Archive for October, 2009

Hi Donkaments !

Today I’m going to present you the last 5 players before I’m going to take a short break in my Most Famous Poker Player top-100 and will show you some special hands again like I told you the last time. Afterwards I’ll continue automatically with the last 50 players.I’m playing my A-game online for the moment at PokerStars. Since October I’ve made a profit of almost  150$, which is pretty nice for my low bankroll ^^, meaning almost a doubling of my starting bankroll at the beginning of the month. I hope it will continue like that for the last two weeks, but for now I’m going to present you the next group of players, starting with the nice lady on number 55…..

(55)   =>   CLONIE   GOWEN

> Cycalona ” Clonie ” Gowen

> born 06/11/1971 in Florida (USA).

> lives now in Dallas, Texas

> has 2 children

> won WPT Ladies ‘ Night event in 2003.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 1,600,000 (until 2009).

Clonie is a former basketballplayer, high jumper and she was the Miss Teen Oklahoma in her youth. She owned a travel agency and she likes scuba diving all over the world. Clonie has played several different roles in the pokerworld : she was a guest commentator, a columnist for All In Magazine,  a host for tourneys and charities and as a partner in a poker school. Gowen won already three Poker After Dark titles, only Johnny Chan could achieve that same result. She was a former member of ‘ Team Full Tilt ‘ at Full Tilt Poker but they got into a twist about a breach of contract which resulted in a $ 40 Million Lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker.

(54)   =>   JOHN   PHAN

> Bon ” John” Phan

> born 10/10/1974, Da Nang (VIET).

> resides now in Long Beach, California (USA).

> Nickname :  ‘ The Razor ‘ .

> won 2 Bracelets ( ‘08 NL Hold’em / ‘08 2-7 Triple Draw)

> won 1 WPT-title (’09 Legends of Poker).

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker

> has Live Tournament Earnings around $ 5,400,000 (until 2009) .

John won several other big No Limit Hold’em tournaments (e.g. LA Poker Classic) and he made four other WPT final tables. He reached a fabulous achievement in 2008 when he became Player Of The Year for both Cardplayer Magazine and Bluff Magazine. One weird thing about his poker career must be the fact that his family and parents first didn’t approve his pokerdream, but with his phenomenal results he made it very clear that he made the right choice. John supports them now very frequently when he visits Vietnam. He also does a lot of social work there, along with his good friend and fellow poker pro Liz Lieu.

(53)   =>   LAYNE   FLACK

> born 18/05/1969 Rapid City, South Dakota.

> lives now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname :  ‘ Back to Back ‘

> won 6 Bracelets (’99 PL Hold’em /’02 NL Hold’em- NL Hold’em /’03 Omaha Hi-Lo Split – Limit Hold’em Shootout / ‘08 PL Omaha).

> won 1 WPT-title (Invitational Tournament).

> plays online at PokerStars.

> won +- $ 4,300,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

Layne began in the big poker world as a casino worker and he got his nickname as he was the first person in 2002 to win back to back a WSOP event at the same game. He was mentored through out his career by Huck Seed and Johnny Chan. Flack began with recreational drug use enjoying the great life but he couldn’t quit and searched for help in rehab, after his good friend Daniel Negreanu paid for it. Layne signed a deal with Poker Icons, just like Jamie Gold, Kathy Liebert and Annette Obrestad, which is an agency in Scandinavia that helps the player managing and promotes poker in Europe.

(52)   =>   GABE   KAPLAN

> Gabriel W. ” Gabe ” Kaplan

> born 31/03/1945 Brooklyn, New York (USA).

> resides now in Los Angeles, California.

> won 2 Poker After Dark titles

> won over $ 1,500,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

Gabe is a former baseball player, bellman, stand-up comedian and actor for several movies and TV series. He’s probably best known for his role in the 1970s sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter. Kaplan made several final tables in the Super Bowl of Poker and the WSOP. Gabe is very well-known in the whole world as the co-host on High Stakes Poker, together with A.J. Benza , where he had a role that suits him perfectly, regarding his former stand-up comedian acts. He’s also a poker commentator for shows such as the WSOP events (earlier), National Heads-Up Championship and the Intercontinental Poker Championship.

(51)   =>   JEFFREY   LISANDRO

> born in 1966 in Perth, Australia.

> resides now in Salerno (ITA).

> Nickname :  ‘ Iceman ‘ .

> won 4 Bracelets (’07 7-Card Stud / ‘09 7-card Stud – 7-card Stud H/L-8 – Razz)

> plays online at PokerStars.

> has Live Tournament Winnings over $ 4,000,000 (until 2009).

Lisandro was nominated as the 2009 WSOP Player of The Year after his three Bracelet wins and his good run in the Main Event. Jeff is a cash game specialist, but proved this year he can play excellent tournaments too. He’s regarded as one of the best Seven Card Stud players in the world, which he proved this year when he became the first player ever to win the three different Stud games at the WSOP in the same year. Lisandro has some other great wins, such as his win in 2005 at the NL Hold’em WSOP Circuit Event at Lake Tahoe where he defeated Phil Ivey heads-up. Jeff made also a remarkable 2006 WSOP Main Event. Not so much by his excellent 17th place but through a heavy incident with Prahlad Friedman when there was a great misunderstanding about the antes and Prahlad called Lisandro ‘ a thief’ and then Jeffrey went crazy. Lisandro is a good friend of fellow poker pro J.P. Bellande. Jeffrey likes chewing gum at the table saying that ‘ it’s ideal to reduce tells’.

See you next time for the special hands,

Be There !

J.M.

Good Afternoon dearest Pokerfriends !

Here I am with the next five players out of my famous pokerlist ! It will be a good mix between old, respected rocks and dangerous young guns, from all over the world, like you’ll see following the next information. I just want you to know that I collected and experienced some exceptional hands and boards the last weeks, which I’m going to share with you after I’ve showed you number 51 out of my Most Famous Poker Players top-100. After those posts about the mysterious hands, I’ll naturally continue with the last 50 players, until we reach the Number One.

(60)  =>   TOM   McEVOY

> Thomas K. McEvoy

> born 14/11/1944 in Grand Rapids, Michigan (USA).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada and has 3 kids.

> Nickname : ‘ Pokerchump ‘

> was the 1983 WSOP Main Event Winner beating Rod Peate heads-up.

> won 3 other Bracelets (’83 Limit Hold’em / ‘92 Limit Omaha / ‘06 Razz).

> plays online at PokerStars as a representative.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of around $ 2,900,000 (until 2009).

Being an accountant first, Tom was the first winner of the Main Event ever, earning his buy-in through a satellite. He won the Professional Poker Tour in 2006. McEvoy was also very famous for his severe attitude against smoking at the table. He proved that by convincing the Binion’s in 2002 to make the World Series of Poker (WSOP) a non-smoking event. Tom was the 2009 winner of the WSOP’s first Champions Invitational event, winning a sweet classic 1970 Corvette. Besides playing poker, Tom McEvoy is also very famous as an author and co-author of many books on poker, together with players like T.J. Cloutier and Max Stern. Tom is also a columnist for CardPlayer Magazine.

(59)  =>   ROLAND   DE  WOLFE

> born 1981, London (ENG).

> still lives there.

> Nickname : ‘ The Sheep ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (2009 PLO Hi-Low Split 8 or better)

> won 1 WPT-title (2005 Paris)

> won 1 EPT-title (2006 Dublin)

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 4,500,000 (until 2009).

He was a former poker editor for Inside Edge, a British gambling magazine. Roland was also the second person ever, besides Gavin Griffin, to complete a hattrick in poker with tournament wins in World Series of Poker (WSOP), World Poker Tour (WPT) and European Poker Tour (EPT).

(58)  =>   TED   FORREST

> born 24 /09/1964 in Syracuse, New York (USA).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname : ‘ Professor Backwards ‘, ‘ The Suicide King ‘, ‘ Spooky ‘, ‘ The Hitman ‘

> won 5 Bracelets (’93 7card Razz – Omaha 8 or better – 7card Stud / ‘04 7card Stud – NL Hold’em)

> won 1 WPT-title (2007).

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker.

> won over $ 5,700,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

Ted was the 2006 NBC’s National Heads-up Poker Champion after beating Chris Ferguson in the final. He’s a very well-known high stakes gambler, which he showed during two seasons of High Stakes Poker and by many, many proposition bets. Forrest is also considered as one of the best Stud players in the whole world. His first three World Series of Poker Bracelets were stolen. You maybe wonder why Ted Forrest is so low ranked in my list, well I could give you an answer to that question. I just can’t stand the guy in total, his face, his manner or his accent, just everything about this fellow makes me feel uncomfortable. I mean, the guy has 4 nicknames . I know I’m not the only one who thinks that about him. We aren’t his biggest fan, and never will be.

(57)  =>   BERTRAND   GROSPELLIER

> born 08/02/1981 in France.

> resides now in London (ENG).

> Nickname : ‘ ElkY ‘

> won 1 WPT-title (2008)

> won 1 EPT-title (2008)

> plays online at PokerStars as a member of TeamPokerStars.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 5,800,000 (until 2009).

Before playing poker, Elky was already an online game star as he was one of the top ranked Starcraft players. He even moved to South Korea for a while to play it full time and gaining a lot of fans and prestige. Bertrand made several final tables at the WPT and EPT. Besides his live poker achievements, Grospellier is very well-known as a big online gun. He was the first person ever to reach the Supernova and Supernova Elite status on PokerStars. Elky also made the Guinness World Book of Records with his exceptional performance for playing the most single Sit and Go’s in 1 hour, namely 62. At the World Championships of Online Poker (WCOOP) in 2009, Elky won another 2 Bracelets.

(56)  =>   MIKE   SEXTON

> Michael Richard Sexton

> born 22/09/1947 in Shelby, Indiana (USA).

> lives now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname : ‘ The Ambassador of Poker ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’89 7card Stud split)

> plays online at PartyPoker.

> won around $ 3,700,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

Mike was a gymnast first and he holds a degree in public recreation. He was also a former paratrooper in the U.S. Army. Sexton was a good and close friend of the great pokerlegend Stu Ungar, but Mike is mostly famous for his promotion of poker events. He’s the main host and commentator, besides Vince Van Patten, of the World Poker Tour (WPT). Mike is also a spokesman for PartyPoker.com and National League of Poker. In 2006, Sexton won the WSOP Tournament of Champions after beating Daniel Negreanu heads-up. He donated then half of his $ 1,000,000 prize money to several charities, and plans to do the same in the future.

So people, that was that for today. It’s time for dinner now , I guess I deserve that but maybe Ted ‘Spooky’ Forrest will think otherwise about that . Com’on , the guy has 4 nicknames, do I really have to say more ? Well bye for now and see you next time for sure !

J.M.