo and Boris Becker. Soon Becker found himself in an interesting hand. He managed to get four Kings against his opponents Full House – yet the pot was only about 5,000. Poker can be a strange game at times.

]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2579/victoria-coren-on-playing-poker-with-pals Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:45:06 GMT
In a previous article on the same subject she drew the conclusion that if one was not willing to treat one’s poker playing friend in exactly the same way as you would treat any other player, then it would be better not to play with the said friend.

This created a considerable amount of online debate and some of it, said Victoria, had worried her. Several participants in the debate argued that it was fine to play friends on the condition that one avoided bluffing; whilst it was OK to bet according to the value of the hand, bluffing would be a form of lying to the friend and should be avoided. Victoria referred to this as a middle ground approach and, she said, one that was very dangerous.

Victoria helpfully illustrated this with an example deal in which you held the six and four of clubs and the flop was seven of clubs, five of clubs and the King of hearts. This is one of those hands that can deliver a massive draw, or if you fail to get that then you could have nothing better than six high.

In fact with a hand like that it has far too much potential to pass, yet the only way to play it correctly is to bluff on the river.

In another example she suggested a scenario where had pocket tens. You raise, again your friend calls and this time the flop delivers an ace. She asks how you could respond to that without a continuation bet being construed as bluffing.

In a final example she quotes from experience. She was check raised on five, six, nine when playing with a friend. Under the impression that her friend would not bluff she reasoned that he must have a straight. She was so convinced of this that she passed her pocket aces. Her friend had and ace and an eight and had been semi-bluffing.

Victoria concluded that the only was to play poker with friends is to play as you would with strangers.

]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2559/poker-mavern-wards-nominations-open Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:02:19 GMT
o    The woman who has been the best role model for women’s poker
o    The poker room employee who has done the most to encourage women in the game
o    The online poker room that has been the most friendly
o    The best tournament for women
o    The best tournament exclusively for women
o    The poker marketing campaign with the most women appeal
o    The best female poker writer or blogger
o    The best article on female poker
o    The most altruistic female poker player
o    The best performance by a lady poker player
o    The top female poker personality
o    The best new woman poker player
o    The best professional woman poker player

That is quite a list. This is the first year that the Mavern Awards have been run, and the plan is to run them on an annual basis. They are organised by Maryann Morrison who said that she had been motivated by the need to encourage the poker industry to give greater consideration to female poker players. She said that she was not advocating more events exclusively for women, but she felt that women needed more support and recognition.

Nominations close at the end of March and voting takes place over the following months. Although theoretically men are also able to nominate, it is not certain that their nominations will be taken seriously.

Morrison is both a poker player and the editor of Woman Poker Player.  She has also authored ‘Woman's Poker Night’ which is available on Amazon but if you want it you had better be quick, there is only one on them left in stock.


]]> http://poker.gamingsupermarket.com/news/2558/it-was-only-a-police-raid-so-why-stop-playing-poker-asks-allan-mcgregor Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:59:31 GMT
Allan McGregor is a goalkeeper who plays for Rangers, who was an erstwhile Scotland player and by all accounts he is what could be termed a bit of a lad. Frequently courting controversy he was given a lifetime ban from the Scottish National team for making what were called rude gestures he made from the bench.

He likes a bit of run on the town too and there is plenty of that to be had in Glasgow where he had been out on the town. As is almost the rule in Glasgow he got into a bit of a fracas and ended up with a very nasty looking black eye though he was not certain how he had got it. He was found in a fairly dazed state by his girlfriend Leah Shevlin who, unusually for a football WAG, has long blonde hair.

The police happened by to quiz him regarding the incident, but by the time they arrived McGregor had become involved in a game of online poker and refused to stop playing during their questioning.

In fact McGregor is a keen poker player both online and with real cards. It seems that the police considered the possibility that it had been Leah who beat him up in retaliation for some seedy texts he allegedly sent to Kellyann Heffernan, a poker playing glam model with long blonde hair.  His previous girlfriend was Bronwyn Campbell, a professional poker player with, you’ve guessed it, long blonde hair.

The police left after two hours without making an arrest.

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