Archive for August, 2010

Good evening Poker Addicts !

I’ve decided to split the final three in three different posts to keep it a little bit more exciting and to be honest, they all deserve a whole  page of their own. But sadly enough ended the Godfather of this poker blog, and one of my personal favourites, up the third place. Good enough for the bronze medal and eternal fame in the minds of all the smallball-poker.com lovers. Let’s face it, Mister Negreanu is probably the best and greatest example for all you poker players out there, in terms of playing style and manners. Here’s why…

(3) =>   DANIEL NEGREANU

> born 26/07/1974 in Toronto (CAN).

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA)

> seperated from Lori Lin Weber in 2007.

> Nickname : ‘ Kid Poker ‘

> became 11th in the 2001 WSOP Main Event and 2nd in the 2009 WSOP Europe Main Event

> won 4 Bracelets (’98 PL Hold’em/ ‘03 S.H.O.E./ ‘04 Limit Hold’em/ ‘08 Limit Hold’em)

> won 2 WPT-titles (’04 Borgata Open/ ‘04 Five Diamond)

> plays online at PokerStars as a member of Team PokerStars

> has Live Tournament Winnings of almost $ 12,750,000 (until now)

> ranked second on the all time live tournament list after Phil Ivey

Daniel has Romanian descent because his parents left the communist regime there in 1967 to start a new life in Canada. He learned the game of poker at the age of 15 when he was starting his professional snooker career. He soon dropped out of high school to become a full time rounder playing at local casinos and illegal games. After dating fellow poker pro Evelyn Ng , Daniel left for Vegas the first time at the age of 22.

Kid Poker is a very sporting guy who likes to play golf with his peers and he’s a big NHL fan, mostly from the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s a vegan since 2006, after being a vegetarian first since 2000. He’s world wide known as one of the most kind and popular players in the circuit, which he also proves at different charity events. He’s also the founder of the annual ” Big Swing ” charity golf event. Mr. Negreanu made famous cameo appearances in ‘ X-Men Origins: Wolverine ‘ and in  ‘Lucky You ‘.

Daniel is probably overall one of the best players on the planet with, besides his wins, several WSOP and WPT final tables and 1 Poker After Dark title. He was named the Card Player Player of the Year and World Series of Poker Player of the Year in 2004, probably his best year ever. He was also the 2004-2005 World Poker Tour Player of the Year and he was awarded as the Favourite Player by Card Player in 2006. Until now he won the most money on the WPT circuit.

Kid Poker is also a regular in the highest cash games at the Bellagio. He’s a self-admitted action junkie playing his small ball poker strategy. He’s very outspoken about his poker results at his Full Contact Poker blog. For me, his best skill is reading opponents, he’s a real reading phenomenon. He played in all six seasons of GSN’s High Stakes Poker and he probably lost in all of them. Not because he played bad, but mostly because he’s one of the most unlucky players that I’ve seen. Remember Gus Hansen’s sick one outer on the turn when they both flopped a set. Daniel started his own online poker cardroom on his Full Contact Poker site where he launched 2 competitions in 2006 and 2007 to select a protege, whom Daniel would train into a world-class live tournament player. Mr. Negreanu released his book ‘ Power Hold’em Strategy ‘  in 2008, with contributions from several other poker players.

So, this was my ode to one of my absolute heroes and representative of smallball poker, mister Daniel Negreanu. May he brings us more pleasure, joy and victories  in the future, but I’m pretty sure about that. Is it Phil Hellmuth or Phil Ivey? Which Phil would be the ultimate number one of my Most Famous Poker Players top-100 list ?  See you next time !

Cheers,

J.M.

Hi Sharks !

It’s time for the penultimate post before we reach the final three out of my great and exciting Most Famous Poker Players top-100. The stars today are two of the best, oldest, but still  wildly respected poker pro’s out there who haven’t any kind of problems to keep up their world class level. Combine their years of playing poker and you’ll almost reach a century. Great respect for them but I’ve placed them on 5 and 4 because they aren’t that representive in the upcoming online poker world. But you should all read their excellent books if you really want to learn the real game of poker.

Yesterday I’ve earned my biggest cash prize online when I played in one of PokerStar’s MicroMania $1 ($1000 added) and finished 5th out of 2500 entrants, earning a nice $150. I’m still improving my game in the big tournaments and it’s always nice to see it rewarded. Playing smallball poker really pays off in those games, waiting for the right hand and moment, using small probe bets to trap people and doubling up each time. I’ve reached the final table with the 6th highest stack and only one half suckout (flopped two pair against straight in the blinds but made a boat on the river). I took a few pots and saw a few suckouts before being with only five players and waking up on the button with JJ and the 4th stack. The blinds and antes were very high and I only had to pass the smallest and biggest stack (who had called a lot all-ins with shitty hands), so I decided to ship it all. The small blind with the smallest stack called with A4 and got his Ace on the flop leaving me with only 5 BB.  Otherwise I would had the second stack and had a very big chance to win a cool $600. Hopefully I’ve more luck next time and win one of those, it can’t stay away long if I play like this. Maybe I should call my good friend Johnny…

(5)   =>   JOHNNY   CHAN

> born in 1957, Guangzhou (CHI)

> married, have 6 children and 6 houses.

> resides now in Cerritos, California (USA).

> Nickname : ‘ Orient(al) Express ‘

> two time WSOP Main Event World Champion in 1987 and 1988.

> won 8 other Bracelets !! (’85 Limit Hold’em/ ‘94 7 Card Stud/ ‘97 2-7 Draw/ ‘00 PLO/ ‘02 NL Hold’em/ ‘03 NL Hold’em and PLO / ‘05 PL Hold’em)

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 8,500,000 (until 2009)

Johnny moved to the USA with his family in 1968. He dropped out of the university at the age of 21 and became a professional gambler. Mr. Chan is wildly known as one of the greatest players in WSOP history, which was confirmed in 2002 when he was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame. He’s currently second on the Bracelet list (10), together with Doyle Brunson, but after Phil Hellmuth (11). Johnny is also the last player to win back-to-back WSOP Main Events, which would probably last forever regarding connoisseurs. He’s a very expressive character with wild, unusual haircuts and a diamond ratlesnake ring. He’s known to bring a ‘lucky’ orange to the table and he neither smokes or drinks alcohol. For me, Johnny Chan is the best tournament player on the planet. He won Poker Superstars II and finished 2th at the first one. He holds the record for most NBC’s Poker After Dark wins (4). His first major victory was at Bob Stupak’s 1981 American Cup where he defeated all other  players at the final table in less than an hour and so gaining his nickname. Mr. Chan made a famous cameo appearance in the best poker movie of all time ‘Rounders ‘. More famous activities from him are : he owns a fast-food franchise, wrote for Card Player Magazine and Trader Monthly, collaborated on 2 instructional poker books and launched his own online poker room, Chan Poker Online.com, that was closed a year after release. Besides tournaments, Orient Express is a very good high stakes cash game player too, which he proved in the first season of GSN’s High Stakes Poker.

(4)   =>   DOYLE   BRUNSON

> born 10/08/1933 in Longworth, Texas (USA).

> currently resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with wife Louise.

> had 3 children (Doyla died at 18), including famous poker pro Todd Brunson.

> Nickname : ‘ Texas Dolly ‘ or ‘ Big Papa ‘ or ‘ The Godfather ‘

> two times WSOP World Champion in 1976- ‘77.

> won 8 other Bracelets (’76 2-7 Draw/ ‘77 7-Card Stud Split/ ‘78 7 Card Stud/ ‘79 Mixed Doubles/ ‘91 NL Hold’em/ ‘98 Razz/ ‘03 H.O.R.S.E./ ‘05 NL Hold’em)

> won 1 WPT-title (Legends of Poker 2004)

> runs his own online poker room Doyles Room

> won almost $ 6,000,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009)

Doyle was voted the #1 most influentive force in the world of poker by Bluff Magazine and here ’s why. He’ve played poker professionally now for over 50 years, he was the first player ever to earn $ 1 million and he ranked 2nd in the WSOP Bracelet wins (10), together with Chan but after Hellmuth (11). Big Papa is also one of two players, along with Bill Boyd, to have won Bracelets in 4 consecutive years. Doyle was a promising athlete and basketball player in his childhood, attended a university in Texas and holds a master’s degree in administrative education. He’ve been drafted to play for the former NBA team Minneapolis Lakers, but was injured at the wrong time. So he took a job than before he turned a poker pro a few months later when he had discovered his skills for the game which was the start of the one and only true poker legend. Texas Dolly started to play in illegal and dangerous games (gun was required!) around Texas and environs before finally settling in Vegas. Mr. Brunson wrote on of the most influential poker books in the world: ‘ Super/System ‘, with an update version 2 made in 2004 with the contribution of David Sklansky, Chip Reese and many more. Doyle is a regular at the biggest cash games in the world, mostly at the Bellagio. He concentrates mostly at those games and is still a world-class player at his age. His nickname ‘ Texas Dolly ‘ came from a mistake by Jimmy Snyder who didn’t announce  ‘Texas Doyle’. Doyle always wears like a real cowboy, which he is, especially recognizable by his large cowboy head. He has 2 famous starting hands in NL Hold’em, namely the T2 off suit, which he won his 2 world titles with, both times making a full house. His second hand is the AQ of any suit, because he never plays the hand, recording his first book. Doyle is also very famous for his televised quotes, such as ” It’s always good to win the first one” or shooting “Boom” before the turn and river is dealt when two players are all-in. Mr. Brunson was recently in problems with the SEC, who investigate Doyle due to eventually violating of federal security laws. Court still must hear before making a verdict.

So now it’s only between Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu and Phil Hellmuth for the ultimate number 1 position at my famous list. Who do you think it’s going to be ? Exciting isn’t it ? I can’t wait myself and I already know who it is. See you next time guys.

Cheers,

J.M.