Archive for January, 2010

Welcome again poker people !

Today I’ll continue with the next five players out of my list as I’m preparing for the WBCOOP Main Event tonight. I’ll report about it in a couple of days but I’m more than satisfied right now with already three tickets in the pocket. I’m also going to insert a brand new poll on my site, so let me know who do you think should be my number one or is the most Famous Poker Player for you. I’ll give you a choice between ten players. Those are also my absolute top-Ten, so you have a little idea than about where the list is going to. But for now I’m going to start with number 30…

(30)   =>   ANNIE   DUKE

> Anne LaBarr Lederer

> born 13/09/1965 in Concord, New Hampshire (USA).

> lives now in Los Angeles, California and has 4 children.

> Nickname : ‘ The Duchess of Poker ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’04 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or better)

> was 10th in the 2000 WSOP Main Event

> is the sister of  ‘ The Professor ‘ , Howard Lederer.

> plays online at UltimateBet

> has Live Tournament Winnings of $ 3,700,000 (until 2009).

She studied psycholinguistics until 1992, when she decided to play poker full time, with the support and knowledge of her brother Howard. Annie is an excellent tournament player, which she showed in 2004 when she won the WSOP Tournament of Champions. She was eight months pregnant when she became 10th in the 2000 WSOP Main Event, the year that Chris ‘ Jesus’ Ferguson won. She holds the women’s record for the most money finishes in the WSOP, 37 cashes. She won the WSO Rock, Paper and Scissors in 2006, hosted by Phil Gordon where she received a free entry for that year’s WSOP Main Event. Annie ranked 2nd on the Women’s All Time Money List, after Kathy Liebert. Annie is also well-known for her TV appearances in different shows such as 1 vs. 100, Deal or No Deal, Poker After Dark and Celebrity Apprentice. She’s a very multifunctional woman, always having a very active life besides her four children. She was the tutor of actor Ben Affleck, she raises money for different charities, she writes about poker in articles and her autobiography and she’s a teacher at the WSOP Poker Academy. Annie Duke is wildly considered as the best female poker player in the world.

(29)   =>   MEN   NGUYEN

> born in 1954, Phan Thiet (VIET).

> resides now in Bell Gardens, California (USA).

> Nickname : ‘ The Master ‘

> won 6 Bracelets (’92 Seven-card Stud/ ‘95 Seven-card Stud Hi-Lo/ ‘95 Limit Hold’em/ ‘96 Omaha Hi-Lo/ ‘03 Seven-card Stud/ ‘03 A-5 Triple Draw Lowball)

> became 4th in the 1996 WSOP Main Event, when Huck Seed was the winner.

> won about $ 9,200,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

He left school in Vietnam at the age of 13 and became a bus driver to support his family. Men came to the USA in 1978 and played poker for the first time in 1984. He lost a lot in his first years of playing until he won his first tournament in 1987. Men Nguyen became one of the best tournament players alive. He has 65 cashes in the WSOP, he made 4 final tables at the World Poker Tour and he already won more than 75 tournaments in his poker career. He always donates a portion of his winnings to different charities in Vietnam. He’s also well-known for tutoring other poker players, mostly form Asia such as David Pham. Men was the Card Player Magazine Player of the Year in 1997, 2001, 2003 and 2005, so four times !!! There were some allegations against him about Nguyen’s possible involvement with tournament cheating, but nothing has been proven yet.  He likes to smoke and drink  and isn’t always a true gentleman at the table, as he spit beer over the table one time.

(28)   =>   DAVID   ULLIOTT

> born 04/04/1954, Hull (ENG).

> still resides there in Kingston upon Hull.

> was married for two times and has a total of 7 children.

> Nickname : ‘ Devilfish ‘ or ‘ The Clock ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’97 PL Hold’em)

> won 1 WPT-title (Jack Binion’s World Poker Open)

> is the highest-earning British poker player in the circuit.

> plays online at his own site DevilfishPoker

> has Live Tournament Winnings of almost $ 5,700,000 (until 2009)

He likes to wear orange-tinted prescription sunglasses and gold knockleduster rings reading ‘ Devil ‘ and ‘ Fish’. David was a real thief between the age of 19 and 28 with several armed robberies, fights and safe-cracks. He spent a couple of years in prison until he met his wife and he went straight. He travelled across England in the 90’s with his good friend Gary Whitaker and made a lot of money in different cash games, often wearing a gun to be sure he got his winnings. Gary also has given David’s Nickname ‘Devilfish’ during a heads-up battle between Ulliott and Men Nguyen. He’s a special poker player, but a very good and respected one. He won the first serie of Late Night Poker, the first poker show to use hole cam technology. He played in different Tv shows such as Poker Nations Cup, British Poker Open and Party Poker Premier League.

(27)   =>   JOE   HACHEM

> Joseph Hachem

> born 11/03/1966, Lebanon.

> resides now in Melbourne (AUS), with wife Jeanie and 4 kids.

> Nickname : ‘ Diamond Joe ‘

> winner of the WSOP Main Event in 2005.

> won 1 WPT-title (’06 Five Diamons Poker Classic)

> ranked 6th on the All Time Tournament Money List

> plays online at PokerStars as member of TeamPokerStars.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $10,800,000 (until 2009)

Joe moved to Melbourne, Australia at the age of six. He started to play poker in 1995 after he couldn’t continue his job as a chiropractor because of a rare blood disorder that affected his hands. Hachem is very well-known as a player of great grace and class, being an excellent tournament player. His big victory was of course his win as a world champion at the WSOP Main Event. He won $7,500,000 with that win after he beated Steve Dannenmann in heads-up play.  Joe was the first Australian to win the Main Event and his victory was followed by a big poker boost in his home country Australia. Joe has been associated with the famous phrases : ” Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oi, Oi, Oi ” and ” Pass the Sugar” after winning a pot. Besides that he won some other tournaments such as the 2007 PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Tournament of Champions and one Poker After Dark title. He appeared in Poker Superstars III and the fifth season of High Stakes Poker where he proved that he’s no fear to play in the big cash games. He also produced his own reality show, ‘ The Poker Star ‘ where he’s the poker mentor for a group of contestants with finally one winner. Joe operates a mortgage company, enjoys playing golf and is good friends with fellow poker pro Greg Raymer.

(26)   =>   DAVID   BENYAMINE

> born 05/07/1972, Paris (FRA)

> resides now in Henderson, Nevada (USA) and in France.

> engaged with fellow poker pro Erica Schoenberg and has one daughter.

> Nickname : ‘ Napoleon ‘ or ‘ Degenyamine ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’08 Omaha Hi-Low Split)

> won 1 WPT-title (’03 Grand Prix de Paris)

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a sponsored Pro.

> has Live Tournament Earnings of almost $ 3,500,000.

David is a former professional tennis player but he had to retire because of a shoulder injury. Besides tennis, he’s also a very successful top ten billiards player in France. He learned the game of poker when he was just 12 years old. He was departed from the USA during 2004 for not having a work permit. Despite of his excellent tournament results, reaching 3 WPT final tables and winning the WPT Battle of Champions II invitational event and one Poker After Dark title, Mister Benyamine is more known as a marvellous and fearless cash game player who plays at the Highest Stakes in Las Vegas and online and likes to gamble. He showed that in different seasons of High Stakes Poker and Million Dollar Cash Game. He’s also well-known as a Pot Limit Omaha (PLO) specialist. He has never read a poker book or magazine and his fiancee Erica has played in a featured strip poker game.

I’m still in the WBCOOP right now, reaching the last 200 players so I’m going to play further now. Wish me luck and see you again soon !!!!

J.M.

Hello online gamblers ! !

I’m here with an update of the last 3 events at the WBCOOP where I played in and I can tell you right now that I scored very good there, maybe a little bit easier with a lot of sit-outers but I think that’s pretty normal in a freeroll !! I’ll show you now how they each went.

Event 2 was the Pot Limit Omaha game, also known as PLO. A game that I don’t play that often and where I still need a lot of experience but I like the game. It’s full of action and you can make tophands with it. I like the drawing part of it, but that’s also the dangerous side of the game. You should only draw to the Nuts. Not like in Hold’em where sometimes a Jack-high flush could be enough to drag the pot. We started the event with 1634 players, starting stack of 2000 and again 153 tickets to win.

I played tight and waited for the right moment to draw to the Nuts. I didn’t got that many big flops but as they were a lot of sit-outers and players who thought they knew how you play PLO. People were wondering why they lost with three A in their hand and one on the board: ‘ Hey, I had Quads and I just lost to your Straight ??!!? ‘ , extremely funny to watch. Because you know that the difference between PLO and Hold’em is that you ALWAYS must use TWO hole cards and THREE cards on the board. So I hung in there and finally went out at the 122 place which earned me a $11 ticket to play at the SCOOP.  So this Blog has more benefits than I thought;) .

Event 3 was back a NL Hold’em game. There were 1843 entrants, starting stack of 2000 and again 153 tickets for the SCOOP to win. After a quick double up with pocket Kings , I sat down at a table with a lot of sit-outers. So it’s difficult to play with 4 players and I misplayed some hands, where I thought too much and lost my stack pretty soon. But hey, playing with only 4 men and getting A-10 looked like Gold to me. Unfortunately I ran into the Ladies (= Pocket Queens) and it held up.  A wise lesson for the future I guess. I went out in 1159th place.

Event 4 was another NL Hold’em game and I was pretty determined that I was going to play a lot better than yesterday, with more patience and courage. There were 1876 entrants, starting stack of 2000 and the same ticket amount as before. There are always some morons in Freerolls that just go all-in at the beginning of the tournament. I’m pretty sure that you know them;). Well I got AK against that guy so I took a shot and it finally held up for once. A nice quick double up for me.

But I was unlucky later on when I had Tens against KK in a blind vs. blind situation, almost nothing I could do there. I was down to only 2 BB or so, and get some quick triple up with A-8, flopping my Ace. Then I got another double up when the small blind went all-in with garbage on my big blind and I held Pocket Rockets (= AA) :p I liked that move !! Some hands later I woke up with a pair of Jacks…

So I was pretty lucky there but really nothing I could do. Blame PokerStars for such sick boards I always say. Why did he shove anyway with his pair of sixes ?!? So I held that big stack for quite a while as the tournament went on and on. I bluffed at the right times and value betted when I had to. I even was 8th in chips at a moment but I lost some blinds and antes, those were already very high at the moment, as we were just with around 50 players. I made it really far and was playing some excellent poker, always hanging around the average chip count. The one thing that I missed was that I didn’t got any action with my top hands( AA, KK, QQ), which I got a couple of times. But then I got the Aces again on the button…

So as I got another big hand, the biggest of all pre-flop, I decided not to raise the first raiser and just played it tricky, as I knew that I had the button and that he was short stacked and always made a continuation bet. The unexpected news was that the tight Big Blind was in also. So that was already a sign that I should look out, but I was blinded by the Aces as I got finally some action with the best hand. I should have fold it after the bet and the reraise on the flop, but hey we played for 5 hours and I was tired. But it was a mistake to shove my rockets at that board. The queens got lucky and I went out in 20th place.Which was still a fantastic result after I just had only 2 BB left at one time. I earned a $33 ticket to play at the SCOOP with that finish. Hopefully I can make the same run there:)

SUMMARY :

Event 1 / NL Hold’em  / finished 235th place / Winner : Devlsbnkroll from Casselberry

Event 2 / PLO / finished 122th place / Won $11 ticket / Winner : CDRLT from Milford

Event 3 / NL Hold’em / finished 1159th place / Winner : skllzdatklls from Las Vegas

Event 4 / NL Hold’em / finished 20th place / Won $33 ticket / Winner : barrelproof7 from Wuerzberg

Tonight we’re playing Event 5 : 8-game !! I don’t think that’s my kind of game but I’m going to play tight and hopefully get some luck with all the drawing games.Keep your fingers crossed for me and I see you again again soon !!

Cheers,

J.M.

Hi Poker friends !

I’ve been accepted to play in the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. So everyday I’m going to report about it , telling you my experiences and results. The WBCOOP holds seven different events, each time another game of poker. You can’t win any cash prizes in the WBCOOP, but you can earn tickets for the SCOOP, Spring Championship of Online Poker. There are some very big cash prizes to win, so I hope that I can win a ticket to play there.

Yesterday was the first event, playing No Limit Hold’em. There were 1740 entrants with a starting stack of 2000, without any Add-ons of Re-buys. The starting blinds were 10/20 and there were various tournament tickets to win for the first 153 players, going from a $11 Entry for number 153 to the biggest ticket for the winner of the first Event, a $1,050 Entry.

I had an early double-up when he got this hand sitting in the Big Blind…

Yes baby, Action Dan strikes again !!!! So the button limped to the blinds and we saw the flop with 3 players and I flop 2 pair. The Small Blind immediately bets out for 2/3 of the pot and I instantly decide to raise big there with two pair, as there were different straight – and flushdraws on the board. Then the Small Blind goes all-in after the button folded and left me with a big decision early on in the tournament. Normaly I have the patience to wait long enough in a tournament for the right moment and playing the small ball poker strategy.

But you have to go when you’re the favourite holding the best hand. I was pretty much sure that he had the lowest two pair (3-6) or a flush/straightdraw and with the power of Action Dan on my side, I decided to gamble and put my stack on the line. I called and saw him turning over the 9-8 suited giving him the gutshot straight flush draw and making me a 59% favourite. The turn was pretty awful for me giving him the flush, it left me with only 9% and 4 outs. But I knew the power of Action Dan and the Ten of Diamonds on the river was so hot, making me the full boat. Nice start !!!

I reached further on the event winning some small pots, but was pretty card dead throughout it. So I was waiting to move all-in when the chance was there and I could double up. Then I flopped top pair sitting in the Big Blind with K-10 on a dangerous board with all diamonds, which I hadn’t. The stackleader at the table called me with the Ace of Diamonds in his hand giving him 12 outs, 9 diamonds and 3 Aces. The turn was a blank but the river was the Ten of Diamonds, again, giving me two pair but him the nut flush. I was out in 235th place, just not into the prizes. I’m pretty sure that I would have made it when I doubled up there, but well there still are other events to come.

The final winner of the first event was ‘Devlsbnkroll ‘ from Casselberry.

See you again tomorrow for Event 2 , PLO or Pot Limit Omaha !!!  I’m really looking forward to that event, hopefully doing it better than the first Event and improving my PLO skills.

Cheers,

J.M. aka Romaric85

Hi Pokerfriends !

You all know that I only play at PokerStars online and I recently discovered something new that they’re organizing. The World Blogger Championship Of Online Poker (WBCOOP) are coming soon at the end of January and smallball-poker.com is definately IN.  I’ll keep you up to date about my results and experiences during the different Events. So keep your fingers crossed for me and hopefully I could win an Event.

I have registered to play in the PokerStars World Blogger Championship of Online Poker! This PokerStars tournament is a No Limit Texas Hold’em event exclusive to Bloggers, you too can take part by registering on WBCOOP

Registration code: 968041

Good Evening Pokermadness !

I’m sorry it took so long before I got back but I had some work for school and different examinations to deal with. I’ll post the next players quicker, so that we could reach the number one in a couple of weeks. I’m running extremely bad the last weeks, especially during live play than. I’m so carddead sometimes that it’s very hard and frustrating to deal with. Last week we played a nine handed cash game for about 6 hours, my best hands were 4x pocket Deuce , one time my favourite pocket fours and one big Ace, Ace-Jack. I played with a dozen of suited connectors but missed like every flop. I only won pots when I bluffed at it, and I know that’s not yet my best game. Online I’m more on a rollercoaster, running over and under the 330$. I play good and with patience, following the Smallball Poker strategy, looking out for pot control and keeping the pot small, especially with overrated hands like Ace-Queen or Pocket Nines. But the biggest problem is that I certainly don’t win too many coinflips for the moment. I’m going to stop complaining right now and start with number 35…

(35)   =>   DAVID   WILLIAMS

> David Anthony Williams

> born 09/06/1980 in Arlington, Texas (USA).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> became 2nd in the WSOP Main Event in 2004, losing to Greg Raymer.

> won 1 Bracelet (’06 Seven-card Stud)

> plays online at Bodog Poker as a member of TeamBodog.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 6,300,000 (until 2009).

David is a very smart person, which he showed when he scored enormous on his scolar tests at high school and could choose any university he wanted. He chose Southern Methodist where he studied Economics. Before poker, David was a big star in the game ‘ Magic : The Gathering ‘ but he was suspended  from the game in the late 90s after he’ve marked the cards during a big tournament. He started to play online poker during his suspension and never left it because of the money. He still plays Magic: The Gathering when he wants some fun. David was being mentored in poker at the beginning of his career by Marcel Luske. His second place at the WSOP Main Event in 2004 is still the best finish ever in the Main Event for an African American. Despite of his interest in fashion and bling bling, David Williams is an excellent tournament player. He made three final tables at the WPT and had some great results in high rated televised poker shows such as High Stakes Poker, Poker After Dark and King of Vegas.

(34)   =>   JAMIE   GOLD

> born as Jamie M. Usher

> born 25/08/1969 in Kansas City, Missouri (USA)

> based in Malibu, California.

> Nickname : ‘ Golden Boy ‘

> is the 2006 WSOP Main Event winner.

> ranked 3th on the All Time Money List

> won over $12,200,000 (until 2009) in Live Tournament Play.

Jamie holds a bachelor’s degree from State University of New York. Before his famous poker victory, he was a talent agent and worked as a manager of Lucy Liu and James Gandolfini. Jamie has being tutored in poker by Johnny Chan and Chris Ferguson, who’s his neighbour. He won the biggest cash prize ever with his win in the WSOP Main Event in 2006, after beating Paul Wasicka heads-up. During the tournament he became very well-known for his table-talk, telling the truth about his hands all the time and he had a rare gameplan which is still causing a lot of controversy about his pokerskills. He also likes to eat blueberries during a tournament. He featured in Poker After Dark and season 3 and 4 of High Stakes Poker. He had a controversy after his big win with Bodog Poker. Because he partnered with Crispin Leyser and they had a deal for the half of Gold’ winnings at the WSOP but Jamie refused to give Leyser $6,000,000 after he won the Main Event. Finally he sorted it out with Leyser after different causes, but he ended his contract with Bodog. Jamie now still plays poker but not all the time. He’s also a businessman, television producer and president of Buzznation.

(33)   =>   GAVIN   SMITH

> born 04/09/1968 in Guelph, Ontario (CAN).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname : ‘ Caveman ‘ or ‘ Birdguts ‘

> won the WPT Mirage Poker Showdown Championship event in 2005.

> was the WPT Player of the Year in season 4.

> won 3 Poker After Dark titles.

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a sponsored Pro.

> won over $4,800,000 (until 2009) in Live Tournament Play.

Gavin is a former poker dealer, taxi driver and golf course employee. He’s a very agressive player, doing a lot of talking and drinking (was one time very drunk on Poker After Dark !) at the table but also likes to laugh and joke. He’s a very successful player, making three other WPT final tables. Besides that , he won a lot of other big tournaments such as the B.A.R.G.E Main Event in 2004 and the World Pro-Am Challenge in 2006. Gavin has many famous and funny prop bets with his good friend and fellow Poker Pro Joe Sebok, e.g. Gavin has a tattoo with the initials J.S. after he lost a bet against Sebok. Gavin acts as the co-host of Pokerroad Radio show along with Sebok and The Voice of Poker After Dark, Ali Nejad. Smith is also a good friend of Erick Lindgren, who’ve helped him building up his bankroll.

(32)   =>   ALLEN    CUNNINGHAM

> born 28/09/1977 in Riverside, California (USA).

> resides now in Las Vegas with fellow Poker Pro and girlfriend Melissa Hayden and their dog Muffin.

> Nickname : ‘ Clever Piggy ‘

> won 5 Bracelets (’01 Seven-card Stud/ ‘02 2-7 Draw/ ‘05 NL Hold’em/ ‘06 NL Hold’em w Rebuys/ ‘07 PL Hold’em)

> became 4th in the WSOP Main Event in 2006 (when Jamie Gold won).

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as member of TeamFullTilt.

> has Live Tournament Earnings of almost $10,400,000 (until 2009).

Allen studied Civil Engineering until he was 18 before dropping out and play poker professionally. He is famous to be a quiet, peaceful and focused player who’s playing the game with an analytical vision. Allen earned the title ESPN/Toyota Player of the Year in 2005 and was voted by his peers as the Best All Around Player under 35. He joined a small group of players in 2007 who’ve won a WSOP Bracelet in three consecutive years. Allen is a great tournament player, he won one Poker After Dark title, the National Poker League Vegas O.C. Main Event in 2007 and the WSOP Circuit Event in 2008. He ranked 8th on the All Time Money List.

(31)   =>   ERIK   SEIDEL

> born 06/12/1959 in New York City (USA).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname : ‘ Sly ‘

> won 8 Bracelets (’92 Limit Hold’em/ ‘93 Omaha 8 or better/ ‘94 Limit Hold’em/ ‘98 2-7 Draw/ ‘01 NL Hold’em/ ‘03 PL Omaha/ ‘05 NL Hold’em/ ‘07 WC NL 2-7 Draw Lowball w/Rebuys)

> became 2nd in the 1988 WSOP Main Event and 4th in the 1999 WSOP Main Event.

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker, part of design team.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $9,800,000 (until 2009).

Erik is a former professional backgammon and stock market player. He worked on Wall Street before playing poker full time.  He’s one of the famous players from the Mayfair Club, including Howard Lederer and Dan Harrington. He reached the final table in his first big WSOP event in 1988 when he lost to Johnny Chan heads-up. The final hand of that battle was featured in the famous pokermovie ‘ Rounders ‘. Erik is a great tournament player, not only did he won 8 Bracelets but besides that he won the 2008 WPT Foxwoods Poker Classic and he finished 2nd twice in a big event at the Aussie Millions in 2007 and 2008. He ranked 9th on the All Time Money List. Erik is very well-known as a big music fanatic, listening to a very wild range of different genres of music. He has a special tab on his website where you could find his favourite music albums. He likes to play tennis when he has some time left.

So next time we dive into the top-thirty of Most Famous Poker Players.Watch out for the bad beats and only go All In when you have the best hand!

Cheers,

J.M.

Good Evening pokerworld !

I wish you all the best for the next year and let’s make 2010 a good pokeryear with some extraordinary suckouts and sexy flops !  I’m hoping that smallball-poker is getting bigger this year with more partners and visitors. You really could help me with that pokerfriends. Here are now the next five players…

(40)   =>   CHIP   REESE

> David Edward Reese

> 28/03/1951 – 04/12/2007

> born in Centerville, Ohio (USA).

> lived in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname :  ‘ Chip ‘

> won 3 Bracelets (’78 Seven Card Stud split/ ‘82 Limit Seven Card Stud/ ‘06 H.O.R.S.E World Championship)

> was 6th in the 1979 WSOP Main Event

> has Live Tournament Earnings over $ 3,500,000

His mother learned him the game of poker, together with some other card games, when he was just 5 years old. He played football, was in debate teams and good in economics. He reached the final table of one WPT event and he was the former cardroom manager at the Dunes Casino. He became the youngest living player ever in 1991 to be induct in the Poker Hall of Fame. He had the longest heads-up battle ever in 2006 when he won his third Bracelet against Andy Bloch. It was also back then the largest buy-in WSOP Event ever. Chip wrote the seven card stud chapter in Brunson’s famous book ‘Super/System‘ and Doyle thought that Chip was the best seven card stud player ever. David ‘Chip’ Reese died in Vegas, on Pneumonia or by a gastric bypass, which is still not sure but he’s wildly considered as one of the best cash game players ever.

(39)   =>   ANDY   BLACK

> Andrew Black

> born 20/07/1965, Belfast (NI)

> resides now in Dublin (IRE)

> Nickname : ‘ The Monk ‘

> was 5th in the 2005 WSOP Main Event in the year that Joe Hachem won.

> plays at Full Tilt Poker as an official Pro.

> won over $ 4,100,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009)

Andy is an excellent tournament player, which he proves with his results. He reached one final table at the EPT, won the Premier League Poker II in 2008 after beating Roland de Wolfe heads-up and finished 2th in the PLO Event and 3th in the NL Hold’em Main Event during the 2007 Aussie Millions. Besides that, Andy is also well-known for his famous blow-up during a tournament overplaying his hand and losing a lot of his big stack. He discarded all his possessions in 1998 after another unlucky tournament, travelled to England and lived in a semi-monastic Buddhist environment for five years. He returned very successfully to poker in 2004, dominating some Irish Tournaments before achieving his marvellous 5th place in the 2005 WSOP Main Event. He’ve never forgotten that period and it still helps him. Andy likes to meditate during the breaks of a poker tourney.

(38)   =>   PETER   EASTGATE

> born 13/12/1985 in Dalum (DEN).

> resides now in London (ENG).

> Nickname : ‘ Icegate ‘  or  ‘ Isser ‘

> was the winner of the 2008 WSOP Main Event after beating Ivan Demidov in the final.

> plays at PokerStars as a member of TeamPokerStars.

> has over $ 10,600,000 in Live Tournament Earnings (until 2009).

The young Peter Eastgate won more than 9 million US Dollars with his fantastic win of the WSOP Main Event in 2008. Back than at the age of 22 he was the youngest winner ever, surpassing Phil Hellmuth’s age of 24. But Peter was surpassed this year by another young gun Joseph Cada at the age of 21. Peter proved in 2009 that he does have some excellent poker skills after another great run in the WSOP Main Event, 78th place, and after his second place in the EPT event in London. He ranked 7th in the all time Money List in Tournaments.

(37)   =>   HUMBERTO   BRENES

> born 08/05/1951 from Costa Rica.

> resides now in San José (CR) with his wife and 3 kids.

> Nickname : ‘ The Shark ‘

> became 4th in the 1988 WSOP Main Event

> won 2 Bracelets (’93 Limit Hold’em – Pot Limit Omaha)

> made 3 WPT Final Tables

> plays online at PokerStars as a member of TeamPokerStars.

> has Live Tournament Winnings over $ 5,500,000 (until 2009)

Humberto started to play poker in 1974. He has a recognizable look, easy to spot, always wears a bright tracksuit, two pair of glasses on top of each other and a visor. He’s very famous for his toy shark as a card protector which he uses a lot at the table to influence the cards and the dealer. Humberto also has two brothers who are successful in the pokerworld, namely Eric and Alex. Humberto is wildly considered as one of the most popular players in the circuit. He’s a former entrepeneur in different businessregions such as hotels, construction, tv stations and many more. He has a former success in baccarat and holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Costa Rica.

(36)   =>   JENNIFER   TILLY

> Jennifer E. Chan

> born 16/09/1958 in Harbor City, California (USA).

> lives together with her boyfriend and fellow Poker Pro Phil Laak

> resides now in Texada Island (USA).

> Nickname : ‘ The Unabombshell ‘

> won 1 Bracelet (’05 NL Hold’em Ladies)

> won the WPT Ladies Invitational Tournament in 2005

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

Jennifer was formerly married to Sam Simon, one of the producers of The Simpsons and the voice of Bart. Tilly appeared in different televised pokershows such as Poker SuperStars, Poker After Dark and Celebrity Poker Showdown. Nevertheless Jennifer is probably the most famous as an actress. She played in Bound, Liar Liar, The Getaway and she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Woody Allen’s Bullets over Broadway.

That was it for now my dearest friends. I’m going to play some sit and go’s I guess and probably getting some more bad beats because it’s getting really worse again the last weeks. Sometimes really sick to see how people can play rubbish hands and still manage to get lucky. I have the best hand for about 85 % of the time when I go all-in but I only win around 35% of the time. That isn’t normal?  I hope you run better.

See you next time or maybe sunday for the 1/4 Sunday Millions on PokerStars.

Cheers,

J.M.