To enter, upload your video on Youtube and tweet the link mentioning @junglemandan and @partypoker. Tweet this: I entered @junglemandan WSOP Challenge @partypoker to win a free WSOP Main Event package. See: YOUR YOUTUBE LINK

I will pick my favourite videos and allow you guys to vote on the one that gets the package. Person that wins will get a free seat to the WSOP Main Event, free air travel and a free room at the Rio. I will also throw in a poker lesson.

This must be your first WSOP Main Event and you will be responsible for your own travel and accommodation (I will refund these costs). You have until 20th June to submit your videos.

I’m looking forward to the WSOP. My life has changed immeasurably in recent years and there is always mad stuff going on in the poker world. That said, I will never forget when I was playing low stakes in college and I don’t take for granted any success I have had. I want to give something back to those who are just falling in love with the game or haven’t had the opportunities I am lucky to have had.

So here we go. I want to see your videos of good deeds – winner gets a WSOP Main Event package – here are the full rules:

1. To enter tweet your Youtube video link mentioning @junglemandan and @partypoker
2. You must not have played in any WSOP $10,000 Main Event in a previous year
3. Open to participants over the age of 21 only
4. You may enter as many times as you like
5. Any entries submitted after 20th June will be deemed invalid
6. Seat is non-transferable, prize is non-transferable
7. You are responsible for your own transportation and accommodation in Las Vegas (I’ll refund the flight and room though)
8. You will be contacted immediately if you have won

If you’re on the poker road as much as the likes of Jesse May then you’ll undoubtedly know that ‘Mad’ Marvin Rettenmaier is one of the most popular European circuit pros out there. The best part is he’s also the latest player to join the Team PartyPoker.com roster after making his debut at the WPT World Championship at Bellagio in Las Vegas at the weekend.

$1.7 million in live tournament winnings

25-year-old Marvin is one of the most popular professional players on the circuit and has over $1.7 million in live tournament winnings. Originally born in Stuttgart, Germany, the Management and Business Law graduate now lives in London with his biggest score being winning the France Poker Series event in Paris in February 2011. A keen musician, Marvin always flies with his guitar and has a large following, nearly as large as the famous spoof Marvin on twitter @fmlmarvin.

“I am pleased to join Team PartyPoker.com,” said Marvin. “It feels like a natural move for me and I am looking forward to representing them in WPT events and beyond.”

Marvin joins fellow German Bodo Sbrzesny in Team PartyPoker.com and his fellow team mates have welcomed him with open arms.

TonyG’s new son?

Tony G said. “ It is great to have Marvin on board, I have always said he is a player of true character. He has the Germanic mathematical game and he has heart, he is winning, he gets drunk, he loses his passport – he is also running good. He needs my guiding hand. If anybody other than my son John Eames was to get a deal it would have to be Mad Marvin.”

Kara Scotts singing partner

Kara Scott said:” I’m so stoked to welcome Marvin to Team PartyPoker.com. He’s a seriously talented poker player which makes his addition no surprise at all. On top of that though, he’s a friend and one of the most fun people to hang out with on the poker circuit. I’m looking forward to many more nights of karaoke, Mad Marvin style! “

Mike Sexton on character

Mike Sexton said: “Poker needs characters and Marvin is certainly one of those. I think he’ll be an asset and I am delighted that he has joined the team.”

First Up WPT World Championship

Marvin is currently playing day two of the WPT World Championship at Bellagio. To discover if he is on song read WPT Live Updates Marvin can be found on twitter @MadMarvin.

Another great weekend in Minsk – the games in Belarus are out of this world. I am making serious progress in getting myself in a nice  position to enter the One Drop at the WSOP – I also think I have some other players who are keen to enter.

Tony Resort Time!

The games are so good in Belarus that I have even agreed to fly all the players from the game to Tony Resort for some good old fashioned hospitality. When you are winning a game and the game is so good you cannot just walk away with all the profits (eg. Patrik Antonius in Australia) – you have to keep the game going, the stakes could get even higher and the profits even bigger. Yes, I know, the losses could get bigger too but I’m running like a g train at the moment. People talk about the ecology of an online poker room – the ecology of a big cash game is something hard to ignore when you know it is spot on.

Those Buddhists in South Korea

The only game in the world that was potentially better than Minsk was that one with the Buddhists in South Korea. I have seen the publicity around this in the last week or so – drinking and smoking monks. Am I the only one who wondered if Andy “Mad Monk” Black was there? Where’s the Devilfish – where’s the Monkfish?

I’m making a mint!

I have a commitment to go to the US at the end of the week for the WPT World Championship at the Bellagio, which starts on Saturday, and the $100k Super High Roller so I will drag myself away from making a mint in Minsk and I know that the other players will understand. I still haven’t won a WPT and to win the biggest event of the year in Vegas would see all my dreams come true. There’s also the $100k Super High Roller. All of this is going to be televised more than ever before and I think it is good to go over there and put on a show. I want to talk about whether a certain player is going to be there but they remain nameless as I am frightened of scaring them away. Alright honey?

They are QUALIFIED!

I also have word that my good sponsors PartyPoker.com have agreed to sponsor a new player and they will be taking part in the event at Bellagio – this is great for poker as of late as we have seen movements away from player sponsorship and I have to say I am impressed by their choice. I was on the selection committee as a guiding hand, of course – nobody could qualify for Team PartyPoker.com without my consent. All I say now is if you can afford a new pro Party then I better be getting my company chequebook I have been asking to have for over two years! Who is it? You’ll just have to wait and see – they deserve a big warm welcome! One other clue – they are QUALIFIED!

Phil Hellmuth it aint!

I can tell you who it will not be though: it is not Phil Hellmuth, he’s only qualified to be my dog walker! Please note he isn’t qualified enough to walk Zasko though – the muzzle to protect the brat from the guardian of my empire could never be big and strong enough.

Our good friend Josef Rantamäki over at PokerBlog decided here in a guest post that it was high time he told us just who we he thought were the Top 5 High Stakes Poker Players:

1) Phil Ivey:

Now granted his legacy, of late, has been tarnished with his sabbatical from the scene.  Some wonder if his gambling so high like he had a bottomless pit of money behind him finally caught up to him.  Let’s not forget, one thing that hasn’t changed is the fact he’s still Phil Ivey.  It’s true, stories of epic craps rolls by Ivy have gone the way of the dingo and now sightings of the great one is instant news, but… he’s still Phil Ivey.

The naysayers may ask these last couple of years, if he’s so great where’s he been, and why hasn’t he still been dominating? That’s silliness or contrived retrospective analysis, and perhaps ignorance of everything Ivey has gone through. Not just the upheaval in the industry but personal conflicts. Embroiled in a still simmering divorce, Ivey’s been distracted, that will change soon enough. His peers almost universally named him as the best, and in a game where it’s so difficult to separate yourself he makes that separation look easy.

He’s earned his accolades it by being the best in the world. The face of the glory years of poker will always be Phil Ivey.  He won live, he won online, he won tournaments, and he won cash games basically excelling in every aspect of the new world of poker.

2) Tom Dwan:

The Durrrr Challenge, his internet fan boys, and his savvy, contemplative, aggressive, fearless style of play consumed the poker media recently. Touted as an amalgam of past greats, Dwan in a short time elevated himself to their equal. He is unflappable. Granted as a tournament player, arguably hundreds are better, but as a high stakes cash game player he rarely leaves a loser.  He might get an escort out of Macau if he keeps winning multi-million dollar pots there.

The Moneymaker effect transformed online poker and Dwan perhaps more than anybody else rose up through this new form of poker to dominate as no one had before him.  If Ivey is the face of the era, Dwan is a close second.

3) Isildur1:

Viktor Blom rose to prominence as a screen name: Isildur1.  He destroyed players in a meteoric rise that transfixed the world. “Who is Isildur1?” was the question every poker fan, writer, and player was asking at the end of this era. When Viktor Blom admitted, as many people suspected, he was the mysterious high stakes player capable of punting new found millions as easily as he earned them, not many were surprised, but legions of fans now had a face to root for.

Blom’s placement on this list, is likely the most debatable, as his accomplishments pale compared to the other four. What can’t be questioned is the fact he is living proof of the meritocracy of online poker, and talent having a short wait for success during poker’s heyday.

4) Patrik Antonius:

The Finnish professional poker player started to make news with results in 2005 and continued to be a star all the way through 2011. He battled Tom Dwan in a high stakes online challenge that never completed but transfixed observers. Antonius, like Ivey, played almost as competently in the nosebleed cash games, be it live, or online as he did in tournaments.

He has the good fortune and misfortune to be a part of some of the biggest pots of all time. Winning or losing his ever stoic face never changes

5) Erik Seidel:

The only player on this list to not been a part of, or express an interest in being a part of a huge online poker heads up challenge.   His loss to Johnny Chan in the Main Event was immortalized in the movie Rounders but since then, it’s been him and not Chan that has dominated High Stakes Poker tournaments.

Seidel’s run of success in recent years has him sitting atop the all time money winners list.  He also is just a few bracelets shy of Phil Hellmuth’s record 11.  Seidel, no matter the stakes, wins.  He has a track record of excellence that is second to none.

6+:  Jason Mercier, Daniel Negreanu, Phil Hellmuth, John Juada, Gus Hansen, Bertrand Grospellier, Jonathan Duhamel, Michael Mizrachi…  All great players, but not quite great enough for this list. For more on high stakes players and high stakes news head on over to PokerBlog.

We’re not exactly sure how the hospital managed to separate twins Freddy Deeb and Danny DeVito at birth but somehow or other it happened. If things ever go south for either at least they have the back-up plan of suing the hospital for millions for such an egregious error.

Poker pro John Eames and professional panda trainer Tony G fall more onto the father-son side of the separated at birth phenomenon, with Eames plying the poker tables for his fame and fortune while Tony G wrangles pandas and continues his search for the perfect personal assistant.

Sadly we don’t know the identity of the Phil Hellmuth twin on the right, piloting a giant hot dog at sea, but it apparently isn’t the Poker Brat despite the eerie resemblance and the love of hot-dogging that they share.

Jamie Gold: very lucky, rich, and loves to bluff

Stephen Colbert: very lucky, rich, and loves to bluff.

A rare brother-sister case of separated at birth, TJ Cloutier and Estelle Getty seem to share little in common other than a physical resemblance at first glance but it’s a little known fact that in one Golden Girls episode Sophia took care of a dog named Bingo, while TJ Cloutier can occasionally be found at the poker tables when taking a break from craps.

Our car may explode the next time we turn the key in the ignition but we wouldn’t be doing our jobs if we didn’t point out the Jeff Lisandro – Tony Soprano connection.

Please tell us we don’t need to explain this one for you.

Another one that should speak for itself, with Jimmy Fricke only missing the cap and doughnut to complete his transformation into Chief Clancy Wiggum.

Todd Brunson and sister Pamela Brunson have followed in Papa Brunson’s footsteps and found plenty of success at the poker tables — maybe darts legend Andy Fordham should take aim at the felt as well.

Sorel Mizzi, meet Mr. Bean; Mr. Bean, Sorel Mizzi.

This is one where we really need to step in and make sure that Tom McEvoy and long-lost brother Newt Gingrich get together, as the online poker world could benefit from a little political power in the extended family to add a little push to legalizing online poker in the US.

How in the world have we all missed this one for so many years, as not only do Mike Sexton and Vince McMahon share a fairly resemblance but both ending up in a similar line of work as far as their announcing duties?

If you’ve spotted your own poker players and celebrities switched at birth please let us know in the comments, as we’re sure there are more out there in the world that we missed!

WSOP 2012 time

Thankfully, it’s nearly time for the WSOP in Vegas so that pretty much takes care of my summer plans and I can defer the ‘where to move’ question for at least a couple of months. I’m enjoying everyone’s suggestions on twitter for where I should considering making my new home so keep them coming! In the meantime, I’m cramming as much as possible into my last weeks here in Santa Barbara with my friends. Lots of time spent eating, chatting and walking on the beach. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Full Moon Night

Last weekend was the largest full moon of the year – or as some people liked to call it, the potential werewolf apocalypse. It was absolutely gorgeous! I walked down to the pier with my neighbours to get a proper look at it (and drink wine on the pier, the perfect compliment to moon-gazing) and it was just as impressive as I’d thought. Granted, it looks a little less impressive in this photo where I’m trying to ‘crush’ it, a la Kids In The Hall:

Hopefully the craziness of the full moon didn’t affect any of you during PokerFest II!

Wow what a Pokerfest this one was! With the obvious highlight being the Main Event which was played out yesterday evening, it must have been something of a Super Sunday when Andy Ward took it down for a payday of over $216K, from all of us here at PartyPoker a huge congratulations to you!

10 times a winner

Some other great highlights along the way included a player called Ikovalence who managed to cash 10 times and receiving a nice bonus of € 2.500!

We asked Ikovalence about his performance and got this back:

“As part of the community Pokerstartegy.com, I knew there was promotion Pokerfest happening on PartyPoker, but I had not heard of Jackpots. I actually made the bubble in Event # 2 … Then one of my friends passed me the word, so I was very excited.

I had no particular strategy in the beginning… Normally, a tournament player should not target only the money, but especially the victory. I still keep the good memories of my victory in Event # 25 in points, it’s always fun!

Getting €2.500 with these achievements, I am now going to up my tournament buy-ins.

I want to thank PartyPoker, Pokerstategy.com and everyone who encouraged me especially: That51Dude, Karonbeach, Melpok, Arnaudbzh, and Sebabouic Okapikipok. “

Win your seat to the WSOP 2012 with PartyPoker!

Kind words there, and remember there’s always something great going on at PartyPoker; just now we have qualifications to the world’s largest poker tournament the WSOP 2012!

Every poker player dreams of sitting down at the Main Event and winning the biggest prize the game has to offer. Last year Pius Heinz outplayed everyone else to claim more than $8.7 million. In 2012 you could be the one writing history with a starring role in Las Vegas and playing at the greatest poker tournament on the planet. Make sure you give the WSOP 2012 a shot!