Hi Poker Friends !

I’ll give you a complete summary of my Most Famous Poker Players top-100 list so it would be very obvius and clear for you where you could find your absolute favourite. I’m not gong to link them all to the right post because that just would be superfluous. But I’ve seen that there are now a lot of players who I would rank higher or lower, but that’s pretty normal in a list. It keeps changing and it’s influenceable in time. Maybe I’ll update my list again in a few years to discover some changings and newcomers. For sure Michael ” The Grinder ” Mizrachi would climb after his amazing run at the World Series of Poker Main Event this year (more about that at the end of this post). But also Carlos Mortensen and Jean-Robert Bellande would climb I guess. Droppers would be probably Jamie Gold, Jennifer Tilly, Peter Eastgate and Ted Forrest, for sure ! But for now, this was the Most Famous Poker Players top-100 at Smallball-Poker.com for 2009-2010 :

1. Phil IVEY (USA – 34y.)
2. Phil HELLMUTH (USA – 46y.)
3. Daniel NEGREANU (CAN – 36y.)
4. Doyle BRUNSON (USA – 77y.)
5. Johnny CHAN (USA – 53y.)
6. Chris FERGUSON (USA – 47y.)
7. Mike MATUSOW (USA – 42y.)
8. Howard LEDERER (USA – 46y.)
9. Scotty NGUYEN (USA – 48y.)
10. Gus HANSEN (DEN – 36y.)
11. Patrik ANTONIUS (FIN – 29y.)
12. Tom DWAN (USA – 24y.)
13. Stu UNGAR (USA )
14. Antonio ESFANDIARI (USA -31y.)
15. Dan HARRINGTON (USA – 64y.)
16. Phil LAAK (USA – 38y.)
17. Barry GREENSTEIN (USA – 55y.)
18. Eli ELEZRA (USA – 49y.)
19. Sam FARHA (USA – 51y.)
20. Erick LINDGREN (USA – 34y.)
21. Greg RAYMER (USA – 46y.)
22. Marcel LUSKE (NED – 57y.)
23. John JUANDA (USA – 39y.)
24. Huck SEED (USA – 41y.)
25. Jennifer HARMAN (USA – 45y.)
26. David BENYAMINE (FRA – 38y.)
27. Joe HACHEM (AUS – 44y.)
28. Dave ULLIOTT (ENG – 56y.)
29. Men NGUYEN (USA – 56y.)
30. Annie DUKE (USA – 45y.)
31. Erik SEIDEL (USA – 50y.)
32. Allen CUNNINGHAM (USA – 33y.)
33. Gavin SMITH (CAN – 42y.)
34. Jamie GOLD (USA – 41y.)
35. David WILLIAMS (USA – 30y.)
36. Jennifer TILLY (USA – 52y.)
37. Humberto BRENES (CR – 59y.)
38. Peter EASTGATE (DEN – 24y.)
39. Andy BLACK (IRE – 45y.)
40. Chip REESE (USA)
41. Phil GORDON (USA – 40y.)
42. Jason MERCIER (USA – 23y.)
43. Vanessa ROUSSO (USA – 27y.)
44. Shawn SHEIKHAN (USA – 41y.)
45. Tony G (AUS – 36y.)
46. Chris MONEYMAKER (USA – 34y.)
47. Andy BLOCH (USA -41y.)
48. Todd BRUNSON (USA – 41y.)
49. Johnny MOSS (USA)
50. Daniel ALAEI (USA – 27y.)
51. Jeff LISANDRO (ITA – 44y.)
52. Gabe KAPLAN (USA – 65y.)
53. Layne FLACK (USA – 41y.)
54. John PHAN (USA – 36y.)
55. Clonie GOWEN (USA – 38y.)
56. Mike SEXTON (USA – 63y.)
57. Bertrand GROSPELLIER (FRA – 29y.)
58. Ted FORREST (USA – 46y.)
59. Roland DE WOLFE (ENG – 29y.)
60. Tom McEVOY (USA – 65y.)
61. Carlos MORTENSEN (SPA – 38y.)
62. Michael MIZRACHI (USA – 29y.)
63. David GREY (USA – ?)
64. Kenny TRAN (USA – 36y.)
65. Kristy GAZES (USA – 43y.)
66. Paul WASICKA (USA – 29y.)
67. Brad BOOTH (CAN – 34y.)
68. Tuan LE (USA – 32y.)
69. Kathy LIEBERT (USA – 43y.)
70. Ivan DEMIDOV (RUS – 29y.)
71. Victor RAMDIN (USA – 42y.)
72. Annette OBRESTAD (NOO – 22y.)
73. Billy BAXTER (USA – 70y.)
74. Jeff MADSEN (USA – 25y.)
75. Jean-Robert BELLANDE (USA – 40y.)
76. Berry JOHNSTON (USA – 75y.)
77. Freddy DEEB (USA – 54y.)
78. Marco TRANIELLO (ITA – 36y.)
79. Steve ZOLOTOW (USA – ?)
80. Bob SAFAI (USA – 48y.)
81. Isabelle MERCIER (CAN – 35y.)
82. Dario MINIERI (ITA – 25y.)
83. Chad BROWN (USA – 49y.)
84. David PHAM (USA – 43y.)
85. Noah BOEKEN (NED – 29y.)
86. Sebastian RUTHENBERG (DUI – 26y.)
87. Vicky COREN (ENG – 37y.)
88. Minh LY (USA – 43y.)
89. Amir VAHEDI (IRA – 49y.)
90. Luca PAGANO (ITA – 32y.)
91. Jerry YANG (USA – 42y.)
92. Alex KRAVCHENKO (RUS – 39y.)
93. J.J. LIU (USA – 45y.)
94. Max PESCATORI (ITA – 39y.)
95. Mimi TRAN (USA – 50y.)
96. David SKLANSKY (USA – 63y.)
97. Juha HELPPI (FIN – 33y.)
98. J.C. TRAN (USA – 33y.)
99. Liz LIEU (USA – 36.)
100. Bob STUPAK (USA – 68y.)

So there were 13 women in my list and 30 non-Americans, but it’s pretty obvius to see that the poker world is, at least for this moment, mostly dominated by the male American. Although we’re on our way in Europe ! My next list will be one about my other passion, and also related to poker, namely music. I’ll make a top-50 list with the best 21st century songs, as I see it. I’ll give you 5 songs in every post so you’ll soon discover my favourite song (after 2000). I hope you’re as curious as I’m !

Are you following the recent WSOP Main Event ? Well, I do. It’s a big dream of me to play there once so I’m very interested and I’m sure you could learn by just watching the episodes. Well now after 8 days of playing they’re down to the final November Nine who’ll start playing at the 6th of November. They started the $ 10,000 buy-in WSOP Main Event with 7319 entrants of 92 different countries and we’re now with only 9 players. The winner would earn almost a cool $9 million ! Here are the final players in order of the chip stacks :

1. Jonathan Duhamel (CAN – 22) in seat 4
2. John Dolan (USA – 24) in seat 3
3. Joseph Cheong (USA – 24) in seat 2
4. John Racener (USA – 24) in seat 7
5. Matthew Jarvis (CAN – 25) in seat 6
6. Filippo Candio (ITA – 26) in seat 8
7. Michael Mizrachi (USA – 29) in seat 5
8. Soi Nguyen (USA – 37) in seat 9
9. Jason Senti (USA – 25) in seat 1

So as I’ve followed all the former episodes very closely, I have a very clear view about the players and their styles and I’ll predict my favourites to win.

*** John RACENER : poker pro who’s 4th in chips but played some very good tournament poker, making the right moves at the right time. His postion at the final table is also in his favour. He sits after the two big stacks and top pro Mizrachi, which is very important to see what they do, especially because the big stacks aren’t so tight and do like to gamble. John could also trap the crazy Italian Candio who sits behind him and was very lucky until now with some bad plays.

** John DOLAN : 2nd in chips and was always at the top of the leaderboard during the event. played some very consistent poker and could take it down. His stack is really big and doesn’t play scared.  His postion however is pretty bad and I doubt if he has enough experience.

* Michael MIZRACHI : notable top pro and 7th in chips. You can’t ignore the Grinder, he has the most experience and already won a Bracelet this year. He’s really playing in the zone at the 2010 WSOP because he could tie, with Frank Kassela, for WSOP Player of the Year if he wins the Main Event. His postion is pretty good, after the three highest stacks but he must gain some chips pretty soon, because his stack isn’t that big.

We’ll see in a week if I got some poker skills and wisdom So watch out Norman Chad !

Cheers,

J.M.

Good Evening Poker Addicts !

It has been a while but it took a long time to prepare my ultimate post of my Most Famous Poker Player top-100 list. And it’s a great honour to present you my number one and my ode to, as Norman Chad would say, ” My Man” Mister Phil Ivey! He’s for me the most famous poker planet on the planet nowadays, mostly because of following reasons. First of all you can ignore his excellent results and wins and therefore his marvellous ability to play any kind of game close to perfection. The second reason is his overall successful presence at any kind of poker game, at any place. Playing live or online, cash game or a tournament, he scored everywhere. My final reason for making him Numero Uno must be his warm and philanthropic character which makes him also a very popular person, at least outside the  table   Anyway here’s his profile if you didn’t know him before…

(1)   =>   PHIL   IVEY

> Phillip D. ” Phil ” Ivey

> born 01/02/1976 in Riverside, California (USA)

> resides now in Las Vegas, Nevada.

> Nickname : ‘ The Tiger Woods of Poker ‘ or ‘ No Home Jerome ‘

> became 7th at the WSOP Main Event in 2009

> won 8 Bracelets (’00, ‘05 PLO/ ‘02 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo, S.H.O.E, 7 Card Stud/ ‘09 NL 2-7 Draw Lowball, Omaha Hi/Lo – 7 Card Stud Hi/Lo/ ‘10 H.O.R.S.E.)

> won 1 WPT-title (’08 L.A. Poker Classic)

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a part of the design team

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 13,600,000 (until 2010)

> ranked 1st on the all time live tournament winnings list.

Phil Ivey is wildly regarded by his peers and poker observers as the best all-around poker player in the world nowadays and he’s mostly the number one in many popularity lists. Probably because he has a great and warm character too, being a calm and shy person beside the table who’ve created his own charity (The Budding Ivey Foundation), mostly raising money for underprivileged children. But in contrast with his character, he’s known for his agressive and inventive play at the table.  He’s just a phenomenon, some mysterious poker god with excellent reading and intimidation skills, adopting mostly the agressive smallball poker style. He knows when to change gears and he has absolute no fear to four or five bet, as we could see at one of the most famous hands ever against Paul Jackson.

He divorced in 2009 from his wife Luciaetta so take a shot all you single pokerminded ladies out there ! The unlucky ones may still send there application towards myself;) Mister Ivey likes basketball (often wearing jerseys at the table), video games, golf and any kind of prop bets.

He started to play regular poker against co-workers in the late 1990s and went to different Atlantic City casinos with his fake ‘No Home Jerome’ ID. He became a superb tournament player, placed 4 times in the top 25 at the World Series of Poker Main Event in the last 8 years ! I honestly believe he can win the big one some day, if he could avoid the important bad beats (such as his AK loss last year against Darvin Moon’s AQ). But still at the age of only 34, he’s the youngest player ever to have won 8 Bracelets at that age, all of them in non-Holdem events. He’ve made 9 WPT final tables (lost many times with AQ) and 1 EPT final table. He won the Monte Carlo Millions in 2005 and won 2 NBC’s Poker After Dark titles.

He’s also an outstanding cash game player, which he’ve proved in different tv shows such as GSN’s High Stakes Poker (season 3 and 6) and Full Tilt Poker Million $ Cash Game making big profits. Naturally he’s a regular at the Big Game at the Bellagio ($4.000-8.000 mixed). In 2006 Phil played heads-up, with stakes $25,000/50,000, against billionaire Andy Beal and won over $16,000,000 in only three days. Mister Ivey is of course one of the big guns at the online poker world, with yearly average earnings of over 5 million dollars.

Well, I hope that you’re convinced now because it’s becoming pretty clear that Phil Ivey is a exceptional player everywhere he plays, at any game, at any time. For me, he’s just the ambassador for a new generation of players.I hope you liked my Most Famous Poker Player top-100 list because I’ve learned a lot and it was really fun to make. I’ll give you a review with all the players next week and already give you a little clue about my next list, because it’ll never be over at Smallball-poker.com !!

Cheers,

J.M.

Good Evening poker friends !

The final decision has been made ! This is the moment you were all waiting for:  We have a number one, and sadly enough also a second place finisher. You will here a lot more about the Most Famous Poker Player ever, mister Phil Ivey, in my next post which will be a complete ode to the great Ivey. Nevertheless his great wins is this second place finish for mister Hellmuth maybe a little characterizing. The difference between him and Ivey was especially his inferior popularity online, probably he hasn’t been that successful online neither been the face of a big online poker site, in contrast with Ivey for Full Tilt Poker or Negreanu for Poker Stars. And you can ignore the online poker community these days ! Anyway, here is why Phil Hellmuth is the more than deserved number two…

(2)   =>   PHIL   HELLMUTH

> Phillip Jerome Hellmuth Jr.

> born 16/07/1964 in Madison, Wisconsin (USA)

> resides now in Palo Alto, California with his wife Katherine and their two sons, Phillip III and Nicholas

> Nickname : ‘ The Poker Brat ‘

> became the WSOP Main Event World Champion in 1989.

> won 10 other Bracelets !! (’92, ‘93, ‘03 Limit Hold’em/ ‘93, ‘93, ‘01, ‘03, ‘06, ‘07 No Limit Hold’em/ ‘97 Pot Limit Hold’em)

> holds the most World Series of Poker Bracelets (11).

> holds the records for the most WSOP cashes (79) and the most WSOP final tables (42).

> deserved member of the Poker Hall of Fame

> plays online at Ultimate Bet as a member of Team UB.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of almost $ 11,500,000 (until 2010), ranking 4th all time.

Phil attended the University of Wisconsin for three years before dropping out and play poker full time as a professional. He had the record as the youngest World Series of Poker Main Event winner when he won it at the age of 24 after a famous heads-up battle with Johnny Chan. The record stood until 2008 when Danish pro Peter Eastgate won at 22 years of age. Nowadays it’s 2009 winner Joe Cada who’s holding the record (age 21).

Phil Hellmuth has a famous and a multilateral character, we all know that and I’ll prove it later here. . But according to my personal opinion, he’s probably the best Hold’em and the greatest WSOP player ever. He’s also one of the best tournament players, not using the famous smallball poker strategy but he loves to trap them and wait for their mistakes. It suits him as the best, but he hasn’t won a WPT event yet, in spite of his 4 final tables and 13 cashes there. However he won two Poker After Dark titles, was the season 3 champion of Late Night Poker, won the 2000 Poker EM 7 Card Stud Main Event and the first National Heads-Up Poker Championship in 2005.

His cash game play however hasn’t been one of the highest level, certainly not at the biggest games with all the rockets out there. It has been proven several times at High Stakes Poker and Poker After Dark cash games, where he was banked by peers but went broke everytime. His self-confidence is probably the most famous part of him, as he thinks he’s the best player out there, it’s understandable that he has made several instructional poker videos, has written several poker books, including his last book ‘ Deal Me In ‘ focusing on twenty of the best poker pros in the world. Poker Brat have also been a poker commentator and poker coach.

Phil Hellmuth is probably the most controversial player on the planet, but besides his excellent tournament results and records, everyone knows his needling and attentive table image. He’s a real cry-baby, as Todd Brunson once literally showed during a Poker After Dark episode. It’s just a well-known fact that he can complain as the best, making constantly disrespectful remarks about his opponents’ skills, especailly after bad beats. Famous Hellmuth quotes are: ” Idiot from Northern Europe” and ‘ I can dodge bullets baby“. Other famous blow-ups are: a fight with Sam Grizzle, a hilarious overreaction in Poker After Dark and an insulting blow-up at the 2008 WSOP Main Event against some poor Romanian, resulting in a penalty.

Another part of Hellmuth is his love for attention, which he proves every year at the beginning of the World Series of Poker Main Event when he makes a special, late and remarkable entree. But dear friends, let’s face it. In the end we all love this man, because we all feel his pain sometimes, after a bad beat or an unnecessary comment, and because he always brings excitement to the table and television.  He’s just perfectly representing the sad and painful things of the beautiful game of poker. He’s our Bad Beat God. Amen.

I hope to see you next time for the ultimate post of my Most Famous Poker Players top-100 list with a great ode to the number one, Phil Ivey. The other God.

Cheers,

J.M.

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.

Hi pokerworld !

It has been a long time since I’ve post something new but I’ve been extremely busy the las month with studying, working and moving. But I’ll inform you a lot quicker from now on. I hope you’re still as curieus about my number 1 as before.  I do have been playing poker anyhwo the last weeks, you know that I can’t ignore that. My bankroll is still growing until almost 1k. I know very slow, but exponential as my smallball poker strategy still pays off. Always keeping the pots small until you got the nuts and being paid off  by some fish out there, as long as they don’t give you a horrible suckout. It’s really working for me with the tournaments at Poker Stars and the cash games at Fatbet. I’ve been taught by the great Negreanu and by the excellent books of Dan Harrington. Winning makers for sure !  But for now here are two brilliant tournament players, both with their own famous style but not really smallball poker lovers.

(7)   =>   MIKE   MATUSOW

> Michael Matusow

> born 30/04/1968 in Los Angeles, California (USA)

> currently resides in Henderson, Nevada.

> Nickname :  ‘ The Mouth ‘

> won 3 Bracelets (’99 NL Hold’em/ ‘02 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or better/ ‘08 NL 2-7 Draw w rebuys)

> winner of the 2005 WSOP Tournament of Champions

> has a highest WSOP Main Event finish of 6th in 2001.

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

> won over $ 7,300,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009).

Mike ‘ the Mouth ‘ Matusow is probably the most famous for being a trash-talking /animating player at the table who’s very controversial and can be a annoying bully. But regarding his peers he’s a warm and gentle person beside the table. He showed that when he paid a part of Scotty Nguyen’s entrance fee in 1998 when Scotty became the world champion. Mike certainly got his share afterwards.  He started his poker career as a dealer, before playing as a professional in the early 1990s. Another well-known term around The Mouth is the ” Matusow Blow-up “. It happens in every big tournament where he’s playing like a genius for hours building a large stack that disappears in a sec with a single spectacular Matusow fish misjudgement and Tilt Time afterwards. Mike is well-known as a excellent tournament player, but a scared high stakes cash game player which he showed on several seasons of High Stakes Poker. He made two final tables at the WSOP Main Event (6th in 2001 and 9th in 2005), but won the WSOP Tournament of Champions later in 2005 to make him the first player ever to win two million$ prizes in the same year. Besides the WSOP Mike made 4 WPT final tables, won 1 Poker After Dark title and Poker Superstars III. He had a big personal problem when he spent 6 months in jail due to cocaine possession and selling. He works together with CardPlayer and signed a contract with Deepstacks.com in 2007, becoming the Dean of their online poker training site. Mike wrote his autobiography ‘ Check Raising the devil ‘ which was released in May 2009.

(6)   =>   CHRIS   FERGUSON

> Christopher Philip Ferguson

> born 11/04/1963 in Los Angeles, California (USA)

> currently resides in Pacific Palisades, California

> Nickname : ‘ Jesus ‘

> won the WSOP Main Event in 2000.

> won 4 other Bracelets (’00 7 Card Stud/’01- ‘03 Omaha Hi-Low Split 8 or better/ ‘03 Limit Hold’em-7 card stud)

> won the 2008 NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship

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

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

Chris started to play poker by the age of 10 before entering his first WSOP in 1995 at the age of 32. He followed the foot steps of his smart parents when he earned a Ph.D in Computer Science at UCLA. He prefers big tournaments above cash games, but is wildly respected by his peers. Chris is the only player to win 3 WSOP Circuit Events and he also reached 1 WPT final table. Results that proves once again what a great tournament player mister Ferguson is. He showed his skills in 2000 when he beated T.J. Cloutier in heads-up play at the WSOP Main Event to win a cool 1,5 million $ and became the new World Champion. Some more tournament results are that he has the third most World Series of Poker cashes (59) after Phil Hellmuth and Men Nguyen. Chris also won 2 Poker After Dark titles. ‘Jesus’ is wildly regarded is one of the best heads-up players ever with 2 second places and 1 victory at NBC’s National Heads-Up Poker Championship when he defeated Andy Bloch in the final. Chris is also spending a lot of time online where he showed some extraordinary stuff. He proved several times that he can turn 1$ in 20k online in just 6 months. Besides that, he helped to launch Full Tilt Poker in 2004 and created an algorithm to make deals at the final table of an online tournament. Mister Ferguson is a popular, quiet player with a highly mathematical style and a trademark appearance. A wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, long brown hair and beard (’Jesus’) combined with his characteristic motionless pose. He’s interested in swing dancing and cardstechniques.

So we’re down to the last five players of my Most Famous Poker Players list. Only the best is yet to come people ! Now I’m going to log off very quickly to watch the World Cup Final between Spain and Holland. May the best win !

Cheers,

J.M.

Good Evening Poker Addicts !

The last week I’ve tried to qualify for the World Series of Poker Main Event by playing satellites on PokerStars but for now I haven’t been lucky yet. I was pretty deep in on of those but my pocket Tens where crushed on the river when the guy hitted his Ace. It was a chance, but I’m not giving up guys. I really want to play there one day. That must be wonderful. Anyway I love playing poker at FatBet  these days. I’ve just played for a month now and I’ve already won 350 euro which is nice. I’ve played for that for more than a year on PokerStars. I mean, full of fish there on FatBet. But you are probably steaming right now to know the next three players on numbers 10, 9 and 8. Let’s start with some Danish Dynamite…

(10)   =>   GUS   HANSEN

> Gustav Hansen

> born 13/02/1974, around Copenhagen (DEN)

> resides now in Monaco (FRA).

> Nickname : ‘ The Great Dane ‘

> finished 61th in the 2007 WSOP Main Event

> won 4 WPT-titles (’02 Five Diamond/ ‘03 L.A. Poker Classic/ ‘04 Caribbean Poker/ ‘04 Bad Boys of poker)

> won the 2007 Aussie Millions Main Event

> was the first winner of Poker After Dark

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a member of Team Full Tilt.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 7,500,000 (until 2009).

Gus was a former world class backgammon player and youth tennis champion in his country before playing poker professionally in 1997. He calls himself more a professional gambler as well at as besides the table. He has made bets on several various athletic challenges, such as a tennis match with his good friend Patrik Antonius. Mr. Hansen is also a successful businessman as he closed online ventures with PokerChamps.com (now Betfair poker), thePlayr.com and GusHansenTV. Gus has an unique style of playing, betting and checking. He’s mostly playing his opponent in stead of his cards as he can hold any two cards at any time which makes him virtually impossible to read. He has a very agressive style and he makes some loose plays from time to time. The Great Dane is a big and wildly respected player in tournaments and at the biggest cash games, being a regular in Bellagio’s Big Game. He’s featured in the Professional Poker Tour and on several seasons of GSN’s High Stakes Poker where I once played a memorable hand against Negreanu, called by Daniel ‘his biggest beat ever’ when Gus had quads against Daniel’s sixes full on a board 9 6 5 5 8. Gustav is the only player with 4 World Poker Tour titles and he was inducted into the WPT Wall of Fame in 2004. He also made 7 other final tables at WPT and EPT and he was the winner of season 1 of Poker Superstars Invitational Tournament. Mr. Hansen took AUD$ 1,500,000 for his Aussie Millions Main Event victory and his book ‘ Everyhand Revealed ‘ describes his hands and thoughts during that event. Gus was once voted one of the top-100 sexiest men on the planet.

(09)   =>   SCOTTY   NGUYEN

> Thuan B. ” Scotty ” Nguyen

> born 28/10/1962, Nha Trang (VIET)

> resides now in Henderson, Nevada (USA) with his wife Julie and 5 kids.

> Nickname : ‘ The Train ‘ or ‘ The Prince of Poker ‘

> was the WSOP Main Event World Champion winner in 1998

> won 4 other Bracelets (’97 Omaha 8 or better, ‘01 Pot Limit Omaha, ‘01 Omaha Hi-Lo split 8 or better, ‘08 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship)

> won 1 WPT-title (’06 Gold Strike) after defeating Michael Mizrachi.

> likes his favourite hand Jack of Diamonds and Nine of Clubs.

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $ 11,270,000 (until 2009)

Scotty came to America with his family at the age of 14 before being expelled from school for spending too much time in underground poker games. He became a dealer at Harrah’s and played Stud with his earnings, but lost too much. That all changed in 1985 when his luck turned and he gambled his bankroll up to $ 1 million. But when he also gambled too much on marijuana, cocaine and alcohol, he soon lost his million again. Finally he made his way into the 1998 WSOP Main Event due to financial support from Mike Matusow and as you all know Scotty won it:). Mike got his share. Sadfully the day after his win, Scotty lost his brother who died in Vietnam, so you’ll never see Scotty with that Bracelet on, out of respect for his brother. Scotty is famous for playing with emotion and a lot of talking, most of the time using his stopwords ‘baby‘ or ‘yeah baby‘ and the famous sentences ” That’s poker baby ” and ” You call, it’s gonna be all over baby ” (during his last hand heads-up at the 1998 WSOP Main Event). Scotty consideres himself more as a tournament player, which he enjoys more than the strict and serious cash games. He’s definately one of the most colourful and charasmatic characters in the circuit wearing a lot of diamonds and juwels with his sporting outfit. Scotty had a not so pleasant win at the WSOP H.O.R.S.E. WC in 2008 because of his rule-breaking behaviour with swearing and scolding at others at the table due to alcohol. He excused many times afterwards and stated that he’ll never drink again during a tournament. Later in 2009 Scotty won the inaugural LA Poker Classic $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. WC at the Commerce which proved once more his reputation as one of the greatest masters of all variations of fixed limit poker.

(08)   =>   HOWARD   LEDERER

> Howard Henry Lederer

> born 30/10/1964 in Concord, New Hampshire (USA)

> currently resides in Las Vegas with wife Suzie and son Mattias.

> brother of famous poker pro Annie Duke

> Nickname : ‘ The Professor ‘

> was 5th in the 1987 WSOP Main Event

> won 2 Bracelets (’00 Limit Omaha  Hi-Lo/ ‘01 2-7 Draw)

> won 2 WPT-titles (’02 Foxwoods, ‘03 Party Poker M.)

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a member of Team Full Tilt.

> has Live Tournament Earnings of almost $ 5,600,000 (until 2009)

Howard was a young chess talent, playing at high school and at Columbia University before he discovered the magical game of poker and he joined the famous Mayfair Club later on, where others like Erik Seidel and Dan Harrington were regulars. Howard is very famous for his analytical style at the table, for his long history of wins and for his instructional poker books, videos and camps. Combine that with his symbolic suits he wears and he’s correctly the one and only ‘ Professor ‘. Howard also has some other roles in the poker community besides playing and teaching. He’s the co-host for Poker Superstars and Learn from the Pros and he’s one of the founders and CEOs of ‘ Tiltware Inc. ‘, who are the owners and creators of Full Tilt Poker, along with Ray Bitar. Howard is a vegan and hod obese for much of his life, so he had a gastric bypass surgery to lose weight. He once won a $10,000 prop bet from David Grey for eating a cheeseburger. Of course, Mr. Lederer is a superb tournament and cash game player. He won AUD 1.25 million by winning the $100,000 NL Hold’em Challenge at the 2008 Aussie Millions, being the world’s most expensive tourney buy-in ever. He also won 3 Poker After Dark titles and was the first WPT Player of the Season. He has been a regular in the biggest high stakes cash games for more than 10 years, which is quite exceptional. He’s wildly considered by his peers as one of the best NL Hold’em players.

Finally, we’ve started with the magical and divine top-Ten out of my Most Famous Poker Players list. Let me know I’ve you agree! I hope to see you again next time when I present to you the number 7 and 6.

Cheers,

J.M.

Hi tournament lovers !

Today I’m going to show you a complete summary about the Spring Championship of Online Poker 2010 that I played on PokerStars. I played in 5 events in total, each time at the low limits as my bankroll isn’t ready yet for bigger buy-ins. I had won 5 tickets to play at these SCOOP Events by winning them at the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker earlier this year as you’ve read before. I had different tickets: one of $33, two of $22, one of $16.50 and one of $11. So I really couldn’t choice which event I played and I had to look at the buy-in.

So the first event I’ve played was Event (L-2)  $22 No Limit Hold’em. I was a little bit unsure at the beginning of the tournament because everybody started very deep stacked with a starting stack of 10000 and blinds at 25/50. After some unlucky beats (full boat over full boat e.g.) , I was very quick down to 10 BB. But I managed to hang in there by some winning all-ins with  QQ or 77, both pairs that I got a lot that day. So when more than half of the field was out and we were closer to the money I got a feeling that I had a shot for cashing. I still got around 10 BB like the hole tournament long so I couldn’t maintain a winning streak and had only one move, to shove when I got a hand. So I did with Ace-Queen suited in the cut off and I got called by pocket Eights. I lost the race and I went out in 7469th place out of 26200 entrants.

My second Event was the SCOOP (L-8)  $11 NLHE with 18353 entrants.  I played very good, playing smallball poker and I got some good hands and sexy rivers at the right times, combined with well-timed agression and bluffed at the right moments. I build a good stack and was at one time in the top-100 which was nice for such big tournament. But this Event started very late and after more than 6 hours of playing  the sun already came up. I was extremely tired and I couldn’t get any hand so I blinded away in the money. So I decided to play very agressive and shove with any pair or big Ace. So I did with my Eights but got called by Nines and I couldn’t suckout. I should have really went to sleep in stead of playing like that and just sit-out and see te next morning how far I came. Oh well, it was an experience. I went out in 683th place with $50.25 in the bag. those Events are not well-timed for the European players and it’s really not fair!!!

The next stop was at Event (L-15) $16.50 NLHE with 11206 players. I just had a successful poker evening with friends behind me so I was ready to gamble. I called a raise with QT of Spades and I flopped a monster with an open ended straight flush draw. The guy had flopped top set so he called my reraise-shove and I wasn’t lucky because I missed my monsterdraw and went out in 9111th place. The following Event was (L-20) $22 NLHE again with this time 21481 entrants. I was card dead for a long time and I couldn’t get any action when I got a hand or I flopped something finally. It was really frustrating for me and I couldn’t build a stack and was constantly on a rollercoaster with my stack.  Than I woke up with Jacks and my raise got repopped by the big stack bully and I shoved with my Jacks, being absolutely sure I had the best hand against his loose character. He called with pocket Sixes and I laughed out loud when the flop came 9-6-6. Well, I guess that’s poker, baby ! I went out with nothing in 14.3l75th place.

My last ticket was the biggest one that I spend in Event (L-29) $33 8-Game with 3138 entrants. I really love this 8-Game. the second time I played it after I also cashed in the WBCOOP with this game of poker so I was confident going in. So there are 8 different games of poker as you hear in the name: start with  Limit Triple Draw 2-7, than Limit Hold’em, Limit Omaha H/L, Limit Razz, Limit Stud, Limit Stud H/L, NL Hold’em and Pot Limit Omaha and back to the first one. The key is to play your best games strong + active and lay low at your weaker games and only draw to the nuts. So I did successfully and worked myself into the money again. I was busted out in the Triple Draw 2-7 where I was unlucky to draw an Ace at the end when I held 3-4-5-7 . But well, I really love the variation in this game and of course my $48.95 earnings for finishing in 411th place.

So this SCOOP 2010 have been quite good for me as I earned around $100 with my two cashes combined and I didn’t bought any buy-in myself. I’ve also got more big stack tournaments experience now which can only be good for the future. Next time I’ll present you the numbers 10,9 and 8 of my Most Famous Poker Players top-100 list. There are two more grown-up men and one guy nominated as one of the top-10 hottest guys on earth ! See you than, especially all the ladies out there !

Cheers,

J.M.

Hi there !

I’ve played two events at the Spring Championship of Online Poker (SCOOP) for the moment, with some different success and results. First I’ve played the 2nd event No Limit Hold’em at the Low Limits where I went out in 7469th place just before the money by a horrible beat. My second event was Tuesday night where I’ve played in Event 8, NLHE at the Low Limit again. I was more successful there because I cashed in 683th place out of 18.353 entrants. I earned around $50 after more than seven hours of playing where I was as tired as hell. You could say that the Events are more a benefit for the American players.

Oh well, I’ll report extensively about the SCOOP and the Events I’ve played in my next post. But for now let’s join the next two players in my list before we reach the magical Top Ten. We could say that these two are for sure two of the most hottest online players for the moment and fearless High Stakes Cash Game rockets. Here they are…

(12)   =>   TOM   DWAN

> Thomas Dwan

> born 30/07/1986 in Edison, New Jersey (USA)

> Nickname : ‘ durrrr ‘

> is an online poker phenom

> finished 12th at the EPT Main Event London, which was his first live tournament

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a member of Team Full Tilt.

> won around $1,150,000 in Live Tournament Play (until 2009)

Tom attended Boston University as an engineering major before quitting school to play poker full-time. He’s wildly considered as one of the most dangerous and best high stakes cash game players in the world. His No Limit Hold Em and Pot Limit Omaha game is fearless, renovated and successful. His tournament results are still away, despite his only final table at the World Poker Tour. He appeared on different seasons of Poker After Dark, Million Dollar Cash Game and High Stakes Poker. He started his online poker career at Paradise Poker with $50 which he’ve turned in a online bankroll around $5 million which makes him one of the best online high stakes cash game player out there. Mr. Dwan has constantly huge swings with his online bankroll after frequently sick challenges with Antonius, Ivey, Brian Townsend, Ilari ‘ Zigmund ‘ Sahamies and others. But Durrrr still manages to recover his losses which proves he’s one of the best online guns. Tom holds the record for winning the largest pot ever in a recorded live game at over $1,100,000. It was televised during the 4th season of Full Tilt Poker’s Million Dollar Cash Game. Tom is also the creator of the Durrrr Challenge where anybody can play him for $ 1 million during 50,000 hands on NLHE or PLO. Phil Ivey and Patrik Antonius have already accepted the offer.

(11)   =>   PATRIK   ANTONIUS

> born 13/12/1980, Helsinki (FIN)

> currently resides in Monte Carlo (FRA).

> married to Maya Geller and has one child.

> Nickname : ‘ Black Lotus ‘ or ‘ The Fin ‘

> won EPT Baden in 2005.

> won 1 Poker After Dark title

> plays online at Full Tilt Poker as a member of Team Full Tilt

> has Live Tournament Winnings of over $2,850,000 (until 2009)

Patrik is a former tennis player/coach and he’s a model. He began his poker career as a good tournament player with his European Poker Tour win and final tables at WSOP, WPT and EPT. He was also mentored by Jennifer Harman and Marcel Luske in the beginning of his career. He’s well-known as one of the best and fearless online rockets with most of his winnings at the highest cash games. He’s a heads-up specialist, is the first contestant in Durrrr’s Challenge and has already won millions of Dollars online. In November 2009, Patrik won the biggest pot in the online poker history against Isildur1, a cool $1,356,946. Besides online play, Patrik is a successful and fearless live cash game player, being a regular in the Big Game at the Bellagio. He made successful appearances in different seasons of GSN’s High Stakes Poker, including one of the show’s largest pots ever between him and Sammy Farha for a cool $ 998,800 in the pot from which Patrik won 3/4. Patrik is famous for his ice cold poker face and his prop bets at the table. I can say with proud that Mister Antonius is one of my favourite players as well for his play, making monster calls with small hands or making well-timed blufs, as for his beautiful wife.

Well, those two are pretty close to the Magical Top Ten, don’t they? Maybe they will climb in the list when I make it the second time because they are both running extremy hot for the moment. I see you next time for an update on my SCOOP before we move on with the top-10 of my Most Famous Poker Players list. Keep it Smallball guys !

Cheers

J.M.

Hi there poker world !

Today I ‘ll inform you a little bit about the upcoming Spring Championship  of Online Poker for 2010 at PokerStars. Yours truly is of course in as well. You may remember that I’ve won 4 tournament tickets to play during the SCOOP 2010. I’ve won those during the WBCOOP earlier this year, as you could see at my site. I’ve a $11, $16.50, $22 and $ 33 tournament ticket so I can play at different stakes and levels. Hopefully I can cash at least once which will be a big benefit for my bankroll. Ok, I see you thinking. Of course I should say that I can WIN one, but my luck during coin flips at PokerStars hasn’t been of the highest calibre. Anyway I’m sticking to my smallball poker game plan! We’ll see…

Here are some facts and stats about the upcoming SCOOP, starting at May 2 and ending with the Main Event at May 16 :There is a total Guarenteed Prize Pool of $45,000,000 between the 38 Events. The lowest buy-in is $11 and the highest buy-in is $10,300.

This serie of tournaments is composed of many different poker variants, such as Hold’em, Omaha and Stud, and there are also the mixed games such as Horse and 8-Game. An other good thing about the SCOOP is definately the fact that every event have three different buy-in levels: Low, Medium and High. So really anyone can experience this event and maybe become a SCOOP-champion.

One event I’ll probably play is the 8-game. I’ve only played it once before at the WBCOOP and I immediately cashed. What a miracle it was because I didn’t even know than how every game should be played ! Maybe it’s perfect for me and it was a lot of fun also. There exists also a mix form, as they’ll never stop inventing new games. How can we learn a game for god sakes?!? The first time I’ve heard this 8 game Mix I didn’t think it had something to do with poker but this is How to play 8 Game Mix !

Hopefully I’ll see you at the SCOOP tables and beat your Aces !! I’ll report about my results and experiences during the SCOOP between the last names of my Most Famous Poker Player top-100.

Cheers,

J.M.