Poker Review

Annie Duke Uses Poker During

Friday the 13th is going to be lucky someone as that’s the day the PartyPoker.com European Open V will come to its climax and one player will be $200,000 richer.

The PartyPoker.com European Open V gets underway in London on Friday, 6th February with a total prize pool of a not too shabby at all $504,000 up for grabs.

Among the players to look out for in the famous 72-runner $7,000 buy-in event include PartyPoker.com Premier League III stars Annette Obrestad, Roland de Wolfe, Vicky Coren and Juha Helppi, plus Poker Million finalists Ciaran O’Leary, Eoghan O’Dea and Liam Flood.

Others names signed up to play include Austin Healey, Ian Frazer, Surinder Sunar, Barny Boatman, James Akenhead, Padraig Parkinson, Julian Thew, Donnacha O’Dea, May Maceiras, Marc Goodwin, Thomas Bihl, Robin Keston, Neil Channing, Roberto Romanello and UK Open champion Michael Keiner.

The tournament features 12 six-seat heats and two six-seat turbo runner-up heats. There will be two seven-seat semi finals and one six-seat final. The top three players in each semi take their chip stacks through to the final.

By Nick Tebbutt

With a cool $1 million prize pool up for grabs, we always expected our new Monthly Million tournament to be as exciting as anything we’ve seen at PartyPoker.com. Happily, the action on Sunday, 1st February didn’t disappoint.

The cashing places were dominated by a strong European contingent. As ever, the German players exerted their strength at the tables, with their highest-ranked player finishing in 14th place to take home $6,400, but as the players were whittled down to the final table it looked like being a UK-based player who’d take the glory – and the cash – as three Brits made it to the final 10.

It just wasn’t to be, however. Despite a strong effort from third-placed Ninja232 and fifth-placed Lol1985, the big money was split between France’s Popeye7111 and The Netherlands’ mbalzack in a $302,500 deal made after a hard-fought heads-up contest in which neither player could win a decisive pot.

Here’s how the top five broke down:

1. Popeye7111 (France): $155,000    
2. mbalzack (Netherlands): $147,500       
3. Ninja232 (UK): $68,000 
4. IC2UrSoul (Finland): $53,000    
5. Lol1985 (UK): $43,000 

Well done to the winners. We hope next month’s tournament will be as thrilling: get ready to book your seat for the next Monthly Million on Sunday, 1st March.

The Asian Poker Tour Philippines has a new champion – and it’s local boy Neil Arce who’s the poker king of the islands. Arce, 25, conquered a field of 262 runners representing over 40 countries to scoop the first prize of $180,000. The runner-up was Steve ‘joonhee’ Yea from South Korea who also finished second at the 2008 Asian Poker Tour Macau in August 2008.

‘This is just great,’ said Arce, who is a well known figure on the Filipino poker circuit through running the Metro Card Club in Manila. ‘I always felt it would come down to me and Steve. For me, the key to winning the tournament was position. I was so lucky that Steve was sat on my right – if he was on my left it would have been a completely different final table. I played with Steve all day yesterday when he was on a charge and kept out of his way. I knew that to get anywhere at the final table I had to keep applying pressure and my game plan worked perfectly.’

Arce had been chip leader after Day 1A and had even guaranteed Asian Poker Tour CEO Chris Parker before the event got underway that he would emerge victorious in the tournament. He was third in chips at the final table and faced some formidable opponents including the impressive Yea and internationally respected professionals Liz Lieu and Asian Poker Tour Macau 2008 finalist Kasey Castle.

The key hand came just after the talkative Arce had taken the chip lead from Yea. He showed willingness over a series of hands to up the pre-flop aggression. On the final hand, he made what had become a standard open for him of 100,000. Steve Yea re-raised to 300,000. Arce moved all in and Yea called in a shot. Arce held Ks-Qs with Yea Ad-Kh, leaving Arce as 3-1 underdog. The flop came 4s-6c-7h and Yea was two cards away from a massive double up. When Qh came on the turn the partisan crowd exploded. The river came 6h which was of no use to Yea and the 2009 Asian Poker Tour Philippines had itself a very popular champion.

After two consecutive Asian Poker Tour runner-up spots and a dominating performance over the last few days Yea could only say, ‘Next time I will do it.’

First out on the nine seat final table was Kim Tae Hyung from South Korea, followed by Finland’s Vesa Leikos. Glamorous US pro Lieu went seventh, followed by fellow American Ron Kluber and Japan’s Susumu Toge. Cicurel Didiwe from the Seychelles finished fourth and US pro Castle in third. When it got heads-up Yea held the chip lead with 1,572,000 to Arce’s 1,048,000. Notable cashes in the event include 12th place for Nam Le and 13th place for fellow member of The Poker Pack Steve Sung.

Parker said, ‘There were some tired eyes after the FHM party the night before but the atmosphere around the final table was buzzing. Neil’s win is fantastic for poker in the Philippines – we hope that it strengthens the appeal of the game even further.’

By Jeremy Coleman
 
Talking with the five remaining PartyPoker.com players this morning, all were relaxed, comfortable and looking forward to this key day in the main event. Today the tournament will play down from the current 69 players to the final table of just nine. However, with the top 27 players cashing there was much to play for.
 
For low stacked players like Fedor Matviv and Daniel Haglund, they knew they had to make a move this morning; with the blinds at 600/1,200 with a 200 ante it was getting very expensive to just sit and watch the action.
 
It did not take long for the first player to hit the rail. I saw three guys leave their tables within the first few minutes but luckily none of them were part of our team.
 
One of the big surprises was the early departure of David ‘Chino’ Reem. He raised a pot in late position but was called by Norihito in the big blind who then check raised a 5-4-A flop containing a club up to 6,100. The turn and river brought two more clubs and although Chino pushed all in, Suzuki had Ac-8c for the nuts flush. 
 
The first Partypoker.com player to hit the rail was Daniel who did well to last over an hour. Obviously loving his Manila experience, Daniel immediately signed up for the Pot Limit Omaha side event.
 
Tim Kaufman built his stack up nicely but then got tangled in a nasty pot with Susumu Toge. On a board reading 7-5-J-6-5 featuring three hearts and two spades Toge moved all in. This caused Tim to sit for a long time as he considered making the call, thus putting his tournament life at stake. Eventually he folded and asked to see Tog’s hand. Toge refused and did not reveal even one card. Tim shrugged and mumbled, ‘So sick’ as I gave him an encouraging smile. Although he managed to build his stack up again he crashed out an hour later.
 
Fedor was keeping his short stack in the game far longer than anyone could have imagined but he also hit the rail when facing a pair of kings. With Fedor holding only a marginal hand he needed a miracle. The dealer took forever and there was no happy ending: Fedor was quickly moving in the direction of the bar for a cold San Miguel.
 
John O’Shea was on a huge poker rollercoaster, even moving into the chip lead at one stage with 190,000 chips. During a 15-minute break I asked him if he was going to slow down now and just make sure he cashes. John, though, only has one style of playing and that is to be hyper aggressive; eventually it cost him dearly. Three big hands brought him crashing down to earth and he was shipping chips like crazy. He finally came unstuck when his jacks faced queens. One minute I was expecting him to be the APT champion, the next he was out.
 
On the other side of the tournament room the friendly PartyPoker.com Sit & Go started at 4pm with nine of the PartyPoker.com players joining me for a friendly 2,000 peso (approx $25) game. There was much laughter at this table and we had a few railbirds enjoying the less than serious action. Miika from Finland was dominating the table in the early stages and knocked out three players as he sat in front of about 40 per cent of the chips. Slowly, the other players started fighting back and Miika lost big hands against me and Stuart before Julian sent him to the rail, accompanied by a friendly cheer.
 
One player who was still doing well in the main event was Erik Backlund who doubled up against Nam Le at one stage by rivering an ace high straight to beat Nam’s set of 10s. At this stage Erik was on about 47,000 chips and looking good to creep into the money.
 
Friend of PartyPoker.com Eddie Hearn from Matchroom Sport was still in a good position and keeping a good stack of chips in front of him as he kept his table amused with his banter. Eddie was proudly wearing his PartyPoker.com badges so I had my fingers crossed he would get to the final table.
 
Play was slowing down now and we were stuck on 28 players for a long time as no one wanted to be the bubble boy. Eventually the bubble burst and Erik had made the money.

Party time

Back at the PartyPoker Sit and go we reached our final three players. Jason from England, Julian from Argentina and I were in the money. However, we all had one eye on the clock as the FHM Asia party would be starting soon and no one wanted to miss that. Once Jason hit the rail Julian and I played heads up for a while with the chip lead changing almost every hand. Eventually, we split the cash. In the interest of pride and bragging rights though we had a look at our final hands, Julian flipped over Q-2 while I had Q-9. With a nine and a queen coming on the board my two pair won and we all rushed off to the party.
 
I stopped by Erik’s table to see him leave in 25th place and collect $6,000 for his tournament. Erik’s A-Q was up against the K-J of Vicente Pena but a jack and a king on the flop sent Erik to rail and he rushed straight upstairs to join us at the FHM extravaganza. Daniel Haglund also had a smile on his face, having cashed for 30,600 pesos in the Pot Limit Omaha side event.
 
The FHM party by the pool was very exotic. With beautiful models everywhere and free food and drink, it was a great way for the players to unwind after a week of intensive poker action.

Eddie was still in the main event but came and had a drink with us during the dinner break. I promised to come and watch him shortly but was slightly distracted for a while due to the fun going on around me. As I entered the tournament room an hour later I saw Eddie walking towards me. ‘Sixteenth,’ he said. I think he was a little relived as he wanted to get back to the party, plus he had an early flight in the morning.
 
A short while later we had our final table:
 
Seat 1: Ron Kluber (USA) 310,000
Seat 2: Cicurel Didiwe (Switzerland) 182,000
Seat 3: Steven Yea (Korea) 754,000
Seat 4: Vesa Leikos (Finland) 94,000
Seat 5: Neil Arce (Philippines) 377,000
Seat 6: Kim Tae Hyung (Korea) 168,000
Seat 7: Susumu Toge (Japan) 102,000
Seat 8: Liz Lieu (USA) 144,000
Seat 9: Casey Kastle (Slovenia) 503,000

Alas, no PartyPoker.com players but a final table that promises plenty of excitement in revealing the new champ.

By Jeremy Coleman

PartyPoker.com’s remaining 14 players were in the spotlight on Day 1B, aiming to join Swedes Daniel Haglund and Erik Backlund who had made it through from the opening day’s play.

Our 14 were part of 182 players who sat down on Day 1B, making a total of 262 competitors for the event and generating a prize pool of $635,000 – less than expected but still a significant amount. More importantly, the players knew they had to place in the top 27 to get paid, with first prize earning an impressive $185,000.

The day did not start smoothly. Last-minute arrival Michael Kwiatkowski from Germany only arrived in Manila at 10am and with play starting at midday he was a little shell shocked after such a long flight and no time to relax. Unfortunately, he only lasted about two hours before busting out. However, he was still smiling and was last seen heading to the cash tables.

Looking around the tournament room there were some interesting tables. Arnold Meirik was sat next to David ‘Chino’ Reem, obviously delighted to be sat next to one of his poker heroes. Irishman John O’Shea was on the same table as last year’s winner David Saab, vocal as ever. John is not shy to speak out at the table either and was certainly giving as good as he got. One female player told me she felt like she was in the middle of a war zone.

The pace was frenetic with players hitting the rail with alarming speed. Alberto Kanaan, our local qualifier from the Philippines, had his tournament cut short after about three hours while Bjoern Weisler from Germany and Mikka Puumalanen from Finland did not last much longer. Such was the excellent team spirit among Team PartyPoker.com that when the guys were busting out they immediately became supporters and watched their colleagues who were still in.

With so many players, it was hard to keep up with some of the big hands. Tim Kaufman from Germany was a player who was not afraid to get involved in big pots, and was winning more than he was losing: at one point his stack was down to only 6,000 chips but he soon got that back up to more than 40,000 with some clever and aggressive play.

Quiet and brooding Peter Sevastopoulos from Australia went out when on the small blind he looked down at pocket queens. A player in early position made a small raise to 1,200 chips and the action folded to Peter who re-raised to 4,700. The original raiser pushed all in and Peter quickly called and showed his queens. The raiser flipped over A-10 off suit and we had a race. The flop came down A-A-9 and Peter was suddenly in a lot of trouble as his opponent flopped a set of aces. The turn brought a 9 and full house leaving Peter drawing dead. As a big tennis fan I think he went straight back to his room to catch with the Australian Open.

Russian Fedor Matviv and his friend were determined to make the most of their time in the Philippines, arriving at the tournament room this morning with major sunburn after having spent the past two days on a beach on Cebu island. I felt sore just looking at Fedor and he did not look comfortable in his chair. Credit to him, though, as he managed to spend the entire day hovering around the average chip amount.

Recent Irish Poker Championship winner Rory Rees Brennan may have been a little late getting to the tournament this morning but he soon got into the swing of things. Rory, who plays mostly hi stakes Pot Limit Omaha online, is in good tournament form but got tangled up in a nasty hand that wiped him out. Still, he had the Pot Limit Omaha side event to look forward to and I reckon he should do well in that.

Eva Lang, our only female player this week, always seemed to be shaking her head whenever I walked past her table. Spying her lack of chips I could see the reason; Eva never had a playable hand for almost two hours and found herself struggling for survival all afternoon. She may not have lasted very long in this main event but Eva has been a great character and had a lot of fun this week.

Two players who managed to build up impressive looking chip stacks were Andrew Teng from England and Dominik Renner from Germany. With only 45 minutes to go until play stopped for the day, I was praying both would survive but sadly both will not need an alarm call for Day 2, both of them hitting the rail trying to build their stacks.

Throughout the day there was a buzz going around the room as talk spread of a $100,000 tournament challenge. Team Korea would be taking on Team Japan; five players on each side with the winning team splitting the cash. The action was scheduled to start at midnight and should be a loud affair as these guys love to play loose aggressive poker and take plenty of risks.

With Day 1B at close, we now know 69 players will contest Day 2. PartyPoker.com has five players who will be involved with John O’Shea the highest placed of our group with 70,800 chips.

Before Day 2 starts, here are some of the highlights of the chip count:
1st Steve Yea (Korea) 122,700
4th David Saab (Australia) 84,800
8th Nam Le (USA) 75,800
9th John O’Shea (Ireland) 70,800*
15th David “Chino” Reem (USA) 55,400
23rd Liz Lieu (USA) 44,300
27th Tim Kaufman (Germany) 40,200*
50th Erik Backlund (Sweden) 21,200*
60th Daniel Haglund (Sweden)  13,300*
64th Fedor Matviv (Russia) 11,300*

* Indicates PartyPoker.com player

Catch you for more updates soon.

By Nick Tebbutt

With a cool $1 million prize pool up for grabs, we always expected our new Monthly Million tournament to be as exciting as anything we’ve seen at PartyPoker.com. Happily, the action on Sunday, 1st February didn’t disappoint.

The cashing places were dominated by a strong European contingent. As ever, the German players exerted their strength at the tables, with their highest-ranked player finishing in 14th place to take home $6,400, but as the players were whittled down to the final table it looked like being a UK-based player who’d take the glory – and the cash – as three Brits made it to the final 10.

It just wasn’t to be, however. Despite a strong effort from third-placed Ninja232 and fifth-placed Lol1985, the big money was split between France’s Popeye7111 and The Netherlands’ mbalzack in a $302,500 deal made after a hard-fought heads-up contest in which neither player could win a decisive pot.

Here’s how the top five broke down:

1. Popeye7111 (France): $155,000    
2. mbalzack (Netherlands): $147,500       
3. Ninja232 (UK): $68,000 
4. IC2UrSoul (Finland): $53,000    
5. Lol1985 (UK): $43,000 

Well done to the winners. We hope next month’s tournament will be as thrilling: get ready to book your seat for the main event on Sunday, 1st March.